[ff7 ac]
title; After the End Comes a Beginning
fandom; Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
character(s); Cloud, Tifa, Denzel, Marlene
pairing; Cloud x Tifa
rating; G
note; post-AC
other; Comments would be nice, and I'm pretty sure there are grammar and spelling mistakes abound in this. xD
After the End Comes a Beginning;
It had been a couple of months since the healing rain and the disappearance of Geostigma. Cloud had returned to Seventh Heaven, like he had told Denzel he would, with a large weigh lifted from his shoulders and a much more calm and optimistic view on life and the future that lay ahead. There would be the occasional smile from the blond man, the corners of his lips upturning whenever he would hear Tifa reprimanding the children for God knows what or just hearing her scuffling around the bar.
He caught her one morning cooking breakfast for him, a list of early-morning delivery locations laid out on the mahogany countertop.
“Tifa…?”
When her name was uttered the woman promptly lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder at the half-dazed man. His hair was messier than usual and he was still in his pajamas, which was a great indication that he thought it would be a day-off day for him. Usually the weekend never had deliveries.
“What is it?” She asked, her attention returning to the eggs.
“…just surprised seeing you up this early.”
She heard the shuffling of his bare feet on the floor and it made her lips turn up into a small smile, the sound of him taking a loud seat on one of the stools only making that small smile turn bigger, and then the wrinkling of paper as he reached and picked up the delivery sheet and the groan only made her grin like a fool. Oh, the morning antics of one Cloud Strife could always get the dark haired woman to be more than amused.
He could be quiet adorable when he wanted to be, or when he didn’t know he was.
“I told them the weekends are usually your days off but-“
“Well, it’s work,” he interrupted, a dull tone to his voice as he turned soft-glowing blue eyes towards her and focused on her back. “I can’t ever pass up a delivery run, you know that.”
With a small laugh and shake of the head the woman turned and set the plate of breakfast before him, leaning down to brush a kiss against his temple. “Yeah, I do know that… Enjoy your meal and get ready, okay? They want you there before noon to pick up the package, or else they’re gonna only pay you half of what you would usually get for this sort of run.”
Standing back up she stepped away and smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up before heading towards the stairs and trotting up them. Her foot falls becoming muffled as she moved to the children’s room.
But bowing his head a bit the sounds were droned out by the wheels in his head, which were turning faster than they ever should, and his cheeks were starting to heat a bit. She had…kissed his forehead. Sure he got the occasional peck on the cheek but those had been quick and sort of filled with no meaning but this one had lingered a bit and held something.
What, he didn’t know, but it was something.
So turning to his breakfast he ate it slowly, poking at it and watching the yoke pour down over the egg white, scrambling it all together and then making a sandwich out of it with his toast. It was how he usually ate it, even though it made Tifa wrinkle her nose in that disgusted little way whenever she caught him doing it.
The sight of her wrinkling her nose at him always got Cloud to quirk a brow in confusion and then just go right back to eating. If it was one thing that could faze her it was his weird way of eating things.
And speaking of the woman in thought she came back down the stairs with two children in toe, both dressed and washed up and ready for their trip to the dentist. With a grin he gave the two a ‘good morning’ and they only nodded in recognition of his words, collapsing into chairs at a table and burying their faces in their arms.
It was quite the amusing sight, if Cloud did say so himself. And he did. But he would never say it out loud, in fear of facing the wrath of two groggy and morning-cranky children.
But a voice brought him from his musings and the sight of a wrinkled nose and ruffled brows made him choke as he swallowed. It had been an unexpected sight, that right there, and his reaction towards it caused Tifa to flail her arms a little before she moved to his side and help him coax the food down.
“Oh, geez Cloud, are you okay?!”
“F-Fine,” he breathed, holding back a laugh and a chuckle.
“…you sure?”
“I’m sure, Tifa,” he murmured with a turn of the head and the tensing of his body at the close proximity of their faces. She was staring at him with worried eyes and her lips were parted slightly, the heat of her breath brushing against his face with every exhale.
…if one willed so he swore he could have just leaned in and kissed her.
But he didn’t. Instead the blond cleared his throat and turned back to his empty plate, reaching over for the delivery list again and picking it up to pre-occupy himself with that instead of Tifa. Getting him thinking about what could have happened right then would be a bad thing and hinder him from his delivery abilities. He had to think about the delivery and how long it would take to get to the…chocobo…farm…
Blinking a few times at the location of the pick up delivery Cloud stared and stared and stared some more. Apparently he had skipped over the pick up and just saw the destination of delivery slated for the Gold Saucer.
