Chapter 5: The Letter

Cloud's P.O.V.

It is December 19th and Christmas break starts after school today! I've been waiting so long for this two week break to get ready for snowboarding up at Mt. Nibel with the guys this year. I looked out my bedroom window and saw snow on the ground. It was around 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was all light and fluffy. I love it when it snows in Nibelheim just to see the scenery all over the place especially during Christmastime. All the houses, shops, and other buildings covered in Christmas decorations, the huge tree decorated in main square, and everyone is all happy and joyful. I walked downstairs to my kitchen seeing my Mom making breakfast before I go to school. "Hi Mom." I said. "Hi Cloud did you sleep well last night?" she asked me. "I did sleep well actually." I said happily. "That's good." she said happily. I looked at the table and saw a light green piece of paper and I wanted to know what it was.

"Hey Mom what's this?" I asked. She put our breakfast down onto the table and saw the green paper in my hand. "Oh your father and I got that at your school's little concert last night." she said. I looked inside it and saw a few names I recognized. I saw Callie's name there and saw Selina's, Aerith's, and Taylor's names as well. "I can't believe that I forgot about this." I said sadly. "Honey don't feel bad I'm pretty they understood why you forgot." said my Mom. I sighed sadly. I looked at the paper more and saw that Taylor had performed alot last night. "Wow Taylor must be really tired after last night." I said. "She was really good. I swear she was born to be on stage." said my Mom. I laughed happily to her response. "We have some videos of the show if you want to see them later." she said. "Alright I'll watch 'em later today." I said. We began to eat peacefully. As we were eating, my Dad walked in happy to see us. "Hey son you better make sure your bike is warmed up before you leave ok?" said my Dad. "Ok I'll do that." I said. "You missed out on watching Taylor perform last night, where were you?" he asked me. "I was at Zack's with Cid, but Reno told us that he went last night and the three of us felt really bad that we didn't go." I said. After eating, I went back into my room to get changed into nice warm clothes, grabbed my jacket and bag, put my cellphone in my right jacket pocket, and warmed up my bike outside.

I heard my phone ring and saw a text from Aerith asking where I was. I texted her that I was on my way. After about ten minutes I got on my bike ready to ride off to school. I looked at Taylor's house seeing only her parents there. I waved at them and they waved back happily. I rode off to school to meet up with the group. I parked my bike at the parking lot and walked inside the building. I looked into the cafeteria and saw the group at our table. "Hey guys sorry if I'm a little late." I said. "Don't worry Chocobo-head you're not late at all. You made it on time." said Zack. "Hey where's Tay?" Reno asked. "I thought she came with you two." said Yuffie. "No I thought she was with them." said Aerith as she pointed at me and Zack. "We have no clue." said Zack. Usually Taylor gets here about a couple minutes before I do to get our spot before school started. "Maybe she overslept after last night." said Reno. "Maybe." said Selina.

"By the way how did the concert go last night?" I asked Aerith. "It went really well! We all had fun last night." said Aerith. "Reno we're so sorry that we didn't go with you to see it." said Cid. "It's alright guys they understood that you three forgot. They're not mad about it I promise." said Reno. The three of us breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey babe I got the group photo from last night." said Selina to Reno. "Sweet! I wanna see!" said Reno happily. Selina pulled out her phone and showed him the photo. "Man we look good!" said Reno. "Can we see?" I asked. "Sure!" said Selina happily. We looked and saw the photo for the first time. It was Aerith, Selina, Reno, Taylor, and Callie in a group picture together. "Selina do you have some videos of last night?" Aerith asked. "I got the full video of Taylor's solo." said Selina. "Yes!" said Aerith happily. "Taylor got a solo?" Zack asked. "Yes she did!" said Selina. "Oh my God she did fantastic!" said Reno. "This I gotta see!" said Zack. Selina played the video showing Taylor on stage for about 3 minutes seeing her having fun and being herself up there. Only Selina and Aerith knew what she was singing but I was starstruck just to hear her sing like an angel. "Damn she sounds really good!" said Cid. "Agreed." said Cissnei. "I'm telling you she's meant to be on stage doing stuff like this." said Selina. At the end of the video we could hear Selina, Aerith, and Callie cheer. "I wish I had her singing voice." said Selina. "Maybe she can give you some singing lessons one day babe." said Reno. "You think so?" she asked him. "Yeah." he said.

