The lights of the gold saucer shone brightly.
Screams of joy and laughter echoed off in the distance, mixes of sugar and all sorts of different carnival foods danced through on the still air, people walked and chatted happily like everything was all right.
It wasn't.
Nothing was all right.
Aerith was by no means a cold woman. She had never been one to become angered easily.
But things changed.
These people had no clue what was going on in the world right now. What she had to do, everything that was at stake. They acted as if the world wasn't on the verge of being annihilated, as if they could hide behind Shinra forever. Like Shinra would be their hero.
What they didn't know was that Shinra would turn their backs on them.
And Sephiroth would be their destroyer.
All these happy people had no idea of what she had been through, what she'd seen.
It drove her insane.
She rested her head on her palm as she continued to look out the window, what had irritated her most was that she was posing as one of them. Things had gotten to out of control, they needed to hide in the most unsuspecting place possible and the Gold Saucer was their best option.
She was torn from her thoughts when there was a knock at her door.
"Yes? Come in."
The knob to her door turned and slowly the door opened. She stood from leaning against the windowsill to see Cloud walk in, his face was expressionless and for a while he just stood there.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
Removing his hand from the doorknob he crossed his arms over his chest.
"No. Besides for the fact we're incognito when we shouldn't be, everything's fine."
Aerith looked down at her boots; placing a hand on the sill she shook her head, "That's good…I think?"
His eyes brightened for a second; standing just a little straighter he met sapphire with emerald. There was an air of confidence about him, he was very sure of what he was about to do.
"Want to get out of here?"
Her eyes widened and her hand tightened around the sill nervously.
"What?"
"Want to get out of here?"
There was a silence, Aerith searched his eyes for any sign that he was joking but she found nothing, he was completely serious. Albeit a little nervous himself. She felt her cheeks heat up.
He wasn't asking her out on a date, was he?
No.
What he said was nowhere near asking her out.
A smile crept its way on her face and she tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear. Why had her heart accelerated the moment the words had rolled off his tongue and passed his lips? Why did it leap in her chest when she realized that he wasn't joking?
Why?
"…Sure. Why not?"
He smiled lightly at her and she felt her cheeks grow even hotter.
She needed to get out. Clear her head a bit. She couldn't just stay locked up in her room spiting the people who walked below her window, it just wasn't like her.
-:-:-:-
Her eyes went wide with child like wonderment at what she saw before her.
She never would have guessed Cloud of all people would want to walk around in an amusement park when they were supposed to stay hidden. She turned to him, appalled by how only less than an hour ago she was disgusted by everyone who was doing exactly what she was doing right now. Aerith spun around to look at him, a toned down look of excitement written on her face.
"What do you want to do first?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow at her, "…whatever you want to do. I don't care."
She nodded looking in all directions, everywhere, everything, there was just so much, she couldn't decide. Something like this was all so new to her.
"I've never been here before so I can't really decide…" she said, her bangs had fallen in front of her eyes so she didn't see the look of hurt that had crossed his face at her words. With an embarrassed giggle she blew them away and when she met his eyes once more he hid it away from her.
"Pick whatever interests you the most," he decided to say, looking away from her.
It wasn't her fault.
It was his.
He didn't protect her like he should have.
Now he was paying the price for it.
The bandage wrapped around her porcelain shoulder and the length of her arm was the mark of his failure. If it hadn't been for Zack, she probably wouldn't be standing here beside him.
No matter what he told himself, facts, beliefs, nothing hurt worse than the moment she had woken up from her coma to scream, push him away and shout like a mad woman…
'WHO ARE YOU?'
"I know what I want to do."
Cloud snapped back into reality at her voice and he gave her a look that asked 'what?'
She had walked already a fair distance away from him and examined a large neon sign with genuine curiosity. Pointing towards it she smiled at him, "I want to ride the gondola," she tilted her head to the side and continued, "Is that alright?"
He was struck with both déjà vu and irony at the same time.
In the back of his mind he saw himself being forced out of his room by a beautiful woman all dressed in pink, smiling and laughing. He kneeled before her on a stage in front of a full house, took her hand in his own and brushed his lips against her skin, causing a rosy blush to paint her cheeks and for her to whisper his name instead of his characters. Then he saw her sitting in front of him, looking out the window at everything she probably never would have gotten the chance to see back in the slums.
