Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Reason ❯ The Morning After Part II ( Chapter 3 )

Ah!!!! What's this? Femme Fatale isn't actually dead? So sorry for not updating since foreverary, life's been way too hectic lately. Hope you haven't forgotten about me!

 

Disclaimer: I never did, nor will I ever own final fantasy. That means that I don't own the characters, or anything ok? If I did, Tifa would have dumped any thoughts of Cloud and would have run off with our sexy gunslinger. This fic is the product of my twisted imagination, and I don't gain anything from it but the knowledge of someone enjoying my work. Of course, this only works if you review.

 

Thanks to all my reviewers!

 

I'm not going to tell you who Tifa's mysterious friend with the sexy voice is just yet, but I'd be pretty sad if you can't guess by the end of the chapter.

 

And for the record, Vincent, Elena and Cloud are Turks. I wonder who figured that out already?

 

Warning: Minor Cloud, Aeris, cleris bashing. Take this warning for pretty much the remainder of the fic. Some clo/tif. Oh, and just a hint of citrus.

 

Now, let's see how this couple met. As the title suggests, this is the second part of chapter two.

 

On with the fic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tifa continued with her daily routine, which consisted of mainly exercises and breathing techniques. She tried to keep her body in good condition, as it wouldn't do for a five-time tournament winner to let herself get flabby just because she didn't fight anymore. The life of the singer/pianist was still fast-paced, but of a different variety since she no longer had to do random jobs for money — now it was going to random places for money.

 

It also wouldn't do for the singer to lapse in her voice training either. Although her manager was considerate enough to give her some time off, she knew she still had to work if she wanted to stay at her best.

 

Finished with her workout in the mansion's gym - she was overjoyed to learn that her husband-to-be had one when they discussed living arrangements for their marriage - she stretched in a soft white chair in their living room, deciding to watch some television as she relaxed. The living room was the opposite in decor of the master bedroom, with a white five-piece suite and a deep red carpet.

 

`When was the last time I was able to watch tv? I'm surprised that Yuffie manages so much. How does she do it?'

 

The screen flashed on to reveal that a soap opera was showing. It was instantly obvious to the woman, as the bad dress code and poor acting proved to be instant indicators. She sighed. This one, for some reason, seemed familiar.

 

`Ah yes, Yuffie told me all about this one…'

 

She recalled her friend telling her that it was called Avalanche; a show about a group of fighters who were trying to save the planet.

 

Tifa rolled her eyes. Ridiculous. As if a group of six people, a mechanical toy and a dog-like thing could actually hope to stop a meteor.

 

Dark brows knitted in concentration as the scene played out before her. The blond leader was apparently betraying his girlfriend of many years for the pink-clad hussy.

 

She turned the tv off. That scene was bringing unpleasant memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was at a friend's New Year party. Incidentally, it was the same friend who had called earlier that morning. She knew him for most of her life, even longer than she knew Cloud. With soft shiny hair and an impressive physique he was the object of fantasy, but she had never felt that way about him. To her he was the big brother she never had. Despite all the times she watched her friends swoon over him, in her mind any such thoughts about him on her part would be nothing short of incest.

 

She had gone to the party with Cloud, her boyfriend since they entered high school, the first and only crush she'd ever had up to that point. When they first entered the crowded house they were at each other's side, but as the party progressed, they separated; she with her friends, and he with his. As it drew closer to eleven, however, she began to look for him. Soon it would be midnight.

 

She searched everywhere, asking anyone who might be of some help to her. Bathrooms, kitchen, living room, library, study, the outdoor swimming pool; he was nowhere to be found.

 

As she recommenced her indoors search after surveying the surrounding property from a balcony, she heard a muffle from the master bedroom. She smiled to herself. Her friend had a reputation; he was said to have slept with every young female he ever touched. Of course, this excluded family and herself. She never got any idea that he ever saw her that way, and was somewhat comforted by the fact that she'd never have to worry about come-ons from the man she saw as her brother.

 

Then she heard a vaguely familiar voice. The distinctly female voice cried incoherent jumble breathlessly. She certainly was enjoying herself. Tifa smiled. She had never given herself to anyone, saving herself for Cloud and waiting for a special occasion. She sighed; her plan was to give herself to him that night if only she could find him in the first place. Tifa decided to move on before someone passed by and accused her of being voyeuristic. Smiling giddily at the warm and fuzzy feeling for the man she'd devoted her life to, she turned away from the door, planning to give another sweep of the living room.

 

The girl's next words froze her in her tracks as her blood turned to ice.

 

“Oh gods Cloud! Don't stop!”

 

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Surely she hadn't heard right?

 

“Uhhhhh Cloud…” the voice moaned.

 

The woman screamed as Tifa burst into the room. The air swirled around her, exiting into the hallway beyond the door. She wrinkled her nose at the stench. It reeked of alcohol … and sex. The woman now sat in a corner at the head of the bed, her knees drawn to her chest as wide emerald orbs regarded the intruder in horror. Long honey-hued locks trailed over trembling shoulders and spilled onto silvery-grey sheets, the very sheets she was clutching to her chest in an attempt to cover her nakedness.

