A shadow came down from above her, she lifted her head and kind emerald green eyes locked on him.
He jumps up, almost falls off the bed as he does. The warm trace of a teardrop makes him take his fingers to his cheek. Places the palm of his hand on his forehead, feels his heart thumbing as if it wants to come out of his chest.
What was that?"Good morning!" Her cheerful voice comes from the bathroom door.
He stands up from the bed, strolls in her direction to stop and hold her by the shoulders. She stares at him confused. He pulls her into an embrace.
"Cloud?" She breathes, taken by surprise. "Something wrong?"
"No." He pulls back. "I'm sorry, I don't know..."
"It's ok." She says smiling. "I'd miss me too if I weren't me."
"Whatever that means." He goes back to the bed and sits down, elbows on his knees. "How's your head?"
"It's fine! I healed myself." She shrugs lightly.
"What do you mean?" That was a first, he raises an eyebrow.
"I mean I woke up with the meanest, nastiest headache ever and then healed myself."
"You can heal hangovers?" She gets his full attention now.
"I can heal all sorts of pain. I still feel a little nauseous , but no headache." Her smile widens.
"So what, you used materia for that?" He didn't know that was possible.
"Nope. Don't have to for mild things like this one."
"Wait a minute, you healed yourself without using materia?"
"Yep!" She replies, normal thing to do apparently.
"I didn't know that sort of thing was possible... what are you?" He asks half jokingly.
"That conversation is for another day." She says. "Right now we need to focus on rescuing Tifa. So, get dressed and let's go meet this Chocobo Sam guy, the first one on our list of the Trio!"
He stares at her for a brief moment, processing all the words she just said, his brain needed a reboot to follow her at times. He decides to leave it at that for now. He gets up and goes in the bathroom to take a shower first.
They meet outside the Inn after Aerith goes to the receptionist to ask where they could find this Chocobo Sam person.
She gives Cloud a thumbs up and they cross the street in the direction of their target.
Wall Market is quieter during day time. There were some people on the streets but not like the craziness that went on as soon as the sun came down. They figured people would be sleeping to refresh for another hectic night.
"So you remember everything last night?" Cloud asks as they walk.
"I can map almost everything we did yes. I remember seeing you smile!" She smirks, sticks the tip of her tongue out. "It was tiny but it was a smile."
"That never happened." His voice is deep, his expression serious.
"Oh yes it did!" She jumps on her feet. "I would never forget that!"
"So you remember I had to carry you back as well." He turns to her.
"What? No way!" She exclaims.
"So you're saying you saw me smile but don't recall me carrying you back to the room?"
"Yup." She closes her eyes, places her hands behind her back and bits her lower lip to hold in a chuckle.
"Yeah..." Cloud drops the subject as they approach Chocobo Sam's place.
They spend half the day bargaining with Chocobo Sam, he was a tough one to please and he wasn't really liking the idea of helping them get inside the mansion. Turns out he was afraid of Don Corneo and he didn't want any kind of trouble coming his way from helping them. He quickly got the impression as he talked to them they only wanted in to cause trouble and he wasn't coping with that.
"It's ok." Aerith exhales as she stretches her arms up to the sky. "Wow, all this convincing was tiresome. We still have two more to try! One of them is giving us that recommendation, of that I can assure you."
"And if they don't?" Cloud asks gloomily.
"We'll find a way!" Her expression is pure determination. She didn't know Tifa but she wasn't giving up. If it was her in Tifa's place, she'd like to think someone would be outside doing everything they could to help her in that moment too.
"So where do we go next?" Cloud can't help but admire this girl's will to help someone she doesn't know.
"Madam M's establishment only opens at night." She informs him thoughtfully. "We still have a few hours so we need to kill some time before that."
They go back to find a place they can sit and eat for a while, making sure nothing is couples special this time around. They find a quiet table in the corner of a diner and sit there, glad they could use the rest, Chocobo Sam had left them exhausted.
"Hey Cloud..." Her voice is soft. "I remember something else from last night."
Cloud freezes on his sit and waits for what's coming. With her, he never knows.
"You were a gentleman." She smiles, tucks a lock of her brown hair behind her ear. "Thank you."
"Don't know what you're talking about." He crosses his arms to his chest.
"I'm talking about the kiss I gave you before falling asleep." She reminds him. "It has been two already."
He sits there silently, looks away to the sudden heat he feels rushing to his cheeks. He's no good at this, needs to change the subject quickly.
