Disclaimer: Is it really necessary to say that FFVII and its character are not mine and that I do not make money from this over and over again?

Chapter 10

The wall was still gray. It was cold, gray, and now damp cement, made moist by the thick humidity in the room. It was nearly 9 a.m. and not even the sun could cast a warm glow upon the still unpainted walls. Tifa stared hard at the offending wall, not really sure she was ready to start her work day. The bar wouldn't open until noon, but for the past two weeks she had already been wide awake by this point, opening blinds, windows, setting out chairs, and beginning to cook the midday meal. Bloodshot eyes sluggishly looked towards the windows forlornly – it was still raining.

Almost as soon as she exited Sector 6 not too long ago, it had begun to pour. The storm clouds had blackened out the night sky, dropping torrents of thick raindrops onto the jaded woman. Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting her way in brief flashes of electricity, giving her more cause for the gooseflesh that rose on her arms than the wind and rain. She had walked slowly, in no real hurry; for she knew Cloud wouldn't come after her. She was wrong of course, he had trailed her the whole way, but she wasn't letting herself see that.

All she could think of on the way back home was: Why…? Why? Why!? Why!

She hadn't misheard that night had she? She had heard the girl calling out Cloud's name, right? She hadn't heard his voice, but she knew the sounds of his boots like she knew her piano scales. She knew that it hadn't been her imagination…. When she got home, the girl had been there! She had said, "Oh… hello?" as if Tifa was the intruder.

When she returned home, she hadn't bothered changing her clothes despite being soaked to the bone, she simply headed towards the cabinets for her mortar and pestle. Beneath her mental questioning rant, she had debated how she was going to use the flowers on Lace. She had settled on grinding the flowers into a paste, as opposed to dropping the petals in tea or having the girl simply consume them. So she did just that and ground away with a vacant expression, watching as the beautiful flowers were destroyed and resulted in a gray-green, lumpy mush. Lace was sleeping peacefully, for which Tifa had a flicker of gratefulness, and did not stir as Tifa applied the paste to her bruising with a thick paint brush she had found in the children's room. She lightly covered it with bandages and pulled the blanket over her patient once again from where she had probably kicked it.

Tifa continued to watch the rain from her bed, knowing that she should go check to see how the other girl was doing, but she couldn't seem to pull herself away from the mesmerizing curtain of precipitation. Her cold hand rose to her lips, her fingers moving along her mouth, imitating the way Cloud's had moved along hers. 'It was our first kiss. It was very warm. His tongue… it almost touched mine. It was very warm… our first kiss…Cloud.'

She felt light-headed as she pushed herself up and out of bed. She knew it had been stupid to leave herself soaking while she attended the girl and outright idiotic to have gone to bed that way. She still wore her clothes, which were still slightly damp. Her skin felt like a sponge, cold to the touch, but burning. Using the wall, she made her way downstairs and checked on Lace, who was still asleep. When she pulled back her bandages, Tifa was amazed to see the bruising was beginning to disappear. It certainly wasn't entirely gone - the most severe areas were for the most part a mottled purple, but the color was returning to her skin tone and her breathing appeared to have evened out.

Tifa sat back onto her haunches and gave a slight grin, thrusting her hand back into her hair and shaking her head in wonder. "Well, I'll be." She was very relieved that Lace would live. It meant that with her life intact, all those who loved her wouldn't be sad. It was just a shame that they couldn't have figured it out sooner – all those lives that could have been saved…

Her face grew thoughtful. Was this… a cure? Could they use the flowers to create a cure? She knew that Aeris's powers were great and could never be replicated, but could they be able to use her flowers to heal the rest of those suffering in the world? Such a thought almost seemed sinful to think, or at least too good to be true.

Tifa unleashed the strongest grin she could in her state and stood quickly – quickly regretting it as she swayed on her feet. She worked her way through her light-headedness though and headed for her phone. She knew just the person to talk to about this. There was no way in Hell that she wanted to let ShinRa get a hold of this information, but they did have the means and the ways to investigate something like this. If they could use that power, they could really help people, and perhaps, just perhaps, the world could finally heal. But what was the price? What could go wrong? Tifa considered these thoughts as she got through to the one man she trusted in the position to do something with this.

"Hello, Reeve? … Yes, it's me… I'm fine, how about you?.... Well, you see, I was wondering if we could meet? I guess I have a favor to ask." She had begun to pace the room, but she fell into a chair once the room started to spin. Her body had begun to ache and her head pounded something fierce. "No, I understand, tomorrow is fine… thanks, you too."

Tifa gave a long exhale and shivered. She was sick, and she knew it. She shivered again and stood to leave a closed sign on her door. As much as she didn't want to, she knew she wouldn't be able to work the bar, much less cook anything in her state. She was half-way there when her body suddenly began to burn and her vision began to slide sideways and she felt herself falling… falling… falling until she landed against something hard but warm. Tifa grimaced as her head burst into pain and before she completely lost consciousness, she looked up and saw a pair of blue eyes wide with panic.

