A Not-So-Eventful Valentine's Day

Tifa wiped down the bar of the 7th Heaven as the last customer left. She perked up when she heard the bar door open.

"We're clo-. Oh, it's just you, Cloud," Tifa sighed.

"I came here to talk about, you know, Valentine's Day. I think we should spend it together," Cloud said awkwardly.

"Humph, why would you care, you're never around in the first place! Why are you caring, now," Tifa questioned, throwing the rag down.

"Well... I-I guess... I mean everyone's been talking about it, so I figured we could do something... together," Cloud mumbled uncomfortably.

"So, your going with the flow for once... Why," Tifa questioned.

"Well, I mean, it reminded me of when we were little and we used to celebrate Valentine's Day... you know, together," Cloud continued.

Tifa scoffed and walked out from behind the bar.

"Yeah, we were pretty foolish as kids," Tifa whispered.

"What do you mean," Cloud asked.

"Look where it got us, Cloud," Tifa said, throwing her arm towards the bar.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Cloud sighed.

He plopped himself down on one of the chairs. Tifa scoffed and began to walk away.

"Tifa, wait," Cloud yelled.

Tifa turned, expecting him to continue the conversation. There was a small twinkle of hope in her eyes but Cloud couldn't say anything. He just stared at her, silently wishing he could say something meaningful but all he could muster was a small, "Never mind."

Tifa sighed and walked away, quicker than before. She didn't want him to see her crying. Once he heard the door slam, he pulled out an old, crumpled Valentine Card he had made when he was young. He had planned to give her the card, but never had the courage.

Tifa's P.O.V.

Tifa sighed as she slammed her bedroom door. She rubbed her eyes and opened her closet door to change into her pajamas. As she reached up to get a shirt, she noticed a small box. Memories flooded back to her as she took it and opened the lid. She took out a folded Valentine's Day card and smiled softly. It was an old card she had made for Cloud but couldn't bring herself to give it to him.

Cloud's P.O.V.

Cloud sat down on his motorcycle, an idea set in his mind. He decided he would go ask Reno for advise. Reno had dated plenty of women, so Cloud figured he would have some idea as how to please Tifa.

Later

Cloud sat on their couch, a cup of coffee getting cold in his hands. He stared towards Reno who was droning on about a girl who dumped him over a misunderstanding they had.

"Reno, I need advise. Give me some," Cloud yelled.

"Alright, alright. Clean the house. It'll make her appreciate you more," Reno suggested.

"Okay, I'll try it. Thanks. I'll see you... whenever," Cloud said as he got up to leave.

"Wait, also try decorating her room with Valentine's stuff and maybe go out of your way to tell her how you feel. I know your not much of a feel-y guy but Tifa would totally appreciate it, dude," Reno yelled, a finger raised in the air to drive his point.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. See ya, man," Cloud said as he shut the door behind him.

He made his way to a store where he picked up a few streamers and some construction paper that had strictly pink and red colors. He then made his way back to the house, stopping briefly to call Tifa, telling her that something was wrong at the bar and that she needed to go check it out. He hoped it would give him enough time to set up her room and clean up a little.

Once he made it to the house, he set himself into overdrive and washed the few dishes in the sink, took out the trash, wiped down the kitchen table, taped the pink and red streamers to the ceiling, cut out little crooked hearts from the construction paper and taped them to the wall, lit candles in certain areas of the room, set out his crumpled Valentine's card in the middle of the bed after cutting up confetti from the construction paper, turned the lights off, and hid in the bathroom.

He waited there until he heard his phone ringing. He let it go to voicemail, something that was easy for him to do, and waited for Tifa to come home. It was obvious she was upset that he had lied to her but he kept his fingers crossed, tight, hoping she would forgive him for everything once she saw everything.

About fifteen minutes passed before he heard the front door open and slam shut. Cloud listened as Tifa cussed quietly to herself, probably trying not to wake the kids. He noticed a sudden silence once Tifa reached the kitchen as she tried to rationalize whether she had remembered if she had taken the trash out or washed the dishes.

He heard her footsteps nearing the bedroom and his heart began to pound faster. He heard a large gasp come from Tifa and didn't waste any time stepping out of the bathroom and stopped behind her.

"Tifa," he said softly, leaning down near her ear.

She jumped slightly, turning to see Cloud lightly smiling at her. Her eyes began to water as she raised a hand up at him. She smacked him lightly on top of the head, which surprised him.

"That was for lying to me... What is this Cloud? What are you doing," Tifa asked quietly.

"Can't you see, I'm trying to be romantic and I'm sorry for lying to you. Look on the bed real quick, please," Cloud said softly, pointing towards the card he had placed there.

Tifa leaned down and picked the card up, hesitantly. She looked towards Cloud before looking the card over. After a few seconds, she opened it and read the inside. Once she read it, she dropped it and covered her mouth. A tear sliding down her face. Cloud quickly leaned forward, wiping it away.

He was surprised when she began to walk towards the closet, thinking that she was just going to ignore all the things he had done for her, but instead she leaned up, grabbing a small box and pulled out her own folded Valentine's Day card. She turned, handing the card to Cloud who leaned forward, carefully pulling it out of her hand. He shot her a small glance before reading the entire card.

He looked at her, smiling wider than before. He placed the card on the bed and walked up to her, hugging her tightly to his chest. They cried in silence for a few minutes before Cloud stepped back.

"Happy Valentine's Day Tifa. I wanted to show you how much I cared about you so I did a few things around the house and then I did this *motions towards streamers and candles*. I wanted to get you out of the house so I kinda lied. Sorry, again, for that. Anyways, Tifa, I also want to tell you that... I love you, Tifa," Cloud said, staring deep into her eyes.

Tifa smiled sweetly, tearing up again.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that. I love you too, Cloud," Tifa said sweetly.

"How about we, uh, cuddle on the bed or something. Or go out to eat. Or-," Cloud was cut off by Tifa's giggle.

"Or we could just stay home, cuddle on the couch and watch a movie," she suggested with a smile.

"Sounds like a great idea,"Cloud said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.