Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As everyone got out of the airship and the warm scenery of Costa del Sol unfolded in front of them, Tifa took a deep breath and streched her arms above her head, taking in the salty scent lingering on the air, coming from the ocean which she could actually see at a distance. She smiled and then nearly fell down as a very enthusiastic Yuffie threw her arm around her shoulders, a grin on her face.

“Sooooooooo” the Wutaian said “me and Aerith are going bikini-shopping and I could reeeally use a second opinion, wanna come?”

“Barret had plans already?” the brunette teased, earning a loud laugh from the girl “I don’t know Yuffie, I kinda wanted to…” her voice trailed off as a blonde, spike-haired SOLDIER came into her view a few meters ahead, and her entire focus immediately shifted. The ninja’s voice faded into the back of her mind for a second and Tifa’s eyes were glued to him as if it was the last sight she’d ever see. She stared as he looked around, a hand held up casting a shadow over his eyes, then as he yawned, and then as he looked back, his eyes meeting hers and making the girl quickly look away, feeling her cheeks burning with embarassment.

“…Tifa?” Yuffie’s voice brought her back suddenly

“Ah… yeah, sorry” Tifa smiled softly “I got distracted”

“C’mon, you can drool over Cloud later “ she grinned that devilish grin of hers again “think about it, you can buy something as well and make his head explode with the sight of you in a bikini. Probably that’d happen to half of Costa Del Sol as well and I think Aerith might be included in that, but that’s just colateral damage”

“I’m not drooling over anyone” the brunette retorted, ignoring her burning face and suddenly eager to get out of there “and let’s go then, if it’ll make you stop talking”

Yuffie smiled wide again

“Promise.”

About an hour later, the three girls were inside a small store in the nearby city. Yuffie had found a cute two-piece which she had to get in a large children’s size since the smallest adult size was too big for her (a fact which Tifa and Aerith were not going to let her forget about anytime soon) and Aerith had found the cutest pink flowery bikini which just screamed her name. Tifa was trying on a black one she had been handed, after hating how the first two choices looked on her, and this time she must admit, looking at herself in the large mirror in the fitting room wall, that it fit her quite good.

“Well??” Yuffie exclaimed from outside. Tifa sighed and opened the door, stepping in the doorway.

“Oooh, you look amazing!!” Aerith said, smiling at her “it really brings out your eyes”

“Yeah. That and it also reeeeeally brings out your tits” Yuffie blurted out grinning, and Aerith’s stare made it quite evident that she agreed on that too. Tifa blushed again.

“You’re just a couple of perverts!” she exclaimed, laughing, before getting back inside the changing room, taking off the bikini… and then sighing and taking it to the checkout counter after dressing herself again.

***

Cloud took a deep, almost trembling breath. He felt his entire body burning and silently cursed, for the hundreth time, his choice to always wear the stupid SOLDIER uniform. The stupid, dark, hot as hell , skin-tight, heavy fabric uniform. And the stupidly huge and heavy sword on his back, don’t forget that. He could have left it at the villa they were renting out, before going out with Barret to find and pay the landlord, but he had taken everything just in case, and was now bitterly regretting his decision as he stood in the peaceful town, under the scorching sun, not one trace of any kind of buster-sword-warranting danger anywhere.

In front of him, Barret shook enthusiastically the hand of a particularly sweaty man, and elbowed Cloud, smiling

“Pay up man”

“What?” Cloud looked puzzled at him

“I’ve discussed everything with the landlord and we’re all set with the villa, now pay up and we’re done”

The SOLDIER sighed, but reached into his pocket and handed him his Gil pouch, frowning. Barret smiled apologetically before reaching into it and handing an amount to the man. Immediately he shot them a greasy smile, shook their hands again and went away. Cloud shuddered and wiped the hand the guy had touched on his pants.

“C’mon, he wasn’t that bad” Barret laughed “now let’s head back ‘cause if I stay one more fucking minute in these clothes I’m gonna roast.”

“I hear you” the blonde mumbled, trying to ignore the sweat trickling down his back “let’s go back already”.

They made their way quickly to the rented villa. It was a very, very nice place, he’d give the greasy man that. A huge ground-floor house with an enourmous kitchen, even bigger living room and great bedrooms, on top of a private strip of beach on the back. As soon as he stepped inside, Cloud felt the relief of being out of the sun wash over him, alongside a sudden urge to hit the cold, cold sea, and dumped all of his stuff on the nearest bedroom floor, changing into dark swimming trunks and wasting no time going out of the back door, following the voices which indicated his fellow party members were already there.

Right back into the burning sun, but this time properly (un)dressed, Cloud found it much less irritating, and shifted his gaze to the scene in front of him. Barret was still inside the house, but Aerith was waist-deep in the ocean, Yuffie and Nanaki were throwing a beachball to one another, and Tifa… Tifa had been sitting on a towel spread out on the sand, but as she heard him exit the house she got up and turned to face him excitedly.

And his heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds.

