Disclaimer: Same as they always are; do not own FF7 or FFAC. If I did, things would definitely be a lot more sexually tense. Muwahaha.

Rating: M for language, violence, and lemony goodness.

Author's Note: I really love all these reviews I've been getting. Glad to see everyone else is as into this as I am. Hope I keep appealing to your imaginations! Thanks guys, keep 'em coming!

Just as he had mentioned in passing, Cloud came back and sat down at the table. He sat beside Marlene and Denzel, Tifa on the opposite side, feeling rather unsettled by the three sets of eyes watching her while they ate.

"I do like that shirt, mommy," Marlene told her again as she took a slurp of her soup.

"Where did you have to go today, Cloud?" Denzel asked the blond to his left, throwing curious eyes his direction.

Cloud busied himself with his water before he answered, "On the outside of the city. There's a little area full of farmers. I had to go there."

Denzel nodded, "Will you teach me how to deliver packages one day? I wanna learn."

Tifa caught Cloud's impressed eyes and couldn't help but grin. Denzel had grown incredibly attached to her long time friend over the past couple of months. And even though Cloud wasn't the best with kids, he was beginning to get the hang of it. So it didn't surprise her when he had agreed, but warned the young boy that he would need to be ready for any fiends that may happen their way.

"I get to ride Fenrir?" Denzel exclaimed, elbowing Marlene in her side.

The warrior shrugged, "Sure."

Marlene rolled her eyes, avoiding another nudge from Denzel's bony elbow.

The introduction of Fenrir brought on the image of Yuffie that Tifa had tried to push from her mind. She had nearly forgotten that she owed the bottle rocket a day with Cloud's pride possession. But how would she pry it from his hands?

"Hey um…Cloud?" She began, feeling her insides roll with the storm that was brewing within her nervous stomach.

"Hmm?" He breathed, taking a chomp off of his own grilled cheese, his brows furrowing together in the surprise of the absolute deliciousness that the sandwich delivered. Tifa was talented at everything she did. Everything.

'Good, he's not completely focused. If I'm going to be able to slip this past him at all it'll have to be when he's distracted,' Tifa thought to herself before continuing, "I was just um…wondering if you would let me-"

"Mmhmm," he sighed, staring at the sandwich as if it held magical powers. He might have to ask for another one. If lunches were always this great he would have to start eating with them more often. No wonder Marlene threw a fit about her sandwich being burnt.

"-borrow Fenrir!" Tifa snapped, almost clamping a hand over her mouth in astonishment at herself.

The name Yuffie had called Cloud earlier surfaced back to Tifa's mind as she watched Cloud's face turn from dreamy to alert, eyes ripping themselves from his grilled cheese to her brown ones, his back rigid. This was Bipolar Bob at his finest and she loved every aspect of it.

"What for?" He asked her solemnly, leaning over the table slightly. The children had stopped eating as well, their bodies stiff as they watched Cloud and Tifa converse with one another.

She really should have been better prepared for this. Tifa knew that Cloud wasn't going to hand Fenrir over quietly, if he was going to hand it over at all. So the fact that he was asking her what she needed it for didn't surprise her at all.

"I um…well Yuff and I wanted to have a picnic outside the city tomorrow and we didn't think we could walk that far so I wanted to see if you would let me borrow Fenrir?"

Cloud stared at her as if she had grown a second head, "You and Yuffie? Why do you need to go outside the city for a picnic?"

Tifa frowned, her lower lip pushing out a little to expose an all too cute pout, "The city isn't scenic, Cloud. I would like to get out and see some sunshine and landscape, Yuff too. Please, I'll make it worth your while," She told him, her eyes expectant, twinkling. Hopefully this was working. If she could just convince him that nothing bad would happen to Fenrir, then he would possibly consider letting 'her' borrow his beast of a machine. Too bad 'she' was a saucy, irresponsible ninja. Her fingers numbed as she thought of Yuffie being the one to handle Fenrir. She decided that she would talk to Vincent before the two love birds went on the picnic. He would be the one driving it; she wouldn't dare let Yuffie touch the handlebars.

