Chapter 11

~ Love in a Time of Foolishness ~

Soft sands grated beneath Cloud's feet as he braced himself to kick off the ground. The wind caressed his hair roughly as the bike began to travel faster, and faster. Dust caught in his nose in the wind though he exhaled it away. The sun was falling asleep in the distance and he had three hours to get home, to get back to her.

Plates scraped together and glasses clashed as Tifa settled them into the soapy water in the sink. The main rush was over; the calm later hours were over, and now it was time to close up. Thankfully she knew she wouldn't have to do it alone.

He was going to be late and he knew it. Cloud twisted his fist around the throttle harder and fought against distracting thoughts of Tifa to remain in his zone of concentration. He felt Fenrir's tyres rip up the ground underneath them faster. The pressure increasing on his goggles was starting to suck the blood from around his eyes in his haste.

He strolled in with his messy, almost spiky hair, rough hands, bright eyes, strong shoulders and charismatic grin. Tifa couldn't help grinning back.

"Damn it!" he swallowed. He was low on fuel and the warning light had been on for ages. But he had to get back!

He sat down gingerly on one of the bar stools and she leaned over the counter to show he had her attention. It was nice to have a man around who was never late for a change.

Home. Cloud wheeled Fenrir into the garage and quietly shut the doors. He unpacked everything he needed for the next delivery quickly and put them to the side. Just one little box was left snuggling into the shallow material of his pocket. He opened the door to the bar.

Approaching the bar counter he watched as a dark-haired man in modest-looking shirt, tie and trousers with his back to him sat on one of the bar stools tossing back a drink. The sign on Seventh Heaven's front door now read "closed" and he was the last one of the customers still left. Cloud instantly knew who he was, he didn't need an introduction. The dark-haired man tilted his head to one side and then brought it upright again, seemingly trying to see around the corner and through the storeroom door. He suddenly coughed, patted his chest and rolled his arms back in a giant arching motion, showing off how much they globed. Cloud's heartbeat began to throb menacingly in his ears.

Keeping his cool he walked casually up to the stool beside of the man and sat down. The dark-haired man turned his head. He also had bright blue eyes, though they weren't the result of mako poisoning and so were less brilliant than Cloud's own. His jaw was strong and his eyebrows were like the archways above the doors of churches. Solid and unmovable. His hands looked rough from past manual labour though they were now clean and healing. His dark features also made him look a little haunted, though his soft eyes soon melted that first impression away. In a way he was quite captivating to look at.

"You're Cloud," he said, giving a warming smile.

"Yeah," Cloud replied, unable to keep himself from continuing to eye the guy up.

Tifa came bustling into the room with a bottle of red wine from the storeroom. She stopped dead when she saw Cloud.

"You're home." Her voice sounded faint and disbelieving.

He looked at her straight in the eyes. "Yeah. Deliveries took a little longer than I thought."

She set down the bottle of wine on the bar top and pulled up three wine glasses. "Well, then I guess three's a party. If that's okay with you, Rich?" she said light-heartedly.

"Pour the alcohol already!" he joked, waving his hand like an impatient monarch.

She laughed.

Cloud watched them from his perch on his stool. For some reason the throbbing in his muscles had gone away. He didn't feel angry, he didn't feel that intense heat, he didn't have the strong urge to throw this man head-first into the hardwood bar top and punch him repeatedly until he cried out for his mother. No, Cloud felt perfectly fine. Instead he was now struggling to remove his focus from Tifa.

"What are we celebrating, Rich?" Cloud decided he better make an of effort with the other man.

"Just got promoted," he cheered into his wine glass and took another gulp.

As they continued to talk, despite everything Cloud had been feeling towards him from afar, up-close Rich was an okay guy. He had noticed his looking at Tifa, and his joking with her enough for Cloud to know he was definitely attracted to her... though he sensed nothing more, none of that ego-inflation guys emanate when they're around a girl they've got lucky with. But then he had already figured that out earlier.

Conversations continued further into the night just as much as they became more tipsy. More drinks and laughs had allowed the atmosphere to complete soften and relax, even to aid the forming of a make-shift friendship between Cloud and his rival. It was only hours on that they all became aware of how time had flown by. Rich saw the hour hand of the clock face first and abruptly stood up.