“Cloud!! Look at this beach, and we’ve got it all to ourselves! Nice, huh?”

His mind registered her words, sure, but it was as if everything else in the world had lost focus in comparison to the vision of her. He blinked once, then twice, and only then realized he should probably respond.

“Y-yeah! Totally” the SOLDIER prayed silently to Gaia that it answered what she had said, and judging by her smile and wave for him to join her at the sand, it did.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back!” the brunette said excitedly as soon as he got close “I wanna go get some seashells over at that little bay over there but they won’t go with me” she pointed to Yuffie and Aerith, raising her voice at the end on purpose so they would hear it

Yuffie looked at her cheerfully

“I’ll stay out of the head-exploding, thank youuu”

“What?” Cloud looked puzzled at her, then at Tifa, who turned her face away from him as she shrugged and said that she didn’t know either. He definetely felt a tone of nervousness on her voice and saw her face turn bright red for a second right before she turned away, which got him all the more curious about what was going on there. Not wanting to embarass Tifa though, he kept it to himself, for now, and smiled gently at her.

“Let’s go get those seashells then, huh?”

***

Tifa made a mental note to thank Yuffie later, as for what must be the twentieth-something time she turned to say something to Cloud and caught him with his eyes glued to her, the mako glow inside making them look fiery and somewhat magical. And she loved having his attention like this.

They had gotten to the bay she had wanted to come to, just a short curve away from the beach where the rest of their friends were and on the other side of some considerably sized rocks which they had to climb to make their way through. It was almost a mini-sized beach actually, just a couple tens of meters across and with the land portion being made of small rocks and seashells instead of sand. The water here was warm, probably due to not having that much flow back and forth with the rest of the ocean through the openings in the rock formations, and Tifa had quickly gotten to search for the seashells she wanted, making a fastly-growing pile on top of a scarf she had brought along. Cloud had offered to help, but so far had done more staring than collecting.

“Hm, so, what do you want these for again?” he asked

Tifa smiled

“Cause they’re beautiful! I wanted to decorate my room back home with them and maybe make some things for our friends too… I bet Aerith’s mom would love it as a thank-you gift for taking care of Marlene…” her voice trailed off for a moment “…if we manage to save everything and get back home, that is. I mean, w-when we do it.” her voice trembled a little, but she kept the smile on.

“I see” the SOLDIER replied “Elmyra will really like it, I think” his eyes met hers and he smiled warmly, sending Tifa’s heart into a frenzy once again. Everyone always talked about how Cloud was so serious all of the damn time, never smiling, always with that austere feel about him, and the girl took great joy in knowing that the only exception to that was her. She and Cloud had been close ever since their childhood, some of her fondest memories of that time being the dinners at each other’s houses, with Cloud’s mom delicious cooking or her own father’s famous roast, always had after spending the day playing together. Sure, they had grown apart as they became older and he became more closed off and shy and she became more and more popular among the plethora of young men in the small city they lived in, and even more since he had left, chasing some worthiness she always though he had already, but from the moment they met again at the Sector 7 slums, it became evident that nothing ever changed the closeness they shared or the fact that she was still the only person he let himself relax around.

And knowing it made her happier than she would ever admit.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, startling her a bit from her thoughts “here’s something pretty”.

As Tifa looked, Cloud smiled again and examined closer something in his hand he had just cleaned in the ocean water after grabbing, and then proudly exhibited it to her. It was a small seashell, irridescent and almost glowing on the palm of his hand, so delicate and gorgeous she couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, that’s really gorgeous, Cloud! Thanks!”

“Matches you, you know” he replied as he handed her the seashell. She was holding out her hand and as he deposited it into her palm, he caressed her hand with his, lightly. Tifa’s heart went crazy again, and she looked down, embarassed.

“You’re just saying that”

“Yeah right” he retorted “we have mirrors back at the villa, you might want to take a look at them”

He then turned around and went back to looking for the seashells, muttering something that Tifa could not make out exactly, but thought she heard the words “that bikini” among them.

An hour or so had passed, considering how much the scorching sun above them moved in the meanwhile, before Tifa was satisfied with the pile of seashells they (mostly she) had collected. She proudly announced to Cloud she was done, and the blonde SOLDIER got up from the rock he had been leaning against, stretching his arms out.

“You want to get back already? Cause I’m thinking I’d like to take a quick dive here before that. You know, without any inappropriate comments from Yuffie” he grinned at her

Tifa laughed and agreed, securing the bundled scarf with the seashells inside before jumping into the warm sea. Cloud followed, and they swam around the small bay for a few minutes before Cloud pointed to the far end of it, a rocky wall near the point where the water from outside started mixing in, a hundred meters away from them at most

“Wanna see if we’re still in shape, Tif? First one to touch that wall there is the winner, what do you say?”

She smiled at how silly it was at first, but his eager expression and the cute way his wet hair fell in spikes around his face quickly made her agree

“You’re in, chocobo head”

Not waiting another second, she threw herself at the water in front of her, Cloud’s protests and the sounds of him starting to swim after her muffled by the water invading her ears, her muscles quickly adjusting to their new surroundings and propelling her body forward as fast as she could.