Silence was her answer. Just as she had figured. He wasn't even going to consider it. She leaned over the table, the cut of her red shirt exposing the line of cleavage she sported. Tifa cleared her throat. She didn't know how to work the sex appeal angle but it was worth a try. As long as she didn't make it too noticeable it should work perfectly. He was a man after all; physical desires were in their nature.

"Please?" She pleaded, her eyelashes batting at him. Luckily the kids had decided that they hadn't wanted to stick around for the fight that was bound to ensue after their mom had asked Cloud for his beloved Fenrir. They had placed their plates and bowls in the sink and darted out of the room quickly.

Cloud stiffened, trying to keep his eyes level with Tifa's, not her chest, even though it was calling out to him. "I just don't understand why you can't just have a picnic in the city. There's nothing great about the country," He scowled, crossing his arms in defiance.

Tifa let out a growl of frustration as she sat back up, clearly flustered. Apparently Cloud was much more resistant to the female anatomy than she had given him credit for. "I would like to see trees and flowers and grass for that matter. I'm tired of metal buildings and smog cursing the air."

This lie was getting more and more complex. If he asked her about it later she was sure to get caught in the dangerous web she was currently weaving. Still he remained silent; his unreadable eyes locked on her annoyed ones.

"Fine," She grumbled, pushing her seat out and jumping to her feet, grabbing her lunch and sitting it by the sink so that she could clean it all later, "I don't want to borrow Fenrir if you're going to be like that, Cloud Strife."

Tifa put her shoulders back and flipped her pony tail so that it laid lightly on her back, "I think I'm going to go for a run."

"In that outfit?" Cloud asked her, hiding his amusement rather well, his face still solemn. His eyes, however, were laughing at her.

She glanced down at her form fitting, curve accenting outfit and frowned, "Maybe I will. I just need to change my shoes. Will you watch the kids?"

He shrugged, "Sure, Lockhart. I'll watch them while you go for your run and mope around."

So they were calling each other by their last names? Something Cloud loved to do to thoroughly piss her off. And she wasn't moping; she was trying to teach him a lesson.

"'Kay, I'll be back soon. Thanks, Strife," she growled, casting him a heated expression as she left the room.

Cloud closed his eyes, listening to Tifa rant and rave in her room as she loudly searched for running shoes. It grew quiet for a moment, which Cloud assumed to be the time she was putting the shoes on. And then it grew loud again with her venting. It silenced once more once she left the room. He opened his eyes slowly, waiting for the long-haired bombshell to enter the room. She brushed past him, not even sparing him a glower as she passed. And she was gone.

************

Nearly an hour later marked the return of a sweat-covered Tifa who seemed to be in better spirits. She had calmed down and came to accept that Cloud wasn't going to let Fenrir out of his sights. So Yuffie would just have to make a different demand.

Tifa ran her upper arm across her forehead, catching her breath as she walked through the bar's front door. The kids were no where to be seen. She quirked an eyebrow, glancing about to make sure that she had been right the first time. She had been. It was empty.

"Where are they?" Tifa murmured to herself as she jogged up the stairs. The kitchen was abandoned as well. Tifa did notice that the dishes had been cleaned and put away as well. She blinked. Marley and Denzel must have asked Cloud if they could clean up the kitchen for her. This warmed her heart as she continued her search .The family room was unoccupied as well.

"What the hell?" She whispered to herself, panic filling her chest.

The beautiful martial artist ran down the hallway to their room and found it empty as well. "Oh my god where are they?" She gasped, running for her own room. Deserted.

Tifa was in a near meltdown when she heard movement inside Cloud's room. "I told him to watch the kids!" She hissed, running to Cloud's door and giving it a slight knock before nearly kicking it down, "Cloud, where are Marley and Denzel?"

No response. She blinked around and found nothing. She could have sworn that she had heard someone inside here. The bar keep let out a whimper of anxiousness as she glanced towards the bathroom attached to Cloud's room. He had his own bathroom for obvious reasons. Tifa had remodeled Seventh Heaven according to all of the inhabitants. She and the kids all used one bathroom, Cloud had his own. Everything about Cloud screamed solitaire so an attached bathroom had seemed like the obvious way to go.

