"Okay, they're definitely together."
"Jessie, I thought we already went over this!"
"Guys, I think you should quiet it down a bit because—"
"I only had my doubts because why would a pure, lovely woman such as Aerith ever be interested in Cloud, a buffoon whose romancing skills are near nonexiste—"
Jessie choked on her own words when an arm from behind wrapped her in a headlock which was tight enough to shut her up. She knew only one person who would dare be this rough and brute to a woman.
"What were you going to say about me?" Cloud growled as he tightened it just by a little bit, once again walking into their interesting conversation by pure coincidence. "Go ahead and finish."
"Yield, yield!" she slapped a hand on his arm, half-laughing as she shouted for him to let go in the bar. 7th Heaven teemed with life as everyone enjoyed a Friday night out with friends and family after the week's toils, so even as Jessie raised her voice for Cloud to pardon her, there was absolutely no mercy from his part as the spirits of the bar drowned out her pleas.
"If I see another gil exchanged between you three, this won't be the only treatment you'll get from me," Cloud let out an exasperated breath before he let Jessie go.
Aerith, who had been by his side from the moment they entered the bar to when he overheard the three's rather entertaining conversation, laughed as she now understood why Cloud had been reluctant to explain his friendship dynamics ever since the celebration. Jessie's exclusive treatment of eyebrow wiggles she had taunted Cloud with was now extended to Aerith as she grinned wickedly from ear-to-ear.
"Our two lovebirds are here! Haven't seen you two up close in a while—can't get enough of each other?" Jessie cooed as she elbowed Cloud in the stomach. "Something's telling me that it's just not bodyguarding anymore!"
"Jessie."
"Jessie!"
While Cloud instantly shot the irritated warning glare, Aerith half-covered her face with a hand in embarrassment as her other pushed the brunette by the arm, earning a chortle from the bomber as she stood up and patted Aerith's shoulders from behind in encouragement.
"No need to hide it anymore, you two. Just come out clean already!"
"What? So that you can rake Biggs and Wedge free of their money? I'm not humoring you there," muttered Cloud as he took a seat next to Biggs on the table, calling it a day for bodyguarding.
Tifa had texted him for an emergency monster hunt; the numbers had increased within the trails for the past three days—probably due to the mako leak that hadn't been plugged up since last week. With Tifa asking for his assistance (with an apology and a dinner on her tab for making him work double duty), Cloud didn't really mind the extra load. Besides, he hadn't swung his sword around in a while, and his lack of a use for it made him tempted to just leave it at home on some days—lugging pure metal on his back nearly twenty-four seven was not the way to go for maintaining healthy posture.
However, Aerith wasn't part of the plan when she insisted in sticking around to help out. It was a bit ironic on his end to even let her go near any of the monsters voluntarily, but with her pushiness and capability of warding the creatures off herself every time she crossed their paths to reach Sector 7, it was quite difficult for Cloud to persuade her otherwise.
And while it was great to have a little bit more time with her after his bodyguarding shift was over, the same could not be said when his annoying dweebs of friends were hanging around them as if they were a circus show on demand. He didn't know if Aerith was just immune to their obvious looks of slyness, but Cloud sure wasn't as he kept glaring at Jessie when she kept perking her eyebrows up suggestively.
"Sorry, I kept you guys waiting," huffed Tifa once she came out from the back and went up to their table. "Had to teach the new hires the ropes for a bit on how to keep the fort up around here."
"Finally took my suggestion about hiring people?" remarked Cloud. "I don't know how you managed to run this bar as a one-man show all this time."
"Of course, I had people like you and Barret helping me out on busy days before," Tifa cooed as she took the seat next to Jessie. She giggled when she remembered a fond memory. "I won't ever forget waiter Cloud last year—one because I'd never thought you'd agree to it, and two because I never lost so many customers in a day before."
"Why did you even think Cloud and hospitality would ever work out?" Biggs chuckled as he gave the stoic a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Customer service? With Cloud Strife? Pfft."
"We got some monsters to kill or not? Where's Barret?" Cloud grunted, standing up to end the useless chit-chat. Then, he moved his eyes over to Aerith, who gave him a small smile in curiosity. "And are you seriously coming with us?"
"Aerith? Going with us on the hunt? Oh my gosh, girl," Jessie squealed as she clapped her two hands together. "Show us what you're made out of! With your looks, no offense or anything, I didn't know you could kick ass!"
"Well, I'm not like you and Tifa, but I got some strength in me," Aerith nodded as she flexed her skinny arms. "I'm sure SOLDIER would take me in any day with these bad boys!"
"You're killing me here," deadpanned Cloud, highly unamused with her antics this time around, but he couldn't help but crack a small smile at her silliness. "If you're so certain about that, don't come screaming for me to help. Anyways, Barret?"
"This might be a surprise to you, but Barret is actually much older than us," Tifa sarcastically let on. "He got a kid to take care of—missing your partner in crime that badly?"
"Please, if he's not going to be here, that's great. Now I don't have to watch my back for 'accidental' bullets firing at me," the blond scoff, distaste evident at Tifa's terrible guess. He then jerked a thumb over at the bar entrance, impatient to just get the show on the road already; his hands were just itching to wield his sword. "Now let's stop dawdling and get to work."
"Geez, who died and made you boss?" Jessie snorted before she stood up. She led the way out of the busy bar, but not without jabbing Cloud in the stomach with an elbow. However, with his brace, it was ineffective as he rolled his eyes at her back and sauntered after her along with everyone else.
On the way to the monster trails, Cloud voluntarily plugged his ears by walking forward with Wedge and Biggs to stay out of earshot from the three girls. With the way they were giggling with Aerith, there was no way he was just going to stick around to hear any of their female chatter; while he wasn't the type to talk about relationships, there was no say that Aerith would be the same.
"So, so, so?"
Jessie kept bumping Aerith on the shoulder with her own, a wild grin stretched across her face as she began to dig for the answers that Cloud had been too cheap with. "It's been two weeks or three since we went to topside, so why haven't I gotten a confirmation yet? Cloud has been so secretive about you guys, it's driving me nuts!"
"You know how he is, Jessie," Tifa chuckled as she switched places with Aerith for the center—poor girl was getting rammed by the bomber for answers. "Someone would have to be holding him by the leg over a cliff or something to get him to spill."
Just when Aerith thought Tifa was on her side about this, the smile she gave was too eerily similar to Jessie's. The curiosity that shined in both of their eyes was unmistakable, and while Jessie was more upfront about it, Tifa was more downlow.
"Okay, what do you guys even want to know?" Aerith laughed as she pushed Tifa by the shoulder, causing the domino effect to roll over to Jessie. "Hasn't Cloud said anything already? Don't tell me he has been shy about it!"
