A.N. First of all: it's NOT what you think it is. It's something COMPLETELY different.

Normal POV

„talking"

Clouds/Aeriths thoughts

„Wolves talking to each other"

Disclaimer – I don't own FFVII or other character who appears in this fanfic

Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 1: The Stranger from the Woods

In a big town, named Midgar, was a black figure, who jumped from roof to roof to escape. That man was completely dressed in black, with a black cowl and his face was cloaked by its hood. I wonder if they're still tracking me..., the man thought and sniffed the air, whereupon he began to chuckle quietly. I left them behind as I arrived this town.

He came to a halt on a church's roof. Then there's no need for me to hurry. I wonder where I am...Just as the man wanted to rest, to figure out where he is, the boards underneath him began to crack loudly, but before he could do something the roof collapsed and he fell into the church.

„Mom, I'm off!", called a young woman to her mother. „Where are you going, dear?", the mother, named Elmyra, asked her daughter. „The church of course. Someone has to take care of the flowers."

„Aerith.", the mother called her before she could go. „Please be careful.", Elmyra said with a worried expression. They both knew that Midgar could be dangerous, especially for a girl, and Elmyra is always worried to death whenever Aerith left the house. „Sure, mom.", Aerith replied and smiled sweetly at her mother and left her house.

Aerith scampered through the streets of Midgar, her chestnut brown hair, which is tied in a braid with a pink ribbon, swings back and forth which each step. She wore a light pink dress, which reached to her lower leg and a red jacked which only just covered her chest.

She examined her surroundings, for something dangerous, with her emerald green eyes. She knew that the streets aren't dangerous in the morning hour, but she promised her mother to be careful. Aerith looked up to see the upper plate, which prevented the townspeople, who lived down here in the Slums, to see the sky or the sun. But Aerith didn't really care not to see the sky, because she's afraid of it.

A few minutes later she arrived the church of Sector 5 and entered it. The church itself is a bit destroyed, like there are holes in the roof and the windows, but it's still a beautiful place to go, because in the center of the church, near the altar, is a flower bed.

As she arrived the center she knelled down to tend her self planted flowers, which are mostly white and yellow lilies, but with a few others. But suddenly she heard something crack from above and before she even realized what happened a man crashed down and landed softly on the flowers.

Aerith looked down at the man, who lied unconsciously on her flower bed, in surprise. He had spiky blonde hear and was dressed in a black vest-shirt with one sleeve on his left arm, black pants, black shoes and other also black accessory like a shoulder-guard with a silver, shiny wolf on it. But what surprised her the most was the fact that he has ears and a tail of a wolf!

The man began to stir and to groan quietly, while Aerith snapped out of her daze. „H-hey, can you hear me?" Aerith waited for a while, but he didn't reply. „Hellooo~!", she called him, who slowly regained consciousness again. „Hellloooo~!", Aerith called again and now his eyes fluttered open.

Aerith couldn't help but stare at his bright, sapphire blue eyes, which reminded her of the sky, but it wasn't really scary at all.

The man looked around in confusion until their eyes met. An...angel?, he thought as he stared up at her, examining her and locked his eyes once again with her own. As he looked into her eyes he noticed that he never saw such a bright, sparkling green before, not even in his home and there's a lot of green. But then it hits him and his eyes widened. A human! He quickly got up in a sitting position and backed away from her while he glared at her and bared his teeth, his wolf ears laid out in a defensive manner.

Aerith could see a pair of tiny fangs and stared at him in shock. The man began to growl quietly in hope that the girl would run away from him, but she didn't, instead her expression turned into wonder and curiosity. Aerith got a bit closer to him and reached out, but he backed away from her again and began to growl louder, but she didn't budged.

Suddenly Aeriths expression turned into amusement and she smiled warmly at the stranger, who raised an eyebrow at her weird manner. „What?", he yelled at her and Aerith couldn't help but like the sound of his voice even if it was cold and emotionless. „You're afraid of me.", Aerith stated in amusement, while his eyes widened unnoticeable, but then glared more fierily at the girl.

The man froze for a moment as she talked to him, all he could think of was how soft her voice was, until he realized what she just said to him. „I'm not afraid of some little girl!", he yelled, still hoping that she would finally run away, but she still didn't budged. What the hell's wrong with that girl? Every normal human would be over the hills and far away.

