Full Chapter Download: http://issuu.com/aydrian/docs/mine-thirst
***************************************

Chapter One

Thirst

What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do…?
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Cloud's POV
I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but at some point during my life I fell in love with Tifa. It may have happened that night, atop the tower, being bathed in the light of countless stars, that I fell in love with her. Even then she was so beautiful, so kind, and despite what happened to her she didn’t hate me for failing to protect her. She just cradled her leg, stared into the sky, and asked me to make a promise. A promise to be her Knight.

That promise has become extremely difficult to keep, mostly due to the fact that she’s more than capable of protecting herself and has saved my ass countless times since we’ve been reunited. Although some men are intimidated by the strong beauty, I love her all the more because of it. Watching her fight is always a guilty pleasure of mine. My eyes are drawn to the curves of her body, the way she bends and twists as every fiber of her being is worked to perfection.

Perfection indeed, I think quietly to myself as at that moment I watch her perform various stretches to loosen herself up before her training regiment. I may be in love with her, but I’m also a guy, and my eyes linger on every inch of her frame, soaking her in, enjoying the physical perfection that is my Tifa.

My Tifa?

I would never claim to have any ownership over her, but as those two words echo relentlessly in my head, for some reason they make me smile. My Tifa?

Tifa's POV
Why do I feel so energized today? I ask myself, needlessly apparently, because my body heats up under Cloud’s gaze and gives me the answer I seek. It’s Cloud and those damnable, piercing eyes of his. Each time he looks at me I feel naked, as if my clothes were suddenly transparent and he can see more of my skin than any man ever has before. It used to happen in tolerable degrees, a look when he thought she wouldn’t notice, or a smile in her direction when she said something funny.

For the last few months he’s been home, helping me with the orphanage and rarely leaving my sight for more then an hour. And you love it! My mind teases me, and I can’t help but agree. I love having Cloud with me all the time. I don’t feel smothered at all, I just genuinely love having him around. Yesterday. we even went out to buy some groceries with Denzel and Marlene, but then it just kind of turned into an entire day of walking and talking and playing games. We didn’t even get home until well past midnight.

Just like a real family...

I smile at that thought as I finally finish my stretches and I take a peek over at Cloud, who is leaning against the wall only ten feet away, but giving me a wide enough berth for me to train. His sharp, but gentle eyes bore through me again, making me feel like the hapless bird under the predatory gaze of a hungry cat.

My body heats up again and I feel little droplets of sweat on my skin. Trying to hide my body’s reaction to him, I immediately attack the dummy, launching two powerful kicks, one to the abdomen and another two the head, following up with a quick half-step forward and a hard right strike to the side of its “skull”. All the while, I never forget that his eyes are still on me, and because of that I strike harder and faster to do something about the ache in my mind, body, and heart. Unfortunately, it barely takes the edge off.

Cloud's POV
Beautiful...

That’s the only word that comes to mind as I watch her pummel the poor dummy. If it wasn’t magically strengthened to withstand her assault it would be in pieces by now. Millions and millions of little pieces. I don’t even notice that I never take my eyes off her form. Not once does something else in the training room catch my attention.

That’s because nothing in the world could possibly demand more attention than Tifa. My Tifa...

I never thought I’d be annoyed with blinking before. Each time my eyes close, even for a fraction of a second, I sorely miss that brief moment I lose. I’ve lost so many moments with her that I can never get back, and these days I grasp those moments, those memories, as hard as I can, as if they’re made out of liquid that slips between my fingers and disappears forever.

I know it may sound stupid, but every time I close my eyes, whether it be for a brief moment or an entire night, I hope she’s there when I wake up. I’ve come to depend on her not only for her abilities as a fighter, but as a person I need to have with me. I need her more than I’ve ever needed anything in my entire life, so when I see her again I can breathe easy.

She's still there...

Lost in the recesses of my own mind, I barely notice I’m moving until I’m standing right beside her. Tifa stops her assault and I take note of the fine sheen of sweat that has covers her body, making her look sexy. Making her look real.

She’s within reach. Always within reach...

Finally I feel that last wall get broken down by a raven haired brawler within me.

What are you waiting for...

An answer is torn from my body in the form of a groan. I barely hear it when Tifa calls my name, and like a man seeking water for his parched throat, I lean in and press my lips to hers, so very thirsty for her, so very far from gentle, and so very close to passionate. I’m a desperate man, seeking life, and I drink Tifa in completely.

And I thirst for more...

End of Chapter One
Damn it's been SO LONG since I've written anything at all. It feels good. Anyway I have to explain some things a bit.

This is a love story first and foremost. Sexy things will happen quite often but that's not the main focus. I want to write about Cloud and Tifa finally admitting their feelings, raising a family, dealing with life and danger, and experimenting with sex. So expect the tags to expand in the near future.

I haven't written anything in a while so forgive me if I'm a little rusty. I've already finished the second chapter but I'll wait a couple more days until I add it. FEEDBACK is always appreciated. Reading someone's opinion, even if it isn't positive, is still leaps and bounds better than seeing the number "0" attached to my story. ;)

If you have anything you want to ask or suggest, then post a comment and I'll answer them at the end of the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!