DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VII and its characters are wholly the properties of Square Enix. This story is written purely for entertainment and not profit.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a Secret Santa gift for Saphx on the Final Heaven Discord Server. You can find Saphx on Twitter at the handle "animebunnie" (go check out some of her amazing artwork). Please enjoy.

Snowball Fight

Written by daBOSSz

"In our latest forecast, Edge continues to be pounded by a massive snowstorm that is dumping upwards of a meter of snow in and around the city. The WRO has strongly recommended that all residents in the Edge-Kalm area stay home and refrain from leaving their residencies unless absolutely necessary."

Tifa sighed in frustration upon hearing the report over the radio. The winter snow had been piling up in Edge for quite a few days, but the snowstorm that swept into the city the previous day was showing no signs of leaving yet. The weather kept everyone cooped up, and Seventh Heaven saw only one patron yesterday. With reports of the storm hanging around, Tifa knew it would be pointless to open for business as residents were being told to remain at home.

At the very least, Tifa was thankful that Marlene and Denzel were not around. Nanaki had invited the children to Cosmo Canyon for a few days to learn more about the planet, and the two of them had left just before the storm arrived. Tifa had called them last night and informed them that they had dodged the elephant, but was instead met by voices of frustration at missing the opportunity to play in the snow.

"Don't worry, you'll be back before it all melts away," she reassured them.

Tifa walked to the front door and locked it, keeping the sign displayed as "closed." She had gotten up early for her usual morning training, but with no bar preparations to keep her busy, she'd need to find another activity to prevent boredom from settling in. She thought about calling Cosmo Canyon again to check on Marlene and Denzel but quickly dismissed the idea, since it was likely that Nanaki already had the day planned out for them.

Noise from upstairs deterred her attention momentarily. She walked over to the staircase and listened.

"Yes, I understand," came Cloud's voice from his office. "Unfortunately, there isn't anything I can do. The WRO wants us to stay home for safety's sake, so your deliveries will have to wait."

His tone made it clear that he had been speaking with an exasperated customer who would not be receiving deliveries today. While Tifa understood that a snowstorm never bothered Cloud, he had, in recent years, grown more obligated to uphold the image of a responsible individual by setting solid examples and following WRO protocol. They both understood that, as saviors of the planet, they carried high profiles in the eyes of Edge's residents, which meant that the wrong message could be sent if Cloud was defying WRO instructions by carrying on as normal while the rest of the city was forced to shut down. Thus, unless there was an actual urgent need for his services, Cloud would suspend his deliveries when circumstances called for such a move.

Tifa looked outside the back window and noticed that the snow had piled up to almost-knee level. She didn't know what came over her at that moment, but she suddenly conjured up a devious idea. Putting on her cold-weather attire, which she kept downstairs in the bar area throughout the winter, she hastily wrote a note to Cloud to meet her outside the back door and left it on the counter where she knew he would find it. She then exited out the back door, and after experiencing the initial chill of the blast of icy wind and snow, hid around the corner to wait for Cloud's arrival.

As she waited, she gathered a small pile of snow in her gloved hands and rolled it into a ball. The longer she lingered there, the more mischievous her mind became, and she found it increasingly difficult to keep her breathing steady as she anticipated the moment when she would strike.

Cloud, predictably, exited the building slowly, taking his time to close the door tightly behind him. Tifa had hidden herself around the back corner so that Cloud would not be facing her when he walked forward away from the door, and as soon as he appeared in her line of sight, she launched the snowball directly at him. It struck his upper back for a perfect bulls-eye, catching him completely off guard, causing him to stumble slightly forward from the hit.

She was giggling like a schoolgirl by the time he whirled around and met her eyes, and she watched as his expression immediately shifted from alert to playful.

"One-zero," she taunted him. "Come on, Strife, let's see what you got!"

He instantly started gathering snow, but she was faster, having gained the upper hand with her surprise attack. Before he could finish rolling his snow up, she had already hurled her second one at him. This time, it struck his hands and forced him to drop whatever snow he had already palmed.

"Two-zero," she said again. "I thought you were better than this!"

Seemingly desperate to score a point, he grabbed whatever snow he could and threw it in her direction. However, by then, she was already on the move, easily using her agility to dodge the small amount of snow that he had sent her way. She rolled up more snow as she bounced away, and after avoiding his second throw, fired another perfect strike that skirted through his hands and landed directly against his chest.

"Three-zero," she updated him.

"Come on, Tifa," he slightly griped. "Aren't we a little too old for this?"

"You're just saying that because you can't beat me," she teased some more. It was simply too fun to get him agitated sometimes.

Tifa knew that Cloud had a fun side. He'd shown it from time to time, taking her and the children on recreational trips to various places around Edge and beyond. It took a while for him to start living again after working to clear his guilty conscience, but eventually, he began letting down his guard more as he learned to settle into a normal life. Part of him would always feel undeserving of some of their more relaxing moments, but she learned that it was possible to coax the fun out of him with a little effort.

