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Surely, She Ain't Serious	By : KSipesh Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female Views: 1917 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Surely, She Ain�t Serious

Chapter 12

Jacket in hand, Tifa headed toward the door that would take her out onto the open deck where she believed Cid to be. As she rounded the last corner before reaching the door, Tifa literally ran into Vincent.

"Have you seen Cid?" she asked him, knowing that the gunslinger had somewhat of a habit of hanging out on the open deck at night.

Vincent placed his right hand upon her shoulder and stared down into her eyes. "Yes, I do know where he is, and we need to talk."

"But, I have to go see him�" Her expression fell, and she gazed down at the coat in her arms. "Vince�I think I might have upset him."

"You did." The gunman dropped his hand from her shoulder and took one of hers within it. "Come with me."

"No�I need--" She found her words cut off as Vincent pulled her down the hall.

"Come on." He didn�t give her any further opportunities for protest as he pulled here down to a side maintenance corridor and opened up the door, taking her in with him before shutting the hatch. "All right, he won�t see us here."

"Why are we in here?" Tifa asked, not liking the cramped passageway.

"If he came inside and saw me speaking to you, he wouldn�t be pleased," Vincent replied flatly.

"What�s going on?"

Vincent crossed his arms over his chest. "I was up on deck, and Cid came out. He had no idea that I was out there as he went to the railing and broke down."

Tifa�s eyes went wide. "He�he was crying?"

"Indeed he was." The gunman�s eyes dropped away to the side. "Naturally, I was curious as to what could possibly upset him. Thus, I approached."

She didn�t say anything, just waiting for him to go on.

"He denied, of course, that he was disturbed at all, but I know what I saw. After watching the way he was behaving for a few moments, I realized what the issue was for myself." He met her gaze again.

"What was it?" she asked, her voice hushed.

"I offered my speculation about him being more emotionally involved in what has been going on between the two of you than you are." Vincent�s mouth pulled down into a frown. "And that turned out to be the case."

Tifa�s own words rang through her mind. It�s not like you love me�

Seeing the color drain from Tifa�s face, Vincent reached out and placed his right hand upon her shoulder. "Your thoughts?"

"Are�are you saying that he loves me?" There was an unwelcome tightness in her throat.

"It would appear so." One of his eyebrows cocked upward. "I knew he cared, we both knew he cared, but�"

She swallowed hard. "I did hurt him, then. We were talking and I just threw something out there because I really didn�t think that he was in love with me. I figured�that he was my friend and was just in it for a good time�"

"That was my initial impression as well, however, Cid is more complicated than we would have given him credit for." Vincent sighed deeply. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I have to talk to him." Tifa felt tears in her eyes. "I wish there was a way for he and I to be together, you know, really be together but that�s not how it is. I�m going to go back to Midgar to live with Cloud, and he�ll go back to Rocket. We won�t see each other all that often and long distance things� I don�t want to string him along like that."

"Of course." Vincent reached back and placed his hand upon the door latch. "If you need me, I�ll be in my room. Be careful with him. That man is much more sensitive than anyone ever suspected."

Tifa nodded slightly as Vincent disappeared from view. Still clutching Cid�s jacket to her chest, she stepped out into the corridor and headed for the open deck, hoping that she would find Cid still there.

She opened the door and stepped out into the night air, finding Cid standing against the railing, his back to her. After closing most of the distance between them, she stopped. "You�forgot your cigarettes."

Once more with tears in his eyes and feeling like there was a knife in his heart, Cid didn�t dare turn to face her, but simply spoke, doing his best to steady his voice and hide his emotions. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"So�" She didn�t want to give away the fact she�d just spoken with Vincent. "What are you doing out here, then?"

The pilot knit his brow, gripping the railing before him tightly with both hands. "Just gettin� some air and thinkin� about stuff."

"Are you upset with me?" Tifa asked, taking one small step closer.

"Why would I be upset with you?" came his retort, his voice quieter than she would have expected. Deciding that he really did want that cigarette now, Cid extended his hand out behind him, not bothering to turn.

Knowing what he was after, Tifa placed the pack and lighter she�d found in the coat pocket in his hand. "Because I think I said something before without thinking."

"Don�t worry about it, Tif." He lit up, and then stuffed the pack and lighter into his pant pocket.

"Cid�I�m sorry." Growing cold, she threw his coat around her shoulders. "You won�t even look at me�"

He took a deep breath and steeled himself, before turning to face her. "I�m lookin� at you."

