Finally writing a fanfiction for cloti. Yeah this is my first cloti fanfic...it's so weird...There may be some grammar errors and spelling errors.

Two friends stood in the doorway of the church. He recognized these faces. Zack, 1st-class soldier and best-friend of Cloud; and Aerith...the last remaining Cetra who gave her life to save the planet. He had known them once, but then they left the world...no, they never left. They joined the planet, that was it. They were not truly gone.

Upon realizing this, Cloud felt a calmness radiating in his chest that soon spread throughout his body.

"I'm not alone..."

He saw them clearly just as they were about to leave; Aerith whom he had failed to protect, and Zack, his best friend who gave his life to protect him. As they turned to leave they gave Cloud one final message. Live.

The burden of guilt he felt was no longer. He could freely move on with his life without the shackles of the past.

"We should have a party!" Yuffie cheered, "The gang's all here!"

"Yeah a party!" Marlene agreed.

Cloud smile and looked down at Denzel, who grinned up at him. A party sounded nice. After all that happened, maybe they could take a day together...not as AVALANCHE, but as friends.

It was then Cloud heard Tifa's giggle,

"After saving the world? I think we all deserve some cake."

Cloud walked with Denzel over to Tifa and the others. Tifa turned to smile at Cloud who had such a calm and peaceful smile. It reminded her of the smile she had seen when their journey had ended.

Tifa couldn't explain the feeling she had inside. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so elated. It was true, they had a long road of hardship and pain but that seemed so far away now. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't felt happiness, but it was nothing compared to this. The feeling she felt in the church was almost intoxicating. Somehow, she knew everything would be okay now.

Denzel would get to stay with them, the threat of geostigma was gone, no more would she ever worry about him being taken from her. Denzel also had a smile on his face she hadn't seen before.

Before leaving the church, Tifa stopped and looked back at the flowerbed. She gazed at the water sparkling in the sunlight, then up at the broken rafters to the sky. It was just as Aerith said; one day they'd all look back and laugh.

"Tifa?" she heard Cloud calling her. His voice snapped her out of her daydream and she turned to face him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with concern in his voice.

Tifa smiled and shook her head, "Oh. It's nothing."

"You sure?"

She nodded, hurrying to join him at his side. Cloud gave her a questioning look as she did so, but didn't question it. It was a time for celebration, so it was off to the bar for a party.

At the end of the day, they all headed their different ways. It was nice to get together and do things normal people would do. But now, Tifa was alone. Marlene was off with Barret to spend some quality time together after their long separation. Denzel was with Cloud, finally able to be with his hero. Tifa was happy to see Denzel so thrilled. Perhaps, now they were a real family? She wondered as she stood at the sink cleaning the dishes from the party. What would become of them now?

Before long, Denzel walked through the door with Cloud; Tifa greeted her boys with a smile.

"Goodnight, Tifa." Denzel smiled as he walked behind the counter and turned to go upstairs.

"You're going to sleep now?" She sounded stunned.

"I'm tired." He shrugged, "Hey, Cloud?"

"Hm?" Cloud sat at the counter, turning to look at Denzel.

"See you in the morning?" Denzel asked cautiously.

"Of course."

With those reassuring words, Denzel smiled and headed upstairs. Tifa smiled and went back to the task at hand.

"I'm glad you're back..."Tifa said to Cloud.

"I am too...do you want some help?"

"No, I got it." She emptied some glasses into the sink and rinsed them out.

The two sat in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. They were alone now and all that could be heard was the sound of running water and clinking of dishes. Cloud tapped his finger against the counter lightly, appearing to be deep in thought, he glanced at Tifa a few times before he stood up.

"Tifa, can that wait? There's...there's some things I want to speak to you about..."He appeared to be nervous, but he walked behind the counter with her.

"Sure...what's the matter?" She turned the water and looked at him curiously.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he tried to find the right words. He didn't know how to say it, not to Tifa. He averted her gaze and looked down at the floor.

"...Cloud?"She asked gently.

"Heh...this is funny...you'd think after all this time, I'd know what to say."

Tifa tilted her head at him, fearing he would leave again, but all she could say was:

"It's alright Cloud..."

"Tifa...I..." he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

After a sigh he looked up at her, meeting her eye he spoke "Let's work hard together."

