I had so many ideas for this chapter. :3 Personally, it was one of my favorites. It was hard to write all that I wanted, but I think you (the readers) will be pleased with it. One part of a conversation later is based off a song. The song is "There For You" by Flyleaf.

Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, then I would be the happiest girl in the world. But I don't, so I'm just average on the happiness scale.

Chapter 10: Confessions

Twenty minutes later, the four of them returned to the airship in silence. Not even Cloud, the designated leader, dared to disturb the quiet. Barret, however, who was anxiously awaiting them wasn't afraid to do just that.

"Spike?" he pressured, referring to Cloud by his old nickname. "What happened?" The rest of the AVALANCHE members flooded over before Cloud could respond, their stares making everything extremely awkward.

"We'll have a meeting in the corridor," he said, naturally taking control of the situation. "Cid, can the rest of the crew fly us back a while?"

"!*#$ of course they can. They're my $*&#! students, aren't they?"

Cloud ignored the rampage and turned his attention back to the group. "Let's move." Everyone around him moved forward. Except for the one person whom he hoped would stay back with him. Tifa. He turned toward her, but she wasn't gazing at him. No, her eyes were on the ground. It was clear that she was lost in thought. Cloud gently tapped her hand to get her attention. "You don't have to come to the meeting," he stated softly when he saw her eyes. Obviously she needed some time to herself. She gave him a small smile before walking away, toward her quarters.

For a few moments, he just stood there, watching her go. Then he collected himself and headed to the meeting.

Tifa walked down the long hall and arrived in her room a few minutes later, things appearing exactly as they had before. But then again, what could possibly change in that room besides the bed, the flower and the end table? She sighed, plopping down on the bed. These were petty thoughts; they were distracting her from all the things that had just happened. But she couldn't run from reality.

Reality was trailing right behind her, despite how badly she was trying to stay away from it. It was gnawing at her, tearing her apart. And she couldn't pretend it wasn't anymore. Cloud and the others had almost seen her lose control. Now she would really lose it.

She sobbed into her pillow, sorrow over taking her. I can't take this! she thought miserably. I can't take the pressure. I can't stand being put in this situation. Marlene is gone and I'm starting to lose myself as well.

What could they really want? Why is all this happening?

The questions were unanswerable, so she left them behind and buried her face again, hoping the demons couldn't haunt her that way.

What a false hope that was.

Twenty minutes later, Cloud's meeting abruptly ended. Everyone filed out to wander the ship and thought about what could be in store for them. But Yuffie had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Again. Though nobody said it aloud, something told her that the four of them were the ones who were supposed to be in the woods. And even though Kadaj had given Tifa a choice, she had fallen right in line with his expectations.

They were helplessly being controlled by those villains.

Just as she got up to leave the corridor, she was stopped in the doorway.

"Yuffie," Vincent said, voice extremely cold. The ninja stopped in her tracks and turned to face the man who had come to her rescue in the last hour.

He stared at her for a moment before his eyes wandered to the ground. "How's your ankle?"

She subconsciously lowered her eyes to the ground before answering. "Fine," she mumbled, lying. It was throbbing so badly she almost felt like it would just fall off. On the way back to the ship, she had been limping quite a bit. But she had been in the back of the group, hoping nobody would notice.

Vincent had noticed.

"You're lying," he said plainly. "Everyone noticed that you were limping." Yuffie blushed in embarrassment. "And I can see now how you're standing with one hand to the wall. That minimizes the pressure on your one leg." Her cheeks got even redder; apparently nobody saw through her rouse. Maybe she was just a bad actress. Or the people around her were really good at seeing the truth. It was probably both.

She sighed, surrendering. "Alright," she confessed. "So it is worse now; big deal. This isn't about me. It's about Marlene." Then, suddenly ending the conversation, she took a step to the door.

"Yuffie." Vincent grabbed her hand, making her heart skip a beat. She didn't know that he had the same reaction on the inside. "If you let me see it, I can help."

Surprised, she turned to face him again. "You'd do that? ...For me?"

He nodded, a small smile appearing on his lips. He had quite a lovely smile. "O-of course," he said awkwardly. Yuffie smiled; she could have sworn he had started to blush. She laughed and gave Vincent's hand a light squeeze. To her total shock, he didn't pull away. But he did change the topic.

"Let's go take care of your ankle...Yuffie."

In the mean time, Cloud had headed back to Tifa's room. He didn't know for sure where she was, but he doubt that she would go anywhere that she thought anyone could walk in on her. She had been so upset earlier...so near tears. Cloud's heart ached for her. And for his friends. And for Marlene. It wasn't easy coming back and not being trusted right away.

But he had a feeling that they did trust him again. After all, they had allowed him to become a leader of sorts during all of this. And Barret was more casual with him. Cid swore the same way he used to. Nanaki had seemed cautious at first, but whenever he saw Cloud and Tifa together, he seemed more at ease. In fact, everyone had reacted that way.

Tifa though...that was who he cared about the most. She hadn't trusted him at the start...though she wouldn't say it in words, he saw it through her actions. And every time she turned away from him it felt as if she stabbed him in the heart. He thought he was doing her a favor by leaving. He left for her. But that was something she didn't understand.

He arrived at her room and silently opened the door, first aid kit in hand. She was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Tears left streaks on her cheeks, but they weren't flowing at that moment.

When Tifa saw him staring at her, she sat up in her bed, legs dangling off the side. Cloud took a few steps in and then knelt down by her, opening the first aid kit. At first she was confused, but then she was that there was blood on her arm from earlier. Oh—I forgot about that, she thought numbly, eyes watching Cloud go through the kit. Once he had what he needed, he did something that shocked her.

