CloTi Story

CloTi part 2

Vincent grabbed Cloud by the arm and dragged him upstairs to the office. "You don't think you can ask her to marry you?" he asked Cloud. "Why not? You love her, don't you?"
"I do love her. More than anything. But I just don't think she would want to marry me," Cloud answered sadly.
"You'll never know for sure if you don't try. Don't make the same mistake I made a long time ago. Don't let her slip away from you. If you don't make a move, someone else will. Do you want to see her in the arms of another man?" With that, Vincent turned toward the door and opened. As it opened, Cait Sith, Nanaki, Cid, and Barrett stumbled in. Vincent gave them a cold glare. "Eavesdropping, are we?" he asked venomously.
The four quickly backed out of the room and down the stairs, followed by a ticked off Vincent and a depressed-looking Cloud. He leaned up against the doorway and watched everyone else as they went about happily. The door opened and a young girl with orange hair and blue eyes walked into the bar. "Vincent Valentine," she said, almost robotically.
Vincent stood. "Shelke," he said, a little shocked that she was there. "What are you doing here? I thought you were looking for Shalua."
"I was. But then I decided to come back. I missed being around familiar faces," she answered. She looked at Cloud. "Cloud Strife," she said. "You wish to ask something of someone here, don't you?"
Cloud looked at Vincent, astounded at how she knew. Vincent shrugged. "She just knows things. There's no point in asking. She won't tell you," Vincent said casually, seeming to have no problem with her knowledge into Cloud's life.
"You should ask your question, Cloud Strife," she said.
Cloud hesitated, knowing that everyone in the room was going to ask questions later. He looked at Tifa and beckoned for her to follow him. Tifa hesitantly followed him to the office. Cloud closed the door behind Tifa and said to her, "Tifa, for the longest time I've been wanting to tell you something important."
"What is it?" she asked, afraid of what the answer was going be.
"I've been in love with you from the moment I met you. All our childhood, you were all I could think about. As I grew up, you were all I ever wanted to be happy. Every year, on my birthday, the only thing I would ever wish for was you, your love, and your happiness. I'm leaving today but I was hoping that you might give me a reason to stay," he knelt and pulled out the ring, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to spend eternity with you. That is, if you'll have me."
Tears brimmed Tifa's eyes as she saw the ring. She knew that Cloud didn't buy it. She knew because she had seen that ring on his mother's finger when she was alive. The diamond wasn't very big or flashy, but Cloud's father had bought it for his mother from his heart, and now Cloud was giving it to her from his. She had no idea what to say. But sadness gripped her as she said, "You're too late, Cloud. I have a boyfriend now. I got tired of waiting for you."
Cloud felt his heart shatter into pieces as he heard her words. He stood and, trying not to choke, asked, "Just how long have you had a boyfriend? And when exactly were you planning on telling me?"
"Last time I checked, I'm twenty-four. I don't need your permission to have a boyfriend. And I'm not obligated to tell you either," she said, anger building in her body. "You're treating me like a child, Cloud."
"I just-"
"Don't! Cloud, even if I didn't have a boyfriend, you're never around! You're always off Goddess knows where and you expect me to sit here and wait for you for to come back?! I never know, Cloud! I never know when you're leaving, where you're going, or when you'll get back, if you do come back! Eventually, I just stopped waiting, Cloud. You always do your own thing, now let me do mine." And with that she walked to the door, opened it, stopped when she saw everyone outside the door listening, gave them a glare, and walked out, leaving Cloud standing there.
Cloud turned and ran out the door and then out of Seventh Heaven. He jumped onto Fenrir and rode away, sorrow eating at his heart. He rode until he came to a cliff. He drove up the cliff and got off the Fenrir. In front of him was a small patch of flowers that he had put there to replace Zack's sword. This place marked the exact spot where Zack had been shot to death. He knelt in front of the patch of flowers. "You told me to follow my dreams," he said to Zack's grave. "But all my dreams are being destroyed right in front of me and I can do nothing."
Cloud's world became enveloped in white and Cloud felt a presence next to him. He looked and sitting right next to him was Zack. "If your dreams fall apart, all you need to do is put them back together," Zack said.
"There is no way to put this one back together," Cloud said sadly.
"Then make a new one," said another voice. A girl's voice. Cloud looked to the other side of him and Aerith sat there. "Chase after something better. Something newer."
"But this dream involves one girl that I've wanted all my life. I don't know how to just change it and go for another," Cloud replied to her.
"Then looks like you're stuck, friend," Zack said. "Listen, I know you love Tifa. And I know that it hurts to hear her say that she loves another, but unless you TRY to do something about it, you'll never get anywhere. C'mon. Where's that Infantryman that wanted so badly to be SOLDIER and did everything he could to prove that he had what it took? Be that person again, Cloud. You can make your future better." And then Aerith and Zack disappeared and Cloud was back in the real world by himself.
"Thanks, guys. I'll try," he said.