At first Tifa was stunned, but soon a smile traced her lips as she nodded in agreement. Cloud had a shy smile on his face as he told her he was heading to bed.

"You should get some rest too." He said.

"I will." She smiled.

At with that, Cloud headed upstairs leaving Tifa in the downstairs bar. She finally got her answer from Cloud. They'd work hard together, work hard towards there future. After all they endured, it didn't feel as if anything else could get in their way. Before heading to bed, Tifa gave Barret a call on the phone, asking if he'd be returning with Marlene. He said they were on their way home now and were only a few minutes away. Tifa knew Barret just wanted a chance to spoil Marlene with gifts, or show off with his stories of traveling for two long years.

In the morning, Tifa woke up early like always and went downstairs to start breakfast. It was unsurprising to see Cloud awake as well. She caught him just as he was heading out the door.

"Deliveries this early?" She asked.

"No. I left Fenrir in Midgar. I'll be back a little later."

"In time for breakfast?"

"Probably." He shrugged, but he didn't know. The walk would take a while, but if he rented a chocobo to get there then he'd have one more problem to solve. He headed out early and was back by early noon.

Tifa was a little surprised to see him home in the middle of the day, and was even more surprised to learn he hadn't taken any jobs that day. It was a nice change of pace to have him around the bar helping out. Seeing Marlene scold Cloud about how to serve tables brought a smile to her face. She muffled her laughter at seeing Cloud attempting to take orders from the customers. Eventually Marlene told him he should just clean off the tables instead.

The sight warmed Tifa's heart. Denzel even seemed to look proud at being able to teach Cloud something, or maybe it was because Cloud was helping Denzel clean, and Denzel was simply happy having Cloud around. Barret sat at the booth in a corner, taking his job as a bouncer seriously.

At closing, Tifa took Cloud aside asking why he had stayed home that day.

"You don't want me to?"

"I didn't mean it like that...it's just...out of the ordinary is all." She shrugged.

Cloud nodded in agreement, "You have a tough job..."

"It's not too bad." She shrugged, "As Barret says...I'm good at it."

Cloud couldn't help but nod, she was better with people than he was, even as kids she always had an abundance of friends.

"So...what made you stay home today? I'm curious."

"I just thought...I thought I could stay home once in a while. Help out around the bar. You do so much everyday..."

"Oh..."Tifa was taken back, "Thank you...It's alright, I have Marlene and Denzel to help out."

"That's not what I meant, I...I had a lot of time to think while I was away." Cloud said.

"Oh..."

Cloud rubbed the back of his head, "I thought leaving was the best thing I could do. I couldn't protect anyone...not even myself. But..."

Tifa didn't say anything, she let him continue but she didn't know what to say even if she could speak.

Cloud looked at Tifa, "It wasn't fair of me to be so selfish..."

"Cloud..."

Cloud put his hand up to stop her. He needed to say it, it had taken him a day to get to this point. He couldn't let it stop now, he had to tell Tifa the words he was too afraid to say before.

"No matter what happens, I'll be around. Always. I'll always be here for you from now on."

A blush crossed Cloud's face as he looked away. There were so many things he wanted to tell Tifa, but the words never formed. Even with his days numbered, all he could do was leave. Cloud learned that by running away, that didn't help anything. He then thought of Aerith. She didn't run away. She faced her death with courage and prayed for Holy. She smiled, even until the end. Then there was Zack, who could have saved himself and left Cloud behind to die. Zack faced the Shinra soldiers, and protected Cloud. There were many things Cloud wanted to say, that he wanted to do. He didn't want to die, and was given another chance at life. He wasn't going to squander the opportunity.

"I love you..."Cloud finally said in a quiet voice.

"Huh?"Tifa looked at him, shocked. She didn't know if she had heard him right.

Cloud watched the ground, rubbing the back of his head, and his cheeks turning a deeper red. He turned away from Tifa and walked to the other side of the room.

"I never had the courage to tell you..." Cloud spoke softly.

Tifa's face felt hot and she turned to look at Cloud, appearing like a deer in the headlights. She brought her hands up to her beating heart and took a breath. This was not a conversation she was expecting.

"Cloud...Cloud, I..."She swallowed the lump in her throat, "I love you too..."

All I got so far...