Title: Daydreams

Rating: Explicit (sexual activity, mild cursing, angsty bit)

Author: desiringpirates

Summary: Cloud, a couple of months after being cured of Geostigma, has another problem… he can't stop daydreaming about a certain bartender.

DAYDREAMS

Cloud moved his hand down her side and rested it on her thigh. She responded in kind, burying her hands in his soft blonde hair. Their kisses deepened and Cloud slowly pushed her backwards onto his desk.

He trailed kisses down her neck and elicited a small giggle out of her.

"You know I'm ticklish." She gently pushed him away and moved off the desk.

"What's wrong?" Cloud asked. His heart was racing and he was trying to catch his breath.

Tifa only smiled. "Come on. You know this is not real."

Just like that, the illusion shattered. Cloud woke up in a small room in a lodge outside Junon. He was breathing heavily and when he rested his hand on his forehead he felt a cool sweat settling there. He remembered how soft her lips felt underneath his own; the warmth of her flesh in his hands.

Cloud gasped in surprise when he felt his member pulse at the memory of his dream. The ex-mercenary pushed himself up onto his elbows and stared at the bulge in the blanket.

Not that this was unusual. No, Cloud was human- and just like any hot blooded male, he had urges. He would always take care of himself. But it had been awhile since he had felt this way. After helping to build Edge and contracting Geostigma… this was the last thing on his mind. Cloud guessed things were starting to settle for him and get better, if this kind of thing was happening. Again.

And, of course, his dream was about her. Again.

She's my best friend. Nothing more. Cloud thought as he rubbed his erection and groaned. Stop it.

He threw off his blanket and pulled his pajama pants down.

To hell with it.

Two days had passed. Cloud pushed open the back door that led into the family kitchen and immediately heard the squeals of excitement plus two sets of feet running towards the back door. He smiled, dropped his travel bag and squatted down. Soon his arms were full of Marlene and Denzel, hugging them both tightly.

"Cloud!"

"You're home!"

"I missed you!"

"Me too, I missed you too!"

Cloud chuckled. He had only been gone for a week; not a long trip at all… yet every spare thought he had was about his family back home.

"I missed you as well."

Especially thoughts about her. Cloud disengaged himself from the children and stood up. His smile grew softer and he reached out for her.

Cloud pulled her in close. He planted a kiss on her lips; a kiss she quickly responded to. He pulled away.

"I missed you too, Tifa."

"Oh, that's nice!"

Cloud snapped out of his daydream and realized his friend was still about a good three feet away.

Tifa Lockhart. Beautiful raven hair cascaded down to her shoulders and halfway down her back. Her soft pink lips were in a smile; her burgundy eyes were shining with happiness.

Cloud felt his cheeks turn red. In embarrassment, he quickly looked down to the floor, seeing instead two young faces smiling up at him. He patted them on their heads and grabbed his bag. Cloud walked towards the stairs, intending to go up to his room so he could unpack.

Marlene asked if her and Denzel could go play outside, to which Tifa agreed. As Cloud passed her he resisted the urge to reach out and grasp her hand to take her with him.

He did not have to, though. She followed him.

"How was the trip?" The brunette asked.

Cloud nodded. "Fine."

"Got all the packages delivered? And the payments?"

"Yup."

Tifa smiled. He must have been hiding something if her was giving out one worded answers- now her curiosity peaked.

"Did anything else happen during the trip? Anything noteworthy?"

"Nope."

"Are you lying?"

"Yup." Cloud rolled his eyes, knowing he fell into her trap. He pushed the door to his bedroom and office open and went to deposit the bag on his cot. He briefly imagined the springs squeaking as he took Tifa on it, then shook his head clear.

"So what happened? Did you meet someone? Did you find a treasure?" Then Tifa got serious. "Did you kill a man?"

Cloud jumped a little in surprise and finally faced her. "What? No!"

Tifa only laughed. "I just thought I would start off with the big things. So what happened?"

Cloud remembered his dream, of Tifa flushed up against him, of him tickling her ear with his hot breath. He swallowed.

"Nothing awful. I just had a weird dream." Cloud nodded his head again and turned towards his bag, starting to unpack it.

"Want to talk about it?"

Cloud sighed, but smiled. "No. It's okay."

He felt her arms wrap around him, her cheek resting on his back. Cloud closed his eyes and tried to shake himself free from his daydream- but it wasn't a daydream.

"I'm glad you're home."

Cloud reached up and held her hands, keeping them to his chest.

"Me too."

Two weeks passed.

Cloud should not be feeling jealous. He really shouldn't.

