Prompt: Sunrise

Tifa always got home from the dojo just as the sun was rising.

It was her favourite time of day, walking through the quiet streets under weak rays of golden light. It would be slightly cold this time of year, her breath turning into puffs of steam. Her muscles would be a little sore and loose after her morning workout, and still she would feel fresh and energised: ready for a new day.

Not today. The sun was not rising, the city was not quiet, and she did not feel energised.

The sun was halfway up it's morning trek into the sky by the time she slid her key into the apartment door. She tried to open it silently, feeling like an irresponsible teenager sneaking home after curfew.

Maybe Cloud wouldn't be in, he might have stayed the night at Zack's place, or Aerith's. Or maybe he wasn't awake yet and she wouldn't have to answer any questions. Her housemate didn't do mornings, she could just play it cool.

She dropped her gym bag, pulled off her sneakers, and glanced at herself in the hallway mirror. Not too frazzled, but her cheeks were pinker than normal. Did her lips look overly swollen? Her hair was a bit rough. She ran her fingers through it and walked into the living room.

Cloud stood in his pajamas, holding a bowl of cereal.

"Hey," he said around a mouthful of cornflakes. "You're home late."

"Nothing happened!"

He blinked.

She slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Alright..." He raised his eyebrows. "So what happened?"

"Nothing. I was just at the dojo. You know, Thursdays," she said.

"Thursdays. You and Sephiroth practice hand to hand, right?" He gave her a weird look as he ate another spoonful. "Did you two… get breakfast?"

She shook her head. "He had to get to work."

"Don't you finish at, like, 6?"

She could feel her cheeks warming up. "It ran late."

He narrowed his eyes. "Teef," he said, and a tiny smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "What did you do?"

She hunched her shoulders.

"We were just sparring… then, we were... not sparring."

He raised his eyebrows. "In the dojo."

"In the dojo," she replied, mortified.

"'Not sparring'?"

"Not sparring."

"On the mats?"

She swallowed. "Against the wall."

Cloud snorted a laugh.

She buried her head in her hands.

"Does he 'not spar' as well as he spars?"

She groaned. She didn't think it was possible for her to get more flushed than she already was. And yes. He did. By the planet, he did. Her legs were sore and something inside of her still felt loose and deeply satisfied. She couldn't believe she'd actually done it.

Cloud frowned.

"Hey, are you alright? It wasn't anything bad was it?"

"No! No, it was not bad. I-" she cut herself off. She'd initiated it. Cloud probably didn't need to know that.

"So what's wrong?"

She wrung her hands. She'd thought about it, sure. Imagined it, even entertained herself alone at night over it, but that was one thing. She needed to call him, but...

"How am I supposed to ask if he wants to come back and train again without insinuating that I'm expecting-" she burst out, and then cut herself off again. "I own the dojo so it's, you know, it's weird."

Cloud shrugged and shovelled himself another mouthful of cereal.

"But I don't want him to think that that's the only reason I like sparring with him. Or for him to think that I didn't enjoy it! But I don't want to make him feel like this morning set some kind of precedent either, in case it wasn't… wasn't something he wants to do again."

Cloud gave her a deadpan expression. He pointedly looked her up and down.

"Oh shut up," she said. She collapsed onto the old couch.

"He looks at your hands a lot."

Tifa narrowed her eyes.

Cloud smiled that irritating little smile he had when he thought he was being sneaky. "Did he ask you to-"

"Do you want to see my hands up close?"

"Nope."

"Maybe... you could call him for me?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that." He sat at the tiny table, which was covered in various half packaged motorbike parts. He started sorting through them.

"Cloud," she whined, well aware she was being a bit pathetic. "I don't know what to do. I've never…"

"Screwed your friend who's crazy about you in a public place?"

"I did not," she said reflexively. She frowned and then amended, "he is not."

"Are you really worse at this than me?" Cloud asked, not looking over. "Huh."

She dragged a hand down her face. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. Her last message was from Sephiroth the night before, confirming that he was still on for practice for this morning.

The typing symbol flashed under his name. She sat up straight and watched it intently. It disappeared. It reappeared, then disappeared again. She fidgeted. She typed something herself. It came out stilted and awful. She deleted it.

She watched the typing symbol disappear again with socially awkward dread building in the pit of her stomach.

Cloud watched her anguish with a smile. She threw a couch cushion at him.

Her phone vibrated in her hand.

'Thank you for an enjoyable morning.'

She bit her lip. What did that mean? Should she thank him back?

'I enjoyed it too, hope to see you next week!' she typed. No, no, too much. 'I had a good time too,' she typed instead. She braced herself and sent that.

The typing symbol flashed a couple more times. She groaned.

"What are you doing, Tifa?" she muttered. This was ridiculous. She squeezed her eyes shut and tapped the call button.

He picked up immediately.

"Good morning Tifa," he said.

She smiled into the phone, and it was fine. Of course it was. She remembered how he had groaned into her mouth less than an hour ago.

Cloud mouthed something teasing at her and she ignored him.

"Good morning, you," she replied.

Next Time: Possibly mermaids? I haven't fully decided, its either a Mer-AU or its the angstiest angst that ever angsted.