A little trouble
makes it worth the going
and a little rain
never hurt no one

-Tom Waits, 'A Little Rain'

Cloud watched Marlene as she went about curating her little garden, the one she had inherited from their departed friend. He was seated atop one of the collapsed pillars lining the church floor, minding Barret's daughter while the rest of the group went into town to pick up supplies for the coming week.

Looking at the young girl, he couldn't help but think that she had been imbued with some of Aerith's spirit. She resembled the late flower girl more by the day, though whether this was simply out of a desire to emulate a role model, or whether there was something more that lay behind this change, he could not tell.

Though she was not their child, she seemed to be taking after them both more and more as she grew up. This was no doubt in part due to her choice in apparel, which had changed considerably in the past few years. She had received the ribbon Aerith had once worn, of course, but in addition to this, she had come to favour sleeveless sweaters, not unlike his own, though a lighter shade of blue. This latter detail had eluded him until Tifa had pointed it out one night, during dinner.

He did not expect anyone to look up to him, and he hoped to keep her from the sort of things that he and his friends had been involved in, some of which he still found hard to believe had actually taken place. From their early days as a nascent group of eco-terrorists, to stateless pariahs, to being accepted at last as heroes of sorts, having been knocked about by fate for most of their days. From the fevered nightmares of madmen and the horrors unleashed by despots in their high castles, to the destruction wrought by eldritch monstrosities from beyond the stars.

He knew it would not be possible to preserve her innocence for ever, and her curiosity about the world was certainly too insatiable to keep her from any such knowledge for long. Still, he was content to watch over her and protect her for as long as he could. It was calming, even relaxing, and it gave him purpose, something he had lacked for so long.

Like the rest of his fellow Avalanche members, they had become part of a family. They were not bonded by blood, but through their trials and their sacrifices, their unity in the face of adversity had helped them to forge ties equally strong. It had been a hard rain, but there were brighter days ahead at last.

With Elmyra's passing, there was no-one left to tend to the humble slum church's flower patch, save for Marlene, and it was a task that she seemed to relish. She insisted on coming here daily to tend to the small garden. There had been a drought in Midgar lately, and there was no water to be had, so she needed to make regular trips there to keep the garden humid.

He didn't know much about gardening, but Marlene seemed to take to it quite easily. Indeed, she seemed to harbour a natural talent for it. After years of watching the world get torn apart by people bent on sacrificing every hard-won achievement for a momentary supremacy, watching her go about her work, building, growing and planting seeds for the future, gave him hope.

It seemed to be her way of keeping a promise she had made to Aerith. So he had heard, anyway. But the task did not seem to be a burden for her. If anything, she seemed most content when she was busying herself with the task, lost in her work.

Outside, the clock struck five, the tolls ringing from an old bell tower down the road.

"Aren't you getting finished?" Cloud asked. "You've been at it for hours."

"Still need to trim some of the lilies," Marlene replied. "They're not getting enough sunlight."

She sat on the ground, consulting the book that she carried everywhere with her, a horticulture encyclopedia borrowed from Vincent's library. She leafed through the sizeable tome's yellowed pages, meticulous about her work, as always.

"What's that?" Cloud asked, examining the drawing that currently occupied her attention.

"It's a red Middlemist," Marlene explained. "They don't grow anywhere anymore. Not even here."

"So... it's gone for good?" Cloud asked.

Marlene nodded, eyes fixed on the pages in front of her. There was a look of sadness on her face, but also one of resolve. He felt that he understood her fixation a little better now. She seemed determined to ensure the other plants and flowers growing in Aerith's garden would not befall the same fate. That was the reason she worked so hard to preserve this place.

"Anyway, we'll have to get back home, soon," Cloud reminded her. "The others will start to worry about us."

"I just need a few more minutes," Marlene said, looking up at him. "Please?"

"All right," Cloud said. "A few more minutes."

He reclined against the pillar again, folding his hands behind his head. Sitting in the soft patch of grass, he closed his eyes for a minute, enjoying the pleasant idleness of a moment's respite.

When he woke up again, some time later in the evening, the sun was no longer in the sky, and the interior of the church had grown dark. He realized that he had nodded off in the interim. Marlene was nowhere to be seen.

There was a brief moment of panic before he spotted her, lying in the garden, sleeping peacefully in its centre. Breathing a sigh of relief, he picked the young girl up, carrying her on his back as he wandered back home.

Inside the 7th Heaven, the others were gathered on the first floor, preparing for their annual get-together.

"Hey, look who's back," Reeve said, as Cloud walked in through the door, carrying a sleeping Marlene on his back, her arms draped around his shoulders as she dozed away.

"Glad to see you've finally found someone," Cid joked. "A little young for you, though, ain't she?"

