Double Materia :
Disclaimer : Final Fantasy VII and its characters belong to Square Enix.
Author note : I didn't play the game but I recently watched some Let's play FF7 video, I understand a little better how those materia work.
Edit 15/11/2019 : grammatical corrections were made thanks to my beta reader, EarendilElwing.
Chappy 2 :
Cloud read the long list of abilities, two for each materia. One of the materia was purple and white, and was the one Tifa spoke about earlier. He read attentively :
"A double materia shining in purple and white; one ability is for Truth, the other for Exacerbated Feelings."
He frowned. What did that mean?
Reading further, he discovered that all the six materia were part of a set of Psychological Modification. That would explain why Tifa was crying. She'd had a hard day and her tiredness turned into tears because of the materia.
As for the Truth ability, Tifa wasn't a liar so maybe it wouldn't make any difference. Well, maybe not. He thought about it five more minutes and came to the conclusion that it could be troublesome for him. What if she felt resentful towards him?
After his return, he witnessed how much he had damaged their relationship. Tifa was still nice, and she was still taking care of him, but he could feel some apprehension coming from her. He knew she was still wondering if one day he would leave her again or not. So maybe he should fear that Truth ability!
He sighed nonetheless, relieved that the spell she was under was not something like Blind, Shrink or Transform.
That evening, Tifa came into his room wearing her makeshift pajamas: a white tight T-shirt and a black shorts. Tears were falling freely from her eyes again.
Cloud stopped his paperwork and headed towards her.
"Hey, Tifa. Is something wrong?"
"I'm all alone. I'm scared, I can't sleep." Her voice was shaking; she really looked miserable, and the view didn't sit well with Cloud. He hugged her, trying to calm her. It worked quite well, to his surprise.
"It's ok Tifa. Don't worry, you'll feel better tomorrow. Try to sleep, ok?"
"Mmmhh."
She calmed down, but sat on his bed.
"Tif, you can't stay here."
"But, I... wanna be with you..."
He looked back at her, surprised at her statement. He wondered if it was because of that Truth ability again. Maybe it was.
"You can't; go back in your room please."
She looked at him as if he had just slapped her. Her lips began to quiver and soon she was crying again. It was ten times worse than five minutes ago.
He had thought that Exacerbated Feelings weren't going to be a big deal, but it seemed he was very wrong!
"Is it because you hate me? Do you?" She accused him.
When he did not react, she got off his bed and stormed back into her room. Cloud was left speechless. Seeing Tifa like this was so unlike her; she was not a touchy person nor a drama queen.
He thought it was better to leave her alone, that she would fall asleep soon, so he resumed his paperwork.
Ten minutes later, after replaying her words again and again (and all the guilt it brought back with it because he knew, just a few months earlier, he had been cold to her and distant because of the geostigma), and hearing her crying loudly as if someone had died, he couldn't stand it anymore.
Exacerbated feelings or not, he wasn't going to leave her in such a state all night long.
He knocked on her door. No answer came. He sighed and entered nonetheless.
"Tifa, you know it's not what you think. I'm sorry. I absolutely do not hate you, don't think that please."
She sniffled, and turned slowly towards him and said in a weak voice, "Really?"
"Yes, of course." He sat on the bed next to her, smiling reassuringly. Again, he thought it wouldn't be enough to comfort her, but she seemed to feel better instantly. She leant her head against his shoulder.
"Cloud, thank you."
"It's ok, silly. Don't put yourself in such a state. Everything is alright." He lightly kissed her on her forehead. He didn't know how long they stayed like that. Eventually, he gently pushed her away.
"Try to sleep."
"Ah...but..." She fidgeted nervously before catching his arm. He raised an eyebrow at her. She kissed him on his cheek. He sighed; it became evident that if he wanted her to stop crying he had to stay with her.
"Would you like me to stay with you?" he finally asked.
She nodded fervently with a big smile. He held her and made her lay down on her bed with him.
"Ok then. But now, be a good girl and go to sleep."
She giggled at him.
He quickly noticed she wasn't sleepy at all, especially when she attacked him with kisses.
At first, he thought it was funny. She was like a little girl kissing her dad she hadn't seen for a while. Soon he realized the situation could quickly become embarrassing for him, especially if he had to justify his actions tomorrow morning when she would recovered her senses.
He fought a little with her wandering hands, but eventually forfeited, allowing her to take off his shirt.
"Tifa, stop. You will regret it tomorrow morning."
"Why would I Cloud? I would never regret spending some quality time with you."
"Hu... quality time?"
"Yes; it's rare for me to be able to spend time alone with you."
Now that he thought about it, he was away on the weekend more and more often. He had made an effort to be more present for his family after the attack of the remnants, but slowly he had been overwhelmed by Strife Delivery Services and didn't really notice that he was drifting away from them again.
"Tifa, would you like to spend more time with me, like on the weekend?"
"Of course! Yes, I would love that! But you're always on unplanned deliveries or tending your damn bike. I feel sad each time."
"Damn bike? Hu... Tifa, you don't like Fenrir?"
"Mmmh, you give it more attention than me. It's not fair. You even wouldn't take me on a ride," she said in a sad and hurtful voice.
Even if he knew it was because of the materia, he was not immune to that kind of voice. It twisted his heart.
He didn't know if he should laugh or be upset at her statement. So that was the truth? She wanted more attention from him? He felt stupid for not noticing it.
He naively thought that after his return and their heart-to-heart conversation, everything would be alright. However, considering her words, she was not all right.
"Cloud, come here..."
He didn't have time to say anything because she was kissing him on the lips, and it was not a chaste one. His heart constricted at the idea of pushing her away, but he had to.
"Tif, don't..."
"Please, just a little more." She kissed him again, and he truly enjoyed it.
"Tif, it's not that I don't want to, but you're under a spell. At least wait until tomorrow, ok?"
"No, I want my little baby chocobo all for myself tonight." She snacked her arms around his waist, keeping him against her.
'Little baby chocobo? Oh dear god, I'm so doomed!' He thought.
He looked in her ruby eyes, full of love and shining beautifully. That was his downfall.
He pressed his lips to her, savoring her sweet taste. They wrestled for a while, Tifa kissing every parts of his body that weren't covered with clothes, while Cloud tried to keep her satisfied without taking advantage of the situation - kissing her in places that wouldn't be considered indecent.
Soon Tifa untied his belt to take off his pants as well. He jumped at her bold move.
"You're not going to sleep with your pants on; it's not comfortable," she sweetly said to him.
He obliged and took them off, promising himself that they were the last pieces of clothing he would let her take off.
He laughed at her light kisses on his neck; it tickled. He couldn't deny how much he loved the intimacy they were sharing right now. Holding her seemed so right that he wondered why he hadn't tried to be closer to her after his return.
Well, in fact he knew why: he was scared she would push him away after all he had done.
"Tifa, you know, I love you so much." He knew it was stupid to say that because she may not remember what happened tomorrow morning... or she may remember.
He wasn't used to those new materia's way of functioning after all.
"I shouldn't say that. Sorry..."
"He? What? No! No really, why shouldn't you? I love you too, Cloud." Her hand was stroking his cheek.
He looked at her and she was with no doubt sincere. He smiled, feeling his heart warming up.
"For real?" he asked.
"Yes, for real, my little baby chocobo." She hugged him with all her might. He chuckled at the nickname she used for the second time that night.
"Let's sleep now," he said and was glad she complied. She must be tired after all!
He secured her in his arms, tucked her head under his chin and whispered a good night in her ear.