A/N: So this is my first attempt at a FFVII fiction collection. I hope I don't disappoint. I am pretty well immersed in this fandom so I don't think I will be straying too far off of canon very often. So this is a whack at a CloTi fic. I think that I am going to make this into a collection of drabbles and one shots, each chapter with a new prompt about Cloud and Tifa's first kiss. Let's see how this goes. R&R, because I really need some feedback to know if people are enjoying my work and if I need to continue it or 'nip it in the bud' before it gets out of control. Lol

BTW: I am taking requests for prompts. I know that a lot of people do this, but it's hard to come up with bunches of prompts for the same theme and have everyone like them for originality. So, feel free to leave me a review or PM me if there is something that you would like me to write on. The continuing theme is Cloud and Tifa's First Kiss. So I am going to need a bunch of different scenarios that people want to see Cloud and Tifa have their first kiss. Some of these will be lemons, others limes, and some just sweet/innocent little drabbles.

Disclaimer: Clearly I do not own any of the FFVII characters, locations, spells, weapons, or anything else in Gaia that is clearly not mine. They belong to Square Enix. I have made a few tweaks to the canon, but nothing major.

Warning: This one-shot is rated a strong T or a soft M for language, innuendos, and mild sexual situations, no lemons yet, but those will come later.

Timeline and Location: This takes place at the 7th Heaven bar a few weeks to a month after the incidents in Advent Children.

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For years she has watched him. She has witnessed him grow from that scrawny, shy, awkward, slate-eyed chocobo stable boy from quaint little Neibelheim into the strong, stubborn, agile, mako-luminescent blue-eyed ex-SOLDIER that he is today.

To say that she is proud of him for being as stoic as he is…is an understatement. He has been through just about every kind of mental torture that there is in Gaia. He has lost his family to the war while he was away training, Zack to Shinra while he lay paralyzed nearby, Aerith to Sephiroth when he was just steps away from rescuing her, and his own sanity went with it all. Personally, she would have gone bat-shit crazy by now and probably ended her life.

It wasn't until after Cloud defeated Sephiroth for the third time that the ex-SOLDIER was finally able to receive a little inner peace. But he had been rather distant lately, never really saying much other than what needed to be said. It was starting to worry the dark-haired woman. 'At least those damn remnants were good for something in that they triggered him to forgive himself for the things he couldn't change and open his eyes to everything that was really in front of him.' She thought to herself silently, as she ran the soft towel over the glass she was drying for the night at 7th Heaven.

'Well, almost everything…'

What he hadn't realized was just how deeply Tifa now felt for him, had always felt for him. They had always been like brother and sister, but over the course of the last decade, she was beginning to feel that maybe there was something more to her emotions regarding Cloud. Nights when he wouldn't come home, or nights where it was storming like crazy she would worry herself sick wondering where he was. Every time even the slightest pain or discomfort was caused for him, she was concerned. She was beginning to worry about herself with these thoughts for they were interfering with her work and sleep patterns.

Luckily, her thoughts were interrupted as her bar-full customers for the night began to congregate around the large plasma T.V. in the venue that currently smelled of cleaning solution and cinnamon air freshener. It was only a matter of time before it would begin to reek of cigarette smoke, sweat, and liquor. She sighed as she set the last glass on the shelf below the alcohol and grabbed her pencil and notepad to begin taking orders once again. It was game night, 3rd quarter to be exact, and the business was booming.

As the first customer approached the bar, she gasped slightly in surprise at the identity of the spiky-haired man clad in leather and wool, his boots heavy on the wooden planks below. 'He never comes into the bar on busy nights, and never this early…something has to be wrong.'

"Cloud?" she inquired.

He looked up to meet her eyes, mako-blue mixing with amber-brown, "Tifa…"

She smiled slightly; setting her notepad back on the counter, "So, Cloud, what brings you into one of your least favorite atmospheres on one of the busiest nights of the week at the busiest time of the evening? Don't you have deliveries to make?" she asked as she crossed her arms, giving him the same look she had given him in Aerith's church when he was brought back after defeating the remnants.

He sighed softly before letting a slight smirk quirk at the right corner of his mouth, "I was in the neighborhood and my last orders at Sector 5 were canceled."

She smiled lightly, "So, you figured you would come here and keep me company…?" she asked teasingly.

He smirked deeper at the hopeful look on her young face, "Sure…" he trailed off.

She placed a look of mock-insult on her face, "Sure?! I'm not even worthy of a 'yes' or an 'of course, Tifa, dear?' I'm offended."

He chuckled softly at her staged outburst, allowing a gentle smile to grace his sharp features. He laid his gloved hands palm-down on the counter and lifted himself to a standing position. "Well, how about you let me make it up to you," he leapt agilely over the counter to the aisle behind, "I'll make you a drink."

