A/N: Just a little something I had in storage to satiate my readers while I'm working on some old and new stories. I love fairy tales and thought the FFVII world fit perfectly into such a theme. R&R if you like :)

Standard disclaimers apply: Square Enix rules all that is FFVII

Background Music: "My oh My" by Aqua

A Pen Pal Fairy Tale

By MakoRain

"This has got to be the craziest thing I've ever heard, Zack. And coming from you, that's an accomplishment." Cloud Strife waved off his rambling cousin as if this were just another one of his brilliant ideas he was always ranting about. This time though, he'd swear it was different.

"Cloud, I'm serious. This is different. This is going to work! It's fool-proof!" Zack said adamantly gesturing wildly and waving his hands around the room to the point of putting their tutor/advisor/confidant on edge. Apparently enough so that Vincent started following Zack around while trying to be nonchalant about it since this was not part of his job description but the man was a bit OCD against making a mess.

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with this. I thought you were on my side, man." Cloud said begrudgingly, shifting his attention to the papers Zack had shoved into his hand.

"Look, I didn't want to get married either at first. Not until my old man made it his life mission to point out I'm not getting any younger, all my wild oats have been sewn, and life is nothing without someone to share it with." Zack recited the words as perfectly as if Uncle Fair had said them the same before, over and over and over again from the sounds of it.

Cloud still gave him an arched eyebrow of skepticism.

"Just look at them!" The older man said as his closing argument, giving up in exasperation.

Cloud finally looked down at the sheets in his hand and realized what they were after leafing through them. "Profiles? You're picking your bride-to-be based off of profiles? Who put all of this together?"

"Father put the Turks to good use gathering Intel as Rufus oversaw."

That made him look up from the pages, shock written all over his face. "You let Rufus be in charge of this? Are you out of your mind?"

Zack couldn't help laughing at Cloud's reaction. "I know he says you're his mortal enemy and all but come on, man. Don't let it get to you."

"I'm not," Cloud grumbled, crossing his arms as his most effective defense to Zack's prodding.

Vincent cleared his throat. "I, um, took the liberty to watch over the proceedings of the Turks, per Mr. Zachary's orders, of course." Vincent clarified, staying in the general circumference of all that Zack could reach with his arms should they become a danger to any breakable objects nearby.

"Vinny, it's just Zack. Please please please don't make me remind you again." The young man clapped his mentor on the shoulder as if they had known each other all of their lives. Which was true for the younger two of the three.

"Of course, Mr. Zack." Eh, it was an improvement at least.

"So what do you do, just pick one at random?" Cloud piped up, giving one particular paper his interested observation.

"That's not exactly what I did but maybe that'll work for you." He looked at the green-eyed lovely staring at him from the page and whistled in appreciation. "My isn't she pretty."

"She's beautiful," Cloud clarified, giving Zack a look.

"Alright, she's beautiful. But I didn't pick my bride based solely on looks, Mr. Shallow." Cloud gave him another look because both of them knew that Zack was the shallower between the two. "That's what the Intel is for. Look to the side of the picture, oh brilliant one."

Cloud looked to the right of the photo and low and behold, there were words. Title, age, likes, dislikes, the usual. What he failed to pay attention to was the name but hey, everyone has their different priorities. There was something about the face that kept his gaze. Right then and there he decided he didn't need to see any others. He didn't need to keep looking.

"She's the one."

Dear Majesty,

I hope you don't find it too presumptuous of me as to take the liberty upon myself to write to you personally at your residence.

"A bit wordy to mean hi, I found out about you and I'd like to know more, don't you think?"

Cloud groaned and tried again.

Dear Majesty,

I am the local monarch in the area and I was hoping that we might get a chance to know each other.

"Isn't that a bit too, I don't know, chummy? You haven't even met the girl."

Third time's a charm Cloud reminded himself and once again picked up his pen to put to a new piece of stationary, emblazoned with his family's seal in all its glory.

Dear Highness,

Hello. I am a nobleman in the area who is interested in meeting new people out of my social circle. You know how things are in the hierarchy and so I would just like to expand my horizons a bit, as it were. I believe we are similar in age and maybe in interests if you wouldn't mind writing back to let me know so?

Waiting to hear from you,

Nobility of Cydonia

Based on Zack's silence over his shoulder, Cloud felt pretty confident.

"Don't you think your family crest stationary is a bit pompous?"