All was darkness, and in it a young girl's voice echoed: "Whenever I'm in trouble… my hero will come and rescue me."


She awoke before her eyes opened, resurfacing to hear the fading end of thunder; closely followed by another loud, explosive sound that crackled and shook the house, making the windowpanes rattle like china cups. She was also very warm and dry, but there was a damp, heaviness on her forehead. She opened her eyes and had to wait several moments for her vision to stop swimming and her mind to catch up from where it had left off.

The room was dark; she was in her bedroom, but she could make out a broad back facing her from the end of the bed. Even without the blonde hair, she could have recognized Cloud in a heartbeat. Tifa rolled her eyes upwards and unintentionally let out a small scoff. She had kept Cloud under her watchful eye ever since he had showed up in Midgar, and now she thought that perhaps she had studied him a little too much over the years. She could pick him out of a crowd, recognize his sound and scent with her eyes closed, and could read him like a book… though lately, he might as well have been all Greek to her.

He must have heard her scoff, for he whipped his head around with startled eyes and quickly laid down the book he was reading. Tifa noted this; she had never seen him read a novel before. She watched him with bright, feverish eyes as he moved to sit closer to her and removed the wet cloth she assumed he had placed on her forehead. With his bare hand, he felt her forehead and shook his head with a grimace, before rinsing the cloth in the large bowl beside her bed and replacing the now cool cloth on her skin.

He retracted and seemed to partition himself off, bowing his head and letting his hands fall between his legs. "You scared me, you know? Passing out like that?" He rubbed his neck tiredly, and spoke to his knees.

Tifa merely looked at him, unsure of what to say. Perhaps she should apologize?

Cloud drew in a large breath and let it out in a rush, before looking at her with a smile that didn't come anywhere near his eyes. "Don't do that again… ok?"

She looked away.

They were silent, awkward, and unsure of each other and themselves. Tifa simply felt like ooze, if such a feeling was even possible; feverish, sickly, ooze, that was currently in one of the most uncomfortable situations of her life. It really didn't seem like he was going to leave her any time soon, she mentally huffed at this observation, noting his lack of shoes, gloves, and armor. It was an appearance that she rarely saw, and despite being mad at him, it made her smile.

"Hey… what's that you're reading?" She croaked, having to clear her throat with a racking cough. Her eyes focused on the now closed book in his hand.

Cloud slightly brightened, as he limply held up the book with a shrug, "Oh, uh… one of the Chocobo Breeders at the Golden Saucer gave it to me… it's, not bad." His demeanor changed as he looked down at the book with a small smile, briefly fanning through the pages.

"What's it about?" She felt like she was swallowing sand.

"It's about this old man, a magician, and well, would you want me to read it to you? Since…?" Cloud looked at her a little shyly, but with raised, hopeful brows.

The pounding in her head slowly pounded out the reason why she was upset with him in the first place, and her body flooded with affection for him. She closed her eyes and smiled, nodding and pulling her blanket up to her chin. In her mind's eye, Cloud's words painted such vivid pictures that she could clearly see every detail and hear every word the old man growled. In every word, she could also hear Cloud's smile, but then, she wasn't sure if she noticed this before or after she slipped into a dream filled slumber.

When she awoke again, she was alone and the room was bathed in darkness. A small ray of light filtered from beneath the space between the door and the floor, and faint laughter made its way upstairs. Tifa's brow furrowed, dislodging the damp cloth on her forehead, as she struggled to think coherently. Is the bar open? Cautiously, she slowly sat up, waiting for a greatly diminished vertigo to pass and popped out a leg from beneath her warm covers, planting a bare foot on the cool, wooden floor.

She gingerly made her way to the door, slightly hunched over, and dimly aware that she had been changed out of her wet clothes and into dry, rather large clothing. The light from the hallway blasted her and she recoiled with a grimace, squeezing her eyes shut and inhaled with a hiss. How long have I been out? From the sounds and smells, it certainly sounded like the bar was open, but wasn't very busy. With a hand trailing along the wall, just in case, she made it a few steps down the stairs when a blonde man in a black shirt carrying a tray of food began to make his way up it, a white towel hung over his arm.

Cloud glanced up and froze, causing a little bit of the soup he carried to slosh a little over the brim of its bowl. He visibly swallowed, before rushing up the rest of the stairs with a reproachful frown. "What are you doing up?" With his hands otherwise preoccupied, he leaned forward quickly and pressed his forehead against her before making a low grunt. "You're still feverish."

Tifa gave him a look with "You think?" written all over it, before closing her eyes at a sudden head pounding.

"Come on, let's get you back –"

"Hey Cloud! You're going up there again?! She was fine the last time you checked…. 5 minutes ago!!" A loud, feminine voice bellowed from downstairs, which was met by a chorus of male laughter.

Cloud blushed and sighed, not looking at Tifa before taking a step to the side, revealing Tifa's form to the little ninja at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey! You're awake!" Yuffie jumped up once with glee, before rushing up the stairs and taking Tifa's elbow to guide/pull her down the rest of the stairs despite her current state of dress.

