The ship landed safely at Costa Del Sol, where all six members of AVALANCHE disembarked and stretched. There it was suggested by Aerith and Yuffie that they all take a break from pursuing Sephiroth for the day. Cloud, though reluctant at first, agreed to this, but only after Tifa agreed as well. That day, they booked a night at the hotel and were assigned two rooms with three beds each, one for the men, and the other for the women.
At the entrance, Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie all awaited Cloud, Barret and Red who were all still inside. To Aerith’s disappointment, when Barret came out from the hotel, he had changed out of his sailor costume, reverting to his normal, combat gear.
“I’m going to miss seeing that sailor suit on you,” Aerith said, “You looked hilarious in it, like a bear wearing a marshmallow.”
After Aerith said this, Barret began to blush shyly and scratched the back of his neck whilst he quietly chuckled to himself. Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie all laughed in agreement. When the gunman left with Red, the women all looked to Cloud, who’d seemed to be following them and stopped him in his tracks, with their hands holding him in place. He too began to blush at this incident.
“C’mon, Cloud,” Aerith said, “It’s decided!”
“What’s decided?” Cloud asked in confusion.
“You’re coming with us!” Yuffie said.
“Where?” Cloud asked, still confused.
“Shopping!” Tifa answered, “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Cloud groaned in annoyance. When he looked into Tifa’s eyes, however, he was possessed. Tifa gave off the classic puppy eyes, a look that normally did nothing but annoy Cloud, but with Tifa, it was a different story.
“Fine…” Cloud said stubbornly.
“Yay!” Yuffie said, jumping. With this, the girls dragged Cloud towards the shopping district of Costa Del Sol where he finally loosened up and followed the trio around. The girls all acted enthusiastically, all whilst Cloud groan in embarrassment.
“Cloud!” Yuffie shouted, “Let’s look over here!”
“Alright,” Cloud said, “We can look, but remember, we still have to look for Sephiroth, and we can’t spend too much gil either.”
“Oh… We won’t,” Aerith said.
The store Yuffie referred to was a clothing shop filled with heaps and heaps of clothes, mainly for women, but there was a section dedicated to men as well. When the four entered, the women scattered off separately, and Cloud was left to wander around himself without looking at any clothing. Yuffie was found rummaging through different dresses whilst giggling to herself like she was plotting something. Aerith was more casual, picking out bathers, which Cloud interpreted as her thinking about what would suit her. For a moment, he stopped in his place before he heard Aerith turning around. Quickly, Cloud tried to walk off before the cetra halted him.
“Did you need something, Cloud?” Aerith asked.
“Nope,” Cloud said, rudely.
“Are you sure?” Aerith cooed.
“Yes!” Cloud said harshly, “Now would you please leave me alone?”
Aerith sighed, “Alright,” she said quietly before Cloud went off again. Looking back, Aerith continued to browse whilst Cloud went to see what Tifa was doing. He found her in the men’s section of the shop where she stood in place and hummed to herself.
“Hey,” Cloud said warmly.
Tifa gasped with a flinch before she turned around to Cloud and let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, Cloud, it’s just you,” Tifa said, “What are you doing here?”
Cloud blushed slightly, “Uh… I was just…”
Tifa laughed, causing Cloud’s heart to race, “Don’t worry, Cloud, I don’t mind,” she said.
“Do you…” Cloud stammered, “Do you need help with anything?”
“Oh no,” Tifa said, “I was just-”
“Hey Tifa, look what I found!” Yuffie interrupted.
“I’ll be there in a second, Yuffie!” Tifa said, before turning back to Cloud, “Could you excuse me for a second, please?”
Cloud gave a shrug as Tifa ran towards Yuffie with Aerith joining in. Cloud looked back towards the men’s section where he found some larger shirts than the women’s as well as some bathers. Some were plain whilst others had designs on them, mostly tropical-themed. When he turned around, the girls were nowhere to be seen and Cloud nearly panicked before he heard them laughing in the changing room in the farthest corner. With this, he gave a sigh of relief.
They all soon came out, with Aerith and Yuffie hanging out together whilst Tifa came back to where Cloud was stationed. Cloud gaped slightly before Tifa stopped in a slight panic.
“I’m sorry, was I intruding?” Tifa asked.
Cloud blushed, struggling to speak before letting out: “Uh, no, you’re fine, it’s just… uh… It’s nothing…”
Cloud moved aside for the moment whilst Tifa moved back to where she was before Cloud’s self-invitations. After browsing a little longer, all three girls arrived at the register where all their items were scanned. Cloud gave a sigh of relief, thinking the worst of his troubles were over. Only to realise… They were far from it.
