what's in a name?
That which we call a rose just by any other name would smell as sweet.
a- e- r- i- t- h
Each letter, each syllable seemed to roll with an unnatural grace, lingering in the air like the smell of a fresh batch of cookies, leaving people eager and wanting for more.
Her name was a name that many liked to say, a frequent word that rolled off the tongue of many more than thrice or twenty a day. It was unique, beautiful, different, memorable - just like her.
But oh, who could forget her beauty? Her existence burned itself into people's memories, and it wasn't like the men who saw her complained or the women hated her mere existence as they idolized her.
Each strand of auburn was precisely placed on her dainty little head as if it was made to be like a wig. Emerald gems continued to sparkle in paintings and pictures, withstanding the forces of age and dust. The radiance of her smile was envied by the sun whose rays could not have warmed people as much as the sight of her pearly white teeth encased by pink, knowing lips. Statues handcrafted by the ancient peoples cracked due to the lack of smooth porcelain that was her skin before it had decayed deep into the earth's core, and her sinful body, lithe and slim, drew eyes from both men and women as she walked with a natural sashay.
Though, her personality was another story - quite literally. Bold and daring, her confidence shown through as bright as a ray of light in a room of complete darkness as she lit the room with a mere laugh.
Many would listen to her lilting voice for hours as she talked with such exuberance about how she had traveled to every country on the planet or when one of the world's most powerful men had offered to leave his wife for her. Smart, funny, charming - she could make you believe every single word she said because, frankly, who wouldn't?
Every person she met was entranced, hypnotized by her mere existence.
She wasn't suppose to live on, right? She had died years ago, right?
But Aerith did live on after she had died.
How could she not?
X
Hurrying through the intermingling smells of overpriced perfume and cologne, the young, overworked woman dashed throughout the hotel running ridiculous errands for her current client. With the amount of stress and unnecessary manual labour she had acquired piling on her weary shoulders, she unintentionally bumped into the broad build of a taller man who had happened to block her path towards the elevator.
Shyly, she hesitantly asked if the man would forgive her for bumping into him and for spilling her thankfully lukewarm cup of coffee (that she had reluctantly gotten for Mr. Highwind after dreadfully finding out about the lack of her client's most beloved herbal tea) all over the stranger's overly expensive suit.
Picking up the foreign, seemingly important piles of paper on the floor (that had already created its own mini landfill at the man's feet!), she prepared herself for a harsh reprimand and hefty bill but was surprised to see an unreadable, depthless ocean instead.
The owner of the clear eyes grabbed the papers from her hand, the feel of his strong fingers leaving a blazing trail of something unfamiliar into her heart.
She saw his mouth open, but his words did not enter her ears as she stared at the mysterious man before her with doe eyes and an agape mouth. Her hand went up to move away a stray piece of a sun's ray that obscured her vision of still waters, but she stopped herself and instead spilled a pile of pollution she had always sputtered out of her mouth.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..."
She thought she saw the corner of his lip raise just a tiny bit before he took off his suit jacket to assess the damage of her drink, and she cowered in fear as she noticed how his suit was as soaked as a wet rag. Mr. Highwind would tell her ear off like how he did with his last assistant (Shannon? Bera? Shera?) constantly like a bad puppy - this, she was positively sure of.
"Would you mind having dinner with me?"
Moving from her mind back to reality, she froze as she realized the low, rumbling sound of a question was indeed asked by the man she had surely made a mess of just seconds before. His soft voice playing a song on loop in her ears, secretly, she wondered what her name would sound as it rolled smoothly down his tongue.
Lowering her eyes from his, she nervously placed a lock of chocolate behind her ear, her beloved pearl drop earring innocently dancing at every shake of her body.
"S-Surely, you must be mistaken, sir."
She internally cringed at the sound of her timid voice, and she yelled at herself for being so ridiculously weak in front of some stranger. She could at least pretend she was a different person!
Suddenly, a finger found its way under her chin, lightly pressing it upwards so that her eyes would meet his unwavering gaze again, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to look away this time because his eyes sucked her in like whirlpools.
"Well, I believe It's the least you can do, miss...?"
Slowly, she told him her name, and for once, real life was better than her imagination when the two syllables she had always heard her whole life was said in a way that made her knees weak and legs into jelly.
"Um, yes, of course. I would love to."
She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, hoping that it would be on the receiving end of her nerves. Despite the strange warmth she felt in the pit of her stomach, she hoped that his request for her companionship would end after dinner. She would not be able to endure the humiliation and embarrassment of her lower class status if he were to ask of anything from her further.
Plus, she wasn't sure about how many plausible excuses she would have to make up or how many few free days she would use up just to spend some time with a stranger (A... handsome stranger with the most brilliant pair of eyes that she had ever seen, the little girl who had always dreamed of a knight in shining armor reminded her).
With a hand, he helped her up, and the back of her mind noticed that she was right under his chin, causing her to nearly trip over her heels. She also noticed that the warmth that had encased her hand quickly removed itself and found shelter in deep, luxurious pockets.
"Great. Meet me down here at the lobby in two hours."
Surprisingly, he grabbed her hand and bent over to place a soft, lingering kiss, and she nearly fainted from such contact by a man who she could now freely admit to herself as attractive.
But before he could leave, a small piece of her screamed to be brave and adventurous for once in her life and so she used up the small amount of confidence that she had and did just that.
"Wait!"
And in a second, blue flooded her vision.
"What's your name?"
Scratching the nonexistent itch behind his neck, he simply said with a small smile before he left, "Call me Cloud."
Maybe she should find and buy Mr. Highwind a whole box of his preferred tea bags. It wouldn't be too hard, would it?
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a/n: This was originally supposed to be a super long oneshot, but eh! This was something I wrote in the summer but haven't done much to it. I have plans to possibly update this, which will probably be a threeshot at the most since I'm really bad with long fics, which is why a LOT of my works are oneshots. If any of my usual fans/readers are out there, I hope I didn't disappoint (for detailed updates, please check my bio)! Could you tell if my writing style changed? For new readers, what did you guys think? You all should know that you are free to criticize or acclaim, whatever you wish. By the way, I know Tifa is really weak sounding in here, but that's just the start. I'll have her punching and kicking once this picks up if I decide to make this a non priority multific.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading and possibly favoriting, following, alerting, and (most importantly) reviewing!
P.S. Brownie points to whoever guesses what book this is inspired by.