The bell rang and we all left to our first classes. I walked into my science class and sat down at my desk. I looked at the door hoping to see Taylor walk in but she didn't. "Looks like she did oversleep." said Zack. I looked down feeling a little sad that she didn't come today. All day at school today we get to kick back and relax so no quizzes, tests, projects, and homework for today and the whole vacation! I looked at the group as we were watching a movie in class seeing them happy. "Hey Cloud what's that on your desk?" Zack asked me. I looked at my desk and saw an envelope taped onto my desk with my name on it. "If it's an early report card I swear-"said Reno. I opened the envelope and saw it was a letter which lasted about five pages long. "It's a letter." said Selina. I looked at it memorizing every word on it and saw that someone has been in love with me for quite sometime. As I kept reading it I started to recognize the handwriting on it. "Cloud's got a secret admirer huh?" said Reno. "Well who's it from?" Zack asked me. My eyes widened all surprised from it to see how much this person really cares about me more than anything else in the world, loves me for who I am inside and out, and finally say their true feelings for me. My heart began to race faster than the speed of sound and my face began to blush. "Hello?" said Aerith. I looked back at the group and they saw my face nearly all red. The girls took the letter and read it quietly as well and they got surprised by it too.

"Cloud do you know who wrote you this?" Aerith asked me. "I swear I know that handwriting from someone here." I said. The girls grabbed two chairs and sat down in front of my desk looking at me. "We know who it is." said Aerith. "Who is it?" I asked. Selina and Aerith looked at each other for a few seconds and then nodded at each other and then looked back at me. "It's Taylor." said Selina. My eyes widened in shock and surprised to hear that. "Taylor wrote him this?!" said Reno. "She did." said Selina. I looked back at the letter seeing her handwriting realizing that she's been in love with me for 8 years now. I began to smile and felt a couple tears fall on my face happily. "Aww buddy." said Zack as he patted my back. "Where is she?" I asked. "At home all scared of what your reaction to this would be." said Selina. Taylor being scared? That's something you rarely see from her. "So this is why she didn't come today." said Reno. "Yep that's why." said Aerith. "Hey you remember telling us you love her right?" Zack asked me. "Y-yes?" I said. "Well now you know that she loves you too!" said Zack happily.

"You two knew about this didn't you?" I asked them. Aerith and Selina nodded their heads yes to my question. I smiled at them shyly. "Tell you what after lunch, you go to her house and see her and the both of you can talk about this." said Aerith. "That way you have time to think about what you want to say to her." said Selina. I nodded my head to their responses. I put the letter back in the envelope and put it in my bag. The bell rang and I went to my next class and began counting down to lunch so I could go see Taylor. Nobody here in school could truly understand how excited I gotten today knowing now that my best friend has feelings for me as I have feelings for her too.

A couple hours had passed and it was finally lunch time! I got myself dismissed early thanks to a fake doctor's note I wrote up and copied my Mom's signature and it worked! I walked out of school and saw the group in the cafeteria waving at me and I waved back happily. I got on my bike and drove off to Taylor's house. As I was getting there, I saw the flower shop was open. I walked inside and bought a dozen red roses to surprise her. I looked around the shop and saw an ornament that read Our First Christmas Together and I knew that I had to get it. I picked it out and bought it too. I walked out of the shop with my little gifts, got back on my bike, and got to Taylor's house. I parked my bike on my driveway and walked to her door. I took a deep breath and knocked on her door. "Taylor?" I said. I knocked again wondering if she heard me. After a couple minutes, I looked around the area seeing no one in sight, and I opened up the door and walked inside her house. I looked around her living room seeing the 8 foot tall tree all decorated very nicely.

