Disclaimer: Final Fantasy, characters and everything associated with the Final Fantasy world belong to Square Enix.
Summary: In which Cloud reminds Tifa of the conversation they had under the Highwind.
Warnings: Please note that some of the stories will contain spoilers or reference to the original game, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core and Remake.
Here's another bad cliche attempt at a lemon and angst, followed by a cheesy ending. Enjoy!
~Words~
Tifa once asked him if he loved her.
When he stirred in his sleep, her heart raced. She was anxious of the answer he would give her.
In an instant she twisted the words and made it about Marlene.
Tifa never brought up again.
Things were going well until she discovered his secret. The illness he had been hiding from her and the family.
She hated the fact that he left them to fight Geostigma and live in Aerith's church alone.
They were a team, a unit. How could he push her away? She had thought they were stronger together, and had hoped he leaned on her more often.
Her heart ached, like a dagger had stabbed it several times.
But she held on strong for the kids and their comrades. At least when she was around them.
At night, she would often find herself wandering toward his dark, cold empty bedroom and quietly sob into his pillow for hours on end.
The faint scent of Cloud lingered, a combination of rose and white musk.
She was exhausted, unable to have a good night's sleep. The little makeup she used was enough to hide the dark circles under underneath her eyes
He had given her his answer in the most cruelest way possible.
It was only days after he had been healed.
Tifa could still barely look him in the eyes, even though they had a brief heart to heart about family, even when he told her he felt lighter now and had given that genuine smile she had not seen in so long at the church.
Days when he finally took it upon himself to actually talk about where they stood in their dysfunctional relationship.
Would it even be called dysfunctional if there was really anything between them at all?
She wasn't ready for this. It was too soon and she just couldn't bear the heartache again.
Cloud had abandoned her before.
She was afraid the moment she accepted happiness with him again, it would be ripped away in an instant.
"Tifa, please...I'm sorry, I really am."
He had apologized many times before but most of them didn't hold any meaning. He'd always that stupid scratch behind his head and give her a nonchalant shrug.
This time, Cloud stepped forward and cupped her face with his trembling hands, stroking her lips with his thumbs.
His mako eyes bore into her glistening orbs. No shrug or half-assed apologies.
She fought back the tears welling up as Cloud's face inched closer. She could feel his breath tickle her skin.
"Don't kiss me unless you mean it."
The tears fell uncontrollably.
She wanted to push away, but the moment he captured her lips, her body froze.
She didn't have the energy to fully fight back.
He tasted her salty tears, butterfly kisses from her forehead, to her cheekbone and to her neck.
His fingers played with her long tresses as a soft moan escaped from her throat.
Before she knew it, Cloud had hoisted her up on his work desk. The items that were strewn on top slid to the floor: notepads, papers, receipts, pens, photo frames, Aerith's flowers and other knick-knacks. Cloud didn't care.
He simply wanted to keep his lips locked with hers while wedging himself between her legs.
His kisses are now fervent now. His hands trailed up and down her thighs.
Tifa did not recall when he had unzipped her black leather top off or when he lifted her white t-shirt up. Her bra unhooked with ease and was pushed up as well to expose her chest.
He traced his knuckles across her faint scar before trailing chaste kisses from the very right tip, to the bottom left.
He remembered the day Sephiroth had given it to her, and how much rage filled him that day.
Tifa did not deserve such an ugly scar, he told her between each kiss. She shuddered, wincing at the phantom pain with each touch of his lips.
Cloud apologized to her over and over.
He reminded her of the words she once told him under the Highwind before the final battle at the Northern Crater.
"Words aren't the only way to tell someone how you feel."
He reminded her of the throes of passion in the Chocobos stable, how he had ached for a moment like that again.
It was the only time felt at ease, even when the world was near its end.
Tifa let out a gasp when he pushed her further against the desk, her back hitting the adjacent wall. He nibbled at her earlobe, his teeth grazing gently across her skin.
His mouth eventually found their way back to her chest and covered her right breast, tongue flicking and sucking her nipple.
He told her that all the pain he caused, all the shit he has put her through these last 2 years were his own fear of losing the people most important to him.
Fear of failing her, Marlene, Denzel and everyone else.
This was a miserable man who had escaped the brink of death multiple times, had been experimented on and lost four years of his precious life, fallen into an identity crisis with false memories, and letting the darkness and guilt eat at him.
Geostigma was just the tip of the iceberg. It was difficult to make the decision to leave in the first place.
Cloud does not hesitate to pour out his feelings, the one thing Tifa only wished for.
Her tears still trickled down her cheeks as he stroked his fingers against her sacred folds.
Tifa was too lost in the moment to notice the little things he did to her.
His actions were blurred by his constant reminders of the things he wished he could have done better, of the things he wanted to do with her now and in the future.