"Cloud Strife? Shy? Is that what it is?" Jessie dramatically whipped her ponytail over her shoulder as she stared fire into Cloud's back. With some odd sixth sense of his, Cloud looked over his shoulder to glare right back at Jessie before he resumed his conversation with Wedge and Biggs. "Big block of ice like him being shy? Just end this world already!"
"Oh, Aerith, you don't know how flustered he gets when we mention you," Tifa added in. "During dinner last weekend, just the sound of your name by Biggs about the Leaf House got him all jumpy underneath the table. He nearly spilled water over the table too!"
"What? No way." Aerith quirked an eyebrow up at the two girls, wondering if they were just exaggerating about the blond. Sure, he was a bit clumsy with the whole romancing idea, but the thought of Cloud Strife just being shaky with his hands was enough to raise a question mark above her head. "I'm sure he's not that different."
"He's got it bad for you, girl," Jessie winked. "Real bad. So who asked out who first?"
"… It was mutual."
Jessie squealed, and the only thing she could do to vent out her excitement was hit Tifa by the side of her arm repeatedly.
"And who kissed who first?"
"Jessie, c'mon," Tifa scolded, but her eyes immediately whipped over to Aerith's for an answer as well as she continued to play the devil's advocate. When Aerith let out a squeal of her own as she covered her face with her two hands, Tifa inserted some cushioning. "Aerith, you don't have to answer this girl's silly questions if it makes you uncomfortable."
"No, it's okay, I'm just not used to this type of talk," Aerith said in a mildly high-pitched voice. The red across her cheeks was evident, but her bright smile never evaporated as she let out a small laugh. "To answer your question… it was him. Who kissed me first."
Cloud couldn't take it anymore as he physically brought his hands up to cover his ears when both Tifa's and Jessie's squeals of excitement got his levels of endurance skyrocketing to break the meter. Wedge and Biggs simply gave him brotherly pats on the back, but the smirks on their faces never disappeared either as they snickered at his misery.
This torture was exactly why he didn't want to talk about it.
"Cloud got some in him, damn!" Jessie exclaimed as she reached over Tifa just to assault Aerith with more shoulder shakes. "Don't get me wrong, he's freaking hot," at this, Tifa rolled her eyes at Jessie's blatant comment, "One of the sexiest hunks I've ever met in my life, but his lack of emotional sensing just kills it. Aerith, just how on earth do you deal with this piece of rock?"
"Aw, I mean he tries," Aerith shyly confessed as she played with a few flowers in her basket. Although shy to talk about her relationship with Cloud like this with other people, Aerith was eager to have this type of talk; after all, she never had the chance to experience something like this. Telling Tifa, though, made her slightly uncomfortable, not because of her past relationship with Cloud, but because the Cetra was scared this type of conversation would hurt her. However, the soft gleam in the raven-haired's eyes signaled otherwise, welcoming and happy to listen to anything she had to say. "He's actually pretty sweet if you talk him into it."
Jessie mocked a gag as she stuck a finger into her mouth. "Sweet? Ugh. You know what—don't say anymore. I think I want to keep his mysterious image unchanged; I seriously can't imagine him as anything else."
"But Jessie, you know deep down Cloud's actually a sweetheart," Tifa said matter-of-factly as she laughed at the brunette's feigned look of disgust. "Who was the one who carried you all the way from Sector 4 back to your home that one day of clubbing when you twisted your ankle? He wouldn't even put you down for a second!"
"Must we talk about that night?" Jessie placed her two fingers against a temple as she remembered that horrible night of just partying like a wild animal. "I think that was where I told myself to drink less since, boy, that was a night." Then, she threw her hands up in defeat. "But yes, sure, Cloud is a nice guy, but only when it comes down to it, which is so not cute. Wouldn't you want a guy to shower you with love and adoration and—ooh, just all that delicious stuff all the time?"
Aerith simply laughed at Jessie's indirect diss at Cloud's abilities to be a loving partner; they really didn't expect much from the swordsman. However, they had quite an inaccurate image of him, because all Aerith had ever seen from him was care, concern, and consideration. Not wanting them to continue fostering this sort of misunderstanding about him, the Cetra began to give them some insider info on their relationship.
However, right when Aerith was about to open her mouth and spill all about Cloud's surprisingly romantic nature, the one and only stopped her.
"Okay, Aerith, enough."
Cloud had finally made his presence known again as he slowed down and grabbed Aerith by the arm, taking her away from the fortress of feminine territory. He glared at Tifa and Jessie, but especially towards Jessie since he knew Tifa was simply just riding along with the guilt train. While he had kept his distance, it was hard not to tune in with what they were saying, and he was glad he did because he knew Aerith had no barriers in exposing their moments alone together to the world to hear.
"Look, isn't he such a shy cutie baby?" Aerith giggled as she hugged onto his arm tightly, much to his reluctance since they were right underneath the watchful eyes of his friends. She even reached up to give him a peck on the cheek, which instantly set aflame the skin of his face as he gave her a slightly disapproving look. "He's a grumpy baby too, but I personally think that's cute as well."
"Take it outside!" Jessie jokingly booed as she pointed her thumb down towards the ground. "There's no room for lovesickness around these parts of town!"
"You're right, so don't jump a guy too soon or else you're going to infect this entire sector with your deafening squeals," Cloud shot back, eyes narrowed as he waged war with the bomber.
Aerith's smile faltered when Cloud roughly shook her arm to get her off of him, and her heart even pricked a little bit at how he seemed so against being affectionate in front of his friends, but all her worries were casted away when he instead reached down to hold onto her hand, instantly earning him a collection of aw's and ooo's.
"You guys really are cute together!" Wedge innocently acknowledged as he gave them a thumbs up. "Makes my heart melt like cheese on a pizza, mhm!"
"Leave it to Wedge to draw up a comparison between love and food," Biggs rolled his eyes. Aerith excited raised her hand at this, and Cloud already knew what kind of silly things would erupt from her mouth. While he knew it would kind of embarrass him, he let her anyway.
She was cute that way.
"Ooo, ooo, I'm good at those too! Cloud!" Aerith looked up at him expectantly with big, sparkly eyes.
"Yes?" he muttered, humoring her.
"Cloud, you're the tomato sauce to my spaghetti, avocado to my toast, cherry to my ice cream, cereal to my milk, and, and, and—"
Cloud bumped his shoulder with hers, urging her to just shut up already. Knowing her, she wouldn't stop until every pair on the Planet was named, and he didn't have the lifespan long enough to endure such a thing. However, her energy never failed to elicit stifled laughter from him, and it made all of his friends grin at him knowingly as he held a hand over his mouth to hide it.
"Who eats toast with avocado?" was his only response to her little rant.
Aerith dramatically gasped as she held up a hand over her own mouth. "Excuse you, I do!"
"You're strange."