He took off his gloves and grabbed her hand.

Tifa blinked in surprise but didn't pull away. First off, he never took off his gloves. He was always formal; always professional. But now that she could feel the softness of his hand, it felt like the total opposite. She felt as if her heart would leap out of her chest. This was significant to her, though she couldn't explain why.

Cloud ran a wipe over her wound, causing a strong stinging sensation. Tifa winced involuntarily, gripping Cloud's hand a little bit more tightly. He gave hers a gentle squeeze, his eyes moving up to hers before going back to her arm.

But she had already seen enough in his eyes in that one quick glance. She saw the care and concern, the gentleness, the—she couldn't believe she was thinking this—the love. And what she saw wasn't love from a friend; it was definitely romantic. Tifa may not have been good at voicing her feelings all throughout life, but she was always good at analyzing the feelings of others.

Time passed so quickly that Tifa didn't even realize Cloud had finished his task and was looking to her again. When she finally noticed, she turned and looked him in the eye. That was something she had avoided at the start, but now...now it was different. Somehow it was very different. And she didn't mind it.

Gripping onto Cloud's hand, she slowly rose to her feet. He moved with her and stood to his full height, coming out a few inches above her. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before Tifa abruptly released his hand. Cloud looked confused until something else happened.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, head resting on his chest. An exhausted sigh escaped her lips. No...it wasn't completely exhaustion...it also was a bit of contentment. And peace. It finally felt like she had somebody she could lean on and depend on. For the first time in years, she felt completely whole.

Cloud wrapped his arms around her and lowered his head, resting in lightly on top of hers. Any other girl would have been freaking out because it was a "perfect romance" moment, but for him, it was just a moment with Tifa. Any moment with her was perfect. When she frowned, he saw a smile. When she cried, he heard laughter. When she glared at him, he saw affection. No matter what was going on, Tifa was absolutely stunning. He wished he had a good way to put it in words.

At that moment, however, it didn't matter. The silence was comfortable and it spoke much more loudly than any words could have.

Tifa thought about breaking the silence, but the three words she wanted to say wouldn't come out without a fight. Alright, so Cloud had left her before. And it had killed her. But he was home now and everything seemed to be falling into place for them. She understood that and liked it. But she couldn't say what she was feeling until she knew one thing: why he had left. Nevertheless, she wouldn't ask that question. Things had flown naturally thus far. If they were meant to be, they would keep moving on.

"Tifa," Cloud started softly, lifting his chin off her head. She nodded faintly into his chest. "Can I tell you why I left?"

This really caught her attention. She looked up at him and nodded again. "Alright, but let's sit down." Cloud nodded to her and sat down on the bed, Tifa doing the same next to him.

He took a deep breath and clasped his hands, looking down at the floor. It appeared he didn't know how to start this conversation. Strangely, though, things weren't awkward. Both of them knew they were working up to the point where they'd discuss this. They were both prepared—emotionally, at least.

"I left...because I thought that would be best for you." Tifa gave him a look. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Cloud gazed up at her and saw her confused look. "I mean," he elaborated, "that I thought my being around was keeping you from living your life. I figured that if you didn't have to worry about me anymore, you could really live. And that you could get somebody special in your life and be happy."

Tifa looked up at the ceiling. "So...that's why you were surprised I didn't have a boyfriend or anything," she said, sorting through her thoughts aloud.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. I was really surprised when I came home and things weren't better than when I left." He chuckled weakly. "Especially with Marlene being taken..." he turned somber and looked over at the woman beside him. "I wasn't going to stay away forever," he said softly. "I was going to come home once I felt like I could be there without intruding on your life."

She shook her head. "No. You never got in the way of me living my life," Tifa said quietly. "I loved having you around, even if you weren't really there."

"I'm really sorry."

"I know you are." She smiled and looked over at him, feeling his eyes on her. He looked like a puppy dog, pleading to be accepted. "And I forgave you a really long time ago. We all had to go through rough periods. That was yours." She paused. "And I guess...this one is mine."

Cloud unfolded his hands and set one of his on Tifa's. "I want to be there for you during all this. I want to be someone you can come to." He suddenly looked frantic, as if trying to get Tifa to understand just how urgent and important this was to him. "Sometimes, I'm a selfish fake. But you're always a true friend. I really don't deserve you."

Tifa turned her hand a grasped his in hers. "I've forgiven you," she repeated reassuringly.

He smiled—oh, what a beautiful smile. "Do you trust me?"

She locked eyes with him as she answered. "Yes."

"...Do you..."

"...yes?"

"........"

"I think I already know what it is," she confessed.

"O-oh?"

Tifa leaned over and gave Cloud a light peck on the lips. "I do love you."

Cloud chuckled to himself. "Am I really that easy to read?"

"Pretty much," she smirked.

"And for right now...I'm okay with that." Tifa giggled, making Cloud's heart skip a beat. "I love you too...in a way I can't express clearly in words."

The young woman smiled and set her free hand on Cloud's arm. "Well..." she started thoughtfully. "Actions do speak more loudly than words."

Cloud nodded in agreement, a smile widening on his face. Gosh, Tifa loved that smile. She exhaled and set her head on his shoulder, relaxing.

Things may not have been alright around her. The world was totally falling apart. It seemed as if no matter what she did, things weren't going to be okay ever again.

But at that moment, she knew that wasn't true. As long as she had somebody faithful by her side, things would go back to normal. Actually, no...they wouldn't go back to normal. They would be better than normal. For once in her life, things were going to be great. Tifa looked forward to that day, no matter how far off it was.

At that moment, she made a decision. She would stand tall in the downpour and watch for the rainbow to come. And she knew she wouldn't be doing it alone, either.