This chapter is for all of you who, just as me, are addicted to shopping! Poor Aeris, she's so clueless here...

Sweet as a lion – Chapter 9 – Shopping streak

Squall followed Aeris in the first store she choose to explore, feeling pretty out of place, and seriously mourning over the recent loss of Rinoa. Just spotting her right here, in a common place, reminded him how his ex had wanted to act around him, in public. And how he had always refused, because with their job, they could be seen together in any public zone. At least, not while acting as a real couple. Which they were. Well… That seemed so far away right now, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

While he was thinking too much, as always, Aeris spotted the underwear section of the store and sighed. She hadn't many things that weren't falling into pieces and she didn't know how many times already she had tried to fix and re fix her pink dress. How was she supposed to get rid of Squall to find out which size of bra she needed and to get two or three of them? Could she possibly try "that" on with him waiting on the other side of the changing room? She felt so embarrassed right now.

"What should I look for…" she asked herself.

"Before to ask that to yourself, you should try to figure out what you need." he observed.

Always such a logical mind, even when he was sad. Aeris pretended to start counting on her fingers. And as she did, suddenly, Squall remembered she hadn't any bag when she was running from the Hypellos. Her feet were even naked, as if she had lost her shoes. Now, she was wearing new ones, a gift from the Faction. He looked at her with more attention, checking her attire. From close up, he could see that her dress had been sewed up again and again, in almost every spots. Her hair was tied with an old pink ribbon. As she looked around, it felled down and Squall caught it in its fall. The fabric was so worn out, it seemed ready to fall in pieces. Suddenly, he started to realize what her life could have been, as she was always on the run. Only the clothes she was wearing could be called her possession. She had nothing else. Nothing more… Nothing else. His throat tightened at the idea.

"Don't look at me like that." she asked of him, taking back the ribbon from his open hand as their eyes met an instant.

She turned her back on him. And Squall felt bad to know that despicable people could really chase someone without even worrying of the kind of life it gave that person. Even now, as she walked, she was looking everywhere around her, she seemed to jump for every stranger showing up around. She looked all tensed. And that made him forget Rinoa and Seifer once again. Aeris was here. Right now. And she needed his help. His support. At least, until she could get used to the fact she wasn't a fugitive anymore. That she didn't have to be one.

I'll help you in whichever way I can, he swore to himself.

...

Squall sighed deeply. Aeris had selected a few piece of clothing and was trying them on as he waited next to the fitting room. He felt pretty out of place, surrounded by women clothes. Aeris had suggested to come out, so that they would pretend they were together, to get that annoyed noise off his face. And she did come out sometimes, when the clothes felt really fitting and when she thought he would find her pretty. Squall tried not staring at her, but she was trying to stop him from mopping and hell, that worked. And it was every girl dream to do a fashion parade at least once, even for only one person. She tried many shoes on, mixing attire with them. Squall was surprised by the length of her imagination. It seemed that every color fitted with her frame. At first, she was coming out with this shy look in her eyes. It was so cute, Squall couldn't resist it. Then she won confidence and he was totally done for. He had observed how pretty she was already, but she suddenly reminded him of it.

After showing him about ten different attires, she suggested that he go and get her some food.

"Aren't you getting hungry yourself Squall? I could really use something to eat."

"Huh… Wait, I can't leave you like that, it's too…"

The young woman working at the fitting room and that had been assuming the pair was a couple shook her head.

"Possessive men spent most of their life single!" she observed, disapprovingly.

Squall frowned. This had nothing to do with him being possessive! Aeris was under his protection. If he left her for a second, who knew what could happen? Hypellos could suddenly drop from the ceiling, or jump out of some clothes' racks with gun aiming for her! He sighed. That very thought was crazy. But still, he was obliged to keep her around him at all time to be sure she would be fine. But the vendor's remark made him pretty uneasy about refusing to go get some food. It wouldn't take too long. And he was a possessive man… And he was single. And at the very prospect of food, his stomach started growling, quite against his will.