"I didn't hire you to call me weird and strange constantly, okay, Mr. Bodyguard?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Too cute, it actually hurts," Jessie gasped for air as she feigned a stab wound to her chest, causing everyone to laugh as Cloud continued to glower at her during the rest of their way into the depths of the trails.
Everyone switched to work mode when monsters started to creep from the bushes and behind the litter that lined the fences at their arrival. Cloud let go of Aerith to wield his sword while Aerith summoned her staff. Tifa got ready her fists as Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie spread out in their usual formation as back-up for Cloud and Tifa. Since those two were the only ones who did most of the damage dealing, they tended to stay far from actual combat just to lend their assistance.
"So, when was the last time you and I had a couple of monsters to tussle with together?" Tifa smiled as her and Cloud slowly approached one of the bigger monsters from behind to catch it off guard. "The others might not know you that well, but I do, and I know you would never turn down a monster hunt, right?"
"Didn't come here to have this sort of conversation with you," Cloud replied. He naturally tapped Tifa on the shoulder and signaled with his eyes on another medium-sized one on their left. "Seems to me that your fists have gotten quite rusty if you needed to call me for an emergency hunt, hm?"
"Too cheeky for your own good—don't act that way towards Aerith, alright?"
"Too late."
Their warm-up chatter ceased when the mutated rat sensed their presence and swiftly turned around, baring its fangs as its little feet propelled its large body.
"Jessie!" Cloud shouted.
"You don't need to tell me twice!"
Jessie pulled out the safety pin of the grenade and chucked it at the rat while Cloud and Tifa ducked and covered. With Jessie's initial attack, it alerted all of the monsters within the vicinity their presence as the biggest monster dealt with most of the damage from her bomb. To make sure that it was completely done and gone with, Cloud slashed its backside and twisted his sword into its body before running it down its length. Tifa covered him as tiny critters began to swarm them.
"Sure you're going to be alright?" Cloud asked Aerith once he ran back to her side when he had the chance. She had also shot her own spells as she skipped around in her dress, helping out Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie as much as she could with the area coverage.
"Don't worry about me, you dummy," Aerith winked as she reached out a hand and cupped the side of his face. A soft, green glow shimmered from her hand, and all his miniscule tiredness evaporated. "Go help Tifa or else you're totally going to lose to her in number count."
"She has never beaten me."
"Lies!" Tifa could be heard shouting as she threw her punches at a Swordipede who had swooped from the sky and attempted to behead her. "He's lying—don't listen to him! I've beaten him plenty of times before!"
"Because I'm the one always watching your back!" Cloud shouted back as he left Aerith. To prove his point, he swung a kick at an annoying Monodrive that sprung up from the floor and threatened to lurch at Tifa. While there were monsters that always mutated from time to time due to the random mako leaks from the ground, Shinra's junk was still out and about since no one took the time to excavate the sectors and rid them from the once-tyrannical company's junk and creations.
"Didn't know you guys had enough of a breath to keep yapping!" Biggs yelled as he shot a couple rounds at the wererats that emerged from their nests due to all the noise the gang was stirring up. "Cloud, above you!"
One of the worst things the gang ever had to deal with during these monster hunts were the creatures that flew. While they weren't the most dangerous ones out there to deal with, the lack of skills in aerial combat severely hindered their progress and combat. Barret made things better with his gun power, but without him here tonight, things were going to get real tedious.
"Tifa!" Cloud called for her.
"I'm on it!"
Aerith watched as Cloud kneeled a knee onto the floor and placed his hands onto the ground. Tifa ran towards him, and with a step onto his two hands, launched into the air as Cloud heaved her up and gave her the momentum to soar temporarily.
The crunch of the drake's bones made the Cetra wince as the martial artist swung her leg down and smacked its body down with her heel. She even landed on it once she reached the ground, giving the poor thing a sure death as Tifa hopped right off and swiped her hands for a job well done.
"Don't tell me you're relaxing now," Cloud continued to shoot his verbal shots as he grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her out of the way from a drake's descent down. "This is what happens when I'm not here for a couple of weeks?"
"Holy shit, just shut up," Tifa guffawed as she bumped him across the shoulder and pushed away from him. "You're talking way too much tonight! When were you ever so loud? Trying to impress your girlfriend with how much you got the entire field in the bag?"
"Am not," Cloud grunted as he separated from Tifa to deal with some of the land creatures.
While Aerith gave Tifa back-up and gave heals whenever anyone got a hit, she couldn't keep her eyes away from Cloud's form as he swung the Buster Sword with an agility that even she never saw before—and she had seen many brilliant swordsmen back in the day. It was definitely the mako that assisted him in swinging the block of metal around as if it was just some wooden stick—there was no way any normal human being could ever summon the strength to even lug the thing around for an entire day—but she knew that there was a lot more than just the mako-powered strength that encompassed his skill.
It was simply hard work put into polishing the skills he harnessed now, and it was a kind of skill that Aerith thought would've been similar to its previous owner. However, as she watched him with her observant, emerald eyes, she knew that the sword was of Cloud Strife's, from the tip of the blade down to the end of its hilt—not anyone else's.
And she really liked that.
"Looks like we've hit a nest of drakes or something—they aren't disappearing!" Jessie exclaimed as she chucked another bomb to detonate in the sky. "I don't want to waste my precious material on these small fries!"
"Need a little help?" Aerith giggled when Cloud managed to return back to her side as he ran away from an exploding Sweeper. His weariness was starting to show as he stabbed his sword onto the ground and leaned against it for a bit. Tifa was even worse as her kicks and punches started to slow while her breathing rate quickened. They were successful in wiping out all the critters that scurried on the ground, but the drakes were a different story as they flapped their wings mockingly at them.
"Biggs, mind shooting more or something?" groaned Cloud as he gave the shooter a desperate look. "These things don't look like they're decreasing in number, and I'm tired of throwing Tifa up even though I might not look it."
"Sorry, buddy, I'm trying my best." Biggs reloaded his gun as he attempted to slice his bullets through the wings.
"Are you trying to call me heavy?" Tifa gasped, both from shock and tiredness. "By the way, I'm counting, and I'm definitely killing more things than you."
"Are you joking, who's the one getting you up there for the kills?"
"Are they always like this?" Aerith shouted at Jessie, grinning as she listened on to the two's competitive bantering. Jessie waved her hand to shoo the topic away.
"Don't even try to stop them—it's worse when Barret's here. Oh, please, you don't want to see all three of them together on a monster hunt. Barret starts to shoot at Cloud, you see, and it's a whole hunking mess, especially when Cloud shifts his priorities and start swinging the Buster at the big man too while poor Tifa's on her own with the entire monster party. Talk about maturity, right?"
"Well, look at you," Cloud scoffed, "Acting all innocent as if you don't throw bombs at my way on purpose."
"What can I say, you're just explosive."
