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Well, it looks like this is the last chapter for me. It's been a long but rewarding road, and has made me realize just how difficult it is for someone to write a long story. I have new admiration for the writers of the world.

But all in all, I'd say this was a pretty good fan-fic, especially considering that this is my first ever fan-fic.

Anyway, onto the final chapter.

Chapter 29.

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I thought I would be hung over in the morning, but I wasn't…or at least I didn't feel it. Tifa seemed to be acting a bit strangely though in the morning, which I guess is to be expected the day you're about to me married.

As planned, I stayed in the house just long enough to shower and clean myself up before I was booted out the door to a waiting car, with Cid as driver. Cid was obviously still a little out of it, because he had a difficult time driving the car straight, and he frequently made slow, rolling swerves between the two traffic lanes.

Barrett and Vincent accompanied us to Barrett's house, where our tuxes were waiting. We all had basic tuxes, which included the usual black coat and pants, plus a dark blue cumber bun and bow-tie. Cid grumbled when he put the tie on. At one point I think I heard him say, "Why can't I just where my pilot's scarf?" to Vincent, but it could have just been my imagination. Barrett and I were the only ones that had any differences in our tuxes. Barrett, as best man, had a dark blue vest on underneath his jacket instead of a cumber bun, and he also had a blue zip-tie, which even he admitted he liked. I wore the same thing as Barrett, except that my vest had a subtle design sewn into the fabric, which were mostly roses. My tux also was the only one with Penguin tails attached to the back of the tux. I thought they looked funny, so I got them thinking that maybe Tifa would get a kick out of them.

After about two hours we started walking out the door, when suddenly Barrett stopped us. "Wait just a second," he said. He disappeared behind a door and then came out with two bottles of sparkling cider and some glasses on a tray. "We forgot to do the toasts last night, so let's do them now." Cid asked Barrett why he was using sparkling cider instead of real wine for the toast. Barrett scowled at Cid and said, "Hey, we're all still a little hung over from last night, and on top of that, do you really want to make Cloud drunk on his big day?" Cid nodded and didn't say anything until he had a cup in his hands. Barrett gave the first toast. "Here's to a long fought road, to many good memories and victories, and to Cloud's happiness from this day forward." "And here's to Cloud's last night of virginity," Cid chimed in. We all had a good laugh and we downed our drinks. "So how long do you bet until Cloud has his first kid?" Cid asked. "I'd say…nine months." Again everyone laughed at the repeated joke, and I was left standing, my face red. Vincent then said a little more seriously, "What do you think your first child will be, Cloud? A boy or a girl?" "Uh…" This was the first time I had had the opportunity to speak during the entire conversation, and here I was left totally speechless. "Ah, who cares," Barrett said saving me. "Let's stop bugging him and get him over to the church."

I wish I knew the next few hours in greater detail. But it's funny how when so many joyous things happen around you at once how your mind begins to confuse them. Of the next couple hours, here's what I remember:

I remember driving to the church and walking into a small room on the side of the chapel room, where Tifa's family (minus Tifa) was waiting. It was the first time I had met them in years, and they didn't look very similar to how I remembered them. Tifa's father was shorter and sterner looking. His eyes were dark and always seemed to be looking at something in great detail, and yet nothing in any detail at all. Tifa's mom was more heavy-set then I remembered her, but by no means fat. She had long hair like Tifa's, though brown, not black, and her face was rounder then Tifa's. Also her eyes seemed less bright and optimistic then I would have expected out of a mother about to marry off her daughter. I also met Tifa's only surviving grandmother, and old haggard lady who wore a blue dress that smelled like mothballs, but her presence was some how sweet and inviting.

What happened after I met her family I completely forgot.

Until the music started.

