The Wutai princess was as good as her word; she slipped them both out of the palace, through the streets and to somewhere far more interesting. Interesting in this context meant a place that served drinks and lacked most of social graces found in the court. As such, Rinoa Heartilly (a carefully considered cover for her real name) was now rubbing shoulders - and other body parts - with a mass of others in a run-down club out in the city where the air was warm, full of perfume, deodorant, sweat, fake smoke and alcohol.

Everyone was drinking, dancing, embracing without a care in the world as music reverberated the air. No clue on the colour of the walls beneath the shifting sequences of tinted lights as they pulsed in time with the music. The carpets were sticky in places and the dancefloor stained with fallen drinks.

The whole experience was exhilarating; so different to the stuffy formality and carefully measured responses in speech and body-language demanded of her during the day. No dry discussions of possible suitors and no infuriating small talk. No layers of tedious build-up to ask simple (if important) questions. Not much talk here at all really; conversation consisted of raised voices close to someone else's ear. Few of those looked like meaningful conversation and more like preludes to heavy petting.

This - all of this - suited her. Nothing like the palace. Here the drinks were all cheap spirits in plastic glasses mixed with even cheaper non-alcoholic beverages; a stark contrast to the crystal decanters whose contents she sampled in sneaky sips when there was no one to catch her at the liquor cabinet. Here people dressed to accentuate the shape of their bodies, to draw attention to them. No one in the palace would ever let her wear something with a skirt so short or a neckline cut so low. Or let her have her hair loose like this. Or paint her lips so red.

Life in the palace was usually so regimented, controlled and run to someone else's notion of what perfection was. Thus Aeris Gainsborough would never come to somewhere like this. Nor had she; instead a woman named Rinoa Heartilly drank and danced the night away.

The evening wore on agreeably, the music booming, the song lyrics incomprehensible and unimportant. In between the drinking and the dancing came a certain amount of fending off attentions from overly sweaty men. Yuffie helped out with that too. Well, Shake; Yuffie's own alias for this escapade. How many times had she done this before? Yuffie was well-versed in navigating the space.

Aeris met a few gazes and shot the odd grin back. Perhaps later she could take someone other than Yuffie to the dance floor and see what that might lead to. There were a good number of attractive men and women here. Still a few too many men who leered and followed her every movement (she was now a shade anxious about leaning over too far. Aeris tugged at her skirt periodically after catching some decidedly intent gazes directed below her waist. Little she could do about the attention they gave her chest), but she could ignore them in favor of the others who caught her eye. Aeris was considering sauntering over to a girl by one of the many bars when someone interesting walked in the front door.

Prince Cloud. Amongst her many possible suitors, he was the least objectionable choice. If she had to marry a prince - if she had to marry at all - she would at least not object to winding up with him. Perhaps he was perfectly pleasant and polite. A safe, dependable spouse. And perhaps that would hold an appeal at some point. But like so much else in her life, it was the inevitability and the lack of choice that rankled.

Cloud remained a possible husband but from her parent's recent discussions he was nowhere close to the favorite among the many contenders. The discovery of his presence here was unlikely to do him any favors in that regard either. Why had he also come here? Was he as bored with life in the court as she and Yuffie?

His attempt at subterfuge seemed more along the lines of a double-bluff than her own; no one would assume the man with the absurd blond spiky (briefly orange as he passed under one of the coloured lights) hair could possibly be Prince Cloud - despite the lack of any other disguise elements.

Aside from the hair, his outfit drew little attention; light-coloured shirt, dark trousers. A near identical outfit to every other man in this place. If not for the hair he would blend right in. Beside him was the grizzled chief engineer of the Nibel kingdom; the pilot of the royal airship. She never had caught his name despite the man's reputation as the one of the finest in his field. Like Yuffie with her, chances were he was Cloud's ticket here.

She relayed her discovery to Yuffie as she kept an eye on the prince. Cloud was stood a little stiffly beside the bar, his hands gingerly tapping at those spikes in odd, unguarded moments while the engineer seemed to be ordering drinks. Yuffie caught Aeris's arm as she made a move towards the pair. "Ae- Rinoa." She glanced around. As if anyone could really eavesdrop in the cacophony of music and movement. "You're going to get caught."

For a moment Aeris paused; Yuffie had done this some unknown number of times without detection. She could play it safe and steer clear of the prince. But where was the fun in that? Aeris pulled her arm free from her companion's grasp. "I'll be fine. If either of them knew who I was then his guardian-" She nodded at the pilot. "-would have gotten him out of here. No sense risking a scandal."

"Look who's talking." Yuffie stared at her for a moment and Aeris held her gaze as she took a step back. "You're not going to give up are you?" Aeris shook her head and Yuffie sighed, more seen than heard over the music. She said something that sounded like 'tempting fate' with a glance over to the bar.

