Sorry for the wait, but this should be the last time I take so long.
By the way, FF7 crew in AC costume's now.
When Cloud arrived at the base he was sent to the courtyard and issued the pauldron with the symbol for private on it. He fastened the pauldron onto his left shoulder as he walked through the doors to the courtyard and joined the group of new recruits.
Cloud saw five of the eleven non-descript recruits he went through basic training with and six sergeants, obvious from the symbol on their pauldrons, including Lightning. Lieutenant Amodar was also present, both he and Lightning gave Cloud a 'look' for being late. Amodar began making a speech about matching up the new recruits with sergeants according to their common skill sets.
Cloud was only half listening to Amodar's speech, but started paying full attention when the names were being listed. Cloud and Lightning were not surprised in the slightest when Cloud was paired with Lightning. They both suspected that Amodar had 'sensed' the thing between them but also thought that they done a good job of hiding it.
Two hours into the shift Cloud began to think about Tifa and convinced Lightning to go by 7th Heaven with him. When they arrived at the café they saw that NORA, Serah, the former l'Cie except Hope and Avalanche were occupying the outside tables. There was the sweet smell of Tifa's cooking and a beautiful piano tune in the air. The music made Cloud think of Aerith for a reason he could not even dream of determining.
"Hey, Spiky!" Barret called.
"Barret," Cloud replied with a nod as all the others noticed the two soldiers "Tifa here?"
"Who d'ya think is playin' the music?" Cid asked the blond, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Cloud shook his head and went inside.
Cloud walked up to Tifa after she stopped playing and resumed her work. He tried getting her attention but the brunette women completely ignored him. Cloud followed Tifa around the café trying to get her to even acknowledge him but decided to try something new when she was not holding anything that could be used as a lethal projectile.
"Tifa, I know you dislike me only because I'm with Light, but please stop acting like a child," Tifa spun around to face the blond and had a death glare in her eyes. Aerith had just walked out of the bathroom and Cloud made a mental note of the white with blue detail summer dress she was wearing. (Crisis Core costume)
"I'm acting childish!" Avalanche, NORA and the former l'Cie rushed inside when Tifa shouted "I have every right to be like this!"
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked calmly, trying not feel scared in the fire of the martial artists glare.
"I've always loved you and you knew that! But you chose a girl that you barely knew!" Tifa shouted hysterically "I have always been there for you!" Cloud's expression turned very dark at that statement.
"You actually expect me to believe that?" The blond nearly growled surprising everyone "I may be missing several memories but I clearly remember the day YOU made ME an outcast." Tifa instantly lost her anger and it was replaced with distress.
"What?" She half whimpered.
"You don't remember? I guess it wasn't important enough to you."
"Cloud, what are you talking about?" Tifa asked as tears began to fill her eyes.
"You and your friends went into the mountains even though everyone knew they were extremely dangerous. You fell, got hurt and fell unconscious. Your friends just ran back to the town and I saw you weren't with them so I went to go see what happened. I fell in the same place, hit my head and passed out. I was blamed for what happened to you and you sided with your friends against me."
"Cloud, I . . ."
"They beat me every day after that, if I couldn't get away fast enough. It was that event, that act of betrayal that made me go to Midgar. You sided with those bastards instead of telling the truth."
"I didn't think it was a big deal," Tifa said quietly before falling into a chair and letting the built up tears escape.
"I knew you had a crush on me then and had one for you," Cloud's tone had softened greatly "But on that day, the crush was replaced with hatred, which has gone away. That memory though, is what makes you only my friend and nothing more," With that said Cloud turned away from Tifa and exited the café.
No one could believe that Cloud had just made Tifa cry. The two people Avalanche looked to for inspiration and a reason to keep going had just turned on each other. It was also the first time Cloud had even turned a dark expression on a friend of his. Vincent knew that what Cloud had said was the reason there was pain in his eyes when he faced the martial artist.
Lightning left the café after Aerith went to comfort the sobbing woman. She saw that al the others had no idea what to do or even think of what to say about what just happened. Lightning quickly found and ran up to Cloud, because he had stopped relatively close to the café.
