Author's Note: This story is dedicated to Derek, an faithful Cloti reviewer on FF . Net, from the Cloti writers of the Final Heaven Discord server.
The story is basically Derek's… it's constructed from his reviews, which have become our unofficial "you've made it!" badge.
Further credits at the bottom…
DEREK WE KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE, HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS AND COME JOIN US, YOUR FANS!
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He was back home.
He didn't want to be... yet at the same time, he did.
A bittersweet homecoming, to be sure. He'd come a long way from Nibelheim, but here he was again. Cloud had been so uncertain about returning to Nibelheim. He couldn't bear the embarrassment if Tifa were to see him.
He was sure it was written all over his face how often he had fantasized about her…
And there she was, tbat very beautiful, hot, sexy, pretty, etc. etc. mountain guide, in her adorable cowgirl getup, and he… just… couldn't.
He was afraid if he took off his helmet and she showed the slightest interest, he would find himself pushing her against the water tower before coherent thought could enter his head, … a water tower waltz on a summer night's spring… and she wouldn't be fighting him off, no not at all, just hissing in his ear, "it's fine, but not in public…"
And when he had been left to guard her outside the reactor… and she said take good care of me his mind when straight into the gutter, because he wanted to do exactly that and in his head she told him fuck my pussy with your penis…
The thought went straight to his groin. Would Tifa actually SAY such a thing?
He certainly hoped she would.
Over and over.
And then years later when she was HIS they would reminisce, and he would smirk and ask her, "Did we fuck back in Nibelheim?"
She would be able to smirk right back and say, "Yes, we did."
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As if it hadn't been enough living next DOOR to her when they were children, now, after their reunion in the slums, he lived WITH her.
Actually, they all did. Seventh Heaven was one big happy AVALANCHE family. It didn't give much privacy.
And it just drove him crazy, seeing her work the bar, in that TINY little shirt and even TINIER skirt…
Sure, she wore shorts, but still…
He found himself looking for ways to help her behind the bar. All that enclosed space, plenty of opportunities to bump against her….
One day she didn't brush away, leaning in closer instead.
"Why do you keep watching me from afar?" she murmured, too low for their friends and patrons to hear. "Come closer."
All he could do was comply, wordless. She put a hand on his hip, very close to…
"I won't bite unless you want me to," she continued; Cloud could scarcely believe what he was hearing, but she still kept talking…
"I am not wearing any underwear," she whispered, and involuntarily his hand traveled to find out that she was indeed… uh… right…
"Tifa…" he murmured back, strangled, all the encouragement he could provide.
She gave him a smoldering smile he didn't expect, as if she sensed his unspoken why. "Listen up," she told him quietly, "Biggs, Wedge, and the customers already all seem to think that you can touch me…"
"I want to," he admitted, barely able to speak.
"…and I want them to be right. I want you to be the one man that will ever touch me."
He gasped.
"I want you to kiss me."
He couldn't take it anymore, grabbing her hand, pulling her into the storeroom, pressing her against the wall, and he claimed her mouth, wanting, needing, holding back only to savor this first kiss before he dove deep to leave her breathless and spent, promises of more more more that he would give her as soon as they had the opportunity.
"I want to fuck you," his hissed.
"What took you so long to say it?" she smiled back.
"Come into my bedroom later…" she told him as they came up for air.
"I will," he told her.
Tonight is the night I will make you mine…
A night to remember…
…and then I will keep you…
Forever.
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Tifa could only scream in pain and frustration. Had it only been a short time ago they had been in the Golden Saucer, she smirking to Cloud, her one and only I am your girlfriend not Aeris, but now she would give up Cloud to the other woman in a minute if it would only bring her back…
Cloud held her as she cried to the empty air of the City of Ancients. She no longer knew if she was screaming at Sephiroth, ShinRa, AVALANCHE, HERSELF…
"DO YOU ASSHOLES EVER READ THE NEWSPAPAERS! HUH! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT MATTERS! DO YOU WATCH TV? DO YOU KNOW HOW BIGGS, JESSIE, AND WEDGE DIED?" she cried. "THREE DIED FOR ALL OF YOU, couldn't have you let us keep AERIS?"
Their healer of worlds, gone…
"Tifa," Cloud soothed, but his voice shook and he shivered, she burying her face in his chest.
