Chapter Text
It had been a long and dragging day working the bar and Tifa was wiped. It had also been a highly unnerving shift, which was unusual for her. Very little was able to throw her off or make her uncomfortable after all these years, but today one of her customers had managed to achieve it. Nothing had happened yet, but she wasn’t sure it would be much longer before all hell broke loose.
She spared a quick glance in the man’s direction and he was, as he had been for the entire time he had been there, staring an intense and unwavering hole through her. Dread-filled chills rippled over her skin and she almost laughed out loud. Sephiroth was the only person on Gaia who had ever made her feel this way before and she didn’t like the old and familiar lingering fear. It had been a very long time since she had felt that perhaps she couldn’t defend herself against someone - particularly a man - and she felt numb with apprehension.
Luckily Cloud had walked in about an hour ago, home for the night, settling himself into a booth near the back to wait for her to close up. He hadn’t seemed to pick up on her discomfort, let alone even notice the object of her troubles himself so she’d been trying to talk herself down. Surely if Cloud couldn’t pick up on something weird about the guy then she must be reading too much into it.
Maybe Cloud was so used to patrons staring at her after all this time that he had just accepted there was nothing he could do, that he was just any other guy doing the same old thing.
Maybe it was just a coincidence that every time she looked over he just happened to have his gaze on her - who knows what he was doing the rest of the time?
Those thoughts didn’t stop her from freezing when he suddenly stood, his chair sliding gracelessly out from under him. He stared at her long and hard for a moment, before slamming gil down on the bar top and walking stiffly out the door. Cloud’s attention was immediately honed in on his retreating back, frowning until he was gone, while she let out a sigh of relief as all the tension she’d been holding onto melted away.
He looked at her then, a silent question reflected in his eyes. What was that about?
She just shook her head and looked away, feeling like an idiot. She made sure she was busy the rest of the night until finally she closed and locked the doors behind her last customer, not wanting to spend any more energy on a guy who hadn’t done anything to her. She felt Cloud’s eyes on her for most of the time and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to get away with a shake of the head. People were rarely aggressive with Tifa and if they were, they were generally very drunk. This guy had had the single drink he’d ordered from Marlene earlier in the evening and there had been no contact between the two of them after that.
‘Well, maybe that’s the reason,’ she thought, chewing her lip as she swept the floor. ‘You ignored him the rest of the night, never once went back over to see if he needed anything else.’ Her gut had warned her away from him but she knew, with a stab of guilt, she had still been wholly unprofessional. She kept internally moping about what she’d done until Cloud was suddenly in front of her, stilling the broom in her hand by placing his own over where she held it.
“Tifa,” he simply said, eyeing her with concern.
“It’s nothing Cloud, I just forgot to check up on him through the night. I’d be mad too if I were him.” She sure hoped she sounded convincing, because it definitely didn’t feel like the truth coming out of her mouth. Sighing and standing straight, she saw she had in fact not assuaged him, but instead his brows were drawn down into a more prominent frown.
“You, Tifa Lockhart, never went back to check on a customer. All night.” He didn’t believe her.
“Yes, Cloud,” she threw her arms out, leaving the broom in his grasp, sounding too loud and annoyed, “that’s what I said.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t want to admit that someone had struck a niggling fear in her with literally no provocation. It sounded crazy after everything she’d been through and done in life, even though she’d been trained to always trust her gut. “Please just leave it alone... It was a long day and I’m tired. I just want to go get the kids in bed and then get some sleep myself.”
He sighed in response, throwing one last look at the front doors of their establishment - their home - before nodding, helping her to clean up the rest of the bar in silence. It wasn’t long after that they’d wrangled the kids into bed and then they were following suit, Tifa cuddling up close to Cloud, still unable to shake her uneasy feelings. She was rattled and she knew Cloud knew it when he tightened an arm around her back, pulling her flush up against him. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in, until she finally succumbed to what she hoped would be a dreamless sleep.
She woke sometime later to Cloud’s hand on her thigh, squeezing in a way that alarmed her. They were in the same position she remembered falling asleep in and she pulled her head back slightly to look at him, feeling disoriented from the sudden awakening. She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind but she was silenced by him sealing his lips over hers for a moment, squeezing her leg even harder if it was possible before pulling back only slightly to give her a look she recognized easily. Something was wrong.
