Rebirth

Chapter 3 - The Conception

Author's Note: this next chapter is intended for mature readers only. Rest assured however that the scenes
depicted here are essential to the storyline and not gratuitous. Having said that, I hope you enjoy them.


"Does it hurt a lot?" she asked, kneeling before Cloud and reaching up to touch his arm.

He instinctively pulled back from her touch, not wanting to infect her even though he
knew the condition was not contagious. He was ashamed. He looked at her and was
struck again by her deep auburn eyes and pale sable colored skin. He could feel her eyes
bore into him, seeing through the walls he had thrown up to hide his vulnerabilities.
Dammit why did she always see through him so easily?

He smiled wanly and said "I could never hide anything from you, could I?"

"I know what you're thinking. You stay away because you're ashamed, because you
don't want anyone to see you as anything but strong and invulnerable, but you can't live
alone for the rest of your life." She shifted at his feet so that she could look straight into
his face. She wasn't going to let him run away this time.

"But you keep your phone don't you?" she said, reaching around him into his back
pocket where she found his cell phone. "You never answer it so why do you keep it?"

He could feel her sweet breath on his cheek as she leaned forward to retrieve his phone.
Her thick silky hair fell across his shoulder and brushed against the side of his face as she
moved out of his reach. At that moment, his heart missed a beat and he could feel his
face flush with . . . . what? What was his body telling him? He had felt pangs like this
around Tifa before but only fleetingly and always at inopportune moments. In the past,
he had just pushed them back down and buried them. But this time . . . this time . . .

He reached out to take the phone from her but she threw it across the room and stood up,
looking down at him.

"Do you think are you protecting me from this disease by staying away? Well your not.
Your just hurting me, hurting Marlene, and everyone else who loves . . . you."

At this, Cloud looked up at Tifa. He searched her face for something . . what?

Love. That word.

Tifa's face was a mixture of anger, sadness and something else. What was it? He
recognized it suddenly as the last thing he saw in Aeris's face before she died.

He was transported back to that day he laid Aeris to rest in the pool. He held her body in
his arms, willing it to life again. His throat ached as he remembered the guilt he felt. He
had done nothing to help her. He watched her die and did nothing.

Tifa knew what she was seeing as she watched the play of emotions cross Cloud's face.
Again she was relegated to second place. She groaned and threw her head back in
exasperation.

"I am here. I am with you now. She is gone and she can't help you. I loved her too. I
was just as much to blame for her death. You must let it go, Cloud, because if you don't,
you will spend the rest of your sad life wandering the land looking for a way to die."

She spat the last words out in anger and immediately regretted their tone. She sighed in
disgust, more at herself than at Cloud, and turned away from him towards the window
where the rest of her clothes lay.

She was stopped short in mid-stride and turned to see what was preventing her from
moving. She stood in shock as she realized it was Cloud's hand grasping her wrist that
kept her from moving away from him.

Cloud stood and pulled her back to him. He held on to her wrist like a drowning man
desperate for rescue.

"Tifa, don't leave . . don't go," he said in a small soft voice. He could not look her in the
eyes. He knew if he did, he would loose it.

Tifa gasped silently. This was what she had been waiting for. Her heart leaped in her
chest as he pulled her to him. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face and his
touch burned into the flesh of her wrist. She raised her hands to his face and turned him
towards her so that she could look into his azure blue eyes.

"I never left you. I have always been with you, no matter how far you run from me.
Don't you know that?"

"Tifa. . . " He breathed her name and pulled her closer to him. He could feel her warm
body against him, the swell of her breasts pushing against his chest as he slipped his arms
around her waist and down her back. Her thin singlet glowed warm under his hands. She
grimaced with pain as he pressed her wounded ribs against him.

He felt her wince and was immediately reminded that she was still recovering from her
wounds. He loosened his hold on her and gently kissed her forehead. He slid his hand
from her back to around her side and gently placed it over the welt left there by Loz.

Tifa looked up at his face and saw his concern.

"I'm ok," she answered to his unasked question, feeling the warmth of his hand seep into
her side, easing the pain she felt.

Cloud was lost. All his defenses crumbled at her feet. All he wanted now was Tifa. She
filled his mind and his senses, pushing out any thoughts of Aeris. He held her face in his
hands and gently pressed his lips to hers, lingering there to savor the moment.

Tifa gasped slightly as he disengaged from his kiss. Her head was swimming. Suddenly
the world around her shrunk down to just the few feet around them. Everything else was
blotted out except her and Cloud. She could feel her body flush with a passion she didn't
think she would ever feel and she kissed him back with a tenderness that belied her
feelings.

Cloud held her against him, his hands running up her back, inside her thin singlet. He ran
his hands across her shoulder blades and down the small of her back, down inside the
back of her skirt. She moaned as he brushed his lips across her neck and nibbled on her
ear.

He pulled her top off over her head, watching as a curtain of thick brown hair cascaded
down across her face. He brushed a few stray strands away from her eyes and kissed her
again. Her full breasts pressed against his chest and he could feel her heart beat wildly.
He picked her up gently in his arms and laid her down on the bed. He stood over her for
a few seconds, looking at her perfect form. Her creamy white skin glowed in the setting
sun streaming in through the windows. She sat up and reached for him. He sat down on
the bed next to her and let her unzip his sweater.

"Tifa, you are so beautiful."

She smiled but said nothing. She slid his sweater off his shoulders and pulled him down
next to her.

