Chapter 7: A Shocking Discovery

By the time Yuffie got Cloud home, she was going to die. Her body was trembling from head to toe, and she was breathing like Barret does after he's had one of his screaming fits.

She swaggered to the door, and leaned against it resting her head, which was throbbing and covered with sweat.

She gave a knock and then collapsed, panting from dragging Cloud's dead weight.

Tifa who was wearing a grimace as she answered the door, scowled down at Cloud with a look of confusion.

"Great... Just the person I wanted to see... Mr. Pissy Pants." Yuffie whined, looking up at Tifa from the ground.

"What's up with her?" She said, pointing to Cloud.

"Her, do you really want to know?" Yuffie asked as she dragged herself to her feet.

"She had too much to drink... passed out at the wheel... and backed the truck into a light post... It's sitting in the parking lot." Yuffie panted.

Tifa's eyes widened, and she growled.

"That's my truck... Why'd he go and break it?" She said, grabbing Cloud from under the shoulders and lifting him up to drag him to the couch in the other room, happy that Yuffie hadn't heard her slip up.

"I know... What a silly." Yuffie said, stumbling into the house and nearly taking out a coat rack by the door.

"Are you drunk too?" Tifa asked as she pulled Cloud along the carpet.

"No... Carried her from the bar... Body feels like Jello."

"Oh..." Tifa answered, trying not to look too concerned.

Yuffie staggered up the stairs, and went to her room, while Tifa attended to Cloud.

"What an ingrate... Getting drunk and crashing MY truck... If he was himself I'd pummel him silly!" She whispered, tossing Cloud onto the couch.

She went about getting a bucket and some cold water and a rag, and proceeded to try and wake Cloud up.

As she laid the cold cloth over Cloud's forehead, Barret walked in.

"What're you doin'?" He asked, quite confused as too why Cloud would be nursing anyone back to health.

"I'm trying to wake her up... She crashed the truck!" Tifa said miserably, looking over at Barret for sympathy.

"What! Don't you hate that thing!? You always use your motorcycle, and now you're sad that truck is crashed?" Barret shook his head in confusion.

"Must be the Vodka... Getting to my brain. Never mind." Barret said wondering off to clear his mind.

Tifa glanced at Cloud, who seemed to be still unconscious.

"Wake up stupid!" She said, giving Cloud a shake.

Cloud gave a snort, muttered something about 'mother' and then passed back out.

"...GrrrrrrrRRRRRR! What the hell! Wake up!" She slapped Cloud with a broad hand, and this jerked Cloud out of his stupor, and he looked around as if he had been shot at.

"Gah! What the hell was that for! I was having a weird dream about this guy... Wait... That doesn't sound right..." He said, glaring at Tifa as she stared at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"Are you saying that you just had a dream about a guy? What did he look like?"

"He looked a lot like me... But he was a jerk..." He said, looking at Tifa in an odd manner.

She gasped, and then turned away, blushing furiously.

"Wait a second... That was me wasn't it?" He said, looking at Tifa in confusion.

"Why the hell would I be having dreams...?" He started, and then remembered what Yuffie had said, "Don't try to play innocent with me Tifa! The whole group knows about your little crush on Mr. Choco-head.".

"Ah ha! You like me!" Cloud said, pointing a finger at Tifa, his brain completely befuddled from the alcohol.

Tifa turned to Cloud, mouth agape like she was trying to catch flies, eyes big as saucers.

Just then Cid walked by.

He saw 'Cloud' gaping, and raised an eyebrow.

"What the hecks your problem... Did Tif's boob fall out of her shirt, because you look like you've seen the wonders of the known world."

Tifa snapped out of her shock, and glared broadswords at Cid (instead of daggers... lolz.).

"No... I just had a realization about Sephiroth." Tifa said, trying to come up with a plausible excuse for her strange behavior on Cloud's behalf.

"What... That he's already got a boy friend... Is that all you ever think about Cloud!?" Cid said in a joking manner.

"Shut up!" Tifa said, intensifying the broadswords into flaming vorpal broadswords.

Cid looked away, apologized, and left without getting an answer.

"So... How did you... um... Find out?" Tifa said, blushing again.

"At the bar... Yuffie asked me if I had gotten over Spiky... Because I told some guy that I had a 'boyfriend'." Cloud explained, trying to figure out what Tifa was thinking.

"Oh." Tifa said, her voice small, something Cloud hoped would never happen again, coming from his mouth,

"So... You know..."

"Yeah..."

"What're you going to do?"

"In this state...? I don't know."

Tifa couldn't hold it back any longer, and she dropped down beside Cloud, and kissed him, despite the odd situation,

The kiss broke, and Cloud just looked up at Tifa with a strange face.

"Uh... What was that?" Came a voice neither of them wanted to hear at this moment, as Yuffie walked in, dressed in her chocobo pj's carrying a stuffed moogle in her arms.

Tifa jumped away from the couch, and looked away.

"Noting." She grunted, trying to look casual, but failed miserably.

"Oh... Did she tell you Choco-head?" Yuffie said, grinning slightly.

"I thought you where going to bed." Cloud said, sitting up on the couch and looking at Yuffie in a strange manner, a combination of both happiness and anger.

"Tell me what? And I told you not to call me that!" Tifa said, eyes narrowing again.

"Oh... Maybe she hasn't... Never mind." She replied, grinning again,

"You wait there Missy!" Tifa bellowed, pointing a finger at Yuffie.

"Tell me what?"

"Did you just call me 'Missy' Cloud?" Yuffie asked, confusion clouding her face.

"Yeah... Yeah I did! Problem?" Tifa asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Yuffie just stared.

"Have you been taking lessons with Tifa? You've got the whole hands-on-the-hips thing down, and that frown is vaguely reminiscent of Tifa's displeased face." Yuffie asked.

"Shit!" Tifa thought, quickly removing her hands from her hips.

"Uh... No... What the hell are you talking about anyways?" Tifa said, trying to make up for her fumble.

"Never mind again... I really am going to bed now." Yuffie just wanted to get out of the awkwardness, and just go to sleep.

She hefted the moogle doll, and went up stairs before the others could protest.

That left Cloud and Tifa to stare at each other in awkwardness.