Final Fantasy and all related characters belong to Square Enix.

Enjoy.

You're Everything

Tifa was dead on her feet. It had been a very long, very bad night and she barely had the energy to stack all of the chairs and stools. She'd leave the dishes for the morning. The kids were spending the night at Yuffie's place. It wasn't very often that the ninja princess was in town these days and her appearance was rather sudden. She didn't even want to wait around to tease Cloud. She just swooped in, asked if the kids could spend the night with her and left with them in tow.

Tifa was confused by this at first, but thought better of it. Yuffie was Yuffie. That's all there was to it. In all honesty, Tifa was glad to have the place to herself. She had been having a bad week all the way around and to top it all off, she was feeling ignored. Cloud had been gone most of the time, having left before she would wake and would come home by the time she was already in bed. She stayed up late the previous night and waited for him. He hurried into his office and closed the door. Once they had bumped into each other in the hall. He wouldn't even look at her and left a few minutes later. She tried to think of anything she may have done wrong, but she couldn't think of anything. Was something troubling him? No. She had made him promise to tell her if there was.

Glancing up at the clock, Tifa pondered whether or not she should wait up for him again tonight when she thought against it and headed up the stairs. That's when she heard Fenrir's engine. She stayed where she was, knowing if he headed upstairs he'd have to pass her. Tifa was going to get him to tell her what was going on tonight, if it was the last thing she did.

"Tifa?" He called from the kitchen.

Oh no. If he wanted to speak to her he was going to come to her, not the other way around. She had already done that and all he did was give her the cold shoulder.

"Tifa?" he called again.

Screw it. "What do you want." she called. The tone wasn't that of a question, more like an annoyed response.

"Meet me on the roof, it's urgent," he replied, "but wait a few minutes." The door opened and closed again.

Tifa was confused. If it was urgent why'd she need to wait a few minutes? Just what was going on with him these days? She huffed in frustration and folded her arms. She was way too tired for this.

Despite her anger, worry and curiosity won out and ten minutes later Tifa made her way to the roof. The sight that greeted her took her breath away.

The night sky was filled with countless stars. And they weren't all staying in one place. Several were shooting across the sky. The sight was amazing, but what caught her attention was the man leaning against the balcony gazing up at the sky.

This brought her back to reality. "Cloud? What's wrong?"

He didn't move at first, as if he didn't want to face her. Tifa approached him. "Something's bothering you. It's been bothering you all week. Let me in, please?"

At this he turned, his famous sharp gaze was now soft and was there a hint of fear in those eyes? No, it was more like uncertainty, but why? Tifa realized it had to be worse than she thought for him to act like this. He didn't say much, but his eyes always showed what he was feeling.

He held out an envelope to her. She accepted it and realized it was a letter. She opened it and started reading. What was written made her heart flutter.

Find me here,

And speak to me.

I want to feel you,

I need to hear you.

You are the light,

That's leading me,

To the place,

Where I find peace again.

.

You are the strength,

That keeps me walking.

You are the hope,

That keeps me trusting.

You are the light,

To my soul.

You are my purpose,

You're everything.

.

How can I stand here with you,

And not be moved by you?

Would you tell me,

How could it be,

Any better than this?

.

You calm the storms,

And you give me rest.

You hold me in your hands,

You won't let me fall.

You steal my heart,

And you take my breath away.

Would you take me in,

Take me deeper now.

.

And how can I stand here with you,

And not be moved by you?

Would you tell me,

How could it be,

Any better than this?

.

Cause you're all I want,

You're all I need,

You're everything, everything

And how can I stand here with you,

And not be moved by you?

Would you tell me,

How could it be,

Any better than this...

.

Tifa, look at me...

Tifa looked up from the letter, her mind was blank, her heart was racing and a swarm of butterflies waged war in her stomach. She was so nervous, but she still looked at him.

Cloud was on one knee, a small velvet box in his hand. Tifa couldn't breathe and her face was red. Was this really happening? Her mind began to race over the week's past events. Everything was starting to make perfect sense!

"Tifa?" his voice was so soft and that look in his eyes. Tifa found herself getting lost in those twin pools of beautiful blue.

He opened the box and held up the ring. It was a diamond ring. The band was golden, like his hair and the gem sparkled and glowed in the moonlight.

"Will you...marry me?"

That was the uncertainty she saw before. His voice, it reflected that he was just as nervous as she was. Tifa almost wanted to laugh. As if there was a chance she'd refuse? she had wanted him to ask her for so long. But, she had begun to lose hope. All her faith had been restored and in these few short moments, everything was perfect.

Tifa could sense his nerves beginning to fail. She was taking too long to answer. Now she was the one being distant. Not anymore.

With a slow smile that spread across her lips, she blushed once again and took his hand in hers.

"Yes, Cloud Strife. I will."

He closed his eyes and smiled before placing the ring on her finger. Rising to his feet, he leaned in to kiss her. She closed the gap and let her lips meet his.

As if a sign of the lifestream's blessing, the night sky unleashed the floodgates and countless stars soared across the sky.

They stood there for the next few hours, looking up at the stars, wrapped in their warm embrace.

"You know," Tifa thought as she watched the stars and leaned her head into his chest - listening to his heart beat, "This wasn't such a bad night after all."

Fin~

I've been reading a lot of CloTi fiction lately and this idea would not leave me alone. I'm not used to writing romance, so I hope it turned out alright. This was totally inspired by "Everything" by Lifehouse. The lyrics are posted in the story and it just seemed perfect for these two. But you just have to hear the song for yourself.

I may add one more chapter to this, but I'm not sure yet. I'm happy to leave it as is, but at the same time it feels incomplete. The difference is very similar to the different between Advent Children and Advent Children Complete.