A/N: I'm back! WHOOT! But, this story is not the place for such cheer. Set sometime before or after Advent Children. I'll leave it to your interpretation. This story was inspired by a friend who was bummed on Valentine's Day. Enjoy.
24
Cloud was home again. That was a rarity indeed. As usual he arrived without warning, like a breath of fresh air coming in on the breeze.
Tifa had been restocking the liquor; her back to the door. At the tinkle of the bell she turned ready to welcome the guest, but her voice quickly fell to the floor.
They stood staring at each other silently, the mood stiflingly tense. Tifa lowered her eyes after a time, carefully contemplating her next move. She had just found her choice of words and looked up only to have her trend of thought ruined again.
A giant bouquet was held out before her; a dozen lilies, so pure.
"A gift," he said sheepishly, nodding at the flowers in his outstretched hand. "Happy Valentine's Day." he finished simply.
To say the raven haired woman was shocked would have been an understatement. However, she kept her cool in front of him and took the flowers gently from his hand.
"Thank you," she murmured smiling faintly, allowing him to see slightly through her poker face.
He seemed to want to say something more but the chime of the bell cut him off before he could even begin. Instead he uttered a solemn "Take care," before swiftly turning and heading out once more.
777
Denzel and Marlene strolled into the bar, quite surprised at the sight they had seen. Cloud back home, his cheeks tinged pink as he offered Tifa a lovely bouquet, while she smiled lightly. Sadly, before they could get a word in Cloud slipped right by. They turned in an attempt to call him back but he had already disappeared into the evening rush outside.
Sighing, the children shut the door behind them and moved towards the bar.
"So—he gave you flowers. That must've been a nice Valentine's gift." Marlene began dreamily while Denzel rolled his eyes.
"I suppose," the barkeeper sighed indifferently as she placed the lilies in a vase. "Go upstairs and get ready. We'll have customers soon."
Almost immediately the children obeyed, hurrying up the stairs. "We'll have some Valentine-less customers drinking here tonight," she grumbled dryly. She imagined joining them in their misery as she placed the white and yellow flowers at the corner of the bar top. Fantastic.
777
Cloud walked the deserted streets of Midgar. Night was settling in now. Any normal person would have been out with their lover or even their good friends, but tonight Cloud just couldn't do that. He had a certain place he needed to be, even if that made him seem more enigmatic than he already appeared to be.
The Sector 5 Church stood quietly in the gloom, as rooted to the spot as its ragged foundation would allow. He made his way to the flowerbed while his footsteps creaked against the aged wooden floor. As he walked, his mind wandered to a meeting from a few hours earlier:
"So you managed to get the lilies to Tifa? I'm almost impressed, lover boy." The scarlet cloaked man commented in a sarcastic tone.
"Shut up," the spiky haired one returned contemptuously, frowning in obvious irritation.
"Now, now, don't get so upset. Especially after I went through the trouble of fetching you not one, but two bouquets." Vincent retorted waving the second bouquet in question.
"What are you doing? Swinging that around—" the blond one growled lunging for and missing the flowers. The dark haired one smirked victoriously until he noticed the dejected look on the younger man's face. He sighed heavily.
"Alright, here you go. And don't worry, this'll just be between you and me. Though honestly Cloud, I don't understand why you would need two-dozen for this bunch."
777
He stopped at the center of the flowerbed before gingerly lowering himself on his knees to the level of the lily flowers. He took a deep breath before he whipped his own flowers out from behind, a bouquet of two-dozen red roses.
Why would you need two-dozen?
Idiot.
It's not two-dozen.
It's twenty-four.
Seven days ago today, she would have been 24. If she were here today to receive these flowers in person, she might have teased him (like always) before thanking him kindly in the way that only she could do. If she were still here today, on this particular day, he might have told her over and over again how much he loved her (even if he sounded stupid). He would have done whatever he could to make (almost) any 24 of her birthday wishes come true.
But her time had stopped at 22. She would never live to see 23, let alone be given the chance to dream of reaching 24. No. For time had continued to flow even with her gone. Suddenly, he was the older one now. He was 23, and she, still (and forevermore) 22. That fact made him wonder if it would eliminate her as a candidate for the "older woman" who could take care of him as his mother had so often hoped. Not that it mattered now, of course.
"For you," he whispered just as the wind brushed past, ruffling up his already unruly hair.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Aerith."
Nothing responded but the wind.
777
A/N: A note on the flowers- a dozen yellow and white lilies: white flowers often are a sign of "returning love" while yellow ones usually translate to "I like you as a friend," interpret Cloud's gift as you see fit; a dozen red roses: a standard for the hopeless romantic which is communicated as "I love you"
For those of you who didn't know, Aerith's birthday is February 7th, making 7 days later, indeed, Valentine's Day. Yes, while the rest of the world was being all lovey-dovey and sugary-sweet this past Valentine's Day, Cloud was on his knees in a ruined Church wishing his deceased dearly beloved a belated happy birthday and Valentine's. This goes out to all the people who were in less severe but similarly lonely situations.
p.s. To those who have read my other FFVII story, I've hit a wall on that one so please forgive me for being so slow to update. This one is kind of a motivator story to get me writing again. Bear with me. Please and thanks.