At Costa Del Sol with Tifa

The sound of waves crashing against the beach filled the young man's ears, its salty smell tickled his nose, and its serene blue beauty could not go unseen. And yet the mercenary just closed his eyes and sighed. He stood there, before the water, hands balled up into fists and resting on his hips and just....thought about everything. He had a lot to content with right now. Saving the Planet, stopping Shinra, the Black Materia, and of course Sephiroth. It was a lot. Plenty of opportunities for something to go wrong, but fortunately for him, Cloud wasn't alone in this.

"Cloud," a feminine voice called out. "Hey Cloud what are you doing?"

The SOLDIER turned around and nearly gasped seeing the beautiful young woman walking towards him. Her long dark brown hair was tied up in a bun with a few locks freely resting on her shoulders. Her red eyes flashed when he met her gaze.

"Tifa," he said feeling unusually calm. Her presence making all his troubles seem so distance. Plus, the sight of her in a blue and white stripped two-piece swimsuit pushed other thoughts to the forefront. He looked down as she approached fearful of where his eyes would wonder otherwise. Her bare feet entered his vision as she stopped right in front of him.

"What are you looking at?" Tifa giggled knowingly, forcing the young man to look up. He saw Tifa smiling up at him, arms behind her back as she leaned forward similar to how their friend Aerith often stood.

"N-nothing!" Cloud said nervously. "Just got some sun in my eyes."

"Oh really," Tifa smiled looking behind Cloud towards the town of Costa Del Sol, the morning sun hanging just above it. She considered calling him out until her eyes wandered to his bare chest causing her to nervously look away. "Y-yeah. That makes sense."

"Anyway." Cloud said trying to appear stoic again while turning towards the ocean. "I was just thinking. About everything, you know. And how, how we're going to deal with it."

Tifa's smile vanished as she straightened up and stood beside him, their shoulders mere centimeters from touching. "We've dealt with a lot of crazy stuff these last few months, but we'll deal with it the way we've dealt with everything." She said speaking with confidence. "Together."

"Heh" Cloud laughed dryly. "So just you and me."

Tifa choked up, Cloud's statement floating between them for some time. Enough time for Cloud to reevaluate his statement.

"Yo-you and me for right now." He quickly elaborated. "Until we meet up with the others!"

"Right, right of course." Tifa replied brushing her bangs out of her face. She should have known what he meant. They were the only ones in Costa Del Sol after all. Their group had grown so big after Cid and Vincent joined that it would be nearly impossible for them all to avoid Shinra and the Turk's attention. As such they had decided to split up for the time being. Their next destination was the Golden Saucer in the Corel Desert where they hoped to find the Keystone to unlock the Black Materia. Barret has the idea to pair off and head out to the Saucer two at a time over the course of a few days. They drew straws to decide the pairings (after Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie insisted they be paired with Cloud respectively) and they were the last pair. One by one everyone else had set off and today it was their turn.

Enjoy your time together, Tifa remembered Aerith whispering that to her before leaving with Red yesterday. She was always so bold and confident about such things. Meanwhile the very idea had made Tifa blush. Still, she didn't let the opportunity to spend time with him pass and invited Cloud to one more day at the beach. She was happy he agreed but less so that he was so broody. Now she just wanted to cheer him up.

"Soooo," Tifa clapped her hands awkwardly. "Wanna go swimming."

"Not particularly." Cloud said sternly crossing her arms.

"Hmm," Tifa pouted. She walked forward as a wave came in and soaking her feet in seawater. A chill run up her spine, but it didn’t really mind. "Well, I am."

Tifa looked back, meeting Cloud's gaze, before again the ex-SOLDIER looked away. Tifa's didn't. She furrowed her brow and stood firm.

"Cloud listen to me." She said reaching down and grabbing Cloud's hand. "All that stuff your worried about. I'm worried about too. But we can't do anything about it right now. We will handle it when we get back to the Golden Saucer. Until then, umm, think of this like a mercenary."

"Like a merc?" He asked. "How?"

"Well sometimes you take multiple jobs as a Merc, right? You've been doing that this whole trip. Whenever you helped Kyrie or Cissnei or Johnny.'

"Right, the Odd Jobs and such."

"Exactly." Tifa said suddenly backing up. "Cloud Strife, I require your services. I need you. To have fun at the beach with me."

A smile visibly grew in the corners of Cloud's mouth. "Heh, well maybe if the pay is good."

Tifa smiled brightly. "What no friends and family discount." She turned and began running into the sea, water being knocked up with each step. After the water had risen to her thick thighs Tifa turned and beckoned Cloud to follow her.

"Give me a minute." Cloud replied. "But don't worry. I'm coming."

Tida nodded. She believed him instantly and somehow that meant something to Cloud. He watched as she wiggled her body a little before diving forward into an oncoming wave. She disappeared for a moment before her head popped up on the surface. She looked back at him and waved. Cloud couldn't help but wave back.

His mind flashed back to his childhood Nibelheim. There weren't a lot of places to swim in the mountains, and the Nibelheim shorelines was dangerous with rocky beaches and murky waters. Yet Tifa and the other kids sometimes ventured down to go swimming regardless. As far as he remembered, Cloud had never gone with them. He watched Tifa flip her body over and start swimming on her back. She was definitely having a good time. Probably had a good time on the Nibel beaches too. Cloud exhaled releasing the strange nervousness he felt into the air.

"I'll come with you this time Tifa." He said to himself as he marched forward into the water.