So Bright and Warm

"She's a lot of fun."

Blinking, Cloud looked back over his shoulder at Tifa, who was leaning over the bar and regarding him with a smile. "Excuse me?"

Tifa nodded towards the occupied booth, where Rikku was sat with Denzel, Marlene and Yuffie, teaching them how to play Sphere Break. The children were picking it up fairly quickly, eyes brightening with every successful turn, whereas Yuffie was looking increasingly perplexed at the array of coins spread out before them, and Rikku – well, she was grinning from ear to ear, as usual, cheering when Denzel or Marlene advanced another level and offering words of advice for a frustrated Yuffie. It wasn't something commonly seen in the Edge bar, but then again, neither was someone like Rikku. "The kids like her a lot," Tifa continued.

"She likes them, too."

"What are they playing, exactly?"

"It's called Sphere Break," Cloud said. "I'm sure Denzel and Marlene will teach you later."

"They probably will," she agreed, then moved away to answer the phone. "Seventh Heaven… Again?… And this is something you can't handle yourselves because…?" She sighed. "Alright, I'll tell him."

"Reno?" Cloud guessed as she hung up.

"Yep. He says there's a 'little swarm of nasties' overrunning the Church, and thought it was something you should take care of."

"That's it?" Tifa nodded. "Better get going then."

"Will Rikku be going with you?"

He snorted softly. "I doubt I could stop her."

"Stop who?" Yuffie demanded, seemingly appearing next to them out of thin air.

"Rikku," Cloud said. "I'm going to the slums, and she'll probably want to come with me."

"What are you going there for?" she asked as he beckoned Rikku over.

"Reno has a job for me."

"Ooh! Like a kicking-some-butt kind of job?"

"Sorry Yuffie. There won't be any room for you to come with us."

Yuffie's shoulders dropped. "Aw, no fair, Cloud!" she whined.

Rikku stopped next to her and gave her a friendly nudge with her elbow. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"You and Cloud get to go butt-kicking," Yuffie said with a pout.

"Butt-kicking, hmm?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged in return. Grinning, Rikku slung an arm around Yuffie. "Don't be sad!" she chirped. "You can practise Sphere Break while we're gone. Maybe you'll even be good enough to beat me by the time I'm back."

Yuffie scoffed. "Yeah right. That'll just lead to butt-kicking of a different kind." She looked pointedly over her shoulder at Denzel and Marlene, but for all her grousing she was wearing a smile.

"Tell them I said to go easy on you," Rikku suggested with a wink, then, waving to Tifa, she skipped out of the bar.

Once he'd gathered everything they'd need, Cloud bid his own farewells and stepped outside a few minutes later. Rikku was leaning against his bike and already garnering her fair share of stares and confused glances as she seemingly babbled nonsense into thin air; as he drew nearer, Cloud recognised both the language and who she was speaking it with.

"Fa'na kuehk du payd ib cusa suhcdanc – dryd'c ryntmo nusyhdel!"

"Femm drana pa tehhan?" the voice on the other end of her communicator asked, somewhat accusingly.

"Hu."

"Un vmufanc?"

"E tuh'd ghuf."

"Yna oui paehk cibanjecat?"

"Uv luinca hud!"

"Drah ed'c y tyda!"

"Ugh, cu fryd ev ed ec?" Rikku snapped. "Ed'c so meva, Brother, E lyh tu fryd E fyhd."

"Rikku –"

"Yht tuh'd oui tyna damm Pops!" Before her brother could answer back, she pulled out the communicator and stuffed it into the pouch around her hips, muttering "Yccruma," angrily under her breath.

Though he was yet to learn more than a few words in Al Bhed, Cloud knew enough about Brother to understand why she was cross; his own encounter with the loud, eccentric man had been… memorable – he'd been in Luca trying to buy tickets for a Blitzball game for Denzel's birthday and had bumped into Brother accidentally, making him drop an armful of new potions all over the ground. Brother had then proceeded to shout at him intelligibly for a good while, mistaking him for Al Bhed (as many people on Spira seemed to do), only calming down when his sister showed up and smacked him upside the head. Literally. Since he'd known her, Cloud wasn't sure he'd heard one conversation between them where shouting wasn't involved. It made him glad he was an only child. "What's he saying this time?"

Rikku sighed in frustration. "Oh, just the usual – sticking his big nose in where it doesn't belong! Seriously." She stuck her hands on her hips. "Who does that?"

Cloud closed the lid on Fenrir's storage space. "Older brothers, it seems."

She rolled her eyes, then suddenly her expression brightened and she hopped closer as he swung a leg over the seat. "So where are we going?"

"To the slums," he said, helping her on behind him. "There's a church that needs clearing of creatures. Reno called it in."

"That funny red-headed guy in the suit?"

"Yeah." The engine purred to life, and Rikku wrapped her arms around his midsection as they pulled away from the bar.

"Oh yeah!" Rikku cried as the last small monster slunk away in defeat, her voice echoing around the dilapidated church. She was grinning after her fleeing foe, bouncing on the spot as she fist-pumped high above her head, curved red knives still in hand. "How do you like that?"