 

The woman's lover, on the other hand, had jumped off the bed and retrieved his pants, his blond spiky hair appearing more ruffled after his romp with the woman. His body glistened from the layer of sweat that began to run between the crevices of his bare muscular chest, as cerulean spheres stared at the brunette in the doorway with the innocent expression that had let him get his way so many times before.

 

She regarded them both, her face set in stone as she fought back tears. Feeling her façade begin to fade, she clasped a hand to her own throat, trying to stop the soreness that began to develop. The lump in her throat threatened to choke her.

 

`This can't be happening. He wouldn't ever do this to me. This has to be a bad dream…'

 

But she knew beyond a doubt that this was far from a dream.

 

Cloud had betrayed her.

 

And with someone he swore he didn't even like. His secretary.

 

Her entire world was crashing down.

 

Cloud ran a hand through his spiky locks as blue depths pleaded for her forgiveness.

 

“Tiff, I …”

 

“I don't wanna hear it!” she heard her voice say, cracked from the threat of tears.

 

Sapphire orbs shifted to look at something above her shoulder. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her as strong hands gripped her shoulders in a powerful grasp. She felt those arms begin to wrap around her, pulling her into the comfort of a warm body. She then realised that she was trembling.

 

The deep sexy voice that drove women mad with the promise of seduction was now overflowing with disgust and barely contained anger.

 

“What in the seven pits of hell are you doing in MY room Strife! Get out! And take your WHORE with you!”

 

The arms guided Tifa aside as her ex-boyfriend and his new woman, Aeris, made their exit. Cloud opened his mouth to speak as he passed them at the door, but the stern glare she was sure he received sent him walking before he voiced his thought. The woman followed, glancing at Tifa with tear-filled eyes as she passed, her face red with embarrassment.

 

They stood together for minutes of silence.

 

“Tifa,” the voice started, softer now as the presence of the wayward man and his companion disappeared down the stairs, “do you want to… talk?”

 

She shook her head, lowering it slightly as she closed her eyes in pain. “No, I just, need to be alone right now.”

 

“I understand. I won't force you to stay here if you don't want.” He sighed. “Go take a walk on the beach. It should be more or less deserted now that it's getting closer to midnight.” He had promised an important announcement at that time, and everyone at the party was eager to find out what it was. However, the news that he was moving to the Northern Continent was far from secret from her. “I'll check on you a bit later alright?”

 

She nodded slowly, not looking directly at him as she walked down the corridor and to the stairs that Cloud and his new lover had taken not long before. Her mind was in a haze; conversations, laughter and music from the crowd in the living room turned dance floor and bar a dull blur of confusion in her mind. She walked out the door to the beach, letting the tears flow as the salty air caressed her face.

 

 

 

 

 

“Damn you Cloud,” she muttered, shifting her legs so they stretched along the wall, her head in the seat of the chair. Chocolate strands pooled in the seat below her head and spilled over the edge, tips lightly kissing the floor. How she wished she had hit him where it hurt just as the woman did on tv, how she wished that she could make him feel even a fraction of the pain that he caused her so callously.

 

Taking a deep breath, she realised that she was crying. “Damn you Vincent, for hurting me after you swore you never would.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She walked slowly, the wide skirt of her dress flowing gently in the breeze, caressing her legs as her long locks blew freely in the night air. She held her sandals in a hand, swinging them slightly as she sifted her toes through the sand. The sky was clear, the full moon making the sand glow a pale white, the sea appearing to shine under the multitude of stars that dotted the sky.

 

She walked until the music and voices were far away, sitting on the sand to become lost in the waves and the sky in silence.

 

“Beautiful night, isn't it?”

 

She turned, startled by the sound of the deep voice behind her. He was tall, much taller than she, with pale skin that contrasted with long ebony locks that blew gently in the breeze. She did not recognise him.

 

He continued to walk towards her, and now that she faced him, he could see the sorrow that clearly marked her face.

 

“Why are you crying? A lovely lady such as yourself should always have a smile on her face.”

 

She turned her gaze back to the foamy waves, wiping her cheek on the back of a hand.

 

“I recognise you. Weren't you here with the blond one?”

 

A sad smile curved a corner of her lips. “As a matter of fact, yes. What do you think about him?”

 

She heard him stop in his tracks. A brief moment passed, as though he was contemplating his response. “Oh, he's an … interesting character.”

 

She sniffed. “You don't have to sugar-coat it for my sake. We're done.”

 

She heard a soft sigh from above her head. “I always knew Cloud was an ass.”

 

She fought back a chuckle at his tone.

 

“Mind if I join you? I know what it feels like to be alone.”

 

She shook her head as he sat beside her.

 

“You feel alone?”

 

He sighed. “I had a bad break-up a month ago. Our host insisted that I come to this party to relax. I know all about heartbreak.”

 

“I'm fine.” she said softly.

 

“You're lying.” he said definitively.

 

She looked at him in disbelief.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Hmmm?” he asked, turning his ruby gaze to her.

 

“With your girlfriend?”

