Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or FFAC.

Rating: M for language, violence, and lemon happenings.

"What do you think he's dreamin' about?"

"I don't know. He's got a silly look on his face."

"Do you think it's that Aeris girl he screams about all the time, Denzy?"

"Nah, he hasn't said her name like he usually does. Maybe it's Mom?"

There was a high pitched squeal of delight that came from Cloud's right side, "You think so?"

There was a slight grunt, possibly confirming Marlene's squeak of excitement. Cloud groaned, stretching his legs, his blue eyes fluttering open to find the two kids staring at him like he was some sort of lab experiment that had gone array. Their faces turned from curious to an attempt to throw him nasty scowls, the attempt failed poorly on Marlene's part.

The young man sat forward, rubbing at his eyes, "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven," Denzel told him, his eyes hard and unapproachable.

Cloud stared at them, "I slept that late?"

"Don't worry Spike, I already fixed them breakfast," Yuffie muttered, stretching in her curled up spot in the recliner beside the couch that a still sleeping Tifa inhabited.

Marlene held her throat, "Yeah, could you please fix us lunch though, Cloud?"

Yuffie's face turned red with anger. Cloud couldn't help but smile. Marlene had completely dissed the ninja's cooking ability in the most innocent way. 'Take that, you smug little brat,' the blond thought, getting to his feet shakily.

"How about you wipe that smirk off of your face, Strife?" She snarled, letting out a huff of frustration as she shifted her position, her back now facing the three inhabitants of the family room who were awake.

Mako eyes rolled in response, ushering the kids outside, "So you did eat then?"

They both nodded, Denzel continuing to cast his dark glare. Cloud sighed, "Do you have something you wish to say, Denzel?"

"Yeah I do."

"Well then open your mouth and speak," Cloud told him, bending down to sit on his knees in front of them.

"Denzy doesn't like how you made Mommy sad. She was happy until you said something to her and then she was sad again," Marlene told Cloud.

"Why do you like to watch Mom cry?" Denzel asked him, folding his arms across his chest. Their other care taker sighed, rubbing his temples, "I don't like to see her cry, Denzel. I like for Tifa to be happy too."

"Well then why do you try so hard to make her sad?" Denzel continued, his light brown hair falling in front of his eyes.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you two. I don't know why I do the things I do. I don't mean to hurt Tifa's feelings but somehow I always seem to do just that. The worst thing in the world is watching her warm eyes cry because of something I did. But don't you two worry; I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she never cries again."

Marlene threw Cloud a face full of white teeth, "Really?"

He nodded, his eyes holding steady with Denzel's. Denzel gave a grave nod, trying to hold back his own attempt at a smile, "You have to promise."

"I promise."

"No, Denzy means you have to pinky promise!" Marlene corrected him, letting out a sigh like she was talking to someone who wasn't worth her time or effort. This made Cloud laugh slightly.

Denzel held out his pinky and waited. Cloud mimicked the motions and they hooked their pinkies together, giving a slight squeeze, "I promise," Cloud repeated, ruffling Denzel's hair as he got to his feet. The small boy laughed, fixing his hair back into its normal disarray, "Now, how about you two go play with the little neighbor kids? I'll come get you when lunch is ready to eat."

The two nodded, Denzel holding out his hand for Marlene to grasp as they sped down the hallway and down the stairs. The blond warrior braced himself against the wall as he returned to his full height, his body aching. Today he would journey back to where he found Tifa and retrieve Fenrir and see if there would be anything he could do to repair his beloved vehicle, at least until the woman sleeping away on the couch woke up.

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

Cloud had been dragging Fenrir for nearly an hour now, and he still had a mile or so before he would be back to Seventh Heaven. Droplets of sweat fell down to his exposed arms, his face grimacing as he continued to pull the heavy machine through the streets of Edge.

"You look like you could use some help with that, yo."

Cloud's fingers instantly tensed over Fenrir. He growled slightly under his breath before he stood up straight, setting his bike down to the ground easily. He wiped away as much sweat as he could, some of his blond spikes sticking to the side of his wet face, "What do you want, Reno?"

