Chapter 16: Truth and Consequences
February 28, 0008
The moon shone brightly from the window in Cloud and Tifa's bedroom. It was a large bedroom, and, believe it or not, one side was Cloud's childhood bedroom and the other side was Tifa's. They had knocked down several walls that separated their childhood houses when they got married. But, this particular night, it almost seemed like they may as well not have.
Tifa sat in her pajamas at the foot of the bed. It was after midnight, but she was unable to sleep. There was something she desperately wanted to resolve. But it would be far from easy; the damage was done.
Cloud, meanwhile, lay on his side of the bed, facing away. He was awake, but he was pretending not to be, though he was well aware Tifa would not be easily fooled. In any event, he wasn't caring whether she knew or not. She had crossed some lines hours earlier, and he simply couldn't forget it.
"Cloud," she softly pleaded, "please don't do this. I said I was sorry. Can you at least say something?"
Cloud didn't really want to talk, and he spent a good two hours refusing to do so, but, perhaps, he could shut her up for the night if he said something brief.
"I can't believe you revealed our sex life on the radio!" he growled.
"Cloud," she tried to reason, "it's Romina Ronkin. The same Romina Ronkin who got Jeri Lyons to admit her threesome with two of her fans. If I didn't answer her questions, I'd look like a coward. Ninety-nine people walked out on that show when she got too personal. I couldn't be one of them, or I'd look weak. I can't look weak compared to Jack Balen."
Cloud was not impressed.
"There was a meme that showed up on social media two hours after the interview," Cloud pointed out. "It read: 'Four Things Tifa Strife Likes to Ride.' It showed the Highwind, the Tiny Bronco, the gondola at Gold Saucer, and me."
Tifa didn't respond. It took her but a few moments after her interview ended that she realized her actions. But they turned out to be harder to rectify than she had thought. As soon as she had gotten home that day, Cloud already had a wall up at her. He had eaten dinner by himself, and had confined himself to his man-cave, with the door locked, until it was time for bed. And, even then, he had avoided eye-contact.
He did not recall being so humiliated in years.
"Look," Cloud continued, "I'm not trying to be a dick, but you just went too far. I get it, it's Romina Ronkin. I've listened to her before. I once accidentally turned on her annual Penis Playoff. But there was no need to bring our bedroom into it. Bathroom habits are one thing, but our sex life is way beyond the line."
Tifa still didn't respond.
"Tifa?" Cloud called again as he turned over.
It was then that he noticed her body trembling.
"Tifa!" he demanded.
She still continued to tremble. She still remained silent.
Cloud sat up and scooched himself next to her.
Tears were streaming down her face. Her lips were quivering.
Cloud was shocked; it was very unlike Tifa to cry over being reprimanded like this.
I was shocked when I heard about this as well. Tifa was the most strong-willed woman I ever met. Of course, I quickly realized the truth; it wasn't Cloud's words alone that were making her cry.
Something must have really hit her.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed.
Cloud was speechless. He couldn't believe he had hit her this hard.
And then he realized it, too.
It was gross remorse and guilt.
"You were right," she whispered. "I sold you short."
Cloud put his hand on her shoulder, but it didn't help.
"I betrayed my best friend," she said sadly. "For my own personal gain! I can't believe I could do that to someone I love."
Tears were now flooding her face.
Please don't think differently of Tifa for this; everyone has their weak point.
Cloud was her weak point; she loved him more than anything. She had thought she could only betray him by cheating on him. Hours ago, she realized that was not the case.
"Listen," she began, having partially regained her composure, "I think I've come to a decision."
"What's that?" he inquired.
"I'm done," she sighed. "I'm going to stop."
"Stop?" Cloud asked. "Stop what?"
"Running for president," she replied. "I'm going to pull out of the race."
Cloud was silent. He knew she felt guilty. But pulling out of the race was not something even he found as a reasonable solution.
"I can't un-betray you," she continued. "I have to fix our friendship. And our marriage."
"You don't have to drop out of the race to do that," he insisted as he gently stroked her hand.
"Cloud," Tifa continued as she wiped another tear away, "I would choose you over the presidency anytime in a heartbeat. I just told the whole Western Continent about our sex life. What else am I going to do?"
At that moment, Cloud realized something. He wasn't sure whether he should tell her, because it could be either good or bad, depending on how it was viewed. Realizing that he needed to take a risk, he decided to go ahead and say it.
"Nothing," he replied.
"Nothing?" she echoed, puzzled.
"Yeah, nothing," he repeated. "You won't go to third base with me or try anything kinky."
"What's the point of bringing that up?" she demanded, becoming somewhat annoyed. "Are you really that resentful of me over that?"
"Telling her your favorite sex position is really the only personal information you can reveal," he clarified. "There's no more after that. All damage to our privacy is already done. Nothing will get worse if you keep going."
Tifa was silent. It was a lot to take in. But, slowly, she realized he was right. It really was the most personal information she could reveal about them both. It would not be possible to do something similar.
"Don't forget," Cloud continued, "if you drop out, you're basically handing Jack Balen the presidency. You'll be subject to any of his sexist laws as much as any other woman on the Western Continent. You'll be miserable, and when you're miserable, chances are, we'll be fighting more. You can't give up on this. All the women on the Western Continent depend on you."
Tifa was a smart woman, and knew rather quickly when someone else was right. She was, at least, willing to admit that.
And then, she suddenly stood up, and walked several feet away from the bed, puzzling her husband.
"Stand up," she commanded in a lower voice.
Cloud stood up.
Tifa immediately turned around, practically marched to him, and hugged him tightly, burying her head in his chest.
Cloud groaned slightly; Tifa was somewhat of a constrictor.
"You really make me feel better," she muffed through his chest.
"No problem. The worst is over. You just did Romina Ronkin's Restroom Rampage." He paused. "Unless you change your mind about the aforementioned kinky stuff."
"Don't push your luck, bud," Tifa replied as she playfully poked him.
The continued to stand in an embrace for a long time. Then, they found themselves back in bed, only this time staring into each other's eyes lovingly.
Suddenly, Cloud raised his eyes, as if something was on his mind.
"What's up?" Tifa asked as she gently stroked her love's spiky hair.
"You'd really be with me if I was a woman?" Cloud asked.
Tifa looked at him sincerely. She knew that he would eventually ask her that question.
"Yes, I would," she honestly answered.
It was not something he had ever expected Tifa to say in the two decades they knew each other. It was a side of her he had never considered.
"So you're…"
He couldn't finish, though he would still love her regardless.
"I really don't know exactly what I am," Tifa admitted. "But I'm here with you to stay. We've been torn apart way too often. Don't think I'm going anywhere. You're the only person I've ever been attracted to."
She then pressed her lips against his.
Cloud returned the kiss as he gently ran his hand up and down her back through her pajama shirt.
"It's your soul that I'm attracted to, love," she said before kissing him again.
They soon fell asleep in each other's arms, with Cloud's arm wrapped tightly around Tifa's waist.
Regardless of how the election would turn out, Tifa would always find it paradise with Cloud.
But, they both wondered how her appearance on Romina would affect the polls. It could go either way; they would simply have to wait.
