set right after the events of advent children.

Been away for a while and it's fine it's great it's forgiven and forgotten with how he waits until everyone is either drunk or tucked away in sleep so he can move behind the counter and steal a kiss. She's all sugar and honey and soft and he's broken in all the wrong places but she pieces him back together slowly, her patience his saving grace.

It's in her arms he finds shelter and he kisses her good, hand on the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair, a confidence he gets only when he's with her, she sinks into him, her knees weak, hands trembling, it's their first kiss since everything came crashing down upon them and there's an unspoken obligation to make it count, to let it mark the start of a new future.

Cloud can hear Yuffie yelling something at Cid outside, Barret's laughter, the children playing with Nanaki and begging Vincent to join them even though the man won't give in to their tag game. He can hear them, but still, right in this corner, he feels completely hidden and healed, Tifa's little sighs in his ear every time they break apart to catch their breaths reminding him that he's not dead.

It's an apology, a confession and a promise, his kiss, and it's time stopping the way she leans back to smile at him, cheeks all red, her pink lips a contrast to his pale, cracked ones. She's taking him back, letting him stay again, saving him one more time.

He knows his fears left marks and scars, he knows they're written all over their home, in the cracks of the ceiling, in shattered glasses and cold bed sheets, but he can mend them, he can fix all that is wrong, make it right, make it good. He's hers forever, it's the truth, he's hers forever.

Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, his forehead on hers, he stares into her eyes as if there's nothing else he wants to do, interrupted only by the loud bang of the bar door opening and Cid's lame excuse consisting of 'Aw fuck, shit, sorry, carry on'.

That's when they break down, look at each other and laugh and he holds her hand, his touch letting her know how sorry he is, but she gives him a peck on the lips, shakes her head and as she leads him outside he hopes she understands she's the reason his heart is beating so fast, the reason adrenaline is constantly swiming through his veins, accomodating her like a second skin, he hopes, he does, he hopes she knows her care is the only thing that can calm the noisy chaos within him.