A/N: It was a sort of spur-of-the-moment type thing so I'm sorry if the story didn't really string together properly. I was listening to music.... yes i know this song (When You Say Nothing At All - Ronan Keating) is a little soppy but I am a hopeless romantic so just shh and read the story :) ... enjoy. Side note: The words that are all in italics are actually the first verse and chorus of the and also, it's in Tifa's POV.

It's amazing when the lights grow dim and the night draws near. The customers leave a little early, paying their payment and bidding us a farewell and a good night. You move to pack up the bar, to clear the tables and prepare to wash the dishes. The kids are in the kitchen, flaunting around probably scraping the dirt off the plates and filling the sink with water. Either that or Denzel is eating something from the fridge and Marlene is stealing cookies from the jar.

I don't really blame them anyway because it's our little boring life that they somehow have taken a liking too. Not accounting taste or anything, but they could do a whole lot better than to stick with semi-parents like us. And you say it all the time, telling me that we aren't actually giving them that much of a 'bad' life. They've got people that love them and people that encourage them, that's what kids really need. And I don't know how you do it, but I still wonder how you can speak so openly after all those years of self doubt.

I've returned to packing the bar counter putting the cups aside and every now and then stealing a glance at you. And just when I bend to place the cups in the cupboard I hear a crash. I look up, almost startled at the loud sound to find you standing in a rather undignified manor with several cups on the floor. There are pieces of food stuck to your clothes, and there's even a piece of cabbage stuck to the side of your cheek.

I almost succeeded in keeping a laugh from escaping my lips and it isn't until you said, "Damn," with that serious expression, that I really laugh. That scowl that you give me turns into something a little less than a scowl and something more of a hopeless smirk. I smile in return, the laughing soon forgotten as your eyes lay fixed upon mine. I don't know what it is that you do to really get to me. But there's one thing for sure and that is that you've surely made your way right to my heart.

Without saying a word, you cleaned the mess up and I shake my head a little with that smile still plastered to my face. It's a nice settling thought to know you're here with us now. Given the fact that you've been home with us for over a year now, it's days like these that makes me think of what once was and what is now.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're not like that man I once knew a long time ago. That quiet kept man that thought others before him at all costs. You actually do what you want to do now and say what you want to say. And it makes me happy to know that you're here because you want to be. Because I don't know if you know it or not but you can light up the dark that surrounds me. You make things better, and not just for me but for Denzel and Marlene as well.

Subconsciously, my hand finds its way to my stomach and even though it's a little bump still I know what it means to you and certainly what it means to me too. So I'm a little careful when I try to help you pick up the glass. I know that you'll have a fit again if I try to bend or carry too much and I don't know why you're stressing out all that much. There isn't even anything to properly lift around here anyway. But try as I may I know there'll still be something I'll do that'll scare the life out of you.

I see your hands twitch and if it wasn't for those plates and cups you were holding in your hands I think you would have even held me too. I'm holding a stack of plates, well, if you really count two plates as a stack that is and even yet you've got that worried gaze in your eyes. And without a second passing as I ready myself to follow you to the kitchen, you lean to my side, your shoulder pressed lightly against mine.

I feel your lips touch my forehead and I hear you murmur, "why don't you go wash up, I'll clean this mess."

I smile sweetly at you and reply, "Two sets of hands is better than one," I nudge your shoulder as you nudge mine in return, "Besides, the shower is cold without you."

You chuckle and nuzzle your nose in my hair, pressing a kiss at my neck again. "Okay, come on then," I hear you say as you move away from me and toward the kitchen. I look after you, watching as you stumble across the floor with that large stack of plates in your hands. Somehow I think I could never explain just what I did to make you love me the way you do.

What I hear when I'm almost at the kitchen makes me laugh a little again. Because no doubt the kids are poking fun at the cabbage that had somehow made its way to his back. You don't say a thing, to their comments but I hear their laughter and a splash so I gather you've probably thrown water on them.

I turn around the corner and true enough there's the smile on your face that makes me smile too. There's cabbage on Denzel's head now, and Marlene is helplessly bawling with laughter. You're standing there with a lot of water on your head to the point when your spikes can't even be called spikes anymore. I smile a little and shake my head thoughtfully, not really knowing whether I should be playing the paternal role here or joining in the fun.

The look from Denzel and Marlene lets me know that they're waiting and I'll keep them a little stalled as I slowly place the plates in the sink. My hand sifts through the water and it's a little dirty so I turn on the tap, rinse my hand then proceed to splash it on you. But you're a little quick because your arms are around me, and your wet body is pressed up against mine. You're chuckling as they're laughing behind me, and I can't help but be thankful that between it all you're still so gentle when you hold me.

Your arms are so light against me, even though it seems that you're trying to wet me with water. And I almost slipped at one stage and I know that right ended our little play. Because your holding me tightly now, glancing down at me, making sure I hadn't fallen too hard. There's that gaze in your eyes again, the one that says that you need me.

I've somehow landed on my back though so I'm actually laying between your legs, my eyes fixed to yours. The laughter has stopped already and Denzel and Marlene are peering at me with concern.

"You should probably both go and wash up, Denzel," I say lightly, turning my gaze to the kids. "and Marlene."

They nod almost understandingly and quickly stumble out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"I shouldn't have," I hear you say as you pull me up.

"We were having fun," I reply as I give you a smile, "I'm okay," I pause a little before I add, "We're okay."

You smile almost instantly, and your gaze softens into this daddy-like look. It makes m heart swell when I look in your eyes because they're so unguarded, so steady. A gaze so rare that I thought I would never have the pleasure of witnessing.

We take a little longer to clear up the dishes, but we get it all done eventually. It's a little late though when we trample up the steps, your hand is around my waist and it's a little funny that we're still like this even though we've been together for so long now. It seems almost as if you're never going to let me go again and I don't really mind, because you're here now, and you're here to stay.

You're in the shower moments later and I'm sitting on the edge of the bed looking at that letter that you wrote shortly after you defeated Kadaj and his gang. You had written a small letter to me and at the time I actually feared that you were leaving again. But with so few words you were saying you'll never leave me. And that you were going to be here with us from then on. That somewhere secretly along the lines you actually loved me, and that you knew that I loved you too. It wasn't really the way I thought we were going to settle things between us. But it was a perfect start to it though.

I didn't even hear the bathroom door open when the touch of your hand says you're remembering what it is you wrote in that letter in my hands. I turn to look at you and I smile a little when your eyes soften again.

"I love you," you say softly. "I know I don't say it much," you add. "But I do."

I nod and I pull myself to a stand so I can kiss you. "You don't have too, I know you do," I say after I kiss you again, "I love you too."

"I still think you shouldn't be anywhere near water unless you're near me though," you say quickly.

It sound a little childish but I understand that it's just you being you. But I know that whether I'm near water or standing on solid ice, you'll catch me, whenever I fall.

"I know it sounds silly," you add when I look at you with a raised brow. "But I think it's for the best."

I smile and shake my head before leaning in and kissing you again. We fall onto the bed helplessly, rather, you actually lay me on the bed then fall beside me. But that doesn't matter right now because you're kissing me, and I really don't care about the world or my thoughts right now.

I'm just focused on you, and what you're doing to me. And it just makes me want to swallow myself up in this huge grin.

And as the last thought for the night, I've decided, that you say it best when you say nothing at all.

end.