CloTi- The Perfect Present

"Good morning, Tifa." Cloud mumbled once he walked down the stairs of the hotel in Nibelheim that Tifa worked at. She gave a small smile, blushing lightly. He could always make her smile, no matter what he did.

"Morning." she replied happily and stepped out from behind the counter. Cloud didn't meet her gaze or go over and give her a hug like he usually did every morning. He felt out of place, since today was her birthday and he didn't have anything for her yet. But he was planning something special for her, but he just needed to figure out a few things. But Cloud knew that she would sense that something was different, since his actions were unusual, though she didn't say anything about it.

"Well, have a good time at work today." Tifa said, having trouble keeping up her smile, wondering why he had said anything about her birthday yet. He had always done something for her birthday, and he was acting very strange...

"Thanks." Cloud replied quickly and walked out the hotel, keeping his gaze low. But he wasn't going to work today, delivering the items people didn't have the time to go get them themselves. He had to make sure everything was going as planned later tonight, even if that means avoiding Tifa for the whole day. Cloud couldn't let Tifa catch on to what he was doing, he wanted it to be a surprise. He was going to give it to her later, but he thought it would be a great birthday present for her, if she accepted it, of course.

Tifa sighed as she watched him get on Fenrir and ride off into the distance. *I know something's going on... He never forgets...* she thought, letting her hair fall in front her face as she scrubbed the bar in the hotel.

"I just wish he would tell me what's going on... It makes me feel like he's pushing me away from him." she murmured quietly to herself, seeing as there was nobody else in the bar room to hear or interrupt her from her thoughts.

Cloud looked through many stores of all kinds, searching up and down, left and right all day but found absolutely nothing. He groaned as he sat back down on Fenrir, tired from searching through all of these places just to find his time a big waist. Cloud looked up to see the sky darkening and knew he had to head back to Nibelheim, since he was a few towns away. He revved up his motorcycle and spun around, speeding off in the way he had come.

Tifa began to close up the bar portion of the hotel and escorting a few drunk customers back to their rooms or out to the street to their homes. She headed back down to the lobby and went to go sit behind the front desk, to wait until Cloud returned to her.

"He's never out this late." Tifa murmured, getting a few weird looks from some of the customers who were just getting home from their jobs or a fun day at our few tourist attractions. Her thoughts wondered, frowning slight as she tried to think of what could be keeping cloud out so late. As soon as she heard the door open, Tifa's mind jumped back into the present and looked up to see the tall blond walk in.

"Cloud! You're finally back!" she said and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. But Cloud didn't put his arms around her, he just stood there, averting her eyes. Tifa pulled back and gave him a confused look. He seemed so distant from her... Something was obviously going on, something she didn't know.

"What's wrong?" she asked, but he just shook his head.

"Fine! Don't tell me!" Tifa said and crossed her arms.

"Tifa, I--" Cloud started, finally meeting her gaze. He reached out to touch her, but Tifa backed away.

"No, Cloud, you've been avoiding me all day! Staying out late, not telling me anything, not even wanting to look at me! You even forgot my birthday! What kind of boyfriend forgets his girlfriend's birthday! I can't believe you! You care about nobody but yourself! I don't see why I ever had feelings for you!" Tifa shouted at Cloud, causing the few remaining people to either run up the stairs to their rooms or give them odd looks as they watched the conflict.

"Tifa." Cloud said, trying to stop her from shouting at him, but she still kept shouting at him. The only thing he could think of to get her to understand was tell her what's been going on, so he spoke as soon as Tifa took a deep breath to start yelling again, he spoke up.

"Marry me, Tifa." Cloud said quickly so she wouldn't be able to interrupt him again.

Tifa's train of thought stopped in it's tracks as soon as she heard those words. "Wh-what?" she asked, her expression showed her shock and her tone was confused.

Cloud took her hands in his and knelt down on one knee. "Tifa," he repeated, "I've known you my whole life and I've never had such strong feelings for anybody else. When I left you to leave for SOLDIER, I had never felt so lonely or lost ever in my life. I will fight to protect you no matter what, I never want you to get taken away from me. I left you once, but after spending all this time with you, I know that I will never do that again. You mean too much to me." Cloud said, pausing since he knew this was a lot for her to take in.

Tifa was still in utter shock. She had never seen this coming. But the more she thought about, the more she came to realize that his odd behavior began to make sense to her.

"I know I don't have a ring yet, but I've been searching all day for the perfect ring with no luck in finding it. I just wanted this to be the perfect birthday present, if it all goes well." Cloud said.

Tifa's eyes began to water and there were soon tears trickling down her cheeks as she listened to him. "Oh, Cloud... Yes, I will! There couldn't be any greater gift. I'm so sorry I yelled at you, I just didn't understand." she paused and giggled with a smile. With that, Cloud stood up and pressed his lips against hers, embracing her in his arms.

"Thank you." Cloud said softly between kisses and Tifa let another soft giggle escape.

"No, thank you. I've been waiting for this for a long time, Cloud Strife." Tifa said against his lips.