I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Sorry again guys...my inspiration comes and it goes, unfortunately it's on a vacation longer than it's at home T_T.

Change of Heart

Chapter XXXVIII: Creme-Filled Cherry Pie

Cloud wasn't exactly ready to leave when it was time; he'd been too engrossed in catching up with Cissnei to go so soon, but unfortunately, he had to have Denzel home in time for school in a couple of days. Denzel was so enjoying Cissnei's company as well as admiring her beauty that he too was despairing over the thought of saying goodbye so soon.

"I must be leaving too, I guess." Cissnei had conceded as they walked around the town square.

"Where are you going now?" Cloud asked, halfway hoping she'd adjourn to the Western Continent, so that they may continue their visit at least until they made it to Junon. As if the gods had heard his silent prayers, angels sang.

"I was thinking about heading to Costa Del Sol. It's not the season for the beach, but I haven't been in years."

Alright so she wouldn't be getting on the boat with them, but he could at least offer her a ride Costa Del Sol and they could talk longer while they were waiting for the ship to come ashore.

"Oh, is that so?" Cloud nervously scratched the back of his head, somewhat anxious about asking to lend her a ride. "Well, can I give you a lift? We're headed that way anyway to catch the boat."

Denzel said nothing but waited for her reply. Cissnei paused and looked into Cloud's eyes before shifting to Denzel. They couldn't have looked cuter; both of them were eagerly awaiting her answer, wide-eyed and pink-cheeked.

"Well, I guess that would be alright, as long as it's not any trouble for you." She smiled coyly as she turned around and continued on to the next little shop.

Cloud and Denzel lingered behind her a few steps, saying absolutely nothing. But their elation was shared only between the two of them as Cloud turned his palm out to Denzel who slapped it in response.

Cissnei pretended she didn't hear or see their little 'high-five'.

Sephiroth watched Tifa as she did the dishes that afternoon. Lucretia had gone grocery shopping and Barret had taken Marlene to the playground, so they were alone, just the two of them. He leaned over the bar and watched the way she moved, still completely captivated and hypnotized by her body. She was the very meaning of beauty, both inside and out, and he was still more than proud to call her his own. No other man was allowed to touch her; she was his own vessel of love and happiness.

As he continued to admire her, he found his gaze drawn down to her delicate bottom, but it was hidden by the pleated train on her shorts. He was disappointed that he got little gratification from his view, hoping that she'd turn around so he could at least feast his eyes on the way her leather vest hugged her bosom. But Tifa was too immersed in her chores to satisfy his unspoken needs.

So Sephiroth took matters into his own hands, both figuratively and literally. He quietly approached her from behind, grabbing her waist and pulling her against his chest. She cried out from the surprise, nearly dropping one of the soapy glasses. But Sephiroth didn't back off; he only rammed his hardening bulge into her rear and kissed her neck hungrily through her hair.

"Sephiroth…" Tifa moaned breathily. She hadn't expected him to attack her like this, but she liked it.

Sephiroth turned her around, pausing abruptly when their eyes met. He looked into those dark brown depths, reaching up to caress her face gently. Perfect love and perfect trust were sparkling in both their souls and they could see it simultaneously in their eyes. His mouth then descended upon hers and he began to devour her. Tifa wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands still soapy and dripping wet. But Sephiroth didn't seem to care; he just wanted to take advantage of the time they actually had alone together, to make love to her again and without reservation. Though it had barely been three days, it felt like an eternity since he'd touched her and wanted to experience the feeling again, only this time they knew what to expect, they knew each other's body and were more than ready to go for another round.

This time there was more fire behind Sephiroth's advance, lustier than it had been the first time. He allowed her time to reject him, giving her enough space to stop any time she wanted, but Tifa was already overtaken by the ecstasy pouring off of him. She let him do as he wished and was pleasantly surprised when he took the initiative and backed her against the wall. It hadn't been expected, but it was well received.

"Oh…god…Sephiroth…What's gotten into you?" Tifa gasped almost inaudibly as he went in for another kiss.

"We're completely alone together." He growled amorously against her lips.

He incited a gasp of surprise and an excited giggle from her lips as he slid his hands around to the front of her vest and gently pulled down the zipper before burying his face in her ample cleavage.