Light was seeping through the crack of the door. She let out a sigh, a small flutter of relief running through her as she ran to the door, knocking. Cloud could be bathing and she didn't want to intrude even though Cloud nude was truly a sight to be seen.

"Come in," came his cool voice. The sound made her shiver slightly. Tifa threw her eyes to the ground as she walked in, "Cloud?" Her shaking voice called out, her eyes glued to the white tile that covered the bathroom floor.

"What is it, Tifa?"

"Sorry, I didn't want to come in here but I can't find the kids. Why aren't you watching them?" She spat, anger quickly steaming off of her.

A chuckle came from the other side of the bathroom, "Tifa you can look, I'm dressed." There was a screech as the water turned on and splashed against the shower curtain. Apparently she had stumbled in on him just before he had gotten into the shower.

With a small amount of hesitance Tifa lifted her eyes to find her long time friend leaning against the bathroom wall, his eyes observing her. He seemed to find humor in this situation. She blushed, "Well are you going to answer me? Why aren't you watching the kids, Cloud? I asked you to before I left and you said that you would."

"And I have been."

"Alright well did you realize that you lost them both?" She spluttered, her features growing frantic.

"I didn't lose them, Tifa" He answered back a little hotly, clearly offended by her lack of confidence in him. She of all people knew how closely he watched those he cared for. He was an ex-SOLDIER for shit's sake. No one was lost while he was on duty.

"Well then where the hell are they?" She continued, walking up to him so that she could stand directly in front of him. "You're awfully calm about this whole thing. I tell you that I can't find them and you're cool as an ice cube as always. You know I can never-"

"Teef," he muttered, his eyes sparking with an emotion Tifa didn't recognize, "They're fine. I had Vincent come and take them for the night. I figured they could play with the neighbor kids for a little while and then spend some quality time with Vincent and Yuffie."

She blinked, her face turning red again with the realization of her stupidity. Tifa knew that Cloud wouldn't have just ignored the kids the entire time, he wasn't irresponsible like that. He was Cloud, an entity that was hard to explain or understand. She however had seemed to master all of his secrets and still she had lacked faith in his ability to watch two kids for a simple hour.

Strands of her hair fell over her embarrassed face, "I'm sorry, Cloud. I didn't mean to…not trust you. I thought something happened to them. My mommy senses kicked in."

"It's alright, Tifa."

"No it's not. I should learn to stop being such a control freak…oh and about earlier-"

"I'm sorry."

She lifted her head so that she could look at him. He had removed himself from his position against the wall and was standing mere inches away from her. Tifa hadn't even heard him move let alone close the distance between them. Needless to say she was shocked with his apology. She had been the one being a bitch about the whole thing anyways.

"You're sorry for what? I was the one bothering you about Fenrir. I understand that you don't want anyone else to borrow it. It's special, I completely understand."

A noise that sounded like a soft laugh came from his throat, "Tifa, Fenrir is special but I shouldn't hog him all to myself. I'll let you borrow it if you want to. But just for the afternoon, got it?"

If her eyes hadn't been attached to her face they would have rolled onto the floor in her astonishment, "Y-you're letting me b-borrow Fenrir?" She blubbered, her face draining of color.

He shrugged, "I trust you. You can borrow Fenrir just don't let Yuffie touch it."

Tifa laughed, trying to recover from her initial shock, "Thank you, Cloud. I won't let her even go near Fenrir without me being there."

Cloud nodded, "Fine then."

Then it was silent. They both stared at one another for the longest time before Tifa felt shy under his devouring eyes. The seemed especially blue inside this all white room.

"I should let you get to your shower, sorry again Cloud."

Tifa turned to leave when her arm was caught in a strong grasp. She let out a shriek of surprise as she whipped around to find that the thing that had grabbed her arm had been Cloud.

"A little jumpy, Teefie?" He cooed. His eyelids sank over his eyes in that seductive stare that he had given her the night before.

Her heart stopped. "I'm um…I just didn't expect that, is all."

"Aren't you even the slightest bit curious why I had the kids stay with Vincent and Yuffie?"

She blinked, realizing that she hadn't even bothered to ask in her frenzy, "Ok, how come?"

Pure white teeth exposed themselves for only a moment as Cloud flashed a quick smile; a mischievous grin. "Don't you think that you need time to relax?"

