Drabble #33: Jewel
Summary:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. Characters and places belong to SquareEnix
"Wow!"
Yuffie's excited cry caught the attention of the group as they lay by the fire, worn out by the day's travelling and fighting. Aeris tilted her head so that she could see the ninja, who was not too far from the rest.
"What is it? Materia?" she asked.
"No!" Yuffie replied excitedly, running over to the group and opening up her palm to reveal a large green, sparkling jewel. Aeris blinked and sat up, placing her hand under Yuffie's as she took a better look.
"It's a piece of emerald," she breathed in astonishment, glancing up to see Yuffie's chuffed expression as she pocketed the small jewel. Cloud raised an eyebrow as he watched the young ninja bound happily to her tent, giggling as if she had gone mad. Beside him, Nanaki stretched and yawned before dismissing himself to go to his tent, closely followed by Barret and Cid.
Before they knew it, Cloud and Aeris were the only ones left, staring intently at the dancing flames of the campfire before them. Cloud occasionally glanced at Aeris but blushed every time he realised his glance had become a stare. Feeling eyes on her, Aeris glanced up but Cloud had already averted his eyes away from her. She smirked a little and scooted closer to him, watching the way his cheeks turned a little pink from the action.
"What do you think of the emerald Yuffie found then?" she asked.
"I didn't really see it," he replied.
"Still, emeralds are jewels. They're precious things," she argued. Cloud shrugged.
"There are more precious things than jewels." he whispered, finding himself looking up at Aeris as he said the words. A beautiful smile crept across the Cetra's face as she scooted closer to the leader.
"Like what?" she asked playfully.
Cloud gave a half-smile as he turned to face her, moving his face forward so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek, causing them to flush.
"Like you," he replied in a soft tone. She smiled, leaning her head towards his.
"Correct answer," she teased before feeling his lips press gently against hers.