Full Chapter Download: http://issuu.com/aydrian/docs/together
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Chapter Three

Together

He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cloud's POV
I have been taught over and over to be cynical, to expect the worst out of life so it doesn’t surprise me. Living by that has made me stronger, it’s made me into a person who can handle anything thrown at me. But at this moment, when I look down at the beautiful, sleeping woman in my arms I find it very difficult to think badly of the situation. I was only mildly surprised when she passed out. She works hard as both a mother to Marlene and Denzel, as well as a foster mother to well over twenty children.

Sometimes I wonder where she gets the strength to wake up in the morning. Perhaps it’s just a single-minded purpose to help people and spread happiness to those who need it.

Or Perhaps She’s Driven By a Strong Desire to Have a Family...

I sigh and pick her up as gently as I can, so as not to disturb her and carry her out of the training room and down the hall, heading for her room. She’s surprisingly light in my arms, her own weight seeming to fit how much I can pick up comfortably.

As if She’s Made to Be in Your Arms...

With that pleasent thought in mind, I stop just outside her bedroom door and look down at her sleeping face. A strand of her black hair had fallen across her face in the movement, obscuring one closed eye from my view. She murmurs something indecipherable in her sleep and shifts herself closer to the warm sensation cradling her body. Her head moves and finally rests on my shoulder to get more comfortable.

If I wasn’t already protective of Tifa, the overwhelming desire to keep her safe from the harshness of the world I feel at this moment would startle me. I just stand there, right in front of her room, holding her and memorizing every inch of her face.

I Want to Kiss Her Again...

Driving that thought, and the almost indescribable need to lean down and capture her lips with mine, I sigh and somehow manage to open her door without dropping her. I know that once I reach her bed I’ll need to let go of her, something that I don’t find too enjoyable right now. I know I’m being stupid, but now that I have Tifa like this, it’s incredibly difficult to let her go. I gave in to my desire earlier, and the result had been far beyond anything I thought would happen.

If I stop touching her will all of this become a dream? If you can’t see, feel, or hear something does that make it any less real? Can I leave her room without her and be absolutely certain that everything I felt since I kissed her will remain a reality? I know quite well how fickle a memory can be, and if memories are the basis of the reality that has passed, then I hope the memory of my beautiful, sleeping Tifa is locked away somewhere safe where I can always recall it.

I lay her down as gently as I can and softly brush the stray hair from her face to reveal her unobstructed beauty to me again, and I smile widely when her face instinctively nuzzles against the warmth of my palm.

“Cloud...”

Did she just say my name in her sleep? Wow...I never knew my entire body had the ability to smile. Her body seemed to register both the comfort of her bed and the unfamiliar sensation of that being mixed with the warmth of flesh, and her eyes slowly open up and peer at me with a look of contentment. It’s a look I’ve never seen from her, and it’s the most beautiful expression I’ve seen cross her face.

Tifa's POV
I see him, the man I love, through a haze of fog that seems to cover every part of him but his face. He’s looking down at me, an intense, warm expression of such love and adoration I almost let myself believe it's only a dream. Dream Cloud is always more expressive than Real Cloud. But the soft touch of his hand on my face tells me it’s reality. The perfect blend of the Cloud I want and the Cloud that is. I can feel his hand leave my cheek, but I refuse to let his touch get fair and I take the retreating hand in one of my own.

The haze begins to clear and I smile up at him.

Did He Carry Me to My Bed After I...Oh God...

My face burns bright red, and every fiber of my being demands that I look away in shame. Except for one part, the most important part, that has never made it easy to take my eyes off him. The weariness is clearing away very swiftly, bringing with it the doubts, fears, and immeasurable joys one might usually have when the person they love is looking at them with eyes that are unique to them alone. Almost as soon as my heart demands it, he leans down and presses his lips to mine.

It’s different from before. No longer born from the seeds of desire and desperation, but instead from the deep down acceptance that we need this. We need each other. I lightly tug on his hand, and knowing what I want, he leans down on the bed until his body presses against mine. I can feel his heat against my body, again so much different from before but no less consuming in its intent. His mouth swallows my whimpers coming from my mouth, and my legs spread open to give him access to my heated core again. His hips move between my legs, and I instinctively Cloud my legs around him to keep him locked against me.

One might classify this as reaching the point of no return, but I think it's fair to say we both reached that point with each other when we made that promise. I’ve belonged to my Knight both mind, body, and soul since the day he agreed. Even if we didn't know it at the time, that star had tied our lives together forever.

Reluctantly, I pull my lips away from his, and the gasp of annoyance that leaves his mouth adds another coal to the burning furnace inside me. I almost take his lips again, as if they were the only thing keeping me alive, but I need to tell him. I slide both of my hands up to his face make him look at me, although that isn't really necessary since his eyes are already looking into mine. It’s another one of those moments that I’ve wished for a million times before now.

“Cloud.”

I can see in his eyes that he knows what I’m going to say. Oddly, he seems a little frightened, possibly because he knew that saying those three words would change things forever. He and I have once been the instruments of change on this planet, but we had done so by our own free will. There’s no free will involved in this. I love him, and I can’t control that any more than I can control the events that led to this moment.. For the man above me, I would tear the stars from the sky.

“I love you, Cloud. I loved you the night of our promise, I died when I lost you, and was ressurected when I found you again. These years you've been back in my life are the best I've ever had, and I want to spend every moment I can making up for the time we’ve lost.”

Cloud looks at me with love in his eyes and his lips lightly brush against mine, making them ache with the effort of not kissing him more.

“I love you too, Tifa.”

His lips kiss mine, but briefly, and his body presses harder against me, but still so comfortable. Suddenly Cloud smiles and a short chuckle escapes him.

“Sorry Tifa, but I don't think I can come up with anything close to what you said to me. But I do feel exactly the same way. I’ve never wanted anyone else besides you, and I can't imagine not seeing and kissing you every day.”

As if to give credence to his words, his lips press to mine again in another mind numbing, oxygen depriving kiss that leaves me gasping for breath when he pulls his lips away from mine again.

“Countless times a day, in fact.”

Just when I’m about to get my breath back, he kisses me again, and this time he doesn't pull his lips away. This time his pelvis grinds between my legs and his hard dick rubs against my heated core, stoking the furnace within me once again to almost blistering waves. This time, and finally the first time, we’re starting our lives together.

Together...

End of Chapter Three
Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think there's maybe two more chapters left that I have planned out. If you're waiting for some hot Tifa and Cloud action then don't worry that comes in the next chapter. I'm sorry if some if the dialogue seems a little...out of character. I'm not really taking their actual personalities into consideration here because their actual personalities would never allow this to happen and would probably drag the story on too much.

Since I write this on a whim, I'm not sure when the fourth chapter will appear.

Anonelbe: I'm glad you enjoyed that. I kinda put that in there on a whim and went with it.

Naminetwilight: I'm not too certain I can see the appeal of Sephiroth and Aeris, but everyone has their favorite ships. ;)

Glacial: I'm happy you're enjoying the story. :)