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

Yay finally finished this story, that's it no more updates. Enjoy...

Epilogue part 2:

Beyond the Bounds... (continued)

…Longing…

One week had passed since the day both Cloud and Tifa had shared their first kiss. At Tifa was surprised, her body kept telling to the push him away and break it but her traitorous broken heart held on to the thread of hope that the emotions she felt for him were about to be returned. The kiss wasn't deep and didn't even last a full minute, his lips were just pressed against hers and ever so lightly and gently brushed over hers. It's wasn't full of hunger and lust, but the gentle kiss held a tiny speck of untapped passion.

That brief kiss they shared was the first time her lips were ever pressed onto another's and she was pretty sure it was also his first time. Sadly however they had never shared another moment like that, but oddly enough there weren't any awkwardness between them. In fact the beautiful ruby-eyed maiden had never felt closer to him than she felt now, strangely enough she began to understand him. Cloud the boy whom she ignored as a child, the man she had grown to love, whose affection she longed for. She understood his pain, she understood his awkwardness, she understood his loneliness, even though he was surrounded by family and friends, by people who loved him and cared for him, she now realized that he was also lonely. And Aerith understood this, she saw through him, she never met the real Cloud but she understood him, that's why Cloud felt closest to her and part of him was still attached to her.

Now Tifa was beginning to understand him, Cloud had been in a chemically induced coma for five years while being experimented on, when he escaped he was still in a vegetative state and when he finally regained consciousness his memories mixed inconsistently with another's involuntarily forcing him to adopt their traits and characteristics. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but she was jealous of Cloud's attraction to Aerith, even if it began because of Zack's personality she somehow felt that the real Cloud was attracted to her also and it seemed that Aerith was the only one who tried to get the real Cloud back, but what pained her the most was that Tifa knew that things were so wrong and instead of telling Cloud the truth she didn't, she kept the truth to herself thinking she was protecting him.

It could be said that Aerith's death was her fault, if she had opened her mouth and said something, things could have ended up so differently and Cloud wouldn't have fell victim to Sephiroth's will. Now that was all in the past, all the mistakes and sorrow, and Tifa was finally learning from them, she wanted Cloud's affection, the same affection he gave to Aerith. But it was wrong of her to force it out of him, after all she could now feel his pain, his longing. She had to patient with him.

Tifa's eyes stared up at the ceiling, she was in her bed trapped underneath the white sheets. Dawn had not yet broken and it was raining heavily. A powerful torrent of showers had conceived itself earlier, it was what had awoken her from her slumber and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't go back to sleep. She didn't know what time it was but it was still dark outside, she didn't even cast a glance at the small clock on her bedside table instead she turned to the opposite side, to her window. It was closed but the curtains were parted allowing her to see to countless tiny raindrops on the glass, they formed streams and collided with one another as they ran down the glass. However for everyone that streamed down three more took it's place. She listened to the rain while lost in her thoughts, her thoughts of a certain blond spiky-haired male that lived with her.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a soft knock on the door. The knock was so soft she thought it was Marlene.

"Tifa are you up?" A male voice asked.

Instantly she recognized the voice and sat up holding the thick white blanket in front of her.

"Door's open Cloud," She replied.

"Can I enter?" He asked.

That was Cloud, he would have to get a definite answer before he would enter.

"Yes, please," Tifa answered.

The door slowly opened and Cloud stepped in, his hair was as it always was, refusing to he tamed, he was dressed only in his dark long pants that he uses to sleep in leaving his top half exposed.

Tifa instantly smiled upon seeing him.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

The azure-eyed warrior walked over to her bed, "I couldn't sleep because of the rain," He confessed, "And I wanted to see if you were up." He said solemnly.

"Well as you can see I'm wide awake," The raven-haired beauty stated. He was lying, she knew it, he was lonely and wanted company.

Tifa shifted around in her bed making place for him to sit, upon seeing her gesture Cloud sat at the edge of her bed. He stared straight into her ruby-like eyes. He found them captivating, they were beautiful and alluring, also filled with compassion, understanding and love. Both didn't speak another word, instead Cloud brought up his right hand to gently touch her cheek, without speaking any words their faces grew closer together, they both leant forward until both their forehead were touching. They were gently resting on each other as if supporting each other. Words were not exchanged, they were not necessary.

Cloud had remembered every second of the nightmare Aerith had second, everything he experienced within it not just his own pain but Tifa's, after all it was his dream but he saw things from her point of view also, he saw everything within the dream even if he wasn't there, her relationship with Vincent, the pain she was trying to overcome, the mixed and confused emotions within her heart. But he realized something about the dream relationship between her and Vincent…it wasn't real…what he saw through her eyes, whenever she kissed him she was picturing Cloud, but not on purpose, she was trying to forget him, trying to get his image out of her mind so she could kiss Vincent but she could only kiss him when she pictured him as Cloud.

