Disclaimer: I do not own Cloud or Aerith.
Author's Notes : Wowowow... Sorry for the super late update! I'm not dead yet. &I haven't forgotten about this! I just had a bad case of writer's block, and it took me awhile to get this going... :P Don't worry, I'll try not to delay this story so much and I'll try to write up more one-shots to support this ultra awesome couple:)
Well anyways, this chapter was hard one... :/ I didn't expect it to be long but it turned out to be around 5 pages in word. So anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope I haven't lost my regular reviewers. ;)
Chapter
4
finalfantasyvii
: cloudxaerith
-One
Special Day-
Evening
Aerith wiped her forehead of the small bead of sweat that formed from the high concentration on preparing the supplies for dinner. Her eyes slowly set themselves on the clock installed in the oven, reading the neon-green numbers:. 6:34 – oh wait.. 6:35.
She sighed deeply, casting her eyes onto Cloud's spiky hair that stuck out like a sore thumb from the sofa. The TV was on full blast, and Cloud's yelling didn't help at all to lower the volume. It was only three hours ago, that Aerith remembered that the house was quiet and the two of them were lying on the couch together, having a peaceful nap in each other's arms.
Another sigh escaped her lips and she felt a migraine coming but made no effort to cure it, instead she continued on with preparing the dinner.
She took out a pot and pan, turning two of the dials on the oven and setting the cooking pottery onto the heating element. From the sink, she poured a cup of water into the pan, watching as steam puffed up and sizzled in the heat. She turned the dial to medium and pulled out a cutting board, preparing to cut the vegetables.
Aerith jumped slightly in surprise when she saw Cloud sitting down at the table, reading the news. She didn't realize that all the noise was gone until she saw him, either her migraine kept her from noticing or it was her thoughts... Or maybe it was both. Cloud looked up to her with his gorgeous blue eyes, wondering why she jumped.
"Cloud, you startled me!" She mockingly glared at him and returned back to her vegetables. Cloud smirked and mumbled an apology. "Sorry..."
Instead of going back to the paper, he continued to stare at her, watching her cut the vegetables, slowly and steadily.
His mind jolted in surprise when he heard the knife clatter on the cutting board and heard Aerith whimper out in pain. He got off his chair and rushed up next to her, seeing her finger covered with blood. He cast a concerned look her way and rushed off out of the kitchen. Aerith watched him, appalled that he left and curled her lip up in anger.
A few seconds later, Cloud came back with that concerned look still on his face. He was holding something small in his hand and quickly rushed back to Aerith, stopping next to her. He grabbed her hand and inspected her finger before looking at her with a smile.
"It doesn't look so bad..." Aerith smiled at him, watching him wrap a band-aid around her bleeding finger. She winced slightly at how tight he had wrapped it but just smiled, not wanting to let him know.
A small smile continued to play on his lips as he finished wrapping the band-aid over her finger, he caught her gaze with his own and just stared lovingly towards her. Without taking his eyes off hers, he slowly brought her finger up to his face then brought his attention on to the finger, placing a gentle kiss on it.
He opened his eyes again, knowing that Aerith was gushing silently. He smiled teasingly at her and poked her nose before chuckling out loud.
"All better." Aerith crossed her eyes to look at the finger that poked at her nose, and then stared at him with a huge grin forming on her face. She stuck her tongue out at him and poked his nose in the same manner he did to her.
"Thanks." She planted a small kiss on his cheek before going back to her knife and vegetables.
The sound of chopping was heard again. Cloud watched as Aerith returned to her cutting and was slightly disappointed. He pouted somewhat and observed what Aerith was doing, noticing that there were a lot of vegetables waiting to be diced. He stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, resting his head on his right hand. He continued to observe her skills and spoke when she stopped, turning her head around to look at him.
"That's a lot of vegetables... Do you have to cut them all?" Aerith smiled, he knew nothing at all about cooking which made her laugh. She set the knife back onto the cutting board and turned around to face him, feeling his hands travel down her shoulders and grab her waist. Aerith giggled at his touch and replied.
"Ye-es... It's not a lot though..." She grabbed his hands on her waist and pulled them off, turning around to face the countertop. She looked over her shoulders and smiled flirtatiously. "You can help me cut them." Her eyes sparkled, hoping that he would agree to help but didn't force it upon him.
Cloud thought for awhile, and nodded causing a huge grin to spread across Aerith's face. He opened a drawer and pulled out a knife and took another cutting board from the wall it was hanging from. He placed the board a few inches away from hers and set the knife on the counter, looking at her questioningly.
Aerith pointed at the tomatoes in the bowl and grabbed a stick of carrot. She began to cut it, while Cloud grabbed a tomato and put it on the center of the board, clueless on how to cut it.
Does she want it in little cubes? Or slices...?
Cloud scratched the back of his head with his free hand while eyeing the tomato on the board that seemed like it was taunting him. He glared at it and held it steady, imitating Aerith beside him and slid the knife through the red fruit in to long slices. He saw the juices run down onto the board and looked at the perfectly cut tomato slice that was lying idly alone on the board.