"Cloud?" Lightning said just loud enough for him to hear.
"What I said has to sink in," Cloud stated without facing Lightning "I will apologize to her tomorrow."
Cloud and Lightning continued their shift in silence. When they reported in at the base Amodar asked what Cloud was brooding over but received a scowl from the blond warrior. Lightning had told the lieutenant that it was a private matter and Cloud wanted to correct it himself.
The Next Day
Lightning woke up and for the first time in a long time felt very happy about not having to go to work because she had no shifts on this Saturday and her week off for Serah's wedding had begun. Her mood dropped to miserable when she remembered that Serah's wedding was in four days and today was Serah's bridal shower and Snow's bachelor party, not that it mattered.
The guest list for the shower was her, all of Serah's girl friends, Vanille, Fang, Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie. Lightning was sure that Serah only invited the members of Avalanche because she wanted to befriend them; Fang was most likely coming so she could keep an eye on Vanille and Lightning sane.
After Lightning was washed and dressed in something nice she went downstairs toward the smell of Serah's cooking. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen she saw Serah cooking breakfast and Fang, Vanille, Aerith and Yuffie sitting at the table.
"For a soldier you sure do sleep in a lot," Fang said with a smirk when she saw Lightning. Lightning just rolled her eyes as a response.
"What're the guys up to today?" Lightning asked the group at the table.
"Nothing in particular," A deep voice said from right behind Lightning. She jumped so slightly that it would be impossible for normal people to notice.
"Do you enjoy sneaking up on people?" Lightning asked the gunslinger as he moved past her to sit at the table.
"I find it rather amusing," Vincent said flatly with a hint of a smirk on his face "But to answer the question you're thinking, Cloud is not going to Snow's party this evening." Lightning let out a breath of relief as she sat in one of the two empty chairs at the table.
"Where is Cloud?" Lightning asked hoping he was going to talk to Tifa.
"He said he was going to talk to Tifa," Aerith answered calmly "Oh, Serah? When is your party starting?"
"After breakfast," Serah replied in a cheerful voice.
"Well I guess I should leave then," Vincent said as he pecked Fang's cheek and stood up to leave.
At 7th Heaven
Cloud stood outside the café for five minutes getting ready to defend any part of his body from anything ranging from Tifa's fist to a table. He deeply regretted saying those harsh words to the only person that truly understood him but it was a necessary thing to do. He hoped that his only real childhood friend would forgive him and continue to help him when it was needed. After gathering his courage he stepped towards the door and pushed it open.
"We're clo-Oh hey," Lebreau said when Cloud walked in "She's in the kitchen."
"Thanks," Cloud replied to the owner. Great, a room filled with several sharp and hot things he thought as walked to the kitchen door. He saw the martial artist as soon as he opened the door.
"Tifa," Cloud almost whispered, unintentionally, to get her attention "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."
"And I'm sorry for being such a bitch," Tifa said almost laughing, which greatly confused Cloud "I know that had to be one of the worst things you had to go through, but lets put that behind us and keep our friendship strong," Tifa stepped in front of Cloud and wrapped her arms around him "I should have been happy that you had been able to move on, unlike myself."
"So you're okay with this?" Cloud asked pulling himself out of Tifa's arms.
"No, but if you're happy then I'm happy," Tifa giggled slightly at Cloud's look of minor confusion "Think of it like this, Lightning is to me, as Snow is to her," They both laughed at that statement "Well, Serah invited me to her bridal shower and it would be rude to be late."
"Thanks . . . for not hitting me," Cloud said with a look of relief. Tifa laughed again as they both exited the kitchen and the café.
That was not an easy chapter for me to write. Yes I changed up the back story a bit to suit my story.
My excuse for taking so long to update is I lost my motivation. But it is back and I am writing again.
Please review to keep me motivated.
By the way for those of you who were for the Tifa/Vanille pairing I will write an alternate version of this story with that pairing and my other ideas, which conflict with the ideas in this story, when I finish this one.