Heads up, there will only be two to three chapters after this – one, if I somehow manage to stuff everything in an extra long chapter. I know, it's ending soon. *shrugs* It's been fun, but I don't like to drag things out too much.

And now, the chapter you've been waiting for:

Rude and Cloud sat eating sandwiches in front of the bar. A few feet away, Johnny chattered Tifa's ear off as they worked. To keep the work progressing, Tifa and Johnny had eaten earlier and Rude and Cloud were only having lunch break now.

For two former enemies, they got along fairly well. During the ten minute break, they even talked to each other a bit despite the mutual tendency toward silence. The conversation went something like this:

"…"

Cloud bit into his sandwich. Rude copied the action with his own.

"…"

Johnny's chatter rose in volume as he got to the punch line of his corny story, and Tifa laughed politely.

Rude cleared his throat and had another bite of sandwich.

Cloud opened his mouth to take another bite but realized the ham had slid halfway out. Glaring flatly at it, he opened the top bread slice and slid the ham back into the sandwich. Then he too took another bite.

"…"

Cloud glanced at Rude, sensing a change in his mood. Cloud's prediction came true a moment later.

"She's exhausted."

"Hm?" Cloud asked, mouth full.

Rude nodded in Tifa's direction. Cloud looked up and watched her for a while. She smiled and nodded kindly to Johnny all the while sweating over drilling holes into boards and helping Johnny secure them in their proper places. Every few minutes she would stop to just stand and breathe.

Rude was right. Tifa was tired, but she wouldn't admit it. The way Cloud knew her, he suspected she was pushing herself this hard so Marlene and Denzel would have a home to come home to, and Cloud too.

"She needs a break away from here," Cloud concluded aloud.

"…" Rude agreed.

They ate in silence again.

Rude spoke first again. "I don't mean to be rude," he started, "but you should pay her more attention."

Cloud paused in chewing, but that was the only acknowledgement he gave of hearing Rude.

"Take her somewhere."

Mako eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

Rude turned the spotlight away from himself by saying, "With you, she's safe."

Cloud blinked. Rude ate the last of his sandwich. Frowning Cloud tracked Tifa with his eyes and murmured, "What do you mean?"

Rude stood up, adjusted his suit, and stated, "She's an admirable woman, but she trusts you most." Apparently satisfied with his answer, Rude joined the two, leaving Cloud sitting on the sawhorse, utterly confused.

Cloud wouldn't say Rude was a fountain of wisdom, and if he could put meaning into words, he used as few words as possible. Cloud typically found it relatively easy to understand Rude, but today just puzzled him. He hated puzzles.

Letting the words sit at the back of his mind, Cloud finished lunch, mind overworking to think of something that would help Tifa relax.

"Tifa?"

"Mm?"

"Tifa?" Cloud's voice rose in volume.

"What is i…?" Tifa mumbled, repositioning herself, and pulling the blanket up to her chin. She felt a light touch on her shoulder.

Cloud tried again. "Tifa, wake up."

She sighed. "What time is it?"

"Nine."

"Nine?!" Shock banished sleep from her eyes instantly, and she half sat up. "Cloud, why didn't you wake me up earlier? We have to get to work. Johnny and Rude will be waiting–"

"Tifa."

"– and Shelke shouldn't have to make breakfast on her own. She's been doing so much of the cooking lately already. Oh, I feel so awful!"

"Tifa." He grabbed her arm gently, pulling her attention to him. His hand dropped when she ceased talking. "Shelke is fine with helping. She lives here too. You were tired, so I decided to let you sleep." He paused. His face fell into sheepishness. "We already ate, but I got hungry again so I made some pancakes. They're still warm, and I thought you'd like something to eat before we go."

"Go?" She sat up, brushing bedhead hair out of her eyes. "Go where?"

Suddenly he looked tentative. "I, uh, I thought we could go out on the Kalm Plains today. You know, to have a break."

"But what about Rude and Johnny? I'm not going to let them work while we're having a day off."

"They're taking today off too."

"Oh."

Cloud rose. "So… hungry?"

Without answering, she got up and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. "What are the plans for today?" She watched him set the table for two. "We get out to the plains and then what?" Cloud divided the pancakes, and Tifa sat down at the counter. She added, "I didn't know you knew how to make pancakes."

Shrugging, Cloud came around to sit by her. "Well, I learned something from watching you cook."

They ate in silence after which Cloud ushered her to get ready for the day while he did the morning dishes.

As Cloud put away the last dry plate, Tifa walked in while pulling her hair into a quick bun.

"Done already?"

He nodded.

"Thanks, Cloud," she smiled and pulled the elastic tight around her hair. "When are we leaving?"

He picked up a basket covered with a kitchen towel. "Right now."

Cloud refused to admit that part of the reason he chose the grassy Plains of Kalm as a suitable picnic spot was because it was so far out of Edge. Overall, this was his one bit of selfishness in planning the day. It had been nearly two weeks since he had driven Fenrir any actual distance, and he longed for the feeling of being on the move. He didn't mind Tifa sitting behind him with both hands wrapped around his waist. She made pleasant company and having her with him on Fenrir during a non-emergency was a nice change.

