All for You
Cloud knew he might as well of held a big neon sign above his head declaring his love for the flower girl because, if he was being honest, he knew he wasn't being very subtle about it at all. In fact, he often caught Yuffie and Barret throwing amused smirks his way every time he had a conversation with Aerith. And if Yuffie had figured out his feelings, then he knew he must have being making them blatantly obvious.
He was aware of what he was doing as well. He knew he smiled whenever Aerith emerged from her tent in the mornings. Her very presence sent warmth through his body and often he would stare at her, watching her every movement intently. It came as little surprise that everyone had figured out that he was interested in her. He was sure Aerith herself was fully aware of the fact he became a blushing, incompetent fool whenever she smiled or spoke cheerfully to him. He had tried to stop his emotions getting the better of him but after a while, he gave up and found that he actually liked the feelings. They were special, something he had never experienced before.
They were all for her.
He had thought about telling her how he felt but he always chickened out at the last moment. The way she would look so intently at him with those beautiful eyes of hers when he tried to find the words was rather distracting.
He had tried to show his feelings without words. He would always check on her before going to his own tent. He would check on her, and only her. But he was sure she only thought that it was because he had agreed to be her bodyguard than because he loved her. He would hand her his blanket whenever she was cold, he would throw himself in front of her whenever a fiend tried to attack her. But he knew he wasn't doing anything more than a normal bodyguard would do.
"Cloud?"
He turned at the sound of her voice saying his name so delicately. She had her hands clasped behind her back in the innocent manner of hers and she tilted her head to the side to study him.
"Hey," he greeted lamely, a hand running through his hair. She smiled and brought her hands in front of her to show she was holding a beautiful bouquet of a range of flowers, all brightly coloured. She outstretched her hand as an indication that he should take them.
"All for you," she said brightly. "I thought they would cheer you up, you always look so sad," she added with a smile. Cloud took them, examining them closely before looking up into her eyes.
"Thank you."
She nodded and began to walk away. Cloud was not sure why, in that moment, his courage returned to him as he called her name. She turned to face him, clasping her hands on her waist and staring intently at him as she always did. This time though, he didn't falter.
"I love you."
To his surprise, she laughed and shook her head. Cloud was about to ask what was so funny when she spoke. "I thought you'd never admit it."
"You knew?" he cried, his cheeks burning although he could not say he was surprised. Still, he wondered why she had not said anything if she had known all along. As if reading his mind, she spoke again.
"I wanted to hear you say it, to be sure," she explained, looking down at her hands as she stepped closer. "Before I admitted it myself," she added in barely a whisper. His eyes widened. She loved him?
"You…" he began but he was silenced as her lips gently pressed against his own. Immediately, Cloud closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.
From the campfire, the group could see the two lovers kissing tenderly and they couldn't help but smile. Cloud and Aeris looked the very picture of love, standing in each other's arms under the moonlit sky.