"Zack! Just send the damn letter okay!" Cloud snapped, crumpling up the first two drafts and throwing them in the direction of the waste bin. Both bounced off the rim and he sighed, not wanting to take that as a sign even as Vincent picked them up off the floor with one hand and put them away properly, Cloud's letter ready and waiting to be sent in the other.

The letter was small and bore a royal seal on the back and yet Tifa was torn between excitement and terror. Her stepsister Aerith had received a similar-looking envelope that turned out to be a pen pal. The royal male type of pen pal that wanted to "get to know her." Tifa didn't buy it for a minute but Aerith was so happy that after the third letter Tifa started keeping her opinions to herself.

But now apparently, it was her turn. She read over the letter quickly and couldn't help but laugh. This nobleman sounded stiff as a bored and was probably just as boring. Tifa had it in her right mind to toss the note away not bothering to reply but then something made her change her mind. Reading it over again, she felt as if this guy, who said they were around the same age, was trying much too hard. He sounded old beyond his years and maybe that was from his upbringing or the war or a million other possible situations he could have been through.

And so, she decided to write back.

Dear Majesty,

I am pleased to make your acquaintance even under these terms. How are you fairing in your part of the kingdom? I am happy to hear that you are trying to break out of the company of stuffy aristocrats and pompous lords. Your letter asked of my interests which I must admit for a woman of my stature may seem odd but I take joy in them nonetheless. I enjoy reading, music and am currently learning the art of fencing which is much harder than it looks, I admit. You men make it look so easy. What do you like to do besides rule the part of your world? Who knows, maybe there's some hope for you yet.

Sincerely,

Her Highness Princess of Adeel

P.S. I think we are to the point where you can loosen up a little. Be yourself, because I would like to get to know that person.

Tifa looked over her letter for nearly an hour before deciding to seal it and send it on its way. She had wanted it to sound formal and yet relaxed but maybe it was too laid back? Maybe she should have let Aerith look it over. She immediately squelched that thought as she recalled how she hadn't been the most supportive of Aerith's pen pal relationship. Tifa didn't bother stopping her handmaiden Yuffie from giving it to the carrier.

It was too late, what was done was done.

The letters started coming regularly after that and it was three weeks before Tifa realized that they were the highlight of her day. She looked forward to what her future king had to say and loved how he always considered her opinion in whatever matter they discussed. He even asked for it at times and that thrilled her even more. He was always attentive and kind and just what she needed. It only took three weeks but she knew she was in deep and she knew what she had to do.

"I have to end it."

Aerith sat up from where she was lounging, the picture her noble man sent still in her hand. "What? No you don't."

"But I must," Tifa sighed, ignoring the picture she clutched in her own hand before tossing it back atop her writing desk where it was immediately snatched up by her little cousin, Marlene.

"What are you two doing? And who's this?" Marlene asked, waving the picture in front of Tifa before pulling it away playfully.

"No one, sweetie. Now give it back, please."

Marlene didn't like not doing as she was told but she was doing it for Tifa's own good. "You're lying." The little girl said unhappily, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He's the love of her life, Marlene," Aerith supplied handily, ignoring Tifa's glare for Marlene's beaming smile.

"Love? I never said that."

Aerith looked at her step sister in a sympathetic way much too close to pity for Tifa's sake. "You don't have to, dear. It's written all over your face."

Tifa gaped a moment before covering her face with her hands, blushing. "It is not."

For the life of her she didn't know why she was being so childish but it felt better than being exposed and out in the open. She didn't want to admit her feelings so no one else should have known about them either.

"He wants me to meet him. There, at his castle." She finally spoke, concern and a little bit of awe lacing her voice.

Tifa couldn't help the thrill that went through her as she thought of finally seeing him face to face, hearing his voice and speaking as easily as they wrote. But still, everything was moving so fast. Wasn't meeting at this time a bit too soon?

Aerith's squeal broke through her reverie. "Goodie! We can all meet together as a group. We can make a trip of it!"

The woman started flitting around the room as if on a mission, grabbing gowns and tossing them onto the bed unceremoniously. "Let me just go see to the arrangements. Oh Barret!" She called, running out of Tifa's bed chamber to find the Captain of the royal guard, also known in this case as their travel agent.

Tifa sighed gustily, blowing hair out of her face. It was then that Marlene decided to forfeit the photograph, placing it in Tifa's hand. "He's cute. Does he have a brother?"

