Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IV

Hey! Sorry I'm a day late...

Update: Okay, so I lost a bunch of my chapters so I'm afraid this is going to be the last one for a while T.T I'm really sorry! Blame the ether into which a bunch of my writing has fallen!

Enjoy!

028. Ignore

The day started innocuously enough. Tifa And Cloud rose together at about seven and got ready for the day. They made their way around the flat above the bar, ate, and decided what they were going to do that day. Cloud read the newspaper, sighing and tired, as Tifa buttered a stack of toast. They didn't really talk much, but they often found that they didn't much need to. So much had already passed between them at this point. So many years, so many changes. So much heartbreak. Tifa turned her head slightly to look at Cloud. She wondered how it had come to this. They were in their late forties now, married for twenty-three years and with five children - Denzel and Marlene had long left their house, but the 20-year-old twins and a son aged 18 still remained. At some point during their marriage, they had changed. Tifa has gone through many phases of loving Cloud. A limerent teenager, a frustrated twenty-year-old, heartbroken, and confused and then a desperate ultimatum as he hid in that church. And when he finally came back, they had so many cold conversations in rooms filled with icy silence and words left unsaid bubbling just beneath the surface.

And then, they married. And they were happy for years as they welcomed new children. But the happiness, it faded somewhere. Life settled into the quiet routine of monotony.

"What?" Cloud met Tifa's eyes as she gazed at him, a knife clutched in one hand and a slice of toast unbuttered in the other.

Tifa smiled, shaking her head. Cloud frowned, opening his mouth to say something when the door creaked open.

It was their youngest son.

Cloud quickly abandoned whatever it was he was going to say. "Ken? Is everything okay?"

Ken entered the kitchen and closed the door behind him with a soft click. He didn't look into Tifa or Cloud's eyes as he sat down, running a hand through light brunette hair. He looked every inch his father's son now, Tifa thought.

"Ken?" Tifa asked, softer than Cloud had, learning towards him to look at his face.

"Mom? Dad?" He began, and his voice made him sound every inch the scared little boy he looked. "I have something to tell you."

He swallowed hard and knitted his hands together. "I... Jayne, my girlfriend?"

"Yes." Cloud replied, clutching his newspaper very steadily. Tifa could tell by the small twinges in his biceps that he was readying himself just like he used to for battle, all those years ago.

"She's... we're having a baby."

Tifa let out a long sigh. Relief, probably. She didn't know. Ken still wouldn't look at either of his parents, and the silence settled in before Tifa realised, and too late for her to rectify it.

"I'm going over to her's." He declared, upset clear in his voice, and left before Tifa could stop him.

As soon as he'd gone, she stabbed the knife back into the butter block and cursed at herself. She turned to look at Cloud, who had finally put down the newspaper. He was just staring, out into nowhere.

And then, suddenly, he got up.

"I'm going out." He declared, and Tifa always knew what that meant. It meant he was going to her church.

"Oh, no you don't!" Tifa roared, and pulled him back by the collar of his shirt. "We're going to stay here, figure out what to do, go and find our son, and apologise!" She said, panting with the fury and something in Cloud's eyes flashed, somewhere in the faded mako depths.

He nodded once, slowly, and then again. "You're right."

Tifa scoffed, "were you really just going to leave? Abandon our son when he needed it? This isn't another problem you can just ignore!"

"Another?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"Yes, another. How about all those years we spent before we got married? That was a problem you just ignored while you hid in her church!"

"I- I couldn't cope!"

"Neither could I! But if we'd talked, communicated at all, we would've solved everything so much faster." A few tears spilt from her eyes. "All those years we wasted, all that time we could've spent together. And sometimes I wonder..."

Cloud stepped closer to Tifa. "What?"

"... whether it was even worth it." She whispered, looking down at the ground, trying desperately to stop the tears.

Something in Cloud flared. "No. No. Do not say that."

He pulled Tifa's chin up with a finger, and looked into her eyes, tucking some hair behind her ears and wiping away her tears. "It was worth every second, for me. I'm... I'm sorry." He looked to the side, unable to meet her wide, trusting eyes for a moment. "I know I seem cold, quiet, uncaring. But I love you." He met her eyes again. "I really... I really do love you."

It had taken years and years for him to say that once, and now every time he did say it, it felt like a dream. Their marriage, Tifa knew, wasn't perfect. But no marriage ever was.

"I know. I love you too."

She sighed.

"We need to go and find Ken, and after that, we should talk." A bolt of fear widened Cloud's eyes. "No- nothing like that. I mean, we need to just go over a few things."

Cloud nodded. "Let's take Fenrir."

A grin passed Tifa's face. It had been years since they'd ridden Fenrir together.

Tifa quickly penned a note for the twins and they raced out together, giggling like teenagers as they mounted Fenrir. Tifa held on tight as Cloud navigated them towards the place they knew Ken had gone; Midgar Town, not fifteen minutes from their bar in Edge.

They'd met Jayne, the lovely girl with black hair and leaf green eyes, only a few times before. The girl whose parents had died in an accident fifteen years ago, and who lived with her aunt.

Cloud and Tifa nodded at each other before they knocked on the door. They thought this was the right house, at least.

They were right, Jayne opened the door with a smile that slackened as soon as she saw Cloud and Tifa.

"Ken?" She shouted, and took a few steps back.

"No-" Tifa began, and took a step forward. "We don't want to cause any trouble! We're here to help."

Ken appeared, having overheard his mother's words. He smiled, and let out a shuddering laugh, relief overwhelming him. Jayne looked from Ken to his parents, and back again, reaching out to hold his hand. Cloud noticed, with a nudge to Tifa, the sparkling ring on her fourth finger. Cloud smiled in approval - not a big smile, but enough of a sign to show his approval.

"Please, come in." She said, the smile back on her face. She held the door open for Cloud and Tifa, who thanked her as they entered.

So as I mentioned above, I'm afriad this is it (untill I rewrite everything I wrote... T.T)

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