"Guys, c'mon, I'm burning way too many calories for tonight, let's hurry it up," Wedge whined. "You weren't lying when you said this hunt was big, Tifa!"
Amongst all the violence and bantering, Aerith laughed joyously as she exhausted her pool of magic to take away some of the weight of fatigue off their shoulders as much as she could. All of it was so much fun for her, and just hearing everyone and experiencing their love-hate for each other on the battle field was more than she would've expected from such a team-coordinated activity like this one. The synergy was great, and she was glad that she could be a part of it.
"Here, I'll end this in a jiffy for you guys," Aerith twinkled as she waved her staff happily. Cloud gave her a weird look after he ripped his sword out from another Monodrive.
"And what exactly do you have in store?" He then shook his head. "No, the real question is why you haven't taken it out yet."
"Because I wanted to see who would win," she mused before she gave Tifa a thumbs up. "I hate to say it, Cloud, but you definitely lost this one for tonight."
"Yes!" cheered Tifa.
"Not you too," Cloud placed a hand over his forehead as he shook his head in mock betrayal before he pointed to the sky and smirked. "Want to show me how you're going to deal with this?"
"Of course, who do you think I am?"
"A flower peddler."
"You are so uncute."
Aerith let out a hmph before she tightened the grip on her staff. Cloud backed away, sensing something big from the Cetra as he watched her in wonder. She focused a bit as she collected her magic in one place, the force of it whipping her dress back and forth as her braid waved in the air in gentle waves.
"Uh, are you charging a spell or something?" Cloud asked dumbly.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Aerith snapped back, eyes closed as the frown sketched across her forehead. "You're going to see something real cool—something I haven't done in a long time."
Everyone sat back as they watched the unfamiliar pink glow gather at the Cetra. When they squinted their eyes, they realized some sort of pink crystal was forming as it grew larger and larger. When the spell was done, she surprised everyone by whipping her staff and launching the crystal projectile at the drakes floating in the air above them. Cloud instantly shielded his eyes when the spell exploded in a burst of pink bright light. The pink crystal that she had concentrated all her magic into exploded into sharp fragments as it pierced all that was in its vicinity, instantly making it rain drakes as their bodies dropped from the skies, holes painfully etched into the velvety skin between their wing bones.
Cloud shamelessly dropped his jaw open, along with everyone else, as they watched the hindrances that plagued the entirety of their hunt just drop dead within a snap of a finger. When the pink crystal evaporated, nearly all of the drakes were gone with only a few left as all their comrades fell dead on the floor, twitching as the life in them quickly dissipated from their bodies.
"Wait, that was so overpowered!" yipped Jessie as she ran up to Aerith and stared wide-eyed at the simple white staff in her hand. "Aerith, what the heck!"
"I call it the Tempest," Aerith wagged a finger proudly at everyone before she charmingly tapped it against her cheek. "And my mom still insists I need a bodyguard."
She spoke too soon, however, when everyone's stupor from Aerith's grand, magical attack distracted their attention away from one of the drakes that flapped behind them. Before any one of them could react, it dived down and sunk its claws into the fabric of Aerith's clothes at the shoulders, taking her off as her feet left the ground and her body swung wildly in the air.
"Aerith!" shouted Cloud as he instantly dropped the Buster Sword and sprinted towards the drake to reach it before it ascended out of his reach. He gathered all the strength left in his leg muscles and launched himself off the ground as he stretched his arm to grab onto one of Aerith's dangling feet. Missing her by only a mere inch, gravity took him back down as he painfully rolled across the dirt floors before jumping right back up, mako eyes fierce as he stared helplessly at the drake which was far from arm's reach now. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie didn't dare to shoot, too afraid of accidentally hitting Aerith.
"Let me go!" Aerith yelled as she attempted to knock it out of flight and stabbed blindly at it with her staff. "You seriously need a pedicure because these claws are in dire need of a foot work!"
"Now's not really the time to comment on a monster's nails!" Cloud grimaced as he placed his hands on his hips, eyes never leaving her form as they followed the drake's erratic flight due to all of Aerith's jabbing and resistance. Cloud signaled a hand towards Biggs, who looked at him in bewilderment, not understanding what he wanted.
"What is it, dude?"
"Hand me your gun," Cloud muttered.
"Excuse m—what? Don't tell me you're going to try to shoot at it with Aerith in its grasps."
"Cloud, I have never ever seen you wield a gun before," Tifa said, flabbergasted as Biggs hesitantly handed him one of the pistols on his belt. "Are you sure you know how one works?"
Cloud spun the barrel with ease as he clicked it in place. He shot at a random direction to test it out, surprising Tifa as she jolted from the lack of a warning.
"You learn a lot of things when you're a SOLDIER," Cloud sighed. "And shooting a gun is definitely one in the bucket list. Aerith!"
"What?" The Cetra did not look like she was having a fun time as she successfully hit the drake in the face with her staff. Her eyes squinted as she looked to see how everyone was doing, and she immediately shook her head when she saw the way Cloud aimed the gun at her and the drake. "No, no, no, you are not shooting at me, Cloud Strife!"
"Got any better idea?" he growled. "Do you trust me or not?"
"It's not that I don't trust you—I just don't want to be shot at! Look, I'll get down myself, no worries. I'm not a damsel in distress!"
"Right, real convincing."
"I will fire you instantly if you dare shoot at me!"
"That threat's getting super old!"
"Now's not the time to have a lover's quarrel," Jessie snapped. "Cloud, for the love of the Planet, just put the gun down. I think everyone here can agree that nobody would want to get shot at, even in this type of situation."
Seeing how everyone was on the same page about this, Cloud reluctantly let his arm fall before he handed the firearm back to Biggs. Even though he had wielded a gun many times before during the rebellion, he wasn't sure himself if he could hit the mark, and just having Aerith there so close to the target made him exponentially nervous.
"Got any other ideas?"
No one needed to pitch in any ideas because Aerith didn't seem to be bluffing when she claimed she could get down herself.
"Okay, it's been great knowing how it feels like to fly, but I think the ride's over! I hope you get ingrown toenails for life—that is, if you live!"
Aerith concentrated the tip of her staff with magic before she swung her arm up and jabbed the drake right in the ribcage, instantly earning a howling screech from the creature as its claws loosened. Taking this as her chance, Aerith swung her feet up with all her strength before she flipped a leg forward during her small performance of acrobatics and landed a solid kick to the drake's head. All of her assaults were enough to get the drake to finally let go of her, and before she knew it, she entered freefall head first.
"Aerith, no!" Cloud didn't expect her sudden descent down, so he wasn't going to make it in time as he ran towards the patch of land where she was going to hit. Tifa and Jessie looked away in horror as Biggs and Wedge took a step forward, only to realize that they were way too far away to do anything.
Right when everyone thought the Cetra would get her bones crushed from the impact, she pointed her staff to the ground, and with all the magic she had left in her reserve, projected it to the dirt floors waiting below her.
