Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 any of it's characters or references

Sorry this chapter is so later(again) but I really don't have a schedule for my updates,(try holding down three different jobs while attending classes full time, no easy task).

Enjoy the epilogue.

Epilogue: part 1

Beyond the Bounds

It was a little past midnight when Cloud shot up from his bed. The images from his dream still lingering in his mind. His body was half-drenched with sweat. The blanket he uses was at his waist, the slowly turning overhead fan did nothing to help the situation with discomfort. His window was open but the curtains were drawn so it blocked out the silver light. He turned on his bed and brought his feet to the wooden floor. Though he had woken abruptly all traces of sleep was absent from his eyes. Instead he was focused on his sweat ridden body. It was feeling uncomfortable, he got off his bed and made his way over to the door, once he closed it behind him he climbed the staircase and went towards the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and watched at the water fell down into the sink before him, then he proceeded to wash his face. It only took a few minutes but the cool water on his skin helped remove the feeling of the unwanted heat from his skin but it didn't help to remove the image of Tifa kissing Vincent from his mind, it was etched in there like a bee-sting, bringing an uncomfortable pain that started off small yet uncomfortable and continually growing except unlike the bee-sting this pain generated an anger within the blond warrior.

Once he finished washing his face he reached for the towel rack located to the right of the sink, his hands gripped a familiar fabric, without even acknowledging the material he wiped his face as well as the sweat off his body. He stopped mid-way though and looked at the blue towel in his hand…it was his, his eyes turned towards the towel rack, they examined it for a second then wandered back over to the towel in his hands. He chuckled to himself for a moment. He had done it again.

How many times had Tifa reprimanded him for leaving his towel in the bathroom? He had actually lost count, but not matter how many times he apologized he kept repeating his mistake. However this time when he exited the bathroom he did so with the towel hanging over his shoulder, he placed it into his room but he wasn't ready to go back to sleep yet, the memories of the dream…no nightmare would more than likely come back. Instead he walked silently towards the children's room. Both were sound asleep, the young male couldn't help but smirk as the children, if they were awake they were always hyper, always off doing something, like today Denzel with the aid of Marlene had dyed his hair blond…the same colour as Cloud's hair. Cloud's eyes were fixed on the small boy his blond hair was still there, Tifa has tried to wash it out but whatever dye he used it couldn't be removed by water…Tifa…she nearly drew a fit when she saw her adoptive son's hair. He had even tried to mimic the spike on Cloud's hair but the results weren't on par with Cloud's…but if he did there's no doubt that Tifa would be angry with Cloud as well, for the rest of the day afterwards the two children were silent as if sensing Tifa' annoyance as disappointment with them.

He left the children's room and walked over to Tifa's he gently turned to knob and opened the door allowing it to open lightly only with enough space for his hand to fit through not his entire body…and there she lay…sleeping peacefully, facing away from him, the thin blanket she used reaching up to her shoulders. It did good to highlight her curves, it laid gently on her skin complementing her flawless figure that would make each male's jaw drop in awe. Unlike in his room however her curtains were drawn. The silver moonlight formed streams into her room and rested on her tranquil figure as well as stretching out on the walls as well as the floor. The way it illuminated her, made her look ethereal. Slowly she turned to rest on her back, this didn't help the build of emotions within the blue-eyed swordsman. His nails dug into the wooden door and dragged across it grazing both his nails and leaving marks in the door. Suddenly the image of Vincent and Tifa came into his mind again, the image of the person he once called friend kissing this goddess resting peacefully, it caused a rage to start building within him.

Now as she slept her looking so peaceful with the moonlight on her flawless, smooth, perfect ivory skin, she way beyond ethereal. Her hair splayed out beneath her, the curves of her bosom the light raise and drop of her slim waist, the image of Vincent was now gone instead in his mind, Vincent's image was replaced by Cloud's own image, He began to grit his teeth, he wanted her, he just wanted to be in the same bed with her, to hold her and call her his own, all he wanted at that moment was to see her smiling and not for anyone else only for him and also to hear her angelic voice, but fighting against all his urges and resisting temptation he stealthy closed the door.

