Chapter 2: Sleepy Cloud

"Hey, Aerith?" Yuffie asked as she hopped down the stairs, only to find the older woman knitting in in the lounge room.

"Yes Yuffie?"

"…What are you doing?"

Aerith held up a knitting needle with a rectangular patch hanging off it, purple wool attached. "Making a blanket for Cloud. I thought he might get cold."

"Oh… hey! Can I make him a set of pyjamas? Pleeease?"

"Sure! That's a great idea. We'll need measurements though…"

"I'll go get him!" Yuffie dashed up the stairs and into her room as Aerith went back to her knitting. She bounced down the stairs a few minutes later, Cloudless.

"Where's Cloud?" Aerith asked, mildly confused.

"He's asleep… but I found another doll that might work. They're practically the same body wise." Yuffie held up one of her Ken dolls and Aerith giggled.

"Alright, come over here." The brunette woman gave a gesture with the command and began putting her knitting things away. The ninja bounced over and peered over Aerith's shoulder as she went rummaging through her sewing bag. "Well… this is the only material I have left unfortunately." She pulled out some cotton material with lots of little pink, green and blue stars all over a nearly black background.

"Perfect!" Yuffie cheered. "Cloud will love them!"

Aerith smiled and nodded, pulling out a measuring tape and a notebook. "Pass me that Ken doll and I'll get you started."

Yuffie did as she was told and sat down to watch as Aerith got to work.

Cloud's eyes flickered open blearily as he gazed at the ceiling above him. Confused and alert, he sat up and looked around the strange room he'd found himself in. Why was he…? Oh… right. He'd been shrunk by that damn Rouge heartless. The spell obviously hadn't worn off yet as he was currently in Yuffie's doll house.

Memories returned and Cloud got up and made his way downstairs. He opened the front door to the doll house, closed it behind him and began making his way across Yuffie's carpet. It was when he nearly reached the half closed wooden door that his senses started prickling. Edging his way out slowly to warily look around, Cloud got the unmistakable feeling that he was forgetting something; something very important.

Checking his surroundings very carefully once more, he crept out of the safety of the wooden frame and began making his way down the semi-familiar hallway and towards the stairs.

Dropping down them, Cloud heard voices coming from the lounge room and paused to listen.

"Ow… Aerith! I keep pricking myself on the pins!"

There was a sigh and the sound of movement. "That's because you're holding the material wrong. Here, let me show you." There was a short pause. "Like that, see?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! Thanks Aerith." Yuffie bounced across the floor boards and there was silence again.

Cloud began dropping down the stairs again and was about five stairs from the bottom when he heard a "meow?"

Freezing, Cloud turned to look up at the top of the stairs and froze. Damnit, that was what he'd forgotten. "Patch…"

The cat's ears perked up in interest as he stared at Cloud and his tail began twitching. Our shrunken blond began backing towards the railing and as he reached it, Patch darted for him with an excited yowl as Cloud jumped from the fifth step through the banister to the floor and made a mad dash for the lounge room. "Aerith~!" he wailed as he sprinted towards the pink clad woman sitting in the arm chair, Patch hot on his heels. Jumping, he flew onto Aerith's lap, the cat not far behind him and then dived off a surprised Aerith's lap into the space between the back of the couch and the cushion.

"Ouch! Patch! That hurts!" Aerith stood up quickly and sent Patch tumbling off her lap and onto the floor. "Bad cat! Out!" she scolded and pointed at the door and stared down at him firmly. Patch slowly slunk out of the room and once he was out of sight, Aerith turned to Cloud in a fluster and reached for him. "My goodness Cloud, are you alright?"

Cloud, shaking and panting slightly from the sprint and adrenaline rush, crawled out of his hidey hole, nodding. "Yeah, thanks."

"I'm so sorry Cloud. I thought he was outside."

"Don't worry about it. Where's Yuffie? I thought I heard her earlier," Cloud commented, peering around the older woman as best he could.

"You heard her alright. She's in the other room using my sewing machine," Aerith sighed.

Cloud gave her a confused look. "Why is Yuffie using your sewing machine?"

"She's making you something."

The blond cringed. "Should I be worried?"

Aerith smiled reassuringly. "No, she's not doing too badly for her first time."

Cloud laughed nervously.

"Shall we go check on her?" Aerith asked sweetly and before Cloud could respond she scooped him up in her hands and began walking across the room. "Yuffie, are you done yet?" Aerith called as she knocked on the closed door.

"Almost. Just give me a second." There was a small pause. "Done!" the door opened and Cloud was suddenly face to face with a grinning Yuffie. "Oh, Cloud! You're up!"

Said blond winced at the loud volume of the younger girl's voice. "Yes, I am."

"Look at what I made you." She held up a matching top and pants.

Cloud blinked at them. "Um…"

Aerith laughed lightly. "Come on, we'll put you down so you can try them on." She walked over to the large wooden table in the lounge room and put the blond down on the hard surface.

