It was raining.
The downpour was punishing the buildings it shrouded, and the people within sat motionless as the wind howled in the fading light. Blinds covered all the windows in the area – except one. This one had two people, a man and a girl, staring out of it, fixated on the heavy drizzle as if it were something foreign. Drops of rain slid down the window, and they both watched as each individual bead of water made its own journey to the bottom of the glass.
Although, the girl was more watching the man than the rain itself.
Blinking his eyes several times in utter fascination, the man pressed his palm against the face of the window, letting his finger follow the droplets down the backside. The girl watched him, although her hand remained stable at her side. But, if one were to have watched intently, they might have noticed her central finger twitch as if with the intentions of moving.
It was also quite the strange scene – as the adult showed more curiosity than the child.
"Cloud… What're you doing?" she asked.
After letting her dwell in her question for a few moments, he replied.
"Watching," He mumbled to the window.
"Watching?" She repeated softly.
He let the silence answer her.
Lightly drumming his fingers on the windowpane, his eyes diverted to the floor.
"What," Marlene's eyebrows furrowed in a curious manner, showing clearly the young curious child she was, "are you watching?"
Turning to face her with empty eyes, Marlene saw the reflection of the sky in his irises. They were cold and unfeeling, a look of longing etched in them, a longing for what could not be given.
"Marlene, could I borrow you for a second?" a woman's voice called from the other room, and the young girl complied with the request, after shooting a bewildered look at the blonde male.
"Coming..." He was so strange sometimes, she thought.
He watched her trot away, dress sliding across the floor with each step.
Returning to his weather show, he shifted from the window to the sky. The clouds were a dark gray, reflecting his mood in a cruel form, foreshadowing heavy rainfall for the rest of the day at least. If he watched close enough, he thought he could see them inching further and further away, and he felt his heart tugging for them to come closer.
Just come back… Don't leave…
Gaze slipping to the floor in melancholy, he abruptly noticed a pair of shoes that were not his standing upon it. Eyes widening in surprise, he cocked his head sideways to see a boy standing behind him, who had apparently been watching with him. For how long, he had no idea.
His knowledge of the other male's presence had no effect. After having been noticed, the situation remained unchanged – they both continued to stare out the window.
Denzel didn't know what they were watching, but something compelled him to continue with the intent gazing. After a few minutes passed, he interrogated Cloud.
"What are you watching?" he imitated the girl unintentionally.
The man just looked down at him, and said nothing. Looking back into the gloomy daylight, he knelt down to Denzel's height, at last giving in to the question.
He pointed to a large cloud in the sky; it was nearing the end of their line of sight. Starting in a circular shape, it curled out at the top, resembling some sort of shell one might find at a beach. It was easily the darkest of the bunch, taking on a more of a black abyss-like color rather than the dim shade of gray the others wore.
"That's Zack."
Then, moving his hand like an arch, he guided it in the direction of another cloud, directly adjacent to the first. It was much smaller, glistening a pale white, and the first seemed to be shadowing it.
And as he said it, he watched the last visible part of the clouds drift away, he realized something he had needed to for a long time, something the world had gone out of its way to tell him:
Just because something cannot be seen, doesn't mean it isn't there.
"And that's… Aerith." He said.
And made it simple.