Finally, she felt her streched out hand touch the rocky surface of the far end of the bay, and triumphantly grabbed onto it, pulling herself up and out from the water… only to collide with Cloud, who had also reached their finish line and was also getting out from the water. Both of them fell headfirst into the other, and then against the rocks. The SOLDIER instinctively threw his arms around her, just in time to brace their impact on the rough rocky wall. Both of them had fallen with their full weight, and Cloud felt the sharp surface cut and scratch his arms, glad he had prevented it to happen to her back.

***

Their fall interrupted, Tifa barely had time to process what had happened before she opened her eyes and froze. She could feel Cloud’s strong arms locked around her, likely having just prevented her back from getting pretty messed up, but that also meant they were entangled on one another, and their faces were close to the point the brunette could feel his hard breathing against her lips. And all of his body, pressed hard against hers and, due to their current bathing suits situation, almost all of their contact was directly skin on skin. Cloud’s body was hot, despite just being underwater up until a few moments ago, and as he also opened his eyes and took in their situation, his gaze found hers.

“Are you okay?”

Tifa took a few moments to remember how to speak before she could reply

“Y-yeah. How about you?”

“I’m fine” the SOLDIER replied.

Their eyes had been locked to each other during the exchange, both unable to look away. They stood like that for another long moment, the tension in the air between them almost palpable and a million thoughts running through her mind. The vast majority of them wildly innaproppriate.

The girl swallowed hard.

“A-are you sure? Your arms must be pretty messed up, these rocks here can be sharp…”

Her voice died down as she internally screamed “stop rambling!!!!” at herself

Cloud smiled.

“I’m just glad you did not get hurt, Tif. I’ll be okay… the perks of being a SOLDIER I guess. Experimented upon but at least I heal fast”

“Wow, since when did Cloud Strife become such an optimist?” she could not help but tease him.

Or at least try to, since her voice came out more nervous than anything else, and she was having a reeeally hard time not staring at his mouth still twisted in one of those smiles he reserved only for her and wonder how his lips tasted.

She could tell something was going on inside his head for a second, and her heart nearly stopped when he leaned the last couple of centimeters in. A chill ran down her back when he spoke directly into her ear, his voice low and hoarse.

“You know, the deal was the first one to touch the rock wall wins, so… I win, since technically my arms touched it first… right Tif?”

Tifa swallowed hard before responding. The feeling of so much contact between them was causing the girl to have a hard time to sort out her thoughts now.

“I think I did get here first, but you actually saved me, so I guess that trumps reaching it first anyways” she tried to smile, even though his face was still buried in her brunette hair, but it slipped from her face as she involuntarily bit her lip, startled by the SOLDIER running his tongue softly along the curve of her ear and the rush of pleasure it brought her. The girl was silently glad that they were wearing wet swimming suits, cause if she had been wearing normal panties, there would be no hiding how much wetter she had just gotten.

He pulled his head back, grinning, and then suddenly he was gone from around her. His body pulled away as he let go of the firm grasp he had on hers, careful enough not to let her fall right back into the rough wall, and, as he stepped back and jumped into the water once more, leaving a very surprised and horny Tifa behind, replied back in a playful yet serious tone which only made her even more painfully aware of how much he affected her.

“We’ll call it a tie then” he opened another smile at her. One that got her weak in her knees so much so that she nearly rendered his efforts to spare her skin useless and fell right back into the stone behind her “should we go back now then, Tif?”

As she nodded and joined him back at the rocks across the bay and the two of them made their way back to the beach, she did her very best to ignore the newly found ache deep down herself, one that she knew meant the painful absence of him.

Chapter Text

Their first night in the villa was an eventful one for Tifa. She took forever to fall asleep, thoughts of Cloud haunting her mind in every way possible and what had happened that day replaying in her head over and over again. When she was finally able to sleep, she dreamt of him. Dreamt of a very, very far away night under the starry sky back in Nibelheim, atop of the water tower accompanied by her best friend. Dreamt of the same best friend barging into the very room she was sleeping in right now and fucking her senseless. Dreamt of the way he had held her and looked at her earlier that day and of every implication that might have. She felt like she woke up every five minutes to uncomfortably change the position she was in, and overall it was a very weird night.

So much so that when she was woken up by Aerith not long after the sun rose and its first rays starting filtering through the covered window, telling her they all had decided to go to some fair that was happening in a nearby city, she was sure it was a dream. Until the girl shook Tifa awake, asking very insistently if she wanted to go with. She denied, having had enough of a bad night of sleep as it was already. Getting up to go out somewhere at dawn wasn’t something she was eager to do. Aerith insisted, but either her categorically denial or her nodding off to sleep again every two seconds must have convinced her, because she was soon gone, muttering something about Tifa going to be all alone for the day. The brunette barely registered the sounds of people getting up and taking outside in the corridor, as she drifted off once more to the same Cloud-filled dreams.