But that biker was making Tifa laugh. It wasn't even her polite work laugh- something short and sweet, but it made its point that your advances were not welcomed. These were deep belly laughs- not even Cloud could get her to laugh like that.

Tifa reached down into the cooler and gave the man a free beer for the hilarious story. Cloud's fingers tightened on his own bottle. He had to pay for his drinks- granted, because he wanted to. But in his addled mind tonight, he was surly at that fact.

He imagined Tifa, leaning over the bar like that, laughing heartily at his stories. Cloud wanted to have a plethora of jokes he could choose from, just so she would laugh and enjoy her time with him.

He downed his beer.

He got up from his stool and walked over and around the bar, entering the back kitchen.

"Hey! That guy is sneaking around!" The biker exclaimed.

Cloud looked around just in time to see Tifa lay a comforting hand on his arm, "It's alright, Tad. That's my roommate; he's allowed."

"Oh." Then Tad settled back into his conversation with the bar maid.

Tad. A stupid name. Cloud scoffed and pushed the door open, leaving with his angry thoughts.

Yes more please yes oh gods YES.

Cloud moaned against his gag, pulling at his restraints. Her mouth was hot, her tongue like sweet silk rubbing against his hardness. She moaned, the vibrations sending his nerves crazy.

Cloud's hands curled into fists around the ropes, pulling at his restraints again. He needed to touch her. She denied him that.

She pulled up from her ministrations and giggled. His cock twitched at the sound. Her hand replaced her mouth, stroking him up and down… slowly… too slowly. His hips jerked against her hand.

The vixen laughed at his attempts. She leaned over, pinned his hips down, and he could feel her hair fall across his stomach.

"Patience." She breathed, then kissed right above his navel.

He could not take it anymore. Cloud's hips jerked against her; he was practically screaming under his gag.

Tifa only laughed at him. "You are always in a hurry. I hope you're not like this in real life, you know."

Cloud rolled over in his bed and sighed. His hand left his erection and he cursed his mind. It always reminded him that it wasn't real. That it might never be real.

He tried to rest then, ignoring his hardness as it rubbed painfully against the mattress. Cloud sighed again, pulled off his blanket and got out of bed. He decided to take a shower.

A cold one.

The cold water seemed to sizzle on his hot skin but it did little to calm him. Cloud felt he had a little bit more control over himself now, however, so he wrapped a towel around his body and went to go back to bed.

After briefly stopping to check up on the kids, he checked the time on the clock in the hallway. Two in the morning; Tifa would have already closed the bar and cleaned up. Hopefully she would be in bed, getting some much needed sleep.

Mainly out of his protection he gave his family, he decided to check on her as well. Cloud passed paused at her door, resting his ear against it.

What he heard shocked him.

Her bed springs were squeaking. She was moaning, wanton, gasping in pleasure. A slightly low- level noise was also there.

She's not alone. Cloud felt rage build up inside him. Tad. I'll kill him.

He calmed himself enough to only crack her door open. He needed to know… why, he could not say. Slowly, quietly, he edged closer to the small crack. If he did decide to kill the man, he wanted the element of surprise.

His eyes rested on the bed… and his shoulders slumped in relief. Tifa was alone. The slight humming sound was - he gulped, the sensation burning a path down his throat.

Cloud's mind raced- what was that called?

Tifa threw her head back in pleasure, rocking on the dark blue instrument. The vibrator was nestled deep inside her, one part settled directly on her nub. Sweat was collecting on her body; the body that Cloud watched as Tifa pleasured herself.

Her hand was grabbing one of her breasts, rolling her nipple in between her fingers. Her long, black hair was getting stuck to her sweaty back as she arched herself over her toy.

Cloud's mouth went dry. How long had he been standing there? His skin was on fire again. His cock had grown painfully heavy. Sweat was beading on his brow.

Tifa's soft growls rose. In his hazy mind, he realized she was nearing completion. She was rocking her hips faster.

"Oh… oh… oh…" She breathed out, dropping her one arm to support herself on the bed. Tifa leaned forward; Cloud couldn't take his eyes off her swinging breasts.

Her eyes squeezed shut. "Oh… oh… oh! Oh… C… oh, Gods…" She was struggling. He knew. This act was nothing compared to the real thing- not that he had much to compare it too. They only had that one night, underneath The Highwind.

Tifa's mouth opened in a silent howl. She rocked hard once, twice, three times and moaned in her completion.

Cloud snapped out of his reverie and bolted away from the door. He made his way quickly to his room and shut the door. His towel dropped, he leaned against his desk and stroked himself as hard and fast as he could.