Cloud smiled briefly at her exuberance before slotting his sword back in place and inspecting the damage. Luckily, there wasn't much; in the years since Sephiroth's latest (and final) return, the old slum church seemed to have gained a new sense of life – the pool of water that had sprung up to help fend off Kadaj had shrunk slightly, allowing the delicate white and yellow flowers to grow around its edges. Whether it had done so or not, the same flowers had started to reappear of their own accord, pushing themselves up through the floorboards and at the sides of the ruins, as if trying to fill in the gaps between stone and wood. Thick vines were even starting to climb the remaining pillars, the buds they carried looking ready to burst, and in recent visits he thought he'd seen butterflies at the windows. However thankful he was that the nature had been left untouched, Cloud noticed something amiss that he couldn't leave be.

Rikku watched him inquisitively as he walked round the crystalline pool of water to a ledge at the back of the building. When he bent down to take hold of something, the last thing she expected it to be was a huge, well-worn broadsword. He stuck it back into the ledge, hilt up, and she approached him slowly, head tipped sideways. "That looks old," she said.

Cloud glanced at her briefly, hand still wrapped around the faded red handle. "Yeah," he confirmed quietly, realising that he didn't know exactly how old the weapon was.

"Is it yours?"

He hesitated before answering. "It was, but it belonged to somebody else first."

"A friend?"

Cloud swallowed. "A hero." He let his hand drop back to his side. "But also a friend."

Rikku nodded sombrely, then looked around the church. "Did they live here?"

Turning his gaze to her, Cloud saw genuine interest in her vibrant spiral eyes. Green as well, he belatedly realised. "No, this belonged to no-one. Although, there was someone…" Blinking, he looked back at the Buster Sword. "I think he was trying to come here."

At the note in his tone, Rikku stepped closer. "He didn't make it, did he?" Cloud said nothing, just continued to stare at the sword, and she reached out to gently squeeze his covered arm. "What about the someone who was here?" she asked lightly.

Again, he took a few beats to answer. "She went back to the Planet too."

There was a look in his eyes that Rikku had seen in many young men – too many, perhaps – that, despite the obviously touchy subject, made her blurt out: "Oh, was she your girlfriend?" He stiffened under her hand, even as she clapped one over her mouth, and then he was shrugging out of her grasp.

"We're done here," Cloud said as he started walking away. "We should head back soon. Marlene'll be worried." He almost made it to the door before a sharp whistle had him stopping in his tracks and turning back.

"The water looks nice!" Rikku called down the aisle. "Let's take a dip!"

Cloud only had time to blink before she was crouched by the pool, already pulling off her fingerless gloves and sleeves. "Rikku –" As she unwound her scarf, he sighed and headed back up between the rows of benches. By the time he had come to stand next to her, she was in nothing but her bikini top and underwear. "Rikku," he said again, not entirely sure what he was going to follow it up with.

Standing, Rikku tutted. "Don't worry, I won't step on the flowers," she said, then proceeded to tiptoe her way to the water. Her outstretched foot broke the surface soundlessly, and a delighted smile spread across her face as she left the flower bed completely; she waded out to the middle, giggling happily as she turned back to Cloud. The water came up to her navel, and she rested her hands on top of it, letting the lazy ripples spill between her splayed fingers. Her eyes sparkled as she tilted her head sideways. "Well?" she said. "You coming?"

It had been a long time since he'd been in that pool. Though he knew there was nothing wrong with doing so, the very idea still felt… sinful, almost. But with Rikku gazing at him from the centre, expression dimming by a fraction with each passing second, he thought he'd cause more upset if he refused than if he joined her. Sighing in resignation (but with a hint of fondness), he began to remove his straps and clothes, hearing the water shift as Rikku bounced on the spot. When he was down to just his underwear, he too stepped between the flowers and into the water.

At first, he was mildly surprised – he didn't remember the pool feeling like this, faintly warm and light, easy to move through. It glimmered in the sun, warping reflections without distorting their image, and though it only rose up to the top of his boxers he could feel its effect throughout his whole body. Especially when a small wave hit him fully in the face. He blinked, slightly dumbfounded, as Rikku laughed ahead of him.

"What's the matter?" she chimed. "You're not scared of a bit of water, are you?"

"No," he said, feeling foolishly unprepared for the next mini-wave she pushed in his direction. Before either of them realised what was happening, he threw one back at her, following in its wake when she raised her arms up to shield her face. For a few timeless minutes the church was filled with the sounds of splashing water and laughter – Rikku's, and eventually Cloud's too – and when those sounds died out it was just the two of them in peaceful quiet, sat together in the centre of their small ocean as if there was nothing beyond the tireless stone walls.