"You'll stay here?" he asked Aeris.

She agreed with a smile.

"I guess I could give you a few minutes of liberty." he joked.

"Don't take it like that, Squall. I just thought you were getting bored. And it's almost dinner time already."

"Okay, I get it. What do you want to eat?"

"Anything!" she quickly answered.

She grabbed him by the shoulders, forced him to turn his back to her and pushed him in the direction of the restaurant. She sure seemed in a hurry of seeing him away and he sighed again.

"Alright, but don't complain when I come back with something you dislike."

Aeris just laughed and he walked away, feeling pretty awkward. It seemed she had him wrapped around her little finger. He felt so clumsy around her. Around everyone. He looked over his shoulder, but the brown haired girl was already off, looking for more clothes. At first, she had had trouble finding the right size for her. She didn't even know which size of clothe she was wearing. That made him pretty sad to realize how disconnected she was from his world. To what was judged as common knowledge by normal people.

Being always on the run, she hadn't the time to find herself some work, to get money and to buy new things, like clothes. Squall remembered how Rinoa was always buying a new skirt or blouse or dress every two week. How Lightning used to spoil herself with earrings and boots. How he was crazy over his real paper book collection. Aeris couldn't collect anything. Couldn't keep any precious things. How did she eat? He was starting to ask himself all kind of questions about her. He wanted to stay with her. To hold her in his arms. To shield her from this outside world that had turned her life in a terrible game of hide and seek that could have killed her… And still, she could have such a bright smile. It warmed his heart whenever she smiled. She was so full of life, of joy, though she had nothing. He hardly gulped down as he compared himself to her for an instant. He had everything. A roof over his head. Friends. Food. Even a source of income. And still, he could make his life miserable. While Aeris had nothing and still enjoyed life…

All of this being said, Squall was at a total lost when he arrived in the restaurant and tried to find something that Aeris would like to eat. It couldn't be a whole meal, she was still trying things on. It had to be consistent though. Maybe should she stop to try clothes on and eat with him in this restaurant or another one around the place? The options were getting more and more numerous in his brain and he felt dizzy. What would she like? A muffin? A cup of coffee?

Something to eat, moron, something to eat… he reminded to himself.

In the end, Squall opted for a chocolate milkshake –you can't be wrong with chocolate- covered with fruits. No walnut, he had no idea if she had some allergy to it. It wouldn't fill any hungry stomach, well, not for pretty long, but girls tended to like sweets. At least, Lightning, Vanille and Rinoa did, so he had to be right.

Aeris had used her little time alone to find herself some bras and tried them on, and had hidden them underneath all of the clothes in her store caddy with a set of panties and some other underwear. She looked surprised seeing the milkshake, but ate it with pleasure and they walked up to the checkout so that she could pay all of her things. As the cashier took the clothes and shove them into bags, Squall spotted the laced bras and suddenly understood why he had been sent to get some food. He eyed Aeris with a slight frown and she blushed a little under his gaze.

"You could have told me, you know, I would have understood. I've lived with a girl for the past four years…"

"Well, I never bought bras before." she whispered back to him, flushing now.

For some reason, this gave Squall some very wrong ideas. As the one: does this mean she's not wearing one now? And the other ideas were even worst. His eyes moved on their own, following her frail neck all the way down and he mentally punched himself for thinking something dirty just there as he averted his eyes from her. It was easy to get distracted around her. Even easier since he felt so lonely right now.

After that weird moment, they went to a couple more stores, until that Aeris had spent about 400 dollars on her clothes. She had received a word from the Faction, telling her that she should get all kind of clothes, from the most conventional to the more elaborate, as fancy dresses. She hadn't found anything fitting this description. Squall brought her to a restaurant, where she used the bathroom to get changed into some of her new clothes. The more things she had, the more she felt ashamed by her dress. But she never talked about getting a new ribbon or something for her hair. They ate together, mostly in silence, because they were both hungry and because Squall loved silence above all else. Anyway, this silence wasn't awkward. It felt even comfortable. He was staring at her, as most of the time, but it wasn't a naughty or nasty stare.