The image of her was burned into his mind.

He gasped and felt himself come. The heat escaped his body and Cloud could not stop the moan that came from him.

It wasn't until later, when he was finally relaxed and settling into sleep, that he realized just how loud he had been.

Cloud didn't wake up until after the kids left for school. He walked slowly down stairs, nerves settling in his stomach. He wasn't sure if Tifa heard his rather obnoxious exit down the hall last night, and his activities in his room.

He entered the kitchen. Tifa looked up at him, blushed a deep red, and quickly turned to a task. She grabbed a dirty breakfast dish and started scrubbing it in the sink.

"Damn it." Cloud muttered and his his face in one of his hands, the other curling into a fist. The man was furious with himself. "Tifa… I… I am sorry. It was a private moment I intruded on."

Tifa gasped at his forwardness. She never thought he would actually want to talk about it, even if it was only to apologize.

"I swear. I was only checking on the kids, then you. I wanted to know if everyone was safe." Cloud shuffled his feet, his hands dropping to his sides. "I didn't mean to… to…"

"Watch." Tifa sighed.

Cloud nodded his head, though Tifa could not see it- her back was still turned.

"I swear to you, it is not a habit of mine." Cloud promised. "It was only…"

"Surprising." Tifa supplied.

Cloud nodded again.

"Cloud…" Tifa turned around.

"Tifa, please. Don't be angry."

Tifa shook her head and dropped her eyes to the floor. "I'm not."

"You… aren't mad?" Cloud asked, confused.

Tifa shook her head and lifted her face, finally staring at him. "No. We are two adults, living together, and these things happen. I think, besides being mad, we should just… just… accept it."

"Accept it?"

"And move on. It was an accident. I know you; I know you don't creep around peeking on girls."

Cloud shuffled his feet, uncomfortable. He half expected to find her angry. He was expecting a fight. But this… she was just giving up? Being mature?

"We are adults. Sometimes we have to do… adult things."

So she is picking maturity. He nodded his head.

"And we should be more considerate of each other's privacy."

Cloud nodded again.

"Maybe knock on doors. Tell each other if we have company over. Just be more honest with one another. We do have to live together."

Cloud nodded.

"Cloud you actually have to say something this time!" Tifa snapped at him.

"I'm sorry!" Cloud stepped back, finding himself go into a defensive pose. He relaxed his shoulders. "This is odd."

Tifa sighed. "It is. But let's just get over it. I need to get over it. For my sanity, and yours. 'Cause if I'm not calm, then you won't be either."

"Yes, Mame." Cloud nodded. "I'm sorry about last night. I'll remember to knock on your door, I promise."

Tifa smiled. "All that aside… I think it is really sweet that you check up on me and the kids. I didn't know you did that."

Cloud felt blush warm his cheeks. "Yeah… I need to know if you and the kids are safe."

Tifa kept smiling. She looked up at Cloud, took a step forward, and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're a good man."

I should just ask her if she wants to be together.

Cloud took Fenrir carefully along the dirt road, avoiding the rocks in the path. He had just made a delivery to the protector of, and good friend to him, Cosmo Canyon. Nanaki had seem to know that something was occupying the delivery boy's mind, and told him that only by confessing would he feel better.

Cloud thought about it as he passed through the red rocks in the mountains.

We practically do couple things anyway. We own a house, a business or two, a couple of kids.

It would be nice to be able to go home after a long journey and kiss her. And to hold her hand, give her hugs, whenever I wanted. If I could muster up the courage.

It would be nice to be able to crawl into bed with her every night.

Cloud was too busy imagining Tifa's long, perfectly shaped legs when Fenrir's front tire his a rock and threw the bike a little to the side.

"Damn it!" Cloud cursed, quickly righting the bike before stopping to check out if there was any damage.

She's also too much of a distraction. Cloud thought as he knelt down to look at his tire. I need to do something about it.

It had happened as soon as he closed his eyes.

Tifa had her legs opened, laying on her back, looking up at him with love. Cloud had his hands on her hips, slowly lifting her up so he could enter her.

He slid in, hissing at the sweet contact. She was warm, firm and wet and sending his senses crazy.

Cloud gasped, waking himself up. He looked around his dark room and got his mind straightened out.

Cloud rolled to onto his back and stared at the ceiling. A knock sounded on his door, making him sit up in his cot.

"Cloud?" Tifa called out as she opened the door.

Cloud swallowed. "Yes?"

Tifa walked in, closing the door behind her. She carefully walked towards him, turning on a tiny lamp along the way. The soft yellow light shone on her; Cloud thought her beautiful.

