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Tifa leaned against the bar in Seventh Heaven, swirling a glass of suspiciously pink cocktail she’d mixed just for the night. She had been watching Cloud, waiting for the perfect moment to make her move. His spiky hair practically glowed in the dim lights, and his distant, melancholic gaze was fixated on the wall—a wall that she knew he was actually staring through, lost in his thoughts of her.
“Hey, Cloud,” she said, sauntering over with an exaggerated sway that would’ve been subtle if she had toned it down by about 50 percent. “You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders. And, you know... I happen to be very strong.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed with what she assumed was both comforting and seductive pressure.
Cloud barely looked up. “Tifa... hey. Uh, yeah, no, I’m okay.”
But Tifa knew he wasn’t okay. He was distant. He was reserved. He was emotionally unavailable in a way that she felt was almost irresistible. She knew she had to be the one to crack that icy exterior. “Hey, Cloud,” she said, practically purring his name. “You know, sometimes… I think you’re too good for all of this.”
“What?” Cloud blinked, finally looking at her. She smiled—a soft, slightly unsettling smile that he didn’t quite know how to read.
“Yeah, Cloud,” she said, reaching up to adjust his collar needlessly. “Too good. For fighting. For saving everyone all the time. You’re too good… for her.” She raised her eyebrows meaningfully, waiting for him to respond.
“Her?” Cloud echoed, furrowing his brow. “Wait, are you talking about Aerith?”
Tifa rolled her eyes, chuckling with a lightness that suggested anything but actual amusement. “Oh, Cloud, Aerith’s sweet, but… she’s gone. She’s not out there picking flowers, and you—you need someone who can take care of you.” Her voice dropped, and she leaned closer, close enough for him to smell the suspiciously flowery perfume she’d doused herself in, to see down her low cut tank top. “You don’t need a flower girl. You need a woman.”
Cloud shifted uncomfortably, inching away from her, but she followed, draping an arm around his shoulder and tightening her hold. “Uh, Tifa, I… I care about Aerith.”
Tifa let out a short, incredulous laugh. “Care about her? Oh, Cloud. She never understood you like I do.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “After all we’ve been through...”
“Right,” Cloud said, looking down, almost as if he felt guilty. She saw that and immediately pounced.
“Look, I know it’s been hard with Aerith. She’s always was off doing, you know... flower things, being mysterious, but she’s gone. I’m here, Cloud. And I get you.” She let her hand linger on his arm, her fingers tracing lines across the fabric of his top. “What do you say you let me... help you forget about all that?”
“Tifa, I… I don’t know,” Cloud stammered, almost alarmed by how close she had gotten. He backed up a little more, but Tifa held her ground, giving him a smirk with that damn head tilt of hers that would’ve seemed confident if it hadn’t been so unsettlingly intense.
“Oh, come on, Cloud,” she whispered, brushing her hand down his arm. “Why waste your time on someone who never saw you like I do? Who isn’t even here now?” Her fingers trailed down, reaching for his hand, giving it a not-so-subtle squeeze.
Cloud blinked, as if coming out of a fog. “Tifa… this feels… off.”
Tifa’s smile dropped, only for a moment, before she shrugged, masking her irritation with a laugh. “Oh, Cloud, stop overthinking it. I’m here. She’s not.”
Cloud’s gaze shifted uncomfortably, clearly grasping for something to say, but Tifa wasn’t giving him time to think.
“Oh, come on, Cloud,” she said, leaning in even closer. Her hand lingered on his chest as she looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes. “Don’t you ever get tired of chasing things that aren’t right in front of you?”
Cloud shifted his weight, his gaze drifting away to the door as if imagining Aerith might suddenly walk through it. “Tifa… this isn’t… Aerith and I, it’s different.”
“Is it?” she asked, a slightly bitter edge creeping into her voice. She forced another playful smile, though, leaning in just enough that her breath brushed against his ear. “Maybe you’re just scared of letting yourself actually have something attainable, Cloud.”
He blinked, the words catching him off-guard. “Tifa, it’s not… I’m not scared.”
She tilted her head, her smirk inching back. “Then prove it,” she whispered, her voice low, sultry, each word practically dripping with implication.
Cloud’s heart pounded, and he looked down at her hand on his chest, visibly uncomfortable. He could feel her intentions closing in, suffocating him, but for some reason, he couldn’t find the words to stop her. “Tifa… I… I think you’re misunderstanding—”
Tifa’s smirk turned sharp. “Misunderstanding?” She raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one who’s misunderstanding, Cloud.” Her fingers trailed up to his collar, giving it a tug. “You’re always waiting, always holding back. Maybe it’s time you stop pretending and just… let go.” She whispered that last part as she leaned in, her lips brushing dangerously close to his.
