"Did it hurt?" a very serious Tifa asked a rather confused Cloud. Her ruby eyes burning straight into a 17-year-old boy's sapphire orbs.
"What do you mean?" It was a rare sight for Tifa to be upset, and this time she seemed to be on the verge of tears. He's worried.
No one spoke for a few minutes. They stayed completely silent, now staring at the blue sky on the rooftop of their school. The bell already rang about thirty minutes ago, but they didn't care. They sat together just in the center, completely ignoring the flow of time.
When Tifa did decide to move, she snuggled herself closer to Cloud with her head resting on his shoulder. With one hand keeping him stable, he wraps the other around her shoulders while resting his face gently on top of her head. He kissed the top of her head, earning him a smile and a soft sigh.
Whatever their mothers had decided to start had managed to develop into more than a friendship more than a decade later. Though the whole concept of an arranged marriage was usually never favored by the parties involved, it was different for their case. They welcomed it wholeheartedly, and now the two are each other's support system. Though being a teenager still had its awkward moments; the times when it was just the two of them, they become rather open to each other.
"When your dad died, how did it hurt?" rather than stare him straight, she buried her face on his chest. Cloud just wrapped his arm tightly around her. He now had an idea what's going on.
Eliza Lockhart was not a very active woman. You could say that she's a rather delicate lady, but was well taken care of. Being the wife of the renowned Brian Lockhart, you would expect only the best medical care possible. However, as fate was not on their side, Eliza was diagnosed with a life threatening disease. Though she's in the best hospital at the moment, due to her naturally frail body, her health is struggling.
"Tifa, your mom will be okay. She'll be out and about soon, we'll even take her to-" before Cloud finished, he felt a hand clench on his shirt.
"How did it hurt?" she repeated. He sighed, Tifa was not really a pessimist, but when it came to her mother, it's become a struggle with Aunt being in and out of the hospital for half a year now.
"I was young; it never really did sink in to me that he was dead. Just that, he was gone from the house and I was going to be in charge. We were never close; he wasn't home a lot from what I recall."
"Mom is different…"
"I know."
"She'll be okay, right?"
"She will be." Another kiss to her temple. "She still needs to watch you walk down the aisle."
Cloud hears a giggle and feels a hard punch to his chest. Tifa looks up at him with a smile. "You might want to start with the ring first. You have a few years left to look."
He blinks. "But I already do." Tifa raises her eyebrows, genuinely surprised. She sits up with her arms crossed. "Oh really?"
Sitting up himself, he places his hand inside his shirt to pull out a chain with a ring dangling from it. Tifa's eyes widens.
"Isn't that Aunt Claudia's?! Cloud, she's going to kill you! Why would you take that?!"
"I didn't steal it." Cloud frowned. "She gave it to me; Dad gave it to her when they were young. Same design, right?" he showed the earring he had on. A wolf holding a ring. It was the family 'crest' that his mother loved to place anywhere possible. Though an earring did not sit well with Eliza, as long as it was the symbol Claudia loved, it was approved. Besides, Tifa rather liked it.
Removing it from the chain, Cloud takes Tifa's hand and casually slips on the ring. From being bewildered, Tifa slowly looks at the ring on her finger and suddenly bursts out laughing. Cloud tilts his head bemused, and looking rather adorable, Tifa laughs harder.
"Real smooth Mr. Strife. Just slip it on, not even a romantic gesture?" she can see the gears grinding in Cloud's head. His brows knitting itself just made her laugh even more.
Though they were already close, the two managed to kept their relationship discreet in the public's eye. You can't have two heirs just messing around, they do have a reputation to uphold. And given that private times was only a few, Cloud had never really done much regarding romantic gestures. Add to that he was never a social butterfly and have any experience with regards to the opposite gender.
Feeling rather sorry for troubling him, she gives him a peck on the lips which knocks him out of his own thoughts. She grins. "Come on, we're already late as it is. Don't want news getting out now, do we?"
Standing up, Tifa couldn't help but laugh a little with Cloud looking quite dissatisfied. Before the two can scurry off to the door, a hard kicked pried the door open from the other side. Claudia comes out with a well-built man, long grey hair in a low ponytail and beard. Claudia pats him on the back. "Well done, Zangan."
Zangan fakes a cough to hide his embarrassment. He evaluates any permanent damage on the door while Claudia walked slowly to two teenagers frozen in place.
"Now, clearly an explanation needs to be said." She started, eyeing both of them while they avoid eye contact with her. "Two teachers informing two very busy parents about two students gone missing from their respective classes for nearly an hour since lunch. Why is that?"
Before any of them can utter an explanation, Zangan decided to intervene. "Claudia, that can wait. You two, get to class."