„Oh, and why are you so defensively, like I would hurt you any moment?", she asked him, her amusement raising with every second as the blonde man didn't reply. „Come on, I won't hurt you.", she said teasingly and held a hand to him, still smiling sweetly at him, while all of a sudden the blonde man's cheeks got a light pink color.

He slowly reached out to take her hand, but quickly let his hand fall again and glared at her again. Aerith began to giggle at his behavior, while he just continued to glare at her. „What's so funny?", the blonde man growled in annoyance. „You! You're really afraid of a little girl.", Aerith said teasingly, while he just continued to growl. „Look, I don't have any weapons, I'm completely defenseless. You could simply attack me.", the green eyed girl said, still amused.

She's right...Why didn't I attack her?, the man wondered. „Um, hey? Do you mind if you could go out of my flower bed?", she asked him, as she noticed he's still sitting in the middle of her flower bed. „Hm?" Cloud tilted his head a bit, his ears perked up, standing upright instantly, and he finally noticed too that he's sitting on flowers. That's why it smelled so good...He didn't really noticed it, because his full attention was on this girl. The man quickly got up and went out of the flower bed, with a safety gab in between him and that weird girl.

Suddenly he felt that something's missing...his cowl's gone! He looked around hectically and noticed it hung on some wooden boards on the roof. That means she saw his ears and tail, and she wasn't afraid of him. „You're not afraid of me?", he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

„Should I?", she asked back and tilted her head.

The man blinked in surprise. He just met a human, who isn't afraid of him and didn't hate him either. She's really a weird girl...„Of course you should! I'm a monster!"

„Monster?" Aerith examined him, while the blonde man felt his cheeks began to heat up a bit. „You don't look like a monster to me.", she said and smiled sweetly at him. „Now...", he mumbled and looked to the ground. His ears perked up as the wooden boards began to crack and he looked up to see Aerith's walking towards him. He backed away from her again, but she still kept going to him. „May I...?", asked Aerith and reached up to touch his ear and was a bit surprised as he nodded slightly. He looked to the ground again, to hide his growing blush. Tch! What's wrong with me? Why am I blushing? And why did I allow her to touch me?

As he felt her small fingers brushing against his right ear he began to shiver a bit. He couldn't help but enjoy her light touch and on top of it: he just discovered his weak spot. Aerith looked in amazement as she stroke his ear. It's real..., she thought and continued to stroke his ear. His fur felt so wonderful plushy on her fingers.

The blonde man just stood there, totally frozen and didn't know if this situation is either pleasant or awkward, but he closed his eyes to only concentrate on her soft touch, his wolf tail swinging back and forth in a fast, steady rhythm.

Never thought it'd feel so good to be stroked by someone..., he thought and sighed quietly in relaxation. „What's your name?", Aerith asked him, while he opened his eyes and looked at her. „...Cloud.", he replied hesitantly. It's the very first time a human isn't afraid of him, talked to him, touched him, didn't hate him and wanted to know his name.

„Cloud, huh?", the green eyed girl repeated, while Cloud couldn't help but like the way she said his name with her angelic voice. She's cute...I mean...for a human., he thought, his blush growing once again. „I'm Aerith.", she introduced herself and smiled happily at him. Aerith...The name is just as beautiful as you are..., Cloud thought but quickly dismissed it again.

Aerith noticed his tail, which is still swinging and began to smile. He's so cute., she thought and began to blush a bit. They stayed like this for a while before Aerith removed her hand, while Cloud had to suppress a low groan of disappointment. „Um...", Aerith began hesitantly, while Cloud looked to her. „What are you exactly?", she asked him, while he raised an eyebrow.

„You mean you don't know?" Aerith just looked bewildered at him and shook her head. That's why she's not afraid of me...She doesn't even know what I am. „I'm a wolf.", Cloud replied plainly. „Eh? But you don't look like a wolf."

„It's just a disguise."

„I didn't knew that wolves can change into humans.", said Aerith in pure amazement. „Well, not every wolf can do it. Me, my pack and some others are special. We can't just change into humans, we're also a lot taller, faster, stronger and more dangerous as normal wolves are. But as you see, we're not able to let our ears and tail disappear.", Cloud explained to her and crossed his arms over his chest, but immediately wondered why he told her this. It's actually a secret so that the humans aren't hunting them.

