The soft rustle of sheets.
The white sunlight coming from the window, forcing his eyelids to flutter.
Her flowery scent.
The soft touch of her bare skin as he brushes it with his fingers delicately.
Wait.What?He opens his eyes and emerald green orbs stare back at him, warm, her lips slightly curved into a smile.
"Good morning." She breathes. His heart awakens and immediately starts beating vigorously in his chest at the realization that she is laying on her side, right next to him. So close he could feel a few golden strings of her hair on his nose.
Is this real?She was wearing one of the white t-shirts he uses for sleeping with only her pants. His muscles tighten, he almost forgets to breathe. He's so in shock with this vision he hadn't noticed the sharp pain in his head until it strikes him all so suddenly. He grimaces.
The night before comes back to him in flashes. The crowd cheering for him, the darts, the materia, the shots... His stomach turns and twirls inside him at the thought of the liquid he had filled up of to win that damn materia. It better be a good one. His mouth feels dry, he's parched.
"Let me help you." He hears her voice. She lifts on her elbow and lands her lips on his forehead, closes her eyes and whispers some words he can't make out. A sudden freshness takes him softly, he feels a soothing breeze sway his hair, taking away the sharp headache which disappears gradually.
"How can you do that?" He asks in total awe with the girl.
"I'll tell you all about it some other time." She winks and pulls back, sits up on the bed and pushes the covers down her legs. "Right now we need to get ready for the tournament." Her voice turns deep. As much as she has never seen anyone fight like Cloud before, they need to focus on what's coming.
"Ah, that's right." Cloud would rather stay there with her, in that haven they have created for the two of them, as if the rest of the world doesn't exist.
But it does.
And there was a friend in need of their help. Reluctantly he gets out of bed.
"Aerith..." He doesn't say her name too often. He should. "About last night..."
"Don't worry, nothing happened. Much." She notices he's been staring at her choice of clothes and can't help her cheeks from turning bright pink. She pulls the white shirt down trying to cover as much as she could with it. "I'll give this right back."
She says walking backwards to the bathroom. Flashes of the end of last night now cross his mind. He still feels the smell of flowers on his skin. The tingling sensation of his hands running down her body.
Nothing happened... but so much has.
The restless sensation of something missing in him somehow feels lessened, soothed. He somehow feels like a weight has been lifted off his chest.
They get dressed. There is a silent awkwardness between them but at the same time they are more accustomed to one another. Aerith takes her staff and waits for Cloud to be ready.
He stands in front of his sword, which had been carefully kept against the wall of the bedroom for the last few days waiting for him to take it back. He wraps his hand around its handle.
For the both of us...He hears in his head. A memory long forgotten which fragments still linger in his subsconscious.
Lifting it steadily, he secures the sword lock on his back.
"Let's go."
The tournament is going to take the whole day and night. They had arranged with Madam M to meet her the following day so Aerith could get ready for the audition taking place at night.
There was no room for error now, winning this tournament today was their only chance at entering Don's mansion. They were told they had to wait in a room while the other contestants fought until it was their turn.
Cloud leans silently against the wall, arms crossed, eyes narrow while he ran all sorts of fighting strategies in his head. But there was something bothering him.
"That's a long whip right there." He hears her voice next him. Her presence. She looks bewildered at one of the other contestants sharing the room with them.
"Don't look at the others." He says. "Only the ones that come our way matter. When they are presented to us, examine them then, before we start."
"Yes sir!" She lifts two fingers to her temple.
"Focus." He sighs. "Or I'm not taking you in there."
"I am!" She sticks her tongue out. "Remember I'm your bodyguard too. I'll have your back in there. You know, barrier spells, shield spells, I got it all."
"Indeed, never a dull moment with you." He shakes his head defeatedly. How could he had let her do this? