A/N: This is written for Tifa's birthday and it takes place after AC. And as you may or may not have noticed, I like to put Cloud in awkward situations. Hope you all enjoy this one-shot. This is loosely connected to my other one-shot,"Worn Clouds," but you won't miss too much if you don't read that first, so no worries. Let me know what you think of it. :)

Thanks: M. L. Ayala, my brilliant beta. :)

~ To her great surprise, she saw that he had an 'Oh crap, no!' expression on his face. That could only mean one thing: he was hiding something from her... ~

Tifa hummed a song that was currently stuck in her head, as she cut the vegetables in simple, swift moves. She was in an extraordinarily good mood today and that hadn't gone unnoticed by the people around her. How could she not feel so deliriously happy when the weather was this nice, there was nothing left to worry about anymore and everyone around her seemed to radiate happiness. There was probably nothing in the world that could upset her today. Not that she minded that.

The children were outside, playing with the other kids that lived nearby. She could hear their laughing and yelling from here, the sounds making her smile unconsciously. It was a precious sound, after all and it also reminded her of the days when she was younger. The time when she and Cloud had just met and become friends... Those were precious memories.

As for Cloud, he was probably still in the garage, tinkering with Fenrir. It was something he did a lot lately, now that he actually had the time for it. Sometimes, an amazed and genuinely interested Denzel would accompany him (something that the blonde ex-SOLDIER secretly loved. She could see it in his eyes and the tiniest of smiles that would grace his face whenever they talked about Fenrir). The fact that she had the kitchen for herself at the moment made her think she had all the time in the world to cook a delicious meal for the three people that she cared about the most.

When she heard approaching, heavy footsteps, she stopped for a moment and turned around to catch a glimpse of the tall ex-SOLDIER that always managed to make her heart flutter. "Hey there. Back already?" the raven-haired woman asked, cheerfully, when Cloud entered the kitchen.

"Yeah..." He stopped near the table, to watch her work. "You're cheerful."

"I have all reason to be today," was the simple response.

"Is that s-" the blonde swordsman started, before promptly stopping mid-sentence, frowning slightly, before his eyes widened in sudden realization.

His eyes had travelled to the stack of post on the table. Most of the envelopes had been tax bills, but then, he'd caught a glimpse of what seemed to be… a birthday card? To whom? What date was it today, anyway?

...That was when he remembered again what day it was and he cursed, mentally facepalming. This was not good; how could he forget about it? Tifa wasn't going to like this...

Tifa blinked, slowly turning back to the handsome man again when he didn't finish what he'd wanted to say. Honestly, if he'd managed to fall asleep in the middle of the room while standing again…

To her great surprise, she saw that he had an 'Oh crap, no!' expression on his face. How strange…

This made her curious, because Cloud hadn't had that look on his face since they'd been children. That could only mean one thing: he was hiding something from her. By the looks of it, it was something big. However, the instant she started to wonder what that might be, he seemed to have recovered and walked over to her.

The owner of Seventh Heaven decided not to press on the subject… for now. It could wait and she didn't want to scare him away, or something.

"Here, let me do that." Before she could protest, Cloud had taken the knife from her and started cutting the vegetables.

Tifa blinked, not sure what she should make of this action. The woman cocked her head to the side and stared intently at Cloud's back. She didn't fail to notice how he seemed to be a little... tense.

Her voice was laced with worry when she asked, "Cloud… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he swiftly replied. "Say, how about I call Vincent to watch the children for today, so I can take you somewhere nice?"

Well, well, she thought with raised eyebrows. This is getting interesting. If I didn't know any better, I would think he's trying to bribe me...

"And where would that be?"

"That's a surprise," was all he said.

Tifa looked at him, thoughtfully. Cloud sure was acting really weird today. It was almost like he wasn't himself today, or perhaps he had to make up to her for some reason. There had to be a reason for that…

It didn't take the ebony-haired woman that long to figure out what he was trying to do.

"…You forgot, didn't you?"

At once, Cloud seemed to tense up and his ears became red. For Tifa, it was a sign that her suspicions were right.

So that was what he was trying to hide from her? Too bad for him that he'd always been such a bad liar. She could see right through every masquerade of his. That was what happened when you knew each other for such a long time. The brooding man was like an open book to her.

