He slowly let himself lean against the fence, hoping that no noise would escape into the quiet night.
His hands had turned extremely numb from the cold and hot breath formed clouds in front of his livid blue eyes.
He stared up at the white window.
Two stories above his head, he focused all he could on what she might be doing tonight.
Sleeping, probably.
After all, it was well passed midnight by this time.
Cloud wasn't a stranger to walking the streets after lights out.
Infact, he had grown quite accustomed to it.
The sheer lack of people around him didn't faze him at all.
There were no shop keepers shouting.
No dogs barking. No funny looks as he walked to the market for his mother.
No bullies.
Cloud winced.
Every day now, the five of them would wait for Cloud to emerge.
They would shout about his lost Dad. Tease him about being alone and shout rotten things about his mother.
It hurt .
Cloud knew how hard it was for his mother to keep the things they had.
She had one of those smiles that were fixed permanently just for her little soldier. But at night it faded away.
It was just another day.
Nibelhiem had its quiet mumble of people and the gentle sound of the trees coming to life in the wind. A vanilla sky painted a canvas for a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
That's when he saw her.
Colour.
She was colour. She was a sight for sour eyes.
She made flowers bloom in the depths of winter.
She made his heart spring into action – so much so, he had to think about breathing.
Who is she? Where has she come from?
Her hair was a hazel brown, as were her eyes.
She wore a turquoise dress which illuminated her out of her surroundings.
In a world full of browns and blacks, she was light blue.
A colour that stood out, appealed and calmed ones hectic mind.
For Cloud had never seen such colour then what radiated out from this girl.
It was…no…she was beautiful.
From then on, she was around.
He could sense her standing meters away.
Whenever he heard birds singing, he would look up and she would be there.
Her smile brought sunshine to this little rainy village.
It would make him want to stand up, stride right over to her and say 'Hi.'
His curse of being too shy made every day a rainy one, whether she was stood there or not.
Cloud thought back as he kept his eyes on the window.
A smile had crept up on him and took him by surprise.
She is beautiful… If only…If only I could let her know somehow.
He kept his gaze.
Wild thoughts ran through his head menacingly.
Tifa isn't interested in me…
She has her own life. A life with those boys who are better then you, Cloud.
The ones that shout things whilst you act all defenceless…
Why would she want to be with me? Someone who can't even stick up for himself never mind for her…
He thought long and hard about the last bit.
…But I would with all my heart.
He dropped his gaze to the floor in shame.
What am I doing here? This is stupid…
He stared at the floor and once again, felt lower then it.
He was nothing. Just one defenceless little boy that would never amount to anything.
He returned to the window once again.
Movement.
In that split second, his heart had dropped to the dirt below and his eyes darted elsewhere. He didn't care where – just anywhere that wasn't the window.
Without a sound, he stood there and waited. He could feel his breath rapidly try to catch itself up.
He hadn't noticed the mist that had crept into town, or that the streetlight at the end of the road was flickering on and off.
He hadn't noticed the owl on the rooftops, watching his every move.
Did she see me?
Oh god, I've got to get out of here!
An uneasy sense of shame washed over him as he dragged his heavy legs back towards his house.
Not once did he look back at the window as he quickly hurried out of view.
…
It was another sleepless night.
It was becoming a regular thing.
Night after night she would toss and turn, knowing that something…somewhere…was missing.
She sat up in her bed and sighed.
It was the night sky that told her that she longed for something.
Something new. Something exiting.
It would tell her this much, but never tell her what she actually longed for.
Until tonight.
She watched as he stared at the floor.
What is he looking at?
Why is he stood there and why of all things, at this time?
But when his head lifted upwards, Tifa Lockhart panicked and dragged her curtains across. An over whelming feeling of sadness sunk her.
Him…
The sky brought me …him.