“Oh Cloud!” They all called simultaneously. Cloud panicked as soon as they all came flocking towards him, and Cloud panicked from the looks on their faces.
“Cloud, would you be a sweetheart and carry our stuff?” Aerith asked.
“It’s so heavy,” Yuffie said with false struggle.
“Do it for us, Cloud,” Tifa said, again with the puppy eyes.
Cloud let out the breath he held in his lungs as he surrendered to their advances. The girls all cheered as Cloud carried all the bags and left the store. As they all strode down the street together, the girls all laughed as they chatted together. Cloud could only walk behind them as he listened in preparation for his forthcoming torture by their hands. Before he could observe the contents of the bags, the girls stopped once again.
“Here, I wanna go here!” Aerith chirped. There, they stopped at a store selling beauty and skin care products. When a unanimous vote amongst the girls was met, Cloud was forced to comply and thus continued the cycle of torture.
Stepping in, Cloud immediately felt embarrassed, knowing he couldn’t leave until the girls were finished. This time, Cloud didn’t investigate what everyone was up to, causing other customers to stop and stare at the ex-SOLDIER who grunted. What caused him to exit his state of laziness was when he saw one of the male employees approach Tifa with a sly expression.
Before he could approach Tifa, however, Cloud grabbed his shoulder with a low, quiet growl.
“Hey, back off…!” Cloud warned.
“Watcha gonna do about it?” the man asked arrogantly, “Wait… Do you know this girl or somethin’?”
“I said: back off!” Cloud retorted, “Go bother that girl with the pink ribbon instead.”
“Dammit!” the man said under his breath, “No thanks, she’s not my type…”
With this, the man walked away in frustration. It was then that Tifa turned around to Cloud, a look of concern painting her face.
“Cloud, what just happened?” Tifa asked.
“That guy just…” Cloud’s throat was knotted, “He was staring at you. Told him to go bother someone else…”
“Cloud, don’t worry,” Tifa said quietly, “I can handle those things myself. Besides, I’m not interested in those types of guys anyway.”
From Cloud’s lips came a sigh of relief. Afterwards, the products the girls had found were purchased, and again, Cloud was forced to carry their bags. Inside, Cloud knew the end was yet to come, and as they strolled the streets again, Cloud kept a keen eye on those who came by.
Cloud's next target was a man honking his car horn, “Hey ladies, you wanna go out tonight?” He called, honking his car again. In response, Cloud gave the man a death glare, bearing his fangs like a protective wolf. The man gave an intimidated whimper as he drove away from the four.
“Hey Cloud!” Tifa called, “Let’s go here!”
Cloud, for once, went with the girls willingly into the store. Here, they were shopping for camping supplies, and Cloud actively browsed. Looking at Tifa, Cloud looked at a bag of herbs in the food section and wondered. Being the only one who hadn’t made any purchases, Cloud took the bag and continued to browse. In one section, he found a high-quality camera at a decent price.
“Hey Cloud, what do you have there?” Aerith asked out of nowhere.
“Um…” Cloud hesitated, “I’ve g…”
“A camera!” Aerith cheered, “What a great idea! Now we can share all of our memories together!”
Before they paid for their supplies, Cloud took one more item in case the need ever arose. Soon after, everyone finished shopping, but Cloud’s spree of torture was far from over. Instead, all three girls talked amongst each other suspiciously.
“Hey Cloud!” Tifa shouted, “Let’s have lunch!”
Cloud had no choice but to accept the invitation, and thus walked a little longer. Not far from the bridge was a bar, named Bar Del Sol which not only had indoor, but also outdoor dining. There, they sat at a spare table for four, all whilst Cloud sat with the shopping behind him.
“Ooh, let’s have a jug of lemonade!” Yuffie shouted enthusiastically.
“That sounds great!” Aerith replied.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Tifa joined, “How ‘bout you, Cloud?”
With that, the four looked at their menus and observed the food they prepared. Not a moment after they all made their decision, the waiter arrived to take their order, with the lemonade jug placed in, homemade and fizzed, it claimed. Yuffie orders the King prawns with salad and dressing, whilst Aerith ordered some vegetarian spaghetti. Tifa asked for some salt and pepper squid with chips. Lastly, Cloud ordered a lamb rack with small potatoes.
“Thank you very much,” Tifa told the waiter. After surrendering their menus, the girls talked amongst each other whilst Cloud did little aside from listening and gave a smile to Tifa, who looked to be having the time of her life with everyone.
