There and Back Again [Final Fantasy VII, Cloud/Tifa, M]

[ocvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

Title: There and Back Again

Author: Valk

Rating: M

Warnings: Sex

Word Count: 1800

Prompt: Final Fantasy VII, Cloud/Tifa: love/hate relationship— there were times when she hated him for being able to reduce her to a quivering mess after his long absences.

A/N: I hope this is what the prompter wanted (I know who you are!), or at least a semblance. I always love Tifa as the warrior who fights for what’s right, but I’m not sure I captured her well. Well, I captured her as I see her, a fighter, but still unable to resist Cloud—for long.

And very, very special thanks to valentineninja  on all my prompts for being such a fantastical sounding board! You're the best brainstorming, plot-smoothing, beta-ing friend I could ever ask for! Yay! *Huggles*

 

The back door shut quietly, but Tifa heard it regardless. Soft footsteps followed and, like a shadow, the man she loved appeared in the doorway. His eyebrows rose when he saw her sitting at the bar, nursing a clear-colored drink. A sniff or two and he realized; seltzer water? After kicking off his boots and shrugging off his sword harness, he made his way over to her and sat on the stool beside her.

 

She watched out of the corner of her eye as his hand reached closer and moved to touch her arm. Shrugging her shoulder, she brushed away his attentions and gulped the rest of her drink. She slid off her stool and pushed past him towards the stairs. He quickly followed and caught her elbow on her way upstairs.

 

His blue eyes shot her a silent question and she gave an exasperated sigh. She pulled her arm free and kept walking. “I’m sick of this!”

 

He ran a hand through his blond hair and replied, “Me leaving?”

 

She stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to face him. “Marlene and Denzel are gone now… They’re with Barret for the year and I’m all alone here when you go on your random trips. I never know how long you’ll be gone or when you’ll be leaving again. I’m just sick of it!”

 

“Tifa, wait-!” He jogged up the stairs after her and into their bedroom. “Tifa, please. You know I have to go…”

 

She paused by their bed and grabbed her pillow, punching it into shape before throwing it back down. “Cloud, I don’t understand why you can’t find a local job. You say you’re done being a loner; that you’re happy here with me and the kids, and yet you still run off on a job you don’t need! I’m sure Reeve can transfer you to a less dangerous job that pays well.”

 

He stood back by the door and watched her as she grabbed his pillow and started punching it. “Tifa… I… All I know is fighting. I can’t do a job that doesn’t involve the occasional monster killing.”

 

She set the pillow down on the bed right in front of her and turned to glare at him with angry tears in her eyes. “And don’t you think I worry about you? You’ve come home so many times, leaking blood on the floor as if you were trailing mud into the house! How am I supposed to react to that?!”

 

His eyes trailed across the wooden floorboards before finding her feet and tracing up her figure. “Tifa, you know I never leave without a Restore. I can Cure easily enough if it gets bad. You don’t need to worry about me.”

 

She turned back to the pillow and kept punching it with more force than before. “Cloud, it’s not a conscious decision if I worry about you or not! I started worrying the moment I fell in love with you!”

 

He walked over to her and set a hand on her shoulder. “Tifa…”

 

“Forget it,” she snapped, thrusting his pillow into his hands. “Have a goodnight on the couch.”

 

“Tifa, listen to me-” he pleaded in his own unique way. She was probably the only one who knew he was to the begging point. She was the only one who understood most of his thoughts and helped him reach his dreams. She was the one who always stood beside him and who made love to him after a hard day’s work. She was the only one strong enough not to be intimidated by him and kick him out to the couch.

 

He gave a sigh and stepped closer to her, setting the pillow on the bed next to her while leaning in to press soft kisses to her neck. She glared at him and twisted away, falling back on the bed in the process. Wasting no time, he climbed up beside her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She struggled against his hold, fighting to hold her ground.

