A/N: Hello all and welcome to the first fic I've felt like publishing in quite a long time. Originally I had an FFVII story I'd uploaded back in 2010, but having reviewed it myself in the last few weeks I wasn't happy with it and so have decided to remove it.

I'm a huge FFVII fan and have been since the release in 97/98. I've written many stories outside of FFVII for many years along with a large number of FFVII doodads. Since the Remake's release it's really pushed my inspiration PAST THE RED LINE and I'm back to penning out a full story.

With all that info out of the way, let me preface the story by saying that it:

Follows the OG FFVII game's canon only. Any similarities to DoC, CC, BC or any other extended media is entirely coincidental as I've never read, watched nor played any of it.

Story summary: What do our heroes do when they're done being heroes? Everything they've ever known has disappeared. There's no Gil to collect and lives to start living, so I suppose we'll just have to find out.

I hope you'll enjoy it.

- Chapter 1: A New Beginning. -

A colossal boom woke me for the… damn, I didn't know what number of explosions we were up to. The entire frame of the Highwind rattled and screeched in sympathy. Looking up through the bedroom's cabin window into the night sky revealed the same thing that'd caused the last number of deafening booms.

It'd been a week since Meteor fell and even as a blur on the horizon the northern crater continued to shine like a beacon. Lifestream as thick as cream shimmered against the inky sky whilst barely visible flashes of lightning spread like fingers into the thunderclouds, as though it were clinging to the outside world and refusing to retreat.

The earthquakes and tremors were fewer and farther between, but it reminded a few of us a little too much of that first reactor mission.

Tifa shifted in her sleep, whispering something I couldn't hear.

I glanced down at her through tired eyes as she nuzzled my upper arm, lips turning up in a small smile as a little noise slipped from her nose. I didn't have a clue how she could sleep through the racket.

After the night of that… insanity in the crater, the first port of call was Kalm as Barret threatened to shove his gun up Cid's ass if he didn't get to check on Marlene ASAP.

Still, it took a good half-day of travelling to get there.

With only a few beds on the Highwind, the rest of the gang had holed up in the Chocobo stable. Recycled hay covered in Chocobo piss wasn't anyone's idea of luxury and Barret wouldn't stop complaining about the lack of space, while Yuffie was whining about the stink of shit. I'd told her to just take my bed as long as it kept her away from me as I tried to find the quiet place I'd need to get some sleep.

I'd decided on the front of Cid's piloting area. It wasn't comfortable but it was secluded, and besides, it gave me a good view of the state of the planet and I could fall asleep pretty much anywhere at any time.

A "SOLDIER" quality. I sighed to myself. Screw SOLDIER and screw Shinra. They were both done for.

At least it was a spot I thought no-one else would find me in… until Tifa poked her head around the console to catch my attention. I remembered looking up at her, my blood cooling in my veins with fear at the exhausted, saddened expression on her dirty, bloodied face.

We didn't say a word as she sidled herself around to me, locking crimson orbs to mine as she crashed down to my left. Strong yet delicate hands clasped my forearm and pulled me against her, gasping me so tightly that it felt as though she were afraid I'd disappear.

It was just like the night before...

I must've been dreaming again as the aftershock rocked the Highwind and woke me up, again.

"Damnit," I groused and rubbed at the bridge of my nose.

"Hm?" Tifa stirred with a grumble. "Cloud?"

I glanced down at her messy raven hair as she lifted herself up on an elbow before steadying herself with a hand on my abdomen.

"It's alright, it was just an aftershock. You slept through it," I explained.

Tifa blinked tired eyes. "How big was it this time?" she queried.

I took another look out of the window at the miasma in the distance and shrugged. "Smaller than the last one and the one before that. It's dying down," I reassured her.

"Are you sure?"

If there were only one thing I'd learned about Tifa in the last few months it was that she worried about every little thing. Though considering what'd happened I couldn't blame her for being terrified. I looked back into her crimson eyes. The worry teasing her brow, the tightness of her lips, the way her fingers bunched my sweater ever-so-slightly all made me feel guilty for trying to reassure her.

Raising up on an elbow, I reached up to pull a mess of her hair from her cheek. "No… but it makes sense."

She blinked once… twice… then finally closed her eyes with a faint nod. "Yeah… yeah, you're right."

I wasn't exactly sure why, but my fingers continued to stroke through her messy hair. It was a little greasy from a week on the Highwind; a lack of showers did that, but I didn't care. She let out a tiny sigh, tilting her head a little into my hand.

The light of the crater disappeared like a lightswitch had been flipped as we passed over the ocean toward Rocket Town. All of a sudden all of the rumbling, the vibrations, the noise… it was all gone. All I could hear was the whirring of the engines and Tifa's soft breaths.

The place was too quiet.