The martial artist stared at him with unsure eyes, "Relaxing does sound pretty damn good."

He nodded, blond spikes bouncing as he did so, "Well then, that's why I cleaned the house and sent them to Vincent's. Tonight is all about Tifa. Now then, you look like you need to shower," Cloud told her, not so much a question as it was a statement.

Tifa gave him an embarrassed laugh. She had nearly forgotten that she was sweat drenched. "Yeah, I could probably use some cleaning off."

"Well then, here you go," he said, motioning towards the shower.

Tifa swallowed, "You were running this for me?"

Cloud shrugged, looking at the floor, "Well I thought maybe you'd enjoy a nice, warm shower when you got back. It's a peace offering."

She giggled, smiling up at him with sparkling eyes, "It's great. Thank you."

Tifa bent down to untie her shoelaces when she heard him protest, "No, allow me."

Cloud pushed her shoulders back and up against the wall. His long time friend stared at him with confused eyes as he bent down and untied her shoes, removing the sneakers and socks with swift hands.

He returned to his full height, his mouth hovering over hers, "Remember, tonight is all about Tifa. You don't have to lift a finger."

Her sex pulsed at his smooth voice and close lips. Tifa's eyes fell down to stare at his perfect mouth. A smirk formed on them once again as she felt hands at her sides, lifting up her form fitting red shirt. 'Is this really happening?' She thought to herself, blinking multiple times to make sure that she was indeed awake.

"What, would you like to do it yourself?" He asked her, eyes narrowed in on her expression.

She shook her head fervently, trying to hide the shaking of her knees. No such luck. His free hand found the inside of her clothed thigh, snaking in to rub it slightly, "Relax," he whispered to her, his voice like velvet.

Tifa nodded as her shirt was freed from her skin and tossed lazily to the floor. Cloud groaned at the sight of her black bra, clearly enjoying the way it accented her chest. His cheek found hers as she leaned in, his hands slipping behind her back to unclasp the barrier that stood between him and the beautiful breasts that lay sealed underneath its confines.

With one try the garment was unloosened and pulled off, joining the red shirt that had been shed before it. Next his hands fell to the rim of her pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them quickly. He tugged at the sides, watching them fall down to the floor silently, her slender legs shaking with the entire experience. The black panties she wore were obviously the mate to her black bra.

It was beginning to be too much for Cloud to take. This beautiful woman was almost completely naked before him.

"Teef," he murmured through his gritted teeth, his sultry blue eyes finding her dazed brown ones. She didn't speak; he didn't need to her to. The hungry lips that crushed against his had said it all.

They gasped into one another's mouth as Cloud pressed her hard against the wall to get the full taste of her mouth as he shred his gloves from his hands. Almost immediately after freeing his nimble, sword calloused fingers, he returned them to her side, hooking the panties with his thumbs and pulling the enticing garment down to the floor.

Tifa stepped from them and stood completely naked before him.

"Get it the shower," he commanded her. She obeyed, sliding the curtain shut with a screeching noise.

Cloud made quick work of his own clothing, joining her only moments later. She stood under the falling water, chest rising and falling with building anticipation as she looked at him, her eyes innocent and lustful at the same time.

Tifa's voice was lost as his mouth found hers again, his strong arms encircling her waist and pulling her to him, their bodies coated with the warm water that continued to beat down on them.

Perhaps this had been the clue she had been searching for earlier? Last night had been their first night of ever expressing any type of need for each other and so she had been confused, but perhaps this had revealed what her heart wondered. Still, she couldn't go through this without knowing for sure.

She pulled her kiss-swollen lips away from his so that she could look up into his mako blue eyes, "Cloud?"

"What is it, Teefie?" He muttered, running his fingers down her cheek absentmindedly while he listened.

Tifa swallowed. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. This could wind up ruining the entire evening, the entire week, their entire friendship but she had to know…she had to get it out there and in the open.

"I want to tell you something. Er, I need to tell you something."

And there's chapter 9! Lol had to leave it hanging for the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. Review and lemme know how it went for you all. Chapter 10 will be up in the next day or so.

Much love,

~Nikki~