But just as her hand slid up his chest, Cloud froze, feeling the heat of Tifa’s touch but sensing an unfamiliar tension winding tightly in his chest. He didn’t move, didn’t lean into her touch, yet he didn’t push her away either. Tifa took his silence as permission, her fingers trailing up to his shoulder, curling possessively around him as she pressed closer.
“Tifa…” he murmured, his voice strained, uncertain.
She tilted her head up, her smile soft but her gaze steely, as if she were trying to will him into responding. “Cloud, we don’t have to keep pretending… you can let yourself want something for once,” she whispered, her lips dangerously close to his, a spark of intensity flaring in her eyes.
Cloud blinked, caught between her words and a thousand complicated thoughts he couldn’t quite put into order. Tifa took his hesitation as an opening, running her hand slowly up to cup his cheek, forcing him to look at her. Her voice was low, almost a whisper, but her words carried a weight that made him uneasy.
“You deserve someone who’s here, Cloud,” she said, her eyes glinting. “Someone who understands every part of you. Not someone you only reach for in dreams.” Her hand moved to cradle his face, her gaze fierce as if daring him to disagree.
Cloud felt a flicker of guilt flare up, but her words started to chip away at him. She had been the one by his side through everything—the battles, the nights spent in shared silence, the unspoken history they both carried. She was here, now, warm and steady, and he couldn’t deny the pull of that familiarity.
“I know you care about her, Cloud,” Tifa continued, her tone softening, “but… maybe that’s not the same thing as… what you could have with me.” She hesitated for a second, as if weighing her next words, before lowering her voice even further. “Maybe she didn’t feel the same way about you.”
His expression wavered. She watched as the faintest hint of doubt flickered in his eyes, her words sinking into his thoughts. She tightened her hold on his shoulder, leaning in closer until her forehead nearly touched his. “You don’t have to keep hoping for something that might never happen,” she murmured. “You could have something real. Here. With me.”
He exhaled, a slow, conflicted breath. He didn’t answer, but the silence seemed to stretch between them, loaded with possibility. She could feel him wavering, and the thrill of it made her heart pound, made her voice drop even lower.
“Let me be the one, Cloud,” she whispered. “Let me be the one who takes care of you.”
Cloud felt the weight of Tifa’s words settling over him, her gaze intense and her touch warm against his skin. For a moment, he let himself consider it—this idea of “letting go,” of giving in to the comfort of someone who’d been there through it all. Tifa’s presence was familiar, solid, and he could feel the depth of her longing as she looked at him, practically willing him to say something that would bridge the gap between them.
But even as he stood there, his heart hesitated. There was an ache that rose up, reminding him of the things he couldn’t quite understand about himself, things he was still chasing—parts of his heart that weren’t entirely his to give. He took a slow, careful breath, stepping back just enough for her hand to slip away from his cheek, leaving a cool emptiness where her warmth had been.
“Tifa…” he began, his voice quiet, and he could see her expression falter as she realized what he was about to say. “You’re… my best friend. You’ve been here for me through everything. But…”
He paused, struggling to find the right words. Tifa’s eyes held a mixture of hurt and frustration, her smile fading as his hesitation grew.
“I can’t be what you want,” he said finally, looking away. “Not right now, anyway. There are… things I still have to figure out. Things about… me.”
Tifa’s face fell, her hand dropping to her side as a faint, forced smile crossed her lips. “I… get it, Cloud. I just thought…” Her voice trailed off, the words drying up as she realized how final his answer felt.
Cloud looked at her, wanting to explain, to say something that would make her understand without hurting her further. “You mean a lot to me, Tifa. But I can’t pretend that things aren’t… complicated.” He hesitated, feeling the weight of his own indecision pressing down on him. “Maybe one day… I’ll be able to see things differently. But right now… I just don’t know.”
The room felt suddenly heavy with unspoken words and lost chances, and Tifa forced a laugh, a hollow sound that cut through the silence. “Yeah… sure, Cloud. You’ve got stuff to figure out. I get it.”
She stepped back, her smile tightly controlled as she tried to mask the hurt in her eyes. “Guess I’ll just… leave you to it, then,” she said, her voice tinged with bitterness she couldn’t quite hide.
Cloud opened his mouth, wanting to reach out to her, to say something that would make it easier, but he knew there was nothing he could say. He watched as she turned away, her footsteps heavy as she disappeared down the stairs, leaving him alone in the silence of the empty bar. “I love her. You understand right?”