I saw her stocking hung up on her chimney next to her Dad's stocking. I looked around the house seeing it all decorated beautifully. "Taylor? Where are you?" I said. I walked upstairs hoping that someone doesn't catch me. I walked down the hall and saw her bedroom door slightly open. I took another deep breath and walked inside very quietly. I looked around and saw Taylor sound asleep in her bed. "There you are." I said quietly. I put down my little gifts, slowly walked up to her, and layed down next to her. "Hey bud. Time to wake up." I said quietly. Her eyes twitched a little and she groaned a little too (she hates waking up in the morning). "Tay?" I said quietly. I ran my fingers through her hair slowly and gently wondering if she would notice. After that she instantly cuddled up to me not even knowing I was right next to her. "Hey Taylor." I said in my normal tone. I watched her open her eyes and she noticed something was a little different. "Hm?" she said tiredly. "Good morning sunshine." I said. Taylor looked up and saw me and she was surprised to see me. I laughed happily seeing her all surprised. "C-cloud! H-how did you get here? I thought you would be at school?" said Taylor. "I left early just to see you silly." I said. I got up and gave her the roses and we walked downstairs to the living room.

"Thank you for the roses." said Taylor shyly. "You're welcome." I said shyly. We sat down on the couch next to each other and we saw each other blush shyly. "So… do you want a coffee or anything?" Taylor asked nervously. "Uh y-yeah sure I would like some coffee." I said nervously. "Milk and two sugars right?" she asked. "You got it." I said. Taylor walked to the kitchen quietly. I turned around seeing my bag, opened it up, took out the letter and hid it in my pocket. "Here you go." said Taylor as she walked back in. "Thanks pal." I said. "You're welcome." she said. I looked at her seeing her wearing a Midgar University hoodie and blue flannel sweatpants and now starting to fully wake up. "Come on Cloud, she's your best friend. You can do this. You can tell her anything. You know now that she really likes you, but does she know your feelings for her?" I said in my thoughts. "Cloud?" said Taylor. "Yeah?" I asked her. "Is something bothering you?" she asked me. I took a deep breath and we faced each other looking into each other's eyes. "Taylor, there's something I want to talk to you about." I said. "O-ok what is it?" said Taylor shyly. I took out the letter and showed it to her. "Y-you actually got it." she said nervously. "Yeah." I said shyly. Her face began to turn red and I saw that she was actually getting scared. "Don't be scared Tay it's just you and me. It's ok." I said.

Taylor took a deep breath and then looked back into my eyes all relaxed again. "You really want to know how I feel about this?" I asked her. "Y-yes." she said shyly. "Taylor, I loved it. I loved every single word you written on here. It moved me in so many ways of understanding how you really feel about me, especially when you wrote how you love me for who I really am. No girl that I dated has ever told me that at all. I was speechless when I first read this, but after looking at it a few more times I finally saw the real you come out of this after hiding this feeling for 8 years now. This is one of the most beautiful things that I've ever read in my entire life!" I said.

Taylor's eyes happily looked into mine and I saw her truly smile for the first time in a while. "You really loved it?" she asked happily. I nodded my head yes. "I'm really happy you loved it." she said. "But wait, there's something else." I said. "Oh? What is it?" she asked. I blushed red and took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you." I said. Taylor's eyes widened in shock. "You're in love with me?" said Taylor. "Yes." I said. We both went silent for a few minutes."For how long?" she asked. "Since I was 12 I've been in love with you. I love everything about you. Your eyes, your smile, your voice, everything. You light up my darkest days and nights, you are the only one who makes me truly happy. You are my soulmate. My diamond in the rough. Out of all the people in the world I only want to be with you. I want to be the one who will always love you just the way who you are. You mean the whole world to me. I love you my beautiful princess." I said. I looked and saw little tears fall from her eyes and she looked at me with a smile. I wiped her tears away and held her tight in my arms knowing now we finally said our true feelings to each other. "Taylor?" I said. "Yeah?" she said. "I know its crazy to ask you this now but can I kiss you?" I asked her. After I said that she kissed my cheek and looked right back at me. "Yes you can." said Taylor.

