Author's Notes : My attempt at Princess of the Knight's Clorith challenge #9 :
Cloud is depressed and finds himself walking around Midgar in the rain when he sees a girl similar to Aerith sell flowers. Is it really Aerith, a recarnation, or something else. (You pick).

I hope it's okay :)

Always With Me

cloudxaerith

"Are the heavens crying with me? …Crying for Aerith?"

Cloud found himself walking through the streets of Midgar. His eyes were glued to the ground, watching every step he made, while his thoughts mingled on of a certain flower girl that he missed so dearly.

Without his knowing, his eyes had begun to water, filling up to the brim with tears that held sadness and guilt. He bit his lower lip and sniffled woefully, blinking and releasing the little bead of water, letting it slide freely over his cheek. He sniffled again, and another tear fell from his azure eyes, followed by another tear and another… and another… The soldier whimpered in despair, trying to blink away the blur that the tears had formed over his eyes.

As he let the tears flow from his eyes, the sun slowly disappeared, overtaken by clouds and a grumble of thunder was heard in the quiet, sullen air of Midgar. Cloud looked up, pointing his nose to the heavens and flinched when he felt a cold droplet pierce his skin. His eyes, rimmed around with redness, slightly widened as the tears he let go stopped; leaving a trail of wet lines stain his face.

Another drop of water fell from the sky and onto his face, followed by more until it came down, drenching the Planet with its overflowing "tears." Cloud continued to look up to the sky, feeling his face cool down by the raindrops.

'Are the heavens crying with me? Crying for Aerith?'

He slowly lowered his face, and watched as the people tried to run from the rain and look for a dry place to hide. He didn't follow them, but instead stood there, as if glued to the ground with the saddest of expressions masking his face. However, that expression soon crossed over to a bewildered one when he saw, along with the few people who were running, a girl. A girl who had brown tresses tied into one long, swaying braid and was dressed in pink from head-to-toe.

Cloud stood there for awhile, registering the vision in his mind, before he bolted off, trying to catch up to the mystery girl in pink. When he had reached the spot where he saw the girl, he looked forwards seeing her braid sway from side-to-side in the distance. He reached his hand out to her and yelled, hoping to catch her attention.

"H-hey! Wait!" He began to run again, biting his lower lip in hope when the girl in pink had stopped. Everything seemed to be in slow motion when Cloud ran, and the girl halted. Everyone around them turned into a blur, and as Cloud was getting closer to the girl, he saw her head slowly turn around to look behind her. His heart began pounding, hoping that when the girl turned around, he could see her face; that beautiful face he yearned for, every morning when he woke up.

But, his hopes were smashed when he found himself colliding, head-first, with a stranger and falling to the ground. He let out a groan, and stirred on the floor, holding his head. "Aerith…" He muttered quietly to himself, disappointed that he didn't get a chance to see the girls face.

"Huh?" The soft voice brought him back to reality. He slowly turned his head, and widened his eyes, losing his breath. Right next to him, was a lily, the same lily that was growing in Aerith's church… The same lily he received when he handed one gil over to the flower girl. His heart began to race again, when he saw those same brown boots his maiden wore, step before him.

Cloud quickly moved, rolling over on his stomach swiftly, before pushing himself on his knees and grabbed the flower. His sudden movement caused the girl to back away slightly, rather confused and frightened.

Cloud got up to his feet and brushed himself off, than looked at the flower. He slowly turned around, meeting a pair of brown, frightened eyes. His shoulders slumped, as he was hoping that he would see those bright, emerald eyes instead. He released an unsatisfied sigh before extending his hand to the girl, handing the flower back to her. He felt the flower slowly move out of his grip, and looked up to the girl with wonder.

"Um... Where did you get that flower?" The girl seemed to be entranced by the flower, as it took her awhile to remove her stare from the delicate object before looking up to Cloud with a pale pink colouring over her cheeks.