The weary woman looked down at the younger girl with a laugh. "Why, I believe he does."

Marlene's answering smile grew twice in size. "Let me just go pack my things!" No sooner had she spoken then she was flying out the door, her braid flowing behind her and yet seeming to try to keep up with her as well.

Oh great, what have I gotten myself into?

That's how Tifa found herself riding along the coast only half a day later, the ocean's spray making the heat of the summer's day thankfully bearable. Aerith sat across from her with a smile brighter than the sunshine as Yuffie sat next to her, not looking quite as well Tifa noted before the girl's head was out the window.

"Motion sickness," Marlene supplied for her nanny's benefit and the sisters shared an understanding "Oh."

Yuffie was quickly forgotten as the little girl turned eagerly to Tifa. "Did you write to him about me?"

Tifa laughed and wrapped her arm around the little girl's shoulder. "We just decided to leave yesterday. You know there's no way a letter would have arrived before us, silly."

"Yeah, I know," she answered quieter than before and her face fell as her hands began toying with the frilly trim of her dress. "But what if he doesn't like me? What if he thinks I'm just a kid?"

"Shhh," Tifa soothed, not only to comfort her but to also stop the little girl from voicing her own doubts. "It'll be okay. Trust me." Her fingers combed through the little girl's loose hair, soothing them both. "It'll be okay."

This was so not okay.

Cloud kept fidgeting as Vincent straightened his royal collar for the millionth time. It was no use though, the young prince couldn't keep still and so his confidant was forced to follow him and fix the blasted thing time and time again for if it wasn't straight, he would go mad.

Zack stood by them, giving himself a once over in the mirror before finally putting an arm out that made Cloud stop in his tracks.

"Zack," he said in a warning and wary voice, not in the mood for this in the least.

Not today and especially not after the continuous mishaps that kept occurring around the castle. First it was the confusion in flowers, lilies for Zack's maiden and lilacs for his own. Then there were the cooks; there was no possible way to have a romantic dinner with a full roasted pig looking back at them on the dining table. Now with the mix up with the royal family's itinerary, Cloud's father was scrambling with rearranging his schedule more than focusing on his soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

It was enough to make Cloud pull out his hair and he nearly did when the sun was blocked out with rain clouds. At least she liked the rain.

It was pouring by the time the Adele royal carriage arrived in the kingdom of Cydonia, forcing Tifa and her entire party to make a run for it quickly so as to not get completely soaked. The instant they stepped over the threshold, their favorite flowers filled Aerith's and Tifa's hands and Tifa had to hide her smile behind them, not daring to look up.

When the servant motioned for them to follow, Aerith had to push her step-sister along, not letting her suffer from cold feet when they'd gotten this far. Yuffie with Marlene followed closely behind them, neither saying a word, which was a feat in itself for the little girl. But Tifa could understand why as she was swept up in looking at the ornate decor while making their way through the grand hall to meet their noblemen in the throne room.

Her footfalls echoed around her with each step taken and Tifa had to force herself to keep in pace with the group. She couldn't back down, not now. She had to prove to herself that this was all real and not just some fairy tale.

His face now came into view and it was all she could do to keep moving, unable to make a logical decision to freeze or flee. All pretenses shattered as they stood face to face and with a look of confusion, he asked uncertainly, "Aerith?"

"Excuse me?" Tifa said in reply; shock, confusion and most of all hurt all fighting for dominance and sadly filling her voice.

She watched as Aerith turned from kissing Zack's cheek to view what was going on. Tifa felt it only right for her step-sister to watch her downfall since it was her fault she was in this mess in the first place.

"Aerith?" Zack asked, looking down at the girl he still held in his arms in a hug. "Oh, right, Cloud's girl. I recognize you now from the picture."

"Cloud?" Aerith asked in confusion, following Zack's gaze to his blond cousin standing in front of Tifa. "But Zack is my betrothed."

That got startled looks from everyone except for Tifa who was catching on pretty quickly. Of course it had been too good to be true.

"Well isn't this a fine mess." Cloud muttered, eyeing Zack and Aerith warily, still in each other's arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He all but forgot Tifa who stood there mute before him until she decided to break her silence with something important to say.

"If that is Zack, then you must be Cloud," she said slowly, hoping he could catch on. His piercing blue eyes met hers and she felt a jolt like nothing ever before. His picture didn't do him justice.

