Story Title: After the Rain
Rating: K
Genre: Romance and Drama
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters appearing in this fanfiction.
A/N: All right, one last update before I disappear to school. I actually didn't plan on this but because someone asked so nicely I just couldn't ignore the request. However, I have to say that this chapter will end at a horrible cliffhanger. Hehehe. Well, until fate brings us together again…

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Chapter 15
I fear we'd hurt each other eventually

Cloud didn't know how early or late he woke up the next morning. His room, or rather, the room that was once his, was cold and empty. There was no clock in sight, so the time was unknown. But judging by the light outside, it was probably quite late. Cloud jumped out of bed and got dressed. When he went downstairs his mother was already done with breakfast.

"Oh! You're up." She said, smiling happily. "I was just about to wake you."

"You should've woken me up earlier." Cloud scratched his head and took a seat at the table.

"But you were sleeping so soundly! It didn't seem right." His mother looked at him. For the first time, Cloud was aware of the slight wrinkles forming in her young face. "It's been so long since I've prepared breakfast for two people."

"I miss your cooking a lot." Cloud smiled.

"And I believe that."

Their conversation was pleasant and calm. It brought back so many nostalgic memories. It must've been much harder for his mother though, so he kept on smiling. She must've been thinking the same, for she smiled as much as he did. However, she didn't look lonely when she smiled. It was real.

"Any plans for today?" She asked when they were cleaning up.

"I'm going to help Tifa and her father out today."

"Mm. Have fun. I'll be here when you need me."

"All right."

Cloud walked down the street to Tifa's house. He didn't even have to knock on the door. Tifa was already waiting for him and had opened the door before he could get to it. "That was quick." Cloud said, smiling.

"I saw you from my window upstairs."

"Spying much?"

"Not all the time." She laughed.

They entered the living room. As they entered Cloud was greeted by the various family photos of the house and the piano sitting quietly in the living room. Tifa excused herself for a moment and Cloud wandered to the piano, pressing his fingers against the keys. The familiar sound brought back feelings of the day when he saw Tifa play the piano for the first time. Strange how he never knew she had such talent.

"Ah, Cloud." Came the voice of Tifa's father. He walked in and took a seat on the sofa. "I was wondering why Tifa was so happy this morning. You were coming over! Haha."

"Yes, sir." Cloud said. "I hope I'm not troubling you."

"Oh! No trouble at all." The man said laughing.

"How have you been?" Cloud asked.

"Heh, you're asking about my health?"

Cloud nodded.

"Well, I've been feeling a bit out of it at times, but don't worry. Everything is going along just fine."

"Glad to hear it."

Tifa reappeared holding a tray in her arms. She had prepared three cups of steaming hot chocolate for the three of them. She placed the tray on the table and handed the cups to her father and Cloud before herself. Cloud thought it was a bit ironic how he had drank hot chocolate when he was away, and here he was drinking the same steamy drink at a completely different area. No matter, it really did warm the soul.

"So, ready for some cleaning?" Tifa's father slapped his hands together. "Come on, no time to dilly dally!"

Shortly after their cups were empty, Cloud offered to wash the dishes while Tifa stood by as they talked. Once the cups were clean and placed away, Cloud followed Tifa into the garage. There were cardboard boxes everywhere. Apparently Tifa and her father had already taken the trouble of cleaning out some things on their own.

"The garage was getting filled up," explained Tifa. "So we decided to move some things upstairs to the storage room."

Cloud had no idea where to start. But Tifa threw a box into his arms and told him to follow her. With a box in her own hands, she led the way to the storage room. It wasn't far before they reached their destination. The storage was at the very end of the hallway, and it was rather cold. In the room were bookshelves and portraits. All over the ground were cardboard boxes that were closed tightly or wide open for anyone to look at. Tifa placed her box down and Cloud placed his down next to her.

"There's a lot of stuff here." Cloud commented, looking around.

"Yeah. My mother, she loved collecting things." Tifa stuffed her hand inside a box and pulled out an antique teddy bear. "When she died, there was no way for us to sell her things, so we kept them."

"I see."

