Chapter 10: The Closing
Just a few minutes more.
The twenty-three-year-old woman stood at the podium in her usual leather tank and shorts. As she stood, she waited.
The clock read 4:56.
Just a few minutes more, she thought. Just a few more minutes, and the government adjourns for ten weeks. Ten weeks to be like a private citizen. I can sleep in and…forget it. I have a toddler.
The clock read 4:57.
Just a few minutes more, and I can walk out of this place and forget about the government for ten weeks…unless the Eastern Continent tries something funny.
The clock read 4:58.
Just a few minutes more, and I'll be home with the man I love. He's made so much sacrifice for me ever since our daughter was born. He's been the love of my life since I was a child.
He's the love of my life, and I'm beyond blessed to have been given a second chance with him. We've been married for three years now, and things have only gotten better.
The clock read 4:59.
Just a few minutes more, and I'll be planning the vacation.
The vacation I wanted to take since the start of our marriage, right before I found out I was pregnant with our daughter.
The clock read 5:00.
It was now time.
President Strife lower her head to the microphone.
A few words was all it would take.
"As President of the Western Continent, I hereby declare this session of government adjourned."
She then pounded the gavel.
The senators and representatives stood up. Some began to leave. Some began to mingle. Nobody applauded; it was not customary to do so.
Tifa stepped down from the podium, and began to walk down the central aisle. She walked out of the assembly hall and into the foyer.
The legislative building was right next to the Presidential Mansion.
All she had to do was cross the street.
She stepped outside.
And then, there was the press.
Tifa sighed.
"Madam President!" one of them greeted.
"How is the First Gentleman?" another asked.
"He's good," Tifa replied. "He's at home taking care of our daughter right now."
Tifa walked across the street, and opened the gate to the Presidential Mansion, knowing anyone who followed her would be arrested.
"What are you going to do now?" asked a female reporter.
"I'm going for a swim!" she announced.
The reporters laughed as the gates began to close.
With nothing further ado, she made her way up the path to the front door. To the north, there was an arch between the legislative building and the Presidential Mansion. Beyond that, Nibelheim ended, and Mount Nibel began.
But, forgetting that, she was still safe in Nibelheim, and was about to enter her safe home.
She quickly texted her husband.
"Meet me in the pool in five minutes."
President Strife gave one last wave before disappearing into her home.
MINUTES LATER….
Tifa, now in a black one-piece, climbed up the ladder. The swimming pool was wide and deep, and waited for her below. She had been waiting for this all day.
She now stood at the top of the diving board. The pool seemed to call her. She still had her makeup on, but that was about to change. She would soon be drenched, her hair would be a mess, and she wouldn't care.
For the next ten weeks, she would be Ms. Tiffany Claire Lockhart-Strife, private citizen.
Unless she decided to call a special session, of course.
Tifa looked down.
The twenty-four-year-old man was in the pool, waiting for her.
She had been waiting to be with him all day, and was certain he felt the same way. As soon as she came home, she changed into her swimsuit and headed for the pool, stopping only to kiss her sleeping daughter and whisper that she loved her.
She raised her arms and placed her hands together. She shifted her body forward, and surrendered her footing.
And she fell.
The head-first fall turned into a plummet.
Her eyes were closed.
But she knew when she hit the water.
Her swimsuit and body became wet. Her hair began to rise. Her makeup washed away.
She opened her eyes to find herself facing horizontally, floating two feet above the pool floor and six feet below the meniscus.
Tifa could easily see Cloud standing at the shallow end.
She eagerly began to swim toward him as the pool became shallower and shallower. She stayed submerged the whole way to him, and for a good reason. She wanted to keep an eye on his lower half; while Tifa was wearing her one-piece, Cloud wore nothing at the moment.
It was how he was comfortable, and, more importantly, it was the way she preferred.
She grew closer and closer to her destination. Then, when she was a yard away, she surfaced.
She took a gasp and opened her eyes to see Cloud looking happily on her.
"Nice cannonball," he complimented.
"That wasn't a cannonball," she replied as she wrung her hair. "That was a forward."
"I missed you all day," he said.
"Me, too," Tifa replied as she wrapped both her arms around his neck. "So then let's get reacquainted!"
And they kissed deeply, their tongues wrestling passionately.
And then, without warning, Tifa picked Cloud up, straddling his legs around her waist, and placing her hands on his bare butt for support.
"This is why I love the pool," Tifa laughed.
"Why?"
"Buoyancy," she replied. "I can carry you a lot easier."
"You also like CFNM, don't you?"
"Of course," Tifa replied as she kissed him again. "The same reason I like being on top during sex. It reminds you…who's in charge."
And she kissed him again.
Tifa was, no doubt, the dominant one in the marriage. She was never the damsel in distress, unlike the many of the other women Cloud had encountered. Meanwhile, Tifa had to save Cloud on several occasions.
When it came to their love story, Tifa was the first to say she loved him. She was even the one who proposed, getting down on one knee and everything.
