A/N: I owe a tremendous debt to ariescelestial for asking the question that inspired this fic, discussing the ideas, suggesting the title (which was miles better than anything I came up with. There was also the exchange of increasingly silly euphemisms for possible titles (which she also won because I could not possible top "In Which Aerith Shows Cloud the Promised Land")) and reading the earlier drafts, correcting my grammar and telling me when things simply weren't working. The question ariescelestial posed was essentially: Could Cloud and Aerith have sex during the events of Final Fantasy VII without derailing canon? After a bit of debate, we agreed it was plausible but had to be handled a specific way and the rest of the party could not know it was happening.
The fic is designed as a canon-splice (fitting into the game's storyline unless specifically depicted otherwise), but also ignores most of the Compilation additions (official time-line, Crisis Core and Before Crisis).
This version of the fic has been slightly censored and only some of the complete chapters will be posted here. For the rest of the fic, please visit my Ao3 page (there is a link on my profile)
Aeris stood with a mischievous smile as she told him they would be going through Sector Six the next morning. Cloud nodded, turning to head to his room when she spoke again and took a step towards him. The sight of her was intoxicating. He tried to maintain his mercenary stance but his gaze kept winding up on her neckline where it dipped to expose the swell of her breasts. It was hard to ignore the number of unfastened buttons on her dress and how much bare skin it exposed when she moved. Even her eyes had trapped him; emerald-green irises arrested his attention and it was near impossible to look away.
Now she was in his personal space, her face next to his. Her chest was closer than expected, the delicious sight of her cleavage irresistible. Aeris leaned into him and for a heart-stopping moment Cloud thought she was going to kiss him. The moment passed and instead her lips drew level with his ear; he felt an odd mixture of relief and disappointment. She was so close he could smell her; the scent of dirt and flowers clung to her skin.
"It's a shame Mom is in this evening," she said, just above a whisper. "Otherwise we could have had some fun together. If you'd like... Cloud." Warm breath tickled his ear, his blood pulsed and he hardened as his mind scrambled to parse the words. He tried to discern if she was implying what his snap interpretation indicated. He turned his head and her eyes slid to meet his, her smile quirking a little more. "Maybe if you slept in a bit in the morning, after Mom goes to work... Well, then we could see about relaxing a bit before we get you back to your friends."
Her words were strengthening his arousal and he hoped she would not notice it through his uniform. What should he say? What could he say in this situation? Did she mean it or was she just teasing? How had he reacted last time he had received an offer like this? It seemed so long ago, the memory hazy. His mouth went dry, and he looked away trying to gather his thoughts as she stepped back. Did her eyes dip just then? Had she glanced towards his belt just as he looked back at her? If she did notice his arousal she made no comment and instead walked to the stairs, pausing on the top step. "Sector Six is dangerous. You'd better get some rest tonight," she said, louder than a moment before.
Cloud nodded with awkward movements as she smiled over her shoulder and bade him goodnight. He watched as she descended the stairs and glanced downwards to see if he had given himself away. Was the bulge too obvious? Too late now. He sighed before entering the spare room and pushing the door closed behind him. His mind still churned with her offer as he sat on the bed. She could not have been suggesting they have sex could she? He fidgeted, trying to banish the fantasies that began playing out in his head. Unbuttoning the pink dress and exposing more of her skin. The feel of her skin on his. Sliding her underwear down her legs, now reaching between them and-.
No! He slammed a fist onto his leg. The pain helped for a moment and he concentrated on it. He had to stop thinking about this. Pleasuring himself was right out; he was in a spare room in a stranger's house. How mortifying would it be if either of the women heard him, or one of them burst into the room without warning. Nerve-wracking visions of a horrified Elmyra filled his head as she entered to find him with his pants around his ankles. That could only end with her chasing him from the house with a broom. He lay down on the bed, focusing on the ceiling. Aeris appeared unbidden in his mind; trying to think of something else seemed futile. His gaze roved around the unfamiliar, cramped room. There was nothing here besides an old sofa taking up most of the floor space.
There was nothing to do, he felt horny, he wanted to get moving but he couldn't even risk heading out on his own for a good few hours. He thought back, trying to recall other memories to distract from the far too appealing imaginings of Aeris. But everything seemed to slip away as he concentrated. There seemed to be nothing in his head aside from those vivid memories of fire and the concerned face of Tifa when she found him at the station. Focus on Tifa; he needed to get back to her and Barret. He would wait for the flower girl and her mother to go to sleep and then make his way back to Avalanche alone. Like he had promised Elmyra, he would not let get Aeris mixed up with him.
The bed beneath him was soft and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. How long had it been since he had last slept in a bed like this? Too long. His eyelids drooped and he felt sure he could risk a few minutes, maybe even a few hours to let Aeris go to bed. His mind latched onto the appealing combination of both 'Aeris' and 'bed'. With a last thought of emerald green eyes, he fell asleep.