'The sites of the Gold Saucer'
"…If that's what you want…"
She smiled; bending her knees she pushed herself off the bright yellow marble floor and into the gondola tube. For a while he didn't move. He just stood there contemplating his thoughts; shaking his head he didn't give it another thought before he found himself following her down the tube.
When he had finally touched ground she was already at the ticket booth talking with the man behind the glass.
"Here you are, two tickets."
The man slid the tickets beneath the glass and she took them with a smile, "Thanks." The man then exited the booth and opened the door to the gondola.
"Enjoy the sites of the Gold Saucer."
Aerith turned to him and waved him over. With protesting legs he made his way over to her, his mind screaming at him to take her somewhere else, ANYWHERE else, but he ignored it and went to stand before her anyway. She handed him his ticket and entered the gondola with him trailing behind her, no matter how much he didn't want to.
Like he had expected the very same music that had played over the speakers the last time they had been here was echoing off the walls in a soft melody.
"I thought we could get a better look at the place from this high up," she said leaning away from the bench to gaze outside. He nodded and what went unnoticed by him was that he crossed his arms over his chest and rested his head against the window, exactly like he had done before.
Her hair swayed from the breeze outside and her lips parted at all that was laid out before her emerald eyes.
"Wow, how nice."
He stiffened. Everything was so achingly familiar. He was about to speak up when his breath caught in his throat.
'…Okay…that never happened before…'
He was so transfixed by the sight of her; so much had changed about her ever since that day at the forgotten city. It wasn't only her outfit that had changed, it was like her personality had transformed as well. She was quiet now, withdrawn. She smiled but they weren't always true and genuine, they were unsure and forced. Right now though a real smile had crossed her face as her eyes roamed across the park, her emerald eyes sparkled, something he hadn't seen in so long he almost forgot what it looked like.
She pushed her hair out of her face and over her shoulder to get a better view and he was led back to the subject of her outfit. Another thing that had changed that he thought never would, her dress. She had torn it herself to be a more comfortable halter top, almost like the one Tifa wore, she said she could do absolutely nothing in the formfitting pink dress when they had first started on their way to Icicle Inn. It was horribly uncomfortable for him to be around her those first few weeks, her midriff was exposed and that had only led him to…other thoughts, and he just couldn't think that way about her considering the mission they had to complete. Zack of course had no problem with it, commenting on how she'd be able to melt the snow just by walking by it because she was, in his words "Smo-king!"
Then came the black soldier pants she found which had inspired her to tear her dress into a top instead of traveling in a skirt the rest of the way. There wasn't much he could say about them but in the end she had been right, she was faster than before and had even had the freedom to learn a little martial arts from Tifa because of the pants.
"Oh! Look Cloud. It's so pretty."
Was fate just fucking with him or what?
Was it trying to make him feel like crap?
"Hey."
He couldn't stop the word from escaping and she turned to him, "Yeah?"
He shook his head, "Never mind."
She tilted her head at him before looking back out the window just as fireworks began to go off on the sky. Exploding in bright greens, pinks, blues, whites, and yellows all around them.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she felt like she had been here before. That this wasn't the first time this had happened, that this wasn't all new to her like she thought.
"…It's beautiful, isn't it?"
To her dismay yet slight relief he didn't answer. It remained quiet for the rest of the ride; even as she watched the amazing display of colors in the bright star sprinkled night he never spoke a word. The gondola shook as it descended, signaling the end of their ride approaching. Taking once last glance at him she wondered what was on his mind, what he was thinking. She was just a member of all this, he was the leader, his trouble must of surpassed her own by galaxies.
He stood before the door even opened, walking out as soon as there was enough room for him to squeeze through. The man watched him leave, a look of bewilderment written on his face, she stood and walked out to follow after him.
"Wait! Wait up!"
Cloud stopped and she ran over to him, putting a hand on his arm to keep him from moving, "You're the one who asked if I wanted to go with you, yet here you are leaving me. That's certainly no way to be a gentleman," she teased.
Placing her hands on her hips she stared at him straight in the eyes, "So, now what? Are we just going to head back to the Ghost Hotel, or are we going to stay a little longer?"
Aerith turned away from him and looked over her shoulder, clueless to why she had suddenly become angry with him, "I don't know about you but I'm staying. With you or without you." Then she began to walk away.
A wave of panic overtook him.
The last time wasn't able to stop her from leaving almost put her life at stake. Now he had a chance to stop her. They were incognito; if anyone found her it couldn't mean anything good. He fell in step beside her and she smirked, Aerith knew he just couldn't let her wander around on her own, "So, like earlier, what do you want to do capp?" she asked, using the nickname Cid had given him. It was fitting, much better than choco-ass in her book.