"Aerith!"
Cloud's sprinting slowed when a circular, white light stained the ground she was about to land on. With head facing forward, Aerith touched it with her staff, and instead of crashing right into the dirt floors, her body stayed afloat for a bit as her staff hit the floor and kept her balanced in the air. She easily pushed off with it once her fall was softened, and before Cloud could even blink and take another step towards her, she landed on her feet right in front of him, a small victorious smile splayed across her face.
"Woo, that was a workout!" she cheerily said as she dematerialized her staff. However, before she put it away, she shot a magical spell at the drake for revenge, and down it went to join its comrades. She placed her hands on her hips, out of breath from all of those movements—it had been a long, long time since she had been that active in the field. "Not going to lie, thought that drake would take me directly to its nest or something, but nothing a little bit of fussing can't fix! Cloud?"
Cloud was wide-eyed at her, shocked and amazed at what he just witnessed as he took in the sight of her agile form—a form he never knew she could even harbor.
Something he had always liked about Tifa before was how strong and independent she was. To say that he had never been attracted to her athletic build and the way she threw her punches and kicks would be a horrible, terrible lie—it was this part of her that got a lot of the male hounds in the sector going after her. Cloud, just like any other male on the Planet, had certain tastes towards women, and Tifa fit his margins perfectly; it was a huge bonus to have his partner as skilled as him in combat.
While Aerith seemed to be the complete opposite from Tifa with the way she dressed to the way she seemed a bit clumsy in the battle field as she held her magic staff with her muscle-less arms, Cloud never minded. She was special in her own way with her positive spirits, headstrong personality, and charming allure, so he would never bring the two women up for comparison since they were just different in different fields. Sure, Aerith probably couldn't share his love for fighting as much as Tifa could, but he never thought about it like that since the Cetra had so much more to offer in the stead of being athletically fit.
However, he had to rethink and reform his image he had of this seemingly unathletic florist as he felt his attraction levels for her break the top and spill over in a hot, overflowing mess.
Shit.
Cloud felt like he was falling head-over-heels in love with the Cetra for a second time that night.
"Hello, earth to Cloud?" Aerith waved a hand over his dumbstruck face, snapping him out of his admiring daze as he cleared his throat and straightened up. However, just like always, Aerith knew what was running through his head as she grinned wickedly. "What, didn't expect me to pull awesome moves like that? You're underestimating me, sir!"
"Mind giving me a warning before you pull something like that?" Cloud released a sigh of relief as he spoke to her, glad that she was still all in one piece. "You're going to give me a heart attack one day—seriously."
"I love it when you worry about me. Sad that you couldn't be the hero of the day? Here, you can be now!"
Cloud didn't understand what she meant before he let out a sound of surprise when she wrapped her hands around his neck and jumped into his arms. His elbows instantly bent to hold her form as he princess-carried her, the way it was supposed to be if she hadn't pulled out those amazing tricks from underneath her sleeves.
"It really is never a dull moment with you," he chuckled as he nuzzled the side of her face a little bit with his nose before pulling back. "And yes, before you say anything, it is a compliment."
"You should definitely show this side to people more often, you know," Aerith laughed. "Everyone be out here thinking you're a stone-cold rock!"
"… Only reserved for you."
Aerith's heart skipped a beat—no, two—as his endearing words shot right through her chest, and she squealed as she kicked her legs in the air excitedly, making him lose his stable hold on her as he finally let her go. The little prince and princess act needed to end anyway as their friends jogged up to the two, worried looks evident across their faces as they scanned the Cetra up and down.
"Aerith, how did—what the—you just—Aerith!" Jessie went a full circle as she patted the Cetra down from top to bottom, making sure there weren't any broken bones. "What was that! Us folks down here don't use magic often, so don't blame me for being so surprised!"
"It looks like you're okay," Tifa let out the breath she was holding as she ran a hand through her bangs. "That was way too scary."
"She went like this, and like this, and like this!" Wedge exclaimed as he did a poor man's attempt at replicating her elegant movements from up the sky and back down to the ground. "Never seen anything like it!"
"Guess Cloud didn't need to shoot after all," smirked Biggs, patting the holster for emphasis. "He's a good swordsman alright, but I'm not too sure with his aim. Him and darts don't go well together."
"Shooting a gun and playing darts are two different things," complained Cloud, eyes narrowed at Biggs for exposing his terrible hand at darts. Out of the six of them, Cloud always scored last place, but he blamed it on the smaller-than-necessary target and claimed that if they were at a different setting and not at a bar, he would definitely perform better.
Of course, they all humored him to save him some face.
"It's okay, it was a nice breeze through the wind," Aerith assured as she eased everyone's initial concern. "I got all my limbs attached, we got the job done, and I got my daily exercise for the day—or week, phew. I think we're done around here!"
"Leave it to this girl to remain positive despite a near death drop," Cloud muttered as he felt her braid from behind and smoothed out any hair strands that randomly stuck out from it. Then he glanced at Tifa. "So, are we check marking tonight's hunt?"
"We are done! Thanks so much, Cloud and Aerith, for your help," Tifa grinned as she gave them two thumbs up. "We got the rest for the week, and dinner's on me tomorrow! Er, tonight's a bit too late, so."
"Gotcha. Going to head home, Aerith?"
Aerith nodded. "Yup. With it being late in the night now, there's nothing much for me to do here." The flower girl caught Cloud off guard once more when she gave him a side hug before proceeding to give Tifa and Jessie one as well. She smiled at Biggs and Wedge before she nodded again. "The night's calling for me! I'll see you guys again sometime soon when I hit Sector 7 again."
"Feel free to come over any time, flower sale or not," said Tifa. "Always fun to have you around; Jessie and I need more girl power anyway around these parts."
"Right?" Aerith shook her head mockingly as she poked Cloud in the arm. "It's okay, feel free to make him your pack chocobo anytime when you guys go shopping."
"Hear that, Cloud? Your girlfriend's such a gem!" Jessie sighed dramatically as she clasped her hands together. "Don't forget what she just said!"
"I didn't hear anything," Cloud deadpanned before shooting Aerith a warning look. She simply smiled back in response, melting him a little bit inside before he addressed his friends again. "I'll walk Aerith home—see you back at home."
"Alright. See ya!"
Aerith quirked an eyebrow up at him, questioning his motive in walking her home despite their countless of talks about how she could just walk herself back from Sector 7. However, knowing pretty well by now why he insisted in such, she simply laughed as she allowed him to lead the way. Even though they weren't too far from their friends' views just yet, Cloud naturally took her hand in his. Now that their relationship was blatantly obvious after tonight's events, he had no reason to act all skittish about it anymore.