Cloud's eyes blinked open. The last vestiges of his dreams still lingered. How long had it been since he had last thought of his mother? Her words made him smile; he had not liked her suggestion of an older girlfriend back then. But he had only just turned sixteen and had not yet met Aeris. She was older ; it was only by a year but she was still an older girl. The thought dragged up all those wonderful, teasing words Aeris had spoken. The words he'd tried so hard not to think about. He could not think of them now; he had to get moving.
Cloud eased himself up off the bed, thankful the bed-springs were silent. The floors were wooden, and in the interests of stealth, he decided to remove his boots. Straight from his door to the stairs, down those and then out into Sector Five. There was a squeaky floorboard between his room and the next. Likewise he should avoid the third step from the bottom of the staircase. Boots in one hand, and taking a deep breath, Cloud edged the door open, trying to be as quiet as possible. The house was still and silent. Early morning light lit up the interior; unusual for the slums, though unsurprising given the plate gap above them.
By his estimation it was around 5 am. Early enough for the other inhabitants to still be asleep, but cutting things close if the flower girl or her mother rose early. He stepped out into the hall, ears straining for movements within the other two rooms. One was Aeris's and he had a feeling it was the one beside his. He paused, looking at the door. He needed to get back. He had to get back. And yet... No it would not do to tarry here just for the sake of sex. And neither could he risk Aeris getting dragged into Avalanche's business. He'd gotten the flower girl back to her house, safe and sound just as she had requested. And while he had not had the date, he would take the accommodation as payment enough.
Cloud crept forward, stepping over the troublesome floorboard and pausing at the top of the stairs. He listened for movement from the other occupied rooms. Nothing. He descended the stairs with as much haste as he dared. The stone floor of the ground floor was freezing, and Cloud gritted his teeth as he moved from the final wooden step. He darted across the chill flagstones and then onto the rug in the centre of the room. Stepping over another stretch of cold stone he reached the door. Easing it open, he mouthed a silent apology to Aeris for leaving like this and a thank you for her part in his survival the previous day. The dirt path outside felt warm against his feet after the cold stone. Despite his best efforts the click of the latch sounded far too loud as he pulled the door to. With a last look at the cottage and its oasis of plant-life, he strode into the murkier depths of Sector Five as quick as he could.
After she bade her Mom goodnight Aeris pushed her door closed and leant against it. She reflected on what she had said to Cloud on the landing. How she had hinted at what she wanted and seen his non-verbal response. She first met him two nights ago in the chaotic aftermath of the Reactor One explosion. She looked into his blue, mako-tinged eyes and later found herself unable to shake the thought of him as she rode the train back to the slums. A smile quirked her lips whenever he appeared in her mind's eye. He had been a real cutie, so appealing and enticing but she was realistic; her thoughts were nothing more then idle fantasy. Especially when it was another SOLDIER.
She had never quite gotten over Zack Fair's disappearance. Never stopped waiting; even as weeks became months. There had been no word, no messages and now years had slid by. She could not believe he was dead; then at least she would have expected some news. Was it a betrayal then? Had he met someone on his mission, found some new partner who appealed to him in a way she never could? Did he have kids now? Zack Fair: family man. Living in a mundane suburb on the upper plates, never sparing a thought to his one-time slum-lover? Stop. Dwelling on that was not going to do her any good. She should hate him. Hate him for abandoning her. But it was difficult to hate Zack Fair, and even now with a Zack-shaped hole in her life, she could not conjure up the emotion. All she had was loss and a desire to know what had happened.
Two days later she still thought Cloud looked cute. He lay slumped and unconscious in amongst her flowers after his dramatic entrance. She found herself wondering what he knew. There was a chance he could tell her what had happened to Zack. He was a SOLDIER; she could just ask him if he knew anything. Even in the absence of official word, there had to be gossip amongst the ranks. She stared up through the shattered timbers to see what was above them. The church sat below the gap in the upper plates and all that lay above them was the hulking mass of the sector's mako reactor. She looked back down at the man in the flowers. What were the chances? After dismissing those little fantasies about him. After accepting the troublesome fact that she neither knew his name, where to find him or how to contact him. After all that, he had fallen right into her lap.
She had watched him as he slumbered, wrelieved he was still breathing. SOLDIERs were hardier then she suspected. It was an hour or two later when he finally showed signs of stirring. Faint groans and almost inaudible whispers attracted her attention. She leaned over as he opened his eyes, smiling at his confusion, explaining where he was and bade him hello again. He remembered meeting her, his words giving the flower girl a pleased thrill. So, while she thought about him, he had been thinking about her?