"THE NEW AVALANCHE MEMBERS ARE AERIS BARRET CID CLOUD CAT SITH RED XIII ME VINCENT AND YUFFIE AND FOR KILLING MURDERING ONE OF OUR MEMBERS YOU HAD BETTER TURN YOURSELVES IN TO THE TURKS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T THERE WILL BE NO PLACE ON GAIA THE THREE OF YOU CAN HIDE FROM US…"
She gave in, spent. She sobbed then, wholeheartedly. The lake before them was silent, Aeris's body disappeared beneath.
"I just want to keep my head buried in your chest," she murmured.
"We both hurt," he soothed. "We both need this. When do I get to bury my head in your chest?" he asked, caressing the side of her face.
"Next time, don't go picking up large swords and running after nutjobs," she sobbed. "I can't lose you too."
"You'll never lose me," he reassured her. "Let's make a new promise." He tilted her head. "Let's promise we will see this thing through to the end. Together."
She nodded, somewhat mitigated. "Then let's get the gang together," she finally told him. "Let's go murdering-bastard-hunting, AVALANCHE-style."
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Back in Cloud's room, Tifa grumbled under her breath.
But not too low for him to hear. "Grr?" he asked, confused. "What does that mean?"
"I said girl. That;s what the grr meant."
"Are you angry?" he asked her, trying to keep it light. "I was just showing your sister around."
"Since when are me and Aeris SISTERS?" she replied, snippy. Friends, yes, but she wasn't sure they truly had that camaderie… "Besides, I am your girlfriend." She mock-sighed. "That's it. Next time, I'm taking you to a tattoo parlor, where my Cloud will get a 'Property-of-Tifa-Lockhart-do-not-touch-that-means-you, not Scarlet, not Yuffie, and DEFINITELY not Aeris."
"Jealous?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Believe me, it will always be ONLY you," he told her. "Can we get a room in this hotel with some more privacy, and I'll show you?"
"Let's ask at the desk and find out. It's really a shame the Honeybee Inn was destroyed when the plate crashed…"
He just wanted to hold her. Now. Tonight. Forever…. "One day I will make you mine," he told her. "For good."
She hoped so completely that he meant what he said.
They found the room, and they were barely inside before he was grabbing her, touching, kissing, everywhere.
"I see that you couldn't wait until the honeymoon," she told him. "You're practicing…" She winked. "I hope you can carry on like this on our honeymoon night…"
"And beyond." He kissed her again. "When the time is right… I'll ask you properly…" Another kiss. "But for now…"
His hand slid further down, between her legs, and she gasped. "Talk dirty to me," he asked, his voice low and raw.
She was glad the room was so far from the others. She kept wondering if they kept waking up the others during their activities, going at it morning, afternoon, night, any time they could get a break from this journey to stop that nutjob…
He had taught her the words that would get him going, and after the first couple tries, she found she didn't mind using them at all after she saw the way he responded.
"You don't know how long I have waited for you to pound my pussy," she told him. It had only been a couple days, but… "Come here, fuck my ass. Fuck my pussy with your penis now."
He moaned at every filthy word, getting harder and grinding against her, pushing her towards the bed. She could only repeat herself over and over as his words just descended to "fuck, fuck, fuck!"
And when it was over, they were sated and breathless, and his promise was in his eyes to love her forever and there would be plenty more of THAT.
Oh Cloud, can't you see how much I love you…
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Another night past closing time. The kids were asleep, and the customers were gone. Tifa was bored. Here she was, left all alone with Cloud. There must be something they could do tonight…
As he came down the stairs, she sidled up to him. "You know," she began, "I was thinking of changing back into my old bartender outfit…"
"Oh?" he asked, interested.
"Yeah, you really did love my old bartender outfit, didn't you… a small white T-shirt, small black skirt…"
"You know I did. How could I forget?"
"And of course… I did not have any underwear on. Just like now."
That got Cloud's attention, and he gripped her by the wrist. "You are such a trouble maker…"
"Oh, you have no idea," she teased. "I am the most impure person you will ever meet… right now I am thinking of dragging your chocobo ass to my room and locking the door."
He enveloped her but she pushed him away. "No free hugs. You want a hug from me. I want sex from you."
"Then why don't you take that off?" he asked.
She smirked. "You think I should take WHAT off?"
"All of it."
"Well, of course, but how fast?"
