Morning Love

by: Misty 2

Notes- Unlike my other fics, this is not a humor story. However, in true Misty 2 style, there is a surprise ending. Still, you have been warned that this is not funny (or at least not intended to be!).
Summary- A sweet scene of love and affection, featuring Cloud Strife, but with a *HUGE* twist at the end!

***

The first thing I saw when I woke up from my deep sleep were the eyes of a woman staring at me.

"Morning, Cloud," my wife whispered in a tired voice, "I woke up just a minute before you."

I silenced her, kissing her on the forehead. "What were you doing staring at me like that?" I asked curiously.

She giggled quietly. "You look so peaceful when you sleep, I just had to watch you."

"Such devotion," I teased her, running my fingers through my hair, trying to get it to stick up.

She looked at me in an odd way. "I'll still never understand your devotion to sticking your hair straight up, no matter how much I love you."

I groaned good naturedly and self consciously moved my hands away from around my hair and wrapped them around my wife's beautiful body.

She smiled at me. "You remember what day it is, right?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "I'd never forget it was our first wedding anniversary today!"

"Well, you didn't remember our sixth month anniversary, Cloud," she replied.

"Hey, I've changed since then!" I exclaimed in mock anger.

She laughed. It was a pretty laugh, one I loved to hear. "Cloud, you have changed in six months. But nothing like the changes we've seen in each other since that fateful day seven years ago. we've both changed so much from...."

Seven years ago. I would never forget the day that all of us had defeated Sephiroth together. It had been a day that I'd thought had changed me forever, but things had only become worse for a while. Although I was not so confused anymore, the victory had left me empty. "I ran off to Chocobo farms," I said in a frustrated voice. "What a moron I was back then! And I spent three years running around, living off the land on my own."

"My life after the war wasn't much better," she answered. "I felt lost without you or anyone else around to help me. I went off into the woods, with nothing but my clothes, weapon, and materia."

I clutched her closely, both of us shaking as we remembered our lonely years of terror. "What made us so vulnerable?" I asked in all seriousness. "Most people seemed to do pretty well. Cid finally broke down and married Shera. Barret settled in Kalm with Marlene and Elmyra lived with them. Vincent went back into his coffin. Everyone else seemed to be doing things that they enjoyed."

"For me, it was my love for you," my wife began. "I tried to tell you how I felt on our date 7 years ago, but it didn't work out."

"I was pretty dense back then, wasn't I?" I laughed.

"You deserved an award for stupidity that night!" she said, smiling coyly.

"I never thought about you romantically," I admitted. "To me, you were always just a kid, my little sister. I ran off was because I was so confused about myself."

"But my efforts all came to fruition when we met by chance four years ago," she said happily. "Three years after we both ran off."

I smiled as I remembered that moment. "I was so thrilled just to see someone that I knew. You looked different then when I'd last seen you. More mature. But you still had a wonderful spirit."

"I was just thrilled to meet the man I'd wanted for so long," she said. "You looked the same as always, just with longer hair. After meeting each other, we both decided to go to Kalm together."

"When we went back to Kalm, I became fast friends with you," I remembered. "We had a great rapport. Gradually, I came out of my shell. And after a while, I realized that I loved you."

"And when you finally proposed, it was such an exciting day!" she interrupted me in her excitement. "I knew that you, Cloud Strife, were the right man for me."

"And one year ago, we had our wedding. Seven friends defeated Sephiroth with us-"

"And only five came," she finished. "Our coffin sleeping Vincent obviously missed it,- and Aeris." The last word came out of her mouth as a sad whisper.

I put my arms around her even more tightly. "I miss her, too," I said quietly, trying to wipe the tears coming down her face.

Abruptly, the tears stopped flowing. "What am I doing?" she gasped. "The is our anniversary. Our day. I'm going to be be happy."

I smiled. "So am I. I want this to be a special day for us- our day."

"Oh, Cloud," she said happily pecking me on the cheek as she got out of bed. "Ready for some breakfast?"

"Wait!" I called, also stepping out of bed. "Come here."

As she walked over I grabbed my love and gave her a passionate kiss. She happily returned the kiss, as it went on for over a minute.

"What was that for?" she asked after we finally broke the kiss.

"Because you're so special," I said, giving her a genuine smile. "Now, I'm up for breakfast!"

But just after taking a few steps, she turned around to face me. "I love you, Cloud Strife."

My smile grew even bigger. "I love you too, Yuffie Kisaragi."

THE END

Did I completely surprise you at the end, or did you guess it right away? Or somewhere in-between? Let me know how well I did in the comments!