"Whatever."
"No, I chose the first one so now it's your turn."
Well, he definitely didn't want to do anything they had done on their first date, that's for sure.
"Then the speed square?"
She winked and gave him a thumbs up, "Perfect."
-:-:-:-
"Next time you suggest the speed square…remind me to kill you…" she put her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened, a smile threatened to break out on his face but he pushed it aside to save her the embarrassment. Reaching out to her she took his hand and he pulled her out of the roller coaster car, her hand still over her mouth to hold back her lunch. Aerith closed her eyes and removed her hand, "I don't feel good."
"I figured."
She held onto his shirt to support herself, "Just get me out of here before I ruin their upholstery." With a nod he led her to the exit of the speed square. "I'm never doing that again…" she said pulling away from him to practice walking on her own without her knees giving out on her.
She sighed in relief when she felt her stomach ease up a bit and her legs carry her with no disturbances when, of course, she stumbled, her left knee turning into jelly.
"Ahh!"
She expected to fall to the ground but instead was pulled back up by the waist. Her world spun at the sudden movement and her stomach decided to twist into knots.
"Okay?"
"Yeah, I think so."
It wasn't until then that she realized that she was in his arms, his hands still firmly on her waist to keep her from falling again. A blush spread on her cheeks at just how close they were, her chest pressed against his, so close she could feel his heartbeat. She tried to move away again when she felt her knees wobble, "I take back what I said."
Aerith gasped as she was swept up into his arms, "Hey! Hey! Put me down!" He turned to her.
"You really think you can make it back to the hotel like that?"
She blushed and her eyes narrowed.
"But does it have to be like this?"
He shrugged, "It's a bit cliché but it's the only way I can think of."
She scoffed, "So you're just going to walk out into the crowd carrying me like this?"
"I've seen a lot worse things go on here than carrying a woman like this."
"Put me down."
He ignored her and continued on, "Look," she said, "If it has to be like this than take me to a bench or somewhere I can just rest a bit."
When she had said somewhere she can rest a bit she didn't mean all the way to the event square, the hotel was practically forty feet away! What was the point?
While the stares were embarrassing having the event square all to themselves was actually kind of fun.
"Why are you fighting for the planet Cloud?"
"Hm?"
She leaned against the back of one of the seats and rested her arm on the top cushion so she could hold her head in her palm.
"We're all fighting to save the planet but everyone has their own personal reason, what is yours?"
He leaned back in his own seat, pushing his back against the cushion of the leather so it would retreat with him, "…never gave it much thought."
Her eyes fell on her fingers as she pulled at a loose thread on the seat, "Barret is doing it for his daughter, Yuffie is doing it to…" she stopped, "…I actually don't know what Yuffie is doing it for, Tifa is doing it for your hometown, Vincent is doing it for redemption, Nanaki is doing it for his grandfather, Cid is doing it because he wants revenge on Shinra, well everyone does, but, never mind, Tseng is doing it because he wants to choose the right side, Zack is doing it to help me, I'm doing it because I'm the last Cetra…" She tilted her head to watch her other hand fiddle with the pocket on her pants, "What are you fighting for?"
He stared up at a particular spot on the dark ceiling as he folded his arms beneath his head, not knowing what to tell her.
Should he tell her his sole reason for fighting wasn't just one but many?
His hometown…
His Mother…
His best friend…
Her…
He knew there was probably so many more he wouldn't be able to count them all.
"…Because it's right…because I don't want to die 21…there's no straight answer."
She smiled, "It'll come to you."
Her expression turned despondent, "Sometimes I wonder if I'm really just in it because I'm a Cetra." She stood on shaky legs but was satisfied when she didn't collapse like before, "I feel as if…it's my destiny." Aerith turned to him, "do you get what I'm saying?" she asked, she truly didn't understand it herself. He nodded. "It's like," she spread her arms out, "there something so much bigger to it all!" Her eyes turned bright, "It feels like, my life wasn't lived for nothing."
Cloud looked at her, "…wasn't?"
What did she mean by 'wasn't'?
"It's really hard to explain. Forget I even said anything."
"That's going to be a little hard."
Aerith smiled, "maybe," she brought her hand up squeezing her pointer and her thumb close together, "just a tiny bit difficult."
There was a short silence.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered.
"For what?"
She walked away from him passing through all the rows of seats, "I'm probably boring you with all this."