"Fast. I plan to take you for a ride."
"Come here, then. There is a certain chocobo-head that I love to ride."
"I sure hope so," he told her. "Tonight…I want to give you an extra rough ride."
She liked the sound of that. "That's okay. I love it rough."
And that she would get, Cloud thought. He had a surprise for her. He took her by the hand and led her outside to the bike, sitting astride and placing her straddled across his lap. Pushing up her new pleated skirt, she saw she indeed was not wearing any underwear.
His erection, still captive in his pants, strained upwards to meet her exposed flesh, finding a frustrating fabric barrier in between. He groaned; she smiled.
"What are we doing?" she asked, a sultry grin on her face. "Are we going on a naked Fenrir ride while everyone else is sleeping?"
"Exactly." He started the bike, the vibrations sending shockwaves straight to his groin. He pulled her shirt down to see her breasts, and unzipping his pants, he placed her on his exposed penis, and she yelped, clutching firmly to him as he kicked the bike into gear and sped away.
Tifa gasped at the sensations, the vibrations of the bike, the fullness of Cloud inside her, and the fear and excitement of the motorcycle's speed… neither of them had to do anything, all the work done for them. She moaned in his ear. "Are you close?" he growled hungrily into her ear. "Do you want me to stop?"
Her breasts jiggled on her exposed form, as naked as he could make her while the bike was moving. "Don't you dare slow down," she hissed. "Keep fucking my pussy… don't you dare take it out…"
The obscenities on her tongue took him right to the edge, and he slammed on the brakes, feeling himself just on the verge, and she sensed it as well. 'Drain your seed into me," she whispered, her pay at dominance with her words, and with a shout, he bucked against her, doing exactly that. The feel of his ejaculation triggered her orgasm as well, she gyrating wildly against him to complete her own release, finally collapsing against him.
He held her close then, as she came down from her peak, her breaths slowing against him. He turned her face to his; she was nothing but happy smiles. "I didn't know a cloud could empty like that," she teased, gently kissing her lovely soldier.
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Cloud had expected, after all the pain he had caused, that it would take some time for Tifa to welcome not just back home, let alone back into her bed.'
Tifa, however, had other ideas.
"You had better not plan on sleeping in Aeris's church again," she had told him, 'because if you do, I will use Final Heaven on you."
"I wasn't going to," Cloud replied, truthfully.
She looked at what he was doing with distaste. "But what ARE you doing then?"
Cloud looked at his handiwork. The pile of bedding he had formed… certainly LOOKED impermanent. He hadn't wanted to return to the hard bed in the office, but… Well. He'd figured he'd make do with the couches downstairs.
Turned out, he had absolutely no idea HOW to make a bed on a couch.
"Tifa," he started, not sure what to say. "I know I've hurt you…"
"Oh, stop it, Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed, throwing her arms open in exasperation. "Yes, you've made mistakes. But they were human mistakes. I get it. We'll move on."
Cloud was still uncertain. "How can you forgive me so easily?"
She grabbed him by the shoulders, and staring into his eyes with a smirk, she mock slapped his cheek. "Ok, listen up, Strife," she told him firmly. "You are not one of Jenova's children. You are Cloud Strife, the boy that I love, and who is a pain in my ass sometimes." She kissed him. "But I love you just the way you are."
"What's that about your ass?" Cloud teased her back, giving the part in question a firm squeeze. She yelped.
His fractured mind knew one thing for sure… he would always come back to her.
"That's it. You're going down, if I have to beat rush you to do it," she laughed. "I meant what I said. I love you, and get upstairs and get your naked ass in our bed, and stop trying to sleep on two or three chairs."
He let her pull her into their bedroom with little of a fight, she a panacea for the nightmares that afflicted him. "Get in our bed," she ordered. "Tomorrow, you are moving back in here, into our bedroom. And if you let Jenova control you, you can forget about seeing me naked ever again."
"Not going to fight you on that," he said between kisses, preparing for their pleasurable reunion. The nightmares were so much kinder with her body pressed against his.
"Something has been bothering me," he told her. She looked up at him, surprised. "I keep wondering, why would Barret enter the first Seventh Heaven - you know, after me, him Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge came back from bombing the reactor – first, and then chased out your customers? What was going on while I was at the reactor, hmm?" he nuzzled her neck. "Something…. interesting… you did while I was gone?"
