MOMENTS OF OUR LIFETIME
One-shot Number One
810 words.

Maiden's Kiss

. o . o . o . o .

Humid, disgusting, Shiva-forsaken-

"Tifa?"

The brunette woman jerked out of her reverie and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Nanaki. What were you saying?"

The large fire cat gave her a forgiving fanged grin before turning his head to the east. "Beyond those trees. Cloud wants to explore over that way, but it seems that there are some creatures guarding the way. Are you prepared for a sneak attack?" Cloud glanced back at the two of them with an eyebrow raised, his sword gleaming from the sun filtering down from above.

Tifa nodded and tugged her gloves on tighter. "Ready."

. o . o . o . o .

"It had to be Maiden's Kiss. Of all the things we didn't stock up on before we came here, it had to be Maiden's Kiss." Tifa set aside her pack and stared woefully at a transformed Cloud. "Why didn't you change back at the end of the battle, Cloud?"

He ribbited and hopped up onto Nanaki's head. The cat went cross-eyed trying to see him. "Are you quite sure there aren't anymore Maiden's Kisses?"

"Yeah...I triple checked." The girl sighed and set her chin in her hand. "What are we doing to do?"

It was silent for a moment, save for Cloud's echoing ribbit. Nanaki suddenly threw his head back, sending Cloud flying to the ground.

"My apologies, Cloud. But I have an idea..." He paused and laid his head onto his paws in a sheepish way. "Though...I am not sure of how you would take it."

"We might as well try anything. We're probably miles away from the others, and even if we do meet up with them, it's not guaranteed that they have Maiden's Kisses either," Tifa replied. Froggy Cloud crawled up onto her knee, and absentmindedly she gave him a light poke. He swatted her finger away with a webbed hand.

"You could try giving Cloud a kiss."

Tifa jerked, smacking Froggy Cloud hard enough to send him flying again.

"What?" she gasped.

"Well..." Nanaki looked like he was regretting telling her his thoughts, ears pressed all the way down to his head. "You are a maiden. Maybe your kiss could bring him back."

Tifa was embarrassed, horrified, and disgusted all at once. "I'm not so sure that would work, my kisses don't exactly have magical properties you know, and-and I'm not too excited to be kissing a frog," she said in a rush. Nanaki glanced to where Froggy Cloud was sitting, looking dazed from being swatted away.

"I'm afraid we don't have any other choice Tifa," the fire cat said gently. "But it's the only thing I can think of that might help. If we're going to continue on exploring we'll need Cloud's strength."

It was silent again as Tifa thought on this. Froggy Cloud took this opportunity to collect himself and hop back over to her. Burgandy eyes blinked in surprise as the webbed hands set themselves on her thigh, bright Mako blue eyes blinking back at her. I trust you. I always have.

. o . o . o . o .

"...Tifa. Is there a good reason why you are taking all of the Maiden's Kisses from my pack?"

"Sorry Vincent. This is an emergency." Vincent turned to Nanaki, eyes asking for an explanation. The red cat shook his head in answer with a feline grin, his lone eye watching the girl raid a protesting Cid's backpack. After going through the rest of her team-mate's bags as well, she finally shoved an armful of Maiden's Kisses into an embarrassed Cloud's arms.

"Cloud, I love you, but I'm never doing that again," she declared, and walked away with her head held high.

"Can we please get going now? I really hate this forest! There's so many bugs I can't stand it!"

"Oh quit your fucking whining, you hyper-active ninja brat!"

"You take that back!"

. o . o . o . o .

It wasn't until later, after they'd discovered his Apocalypse sword, after they'd hiked back out of the forest and emerged with bug bites, sweaty bodies, and uneven tans, after trekking back to Cosmo Canyon and collapsing into bed...it wasn't until then did Cloud realize that Tifa's words could have meant something more.

"Hey...Tifa?"

"...Mmm...hm?"

Cloud's lips hesitantly mouthed the words...once...twice...three times. By the time he managed to speak it out loud she was already peacefully asleep, the source of her Maiden's Kiss curved into a content smile. Cloud watched her for a long while until a small grin spread over his features.

Next time then...

. o . o . o . o .

How did you manage to keep him frog-ified?

It wasn't that hard. I just asked the nice frog to hit him with a more powerful version of its toxin.

Isn't he going to turn back into a frog? I mean...Tifa's kiss was only a temporary solution, and he didn't use a real Maiden's Kiss on himself. Aeris? Where are you going? Aeris! You didn't answer my question!

. F . i . n .

Author's Notes:

...When I say Maiden's Kiss...does anyone else imagine it in some kind of spray bottle or something? How do they keep stuff like this in storage?

Um...yes. I hope this didn't come out too horribly... I just recently borrowed Final Fantasy VII from a friend, so I'm getting acquainted with the storyline. Like...I knew the storyline before, but now that I'm playing it, all the loose ends are tied up and I have a better understanding of it.

...Does/Did anyone else have a ridiculously hard time breeding the Golden Chocobo? I swear I must've tried mating my Wonderful and Black Chocobo thirty times or more, and I haven't come up with the Golden Chocobo... -sniffle-

Anyways, review please? Any suggestions for other one-shots are welcome -smile-

Oh, and this is going to go down here, since I think this is where it belongs...
Final Fantasy VII and its characters do not belong to me.

Kaythxbai.