Even With Rocks On The Floor...
"I'm carrying you."
"You are not, Cloud."
"Yes, I am."
"No, you aren't. I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own, thank you very much," Tifa crosses her arms, and holds her head even higher.
I sigh, and shake my head slightly. Really, any other time I'd agree. But, it's been a long day.
Let me tell you, the world really does hate me...because I didn't get my hot intertwining passion, and I still haven't, okay! So, as soon as we get another good kiss in after confessing our love for each other, the power comes back on. Okay, still got time for hot, intertwining passion.
Wrong.
Children.
That's all I have to say.
Seriously.
They've been there all frickin week! And trust me, I normally do not mind them being there, but for some reason, they're just everywhere! And Zack and Aerith said they were coming back, and they haven't yet...so that's got me on edge, cause I know the moment those kids finally disappear for more than fifteen minutes, Zack's going to pop up in my head with some stupid snarky comment about hot, intertwining passion.
Maybe I should bring you up to speed, you know, explain why Tifa and I are walking through the rain, and why she's in heels.
So, like I said, children everywhere. Two days ago, we get a call from Cid. Guess what? A date's been set.
So, me and Teef have got to go out to Rocket Town and start getting fitted for dresses and tuxes and what not.
Barret's the best man, and Shera's sister is the maid of honor. Hell, we even met Shera's parents. Her father is scary. Very scary. I see clashes in future family gatherings. Beware, Cid, that's all I have to say.
Anyways, so that passes without event, which is shocking, because most of the time, something bad happens, especially when the infamous Cid Highwind is involved.
Wait, something did happen, but it's after we left.
Here's what happened, really, that led us to our current situation.
I'm riding on Fenrir, we're a ways past Junon, and it's late. Junon was the only port we could get to at the hour we got back. Why Cid couldn't be kind and just take us back to Edge on his airship? Because he's a meanie, that's why.
Seriously, he is.
So, Tifa's riding behind me, her arms wrapped around my back securely, and like I said earlier, I'm on edge. Marlene and Denzel stayed behind to visit with Barret. He's taking them to the Golden Saucer. Good luck, Barret. I salute you.
So, we're on our way back, and it starts raining. Son of a bitch. I really am not in the mood for a cold, and I'm sure Tifa isn't either. Still, at least we're moving, and we're almost back to Edge. But life just likes to be a bitch.
Fenrir...how could you? You never betray me...never...and yet, you do. The one time, man the one freaking time I needed you to pull through and you bite me in the ass...literally. He did, I'm serious.
I don't have a freaking clue what happened, all I know is suddenly we're spinning out of control, and Fenrir goes down, and as a result, we go down. So, like were sliding along, and Fenrir hits a rock, and we go flying off of it, painfully I might add, and land on our ass. Well, Fenrir goes spinning around on his side, and his wheel (still spinning rather fast) bites my ass. Well, that's what it felt like.
And he would not start again. Apparently he was as traumatized as I was at him biting my ass.
So, that's what resulted in the two of us walking down an empty street looking for signs of civilization, my butt burned, and Tifa in pain.
Why didn't she bring more than one pair of shoes, really? I mean, I know Shera said Tifa needed heels to try on her bridesmaid dress with, but why, why?!
She's wearing these heels, rather sexy I must say, but damn she's in pain...and she won't admit it, because she's in one seriously bad mood...and I fear her.
So, I'm trying to be the good guy, but she's being too proud to let me.
Life freaking sucks.
This is not the week after 'confess love' I expected. Man this sucks. One thing goes right, and about a billion other things go terribly wrong.
"Wah!"
And she's down!
Tifa's heel twists and she falls on her back in the mud. She hisses as she sits up, propping herself up on her hands. And she just looks so pitiful, with her hair all muddy and plastered, and her clothes wet and torn. And she's in such a bad mood. I feel bad for her, really, but it's kind of funny.
She won't let me do anything to help!
Still, I can't help but let out a little chuckle.
Mistake.
And there goes her legs, much faster than what I expected they could move in this much pain, and there go my legs out from under me.
I wince as I land on my hip.
"My hip," I mumble.
"Take that," she mumbles back, rain still pouring down on us.
And that's about the time my phone goes off. Tifa's eyes fling wide in shock, as do mine, and we both dive at my belt to try and retrieve the thing. My fingers fight with hers as we pry the thing from its holder.
"Don't let it get wet!" Tifa tells me, standing over my shoulder as I fumble it out.
We haven't had any service, so pardon us if we're a little desperate here.
I place it up against my ear, "Hello? Hello!"
"Geez, Cloud, yell why don't ya," Oh God it's Yuffie.
"Yuffie, listen to me. We're somewhere between–
"I've got something to tell you, Cloud, and I feel kind of bad–
"Edge and Junon. Fenrir's down for the count, and Tifa's in heels, and we're desperate here–
"It wasn't Tifa. It wasn't Denzel, or Marlene. It was Godo–
"We need you to send someone–...what did you say?"
