The Only One in My Heart

Chapter 15

Tifa knocked on Kadaj's room door but there was no reply. She tried to open the door and it swung open. An empty room greeted her on that bright morning.

"That's strange," she mumbled to herself, "Where could he be?"

She walked over to Lana's room. Tifa was surprised to see the door slightly ajar and she peeked into the room. There she saw Lana asleep facing the door. She gasped when she saw that Kadaj too was asleep behind her and she could see that Kadaj's arms were around Lana. Hundreds of possibilities of what happened last night crossed her mind.

"Why are you peeking?" a voice asked. Tifa muffled her gasp with her hands and looked at the owner of the voice. Yazoo walked over to the startled woman and peeked through the gap, smiling. "I can assure you," Yazoo said softly when he turned to look at Tifa, "That nothing had happened."

"They have always been like this," Yazoo began as they sat down on the sofa at the living room. "I don't know if they realized it at that time, but Loz and I could see that they really cared for each other," he continued, "Especially Kadaj, he very protective of her."

"But they're-" Tifa couldn't continued as her mind went wild with her guesses.

"Don't worry," Yazoo assured her, "Kadaj just misses her."

"I guess you are right," Tifa blushed in embarrassment for thinking otherwise.

"Alright, get off me you guys," both Yazoo and Tifa could hear Loz whining in a distance, where he played with the orphans.

XXXXX

Kadaj did not open his eyes even when he heard the sound of sheets softly ruffling beside him. He felt a certain light brown haired girl trying to lift his hand, which was placed around her waist and a comfortable weight being lifted off his other arm. A smile graced his lips as he tightened his hold and wrapped both his arm around her.

"Are you awake?" Lana asked softly but there was no answer. She tried to slip out of Kadaj's arm but she found that his arms around her became tighter with every try.

"Just a little longer," Lana heard Kadaj whisper into her ears before he nuzzled comfortably into her hair. Lana sighed and put her hands on Kadaj's.

"It's almost noon," she said.

"No, it's not," he replied, "Yazoo usually comes at 7 in the morning." Lana became speechless as she lay in his arms but a question soon popped into her mind.

'How did you know Yazoo was here?' she asked.

'I heard him just before you woke up,' he replied.

'Oh,' was all Lana could say for the moment, 'But we still have to get up.'

'I don't want to,' Kadaj whined which made Lana became speechless.

'I miss you,' Kadaj said in his mind after a long moment of silence.

'Kadaj?' Lana called into his mind, 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing,' he replied, 'I just miss you, that's all.'

'You told me before,' she said, 'Everything's alright now.'

'It's not that,' Kadaj said, 'It's just…'

'I understand,' Lana rubbed Kadaj's bare hand, which was resting on her stomach. 'I don't want to lose you too,' she said.

'I want to be with you, forever,' Kadaj said as he kissed the back of her neck, 'So, don't leave me.'

'I won't,' Lana answered him, 'Everything's alright now, isn't it?'

'Yeah,' Kadaj sighed as he remembered yesterday.

"Marlene," Kadaj began as he got on one of his knees in front of the lively girl to look directly into her eyes, "I know there are a lot of things that I did were wrong. And if you and your friends want to punish me, please do so."

Everyone was shocked to hear the words flowed out of Kadaj smoothly. Lana stood behind Kadaj and looked at Marlene. Marlene looked at the silver haired man in front of her and then at the brown haired lady behind him.

"Whatever you did was wrong," Marlene began as she hung her head, "That's why you should be punished." Barret, Yuffie, Tifa and Cloud looked at the little girl who seemed to have suddenly grown up in the shabby room.

"But," she continued, "That sister over there saved us and she's your friend. And you protected her." Kadaj began to question what she was thinking in his mind.

"What do you mean, Marlene?" Tifa asked, as she was as confused as everyone in the room.

"That is to say," Marlene looked up at Kadaj, smiling, "You are forgiven." With that said, Kadaj was relieved but he was overcome by surprise when Marlene jumped onto him with her hands around his neck. Kadaj smiled as he patted the girl's back and whispered a word of gratitude to her.

'But then,' Lana began, 'What are we going to do from now on?'

'Seriously, I don't know,' he replied.

'On this planet, there're a lot of things that we can do,' Kadaj began, 'We have set a goal for ourselves in the past. That is to become a member of SOLDIER. But SOLDIER is no more. We have to set a new goal for ourselves now.'

'I want to repent for all that I have done, Lana,' Kadaj said, 'But, how can I do it?'

'Marlene forgives you because you protected me,' Lana replied, 'Then, if you could protect everyone, you will be forgiven too, right?'

'I guess you are right,' he agreed, 'To fight is what we have been trained for and that is something we are capable of."

'We'll protect everyone,' Lana said, 'I'm not afraid of anything.'

'Yeah, I'll be by your side,' Kadaj tightened his hold on her hand, 'I'll protect you.'

Lana turned around and came to face Kadaj's chest. He pulled her closer and rested his hand on her hair.

'Thank you, Kadaj,' Lana smiled.

'It is promise, Lana, Kadaj replied, 'A promise that I will not let you die. And we'll always be together because we're a part of each other now.'

'No, I'm a part of you,' Lana corrected as she listened to Kadaj's steady heartbeat, 'You gave me your life. And I'll treasure it.'

'I'm glad,' he sighed, 'Now, let's go back to sleep.'

'But I don't want to,' it was Lana who whined this time.

'Then just stay where you are and let me sleep a little longer,' Kadaj yawned.

'Wake up,' Lana called and thought of biting his hand to wake him up.

'No,' he replied, 'And no, it won't work.' Lana did not think when she pulled herself up and kissed him. Kadaj's eyes sprang open and Lana smiled.

"Good morning," her smile widened.

"You cheat," Kadaj lightly kissed her lips.

"And?" Lana repeated their conversation from the night before. Kadaj sighed in defeat and ruffled her hair.

XXXXX

"We'll be off now," Kadaj said to Cloud, who nodded.

"Where will you be going?" Tifa asked.

"We'll go to a place where we're needed," Kadaj answered, "But I'm sure that we'll meet again someday."

"Cloud," Lana looked at the spiky blonde man, "This is for you."

Lana held up a pink ribbon to him. Cloud took the ribbon and looked at her curiously before he retuned his attention back to the delicate ribbon that felt warm in his hand.

"It's not from me," Lana smiled, "It's from Aerith." Cloud was too stunned to reply as he read the embroidered writings on the ribbon.

"Thank you for everything Tifa," Lana said, "Goodbye!"

"Bye-bye! Come play with us next time!" the echoes of the orphans came.

"Bye!" Tifa waved as four of her new found friends sped off onto the road. She watched the three motorcycles picked up speed as they rode towards the setting sun. Tifa left Cloud to his thoughts as she tended to her chores but she caught a glimpse of a smile in the sunlight.

Cloud looked up to the golden sky and sighed. A smile began to form at the corner of his lips as he clasped the ribbon to his heart.

"Forgiven But Not Forgotten," Cloud whispered the words embroidered on the ribbon.

THE END

Okay…I know the last chapter isn't as good as my other chapters. I couldn't write the ending which is why it took soooo long. Sorry!

I'm willing to accept flames for this chapter! Flame ahead!

I will re-write this chapter if I get some ideas from the flames received. Thanks for the support!