He didn't want to get onto the ship.
He could barely bring himself to raise his eyes to it.
Ever since she'd had died, his heart had been heavy with all the weight of what he'd done wrong, and the things that he hadn't done.
His hands clenched into fists as he looked down at the ground, remembering the first time he laid eyes on the Highwind with her. His eyelids fluttered shut over his Mako blue orbs.
"Wow… Look at that, Cloud," Aeris exclaimed quietly, wonder filling her emerald eyes as if she was a little girl in a toy store. She had wrapped her small hands around Cloud's muscular arm as well as she could as she stared at the airship. If it had been anyone else, he would've pried them off of his arm, but Aeris was too sweet to be cruel to.
"Yeah," he said quietly, looking at the ship. It looked a little beat up, but he was pretty sure that it worked well enough. He glanced at the figure of the woman painted on the side of the ship, along with the name: Highwind. He shifted his eyes down to Aeris, who was still gazing at the ship dumbfounded. He felt his lips tug upwards, and it took all of his mental strength to stop himself from smiling. She then glanced up at him, as if she knew somehow that he was struggling to keep his face emotionless. He watched her pretty lips curl up into a sweet smile.
"Do you think I could get on it?" She asked him, her eyes filled with hope as she looked up at him innocently. His mental strength gave way, and he smiled at her. He didn't want to. He really didn't.
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "I'll take you someday. Promise."
"I'm really looking forward to it, Cloud," she admitted, her smile widening, as she let out a small laugh.
As he forced his eyes open and brought his head up, he knew he'd never forget that one promise he broke. He stepped onto the airship for the first time, and her beautiful smile never faded.
A/N: I know they talked about this on the ship to Costa del Sol, but I just thought this would be sweeter, instead of having him talking to her in the uniforms. :D Review please.
-Aeris