He smiled with triumph and again, slid the knife through the tomato, watching as another slice fell on top of the other one. He continued that process until there was nothing left to slice. Cloud set the knife on to the board and looked over to Aerith, who had been watching him with an amused smile on her face.
She raised a brow in amusement and chuckled. "That's perfect, Cloud. Good job. Now you can do the rest." She smiled big at him and pointed at the three tomatoes still left in the bowl. Cloud's shoulders slumped and he groaned but it didn't last, as he pushed the slices aside and grabbed another tomato, smiling at Aerith before she went back to cutting the carrots.
Together the two cut the vegetables in silence. Aerith felt the migraine in her head pass away and she got used to the tightness of the band-aid around her finger. Her eyes set themselves upon her band-aid finger and she was reminded of how Cloud had aided her and she began to think back to when she had done the exact thing, but for Cloud.
----------------------------------------------------
Flashback /
Aerith was minding her own business upstairs as she was folding the laundry while tidying the room up at the same time. Her soft humming accompanied her while Cloud was doing a few chores downstairs. Aerith jumped in fright when she heard a loud howl come from downstairs and a line of curses. She set the t-shirt on the bed, and quickly ran downstairs to see what Cloud was yelling about.
Downstairs, Aerith saw Cloud kneeling down on the floor; he was mumbling something incoherently. She walked up to him and knelt down, grabbing his hand away from his face, where a finger was inside his mouth, and inspected the finger that was covered with blood.
She shook her head and stood up, leaving the room for a second then came back with a band-aid and tissue in her hand. Cloud watched her as she approached him and kept his eyes on her as she knelt down again, grabbing his hand in hers. He saw that beautiful smile gently caress her lips and couldn't help but smile himself.
Aerith wiped his finger clean, and wrapped the band-aid around his finger. Once that was done she looked at him with sincere eyes and gently placed a kiss on his finger. She saw his cheeks faintly glow with red and giggled, placing his hand on her lap and grabbed hold of one his cheeks before tugging at it teasingly.
"There! Allll better." She let his cheek go and patted his hand on her lap before standing up again, looking down at him. Cloud looked up at her then to his finger, then back to her. He smiled and stood up, grabbing her waist and pulled her into a small, sweet kiss. They pulled away from each other and shared a smile before Cloud bowed his head, thanking her.
"Thanks." Aerith nodded and slowly began walking upstairs, their eyes never left each other until she disappeared from behind the wall.
----------------------------------------------------
Aerith smiled at that memory, and placed a finger on her lips. She still remembered that kiss as it happened only a few days ago. Without knowing, a smile had placed itself on her lips and she had stopped cutting. She snapped out of her reverie and looked out the window, gasping out in astonishment. Wow...
Cloud was concentrating on slicing the last tomato, his brows were furrowed and he was biting his lower lip while sliding the knife in and out of the tomato. He was interrupted when he heard Aerith whisper out his name, catching his attention. He looked over to her and grunted. Her eyes were fixated on the window, or rather, what was outside the window. He brought his gaze to the window and gasped.
The sun was setting now and out their window, they could see the silhouette of the mountains and the sun peeking out before it said goodbye. The clouds were painted with calm hues of orange, red and yellow with specks of blue and purple. It was beautiful. Romantic. Absolutely breathtaking.
Cloud ripped his eyes off the window and onto Aerith, who was still captivated by the setting sun. He eyed her, before smiling with sly thoughts in his mind and nudged her on the arm with his elbow. As she turned to look at him, Cloud leaned in and pressed his nose on hers and nuzzled against it.
He caught a glimpse of her emerald eyes then it disappeared when he slid his eyes closed and closed the gap between their lips.
The knife clattered onto the board as Cloud had dropped it to grab hold of Aerith's waist. He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms securely around her and deepened the kiss. He felt her finger tangle between his locks, massaging his scalp which sent exciting shocks through his veins. Cloud began to push Aerith backwards as their kiss deepened but before they could fall to the ground, Aerith had opened her eyes and pushed the man off of her.
She saw the disappointment in Cloud's eyes but ignored it while smoothing out her dress.
"We should really finish making dinner..." Her voice was quiet, and her cheeks were slightly red. She avoided eye contact with Cloud and went back to the counter, picking up the knife and grabbing a stick of celery.
Cloud scratched his head and shrugged to himself before placing himself back next to Aerith and in front of the cutting board. He took a stick of celery and began chopping at it. With every chop he made, he tried to sneak a glance at Aerith.
By the time Aerith had grabbed her second stalk of celery, she peered to her right, where Cloud was standing next to her and felt a rush of happiness in her mind. She stopped chopping and grabbed the edges of the cutting board, pushing it closer to Cloud's. He watched as she inched closer to him, ceasing his cutting as well.
Cloud smiled warmly when he felt Aerith's head rest on his shoulder. He chuckled slightly, moved closer towards her, closing the small gap they had between their bodies. Aerith beamed, and looked out the window again, watching as birds were flying across the sky.
"The sunset's so beautiful..."
She admired it and was happy that she could see with Cloud by her side. Cloud nodded along with her, and smirked. "Yeah..." He looked down at Aerith, and smiled.
"It is."
A/N : Thanks to Beeria, SimpleNClean92, Foi, and Aeris1172 for the reviews:)
