Cloud and Tifa : A New Life Together

Chapter Two

In the morning Tifa awoke to an unfamiliar fresh scent, it smelt beautiful but Tifa's nose struggled to detect what is was. Slowly she opened her eyes, she could just make out something on her bedside table through the blur. She forced her eyes to focus and was surprised to see a vase of freshly picked flowers beside her. Tifa got out of bed quicker than she usually would, eager to admire this rarity. They smelt heavenly, a mixture of pinks and lilacs. A card was propped against the vase, with simple words written on it – Hope you like them, Cloud x. Tifa's face lit up as she hurried down the stairs to thank Cloud, she was surprised however by the scene that greeted her. Marlene and Denzel were both sitting at the table in the kitchen, quietly playing together – no arguing this morning – Tifa asked herself. Though that wasn't what surprised her the most, it was the sight of Cloud. Cooking breakfast! She had to give her eyes a rub, just to make sure she was really seeing this.
"Tifa!" Marlene chirped upon seeing her. "Cloud's cooking breakfast for us all!" the look of happiness on the children's faces made Tifa's heart rejoice, had her words last night really had such an impact on Cloud already? It was such a perfect scene that she almost expected Cloud to come up and kiss and cuddle her good morning, but she thought that might be pushing things a bit.
"Thank you for the flowers Cloud!" she smiled, approaching his side.
"You like them?" he questioned, continuing with breakfast.
"They're beautiful!"
"Good!" Cloud smiled turning to look at her now. "Go sit down, It'll be ready in just a
minute."

Once they were done with breakfast, Tifa was shocked once again as Cloud cleared their plates away. If this new behaviour was going to continue, it would take some getting used to she thought to herself. After he finished the plates Cloud disappeared, no doubt to start preparing his parcels ready for delivery.
"Cloud's being real nice this morning, huh Tifa?" Denzel said while they continued to sit at the table.
"Hmm!" Tifa smiled. "So you two, it's the weekend, what do you feel like doing today?"
"Daddy's going to take us to the Gold Saucer!"Marlene announced excitedly, jumping up and down in her chair.
"Barrett's taking you guys out, I didn't know he was coming over today?" Tifa was confused, she couldn't remember making any arrangements with Barrett. I guess I must have, she said to herself. She hadn't been getting much sleep recently, always worrying about Cloud perhaps it had slipped her mind.
"Cloud called him this morning." Denzel said.
"Cloud did, but.....?"
"Tifa!" Cloud suddenly called. She stopped mid sentence, looking behind her. "I've got a
bath run, go get freshened up, Barrett will be here in a half hour."
"What's going on Cloud, I thought you'd be sorting your deliveries out?"
"I'm taking you out, that is what you wanted, right?" Cloud smiled, an almost cheeky grin. At first Tifa's eyes were wide with shock, slowly they calmed beginning to twinkle. She clapped
her hands together, the smile on her face growing.
"Cloud I,..."
"Go on Teef, the kids will be fine with me."
"Hey Cloud, will you show us some more moves with your Buster Sword?!" Denzel asked eagerly. Tifa flitted back to the children, giving them each a hug and kiss.
"You be good today for Barrett ok, and please, be careful!" she said shooting a look at Cloud. Tifa didn't really approve of the children having any involvement in combat, but they were always so overjoyed when Cloud would show them his skills. Despite her dislike of it this was how the three of them bonded, she couldn't take that away from them.

Tifa heard the door shut behind Barrett and the children, she loved Denzel and Marlene but it felt nice to have a moment of peace to herself. She sunk herself deeper into the bubbles, relaxing she closed her eyes. She could hear footsteps approaching up the stairs, she peeked through one of her eyes as the footsteps stopped outside the door. Cloud hovered on the other side of the door, what was he doing? His heart wanted to drag him through the door, scoop Tifa's wet body up and take her to his bedroom. Yet his mind, his fear, challenged his heart that was wildly beating. Why was he so afraid and what of? Was it the thought of disappointing her, the idea that once he was in her arms he would never be able to leave them? His heart bored of listening to his weak excuses, grabbed him and threw him through the door. Tifa jumped, sending splashes of water over the side of the bath. Cloud racked his brain for words, wondering how on earth to explain himself.
".....Need a hand!?" he blurted out, nervously rubbing the back of his head. No, No, stupid! Cloud angrily said to himself, he wished he could have thought of something better to say. He quickly turned his back on Tifa, saving both of them anymore embarrassment. "Sorry!" Cloud said eventually, finding his tongue again. "I'll go wait downstairs." He fumbled towards the door, regretting not acting on his first thought.
"Cloud, wait." Tifa's plea stopped him but he did not look round. "It's ok you know, you can turn round, I'm decent, I'm buried in this mountain of bubbles you put in." she giggled. Cloud slowly turned, only just seeing her head poking through the bubbles.
"Wow, guess I did kinda put a lot in!" Cloud rubbed the back of his head again, what now he thought?
"Come here!" Tifa invited, he looked at her curiously inching a few steps forward. "Closer!" she giggled again. This time Cloud knelt down beside the bath, his heart began thudding in his chest. "A little more." She teased. Their faces came closer and Cloud wondered if she were about to try and kiss him, his mind panicked trying to pull him back. A hand suddenly came out of the water, planting a mass of soapy bubbles on his nose. Cloud winced, his nose twitching from the tickling sensation of the bubbles popping.
"Uh, what did you do that for, get 'em off!" Tifa could do nothing but laugh as Cloud desperately whipped the bubbles away. "Oh it's funny is it?" Cloud said leaning over to grab a handful of bubbles. A smile was spread over his usually stern face, streaking the bubbles through her hair. His hands stopped by her neck, locked in her hair. Their giggling ceased, their breathing becoming shallow. They pondered each other's next move, their eyes softly melting. Cloud could feel himself start to move closer and Tifa was closing in too. He shook his head, not knowing if he could go through with it. Turning from her he tried to get up, but her hand grabbed his attempting to pull him back. His heart was pounding uncontrollably now, longing for the woman he loved. To hell with it, he said to himself. Spinning himself back round to her, he took her face in his hands pushing his lips to hers. His hands dropped to her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. Their mouths smothered each other, hungrily begging for more. Tifa's arms wrapped around his neck as she brought herself up out of the water, the bubbles were still keeping her dignity. Cloud found her waist, pressing her body to his. He had never felt so alive, her taste was divine. He wanted her, more than he'd ever wanted anything. He wasn't going to give his head another chance to distract him, tucking his arm under her legs he picked her up out of the bath. Favouring with his hearts desires, he kept her close to him savouring the moment when he would gaze upon her body. As their lips parted Tifa feared he would suddenly change his mind, drop her where they stood and run downstairs. Cloud simply smiled at her, as though reading her mind. He gently kicked the door to his bedroom open, kicking it shut again behind them.

I have some more parts to this story, if readers are interested. Just thought I'd test the water :-)