I am standing just outside the church on the limestone rock. Barrett is ushering in individuals to their various assigned seats, and I feel oddly out of place among the quiet hustle and bustle around me. Suddenly Barrett appears and looks at his watch. He seems more urgent and punctual now then I've ever seen him before, which I am very grateful for. In the church I can hear the murmur of about 40-50 people as they talk among themselves quietly. The organist, a young lady who Tifa hired about two weeks ago, suddenly stops playing her slow, quiet, hymn-like music. She pauses a moment and looks around. Her head suddenly locks in on something. She looks at it hard, then nods, and she begins to play the tune that we are all familiar with. It's the song they play when the groom and best man and bridesmaids and others are walking down the isle, but before the bride does. As the groom, I enter the renovated church first. I pause a moment to take a look at the scene around me. In front of me is a long red carpet, covered with white rose petals. To each side of the isle are seven rows of newly stained and repaired oak seats, with spotless vinyl cushions. Above me is the lofty ceiling supported by seemingly new spruce support beams, decorated with white ribbon, cloth, and sequins that drape down and over the banisters. All along the banisters of the seats are bouquets of white roses with light blue accent flowers that I don't recognize. I walk down the isle quickly, although it seems forever, because I am drinking in the scenery around me. Above me and in front of me is the stained glass skylight that Vincent has been working on countless hours. The stained glass depicts a girl with brown hair and a pink dress in the middle of a grove, kneeling with a bouquet of white flowers in her hands, looking skyward at a bright light in the air. This seems fitting, because the sun is shining down through the skylight, illuminating the podium, arbor, and preacher standing behind. The arbor is surrounded in carefully pruned ivy, and is also strung with blue lace and white ribbon. I finally reach the stage and take my place next to the preacher and gaze out at the people in front of me. I only recognize about half of them. There's Rude, Reno and Lewd…there's my "parents," who really aren't my parents but took care of me as child and who I believed up until about two years ago was my actual biological family. There's the gang in the front row, Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, Red XIII, and Kurt all lined up with looks of anticipation. I pause a second at Red XIII. I almost laugh out loud but manage to hold it in when I notice that he is wearing a specially tailored tux. How Tifa found a tailor willing to design one for a talking dog I don't know, but it looks absolutely hilarious on him, and Red XIII doesn't seem to comfortable in it either. I noticed at various intervals that he would shift his weight uncomfortably, or scratch at the collar or tie, only to have it apparently bug him all the more because he would look even more irritated after he scratched then before he started.

It was then that I noticed that Barrett had been escorting people to their various spots during the ceremony. First came Tifa's mom, followed by Tifa's grandmother, then Mrs. Gainsborough, who was a guest of honor, followed by Meredith (who was a flower girl)…

…followed by Tifa and her dad. My heart suddenly began to pound hard as I saw her emerge. Her dress was made of a variety of fabrics, all in pure white, of course. The dress itself was long and flowed gently around her body, and the silver sequins shone brightly the carefully laid designs of flowers and stars. She wore a pearl necklace with a silver pendant lined in blue that showed off her neck. Around her shoulders was a thin layer of see-through fabric that contrasted sweetly with her deep tan. She wore a veil made of the same see-through material, except that it was anchored to her head via a small crown lined with diamonds. Her hair shone brightly against the lights of the room, and seemed to flow with every step she took. Finally when she got close enough for me to see her face in detail, my heart skipped a beat and soared as I gazed into the face of the woman I loved more then anything else in the world. Her lips were a richly colored red, her cheeks faintly pink but full of her natural color. Her eyes were lined with a gentle eye shadow, and decorated with those little sparkly things that girls put on their skin sometimes these days. And her eyes and lips smiled wider and brighter then I had ever seen them before. No more was there any desire in both our hearts but to be by each other's side, and no longer was there any fear nor obstacle in our way.

She walked up to me, and symbolically releasing her father, let go of his hand and I took her hand in mine. Barrett then appeared somehow behind me, and it was his presence as Best Man that made me notice that there were no bridesmaids.

No bridesmaids?

My eyes penetrated Tifa's looking for an answer. She had told me herself weeks ago that she had a bridesmaid. Where was she?

And then I knew.

Out of the light of the stained glass window there was the figure of a girl in a pink dress, on her knees, holding white flowers and looking skyward. The light shining through the glass at that moment seemed to create the image of a girl I had long known and hadn't seen but once in almost two years.

Aerieth, weather by trick of the light, or actually there in some ghostly form, was standing as the bridesmaid behind Tifa.

And then as quickly as it had come, the vision disappeared, and I heard the audience take a deep breath, some sighing, some surprised. Mrs. Gainsborough began to cry quietly, but everyone else took heart in what we had just seen, and the preacher at last began to weave the words that bound our lives together.

I heard him say, "Cloud, do you take this woman to be your wife, through thick and through thin, through sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, as long as you both shall live?" Tifa, looked at me lovingly through her veil as I looked at her and said, "I do." Likewise, Tifa in turn said the same words, and after I put the wedding band upon her finger, I was allowed to lift the veil from off her face. We smiled in a sweet mixture of joy, exhilaration, relief, and love as I reached for her and kissed her.

And for just a moment, no one in the world existed but her, and me. That moment, thought everything else that night seemed so quick and so difficult to remember in detail, stayed with me in perfect memory throughout my life.

The reception was held in a large building that was now used as a dance club, but Tifa and her family had it reserved and redecorated it for the entire night. I remember meeting the many people who I had not recognized (mostly Tifa's extended family or childhood friends) and having many pictures taken of the two of us. I remember when the DJ started the dance that I was so thrilled to finally be able to talk to Tifa alone, even if only for a brief moment. The slow song found us dancing arm in arm, and kissing, not talking as I had thought I would do, during the song. And when we weren't kissing enveloped in our love, I filled the time by singing to her along with the song, which if I remember right was "I Swear."