Deciding he needed a drink he walked down into the bar area. He went behind the bar counter and took out a short glass but with a rather large circumference and diameter. He then took out a bottle filled with a strange glowing blue liquid and poured it into the glass but only filling it halfway.

"Hey how about another one over here?" A familiar yet alien voice called out.

Cloud immediately drew his attention towards the source of the voice, he didn't have a weapon but even without it he could still take down an army of Malboros. He wasn't going to attack first he was surprised because he didn't sense the air of danger, whoever this attacker was he didn't come with the intent of causing harm. However as quickly as his protective instinct to protect his family came into gear it was replaced by sheer shock. He couldn't believe his eyes. There sitting on the other side and at the edge of the counter sat Zack, still dressed in his usual attire and appeared the same way he always did.

"Zack?" He spoke somewhat questioningly

"Hey you gonna drink that?" The dark-haired ex-SOLDIER asked.

Cloud didn't respond he simply slid the glass down the counter till it reached by Zack, where stopped it and took a sip of the eerie liquid.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud asked sternly

"What kind of greeting is that? Where's the: how've you been friend? How did you come back from the dead? Are you here to stay? Do you need a place to stay?" Zack questioned sarcastically.

Cloud walked over to Zack but remained behind the counter.

"Hey Cloud I got a secret to tell you."

Cloud stared at his friend, he was still surprised to see him, well not so surprised because he had seen him once before after he had died, but even though it was a vision, here he appeared to be real and acted as if nothing was wrong as if it was normal for him to be here. As Zack got up to tell his friend his secret but received a powerful head-butt from his friend causing him to fall back.

"What was that for?" The blond warrior asked annoyed.

"For being an ass."

"Huh?" Cloud asked confused.

"I keep telling her to stop interfering but apparently my darling wife has taken it upon her to play matchmaker between you and Tifa," Zack explained, "That's the only reason I'm here."

Cloud had a hard time understanding Zack's statement, it took a few moments for him to process the information but he could only ask one question at this point.

"You and Aerith are married?" He half-stated, half-questioned.

"Yeah, well sorta…listen this thing a bit complicated in the lifestream but that's not why I'm here," Zack explained.

"Then why are you here?" Cloud asked again.

"Are you eager to get rid of me or something?" Zack asked back.

"I wouldn't want to keep you from your wife," Cloud replied somewhat teasingly, "And what this about interfering and playing a matchmaker?"

"Well Zack began, remember that dream you had earlier, who do you think sent it," The raven-haired man explained before taking a sip of his drink.

"Why would she do something like that?" Cloud asked his eyed fixed on the bar counter before him.

"Don't ask me, I'm the one who keeps telling her to stop interfering," Zack took another sip of his drink.

"But that nightmare…it was so…" Cloud didn't finish.

"Yeah about that dream, it wasn't a dream per se more like a glimpse into the future," Zack began to explain, "It's basically one possible outcome and the most likely with the way you've been going."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked back.

"Hey do you remember when we worked for Shin-Ra, who was it you always talked about?" Zack questioned Cloud.

"That was a long time ago," Cloud answered bringing his gaze to meet his friend's.

"Yeah, but I remember there was a time you wouldn't shut up about this Tifa," Zack spoke knowing his friend was beginning to get uncomfortable, "Do you know how badly you hurt her last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you told her you can't return what you felt for her, that you don't love her," Zack continued, "Do you know for how long she's waited for you?"

"It's not that simple…it's…" Cloud strayed off again.

"Hey I probably know you better than anyone else, so don't try pulling that crap with me...or else I'll kick your ass…I also know that's not the case," Zack said as he stood up to face his friend.

"It's not that I don't love her…it's that I don't understand my feelings when it comes to her," Cloud began to explain, he looked up at his friend who was only slightly taller than him.

Zack sighed he was finally getting somewhere, "Then how do you feel about her?"

"I don't know…I care for her a lot, I hate seeing her with other men, even if she don't have any romantic interest in them, just to see them try flirting with her…I despise it, I despise them." He said his eyes looking on the floor beneath him.