She blushed beet red. Aha, knew it… she'd been thinking about him even back then…
It made him even hotter, as he pushed her backwards on the bed before jumping on it himself to lean over her, kisses moving down her collar and further. "Loved that old bartender outfit."
"It was always for you," she whispered. A small white lie that got him going nevertheless.
He was on seventh heaven with her, in all senses of the words.
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Their friends understood the wisdom of giving the couple some time to themselves, time to get to know each other all over again. In all sorts of ways.
And that's how somehow both Marlene and Denzel were whisked away by Barret, to spend a week in the company of alternately himself, Cid and Shera, and Yuffie.
Unfortuneatley, it was Yuffie who showed up to help the children get ready to leave.
She was barely out the door when Cloud scooped Tifa into his arms and pulled her into the bedroom, not even bothering to close the door, much less lock it. He pulled his own shirt over his head and unzipped his pants, trying to get the offending garments OFF and on the floor.
"Cloud!" she exclaimed, blushing profusely.
"Why so shy all of a sudden?" he smirked at her. "You've seen me naked before."
"That is not the POINT," Tifa replied, though Cloud noticed gleefully she couldn't stop staring. "Suppose the kids or Yuffie walked in on you?"
"They're gone," Cloud answered reasonably. "I heard the door close."
If his Mako enhanced hearing had indeed detected that… "Well, then," she told him, beginning to work at the zippers on her own attire, "why are either of us wearing clothes? We have a week alone in Seventh Heaven, we can walk around nude all the time, except when you are out delivering and I am bartending."
"Sounds like a great idea," he replied. "But you'll have to catch me first!"
Before Tifa could finish undressing, he had run down the stairs buck naked, and she hurried to strip the rest of herself before charging down after him. "Strife, get back here and fuck me RIGHT NOW!" she shouted, laughing.
He stopped dead, and she slammed into him like a wall. "Eager little thing, aren't you?"
"I can't help it," she teased. "You are my sex disease. I can't get enough of you."
"So we are a disease now, hmm?" replied Cloud. "The Strife-Hart sickness, guaranteed to cause hours of sex."
"Why don't I make you a drink to help get you in the mood?" she practically purred. "I think I am going to make my new drink mixture… a Cloud's kiss." She stopped. "Or should I just go ahead and make it a 'Sex with the bartender'?"
"Mmm-hmm," Cloud replied. "Now THAT sounds like a drink I want to drink."
Somehow, in drink after drink, they found themselves missing dinner, until they tumbled in bed and Tifa did not realize it until hours later…
A very naked Tifa smirked at her boyfriend, a very naked Cloud Strife. "We forgot to eat."
"But I got my dessert after all."
"We aren't done yet." she told him. "You better kiss me right now, and when am I going to be Tifa Strife?" She covered her mouth, embarrassed. That had… just come out. Undelivered thoughts, suddenly rising to the surface…
She hadn't meant to say it, but there it was…
She as a fighter, after all. She wanted him. She was fighting for him. Had to play the game…
"Huh?" Cloud asked, but he wasn't entirely surprised; more so, that he had waited this long to bring it up. She had welcomed him home, back into her life and into her bed, but he still had promises to keep. But he was scared…
"You heard me," she continued awkwardly, suddenly blushing. "When are you going to propose to me? I love you, but I think you don't love me after all…"
"How could you ever think that?" he gasped. "Of course I love you too. You are the one that I want to be with, the one that I want to marry…"
"Did you just say you want to marry me?" Tifa paused in surprise, not sure if he had really actually said the word...
"Of course I love you. Why do you think I followed you and your idiot friends around back when we were kids in Nibelheim? You were the one that I made the promise with, you are the one that I kissed during the play at the gold saucer, and you are the one that I want as my wife!" he half-shouted. "But if you doubt me that much, maybe you don't want to…"
She exploded at her boyfriend then. "DAMMIT, CLOUD STRIFE! I LOVE YOU AND I WANT A RELATIONSIP WITH YOU AND WE ARE GOING TO GET MARRIED NOW!"
"NOW!" Cloud yelled back. "Right now, Tifa. Let's promise right now." He grabbed her. "I am Cloud Strife, husband to Tifa Lockhart." He looked at her. "That's all I need to make it true. Now you say it too."
