FicWad: fresh-picked original and fan fiction

You know, the more I read this story, the more I like it.

There are lines in here that are fantastic—subtle, yet very true to both characters—that absolutely tickle the death out of me. Such as:

"I hate watching you ride away," she corrects him gently.

Cloud smiles -- it still feels awkward, but he's getting better at it, slowly.

There are some ways she does need his strength, and some ways she's fine on her own, and he thinks he's starting to be able to tell the difference.

Zack would have teased her, he thinks -- but he's not trying so hard to be Zack anymore.

"So many years wasted, when he didn't know what to say to her, and then she didn't know what to say to him, when the distance between them was more than just physical." - this line almost made me cry, and I'm not sure why.

Despite the scene at the end, I wouldn't classify this as smut at all. To me, this is a well-crafted scene of two people trying to reconnect and rebuild. And while the love scene was very well done and very tasteful, it was your characterizations that stood out to me the most in this. I think it's hard for people to do Cloud/Tifas without making them seem corny or overly angsty. This has got to be one of the few CT pieces that I've been able to read without cringing.

Very, very well done. If this was at the Pit, I'd fave it in a heartbeat.