"You brought me here to have fun. I'm going to enjoy myself," Aeris said drawing closer again to Yuffie who frowned. Aeris repeated herself as she glanced towards the prince; he was still there. "It's not like we've even met before. Okay? He won't have any idea who I am. And-" She grinned. "Who would expect the princess to be in a place like this?"

"Who'd expect the prince?" Yuffie shouted back. "What happens if you do end up engaged to him after tonight?" Aeris shrugged and backed away; something to deal with if it ever happened. Yuffie threw up her hand in defeat; Aeris shot her another grin and walked towards the bar. Cloud's guardian murmured something to him and headed away. Perfect opportunity.

Aeris acted as casual as possible and leant on the bar beside Cloud. Not a moment too soon; others in the club had already begun peering at him appreciatively. She smiled, toying with a stray ringlet of hair when he looked at her. Another smile when he looked back a second time; her fingers lingered on the black choker at her throat. This time Cloud returned her smile. She straightened up and brought her lips to his ear. "Buy me a drink?"

Cloud nodded. "Sure. What are you having?"

She shrugged. "Same as you?"

Cloud - or rather Squall Leonhart (seriously?) - was unexpectedly easy to talk to. Even with the added detriment of the pulsing music and the prying eyes of the strangers all around them. His cover was about as good as hers; no real mistakes in his speech, no confusions or mistakes with his assumed name. Like her, he spun his own fake life and insinuated a regular attendance at this club.

They shared a round of drinks and then another; Aeris toyed with the stem of her wine glass in between sips. Maybe he thought she did not notice the moments his gaze slid from her eyes to her chest. Maybe he thought it sheer coincidence that she leant a bit lower while resting on the bar. She insisted on buying the next round and once they both drained their glasses suggested moving to the dance floor.

The suggestion provoked a touch of hesitance from Cloud but she took his hand and did not let go. "It'll be fun," she said, and guided him into the crowd as the next song began. He might not be the best dancer but he was far from the worst. Cloud's movements were a little stiff, and he had an unfortunate tendency to put a touch too much effort into his movements. Trying to mimic those around him instead of letting the beat of the song guide him.

He relaxed as they danced, as she took his hands and tried her best to guide him. Aeris lost track of Yuffie for a while; a glimpse of her in the crowd deep conversation with a tall, pale man. Best leave her to her own devices; Aeris left the dance floor with Cloud for another drink.

They repeated the pattern a further two times. More drinks, more dancing, the world now pleasantly out of focus and fuzzy, Aeris more daring than before. Cloud's guardian had been gone an age now. Not that she minded; the longer he was absent, the more time she could spend with Cloud and she was reluctant to let it end before it had to. Her next drink was a sweet, creamy liqueur and she thrilled at the flirtatious opportunity it presented. "Ever tried it?" she asked after telling Cloud its name in response to his quizzical look.

Cloud frowned. "Not that I can recall."

Aeris grinned, swigged her glass and pulled Cloud towards her until their lips touched. His mouth was so soft; as much as she was trying to tease him it was impossible to stop kissing him now she started. She gasped as he kissed her back, as his hand slid across the exposed skin of her back. Closer; she needed to be closer to him. He looked as flushed as she felt when he finally pulled away from her. Aeris grinned and toyed with the collar of his blue shirt as she took another sip of her drink. "Do you want another taste or-" She grinned a little more. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

A hitch in his breathing and a deeper flush; his pupils dilated. "I'd like that." Cloud cleared his throat. "The somewhere else bit I mean. But first, I think we should be more honest about who we are."

She pressed against him; he stiffened at the contact, his breathing growing heavier as she kissed up his throat to his ear. "By all means, Prince Cloud," she murmured. Odd; he did not react to the revelation. "I know exactly who you are," she added in a breathy voice beside his ear.

He moved his head close to hers. "And I know who you are; Princess Aeris."

Aeris blinked at him a prickle of worry descending her spine. Had she really been so obvious? "What are you-?" No point trying to dispute his words now. "How long have you known?"

Cloud coughed. "Since the moment I got here. I noticed you dancing. And I was really glad you came to talk to me." He glanced away from her.

"So this all went as planned...?" She glanced around, searching for his companion.

He turned back to her and smiled. "Not at all. I asked Cid to bring me here but I didn't send him away if that's what you're thinking. Cid-" He cast around himself. "Okay, I have no idea where he is. And right now I don't care." Cloud took her hand. "I wanted to talk to you but I didn't know how to." His turned back to meet her gaze, the intense blue of his eyes wondrous. "I'd like to take you up on your offer. Unless my knowing the truth is off-putting?

Aeris shook her head, grinning in anticipation of later. "Oh no. Not at all." She shrugged. "Besides; tonight we're not prince and princess are we? We're just Squall Leonhart-"

"-and Rinoa Heartilly." He raised an eyebrow. "Right?"

"Right." She laced their fingers together, trailing her other hand down his chest. "So let's continue this somewhere else and see what happens."