I looked deep into her brown eyes and then finally kissed her. Our hearts finally began to beat as one. This was the feeling that I've been searching for. Just to share this moment with my best friend. Our lips let go and we looked into each other's eyes again and we smiled happily. "Now I got something crazy to ask you." said Taylor. "What would that be?" I said. "Will you go out with me?" she asked. "Yes." I said happily. I kissed her happily. "You're too cute." I said. "You're cute too Cloudy." said Taylor happily. I smiled at her from her response. For a couple hours we watched a movie together and cuddled. When the movie ended we heard a knock on the window. We turned and saw Aerith, Zack, and the group outside and we let them in. "So are you two official?" Selina asked us. "Yep we're official." said Taylor as she held my hand.

After they congratulated us, I remembered the ornament. I ran back up to her room seeing the little bag and I brought it back down. "What's this?" said Taylor. "Open it and you'll see." I said. She opened the bag and saw the ornament for the first time. "Look what it says." I said. "Our First Christmas Together. Aww Cloudy it's adorable! Thank you!" she said happily as she hugged me. "You're welcome babe." I said as I hugged her. "Hang on; you two can put a picture in here. Do you two wanna take a picture together now as a couple?" Aerith asked us. "Yes." Taylor and I said in unison. We both stood in front of the tree together and Aerith took our picture. We printed out the photo about a half hour later and put the picture in the ornament. We both found a spot on the tree to hang it so everyone could see it.

An hour had passed and we all sat down watching a Christmas movie together talking and laughing together happily. We heard the door open and saw my parents and Taylor's parents walk in. "Hi." said Taylor to her parents. "Hi honey." said her Mom. The four of them looked and saw me and Taylor holding hands and cuddled close together. Their jaws dropped a little and then they smiled at us happily. We looked at Taylor's Dad as he saw her being a little shy. "I think she wants your approval Zeus." said Taylor's Mom. "You think so Holly?" he asked her. She nodded her head yes. He looked at his daughter seeing her snuggle up to me. "Taylor, I approve of him." he said. "You do?" Taylor asked. He nodded his head yes. She smiled at him and hugged him. "Thank you Daddy." she said. "You're welcome sweetheart." he said. I looked at my parents and I knew they approved of Taylor to be with me. We told them how we got together and they hugged us.

After our friends left, we had dinner with our parents together and they saw the ornament for the first time. "It's beautiful Cloud." said my Mom. "Thank you Mom." I said. "Hey guys come here." said Taylor's Dad. "What is it?" Taylor asked. "See that shadow on the wall? Who does it look like?" he asked us. We looked at the shadow he mentioned and Taylor's eyes widened now knowing who it was. "Well who is it?" I asked her. "It's Adam." she said. I looked at it and saw that it was his shadow watching us. "Now you know he's watching over you." said my Dad. I told them that Adam approved of me to be with her before he died and Taylor was surprised about that. She started to cry happily knowing that she has his approval too. I held her tight letting her know that everything's ok now.

After dinner ended, Taylor and I walked up to her room and we layed down on her bed talking, laughing, cuddling, and kissing a little bit before we fell asleep. Our parents walked in seeing me holding Taylor in my arms as we slept. They smiled and closed the door quietly to let us sleep peacefully for the night as a new chapter of our lives has finally begun.

Thank you for reading Chapter 5 of the series! Well it happened; Taylor and Cloud are now a couple! It took them sometime to find out their feelings for each other and now with their true feelings said they are now together! Their bond has become something more and it will make them stronger together.

Next time, Chapter 6: Shatter Me. Reno and Selina had a huge fight and they want the group to choose sides. Whose sides will they be on? What was the fight about? Find out in Chapter 6!