When Tifa woke up again, it was very bright outside, judging by the sunlight seeping through the curtains into the cozy bedroom, and she wasted no time in getting up from the bed, yawning. She vaguely remembered something about being woken up by Aerith, but thankfully a note left at the foot of her bed filled in the gaps in her memory and explained where everyone had gone. Tifa had been needing a day all by herself for a while now, and this trip came at the perfect time. Since she was alone, the brunette didn’t bother changing just yet, and, after washing her face, walked out of her bedroom just as she had slept, in her black panties and a tank top.

Finding her way to the huge kitchen, she started looking around in the cabinets to see what food they had there, quickly assembling the ingredients to make herself some sweet pancakes. She was more than used to make them back home and at her bar, and did so while humming to herself. She whipped up the batter, heated up the frying pan, got some whipped cream and blueberries and in a few minutes, she had herself a small pile of pancakes. Not bothering to sit down, Tifa simply bent over the counter, supporting herself on her elbows as she ate with one hand, and used the other to look through a magazine she had been reading. After flipping through just a few pages though, she nearly had a heart attack when she heard a loud noise directly behind her, at the kitchen door.

Turning as fast as she could, the brunette was met with a sight she had least expected to see: Cloud, standing there looking as if he had gotten up straight out of bed that second, his spiky hair in complete disarray framing his mako-blue eyes, which were glued to her, his mouth slightly open as he took in the view he’d walked into. Tifa froze for a moment, processing the fact that Cloud Strife had seen her bent over in her panties, then processing the fact that he was himself only wearing his boxers, before managing to finally say something.

“C-cloud!? What are you- why are you here? I thought-” her voice trailed off, and she could feel her face burning up

The SOLDIER was looking completely stunned, and as he looked at her face and opened his mouth to reply, Tifa could easily tell that he was trying really, really hard to act like his normal calm, almost emotionless self- and that he was failing spectacularly at it.

“Tifa, I… I though I was the only one here, Barret asked me if I wanted to come alongside them to some stupid fair and said everyone was going, I assumed…”

She sighed

“Yeah, Aerith came to ask me if I wanted to go as well, but I said no… she told me I was the only one not going too, I also thought no one was here”

They stood in awkward silence for a couple more seconds, and then both spoke at the same time

“Look, I’m sorry-”

“Well, do you want-”

Both stopped again. A couple more silent moments. And then both laughed.

“I’m sorry if I screwed up your day, Tif. Didn’t mean to barge in or embarass you or anything like that.” he spoke after a little while, his expression softened, as he took a few steps forward into the kitchen, getting out of the doorframe

“It-it’s okay, Cloud” she smiled timidly at him, still feeling her face warm “you didn’t know either, it was just… miscommunication” she let out a nervous short laugh “guess we should start getting dressed straight out of bed, huh”

He grinned, embarassed

“That’s probably better in the future, yeah”

Tifa suddenly remembered what she was going to ask him just before, and couldn’t grab the opportunity to change the focus of the subject fast enough. She was barely managing to keep her gaze away from his also almost naked body as it was.

“Oh! I made some pancakes, do you want some?” she turned her back to him once again, picking up the plate. When she faced him again, took the SOLDIER a couple seconds to get his eyes back up to hers. She blushed again.

“Thanks Tif, but I think I’ll grab something to eat in a little while, I- I’m going to work out first, is that okay? Sorry”

“No need to apologize!” she said, quickly “I can make you some later if you want, or eggs, or…” the brunette realized she was rambling and stopped herself

Cloud smiled again, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of his hands adjusting his boxers slightly. And then she had to use every fiber of self control she had to not stare at the now obvious bulge at the front of them

“I’ll think about it. Thanks again” he smiled a somewhat normal smile, though still acting really weird overall, and turned around, heading back to his room. Tifa let out a huge breath she didn’t realize she had been keeping in, and the strange sensation that made her feel warm and tingly all over forced her to lean against the counter. The brunette closed her eyes shut, the image of shirtless Cloud, hard in his boxers appearing on front of her again, burned into her brain by the lust she was feeling course through her right now. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, before sitting in one of the chairs, letting out a sigh and going back to eating her pancakes, now a lot colder and a lot less interesting than they had been before.

Tifa had something else occupying her mind.

A few minutes later, she heard the sound of the backdoor, the one that led into the private beach, opening and closing, and sure enough, when Tifa went to the sink to wash the empty plate, she could see the blonde running by the seaside, the sun shining on his golden hair, and couldn’t help but to smile. She had been really excited to have a day to herself, sure, but turned out she was feeling even happier now that it was her and Cloud, alone together… A thousand thoughts and possibilities ran through her mind, from sweet and romantic to lewd and some things that would make even Aerith blush, but she shook her head, forcing them all to go away and, not without some difficulty, peeled her eyes off of him and went back to her room to take a cold shower.