A cold, icy feeling swept through her when she finally heard what he was likely hearing clear as day with his enhanced hearing - barely audible creaking on the staircase leading from the bar to their upstairs apartment. She would surely have slept through it if Cloud hadn’t been home and she felt nauseous with the realization. For all that she was strong and capable of taking care of herself, she and the children would have been in danger tonight despite the locked doors and the widespread knowledge that Cloud and herself, saviours of the planet not once but twice, lived here.
Cloud wasn’t always home at night. He was home most of the time now as they’d settled back into life after Geostigma had been cured, but there were times when he just couldn’t be with certain deliveries.
'How will I ever sleep again if he’s not here? The kids...'
She moved to get up to confront whoever it was that had broken in, but Cloud’s arm became a band of steel, holding her in place. He laid his head back down on the pillow and shut his eyes, feigning sleep and eliminating the faint mako glow from giving him away to the intruder. She laid her head down when he gave her a reassuring squeeze but she couldn’t shut her eyes; her nerves were working overtime, her heart thumping quickly with adrenaline. When she heard their bedroom door swing open slowly she forgot to how breathe and wondered how close Cloud was going to let him get.
She felt his body tense just before he moved and she knew enough to pull away slightly, giving him room while also ensuring she wouldn’t get clipped by him somehow in the process. He was quick, up and over her in seconds and she heard the slam of their bedroom door before she could fully turn to see Cloud with his forearm tight across the intruders neck, shoved up against the door.
The man had his hands up in an attempt to appear non-threatening, but even in the dark Tifa could see the rage in the glare that was directed firmly at her. She shivered with fear when she realized that it was him - the man from earlier at the bar.
“What do you want?” Cloud demanded in a tone that used to chill Tifa to the bone, allowing a slight decrease in the strength of his arm pressing down on the man’s windpipe so he could talk. The guy didn’t take the opportunity to enlighten them however, continuing to stare at her and it only incensed Cloud further. “Stop looking at her and look at me. Why are you here?”
“You killed my family! I’m here to settle the score!” The man suddenly thundered and he tried to fight against Cloud to free himself. “You murderous bitch!”
Tifa felt frozen to the spot and watched as Cloud’s entire stance changed with the direct threat against her, slamming him back against the wall with enough ferocity that he could have been gravely injured. What did he mean she’d killed his family? Was this a case of mistaken identity? Except there was no way, it was a well known fact that she and Cloud lived here-
“Go back to your room Marlene and lock the door. Take Denzel with you on your way,” Cloud said suddenly, taking on a much more calm tone of voice. He must have heard her in the hall.
“People like you shouldn’t even have kids,” the man cried out, letting himself sag down against the wall under the weight of Cloud’s fists. “You took mine away...” He started to sob uncontrollably and Tifa felt emotion clog her throat.
Nobody said anything for a couple of minutes, though Cloud did let go and allow the man to crumple to the floor. He was still on guard though, taking only a few steps back from the man. She could see the outline of the powerful muscles in his arms and back tensed, ready to go should he try to attack them. The errant thought that even in boxers he looked deadly was a hushed voice in the back of her mind.
“Were you living in sector seven?” She eventually asked, realizing that it was the only real possibility. Still, after so many years, their decisions on that day were continuing to haunt them. How could she blame him if that were the case? It didn’t matter that Shinra had pushed the literal button, ultimately causing the catastrophe. It likely would never have happened without Avalanche stoking the fire.
The man simply nodded.
“Well, I was just as much a part of that as she was. So why are you gunning for her specifically?” Cloud asked and she could see he was beginning to relax as he crossed his arms over his chest. The man didn’t seem to have a weapon on him or at least wasn’t bothered to reach for it if he did.
“I could never take you down.”
“You’d have just as hard a time taking her down. And you would have to go through me first anyways.” Cloud shrugged, tilting his head.
“Why do you think I’m here in the dead of night?” The man spat bitterly, shooting a glance her way. “Asleep seemed just as good as anything else. That’s how my family went. And you’re not always here.”
Cloud bristled a little at that, but Tifa stood and quickly closed the distance between them, laying her hand on his arm. He took a small step to the side, enough to end up just barely in front of her and she knew he wouldn’t let her get any closer. She fidgeted a little with the hem of her pyjama shirt, unsure what else there was to say. He would’ve seen Cloud return tonight, so he was obviously just finished with waiting for the perfect chance to get his revenge.