"I know things are complicated with you, you carry a whole lot of baggage. I do too." Her tone saddens. "But I just wanted to tell you that I feel safe when I'm with you. You're my budding bodyguard!" She smiles widely, it reaches her eyes.
"Only that?" He asks, taking control of his own emotions.
"For now." She says. "We'll see what happens." And with that she stands up and tells him she would be right back.
His blue eyes follow her as she leaves to go to a store across from where they sat.
"Yeah... same." He replies to her, but she doesn't listen.
When the lights turn on and the rumble and frenzy start to return to the streets of Wall Market they head to Madam M's establishment. A small, red walls decorated studio of some kind with lanterns illuminating the closed-door entrance. When they get inside they are met by an intimidating tall woman dressed in a beautiful detailed kimono gown. She fans her face and looks at them both intriguingly.
"Welcome to Madam M's massage studio. How can I help you two? I will do anything in my power to give you the pleasure you seek. So tell me, what kind of massage do you wish for?"
The two exchange glances.
"We're not customers." Cloud says and the woman looks at them expecting them to continue.
"We were hoping you could get us inside Corneo's audition." Aerith informs her.
"So you want what? A favor?" Madam M exhales, clearly upset about their nerve. "How dare you come here asking me that, especially when you're wearing that." She points with desdain to Aerith's dress using her fan. "Do you know how bad my name would become to Don Corneo if I presented that to his audition?"
"I think I look ok...?" Aerith looks down at her pink dress. How many more outfit shaming did she have to take in this town? "Don't I Cloud?" She turns to him.
"Yeah.." Cloud replies.
"Don't test me and my abilities to deliver a goddess to Corneo!!" The woman yells at them. Then she breathes in and out heavily and brushes a loose lock of her hair back with her hand. "But I suppose I can make an exception for you, if you make me a favor first. Let me see your hand." She takes Cloud's gloved hand in hers and examines it carefully.
"Yes, the strong hands of a fighter." She looks up at his face and hums. "There's a tournament starting in the Market's coliseum. Since the dress I'll be making for your girl costs a fortune you can't afford, I will give it to her if you win that tournament for me."
"Any prize money in that?" Cloud asks.
"There is, but it is all mine, if you want in on Corneo's audition. Though I can't understand why you would want to do that."
"Deal." Cloud settles that. "We'll be back."
They head to the coliseum where they learn more information about the tournament. Since they have no other option, they decide to sign up for it and join the crowded line for applications.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cloud asks, he feels reluctant to let her join him in the fight.
"Of course I want to Cloud! I wouldnt leave you alone to do it, ever. I can fight my own battles." She answers determinately.
"As much as that is noble of you, you don't have to. It will be dangerous in there." He retorts, he doesn't like that idea at all.
"Ah you're worried about me?" Aerith smiles. "Thank you but there's no arguing about that."
He sighs and shakes his head to her stubbornness. The application line moves slowly, the prize money is too big which draws too many people to sign up. They finally register but the tournament only takes place the next day. They have another night to spare in that place.
"Why do you think Madam M wants us to win this so bad?" Aerith asks, they agreed to go try another bar to kill time, not much more than that to do around. Might as well try a quiet one, if such thing exists in Wall Market.
"For the money. Don't care anyway." Cloud shrugs. They enter a different bar. Cloud notices a sign in the wall next to a darts game. For a materia prize of a Bahamut summon, one has to win the darts champion.
"Oh you want to enter the contest?" Aerith notices his interest in the sign. "Sure we could use that for tomorrow!"
Turns out the darts champion is one of the body building men from the gymnasium they passed by on their way there. They tried calling them for a squat challenge which they refused.
"This should be fun!" Aerith claps her hands as they see the darts champion approaching upon being called for the challenge.
"You the one who wants to beat me?" The huge muscled man asks Aerith.
"I could try. But Cloud here is the one playing." She says.
"Very well, rules are the one with most points out of three games wins the record and the materia." He explains. "Just a heads up, no one has been able to beat me in 5 years since I've started playing this."
"Hey, do you have an accuracy boost from being mako infused?" Aerith pulls him down and whispers in Cloud's ear.
"Maybe. This should be easy." He replies.
They get ready and Cloud is handed three darts. He goes for the first throw. He focuses on the dartboard and throws the first dart right into the bullseye middle. Aerith jumps in excitement on her seat. The second and third one go into the same place and the first round for Cloud ends with three darts in the bullseye.
"Not bad for a beginner." The man says and takes his three darts. In a matter of seconds he scores the three darts exactly in the same spots Cloud did. They play the next two turns and the results are exactly the same for both of them.