She stared at him in surprise, but when she spoke ,her voice was firm. "Finally.' She looked into his eyes. "I am Tifa Lockhart Strife, wife to Cloud Strife." Then she leaned in, lips close to his. "You are mine now. Kiss me, Strife…"
And he did, innocent feelings blended with lust like a warm homecoming.
"Let's make a new promise," she whispered when they finally came up for air. "To protect each other. But first things first. I want to feel your penis in my pussy and just have you leave it there forever…"
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Golden saucer delights, peanuts and popcorn, had their charms, but rather than being out and about, Tifa was glad to finally be alone with her husband, Cloud Strife. To celebrate a new beginning.
They'd barely tumbled through the door of their room when she was pushing him on the bed. "Now look at me right now," she told him, peeling off her clothing to reveal the red lace bra, panty, and stocking set she had been hiding to underneath her clothes to surprise him with. "I want you to see me in my underwear, and you, mister – NAKED."
He obeyed her commands without quibble.
Now, he was taking a shower, while she lay spread out waiting for him, he finally emerging from the bathroom with only a towel draped around his lower half, exposing his magnificent chest. To her surprise, she found herself blushing.
He smirked. "Tifa Lockhart Strife, you don't have to be embarrassed about seeing me in a TOWEL. Remember, you've seen make naked before." He chuckled. "Like, fifteen minutes ago before."
She blushed even redder, as she heard herself reply, "I'd rather be IN the shower with you than seeing you coming out of it."
"Us taking a shower together is a great idea," he replied, nodding approvingly. "Can't ever get too clean."
"Or too dirty," she replied flirtatiously, earning another chuckle.
He seemed a little nervous himself when she undressed. It WAS different being married, somehow, she realized. "Don't be afraid," she urged him, positioning herself to get the right angle. "I love it when you look at me naked."
"I have an even better idea," he suggested. "We should take some more pictures."
He pulled out the camera they had been carrying around the amusement park earlier, Tifa seductively whispering to him we can take some pictures in our bedroom later wink wink some pictures of us naked in bed…. Well, later was now.
Fortunately Tifa smiled in agreement. "You can take all the pictures of me both clothed and nude that you want to," she told him, "but the nude pictures are for my, our, and your eyes only."
"Naturally," Cloud said, raising the camera.
He'd had his fill of pictures soon enough, and now the camera lay, discarded, on the table next to the spent, sweaty, sticky, and very happy couple.
"Now we need to get clean again," he pointed out. "Are you ready for round two in the shower?"
..and they were at it again… he ramming into her from behind, she crying out in pleasure as water rinsed their sweat-soaked backs and carried their intermingled fluids down into the drain. Toweling off, they collapsed on the bed… but even after the shower incident, he was still not sated…
He sighed. "After our shower… and I just want to pound my maiden's pussy with my penis again."
"I'm not much of a maiden. It's never enough," she told him, laughing. "I love your hugs, your kisses, your penis in my pussy…"
Cloud groaned at his beautiful girlfriend, now his wife. "I created a monster. I am going to call you LUST from now on. But for now… maybe just a maiden's kiss." And he did, quite thoroughly.
Tifa returned the smile to her boyfriend, now husband. "My name is Tifa Lockhart Strife, and don't you forget it. Although 'Lust' is a great nickname. Behind closed doors, anyway."
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A long time ago she had said to him, you can tie me up any time you want, but wait until the kids are on vacation... and they had been. So he had.
He'd been worried he had hurt her, but she was right, she liked it rough. "It's ok. I'm just thinking of your bruising and scratching me as love tattoos." She smirked. "But now it's my turn to tie you to the bed so I can ride your penis."
It had been a long night after that.
"Why are you spacing out on me?" she had asked him afterward, concerned.
"It's not you," he assured her. "I was just thinking that the kids are coming home today. And it's Halloween."
Tifa groaned. "Oh yeah, I forgot," she replied. "We'll have to find costumes.
"What should we be?" he asked.
She looked at the scratches and bite marks littering her body. "Vampires, maybe."
"Vampires sounds kind of …sexy." He replied. "Will you still love me though as a vampire?"
"I love you no matter what species we are," she replied. "Will you relax, you are going to love being a vampires. Although we will have to turn almost all of our friends into vampires." She leaned in. "Cloud, give up. Let vampire Tifa make you a vampire too," she half-sang.