Cloud’s mood was raised even further when their lemonade arrived, signalling the waiter to pour whilst they waited for their food to arrive. Naturally, they savoured the refreshment for when their meals all arrived. Not long later, the waiter came back and served their food which the entirety of the party stopped to admire.
In addition to grilled prawns and salad, Yuffie was served a small bowl to discard the shells. Aerith, being a vegetarian, ate a simple dish anyone could make, only spaghetti and passata. Tifa’s dish looked delicious, with the squid served with chips and salad with a lemon wedge on the side. When Cloud looked down at his own dish, he smiled slightly, with each rib looking as mouthwatering as the last, and the potatoes well seasoned. Cloud was then called by Tifa who’d risen her glass of lemonade.
“Cheers!” Everyone chimed, clinking their glasses. When they took the first sip of the beverage, a feeling of joy overcame them all.
“This is delicious!” Aerith said.
“Wow, the food is good too!” Tifa replied, having already eaten some. Cloud tried one of his potatoes for himself and he too felt a feeling of happiness overcome him before he moved on to his meat covered in medium gravy, and when it was cut, the meat revealed itself to be cooked to medium rare. Again, when Cloud ate this, he was hit with a feeling of bliss.
In fact, the food was so good that some of them, save Aerith, even tried some of each other’s meals. Cloud and Tifa of course were so entranced by each other's meals that Tifa suggested that she herself could make them both when camping.
As soon as Tifa turned back to talk to the other girls, Cloud turned to the seashore. There he found Barret lying under a parasol on the beach whilst he drank a glass of an alcoholic beverage, it seemed, all whilst Red sat next to him.
“Marlene, honey, after my journey, Daddy’s gonna take you down to Costa Del Sol,” Barret said, “You gonna have the time of your life here!”
“How much time do you spend thinking about your daughter?” Red asked.
“All the time, Red,” Barret said, “Say, how do you think Cloud and the girls are doin’?”
As Cloud continued to observe, Red looked back at him and smiled.
“It looks like they’re doing well,” Red said positively, “They’re right over there, eating lunch.”
At this point, Cloud had finished his drink and meal and excused himself from the Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie to join in with Barret and Red.
“Hey, merc, where you been?” Barret asked.
“Shopping with the girls,” Cloud said sternly.
“Well aren’t you a lady's man!” Barret teased, “can’t keep their eyes off you for one second, can’t they!”
“Why haven’t you tried getting any?” Cloud asked, “There’s plenty available.”
“That’s a story for another time,” Barret said, “Why don't you go and keep ‘em company a while longer?”
“They’ve got each other…” Cloud said.
“Go on, the more the merrier!” Barret chimed, “Red and I will join in too if you don’t mind.”
Before Cloud could think to protest, Red and Barret arose from their seating position and followed Cloud towards Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie who’d only just paid the bill and approached Cloud cheekily.
“Hello, Cloud,” Tifa said in a cunning voice, “Having fun with Red and Barret? You do realise you left our stuff right out in the open where someone could have gotten it? Well, you’re lucky it’s still there.”
At this, Cloud began to panic before Tifa tapped him on the back, “Come on, Cloud, be a good pack chocobo and carry our stuff to our room, please.”
Cloud blushed shyly as Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie passed him their shopping bags one by one, then dragged him to their hotel room. Red and Barret laughed as Cloud turned to them for help, teasing him. What started as Cloud thought all his troubles would be over as soon as they were done unloading became a lesson that more disaster was coming his way. As soon as he tried to make his way outside the room, Aerith and Yuffie confronted Cloud, snatching either of his arms.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Yuffie said.
“Tifa’s got something for you,” Aerith said suavely.
Cloud turned around to Tifa, then wore a face of absolute horror when he realised why Tifa was in the men’s section of the clothes and bathers shop. In her hands, Tifa held out the pair of trunks that Cloud had been observing which could only mean one thing, Cloud thought.
“Here you go, Cloud,” Tifa said with a smile, “I bought these for you at that clothing shop we were at. I really want to go swimming, you know. Are they ok…?”
Cloud blushed with his heart beating at a high speed. Looking at Tifa’s face, however, he could do not but once again surrender to the charm in her eyes.
“Then get changed!” Aerith said as she pushed him out of the room. Cloud sighed in relief and made his way back to his room where he was greeted by the sight of Barret sitting on his bed, watching Cloud with Red sitting on the floor, his tipped tail hovering in the air. When Cloud closed the door, Barret started to laugh.
“So the girls really do wanna go swimming with ya!” Barret said.
“Shut up,” Cloud said, “You’re embarrassing me.”
“Oh, don’t be a fool,” Red said, “You were the only one remaining after all.”