"Let's make this more interesting or we'll go nowhere with this." The darts champion says. "Each time we score in the middle, we drink a shot."
"What's the point of that? Lose focus?" Cloud asks.
"Exactly." The champion nods. "Or else we'll stay here forever."
"Fine." Cloud gets ready. He throws three darts and drinks three shots of a clear liquid that burns his throat. He grimaces and shakes his head.
"Don't worry, I can heal hangovers." Aerith pulls him again to whisper in his ear and winks.
They play for six more turns and the score keeps the same for both of them. A small crowd had gathered around them by this time. Everytime one of them throws a dart, the crowd cheers and screams in amusement. Aerith jumps in her seat and claps her hands everytime Cloud plays.
By this time even Aerith has had some of Cloud's shots. Nothing seems to take the focus away from both Cloud or the champion. It was only in Cloud's twelve time throwing that the game changes. He scores and the following is the last throw for the champion. If he misses this turn, Cloud wins the game.
The champion's vision betrays him. The world is spinning, he strains his eyes, opens and closes them heavily, he sways in his place almost falling off balance, the dart between his fingers starts wobbling, and finally he throws.
The crowd gasps and sees the dart fly in slow motion.
It lands right in one of the white lateral targets of the dartboard. For a few seconds, everybody watching remains silent. Then the crowd roars in excitement, jumping up and down in craziness, patting Cloud on the shoulders congratulating him for winning the all time champion. This day would be remembered in Wall Market for many years.
"What a game!" They cheer at the blond soldier. But by now Cloud can barely stand on his feet from all the shots he had taken. He collapses on a stool from the bar counter and his head falls on his arms.
There were so many people around him that Aerith has a hard time reaching him just pushing people away. She has a glittering yellow orb on her hands. The bar owner had given her the summon materia which she proudly holds in her hand as she reaches Cloud.
"You did it!" Aerith's voice stands out from the cheering crowd. "Are you alright?"
Cloud lifts his head, his eyes are red, his cheeks are flushed. He nods. "Can we go?" He almost pleads her.
She shoos the crowd away from Cloud and makes way for him to walk through. All the while they're leaving the bar, people clap and cheer on. The champion was nowhere to be seen.
"That was amazing!" She places an arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulders for support. "Can you walk?"
"I'm fine." He replies, his voice dragging. "Saw you drinking too."
"Oh, it was just a couple of ones you left half empty to help you out. And the bar owner offered me one or two as well." She says lightly. "Don't worry, I'm ok."
"Wait..." Cloud asks and sit down on the sidewalk. "Just need some fresh air."
"Hey..." Aerith crouches in front of him, places her hands on his knees. "This materia is really going to help us tomorrow. You were amazing in there."
"I won't be able to carry you back tonight." He says, eyes glazed over.
"I know. I wish I could carry you instead but you're too heavy for me to do that." She chuckles and strokes his cheek with her palm.
They sit there looking at each other for a moment. Cloud's eyes semi closed.
"As your bodyguard... I don't want you to enter the tournament tomorrow." He lets out. "Too dangerous, you're too important."
"We've talked about this. I'm not letting you go alone." She says. "You're too important too."
"Am I?" He asks looking up at her.
"Of course you are."
"Prove it."
"Come on." She says smiling and helping him on his feet. "Let's take you back to the Inn. You need your rest after today! You were a hero once again."
When they were securely back at the bedroom, away from all the eyes of the people on the streets, Aerith sits him on the bed and takes off his boots for him along with his gloves. She notices his warm skin was soft for a fighter.
She stands up to leave for the bathroom when his hand wraps tightly around her wrist. She turns to look at him, his blue eyes lock on hers.
His lips press in a thin line as if he wanted to keep the words from escaping his mouth. She sees it in his eyes, the feeling of care he has for her. Words he couldn't say scream loudly through his eyes into her heart.
"I know." She realizes it's hard for him to let his feelings be known. "I feel the same way you do."
He pulls her to him and lands his lips on hers, glad he didn't have to speak for her to understand what he meant to say.
"My turn." He says taking her smile on his lips. She sits on his lap and lets him explore her body from her legs to her waist, up her back.
She runs her hands down his chest and pulls his dark shirt over his head. His bare skin is beautiful, she traces his toned muscles with her fingers and kisses his shoulders, his neck, his cheeks and finds his mouth again.
"You're not your true self right now." She suddenly stops.
He understands.
He doesn't want her to do anything she might regret the next day and there would be plenty other opportunities for them to continue whatever was happening in that bedroom another time when they both knew the consequences of what they were about to start.