***

Fresh out of a long bath, the brunette was laying on her bed in her sweats, letting her hair dry out while finishing the magazine from earlier (there was an article on chocobos which she was finding really interesting), when she heard the backdoor again, followed by steps that passed by her nearly closed bedroom door, in the direction of Cloud’s. He must be back from his workout, she thought, and considered if she should make him something to eat after all. She knew he was not exactly the best at cooking, and didn’t want him to not eat something good… Letting out another deep sigh, she let her head fall back on the soft pillows, staring at the ceiling for a few moments while she tried to talk herself out of being so pathetically in love with Cloud.

Truth be told, she had always been in love with Cloud to some degree, be it a girl’s crush when they were kids, her first love when she was a teenager or the thought in the back of her mind during all of their years apart, but now it was just getting ridiculous.

Since he had appeared back into her life and they had started to go on missions together, live in the same building, he frequented the Seventh Heaven alongside the other AVALANCHE members and now went on this mission, the mission, in which they were together 24/7, Cloud had skyrocketed from a distant longing memory to a very, very tangible reality, and Tifa found herself thinking about the SOLDIER more and more often, stealing glances at him all the time while they were on their journey, to the point of becoming afraid someone would start to notice, and even indulging in her own fantasies from time to time, most often alone in her bed at night, when the sole thought of Cloud being right there in the next room while she had such indecent scenarios in her head became too much and sent her repeatedly over the edge, night after night.

Tifa sat up on the bed again and shook her head. She could not allow herself to behave like this and make things awkward with Cloud as they had been that morning, neither did she want to act like a schoolgirl in love or like some pervert. She took a deep breath, subdued her own thoughs forcefully and got out of the bed, heading to the blonde’s room to ask him what he preferred to eat. Tifa planned on cooking them a nice lunch and then they could share a meal together like they so often did in Nibelheim, and hopefully things would feel easier between them again. Determined, she got to his door and knocked, with no reply. She knocked again, and again was met with silence. Hesitant, she tried the handle and, as it turned, thought to herself that she should check if he was okay. Maybe he had fallen asleep, and she didn’t want to disturb, so Tifa was as silent as she could.

Entering the room, which was very similar to her own and to every other room in this villa in size and decour, she looked around but he wasn’t on the large bed which rested against the furthest wall. And just then, in the background, she heard the low noise of running water coming from the bathroom. The door was ajar, and after taking a few steps in its direction, she concluded that the SOLDIER must be taking a bath as well, and started to turn to get out of the room before he noticed she was there, but something caught her eye.

Tifa hesitated for a moment, but it didn’t take long for her to give in to the wicked part of her mind, and silently approac the slightly open door. Right in front of the opening, the wall was entirely taken by one huge mirror. Under normal circumstances, Tifa would look at how the mirror was designed to reflect the light from the sun into the sand-colored porcelanate of the rest of the bathroom and think it looked beautiful, but at that particular moment her eyes were glued to what had attracted her attention: the scene which was reflected in the mirror, happening right in front of her eyes, and watched in secret as Cloud had his head turned away and his eyes closed. He was standing with his back against one of the walls under the shower, water running down his entire body and making his hair stick to his face. He raised his left hand and ran it through the wet hair, clearing up his face which was contorted in a focused yet incredibly lewd expression, eyes shut and a malicious grin on his lips, and then Tifa’s gaze moved further down his body, to his right hand wrapped tight around his fully hard cock, moving up and down in fast strokes.

His lips parted and, lost in his pleasure, she heard a deep moaning sound coming from his throat, and it caused her to bite down on her own lip, unable to believe that lewd sound had come from him and yet incredibly turned on by it. Cloud picked up speed and then slowed down again, alternating the rythm of his hand whenever he seemed to get too close to finishing off, and Tifa couldn’t look away, feeling her own body getting hotter and hotter by the second as she watched her childhood crush jerk off for what felt like forever.

Then, she heard her name coming out of those same lips. Nothing more than a whisper at first, and she couldn’t really make out what he had said under the noise from the shower, but he called out louder a couple moments later, and this time it was clearly her name, spoken in that low, hoarse voice full of desire which was driving her crazy. At first she froze, thinking she had been caught as the world’s biggest peeping pervert, but soon realized he remained oblivious to her presence, as the SOLDIER repeated it a couple more times, once even accompanied by a “c’mon”, as he continued to stroke himself, this time not slowing down.

After a few minutes, he groaned again, and the brunette watched as his cock twitched, and he started cumming all over his hand and stomach, his load mixing with the running water and starting to wash off as he was still jerking out the last few drops, his face still contorted in that deep pleasure expression

“Fuck” he sighed to himself, finally letting go of his still half-hard cock “What in Gaia’s name am I going to do about this now?”

Slowly, he opened his eyes and started to wash himself off, and the completely shocked and even more completely horny brunette made a silent retreat, tiptoeing back out of his bedroom and closing the door behind her just as the shower stopped running.