"Oh! Um, this woman…She, um... She sold it to me." The girl hesitated in her reply, as she thought it was pretty stupid to buy a flower. She looked at Cloud, slightly placed back by his strange expression. The girl bit her lower lip, before questioning, hesitantly.

"Um… W-what are you looking at?" Cloud shook his head, ignoring the girl's discomfort and grabbed her by the shoulders, staring intently into her eyes.

"What did the woman look like? Was she wearing a pink dress?! Did she have brown hair with a pink ribbon in it?!" Cloud shook her gently, and waited for her response. The girl was frightened now and struggled to get out of his hold. Her eyes began to water slightly, but Cloud hadn't noticed it because of the rain that was still falling down.

"U-um… Y-y-yes! She had long brown hair, tied into a braid with a ribbon securing it! P-please let go of me, please!" Cloud released her; a smile slowly crept onto his lips. Aerith! She's… She's back!

With excitement running through his veins, he didn't apologize but instead shot another question to the now, frightened girl. "Where did you see her?!"

The girl placed her free hand on her chin, and thought. She than looked up to Cloud, and pointed somewhere not so far away from them. "She's standing over there…" Cloud averted his eyes to where the girl pointed, and felt his shoulders slump. The girl noticed his reaction and looked back, placing her hand over her cheek.

"Oh… She was there… It doesn't matter anyways… I looked into her basket and she only had one flower left, and I'm guessing she's already sold it. " She added, assuming that Cloud wanted to buy a flower. Cloud sighed, all hope had been drained from his body and he looked to the ground, mumbling something to the girl. She didn't catch what he had said and was about to ask him when suddenly, she got interrupted by the strange man.

In the corner of his eye, Cloud noticed something pink walk into the alley. Gasping, he shot his head up and looked in the direction of the alleyway. Without a glance towards the girl, Cloud ran away, towards the alley. The girl was left alone on the street, drenched by the rain with a puzzled look on her face.

--

Cloud slowed down to a walking pace when he reached the corner, turning into the alley. He closed his eyes, and let out a sigh, seeing nobody standing there. He placed his hands on his face and rubbed it vigorously, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Who am I kidding? She's not back… She's gone, gone forever!" He sniffled, trying to fight back the tears that wanted to desperately flow out of his eyes. He rubbed them stubbornly and lost his breath when he saw something lying on the ground, illuminating.

enter : "Interrupted by Fireworks" xx(Disc Three, track 16 of FFVII:OST)

He slowly approached it and knelt down beside it, reaching out to grab it. He gasped in amazement; it was a flower, a white lily that he recognized from Aerith's church. He gently picked it up, and stood up tall with a smile on his lips. Holding the flower against his chest, he looked up to the sky, feeling a gentle breeze sweep through him. He closed his eyes, and let the wind gently caress his skin.

"I'm not gone C l o u d … .. .. …"

Feeling his cold body warm up, as if something – someone had hugged him, he opened his eyes, revealing soft, glowing pair of azure orbs. He slowly brought the flower up to his face, and looked at it, feeling a rush of happiness and love travel through his veins. Ever so slowly, Cloud leaned downwards to the flower, and gently placed his lips on its soft and delicate petal.

The rain slowly came to a stop, and the clouds began to break apart, letting the sun creep out between the cracks. A single ray of light beamed down, bathing Cloud with its warmth as he remained, with the flower gently placed on his lips.

Cloud slowly lifted his head, staring at the flower before bending his head up and looking towards the heavens. He smiled warmly and slid his eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun.

'You're right… As long as I don't forget you, Aerith… You'll always be with me.'

xEnd.

Disclaimer : I'd be lying if I told you my name was Tetsuya Nomura.

A/N : I hope you guys enjoyed my little drabble :)
I tried my best to create a gloomy mood for Cloud in the beginning :P I hope I accomplished it :)
Also about the little song insert; I love that song :) One of my favourites in the game, even though it only played like once, or twice :P Anyways, I thought it went nicely with the scene.

Review are appreciated.
CloudxAerith forever!