The two simultaneously brightens up and starts moving. "By the way…" Two heads turn, confused. "Tifa, extra martial art lessons after school. Cloud, I'll be contacting your fencing instructor as well." Whatever hope they had was gone, now they slowly went off.
Tifa lifted her left hand to get the door and gave Claudia a glimpse of the ring. She smiled and let the two disappear down the stairs. She then faces Zangan who was calling Brian Lockhart to inform him of the situation.
"You're too nice." She informs him as she heads down herself. He sighs and follows her down.
Cloud is a socially awkward man, but given the years that he had to run to the hospital to calm down a very flustered Tifa and the nerve wracking conversations with Brian Lockhart, you get good at a thing or two.
While Claudia is trying to make a lighter atmosphere, Brian held Eliza's fragile hand with a gentle grip. It has been an ongoing occurrence for about four years. Eliza's health kept going up and down, but it never fazed her. Even if her family was slowly crumbling from the stress, none of them gave up. She has turned this never ending visits into a running gag, laughing and joking whenever she can. Her husband knew she was fighting, and he was not about to abandon her. Cloud was outside of Eliza's room; she knew he was calming Tifa down. It became a habit of her daughter to hide in his arms if she wanted to break down. Tifa stopped showing her concern, instead she would always be filled with smiles and a positive attitude. She had no idea her mother knew. Her daughter didn't want to show her fear, and that was alright.
Tifa enters the room later on with a smile. Her swollen eyes were covered by makeup and her trembling hand interlaced with Cloud's. The young blonde decided to start the conversation.
"The test results are out; they'd like to have Uncle Brian see the results." Cloud had become the spokesperson whenever they were in the hospital. It was the hardest thing Cloud had done, but eventually became accustomed to. With the help of his good friend Zack in the early visits, it became easy to do any type of communication he needed to do. It has reached a point where he was even placed as the Lockhart's representative during negotiations when Eliza's health was too severe to have Brian or Tifa leave her side.
Brian nods and follows Cloud outside. Tifa slowly moves forward and sits beside her Aunt Claudia, still a little shaky and refusing to talk first. Claudia glances at her hands that was neatly placed on her lap. She was wearing the ring.
Ever since Cloud had given her the ring, she refused to go anywhere without it. She even broke down when she thought she lost it, but found out she left it in Cloud's room. That was an amusing accident. Tifa was twisting it around, playing with it.
"It's nice that you really love that ring." Claudia spoke up. Eliza glances at her daughter and smiles. Tifa goes red in the face, a little embarrassed.
"You should tell her the story." Eliza encouraged. Though sick, you can never tell that she was slowly deteriorating; Eliza Lockhart was still as vibrant as she was when she was healthy.
"Story?" Tifa was curious. She knew the design was a favorite of Cloud's mother, but it never occurred to her how it could've started.
"Cloud's father…he was a bit of a loner. He'd rather do things on his own than ask anyone else for help." Tifa laughs.
"That sounds just like Cloud."
"It sure does." Claudia continues. "Well, I was rather curious about him and would intentionally tease him as sort of lone wolf. Messing his hair up and disturbing him every chance I get."
"I believe Brian said it became an actual nickname?" Eliza smiled. Though weak, she was enjoying seeing curiosity and amusement in her daughter's face rather than her usual fake smiles.
"It was." Claudia laughed. "He always told me that it was my fault. Well, it never really occurred to me that he would be taking it to heart for life. He actually got me earrings of a lone wolf. Unfortunately, I lost the other one and had not been able to wear it."
"Is that what Cloud is wearing?" Tifa almost jumped in excitement. Realizing her sudden outburst, she becomes flustered and apologizes.
"It is. When I was young, his father always insisted I wore them. He actually wore a badge of it before. He kept it on him all his life. I wanted Cloud to wear one, at the very least turning it into a family tradition that his father started. That's when he found my earring and there you go."
"Though it's not tasteful, I'll forgive him for that one." Eliza sighed. Claudia laughs and takes hold of Tifa's hand, admiring the ring.
"He used this same ring before to propose to me." Claudia kept her eyes on the ring, recalling her late husband. "It was nothing fancy, actually. He invited me up the town's water tower, showed me the ring and told me that since I've become such a huge impact on his life, I should take responsibility."
Tifa was confused but Eliza couldn't help but sigh. Claudia let out a small laugh. "He never did learn how to talk to a girl. But seeing him blush so hard, hiding his face with his hair while he held out that ring. How could I say no?"
Cupping Tifa's hands, Claudia looks straight into her eyes. "Take good care of it, ok?" Tifa blinks a few times and nods with a smile. Eliza silently stares at the two most important women in her life.