Cloud x Tifa 3

7th Heaven Bar and Orphanage, An Hour Before the Party


Marlene went and put the remaining glasses in the sink to be washed, Denzel was also helping her by cleaning the bar tables.  The air was mixed with the regular alcohol that the bar permeated as well the sweet smell of candy, sweet candy and chocolate.  Valentine's Day was in the air, and the holiday was made apparent even in the town of Edge.  The whole town was covered in the many shades of pink and red, and the decorations that could be seen in every street and shop numbered in the thousands.  There was also a party being held in the town square once curfew started.  It was a city sanctioned event so everyone was invited to go, and everyone seemed that was as madly in love with someone was gonna be there. And to the two children tending to the bar there was one person they knew who was extremely excited.

And right now, that girl was upstairs getting ready for perhaps the most exciting night of her life.


"Okay...one...two...three...", Tifa said aloud, walking almost painfully slow in the high heels given to her by Shera Highwind.  The kind of shoes Tifa didn't normally wear for any reason other than tonight.  They were the kind of shoes that had the balls of her feet like three or four inches off the ground and were a pain to walk in.  That and given her inexperience in walking in high heels she had taken every moment she could spare for the last few days to try and practice walking in them, and hopefully she wouldn't fall flat on her face by the end of the night.

'And boy would that be humiliating.  Trip on shoes that any normal girl would be an expert on walking by the time she was twenty, I'm not even thirty yet and this is my first time!'  Tifa thought nearly slipping on her left heel, but was quick to balance herself at the last second.
"Can't forget...this dress is another problem in and of itself," she added, wearing a loose  fitting dress that was knee length and sky blue, her favorite color.  True, the color was the opposite of the day they were supposed to be celebrating, but Tifa had at least tried to wear a similar red dress earlier but it was a little too tight in the chest area, nearly making her suffocate as a result.  That was the first of three dresses she had tried, the last one was the one she had wanted to wear.  To compensate the lack of red in her apparel she decided to wear a red sash around her waist, as well as a ribbon in her hair.  Her hair, normally loose and straight was now in a long ponytail and a red ribbon in her hair.  Marlene had helped her with that, and she also added her own personal touches much to Tifa's chagrin, adding glitter under her eyes and some light red lipstick.

Taking a deep breath, Tifa adjusted herself, and once again began her rigorous training to conquer the foe that was her shoes.


Thirty minutes later...


Marlene and Denzel had been able to close the bar without incident as well as clean the place up without any trouble.  The girl was sitting at the counter while Denzel walked back and forth across the floor, both waiting almost impatiently for Tia to come on downstairs.  Marlene herself was still a little worried about her, she had been the one to ask Cloud out to the party, but it was Marlene herself who had convinced her to dress up for the occasion.  While she had thought it was the right thing to do given the situation, the two close friends finally having a date (their first since 'that night in Niebelheim'), Marlene somehow felt she had pushed Tifa into a position she wasn't ready for yet.  And because of that she felt rather upset about it, but she was going to help Tifa get through as best she could.

"So, you think they'll make it through the night?"

Denzel's words got Marlene's attention, and she nodded, "Of course!  But, I will say, I hope Tifa can pull it off."

"I'm more worried about Cloud.  He doesn't seem the type to do this sort of thing.  EVER."

"Well, maybe he's one of those guys that can hide their true sentimental side, like Tifa thinks he does, if so then we shouldn't have anything to worry about," Marlene said.  The sound of clicking heels could be heard coming down the stairs and both kids turned to see Tifa walking rather gingerly down the stairs.  She was doing rather well for only having a few days worth of experience in walking in four inch high heels.  Marlene would've spoken aloud how elegantly Tifa looked, but before she could Tifa did it.  She stumbled down the last four stairs, spinning around and landing on her butt, landing with a thud on the hard wood floor.  She screamed a curse that neither child would utter in public, and they quickly ran to their friend's side, helping her to her feet.

"You alright Tifa?"  Marlene asked, dusting off the back of the dress.

Tifa did the same as she, almost in a state of nervousness which Marlene was unable to blame her for, and she took a deep breath,  "How do I look?"

Marlene gave an encouraging look while Denzel appeared to be surprised, "This is so unlike you Tifa--OW!"

And he received an elbow to the gut courtesy of Marlene, "He likes it too."

Tifa smiled, "Thanks kids.  Has he called yet?"

Denzel, still lightly rubbing the spot where Marlene had hit him, shook his head, "He'll call when he gets here.  You know how he is, wait until the last minute."

True... Tifa thought with a worried look.

"Now Tifa, don't look like that!  It will ruin the beautiful handiwork I did for you," Marlene said, wagging her finger up at Tifa, sounding like she was in charge, something she had obviously learned from Barret.

Tifa smiled, "Yes ma'am."

"By the way, you two will do fine.  Just don't let him go quiet the whole night or let him walk off into his little world," Denzel said.  He knew Cloud pretty well, after hanging out with him for a few months following his adoption into the orphanage and figuring out what he acted like in certain situations.

"I won't let him get away, Denzel, don't worry.  I plan to get him to say more than a few words to me tonight," Tifa said, 'And hope to have him tell me a few things as well, if all goes well,' she thought in the back of her mind.

The phone rang, taking Tifa out of her thoughts, and Denzel immediately went to answer it.

"Strife Delivery Service," a few seconds went by and the boy turned to Tifa casting a smile in her direction.  "Yeah, she's ready, come on in."

After hanging up, the doors to the bar opened up and in stepped Cloud, wearing the same outfit he usually wore, though Tifa instantly noticed it was a bit shiny like it had been polished down.

Cloud walked a few steps and Marlene saw that Tifa put her hands behind her back.  "Hey there."

