Greetings! Wow, it's been so long since I actually did any kind of writing that this short fic felt like such an accomplishment. I've been busy with work and everyday life that writing just seemed to have been set on the back burner. I'm hoping that this will be the start of more writing, so wish me luck. Anyway, prepare for mush and fluff and warm fuzzy feelings (and probably Cloud being OOC). If that isn't what you're looking for, please leave now. Otherwise, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters in this piece of fiction. I am making no money off of them.

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So Much More

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He didn't think he'd ever been more terrified of anything his whole life.

Not Sephiroth.

Not the end of the world.

Not the end of his own life.

But it wasn't right that he was comparing this new development in his life to death and despair.

No, this was all about love and happiness. Feeling complete.

He was still scared shitless but for a whole set of different reasons.

Staring down into the sleeping face of his newborn son, Cloud Strife had an epiphany. I'm going to be a good father.

Tifa had assured him that he had already been a good father to both Marlene and Denzel, but he hadn't really believed her much. He'd had so much baggage that it had been hard to grasp what other people had seen in him.

Tifa's unconditional love, the kids' admiration, and the support and trust of their AVALANCHE friends. It was all clear as day if he allowed himself to see it. Which was easier said than done most days.

He watched as tiny fists opened and closed as if reaching as he stretched his arms. He was wearing some kind of moogle get-up the self-proclaimed 'aunt Yuffie' had bought on one of her trips to Kalm. And while he could admit that his child looked cute in it, he wondered how far Yuffie would go with the outfits.

Slowly those big blue eyes opened and Cloud was struck speechless by this tiny life he had helped create. While he was still small—barely a few weeks old—he could tell that he would be a looker. The baby had Tifa's features and colors. All that he had from his father was the color of his eyes, and honestly it was quite all right with Cloud.

"Hey, kid," he murmured, tickling his cheek.

The baby blinked and yawned widely, making Cloud smile. This was his kid, and this one he would help in raising from the very beginning. He loved both Denzel and Marlene as his own, but the two had come along as two independent little people, not babies.

This new one he would have to be even more careful with… he couldn't fail any of them anymore.

"You're going to scare him with that intense look on your face," Tifa said, a smile in her tone.

Cloud nearly jumped, not having heard her come up behind him. "Sorry," he muttered, feeling faintly embarrassed at having been caught gazing at his child so intensely. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't been paying much attention to the door, either.

"I was just…"

"…making sure he was breathing again?" Tifa asked gently.

Cloud's cheeks dusted with pink. "You know about that, huh?"

Tifa leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Of course I do. The first few days I would do the same," she admitted.

Cloud felt himself relax at her words and nodded as he pulled Tifa to sit on his lap. "I don't think I've been able to sleep a full night since we brought him home from the hospital."

His wife nodded and leaned her forehead against his. "He's not a noisy baby. So… why?"

Sighing, the blond brushed a thumb over the wolf ring on her finger. "I just… I get up and wonder about the future. There's so much that I want to do differently with him," he motioned to their son. "But at the same time I feel bad because I couldn't do this for Marlene and Denzel."

Tifa smiled to herself, pleased that Cloud could confide in her the way she had always wanted. "I think… that Marlene and Denzel were special cases. We were both still so young when they came to us that we did the best we could. And I don't think we did too bad a job. They're happy and healthy, and they love us the same way we love them."

"They're good kids… because of you," said Cloud quietly.

She let out a small giggle. "You haven't missed any of their birthdays or school plays and recitals, so I think that you've done a pretty good job yourself."

"But there should be more to that, right?"

Tifa nodded and wrapped one arm around his shoulders. "Of course there is. You're a provider, you take them to school, and you help them with homework. You also give them comfort when they need it… and don't forget that you shoo all the monsters and nightmares away from Marlene. And that Denzel aspires to be just like you because you're his hero."

"I don't think I'm the best role model," he said quietly, staring at the mobile of chocobos and moogles hanging on their son's crib. "There's still so much that I lack."

His wife shook her head and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Silly man. No one in this world is perfect. We just live our lives to the fullest and try not to mess up too badly. Luckily we have an amazing family that forgives us for our mistakes."

Cloud's blue eyes were intense as he gazed at her. "Where would I be if you hadn't been the most forgiving?"

"And it was because you forgave me," Tifa said quietly, intertwining their fingers.

She stopped his words of denial with a look from her sweet, sweet eyes.

He supposed that they both had done things in the past that they now regretted, but nothing Tifa had ever done could compare to the abandonment he had put them through. Still, he was willing to put it in the past. They had a brighter future to look forward to and there was no use hashing up negative memories.

"I'm proud of them both," Cloud admitted after a moment, going back to their previous topic of conversation.

Tifa nodded and smiled. "Why wouldn't you be? Even though they came to us late into their lives, they are our children. You've helped to give them so many new and wonderful memories. Cloud, never forget that you've helped make them happy after all they've been through."

Cloud brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Have I made you happy?"

"More than you can ever know," she replied.

With that she pressed a sweet kiss to his lips and left a warm bottle in his hands before standing up and giving her son a soft kiss to his forehead. Cloud watched her walk out, a content smile on her face as she left him to feed their son.

He stood from the rocking chair and gazed down at the infant who looked back at him through bleary eyes. Carefully scooping him up—and he had gotten so much better at holding the baby in the last week—Cloud brought the tiny body to his chest and just stood there for a moment. The feel and scent of the infant was unlike anything in the world and he wanted to bask in it while he still could.

"Your mom's a genius, Ash," Cloud muttered, sitting down once more and crossing his ankle over his knee for better support to hold his son. "While I wasn't crazy about your name, she was right. It was about time that we moved on from the past."

He had originally wanted to name him Zack, but Tifa's reasoning that while she understood his desire to honor his old friend, they needed a clean start. Their child would be that for them and he had finally relented to a different name. Asher Lockhart Strife. His first name meant blessed and happy. Cloud could finally admit that they were both.

It truly scared him though, to feel that he didn't deserve this kind of happiness, and that someday in the future it would be taken away from him. His children, his wife, his friends… They were all he valued in his life. He would lose all sanity if anything were to happen to them. So he had resolved, that while he wouldn't let it interfere with his life, he would continue to train and remain alert. He would not be caught off guard and heaven help anyone who dared to threaten those he loved.

But he needed to stop being so intense, he realized, watching his son flail his tiny arms and let out a warning cry.

"Finally got a rise out of you, huh?" Cloud asked, settling Asher into a more comfortable position against him and pressing the nipple of the bottle against the tiny mouth.

"Stop harassing our son," said Tifa as she passed by with a basket of laundry. "He'll be screaming his lungs out in no time and you'll regret teasing him then."

Cloud smirked and rocked the chair gently as the baby began to eat. Panicking aside, he could admit that he was excited to see what it would feel like to hear Ash's first words, and see his first steps. With Tifa by his side Cloud felt that anything could be possible. He would be so much more than his father ever was for him… of that he was sure.

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I know that naming their baby Zack is like the cliché thing to do and I usually always do it as well(because I still love the idea of them naming their kid after his friend), but I felt that for this fic it would work to name the baby something else. Anyway, I did a search of the word happiness and happy at a baby-name website and Asher came up. I hope it wasn't too odd.

Anyway, please let me know if this was any good. I've been out of the writing loop for a while, so I would appreciate it. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!