Disclaimer: Final Fantasy Seven is the property of Square Enix. Support the game now. I hereby disavow any attempt to claim or profit anything in the venue of this series.

Right Here

She loved.

That was the essence of her personality.

Tifa knew she was flawed and she couldn't find fault with Cloud's nearly obvious feelings for the deceased flower maiden. She had become good friends with Aerith despite those feelings between them. She knew on a subconscious level if the woman had lived...

Would she and Cloud even be this close?

She shuddered to think of the idea, knowing that what was, wasn't what should be.

She would have nursed her broken heart and still continued to love Cloud and Aerith even as she had lost him.

But...

"Teef," Cloud Strife called to her, days after the fall of Sephiroth and the start of the second Seventh Heaven. "Tifa, are you..."

Resolved to never let on to her inner feelings of doubt, she smiled and shook her head. "I'm alright. Did you want something to drink?"

"Yeah," he answered. Quietly he observed her, watching her little actions that meant the reality was more to him. "If you want to talk..."

His offer lingered between them as she set the glass down between them. His eyes glowed in the dimness of gas-lamps, boring into her defenses as swiftly as anything ever could. She was strong enough to deny most everyone the slightest glimpses of her weaknesses.

Except for him...

"It's really..." she started, pausing and hovering between the truth of her doubts and the need to protect the man she loved.

Even without speaking it though, Cloud could read into her better then anyone.

"I chose you." he drawled, soft and evenly as he plucked the glass from the bar. Raising the chilled liquor to his lips he tossed back the contents. Returning the fragile container to it's original position in the curve of Tifa's palm, he tugged her hand firmly into his. "I chose to be with you. To stay with you, Tifa."

"But what about..." she started, startled into speaking before she could catch herself. Cloud slowly shook his head, thumbing the joint of skin between index finger and her own thumb. "I'm not..."

"You are everything I need." he stated.

No question. No remorse. No broken moments of the here and the past. This was an absolute rule.

"I made you a promise a long time ago. But... I do not think that has much to do with what I am doing here now. I'll always be there for you, Tifa. Even if I come late, I'll always come." he re-affirmed.

"Why?" she inquired.

His lips quirked. A smile so slight she was hard pressed to really see it.

"Because I know you're there for me too."

It was a close confession, she believed, that she would ever hear from him.

What he said next caused her to nearly fall.

"I love you."