Eleven

Cloud was walking down the halls of Shinra to go to his dressing room, absentminded, the conversation with Tifa the night before had been repeating in his head, he was lost in his thoughts until he found Zack and Tifa talking outside his dressing room and both were looking happy and laughing about something, his nostrils immediately flared up, his eyes hardened and his fists clenched and before he could show himself, Tifa's phone went off making her jump, she fished it out her pocket before she answered it.

"Hello?... Yes?..." She was smiling but her face slowly fell, her eyebrows were knitted together until her entire face turned to complete horror. Zack furrowed his brows as he watched, her mouth was open and her eyes were like she had seen a ghost. Cloud wasted no time and he decided to show himself, who ever she was talking to on the other line was telling her really bad news.

"What...?" Was all she could say after a few minutes. "I'll be there right away..." She whispered before she slowly lowered her phone, her face not changing.

"Tifa? What's going on? Hey!" Zack tried to snap her back to reality by shaking her by the shoulders but Cloud swatted both his hands away, his eyes filled with fury.

"Don't you fucking touch her, and stop flirting with her when your hands are all over Aerith." He said that totally shocked Zack.

"What? What are y-"

"Don't you think I didn't know about the two of you? I've known for a while now and I've just been waiting for her to break it off with me but she's so thick skinned that she not even doing that." Cloud said, Tifa slowly looked up Zack, disappointment visible on her face. "Anyway, what we and Aerith had wasn't real, it was all physical and you can have her all you want from now on, one man's trash is another one's treasure." Cloud said before he pulled Tifa along with him, leaving a very dumbfounded Zack behind. Cloud angrily opened the door to his dressing room, pulled Tifa inside then he slammed it shut. He watched Tifa's back for a while before he spoke.

"Who was that?" He asked while he went over to his vanity to lean on it. His eyes widened when he saw how much Tifa was shaking from head to toe.

"I... Can I have... Leave... For two days..." She said quietly.

"I'm not allowing it until you tell me what's going on." Cloud said, Tifa was quiet for a while before she spoke.

"...My father died... He had a heart attack..." She said quietly with her head down, Cloud's eyes widened before he stared at her with a pained expression, but she was not crying at all, her face was showing all the hurt in the world, but no tears were coming out.

"You can have the week off." Cloud said while he studied her features, the brunette looked up at him, taken aback.

"But... I just need two day-"

"Just take the week off." Cloud said firmly. Tifa nodded before she turned around.

"I'm returning to Nibelheim tonight... Thanks Cloud..." She said, and before she could go out the door, Cloud spoke.

"I'm sorry about your father." He said, Tifa nodded without looking at him then she was out the door.

"I'm so sorry Tifa, I wish I could go with you, but I can't, I have exams." Yuffie said as she hugged her bestfriend, they were outside the apartment building so she could atleast get Tifa a taxi.

"It's fine Yuffie, I can manage..." TIfa said with a sad smile. Yuffie was getting aggravated at Tifa's lack of reaction about her father's death. Just then, they heard honking on the side of the road, both girls were surprised to find Cloud Strife looking out the car window.

"Get in the car." He said, Tifa and Yuffie looked at each other before they both approached the car.

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked.

"I'm coming with you to Nibelheim."

"But, you have work an-"

"It's been taken care of."

"But-"

"Just get in the car." He said, irritated. Tifa sighed before she opened the door to slide in.

"Bye Yuffie." Tifa said.

"Bye, take care of her Cloud, will ya?" Yuffie said, Cloud only grunted making Yuffie sneer before he started driving away. Yuffie and Tifa waved at each other before the brunette looked up ahead on the road.

"You didn't need to do this Cloud." Tifa said.

"Stop complaining. Go get that paper bag on the backseat." He said, Tifa did what she was told then she gave Cloud a questioning look. "Look inside." He said again and she did, her breath hitched when she saw a beautiful lacy black dress, she felt the fabric between her fingers and her lips started quivering.

"This looks expensive, I can't take th-"

"Just take it."

"...Thank you Cloud..." She whispered. She was quiet for a while before she spoke. "When my mom died when I was little, my dad didn't know a thing about raising a daughter, or how to dress one." She let out a humorless laugh. "He always dressed me like a boy, and the boys in town thought I was a tomboy so they wouldn't treat me like a girl, that's why I'm boyish in so many ways, and I adapted their traits as I grew up." She said with a sad smile. "But even if I grew up not knowing how to be a normal girl, I never hated my father for it, he loved me deeply and unconditionally... And with this..." She buried her face on the fabric of the dress and her shoulder started shaking. "I would be able to wear a dress before he would be buried deep into the ground." She started sobbing while she shook all over. She didn't get the chance to send her father her runway show video and she regretted that, a lot. Cloud slowly pulled over to the side of the street before he suddenly grabbed Tifa by her shoulder and enveloped her to a hug, Tifa was taken by surprise by his sudden action but after a while, her face scrunched up in pain before she started bawling like a child, her cries were loud and unrestrained that Cloud was finding it hard to hold back his own emotions, it was overwhelming to see someone as strong willed and feisty as her break down like that. Cloud blinked multiple times before he held her tighter.

"You won't be alone, I'll be here..." He whispered. Tifa held him tighter while she nodded.

"I know... Thank you... Thank you..." She said in a stuffy voice. Cloud caressed her head while he rocked her until she calmed down, it took a while, but he was patient enought to wait. When her cries have died down, he looked down at her to see her tear stained face.

"You okay now?" He asked. Tifa nodded before they both reluctantly pulled away.

"Sorry you had to see that..." Tifa said in a stuffy voice with a small laugh while she wiped her eyes, Cloud lifted his hand to caress her head again, Tifa looked at him before she leaned her head on her backrest.

"Thank you for taking me... But why are you being nice to me, huh?" She said while she sniffed which made Cloud roll his eyes, he opened his mouth to yell but Tifa beat him to it. "Wait, don't answer that, I'm afraid to know the answer." Tifa joked before she let out a shaky breath. Cloud gently pushed her left cheek with fist with a small smile which made her laugh stuffily. Then he suddenly grabbed her hand that was resting on her lap, taking her by surprise again.

"Just hold into my hand the whole way, so won't feel that you're alone." He said while wearing his serious face, Tifa couldn't help but smile sadly, she squeezed his hand and he squeezed her back before he pulled it away again, leaving Tifa disappointed.

"Wait, I have to turn on the engine." He said with a small grin, Tifa laughed while she wiped her eyes before Cloud grabbed her hand again to intertwine their fingers. Tifa took a deep breath before Cloud started driving away.

"Just go to sleep, it'll be a long drive." He said, Tifa looked at him and she leaned her head on the backrest before she closed her eyes, the sound of her father's laughter echoing on her mind.

A/N: Cloud's backstory will be revealed soon and we will find out why he was acting the way he was. Thanks everyone for your reviews!