A/N: I know that I have written this concept over and over again but I can't help it, when new music comes out and inspires me to try something at a different angle, I just go with it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Music: Every Time You Go by Ellie Goulding (She's becoming a fast favorite of mine if you hadn't noticed)

"Wake Me Up"

By MakoRain

It starts…

It was a bit of a surprise the first time he came to her room to say the least. Sure, Cloud had grown up next door to her for years but back then…then, it was different. They were kids (and still she knew better). To say Cloud was surprised when she answered his short but steady knock was an understatement if his wide eyes were any indication. And then the tell tale hand scratching at the back of his head told her how nervous he really was to be in her sacred space as she let him in.

Tifa took a moment just to look at him in her bedroom, her personal place away from the bar and the kids and even sometimes from him. Living with your best friend was hard enough. Imagine if he was your childhood crush that had left you behind then came back into your life to save the Planet; then he's left with no other place to go after watching someone he cared for die at the hands of his now slain enemy.

No, she didn't feel under appreciated, or bitter, or second best. Okay, maybe passive aggressive suited her well but hey, everyone had private flaws to work on and she was doing her best. Even when Cloud only used Seventh Heaven as a place to run Strife Delivery Service out of besides sleeping and eating when he could.

So yes, to say it was beyond the realms of normal for him to be standing by her bed was an understatement indeed.

"Cloud, is something wrong?"

When he finally stopped looking around the room and set his eyes on her she gasped. That cerulean gaze was so sharp and focused she had the momentary urge to step back. She had seen that look in his eyes once before but no, that couldn't happen again, Sephiroth was dead. So what was this?

"Are...are you okay, Cloud?"

"Teef…Tifa I-"

He closed his eyes, hiding all that blue and his blonde spikes moved with the shake of his head.

She wasn't sure what he was trying to tell her but he was obviously conflicted.

"Cloud, its okay…"

"There's something I have to tell you."

"Oh?"

The hand she was just about to place on his arm in a comforting gesture stopped in midair. What could he have to say that had him this flustered? Tifa was left to wonder as he tried to sort through things in his head. He was so tense and she could practically see the cogs turning. She debated telling him to sit on the bed and she would be at his side but that seemed a little too strange, to go from him in her room to on her bed, so she just perched against the dresser facing him. He would tell her sooner or later.

When a cricket's chirping drifted in through her slightly opened window with the spring breeze she had to fight the urge to laugh. Even nature was telling him to get it out already! So much for waiting idly by.

"Cloud?"

This time she did lean down in front of him to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You know you can tell me anything."

"Teef…" he sighed and that was it. He simply reached out his hand and brushed her long dark hair behind her ear, letting his fingers sift through the strands. First one hand and then the other, his hands finally ending their dance to frame her face.

Beneath his hands he had to feel her cheeks warm and breath come out in small soft pants. She wanted to say something so badly but didn't want to break the spell in case she scared him away. It took so much for them to get where they were, she needed to know what more there was. Was Cloud over Aerith? Did he see her; finally see her as the one who was always by his side?

His eyes were closed as he held her there, her face in his hands. Moments felt like eternity as she waited for what he would do next. And if she cried, he would surely feel the tears slip between his fingers.

Please, please don't let it end like this.

A final decision made, he leaned forward. It was almost as if in slow motion as Tifa watched his lips come closer and closer until contact. It was as if they were stuck in time, frozen in this moment, lip to lip until his moved, exploring her ever so gently. Cloud's tongue slid along her lips and she sighed, letting it slip into her mouth with ease. As soon as her tongue touched his, all control was lost.

What started out as a small and simple kiss, an experiment really, turned into passion and heat and discovery. Like when she slid her fingers into his hair, Cloud moaned into her mouth, and when his hands slid beneath her tank top and slid along her ribs to underneath her breasts, she gasped and bit his lip. This lead to a flurry of lips and teeth and tongue until they slowed down to simple soft kisses, letting their hands lead the way to whatever came next.

When Cloud's mouth left hers she made a low mew of disapproval at the back of her throat that surprised her ears until his lips found their next target along her neck and had her sighing. His hand caressing along her collar bone before slipping beneath her tank top to gently knead her breast had her arching off of the bed.

She definitely liked that and Cloud smiled against her skin. Her lithe body pinned beneath his should have given him the advantage but with every touch she wiggled and squirmed under him, making it very hard to ignore the ever-growing bulge in his pants. Especially when she decided to help things along by pulling his shirt over his head for him then lying back down against the pillows, her deliciously long hair flowing around her with a mischievous grin on her face.