"Well, better be getting rest for tomorrow. No use getting a promotion and turning up hung over and asleep."

"One second! I'll get that book for you," Tifa said rushing upstairs.

Cloud joined Rich on his feet. Rich rapped the bar surface repeatedly with his keys before suddenly looking up at nothing, a blank expression on his face, a thought in his mind. "You're a lucky guy, Cloud."

Cloud turned to look at him.

"I like Tifa a lot but I think this race was won long ago."

Cloud looked at him bewildered. Why was he saying this to him?

Tifa reappeared with a book to hand to Rich. He brought an arm around her in a half-embrace and they kissed each other on the cheek goodbye. It was friendly and platonic, and so Cloud remained relaxed as he waved Rich goodbye. It was just nice to have Tifa back to himself again.

"So what do you think of him?" Tifa asked curiously.

There was a pause as Cloud thought over his answer. "He likes you a lot."

Tifa blushed a little. "Yeah, I thought so."

"A nice guy," he continued.

Tifa threaded her fingers through her hair and looked straight at Cloud. "Yeah, I guess he is but... I don't think he's the one for me." And she looked away as a slight blush came back to her cheeks.

She moved behind the bar, tidying away the wine bottle and wine glasses, bringing her wine colored eyes back up to meet his, entrapping his gaze as he hung on her words.

"And Cloud... nothing happened the other night."

With one last shy smile she disappeared upstairs and his eyes followed her. He hadn't needed to hear it but he still couldn't stop himself from beaming like a child.

/

Cloud hadn't been able to keep his mind from one particular thing - or person - from the moment she'd run upstairs the night before. There was a comfortable silence between them the next morning, she pretending as if it was any other day, besides the small smile he saw constantly tweaking on her lips, while he mirroredly remained equally quiet and relaxed. He knew what exactly he wanted to do next, but he also knew he had to do something else first...

When she moved outside to sweep the steps at the front of the house he followed her casually.

"Tifa." When she looked up she looked gently angelic in the morning sun. Looking up towards the sky he shielded his eyes. "It's a nice day, isn't it?"

She followed his gaze. "Yeah. Summer is certainly showing through, Cloud," she smiled.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" he asked abruptly.

"On Fenrir?"

"Yeah." He watched as her smile grew modestly wider.

"Where?" she asked more curiously.

"Anywhere."

Her eyebrows raised a little, and then she put aside the broom. "Sure."

She wasn't nervous getting onto the back of his bike, gripping his waist and letting him tear off down the streets of Edge until they reached the outskirts and beyond. She had ridden with him a few times before, but there had always been a purpose to it. Now it just felt like nothing else mattered but the road, the dust, nature and them. He couldn't deny he liked how she pressed herself slightly firmer against his back every time he rounded a sharp corner or sped up. When a long stretch of road presented itself the first thing he thought of was to pull on the accelerator. Fenrir flew along the perfect black tar road. Tifa clasped much tighter to him then in what he thought was fear, which suddenly made him panic. He immediately slowed down to a stop by the side of the road and turned his head.

"You okay?"

She looked up from behind him. "I'm fine, Cloud."

"I wasn't going too fast?"

She made an almost giggling sound that made him relax a little. "I trust you."

Her words washed a calming and priding blanket over him, and he exhaled a little in relief. He didn't want to make Tifa scared to be on a bike with him, ever. Turning back towards the handlebars he became aware of her soft fingers in his. His heart raced. He had taken hold of her hand without thinking... and she hadn't pulled away at all. He bit down a huge grin and let her hand fall back around his torso as he re-turned the ignition key. She held her arms around him again and they drove back onto the quiet, lonely roads. There were moments when Cloud could have sworn she was hugging him more than simply holding on; the moments when her head would rest affectionately on his back and she'd sigh contently.

When they returned it was in time to open Seventh Heaven for the busy evening, to Cloud's slight dismay. Having dismounted from the bike Tifa placed the goggles she had borrowed into his right hand. The urge to close his fingers around hers again had almost overwhelmed him.