Cloud and Tifa returned to the garage to grab more things. All the while, Tifa's father was busy packing things away. It was tedious moving back and forth, but with Tifa, it was worthwhile. The hours passed by quickly, and they were able to move most of the boxes upstairs. When it was nearing noon, Tifa decided they should take a break.

"We did good." Tifa said when they were relaxing in the living room. "We only have a little more left."

Cloud wiped his forehead. He was a bit exhausted, though he tried to hide it. Tifa saw right through him, "Tired?"

Cloud blushed and nodded. "A bit. I'm surprised. You don't look the least tired."

"But I am." Indeed, she appeared rather tired. Her cheeks were rosy red, and her breathing was fast and rapid unlike her normal usual breaths. "You're not giving up on me, are you?"

"Of course not!" Cloud stammered. "I'm not tired."

"Hehe." Tifa turned around and called, "Dad, I'm going to prepare some food. Why don't you take a break?"

"No way! I gotta do this!" her father called back. "No giving up!"

Tifa laughed. "Well, let's see what's available." She and Cloud headed over to the kitchen. She checked in the refrigerator. Her reaction troubled Cloud. He asked, "Is something wrong?"

"There's no food." Tifa laughed.

"O-oh?" Cloud felt relieved that it wasn't anything serious.

"Guess I'll have to go do some grocery shopping!" she said happily.

"Want me to go with you?"

"I'd love you to." Tifa smiled. Something about the word "love" made Cloud smile nervously. She continued, "But I need someone to stay here with father. Will you do that for me?"

"Um, sure." Cloud felt a little disappointed that he couldn't go with her, but she asked so nicely, how could he decline? "Don't buy too much."

"Heh, don't worry. I'm strong!" Tifa went to the garage to tell her father where she was heading off to before leaving. Cloud sadly waved goodbye as he watched her go by herself. He wondered if she too felt sad about being alone. Nonetheless, she had asked him to stay, and stay he will. He returned to the garage to do what he could to help, but some minutes later the doorbell rang.

"Now, who could that be?" Wondered Tifa's father.

Cloud went to greet whoever it was and nearly had a heart attack when he found out. "Z-zack?"

"Me!" Zack invited himself inside. "I can't believe you've been with Tifa this whole morning. And without telling me!"

"I was going to see you and Aerith later, y'know?"

"Sure, sure." Zack sat on the couch in the living room. He smiled gently. "It's good to see you back."

"It's good to be back." Cloud sat down across from him.

"Can I be nosy and ask a question?"

"You're always nosy. Being polite would be too late."

"You're right." Zack sighed. It took him a while to ask, "Did you… come back for any special reason?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Zack stared at him, his serious demeanor showing through. "From the way things are going, she's not going to wait forever."

"…I know that."

"Then do something."

"It's harder than it seems." Cloud rubbed his face. "I don't know what I'll do if I tell her."

"Maybe," Zack paused. "She just wants to know anyway."

"What?"

"She just wants to know. You know?"

Though dense as he was, Cloud understood what Zack was trying to tell him. He thought for a moment, but suddenly Zack took his head under his arm and gave him a noogie. "Sheesh! You're always so caught up with the future that you can't do anything right in the present!" Zack laughed as Cloud tried to squirm free. "Just relax and everything will come to you."

"Let me go!" Cloud cried, trying to rip Zack's arm away from his neck. "This isn't the right way to relax!"

Before they could continue their little argument, there was a loud crash from the garage. They both immediately stopped and stared in the direction of the garage door. Cloud felt his heart beating rapidly. Zack's arm grew loose and he broke free, dashing to the garage. He yelled out, "Mr. Lockheart!" so many times, but no reply came. Zack followed after him. Cloud felt his breath catch at his throat when he saw Mr. Lockheart unconscious on the ground, buried beneath a pile of broken antiques and cardboard boxes.

"Mr. Lockheart…!" Zack regained his senses first and ran to the man's side, removing anything heavy off of him. Once Cloud snapped out of his racing thoughts, he raced to help Tifa's father sit up. He called him many times. Though he was breathing, he made no other signs of life.

"What…?"

Cloud's heart pounded. He couldn't imagine how worse things were going to get. Turning in the direction of the garage door, he saw Tifa. She stood there, hands to her mouth in shock. She dropped the grocery bags that had been clutched in her hands as tears poured down her cheeks. "Father…?"