Author's Note – Just a little drabble I've been rolling around in my head after reading something about Tifa keeping a diary. There's absolutely no action in this story. Just mush and fluff and so very lemony! If you don't like it, then I suggest not reading beyond this paragraph. I decided to write this from Tifa's point of view because I want to keep Cloud's thoughts a complete mystery, forcing him to talk a lot more than he probably wants to. And besides, I'm exclusively reserving Cloud's point of view for my upcoming sequel of "Break Me Down". The chapters in this story are much, much shorter than you'll see in any of my other fanfics, but I plan to post one every day…at least while my creative juices continue to flow.

THE ONLY CHANCE

By Marisa

Chapter 1

Sunday Morning, March 23

Dear Diary:

I had a dream about Cloud last night. He came home from a delivery and practically mauled me behind the bar…and I don't mean in a bad way. I woke up in a cold sweat. It was so weird. This was the first time I'd ever had a dream like that about him. Maybe it was the pepperoni pizza we ate for dinner last night.

Cloud walked into the kitchen, his clunky boots scuffing loudly across the tiles.

I nearly jumped out of the chair and quickly slammed my diary shut. Luckily he went straight for the refrigerator. Not wanting him to tease me about keeping a personal diary, I slipped it underneath my butt just as he came and sat down at the table.

He reached for a napkin from the nearby stack and tossed a couple pieces of cold pepperoni pizza on it.

I watched him with a frown as he quietly took bites out of one slice. Two things were going through my head. The first was, how in the world could he possibly find cold pepperoni pizza appealing for breakfast? And second, the sight of the pepperoni pizza only reminded me of the strange, yet pleasant dream I had the night before.

I bit my lower lip and physically turned my head away, pretending to be interested in the churning sounds coming out of the washing machine in the adjacent laundry room.

"Something wrong?" he asked, his mouth full.

I shook my head, not willing to trust my voice right at the moment.

"I'm gonna be late tonight, so don't wait up."

My head spun back around. "Where're you going?"

He finished the last bite of one slice of pizza. "Chocobo Farm. Old man Bill desperately needs a crate of Mimett Greens." He took a bite out of the second slice.

"Oh." I sounded a lot more disappointed than I actually intended. This wasn't the first time Cloud ever came home late. Sometimes he didn't come home for days. So why was I so disappointed all of a sudden?

Cloud pushed his chair back and got up. "See you tomorrow." As he started to pass me, his hand came around my face and lightly tweaked my cheek. It was a common occurrence…a bit of affection between friends. Cloud wasn't exactly a very touchy, feely kind of guy…but he had his moments.

I turned to watch his posterior as he went into the laundry room. The sounds of him strapping his weapons' harness to his back could be heard over the washer. That was followed by the back door opening and closing. And that was followed by the sound of Fenrir's engine revving loudly before fading away completely.

He was gone.

I retrieved my diary from under my butt and turned to the page I had been writing. But then I decided I had nothing more to say about the previous day's occurrences.

My mind wandered for a brief moment before I came back to reality and realized I was eating the half eaten slice of pepperoni pizza Cloud had left behind. I tossed it aside, trying my best to feel revolted over the idea of my lips touching anything that his lips had touched. I should have been grossed out. So why in the hell wasn't I?

If there's enough interest out there, I'll keep posting. Let me know what you think.