He was trying to understand her. Listening to all the secrets kept around them in the air. His new sense was pretty confusing when he dared to use it. Objects seemed to take life and told him stories. This table had seen a lot of things. Except from food. He knew the cook was worried about his wife, who seemed to be turning alcoholic over the years. A girl among the customers of this restaurant was utterly sad and her soul was crying instead of her. He couldn't tell who it was though. It could have been anyone. He still wasn't that good to understand his more accurate perceptions. And it still scared him somehow. He focused his attention on Aeris. She was a total mystery to his senses. As long as she was awake, he couldn't hear anything from her, couldn't see her energy. It made him feel a little more normal. Human and mortal. Being able to sense all kind of things was weird…

"Will you take a dessert?" the waiter asked them gently.

"I don't think…" Aeris started

"You should take one," Squall cut her off.

He was smirking at her. Shouldn't she let him spoil her a little? She was all tensed, though she was trying to relax. They were so many people everywhere around her. So many strangers that could be a threat to her life. She tried to believe that her life of running away and being a fugitive was over. It was easier to fake it when she felt as if she was alone with Squall.

"Okay…"

She looked down to her plate, feeling pretty nervous. She wasn't used to this. To being normal. Too many things were happening too fast. She felt scared. But she wanted to keep it to herself. So that Squall wouldn't worry. But as the waiter walked away, her body guard grabbed her hand in his.

"What's wrong Aeris? You look pretty nervous suddenly."

"I… I don't like to linger in the same place for too long." she quickly answered, unable to look at him, feeling ashamed by her own reaction.

"Oh… You should have told me. We can go back home right now."

The word "home" made her smile. It felt so unreal. And she felt bad for imposing herself on him. But he seemed delighted to have someone around, though he was acting cold every now and then. His dependant side was comforted by her presence. And it was nice to think that her life could help someone, be of use to anyone.

After eating a chocolate cake –because chocolate still was the best- and having a little fight over who should pay the restaurant bill, which fight was won by Squall –because a man has his pride and that he judged he was the only one who should pay for the food- they walked out, carrying a lot of bags and boxes, all containing of Aeris' new clothes. As she started wondering how they would be able to bring all of this back home, Squall stopped in a little gadget shop, bought a capsule and used it to warp all the stuff they were carrying in the small capsule, which he gave Aeris.

"You're sure that everything is there?"

"I swear. It should be pretty useful, don't you think? You can keep all of your thing just in a pocket."

"I never thought something like that existed. It must have cost you a fortune!"

Squall was about to lie over the price of this thing, when he suddenly heard his name being called out in the crowd. And the voice wasn't entirely friendly.

"Hey, Squall! Wow, I never thought we'd see you out of that hole you call an apartment so soon!"

Squall didn't have to turn around to know it was Seifer. Aeris got closer to him as she saw the tall blond man walking up to them. Rinoa was half following half dragged by Seifer.

"Seifer." He coldly acknowledged him. "If you got something to tell me, say it."

"Always in a hurry, huh? It seems you've recovered much faster then I'd expected. Who's that chick you got here?"

"Seifer, please, try being nice with him." Rinoa asked of her new boyfriend.

"It didn't seem that he was nice with you lately."

Seifer's scar was really clear on his white skin and Aeris wondered why he had this mark, which looked just like the scar on Squall's face. They were the same, except from their orientation. It was kinda scary.

"Seifer, please…"

"I just wanna speak with an old buddy, Rin', don't get so worked up for it."

Squall frowned and evaded Rinoa's sorry eyes that were looking for his. He didn't like the impression this whole situation gave him. As if Rinoa wasn't happier than him to be with Seifer. As if she was with him against her will. But could that really be?