Finally it came time for us to leave and head for our home, which in the morning we would leave behind to go to Costa del Sol, where we would live in luxury for a week. I found the limousine that was to take us home covered in toilet paper, cans, car-chalk, balloons, and even freshly sliced ham on the windshield. On the back were the words, "Love mobile." I figured at that point that that was a touch from Cid. I helped Tifa in with her dress and sat next to her. I looked at the chauffeur, who seemed a little annoyed at the ham on the windshield, and told him to "Take us home, good man."

"So how's it feel, Cloud?" Tifa said as she maneuvered her dress around to make herself more visible. "I've never felt better," I responded. "You know," I continued, "I've heard a lot of guys say how different they felt after they got married, like they were tied down. I don't feel that way at all. If anything, I feel better now that I'm not single." Tifa laughed a little, and then leaned her head against my shoulder. I then realized that it was actually nine o'clock at night. Jeez, where had the time gone? I leaned my head against hers and we blissfully rode home.

We arrived at my small house in a few minutes. Again, I helped Tifa out of the door with her dress, but, after dismissing the chauffeur and giving him a big tip, I swept Tifa off of her feet and she giggled as I led her up the steps and through the door into my house. "I know it's not fancy, but—" "I love you anyway, Cloud," she interrupted.

I changed out of my tux and made sure all my stuff was ready for the next week. I finally slipped into bed while Tifa changed carefully out of her large dress in the bathroom. I wanted to stay awake for Tifa, but I suddenly felt exhausted. I did manage to stay awake long enough to see her slip into bed with me, and I put my arm around her, smelled her lovely, never ending lilac smell, told her how much I loved her, and then fell to sleep.

The next day Cid took us aboard a private trip to Costa del Sol in Highwind. He didn't talk much to us, but mostly because Tifa and I talked to each other non-stop about the night before—about how Cid had almost passed out drinking a little too much wine, about how funny Barrett had looked when he realized that there was no bridesmaid to be seen (something that I had not noticed), and a number of other things we discussed in nervous anticipation.

We arrived and Cid helped us with our luggage before he blasted off in a strange hurry. Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of Costa del Sol, lost looking for our hotel. Though I will say my arms got tired lugging around all of the luggage all by myself as we hunted desperately for our hotel, it was also one of the highlights of the honeymoon for me. I don't know why. It was somehow fulfilling in its own way.

We found our hotel, and dropped off our stuff. The first thing we did was go out to dinner at a five star restaurant…which ended up being very interesting. The menu had all these weird things on it that I had never heard of, and we both eventually picked the calamari, because, according to Tifa, it was quite good. Tifa liked the stuff, of course, but I thought it was disgusting. I ended up going back to the hotel rather hungry that night. I did manage to find a store that was still open late that night, and I bought some granola bars and some cereal to tide us over until the next day.

That night, fully awake, I waited for Tifa who was taking a late night shower. She finally emerged and slipped into bed, but to my surprise she was wearing a full set of pajamas. I took the hint, put my arm around her waist, and fell to sleep, lulled to sleep by the faint fragrance of her skin and perfume.

The next few days were fast and fun. We did a number of different things, like volleyball and stuff. We saw a local aquarium and found some decent restaurants this time, and we also went swimming and sunbathing together, which I was kind of glad for, because I got to show off my six pack, and I also got to laugh at my farmers tan. Tifa seemed all the more beautiful to me each and every day. Every moment that I got to hold her I wished could have extended forever.

And every night I waited for her but found that she would not invite me to her for some reason.

All too quickly a week ended, and Cid reappeared with Highwind to take us to Mideel. Cid remarked how tanned we looked, and how burnt I looked as he looked more closely at me. We laughed and we blasted off.

Finally in Mideel, Cid said goodbye for the last time for a long time, and I escorted my new wife to our final home. She seemed to positively glow as we passed and talked to all the neighbors and townsfolk. She never ceased to amaze me.

At the front of our steps, she started to open the door when suddenly I stopped her. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" "Going inside," she replied innocently. "Why, is something wrong?" "No," I replied. "I just want to make this official." "Oh," she said giggling again. She let herself be swept off her feet for the last time, and I carried her into the house that we would live in for many years to come. It was good to finally be able to say to myself that we were finally home at last.

That night was different from the rest. As I lay waiting for Tifa to finish taking a shower I noticed that she was taking longer then usual. It didn't cross my mind that she was getting ready.

