A/N: Chap 53. A short one to cure myself of my writer's block.

LTS: "Cloud, will you hug Leah Conner, please?"

Cloud: *stares at LTS* "Who are you?"

LTS: "What?"

Cloud: "Since when are you so polite when you ask for things?"

LTS: "Are you calling me rude?"

Cloud: "Yes." *sees Lady's glare* "I mean..." *LTS gets up* "Wait! I'm sorry, okay?"

LTS: "Are you going to give that hug?"

Cloud: "...Yeah." *hugs Leah Conner*

LTS: "... I'm going out. Disclaimer: I don't own anything... I need a hug, too."

Genesis: *escapes his retention cell* "Embrace me."

LTS: *while running away* "Get away from me!"


Title: Bet.

__

When they entered the sports shop, Aerith took Tifa by her arm and headed for the swimsuits section while Cloud and Zack followed. The sports shop had a multitude of colour and design options on the racks, reminding the teenagers more of a department store than a sporting goods one.

Aerith quickly took a few swimsuits off the rack and handed them to Tifa. Once Tifa had left to try them on, Aerith turned her attention to the two boys.

"What about you two?" Aerith ceased flipping through the racks of bathing suits and waited for Tifa to come out. "Do you guys have any swimwear?"

Cloud and Zack shook their heads. They lived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains. Why would they have any?

Aerith sighed and pointed towards the men's section of the shop. "Let's go, I'll help you guys too."

"Aerith?" Tifa's voice sounded from one of the fitting rooms.

Aerith approached the room and called out her friend's name. "Tifa?"

"I'm fine, these are the ones you want me to try?" Tifa's voice sounded unsure.

"Yeah, is there a problem? I think I got the right size, right?"

"Yeah, the size is fine, but..." Tifa was silent for a moment before opening the door. "I don't think pink and yellow look too good on me..."

Tifa stood there wearing a formfitting pink one-piece swimsuit that reached up to her neck, causing Cloud's cheeks to grow warm. Maybe the colour wasn't right, but the style was perfect for her... Cloud forced himself to avert his eyes, sit down, and stop thinking. It was just a swimsuit, damnit!

Zack took a step forward and put a hand on Tifa's shoulder, turning her around to make sure that the garment covered her back properly. "Yeah, the swimsuit is perfect, but maybe a darker colour would be better. What do you think, Aerith?"

"I think she would do better with a light colour, but I already gave her the yellow, the green with flowers, the orange, and the pink..." Aerith instructed Tifa to enter the room again. "I'll get you some different ones. Try this on while I search for more." Aerith handed Tifa another pile of swimsuits and closed the door behind her friend.

Once Tifa was locked in the fitting room again, Aerith turned to Zack and Cloud. "Any suggestions?"

Zack sifted through the various articles of clothing on the rack, trying to imagine what would be best for Tifa. "Hey Cloud." The blond looked up to see Zack staring at him. "What do you think would look best on Tifa?"

Cloud pondered on the question it. Tifa used to always wear black or white, sometimes there was some blue too. But the colour that would really look nice on her...

"... How about dark red?" Cloud replied while thinking that it would match her eyes at least.

Zack and Aerith looked at each other before they returned to their search through the clothing racks. "Go search for it." Zack said over his shoulder to Cloud.

"What?"

"Search for a dark red swimsuit. I've my own idea of what would be best. I'm thinking black."

"You're both wrong. The best one will be a white one!" Aerith said while laughing. Cloud looked at them. Since when had this become a competition? "The one who finds the best swimsuit gets a reward!"

"What kind of reward?" Zack asked without pausing to look up.

Aerith thought for a moment before answering. "Whatever the winner wants?"

Zack laughed. "Deal then. I know I'm going to win!"

"How is that?" Aerith asked with her head down in the racks of swimsuits, eagerly searching.

"Because I'm the one who knows her the best!"

Cloud let Zack and Aerith have their competition and went to the far end of the sporting goods store, where the aisle that separated the women's and men's clothing sections were. He scanned the remaining racks and thought about taking a break to find a swimsuit for himself when something caught his eye. His hand reached out and touched the blood-red fabric.

He had found his bet.


A/N: End of chap 53.

Cloud: "You can come out, now."

LTS: *from inside the fridge* "Have you locked up Genesis?"

Cloud: "Yeah, now get out. Disclaimer: LadyTeefStrife doesn't own anything."

LTS: *opens the door* "R&R and thanks for reading. Where is Leah Conner?"

Cloud: "She started laughing uncontrollably when she saw Genesis, so I left her with Zack and Aerith until she calms down." *looks at LTS* "Why are you inside the fridge?"

LTS: "It saved my life in Heavy Rain, so I supposed it would work here too. The only problem is... that I'm feeling... pretty drowsy... right... now..." *falls asleep*

Cloud: "Aerith! Lady has hypothermia!"

CIH!! 20/04/2010