Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Rating: T

Author Notes: Alright, I've been off all last month vacationing . . . lots of things have been going on, and since I've been reading a few Loz x Tifa fics out there, I remembered I need to update mine. Hahah, so here you go. I'll try to make this longer than my other chapters . . .

Crawling

With shaking hands, Tifa Lockheart threw the black clothing into the wash. She was gritting her teeth, trying to keep focused on her work. Ever since she closed the door of his room, she had been a bit . . . on edge. The girl had finally given into the fact when she accidentally slammed the machine's flap so hard she had to check if it was broken or not. Tifa drew in a slow, but deep and steady breath.

She closed her eyes. 'Just pretend they're Cloud's clothes. Yeah. They're Cloud's clothes and he just got back home, that's why he's a little hurt and tired.' Opening them again, she spun around quickly, almost running into a cabinet door she had forgotten to close. But it was just that simple gesture that sent her back into her anxious frenzy.

Obviously, Tifa had left it open while carrying some of Cloud's clothes to give to that silver haired man. That same silver haired man who fought her. That same one who took Marlene and Denzel. The same one who hurt Cloud so badly on that exploding building. The same one who had looked up at her with those eyes.

She was starting to contemplate about kicking him out when there was a noise coming from the hall. The door creaked open . . .

"Tifa!"

Letting out a rather frustrated sigh, the older woman looked down at the little girl standing before her. "Marlene, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Yeah, but . . ." Marlene's eyes were staring intently at the white tiles.

"But what?" Tifa placed her hands on her hips.

The girl didn't respond. Instead, she continued looking at the floor, gaze dropping at the noisy washing machine. "Why is that on? It's like, midnight."

"It is midnight, that's why you are supposed to be in bed," Tifa replied, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but . . ."

Tifa's head was spinning. Even when the shop closed, she never got a break. "But why are you awake this late?"

Imitating the older woman's sigh, Marlene lifted her head. "Me and Denzel can't sleep . . ."

"Why not, sweetie?" she combed a hand through Marlene's hair.

"Mr. Remnant Man keeps on making weird noises, and I can't sleep!" Marlene tugged on Tifa's pajama shirt. "Can't you make him stop . . . ?"

'Just another headache . . .' Tifa could already feel it. But putting on a smile, she said, "Why don't you and Denzel get some milk in the fridge and I'll see what I can do?"

The girl smiled back. "Can we warm it up too?"

"Of course you can!" Soon enough, the two disappeared into the darkness, the sound of their footsteps echoing softly from the direction of the kitchen.

At first she hesitated. The blunt truth was that she did not want to step foot into that room. She didn't want to be wrapped up in this, especially because she was at the risk of being even slightly attracted to the man. But he had to be confronted sooner or later, though she would prefer the latter.

Peeking into the room, she watched as he turned onto his side, and then tossed back onto his other one. One hand was placed firmly on the side of the bed, while the other clutched his bandaged head. He was acting differently than earlier—this time it looked like he was doing this out of pain, not bad dreams. He wasn't muttering things or making strange gestures.

'And he's not reaching for anyone's hand.'

Tifa crept in, making sure the only noise the door made was a soft click. Glancing around a bit worriedly, it almost didn't feel like her guest room anymore. There was a strange, almost tangible heaviness in the air when the man stopped moving. For a moment, she thought he was dead. But with the little moonlight seeping through the blinds, Tifa spotted two glowing green eyes staring right at her.

She would've screamed.

But instead, the man let out a soft groan, piercing through the momentary silence. "M-my head . . ." It was apparent now that some of the blood had already soaked through most of the bandage.

"Hold still," Tifa whispered, reaching out to unwrap it. After putting on a new one, she sat down tiredly on the floor and leaned back on the bed. Right now, she was far too sleepy to get up, or even move. So she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, not knowing that she was still being watched . . .

"You're safe."

The words echoed through his mind—right now, they were the only sense of comfort he could have at the moment. Walking along the streets, he felt so alone. There was nothing for him to look forward to. No one to tell him that it was going to be okay. Loz had waited and waited for the reunion, but now there was nothing to wait for. It was . . .

A flash of pain shot through his head, making him groan in pain once more. His side started to ache as well, so he tossed onto his other side. It wouldn't be long until that started hurting as well. He tried to take in a long breath—one that would usually have been relaxing, but his lungs told him not to or they would shatter. And with his discomfort, there were creaking sounds from another room, followed by something slamming. When he Loz thought it was all over, there were loud, quick footsteps outside his door. Luckily, they passed by him, and they faded quickly into a silence that was quickly interrupted by talking.

He wanted to just pull the pillow over his head, but he knew that would cause his head more pain than it was in right now. But could things get any worse?

Of course they could.

Another almost electrical shock moved through his temples, making him growl and shuffle and turn. This time, he clutched at them, thinking maybe he could just pull the throbbing clear out. This didn't work, however, as he just tore the bandage and hurt himself all over again. He let out another groan, and . . .

Wait. What was that?

He automatically stopped, sensing something in the room. Loz wrenched open his eyes, catching sight of her again.

Loz tried not to groan again, but it was just too much this time. "M-my head . . ."

He hadn't heard what she'd said, but the way she moved toward him said that she was trying to help. So he let her bandage him again, and he did feel a little better. But for some reason, it looked like she was feeling worse. Last time she was in this room, she left. She didn't this time, to his surprise—the girl merely sat down and did nothing more.

". . . Hey . . ."

With a now-ungloved hand, Loz reached out to touch her. He let a few strands of her hair slip through his fingers.

It was just the way he thought it would be . . .

She had been so strong. And shoot, it was the most fun he had in quite a while. Loz didn't really like using guns, though most of the occasions he was in called for one. It was great to fight using his fists again. At the same time, though, he had to admit she was . . . er . . . what was that word Kadaj used to call a girl one time? Well, at he couldn't remember. Whatever it was it described her.

And for some reason, he felt as if he knew her from before. Loz felt he somehow knew that she had almost always been that strong. Of course, he had never told that to his brothers. They would have thought he was crazy. Now, though, he wish he had.

Suddenly, she twitched a little, and the silver-haired man used up all his strength to glance over the bed at her. Her eyes were closed shut, to Loz's displeasure. A huge part of him wanted to see those depths of wine red. But another shiver from her wrenched Loz from his thoughts. He unconsciously went back to stroking her hair, trying to think of what was wrong.

Author Notes: I'm hopefully gonna bring Cloud into the next chapter, heheh. This chapter was kind of like . . . eh. It was kind of just peering into their emotions a little. (I hope I wasn't OOC! -sweatdrop-)I'll make the next chapter a little more interesting, promise! But of course, you're gonna have to review . . .