"You have an odd ability to sense what I'm feeling, don't you?" Aerith sighed happily as she tightened her grip on his hand.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
When they turned the corner away from everyone's eyes, Aerith let go of him and settled on hugging his arm and snuggling into his side like she always did. "I was feeling a bit lonely at the idea of departing from you after such a traumatic fall through the sky."
"You don't look traumatized to me."
"Would it kill you to just let me have my way for once?"
This statement was not accurate, however, because Aerith knew how much Cloud caved in for her, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He really was sweet, and it made her elated to know that this sort of treatment was, indeed, just reserved for her. From listening her go on and on with her rants about the day to making sure she was comfortable whenever and wherever she was, this side of Cloud was more than she ever would've expected at the start of their relationship. She figured that it would've been a bit difficult to bring out his soft side—though she never doubted she would fail—but he surprised her by being so open and vulnerable to her.
Truly, she was blessed.
"Hope my friends don't make you uncomfortable," sighed Cloud as he snapped her out of her appreciative thoughts about him. "They're a bit too excited for their own good. It's as if they can't imagine someone like me together with someone like your or something."
"Hey, even I'm surprised," Aerith teased. "After all, it took you so long to even realize my feelings. Even at the nights sometimes, before I go to sleep, I think about how you blocked me and my kisse—!"
"What did I say about forgetting about all of that?" Cloud interrupted her, always feeling attacked every time she brought up his lack of an initiative in the beginning. "Now you're just taking it out to blackmail me."
The two stepped foot onto the train, easily finding a seat in the nearly-empty benches as they sat close to each other. Aerith leaned her head on his shoulder, and he reciprocated by placing his head gently atop hers.
"What can I say, you've gone a long way," snickered Aerith. She played with his fingers as she hummed underneath her breath. "Though, I'm really glad that your friends seem to accept me and all."
This perked his interest. "What, did you think they wouldn't?"
"… Kinda."
Cloud took his head off of hers so that he could peer into her eyes. The smile from her face never disappeared, but a hint of insecurity lined it as she tilted her head at him at his sudden interrogative gaze.
"Why wouldn't they? I thought we went over this a long time ago," he said softly, not wanting her to feel any sort of doubt about this subject. "It was rocky a little bit at first, but it was because they didn't really know you well. Now they do, and even though I don't really read people that well," this earned him a quiet laugh from the Cetra, "I'm certain that they really like you, hm?"
"And I like them too," Aerith murmured. "Sorry, just a bit scared, is all."
Understanding where she was coming from with her past experiences with human society and fear of exclusion, Cloud shook his head and offered her a tiny smile of assurance. "Don't be. You're good."
"… You make me really happy, Cloud," Aerith half-whispered so that her voice didn't peak high enough for anyone else on the train to hear. "1… like you a lot."
Cloud's breath caught in his throat as his heart thumped a bit harsher against his chest. Such an outright confession was rare between them—they didn't need constant affirmation of the fact—so he firmly grasped her hand as he nodded, voice lost for a second before he found it again.
"Me too." Then he realized that he shouldn't keep it clipped like that. "I like you too."
He never failed to make Aerith fangirl whenever he showed his softness, so his smile got a bit bigger as Aerith let out another silent squeal and swung her legs excitedly underneath the bench—something he always found really adorable about her.
The rest of the train ride to Sector 5 passed as the rumbles of the engine and the clicks of the wheels against the tracks sounded in their ears, the repetition of it all lulling them deeper and deeper into sleep's grasp. By the time they stepped off the platform, Cloud's eyes definitely felt heavier, but that didn't stop him from seeing Aerith off in front of her front door.
"So," Aerith spoke up again as they walked slowly through Sector 5 towards her house. "Do you ever miss your days in SOLDIER?"
Cloud raised both his eyebrows in surprise; he didn't expect her to suddenly ask that sort of question out of the blue. Wondering why, he said, "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know if you know this," she began, "but you're almost like a different person when you're out swinging the Buster Sword like that." To make her point, she adorned a cute frown across her forehead as she hacked and slashed with an imaginary sword in the air. "It's like you enter a completely different mindset—a different world."
"… Is it disturbing?"
His insecurity leaked out a little bit since he had to deal with this kind of issue with Tifa before, but his worries instantly evaporated when Aerith shook her head.
"Of course not! It's just different—cooler even. I like watching you battle; it certainty gives an almost fresh feel to it. Your eyes get all sharp and your movement gets all fluid and—yeah, I don't know how to explain it in words, but you're cool, Cloud!"
He chuckled as she threw weak punches across his arm. "So it makes me wonder if you miss that type of life, just hunting down Shinra and using your sword every day. Of course, if you had to pick between civilian life and the life of a SOLDIER again, I would urge you to pick the former since I obviously don't want you to go through such horrible things again, but it wouldn't surprise me if you chose the latter."
"Please, as much as I like fighting, I think I like the life I have now in Sector 7," he replied instantly, no second thoughts lingering in his head at all. "My time with the Buster Sword during the rebellion is over; I don't think I would even want to revisit it for a day just for old time's sake." He shuddered when he thought about those bastardly clones again. "I don't think nostalgia hits as much as you think it does for me. I'm glad to look back, but to never go back."
"Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this to give me this type of answer," Aerith said knowingly. Cloud merely nodded, not sure what to say to that.
"… Yeah."
"You know, when I first met you," Aerith held onto his arm again, and he was glad for her warmth, "You really reminded me of someone I used to know, with the whole SOLDIER uniform and mako eyes and all. Sword especially."
Cloud was slow, but he wasn't slow about this as he quickly figured out who she was talking about. "Your… past lover that died during the rebellion?" They hadn't talked about him at all since their night out at Wall Market. He would be lying to say he wasn't curious about what kind of person she was with in the past, but she seemed quite reclusive about it, so he never dug into it. She didn't seem to be too affected by the history of it either, so he never thought much about what kind of past relationships she harbored.
"Yup! Aw, you remembered?"
"I mean, it's hard to forget how crazy you were that night."
"Shut it, you," Aerith mockingly narrowed her eyes at him before she cracked into a smile. "But yup, that's him." She sighed as she thought about him whose face she barely remembered anymore. "He was similar to you—at least, that's what I thought at first. Cool and collected, mind always staring straight at the battlefield and nothing else. And gosh, his honor as SOLDIER—hugely inflated."
"Sounds like we could've been best friends," joked Cloud, earning another punch to his shoulder as Aerith pouted. "But that's what you thought? Something different now?"
"Of course, it's different," she softly laughed. "At first, I thought you were also the same. Your hard front, your cold exterior. Although he was definitely a lot warmer than you in the front, I thought the core was the same. Battle-driven, hard and tactical thinking—just your usual SOLDIER attitude. You definitely gave me the impression of a typical SOLDIER when we first met."
