Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy games.

Hi everyone, here's chapter nine, hope you all enjoy it. (Sorry for the crap intro, I couldn't think of anything)

Chapter 9 – Is Sunstroke Pregnant?

It didn't take long for Cloud and Aeris to get to get to Paine's father's veterinary practise.

Aeris agreed to wait outside with Sunstroke while Cloud ran inside to fetch Paine's
Dad.

"Ah you must be Cloud, Paine informed me that you be coming around." He said, motioning for Cloud to lead the way to his pet "Hello, you much be Sunstroke" he said, giving he a gentle scratch on her feathers "I'm Dr Berm and now let's see what's going on, shall we?"

He proceeded to check various points on Sunstroke's body, much to her displeasure; he also took a urine sample, at which point Cloud decided he was not going into any form of medicine, and a blood sample, which made Sunstroke squawk in pain.

Dr Berm left and came back five minutes later.

"Well Mr Strife, I can quite easily confirm that your chocobo is not pregnant, you should find her perfectly fit to ride" he explained.

With that knowledge Cloud and Aeris rode back to her house, Cloud tethered Sunstroke to a tree again so that he could help his girlfriend, 'Hehe, I like saying that' he thought to himself, unpack her things.

He was just about to leave when she stopped him.

"I love you" she said with a soft hiss.

She was about to pull away when Cloud decided to be bold and deepen the kiss, quickly tracing her lips with his tongue and she parted them, Cloud and Aeris stood there at the door, their tongues doing a graceful dance.

They only pulled apart when Aeris' mother cleared her throat loudly.

"I love you too Aeris" Cloud told her "would it be alright for me to pick her up tomorrow and take her to school Mrs … what is your last name?" he asked.

Ifalna laughed "It's Gainsborough, but please, when my husband isn't around, just call me Ifalna" she said "and yes, it would be fine, see you tomorrow morning."

Cloud smiled and hugged Aeris, giving her another quick kiss and taking his leave.

He found it difficult to get anywhere however, mainly because he and Aeris couldn't stop blowing kisses to each other.

Eventually though Aeris' father came home and jokingly told Cloud to go home before his parents were called and asked to drag him away.

Cloud got home within two minutes and quickly asked his father is he could use the family computer for his homework, he had to write up a piece of creative writing on computer, since Seph had done his already and printed it off, Cloud was permitted.

He was a fast typist and within five minutes, Cloud had written five pages from his rough notes, the phone rang while he was writing his sixth page.

"Cloud, it's for you" Jen said, passing the phone to him.

"Hello?" Cloud said, holding the phone in between his ear and shoulder.

"Hi Cloud, it's Aeris, have you finished your homework yet?" she asked.

"Hold that thought" Cloud answered, a quick flurry of typing and "there, done, what's up Aeris?" he asked, giving her his full attention.

"I was wondering if you had instant messenger on your computer" she told him.

"I don't think so" he said "hang on, DAD" he called.

Tiler ran up to him "What's the problem?" he demanded.

"Do we have instant messenger on here?" Cloud asked Tiler shook his head.

"No, and I'd prefer that it didn't go on here either, this is my computer and I don't really want you and Sephiroth using it for anything except homework. But I'll see about you two getting your own laptops for homework and personal use, ok?"

"Thanks Dad" Cloud said "It'd probably be a good idea if you got off the phone before your parents complain about the bill" they exchanged 'I love you's and hung up.

Cloud asked where his brother was, and wasn't too surprised to find that he was in the pool, doing laps.

He went to the edge of the pool and just stood there, staring at the rippling water.

Seph finished another lap and, noticing that Cloud was there, decided to take a break.

"What's up Cloud?" he asked.

"Just thinking" he answered "have you ever been in love with someone? And I don't just mean their body, or one part of it."

"I honestly don't think so, but I did once date a college student that was studying psychology, she explained it to me" he told his brother.

"What did she say about it?" Cloud asked.

"Well, I know where this is going, okay, tell me your symptoms cause trust me, what you've got is a serious illness" Seph informed him.

"Well, she's on my mind constantly, holding her hand is like a lifeline, just looking at her makes me feel … I dunno fulfilled … do you think I'm in love?" Cloud asked after finishing his rambling.

