Valentine's Are Lame.
Valentine's day… a day where couples are overly romantic. Where they spend more money than they should. Give and receive corny cards, corny candies, and corny teddies… all on the same day as everyone else.
Cloud never really cared for Valentine's day, especially when it was late December and the holiday was still a little over a month away. But, he couldn't deny it, every time he looked at Aerith he felt a feeling spread through his heart… a feeling he wasn't used to. And he only wanted Aerith to be his Valentine. And if he was going to give a Valentine's to anyone… it was most definitely going to be her…
But, Valentine's were lame in Cloud's mind… so he was going to give Aerith flowers just for no occasion. He was a little awkward getting the flowers because he had to pick them himself from the lack of floral shops in the middle of nowhere. Luckily for Cloud, the area they were in consisted of rolling hills and fields of all different kinds of wild flowers.
He never thought picking flowers would be so hard. But there were so many, every time he saw one he thought Aerith would like he saw another he thought Aerith would love. Golden daisies, yellow sunflowers, yellow, white, pink, and blue cosmos, powder-blue forget-me-nots, even wild white roses and lilies… there was just too many to pick from so he decided to take all of them.
The daisies were small and easy to pluck from the ground. The sunflowers were plentiful. The forget-me-nots were so small he nearly stepped on all of them, but he managed to pick a few. The lilies were easy enough to pluck, but the roses were quite the hassle, poking him with their little thorns. A few times Cloud couldn't help but cuss out loud as he tore the small thorns from his skin. Then it dawned on him, the thorns could cut Aerith. The last thing he wanted was to give her a gift that resulted in her getting cuts all on her delicate hands. So, he began to try and de-thorn the few roses as much as possible. And by the time Cloud was finished, he had about a dozen cuts on his fingers.
He took a good long look at the assembly of wild plants. The flower placement had no special order, Cloud didn't really think it mattered. And in the end, the self-made bouquet was almost too big to carry. And on top of that, the bouquet had nothing to hold it together.
He couldn't exactly give a loose bouquet of flowers to Aerith. If he were to hand it to her it would most likely tumble to the floor. What a horrid outcome that would be for Cloud… his gift would be ruined.
He placed the flowers on the floor with much care and delicacy, making sure to not ruin the bouquet too much. He dug in his pockets looking for anything he could tie together. He found nothing.
His shoulders slumped with disappointment. What now? He looked to the floor, a sense of failure spreading through him. He gathered the flowers and stood. "Maybe she'll still like them?" he thought as he turned and headed back to camp. As he made his way to her tent a sense of nervousness started to wash over him, but something was pulling him to at least try and give the gift to her.
When he was finally back at camp he saw that all of his friends were gathered around a small bonfire, readying it for when night arrived but one face Cloud cherished wasn't around… Aerith's gone? Cloud grew concerned, he knew she was probably okay, but he still couldn't help but worry about her.
He stepped forward but quickly stopped, remembering that the bouquet was still in his hands. On top of his own nervousness, he didn't need anyone teasing him about it so he hid the bouquet behind his back and called out to the rest of his comrades; "Hey, where's Aerith?"
Tifa looked up at him and answered calmly; "Not sure! She said she was going down by the river." Cloud was a little aggravated she wasn't around but nodded his head and headed after the flower girl, hoping to see her.
Little did he know, as he turned and headed into the dense forest, that the hidden bouquet became visible to Tifa. Her face grew somber for a moment before she carried on with her own business…
As he treaded through the forest of bushes and trees, he followed the sound of running water until he came across the riverbed. There he saw Aerith sitting majestically. She was leaning on a rock near a small water fall leading to the river. It was no bigger than six or seven feet tall, with a weak stream, but nonetheless it was a waterfall. Cloud's jaw went agape as he watched her. She was gently washing her long, curly waves of brunette hair. Her shoulders were no longer covered by the red bolero jacket and her feet were bare, dangling in the clear water.
She looked so beautiful to Cloud, so pure and so bright.
Cloud swallowed nervously as he realized he was staring at her. Then he thought of how embarrassing it would be if she turned and saw him. He backed away slowly, making sure to not disturb her or make any sounds that could get him noticed. Just as he turned and started to walk away, he heard a voice that never changes from the first call out to him.
"Cloud?" Aerith's voice was as soft as a rose, chiming through the air with such innocence.
His face scrunched from being caught, there was no hiding now. Cloud nervously turned and faced her.