"I mean, I don't sense anything wrong in that because you're not saying anything inaccurate about me." Cloud stated. Nothing she said tipped him off the scale; in fact, it seemed pretty on point. His SOLDIER days shaped him to become who he was now, a mere shell of what he used to be before the fires took over his village. Some might even remember him as naïve and foolish—Tifa could probably stand to justify this—but now, people would probably remember him as such of a "typical SOLDIER," one that Aerith described with pinpoint accuracy, so to hear her say otherwise struck him as odd.
"You're wrong," she denied, shaking her head as she disagreed with him. Cloud blinked as she let go of him and blocked his path. She took his two hands and held them between their bodies, swinging them lightly as she smiled brightly at him. They continued to walk, albeit slower this time as he walked forward and she walked backwards. "Cloud, what did I tell you? You're so much more than you think."
"An explanation would be nice," he mused as he gripped her hands, eyes making sure to watch her feet for any potential hazards behind her. "Not going to lie—a bit curious with what you can come up with to persuade me otherwise."
"I know the situation between now and then were different," she began. "My… past lover—I'm sure he loved me a lot—but… he never really made the time for me." Aerith let out a breath as she delved into the past, something that was a recurrent theme between her and Cloud. "While I was important to him, it always seemed like I was second in his life. Oh, and I definitely understand why; things were quite messy back then with the whole rebellion. But… I would've hoped that I could sense it."
"… Sense what?"
"That I was truly someone more important to him than a war. I know, I sound completely selfish right now, but as a growing girl back then—and a lonely one at that," Cloud tightened his hold on her when she said this, to let her know that he felt for her, "It was difficult. Having that sort of relationship." She then let out a dark laugh, one that Cloud didn't expect. "He didn't reply to any of my letters either—not even one. Yet he had the time to come visit me and stuff in secret during down times. I just felt that… he never took the extra step in our relationship, nor did he ever think about me ever during his trips across Midgar. But you, Cloud…"
When they reached the bridge that paved the way to her home, Aerith stopped in her tracks and looked up at Cloud right in the eyes.
"Yes?" he let out, a bit breathless as he listened to her heartfelt words.
"You make me feel so special," Aerith confessed, letting go of one of his hands just to cup his cheek. "You don't make me feel insecure, not at all, and… you make me feel like I really am someone important to you. I thought you would be cheeky with this whole relationship, or closed off since you are a buffoon sometimes," she earned a snort of disbelief from him as he rolled his eyes, "But you're just—I don't know—you're just so much more than I expected. And… it really makes me feel like the happiest girl on the Planet."
"Exaggerations can only get you so far," he let out lowly as he held onto her hand so that he could move it to his mouth. She giggled as he peppered kisses into the center of her palm. "I can go with a little bit of the truth, you know. After all, I'm a hard man."
"Stop bluffing, I know there's just jelly sitting in there somewhere," Aerith tittered as she scrunched up her face at him teasingly. "I'll just wait until the hard shell comes off. Until then, I claim victory for now."
"Um, that's not how it works, but I guess I'll humor you here a little bit. And… Aerith."
"Yes?"
"You make me happy too," he openly admitted, successfully causing her heart to lodge right into her throat. "I don't know if I could be where I am right now without you, so… yeah." Then he looked away, not knowing why he was suddenly having a hard time with words now, especially after Aerith just spilled her heart out to him. He also wanted to make a comment about her past lover, to perhaps even say his opinion about her thoughts about him, but he couldn't as he settled with only these little words. However, Aerith understood everything as she let her arms drop down to his middle to enwrap him in a hug, one that he instantly responded to as he brought his strong arms around her.
"Don't force yourself because I already know, silly," Aerith said into his shirt as she breathed in his calming scent. "I know, so just take your time."
"… mhm."
When they eventually reached her front door, the two of them had a hard time separating from each other as Cloud let her go so that she could unlock her door and go inside. She creaked it open, making sure it didn't make too loud of noise in fear of waking up Elmyra. Before she stepped over the line of her door, she turned around to face him one more time for the night.
"Guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
Cloud slowly nodded. "Yeah."
The two looked at each other for two seconds before Aerith slowly reached out for his face, holding it between her dainty hands before she brought it down for a soft and fleeting kiss. Just like always, the heat immediately pooled in his veins as his strong hands reached up to grasp her shoulders, bringing her closer to him as he kissed her back, slow and languid as he indulged in her addicting touch.
When the two of them separated, both of their minds prepared to say another goodbye, but their eyes conveyed something different to each other as their breaths intermingled. Their eyes never left each other's mouths as their breathing became heavier and more labored underneath each other's intense gazes.
Usually, Cloud would take this time to say something along the lines of "you should go" to avoid any unwanted and unintentional unraveling of desires so that he could somehow keep up his image of a good-mannered man in front of Aerith. However, after that little talk about their feelings for each other, his strings nearly snapped as his grip on her shoulders became tighter. It was if this hold was the only thing keeping him chained to reality and reason as he urged himself to look away from her beautiful face.
"What are you thinking so much about?" Aerith asked as she swiped a thumb over his lips, immediately sending tiny electric shocks down his spine. He wanted to grab her hand to stop her, but he just liked it too much.
"How much I want to kiss you," he blurted out. It was uncharacteristic of him to show his desires for her so obviously, but he didn't have enough of a brain capacity to give a shit at the moment.
"Then do it," she whispered.
"But—"
"Elmyra's asleep," and that was enough of a signal for him to step into her house, close her door, and pin her against it as he smothered his mouth over hers, the shortness and sweetness of their previous kiss long gone and buried.
He wasn't feeling sleepy anymore.
Aerith's hands swiftly flew into his hair as his hands slid down her body to sit at her waist in the darkness of her home, lights completely out as they depended on each other's touch to have a sense of their surroundings.
Their kisses were usually not intense, although it did get a bit risqué sometimes in the monster trails, but the environment around them always shocked them back to remind them of where they were and how they shouldn't be doing that kind of stuff when monsters threatened to pop out at any second to claw at them.
However, as Cloud pressed his hard form against hers underneath the roof of her house, many restraints that kept them from doing certain things loosened and even broke.
Aerith had to keep her sighs of delight and contentment to a minimum when Cloud angled his mouth for better access against hers, and she nearly slid against the door and fell onto the ground when his mouth opened up to hers as his tongue flicked against her bottom lip, something that didn't usually happen in the monster trails.
"Wait," she gasped in the darkness as she pulled away, tripping a bit at the fast pace the blond suddenly imposed on her.
"Sorry," he quickly apologized, eyes searching for hers as he made the motion to put some distant between their faces. He stopped though when Aerith pulled him back to her mouth by the collar of his shirt.
"No, don't apologize, I just needed to catch some air," she said, at lost for breath as she grinned excitedly at him. "Did I ever tell you how much of an amazing kisser you are?"
"… All for you," he bravely declared as he pushed his lips on hers again, not wanting to miss a single second of contact with her if she was okay with the whole thing.