Cloud pondered. "Should we make Marlene and Denzel vampires as well?"
Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming, and young children's voices combining with Yuffie's. Tifa groaned. "Next Halloween, Barret can take the kids trick-or-treat, while the wicked Good Witch of Nibelheim lets her knight pound her senseless." She sighed. "But this year, I think we're stuck."
"I don't want to face them yet." Cloud threw the sheets over the two of them and groaned, pulling her close. Their breathing intermingled.
Tifa laughed. "I see that we are ghosts now. Let's go haunt Yuffie."
"Ghostly hosts, huh. We can't BOTH hide in here." Cloud let Tifa stay in bed a while longer, going down to greet an overly excited Yuffie.
"Hi!" she greeted Cloud with enthusiasm; Cloud certainly hoped she hadn't been feeding the kids whatever she was on. "How are things going with Tifa?"
"Mostly good," Cloud answered. Not like he could complain about the night before, that was for sure. "We just, uh, still have those days…"
"That you don't understand each other?" Yuffie looked… gleeful. Which in and of itself made Cloud worried. "Good thing I brought you a present. It's a" – here she looked around furtively – "special materia."
Cloud sighed. The last "special materia" Yuffie had brought had turned out to have unexpected Mini effects. On Tifa. Who had not been particularly amused. Though he had rather enjoyed carrying Pocket Tifa inside his shirt, snuggled against his chest, while he went out to buy a rare Cornucopia…
"This is different!" Yuffie squealed, as if reading his hidden thoughts. But when she explained it to him… well… it seemed like a good idea...
Really, what could go wrong?
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Not much, but Tifa was still not pleased.
"Wait," she started, already irritated. "Cloud. Are you telling me that Yuffie used a new materia named Soul Switch on you? So the Yuffie that slept in the guestroom was you and the giggling Cloud was Yuffie…"
"I didn't mean - " protested Yuffie.
"CLOUD." she continued, repeating his name for emphasis. "WHY would you let Yuffie use an untested materia on you?! Didn't you learn anything from when I was reduced to the size of a Barbie doll?!"
"She didn't mean - " argued Cloud.
"What if you guys got STUCK that way?! I'd be married to YUFFIE for the rest of my life!" She turned to Yuffie. "Yuffie, I am going to KILL you! What the hell!"
"I thought it was a good idea," Cloud answered lamely. "I just wanted to be with you today…"
Tifa put one hand forward to stop him, anger flashing in her eyes. "Don't move, Strife, I will deal with you in a minute!" She wheeled on the ninja instead. "Yuffie, when are you going to learn not to use my family as your test subjects! And as for you, STRIFE" – last names were always DANGEROUS, Cloud knew, even if it was now HER last name as well - "you did NOT need to let Yuffie switch your SOUL with hers! Next time, come ASK me to spend the day with you, ok?"
She looked around to scold the ninja further, but Yuffie had fled Tifa's wrath.
Anger somewhat mollified, he let Cloud pull her close. "But it all worked out for the best, didn't it?" he asked plaintively.
Despite it all, Tifa had to admit Cloud was right. Still… "Sometimes i wonder whether I should thank her, or kill her."
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She was sure of Cloud's feelings for her.
She thought she was.
He had come home to her after living in the church, hadn't he? Didn't that just say it all?
She made the mistake of peeking in… on their anniversary… and he was holding the pink ribbon…
He was looking at it, murmuring too low for her to pick out all the words, but she heard one thing clearly. "…don't love her…."
Her heart was stung.
Love hurts, sometimes so badly…
She saw the way he was looking at the ribbon when he said it.
Could he really be... ?
Was he still trying to CHOOSE?!
And before she knew it, she was bursting into the room, shouting irrationally, pissed off, yelling, screaming, an untapped vein of pain she didn't know was there –
"Why are you talking to AERIS?" she shouted, without bothering to think if she was making sense. "You DID do it, didn't you? You FUCKED her, Cloud. I knew it – "
Cloud just looked at her, dumbfounded. No trace of guilt. "Aeris?" I mean.. Zack…"
"ZACK!" she shouted. "ZACK was a better man than you." He was loyal to her, she thought, not even realizing the impact of what she was saying until…
Cloud grew stone-still and deathly quiet. "You're sweet on Zack now, huh? He asked coldly. "Did you let Zack fuck you with his - ?"