"We should go to our room; they could come back any minute!"

"Shh…just let yourself go."

"You letch…" Tifa was mildly irritated; there were chores to be done, she had little time for this. But on the other hand, he did feel very good.

"You know you want it." Sephiroth moaned at the feel of her warm breasts, their softness gentle on his face. He trailed his long, slim nose down the narrow channel between them, enjoying the smell of her perfume and the sound of her beating heart.

As his nearly frantic behavior simmered to a calm pace, Sephiroth's hands smoothed down her front and around to her sides, before drawing around to her back. His lips ghosted over her steadily heaving chest, arousing goose bumps to perk up on her blushing skin.

If this was foreplay, then the real sex should be amazing.

But as he tickled her belly, trailing down to the waistband of her pants, Sephiroth heard footsteps outside at the door. He recognized two sets, the first pair was heavy and stomping, while the second was lighter and somewhat fleeting. Grumbling with frustration he halted in his rediscovery of Tifa as the door opened and the giggling voice of Marlene resounded through the bar. Tifa's heart skipped a beat as she struggled to quickly pull up her zipper. She succeeded in covering herself and Sephiroth had seated himself at the bar just in time for them to round the corner.

"Tifa look!" Marlene ran up to her holding up a stuffed chocobo. "Daddy bought this for me!"

Tifa instinctively covered her real emotions with a mask of serenity and smiled brightly. "Oh, it's so cute!" She wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with childish things, with Sephiroth having fired up her libido, but she suppressed her irritation; after all it wasn't the little girl's fault.

"We didn't think you'd be back so soon." Sephiroth sneered at Barret, who luckily didn't pick up on his hostility.

"Well, it's gettin' late so I thought it best to bring her home."

Sephiroth turned his eye up at the clock. It wasn't terribly late, only 5:30 in the evening; the sun wouldn't be setting for another two hours. Granted, it was approaching dinner time and Lucretia would be returning soon with the groceries for dinner.

"I suppose it is." Sephiroth looked back at Tifa who'd returned to washing the dishes.

Barret narrowed his eyes at him, noticing the light blush that coated Sephiroth's cheeks and then looked at Tifa, whose face was also reddened; they were also fighting very apparent frowns. "Marlene, why don't you run upstairs and find a place to put your new baby."

Marlene only nodded with a smile and bounded up the steps to her room.

Crossing his arms, Barret tapped his boot on the floor, "Did we interrupt somethin' between you two?" He didn't want to sound condescending, but he wasn't going to leave the room until he knew why Tifa's smile was gone.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Sephiroth growled quietly, his face looked demonic as ever as his eyebrows slanted inward and his upper lip quivered.

Marching forward, Barret slammed his fist on the counter before Sephiroth, issuing with it a silent threat. "You look pissed, Sephiroth, that I don't really give a damn about…But I wanna know why Tifa's upset. What did ya do to her?"

"Barret!" Tifa whipped around, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him out of Sephiroth's face. "He didn't do anything!"

"You look like you've been fightin', both of ya." Barret was ready to blast Sephiroth into oblivion, but he restrained the urge for Tifa's sake.

"Fighting?" Tifa's eyebrows knitted with confusion; they'd not argued, far from it in fact, they were just about to get hot and heavy before Barret walked in on them…She tossed her face toward the mirror behind the bar, finding her cheeks bright red and her chest heaving. Tifa hadn't realized the effect that Sephiroth had had on her and of course her frustration with having been interrupted. Sephiroth too was showing signs of lust and vexation, and she was suddenly aware of Barret's reason to worry. "N-no, you've got it wrong," She managed a smile, "Sephiroth and I were just – "

That was when Marlene came back down. Tifa bit her tongue, not wanting to say anything to fracture her naivety. Sephiroth too desired to preserve her innocence and therefore sought out another way to explain the situation to Barret.

"Yes, I was just trying to persuade Tifa to give me a piece of cherry pie."

Barret just knitted his eyebrows together, trying to comprehend the vague metaphor. "Huh?"

Sephiroth just tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him. Then the realization struck him.