Of course it was only a dream and he didn't know if that's who she felt. The dream was concocted by Aerith and only in her mind would she conceive a relationship like Vincent and Tifa. Vincent was not even present when the rest of the crew came, it was only Yuffie and Red, but if it was to awaken his emotions to Tifa it worked. But one thing still bothered him, it was the ending of the dream. Why did he leave? He didn't understand that. All he ever wanted was her happiness.

But he now felt something strange, an emotion he had never experienced before, not even with Aerith.

"Cloud, I'm sorry," Tifa said silently.

Cloud looked up to see Tifa looking at him sadly with tears in her eyes.

"Tifa what are you apologizing for?" Cloud asked.

"I'm sorry, for everything," She said letting her hands drop to her sides and turning her face down towards the sheets.

"Tifa," Cloud said as he raised her chin with one of her fingers so she could look him in the eyes. He was smiling at her, a soft expression on his face, something she had never witnessed before. At that moment nothing else mattered, not the heavy rain pouring outside, not the brief flashes of lightning and not the rolling sounds of thunder.

Without any further warning he lowered his lips onto hers. It was exactly like their first kiss, soft but pleasurable. After a few seconds the couple separated.

"Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"Tifa, you asked me once if I loved you?" He asked her.

Tifa remembered that question, she remembered the time she asked him, he was asleep on his bed or she thought he was asleep, because his eyes flew open the next second and she immediately changed the question, "You knew all along?"

"Yeah I did," He replied turning his gaze to the wooden floor, "I told you before I can't return what you feel for me."

This time those words didn't hurt like they did before, "It's alright Cloud," Tifa replied. After all he didn't exactly say that he didn't love her.

"In truth," He began, "I don't know what I feel but after thinking about it," then Tifa realized why Cloud was still up, he was trying to sort out his emotions.

Tifa felt guilty, she knew he was never good at experiencing and expressing emotions and all this started because of her. She never should have forced him to try to make sense of emotions he had never experienced and was alien to him.

"Tifa," the cerulean-eyed swordsman began again, "All that I know… all I have ever done I have done for you…I just…I just want you to be happy," There he had said it, he was now honest with his feelings.

Tifa cupped his face with both her hands and brought his gaze to hers, she was smiling at him, "Cloud it's alright, you and I…we are eternal."

Cloud smiled back and embraced her, Tifa wrapped her hands around him and rested her chin on his neck, "We'll always be together, Tifa," Cloud said softly, "Forever," He whispered. In truth he still didn't understand his emotions when it came to her but he knew that he needed her in his life, he needed her presence always around, he needed her sight, the sound of her voice, the smell of her fragrance, he needed it all.

The two kept their embrace as the rain stopped falling and the grey skies began to part, and a golden sun starting to cast the first rays of dawn. He hadn's confessed he loved her but she knew he cared for her more than he did anyone, she would have to be patient for him to come to terms with his emotions but she would wait, she loved him dearly and would wait for him.

Meanwhile...

"There good, they're happy together, are we done interfering?" A male black haired individual asked.

His female companion looked at him with a shocked expression, the were both standing in an ocean of endless white, with a large holographic screen in front of them showing the events of what had happened in Tifa's room.

"OF COURSE NOT!" The female exclaimed, "We're not finished until he confesses his undying love for her and impregnates her!"

"Aerith please, can't we leave them alone, I'm sure they'll be fine by themselves," Zack said lazily.

Aerith put one of her fingers under her chin and tilted her head up, she was lost in thought.

"I still wonder why he left in that vision I sent him?" She asked herself.

Zack turned to her, "You said that dream was a vision of an improper future?" He asked.

"Yeah," She replied looking at him questioningly.

"Except for you Vincent and Tifa coupling, everything happens as it should right?" He asked again.

"I fail to see your point," She retorted.

"Well I can only make an estimated guess but if I had to I'd say he was being summoned," The long raven-haired Ex-SOLDIER replied.

"What do you mean summoned by whom?" The emerald-green eyed girl asked.

Zack turned to her, "By G…"

-Fin

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There that's it I'm finally finished! Let's just say I'm not to happy about this last chapter. I don't like the way it ended, but I've been through several re-writes and this is the one that pleases me the most. Oh and about the whole dream thing, I'm suprised many people didn't catch it, it started I think at chapter 4 or 5 and went on to chapter 12, but I left subtle hints along the way, little inconsistancies, like the date scene for example pre-dream, it says Cloud and Tifa went on the date at Gold Saucer but during the date in the dream it says he went with Aerith instead, there are a few others. Well look out for another fic from me in the future, I already have one planned, haven't picked a name yet though. Also the sub-subtitle for this chapter named longing, I thought it was suitable seeing as Cloud longs to understand his emotions, while Tifa longs for Cloud's affection, also if you ever listened to the song Longing by Gackt, I thought it would suit this chapter. Unfortunately it's only in Japanese but if you understand Japanese it's really cool.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys were the best, I read all the reviews, they were motivation to complete this fic. Thanks. Remember to leave a review for this chapter though, as I might decide to do a sequel after I finish Desert Twilight.

Farewell.

Rend

"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them"- Kahlil Gibran.