Persistent, playful teasing was often enough to achieve such desired results, and it seemed to be working as she watched the determination start to build on his face.

She grabbed another fistful of snow and threw it in his direction, but this time, he'd been prepared, ducking out of its way before immediately returning fire. She tried to leap aside, but he'd anticipated her move, and she wound up jumping directly in its path. The moment the snow slammed against her side, she watched his lips curl up in a sinister smile.

"Three-one," he announced.

There was the Cloud she loved.

"Took you long enough!" she responded. "But this is as close as you're getting!"

With no trees for cover, they both could only rely on their agility to avoid each other's attacks, and this was where Tifa knew she had Cloud beat. As he ran after her to close their distance and get a more accurate shot, she easily outmaneuvered him by sprinting laterally and occasionally flipping over one of his lower-trajectory throws.

The snowball fight grew more intense, and as it did so, both lost track of the score. It didn't matter anyway, since by now, they were both chuckling like young children again. Needless to say, this was not the image they dared to display in front of others, but behind Seventh Heaven with no one else around, they were free to let their playful natures loose.

Tifa was having so much fun hurling snow at Cloud that she didn't even notice that he had closed the distance between the two of them quite significantly. By the time she realized that he was directly in front of her, she tried to pull away with a well-timed leap over him. This time though, he was faster, reaching up and grabbing her leg before she could reach her maximum height. He pulled her down quickly but gently, and she collapsed on her back directly onto a smooth pile of snow. Before she had a chance to roll away, he was hovering over her with one arm on each side, trapping her in between.

Lighthearted laughter initially filled the space between them, but once it started dying down down, Tifa could feel the mood shift in a different direction. As she and Cloud continued to stare at each other's expressions, the playfulness slowly transformed into a growing desire. It took about a minute, but Tifa soon found herself feeling the heat emanating from the situation that they had created. One look into Cloud's eyes told her that he sensed the same emotions from within himself, and as their smiles started fading, their longing for each other became more visible on their faces.

"You know, I just realized we haven't had a snowball fight since Nibelheim," Cloud remarked, dispelling a small amount of the buildup. "Do you remember?"

She did. Now that he brought it up, she remembered it all too well.

The storm that had swept through Nibelheim from the north had just passed, blanketing the town and turning it into a winter wonderland. With her father at work, Tifa saw her opportunity to play around in the snow.

She was already outside constructing a snowman. Some adults may have seen what she was doing and consider it too childish for someone her age, but having taken on all of her mother's responsibilities in the years since her passing, Tifa certainly did not have as many occasions to be a child as some of her peers. Consequently, this had caused an unintentional rift between her and her friends, who now no longer regarded her as closely as they once did, but it was not as if Tifa had a choice.

Just as she put up the middle section of the snowman, Tifa noticed the back door of her neighbor's house open, and a certain fair-haired teen walked out. This instantly brought a smile to her face; a few days ago, before the snowstorm hit, she had met him atop the water tower, and he had told her his plans of leaving for Midgar come spring while she made him promise that he'd rescue her if she was ever in trouble. It was sudden, but she greatly appreciated the gesture, having long been curious about him.

He'd been so distant and aloof that she had never seen if there was a fun side to him. Now she had an opportunity to find out.

"Hey, Cloud!" she shouted, catching his attention. "Are you busy?"

"Huh? Oh, hey Tifa!" he responded. "Not really. Just coming out to see how much snow there is."

"Then come on over," she invited. "My father's not home right now. Want to help me build this snowman?"

"Uh, sure," he agreed slightly hesitantly.

He made his way over to her yard, and she greeted him with her trademark smile.

"I'm almost done. I just need the get the head up here," she said, patting the midsection she'd constructed. "Would you mind helping me?"

"Sure, I can do it," he answered, and she detected an uptick of enthusiasm in his voice.

Tifa stood back and watched Cloud work. He gathered the snow and rolled it into a sphere slightly smaller than the midsection at a much faster pace than she would have. The strength and speed that he was working at greatly impressed her, and he seemed to be genuinely enjoying the activity. She wondered if he'd ever built his own snowman before; if so, she'd never seen it in his yard.

As he lifted the head up to place atop the midsection though, another idea flashed in Tifa's mind, and the rare rebellious teenager side of her decided that she wanted to push her luck with her playfulness. Standing behind Cloud, she picked up a little snow with one hand and squeezed it into a sphere of its own. Then, just as Cloud finished steadying the head's position, Tifa threw the snowball directly at him, striking him on his upper back.

Cloud instantly whirled around, and Tifa gave him a lightheartedly sinister grin.

"Aren't you going to do anything about that, Mr. Future SOLDIER?" she provoked.

He didn't respond with any words. Instead, he simply bent down and started picking up his own snow. Tifa's smile could only widen, and she quickly began preparing herself for her second throw. Before he could aim, she already hurled another shot of snow at him; this time, the snow fell apart mid-throw and rained down on him, distracting him enough to provide her with the opportunity to run.