Now that her singlet was gone, Cloud had a full view of the injury done by Loz. He felt a
pang of anger and hatred towards the animal that had done such an obscene injury to such
a beautiful woman. He vowed silently to himself that he would even the score with Loz.
He lay down next to Tifa and ran his hands across her breasts, kissing the fullness of
them and feeling their hard nipples under his hands. Tifa arched her back slightly and
moaned with pleasure. Cloud smiled and looked into her face and saw the rapture he was
causing. He kissed her neck above her collar bone and beneath her ear. She wrapped her
arms around him and pulled him close to her.

He could feel his body react and knew he had to have her. He slid his hand across her
belly down inside her skirt. She trembled under his hand and he knew she was ready. He
kneeled at the bottom of the bed and unzipped her skirt, sliding it off down over her hips,
leaving only her black g-string. He sat at her feet, looking at the full length of her naked
body. She was so beautiful. Perfect even. Her flat stomach rising up to her rib cage to
the swell of her breasts to her strong collar bone and sensual neck. He bent lower to kiss
the inside of her thighs. She moaned again as his lips brushed her legs, moving slowly up
higher and higher.

He stood and unzipped his pants, letting them drop to the floor. The cool evening air felt
good against his hot skin. She watched him move around the bed back to her, a small
smile on her lips that he kissed as he stood naked over her. She reached up to him and
pulled him back down on the bed next to her. They lay, entwined in each others arms in
a long and passionate kiss. Her hands wandered over his arms, feeling the contour of his
muscles, across his back and side and down across his buttocks. His body was scarred
from battles long past. Her fingers found every one of his scars and traced them all. His
skin tingled under her touch, and his manhood swelled against her belly.

She felt him grow thick and moist against her stomach and the sensation drove her wild.
She wanted him inside her. Her body throbbed with anticipation. He ran his hand down
over her breasts again, stopping to squeeze them gently and place her nipples into his
mouth. His hand continued down across her writhing belly and down inside her panties.
She lifted her hips as he slid them down over her legs. He dropped them on the floor on
top of his pants.

She moaned louder as he pushed her legs apart and moved on top of her. She could feel
him press against her, searching for that place. He grabbed her hands and pushed them
down into the pillow above her head, capturing her there. His hand moved down
between them, positioning himself to enter her.

His first thrust into her was slow and gentle. Her body wracked with passion, she arched
her back and pushed into his groin, urging him deeper inside her. She closed her eyes
and lost herself to the explosions inside her body. She could feel him deep inside her, his
hot, thick, hard cock thrusting deeper and deeper with every move.

"Tifa, open your eyes and look at me," he whispered.

She did. She saw his face close to hers, his sweet face. All of the passion and love she
had held on to for so long was released when he looked into her eyes. All those pent up
feelings for all those years could finally be released. Before she could name the
emotion, she felt the tears running across her cheeks, collecting in pools at the base of her
throat.

He moved slowly on top of her and kissed her tears away. They tasted warm and salty on
his tongue. He knew she was with him, in the moment, feeling the passion of their
joining. His body responded with a renewed passion and he thrust faster and harder into
her. She wrapped her legs around his back, locking him in an embrace that he never
wanted to end.

He could feel his passion build inside his body and knew he would climax soon. He
kissed her passionately and closed his eyes to immerse himself in the growing explosion
waiting for release.

His breathing became labored and fast. He moved her hips higher on him so that he
could get deeper inside her. He knew that if he didn't release soon he would explode but
he wanted to wait for her.

She groaned louder and wrapped her arms around his back, hanging on for dear life. Her
nails dug into him and she arched her back again. She climaxed and her body throbbed
and shuddered as she gasped for breath.

Her passionate release caused him to explode inside her. He thrust violently into her,
releasing as he did. He closed his eyes and groaned, not seeing the bright white light that
flowed from his body into hers with every release of his seed. The light pulsated with
each thrust, getting brighter and brighter as he came. His final thrust and release was
accompanied by a blinding light that glowed from inside her. He slowed his movements
into her and opened his eyes in time to see the final blaze of light fading away.

Finally sated, he lay gently down on top of her and kissed her passionately. They lay
there in their embrace for several minutes while both of their bodies calmed, the hot
sweat now cooling their skin.

As he lay there in her arms, he wondered what the light was. Where did it come from?
Did he imagine it? He must have. He looked into her face and saw that her eyes were
closed and her breathing had returned to normal. Her face relaxed into a repose that
belied the passion of a few moments ago. She looked like a sleeping child. Innocent of
everything around her except the man in her arms. She opened her eyes and looked at
him with an expression of pure love. At that moment, he knew that he had finally found
home. All of the doubt and guilt of the months and years past faded and he felt at peace.

He kissed her again and slowly, carefully, pulled out of her. She gasped slightly as he
left her body and trembled a little as he laid down next to her, pulling her into his arms.

"Tifa . . I love you. I think I know now that I always have."

His words cut through her to her very soul. These were the words she had waited to hear
all of her life and from the man she loved so very much, for so very long, from so very
far away. The fullness of the emotions locked so deep away inside her could finally be
expressed. She did not fear any more that they would drive her mad or drive him away.

"I love you. I always have loved you. Whatever happens now doesn't matter because I
know now that you love me too," she whispered, tears streaming now down her face.

"Why do you cry, then?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

She lay in his arms, thinking of an answer to his question. She didn't know why. She
supposed they were tears of joy, but there was something else going on here. It felt like
something had started inside her. Something she could feel but not express.

"They are tears of joy," is all she could muster.

He smiled and held her close, seeking the fading warmth of her body. He pulled a sheet
over them both and wrapped her up in his arms with her back to him.

And they fell into a deep sleep like this. Cloud's body encircling Tifa's in a protective
embrace.