"Yuffie, I don't think it's a good idea to take her down there." Cloud called down after her.

The girl froze mid-step and seemed to think about it, before her shoulders sagged with an exhale. He was right, but she wasn't going to admit it. Yuffie stepped in front of Tifa and pushed her instead back up the stairs gently, meeting absolutely no resistance from the fighter.

"Don't worry about the bar. Cloud and I have it handled, and that Lace girl has been a big help – said she owed you or something." Yuffie explained with a large smile, depositing Tifa next to Cloud again. She looked at the couple up and down for a moment before grinning with a small snort, "You know, the whole wearing each other's clothes might be cute… if it weren't so nauseating, fufufufu!" She rolled her eyes and hopped down the rest of the stairs.

Tifa looked down at herself, then at Cloud who looked anywhere else but her with a flaming face. It was true, they each wore a black shirt, and by the looks of it, she was wearing one of his and perhaps… his boxers?

He stuttered, before clearing his throat awkwardly, "I uh-… um… I didn't know where you kept your clothes… and…. Well…. What you were wearing was still wet… and… you know… that's bad….and no one else…." His speech was only getting worse.

She laid a hand on his arm gently with a tired expression, "Cloud," she whispered, "I'm not really in the state to care right now… it's fine." She quirked the side of her mouth as a hint of a smile. "Our first kiss…"

He expelled a large breath, paused as if about to say something else but thought better of it, and led her back into her room. With care, he helped her back into bed and propped up her pillows so she could sit up and eat. It really wasn't what she had in mind, but Cloud insisted she eat it. It wasn't anything she made, but it turned out that Lace was a chef back in Kalm.

When Tifa inquired about her, Cloud shrugged and told her only what he knew. Lace had awakened shortly after Tifa had passed out and with introductions, and a lot of assumptions, they figured out the lengths that Tifa had gone to, to cure her. Lace was grateful and just as she was trying to find some way to repay her, Yuffie had bounced in looking for a good meal. She had been the one with the idea to open the bar for Tifa, knowing that every day the bar was open was valuable and important for her family. Cloud had simply kept order, helping here and there, and constantly checking in on her, much to the other girls' amusement.

"Vincent had also stopped by," Cloud's voice was light, and despite being sick, Tifa picked up on the stiffness of it. His face remained neutral, but his eyes were storming. "I told him that you were sick, so I had him leave."

Tifa raised her eyebrows as she took a small spoonful of her delicious soup. It was very good, and even better knowing that she hadn't made it herself. There was also something decidedly better about a meal made for you…. And brought to you in bed. "Had him leave?" She echoed.

"Well, not had, but he left."

"I see." Tifa figured that he would have. She knew that he came for her company; it wouldn't be like him if he came for the atmosphere. "And speaking of seeing…" She looked at him slyly, "Just how much did you see….?" She plucked the shirt she wore.

Cloud looked at her in alarm, face transitioning back to red promptly, and he poised as if ready to bolt. "N-nothing… well, a little… but I did my best not to look, I swear!" He looked at her shyly, clearly embarrassed, "It's just that, you had to get out of those clothes…"

"Our first kiss… so warm…"

Tifa nodded and sipped her tea; sweet, how she liked it. "I understand, Cloud."

He nodded as well, and looked down at his hands, letting silence settle in between them. "Teef… about… last night…"

She looked up at him slowly, above the rim of her cup, inwardly steeling herself for his words. She couldn't help the building feel of alarm.

"I'm… sorry, that I scared you… I didn't mean for it like that…" He told her this softly, quietly, still looking down hard at his hands. "I just… Tifa, you…. To me, you…" His hands clenched the bar towel tightly, slightly shaking with the strain.

"Cloud," She called his name to stop him, "Whatever you are going to say… I don't want to be sick when I hear it… ok?" Tifa didn't think that she could handle anymore pain, not right now.

He looked at her with a surprised face, before nodding in understanding. "Sorry… I, I'll let you sleep then." He stood and watched her set the tray of food he had brought to the side onto her night stand.

She looked up at him, when she turned back; studying his posture, knowing that he was struggling with himself right now. She made a small sound of exclamation when he took a deliberate step towards her, bent down, and embraced her tightly. "Don't leave me, Tifa," his face nestled in her neck, his lips feathering across its sensitivity.

The whisper that left his lips ghosted over her skin, sending a wave of heat through her body, competing with the fever. She was shocked, but her hand eventually found purchase with his hair, running through its feathery texture, soothingly. She had no words for him. She couldn't answer him; not when her objective was to get over him. With actions like this though, it was going to be increasingly difficult to stop loving Cloud Strife.

AN: Ok, I guess we've passed the half-way mark of the story... or 2/3rds... hmm, we'll see. :) Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, as always I really appreciate reviews! Just a few sneak peaks... you'll be seeing "that girl" again really soon, as well as scene between Vincent and Tifa that I'm really excited and eager to see what you think of it!