Title: What's love got to do with it? – Part Two
Rating: G
Realm: Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children
Pairings: RenoxCloud, CloudxTifa
Genre: romance, drama
Warnings: Umm… nothing really.
Word-count:1093
Summary: Reno offers Cloud something that they both want, however Cloud manages to make things more complicated than what would appear at first sight.
Notes: This part was really tough for me to write, I tried to make this as realistic as possible; but I'm not sure I made it through.
Beta: the awesome youko no hisui (Livejournal) has made this readable

- - -

Three days had passed since Cloud had last seen Reno, the other having left him alone since their meeting at Terra's bar. Three days during which Cloud had been thinking more than ever before, about what he wanted with Reno and life in general.

Cloud hadn't spoken to Tifa yet; however, he warily approached her on that fourth day as she sat behind the bar of Seventh Heaven and leafed through the newspaper she'd picked up a few hours ago; a half-finished cup of coffee was in her hand.

"Tifa…" he began, watching how she almost instantly looked up, a look of happiness on her face, only to see it dissolve into a more cautious one as she saw his facial expression.

"We need to talk."

Wordlessly, Tifa went over to the entrance of her bar, though she sometimes let him take care of it, and locked the door. For a brief moment, she glanced up towards their living quarters, silently communicating that though they had their privacy for the moment, the children were still in the building.

"I don't know where to begin," Cloud said after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "It's all so confusing, he-" Cloud stopped mid-sentence, uncertain on how to bring this subject up. "I…" He just shook his head to himself, letting soft blonde bangs hide his eyes.

Suddenly, Tifa made a small 'oh' of understanding, and she gave the briefest of smiles before motioning towards the barstools. She settled down on the stool next to Cloud, their knees touching. "This is about Reno, isn't it?"

Cloud looked at her for the briefest moment before glancing away and saying nothing, forcing down the instinct to violently deny that this had anything to do with the redheaded Turk. Finally, he gave a curt nod, and Tifa grasped his right hand, squeezing gently.

"Cloud, I've known you since we were little," she said in a surprisingly soft tone of voice, like when comforting a small child or a frightened animal… or a startled chocobo-head. The words crossed Tifa's mind before she could stop them. Reno would say that. He would have totally butted in with his comments like they were so important, if he were here. She blocked out her mental image of a laughing Reno and focused on the matter at hand.

"I've always known that you were… drawn… to men."

At this, Cloud met the depths of her chocolate brown eyes, his eyes full of so many emotions—surprise and shock to her insight at the forefront; she had known things about him that he hadn't even realized himself until just recently.

After pausing for several seconds, she continued quietly, without the slightest trace of humour in her voice.

"To be quite honest, I half-expected you to already be with him. I can't pretend that it hasn't been eating at me, picturing you with someone else," and here Tifa lowered her head to look at their interlinked hands. "But at the same time, I know that it's unavoidable."

They were silent for some minutes, and then Cloud raised his hands to gently cup her face. His thumbs caressed her cheekbones before he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"I can't believe that you accept this," he murmured.

"Not accepting it would mean losing you."

There was bitterness in her voice at that statement, and Cloud shook his head, drawing back from her a little so they looked one another in the eye.

"I'd never leave you and the kids," Cloud protested. "You're my family. Reno is…" the ex-SOLDIER paused for a moment, trying to find a word suitable for the redhead, but found himself unable to do so. "…Reno. Even though I know that Reno and myself have nothing more than a physical attraction towards one another, it feels as if I should feel something more towards him, like I owe him that much. But I don't."

Tifa shook her head and gave the barest of scoffs, rising up from her seat and walking around him. As she moved, she let her hand drag around his shoulder in a familiar manner.

"I know that you care about us, Cloud," she said with a small sigh, walking over to stand on the other side of the bar, opposite him. "But not everything is about love. Sometimes it's just about what the body needs."

Somehow it felt very bizarre that the love of his life was telling him about that sometimes you just had to get laid and that it had nothing to do with feelings at all; but then again, he was the one who had initiated this discussion. Or, well, technically, it was Reno who had first brought it up, but who was counting anyhow?

"I never thought I'd hear those words from you," Cloud said with a slightly crooked smile, showing a side that he rarely let anyone but Tifa see—the one from when they'd been young.

Tifa shook her head slowly. "I think I'm taking this so calmly because, in a way, you're far younger than your real age."

Cloud frowned and looked at her searchingly, but she offered no explanation to her words. Finally, he just shook his head as well and said nothing.

A silence spread between the two of them—one unlike any other silence that had ever stretched out in their company. Cloud knew that he now had Tifa's permission to see Reno, but how do you really continue a conversation when you are with lover A who knows that you wish to be with lover B? At length, he sighed and rose from his chair, walking towards the door, figuring he would take a ride on his Fenrir.

"Cloud," Tifa called just as he reached the door. The blonde turned around and looked back at her. He saw that she had turned to do something by the coffee maker, her back turned to him.

"Yes?"

"If he hurts you, I'll kill him."

Bright, emerald-green eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he gave a nod and the barest of smiles.

"I know you will… And Tifa?" He paused.

"Thank you."

After the door closed behind him, he failed to notice the heart-rending sob that escaped Tifa as she broke down completely, unable to uphold the mask of calm any longer.

They said that if you truly loved someone, you had to let them go—but saying it and actually doing it were completely different matters. It seemed to be that no matter what—love hurt.