"What is it you want from her?" Zack asked.

Cloud was a bit taken back from the question it was the first time he had been asked that, and also the first time he had actually thought about it. What was it he wanted from her? Did he even want something from her? No, he didn't, "All I want," Cloud spoke, "Is to make her happy…yeah…that's all I ever wanted."

"But you don't love her?" Zack questioned him.

"I don't know," Cloud replied.

"Don't know?" Zack asked.

"Love, I barely know what emotion, but I know it's nothing compared to what I feel for her…I just want her to keep smiling, I never want to see her sad, just to be with her and stay with her, that's what I want."

"Why don't you tell her that?" Zack asked, "Can't you see you're causing the opposite of what you want, instead of making her happy you're making her sad."

Cloud eyes shot up to glance at his friend, "Tell her how you feel, what you really feel, I'm sure you can make her happy, and change the future." The raven-haired man said.

"This is a dream isn't it?" Cloud asked.

"I guess you'll figure out soon," Zack finished then hit his un-suspecting friend with another hard head-butt."

Cloud's eyes opened wide as he lay on his bed. His forehead was hurting, strangely, he sat up off his bed and glanced around his room, it was another dream. He got off the bed and walked towards the window, it was early morning, and the sky was overcast with, he looked out the window, it was probably raining heavily earlier because he saw puddles of water and there was still a light drizzle. He placed his fingertips on he window, it was frosted but he felt the sensation he wanted to feel, he felt the coldness of the glass. It was obvious this wasn't a dream.

Quickly the blue-eyed swordsman left his room, he was still half-naked but didn't care he needed to talk with Tifa, and sure enough with the hurry in which he left his room he was unable to see where he was going and accidentally bumped into her. Tifa fell back on her butt, while Cloud stammered back a bit.

"Ouch Cloud, watch where you're going," Tifa said but never once looking up at him.

Her heart was racing, just being around him was beginning to feel uncomfortable, after all with what he had told her before, it made it difficult for her to be in his presence no matter how much she loved being around him it was still difficult.

"Sorry Tifa," Cloud apologized he then proceeded to give her his hand, Tifa accepted but looked away.

Feeling her skin touch his was like throwing gasoline on a fire, it made Tifa erupt on the inside, her eyes begged for tears to come, she wished the heartache would stop, but it couldn't, the night gone she had forced herself to stop thinking of him but to no avail and the more she kept thinking the more the tears would flow, it was an endless cycle.

As Tifa came to her feet her eyes turned to face him daring to look into the pair cerulean orbs before him, she began to get lost, but soon something happened she didn't expect, Cloud suddenly wrapped his arms around her and embraced her tightly, the young maiden was surprised to hear his sobs.

"Tifa I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Cloud apoligized

"Cloud is everything alright?" She asked her heart pounding wildly from their close proximity, she was almost sure he could hear them, she really needed to think about something else, "Cloud, isn't Vincent, Red and Yuffie supposed to come by this morning?"

Cloud suddenly remembered, he had told Tifa that they were coming to visit, but hearing her say Vincent's name…that was something he could go without, he hated it, after the nightmare he had he didn't want to hear her speaking his name.

Tifa mustering all her strength broke the embrace. She smiled at him and proceeded to walk toward the stairs faster than usual. She could feel the tears began to form despite her hardest effort to fight them back.

Then without any notice Cloud grabbed Tifa's wrist, without having a second to respond or to know what was going on, the next action Cloud did caused and eruption of emotions within the crimson-eyed maiden, because Cloud had spun her around with one swift movement brought his lips down on hers wrapping his arms around slender frame.

To Be Concluded…

Well that's the first part of the epilogue, I broke it into two parts because it's kinda large, and I did say this would change the entire scope of the fic didn't I. Did you really believe I would abandon CloTi? This chapter may seem kinda confusing but I'll explain everything in the next chapter. Well one more chapter to go then I'm finished. I also want to update my other ff7 fic but I want to finish this one, so I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible.

Oh and don't be like Cloud and leave without saying anything, you see where that got him didn't you, so leave a review and tell me what you think. Even if you hate it.

till next time...