Heart Of Ice

Epilogue

Tifa grinned in triumph as she pulled herself up onto the last ledge and turned to look down at her lagging companion.

"Make that Queen of the Mountain, fifth year running!" she called down to him. Cloud only grimaced up at her while he struggled for footing on the slippery ice of the glacier.

"Alright your Highness, you win but just you wait 'til I get up there..."

Tifa stuck her tongue out at him as he heaved his leg onto the ledge. As he pulled himself up, she could see a decidedly mischievous grin on his face but was too late to notice the handful of snow he had scooped up.

"Cloud," she warned, backing up while he advanced on her, casually tossing and catching the snowball in his right hand. "Don't you dare throw that–"

Tifa ducked just as he flung the snowball at her. In one fell swoop she had a snowball of her own which she chucked at Cloud, who was hurriedly rebuilding his own ammunition. Her snowball hit him squarely in the rear end, leaving a round lump of white snow sticking to his pants. He yelped in surprise and turned to glare at her before rushing forward and tackling her in the snow.

"Thought that was funny, did you?" he said while tickling her ribs. Tifa laughed and tried to roll out of his reach, but he sat on her legs, effectively pinning her beneath him.

"Cloud! Get off me this instant or so help me I'll..."

"Or you'll what, Princess? Throw another snowball at my butt?" Cloud grinned as he held her shoulders to the ground. Tifa glared for only a moment before Cloud leaned down and kissed her, effectively banishing any thoughts of retaliation. Tifa felt herself smile as Cloud pulled away a few inches and she could feel the white clouds of his breath on her lips.

"Cloud..."

"What?" he murmured, leaning forward again to trail kisses down her jaw line. Tifa shivered, not entirely because she was lying with her back pressed into the snow.

"The... the Snow Witch, remember?" she managed to say, unwilling to end Cloud's gentle ministrations. Cloud reluctantly pulled away with a grimace.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot..." he said with distaste as he stood up. He offered his hand to Tifa, helping her to her feet.

"The sooner this is over..." she began, trying to console the sour look on Cloud's face. He sighed and plucked a chunk of snow from her hair.

"I know. I remember the whole 'virtuous virgin will defeat the evil Snow Goddess or whatever," he said dully. Tifa smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," she added with a wink. Cloud raised an eyebrow before pulling her close for another kiss.

"We waited this long; we can wait a little longer," he murmured before sealing the space between them. Several very warm moments later, they were interrupted by the soft sound of crumbling ice and snow behind them. Cloud sighed again and kissed Tifa lightly on the forehead before pulling away.

"We had better go," she agreed with his unspoken decision to move on. They turned toward the crumbling entrance of the cave behind them. Tifa nervously straightened her gloves– she was still unsure how they were going to fight this monster when they had already failed twice. She cast a furtive glance at Cloud, who was looking straight forward determinedly. His resolve strengthened her own.

"Do you have any idea what we're going to do?" Tifa whispered now as they picked their way around fallen stalactites and deep crevices in the ground. Cloud shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"We'll figure that out when we get there," he said, resting his hand gently on her back as they stepped carefully around a great mound of shattered ice. Cloud suddenly stopped.

"There she is," he said in a low voice. Tifa squinted into the distance. The cave was less like a palace maze after their last visit, and now that most of the walls had fallen, it looked like a wide, empty cave. Near the very back wall, Tifa thought she saw a huddled blue form.

"Ready?" he asked. Tifa nodded. Cloud stepped in front of her and drew his Buster Sword. As if sensing the sudden threat, the witch stirred from her position near the back wall.

"Filthy humans..." she muttered, though her voice carried to the end of the cave where Tifa and Cloud still stood. "I can feel the accursed heat of the fire demon Ifrit from over here. You'll pay for your trice transgression!"

Before Tifa could move, the witch had literally flown into action. She threw herself toward them in a sudden gale of ice and snow. Tifa shielded her face from the stinging wind, but Cloud had rushed forward and swung at the witch, cutting through the blinding gale. The witch easily evaded the Buster Sword, though the effort forced her to veer suddenly to the side. The precious seconds the witch used to right herself and turn around were all that Tifa needed.

Ducking around from behind Cloud, Tifa spread her arms wide. A soft, yellow light emitted in waves at her feet, and as Tifa drew her arms in to cast the spell, the witch opened her mouth threateningly. She began her high-pitched scream as Tifa shouted the words–

"HELL FIRE!"

A low, ominous growl shook the entire cave as the fire god appeared. The ice witch shrieked louder still as Ifrit breathed flames before her. A wide sphere of demonic fire encased the fire god before he rushed forward, straight into the witch. The collision erupted into a great explosion, and the witch's cry went from piercing to glass-shattering. Cloud and Tifa ducked, hands clapped over their ears while the backwash from the spell threw waves of heat over them.

Finally, Tifa dared to look up. Tiny flames still licked the ground in a line where Ifrit had rushed forward. There was a great black scorch mark in the wall behind where the Ice Witch last stood. It was all that remained of her.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," Cloud said finally as he stood and extended a hand to help Tifa to her feet.

"Yeah, considering all the trouble we went through before," Tifa added as she followed Cloud out of the cave. They stood on the ledge outside that provided a panoramic view of the tiny town of Icicle Inn below.

"Think the blizzards will stop now?" Tifa asked lightly.

"They'd better," Cloud said with a snort. "I'm not climbing up here again. They can find some other virgin to save the day." Tifa smiled with sudden inspiration.

"Hm, I beat you up the mountain and my spell finished off the snow witch..." Tifa said playfully as she laced her arms around Cloud's waist. "Looks like you should have let me go from the beginning after all!"

"And miss the chance to be forced to tell you how I feel?" Cloud made to look as though he were seriously pondering the issue. He smiled. "Not likely."

A/N: Woohoo! All done! I really liked this story, if I do say so myself. Even though it's finished, please review and let me know how I did. :)

-P

Disclaimer: I did not create/publish/sell Final Fantasy VII, its characters, locations, plots, etc. It all belongs to Squaresoft.