He sat up and shook his head.
"You're not."
Aerith turned back to him with a disbelieving look on her face yet she still smiled, "Cloud. I'M boring MYSELF with this, how could you possibly convince me you're not either?"
"Because I'm not."
He stood, stuffing his hands in his pockets as soon as he was perfectly straight and walked over to where she stood near the stage.
"Okay, so you're 'not'," she said, moving her fingers as she said the word 'not', "I have another question for you then," she folded her arms across her chest, "why do you care?"
Yes.
The almighty question.
'Why did he care?'
"Why are you upset I'm concerned?" he rebutted
Her eyes softened and she sighed walking away from him again, "When you've been alone for as long as I have, you'd understand…" she whispered.
He followed after her and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, "But I'm here for you."
He wasn't going to hold back this time.
She was surprised but she didn't show it.
"Why?" she whispered, "Who am I to you that someone like you would care about someone like me as much as you do?"
Oh planet, he knew he was about to sound cheesy.
"Because I didn't about anyone, before I met you."
Yeah…he should have just let the rodents of the world eat his words then and there.
"That's not like you at all."
Ah, so she knew him that well already.
"How do you know what I'm like?"
JUST SIGN HIM UP FOR A SOAP OPERA ALREADY!
"I don't. That's what."
He bent his head down slightly as she spoke. Her eyes began to droop when he moved; she no longer had control of her facial muscles but continued to stop it before anything happened.
"So that's why…"
Their faces drew closer to each other, she tried to stop herself, she really did.
"We shouldn't…"
Her words were coming out as soft whispers now.
"We should stop this…"
His nose rubbed off of hers and their breath began to mingle together.
"Before we…"
His lips barely brushed hers and she suddenly felt like every bone in her body had disappeared. It never came. Something pounded against one of the walls in the far back and they pulled apart. Standing in the doorway to the theater was Zack, his fist punched through a hole in the wooden backdrop and a look of pure hatred burning in his eyes. From where they stood they couldn't see it, all they saw was his wild raven hair.
"Having fun?" he seethed.
Pulling his fist out of the backdrop he wiped splinters of his glove, "It's time to go Cloud."
"What?"
"You heard me."
Cloud turned to Aerith, "Are you still gonna be here?"
She looked away to hide her blush, "Yeah."
He sighed. He didn't want to leave her alone but his team probably needed him back at the hotel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the edge of stage was decorated with fresh red blooms, they looked like roses. Cloud reached out and snapped one off, holding it between his fingers he stared into the curled center before making his decision.
"Just be careful getting back."
Her face lit up and she looked up, just as she did he moved the rose out towards her. Her eyes widened in surprise, she never guessed he would have done something like that. Aerith took hold of the stem between her fingertips smiling when he did something else that left her dumbfounded.
He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.
"I'll see you later than."
Even as he walked away her eyes were still wide. Her hand traveled up to the spot where he had kissed her, not completely sure whether it had really happened or whether her mind was just playing games with her.
"Now Cloud!" Zack grated out.
He gave her a small smile before turning and making his way up the stairs, leaving her to stand in the middle of one of the theater aisles with a hand to her cheek like an idiot.
Aerith closed her eyes dreamily and touched the soft petals of the rose carefully. Like she was afraid it would crumble to pieces right before her eyes.
When the theater became still once again her eyes shot open and she gasped. She withdrew her hand from the rose and stared at it. As if it had turned into a tonberry and was pointing a knife at her, leaving her with no other place to run.
"Oh no," she groaned, taking a seat on the stage and hanging her head, "what have I done?"
A girl poked her head out from around the corner of the curtains. She was an actor from a different performance that had just come back to clean her dressing room out when she heard someone in the theater.
"Hey are you done in there?"
The girl turned sharply and shushed another woman who had walked in right after she did. The other woman stepped back.
"What? What'd I do?"
"SHHH!"
The other woman came up behind the girl, interested in what she was watching.
"Who is that?" she asked. The girl shook her head.
"I don't know."
The door to the dressing rooms opened and three more girls walked in, all chatting happily, the two women at the curtains eyes widened and they both turned around, hissing dangerously for the rest of them to shut up. The girl's all shut their mouths at the same time. Slowly they all became interested with what the other two were watching and filed behind the curtain watching a brown haired beauty hang her head in shame, a single red rose beside her.
Aerith sighed, her elbows on her knees and her chin resting on her palms.