It had been a while, Cloud acknowledged, since he'd laughed so carelessly. A part of him had always suspected Rikku would be the one to coax it out of him eventually, though he never would have guessed she'd do so here of all places. Holding her in his arms, her back to his chest, the soft water embracing them both, he thought about how natural she looked here; when he went to Spira, one thing he'd noticed was how vastly different their style was to Gaia's – in Luca, for example, he stuck out because he was too darkly dressed, whereas in Edge it was the other way round: Rikku's yellows and reds were too vibrant for a city that doused itself in murky browns, greens and greys, but in the church her brightness was complimented. Always the bright and colourful ones. The thought passed unbidden through his mind, and he tightened his arms around her subconsciously.

"This place is special, huh?" Rikku said softly.

"Hm?"

She raised her arms, with his on top, to float just below the surface. "I mean, it doesn't feel like the rest of the city," she explained. "It's all… flowery."

"Flowery?" Cloud repeated with the barest of smirks. He was elbowed playfully in the ribs.

"It is!" Rikku insisted, soon growing contemplative again. "But it's more than just that," she continued, and twisted round to look at the Buster Sword behind them. "There are a lot of memories here. And not just yours, either. It's like…" She sighed, chewing her lip as she chose her words. "It's like the flowers have memories, too." Clueless as to how he should respond, Cloud stayed silent, focusing on the feel of her hair against his skin when he started to zone out. "Will you tell me about them?"

"Them?" he asked.

She nodded, strands of honey hair brushing his face. "Sword boy and church girl. Uh, that is –" Abruptly, she twisted round to face him, apology written on her features. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I-it's not like I need to know or anything, so, just… Take your time!"

A blush coloured her cheeks subtly, and Cloud found himself smiling again. Looking down between them, he laced their fingers together underwater, still amazed at how well her slender hand fit against his broader one. "The 'sword boy' was a SOLDIER 1st Class, and a friend of mine while I was part of the army. He was also something of a mentor I guess, but I never made it as far as SOLDIER in the end." He closed his eyes, remembering Zack's encouragement and near-endless optimism, wondering why those aspects of him had never rubbed off as well as the memories had. "When things got bad, he looked after me. Promised me we'd start new lives in Midgar, that he knew just where to go." Had he said he'd be a handyman? "He didn't make it… but he made sure that I could."

"So he gave you that sword?" Rikku interrupted softly. Cloud nodded. "What did church girl say? About you putting it there?"

He shook his head. "She never saw it here. I used it while I knew her." A glance at her face told him she had more questions, so he continued with his original answer. "She was special," he murmured. "Not just a flower seller from the slums like everyone first thought. We found out she was the last of her kind, magical beings who could do incredible things." Incredible, selfless acts. "This was where we met. She looked after the flowers here. After she passed, I found out we had a friend in common, and eventually I moved the sword here."

He watched as she worked it out, a cute frown on her face as she looked between the flowers, the sword, and him. "Oh!" she gasped when it clicked; then the joy subsided, replaced by a gentle awe. "You brought them together again…"

Cloud thought of the flowers growing out in the wastelands. "I think they already did that, wherever they are."

It was Rikku's turn to duck her head and stare at the water, her free fingers making idle ripples between them. "I kinda know what it's like," she said quietly, "to lose someone. And to be afraid of losing them, too." She jerked her head up, smiling all of a sudden. "But it won't happen to us," she told him with confidence. "I'm not gonna lose you, and you're not gonna lose me – promise?"

Bringing his hand up to cup the side of her neck, thumb stroking the edge of her jaw, Cloud nodded once. "I promise."

They sealed it with a kiss, unhurried and not especially deep, but a tender assurance of what else they couldn't say with words. Cloud knew he'd made and broken promises before, but this one was different – it was a two-way deal, not so dissimilar from one he'd made with Tifa a lifetime ago, except this one went deeper. Cloud had suffered too much to let go of something, of someone, like Rikku – not yet. Never, ideally, but he was well aware of change, too. In turn, Rikku didn't want to be the one to make him suffer, and knew she was capable of keeping her loved ones safe and happy. Of all of them, she thought, Cloud deserved it the most (Yuna didn't need her so much now, and her family could function as well without her as they could with her), and so she made a deal with herself: to make him smile at least once a day whenever they were together.

Though they would have been content to remain as they were until the sun set, the outside world came in when Cloud's phone went off. It wasn't Marlene like they thought, worried about their prolonged absence, but rather Yuffie, who was so frustrated with her lack of skill at Sphere Break that she was threatening to smash or steal something if Rikku didn't return to help her. Using fire materia to dry themselves off, the couple grudgingly headed back towards Seventh Heaven, taking some consolation from the fact that the warmth they'd felt in the pool lingered inside them for the remainder of the day.

AN: So this was prompted by Chuck mcboundarybreaker, who just wanted some Cloud/Rikku, and I really hope it was worth the (stupidly long) wait! :D also, here are the Al Bhed translations:

"We're going to beat up some monsters – that's hardly romantic!"
"Will there be dinner?"
"No."
"Or flowers?"
"I don't know."
"Are you being supervised?"
"Of course not!"
"Then it's a date!"
"Ugh, so what if it is? It's my life, Brother, I can do what I want."
"Rikku -"
"And don't you dare tell Pops! Asshole."