Seifer walked up to Squall, stopping at a distance of one feet or two from him. As they were facing with an angry look, each clearly hating the other, Aeris took a step back. For some reason, she felt that this guy was one of the only ones that could get Squall to lose his temper.

"Say Squall, is it true that…" Seifer started before to lean closer to Squall, to whisper down his question.

He had a corny smile on his face and Aeris clearly saw the reaction on her bodyguard's face. He went really pale, his eyes widened with shock before to glare at Rinoa from over Seifer's shoulder. He tried to swallow the anger down, but he snapped; he punched the blond guy in the guts, to receive a knee in the stomach almost right after. They could have jumped at each other throat and start an all out fight if the two girls hadn't gotten between them at this very moment.

"Squall, he's just toying with your emotions." Aeris observed.

"How can you attack him like that, Squall!"

Seifer smiled as he got up and reassured Rinoa about his state. Squall was already up, but he was trembling from rage and if Aeris hadn't be holding one his arm, he would have jump right back at this sorry excuse of a man. His rival had asked him something, something so personal, something that only Rinoa knew except from him, it felt so frustrating! To think she had shared something like that, something that belonged only to him, something that made him looks vulnerable. It was another blow in his already shattering armor.

"I take it it's the truth then," Seifer laughed.

"You…!"

"Squall, please calm down."

Aeris' voice sounded really scared and that convinced Squall to regain control over his self. He realized they were starting to get a lot of attention. People were looking at them. The last thing he wanted was to attract attention.

"The lion's just a kitty after all." Seifer teased him again.

Squall wanted to have him swallowing down his words and to punch him, to beat him till his fists would hurt too much to punch anymore. He would have if Aeris hadn't gotten in front of him, putting her hands on his chest, exhorting him to calm down.

"His words are empty, Squall. They shouldn't even reach you." she whispered to him.

Seifer laughed at that, which owed him a cold glare.

"Say, Squall, where did you get that chick? She looks familiar. I think she was in the Feds' files recently. Does the word "Cetra" sounds empty to you, missy?"

Aeris jumped a little and Squall understood his trivial rivalry's problems could drag Aeris, which he was supposed to guard at all cost, in a lot more trouble than it should. And she had seen her share of threats for a whole life.

"Say Rinoa, could you take your exuberant boyfriend out of my sight before that I really get mad?"

He glared at her instead of Seifer and she looked away. As her hair fell over her eyes, he saw one trail of tears rolling down her cheek. And it hurt. He felt almost as if she had been forced to betray him for Seifer and wasn't enjoying any part of it. But could it really be? It hurt even more to think about that. But the incident was over with that. Squall and Aeris walked away. Rinoa's sobs and Seifer's tries at cheering her up followed them for a while. The brown haired spy looked over his shoulder once and felt his heart twisting in his chest at the sight of them together. Rinoa was being held in another guy's arms. She was being comforted by someone else. She even managed to smile to her new boyfriend. He stole a kiss from her. And Squall could have frozen right there and kept watching them, just to convince himself that any hope was futile. But Aeris was with him. She pulled on his wrist and got back his attention.

"It's normal to be jealous. And you have every right to be angry at her, Squall."

"Don't try to comfort me on this, Aeris."

"Okay... What do you want me to do then?"

"Anything that could help me forget." he said without thinking.

The very fact he could have stopped to think meant trouble, but Squall's mind was turning blank. He couldn't get Rinoa anymore. And Seifer had threatened Aeris. A Cetra was an Ancient, it was just another word to say it. The last thing Squall needed was that Seifer hurt Aeris. She wasn't a replacement for Rinoa, but she counted a lot in his life. It was the first time someone had to help him getting back up both physically and mentally. The first time he was acting so openly with anyone, though they weren't really intimate. Somehow, Squall knew there was something really wrong in this situation.

"How about a little revenge on her then?"

"What?"

"Giving her back a piece of her own medicine, you know."

Aeris looked over her shoulder in a quick motion. Rinoa was still in sight, a couple of meters away from them.