"Yes."

Good, at least that was clear. "Both of you sent photographs to us, but before that you had to have known where to send them and the letters. I assume you had pictures of us beforehand?"

Cloud had the decency to look abashed before giving Zack a startled and pleading look to which he gallantly jumped in. "My father had the decency to go through the process and picked out the best match, which he did so splendidly I might add." He gave Aerith another squeeze that made her smile bright as the sun.

"So it seems," Yuffie said in the corner before shutting up again, seeing the quirk of Vincent's eyebrow.

"Didn't you address your letters?" King Strife asked, making his presence known as he strolled in after Cid, his advisor, got him up to speed. He looked exasperated from the goings on of his eldest son per usual.

"Well, the envelopes were sent to the same addresses for both of the men and women." Vincent voiced finally, closing his mouth smartly at the look the Count sent.

"Alright but what about the heading? And a signature?" Count Fair added, walking out from behind Zack to stand beside his brother, the King.

All four of them looked between each other in the group.

Zack decided to start. "Well, we agreed to keep things formal with the royal titles and all and then...yeah."

He gave Aerith a look that made her blush the same color as the pink dress she wore. "We moved onto more sentimental names." She finally said as Zack wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear. "You've got that right, baby."

The rest of the crowd turned away from Aerith's titters to look at Cloud and Tifa expectantly.

Cloud scratched the back of his head and looked at Tifa with a shy smile. "We, um we did the same thing pretty much." Tifa gave a small smile of her own, unable to let him keep floundering on his own.

"There was also the royal seal." She offered, holding up her family's crest that dangled from a chain around her neck. He confirmed this with a flash of his signet ring.

Finally, the nagging feeling Tifa had shoved to the back of her mind earlier came back in full force. The words were out of her mouth before her brain could try and talk her out of it yet again. "But you thought I was Aerith, didn't you?"

The inhabitants of the room stopped their individual conversations to give her a look as she gave Cloud one of her own, filled with a hollowing pain.

"Of course not, Tifa. Cloud knew it was you the whole time, didn't you, Cloud?" Zack was grasping at straws, trying to give his cousin a fighting chance but Cloud was too noble or too slow to take up the offer.

"Well, uh, you see..." He faltered and Tifa felt that momentary happiness slipping away from her. It was always the same; she would always lose to her step-sister, although she didn't have a fighting chance since she didn't even know there was a competition taking place between them for this in the first place. For Aerith's part, neither did she.

"Cloud didn't have the brains to look through all of his options and pick wisely, instead choosing the first woman who caught his fancy of the most eligible royals in the area and you just so happened to be on that list." Rufus said, making his grand entrance in the most damaging way possible. Cloud cursed the man's timing under his breath.

"But I don't remember seeing you on that list?" Cloud tried to defend himself but Zack looked at him as if he were crazy for admitting such a damaging thing, as well did all of the older men in the room.

"I wasn't even a blip on your radar, was I?" Tifa said in a small voice, looking down at the marble floor even though she was taught not to time and time again. "You didn't pick me at all, did you?" It was a rhetorical question but she said it in a hurt yet indignant tone that made Cloud flinch.

"Teef, it's not like that."

Rufus sauntered into the center of attention, deciding to secure permanent damage to his mortal enemy once and for all. "You're right, Tifa. He didn't pick you. He picked her."

All eyes flew to Aerith making his finger pointing at her meaningless. Aerith's face blushed once again as everyone looked her over from her head of light brown hair down her body clad in a rose colored gown accentuating her smaller bust and waist ending in slender legs. Then all eyes moved to Tifa, looking down at her long legs, small waist and large chest before fingering a strand of her long dark hair.

"You stay out of this!" Tifa yelled, breaking the comparing glances that had kept passing from her to Aerith, back and forth between the masses. She was glad to have someone to deflect her anger on, especially since it was someone from her past that she never wanted to see again.

"What are you doing here anyways, Rufus?" Aerith asked wonderingly.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Zack asked, looking between Aerith and Rufus.

"He's Tifa's ex, not mine." Aerith clarified, squeezing Zack's hand in hers. If Tifa didn't love her harebrained step-sister so much she would have just ended her then and there since now all eyes were on her, Cloud and Rufus. Whereas Cloud looked contrite, Rufus was smiling. The bastard.

