A/N: I really shouldn't be writing so much during finals week. I really shouldn't, but I can't seem to help it, so you peoples are the benefactors of my procrastination. Anyway, this new project is gonna be a collection of one-shots and I've decided that, for the most part, they will follow in a general chronological timeline. However, they won't necessarily need to be read one after the other. If there is any one that is specifically connected with another one, I'll be sure to let y'all know in the author's notes.
Oh, and if anybody has any ideas for rules, please let me know either via review or email! Thanks a bunches!!
Summary: A series of one-shots that revolve around what it means to live with a family and the universal, but not necessarily spoken rules about family. Post AC. Cloti
Disclaimer: Once again, Final Fantasy 7 plus all paraphernalia belong to Squaresoft/Square Enix or whatever the heck they are now.
Household Rules
Rule Number One: Family Comes First
It had been a full week since she was last willing to talk to him, not that he could really blame her. He had missed Denzel's tenth birthday party.
Just to be fair though, he really had planned on coming home early from deliveries that day. Unfortunately, he'd gotten a call from Yuffie swearing it was an emergency life or death situation only to find that she was being chased down by Vincent for stealing his cloak. How she had managed to even get close enough to him to steal his cloak was still a mystery.
When the dust finally settled, a week had passed, and at nearly two in the morning, he was left with a long drive back. He would have called, but Yuffie had stolen his phone (hers had been shot to pieces by Vincent after she'd called him for back-up) and made off with it before he even had a chance to blink.
Thus, it was with great weariness and frustration that he was finally able to step through the doors of the two-story home he shared with the woman who pulled him back from the brink of depression and the two children who looked to him as a hero. Unfortunately, he was not met with a hero's welcome.
Instead, he was met with the slap of a stray ribbon. His sharp blue eyes took in his surroundings and found that the other inhabitants of the house had yet to take down the decorations from earlier that night. A banner exclaiming, "Happy Birthday Denzel!" draped across the wall behind their dining table. Colorful streamers and balloons lay strewn about and small pieces of confetti were littered across the floor. Aw crap…
Then he saw her. She had fallen asleep on the couch, her body resting on her side. She had curled her legs into herself to fend against the cold night air, one her hands pillowing her head and the other lay close to her mouth. Her sepia hair was tucked behind her ears, and her lips were slightly parted.
However, it was almost like she had a sixth sense when it came to noticing his presence.
No sooner had he kicked off his boots and made his way to the couch to peck her gently on the forehead had she woken up to fix a cold glare upon his visage. "He's really upset," were the first words to emerge from her.
No "welcome home, Cloud" or "how was your day?" or even a "where have you been?"
He gulped. He'd never heard her voice so frosty before, nor had he ever seen such a wilting glower emerge from her beautiful mahogany eyes. "I-I know. Some things came up and I had to take care of them."
Her eyebrow ticked as she brought herself into an upright position. "More important than family?" She didn't give him a chance to reply before continuing, "You promised him, Cloud. Denzel was really looking forward to spending his birthday with you. He just wanted today. This one day and you couldn't even give him that."
He ran a hand through his hair. "I know, Tif, I know. And no, nothing's more important than family. It's just…I don't know. Stupid stuff came up and Yuffie stole my phone and Vincent was chasing her around the planet and just stuff like that." The more he said, the more he realized how pathetic he sounded.
Tifa slid off the couch and he stood with her. She turned those brutally stunning eyes on him and he could see the disappoint roll off her countenance in droves. "Cloud, I'm glad that you care so much about our friends. Really, I am. But do you think Vincent really would have hurt Yuffie?"
His initial reaction was 'Of course' before he realized that wasn't true. Vincent was cold, but he was also deadly loyal to his friends. With a defeated sigh, Cloud broke the eye contact and shook his head.
If he had looked up, he would have seen the ghost of a smile appear on her lips when she saw his strong reaction. But it was only there for a second before she pulled the corners of her mouth back down again. Regardless of how much he resembled a kicked puppy right then and how rare it was to catch him in such a position, this was truly an issue that she wanted to make sure he understood.
"I'm happy that you have so much compassion for others, even if they probably deserved it." At this she couldn't keep the smile from appearing. Yuffie often deserved what she got for what she did. "But Cloud, I really hope you understand that you should take care of your own family first before you mind the matters of other people." At this, her smile disappeared and a wavering inflection entered her voice. "That is, unless you don't think of us as your family."
"Of course I do!" he exclaimed quickly, his vision whipping from the edge of the couch back to meet hers in earnest. Her words from the time they talked in the bedroom after Marlene and Denzel had been taken drifted back to him.
I guess that only works with real families, huh? she had said at the time. His heart clenched painfully when he recalled how desolate she had seemed, how sad that despite how hard she tried, she couldn't make their little makeshift family work. But she had.
His hands reached out on their own accord and rested on her shoulders, his vibrant cobalt orbs gazing into her eyes with such thrilling intensity, she felt a shiver run up her spine. "I've never felt more at home than I do now. Honest."
A bright glow immediately replaced her forlorn expression. "Do you mean that?"
"Of course," he replied softly, his eyes drifting to her lips briefly before returning to hold her gaze. A not-so-unfamiliar feeling wafted up in his chest. It happened at a more constant rate now, that desire to hold her and to touch his lips against hers. It had always been there, he knew that much, but it grew stronger everyday. Yet something held him back.