Tifa looked at him as if slapped. Where had THAT come from? "Don't you dare finish that sentence CLOUD STRIFE!" she exclaimed. YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL YOU ARE THE ONLY MAN WHO HAS EVER FUCKED ME!"
"You come her fucking yelling about AERIS of all things, jealous as hell, what am I supposed to think?"
"AERIS!" Tifa found herself yelling, foolish, unreasonable, unstoppable. , "Tell, me, did Aeris make that promise with you, that if I was ever in a bind you would save me? Did AERIS help her boyfriend Zack carry a wounded Shinra guard back to the Nibelheim inn? Did Aeris help you join AVALANCHE? Did AERIS stay by your side when you had mako poisoning?"
"Tifa, I – " Cloud tried to interrupt, but she wouldn't be silenced. She was too pissed off.
"NO! I was the one who did all that for you because I LOVE YOU CLOUD STRIFE, and now you are telling AERIS that you don't love me! Stop with the bullshit, Cloud, I am your wife!"
Cloud grasped her wrists; she hadn't realized she had balled them up, as if in preparation to fight. 'Is that really what you think you heard?"
She could only nod, tears running down her face. She reached as if to slap him, but Cloud's grip was too strong. "What was that comment about? You don't deserve me. Listen here, Cloud Strife, I have been in love with you since that day you tried to save me from falling off that rope bridge – "
"Yes, I remember that day. How could I forget?" Cloud interrupted. "And look at what happened, we both fell off that rope bridge and you ended up in a coma for a month – "
"- but I survived." She DID slap him then, but a half-hearted tap of affection not anger. "That was NOT your fault. Stop blaming yourself."
"It's… hard not to blame myself." He fingered the pink ribbon as he said this. "Same as I blame myself for what you think you heard before you came in. Have I really NOT done enough to make you happy?"
She softened. "Never do that again, do you hear me, Cloud Strife?" she said, caressing his cheek. "OK, let's get something straight right now, Cloud Strife. MY PLACE IS BY YOUR SIDE. I AM YOUR TIFA, JUST AS YOU ARE MY CLOUD!"
"I know." Cloud smiled sweetly, sadly. "I… like to talk to Zack sometimes. About you, ostly. This helps me focus," he said, lifting the ribbon. "I was explaining to him, I don't love Aeris, I love YOU. Always have." He smiled wider then, a big grin from ear to ear, kissing her slowly and sweetly. He turned as if to leave…
"Where do you think you are going?" she asked him, a naughty smile sneaking across her face. "Get back here and fuck my ass right now, and don't you dare stop..."
"If you insist," he replied. "My Tifa…"
He undressed her slowly, making love to her with the greatest sensitivity and care, but as they lay together afterward, his touches paused when he came to the scar. The conversation with Zack had already started him thinking… about his weaknesses, about the times he had not been enough…
"Because of me, you have that scar across your body," he told her, regretfully. Too weak. She was right, Zack could have done better. He SHOULD have done better. "I should have stayed in Nibelheim. With you and my mom, the two people who really did love me…" So many regrets. "… and not said I was going to SOLDIER…" To impress you.
Tifa stopped him. "Yes, you should have stayed in Nibelheim with me – " your girlfriend, she thought, now that she understood she wished she had been – " and you didn't need to impress me. You had already impressed me by trying to save me when the assholes that I had called my friends ran off and left me to die." She paused, touching to where he had his own matching scar under yet-unremoved clothing. "Listen up, my getting this scar was not your fault," she told him. "I love you, too. I want to meet that Hojo again and introduce him to Final Heaven with my fists." Fire began to burn in her eyes, not just of lust. "No one hurts my Cloud, EVER."
She kissed him, long and deep; Cloud felt himself responding all over again, knowing that their irrational anger and jealousy was smoothed over. That neither of them had cause to doubt.
He made love to her with every ounce of care and passion her could muster, reinforcing yet again. She was HIS, and he was HERS…
They separated, sated, and ever more in love. As they were every day.
"That was great," she told him. "Can we do it again?"
"Of course," he told her. And again , and again. As many times as needed for her to feel it in her soul that it was HER, only her….
