As The Smoke Clears
Disclaimer: Recites from piece of paper with gun pointed at head I do not own the characters of Final Fantasy. smiles evilly at man with gun but I wish I did. BANG!
Pairings: Vincent/Tifa, possibly others
Warnings: swearing and other explicit content in later chapters, sex, drunkenness, drunken sex etc.
A/N: Again, please let me know if anything doesn't seem right or is just wrong. Please enjoy! Cookie?
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Chapter 2.
Tifa sighed as her eyes fell upon the familiar sight of Midgar. It was still a fair way off, but she expected to be back at her bar by nightfall. So she hoped anyway. Large storm clouds were gathering behind her and moving fast. If she didn't get a move on they would reach her soon and she would get soaked before she even entered Midgar.
Still she was unable to move, unable to accept her defeat.
Vincent…
This was the third time she had gone out looking for him, but again she had failed to locate him, or any sign of him for that matter.
She was beginning to give up hope.
It had been two months now since they had defeated omega and she had stumbled across the Cerberus Chain. Two months without so much as a whisper of Vincent Valentine or his whereabouts. This was the last time she was going to search for him, Cloud had made her promise him that.
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"Promise me that if you don't find him this time, you will stop looking."
Tifa looked up at him sadly.
"Cloud…I…"
"Tifa…please! Just promise me this!"
"…Alright…"
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The look of relief that he had given her had been enough to make her not regret her choice, but she didn't want to give up hope that Vincent had survived…
"I made a promise," she reasoned to herself, "And I intend to keep it."
With renewed vigour, Tifa picked up her pace and headed toward home.
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By the time she had reached Midgar the clouds had overtaken her and seemed to have gotten lower, and darker.
By the time she had reached her sector, lightning flashes were periodically lighting up her surroundings with brilliant flashes of white light.
By the time she had reached her street, the heavens had opened and seemed intent on drowning her.
Rain pelted down on her, oblivious to her irritated mood. It got into every crevice in her clothing, drenching her hair and making it stick to her face. She batted it aside angrily, only to have it pushed back where it was by the torrential rain.
Therefore, by the time she had reached her bar at the end of the street, she was soaked. Not to mention very grumpy.
Not wanting to wake anyone, she quietly unlocked the door and stepped inside, closing a locking the door again behind her, before trudging up to her room as quietly as she could. She felt so drained, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Without even bothering to close her door, or change out of her wet clothes, something which she would soon regret she collapsed on the nearest cushioned surface, the couch, and promptly fell asleep.
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"Tifa…"
"Vincent…"
He materialised out of nothing and stood before her, adorned in his leather and crimson cloak, complete with his shining metal gauntlet.
She could hardly believe her eyes. He was here. He was here
Slowly he moved toward her.
"Tifa…"
"Vincent…"
He moved closer.
"Tifa…"
"Vincent?"
He continued to move closer, until he was barely a hairs breadth away.
Tifa felt her breath hitch in her throat as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.
"Tifa…"
"Vincent…"
His lips continued to ghost against her skin, trailing across her neck and collarbone. She looked down and with a start, realised she was naked.
She looked back up at Vincent and noticed he was too.
He simply smirked at her and continued to kiss her softly.
"Tifa…"
"Vin–"
She was cut off by a sneeze.
Vincent looked at her confused.
"Tifa?"
"Vin–"
She sneezed again.
Tifa suddenly felt like she was falling. She was confused about the feeling. Then…
–THUD–
"Oomph! Oww! Shit!"
Tifa opened her eyes. Vincent disappeared.
"What the…"
She was face down on the floor. Suddenly the falling sensation made sense. She sneezed.
"Fuck!"
She was still in her wet clothes from last night. Damn it! She had gotten sick!
"Err...Tifa?"
She jumped (or would have if she had have been standing) and looked up at Cloud.
He walked over a knelt beside her, helping her up.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
She sneezed again.
"Yes, I'm sure you are." He muttered. "Come on let's get you warmed up and into some dry clothes before this gets any worse."
Tifa nodded dumbly and allowed him to fuss over her, barely noticing the way he kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, to his credit he kept his back turned as she changed into dry clothes. She was soon warm and dry, tucked in to her bed. Cloud commanded her to stay put until she felt better. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Tifa Lockhart was out like a light.
Cloud sighed, and closed the door behind him.
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Sunlight streamed through the open window and onto her face. She rolled over and blinked blearily, waiting for her eyes to focus. She glared at the curtains as though it was their fault that they were blinding her. With a groan, she sat up and massaged her temples to try and ease the splitting headache she had woken up with from falling off the couch last night.
"Feeling better?"
Tifa jumped, cursing loudly.
"Fuck! Don't sneak up on me like that Cloud!"
"Sorry," He looked sheepishly at her, "So are you feeling any better?"
Tifa smiled slightly. "Yeah, I'm a little hungry, but I'm feeling better than I did."
"Good to hear" Cloud smiled, "There's some food waiting for you downstairs."
"Great," Tifa smiled back, "I'll be down in a minute."
"Alright, but hurry up before it gets cold."
"Will do!"
Ten minutes later, Tifa was downstairs on the couch with a bowl of hot porridge in her hands.
"Thanks Cloud, for looking out for me."
He turned back to her and smiled again.
"Its okay, besides" he laughed, "someone's got to, right?"
Tifa nodded and joined in.
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It rained again late that afternoon and still was by the time evening had come. The bar was empty, no one really wanted to go outside in this weather. Not that Tifa could blame them.
She was feeling a lot better than she had last night and had even stopped sneezing so much. It was very quiet. Yuffie had gone back to Wutai to check up on her family, Cid had taken her on his ship, Barret was with them, and so it was just her and Cloud, who was sitting at the bar while she cleaned glasses.
A loud knocking on the door startled them both and Cloud stood to see who it was. The bar was closed early because of the bad weather, the sign in the window made that clear. They weren't expecting the others back for at least another week. He wasn't expecting anyone, and judging from Tifa's confused expression neither was she.
Whoever it was knocked again, more urgently. Suddenly apprehensive, Cloud steeled himself and unlocked the door. Turning the handle slowly he opened the door and stood back in shock.
The unmistakable thud of metal chinking together made Tifa look up from the mug she was cleaning. The room was too dark, the only light on being the one at the bar she was standing under, so only an outline of the visitor was visible to her eyes, but as they stepped through the doorway and towards the light, their features gradually became visible.
They wore strangely shaped metal boots, leather pants and a crimson cloak. They seemed familiar and tugged at something in her mind. Cloud still stood unmoving by the open door, which the visitor then turned around and closed for him. Tifa studied the figure curiously as it again began to approach the bar. A glint of metal caught her eye and she looked down at the visitor's arm which was covered like a glove to the elbow with a metal gauntlet.
Her mind screamed at her and realisation dawned on her as her eyes widened and she dropped the glass, barely noticing it shatter as she turned to look at where his face was.
"Vincent?"
"Tifa."
Her mind was racing so much that she forgot to breathe. He was alive! He was here! Soon lack of oxygen caught up with her and she passed out. The last thing she remembered was Vincent catching her before she fell into the broken pieces of glass.
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A/N: Well, it took him long enough, but Vincent finally entered the story that one was longer than the last one hooray! Cookies for all! Hope it was enjoyed! Please R&R! I live off them! Don't let me wither away! Noooooo!!!