Prompt: #30 Sleep
Summary: Just one of the many things he loves to do.
Sleep
Of the many things that he loves to do, whether it was racing down an open stretch of highway at full throttle on Fenrir or seeing the kids laugh and play without a care, it is being beside Tifa and watching her beautiful face relaxed in sleep that was at the top of his list. Feeling the warmth of her body close to his. Hearing each of her soft breathes under the cocoon of serenity underneath their shared sheets couldn't be beat. Nothing even came close. Because, no matter how bad the nightmares that waited could be, he can fall asleep with the assurance that it would be her face that would be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. It would be her arms that would wrap around him and it would be her voice that would tell him that everything was all right. Because the fact that it's her, it is all right.
It was also a favorite of his because Tifa wasn't as intimidating when she was asleep either. Old habits die hard and that little skinny kid that fell in love with the most beautiful girl in the neighborhood, would come back. Sometimes when she smiles at him from across the room, he still found himself tucking his head between his high collar like a bashful child. He could face monsters in any form, jump into a fight no matter what was being thrown at him, but he's never been able to face Tifa like that. One mumbled sigh of disappointment from her lips smacked him harder than any punch. But watching her eyelids slowly open and her ruby eyes focus on him and receiving that genuine gladness that it was him that was beside her, made him feel invincible too. So it was a twofold blessing, her sleeping.
Countless times when he'd been younger, he would imagine what it would be like to have someone like Tifa be the woman that would smile at him like that every morning. How things would be if she were his life partner and that he would be with her every day and every night. All because he could. It was kind of a trip. He'd also never shared a bed like that with anyone. An only child at home and army bunks when he'd signed onto SOLDIER didn't allow for bed sharing. Alone. Always alone. Guys talked and boasted and yakked about how good their games were at picking up girls and the honeys they'd known. Men like Zack, Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal had never needed to say such things. He took a line from their book. Especially when he'd only wanted the one. Just that one. The other grunts had said it was because he was green around the gills and didn't know any better. Only he had known better. Cause honestly, how can a lifetime of devotion and adoration be wiped away just by another girl flirting with him? That didn't make any sense. But he'd learned to keep things to himself by being his usual quiet self. No use cause they hadn't understood. He'd listen to Zack go on about a girl in pink that grew flowers in an old church, that he was going to try and marry as soon as they got out. As much of a people person and outrageous flirt that he was, Zack's heart, like his own, only longed for one specific girl. Then he realized he was luckier than those other guys in the bunkers. They went through women and never found the one, when he'd known his all his life.
To think, he'd tried willingly giving up these nights. These nights where he didn't have to imagine anything because she was right there beside him. So much better than lying on a scratchy blanket on a cold night alone and missing it. All he had to do now was turn his head and see her there, sleeping. He likes to move over so that his head rests right beside her own. So close that he can count every lash on each lid and trace his eyes along the little details of her features. The ones that you couldn't see from far away. Most times he doesn't even touch her, for fear of disturbing her much needed rest. She seemed so untouchable in her enchanting beauty. His very own sleeping beauty. But there are some nights where he can't resist. Some nights where he needed to feel that she was real and he wasn't imagining anymore. A night like tonight.
His hand reaches over and he tenderly runs his fingers through her hair before softly running his thumb over the apple of her cheek. Her silky hair and satin skin. He can't get enough of touching them. The endearing whimper from her lips just before her eyes open and look back into his takes his breath away. It takes his breath away every time. Only to breathe new life into him in the next heartbeat.
"Cloud," she whispers in a drowsy voice.
"I love watching you sleep," he confesses and thrives from the warmness in her responding smile.