Amazingly, it was Cloud who broke the awkward silence.

"It was you, wasn't it? You who messed up the flowers, the dinner, my father's schedule." Rufus smiled and it was then that Cloud knew that wasn't all of it. "You switched the names on the profiles."

"Could you blame me? It's bad enough that as my mortal enemy you are still standing in power, but I couldn't let you have the love of my life as well! So I took Tifa's picture out but not before Zack had already seen it so I had to think fast, switching it with the first profile I saw. Which just so happened to be the first page you saw. I should have known you'd be too lazy to look any further down the list."

Alright, that was it. Not only had he crossed the man she knew in her heart she loved but he had screwed up any chance of that love with Cloud. Tifa was pissed, and she was going to show it.

"It was one date three years ago, Rufus. Let it go already!"

Her rant should have been enough but she pulled back her arm nonetheless, ready to let her fist free on the side of his face before it was stopped by a masculine arm.

"Allow me," Cloud said, stepping in front of her and punching Rufus hard enough in the face that he was knocked out cold before his body even hit the marble floor. Tifa had the decency to step back, shocked at what had just happened. Two guards came in and dragged the shrewd man's unmoving body as if this were a daily occurrence. Based on the way King Strife waved his hand casually, it seemed to be close enough.

When the excitement died down, all eyes turned between the troubled couple. Or what Tifa had thought to be a couple actually turned out to be a love triangle.

Tifa had all but proved the difference with her brash words and actions only moments before as Aerith stood quietly observing on the sidelines as a true lady would. Where Tifa was strong, Aerith was dainty, and where Tifa dark Aerith as light as day. Watching the comparison between them was making Tifa's smile less and less until there was nothing left. Aerith only looked politely abashed in the spotlight as Zack kept hold of her hand and Cloud looked between her and Tifa.

"I don't understand how this got so messed up." He said, shaking his head back and forth between the two girls. Finally, Tifa couldn't take it anymore. She tried to squelch her anger the best she could since not only was it unladylike but unroyal-like to throw a tantrum, no matter how emotional she was.

"I'll simplify it for you," she spoke up, looking Cloud straight in the eye. "You chose her." He flinched but she kept going. "Not me." The way his clear blue eyes stayed on her made her choke up a moment but she spoke past it. "I chose you, Cloud, and only you. But I guess that doesn't matter."

She couldn't look at him anymore, it hurt too much. Tifa walked out of the dining hall, ignoring the calls for her to stop and planning to never look back.

Tifa couldn't simply walk out of the castle and run home the way she had wanted to but she did find a decent hiding place in the gardens. The water fountain was lovely but even the sounds of the water didn't help her feel much better. All she could think about was the fact that Cloud had picked Aerith over her. She was so tired with competing with her step-sister for everything and this was the last straw.

A few tears were all she could muster before a rustling sound made her wipe at her eyes quickly before turning around. Instead of her step-sister or dare she hoped Cloud, a young boy stood beside the fountain, unsure if to continue forward or not.

"Hello. And who might you be?" She asked with a small smile which the boy took as an invitation, taking the place beside her on the bench.

"I'm Denzel. You're Tifa, right?" He asked, trying to brush some of his unruly bangs out of the way.

"That's right. And you're Cloud's younger brother." Denzel smiled brightly, happy that she had said younger and not little like most people would.

"Cloud talks about you all the time."

Tifa tried to hide the elation she felt at hearing this but even hope springs eternal before being crushed by reality again.

"You mean he talks about Aerith all the time."

"Who's Aerith?" His question made Tifa laugh and Denzel gave her an odd look since he hadn't been in the hall to see what had happened.

"There seems to have been some kind of a mix up." She said in way of sufficing but he shook his head.

"No, you're the one Cloud was supposed to meet today. I saw the picture of that other lady and told him right away that he picked wrong."

"Why do you think he picked her?" Over me. Tifa asked out of a sick curiosity, not expecting the answer to comfort her but still, it couldn't hurt.

Denzel looked at her, thinking carefully. Cloud was his brother after all, and he didn't want to say anything embarrassing. "She looks like...like someone he lost. Someone he was very close to. She died a long time ago."

"Oh." Tifa gasped before recovering herself. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Denzel." She slipped her arm around his shoulder in a half hug that was acceptable to boys his age.

"Now will you go talk to Cloud?"