After what seemed like almost an hour, she emerged finally out of the darkness. There she was standing in nothing but that T-shirt that I had seen her wearing a few months earlier. I could plainly see that there was nothing else on underneath it, and as she slipped into bed with me, I knew I could no longer deny her. "I love you, Cloud, with all of my heart." "Tifa, I love you too," I said as I reached for her. She let me slowly take off her shirt, and I in turn let her take off my own clothes. She invited me to finally explore her deepest places, and to drink in her love. I gave all my love to her and her to me, and we were joined in the fruits of the flesh, loving long into the night. My muscles melted under her touch, and she giggled when I showered her neck, stomach, and secret places with kisses. Her touch was like sweet honey that dripped slowly forever, and her smell drove me insane with lust and love. I couldn't help but feel the joy as I searched and dug and eventually unearthed the well of energy that lied within her.

Even after an eternity of pleasure and love, and even after I lay panting next to her exhausted, Tifa continued to drink and kiss and touch and love me until we both felt a feeling of mutual respect, love, appreciation, and gratitude that could only be overshadowed by the feeling of fulfillment we enjoyed. At that point Tifa finally stopped and laid her head upon my chest, her hand around my waist, and my arm lay around her shoulder. Looking back, I'm surprised that that night wasn't a dream. It was too good to be true, but true it was. I had never been happier.

I woke up to find that Tifa had disappeared. A wave of fear swept over me as I jumped out of bed looking for her. But my fear subsided as I found she was taking a shower. I smiled as I stealthily climbed into the shower and surprised her, but again she laughed and invited me in. She allowed me to wash her body from head to foot; something I had never done even during her year of insanity, and the morning was filled with the sweet smells of gentle love.

It was no surprise to me that a little over a month later, Tifa came to me making an announcement. "Cloud, how would you feel about being a father?" "A father?" I paused. It hadn't hit me yet. "Well…I think I'm ready for that. I'd like to start a fam—"and then it hit me. I ran over and hugged Tifa tightly as I spun her around. In truth, I hadn't put much thought into being a father, but the thought seemed exciting and fulfilling, so I wholeheartedly accepted it.

But three months later, I woke up to find Tifa crying next to me. "What's wrong, honey?" I asked concerned. She looked at me sorrowfully. "I just miscarriaged…" she replied, pointing to the bathroom. She put her head in her hands and balled. My heart suddenly felt crushed with disappointment, and the hopes and dreams we had shared for our unborn child suddenly were dashed to pieces. But knowing how much worse she felt then me as a mother, I reached for her and consoled her. "I wonder if something is wrong with me," she said at one point. "Nothing's wrong with you Tifa. Besides, it's only happened once, and if we need to go get some help, then we can do it." She sniffed and hugged me tightly. "I love you so much…"

That night, we made love again. But this time we had the goal of having a child, not just sharing our mutual love. We now wanted to have a family, and I felt ready for the responsibility of a father. So once again, we drank each other dry and we both woke up feeling fulfilled and with an even greater appreciation and connection between each other.

A little over a year after our anniversary, our first child was born successfully. It was a girl, a lovely little girl. I was the first to hold her after Tifa's long ordeal with the labor, and got to cut the umbilical cord and to wrap her in a pink blanket, then finally place her into Tifa's arms.

Looking at the two of them, a new realization and feeling swept over me.

I thought I had known what love was when I first kissed Tifa.

I thought I had known what love was when I finally discovered how much Tifa meant to me.

I thought I had known what love was when I married Tifa.

I thought I had known what love was after our night of love.

But here I was, gazing at my wife and brand new daughter, and I suddenly felt a new love and feeling of responsibility towards this child and to Tifa. I thought I had known what love was like, until now, and to try to describe it surpasses this man's ability.

And so the story comes full circle. After many years of hard work, danger, success and failure, my story concludes here. Though not for my daughter. Raina Aerieth Strife is her name, and with a curiosity for adventure, a slightly tomboyish attitude, and the looks and personality oddly similar to Aerieth (though with black hair), I know that she is bound to get into trouble some day. But for now, I'm content to see my wife hold her in her arms, and to see Tifa smile in a way I had never known possible.

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I conclude my story here. I hope you all have enjoyed it.

But the real question is, what will happen to Raina, Cloud and Tifa's daughter?

Sorry folks, but I'm not the one to tell you. However, if any of you out there would like to write a follow-up story on Raina's life, please go ahead. Just email me and tell me you're doing it so I can read it.

Raina looks strangely like Aerieth, and acts a lot like her too, but she has a tom-boy side to her that she inherited from Tifa. She has blue (glowing) eyes, and she is fluent in using the sword, her fists, as well as using her personal favorite weapon, the staff. She has long black hair almost identical to her mothers, much like several other physical features. In fact, the only noticeable trait that she inherited from her father is his blue eyes.

She also likes to go swimming in life-stream some times. She is completely immune to its effects, but sometimes she can hear voices from the deep while swimming in it. Are these voices calling to her? Are they warning her of something?

I'll leave you to decide what happens. Good luck! And again, thank you for all the kind reviews and especially for your patience as I wrote this story extremely slowly. Thank you again, and adieu!

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