Yuffie put the clothes down in front of him and Cloud got a good look at what they were. The clothes were pyjamas. They were long sleeved seeing as it was winter and cold in recent days and the material was covered in stars and on a black background. The thing that made Cloud cringe though was not the jagged sewing around the cuffs and hems, but the two large buttons that were on the front. The buttons fitted snugly into his palms they were that big. "They were the smallest buttons I could find in Aerith's collection. I hope they're alright."

Cloud smiled at up his hyperactive friend. "They're great Yuffie. Thank you."

She smiled back. "You're welcome. Try them on! I wanna see how they look."

Sighing, Cloud pulled his shirt off and put the pyjama top on. It was a bit big around the torso and the sleeves were a little long but it was comfortable. Turning to the pants, he pulled his black ones down to reveal his boxers and quickly pulled the pyjama bottoms on. They hung loosely around his hips and the pant legs were enormous.

Yuffie laughed nervously. "I think they need some adjustments."

Cloud looked up at the two females critically. "What did you use to get measurements?"

"Uh…" The ninja scratched the back of her head. "My Ken doll?"

The blond sighed heavily. "Great. I'm the same size as a Barbie doll."

"Smaller actually," Yuffie corrected.

Cloud glared at her. "Not helping."

"Well it's true. Ken's twelve inches and you're only eight."

Aerith laughed as Cloud scowled and crossed his arms grumpily. It's alright Cloud. Come on, we'll make adjustments for you." She walked over to her sewing basket and pulled out some pins and a measuring tape. Sighing, Cloud allowed himself to be subjected to tugging, rolling and sharp pokey pins.

Halfway through this, the front door opened and shut. "Don't let the cat in!" Aerith called out loudly.

"Too late!" Cid called back roughly.

"Go catch him will you Yuffie?" she asked gently and the ninja grinned and bounced off.

She passed Cid in the doorway and he watched her curiously as she ran down the hall. "Do we know where Cloud is? I found his sword lying in the Bailey."

"Look on the table!" Yuffie called back with a giggle. "Here Patch… that's it. Good boy. Come on… Argh!" there was suddenly a very loud crash from the kitchen as pots and pans suddenly went tumbling to the ground.

Aerith sighed as Cid shook his head in mild amusement before turning his attention to the table. "Whatever. Now, where's Clou…" he trailed off as he caught sight of the small fighter standing on the table. Blinking twice, he rubbed both his eyes and looked again. Pinching himself he swore quietly under his breath. "What happened?" the engineer asked finally.

The healer giggled lightly and recited what Cloud had told them with the occasional interruption from Yuffie as she attempted to catch Patch. By the end of the short story Cid was looking stumped.

"Where the hell is that damn bandicoot when you need him?" Cid grumbled. "Away on a bloody wizards' conference, that's where."

"Well we can't do much about it anyway until he gets back or the spell wears off of its own accord, so there's no point complaining." Aerith sighed and picked up Cloud's normal clothes. "I'll wash your whoa!" she dropped the black clothes that were suddenly back to their normal size in her hands. "Uh…"

Cloud groaned. "Great. Now all I have left are my pyjamas to wear."

"You can always wear some of my Ken clothes for the time being," Yuffie offered from the hallway as she passed.

"No thanks, I'll pass," the blond mumbled.

"Okay. Don't say I didn't offer." The ninja walked out of the room and Cid chuckled.

"Well, look at the good side. At least your voice didn't turn into one of those high pitched voices."

Cloud cringed at the image. "Yeah… I agree."

"Alright, take those pyjamas off and I'll fix them for you," Aerith commanded. The blond complied, despite Cid's snickers and disappeared into Aerith's sewing room with her. She quickly stitched the clothes to fit him and handed them back. "There you go."

"Thanks Aerith," he mumbled as he put them back on.

"Oh, they're done?" Yuffie asked as she popped her head inside the door. Aerith nodded with a smile and Yuffie bounced into the room with her camber. "Photo time!"

Cloud groaned. "Oh please no."

Aerith sighed. "Just let her Cloud. She did mostly make them for you."

The blond hesitated, eyes narrowed at the ninja girl before finally sighing and agreeing. "…Alright."

"Yay! Thanks Cloud!" Three pictures were snapped in bright flashes of light and the next thing Cloud knew, Yuffie was gone, minus the puff of ninja smoke.

"It would be nice if she didn't blind me," Cloud grumbled while trying to blink the white spots out of his vision and Aerith laughed.

"Come on. I'll leave you with Cid while I do some washing." She picked him up carefully and carted the blond out to the lounge room. "Look after him for me will you?" Aerith asked the older man sweetly and placed Cloud on his knee. "Thanks Cid."

Cloud and Cid looked at one another. "So… what now?" The gruff man asked after a while.

Cloud drew in a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "What now indeed."

It's me again. I made my Cloud doll pyjamas! Aren't they cute? He looks so adorable in them! I can't wait to dress him up more tomorrow. I'll have to go find my doll clothes that I stashed somewhere… I'll go do that now before I forget. Later peeps!

Greatestninjaever~!

For those of you that are confused, the spell Cloud was hit with in the Prelude made him shrink 5 feet and the font that looks like this is Yuffie's blog posts.

Thanks for reading!