Hold

It had become a normal everyday, rather every night occurrence that she'd ask him one question before she'd fall asleep. It started one night, when she was sick. It had been a cold day, so during the night, the temperature dropped even lower. And as luck would have it, he could not find any more blankets (he vaguely remembered finding them in Yuffie's closet… Like she had tried to hide them. But he shrugged it off, as they were too many for her to have carried.). That night, once he had returned, she quietly asked him to simply sleep beside her, citing reasonable reasons for such a request. As you may well have imagined, he complied, and they both fell asleep in each other's arms, both providing enough warmth for the other to be comfortable. (In the morning, a smug Cid and a giggling Yuffie greeted them both as lovebirds. Aerith had turned exceedingly red, while Leon made sure that the blond haired pilot wouldn't be able to smirk at him like that… at least for another month). Eventually she got accustomed to sleeping beside him altogether and asked him often if she could. Not like he had ever resisted (except for this one time, when he had a cold, but she insisted on returning the favor, seeing as the blankets were missing again, mysteriously)

Tonight, as she traced small circles on his (very well clothed, mind you) chest, she asked, "Would you catch me if I fall?" to which he immediately replied a curt "No." Her heart fell a little, hearing those words.. Okay. So it fell quite a bit. She didn't know how she was able to speak, but she found herself asking, "Why?" and as if he had been warned days earlier of her question, he said plainly, "I wouldn't need to.. I'll be holding on to you too tightly for you to fall… Satisfied?"

A serene smile made its way back to her features as she nodded. She moved a little higher so their heads would be level on the feather-filled pillows. She pressed her lips on his cheek and put her arms around his neck, he placed an arm around her shoulder protectively and that night, he lived up to his words (and quite easily the nights after).