 

A slight smile touched his face.

 

“You find it funny?”

 

He shook his head slowly, black strands flowing temporarily against the breeze with the movement. “No. It's just ironic that I'd find myself telling a stranger about something I never told my friends.”

 

“Oh,” she said softly as he took a deep breath.

 

“Lucrecia she, left me… for another woman.”

 

Once more, she looked at him in disbelief as he recounted his tale. Even in her saddened state, she could see that he was very attractive. Given his behaviour toward her, she could tell that he was also nice. Why a woman would leave him was beyond her, but she had no intention of entertaining any sort of relationship in the near future. Especially with a man she just met. No matter how handsome and nice he was. For all she knew, he was no different from the spiky-haired bastard who just tore her life apart. No, she would not let herself be taken in by the beautiful voice that could only be compared to the beauty of the man that possessed it. Why would he want her anyway? Surely something must be wrong with her.

 

`Planet, am I experiencing depression and thinking about rebounding at the same time?'

 

She listened to his story, allowing his deep silken voice wrap around her, feeling that she was safe with him. She watched the side of his beautiful face change in expression as he spoke, and it was clear that some part of him might still care for the woman, even after all she did to him. He closed his eyes as he finished, hiding deep garnet orbs temporarily as he turned his face from the sea towards her. As his gaze locked with hers, she became breathless.

 

“I believe that it's your turn to talk.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tifa sighed. They had spent the entire night talking, and only exchanged names when it was time to leave. At midnight, while everyone else was kissing and enjoying themselves, she was crying in her newfound friend's arms. Almost a year later, when she was sure that she would not be rebounding after her break-up with Cloud; she started a serious relationship with the man she met that night.

 

“It was love at first sight, just with shitty timing. At least that's what I thought. Now I have to wonder if it's just a shitty taste in men.”

 

A wry smile touched her lips. `Cloud and Aeris are still together, so I guess at least I have great taste in lovers.' The thought did nothing to help her depression.

 

She gave a shuddering sigh. “Damn you Vincent. How could you do the very thing that caused us to meet in the first place?” Although a small part of her mind reasoned that the supposed infidelity was not fact, she was finding the possibility increasingly easier to believe.

 

She sniffed, wiping her eyes as she kicked the wall hard enough force her body to flip over and land on the floor. The grandfather clock in the hall began to chime, indicating that it was already eleven. She sighed. It was time to get ready for her lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

The black BMW turned another corner; its driver grateful that the hell that had been his morning was finally over.

 

A smile touched perfectly chiselled lips as one of his wife's songs played on the radio.

 

`With any luck she'd have time to talk…'

 

A silver Porsche passed him as he took the final turn onto their street. Its plate was marked TIFA.

 

“Damn it.” He muttered as he swung into the large gates of his home. “She probably had an appointment for the day.”

 

He sighed as he parked the car near to the stairs, recalling that he already had plans for that night. He entered the mansion and decided to wait until she got home. In the meantime he would decide how he would tell her what he had to say, and get some well-deserved rest.

 

A light smirk touched his lips. It wasn't like he got much sleep the night before.

 

 

 

 

Tifa forgot her worries as she stepped out of her car. She tied her hair in a ponytail, with loose strands framing her face. She was wearing a peach sundress with matching sandals, and the biggest most genuine smile that she had in a long time.

 

`I should've known that he'd never stay in a hotel. It's funny how I was having memories of this place earlier.'

 

She waved at the owner of the lovely property as she approached his beach-house. The tall, muscular man stood at the door, arms folded as he watched her approach with a smile on his face. Silky strands that slid from his shoulders to his hips swayed slowly in the summer breeze and shone in the summer sun's light. Brilliantly hued orbs reflected his joy at seeing her once more. The black towel that wrapped around tapered hips and covered powerful thighs indicated that he'd either just come from the pool, or the shower.

 

She stopped a few feet in front of him, looking up into his face, her smile still firm on her lips.

 

“If you planned to take a shower now I know a bunch of women who wouldn't mind coming to join you at a moment's notice.” Her smile turned into a grin as she peered into his eyes. “Hi, it's been too long.”

 

“I don't mind bathing alone sometimes. I meant for you to come at one. You're always early, you know that Tifa?”

 

She smiled as she closed the distance between them, sighing as she felt his arms wrap around her in a firm hug. “Nice to see you're well too…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N Mwahahaha! As you may have guessed, the next word is the name of the man who is now hugging our heroine. Who is he? It should be pretty obvious by now I think, or do I think so because I'm the writer?

 

I also noticed that no one seems to realise that I hinted at another character in the previous part of this chapter. Is it a different person, or is the new person Tifa's friend? Who is s/he/it? Who were those guys Vincent and Elena shot at in the first part of this chapter? Who is the mysterious person whose face they could not see?

 

I'll give you a clue. You shouldn't find any OCs or X-overs whatsoever in this story, none of any importance anyway.

 

 

I'd really appreciate it if you guessed; it gives me an idea of my descriptive skills and how good or bad I am at suspense.

 

 

Comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

 

Until!!!