The drive lasted two hours with only three interruptions. All three times were monsters, and they only had to stop the last two times to fend them off. Tifa seemed to enjoy herself immensely, working out her feelings by leaving monsters in bruised balls of flesh and metal (who knew what some of them were made of?). Cloud tried to only help where needed. Today was for Tifa, after all.

They reached an area of hills blanketed in luscious, long grass. Tifa tugged on his shirt and he pulled over. She spread out the packed blanket and they sat on it to pin it down in the prairie breeze.

"It's too early for lunch," Tifa commented. "Let's look at the clouds." She lay down, smiling to herself.

Cloud quirked an eyebrow at her.

"In the sky," she clarified with a smirk.

He glanced up at the spotted blue ceiling of the world. Tifa grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

"It's only fun if you're lying down." She informed. "You get neck cramps otherwise."

He rolled his head to look at her. "You'd know?"

She shrugged. "I haven't done this since I was a girl, but I remember learning the hard way." Her eyes flicked up to the sky. Pointing, she directed his eyes to some vague spot. "Hey, that one looks like you!"

He frowned at the cloud, turning his head in different ways. "I don't think so."

She shook her head fondly at him. "I was only teasing."

They lay quietly for a minute before Cloud gathered enough courage to ask the embarrassing question. "What are we doing?"

Tifa stared at him for a moment before sad understanding crossed her expression. "You've never done this before?"

Cloud shook his head. He hadn't had any real friends when he was young; therefore, most of his games were played with his mom (when he was very young) or by himself (as he got older). That meant his games were nontraditional. The only other person who might have thought to introduce him to this cloud-watching form of entertainment was Zack, but Zack's energy wouldn't allow him to lie on the grass long enough to find a likeness.

Tifa explained the game to him. She showed him that with a little imagination, she could transform a boring fluffy cloud into a chocobo chick or an elegantly wispy cloud into some guy's comb-over.

Cloud stared dismally at the sky after that, struggling with his instinct to only assimilate practical knowledge. He tried. Pointing to a rather puffy ball of white, he assessed, "That one is like a Boundfat."

Tifa gazed at him tenderly, stunned and happy that he had so quickly picked up on her way of passing time, even if he was clumsy about it. They took turns calling out shapes and recalling memories with each name as they went.

That was how it happened. Cloud suddenly got quiet. It was his turn, and he just lay in miserable silence.

Concerned about the abrupt mood swing, Tifa turned over and raised herself on her elbows to look at him. His mako rings pulsed with an undefined sadness, and he kept them averted from her face.

"Cloud, what's wrong?" she asked. "Did I say something to upset you?"

Cloud's eyes met hers at that. He shook his head a little. Finally he admitted. "One reminded me of Zack's face right before he…"

"Oh…" Tifa understood. Trying to help him out of his rut, she offered, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head.

"Can you at least tell me why you don't want to talk about it?"

He stared at her for a moment, and Tifa was afraid she had pushed too far, but at last he answered, "Because it still hurts."

She nodded solemnly. Pushing a small smile onto her face, she said, "Well, it's better not to dwell on it too much, right? Or we'll both end up depressed." Her tone could have been interpreted as insensitive, but Cloud seemed to recognize that she was trying to help him.

He mimicked her smile and nodded. "Yeah…"

They talked for some time, lying on the blanket in the open, country air. Cloud closed his eyes and listened to Tifa talking about how she planned to acquire the needed furnishings for their house once they finished rebuilding. Her voice got soft and garbled, and distantly, Cloud realized he was falling asleep.

He didn't think he was this tired…

… … … …

Tifa didn't even realize Cloud had fallen asleep until his usual silence got too quiet. She smiled fondly at him and silently scolded him for using her voice as a lullaby. She kept talking as though he was still awake, and she found that even when he was unconscious to the world, he was a great listener.

She woke him up when boredom began to stretch too far. She suggested lunch, so they pulled out the sandwiches. It was the same meal they had when working, but Cloud had gotten fresh market meat and a container of almost fresh fruit to make it special.

"Did you make lunch?" Tifa questioned.

Cloud shook his head. "Shelke did. I'm better at splitting monster skulls than cutting bread into even slices."

Tifa pointed out, "You may not think cooking is your talent, but you made breakfast on your own, and I thought it was very good."

Cloud blushed and muttered a "thank you".

It was only late afternoon when they packed up, but the drive ahead required time, so they cut the holiday short to get home before dark.

"Thanks for today." Tifa wrapped her arms around Cloud. "I needed it."

Cloud nodded, words not being his strong point, and started Fenrir's engine.

The day had been simple, but Tifa hadn't felt this happy in weeks.

If none of you understood Rude's words, I should probably reevaluate my writing career. In explanation, in case you didn't get it, that was basically Rude's way of saying, "She's all yours, man. I like her, but I know the feeling ain't mutual." So…Rude's backing down. Eh, he's a nice guy, but I can't really see him pursuing Tifa like Johnny does. They're polar opposites in everything but liking Tifa. And I apologize for making Rude's lines so uncharacteristically long. I aimed for significance more than shortness. Forgive me?

Like I warned at the top, there are only a few more chapters left before it's all over.

-Dante