"Are you alright?" Tifa sat down on the edge of his cot. "I heard you tossing and turning."

Cloud swallowed again. Tifa's hair was sleep tousled, her burgundy eyes were puffy. It was obvious she had just hopped out of bed and hurried to his room. He wanted to reach out and pull her close. Wanted to take her into his arms and have the worry disappear from her.

He settled on resting his hand on her hand and smiling. "I'm alright, Teef. I was just dreaming."

"Was it a bad dream?"

Cloud gave a tiny shake of his head. "No. I don't remember it, but it was pleasant, I think." He lied.

Tifa gave a hesitant smile. "Well… okay…"

Cloud squeezed her hand. "Really okay."

Things became silent. The two just sat on the cot, enjoying each other's company for a moment. Cloud wandered what would happen if he asked Tifa to stay. He would want to hold her, her back pressed against his chest. He would want to watch her as she slept; as she stretched her muscles to get comfortable. He would kiss her when they woke up, bad morning breath and all.

But he let her go, quietly saying goodnight as she closed the door.

Something had happened.

Cloud felt his cheeks burn.

Tifa had let go of him, giggling as she stumbled over to the couch. She sat down heavily and crooked her finger at him. Cloud resisted the temptation to go over; wanting to continue what she just started.

He pinched himself. Hard. It hurt, so this wasn't a fantasy. Tifa giggled again.

"You don't giggle." Cloud said sternly. Tifa's giggling turned into laughter, tears running down her face.

Cloud sighed and went to look for a remedy, thinking back on how she had gotten into this position.

Tifa had thought that taking a walk with the children and Cloud would be fun. It wasn't often that Cloud was home early enough from work; and he had just gotten home from a three day trip.

While on their walk they came across a monster. While a monster coming into town was rare, it did occasionally happen. Cloud was able to handle the monster just fine, but it did manage to throw a spell that hit Tifa.

Now Tifa was confused, walking around and hurting herself. She also found everything hilarious and started giggling.

Cloud, Denzel and Marlene managed to lead the addled barmaid home. Once they got there, he sent the children to do their homework while he took care of Tifa.

Then she giggled, a sound that excited Cloud- though he did not show it. Tifa walked up to Cloud, smiling, a dark look in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Tifa lifted her face up to Cloud and pressed her lips against his.

The mercenary froze for a second; Tifa pressed harder and grabbed the back if his neck. Her fingers buried themselves into his hair and she… she…

moaned.

Dear Gods.

Cloud's resolve broke and he kissed her back, his hands resting on her hips.

This isn't real.

Yes. Yes it is. It is real.

No it's not. She's not in her right mind. If she was, this would not be happening.

That was when Cloud pushed her away and she untangled herself from him.

Now he was uncorking a remedy bottle and handing it to Tifa.

She laughed. "That's not what I want."

Cloud played along, knowing it would be easier than forcing the medicine down her throat.

"Let's have a drink first. Would it hurt?"

Tifa smiled and took the remedy, taking a hearty swig from it. Cloud watched as the haziness in her burgundy eyes faded and the redness gathered in her cheeks.

"Oh… oh, Cloud." Tifa started, embarrassed. "Cloud, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright." Cloud interrupted, gently taking the bottle from her hand. "No harm done."

"But… oh my god… this isn't how I wanted that to g-"

Cloud's eyes locked with Tifa's as she stopped. Her eyes were wide with fear, knowing she had said too much.

His heart was racing. A thousand words were begging to be said, but he just couldn't say them. Did she want this, too? Or was she babbling, embarrassed about what they had just done?

He could tell that Tifa wanted to go and hide- start laundry, brew beer, anything that would take her away. She was uncomfortable, like…

She doesn't want this. Of course she doesn't.

A strange tight feeling happened in his chest.

"Tifa it is alright." Cloud said, his voice sounding hollow.

Tifa shook her head. "No. It's not. When I thought that I would get the courage, I wouldn't be out of my own mind!"

"Get the courage?" Cloud asked, breaking out of his melancholy.

Tifa bit her bottom lip. Her eyes were scanning Cloud's face, as if questioning something important.

Then she leaned forward. Her full, soft lips pressed against his. It was a sweet kiss. His hand went to rest on her cheek. She smiled against his lips and gently pulled away.

"Cloud…" Tifa smiled. "I want this to be real. I want to be with you."

Cloud rested his forehead against hers. He knew what he was about to say was lame, but it was the truth, and he needed to say it.

"This is a dream come true."

-THE END-