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A Prince For Sale	By : FaTaLfURy Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female > Cloud/Tifa Views: 4010 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or the characters in it. Nor do I make any profit from writing this story. Everything else is the product of my over-active imagination.

Chapter List
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A Prince For Sale
FaTaLfURy
Chapter Two - The Prince
He stood five feet and seven inches tall, with spiky blond hair and glorious blue eyes. Many women who drowned in their depths swore his eyes were 'glowing'. He had features that bordered on being female, but that only made him more attractive and sensual to women. Or so they say. He had a lithely built body, the kind with enough muscles and firmness that would make women want to run their hands over his biceps or abs, but not the kind that screamed 'professional body builder on the loose'.
He had an indifferent and regal air about him, one that came from being born royalty. And he was the only heir to the throne.
He was none other than His Royal Highness, Prince Cloud of the House of Strife, sworn rulers of the kingdom of Costa del Sol.
His father, the late prince, died and left the ruling of the kingdom to his wife. Now that Prince Cloud was old enough to take over the throne from his mother, he would become the new ruler of Costa del Sol.
But he had problems. Actually, he had multitude of them. The first being that the country was close to being quite penniless now and that civillian rebels had began to stake claims to the throne, saying they will overthrow the royal family and rule for the good of Costa del Sol's citizens.
Since Cloud didn't believe a single word said by the rebels, he refused to relinquish the throne. Costa del Sol was ruled by Strifes, and it would forever remain so. All he had to do was to think of how to save his kingdom.
Costa del Sol was a remote country in the World, blessed with cerulean skies and beautiful beaches. The island has never known the taste of winter, the sun shining brightly on them all year-round. They had the regular monsoons, but nothing drastic so far. It was dubbed by those who knew it the perfect 'island paradise'.
Sadly, because of the island being quite remote, they didn't have much to offer investors in spite of the lure of the island. They didn't even have a proper airport, one that Cloud was determined to rectify once he found the means to do so.
Saving his kingdom and his countrymen was first and foremost in his mind. Nothing and no one could dissuade him from it.
So when he got a call from the Lockheart Emporium, one of the world's greatest and well-known conglomerates, he didn't hesitate on meeting with them.
He had everything he wished for in the palm of his hands after that meeting. But it all came with a very dear price.
The head (or quite aptly, heads) of Lockheart Emporium met with him. Mr. and Mrs. Lockheart offered him a proposal he could not refuse. They were willing to invest on Costa del Sol, no matter how costly it got. God knows they had more than enough money to manage. They were going to build an airport, various hotels and malls, and broaden Costa del Sol's port. All of that and even more.
But first he had to marry their only daughter, Tifa Lockheart.
The thought actually galled him at first. It was unheard of for a prince to marry a 'commoner'. When he thought of how his mother would faint at the very idea, he almost told them 'no' then and there. But he knew beggars can't be choosers. And so Prince Cloud accepted the Lockheart couple's terms.
They couldn't be thrilled more. Of course, their daughter would become a princess despite of her lack of royal blood in her veins.
And it was all on his expense.
Cloud tried not to hate the Lockhearts or the circumstances that led him to this. After all, it was his duty as prince to do everything in his power for his people, whereas the Lockheart couple's duty lie in their being exemplary parents to their child. They were only thinking of her future, of course. He understood all that, and yet couldn't stop the sense of loathing that pervaded him.
He hated them all.
His father, who was the cause of Costa del Sol's poverty. If not for him squandering the country's riches away in gambling and women, Cloud wouldn't be pressed to the tight corner where he was now.
The Lockhearts, for having the money and power to maneuver him right where they wanted him. It almost seemed to him they were waiting for his failure all along and had taken advantage of it.
The Lockhearts' daughter, Tifa, who probably dreamed of being a princess ever since she was three. Because of her, her parents were compelled to blackmail him into making her dreams come true.
But most of all, he hated himself the worst for being the weak man that he was.
He was going to propose tonight.
Cloud wore somber black for the occasion, the only contrast was his stark-white shirt and the blood-red rose fixed on his lapel. His personal guard and good friend Vincent Valentine would probably say he was going to a funeral, not his engagement. He could care less either way. Cloud's only relief was that his mother didn't come with him to Midgar and was therefore unaware of what was happening.
He shook his head at the irony of it all. Here he was, all set to propose and to marry a 'commoner' heiress. There was a time when he was forbidden to marry a penniless princess. His father said her bloodline would mean nothing if she didn't have wealth to accompany it.
Damn his old man.
Cloud wished he didn't defer to his father's wishes. He should have followed his heart and held firm on his decision to marry Aerith. But he was ever the dutiful son, so he let her go.
Aerith found solace in the arms of his bestfriend, no less. But he couldn't summon the strength to be angry and hateful towards the woman he loved... and the man that was more to him than just a friend. Zack Fair was like a brother to him. The bitterness was there, of course. He didn't even attend the wedding. But he was glad Zack happened to be there for Aerith. He was the man Cloud could never be for her.
And now both were dead. It was a car accident that claimed both their lives, and the life of their unborn child. Cloud went to the funeral then. He could not stay away, even if he wanted to. He arranged for the burial and everything. Zack had no family of his own, and Aerith's mother had no means of taking care of it. He knew Zack would have done the same thing for him.
Even now, he mourned their loss. Especially Aerith. He had never found anyone with such gentleness and warmth that she had, despite the many women who came and went in his life. All were meaningless. Aerith was the only one that mattered.
He knew he should probably feel guilty for still loving his bestfriend's wife, but he knew Zack would understand. He'd been with Aerith for the longest time, though now he knew she'd been Zack's first. The first time he took her, she was no longer a virgin. That honor belonged to Zack, it seemed. And the reason why Aerith was so drawn to him was that he reminded her of Zack in so many ways.
He only found that out when Aerith and Zack got back together.
It hurt, of course it did. Cloud didn't want to think it was all a fluke, though. Maybe it was Fate that he and Aerith weren't meant to be, but he knew what they had was as real as it gets. And Aerith loved him for being him, not a memory of Zack. At least, that's what Cloud felt like when he and Aerith were still together.
He wondered what she would say to him now, if she were still alive to witness everything. Maybe she'd just laugh it off the way she always did to lighten things up. She'd say this 'Tifa' was probably his destiny.
And that's where she would be wrong.
Aerith was supposed to be his destiny. Tifa was only a means to an end.
With that thought in mind, he left his room on the lavish hotel where he was staying (courtesy of his soon-to-be in-laws) and went to the Lockheart villa to fulfill his duty.
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A Prince For Sale