The red-headed Turk flashed him a cocky grin, swaying forward with that usual proud walk. "I simply asked if you needed help. It seems like you seem to be struggling."

Cloud's jaw clenched tight, "I'm not struggling."

Reno sighed, crossing his arms, the cigarette in his mouth burning red as he took another hit, "Well it kinda looks like you are. What, too proud to let me help you? You weren't before. You let me and Rude help you all out with the 'brothers'."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Cloud corrected him, his arms falling down to his sides tensely.

The Turk smirked again, "Well you know, this kind of looks like it could be a desperate time. Why you so afraid to let me help you, afraid you'll actually learn to like me?"

Cloud gave him a dark smile, "I'm not afraid of you, Turk."

"You use that so derogatory. Does your little friend Valentine ever get sick of the way you talk about us?"

The blond glared at Reno, "Leave my friends out of this."

"You know what," Reno continued, holding his cigarette in his fingers so that he could spit to the side, "I think what you're really afraid of is that one of your friends might prefer me over you."

He wanted so badly to just reach behind him, unsheathe his sword, and cut the stupid Turk right in half. Everything about him made his blood boil, "Don't even talk about Tifa with that filthy Turk mouth of yours."

This brought a round of laughter from Reno, "Well she doesn't seem to have a problem with my mouth."

Cloud's eyes widened with disgust, "Quit talking about her like she's a piece of meat."

Reno shrugged, "I never said that, stop putting words into my mouth, Strife. All I meant to say was that she has no problem talking to me and listening to the words that come out my mouth. We talked a couple nights ago. She sounded like she had been crying," He took another hit form his cigarette, his lethargic demeanor beginning to drive Cloud crazy; "I'm assuming that was your handy work at its best."

"She talked to you that night?" Cloud asked him, a little shocked, his face hiding his emotions well though. Reno didn't seem to notice the warrior's voice raise a level or two.

"Sure, I called her after that Mr. T wannabe came to the inn and told me that she didn't want to go on a date with me. I simply will not take rejection unless it comes straight from my interest's mouth. So I called her, she answered, and we talked. I think the timer on my phone said an hour or so. But you know what? No matter how upset she was, she didn't once say one thing to trash you at all. Usually chicks throw men underneath a moving object as soon as they can. It seems that Tifa Lockhart is truly a breed all her own."

"I know that," the ex-SOLDIER snarled, taking a step towards Reno.

"Now, now, no need to get aggressive. I simply started the conversation by asking if you needed help and now you want to fight me."

"You're annoying, that's why I want to fight you!" Cloud shot back. Honestly, Reno knew how to prey upon Cloud's emotions and weaknesses to a point that it was unnerving.

"Listen Strife, I don't want to fight you. I just want to talk to you about this. I want you to know that I plan on asking Tifa out again."

"Why can't you just leave her alone? You don't know what she wants; you can't give it to her!" The blond told him, his eyes warning the Turk not to continue on in this conversation.

Reno took no notice, "Really? Well she seemed to think I could give it to her when you were gone last summer. I seemed to know exactly what she wanted then."

Cloud's blue eyes glazed over as he rushed forward, grabbing Reno by the collar, and pulling him slightly off of the ground, their faces close so that Cloud could let Reno look at the seriousness in his eyes, "Listen to me and listen to me good. You ever talk about Tifa like that again; I'll hurt you so bad that your beloved Rufus will feel it. Another thing, leave her alone. She doesn't want you and I don't want you near her you slimy piece of shit."

The red-head coughed as Cloud dropped him back down to the ground. Reno brushed off his suit and growled, "This is an expensive jacket, Strife."

"I would suggest you stop worrying about that jacket and start worrying about your skin, Reno. I will keep my word."

Reno cast him a lasting look of hate as he threw his broken cigarette to the ground. "We'll see about that," The Turk threatened, stalking off, the anger seeming to roll off of him.

