Cali here: I wrote this on the 4th of July cuz we had thunder and lightning ALL day had no internet access due to the severe lightning so I had nothing else to do other than write. It's short but it's fluffy, I think.

Note: Cloud and Aerith are not "dating" in this… Yet. But as you can probably tell, I love fluff+Clourith so yeah it appears like they're doing this kind of stuff because they're dating… but in this, they haven't kissed yet xD Also, theme was summer. My sister said it'd be a cute idea for a fanfiction for Cloud x Aerith and I just HAD to write it. Also, done for Alan Bates 102 theme challenge. Theme taken "COLD"

I hope you enjoy it. :3

Hot was an understatement when used to describe Costa Del Sol's temperature that day. Even Red XIII chose to stay in as much shade as possible that day. Cloud and Aerith, however, tried to find a cheap hotel to stay in for the group. They walked the street of the tropical resort, Aerith nearly fainting from the heat after only 15 minutes of walking. Just then, Aerith spotted something.

"Look, Cloud!" Aerith pointed towards a small hut. Cloud looked to her face and saw a mixture of excitement, relief and happiness. Her eyes were wide-eyed as she moved close to the hut. Following directly behind her, Cloud saw that it was an ice-cream shop.

He couldn't lie, the thought of some cold ice cream on a day like today would be the perfect thing to have. He looked back at Aerith's face. Her eyes seemed to be begging him to allow it. He looked upon her features and saw her cheeks were red, beads of sweat dotting across her forehead. She wrapped her arms around Cloud's body, hugging him tightly. The sudden embrace caught Cloud by surprise and he felt the sudden need to swallow out of nervousness.

"Please, Cloud?" Aerith begged playfully, a wide grin spread on her face. AVALANCHE didn't have much money to just spend on anything that wasn't needed but… he was her bodyguard. His job was to protect her-whether that means protecting her from Shinra, attacking animals, or in this case, the scorching heat… At least, that was the excuse he used to cover up the fact that he just couldn't say no to her. Cloud looked back at Aerith then decided.

"All right, c'mon."

"Oh, thank you!" Aerith shouted happily as she hurried over to the ice-cream hut. By the time Cloud reached her, she already picked out the ice-cream she wanted.

"What kind do you want, Cloud?" Aerith buzzed.

He shrugged his shoulders; "I'm all right. Just get yours."

As much as Cloud would like one, they didn't have money for two (at least if someone really didn't need one).

Aerith sighed before she turned to the man at the shop and said; "That'll be two chocolates, please." Cloud fought a smile as he decided to just accept the ice-cream. They quickly paid for the cold sweets and the man handed them two chocolate ice-creams on vanilla cones. As they made their way from the shop, Aerith quickly began to lick at her ice-cream, the cold sensation almost numbing her tongue from the chill. Cloud immediately started to devour his own and the two already felt less effect from the heat.

Just as the two began to relax, a red ball shot towards Aerith, hitting her hand and knocking the ice-cream into her face, the frothy chocolate splattering against her upper lip and nose in a loud, wet thump. A gasp of surprise escaped Aerith as she pulled the ice-cream away from her face, whipping the chocolate off of her face. She saw a smile on Cloud's face and shot a playful glare at him, her eyes as if they were demanding him to stop smiling. But the more he looked at her and saw her face covered in ice cream the more he would smile at her. He wasn't laughing allowed, but the look in his usually stoic eyes showed Aerith he was cracking up inside.

"Ha-ha," Aerith mocked. "Thought that was pretty funny, didn't you bodyguard?" Aerith added, her eyes swirling with a mischievous idea.

Cloud nodded, not even trying to hide his smile; "I did, actually." He was practically grinning when he lifted the ice-cream to his mouth. But just as he was about to lick it, he felt Aerith's hand push the sweet treat into his face, the chocolate smudging across his nose.

He stared at her, their eyes locked for a few moments as realization of what she did sunk in. Had she been anyone else, this would have been when Cloud got annoyed or possibly angry. But with her, he didn't mind at all. In fact, he thought it was cute.

Before he could say even one word, Aerith moved closer to him, tip-toeing to reach his face as she leapt to playfully lick his nose, cleaning away any of the ice-cream that was there. She backed away quickly and saw a shocked expression across his face. Cloud froze as she looked up at him and he saw a shade of blush spread on her cheeks, a look of acceptance formed in her eyes as she realized what she just did in the spur of the moment. She looked at him and it almost brought him to his knees. She always played these sorts of flirty games with him, but doing something like this? It was definitely a first. Not like he minded. It was corny, Cloud thought. But he somehow didn't care at all. There was no denying her intentions now. And the growing look of shy affection swirling behind her emerald eyes only reassured Cloud of what he had been dreaming and thinking of doing since first meeting her.

Cloud fought a cocky smile as he moved closer to her, moving in for a long awaited kiss. And just as their mouths were about to touch, the red ball flew past them once more, interrupting the intimate moment. The bodyguard and the flower girl looked to their left and saw a few kids messing around and Cloud's face grew a bit annoyed as he narrowed his eyes on the group of kids, agitated by the sudden interruption. But when he heard a small fit of giggles from Aerith, he found his serious expression had vanished quicker than it appeared. He looked back at Aerith, his eyes darting across her sweet smile and eyes, and attempted to move in to capture her mouth in an embrace but the sound of Barret calling out to them interrupted the moment once more.

The two sighed and put a longer distance between their bodies. Shyly, trying to ignore the almost kiss they almost just shared. "We should go." Aerith murmured as she backed away from him, blush still painting her cheeks.

Cloud sighed and nodded even though he was reluctant to go, let down by not being able to finally kiss her once and for all. As he followed behind her he couldn't help but curse Barret under his breath, childishly. It's his fault, Cloud mumbled dreadfully.

...The end

Tah-dah! I hope you all enjoyed the overload of fluff! Cuz I tried to make this about as fluffy as a cloud! Cheers for the image of Aerith licking icecream off of Cloud's nose. 3