Even in the darkness, Tifa could easily see that his eyes were red, betraying the fact that he had been crying. "I didn�t know�"

Trying to play it off, Cid pulled his cigarette from his lips and flicked some ashes to the ground. "Didn�t know what?"

"When I said that you didn�t love me� I didn�t know that maybe you--" For the second time that night, Tifa was cut off.

"I don�t, so don�t worry about it. If Vincent told you that I did, he�s full of shit. I�m completely fine, Tif. As soon as I finish this smoke, I�m goin� to bed." He placed the cigarette between his lips and then crossed his arms over his chest.

Knowing that Vincent would never lie to her, but that Cid would to try and hide his hurt feelings, Tifa placed no value in the blonde�s words. Her heart was stung by his unwillingness to talk things over with her. "Cid�drop the act, all right?"

He knit his brow once more and blinked back at her silently.

"I didn�t mean to upset you. I didn�t know that you had those kinds of feelings for me. I thought�I thought you were just my friend and that you were up for a little fun, that�s all." Tifa, not able to stand the look on his face, stared down at the deck. "I�m sorry."

"Not your problem." Cid leaned back against the railing. "I knew better than to get my hopes up, but I did anyway."

"Even though I don�t feel like you do for me, Cid, I�m going to tell you right here and now that you�ve helped me more than you could ever know by being there for me these last few nights. You were able to help me get over what happened to me in a way that no one else would have been able to. Vincent may be a really good friend, but he never would have been able to do for me what you have." She finally looked up into his tear-dimmed eyes. "I love you dearly, Cid, but you know as well as I do that we can�t be together after this. Like I said before, I have to go back to Midgar and you�re destined to return to Rocket."

He nodded slightly. "I know, but I�d be willing to try and keep it going. I do have planes� I could come out there and see you sometimes�"

"I want you to do that anyway, Cid." Tifa dared to reach out and place her hand in the center of his chest. "But, if we did that with the condition of not seeing other people, well�"

"Even though you know nothin�s ever gonna happen, you�re still in love with Cloud, ain�t you?" Cid asked, point blank.

Her cheeks flushed red. "I�m not going to lie to you, Cid. I am."

"Yeah, I figured." He pulled the cigarette from his lips and dropped it over the railing and into the darkness. "So, you�ll let me come and see you and do stuff, but always with the condition that if Cloud ever gets his head out of his ass, things with me are over, right?"

Suddenly feeling incredibly shallow, Tifa didn�t want to answer and so remained silent, feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

The pilot nodded knowingly and huffed a little. "And� and I want a family. I�m not gettin� any younger. I�m thirty-two, I wanna get married and have kids. You ain�t lookin� for that, though, at your age."

"I�m going to be honest. I�m not." Tifa wanted to vanish from existence.

"Uh huh." He straightened back up. "Which means that if someone comes along that I get interested in, that I�ll stop comin� to see you."

"I�d understand." Now, Tifa�s heart was aching.

"See, the thing is, I�m already in love with you, Tif." He shrugged. "That means that the right woman could come and go and I�d never fuckin� know, because as long as I had that faint hope of bein� with you, I wouldn�t be able to see it."

Another tear escaped her eye. She had simply intended this to be something fun for them-- an outlet for their mutual attraction. Never in a million years did she think Cid would have been able to fall for her like this.

"So�that ain�t no good for me," he said, his voice wavering. "Meaning that once I drop you off in Midgar in a few days, that�s it."

Tifa was surprised how hard it was for her to say anything in that moment. "What do we do in the meantime, then? If you want to just take me to Midgar now so that you don�t have to be around me anymore, I�d understand."

"Is that what you want?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No� I want to stay with you on this ship until everyone else is gone. I�I want those few days if they�re all I can have with you." She brought her trembling left hand up and placed that with her other upon his chest.

Shaking in his own emotion, he covered her two tiny hands with one of his. "Then we have a few days."

With that small confirmation, Tifa fell against him and placed her arms around the pilot. "Cid�"

"It�s okay." He rested his cheek against the top of her head. "You probably never got that shower, did you?"

Although it was the furthest thing from her mind now, she replied, "No, I didn�t."

"I could use one, too. We should probably go do that before goin� to bed, then." Cid closed his eyes for a moment.

"Okay." She smiled faintly to herself. "Can I�stay with you tonight?"

He brought her out to arm�s length and gave her a smirk. "I think that�s a no brainer."

Tifa�s grin widened. "Thanks."

"It�s nothin�." He took one of her hands in his and led her back into the ship.
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Surely, She Ain't Serious