Yuffie sighs loudly, "The old man is so obsessed with my life, Cloud. It's sickening, really. He's afraid I'm going to run off and marry someone who isn't 'royalty worthy'. So, like, when he was eavesdropping on me, he thought you were proposing to me, in some sick and twisted way. Or like, hinting at the fact you had a ring. But then he heard Vincent say something, and he so totally though you were proposing to Vincent...which was like uuber scary for me just imagining that...I mean...who would wear the dress? And then I thought about you know...us. I mean, I was like, ew, Cloud? Come on pops...really...and then he was like, Vincent and I'm like...omagawd, shut up. I'm not marrying that crazy emo clown–
"It's morbid."
"–Right, whatever...so like, he's still flipping out, especially when I went out and bought that dress...like, I know how you said you wanted s–
"Cloud, who are you talking to?" Tifa asks.
"Not now, listen," I stop Yuffie in her tracks.
"What do you mean 'not now'? I've got massive story telling here, man! And I've been trying to call you for like, the past hour."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Yuffie. We don't have any service, and we're stranded–
Ksshshsh!
...no...no!
"Yuffie! Yuffie are you there?!"
"It was Yuffie?! We're never getting any help!" Tifa yells, standing up.
She tips her head back at the sky, "Forget you, rain! Who needs you! Go away!"
Wow...really, really bad mood.
"Tifa."
She growls and shakes a fist up, rain still pouring.
"I don't think it's working, Tifa."
"Thank you, Cloud."
Was that sarcasm?
She falls to her knees, "We're doomed. Someone has it out for us, I swear. I'm not going any farther...I'm waiting here for a car."
She's sitting in the middle of the road.
"Tifa. We've been walking for miles. Not a single car has gone by. We still got a few miles till the next little bit of civilization, if you can even call it that."
"I don't care," she sighs, then yelps, "What are you doing?!"
I've slung her over my shoulder, where she smacks my back, "Put me down!"
"No. I can't leave you like I left Fenrir. I've got to take you. I can't just stick you behind a rock and take the keys out. You aren't that simple."
Shit Strife, are you that dense?
Whack!
Geez, the back of my head!
I wince, but don't drop her.
She sighs, "Your shoulder is in my gut. It isn't comfortable."
"Are you going to behave, or do I need to take your keys out?"
She growls, and instead of putting her down on her feet, I sling her around my waist, and wait for her to grab my shoulders. She doesn't fight anymore, just slings her arms around my neck, and tightens her legs around my waist.
"Well, this has just been a barrel of fun. I swear if the wedding is anything like this, I will burn something," Tifa states.
"Your shoes?"
"They're the first victims. Then it'll be that stupid corset."
...she's going to wear a corset? Nice.
"Then I'm burning down Cid."
I furrow my brow, "You're burning down Cid?"
"And then Yuffie, for not helping us and just running her mouth."
Really bad mood.
"I'm sure it was an honest mistake."
"Yeah, right," I feel Tifa huff against my back, "What was she talking about anyways?"
"Oh..."
Erm, what do I say? I mean...she was talking about you possibly overhearing that I got you an engagement ring? No...I think that's not a good choice.
"Something about Godo...and her marrying...someone...it was kind of statically."
That was...partially true.
It was Godo...damn! All that worry for nothing! What the heck is up with that? Really?
...wait...but that means...
"Hmm...Godo...I thought I heard his name. Did she say something about a dress?"
"Yeah, she bought one."
Right...for you, Tifa.
...I thought...that maybe she'd heard over the phone...and I'd thought she'd been spurred into telling me she loved me, because of...the ring.
But since she didn't hear me...
She just told me because she was ready to.
Warm fuzzy feeling in the chest. It's nice.
"Cloud, hello Cloud."
"Huh, what?"
"If you get tired, just tell me, okay?" she says into my ear, resting her head on my shoulder.
"I'm fine. I lug those swords around on my back, you're nothing compared to them."
She giggles, sending funny vibrations down my back, "Yeah?"
"Yeah," I smile, and I know she's smiling too.
"Hey, Cloud..."
"Hmm?"
"...never mind."
I frown slightly, "What?"
"Nothing. I just thought, I saw something."
I glance over my shoulder. "Right, let me know. We don't know what's running around here."
...And since my swords are with Fenrir...son of a bitch.
"...you left your swords with Fenrir, didn't you?"
Silence is her answer.
"It's okay, we'll be alright. We've still got my fists."
"Yeah, and your inability to walk in heels, let alone fight in them."
That shuts her up.
And so our little moment ends on that note, and we walk for another half hour. I know she's got this bored look on her face, because I know I've got one on mine.
And just like that, I feel her head lift up off my shoulder, and we both peer up, a look of elation crossing our faces.
"It's a truck!" she shouts, and laughs.