Then he flipped himself to his feet. The movement stalled her thought processes. The trick was all too familiar. It was one of Zack's favorites for getting up; she had never seen anyone else do it. The move was not in itself evidence of anything; someone could have taught Zack to do it. Cloud could have learned the same way. Maybe it was just a cool thing SOLDIERs could do to impress the girls. The thought amused her. Show off. Just like him. She dismissed the similarity, but then found coincidences kept piling up. Here was an odd turn of phrase she had heard Zack use, there was a familiar nervous tick and a fidget. He reminded her so much of Zack and at the same time was a complete stranger. Maybe all these little details were common to SOLDIERs; she had only known one after all and had no basis for comparison.
But those thoughts evaporated when she looked into his beautiful blue eyes again. Her gaze wandered to the rest of him; his almost feminine face and lithe body. So different from Zack's stockier physique. She wanted to tease the shock of blonde hair between her fingers, and now those little fantasies were growing bolder. What would it be like to run her hands across his bare chest, the two of them naked and her straddling the SOLDIER-. She bit her lip trying to stem the mental images and the effect they were having on her body. She wanted him. She wanted to touch this gorgeous man she kept meeting and she wanted him to touch her. It had been too long since she last had sex.
The Turk's intrusion gave her an opportunity to stay with Cloud. It also gave her the chance to plant the seed of something more between them. He only paused a moment when she promised a date in exchange for his duties as a bodyguard and then nodded in agreement. The swordsman moved with quick, efficient movements as he fended off the Turk's cronies. Together they ran along the church's rafters and out onto the rooftops. They talked, she flirted and he teased. The suave SOLDIER did not see her as fragile; he let her make her own leaps and jumps across the scattered debris they scrambled over. It felt so natural to talk to this man, this SOLDIER.
She almost asked him about Zack. She commented on his eyes and how it related back to that most distinguishable feature of those in SOLDIER. But the question died on her lips as she looked into his eyes again. His pupils ringed with that same band of glowing green that identified his profession. But when he tried to press her on how she knew about mako eyes, she could not respond. She felt a little guilty then; all this comfortable talking, her stray thoughts in the church, her desire. Not only was not looking for a new boyfriend, he was too much like Zack. The similarity put a damper on any thoughts of opening herself up to another, to risk suffering the same hurt again. But; they were both adults, and if he was willing there was no problem in indulging in a physical relationship. She wondered when and how best to broach the subject. Maybe at home if Mom was still out? And if she was, then maybe she could enjoy herself with him. She charged off across the rooftops. And still the desire for him lingered. She found herself fidgeting more and more, trying to dismiss daring imaginings from her mind. As fast as she could she guided him to her house. With a deep breath, she opened the door and found her mother cooking dinner. Her heart sank.
She expected her mother to chase Cloud off immediately, but Elmyra was at least civil to her daughter's bodyguard. She also seemed to turn events in a direction helpful to Aeris's fantasies. Cloud wanted to get back to Sector Seven to meet up with Tifa. A girl he confirmed, but not his girlfriend. Well, no problems with her interest there. Her mother did note the time, and Aeris had to agree that she did not relish the thought of Sector Six when night fell. With Cloud she would have no real worries on the way there, but the way back was another matter. More than likely she would need to find somewhere to crash two Sectors over. But instead of turfing Cloud out of the house, her mom invited him to stay, and that was almost too tempting a situation to pass up.
Aeris made up the spare bed, her heart hammering in her chest, but when Cloud came up the stairs he seemed distracted. Her mother was just downstairs, but she had to make her offer, had to know if she could have her fantasy. She made her hint about what could happen come the morning. He reacted, his pupils dilating as she spoke, his gaze grazing her neckline. She flicked her eyes downward and saw his body respond. Now that was gratifying; she had tempted him. With a smile she bade him goodnight and descended the stairs, giving him at least a chance to sleep.
She pushed herself up from the door, ears straining for any sounds from the next room; there were none. He was still in there at least. Crossing to her bed she retrieved her contraceptives from the bedside table. She regarded the remaining strip of condoms and the thin blister packs of her birth control; she had more than enough for now. Just as well she hadn't decided to go with Cloud this evening - it might not have been so easy or subtle to sneak these out with her. She pushed them into her jacket pocket and glanced at the wall separating them. As long as Mom didn't wait until he left in the morning to head to work, she could have some fun. She could wait until then. Her mind drifted to the pleasurable possibilities of the next morning even as she grew drowsy.
The sound of the front door closing woke Aeris. Had that been Cloud leaving ? She strained her ears for further noises, catching the faint crunch of boots on the path outside. Flinging her bed clothes aside she dressed at speed. He was not leaving her behind. She threw open her door and hurried down the stairs, not caring about the noise. Pausing only to snatch her staff up from beside the door, she ran out into Sector Five. She knew the area better than Cloud, knew to take the more secret back-ways and shortcuts to get ahead of the SOLDIER.