"O-oh…Oh! Cherry pie, oh I see." He nodded vigorously, taking a step back from the counter and replacing his fist on his hip. "And uh…we disrupted the cutting of that pie. I gotcha! Okay then, uh, Marlene baby, c'mon now, let's go upstairs and play that new board game I got you for your birthday." Barret couldn't escape the awkward situation fast enough. But as he made it to the doorway, he abruptly turned back, "By the way, the next time ya wanna creme-fill a cherry pie, do it in yo room!" He shook his head, "For cryin' out loud, man!"

As they disappeared from view, Tifa and Sephiroth turned back to each other. Their eyes met and as they gazed at one another, they both began to laugh hysterically.

The ride to Costa Del Sol was very interesting indeed. Cissnei didn't have much stuff with her, only what she could shove in her backpack but that wasn't the issue. The problem was that Cloud's motorcycle was only a two-seater. Great for him to think of that before offering her a ride!

In the end, he'd configured them into what had to be the most awkward arrangement yet. Cloud sat in the main seat, Cissnei rode on the passenger seat behind him, and Denzel had to sit in front of him, straddling the edge of the saddle just behind the tank. The bike felt heavier than normal, uncomfortable and perhaps a little wobbly. But Cloud managed somehow, soon becoming accustomed to it. Denzel felt strange as well; uncomfortable not only down below, but also because he was used to riding on the back with his arms around Cloud's waist, not on the front with Cloud's arm around him. It was scary for him to see Cloud driving through the mountains one handed, not to mention everything they were approaching felt like it was going to crash into them; he no longer had Cloud's broad back to use as a shield. But as he cowered against Cloud's chest, he realized that he was seeing what Cloud was seeing. This is was it was like to drive Fenrir. Denzel relaxed as he came to the conclusion that if Cloud wasn't afraid then he shouldn't be either; after all he was to inherit that bike one day, so he shouldn't be frightened to sit in the driver's seat.

Cissnei's riding experience was far more pleasant, though did offer up emotions she'd spent the last few years fighting. She'd once ridden on the back of a motorcycle, her body pressed up against the muscular back of the man she loved, her arms locked tightly around his waist. Of course the man was Zack, it was a one-time occurrence, in fact it was on these very roads which they drove now. ShinRa had sent Zack on a vacation to Costa Del Sol, Cissnei and Tseng both had accompanied him. One evening, Zack had become bored and rented a motorbike from a shop near the beach. Cissnei had used the excuse that he needed a Turk's supervision while out and about and therefore won her way into riding with him through the mountain roads. Sitting on the back of Cloud's bike felt very much like that time, leaving Cissnei to relive that wondrous evening she could never have again.

A few tears escaped her eyes and she leaned forward, letting go of the seat to put her arms around Cloud's waist. She hadn't wanted to make him feel uncomfortable, but she wanted to be selfish for a moment, and attempt to regain some shred of physicality from a fading memory. She tried to pretend that he was Zack, pressing her nose between his shoulder blades to hide from the truth, his cabled sweater even felt like Zack's Soldier uniform and in the dark, his sword harness could easily be compared to Zack's suspenders that supported his spaulders, but in the end it just wasn't the same. He was a bit smaller than Zack, yes Cloud was built and muscular, but he wasn't quite as broad; nor did he smell the same, Zack's cologne was muskier and spicier than Cloud's sweeter more refined selection, and Zack's hair had been longer and she'd had to pin it between her and his back to keep it from whipping into her face, but Cloud's hair was cropped quite short and offered no bother. So much for trying to bring the dead back to life, even in her imagination…there was no one quite like Zack, not even Cloud could compare, regardless of the similarities he might have had.

Cloud's mind was focused on the road rather than in his own personal thoughts. But he noticed Cissnei's newfound grip on him. Perhaps she'd grown tired and was leaning on him for support or perhaps for warmth from the chilly air; he did feel her shivering after all. But he felt something else. There was something warm and cold on his back, like water was dripping on him. Over the wind he'd heard a murmur from behind and was certain then that she was crying. But why? He could think of a few reasons – exhaustion, hunger, or perhaps the motorcycle frightened her. He wanted to stop and let them both rest, but he too was growing tired and thought it best to press on toward Costa Del Sol; he could see the glow of the town lights from over the next hill and knew they'd be there shortly.