Bold - POV
Italicized - Thoughts
Tifa POV
"What's the plan now?"
That was something we were all wondering but Barret was the only one to say it aloud.
We just finished our battle with that evil, family killing, village killing, scumbag Sephiroth. But we just learned from Cloud that he wasn't able to finish him off. So we decided until we get rid of Sephiroth we wouldn't return to Midgar.
Speaking of Midgar: We just started alot more problems with Shinra there. Even if we could return to Midgar, Shinra would just come look for us and drop another plate in a different sector.
"Wutai." Cloud responded.
We all looked toward his direction in confusion.
"Wutai?!" Barret screamed. "We were just in a war with them!"
Cloud looked at all of us and then turned around to look back at the sky, in classic Cloud fashion.
"Exactly. With all the hell we just caused we need to stay low for a while. Shinra wouldn't dare to look for us in enemy territory. We can also decide what to do about Sephiroth when we get there."
Cloud is always one step ahead, I'm glad he's on our side instead of being a solider for Shinra. Sometimes I feel like he's only here just because of our promise we made when we were kids. But as long as he's here and he can protect me and I can protect him, that's all that matters.
"Well whatever." Aerith says as she grabs one of Cloud's arms. "Wherever my bodyguard goes I go."
She's doing it again! Just like that time at the train graveyard. They said they were just friends but look at Cloud blushing! He doesn't blush when I flirt around with him!
"Alright Aerith two can play at that game."
I grabbed Cloud's other arm. "Yeah, wherever Cloud goes we ALL go."
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Barret POV
"What are they doing?" I asked Red, staring at the girls tugging Cloud's arms.
"I believe this is what you humans call a 'harem', Barret."
"Wha-"
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Tifa POV
"Would you guys mind letting me go?" Cloud asked, trying to pull his arms away from us.
Aerith looked my direction and then smiled. "Fine fine. I'll let go."
She gave me a really mischievous smile, which means she did that to tease me on purpose.
"Tifa?"
Cloud looked at me with questioning eyes and started to pull the arm I was desperately clinging on.
"Uhm, sorry, I'm a little bit tired from that fight with Sephiroth. You don't mind me using your arm as support, do you?" I asked, giving him the cutest puppy eyes I possibly could.
"N-not really." He responded. "Only until we find a place to rest."
I gave his arm a squeeze. "Thank you, Cloud."
Is this the same Cloud that used to get shy when I wanted to hang out when we were kids? The same Cloud that promised to always protect me whenever he became a solider? Sometimes I doubt that. Cloud isn't exactly a people person but he was never this distant. When there's other people around it's like he's a whole different person, but when we're alone he's back to being the Cloud I want to always protect me.
"Cloud, just what happened to you when you joined Shinra?"
I stared at Cloud's face as he looked at the sky. The more I looked at his face the more I realized how beautiful he is. No wonder he looked so good with make up and a dress. He has the body and hair of a solider but the face of a model.
As I was busy admiring Cloud's face, Aerith tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.
"Hey, when we find a spot to rest let's talk." Aerith whispered, giving me a smile.
I shook my head yes in response and then Cloud started walking, dragging me with him since I was clinging onto his arm.
"Let's go guys. It's going to take us a while to get to Wutai. So it's better we start now instead of later."
We all shook our head in agreement and started our journey to Wutai.
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Of course we weren't able to reach Wutai in just one day, but we were able to find a motel to rest until tomorrow morning.
"A room for two and another room for two and a pet." Cloud told the female motel manager.
"Yes sir. Would you prefer the rooms to be right next to each other or seperate?"
I tugged Cloud's arm, that I've been using as support all day, to tell him to rent the rooms right next to each other. Just in case one of the rooms get ambushed. It'll be easier to get to the other room if there right next to each other.
"The rooms right next to each other will do." Cloud answered.
Cloud handed the manager the money and took the two keys. We then went on our way to the two rooms.
"Here." Cloud said as he handed me one of the two keys. "One room for you and Aerith and the other one for Barret, Red, and I."
"Okay, thank you. Goodnight, Cloud." I responded, finally letting go of his arm.
I stood there waiting for Cloud to take his leave but he didn't move an inch.
"Cloud? Aren't you going to go inside your room?"
I walked closer to Cloud, to the point I had to look up since he was taller than me.
"I have something to do so I gave Barret the other key while we were walking to the rooms." He answered.
I, once again, stared at his beautiful face and knew instantly something was wrong with him.
"I'll come too."