She gaped at his sudden insistence before he handed her a small bundle of lilacs tied together with a ribbon. He must have set them on the bench on his other side since she didn't notice them before.

"I...I don't know what to say to him." She sighed sadly, this revelation mixing with what happened in a confused mess of emotions.

"Just be there. Please." Denzel was so sincere, his eyes so blue like Cloud's that she felt a smile despite herself.

"Tifa, why are you out here alone if you said it would all be okay? Are you crying?" The little girl's voice reached the two in the garden before she walked in past the fountain and stopped dead in her tracks like a deer caught in the head lights.

"It's alright Marlene. This is Denzel."

"Hi," both said in unison before blushing. Tifa took Denzel's hand in one of her own and Marlene's in the other before bringing them together. Denzel snapped out of his shy reverie first and kissed the top of Marlene's hand. The little girl looked like she would faint out of happiness.

"See, I told you it'd be okay."

Cloud didn't take waiting very kindly and his impatience was apparent in the way he paced trails along the fringed carpet, annoying his father to no end.

"Face it, son. She's not coming."

"She'll be here."

Zack placed a comforting hand on Cloud's shoulder, Aerith at his side.

Cloud gave her a sheepish smile and she gave him a comforting hug, dispelling the awkwardness between them. "It's sweet that you chose me, Cloud. But Zack is the only one for me. As Tifa is for you."

"I know that. Honestly, I'm not sure why I chose you."

"Oh?" Aerith said lightly, trying to hide the laughter in her voice at teasing him.

"Not that you're not pretty it's just that...this is going to sound weird."

"I don't think you could make this day any weirder, dear cousin," Zack assured with a wink.

"You'd be surprised." Cloud chuckled at the confused quirk on Zack's face before turning back to Aerith. "I think I picked you because you...well... you reminded me of my mother."

"What?" Zack's surprise made Cloud jump and Aerith laugh.

"That's so sweet."

"No it's not!" Zack said, starting to freak out just a little. "Why the hell would you marry someone that reminds you of your mom? That's just creepy."

"Zack, be nice." Aerith scolded, placing a comforting hand on Cloud's arm.

"Your mom was cool and all but...oh my God, she was my aunt." Zack said, the shock finally settling in. "My fiancé reminds you of my aunt. Aerith does not look like Aunt Strife!"

"I never said she looked like her!" Cloud said exasperated from yelling over Zack's panic. "She just...I dunno...there's a glow about her, that's all."

"Cloud Strife, you are too cute," Aerith said, leaning over to kiss his cheek while Zack finally started to calm down over the-girl-of-his-dreams-being-like-his-aunt thing.

"See, she's got the whole kiss on the cheek down pat." Cloud smiled before turning at the sound of a muffled gasp and halting steps.

Of course, that would be the time Tifa chose to enter and get the wrong impression entirely.

Tifa had apparently walked in on the one thing she never wanted to see which was her step-sister cozying up to her boyfriend. Fiancé. Ex-boyfriend/fiancé type thing. She couldn't keep it straight in her head anymore but one thing was certain, she wasn't going to stick around to see them go any further.

"Tifa, wait a minute!" Cloud's voice was coming up behind her but she turned around and headed toward the stairs.

"Come on, Teef. Please!" He was gaining on her even as she tried to take the steps two at a time which was proving to be a bit difficult in heels. "It's not what you think!"

That did it. Halting on the steps, she quickly turned around on Cloud almost running into her but stopping himself with the railing.

"Not what I think? Is that like your catch phrase today?" She snorted indignantly and he had to stop from laughing. She was cute when she was angry but he wasn't willing to point that out just yet. "How could you do this to Zack, your own cousin?"

By this time Zack and Aerith came into view behind the couple arguing in the center landing of the grand staircase. "Uh, guys, could you keep your voices down? Or move up a few steps maybe?"

Cloud looked back at his cousin as if he had two heads.

"We don't want to our guests to get suspicious."

"Right," Cloud agreed quickly, recalling the original plan. Unfortunately, Tifa was throwing a few kinks into it but at least she came.

"Guests? What's going on?" Her curiosity overruled her irritation for the time being and for that Cloud was thankful. He knew how much she loved a good intrigue.

"Shh, it's a surprise!" Zack said, leading their little party to the bottom of the stair case that ended in yet another landing. "It's partially her surprise too, Zack!" Cloud hissed, taking Tifa's hand to hurry behind his crazed cousin.