They had been married for three years now, and had an eighteen-month-old daughter. Tifa was President of the Western Continent, Cloud was a househusband.
Of course, that meant she was the most powerful woman in the world. But she did not achieve that easily. There were no less than three attempts to kill her during the election. This included poisoning her drinking water at the third debate.
The election was duly held. Tifa finished second in the popular vote. But, since no candidate received a majority of the towns, it was up to the Lower House to decide the election. The vote was tied until the speaker cast his vote for Tifa.
This resulted in the storming of the Presidential Mansion, but, in the end, Tifa was inaugurated. Less than a month later, she discovered she was pregnant with her first child. She continued her job as usual until she gave birth to her daughter, literally in her office. She returned to work the next day.
A little more than two weeks later, Cloud and Tifa spent their first Christmas together. It seemed like the perfect ending to some trying times.
But then, Sephiroth was freed on Christmas night. And, to that day, nobody knew how he escaped. What was known is that it was very likely someone from the group, as only someone from the group would have access to the prison Sephiroth had been in. High suspicion fell on Jessie. One, she was alive because of the changed timeline. Two, she mentioned some sympathies to Sephiroth. But the third and most damning reason everyone was suspicious of her was the fact that she had disappeared right when Sephiroth was freed.
Tifa began her presidency with mediocre ratings. But, after the Geostigma Crisis, her approval rating skyrocketed to ninety percent. She was loved by everyone, even those who had voted against her.
Now, it was time for a break. And Tifa had already made the plans.
"I bought it," Tifa announced.
"Bought what?" Cloud asked.
"The boat," Tifa replied. "The big-assed one."
"You mean that one that looks like a swan? That you can sometimes see in the distance?"
"That's a yacht," Tifa corrected. "And even I don't know who owns that one. But the one I got is big for a boat."
"How big," Cloud asked.
"It has a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping space," Tifa continued. "My dad will watch our daughter. This will be our big chance to get away from everything!"
They continued to swim for a while, splashing, dunking, as well as embracing and kissing each other.
An hour later, Cloud was floating on his back while Tifa stood beside him, smiling down and making eye contact.
"I can't wait for this," she said. "It'll be a break from being president. And a mother."
Not that she wouldn't miss her daughter, of course. But she did need a break after nearly two years.
"Best of all," she continued, "I get to spend it all with my boy."
She bent down and pressed her lips against his.
"You think anyone will recognize us?" Cloud asked.
"I have a plan," Tifa replied as she kissed him again.
"A plan?" he asked.
"You'll see," she replied with a smile.
She then took the opportunity to scan Cloud's nude body.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Enjoying the view," she replied honestly.
They continued to swim for another hour.
Then, they both began to tire; it had been a long day.
"I'm getting a little achy," Tifa announced.
"Me, too," Cloud admitted.
"Let's go for a walk!" she suggested.
"Where?" Cloud asked.
"Around the pool, of course!" Tifa laughed.
Tifa climbed out of the pool on the ladder, giving Cloud a moment to view her butt through her one piece. He followed her, and gave her a chance to once again check him out in all his glory.
They dried each other off with a towel. She then took his hand and began to lead him around the pool.
"I'm so excited I'm not sure if I can sleep," Tifa began. "You know what's funny?"
Cloud shook his head.
"We grew up together, but this is going to be only the second time we went away!"
The first time was, of course, their honeymoon to the private island three years earlier.
And then, Cloud began silent.
Tifa's love for him was so strong she could literally feel when he was troubled. She stopped him, and turned him to face her.
"What's on your mind?" she asked.
"We grew up together," he echoed. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" she asked.
Cloud sighed.
"If I had known then what I know now, I never would have left to join SOLDIER," he continued. "I missed your fourteenth. And your fifteenth."
Tifa smiled lovingly at him and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.
"You were there for my twenty-first," she assured him. "And my twenty-second. And my twenty-third. They were better anyway."
"I still regret leaving," he said. "I went to bed sixteen and woke up twenty."
This, of course, was a reference to the fact that he and Zack Fair had spent four years in a stasis tube.
"Some people went to sleep that night and never woke up," she reminded him.
"But still," he lamented. "I wish we could have gone to high school together. You could have been my prom date."
Tifa lovingly stroked his spikey hair.
"I'm your daughter's mother," she said. "I wouldn't trade that for a prom date or anything else."
"I guess I'm just realizing how much I missed," he lamented. "The best years of my life."
"Give me a hug," she offered.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he wrapped his around her waist.
"These last three years were the best of my life," she whispered.
Tifa then broke the hug and led Cloud up the stairwell to the ground floor, up two more flights of stairs, and into their bedroom.
Tifa immediately fell face-forward into her pillow.
"You're going to sleep in your swimsuit?" Cloud asked.
"They're going to wash the sheets tomorrow, anyway," she said in a muffled reply before she passed out.
Cloud lay on his back and soon fell asleep himself.
Before he did, he gazed at the sleeping Tifa.
If only I could have another chance to grow up with her, he thought. The right way.