-x-

Thankfully, cooking was enough of a distraction to allow her to force the clear image of Cloud cumming over his stomach as he called out her name to the back of her mind. Well, for the most part, at least. Tifa let out a sigh, burying her face in her hands as she allowed herself to reminesce just a little.

Just what in the world did that mean?? That he found her hot at least, but what if that was all? She was well aware that she was the object of affection of many a man from Midgar, as well as she had been to many of the boys from Nibelheim, but none of them knew her, not really. Not the way Cloud Strife knew her.

And for that exact reason, his judgement was the one which she feared the most. If anyone could love her how she wanted -needed- to be loved, that was Cloud. If anyone could see her for who she really was and stand by her side, it was him.

He had promised, after all.

The brunette let out another sigh, shaking her head alongside her hands, still covering her face. At least she now knew for sure he felt something, if only lust. A starting point, at the very least, but how could she find out if it was anything else? She could not ask him directly, one because she would certainly die of embarassment and two, because he would think she was a creep, spying on him while he…

And there it was.

Once again her thoughts shifted focus slightly, as the visual memory overwhelmed her and Tifa could feel her face warming up, as well as a twitching sensation between her legs that she was very familiar with, when it came to thinking of the SOLDIER. She realized she had been holding her breath again, and let it out with a low grunt.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck” the brunette sighed as she shook her head once more, sliding her hands off of it.

And being startled once again by the sight of Cloud standing at the kitchen door, staring at her.

Well, at least this time she had decent clothes on.

“Wow. I never heard you swear before” he smiled “what in Shiva’s name happened?”

“Y-you’ve heard me swear before” she turned her back to him, attempting to hide her blushing by checking on her cooking. “I… thought I let something burn, but it’s fine!”

The brunette took a deep breath before turning again, a calculated smile on her lips

“Is that it…” the blonde replied, running one hand through his spiky hair, a half puzzled look on his face. Tifa’s memory flashed to the last time she’d seen him make that gesture and she felt a damp spot forming on her panties.

“Nevermind that” she shook her head slightly to each side and smiled again at him, this time more truthfully. She had become quite skilled at pushing back her feelings for him, after all “let’s eat!”

The subject was left aside while they ate, and thankfully the weirdness from before was complete gone by the end of it. They talked, she laughed, and Cloud even smiled again. It was supposed to be lunch, but it was well into the afternoon when they started, and by the time their plates were empty and they kept on chatting, the kitchen was awash with the golden rays of the sunset outside. The SOLDIER got up from the table and signaled to the door leading to the beach.

“Hey, wanna sit outside for a bit, Tif? Dunno how long before they all get back so though we could watch the sunset, it’s supposed to be very beautiful here… o-or whatever” his face got a bright pink shade and the brunette had to try really hard not to smile.

“Sure!” she went to the door, which Cloud opened for her, and just as she passed the wooden threshold and felt the soft warm sand under her toes, his hand gently touched her lower back, and his voice sounded much closer to her ear than she thought he’d been.

“Go ahead, pick a spot for us and I’ll be just a second, okay?”

His voice sounded so incredibly reassuring, and the combined feeling of his breath in her ear and his hand touching her prompted every hair on her body to stand on end. She barely managed to smile and speak a trembling “yeah”, and then he had turned back and re-entered the villa. She watched his back for a second, and then turned to the beach.

Picking up a soft towel which was hanging on the low wooden wall outside the door, Tifa headed to a spot right in front of one of the rock formations, about halfway to the sea, spread the towel over the sand, and sat down with her back to the rocks. She stretched her legs in front of her, arms above her head, allowing the soft sound of the waves and the low notes of the windchimes on the porch to fill her head. She closed her eyes.

His voice brought her back to reality a couple of moments later, and Tifa looked up to see the blonde standing beside her, handing her a glass full of something, a similar one on his other hand. She took it, looking curiously at the contents as he sat down a very short distance away.

“You’re always the one making everyone drinks back home… I noticed there’s a healthy amount of alcohol in there and wanted to make you one, for once” he smiled at her, another one of those breathtaking smiles she was pretty sure no one else would believe that he had actually smiled if she told them about it. She smiled back, unsure even of what to say. She wasn’t expecting him to be so sweet out of nowhere like this.

“Wow, I… thanks, Cloud. Thank you so much”

“It’s nothing, Tif. Least I could do for you”

He had his gaze intently set on her face, his eyes seeking hers everywhere they went. The light from the sun reflected on the blue mako, making them a darker shade which made him look… different somehow, Tifa could not tell precisely how, but she was strangely attracted to it. She swallowed hard, already feeling her body getting hot as it was becoming more and more frequent around him. She turned to look at the setting sun as she brought the cup to her mouth and took a sip.

“Well, glad you don’t make drinks more often or I’d be out of a job” she smiled at him again. It was sweet and refreshing, and she really liked it.

“Oh come on, you’re exaggerating. No one does this better than you, Tif, the Seventh Heaven is proof” he laughed “I get by, but your drinks are always way better”

She couldn’t hold back a wide smile at the praise.