Shit…
“Tifa…”
“Yeah?” She turned to face him, once again busying herself at the task of cooking breakfast, but for the children and herself. “There something the matter?”
“…it says I have to go to the Chocobo Farm.”
“Well…yeah, that’s where your pick up is.”
“Why?”
The woman blinked at him a few times, obviously taken back by his oblivious nature at the moment. Rubbing the back of her neck she left the tending of the stove to pluck the paper from him and read it over, mumbling what was written to herself while ignoring the confused Cloud.
He was just staring at where the paper had been just in his hands and jumped back a bit when the paper was placed before his face, a slim finger pointing at something written there.
Taking the paper back he read over what she had been pointing to, listening as she returned to cooking. “…to pick up one trailer of racing chocobos, colors include one red, two black, and one yellow. They have been requested by the owner of the Golden Saucer and must be taken there in good condition…”
With another groan Cloud facepalmed, hearing giggles from the children and a laugh from Tifa.
“I’m sorry, Cloud… Like I said, I tried to tell them but they just wouldn’t listen. None of the other delivery services would take care of it and, well…”
“I…I understand,” he said, voice muffled by his hand and his fingers curled against his bangs. “I’ll do it. I have to do it, since it’s basically set in stone right about now.” So with a reluctant stand the man looked towards the grinning and now-awake Marlene and Denzel before letting eye contact turn to Tifa, her gaze locking with his and she smiled.
“Don’t worry, Cloud, you’ll be done with it in no time.”
With a nod he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, grinning just a bit. “Yeah, you’re right… Guess I’ll go and get ready and then head off.”
Nodding back Tifa turned and walked up to him, reaching up with her hands and smoothed out his hair, fixing it to how it usually looked. “Okay…” Then she leaned up and pressed a small peck to his lips and backed away, arms behind her back and a blush rising to her cheeks. “Don’t rush, okay?”
“…okay…”
“And take care of yourself out there, you know I’ll be worrying.”
“Uh-huh.”
And with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks Cloud just moved to the stairs and walked upstairs to get ready for the days delivery of racing chocobos, knowing full well it was going to be one of the best deliveries ever. After all, his childhood crush and secret love had just given him a kiss on the lips.
It would be a great day in deed.
fandom; Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
character(s); Cloud, Tifa, Denzel, Marlene
pairing; Cloud x Tifa
rating; G
note; post-AC
other; Comments would be nice, and I'm pretty sure there are grammar and spelling mistakes abound in this. xD
After the End Comes a Beginning;
It had been a couple of months since the healing rain and the disappearance of Geostigma. Cloud had returned to Seventh Heaven, like he had told Denzel he would, with a large weigh lifted from his shoulders and a much more calm and optimistic view on life and the future that lay ahead. There would be the occasional smile from the blond man, the corners of his lips upturning whenever he would hear Tifa reprimanding the children for God knows what or just hearing her scuffling around the bar.
He caught her one morning cooking breakfast for him, a list of early-morning delivery locations laid out on the mahogany countertop.
“Tifa…?”
When her name was uttered the woman promptly lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder at the half-dazed man. His hair was messier than usual and he was still in his pajamas, which was a great indication that he thought it would be a day-off day for him. Usually the weekend never had deliveries.
“What is it?” She asked, her attention returning to the eggs.
“…just surprised seeing you up this early.”
She heard the shuffling of his bare feet on the floor and it made her lips turn up into a small smile, the sound of him taking a loud seat on one of the stools only making that small smile turn bigger, and then the wrinkling of paper as he reached and picked up the delivery sheet and the groan only made her grin like a fool. Oh, the morning antics of one Cloud Strife could always get the dark haired woman to be more than amused.
He could be quiet adorable when he wanted to be, or when he didn’t know he was.
“I told them the weekends are usually your days off but-“
“Well, it’s work,” he interrupted, a dull tone to his voice as he turned soft-glowing blue eyes towards her and focused on her back. “I can’t ever pass up a delivery run, you know that.”
With a small laugh and shake of the head the woman turned and set the plate of breakfast before him, leaning down to brush a kiss against his temple. “Yeah, I do know that… Enjoy your meal and get ready, okay? They want you there before noon to pick up the package, or else they’re gonna only pay you half of what you would usually get for this sort of run.”
Standing back up she stepped away and smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up before heading towards the stairs and trotting up them. Her foot falls becoming muffled as she moved to the children’s room.