Cloud ignored the two men, and made his way to the bathroom. There he got changed. Afterwards, he made the fortunate discovery that the hotel provided sunscreen, which Cloud quickly applied to any exposed areas of his body without the help of Red or Barret.
When he arrived at the beach, Cloud discovered that even the girls were in their bathers. Yuffie was dressed in a green top that exposed her midriff and shorts, as seemed to be her signature style. Next to her, Aerith wore a pink one-piece, decorated with faux flowers, and her hair in the same fashion as when she and Cloud infiltrated Don Corneo’s in order to rescue the third woman, the one who had an effect on Cloud. Next to Aerith, Cloud’s childhood friend, Tifa Lockhart was dressed in a two-piece, with the white top half securing her breasts, and the bottom half acting like a skirt with a drape. Cloud gaped with a blush again at the sight of her, his heart begging him to get over to her. When Tifa started to move forward, as did Cloud, and to his surprise, she too was blushing, it seemed.
“H-hey…” Tifa stuttered, “So do you like the bathers I got you?”
“Y-yeah…” Cloud said, “They’re… comfortable.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Tifa said, “You want to go swimming?”
Cloud nodded as Tifa started to take his hand excitedly and ran with him towards the water. At first, Cloud’s feet felt cold on contact, but in due time, Cloud’s skin adjusted to the temperature of the water and thus began the fun.
When turning around for any sign of Yuffie and Aerith joining, Cloud noticed they seemed to be coming back from a small trip. Both girls were holding some cylinder-shaped icy poles in their hands, as it appeared. These icy poles were rainbow coloured, with the top coloured purple, then orange, green midway, then red, then finally, at the bottom.
Aerith yelled but Cloud couldn’t hear, and therefore replied: “What was that?”
“Would you like me to you one?!” Aerith yelled even louder.
“No thanks!” Cloud replied before he looked to Tifa, “How about you?”
“Aerith was asking me if I’d like an icy pole,” Cloud said, “I’m good, so what about you?”
“Well, it’s nice of you to ask,” Tifa said, “But I’m alright. Could you tell the girls for me?”
“Hey, Aerith!” Cloud yelled out, “Tifa says she’s good too!”
“Oh, alright!” Aerith yelled back, “Have fun, you two!”
“Thanks,” Cloud said quietly. Aerith and Yuffie went to sit on a bench together where they appeared to be having a chat together whilst they ate their icy poles. Along with Tifa, Cloud went for a swim across the ocean whilst the waves cascaded over their bodies. When the water came up to their waists, Cloud suddenly stopped Tifa by grabbing her hand with only the tips of his fingers.
“Cloud, what’s wrong?” Tifa asked in confusion.
“Uh…” Cloud stammered, “Tifa, there’s something I’ve been wanting to try…”
“Something you want to try?” Tifa asked, “What’s tha-”
Tifa was cut off when Cloud suddenly ducked down and grabbed Tifa by the waist. What caused Tifa to gasp, however, was when Cloud then managed to lift her up effortlessly in a swift motion. Just when she expected Cloud to spin her around, Cloud proceeded to let Tifa hold onto his shoulder as he moved one hand up to her back and the other under the crook of her knees, causing her to close her eyes.
When she opened them again, Tifa blushed, even more so when Cloud let her hold onto his neck. Her heart too started to race and she struggled to find the right words to express her feelings before she felt Cloud do a small turn with her.
“Tifa, is this alright with you?” Cloud asked, “If it isn’t, I can -”
“No, no, it’s fine!” Tifa told Cloud, “Your so strong…”
“It’s the mako,” Cloud said flirtily.
“I know,” Tifa said. The two stayed in this position for quite some time, whilst over on the bench, Cloud sat Yuffie excitedly fishing for Aerith’s attention before the cetra turned to see Tifa laying in Cloud’s arms. This caused the ninja and the florist to let out an ‘aw’ from their mouths and call for Barret and Red.
“Should I put you down now?” Cloud asked.
“Just a little longer…” Tifa told him. Cloud looked at her with a loving smile as Tifa gave out a soft sigh and closed her eyes, relaxing into Cloud’s strong arms that she knew would be there to protect her no matter the challenge.
Before Cloud could make another move, there suddenly came an uproar of cries and squawks beyond the shore, then towards them, Cloud saw some seagulls flying straight for them. Cloud swiftly ducked, causing Tifa to wake up, and Cloud started running to shore.
“Cloud what’s wrong?” Tifa asked.
“Seagulls!” Cloud said, “A hoard of them, flying straight for us!”