"Why? Why does it have to be me?" she asked no one in particular.
She wasn't stupid; she knew Zack was head over heels for her. She also knew Tseng was infatuated with her as well, despite the large age difference between them. Tifa was in love with him yet…she had fallen in love with him as well. She had never noticed Cloud had even felt anything for her until ten minutes ago and now here she was, almost kissing him and gushing over a flower he had given her. He had always been watching out for her even though he barely knew her yet deep inside her she felt as if she had always known him, as if they'd met before she had woken up to see him at her bedside.
"You'd think a girl would learn…"
She pushed the rose a good distance away from her and looked the other way, letting her frustration and confusion out in the only way she knew how…
If there's a prize for rotten judgment
I guess I've already won that
She stood and her shoulders sank at the revelation.
No man is worth the aggravation
NO MAN is worth it, she was practically being eye-raped by Tseng, Zack "knew" he had a shot with her, and Cloud probably only wanted her because the other two did.
That's ancient history, been there, done that!
Out of nowhere the group of women jumped out from behind the curtains in perfect harmony, like it had all been planned out.
Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'
He's the Earth and heaven to you
Try to keep it hidden
Honey, we can see right through you
Girl, ya can't conceal it
We know how ya feel and
Who you're thinking of
Aerith jumped and watched the women, about to run when the girl who had seen her first grabbed her arm.
"Don't be shy! Just let your feelings out!"
Aerith blinked, "m-m-my fe-feelings?" she was completely terrified of these people. Her face became stern and she pulled her arm free, crossing it over her chest.
No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no
The girl narrowed her eyes and returned to her group.
You swoon, you sigh
why deny it, uh-oh
Aerith glared at the singers and turned her back on them.
It's too cliché
I won't say I'm in love
The lead girl growled and turned back to her group all of them following suit. This one was going to be a toughie. They all grew confident that they would make her realize she was making a mistake.
I thought my heart had learned its lesson
Aerith sang out as she walked through the aisles.
It feels so good when you start out
My head is screaming get a grip, girl
She pulled at her hair painfully tight.
Unless you're dying to cry your heart out
Oh
She spread her arms out as she cried her heart out, for the past she couldn't remember, for her friends, for the planet, and for Cloud.
Her eyes widened.
You keep on denying
Who you are and how you're feeling
Baby, we're not buying
Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling
Face it like a grown-up
When ya gonna own up
That ya got, got, got it bad
Aerith swiped her arms in an X motion, tears coming close to escaping her eyes.
WRONG: No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no
She ran down one of the aisles to the exit only to realize the door was closed. She turned the knob both ways trying desperately to open it but it was locked. Throwing herself against the door, she groaned when it wouldn't budge. Resting her back against the wall something caught her eye and she realized it was a Shinra released wanted poster of Cloud. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
She turned her head away from it to her left side only to see a wanted poster of Zack. Aerith then realized she was standing right between them and she blushed madly. Reaching over to Zack's she looked left then right and crumpled it up, then reaching over to Cloud's she stared at it for a while, an uncontrollable smile forming on her lips as she crumpled that one up as well. It would buy them more time and mean less people trying to hunt them down and turn them in.
Give up, give in
Check the grin you're in love
Aerith blushed when she realized the girls saw her smiling at Cloud's poster.
This scene won't play,
I won't say I'm in love
You're doin flips read our lips
You're in love
They all but shouted at her. She needed to realize being in love was a good thing not a bad thing!
You're way off base
I won't say it
Aerith sang as she shook her head violently to and fro.
Get off my case
I won't say it
She took a seat on the stage with really no other place to run since she was locked in. The girl's all crowded around her, one of them "accidentally" kicking the rose to slide across the stage and stop right next to her.
Girl, don't be proud
It's O.K. you're in love
Aerith couldn't take her eyes off the rose and carefully picking it up she smiled.
Oh
At least out loud,
She sang, and the girls all waited anxiously for what she was about to say. Hoping it meant what they thought it meant. Aerith stroked the petals of the rose softly and tenderly, singing from her heart and not her head.
I won't say I'm in love
The girls all squealed in joy, jumping up and down as Aerith held the rose close, and pressed it against her heart.
She was in love with Cloud Strife.
Another one shot for our fave couple!
Nothing belongs to me!
Things to look out for:
1. Aerith is alive
2. So is Zack
3. Tseng has joined the team to make up for his mistakes
4. Aerith lost her memory at the end of disk one and this takes place near the end of disk two
Hope you enjoy!