Opening Author's Notes:
–I've been a Cloud/Aeris (better known as Clorith, Clerith, Cloris, or as I say most often, Cleris) fan for quite a while, so I figured it was time for me to take the plunge and try my hand at a Cleris story.
–This draws a bit from my actual Tactics Advance experience—I've beaten the game twice and have almost all of my key fighters maxed out at Level 50.
–This is a Tactics Advance crossover for two reasons: One, because of the "reunion" in the original Tactics, and two, because Tactics Advance involves the main characters being transported from our world as we know it to our world, Final Fantasy-style.
–I'm experimenting here with writing and posting shorter chapters (each chapter here is about half the size of the chapter it was scheduled to be a part of.)

It was a warm cloudless summer night in the city of Cyril in Ivalice as 32 happily chatting beings, mixed between humans, moogles, bangaa, nu mou, and viera headed up Cyril's main thoroughfare. They were armed with everything from swords and staves to bows and guns, but those weapons were sheathed, holstered, or otherwise not out, with the exception of the staves, which were currently being used as walking sticks. At their head was a fresh-faced young human boy with tanned yellow skin and glasses, clad in a black ninja outfit (without any mask or head covering), wearing black leather shoes, and bolstering two swords, one strapped to his back and the other hanging at his side.
The crazy thing was that that boy was me, Phillip Carlo Carlos, and the 31 others with me were my friends and also my clanmates in the most powerful clan in all of Ivalice, Clan Parrot, of which I had the honor of being the leader.

We were heading home to our clan hall after a quiet day in our reckoning—a day where none of us had to draw our weapons—as we had just returned from spending the day helping out at the largest infirmary in the city with another clan headed by another friend of ours, Justin Ward. It had been a very satisfying day involving everything from bringing supplies into the clinic to helping treat any sick and wounded that came through while we were there. Beside me was one of my best friends, Ritz Malheur. I had turned towards her and was about to talk about the day's events when I noticed something that I hadn't seen earlier in the day: an unusually beautiful white flower stuck in her long sleek white hair.
"Hey, Ritz, cool flower!" I said. "Sorry I forgot to mention it! Is that a lily?"
"It sure is! Thanks!" She said, going red slightly and smiling at me. "I got it at this fantastic flower shop—I think it's new—down at the Bazaar while I was down there with Shara on break."
"Really?" I asked, before saying, "You know what? I think I might take a walk down there and check it out for a minute if that's okay."
"Don't worry, it's okay." Ritz said with a grin. "Just don't be out too late!"
I grinned back at her and called, "Don't worry, I won't be long!" We waved at each other as I turned off while the others kept going towards the clan hall.

Ritz was right—it wasn't far away at all. That meant it didn't take me five minutes before the city bazaar came into view. Immediately, I could tell which shop I might be looking for, because even though it was not the only one still open at this time of night, there seemed to be a brighter light coming from within.
As I got closer, my suspicions were confirmed, and I could see why the shop appeared to glow more than its fellows. One reason was that not only were there so many more of those incredible flowers like Ritz's lily, but light and bright colors were so present inside, as the shop interior featured light brown wood on the shelves and counter plus white wallpaper decorated with just the right amount of light yellow, light green, and brown floral graphics. The other reason was the woman who was tending the flowers and who was apparently the shop's owner.

At first, I could only see her back, but I could still see that she had honey brown hair that fell in soft, spiraling curls (Author's Note: that epitaph was inspired by gerichung, author of Mako Dreams)—some of which hung down her back and were tied with a good-sized pink ribbon and some of which framed her face—and that was wearing a pink spaghetti-strap dress and a pair of matching pink platform shoes. I didn't exactly look at her and think "Hollywood beauty" right off the bat, but she was still alluring, plus she had an aura that left no doubt in my mind that she was the sort of woman who would light up any room. Unless she had some sort of enchantment, whether she was born with it or not, that made her age slower, and unless my eyes, both casual and trained, deceived me, she wasn't a day over 25 at the very most.
There was evidently a bell attached to the door, because I could hear that all-too-familiar jingle as I pulled it open and stepped through, allowing myself to be soothed by the surroundings and the aura of this mysterious woman. She looked up, and I was able to take her in in full. If her aura wasn't enough of a reason for me to marvel at her and wonder just who she was, I darn sure had a reason right then and there. For one thing, I could see that her dress was a button-down one that was unbuttoned enough for me to see her legs up to a third of the way up the thigh that, that the hair that stuck up at the front framed the top of her face in a sort of A, and that she had a smaller darker red ribbon tied around her neck in a sort of choker or necklace. For another thing, I could see that she had a flawless face, including eyelashes that were just long enough above a pair of spring green eyes.

"Oh, it's Carlo!" She said brightly, holding out her hand. "I'm so glad to meet you!"
One more thing—she had a smile that was nothing short of infectious, which meant I couldn't help but smile back—and I also found myself blushing as I realized she knew me. I quickly but frantically racked my brain for a response, and I ended up saying sincerely, "Glad to meet you too, ma'am. What's your name?"
"My name's Aeris." She replied. "I've only been in town for a week, but I've already heard so many good things about you and your clan!"

To say I was startled would be a huge understatement, but I managed to conceal it, merely continuing as I shook her hand. To finish covering up my being surprised, I responded and then asked her a question that I sometimes ask shopkeepers and store employees—it must be the New Yorker in me (I was born on the Upper East Side) coming out: "Thanks! Glad to know we're doing our job! Business going well?"
"Oh, yes." She said, glowing. "Not only because we're getting good business, but also because you have some really friendly people here in Cyril! Would you like a flower yourself?"
"Sure!" I said earnestly. "How much for one?"
"It's only one gil." She said with a smile.

Wham!
When I heard that, on the outside, it only looked as if I was slightly startled, but on the inside, it felt as if I had been slammed upside the head with a sledgehammer.
Unbidden, a torrent of images of a young girl I had heard of once before suddenly flashed before my mind's eye: her living day by day as a bright spot in the middle of the dark town that was Midgar, her watching a spiky-haired soldier falling through the roof of the church next to her house that she frequented so much that it was considered her own, her traveling with that soldier, her going on a date with him—and then came an image that still shook me internally: that of her saying one last desperate prayer at the City of the Ancients, her ancestral home, and then watching no less than a foot-long length of Masamune protruding from her chest as that soldier watched on in absolute horror.
The image of the woman who was actually in front of me then came back, and I found myself breathlessly and frantically thinking,
Holy Mother Of God…is it really you?

Closing Author's Notes:
–You guys know the deal—please review and comment, but please don't flame me just because you're not into this pairing. I respect those who don't subscribe to Cleris (particularly Clotis), so please be respectful and keep your mouth shut if you're going to chew me out just for that.
–My last name in the story is my mother's name because in Tactics Advance, Marche is growing up without a father.