That grin encouraged him to explore further, easing her top up an inch to expose her smooth stomach that he just had to kiss. Her skin was like white wine, sweet and luscious on his tongue as he moved her shirt up a little more each time, his lips following. She gasped and moved with each kiss until he was right beneath her breasts and couldn't resist the urge to flick his tongue below each one.

Tifa moaned long and low, urging him on even more. In an instant her tank top was on the floor, exposing her full and ample breasts for his viewing pleasure. His groin responded immediately and painfully so with his restrictive pants still on. Tifa was looking up at him with those big dark eyes, deep enough to swim in and he saw the hint of a blush stain her cheeks, her hands twitching nervously on the bed beside her.

"You're so beautiful, Tifa."

Cloud leaned over and kissed her soft and slow, lingering in the feel of her body pressed to his chest beneath his.

"You never have anything to be ashamed of."

He kissed her again and this time he could feel her tension ease out of her body.

"You never have to hide from me, Teef."

She smiled and kissed along her neck before reaching his newly uncovered destination. His mouth lingered and smothered kisses to the top of both of her oversized breasts, making her very happy for the first time to have them. When he moved onto her nipples she nearly lost it, her body arching into his, urging his mouth to take more. She was a slave to her body, passion and desire and heat it was almost too much to bear.

Needing more air and skin and touch, she yanked at his pants, almost pulling him onto her. Cloud choked on a startled laugh as her hands undid the belt, unzipped and pulled them down to his knees. With a look of awe, he followed suit and had her shorts off in half the time. Red panties greeted him and he couldn't help letting his fingers trace along their silky texture before adding them to the clothing scattered around the floor.

Tifa didn't have time to think about being embarrassed at what Cloud was looking at down there, she was too busy trying not to stare at the tent in his boxers. So that was what had been hard against her leg as they had been teasing each other. Now it was time to see as her fingers hooked the waistband of his boxers, gently easing them down.

He watched her face the entire time, gauging her reaction. What did he expect to see? Glee, revulsion, confusion? It was true that she had never been with a man so intimately but that was by choice, not because she didn't have offers. As the only female bartender in Edge, looking the way she does, she had had plenty of offers. She had kissed boys before and felt their reactions to her body but that was it. She never wanted more, not until now. No man had ever tried turning her on before, already assuming that their masculine physique was enough to get her going.

With Cloud, she had the history and the mostly consistent contact and what she thought were one-sided feelings. With Cloud, he didn't have to try as hard but the fact that he did made everything feel better than ever before. He knew her so well that it shouldn't surprise her that he knew her body better than her even. And she couldn't help the way her heartbeat was pounding and how her breath caught in her throat as she saw how turned on he was, by her, because of her, all for her.

She heard "I love you" in a hushed haze and then time sped up as he was suddenly at her opening easing into her, inch by inch until her legs quivered from the pressure and not being able to move like she was earlier. Cloud was gentle, watching her face twinge at the new feeling of being so full and she was so tight around him that he had to hold his breath to keep moving nice and slow until he was completely inside of her.

All she could feel and see was Cloud inside her and above her, filling her completely until she thought she couldn't take it anymore and then he moved, easing back out as nice and slow as he had entered at it felt…interesting. With the next stroke he was just as slow until she relaxed around him and then he started moving faster and that felt amazing. Tifa started moving with him and he leaned down to kiss her with his faster strokes, making her moan and then taking it away with his mouth.

With each touch and caress and thrust, in and out, filled then empty over and over again until this raw heat building inside of her couldn't be held back and she didn't even think to try as she exploded in a rush and a moan, her fingernails digging into his back to hang on as he came right after with a strangled groan.

The bedroom was full of panting as each tried to catch their breath after the gasps and moans of seconds before; the rustle of sheets as Cloud rolled off of her onto his back and she was finally able to stretch her legs, and then the all too quiet as the thoughts followed. Was he second-guessing what they had just done? Tifa hoped not because that was one of the best moments in her life. She didn't regret anything. But why was he being so quiet then?

Well, duh, this was Cloud after all.

Tifa rolled over to lean on her arm, watching him as he caught his breath. His spikes were rustled and his chest was covered in a light sheen of sweat that glistened in the moonlight as it rose and fell with each breath. She slipped a sheet over her body with a sudden chill, not wanting to imagine what her hair looked like all a tangle.

"Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"You're quiet."

