Aeris pressed against him, draping her arms over his shoulders and curling them around his neck. Cloud did not react, still staring forward, his body tense. She pressed into him a little more, his body shifting a minute amount before resisting. Her chin rested on his shoulder and she shifted so her cheek pressed against his. "Still mad?"

His shoulders hunched a little more, her position awkward. She shifted her knees, moving her head a little away from his. Aeris glanced at him. His lips set into a hard line and he still did not look at her. "I'll take that as a yes," she said. She hummed to herself for a few moments, staring into the same space as Cloud. "Where did you use to live? Not in Nibelheim, when you left for Midgar."

"Midgar at first." At least he responded, even if anger still tinged his voice.

"Did all the SOLDIERs live there?"

Cloud blinked. "Not... all of them," he said after a pause.

"Thought not. Zack wasn't in Midgar that often from what I could tell." She kept her tone light as she drew him out.

"Zack didn't live there?"

"I don't think so. Or if he did, he never visited me that often - SOLDIER took up most of his time. I never really wanted to pry into Shinra stuff, so I can't be certain."

Cloud lapsed into silence, and Aeris was contemplating changing tack when he spoke again. "He probably lived in Junon. Most of the 1st Class SOLDIERs were stationed there."

"Ah. You didn't want to live there too?"

"I did, but it wasn't possible at first. I got transferred out there... later on."

Aeris smiled. "No wonder you could find your way around there better than Midgar. You didn't seem to know where anything was in the capital. Though I bet you didn't spend much time down in the slums."

"No, not much. Not sure I ever did go there."

Aeris adopted a wistful tone. "Pity. Wonder what it would have been like if we'd run into each other back then."

"You had Zack though," he said.

"True. But I would still have liked to meet you. Who knows-." She moved her head closer to his. "You might have met me first." She fell silent, choosing her next words with care. "You know, you've spent more time with me than he did."

Cloud turned his head and she kissed his cheek. "You can't be serious."

Aeris smirked. "I counted." She held her hands up, fingers splayed in front of Cloud. She lowered each finger on both hands once and then four fingers on her left. "I spent fourteen days with Zack in between his missions. And those times ranged from maybe one to four hours each time. It's been a month since we left Midgar and I see you every day Cloud." He stared at her. "So, don't ever be jealous of him and what happened before."

"I... I'm sorry," he said.

Aeris smiled. "Feel better now?"

Cloud let out a heavy breath. "A bit."

"Good. So let's enjoy the rest of the evening." She braced her hands on his shoulders as she stood, brushing dried grass from her dress as Cloud got to his feet. A noise made her look around the clearing with suspicion. "Actually maybe we should just get back to the others. The monsters around here are supposed to be frustrating to deal with. Don't really want to be turned into a frog..."