“Okay, mine are a bit better, but only a little”

The SOLDIER rolled his eyes and took a sip from his own cup before replying

“Everything about you is always perfect Tif, don’t know how do you not see that” he sat the cup down by his side

She wasn’t sure how to reply, smiling to herself slightly and drinking from her own glass to try and hide her nervousness. Cloud continued talking though, and this time when he turned to face her, his expresion was… different. A hint of something hiding behind his eyes.

“Sooo, can I ask you something?”

Her heart started beating slightly faster. She tried her best to ignore it and act normal, smiling and setting her cup aside as well, but not before taking a huge drink. She had a feeling she’d need it.

“O-of course! What is it?”

He moved, getting closer. His eyes fixated on hers. Tifa swallowed hard, feeling her entire body getting hot. Then, Cloud took something out of his his back pocket, and as she registered what it was, her heart sank to her stomach.

“Say, how come when I got out of the shower earlier, this was on the floor, in front of my bathroom door? And it wasn’t there when I got in, it’s a clear floor and this color is very… noticeable” he grinned, holding up her fucking bright-red hairtie, which had been in her fucking pocket when she had entered his fucking bedroom earlier, and seen him… in the shower. She opened her mouth, feeling her face burn and tried to form coherent words.

“I, hm, I went to your room earlier to ask you i-if you wanted to eat” she swallowed hard “I knocked but you didn’t answer, so I went in to see if you were okay… but then I heard the s-shower running and left. Immediately. I must’ve dropped it then”

Cloud raised an eyebrow slightly, and Tifa was finally able to place the weird expression on his face. He was amused.

“I see. You only heard the shower and left then?”

Tifa couldn’t nod fast enough, which in retrospect probably didn’t help her case either.

“…You’re not lying to me, are you Tif?” he asked, getting so close that his face stood within a couple centimeters from hers, at most. His eyes scrutinized her entire face, his brow softly furrowed now.

She debated telling him the truth for a second, but how could she ever admit to seeing… that?! Tifa felt a cold tightening on her chest even just from thinking about admiting to Cloud that not only had she spied on him, she had caught a very… personal moment, and on top of that had lied about it to his face. He’d get mad at her for sure, she couldn’t just admit to it.

Nevermind the voice at the back of her mind, whispering that she knew that he would not get mad at her, not really. That she was only afraid to face her feelings. Or worse, face his feelings about her.

“When have I ever lied to you, Cloud?” she smiled nervously

“That’s not answering my question”

His eyes had stopped on hers again. The sun was just about set, the last few orange rays tinted the horizon and cast a faint, almost magical light on the beach, which reflected on Tifa’s red eyes and made them look fiery, contrasting with the vibrant blue of his own, swirling with reflections from the mako within them. They were sitting so close now that their legs and shoulders were pressed up against each other’s, and the brunette could feel Cloud’s breath on her lips, making her head go quite dizzy. Then he smiled, a sweet but somewhat malicious twist in it, and Tifa was pretty sure she’d be unable to answer her own name right now if someone were to ask her.

Cloud was the only other person there though, and he did not ask for her name.

He raised his hand to her face instead, softly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Letting his fingers linger, trailing their way on her soft skin from her ear all the way across her cheek, then down to her jawline. Tucking them under her chin as his thumb raked across her bottom lip, pressing down on it. The SOLDIER closed the distance between them almost completely, and Tifa’s heart was nearly beating out of her chest as she felt his lips just barely touching hers, closing her eyes shut in antecipation, what felt like a hundred thousand butterflies in her stomach all at once.

He did not kiss her though. Instead, she felt his lips curving in a grin, and then forming the most dreadful combination of nine words she could hear right at that moment.

“…You do know mirrors work both ways, right Tifa?”

Tifa froze in place, opening her eyes in shock and finding his gorgeous face still right there, his eyes still looking deep into hers. She prayed silently to Gaia that the panic she was certainly feeling wasn’t showing in her expression, but she’d bet that she wasn’t being the best at hiding it.

Cloud then pulled his head back, his hand dropping down off of her face, a now outright devilish grin decorating his mouth, that amused look back with full force behind his eyes. He looked about to say something, but right as he started to, the backdoor to the beach sprung open behind them, hitting the wall with a loud bang, and the porch lights came on. A different voice reached them instead, much higher-pitched

“Tifaaa! Cloooud! Are you guys out here? We’re back!”

“Well Tif” Cloud whispered, both of them still hidden from the door’s direct line of sight behind the rocks “we’ll just have to figure out a way of you making it up to me later then”

The SOLDIER then changed his tone completely, calling out back as he stood up, face now completely serious once again

“Yeah, we’re here having a drink out here, Yuffie”

The ninja approached them, grinning

“Oooh, romantic”

Tifa also started to get up, her head spinning as she tried her best to understand what had just happened and to act normal at the same time. So distracted by the implications of Cloud’s last few words to her she didn’t even retort anything back to Yuffie. He offered her his hand, and as she took it and he easily pulled her up, his stern expression somewhat softened once more and his eyes straying to her mouth more often than not, the brunette could not look away, consumed by not knowing what all of that even meant. They stood like that for a good moment, before once again being brought to reality by a very impacient Yuffie.