I turned around to give Aerith the key but Cloud stopped me by grabbing my arm.
"No, I'll go by myself, you go rest, Tifa." He demanded, letting go of my arm.
I wanted to tell him no but I could tell he was really serious.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I just need some time to clear my head." He said, giving me a small smile.
He could probably tell I was worried by the face I was making but that smile, that comes out once every blue moon, can cheer my day up no matter what happens.
"I understand, I'm going to talk to Aerith in our room then. If you need anything just knock, okay?"
Once again, he gave me that beautiful smile and nodded his head in agreement.
With that, he walked away.
I opened the door to the room and sat on one of the beds. Aerith doing the same on the other bed.
"Are you okay Tifa?" Aerith asked, starting the conversation.
"I'm okay, just a little bit worried about Cloud."
I gave up on sitting down and decided to lay down on the bed. Walking all day made me really tired, even with using Cloud's arm as support.
"I would be surprised if you weren't worried. Something's been wrong with him since he fainted in the laboratory." Aerith responded.
I cringed just thinking back to that moment. My heart hasn't dropped that hard since Sephiroth and Shinra killed everyone I loved.
"Do you know what's wrong with Cloud, Aerith?"
"I might know something." She answered.
I got up into a sitting position as fast as I possibly could and looked Aerith's way.
"Really?! Can you please tell me, I need to know."
Aerith got from her bed and sat right next to me on my bed. "Don't you think you should ask Cloud himself?"
"I ask him every single time he starts to act up and I get the same response." I answered.
At this point I could tell I was tearing up a little. I think Aerith could tell as well because she gave me a tight hug.
"Its not your fault Tifa. Its something even Cloud himself doesn't know about."
I looked at Aerith, probably with the most confused face because I was just absolutely lost from her reply.
"What does that mean?"
"Don't worry about it." She responded, releasing her hug. "When the time comes, you AND Cloud will learn everything together."
She was right; no matter what information Aerith knows about Cloud, it would be better for me to learn from him instead of a third party behind his back. That's the least I can do.
I nodded my head to Aerith.
"Thank you." I wiped the remaining tears off my face. "Now what was it you wanted to talk about?" I asked, remembering that she wanted to talk when we finally found a resting spot.
"Actually we just talked about it, hehe."
Both Aerith and I laughed at her response.
For the rest of the night we kept talking about Cloud and the things we needed to buy for our journey to save the planet. Before we both knew it, it was already 01:00.
After a few more minutes of talking Aerith finally fell asleep. I, on the other hand, had a problem falling asleep. My eyes kept opening by themselves. Like my brain is telling me my day hasn't finished yet.
I got up from my bed as quietly as I possibly could and left the room. I looked up to stare at the night sky to admire them and just to get my mind off things. I guess I wasn't the only one as I heard footsteps come right next to me.
"Couldn't sleep?" The person asked.
"No. You having the same problem, Cloud?"
He was standing really close to me, to the point my shoulders were touching his arm. Not that it bothered me or anything.
"I heard footsteps." He responded.
"Let me guess; it's a solider thing?"
He laughed at my question and then put his hand on my head.
"You remember?" He asked, gently stroking the top of my head.
"Of course, that night is forever going to be in my memory, i'll never forget it."
That night I lost everything; my home, the bar, Jessie, Biggs, etc. Luckly Aerith was able to save Marlene, but at the cost of her own safety.
Barret, Cloud, and I were able to make it to Aerith's house after the destruction of Sector 7. That's when we learned Shinra took Aerith to experiment on her. Getting ready for the next day to save her, we spent the night at her house. I wasn't able to sleep so I went out to Aerith's garden and found the flower Cloud gave me. That's when I realized I had nothing left. But Cloud happened to find and comfort me. I leaned on him and cried my heart out, and then he hugged me until I stopped.
"I'll never forget, thank you Cloud." I said aloud.
"Why are you thanking me?"
I reached for his face, to gently stroke it, as he continued to stroke the top of my head. "Thank you for always being there for me when I need you."
Even though we haven't seen each other for seven years, we remembered each other the second we saw each other. Since our reunion he's been with me every single day and almost every single night. Thank god for reuniting me with Cloud.
"No problem, if you ever need to talk I'm right here for you."
I stopped stroking his face and got on my tiptoes to plant a kiss in replacement of the stroking, on his cheek.
Cloud looked at me really confused and I just smiled at him.
"Goodnight, Cloud."
With that I turned around and went back into my room, finally able to fall asleep.