Fiery Nights

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Characters: Cloud and Tifa.
Progess: Ongoing.
Summary: Cloud takes Tifa on a date.
Location: Luca.
Date: September 25 1804.
Warnings: Wibbles, overload of romance, possible angst.
Note: Sorry it's late, Pied. I got sick. :(


It was their first date since Tifa had come back from the Lifestream... and their first date for quite some time. With children, pets, jobs, battles and everything else in between, Cloud and Tifa rarely got time alone together. They had a few minutes before they both passed out for the night and perhaps a little while in the morning, but they needed this. It was a chance to be together and not worry about anything or anyone but each other. A chance to just be happy together. They deserved it.

Cloud had booked a table at a fancy restaurant in Luca's bustling city, he'd dressed up nicely for his fiancee and he planned to make the night something she'd be thinking about for weeks. Checking on each of the children before leaving, Cloud leaned against Fenrir as he waited on Tifa to be ready. The restaurant was across the other side of Luca, it was better they drove. Besides, it was always funny watching the city dwellers freak out at his bike.

Comments

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

Tifa nodded, a slow smile spreading across her face. So he still loved her. He still wanted to get married. Years of uncertainty about that, all the recent months of ups and downs, had stopped her from being quite sure until he said it.

She squeezed his hand in return. "That was always the plan, right, Cloud?" There was a twinkle in her eye as she said it, but she immediately became serious again. "It was the same for me when I lost you," she said quietly. "If I've had doubts, it's because of where we are. All this uncertainty... Not knowing if any one of us might vanish at any time, living somewhere so far from home... I thought maybe we should wait until we got back. If I don't believe that we can go home... I don't know what I'll do. I've been here so long..."

She sighed. "It's getting harder to believe that. But you're right about one thing you said... It was something that stayed with me. About Zack and Aerith. It would be so great if they were there, if they could see us get married. The only thing is, whatever date we set, we can never be sure that they both will... if anyone will. That's what scares me."

This was a perpetual fear of Tifa's, which she rarely stated openly. But she had to be honest with Cloud in this moment. They'd spent too long making mistakes over not communicating.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Everything she said made sense to him. He was afraid of never going home or of being entirely alone on Gaia with no one he cared for with him to ease the pain of it all. Yet, right now, they had so many people with them that they loved and could remarry when they got home, if they ever did.

"It scares me too, Tifa. That one of us could end up without the other here... I don't want to think about being without you..." He looked down at the ring on her finger, smiling lightly. "I think that... even if not everyone is here with us when we do this... we can do it again at home." He knew that at least at home Zack and Aerith would be able to watch over them, even if they couldn't be part of it all.

The meals were brought over and Cloud released Tifa's hand to make room, thanking the waiter with a nod. "Do you... want to set a date today? Or do you want to wait some more?"

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

"Yeah... that's true." Tifa nodded thoughtfully. She paused to smile and thank the waiter, suddenly realising that she was hungry. "I think... yeah, why not? We've put it off for so long. When do you think we should get married, Cloud?"

She started her meal, smiling at Cloud as she waited for his answer. It felt good to be able to ask that question. Good to move forward.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud shrugged lightly. Wasn't wedding stuff more the girl's thing? But he didn't want everything to be planned around him without his input. "Hmm... December? Or is that too early?"

He didn't know how long it took to plan a wedding. Probably a couple of weeks, right? "Where will we even get married?" He didn't know if the church was still in the ruins of Midgar, but that was where he'd hoped to be married if he ever got there.

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

"December..." Tifa nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, we can do that. It'll be a rush to book a venue, but - yeah, let's do it! I know there's a church in Lindblum. It's not too far, it'd be convenient for everyone to get to..."

She trailed off, looking at Cloud for his opinion.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud nodded at her suggestion, a small smile on his face. He was axcited. This was something they could do and prove to everyone that their bond was that strong, even through the hell they'd faced both alone and together.

"The church in Lindblum sounds perfect. Especially now the Rooks have been removed." It would be a relief for him to get married and not feel like he was going to throw up.

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

She nodded again. "Yeah, I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise. I'll find out when they're free. You just leave it all to me, Cloud. I can arrange this."

Bless him, she loved Cloud, but she didn't think he'd be much good at organising a wedding. He'd probably be better off just doing as he was told.