"Thank you for the ride."

Cloud nodded in acceptance of her thanks, genuinely happy she had enjoyed it. He had enjoyed it too. She strolled back into the bar tucking her hair behind her ears. Both wished they could have travelled together for a little bit longer.

/

It was night-time.

Cloud walked into the kitchen like a predator, silent and stalking. It was a homely, accepting feeling being in this house together with her, though it was suddenly driving him mad. There was a void he had to close, and he was now completely on the edge. Vibrant lights bounced softly from the work tops, off steel pans, cutlery, the flume of the cooker and the little spoon laying beside Tifa's hands as she worked on one of the counters. She turned around and moved over to the cooker, sprinkling fine yellow dust into one of the pans with a tea spoon. Watching the mixture simmer and growl she made a satisfied, little noise from behind her teeth.

He continued his approach from behind. She was still unaware of his presence as she leaned over the pan further to check the heated smells with a wave of her hand. She then adjusted the dial to the zero mark and moved the pan to a cooler ring further back. He outstretched his arms slowly to either side of her. They landed loudly on the cooker. She turned suddenly to find him towering over her. His eyes levelled with hers and her whole body flushed red to the tips of her ears. Her warm red honey eyes were staring up at him and he moved in even closer again. She backed against the cooker and felt the heat rising up her back, around her neck and down her chest where it swelled. Her mouth opened slightly in agape or attraction. Something was dancing in his bright blue eyes as the complete silence confirmed to him what he had longed to know, and know knew: she wasn't going to reject him.

He closed his eyes slightly and so did she, perfect mirror images of each other as his lips parted and so did hers further. Their heads tilted, and then he felt the fullness of her lips against his own. He took them in and the air died around them, the kitchen disappeared, the low hum of the oven shook away and vanished, and he was pulling her into him, away from her grip on the hard surface behind, and felt her arms as they snaked themselves around his neck while his slid down and around her lower back.

They remained like that as everything else in the world blanched away into a white nothingness, the only ones left. When their lips finally parted for the necessity of breath, the world zoomed back into their surroundings; chatter, laughter of customers beyond the door, the soft white lights and warmth of the kitchen, the faint buzzing of the refrigerator and, lastly, the smell of burning soup.

Tifa broke away quickly and turned off all the hobs. The dials had been pushed back up when Cloud had pushed her against the cooker. She let out a hearty sigh as the bubbling of spoiled food subsided. A pair of arms hooked themselves around her waist and she leant back against them into Cloud's strong build. He turned her around in his arms so that she was facing him again and kissed her briefly and tenderly on the lips. She drew back slightly, restoring her arms to their position around his neck and looked up at him, he was smiling back.

"You sure took your time," she teased seriously.

"But just on time, right?" he inserted in a playfully cocky tone.

She simply looked back at him and her smile teased a little more at the edges of her mouth while her eyes sparkled up at him. She suddenly looked down.

"Cloud, there's something digging into my thigh..."

Cloud looked incredulously at her through his blond spikes. She laughed shyly.

"No, not like that..." she coughed. "I mean that." She twisted herself slightly to gesture towards his left pocket with her deep brown eyes.

Cloud's heart skipped a beat. He had almost forgotten about it in the exhilaration of getting so close to her. He reached carefully into his pocket and fingered at the latch of the little box.

"I don't want to alarm you," he stated, his eyes gleaming a little with genuine trepidation.

She rubbed her hands warmly over his shoulders. "After everything we've been through I doubt you could do anything to alarm me now."

Reaching in, index-finger first, the little box emerged from the fabric of his pockets. He let it sit calmly in the palm of his hand and brought it up to his chest. The whole time he watched Tifa's widening eyes, raising eyebrows and opening mouth, all out of shock, as all her features grew more animated as he held the box out to her. He flicked the box open.