“If you two lovebirds are done staring at each other as if you’re about to start making out at any second, one of you people who stayed at home all day is going to go inside and make me a drink too, we spent the entire day walking and I’m way too tired”

“I-I’ll do it” Tifa replied, her voice cracking a bit as she turned and smiled at the short ninja “I’m used to making everyone drinks back home anyways”

“Sweet!” I’ll go back inside then, I’ve dealt with enough sand for a day” she turned and walked back into the house, leaving the door open. Inside, Tifa could see the others walking around as well.

Their day alone had come to an end then. Tifa was happy about having gotten to spend the day with Cloud, but their entire interaction just before kept replaying in her mind no matter what she tried to think about instead.

He knew. He knew she had spied on him, but he was somehow not mad. Moreover, he was teasing her about it, and by Gaia, was he fucking good at it. He knew exactly how to get a reaction out of her, and he took full advantage of that.

And get a reaction he definetely, definetely did. Tifa turned back to look at him, and the mere sight of Cloud was enough to flood her mind with a thousand thoughts of being fucked by him right there against the rocks, among other indecent stuff. She blushed, but thankfully had her back to the light also, so maybe he wouldn’t notice how… distracted she was this time.

“Are you okay, Tif? You look kinda weird”

So much for him not noticing, huh.

He had a genuinely worried look on his face, his demeanor back to his usual stern self. Not as stern as he was with everyone else, sure, but if she hadn’t been there to see for herself the look in his eyes, the provocative way he led her on, or hear the horny undertone on his voice, she’d never believe Cloud Strife would have acted like that. The way he seemed to almost efortlessly change from that Cloud to this caring, firm, serious Cloud when checking up on her caused a hint of a dangerous sort of hope to sparkle to life inside of her. Hope that maybe he cared for her as something more as well. Just like she cared, deeply, for him.

“I am! Sorry, just kinda spaced out” she replied with a warm smile “do you wanna go back inside then?”

“Sure. Just a second, though” he reached his hand out, and took hers.

Tifa was getting way too familiar with that fluttering sensation on her gut. The feeling she always got lately, when Cloud got close to her and her mind ran wild in a thousand different directions. All of them connected to the spike-haired SOLDIER, somehow.

She looked down, and saw that the red hairtie was now around her wrist. He held on to her hand a couple moments longer though, slowly caressing it with his fingers. His gaze met hers, and he smiled. A sweet smile which Tifa wished she could look at forever.

“Wanna go?”

“Cloud…” the words came out before she could stop them “I’m so sorry about- about what I did and-”

Her voice died down immediately. Cloud’s index and middle fingers resting on top of her lips certainly had nothing to do with it.

“Tif. I’m not mad or anything, you don’t have to apologize. I’m the one who should say sorry, if I’ve made you uncomfortable with this whole thing, at any point or…”

“You didn’t, Cloud. Really” this time it was his voice which stopped, cut off by her eager words.

And he truly hadn’t. Sure, the moment Tifa realized he knew everything, when he pulled the hairtie out of his pocket, she wished the earth would crack open and swallow her whole, but it was just an initial reaction. Her feelings about the whole thing quickly changed and she was very aware of it. As weird as it was to see Cloud like that, behaving in a whole new way, she was so irresistibly drawn to it. To him. To the way he looked at her, the desire burning behind the mako in his eyes and making what he wanted to do very clear. To the way he touched her, only light caresses on her skin but enough to make her entire body hot, aching for him. To the way he teased her, even, getting so close like that and then not doing anything. All of it rendered her rational thoughts completely useless, and any embarassment she felt for getting caught was long forgotten in comparison to everything else he made her feel. To how incredibly wet she was, and he hadn’t even kissed or properly touched her.

“You’re really okay? With everything?” His eyes scrutinized every milimeter of her face.

She bit her bottom lip. How could she say she was way, waaaaaay more than okay with all of it without sounding desperate?

“Yeah. I…” her eyes fell to the ground as the brunette blushed “I’m not NOT into what you… I mean, I didn’t… I’m not-”

She was past blushing now, her face straight up burning with embarassment as she looked up, and was met with that half-horny, half-amused look on his face again

“You keep amazing me, you know that Tif?” he grinned.

Cloud then started walking towards the open door, stopping only long enough to lean slightly into her and speak in nearly a whisper into her ear

“I look forward to more of you, then”

Tifa would be replaying his words in her mind all through the rest of the night, as the others told them about the fair they went to and she pretended to be interested in it, even though the only thing she could focus on were the stolen glances between her and the SOLDIER. She had the words on her mind as she finally closed the door to her room when everyone else also went to sleep, as she showered, and as she laid on her bed to sleep, painfully alone.

And as she slept, she dreamt of a blonde, spike-haired old childhood friend.