kinkfest | Not Alone (Final Fantasy VII)

Title: Not Alone

Characters: Cloud/Tifa

Rating: Teen

Disclaimers: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Final Fantasy. Square Soft/Enix owns Final Fantasy and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: You're not alone anymore.'

A/N: Prompt for February 8th – Cloud/Tifa – Lonely Piano Piece – 'You're not alone anymore.'

Timeline: Advent Children Complete

Word Count: 825

Betaed: No

~~~~Not Alone~~~~

Tifa tiptoed through the hallway until she reached the living room where the piano was. It was a strange sight for her. The last time she had seen a piano was back in her bedroom in Nibelheim. She had expected it to burn in the fire but there it was, in what used to be her room but it was now taken over Shin-Ra employees in a bid to cover up what had happened.

Tifa moved closer to the instrument, her fingers running along the cool wood before they caressed the ivory keys and sat down at the small seat. The kids were staying over at Barret, he had requested Marlene to stay with him for a short time and Tifa had agreed only for Marlene to plead both of them to let Denzel go with her. Barret had crumpled straight away much to Tifa's amusement before she nodded, allowing Denzel to go with her. Both kids had cheered and danced around her in a circle that nearly left her dizzy but happy, it was nice to see them happy for a change.

Cloud was currently sleeping in their bedroom. He had a busy day that he collapsed the moment he came home, only making time to remove his clothes and slip under the covers nude. Tifa had been amused that how exhausted Cloud was. He had been taking on extra deliveries to make up for taking the weekend off so they could spend some time together as a family.

Tifa pressed a key, a single note ringing through the house before she sighed as she remembered that the notes she had created had been burned in the fire. It had saddened her because most of them had been her mother's notes. The only thing she had left was her earring.

Tifa closed her eyes as she remembered a tune she played, her hands taking up positions on the keys and started playing. A soft tune filled the room, a hint of sadness melding with it. Tears pricked at her eyes but she kept them firmly close, not wanting them to escape. She had put it behind her…at least she thought she had.

Cloud opened his eyes when music pricked at him, slowly wakening him. He frowned he recognised the music and slowly slipped out of their bed, seeing Tifa wasn't there. He grabbed a pair of boxers and slipped them on before making his way out of their room and down the hallway to see Tifa sitting at the piano, her eyes closed with sadness clear on her face.

"Hey," Tifa's eyes snapped open and she turned her head to see Cloud was kneeling beside her. There were traces of sleepiness in his eyes but obviously his upset girlfriend came first.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she cupped his cheek, stroking his lower lip with her thumb, "I didn't mean to wake you." Cloud shook his head, pressing a kiss to his thumb.

"You're not alone anymore," he told her. Her eyes narrowed and he smiled softly. "I remember you playing that song after your mother died. You stopped hanging out with the other kids after you woke up from your coma. I figured you were still angry with them for backing out of following you up in the mountains. You always seemed so sad when you played the music that I dubbed it as your 'alone' tune." Tifa gave him a wobbly smile as tears slipped free.

"Yeah, it's funny how you know me by my music while I know you by your actions," she told him. Cloud chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her inner wrist.

"We make a good couple," he told her. The smile grew steady as love filled her eyes. "Really Tifa, you're not alone anymore. I promise. No more hiding things from you and you have Marlene and Denzel and Barret, Cid, Shera, Vincent, Cait-Sith, Nanaki, Yuffie – when she's not stealing our materia," Tifa laughed out loud at this, "Aerith and Zack – Gaia forbid us to forget about them." Tifa giggled as she remembered them and she nodded. "You'll always have me, no matter what. Beside, I have a promise to keep, remember." He got up and sat down next to her on the seat.

"Yeah…what was the promise again?" she teased him. Cloud just chuckled as he kissed the side of her head before he nudged her in the side.

"Play the tune you would play before your mother died. I liked it, it made me feel like I wasn't alone," Cloud suggested. Tifa smiled as she pressed a kiss against Cloud's shoulder.

"You know you're not alone too, right?" she asked. Cloud tapped the side of his head.

"Yeah, I have Zack and Aerith taking up space in here," he told her wryly and she giggled as she placed her hands back on the keys, sending them back into the past for a short time.

The End