Chapter 7: The Announcement

February 15, 0008

Tifa stirred the next morning, waking up next to Cloud. She slightly lifted herself up to get a better view of him; she would later admit she liked watching him sleep. He still had his robe on, but it didn't bother her; she would ask if they could shower together, so it would hopefully come off shortly.

After a few minutes, Cloud slowly opened his eyes.

"Good morning," Tifa greeted as she lowered herself back to his level and kissed him.

Cloud wrapped his arm around Tifa's waist, and Tifa rested her hand on Cloud's robe-covered back.

"I love to hold you," he whispered.

"I love to hold you," she replied.

She smiled at him and lovingly stroked his hair. She then kissed him again.

Although she wanted the moment to last all morning, she knew she needed to shower, hopefully with Cloud. Her shirt had caught sweat during the night, both while they made love and while she slept.

She also felt a tightness on her chest, and, after placing her hand on her breast, she realized exactly why.

"I slept with my bra on!" she laughed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I will be when I get in the shower," she replied as she prepared the trap. "Care to join me?"

"I'd like that," he admitted.

Tifa turned and stood up. She stretched, both for her own comfort, and to give Cloud a view of her bare butt.

She then took his hand, helped him up, and led him to the bathroom.

Halfway there, she stopped, and turned around to face him.

"Thanks again for your support," she said with a smile as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I know that wasn't easy. I know it's a risk. But I so happen to be a woman who takes risks and always makes it through in the end."

"I noticed," he admitted. "Hell, you survived the gas chamber."

"Give me a hug," she commanded.

"Not a kiss?" Cloud asked.

"It's just as important," she insisted. "We're best friends, too. Remember?"

Cloud wrapped his arms around Tifa and pulled her in. He accepted it; it was a chance to have her body tightly against his. It also gave him the chance to peek over her shoulder and get a glimpse of her bare butt again.

"Sorry," she said as she placed her hand on her hip and smiled. "Kiss me?"

He kissed her.

"I love you," she said.

She then led him to the shower, and stopped again.

"Forgot to take this stupid shirt off!" she laughed as she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside, leaving her in just her black bra. She quickly undid Cloud's robe and tossed it aside as well.

She then led them over to the sink, where they brushed their teeth together; married life was quickly beginning to sink in for them.

She raise her arms after finishing rinsing.

"Well," Tifa said, "this bra isn't going to take itself off."

Cloud duly unhooked her bra and slipped it off, allowing her perfect breasts to spring into view in the mirror.

He then turned her towards him and pressed his lips against hers.

"Okay," she said. "Shower with me?"

LATER…

Tifa showered with her husband. She then dressed in her blue tee shirt and jeans and went to the town hall to file the paperwork.

"But you look like a college-age girl!" the clerk said to her.

Tifa simply gave the clerk, somewhere in her sixties, a look.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the clerk asked.

"Positive," Tifa assured her as she handed in the forms she had just spent an hour filling out.

Afterward, they went to breakfast at the diner. Tifa seemed quiet while they were eating, though she waited until they were done to speak how she felt.

"So Cloud," she began. "There's been something on my mind."

"What's that?" he asked, as he took a sip of water.

"I've just realized there's several things that might work against me," she answered. "Just now. While we were eating."

"Running for president?" he asked. "Like what?"

"I think the first is my age," she admitted. "The clerk said I look college age. But I am college-age. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I'm physically twenty," she said. "But my mind is twenty-nine. They don't really know that, though. Or at least they don't grasp it."

"Rufus wasn't that much older than us," Cloud pointed out. "The Eastern Continent followed him like a puppy dog."

"Good point," she realized aloud.

"You certainly weren't too young to save us all from Meteor," he reminded her. "Or to shut down the Island Gulag. It's not just anyone who can bring down a Continental Governor. There's no age limit for president, is there?"

"Eighteen," Tifa replied. "Believe it or not. Everyone we know but Yuffie can run for president."

"Anything else?"

"I suppose there's my background," Tifa continued.

"Your background?"

"I kind of killed Rufus," she mentioned.

"That was to save us all," Cloud pointed out. "He would have killed us."

"And that runner," Tifa added.

"Oh yeah," Cloud laughed. "That runner. After what he did, I think anyone would understand."

That runner, by the way, was a marathon runner who just happened to run by Tifa and smack her butt while she was talking to Barret about joining AVALANCHE. She immediately beat the shit out of him.

While some people might argue that the punishment might not fit the crime, I say good for her. I'll bet he never touched another girl's butt again.

Anyway, back to the present.

"There's only one man who's allowed to touch my ass," Tifa said with a smile. "I'll give you two hints. One, he's sitting across from me. Two, I'm madly in love with him."

With that, she leaned in and kissed him.

She then sat down and sighed.

"I suppose the short skirt I wore until recently might come back to haunt me," she continued. "Not to mention the crop tops."

"Lots of women in their late teens and early twenties wear them," Cloud pointed out. "Yuffie wears one."

"You looked?!" Tifa exclaimed. "Sixteen will get you twenty!"

She then playfully slapped him, assuring him she was just messing around.

"Then, there's the fact that I'm a woman," she continued.

"And?" Cloud asked. "Half the population's female."

"There's people out there who still believe leadership roles are for men only," she clarified.

"Maybe a small minority," he assured her. "Less than ten percent for sure."

"What about the Downings?" Tifa asked.

"What about the Downings?" Cloud echoed. "They're not powerful."

"But they're popular," she pointed out.

"So are you," he reminded her as he rested his hand on hers. "I mean, you saved the world."

Tifa smiled; Cloud always knew how to make her feel better.

"We did," she corrected her love before kissing him again.

THAT NIGHT...

Tifa, now in her pajamas, sat in front of her computer. She guided the cursor over to the icon the read "SUBMIT."

She clicked it.

"There," she said triumphantly. "It's officially announced. And my campaign website is up."

"How do you feel?" asked the pajama-clad Cloud, who was standing beside her.

"Like we can do this!" she responded as she stood up and kissed him.

She then rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Dance with me," she commanded.

"Dance with you?" the perplexed Cloud asked.

It was an unusual request. But it would be far from the last time she made it. In fact, it would become a habit.

"Mmm-hmm," she insisted. "Hands on my hips. Now."

Cloud did as he was commanded to do.

Tifa smiled and kissed her husband as he rocked her back and forth.

"I really love you," she said. "You made me feel a lot better. Now, I'm not worried about anything."

"Even the Downings?" Cloud asked.

"They need a platform," she said with a smile. "And, more importantly, they need a candidate."