She moaned underneath his touches, pleasurable familiarity. How she wished they COULD have done it way back then…. Had her thought the same? Near misses, times wasted…a ticking timebomb that never went off. "You could have been fucking me back in Nibelheim," she gasped. "You didn't have to leave to impress me, I was already impressed by you," she moaned. "My only true friend, boyfriend, and husband, the only man that i will ever loveeee…" Her words trailed off into a shrill scream, she approaching ever nearer climax.
"Tifa…"" he moaned, her name the only word that mattered.
"We're here now," she panted. In a bedroom, in a house east of Midgar, east of where their lives began, ended, and began again… "I've wanted you every time," she told him," before you even left for Nibelheim… when you came back as that ShinRa guard… when I found you in the train station…"
"TIFA!" he shouted again, even louder.
"I am your before-, start-, and endgame-…"
"You are the only game I will ever need…" he swore to her.
"You got that right, Strife." His touch hit her just right THERE, and her cries hitched another octave higher. "I am your past, present and future all rolled into one. I am your home, and you are the key to my door…" something she felt completely as he slammed into her, he inside her body and her once-locked heart. "My handsome soldier. You should have stayed your ass in Nibelheim where you belong."
"You're my home now," he rasped. "Home is where you are."
And she never wanted to let him out.
"My precious, beautiful toy," she encouraged. "I want your seed. One way or the other… I want you to get me pregnant.:"
He stopped dead, lifting his head. "What?" he asked.
"You heard me," she smirked. "I love you. I want to start another new life with you."
He had only one word for her. "Yes," he said, and yet another promise was made.
Outside, spring called.
And as they came together, she eagerly welcomed him home.
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CREDITS
The writers whose Derek reviews were used as source material: Caramel van Gogh, Denebola Leo, Karmi Ky, MarleNadia, Senigata, theClosetPoet
The actual idea for assembling Derek's review into a single fic: Denebola Leo
The cover art: MarleNadia
The actual writing: me, Meeerf aka Alluma Noir
A shout out to Mayari for assembling the Final Heaven Discord server
And to DEREK TOMLINSON for admiring and inspiring us!
HAPPY CLOTI LOVE DAY!
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
These fics were reviewed by Derek:
A Call of Spring (Senigata)
A Long Way From Nibelheim (theClosetPoet7)
A Maiden's Kiss (Denebola Leo)
A New Beginning (Denebola Leo)
A Night to Remember (Senigata)
A Summer Night's Spring (Senigata)
Anniversary (Karmi Ky)
Bound in Leather (Denebola Leo)
Choose (Karmi Ky)
Dirty Drink Roulette (MarleNadia)
Disease (Karmi Ky)
Dominance Play (Caramel van Gogh)
East of Midgar (theClosetPoet7)
Final Fantasy VII Drabbles (Caramel van Gogh)
Fractured Mind (Senigata)
Fruit Play (Denebola Leo)
Getting Into the Nibelheim Spirit (Denebola Leo)
Ghostly Hosts (Denebola Leo)
Golden Saucer Delights (theClosetPoet7)
Hero of the Dawn, Healer of Worlds (theClosetPoet7)
Home is Where you Are (Caramel van Gogh)
Homecoming (Senigata)
House of Horror (Senigata)
Innocent Feelings (Senigata)
Just the Way You Are (Denebola Leo)
Love Hurts (Denebola Leo)
Moments in Midgar (Karmi Ky)
Nightmares (Karmi Ky)
Not Here For Trouble (Denebola Leo)
On 7th Heaven (Senigata)
Out and About (Karmi Ky)
Peanuts (Karmi Ky)
Play the Game (MarleNadia)
Ramblings at Midnight (Caramel van Gogh)
Reunion (Denebola Leo)
Reunion in the Slums (theClosetPoet7)
Scarf Snow (Karmi Ky)
Short Court Style (theClosetPoet7)
Stargazing (Senigata)
Starlight (Senigata)
The Dance (Karmi Ky)
The Fighter (theClosetPoet7)
The Forest's Calling (theClosetPoet7)
The Honeybee Inn (theClosetPoet7)
The Right Angle (Denebola Leo)
The Show Must Go On (MarleNadia)
The Shower Incident (Karmi Ky)
The Word "Grr" (Karmi Ky)
Ticking Timebomb (theClosetPoet7)
To Be With You Today (Denebola Leo)
Undelivered Thoughts (Caramel van Gogh)
Water Tower Waltz (theClosetPoet7)
Welcome Home (Karmi Ky)