„Woooow~!", Aerith said and looked at him with glittery eyes, which let Clouds blush grow once again. „Can you show me your wolf shape?", asked Aerith, still in pure amazement. „Y-you want to see my wolf shape?", Cloud asked back in pure shock. He didn't really want to show her his wolf shape, because if he did she WILL run away from him, and perhaps alarm other humans...

But most of all...he didn't want her to be afraid of him...Because although she saw his wolf ears and tail and after he said what he is, she tolerated it. „No.", he replied, while Aeriths smile vanished instantly. „Why?"

„I don't want to scare you.", he said, while Aerith began to whine. „Come on! Please!", Aerith begged and looked at him with large, glittery puppy-dog-eyes, while Cloud backed away and looked away from her. If he kept looking into her eyes he'll probably agree.

Suddenly he felt something grasped on his tail and he quickly turned around. „Let go!", he yelled at Aerith and tried to free his tail from her grip, but she pulled on it. „Hey, stop pulling!"

„Come on, Cloud! PLEASE!", she tried again and looked up at him with her puppy-dog-eyes, still holding his tail with both hands tightly, while Cloud groaned in annoyance. „Okay...", he gave in and Aerith let him go and cheered. „Wait here." Cloud went away from her and hid behind a wall and began to undress himself, because he didn't want his clothes to be raped apart when he changed back.

Aerith waited patiently for him to come back and then a giant, gray wolf, with a few spikes on his head, came towards her. Aerith looked a bit in shock at how tall he is, he's, unlike normal wolves, taller than herself. He even had to bow his head to get at eye level with her. They stared at each others eyes and Aerith noticed his blue eyes were even brighter than before.

A moment later, Aerith reached up to touch his head and just as she felt his soft, plushy fur, she began to stroke him again. „Aaawww! Your fur's so soft!", she said happily as she excitedly stroke Clouds head, who closed his eyes in relaxation. Cloud himself began to blush instantly as he felt her soft touch on his head, but fortunately his fur covered it. Cloud opened his eyes as she began to move. Her hands glided down his neck to his shoulder.

Suddenly Clouds heart skipped a beat as she buried her face in his shoulder. „Aerith, what are you doing?", Cloud wanted to say but he forgot something...Oh that's right...wolves can't talk with humans, unless...Cloud glanced to Aerith, who's still stroking him happily. No...what a stupid thought. She never would...W-why do I even care? She's just a human.

Aaww, his fur's so plushy, I don't want to let him go again., she thought and began to giggle. Cloud turned his head to her, while she looked into his eyes and suddenly hugged his head and buried her face in his fur again. The wolf backed away a bit but Aerith held him tightly to her, so that his snout touched her bare neck, which let his blush grow even more.

It almost felt like she's a little child, who found a new toy and wanted to play with it so badly...But it felt kinda pleasant...Unconsciously the wolf came a bit closer to her and snuggled his snout deeper into her neck, smelling her heavenly, flowery scent. But then his eyes widened and he backed away from her, causing her to let go of him, before he disappeared behind the wall again.

A moment later Cloud came back in his human form, full dressed of course. „Why did you change?", Aerith whined, while Cloud began to sigh, and took deep breaths trying to control his fast heartbeat. „But...", Aerith added and examined Cloud, who froze and his blush got a deeper shade of red. „You have still these!", she said and began to stroke his ears again. „Aerith, stop...", he said and took her by her wrists.

„I don't understand you. I'm a monster, I could easily change back and...kill you and eh...eat you...and...mangle you..."

„But you didn't", she countered and smiled warmly up at him. „That's not the point.", he said and held his forehead. „If I was someone else you wouldn't stand here."

„But I do.", she said back, her smile widened and crossed her arms behind her back, innocently. „Do you even get your situation?"

„Hm-hmm.", she replied and nodded, her smile still on her face, while Cloud let his head hung in frustration, his ears and tail fell as well. „Aerith, you're really the craziest human I know.", he said and sighed loudly, while she began to giggle. „I'm not some dog you can pet, you know. I'm a predator! I eat humans like you for breakfast!"

„Oh, and why didn't you ate me?", she asked him, giggling and tilted her head a bit. Why didn't I do it? Why? I normally would kill every human who dares to touch me. But why...did I allow her this? „Come on. You wanna eat me? Then do it.", she said, while Cloud looked at her in shock. „W-what?"

„Do it. But please kill me quickly okay?", she said and shut her eyes tightly, preparing to be attacked by him any moment, while Cloud still stared at her in shock, his eyes as wide as saucers and mouth open. What an insane human! „Aerith open your eyes."