"If I'd kiss you, you wouldn't get any ideas, huh?"

Squall was so surprised, he couldn't even answer to her question. She took his reaction as a "yes" and pulled on his fur collar till his face was mere inches away from hers. And their lips met for an instant. A butterfly kiss. It triggered something within him. The feel of Aeris' gentle skin… The need he'd been feeling for the last few days. He didn't let her go instantly. And he gave her a real kiss. One that he'd never give to Rinoa with any public around. It wasn't dirty but passionate and Aeris realized she had awakened something more than a simple and small revenge there. Squall's arms were around her. It felt as if there was nothing else in the world, but his embrace. She was protected here. She wasn't a fugitive anymore. But it was wrong, wasn't it? What kind of impulse had she been following to suddenly kiss him?

She found herself clumsily trying to kiss him back, raising her hands from his chest to gently grab his head. But as soon as her fingers touched him, he parted from her. It was too much. Too soon. Far too intimate. He tried to look at Rinoa from over his shoulder. Just a peek. She was looking at him. Seifer wasn't around her anymore. Her brown eyes were filled up with tears. And for an instant, Squall felt good.

Yes, be sad, Rinoa. If you can suffer just a little from this, you'll understand what I've been through, he thought selfishly.

But then, as fast as it had came, it vanished. And his heart sank to the very bottom of his chest. He wanted to walk all the way back to her and apologize. To tell her there was nothing between him and Aeris. But it wouldn't be the truth. There was some kind of connection between this Ancient and him. He liked her. And if he could get to kiss her again in the future, he would. If he could ever move on from Rinoa… But it hurt, because the dark haired girl was still a part of him.

"I'm sorry." Aeris whispered, biting her lips.

"About what?" Squall asked her, looking back at her.

"I don't know what got into me." she replied, blushing madly.

He gently forced her to resume their walk and looked around, for the last shop they needed to visit.

"Well, whatever it was, it helped me forget. Let's just… keep it at that. If Rufus finds out, I'm dead meat."

"What?"

"Well, I mean… I'm your bodyguard, Aeris. We should keep professional."

"It wasn't an invitation or something. It was just revenge on her for putting you through all of this."

Squall realized the very fact Aeris knew almost everything about his recent breaking up with Rinoa and its circumstances made their relation unprofessional. And he needed a friend right now. Still, he wished he wouldn't have to explain this to his superiors. Or to anyone else! It had felt pretty awkward.

"Okay. Well, I'll let it pass just for this once, but… Don't play that kind of game with me, okay? I may be acting all soft, but I'm no cat."

"Seifer really hit a nerve with all his crap talk… What did he ask you to make you so mad in the first place?"

Squall just glared at her and she took the hint. They resumed to their shopping. Squall went back to his cold silence. But sometimes, when she would show up in a new dress and swirl over herself, he would smile at her. And a twinkle would sparkle in his eyes. And that meant it wasn't that much far. It meant he could still feel joy. And that he wasn't mad at her for the little incident. Aeris still wasn't sure why she had had that weird idea and still remember the feel of Squall's hands on her, as he had held her closer to him. It had been different than everything she had ever experience in her life. It had felt so powerful. This man who was her bodyguard had so much to give. All he asked for was a little care. And some respect.

He was lost right now and he needed some help to get back on tracks. He was trying his best to act normally. To stop being depressed. And she was going to help him, somehow. Just as much as he was willing to be helped. He was protecting her from the physical threats of the world. And she wanted to protect him from everything that could attack his fragile heart. Inside, he was only a little kid. And whenever she could make him smile fully, it warmed her heart so much, she felt as a better person. And who knew, maybe was she already falling for him? It was maybe cliché but should she fight against her own feelings? Being true to them was the only thing she had ever been free to do…

To be continued

Squall needs a hug, and Seifer needs a good slap in the face. As for Rinoa, I bet you must all hate her for doing that Squall. Well, wait till you learn the real reason why she left! Suspense powaahhh!