"Maybe. I've never felt any of that myself, but you never know, maybe I will … one day" Seph answered "But I'm fairly certain that you are … and I envy you. If you're lucky enough you'll have found 'the one' on your first outing in the world of love"

Cloud chuckled "Fancy getting in some practise" he asked, clearly meaning Blitzball.

"Yeah, sure" Seph answered, Cloud ran off to get his uniform and when he got back he jumped in.

They started off simple, Sephiroth shooting and Cloud catching, Cloud seemed to be a better catch than Seph was a shot, but they never got into an argument. Seph just looked at it as 'hey I'm a better swordsman, he's a better Blitzer, it just balances things out'.

Then they started their homework, practising a special move, Cloud decided to practise Grip Gloves while Seph practised a Wither Shot.

By the time they were called in for bed, since they still had school the next morning, Cloud had halved the amount of times he dropped the ball and Seph had actually managed to affect Cloud's throw.

The next morning Cloud was woken by the sound of someone moaning.

"Oh Aeris, mmm, you are sooo good" was playing out of a tape recorder, over and over again, at full blast next to Cloud's ear. It didn't take him long to realise that it was his voice, Seph and his mother standing in the doorway laughing their heads off kinda gave it away, Cloud just grabbed one of his pillows and hurled it at his brother.

All Seph did was wriggle another tape recorder between two of his fingers "Oh just wait until Aeris hears this!" he called triumphantly.

Cloud shot out of bed and charged at his brother, but his mother held him back.

"Now Cloud, calm down, Sephiroth, give me that tape" she said, Seph handed it over, he could never disobey her "thank you, now please get ready for school!" it was a command, not a request.

They scampered downstairs, tripping over each other's feet and falling most of the way, they were fine, and got their food.

Cloud was ready fairly fast and, after telling his mother that he'd agreed to give Aeris a ride to school "Which reminds me, Sunstroke's not pregnant", left.

"Not that I'm much of a judge on this subject Mum, but I think the kid's in love" Sephiroth said with a casual shrug.

"Well I am, and I agree he is in love, the real question is, is Aeris" Jen answered.

"Well by my knowledge, probably not, they spent an entire night in the same bed together and didn't have sex? She don't love him" that earned him a cuff on the head.

"Didn't you consider that maybe your brother didn't ask, or that love isn't just about sex? Okay granted, sex can be a bonus to love, but for most people, you excluded obviously, love is deeper than that" Jen scolded her oldest.

"Maybe I will too" he countered with a raised eyebrow "it could simply be the fact that I haven't matured yet, okay I know that's insulting myself, but that's not my point!"

"Hmmm, possibly" Jen answered, then, noticing the time, decided to hurry Sephiroth up.

On his way out the door Sephiroth turned back to his mother "Am I alright to bring Tifa back after school?" he asked.

"What about Rikku? In fact never mind, bring both of them, I don't often get 'girl talk' around here, and ask Cloud to bring Aeris too." She was about to let him go when she thought about something "Oh and Sephiroth" he poked his head back through the door "no sex!" he just laughed and nodded.

"Alright mother, love you!" he said.

She hurried forward and held him tight, he was slightly taller than her, and still growing, not that she minded "I love you too sweetheart, tell Cloud I said the same" she said, and lightly pushed him out the door, before he ended up being late.

Seph looked at his watch and broke into a run; he didn't want to miss Tifa.

Cloud knocked on the front door at the Gainsborough house, he father answered.

"Morning Mr Gainsborough" Cloud said cheerfully "Has Aeris left yet?"

"No she hasn't Cloud, she's still getting ready, come inside and have yourself some coffee" he said, holding the door open for him, Cloud accepted the invitation to enter, but not the coffee, he couldn't stand the stuff.

"Have you ever tried mint tea Cloud?" Ifalna asked.

"No I don't think so, but I do love mints" he answered.

Ifalna smiled warmly and poured Cloud a cup, she didn't add milk, but she did add three sugar cubes "Try this" he did so, it was warm and delicious.

"Wow" was all he could say after he swallowed it "normally I have my tea with milk and no sugar, but that was fantastic!" he exclaimed.

"Well apparently your not supposed to add milk to a tea infusion, which I learned much to my own embarrassment, and the more sugar you add to one, the more you can taste the flavour, but I wouldn't recommend any more than three" Echton stated.

"Oh, morning Cloud I didn't expect you so early" Aeris said as she came downstairs.