Tifa nodded once, a little red peeking past the glitter on her cheeks, "Hey."

A few seconds of silence went by, as Tifa became a bit nervous as to what to say.  Marlene was waiting for someone to say something, but Denzel wasn't in a waiting mood.  He gently pushed Tifa forward, but since she easily lost her balance in the shoes she wore she stumbled forward and ran straight into Cloud, and he was like a brick wall that didn't budge when she collided with him.

Tifa looked up to Cloud's face and she swore she saw the corner of Cloud's mouth curve up in a smirk.  He helped her straighten up before taking a look down at her feet, "I'm impressed that you can walk in those."

Tifa nodded at the compliment, "Yeah well...it's a change of dress for me.  Always nice to mix things up, right?"

Cloud nodded once, "Well, the party will be starting very soon, we should get going."  He took Tifa's hand in his own and led her slowly to the door.  Tifa tried to keep herself from stumbling, and the kids followed closely behind.  She was able to get down the stairs without incident at least, that much she was grateful for. 

Turning to the kids standing at the door, Tifa got into her mother mode, "Alright, I want you two to be asleep by the time we get back, if you aren't it's double chores for the weekend, okay?"

Denzel coughed once, more than likely on purpose, but he stood up straight when he saw Cloud give him a look, "She means it Denzel."
The boy nodded in reply.

Marlene waved, "You two have a good time, okay?"

Cloud got on his motorbike and started it, and Tifa waved back to the children before she got on with him and as soon as she was situated he started to move.

The two then sped off into the night, and Marlene dragged Denzel back into the bar, all the while hoping that the night would turn out awesome for her friends.


Five hours later...1 AM...


A light knock woke Marlene up.  She wasn't a heavy sleeper tonight, since her excitement at Cloud and Tifa finally having a night to themselves kept her mind racing with thoughts.  She couldn't wait to ask Tifa when she finally got back.  And from the looks of it, they were finally home.

Denzel had passed out not long after their prescribed bedtime of around eleven, and he slept like a rock.  She didn't have to sneak around to avoid waking him up.  She peeked outside her bedroom door, which was open just wide enough for her to get a decent glimpse out into the hallway.  The sound of heavy footsteps was heard coming up the stairs and Marlene was able to make out even in the near pitch black darkness Cloud's frame.  Though the spiky blonde hair gave him away from any angle, truth be told.  He turned down in the direction of Tifa's room that was straight down the hall, and he was able to push the door open, and when he turned Marlene nearly gasped.
Cloud was carrying Tifa in his arms, and she appeared to be asleep!  'How romantic!' Marlene thought excitedly.

She backed away from the door to avoid Cloud seeing her, and when she heard Tifa's door close she casually sneaked out into the hall and she heard Cloud start to speak.


"Damn...you drank quite a bit, Tifa," Cloud said, gently placing the near conscious woman on her bed.

The woman sat up, albeit slowly, the smell of red wine coming from her breath, "And you should know that I drank only three glasses of that...what was it called?  Never mind, I'm not drunk Cloud just a teeny tipsy..."  She promptly fell backwards to where her head it the pillow, prompting Tifa to give out an 'ow'.  Tifa, despite what she said, was more than a teeny bit tipsy obviously.

Cloud had no intention of arguing with her however, he never was able to fight Tifa for any reason.  The only thing he knew was that she was gonna be extremely crabby when she woke up.  Hangovers were the worst.  "Well, you should go to bed, I'll be doing the same thing here shortly."  He turned and went for the doorway, but Tifa grabbed his hand.

"I don't think so, spiky.  You're gonna help me first."

'Uh oh,' Cloud thought.  "With what?"

Tifa sat up on her knees, "With what?  Helping me get out of this dress, that's what."

Cloud would've hit the floor but he was stiff as a statue, "Uh..."

"I'm not sleeping in this damn thing, for your information, and besides you owe me an apology for losing those high heels Shera gave me."

'Last I recall, in a drunken fit you tossed them into the fountain...I would've grabbed them for you but you said to wait.  Besides, from the way your ankles are slightly swollen you should be grateful for that.'  Cloud thought, but he shrugged.  "Whatever.  It unzips in the back right?"

Tifa was already in the process of helping him.  She stepped off the bed and lift her hair up over her head, "Just reach around...and hurry, my head is spinning already."

Suddenly feeling a sense of urgency, Cloud slowly reached around her chest to her back with slightly trembling arms and found the zipper.  He slowly tugged it downward, and he swore he heard Tifa give out a sigh of relief, or else his ears were deceiving him.  He zipped it down all the way, and the dress was soon down off her body, lying in a heap at her feet.  That left her naked from the waist up, but luckily it was dark enough that Cloud could barely make her out.  Not so lucky was the fact that she fell forward again and made contact with him, her well endowed chest pressing up against his shirt.  He wanted to make it out of the room as soon as possible, because even if his friend wasn't the least bit drunk right now he didn't feel right with her like this.  His plan was to put her down and hopefully get away without her caring.
 
He was able to ease her down onto the bed.  However, his idea was put in peril as Tifa grabbed the back of his head and put her lips to his ear, "Cloud..."
 
He placed a hand on either side of her waist, and he could feel her breathing increase drastically, but when he turned to see her face, he noticed her eyes were closed but her lips were curved up into a smile.  Her breathing returned to normal as her hands fell in a limp to her sides.

Breathing either a sigh of relief, or disappointment Cloud didn't know which, he went and put the covers over Tifa, who was now sleeping peacefully.

Cloud took another big breath and walked out the door into the hallway, and when he took a single step down the stairs, he took a glance back towards Marlene's room, the door now shut.  "And yes, we did have a good time.  Goodnight Marlene."
As he started back down the stairs, a very awake Marlene opened the door and gave a smile.