He arched his eyebrow, making her elaborate.

"More than usual."

"Oh."

She gave him a quirked smile before resting her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat calm down. His fingers were in her hair as if of their own regard, sifting through the silky strands and stroking down her back lightly before starting their emissions all over again.

It was enough to make her drift off to a comfortable sleep until her somewhat less dazed mind thought she remembered something.

I love you.

Had he really…did he really say that? Looking at him with his eyes now closed, he didn't seem to think anything of it. Maybe she had imagined it, just a figment of her imagination. There had been plenty of passion and excitement and hormones flying around her brain that she could have easily imagined him saying those words. And so what if he did? Sure, he was the love of her life, the only guy she had ever been with, but no guy would say those three small words the first time being intimate together. And if they did, it would have been in the heat of the moment, some incoherent babble that no guy would surely mean.

That was it, it had to be. Tifa had herself so thoroughly convinced that she didn't even bother asking Cloud about it. It would have opened a can of worms that would totally ruin the moment and she wanted to remember every part of this night especially with parts hazed by her hormones. Cloud was exhausted, her body moving with his as he drifted deeper into sleep. Tifa moved to a more comfortable position snug by his side which he obliged to, immediately putting his arm around her shoulder and making a pillow for her head against his shoulder.

Even if he didn't consciously know it, he felt something for her. Tifa was sure of that.

With forever…

And then Cloud was suddenly in her life every day and in her bed every night. At first it was hard to do with the schedules for the bar and the delivery service. She felt like a teenager slipping away for half an hour here and there to satiate this sudden desire until it got to the point that they would jump at every creaking floor board in fear of the children finding them in the kitchen pantry or the closet or the bath room. How many problems and questions would that bring? Questions Tifa wasn't even sure she was ready to ask herself.

What were they? Were they a couple? Really close friends? Only a warm body to sleep next to?

That last thought made her sick to her stomach. She couldn't handle being nothing more than a girl to have sex with for Cloud. And she knew he felt something, he had said so…in the heat of passion. She still hadn't brought that up either. Too many cards were starting to stack up in this question pyramid. He had said she didn't have to hide from him anymore ever again, maybe now was the time to start asking his thoughts on this change of events.

To have some kind of ease with the current situation, Cloud and Tifa had at least agreed to make it look like a natural transition for the kids that he was staying in her room. He would help her tuck the kids into bed and then they would sleep in her bed, sometimes actively sleeping and other times just simply sleeping next to each other. It was nice, almost too nice and Tifa had a bad feeling that some kind of power would make it so their happiness wouldn't last long. If their past had taught her anything, it was to always be on guard because shit happens when you least expect it.

The knock at the door that night shouldn't have surprised her nearly as much as it did. Pressing her body to the wood, she listened.

"Cloud?"

The knob turned and the blonde warrior stepped in, closing the door quietly behind him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were up. I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

Something was off. Cloud was looking at the floor as if he could burn a whole through it.

"Cloud?" Tifa stepped closer, placing her hand against his cheek and he leaned into her.

"Teef, I'm so tired."

"Then let's get you to bed." She started to lead him to the bed but he didn't move, standing very still in the same place.

Something wasn't right. "Cloud?" she asked again more softly, worry starting to set in.

"Hmm?" He looked at her like he wasn't really seeing her, his eyes blank and then cleared in a blink. "Yeah, let's go to bed."

He took the lead this time, taking her by the hand and sitting on the bed, looking up at her standing before him. He gave a little tug and she was suddenly in his lap, his arms wrapped around her as if he were drowning. Cloud was kissing her like his life depended on it but before the panic could take over, his kisses pushed out her fear letting her desire that was always just beneath the surface for him flood her senses.

Tifa kissed him this time, leading his lips and tongue the way she wanted and the way she knew he liked. Sitting in his lap like this made his arousal very evident, her hips shifting to accommodate by pressing her body closer and wrapping her legs around his waist. Every part of his body was lean muscle as the clothes came off, letting her hands touch and caress and kiss anywhere and everywhere she wanted to taste. His neck was one of her favorite spots, lightly grazing her teeth along the sensitive skin until he was moaning low in his throat.

Once Tifa's hands were free to slide along his abdomen down to his stomach and up again to his hair, Cloud came to life and no longer took it lying down so to speak. He fought back with his hands through her hair, gripping her close to him as he pillaged her mouth, taking every last kiss he could reach. When his hands found her ample chest and starting to massage and tease and squeeze until she couldn't take anymore, she used her hips as a weapon to grind onto his throbbing erection which lasted about five seconds before Cloud tipped her forward, caging him between her arms laying back on the bed.