I give a small smile, and feel her release her arms from me to wave.
And here it comes, the rescue party. Yes...here it comes...here it comes...
...aaaannnnddddd there it goes.
There it goes with a sweet parting gift of even more water flung in our faces.
"What?! What?! You've got to be kidding me!" Tifa yells, and I know she's shaking her fist at the truck.
"Can you believe that?! They just left us!" she yells.
I sigh, "Let's keep moving."
"This is the thanks we get, you know for saving the world and everything. We can't even hitch a ride."
"It'll be okay, Teef."
"Hmm."
I continue to march on, and glance up towards some hills.
"Hey, a cave is up there."
"Where?" Tifa asks, pressing into my back.
I nod my head in the general direction, "There."
"Uh..."
Oh yeah, neon-glow vision.
"Come on, we'll wait there for the rain to let up," I start to march up the hill.
The cave is dry. Amazing. I forgot what dry was like.
"Someone's been here before," Tifa points to the remains of a fire as she slips off my back.
I squeeze my shoulder, "Yeah. Probably in a similar situation."
"After getting blew off by a truck."
"Precisely."
Tifa reaches into one of her pockets, and whips out a lighter. It's dry, amazingly.
"You have a lighter?"
"Always be prepared," she says, kneeling by the left over kindling, "Besides, what would I burn down Cid and Yuffie with?"
After about five minutes she's got a fire going, and we shed our outer clothing. We aren't heathens.
I take off my shirt, and lay it out to dry first off, and kick off my boots. Tifa sheds down to her tank top and kicks off her heels. She takes up my shirt once it's relatively dry, and takes off her pants.
This is almost as good as Tifa in a corset.
She's standing near the entrance to the cave, squeezing her hair out, my shirt just barely covering her hips.
Drool.
I like appreciating my girlfriend. NO! I am not an animal! I am a man.
She walks back over, and sits beside of me, "I think we're going to be here for a while."
"Yeah."
She smiles at me, "Though, it's not that bad."
"What're you talking about? You've got blisters on your feet, and my backside got scraped to pieces by my own bike."
"Yeah...but, lately, we've been busy...you know? No time, none at all," she sighs, relaxing up against the cave wall.
"Yeah."
Oh...oh.
She's thinking like me.
She's an animal too.
Okay, well, maybe hot intertwining passion isn't her words, but I bet it's close.
So I lean over, and kiss her just where her jaw meets her ear, "I love you, you know?"
She giggles, "I know. I love you too," and she's blushing still when she says it.
I haven't told Barret or Vincent yet, that we've exchanged our love for each other. This is our thing, and I'll tell them eventually...but not yet. This is still for us. And it's nice, you know? Getting the freedom to tell her I love her whenever I want.
It's still amazingly cute to see her blush when she says it.
So, I lean down, and she leans back, and is pressed to the floor. And I kiss her, trails of kisses, across her eyelids, and down her nose, to her lips, and she giggles and sighs, and she was right, it isn't that bad...not now.
"W-wait..." she pushes back on my chest, and struggles to sit up beneath me.
"What?" I ask, did I do something wrong?
"There's...there's a rock in...in my back-ahh...there we go," she yanks a sizeable rock from beneath her and tosses it to the side.
Her arms wrap back around my neck, but I glance around.
What do you know...caves have rocks...and lots of them apparently.
"This isn't going to work, is it?" she asks, apprehensively.
Instead of responding, I yank her from beneath me, and she gives a squeal that echos down the cave. I settle down against the dusty, rocky floor, removing any particularly painful rocks, before pulling her down on my chest, and I mean literally on my chest.
She lays on her side, wrapping her arms around my neck, and her feet curl up to touch my knees.
"You're...not uncomfortable?"
"I'm fine...trust me, this is fine."
She smiles, and kisses me, before burying her face just below my ear.
Who am I kidding? We're both exhausted...and there's rocks on the floor...but this is more than I've gotten in a long time...and I'm happy...despite the fact Fenrir betrayed me, and I had to leave him behind; despite the fact Tifa's got blisters on her feet, and I've got scrapes and bruises all over my back; despite the fact I was soaked to the bone, and Yuffie has a five second attention span; despite the fact we got blew off by a truck, and there are rocks on the floor; despite all this, I'm happy. It's just me and her, even if it isn't hot and intertwining.
It's enough.
For now.
And no, I did not pull her farther up, and accidentally upset the shirt on her hip area...and no, I did not get a good view before I fell asleep.
It's true...ahem...right.
A/N: Because inspiration hit me, and I did just update that fast. AND IT WAS GODO! bet you didn't see that coming, did you? mystery solved...I love Yuffie's speech. None of you thought it could've been Yuffie's phone...after all, she does only have one cell phone, and Wutai is apparently connected...that or Godo is bugging his daughter's phone...excuse me...phones. Thanks for reviews!