Tifa had largely forgiven herself a long time ago for the destruction of the sector, but she doubted the guilt would ever truly go away. Nothing they could say would erase his pain either, though.
“I’m so sorry for what happened. We had no idea Shinra would do something that insane,” she started and he stared back, unblinking. “I can’t change what happened. I wish I could...”
“We have kids here, whether we deserve them or not,” Cloud cut in, not allowing her to get caught up in an old sadness. “Don’t ever come back here. If I catch you anywhere near her, I don’t care where it is, you won’t get a second chance. We’ve paid for our mistakes more times than you know. I’m sorry for what happened to your family - but get out of my house and away from mine.”
She cringed at the open hostility in Cloud’s voice but it seemed to do the trick. The man scrambled up and with one last dark look at them, he turned to open the door and leave the room. Cloud grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly before following, quickly disappearing down the stairs. She stood there staring for too long before remembering that Cloud had heard the kids and she rushed down the little hallway to Marlene’s room, knocking gently.
“Marlene? It’s just me.”
They must have been at the door trying to listen because the door was open in a second and two little bodies rushed her.
“Tifa! What happened? I heard a really loud bang,” Marlene whimpered, wrapping her arms tightly around Tifa’s hips. Denzel stood just behind her, biting his lip with an anxiety in his eyes she didn’t care to see. She sighed, unwrapping Marlene and stepping back so she could squat down at their level.
“Someone got into the house, but I’m fine. Cloud’s fine. He’s just downstairs for a minute. You two should go back to bed. We’ll all talk in the morning, okay?” Marlene just stared back at her with wide eyes, shaking slightly and she felt such a surge of protectiveness that she couldn’t help but crush her into a hug and the little girl responded in kind. “I promise you’re okay. I’m probably not going to go back to sleep and Cloud definitely won’t. You have nothing to worry about. You can even sleep in Denzel’s room tonight if you want.”
Denzel didn’t look like he was particularly on board with that, but one pleading look from Tifa later and he sighed, grabbing Marlene’s hand. He dragged her away and Tifa waited until he shut the door behind them before she went back to her own room, falling onto the bed and curling into a ball on her side. She grabbed Cloud’s pillow and buried her face in it, inhaling his scent.
Whatever Cloud was doing, he was taking his sweet time. Tears threatened and she squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn’t completely useless; sure, it had been a very long time since they’d travelled the world and she definitely wasn’t in the same shape she’d been then, but she could handle herself. He probably would have made it into the room and surprised her, but she could have dealt with it from there on out. If he had gone for the kids though and something bad had happened before she could get there...
“You okay?” Cloud’s warm hand came to rest on her lower back and she felt the mattress dip under his weight as he sat down behind her at the edge of the bed. She hadn’t even heard him coming, adding more fuel to her despair. She nodded into his pillow and he snorted a little laugh, laying down behind her and pressing himself flush against her back, curling his strong legs behind hers. “Guess I’m here since I’ve misplaced my pillow in the last ten minutes.”
She didn’t respond to his attempt at levity and he fell quiet. They laid like that for a while, until she slowly relaxed back into him, his fingers trailing a soothing design over her hip. When he did speak again, she thought that she might have almost been about to fall asleep, feeling safe and warm in his arms.
“We should buy another place... It can be close by, but I don’t think I want to leave you here alone at night anymore. Too many people know we live up here.”
“Yeah...” She twisted to face him, shoving a leg between both of his to get as close as possible. “It’ll be weird for me not living above the bar... But it’ll be better for the kids anyways. A real home.”
He hummed his agreement, burying his nose in her soft hair, breathing deeply. “I just want you to be safe. I’ll schedule deliveries so I’m home at night until then.”
“Cloud, I took care of myself for a long time before you showed up,” she protested, feeling a little affronted that he thought so little of her abilities. Perhaps he needed a personal lesson.
“I know. People weren’t out kill you though were they?”
“No, but-“
“It’ll make me feel better. I don’t want to go out on deliveries and worry the whole time I’m gone. Please don’t fight me on this,” he implored, moving to nuzzle his face against the soft column of her throat before laying down sweet kisses and she melted.
“That’s cheating, Cloud Strife,” she sighed happily, squirming in his arms.
“But I win, right?” He mumbled into her skin.
“I guess we both do if you don't stop what you're doing...”
"Never."