One by one we'd dropped the crew off. Reeve had met up with Barret in Kalm, Yuffie followed Vincent who left without a damn word. Red returned to the Canyon with express instructions that we were to visit whenever we liked. It was an offer we were going to take up at some point.

For now though…

"That feels nice," Tifa murmured as her eyes opened ever so slightly, catching mine. "Have you thought any more about what you'd like to do?"

"Dunno," I admitted as I stretched my legs before groaning out, "I feel like I need a vacation."

Her lips curled into a lazy smile as she nodded. "I can't argue with that. We could disappear to a place where no one knows us. Somewhere nice and warm with cocktails, sand and sea. Oh, it sounds wonderful just to think about."

I blinked in surprise as my fingers automatically stopped moving. "Us?"

Tifa's eyes shot open and even in the dark room I could easily see the pink tinge that coloured her cheeks. "Oh! I mean, if you don't-"

"No," I cut her off and immediately shook my head. "I mean, yes." I stopped and shut my mouth with an irritated sigh. I sucked at this. "What I mean is that I, uh, wasn't sure you'd want to."

Her nervous expression relaxed as that lovely smile returned. "I'd love to."

I felt my own lips turn up into an answering smile. It still felt a bit weird.

"I do own that villa in the Costa Del Sol," I suggested and immediately regretted it.

Tifa grinned. "Ahh. How much alcohol did Barret give you to make you think that was a good idea, again?"

I blushed furiously. "H-hey. It wasn't Barret and it wasn't booze. It was that guy on the boat. Planet knows what he put into that 'special' drink."

Tifa hummed, clearly unconvinced. "Well, whatever it was, it was worth it."

It wasn't until then I realised that the hand which had been gripping my sweater was now tracing little circles into my abs. Those soft eyes of hers didn't leave mine for a moment as we looked at each other.

"Are you sure you wanna come with me?" I asked. I had no idea why I asked, because if I didn't like the answer I wasn't sure what I was gonna do.

"I'm sure." She turned a little more, slipping the hand on my stomach to my side as she leaned over me. My heart leapt into my chest as her hair fanned around my head, locking us in our own little curtained-off space.

That night in the field had been… special. I couldn't think of any other way of describing it, but since then with the chaos of Meteor, dealing with the crew and transporting some of the wounded, we'd barely had five minutes alone together apart from when we slept. Despite having three empty beds since the only member of the gang left aboard was Cid, Tifa still chose to sleep with me for some reason.

Nothing had happened. I didn't expect anything to happen and I wasn't sure if I wanted anything to happen in case it broke whatever spell she was under. Maybe I was still that weak.

"Cloud?"

I blinked back into focus to find Tifa nibbling a little at her lower lip. My stomach twisted again. She was so close that I could almost taste her. Despite how unwashed we were, the smell of her was intoxicating.

"Yeah?" I rumbled in reply, not moving a muscle as my eyes traced the soft curves of her face.

Her gaze darted between my eyes even though I was sure she couldn't see me in the darkness. She leaned forward and I let out a grunt as we both fell into the mattress.

My heart began to thud painfully in my chest as she came closer and closer until her lips just barely touched mine. We sucked in simultaneous, sharp breaths as our eyes fell shut. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, pull her close and hold her there forever… but I fought against my instincts.

Instead, I just carefully opened my mouth and captured her top lip, just as she'd done to me that night. I had no idea what I was doing then and I was no more experienced now. Tifa pressed herself against me, blowing a hot breath into my mouth as she claimed my bottom lip for herself.

"I don't-" she cut herself off as her mouth closed against mine, "really know…"

I nodded in agreement. "Me-" she cut me off this time with a far more urgent kiss, "me neither," I managed to rush out as she pressed harder against me, this time slipping her leg over my hips to straddle me.

More than just my heart was pounding. Blood flooded through me like fire, burning as she reached for my hand and pulled it over her lower back. Again I was reminded of how petite she was. It felt like I could wrap my hands around her waist.

"WAKE UP, lovebirds! ETA to Rocket Town and sweet, sweet home is ten minutes! Get yer asses in gear!"

I damn near threw us both off of the bed in surprise. The only consolation to my frustration that I got was that Tifa's scowl at the intercom matched mine.

"Damnit, Cid," Tifa grumbled.

I managed a weak smile in spite of my frustration. "We should get up."

Tifa stared at me for a minute, her scowl melting into a smile as she nodded at me. "Yeah, let's get our stuff ready."

Just as she started to pull away I leaned up to press my lips to hers once more. She let out a surprised breath along with a beautiful whimper.

"Sorry, I just-"

Tifa silenced me with a kiss in return. Pulling back, she closed her eyes with a shake of her head. "I'm so glad you're back, Cloud."

I smiled, and for the first time it didn't feel weird.