Tifa was a bit ashamed to admit it but being on top was one of her favorite positions. It was where she was in control and worked wonders for when Cloud was tired. Of course, he could literally lend a helping hand by gripping her hips and lifting her up and down if she couldn't get fast enough soon enough for him.

But not tonight. Tonight he was content to lie on the bed looking relaxed, watching as she braced her hands on the bed to move her body above him, her hips not completely touching him instead teasing him in one of the best ways. He could feel how ready she was but it wasn't enough, she wanted him to squirm the way he made her on their very first night together.

Just a little here and a little there, her hair tickling his chest and a flutter of kisses with her hips swaying above him. Nuzzling his neck then moving up to nibble his earlobe until he can't take it anymore.

Almost there…

"Tifa," he breathed hoarsely, looking like he was almost close to begging.

It made her smile but she wasn't that cruel and a moment later she slid down all around him, taking him into her body. Nice and slow, up and down and a sway of her hips before lifting up again, making sure to feel all of him deep inside. Her breasts were pressed to his chest and her body had a nice sheen of sweat as she kept moving, faster then slower then faster still as he took her hips and had her bouncing in his lap a few times before exploding, taking her with him as she shook on top of him until she couldn't move anymore.

Collapsing to his chest, she panted heavily and felt him doing the same as she moved with his breathing. Her body was still snug to his, not wanting to move, not wanting to break this newfound connection they had. She was so happy, fulfilled, and trusted him completely. She could have fallen asleep on him just like this.

If this wasn't love than she didn't know what was.

Her eyes drifted closed and she could hear his chuckle as he slid them back up the bed to where the pillows were. She liked pillows she mused and heard him laugh again as he gently lifted her up and situated her into snuggling his side. She must have said that last bit aloud out of her sleepiness and giggled into his arm, pressing her body to his.

"Sweet dreams, Teef," Cloud whispered, kissing her forehead. She drifted off with a smile on her face, only faintly catching the last muttered words.

"I can't…I miss…her…"

And ends…

And then he was gone. Tifa awoke the next morning covered up in an empty bed. She sat up, looked around the room but didn't see his clothes mixed in with hers. She slipped into them to take a quick look downstairs, the bar…the kitchen…the garage…back upstairs to the kids' rooms…Cloud's old room that he had turned into an office…nothing.

Fenrir was gone. Maybe he had an early delivery?

But no, Tifa couldn't kid herself into thinking that after he didn't come home that night, or the next one, or the one after that.

Last night she had felt that something was wrong, that he was acting different. He had knocked at her door like that first night. He had loved her like he had that first night. And now she would never know if he loved her, missed her, thought about her. Now he was out of her life yet again. He was just…gone.

This time he stayed gone for two years. A lot can happen in two years and usually does for most people, but not for Tifa. Of course the kids had birthdays and the seasons changed, as they should. Two would be anniversaries of her and Cloud had passed without as much as a letter. She called. She called in the hope that hearing her voice would make him come to his senses and realize that he couldn't live without having her in his life because she was doing a lousy job of living without him.

All she ever did was work now. Work and help the kids with homework. She didn't go outside unless it was absolutely necessary. That first week he was gone, Tifa didn't leave her room longer than necessary, afraid that she would break down right then and there behind the bar counter. When she started asking Barret to take the kids out to play at the park or to the zoo or to friend's birthday parties, she got looks but never questions. She thanked the gods for that. It was when her close friends started asking questions that she would completely lose it and she believed they sensed that for whenever they came around, no one mentioned Cloud. Ever.

And it stayed that way until the calls she made trying to reach them became few and far between. Right up until the night there was a knock on her bedroom door.

With a touch…

Tifa held her breath, not wanting to believe or get her hopes up only to be dashed again when it was Denzel asking for a glass of water or Marlene crying from another nightmare. It was 4:03 in the morning, who else could it be but the kids?

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she opened the door…and there he was.

Standing in the doorway, he looked the same as before, only completely soaked from the pouring rain pounding on the roof overhead.

The silence was strained and awkward at best, her heart threatening to pound out of her chest out of anxious nerves. He looked like he was about to say something but she had been waiting for him to say something for two whole years. It was her time to speak now.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"What?"

This is clearly not what he had been expecting. "Why?"

He did that head-tilt-running-his-hand-through-his-spikes-when -he-was-nervous-thing and sent water droplets all over the place.