Though it sounded ridiculous, when they were at the brink of the shore, Tifa saw that Cloud was indeed correct, and many more gulls came flying their way. At the shoreline, Cloud put Tifa down as he went to grab an unoccupied parasol which he held with both hands. Around the bench, Yuffie and Aerith were trapped by an entire ring of them. Yuffie used a magazine to defend herself, whilst Aerith used her magic to ward them away. Not far from them, Barret fired rounds of ammunition from his gun arm, whilst Red used his beastly instincts and flame-tipped tail.
“Where the hell are all these damn birds comin’ from?” Barret yelled.
Behind Cloud came a laugh all too familiar to him, and when he turned around, his suspicions came true. Next to a beach seat was Professor Hojo dressed in his lab coat as he raised his hands proudly and laughed louder.
“What do you think of my new project!?” Hojo shouted, “Isn’t it magnificent?”
“Hojo!” Cloud barked, “What did you do?”
“Oh, I experimented a little on these seagulls,” Hojo said, “Now they shall call forth all their feathery friends from far and wide to become an unstoppable force.”
In the distance, Hojo’s claim came true. Hoards of seagulls emerged from the horizon, flying and squawking as they made their way to the shores of Costa Del Sol.
Upon arrival, the birds began to terrorise the town, stealing food from tourists and laughing sadistically whenever someone got hurt. Soon, all civilians of Costa Del Sol began to run, flooding the town with their screams of agony, and the streets were filled with manure.
“What do we do?” Yuffie cried.
Before Cloud could come up with an answer, it seemed as though Hojo had run off, causing the mercenary to groan.
“Damn it!” Cloud exclaimed, “Now what?”
At this point, the party resorted to fighting the seagulls off themselves, but no matter how many they downed, they kept returning to their original numbers. After what felt like an hour of fighting, the team was covered in scratches brought upon by the wrath of the seagulls and many accidents in the street had occurred. What gave Cloud hope, however, was just beyond them. The sun was beginning to set as the sky became darker and darker. The number of seagulls reduced dramatically, but they were not of the woods yet.
As a herd flew towards Tifa, Cloud felt himself fly to her side in time to swipe down the whole flock with a single slash.
“You ok?” Cloud asked seriously.
“Yeah!” Tifa shouted. As the two stood back to back, another flock surrounded them.
“Let’s do this!” Cloud said to Tifa.
“You got it!” Tifa said, “Right behind you, Cloud!”
In no time at all, the flock was done for and by the time dusk ended, all the seagulls had disappeared, to AVALANCHE’s delight. When there was no one more left in sight, they all gathered in a circle in celebration and cheered for themselves, despite being battered and bruised.
“This calls for celebration!” Barret roared, “How ‘bouts we go somewhere good for dinner?”
“Fine by me,” Cloud said smoothly. As the people came out from their hiding places, they all cheered as they gathered in front of their heroes. That night, they all had a free dinner and drinks at a luxury restaurant as payment for their service. During this time, there was a fair share of ups and downs, including teasing of Cloud and Tifa regarding the carrying.
“You two would be so cute together!” Yuffie said, causing Cloud and Tifa to blush. That night as they went back to their hotel, Tifa began to have a chat with Cloud on a couch in the foyer, whilst blushing at the same time.
“Hey Cloud,” Tifa said, “Thanks to you, I really had a fun time.”
“No biggy,” Cloud said with a small smile, “you’re pretty light you know…”
“Haven’t I heard you say that before?” Tifa asked.
“Uh…” Cloud stammered, “Tifa, at the camping store, when we were going shopping… I bought you something.”
Tifa was left to wait when Cloud got up and left for his room. He then came back and held in his hand a small bag of herbs that were advertised on the bag as being ‘perfect for cooking anywhere, anytime, anyplace.’ as he held it out to Tifa who gave it a smell that resulted in a positive reaction.
“Cloud, these smell wonderful,” Tifa said delightfully, “Thank you so much!”
Cloud smiled happily as Tifa leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. The two made their way upstairs holding hands, where at the space between their two doors, Tifa gave him a small hug before pulling away with a satisfied glance.
“I really had fun today, Cloud,” Tifa said, “Except the seagull part of course. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Tifa,” Cloud said, kindly. With this, the two parted ways and went into their rooms. They slept wonderfully that night, dreaming of one another before they woke up in pure bliss. That morning, whilst the team had breakfast, there was no sign of rabid seagulls, and Cloud and Tifa wasted no time in sitting next to one another and talked enthusiastically together.
After breakfast, the party gathered their supplies from their rooms and travelled east. Their destination? North Corel in continuation of the pursuit of Sephiroth. Cloud and Tifa, of course, walked together in close proximity with consistent glances with one another.
AO3 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46169860
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