Cloud gripped Fenrir with a new strength. He had to get back to Seventh Heaven and he had to get back now.

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

"Wow, I heard that thing dragging a mile away," Yuffie told Cloud as he entered the family room. She had begun to say something else but stopped short when he caught the dangerous look on his face. She followed his gaze to find his eyes locked with the warm brown ones of a now awake Tifa.

"Leave," He commanded.

Yuffie rubbed her hands together, flashing Tifa a wink, "I'm just gonna go check on the kids."

Tifa's face fell as Yuffie scrambled out the door, nearly tripping over her own feet as she hurried out. The martial artist smiled up at Cloud, a little unsure of his anger, "I'm all better today. Yuffie found a healing potion that almost completely helped my leg out. My burns are all but gone, and my cuts and bruises don't even bother me. I feel like a new person today. I can even walk a little on my leg. It still hurts a little but other than that, I'm good as new, see?" She said, throwing the blanket off of her and getting to her feet, wincing slightly in pain as she settled her weight on her disturbed limbs. She threw her arms out to her side, "Ta-dah!"

When he didn't make the slightest movement she froze. She had thought he was angry with her, "Where did you go to, Cloud?"

"I had to go pick up Fenrir."

'Oh he's super pissed about his bike!' She laughed lightly, her face sincere, "I didn't mean to crash it, Cloud. I'll pay to get it fixed, I promise."

"No, I can fix it myself."

She frowned, well if he wasn't pissed about Fenrir then what was he pissed about? She thought for sure that he would be happy to see her mobile, "What's the matter? Did something happen?"

Cloud closed the distance, his muscled frame stalking into the room with a distinct purpose. She backed away, her hands and back finding the wall. He stopped once his face was hovering over hers, "Something did happen, Tifa, to me. I realized something. But more on that later. Did you talk to Reno the other night after we had that argument?"

She swallowed. 'Damn Turk, keep your mouth shut!' She mentally cursed the red-head, her face losing any color she had managed to recover through the night, "Yeah I did. He wanted to know why I wouldn't go on a date with him but I told him that I didn't feel like dating. But I told him that if the opportunity ever presented itself then I would definitely let him be the first to know."

"Well he seems to think that he still has a chance. He plans on asking you out again."

Tifa blinked at him, her heart swimming around in her chest, "Please Cloud, don't be angry with me. I'm still too weak to deal with this today."

"No Tifa," Cloud growled, "I can't let this wait."

She glared at him, her bad leg beginning to shake with from her weight, "Well what are you so protective over, Cloud? It's not like I have anything else going on. I'm a single woman, if he wants to ask me out he can. You aren't my father."

"I don't want him around here."

"You don't own me; I don't know how many times I have to tell you that! You won't step up so stop trying to keep me from trying to find someone who will."

"I can't let you go."

"WHY NOT?" She wailed, her face becoming frantic.

Cloud's eyes narrowed in on hers. There was a flash of something almost primal in his eyes as he let out a growl and crushed his lips against hers. His mouth was desperate against hers, but it was still overwhelming. Immediately her lips returned the affection. The kiss only last a moment before he pulled away and even took a step away from her. She was shocked, "What are you-"

"No, be quiet," he commanded, his face stern. Whatever his deal was with commanding her like this would typically send her into a meltdown but for some reason it was so sexually appealing that she went back to the couch and sat down. She didn't want her legs to give out on her. It was a mere moment before he was towering over top of her, "Tifa, I need to tell you something."

The long haired beauty nodded, nibbling on her fingernails. He took in a deep breath, getting down onto his knees, settling himself between her legs so that he was right in front of her. A twinge of lust shot through her lower section as she watched him settle his hands on top of her thighs, "What is it, Cloud?"

With blue eyes sparkling and swimming with an emotion that Tifa was unfamiliar with he spoke, "Tifa, I'm in love with you."

There it was, Chapter 17! WHOO HOO WE GOT TO HEAR IT! Review and lemme know what you though of this one. Chapter 18 up in a day or so.

Much love,

~Nikki~