A thumping heartbeat, ring of beautiful gleaming metal and threatening faintness all came at her in an incoherent blur. For the second time that night everything else in her sphere of vision faded into irrelevant nothing. She could no longer hear Cloud talking; though she could see his mouth moving out of the corner of her eye. His words were lost in some far-off in reality. The box had clicked open, a stunning piece of craftsmanship had stared back at her, and all the sentiment it represented had hit her hard like a bullet through her chest, throwing her heart wide open more than ever before, overwhelming her. His beautiful blue eyes filtered back into view.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she gasped voicelessly.

Air then escaped her as Cloud gripped her close and suffocated her with a long, hard kiss.

He came away only for air. "Good."

The kitchen door flew open.

"Tifa, one of the guys at the bar is saying he ordered his food ages ago when it was only ten minutes ago and I said-" Marlene suddenly froze as her eyes went from the way Cloud was standing over Tifa, to the position of his arms around her neck and waist, to Tifa's position nestled within them, and then back to the split second her eyes had caught them kissing passionately as she'd flung open the door. Her eyes widened as it all hit her at once. "Never mind!" she squeaked. They listened as she rushed up the stairs loudly whispering "Denzel! Denzel!" They turned back to each other and grimaced.

Tifa giggled into his shoulder. "At least we don't need to worry about telling them, now."

"Tifa..." he said silkily, taking the ring from the box and sliding it gently onto her finger. She leaned back and looked up innocently from watching as he did so. "Don't lose this ring... or ever leave it in the bathroom."

She pulled a crossed face but laughed. Shoving him backwards playfully she reassured him with a school-girl smile, "I won't."

More banging on the kitchen door, and this time from an adult customer becoming more annoyed. They both sighed. He was reluctant to leave, but he knew there was a business to run too. With a Herculean effort, he stepped back from her and released her waist from his grip. Tifa's tightened lips told him she was also using a lot of strength to restrain herself from pulling him back into an embrace. The rest would have to wait.

Several hours on, when the lights of the bar finally went out, they both hugged the children good night and watched them walk back to their rooms. Tifa had quickly gone to have a shower, as she always did, to get the smell of food, alcohol and smoke out of her hair. Then she'd fumbled through his door and crashed into his bed, and they were left alone with the peaceful street lamps' lights twinkling through the curtains of Cloud's window. She was evidently exhausted. He hadn't minded, of course. He had been lying awake since she'd gone into the bathroom, waiting for her to come out. If she hadn't had come under his covers he'd have picked her up from her own bedroom and dragged her under himself.

As she lay there, curled up snugly against him, she smelt clean, fresh and soapy, and felt warm, firm and soft. He brought his arms around and from behind her back to hug her closer, ignoring the itch to touch more than just her tummy and her sides. He placed his chin on her shoulder experimentally and gladly let her scent wonder into his senses when she only squirmed gently to get more tangled in his arms.

Her voice was slow and tired but light-hearted and happy. She mused playfully, out-loud, "What will The Great Cloud Strife do now he has his fiancée in bed?"

He paused on his reply. "I'll take you eventually..." His murmurs as he spoke vibrated against her neck and made her shiver. "But right now I'm happy as we are. You're exhausted."

Considerate and loving. She had been wasting time waiting for him for this long, she was thinking to herself.

He held her until her breathing evened out and her body relaxed, melted, into the soft white sheets. Then he fell asleep himself. He would later remember it as one of the best night's sleep he'd ever had.

/

The pillows felt soft beneath him and the blankets lying around his middle were sunshine-warm. Tifa's long hair was draped across the covers and against the pillows next to him now completely dry, beautiful and long. She slept soundlessly on his chest, her right hand resting just bellow his collar bone. He shifted slightly so he could bring his arm round her better and she responded in her sleep by stretching further into him and sighing her head against him further. The corners of his mouth upturned into a smile, and he lowered his head against her own until he could kiss the edges of her hairline. He let himself relax like that and took in the tiny smile teasing subconsciously on her lips that was reflecting his own, and gloated over the perfect engagement ring now adorning her left hand. He closed his eyes to let himself fall back into an unbelievably blissful asleep. He never realised he could be this happy, and he owed it all to the women currently in his arms. He was finally at peace.

Only one last thought lingered as his breathing slowed to sleeping silence:

I guess we were never really... "just friends".