"Don't do that, that adorable head tilt thing. I just want to know why."

He looked abashed for an instant before looking her in the eye.

"Why."

"Yes, why. That should be simple enough to answer."

Tifa didn't realize her hands were balled into fists practically vibrating until she caught a look of them in the full-length mirror on her bedroom wall. There he was, standing before her, his spikes damp and adorable after not seeing him for two whole years and she wasn't jumping into his arms because why? Because he had hurt her, left her naked and alone in a bed she thought they had made theirs only to have to get used to sleeping alone all over again.

She still hurt but she wasn't petty. All she wanted to know was why. She deserved to know why.

"It's not."

"Not what?"

"Not that simple."

"Why not?"

And then he gave her a look that stopped her from this talking pong match. The pain, the anguish in his eyes. She had seen that only a few times in their life. The day Nibelhiem burned to the ground, killing his mother. The day the plate in sector 7 crashed down and Avalanche was to blame. And the day that none of them would never forget, the day Aerith stood up for the planet and was struck down by Sephiroth.

I can't…I miss…her.

"It's her, isn't it?

"What?"

"Cloud, this is about her."

"I-"

"Aerith."

"I had to."

Tifa swallowed hard. She wouldn't let herself cry until he told her. "Had to what?"

He took her hands in his, trying to get through to her. "Teef, you have to understand."

"Understand what?" She kept her tone clipped, her voice cold. She had to hear him say it.

"I let her die."

Tifa didn't expect that.

"I had to say goodbye. I had to let her go."

"It wasn't your fault." She squeezed his hands still engulfing hers. "There was nothing you could do."

He looked doubtful. "Nothing."

He smiled slightly. "I knew you'd say that."

"Because I'm right."

"Thanks, Teef. I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome."

There was a grin shared between the would-be couple and then it got tense once again. Even though her hands were still in his, it didn't feel right. Not until something was cleared up.

"The last night we…were together, you said something."

With a nod of his head she kept going.

"Something like, I can't…I miss her."

"Mhm."

"You were talking about Aerith, right?"

He looked away from her and scratched the back of his head again. "That's kind of embarrassing."

She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily and gave him a look that said so.

"I…I was talking in my sleep."

"Oh? I didn't know you talked in your sleep."

This time he actually blushed. "I usually don't but I was having nightmares about…"

"About Aerith." Suddenly things were starting to make sense.

"With the dreams I was having, I couldn't be with you until I said goodbye to Aerith."

It was probably the longest sentence she had heard from him in a few years but it was worth it.

"So when you were talking in your sleep-"

"I was talking to Aerith." His thumb rubbed the back of her hand comfortingly. "I told her that I couldn't leave."

A slow smile started across her face, she always looked pretty when she smiled. "I couldn't leave you; I'd miss you too much."

And with that she finally did jump into his arms and hugged him fierce, meeting his lips eagerly in a much long overdo kiss. Then she hit him in the arm hard enough to make him loosen his hold on her.

"Ouch, that hurt."

"Cloud Strife, you could have just told me this instead of leaving me here to worry about you for two years!"

"I know, I'm sorry I just-"

"It took you two years to say goodbye?"

"No. But after I did that I felt bad about just leaving like that and…and I didn't think I could face you again after that."

"Well I'm glad you came to your senses. I missed you."

She could feel her face turn beet red, she hadn't meant to admit that just yet.

"I missed you too. More than you missed me." He said with a teasing smirk.

"You think so?" She teased back, sticking her tongue out at him which he dutifully nipped at.

"I love you. So yes." He meant it as a teasing comeback but it rang with more truth than humor.

"You love me." Tifa let that roll around in her brain a bit then laughed. "You know, I thought you said that to me the first time we spent the night together."

A bad thought came to mind then. "You weren't talking in your sleep then, were you?"

"No, not that far back. Not until a few months after we started being…together."

"So?"

"So if…when I said that, it was all for you."

Tifa couldn't help the child like urge to squeal a little bit and he laughed with her.

"On the first night even. I thought I was hallucinating."

"It's always been you, Teef."

She pulled him down for another kiss, saying against his lips "And you'll always be mine."

Always be mine.

As it was meant to be.

The End.

A/N: Sorry if it was long. Sometimes I write things too short that I post on here and get complaints so I can't always tell what the length limit should be. I was debating breaking this up into chapters but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped so I kept it the way it is. Hopefully the breakers helped. Please R&R :)