Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children are properties of Square Enix.

A/n: I'm trying a multi chapter for a change, something that focuses on Cloud's thoughts when he was away and the Cloud/Tifa confrontation (sort of) right after AC. Hope you like it.

Dreamer's crescendo

Summary: Leaving her never meant that he'd stop dreaming of her. Cloud x Tifa

Hero of the universe

She felt like a stranger to the hero of the universe.

Even when he knew no one better.

The brush of comfort he radiated with his presence was gentle against her heart, like soothing fingers, sweeping away the fading traces of loneliness. But Tifa was terrified of giving into the comfort, more than she'd ever been before.

Her misty gaze swept across a room rattled with celebrations and found the lone man standing in the corner, leaning against the circular wall, looking exhausted and feeling happy. And in her heart, a familiar pang of something she was reluctant to name as pain, once again, shot through, forcing the delicate features of her face to crumble into a wince softened only by the soothing laughter of her children.

The metallic walls of Cid's new airship vibrated with the music and the laughter that echoed within. The sound was heavy and loud in her ears, a constant pounding upon her sharp hearing, but it did little to drown the soft, lazy whispers of her insecurities echoing in her mind.

It hurt to feel like a stranger to Cloud, but he'd been gone for so long, leaving at a time so turbulent, that Tifa couldn't find it anywhere inside her to lift her hopes again. There had been so many things the hero of the universe had shared with his childhood friend, things that went far beyond the simple materiality of a shared house, all shattered by the decision he'd made to leave her and their children in the unforgiving hands of time.

The turmoil inside her only grew, cruelly expanding in her heart when she set her weary gaze on Cloud again. Emotions she wasn't sure she welcomed spiraled to the surface of her thoughts and her body tensed suddenly, bracing for an attack she had no power to avoid.

Cloud Strife had always had a considerable effect on her.

Cloud, she inwardly whispered, the fear and the sorrow that laced her unspoken words inaudible to all but herself. I don't know how to be with you anymore.

She knew she still meant a lot to him. That she still meant the world to him but the familiarity of his gaze and the comfort of his words were fading away and with it the security and the easiness he'd once made her feel.

She couldn't stop being a bit more wary around him, a bit more careful, less ready to be the person she was with her friends. It was almost like she was dealing with one of the strangers she'd met in her journey though life. Always pleasant, always polite and just a little reserved.

The awkwardness was breaking her heart, but it stayed there, growing inside her, along with well-hidden traces of the hurt and loneliness he'd given her when he left her alone.

Between them, things had gone fairly well when the world was still in danger and her children were taken. Back then, her only thought was to bring them back and no awkwardness or hurt would have been strong enough to stand in her way. But now, now when everything was back to normal, she was as far from it as possible.

I'm scared of you, she admitted to herself feeling tears burning behind her eyes. I'm scared of not being myself for you. I'm scared of not being enough of myself for you. I'm scared of looking at you and seeing a stranger and of talking to you and being a stranger.

You're a dreamer Cloud, a drifting dreamer who knows no reality. You're a dreamer too busy dreaming of a life that belongs in a different universe to dream of one right here. And your dreams broke mine and I can only wait in this universe and watch you venture into another.

I'm here Cloud, but you shouldn't be. Reality is too harsh for dreamers.

I learned that from you.

Remember? Once upon a time, I was a dreamer too.

But Tifa had stopped dreaming when he started. Cloud's dreams were ones that shattered hers, contradicting hers in the most hurtful of ways. She couldn't be with Cloud when Cloud wanted to be with Aerith. It was really that simple.

She was grateful that he'd come to the celebration. He made the children happy. He made her happy by being here.

But being here meant she would watch him walk away again, and Tifa didn't think she could live through the sorrow of having him leave her once again. It was easier to avoid dealing with him even if that thought alone was a dagger to her heart.

But Tifa had little choice and, forcing all the thoughts out of her mind, she slipped away heading outside, leaving behind her a raging party, a deafening celebration, and a worried hero.