But bowing his head a bit the sounds were droned out by the wheels in his head, which were turning faster than they ever should, and his cheeks were starting to heat a bit. She had…kissed his forehead. Sure he got the occasional peck on the cheek but those had been quick and sort of filled with no meaning but this one had lingered a bit and held something.
What, he didn’t know, but it was something.
So turning to his breakfast he ate it slowly, poking at it and watching the yoke pour down over the egg white, scrambling it all together and then making a sandwich out of it with his toast. It was how he usually ate it, even though it made Tifa wrinkle her nose in that disgusted little way whenever she caught him doing it.
The sight of her wrinkling her nose at him always got Cloud to quirk a brow in confusion and then just go right back to eating. If it was one thing that could faze her it was his weird way of eating things.
And speaking of the woman in thought she came back down the stairs with two children in toe, both dressed and washed up and ready for their trip to the dentist. With a grin he gave the two a ‘good morning’ and they only nodded in recognition of his words, collapsing into chairs at a table and burying their faces in their arms.
It was quite the amusing sight, if Cloud did say so himself. And he did. But he would never say it out loud, in fear of facing the wrath of two groggy and morning-cranky children.
But a voice brought him from his musings and the sight of a wrinkled nose and ruffled brows made him choke as he swallowed. It had been an unexpected sight, that right there, and his reaction towards it caused Tifa to flail her arms a little before she moved to his side and help him coax the food down.
“Oh, geez Cloud, are you okay?!”
“F-Fine,” he breathed, holding back a laugh and a chuckle.
“…you sure?”
“I’m sure, Tifa,” he murmured with a turn of the head and the tensing of his body at the close proximity of their faces. She was staring at him with worried eyes and her lips were parted slightly, the heat of her breath brushing against his face with every exhale.
…if one willed so he swore he could have just leaned in and kissed her.
But he didn’t. Instead the blond cleared his throat and turned back to his empty plate, reaching over for the delivery list again and picking it up to pre-occupy himself with that instead of Tifa. Getting him thinking about what could have happened right then would be a bad thing and hinder him from his delivery abilities. He had to think about the delivery and how long it would take to get to the…chocobo…farm…
Blinking a few times at the location of the pick up delivery Cloud stared and stared and stared some more. Apparently he had skipped over the pick up and just saw the destination of delivery slated for the Gold Saucer.
Shit…
“Tifa…”
“Yeah?” She turned to face him, once again busying herself at the task of cooking breakfast, but for the children and herself. “There something the matter?”
“…it says I have to go to the Chocobo Farm.”
“Well…yeah, that’s where your pick up is.”
“Why?”
The woman blinked at him a few times, obviously taken back by his oblivious nature at the moment. Rubbing the back of her neck she left the tending of the stove to pluck the paper from him and read it over, mumbling what was written to herself while ignoring the confused Cloud.
He was just staring at where the paper had been just in his hands and jumped back a bit when the paper was placed before his face, a slim finger pointing at something written there.
Taking the paper back he read over what she had been pointing to, listening as she returned to cooking. “…to pick up one trailer of racing chocobos, colors include one red, two black, and one yellow. They have been requested by the owner of the Golden Saucer and must be taken there in good condition…”
With another groan Cloud facepalmed, hearing giggles from the children and a laugh from Tifa.
“I’m sorry, Cloud… Like I said, I tried to tell them but they just wouldn’t listen. None of the other delivery services would take care of it and, well…”
“I…I understand,” he said, voice muffled by his hand and his fingers curled against his bangs. “I’ll do it. I have to do it, since it’s basically set in stone right about now.” So with a reluctant stand the man looked towards the grinning and now-awake Marlene and Denzel before letting eye contact turn to Tifa, her gaze locking with his and she smiled.
“Don’t worry, Cloud, you’ll be done with it in no time.”
With a nod he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, grinning just a bit. “Yeah, you’re right… Guess I’ll go and get ready and then head off.”
Nodding back Tifa turned and walked up to him, reaching up with her hands and smoothed out his hair, fixing it to how it usually looked. “Okay…” Then she leaned up and pressed a small peck to his lips and backed away, arms behind her back and a blush rising to her cheeks. “Don’t rush, okay?”
“…okay…”
“And take care of yourself out there, you know I’ll be worrying.”
“Uh-huh.”
And with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks Cloud just moved to the stairs and walked upstairs to get ready for the days delivery of racing chocobos, knowing full well it was going to be one of the best deliveries ever. After all, his childhood crush and secret love had just given him a kiss on the lips.
It would be a great day in deed.