She stared for a moment, trying to decide how to react to this. Cloud was never this good-humored or playful. 'What has gotten into him all of a sudden?'

"Okay…" she said hesitantly, not sure what to make of this situation.

"So, what will it be? Cum in a Hot Tub? Blowjob? Screaming Orgasm? Sex on the Beach?" he listed suggestively.

Tifa couldn't help but blush slightly and laugh nervously at the list of drink offers, knowing they were all drinks that she had served at one point or another, "Hmm…how about we start with a Caribbean Kiss?"

Cloud rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation, "Always playing it safe, Tifa…" he said while grabbing the dark rum and Kahlua.

She giggled at his antics, "I'm sorry if I want to save the more 'risqué' beverages until we have consumed enough to not blush at the names."

Cloud quirked a blonde brow as he peered at her from behind his honey-colored bang, "Who's blushing? Are you intimidated by my bartending?" he inquired humorously as he began shaking the liquor with ice in the mixer.

Her eyes widened slightly, "Cloud, what has gotten into you? You are never like this. Either you are in a really good mood or you are already buzzed. Have you been smoking weed with Cid again?" she questioned, her hands on her hips.

He did something that she hadn't seen him do in years. He threw his head back and let out a full-fledged laugh, not a chuckle, not a snicker: A genuine, heart-rattling laugh. Her eyes widened even more if possible. "Tifa, of course not. I will never make that mistake again. I was sick for 3 days off of that shit."

Her jaw dropped slightly at the four-lettered word that had eased its way back into his vocabulary, something else that she hadn't witnessed in several years. "Then what is it…?" she asked, serious this time, as she sat on a barstool behind the counter.

He finished the beverages, pouring them into two glasses and sliding one her way. Taking a swig of his and grinning at the warm feeling sliding down his throat, he locked his eyes on hers. "You know, I really don't know. I feel lighter for some reason…"

She smirked slightly, "It's all that dilly-dallying again," she remarked jokingly before tipping her head back and taking a giant swig of her beverage.

He smiled at the memory, remembering that day in the center of town where they had fought the Bahamut. His face started to go serious again as he finished his drink, rinsing the glass out in the sink. "You know what? I think it is."

She stopped her glass before it returned to her mouth, setting it back on the bar, and staring at him, "What…?"

Cloud leapt over the bar again and pulled up a stool across from her, sitting himself down after pouring another drink. He took a small sip and set his elbows on the counter using his gloved hands as a place to rest his face. He pulled his eyebrows up to meet her concerned gaze, her brandy-colored eyes searching his own oceanic orbs for some clue as to his meaning. He sighed softly before answering her, "Since we fought the remnants I have slowly begun to feel a change in me. It was something I couldn't quite figure out at first and it bothered me so much. I knew that I felt a sense of inner peace, but there was something else…something that didn't have to do with my suffering or my own selfish loathing. It took me a while to figure out what exactly it was. That's why I have been so distant these past few weeks. For that I'm sorry. I just had to figure this out on my own."

Tifa locked onto his eyes, bearing into them with a calculating stare that made him feel slightly nervous under her gaze. She hummed in thought, "So you have come to a realization? That's new for you, Cloud. Usually it is me having to pound reality into your skull."

He allowed a small smirk to slide over his lips, "I know, right?"

There was a long and heavy silence as they sat in contemplative reverie. Tifa finished her drink in one gulp and began to rinse the glass out. After placing the glass on the shelf she turned to check on her patrons but was stopped unexpectedly. She gasped softly when she realized that Cloud had stopped her by firmly gripping her right elbow in his strong leather-clad hand. "Tifa, wait…" he breathed in a whisper, barely loud enough for her to catch.

She blinked in shock before sitting back on the stool and leaning towards him to peak under his bangs, trying to catch a glimpse of his eyes. "Cloud, what's the matter? Is something wrong?"

He sighed for the millionth time. She brought her hand forward, placing her fingertips under his chin, gently lifting his eyes to meet hers for the fifth time that day. This time, instead of the usual sorrow, they held a different emotion, one that she had never seen in his eyes before, even when they were children before all of this. She saw, mixed in with the other swirling emotions of fear, apprehension, indecision, and reluctance…true and undiluted longing.

She raised her eyebrows when she noticed that he was pulling at the leather that encased his battle-worn hands. She breathed in sharply as she noticed the many scars that adorned his left palm and the telltale barcode tattooed on the back of his right wrist as he slid his longer glove off. The memento he had from the 4 years that he was used as an experiment in Hojo's lab nearly a decade ago.

"Cloud…" she breathed as she felt his deceptively warm, soft hands coming to grip the sides of her bare shoulders firmly.