„No, I don't want to see you killing me.", she replied, while Cloud grasped her shoulders and squeezed it. „Open your eyes!", he ordered and Aerith opened them just to see that his face is so close to hers, which let her cheeks to get a shade of pink. „You're really insane, you know that?", he said, while she just nodded. „I know. You already told me that.", she replied and began to giggle.

„What's so funny about that? What if I really killed you?"

„You won't hurt me.", she replied knowingly and smiled up at him. „And how do you know that?"

„Well, you had many chances to kill me, but you didn't.", she stated, while he let go of her, turned away from her and held his forehead. I hate her...! I hate her so much, but...He glanced over his shoulder to see, she's still there, looking at him, her smile still on her face. I can't help but feel kinda...attracted to her...„Tch!" He turned to her again. „Okay, I won't hurt you. But tell me where I can go out of this weird town."

„You want go go already?", she asked him and her happy expression turned into a sad one. „Yeah. I just came here because some humans tracked me.", the blonde man explained and as he saw Aeriths sad expression his heart almost began to brake. „Oh...", she replied plainly. „Then I'll walk you to the gates." Cloud just nodded and turned away from her, not bearing to look into her sad eyes anymore. „Wait here.", he said to her and disappeared behind the wall again. He went up the destroyed stairs and on the beam just underneath the roof itself to grasp his cowl and then jumped down, to land softly on the ground in front of Aerith.

He got up and put his cowl on. „Let's go.", he said as he covered his wolf ears with the hood, his face still visible. Aerith just nodded sadly and went ahead, followed closely by Cloud.

The two of them went through the streets of Midgar and with each step they took, Cloud regretted more and more that he told Aerith he's going to leave this town. Actually he didn't really wanted to go. He rather wanted to stay here...with her. To spent more time with her. To talk with her more. To get to know and to understand this weird, but extremely cute human.

„Hey...", Cloud called her and she turned to him. „I think...I'll stay here for a while. I can return to my pack later..." As he said this he could see that Aerith eyes lit up and began to sparkle. „Really? You want to stay a bit longer? But...What if some humans seize you?", she asked him and began to giggle quietly. „As long as I wear this cowl everything's alright.", he replied and shrugged.

„But where will you stay?"

„Hm...", he tapped thoughtfully on his chin and thought for a while. „I could stay in the church..."

„Or you come with me and stay in my house.", Aerith said and smiled widely at him. „EH?" Cloud looked at her in shock and disbelieve, while she began to giggle. „Don't worry, we won't be alone, my mom lives there too.", she said, hoping this would calm Cloud a bit.

„Eh? Don't worry? I have to worry! What will she think if she'll see THIS!", he yelled suddenly and lifted his hood a bit to show her his wolf ear. „Don't worry. She won't say anyone this. You're save with me.", she said with a wink, which let Clouds blush appear again. He quickly looked away from her out of embarrassment. „But I won't guarantee you that you'll be save with ME.", he mumbled, but loud enough for her to her.

She blinked at first but then began to laugh. „Did you just crack a joke?", she asked him in amusement, while Cloud nodded slightly. „You make progress, Cloud. Keep it on and you probably will laugh about MY jokes too!", she said, still giggling and passed him. „We have to go this way.", she said and lead the way. Cloud stood there for a few seconds, he couldn't suppress a small smile, which appeared on his face. He's proud of himself that he told her to stay with her and the way she reacted, how happy she seemed to spent more time with him as well.

He turned around and followed her towards her house. „Are you sure your mom doesn't mind that I...live here? And about...?", he didn't said it out loud and just showed her once again his ears and tail, while Aerith just shrugged. „Of course not. She...um...keeps another secret too, you know.", she informed him and began to hum and to scamper next to him, out of happiness.

„What secret?", Cloud wanted to know, which Aerith responded with a:„When I'll tell you it wouldn't be a secret anymore, right?", and winked at him, while Cloud quickly looked away from her, his hood covered his face and also his growing blush.

A.N. Okay that was all^^ I hope you all liked it. The inspiration of this story, which I spent the whole week to imagine the whole plot, was Chibylove with her fanfic Red Riding Hood Cetra. Once I read this story I felt the urge to write a story with Cloud as a wolf^^ I hope I did good with it...So...please tell me what you think, okay?

Every review's welcome! ;3