 

His index finger pressed against her lips to silence her, whispering a gentle, “Shh…” He rolled to climb above her and softly pressed his lips to hers, holding her close to savor in her scent. It had been six weeks since he’d last held her and he didn’t want his job to get in between them—again. His hands trailed down her muscled frame and slipped up the bottom of her oversized sleep shirt.

 

She made a noise of protest against his lips. He’d kept her worried for six long weeks. She wasn’t about to crumble and give him what he wanted, even if she wanted it, too. Given her current position, she could easily slam her knee into him and get him right off, but she didn’t want to ruin her chances of having a family because of a marital spat. Instead, she twisted to place her knee against his opposite hip to try to shove him off of her.

 

He braced his arms around her shoulders and, when he rolled, he took her with him while keeping his mouth attached to hers. Against her will, her body started to relax in his arms and she pulled back, pulling her pajamas off over her head and throwing them across the room. Cloud gave her a smirk of approval and made quick work of his travel gear and filthy clothes before pulling her close again.

 

She rolled to the bottom again and shifted against the rough bedspread to get comfortable as he quickly found base inside of her. A moan of contentment sounded from deep in his throat as they moved together, finding that perfect synchronization mastered through years of companionship. Within moments, the pleasure they’d both longed for over the past weeks was coursing through them, completing them.

 

Tifa looked up at her husband and ran her fingers through his hair, happy to have him home despite her inner anger at their earlier conversation. He gave her a genuine smile and slowly pulled out of her, climbing back off the bed. She mewled a sound of complaint, still far from sated, and reached her arms out for him.

 

His smile widened as he pulled her to his feet and kissed her passionately before pulling her with him to the bathroom. She hummed a question against his lips as he stopped near the shower tub. He simply smiled a response and started the warm water jet before lifting Tifa easily into the tub. She gave him a sarcastic expression as he stepped in next to her, leaning in to kiss her again while pressing her to the tiled wall.

 

She kissed him back slowly and wound her leg around his knee seductively before pushing him back under the spray. Her hands massaged over his scalp roughly to dampen his lofty spikes before grabbing the shampoo and lathering the dirt from the road out of his hair. Once he was clean, he pulled the shampoo from her and cleansed her silken curtain of hair. They took turns with the soap and washed each other’s bodies—rubbing the bar over every inch of skin.

 

Tifa took her time lathering the soap over his lower extremities and smiled as she got her desired effect. He gripped her wrist to get her to stop and barely managed to get himself inside her before he broke for the second time. The feel of his climax within her sent her towards oblivion and she started to tremble against him. He slipped one hand around her waist and the other down between them to rub at her clit. That simple action was enough to break her barriers and she slumped down against his muscled chest.

 

They panted together, enjoying the feel of slick and wet flesh upon their own. Tifa finally reached around him and turned off the water tap before pressing her palms against his chest to kiss him again. His hands slipped down her back and over her rump to grab hold of her thighs and lift her against him. He stepped out of the shower, still holding her, with practiced ease.

 

She reached out blindly and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around both of their shoulders as he continued back to the bedroom. Her hands shifted the towel over his hair to dry it before drying her own as best she could. He sighed and whipped the tan cotton out of her hands and threw it on the floor, twisting to fall back on the bed with her above him.

 

She smiled down at him and closed her fingers around the bedsheets to pull them down, rolling with her husband to get on the smooth sheets. Cloud grabbed the blankets and pulled them back over them. He adjusted his position slightly to make for a new angle before beginning to thrust into her once more. Her hands immediately tightened in his hair, nails digging into his scalp while he shifted his lips over to nibble at her ear.

 

Her legs twisted up behind him to lock her ankles together and pull him closer. His fullness moving against her insides and his fingers rubbing over that sensitive spot just above their joining quickly sent her head spinning for the third time that night and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Judging by his more regulated, aggressive thrusts, he was on the verge of losing it again, too.