"Hey," There was slight blush on his face when he spoke, causing him to look downward. "Sorry, I wasn't spying or anything, I just wanted to make sure—"
Cloud looked up abruptly when he heard the soft tunes of Aerith's giggles; "It's okay, Cloud. Don't worry about it." Cloud let out a breath of relief and tried to turn away; "All right… I'm just gonna—"
But before he could fully turn, her voice drew him back; "You didn't need something?"
As Cloud turned to face the cetra he saw her stepping toward him, a bright smile sweeping across her face. Something about her coral pink lips delicately forming an innocent smile was easily comparable to a beautiful flower to Cloud. Uncontrollably, a weak smile formed on Cloud's face. She had a habit of doing this to him, anytime she smiled at Cloud it would always be followed by a smile of his own.
Cloud caught notice that Aerith was glancing at something in his hands. The flowers! He had completely forgotten about them and now she saw them. Cloud hesitantly outstretched his hand carrying the bouquet, he looked to the floor to try and avoid eye contact with her captivating green eyes, in hopes he wouldn't grow more nervous than he already was.
But as always, with the mere sound of her soft voice, Cloud couldn't help but look up at the flower girl.
"They're for me?" she asked in a hushed voice, placing her hand over her heart tenderly. Their eyes were locked on each other, her innocent green against his steel blue, and once again, Cloud was mesmerized. The sight of Aerith against the greenery of the forest, and the golden light of the afternoon sun shining brilliantly across her still dampened skin was pure magic in Cloud's world. He couldn't believe there was someone so beautiful… but here she was, like the rarest of flowers… the brightest star… or the sweetest breeze, she was standing before him, looking at him and him alone, with the sweetest gaze he had ever seen.
Somehow, without noticing, the nervous feeling aching in Cloud's stomach… had vanished completely. It was so strange to Cloud, she had the ability of making him feel so nervous, but the moment she smiled or looked at him, he felt as though he was able to do anything—including being brave enough to give her a bouquet of flowers. Doing something as open-hearted as creating a self-made bouquet was just one thing among the many that Cloud wanted to do for her. And if it would make her smile, he'd give her the moon itself.
Cloud nodded his head, a weak smile still across his face. "…Yeah,"
"Why?" Aerith chimed. Cloud was a little taken back at her question. He knew why he was doing it but it would be a little hard to explain.
"Well, I—" he paused for a moment to think of the right words, "I hate Valentine's day." Cloud's answer was more than vague, and the blunt wording caused Aerith to giggle.
"I guess it's a good thing Valentine's day is on February 14th and not today, right bodyguard?"
Cloud nodded at her tease and murmured, "It's just… I hate Valentine's day… so I wanted to give you flowers now instead of waiting till then."
Aerith could feel her heart start to beat faster as the thought of Cloud asking her to be his Valentine flooded her thoughts. She couldn't help but enquire what was on her mind;
"Does this mean… you want me to be your Valentine?"
Without hesitation, Cloud answered; "Yes…if… you'd let me."
There was no hiding the look of nervousness in Cloud's usually emotionless eyes. He was worried that she wouldn't like his bouquet or maybe, that, he just didn't say what he wanted to in the right way. But the moment he saw Aerith's smile turn softer than it was and noticed a light glaze spreading over her green eyes, suddenly, that nervous feeling vanished.
No words were spoken as Cloud saw Aerith slowly out stretch her delicate hand to receive the flowers. For a brief moment, their hands touched and Cloud felt his heart soar. O, but his heart soared much, much further when he caught the gaze she was giving to the bouquet he had placed in her hands. Her smile was almost as bright as the sun itself, her lips forming an elegant shape only she could create.
After a few seconds of taking in the sight of the lovely flowers, she looked up at Cloud, her eyes locking with him, an innocent radiance behind her jade green. And though her voice held a light sound of happy tears, she spoke as tenderly and adoringly as the love she carried for him;
"I would… love to be your Valentine."
The moment he heard the soft tunes of her voice, Cloud felt as though he had died and gone to heaven, only to be reborn by his love for her.
She said yes.
Sure Cloud hated Valentine's day, but maybe, they could have their own day together—a day where only they can celebrate their love.
Cloud couldn't lie, he knew he was most likely going to be giving her gifts of his affection on Valentine's Day, too. After all, he'd use any excuse to get to shower her in love.
…But she didn't have to know that.