Maybe it was insecurity or maybe still had not learned to completely let go of the past yet, but something held him back from initiating a physical relationship with her. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he knew he would not be able to stop himself once he began that kept him from doing anything. He knew that she wanted to be married before starting any intimate relationships and he respected that.
Thus, it was safer for the moment just to not do anything at all. Of course, that resolve was becoming harder and harder to abide by each day that passed, but he would survive until…
Until what? He questioned himself. The wiser part of his conscience told him. Until you get married, you dimwit.
As these internal conflicts were running amuck in his head, Tifa had been staring at him. She was sorely tempted to wave a hand to break his stupor, but at the same time didn't want to be the one to separate their contact.
Goodness she was pathetic, she thought wryly.
Just when she was beginning to question her mental state, Cloud seemed to snack out of his reverie. She couldn't be certain in the dim light, but she thought that the slightest tint of pink was gracing his cheekbones. His hands slipped off her shoulders and she couldn't stop the shudder when his fingers accidentally grazed the bare skin of her arms.
"I'm gonna go check up on Denzel," he mumbled before quickly shuffling away.
She nodded absent-mindedly as she stared after his retreating form. With a wistful sigh, she clicked off the lamp and headed for bed.
…
He slowly pushed the door open to Denzel's room before sliding in. He stepped up to the bed as he dropped off his present on the nightstand.
Denzel was obviously not a still sleeper, marked by the rumpled sheets shoved to the foot of the bed. With a smile, Cloud pulled up the sheets to his chin and lightly ruffled his hair. "Happy birthday, kid," he whispered.
Just as he was about to leave, Denzel stirred in his sleep. "Cloud? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me." Cloud turned back to see him sitting up in bed. "I'm sorry."
Denzel shrugged a little sleepily, but his weariness wasn't enough to miss this opportunity to talk with his hero. "S'okay. I was having trouble sleeping today anyway."
"I mean about missing your birthday."
"Oh. It's okay, too." Denzel really was starting to act like him, right down to the unwillingness to share his emotions.
With a sigh, Cloud sat down on the edge of his bed and shook his head. "No, it's not okay, Denzel. I made a promise and I didn't keep it. You don't need to keep everything hidden away. If you're mad at me, it's better to tell me than to let your emotions bottle up."
Wish somebody would have given me that advice when I was younger, thought Cloud.
Denzel crawled out of the tangle of his blankets and sheets and sat down next to Cloud, his legs dangling off the edge of the bed. "I'm really not mad at you, Cloud. I'm sad you didn't come, but I know that other stuff is more important. 'Sides, there's always next year."
Cloud looked into the boy's cerulean eyes and saw the honesty and warm emanating from them. Maybe he's more like Tifa after all. Out loud, he said, "No Denzel. Nothing is important than family." He reached out to ruffle his hair gently. "How 'bout this? Tomorrow I'll take a day off and I'll tell Tifa to close the bar. Then the four of us will do whatever you want to do. Sorta like a make-up birthday bash, yeah?"
A wide grin spread across his face—quite nearly as wide as the time Denzel was first healed of his Geostigma—and the boy threw his arms around Cloud's neck. "That'll be awesome!"
Too surprised to react at first, Cloud slowly relaxed and let out a chuckle. "Alright, well, you better get to bed then."
Denzel nodded enthusiastically and was about to climb into bed when he noticed the box on his nightstand. Cloud followed his gaze and reached out to hand it to him. "Happy birthday, Denzel."
Fortunately, Cloud hadn't bothered with wrapping paper—he never quite understood how to get rid of the wrinkles—since Denzel probably wouldn't have wanted another layer separating him from a present from his role-model. His eyes widened in awe as he pulled it from the box. In his hand lay a thick chain-linked necklace with a pendent in the shape of a wolf-head—very similar to the one in Cloud's own armor—both wrought out of mythril.
"This is…really for me?" His voice was laced with complete amazement and it shook with joy.
"Of course. That's why I gave it to you."
"Thank you so much. You're the best Cloud."
Cloud's cheeks were noticeably red by now but he hid it gruffly as he ruffled the mop atop of Denzel's head that passed for his hair. "Hm. Time to get to bed."
Denzel obeyed and just as he was about to drift off into sleep, he mumbled, "G'night Cloud." The last words sounded suspiciously like he had said "G'night Dad" however.
"Goodnight."
Cloud walked quietly to the door and slid back outside only to be startled by Tifa's presence. A veil of red layered her face and he knew that she was embarrassed over being caught eavesdropping. He couldn't help but notice that the extra color only served to make her look that much more beautiful.
They didn't say anything as they made their way towards their individual bedrooms. The walk was a short one and within seconds they were already by the door to Tifa's room, which was one door before his. They paused there hesitantly before Tifa finally mustered the courage to fix her eyes upon Cloud's.
"That was really sweet of you," she said softly.
He shrugged to hide his blush. "Like you said, family first, right?"
She smiled, and before he had time to react and before she could think about it further to regret it, pushed herself on her tiptoes to peck him lightly on the lips. "G'nightCloud," she slurred quickly before slipping inside her room and closing it behind her.
Cloud stood there stunned for a couple of minutes longer, his hand absentmindedly reaching up to brush the spot where her lips had landed. Slowly, a ridiculous grin spread across his features as he finally picked up his feet to go to his own room.
"Family first indeed."
A/N: Righto. So there's my first installment. Hope y'all liked the interaction between Cloud and Denzel plus the little bit of Cloti fluffiness in there. Well, if ya liked it, drop me a review. If you hated it, still drop me a review. I can take criticism pretty well. Hehe...