 

As if on an unspoken agreement, they broke at the exact same moment and clung to one another’s sweat-coated body as they struggled to catch their breath. Cloud slowly pulled out of her and dropped to the side and she curled into his side, resting her head on his chest while her fingers played at one of his many scars. He leaned down to kiss her damp hair and pull her closer as she whispered in the dark room, “Cloud…?”

 

He hummed his acknowledgement, “Hm?”

 

She licked her lips and pressed a kiss to his chest. “Can you please get a job closer to home? I…”

 

“Tifa, we’ve been through this before.”

 

She pushed herself to a slightly inclined position and looked him in the eye. “Yes, I know, but what if I told you things are different now?”

 

He locked his gaze onto hers, confusion swirling in the oceanic depths. “What do you mean?”

 

“Cloud, after you left…” She smiled lightly at him. “I found out I’m pregnant. We’re having a baby.”

 

His jaw hung loosely for a moment as he digested this new information. “Tifa, that’s… I… We… Are you…?” He fell back into the pillow and pressed his free hand to his forehead while the information sunk in. He pushed himself to an inclined position and kissed her before replying, “I’ll talk to Reeve first thing in the morning.”

 

Her hand flew up to her heart and tears filled her eyes. “Thank you, Cloud.” She settled in against him and whispered, a smile clear on her lips, “I think we’ll have to turn your office into a nursery.”

 

Comments

[valentineninja.livejournal.com]

Aww, this was lovely! You know, at first I thought Tifa was being a little unreasonable, forcing Cloud to find a job he wouldn't enjoy doing, but with that ending you understand why she's doing it. I really enjoyed this, Valk, and thanks so much for writing it!

[ocvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

D'aw! You know I love Cloud/Tifa and writing fics for you! It was a win-win situation! :)

But, really? Unreasonable? He was gone for six weeks on an unpredicatable schedule... I think I'd be pretty peeved if my man was gone for so long and left me alone...

Anyway, thanks for reading! *Hugs*

-Valk

[windrider1.livejournal.com]

Babies!!!!

That is all.

Oh, and yummy smut! :P

[ocvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading! There can never be enough Cloti babies!

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

The sex here is steamy, and I sympathize with Tifa... but the surprise!baby fix-it doesn't sit well with me. In the first place, with Cloud being all super mako, surely they're using the most effective form of prevention available... and have discussed how they'll handle it if it fails? (I mean... I've discussed it with my hubby, and he isn't filled with processed lifestream. If he were over-charged with something that sounds like it can make babies on its own I'd sit him down and make doubly certain we were on the same page.)

Secondly... if Cloud is really set on not changing his job -- as he sounds in your fic -- Tifa using the baby to persuade him is a Bad Idea. It's far more likely to make him resent the lifestyle change in the long run.

I just... think the characters would have planned a bit more, and I don't like Tifa being manipulative. ^^; Sorry. It would work better, I think, if you softened it. If you make it clear that they've talked about it, and Cloud has already agreed to this change should this circumstance come up. And you can play up Tifa being angry at the beginning due to hormones -- she knows he'll say yes if she tells him, but isn't feeling particularly reasonable. ;)

Again, I'm sorry for disagreeing, and it is solely my opinion, colored by being an old prude woman, so take with large grain of salt.

And I do hope to seem more from you!

[ocvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

Well, you do raise some very good points. I suppose I should've gone more into Cloud's special circumstances, but I didn't want this to turn out to be a really long fic. I added the baby bit to the end because I wanted Cloud to come across as a warrior, but still needing to protect his family. He knows Tifa can take care of herself, but he'd still want to be there for a child.

I really do enjoy analytical responses to my fics, even if all are not necessarily positive. To me, that means readers were enjoying it enough to find what's wrong. To see the reasons behind it and it helps me to improve for the future as a writer, so thank you for taking the time to help me grow!

By the way, I took on several prompts this time. Not all are Cloud/Tifa, but I should have a few more coming. But this goes both ways, you know!

-Valk