"Oh … I'll wait outside then" Cloud said, feigning hurt in his voice.

"I said I didn't expect you so early" Aeris said quickly, grabbing his arm and kissing his cheek "but I'm glad to see you anyway" she stood on her tiptoes and leaned towards his ear "I love you" she whispered and lowered herself to her normal height.

Cloud finished his tea, thanked Aeris' parents for the drink and they left for school.

"I think she might be in love again Echton" Ifalna said, leaning on her husband's shoulder, after watching them ride away.

"I think so too dear, but this guy is different from Zak, that boy was always so cocky and thought he could get away with anything, this young man is quite polite. I never liked Zak, and I told Aeris as much, but I do like Cloud, he seems more deserving of her" he looked into his wife's eyes "and I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

She stood on her toes and kissed his nose "Only a little" she said "Come on, you're going to be late for work!"

Back on Sunstroke, Cloud was telling Aeris about his conversation with Sephiroth last night.

"Well a guy like Seph would think that love's an illness, but I know better. If you can name at least ten things about your girlfriend that you love then the relationship can at least work, my last boyfriend, and only for that matter, struggled to name three and overall we only lasted about a month" Aeris explained, and she made more sense than Seph did "well come on!"

"Oh … you want me to name ten things I love about you" Cloud exclaimed, realisation flashing across his face "well, I love your smile, it always brightens my day, I love your eyes, I could stare into them for all eternity, I love how smart you are, I love the fact that you'd help anyone with their problems, I love the way you dance, you taught me, I love how good a teacher you are, and how good a teacher you would probably make, I love how you hate violence, even when it's for the right reasons, I love your voice, it's the most soothing thing I've ever heard and you could probably be able to give Lenne a run for the title of top singer, I love how much we have in common, our love of chocobos for example, I love the fact that when I first met you, you were willing to wait for me to finish speaking instead of saying something like 'can we hurry this up I've got places to be', I love the fact that you love me and …" she covered his mouth with her hands.

"Ok that's enough, you already said eleven" she told him with a quiet giggle.

"Oh, sorry" he turned slightly in the saddle, they had stopped at a red light "I love you" he said and kissed her deeply.

She just kissed back, not caring that Rikku and Gippal were walking past and had started wolf whistling.

It wasn't until the car behind Sunstroke beeped at them, causing her to jump and glare at the driver behind her, that they pulled apart and noticed the light had turned green.

Cloud walked Sunstroke to the chorale once he and Aeris had gotten to school; he was surprised to find another chocobo in there, but didn't dwell on that train of thought.

The first lesson of the day was magic, Quistis was teaching draining magic today, throughout the lesson people were practising either draining health from their practise partner or draining their mana, to Cloud the idea of draining mana seemed pointless, it just made both combatants lose mana, the caster in using the spell and the victim in having it drained, it wasn't until Miss Trepe explained that an opponent losing their mana faster could easily turn the tide of battle, especially if Cloud was battling a mage.

Second they had Alchemy with Rikku's Dad; today they were mixing elixirs to test at the end of the lesson.

The crusaders managed to create their elixirs perfectly, and they worked just as well, but strangely enough every member of The Brotherhood had been poisoned by their mixtures.

Cid just gave them antidotes and then detention for not following the instructions.

The whole time Tidus and Shuyin were shaking with laughter, the crusaders didn't need to ask, they had both asked to go to the bathroom at the same time and The Brotherhood started yelling something about coming out of the closet at last, this was obviously their revenge. The twins did know how to get into the vents; they probably added something to the mixtures.

Then there was break, where Lenne, Yuffie and Zell were filled in on the little mishap of alchemy class and the younger crusaders informed the older crowd about Dona's antics in their class.

Dona was in Lenne's, Yuffie's and Zell's class and Barthello was in the class that Cloud and Rikku started the year in and apparently both were causing trouble for the other students in the class.

The bell went and the group broke up, Wakka groaned when he looked at their timetable to see what they had, double maths.

In that class, first things first, Mr Wedge collected homework and was surprised to see that Wakka had gotten his answers right.

"Miracles will never cease!" he'd exclaimed and gave Wakka top marks.

Then he went onto quadratic equations.

"For those of you that watch Red Dwarf, these are not as hard as Mr Rimmer thinks, they're actually quite easy once you've tried a few" and for the most part he was right, Cloud had done only two of them before he understood how they worked, Aeris had done three and between them they explained it to Wakka.