She heard him shush her softly, closing his eyes again and dropping his head, his grip still firm. "There is so much that I need to say," he whispered almost inaudibly, "but I don't think I can yet…"

Tifa felt a part of her cringe slightly, mildly wounded that he couldn't confide in her with whatever he needed to say. She dropped her own head slightly, closing her eyes in resignation. "Then don't…" she whispered back.

His grip on her shoulders tightened as he felt her tense under his palms. That was all the emotion he required from her to decide what he needed to do. He would not have her mourning over his inability to communicate with anyone anymore. She had been by his side from Day 1, and she had never given up on him, even when he had given up on himself. She was the only living person that had ever heard him curse, ever seen him laugh, ever held him in her arms…even if it had been over a decade ago. He was not going to let one more person leave his life without knowing how much they meant to him. He had already lost his family, best friend, and the woman he thought he loved. He was not going to lose Tifa this time…the woman he knew he loved.

"Tifa…don't go," he whispered, "It's true, I can't tell you yet; But I want to show you."

Tifa's face bore a look of utter confusion as she frowned slightly, not knowing what to make of this. All should could do was gasp in surprise when she felt herself being pitched forward across the bar, her elbows and forearms flat against the glass top, Clouds toned arms wrapping around her back. She could feel his hot breath against her left ear as he breathed, "Trust me, please, Tifa."

She nodded tensely, feeling his hot, smooth right hand come up to cup the back of her neck, burying itself in the bottom of her hairline, his other hand gripping the back of her right elbow. She shuddered at his heated touch on her cool skin, his bated breath on her ear, the way he was holding her so close. She didn't know what to expect next but she didn't have to wait long to find out. She could feel him slowly starting to pull back, so she started to retreat as well, only to be held in place firmly by both of his hands. She frowned in confusion yet again and opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly silenced by the heat of his feather soft lips grazing over her sensitive cheekbone. "C-Cloud…?"

"Tifa…just be quiet."

And with those words he slid his lips to ghost over hers once before covering her petite mouth with his own eager one, moaning into it as a feeling overtook him that he had never experienced before. She gasped in utter surprise, and he took the parting of her lips as the perfect opportunity to slide his tongue slowly past her bottom lip and softly against her own. She let out a strangled whimper as all of her senses were assaulted. His scent was musky like vanilla as their noses bumped against each other when the kiss deepened progressively. She could here the tense breaths he was letting out and the low groans dying in his throat as she began to respond to his advances, opening her mouth and closing it back over his own.

She could feel him pulling her further forward, so she tucked her legs in, allowing him to pull her body across the bar, seating her to straddle his lap, never breaking the kiss. The proximity was intoxicating as she buried her left hand in his silky spikes and rested her other hand against his pulse point on his neck. His heart was racing.

She instinctively wrapped her knees around his hips and hooked her ankles together, thankful that there was no back on this stool. She could feel his arms tightening around her upper back as he continued to kiss her deeply, running his tongue over her bottom lip gently. She moved her right hand to rest on his toned chest, hard from all of his training and battles. This was incredibly surreal. There was no way that she, Tifa Lockhart, was finally getting everything that she had desired.

She felt his left hand trail down her side and come to rest atop her right thigh, almost at her knee. She shivered from the feel of his slick tongue flicking across the corner of her mouth. She gathered enough courage and nipped lightly at his bottom lip, catching it between her straight teeth. He elicited a cross between a gasp and a moan, clutching tightly at her hip with his right hand.

When the kiss finally broke, they sat there for a long while; their foreheads pressed against each other's, their hands slithering to clasp, their fingers lacing and intertwining, in silence. Nothing but the sounds of their breathing could be heard, a light panting noise as they tried to catch their breath.

It wasn't until they heard the catcalls and whistles that they allowed themselves to smirk silently, Cloud pressing a final, soft kiss to Tifa's now swollen lips before helping her off of his lap. No words were exchanged as she went back behind the bar, her face beet red, and Cloud saluted the now full bar as they all raised their glasses to him, still whistling and catcalling. He chuckled nervously, reaching up to massage the back of his neck as he blushed slightly. Tifa just smiled at him and winked before tossing him his gloves and starting on the next drink order. She knew she wouldn't be able to think straight for the rest of the night. But that didn't matter…

They both understood the meaning behind that kiss. Cloud was right. No words were needed.

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A/N: Well, I hope y'all liked it. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Also, I strongly encourage you to leave a prompt for me in a review or PM me if there is a specific setting/location/scenario that you would like to see these two declare their unspoken love for one another. Please no flames. I understand that things aren't exactly as they are in canon, but then, isn't that what fan fiction is for???