Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of the mentioned characters.

This fic will contain around 10 chapters and the first few chapters are thick with fluff, but no worries non-fluff lovers, the fluff will eventually subside as the story progresses. Cloud is just overwhelmed with emotions at the start because of the excitement of being reunited with Aeris.

This chapter is fluff spelled in different ways. If you don't like fluff, click the back button somewhere up there. This fic is inspired by one of Lyaka's works where one character found a way to go back through time and try to change his fate with the knowledge of the future.

I hope you'll enjoy reading this fic. And I sure do hope you'll leave a review afterwards.


CLOCK

Chapter 1: Church

I am holding on to a scrap of metal now, holding on for dear life. This is where it all starts, right? This is where my foolish dreams end and where my life begins.

The Airbuster has exploded and I have fallen through the crack. I find no point in holding on because I'd eventually come cascading down. I know. Of course, I know. I've been through this before. I've gone through every little detail. This is where our paths cross.

"Stop talkin' like this is the end!" I tell Barret. I wonder if this is what I told him before. It had been a long time yet I'm here again, holding on, waiting to fall.

This is not the end. This is the beginning.

My hand slips. I'm falling, I'm falling now. But I'm not afraid. I'll fall right into you, won't I? You'd be there to wake me up. I know how it will go. I've been here almost three years ago.

My eyes flutter closed and I dream of you. Will you smile at me like you did before? How I wish you would. Will you ask me to protect you? I'll do a better job this time. Exactly one date, right? Maybe I'd ask for two.

I wait patiently for I know when I wake it's you I'll see. Had I known there is a way, I would have done this long ago. And I would have smiled a lot more.

"Oh! He moved!"

Is that you, Aeris?

Is that really you?

I hear your voice and my heart pounds violently against my chest. I debate whether I should tell you of tomorrow and the days after that. Should I tell you that you'd love me but die in my arms? Should I tell you that I care just as much, or perhaps even more, that's why I'm back, defying the sacred laws of time just to be with you?

"Hello?"

Just wait, Aeris. I'll open my eyes and we'll be together from now on.

"Hello!"

I open my eyes and there you are, kneeling beside me with that worried look on your face. Your green eyes lock with mine and I have to fight the urge to pull you down and brush your lips to mine.

So, we meet again…

"You okay?" you ask.

Of course I am. Now, I am. I've been ill before, you see. But that's all in the past. No, that is all in the future. It would just never be the same without you. But you're here now and so am I and everything will be alright.

You stand and I sit up. I want to pull you next to me but I know I can't do that. For right now I am just a stranger who crashed into your flowerbed, not yet the man you love. For right now you are just a mere flower girl from the slums, not yet the woman I desperately love.

For you this is all just an accident but for me this is fate. For me, this is life. My clearest memory of you. My second chance.

I'll do it right. This time…

"This is a church in the Sector 5 slums. You suddenly fell on top of me. You really gave me quite a scare." You say with a hint of laughter in your voice.

I should say I'm sorry, but I'm really not. I'll climb up and fall down all over again if I need to just so you'll walk away from this church with me. And you've got every reason to be scared, Aeris. This is where our fate starts to change. And I'm scared just as much.

"...I came crashing down?" I ask.

Of course I know that. I know the answer but I ask it anyway. This is how this meeting is supposed to go.

"The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."

I nod. You have no idea how true your words are and will be. You have no idea that you'll save me and the rest of the planet. You do not know yet about AVALANCHE and the many friends we'll meet along the way. You do not know about the confused man you'll ask to be your bodyguard who will fail you in the end. But I promise I'll do better now. I'm not that broken anymore. Ask me to guard you again and I'll protect you with my life.

Ask me once and I'll love you forever and a day.

I stand up and brush myself. You scan my profile again and I inwardly smile. Take a good look, Aeris, you're going to be stuck with me for a long time.

"This flower bed, it's yours, right?" It is a statement more than a question. My voice is just a bit louder than a whisper. "Resilient flowers. They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar but they have no trouble blooming here." I recite your line from my heart's memory. How can I ever forget my beloved's words?

I steal your lines and you look at me strangely. There is something in the way your mouth opens that looks so inviting. I wonder why I didn't kiss those lips before.

You look a bit wary and very much confused. "I love it here…"

And I love you. But you're not supposed to know that. Not yet.

I loved you then but realized it too late. I won't make the same mistake, you see, for now I know love when I feel it. I know it in the way my heart beats, in the way I want to see your smile, in the way I came back just to be with you.

In time, I will tell you. I'll tell you when you realize you love me too.

"Do I…Do I know you…from before?" you ask, trying to piece everything together.

I'm sorry. It is all my fault that we have stirred from the script. You're not supposed to be the confused one here. You're supposed to feel everything I could not say; see that there is someone else behind my act. You saw a man struggling behind Zack before, but I'm different now.

Tell me, Aeris, what do you see now?

I shake my head. "No. But we've met before. Don't you remember me?" I lead us back to our original conversation. You are the one who is supposed to ask me that, but it doesn't matter as long as it gets said. Just like it doesn't matter that I neither know how or why you make me feel this way.

"You bought a flower," you smile and, shyly, I do too. "You remembered. Thanks for buying my flowers."

And we're back to how it went. You talk about your materia and tell me your name. I tell you my name is Cloud and that I'm a jack of all trades. You're laughing now and all the while all I can think about is the future ahead of us.

I have a lot planned out for us, Aeris. I'll do what I can to make it work. You do not need to search for me this time for I'll show you who I am. I'll meet you the way you wanted to meet me. I'll show you the world like you've never seen it before.

And I'll make you promise never to go anywhere by yourself. I'll tie your arm to mine if I have to. You'll live past the lifetime you are bound to have, Aeris. I'll do whatever is in my power to make sure of that.

Then you're going to be the hero of this story, and I'll be by your side.

"Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? You DO do everything, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." I nod.

"Then, get me out of here. Take me home."

I'll take you home then we'll save the world. Together. And someday I'll take you home with me. I'll kiss you senseless at night and you'll take me in your arms. I'll come home to a lovely little home and find you waiting with open arms.

You're going to marry me someday, Aeris Gainsborough. Just you wait.

"OK, I'll do it... but it'll cost you."

You could say you'll love me and I'll do everything you ask.

"Well then, let's see..." You think for a couple of seconds and I wait for the answer I know would come. "How about if I go out with you once?"

I nod. I wonder why I agreed the first time. Could it have been your irresistible charm? You make me breathless by just breathing, Aeris. I wonder if you're aware of that.

I take your hand and you look at me with confused eyes. "Let's go then," I tell you with a smile as if I'm not doing anything strange at all. One day, Aeris, you'll understand that this is how it is supposed to go. You look hesitant for a moment and you almost take your hand off. You see the shadows move and you hold on tighter. The shadows are after you but they're not the ones that you should fear. I call out your name and you look at me with eyes of beautiful green. You nod and with a tug at your hand, I walk you home.

We're going to have a lifetime, Aeris. Then after that we'll have forever.

A Cetra and her bodyguard. We're going to do just fine.


Cloud seemed a lot more confident here, well that's only because he is still hopeful and excited about the idea of changing everything. And after all, he had plenty of time to think and assess what he had done wrong and plan ahead. I hope you enjoyed reading it and don't forget to leave a review.