During lunch Wakka complained about his head hurting from too much maths, he ate his lunch quickly, and then proceeded to fall asleep in his tray.

"Don't worry about him, he's always like that after double maths" Lulu explained to Cloud, Paine simply scowled at him and smirked, something that only she could do.

After lunch they were supposed to have history, but Auron hadn't replaced Maechen yet, it was confirmed that he wasn't coming back, and since he hadn't managed to create a lesson plan, he used to be a combat teacher, so he was a little out of his field.

Instead of teaching history, Auron allowed them to use the session for homework.

After that they had Mr Wallace for basketball, he always used Fridays for going over technique, such as shooting technique, Cloud had a fair aim, but could never actually get the ball to drop into the basket, so Barret showed him how.

By the end of the lesson, Cloud was able to actually score, while standing still. To finish things off, they had a fun game of boys vs. girls, the girls won, by three points; Seph put it down to them being more agile.

Then they had combat class, Kimahri had again brought fiends into class and this time they were to fight defensively, they had to stay conscious and wait for the fiend to ware itself out, before killing it, it was very challenging, especially when they found out that if you needed healing, you were out.

They left that lesson, slightly battered and bruised, but otherwise fine, it was a valuable battle tactic to learn; sometimes you just had to defend yourself until your opponent wore themselves down enough for you to attack.

Finally they had double English, where, apparently 'as per usual', they were put into pares and given a piece of a Shakespeare play to learn, and within five minutes they were to perform that piece and the class would give the performers points out of ten, the team with the highest score got to go home without any homework.

The part they had to do were from Romeo and Juliet, it was the scene where Romeo climbed onto Juliet's balcony.

By the end of the lesson Sephiroth and Tifa had gotten away with no homework, without a doubt Seph's "ARISE FAIR JULIET AND CRUSH THE ENVIOUS MOON! … Here you can borrow my sword" had won it for them; theirs had been the most comical and gotten them a standing ovation.

"Romeo, Romeo where for art thou Romeo … come on I've been waiting five minutes already" Rikku repeated Tifa's words, that was the first joke they had put in, Mt Biggs was shocked at first, but once he realised what they were doing, he just laughed along with the class.

"Ah the weekend" Zell said with a stretch at the main entrance "nothing can beat it!"

"Can't deny that, Cloud, Seph have you two had a look around the island yet?" Rikku asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Well that can wait until tomorrow, tonight I'm taking Seph to the movies" Tifa announced.

"Our first date?" Seph asked a hand on Tifa's waist.

"I was planning on taking Cloud to the movies!" Aeris pouted.

"How about a double date?" Cloud suggested.

"That should never happen on a first date Cloud" all the girls said at the same time, which was eerie.

"Well, I could always take you to dinner or maybe a different movie" Cloud suggested.

Aeris kissed his cheek "Sounds like a plan to me" she said.

They all broke up then, arranging to meet at the beach at eleven am tomorrow to show Cloud and Sephiroth around all their haunts.

"Cloud, before you run off, Mum asked me to ask you to ask Aeris to come over tonight" Seph yelled to them as they were heading to the chocobo chorale.

"Ok!" Cloud and Aeris shouted back.

They got to the chorale and that other chocobo was still there, Cloud could tell, from the way that Sunstroke was acting, that it was another female, she was midnight blue with white patches over her eyes.

Aeris ran up to her and gave her a scratch of welcome.

"Excuse me, but would you kindly leave my chocobo alone" a tall brunette woman in a pale blue dressed asked, but was silenced by the soft cooing of her chocobo "strange, she normally doesn't like strangers, my apologies, I thought you would bother her."

"No worries" Cloud answered, saddling up Sunstroke and climbing aboard "what's your chocobos name?"

"Nightshade, yours?" the woman answered.

"Sunstroke" Cloud told her, offering a hand to Aeris.

"Hmmm, fits I suppose" she said, saddling her own bird and admiring Sunstroke's colouring at the same time "at first I thought she'd spent too much time in the sun, it must be natural."

"Yeah, well, see you around!" Cloud waved and rode away.

"Yes, I have no doubt you shall" she murmured, watching them leave "on Monday."

So who's the mysterious woman? Why will Cloud and Aeris see her on Monday? Find out … in later chapters.