Drabble #88: Beach
Summary:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. Characters and places belong to SquareEnix
"Come on Cloud! Play volleyball with us!" Aeris begged, tugging his arm gently. Yuffie and Tifa were already standing by the net passing the ball to each other as they waited for Cloud's reply.
He half-heartedly attempted to pull his arm away from the flower girl but it was pointless. She would just use her doe eyes on him instead and he knew there was no way he could ever resist those. He let out a long sigh to show he really didn't want to agree as he stood up.
"Fine."
She hugged him around the middle, taking him completely by surprise. She pulled back just as quickly and grabbed his hand, leading him across the beach towards the two women.
"You can be on my team," she said brightly. Tifa and Yuffie stood up and readied themselves to begin the game.
Tifa and Yuffie ended up winning. Mostly because both Cloud and Aeris had no idea at all of how to play volleyball plus the heat was getting to Cloud, who refused to take any of his clothes off at all. Aeris teased that being around three women in bikinis probably effected his concentration to which Tifa and Yuffie had laughed and Cloud scowled.
"Aw, cheer up Cloud. I was only joking," she said, nudging him with her shoulder and winking at him. He did not say anything in reply. Yuffie and Tifa decided to go for a swim to cool off, leaving Cloud and Aeris alone. The blonde sat down on the sand and a second later, Aeris joined him.
"It's a shame that we won't be able to relax much more on this journey," she sighed, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head on them. Cloud glanced at her and shrugged.
"It's not really meant to be a relaxing holiday Aeris. We're out to catch a killer."
"I know," she replied gently. "But everyone's thinking deep down, are we going to make it through? Moments like this help us to forget about that and focus on the task."
"I suppose," was all he replied.
"This is my first time at the beach," she admitted suddenly and Cloud blinked.
"Seriously?" he answered. "When I was little, my mum used to take me to the beach nearly every weekend."
She smiled but her eyes were still fixed ahead of her. "I want to come back her some day. Maybe buy that big house." She pointed behind her at the house beside the bar and Cloud stared for a moment. "If I ever get enough gil."
"We'll come back," Cloud assured her. She looked up at him.
"Do you promise?" she asked with a hint of a smile. Cloud stared into her eyes for a moment before he nodded.
"For you, we'll come back and get you that house," he promised.