#tifa and Cloud and their nebulous childhood memories

[ff7-has-taken-me-over]

“Cloud are you alright?”

The blond squeezed his eyes shut, biting back the whine building in his throat before grunting quietly. It took another second but the static faded, allowing him to see the faces of Tifa and Zack, both of them looking worried as they stared him down.

“‘M fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Tifa hesitated for a moment before shrugging, nodding once before turning on her heel to keep going. Zack, unfortunately, did not do the same. Looking at Tifa in disbelief before turning to Cloud, a hint of anger in his features as he spoke.

“What the fuck? You are obviously not ‘fine’ Cloud. What the hell was that about?”

Tifa spun on her heel, looking wide eyed at the black haired merc as he continued to stare down their blond friend. She went to intervene, tell him to leave Cloud alone but the blond pulled her up short. He looked to the side, borderline pout in his features as he crossed his arms.

“It’s nothing. Just a… thing, that happens sometimes. It’s fine Zack.”

Zack softened significantly at the sight of Cloud while Tifa was stuck standing awe struck. He’d never acted like this before. Always so ready to brush everyone off and push people out. It was why he didn’t have friends in Nibelheim, always pushing the other kids away and doing his own thing.

“Hey, it’s ok if you’re not fine. You don’t have to do this alone now. I’m here for you.”

Cloud leant into the hands that came up to cup his face, sighing softly as his eyes fluttered closed and Zack rested their foreheads together.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know what it is. Just happens sometimes when memories start coming back. Hurts like a bitch.”

The taller man chuckled softly, leaning away to kiss Cloud’s forehead softly. Tifa had to avert her eyes at the action, feeling like an intruder at the sight of this new side of Cloud.

“Don’t worry about it. Just let me know if you need a break or something yeah? I’ve got your back.”

Cloud gave him a small smile, light pink tinging his cheeks as he nodded. They pulled away from one another after a moment, the blond quickly adopting his stoic look before making his way past a still stunned Tifa. He only offered her a brief nod, either too embarrassed to look at her long or not really wanting to. It didn’t matter though cause she wanted to talk to Zack anyway.

The older man was staring after their blond though, affection and exasperation shining bright in his eyes as he smiled, “Where did he get that attitude from. I swear…”

Tifa frowned at that, raising a brow as she spoke, “Clouds always been like that.”

It was Zack’s turn to frown this time, looking at her in confusion as he shook his head, “No he hasn’t. Cloud was always happy back at Shinra. Yeah his social skills were abysmal and he flustered as easily as he does now. But he wasn’t that… aloof and cold before. Especially not around us.”

Tifa didn’t know who us was referring to but she couldn’t help but feel more confused. Cloud never smiled in Nibelheim. Not unless he was with his mum and even then, he’d usually steer them both clear of Tifa and the other kids.

“Tifa… Maybe you should talk to Cloud about this. I’m not sure he’d be alright with me being the one to talk to you.”

Said woman frowned all the more with those words, wondering what they meant. What did Zack know that would apparently be bad for him to share? Yeah Cloud had secrets but they were mostly about his days at Shinra. Nothing from their childhood…