Chapter 9: Interlude - Tadaima (I'm home :-)
Zack stared out his window into the dark Kalm night. He didn't want to think about her anymore. She'd only been gone a week, but he'd missed her as though it had been months.
She'd called and said that Cloud was doing just fine, although his lead didn't pan out. What the hell was she still doing there, then? Why didn't she just come back? Unless...
A knock. Then the sound of a key turning its lock. He took a step towards the front door.
"Tifa--..." Zack just stood there, mouth agape after uttering her name once.
She started to say something, but couldn't get a single word out before he'd already crushed her to him. His lips sought hers, and she didn't fight them. She softly ran her tongue along his lips when his mouth insistently, greedily claimed hers. His hands wandered like a puppy set free --wild with joy and rush, reclaiming familiar territory. He said a quick prayer that she wanted him too, because he feared he couldn't stop...
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Zack opened his eyes, and found himself in her embrace. He felt utterly drained, not just by the sweet, urgent act they'd completed, but by those intense, watchful brown eyes. They seemed to drink him up. At the moment they were brimming with gladness, and something else. Concern, maybe even worry. For him?
He must have frowned a little looking at her, because she tried to lighten his mood.
"I missed you too," she playfully whispered. He cracked a smile, though her eyes barely danced with her attempt at humor.
/You're so transparent. That's why... I can't help loving you.
"God...I missed you," he whispered as his fingers played in her chocolate strands, and his lips nuzzled her neck. "I missed you so much."
She pressed a kiss into his forehead. "I missed you, too."
"Did you?" He asked, an ardent plea to his voice. "I thought maybe..."
"Huh? Maybe-- ?" Her eyes widened wonderingly, urging him to continue.
"I thought maybe...you weren't coming back," his palms held her face now, and his eyes bored into hers. Her attempts to look away met gentle, yet unyielding resistance.
"Zack...," her eyes pleaded. Begged. For understanding, forgiveness, what? A jumble of emotions swelled in his heart, lodged in his throat, and he couldn't tell her that it was all right...
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." Her captive eyes spilled helpless tears, and his chest ached.
/Damn it, Tifa. I'm only telling you the truth. Why's that so hard? You knew I loved you, and... you left!
At length he looked again at her tear-stained face, her fingers digging into her flesh, and tenderness won over anger. He deserved an explanation. But maybe-- not right now. He couldn't press her any further tonight.
"Just...let me hold you," his voice was tight as he took her in his arms again. And as she sobbed on his shoulder, he closed his eyes and leaned his face against her tousled hair.
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Several weeks had passed since Tifa returned from helping Cloud. Life had returned to normal, more or less. Despite the humdrum routine, Zack was happy. It felt good just being near her, hearing her voice. Watching her eyes light up when he walked through the door.
Sometimes he saw apprehension in her eyes, though. She's scared I'm gonna bring it up, make her explain the way she left me. But he didn't want to see her suffer, or hear her say she loved Cloud.
It was a new experience for him, coming in second, and he chafed against it. He was in love with a woman who might leave him again for her true love. Didn't he deserve better? Sometimes he wondered whether there was anything left in her heart for him, after Cloud had taken so much.
But then she'd look at him, touch him. And he had no words, couldn't speak through the drought in his throat. If this is what's left, he'd grasp for it with both hands, cling to it, and never relinquish it.