"Shut up," Cloud replied. Though he did his best to maintain his serious disposition, the captain's remark elicited a chuckle from him.

Behind the bar, Vincent was helping Tifa out with stacking the shelves. At the other end of the room, Yuffie was up to her usual mischief, more endearing now than annoying. Endearing to most of them, at least. Barret was scolding the young ninja for some recent stunt of hers, by the look of it. Cloud shook his head as he watched the argument unfold, wondering what had set the man off. He hadn't seen Barret so up in arms about one of Yuffie's pranks since the time she had left a mousetrap on top of his alarm clock.

In all, it was heartening seeing the others there. It had been a long while since they had all gotten together like this, perhaps too long.

"What happened to Marlene?" Tifa asked.

"She fell asleep in the garden," Cloud explained.

"I see," Tifa replied. "Poor girl... she must be exhausted," she said, noting the mud-stained hems of her dress.

"Yeah, looks like she's out cold," Yuffie said.

"Can you put her to bed?" Tifa asked.

"Sure," Cloud said, shifting Marlene's weight on his back as he carried her upstairs.

He switched on the lights in Marlene's room, laying the young girl on her bed. Pressing a stuffed toy moogle, her favourite, into her hands, he then drew the bedcovers over her sleeping form. He noticed that her wrists were a little scuffed from her work, but there would be time to mend that later. Thinking that she was asleep, he walked back outside.

"Cloud?" Marlene's voice came, as he was heading out the door.

He paused in the doorway.

"Do you think she's watching over us?" she asked, sitting up in bed.

"I'm sure she is," he replied, walking back over to her bedside. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason.." Marlene said, looking away, gazing out the window.

"What's on your mind?" Cloud asked, taking the chair next to her bed.

"I was just thinking about the promise we made," Marlene said. "Before she left, she asked me to.."

"..look after her garden," Cloud said. "I know."

Marlene shook her head.

"She asked me to look after you," she said, looking up at him, eyeing him with concern.

"Me?" Cloud asked.

Marlene looked away again. "She said she was worried... that you might not make it."

"...I see," he said.

The thought occurred to him then that he was being watched over by her, protected by her, as much as she was by him.

Like Aerith, she was innocent, but not ignorant. Despite all that she had seen, the flower girl of the slums had retained an almost childlike hope for the future and faith in humanity. He, on the other hand, had been a cynic, one with every reason to be cynical. At first, he had almost been tempted to ascribe her convivial nature to mere naivety, but as he spent more time with her, he had learned that she was anything but naive. She knew all about the heartless and cruel conditions of the world, but she never once let despair weigh her down, or dampen her spirits. If anything, her innocence persisted in spite of these things. Hers had been an incandescent soul, a candle in the darkness, burning brightly... and extinguished all too soon. Even so, she had left him a parting gift, that of saving him from his own worst tendencies and thoughts.

"Cloud... what's wrong?" Marlene asked.

"..Nothing," Cloud said. He had been lost in reverie for a moment, when Marlene's voice drew him back to the present. He tried to think of something to lighten the somber mood of the evening, brought on by her revelation.

"Hey... would you like a story?" he asked.

Marlene nodded her assent, and he picked up a dog-eared volume of children's fables from her bookcase. He read her a story for about half an hour or so, reciting old legends about knights and dragons, replete with passages detailing acts of courage and villainy, discord and camaraderie. A few dozen pages later, the story concluded. She hugged him, and he bade her good night, before turning off the lights in her room.

Satisfied that she was asleep, he went back downstairs, joining the others for a nightcap. The real celebrations wouldn't begin until tomorrow, as most of them were weary from travelling. By midnight, most of them had retired to their own rooms for the evening.

As he walked back upstairs, heading for his own bedroom, he noticed that there was another figure inside the room, leaning over Marlene's sleeping form, caressing her forehead.

The spectral figure was only half opaque, and veiled in the dusk, but despite this, he recognized the pink dress, the amber braids..

"Aerith?"

The figure looked up, smiled at him. He stepped inside the room, but before he could discern whether it was merely a trick of the light, or something else, she had faded away. Outside, there came the rumble of distant thunder, followed by quick flashes of lightning, illuminating the shadows of the room for a brief moment. There was no-one there.

Perhaps his eyes had deceived him. It would certainly not be the first time they had done so.

Looking down at Marlene, he noticed that there was something affixed to her hair: a bud from a red Middlemist.

He smiled.

"Good night," he said, reaching down to caress Marlene's cheek, before leaving again, casting one last glance inside the room before going to bed. Drops of water trickled down the windows, the long period of drought having broken at last, leaving them to fall asleep to the soft sound of the pouring rain.

The End