His pants were low and soothing to her ears, as he whispered his never ending list of wishes. He wanted her to hear it all, to let her know that everything he wanted was to be with her.
Cloud was already inside her by the time Tifa's tears had dried up. She didn't know when it happened because it still looked like his pants were still on. It hung loosely around his hips, as he slowly slid in and out of her.
He wanted this. As often as they could. He'd take job deliveries around the area, closer the city. The long journeys around the continent would only be a rare occasion.
He wanted to feel her close to him every night if could. Only if Tifa agreed to it. At the back of her mind, she wanted it just as much as he did too.
These were the things he never really told her during the last two years they've lived under the same roof.
When Cloud began the acceleration of his thrusts, Tifa muffled the screams of his name into his chest.
His grunts were short, her name barely escaping his lips. With each choked back sigh, Cloud never once closed his eyes or looked away while he made bittersweet love to her.
He looked over her beautiful red flushed face, strings of hair sticking to her skin.
His clothes had soon become too hot to wear, sticky from his sweat and too itchy.
He pulled off his shirt without stopping his relentless pounds into her, letting the clothing fall to the heap on the floor with the rest of her clothes and items from his desk.
Cloud could tell that Tifa was hesitant at first, trying to fight him off. He had to hold her down with his fingers gripping her wrists tightly.
He had wanted her to know this was more than just a whirlwind of emotions.
This may have been the primary reason for this lustful moment between them, but his kisses meant everything.
His words were not just empty like before.
The bottom of the desk scooted across the floor, and something cracked. The desk was on the verge of collapsing, but that did not stop him from quickly rolling his hips against hers.
He would just have to build another desk later.
Tifa had already allowed him more room and leverage by wrapping one leg around his upper waist and the other hung loosely over his shoulder.
There were so many more unspoken words. Tifa had reminded him of the days of their childhood, how she thought of him everyday since he left to become a Shinra SOLDIER.
How much she had admired him since he promised to become her hero.
He had nearly forgotten that she felt that way about him. Had let himself drown in guilt and sorrow to see what was truly there. He had met her again in the lifestream. All was going well until he had lost her again when he was inflicted with Geostigma.
After all is said and done today, they were one again, laughing and crying together.
It was now that they were able to meet again, to forget everything and let their feelings show through this moment of euphoria.
"Shit, Teef, I'm about to—"
He was about to pull out but Tifa did want to let him go. She did not want this to end this so soon.
"No, don't stop! Please..."
Cloud's movements became erratic as he tried his best to keep on a while longer.
When he released his seed, letting everything spill inside of her, Tifa finally allowed herself to cry out, Cloud's name echoing from his room. It was loud enough to be heard from the bar downstairs.
Fortunately it was just the two of them alone. They would not need to explain to Marlene and Denzel about the 'shouting match' and 'practice fighting' between Cloud and Tifa.
The desk was not holding on much longer as another crack sounded.
Fearful of crashing down and causing unnecessary injury, with the last of his strength, Cloud blindly moved them both over to his twin size bed in the corner.
Tifa's lush frame nestled against his. They were both still breathless from their extravagant exercise.
He felt much lighter now. Much more so than when he told her right before the final battle with Bahamut Sin.
He was not letting her go this time and whispered that he would never leave her again.
It was a promise he sealed with a kiss, which he placed upon the crown of her head.
Cloud held onto her and watched her sleep peacefully for the first time in months.
He soon followed, exhaustion taking over him. He didn't have any worries holding him down either.
It was in the middle of the afternoon, a slow day at the bar and three months since they had reconciled.
Tifa was collecting all the dirty dishes left by the last customer when the bar's phone landline ringed.
Upon hearing his voice on the other end, and the faint sound of Fenrir's engine roaring in the background, Tifa' lips formed a saccharine smile.
"Hey, can you close up the bar early today?"
The request from Cloud was a first for Tifa and it made her heart swell with joy. She was deep in thought to their last three months together that she actually forgot to answer him.
"Tifa?"
Tifa snapped back to reality and quickly answered, "Yes, of course, only if you tell me why."
Although he spoke calmly, Tifa could hear a hint of excitement in his voice,
"Let's go on a journey together, just for the weekend, you and me. I found a nice mountain side with wild flowers. You'll love it."
That was one of the many first wishes he had told her about when he had her pinned down on his work desk.
She agreed without further hesitation, already prepping her luxury one of a kind Andrea Rhodea travel bag.
"Oh, and Teef, don't forget to pack extra blankets. We're going for a wild ride."
Tifa bit her lip in anticipation at Cloud's innuendo.
He had begun a new habit of telling her bad pickup lines and hints whenever he wanted to sink himself deep into her again.
It was something she had become accustomed to with this newfound bond between them.
"I can't wait."
~owari