Cloud threw his snowball in her direction, but his aim was off since she had now become a moving target. She trudged around her yard, avoiding as many of his snowballs as she could while continuing to fire her own at him whenever she had the chance to. He tried to chase after her, but she always seemed to be one step ahead, preventing him from narrowing the gap.

Then he finally caught her off guard. For a moment, her back was facing him, and he had thrown a rather large snowball at her. She turned around just in time for it to hit her squarely in the chest, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards into the snow. Before she had the chance to get up, she saw him crouched over her.

"Tifa, are you okay?" he asked with sincere concern.

She was more than okay. She was having more fun than she should be, and she would let him know.

Without warning, she reached up and grabbed his coat by the neck and playfully threw him down on his back onto a pile of snow next to her. Seconds later, their positions had been reversed, as she was now hovering over him.

"I'm more than okay," she said. "And that's what you get for scoring a hit on me."

She watched his expression change from concern to satisfaction.

"That's how you want to play it?" he asked.

Before she could even respond, he had grabbed hold of her waist, pulled her down, and rolled them both over so that he was now on top again. This time, his arms were on both sides of her.

The two of them spent the next minute simply laughing at their little impromptu game. However, as the laughter died down, another strange feeling began crawling into Tifa. As she glanced up at Cloud, she could see that his face had shifted as well. She lay there, unable to look away from the calming blue of his eyes, and the longer she stared, the more she felt her body heating up.

She didn't know why, but she suddenly could not stand the thought of him moving away from her. In fact, she actually wanted for him to obliterate any remaining distance between them. It felt confusing and awkward, but it also felt right.

Seconds, perhaps even minutes, passed. Both of them were still frozen in place with their exhaled breaths visibly colliding into each other before evaporating into the cold winter air. As the moment continued to linger, Tifa's longing to give into her inexplicable desire only grew.

She was just about to reach her hands up and pull Cloud down when he finally broke the moment, pushing himself back up into a standing position. She followed suit, but she could not help but feel disappointed at the end result.

"I…um…should go," Cloud uttered out.

"Oh…okay," Tifa replied, and an uneasy ping shot through her heart. "Thanks for helping me with the snowman."

He walked away rather slowly, but for Tifa, it seemed as though his departure was too quick. She remained unable to move by the time he had re-entered his house, still puzzled by what she had felt while he was over her as they lay in the snow. Eventually, when she finally found the will to move her legs again, she didn't bother finishing her snowman.

"Of course I remember, Cloud," Tifa answered. "In fact, think it's time we picked up from where we left off on that day."

She gave him a moment to digest her words, then looped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. It took only one chaste kiss for their mouths to open up and begin exploring each other. Around them, the snow continued to gently fall, piling atop the white flakes they already lay in, chilling their surroundings to the bone. Between them though, the heat that had built up was now fueling itself into a blaze, and as they continued to make out, the flames of desire burned brighter and heavier.

They both felt it, and Cloud soon reacted, pulling away to allow the winter breeze to chill the area between them momentarily. It wasn't enough though; the passion had been lit, and both of them knew that, once the sparks started to fly, there was no return without fully giving into satisfaction.

"You are so beautiful, Tifa," he said to her softly, and she knew this was him acknowledging their mutual desire.

He lowered himself to her lips and resumed his kisses, and as the weather continued to strike them with ice, Tifa began slowly feeling nothing but the fervor of Cloud's loving tenderness.

The two made love right there in the snow, creating the fire that completely neglected the storm's bitter chill.

Tifa awakened mid-afternoon to a familiar and comforting warmth: her back was against Cloud's chest while his arms were gripped around her waist. After heating up the snow behind Seventh Heaven, the two took their passion back inside their bedroom, not stopping until they eventually wore each other out and fell asleep from exhaustion.

Cloud began stirring as Tifa shifted herself to face him, and she greeted him with her gentle eyes.

"Hey, you," she said as soon as she caught sight of his cerulean orbs.

"Hey," he softly replied. "How long were we out for?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Frankly, I don't care."

Cloud gave her lips a soft kiss.

"You know, if all of our snowball fights ended like this, we should do this every day while there's still snow out there," he remarked.

"I can't object to that," she agreed.

She shifted forward, carrying him onto his back so that she could rest her body over his chest and bury her head into the crook of his neck.

"I'd say we more than finished what we started in Nibelheim, wouldn't you?" she asked.

He snickered in return, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against him again.

"Yeah, I definitely would."

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Happy Holidays, Saphx! I hope you enjoyed this. For everyone else, go to "animebunnie" on Twitter and check out her amazing artwork!

Thanks again to everyone on the Final Heaven Discord Server for organizing our Secret Santa event. This past year was rough for all of us, and I can't thank you all enough for all the joy you bring to the server!