"Minor detail, now shush!" Zack reaffirmed, taking Aerith in one hand and waving the other to cue the announcing music.

The party stood on a balcony and below them the dining hall was filled with friends and loved ones all around. Yuffie gave a small wave as Tifa eyed her suspiciously. She should have known the former ninja would have a hand in whatever this surprise would be. Denzel stood next to his father and gave her a sheepish smile. Well, he had definitely played his part perfect to a tee.

Vincent ruffled his scroll impatiently, his own way of shushing them before beginning the announcements.

"It is my great honor to announce his royal highness Cloud Strife, crowned prince of Cydonia." Cloud smiled and it put Tifa at ease, knowing that he had some part in this seemed to comfort her.

"Her Royal Highness Tifa Lockhart, crowned princess of the Adeel kingdom." Tifa gave a small wave watching the excitement grow on the faces of the crowd below. What exactly was going on?

"Her Highness Aerith Gainsborough of the Lockhart family." Aerith looked just as happy as she always did so that didn't give Tifa any kind of a hint there. "And his Highness Zachary Fair, Arch Duke of Cydonia."

"Just Zack, I tell him every time it's just Zack," Zack mumbled with a hint of a blush at being called by his full given name. Aerith brushed a hand over his cheek and held it there for a moment. "You're more than just Zack to me."

"Damn you are so cute," Zack said giving her an Eskimo kiss before Cloud motioned his attention back to the gathered audience and Zack composed himself.

"Hello Father, family, guests. I'm sure you are all wondering why I have called you here today." As murmurs broke through the crowd, Aerith squeezed Zack's hand and he continued. "I would like to announce the engagement between myself and Aerith!" He couldn't hold back his excitement any longer, taking her into his arms and spinning her around the balcony as the crowd cheered below. It was true that Zack was lower on the hierarchy than Cloud but he was Royal family nonetheless and so the people cheered him on as one of their own.

"I told you it wasn't what it looked like," Cloud whispered into Tifa's ear, both watching the glow of love around their respective relations. Tifa turned to him and was happily surprised with a wink and a kiss on the cheek.

After the wolf whistles died down Zack finally put Aerith back on solid ground and opened the floor to Cloud. To Tifa's amazement, he took the spotlight calmly but that could be because his eyes never left her to which she blushed sweetly. His hand cupped her cheek so tenderly that she had the fleeting thought of a hundred eyes on them but that disappeared as he started to speak.

"Tifa, I know that our first meeting was less than expected at best." She quirked an eyebrow, surprised he would want to even go there again. "Even if we got to know each other based on a mix up, we still got to know each other."

Smoothing his thumb over her cheek, he removed his hand, sliding it down to hold hers. "I know you're smart, witty, caring. You can always make me laugh no matter what mood I'm in. Your honesty makes me believe anything is possible. I know how sensitive you are, even if you don't like to show it. I know you're insecure but your instincts always lead you through anything in the end. You are beautiful inside and out and I know you are the one for me."

She could feel tears in her eyes and words lodged in her throat but she couldn't speak if she wanted to, waiting to hear what else he had to say.

"Even if we met under strange circumstances, I'd have it no other way just to know you. I fell in love with you, Tifa Lockhart and I choose you for you." Cloud lifted the hand he still held in hers and she watched in a daze as he slipped the warm metal circle onto her finger, the diamond's sparkle caught in her eyes as he watched.

"That is, if you'll have me for me. I'm the same man you met on paper, Teef and I never meant to hurt you."

It was then that Tifa had to look up into his face, so bright and happy which was so unlike him on paper that she had to laugh a little at the irony.

"I trust you, Cloud. And I love you. Of course I'll marry you!" She finally gave into the girlish urge to squeal and jumped into his arms as the crowd went wild below.

She heard champagne corks popping all over the place and the many cries of congratulations from what she considered her royal family on the sidelines but none of that mattered. The din of the room disappeared as Cloud held her tightly, kissing her so full of passion and warmth and love. It was more than she had ever hoped for in their first kiss and returned it fully, enveloped in all of him and no one else.

He was her long distance best friend who became her soul mate, her Cloud. Adding husband to the list would make it all complete and she couldn't wait to be Strife, ruling their adjoined countries by his side for many years to come.

*Meant to be*

The End.