He didn't know how long they stood there for, making out against her front door as his hands started to become more adventurous with their path. He could feel her squirms of enjoyment whenever he accidentally rubbed the sides of her chest during his smooth motions up and down her sides in an attempt to keep them there for the entire time. However, when he realized how much she liked the friction of his hands against her dress at certain areas of her body with the way she mewed softly against his mouth, he didn't fear anymore as he pressed against places that no man had ever laid their hands on for almost an entire decade.
"Cloud," she said, and she hadn't meant to sound so desperate and raw as his hands squeezed her over her fabrics. Thinking that she was stopping him again, he instantly let go as he broke their kiss and gazed at her both in question and amazement at how wonderful he was feeling at the moment.
"Enough for you?" he asked, voice drenched with his want for her as he swallowed down the lump lodged in his throat along with any unnecessary thoughts.
She shook her head. "My room, please?"
She didn't need to say anymore as he grabbed onto her hand and quietly led her up the stairs, careful to make sure his feet didn't thud against the wood and awaken Elmyra.
Once they were in the recesses of her room, they resumed their intense liplocking as hands felt for each other blindly. Feeling that the bed was too early, Cloud instead hoisted her up on her desk as she giggled into his mouth.
"Someone's real eager," she quietly laughed into the hot air as his lips detached from her mouth and began to travel down her jaw and latch onto the side of her neck. She happily obliged as she tilted her head to the side so that he could have better access to her porcelain skin.
"Sorry that I'm a relatively young male." He still managed to creep some sarcasm into his words despite their current situation. "You can stop me whenever you want though."
"It's fine, I like it when you're like thi—oh, that feels good," she let out another drawn out sigh as he worshipped the skin at the junction between her neck and her shoulder with his tongue and teeth. "Sorry, I was a bit sweaty from the monster hunt, maybe I should take a show—"
"It's fine," he breathed into her neck, sending delightful tingles all throughout her body. "You're beautiful enough."
The two of them ceased their playful banter as they focused their complete attention in drowning in each other. Cloud wasn't sure if she meant anything by bringing him into her room, but he was more than happy to go along with what she had in store for him within the next few minutes.
He stood in between her legs as his hands kept himself stable by gripping onto the edge of her desk by her sides. His mouth returned to hers as the heat of the moment cooled down a bit, and while his hands were calmer than before, hers started to take their turn as she felt every single muscle underneath his shirt, relishing in their hardness as she felt his muscles flex involuntarily every time her fingers graced over them.
This sort of privacy was new to them, even though it bit at their conscious a little bit at how they were so secretive with Elmyra innocently sounding asleep upstairs, but they decided to think about that later.
When Aerith's bottom threatened to fall off the table, Cloud grabbed onto her waist and pushed her deeper into it as he leaned over more so that he could reach her. Before they could return to kissing each other, their moment was broken when his hands landed back onto the table and accidentally swiped at the things at her desk, causing them to fall over the edge and clatter onto the ground noisily.
Something even shattered.
"Oh, shit," Cloud cursed as Aerith grasped onto his shoulders and laughed.
"Yeah, someone's definitely too eager," Aerith cooed, mind too occupied with how good Cloud was making her feel just a minute ago to realize what had just dropped onto the ground.
"Sorry, let me clean it up," he apologized sheepishly as he separated his body from hers and bent down to pick up all the scattered pens and penholders.
When he turned his attention towards the fragile, shattered, glass picture frame, he inwardly winced—there was no restoring this one. He made a note to make it up to her and find her a new one if he ever had the chance to; it seemed like an important item of hers to just keep at her desk like that all the time. Although, he wasn't sure where he could possibly find another frame made completely out of glass like this one.
When his eyes moved in the darkness lit by the bright moonlight, his attention then focused on something else underneath all the broken glass.
There was actually something kept inside the frame.
He picked up the blank white photo that had slipped out from the broken frame, and at that exact moment in time, Aerith finally gathered all her senses as her stomach immediately dropped, and the sense of dread and anxiety filled up her everything as she realized what he was picking up.
"Wait, Cloud," she jumped off the table as her feet landed harshly against the floor. Waking up Elmyra was the very last thing on her mind at the moment as she tried to bend over Cloud's hunched form over the ground. "Cloud."
"What is this?" He stood up right when she was about to pluck the flimsy white lamination out of his hands, completely unaware at how flustered and nervous she was.
Aerith shook her head furiously. "It's nothing, Cloud, just give it to m—"
Then, he flipped it to the other side.
And at that moment, he finally knew what it felt like to have his whole entire world fall apart and crash down at his feet.
Aerith swiftly took the photo away from his still grasp, but it was too late—he already saw it underneath the moonlight that streamed through her window.
"Cloud," Aerith half-whispered, voice utterly broken already as she gripped the photo in her hand. She nearly damaged it with the way she held onto it so tightly between her thumb and fingers as she stared at Cloud's frozen form. His eyes never moved away from his hand as if the photo was still in his hold as he remained unmoved and still. "Clou—"
She didn't get to say anymore as Cloud reached out and ripped the photo out of her hand so that he could examine it in more detail. This time, she didn't resist as her heart quickened from worry and fear.
He was a fool.
The crystal picture frame had never been empty.
Instead, the picture had always been flipped, hiding its contents away from its viewers until its owner ever decided to let it see the light once more.
It was a picture.
A picture of her and Zack from nine years ago.
…
Being truthful really was the way to go.
Hi guys don't hit me *hides underneath the table*
HAHA jk jk, but after almost two weeks, here's an update! Sorry that it took so long (idk if that counts as long or not cause omg i've been waiting forever for other fanfics and it' me), I'm just so booked with exams and life and everything! After this update, I probably won't post another one until another two weeks (when my finals are over) so pls be patient!
Yeah, I'm sorry that you guys are going to die with this cliffhanger (?) Uh, definitely had fun because I love writing this type of shit than fluff (my sword for writing fluff just isn't sharpened guys xDDD) so I hope you guys enjoyed this despite how I stabbed some of yall with this ending
but yeah, uh that photoless picture frame? lol i hinted at it all the way back in a lame ass way, so i don't blame you guys if you never noticed it (mentioned it every time cloud was in her room and everything) but yes, fun fact for y'all
Uh, since it's like in the middle of the dead night (like it always is whenever I update LOLOL), i shall end this A/N here. Um, feel free to let me know how this chapter hits you, and feel free to rage xDDDD (friendly rage though omg)
Let the battles begin :^))))
(also, on a side and personal note here since i feel really strongly about this, my heart goes out to my fellow black comrades out there, watching the news is painful for me forreal. pls stay safe everyone since 2020 is not starting off well for any of us in the world. this chapter is dedicated for all of you because i'm just stuck at home unable to do anything :( much love for you guys)