"Forgot what?" he asked, as casually as he could muster, but he couldn't fool Tifa with it.

"My birthday, of course. What else? You forgot that it is May the third today, right?"

"Wha-? No, I didn't," he quickly replied.

Too quickly.

She knew she shouldn't do this to him, but Tifa couldn't help but tease him some more, just to see when he would finally crack. "Then why haven't you wished me a happy birthday yet? It's already four o'clock. Or were you planning to wait with it 'til tomorrow?"

At this point, she could practically hear him think, Good point.

A mischievous grin appeared on her face as he sighed lightly, putting the knife back on the cutting board. It seemed that he'd given up denying. She only had to wait for three... two... one...

"Okay, I forgot…" As soon as he'd admitted that, his shoulders slumped and he looked more defeated than ever. "...I'm sorry."

Tifa started to laugh heartily, gripping the side of the table in order not to fall over. "I knew it!" The part of Cloud's face that she actually could see, had become as red as a tomato. This made her stop laughing, feeling bad for the poor guy. "Hey, it's okay, Cloud."

"No, it isn't! You always remember my birthday..."

At that point, his voice faltered. He turned around and now she could see how he was frowning.

Oh boy, let the brooding marathon begin, she thought, as she tucked a stray strand of silky smooth hair behind her ear.

"It can happen to any of us. If it hadn't been for Yuffie's call this morning, I would've forgotten about it, too," she assured him with a small smile. "Really, it's no big deal."

"Well, I should have remembered," he insisted, stubbornly.

Tifa shook her head. How typical of him to make such a big deal of this. She really didn't mind. Okay, she had to admit that she'd been slightly disappointed at first, but she couldn't blame him for it. Cloud just had too much on his mind to remember all the little details around him, what with the deliveries and helping her around the house and whatnot. What mattered the most to her was the fact that at least this time, he was there with her on her birthday.

"I'll call Vincent. We're leaving in thirty minutes," he announced, before he rushed out of the kitchen.

Tifa couldn't help but smile at that. Well, fine. If Cloud really wanted to make up to her by taking her to god knows where, she wouldn't stop him (not that he would actually listen to her if she said no, anyways). To be honest, she thought that the blonde man needed some sort of break, too; he'd been working nonstop for these past few weeks and she had no idea why he was doing that to himself. If she didn't know any better, she would think that he was trying to avoid her. But he'd assured her that that was never the case...

But really, Cloud could be so adorable sometimes. The little things he did for her made her always feel so... light.

She listened to his short conversation with Vincent Valentine, a good friend of both of them. Her heart starting to beat faster and faster at the prospect of finally being alone with him for longer than an hour. When was the last time that had happened? She honestly couldn't remember and perhaps that said enough.

Soon after that, he entered the clean kitchen again and looked at her. "You go and freshen up. I'll handle this," he spoke to her, as he nodded with his head towards the vegetables.

"Okay, if you say so."

She turned around to leave and walked past him, but Cloud stopped her by grabbing her wrist and making her face him once again. The force with which he did that, made her bump into him. Her breath hitched when she realized how close they suddenly were to each other. Cloud, however, didn't seemed to be fazed by that one bit, for his face stayed neutral as always.

Unconsciously, he brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and looked her in the eyes. "Tifa…" he started, solemnly. "I'm really sorry. It won't happen again."

The raven-haired woman clicked her tongue. "Don't be such a party pooper all the time. You're going to take me for a trip, so I'm not complaining."

She reached forward and ruffled his spiky hair playfully, before walking away and heading to her room to get ready for the trip. The ex-SOLDIER ran a heavily gloved hand through his hair to bring it back in its previous model, before fishing his phone out of his pocket again. He had no idea where to take her yet, but it had to be somewhere good. Preferably somewhere peaceful, with a spectacular sight, where they could watch the stars without being interrupted all the time.

And the least he could do now, was giving her a bouquet of her favorite flowers before they left. She liked blue tulips the most.

How funny that he knew all these little details about her, but he simply couldn't remember such an important date. His brains really worked in strange ways. At least Tifa didn't ever get mad because of that...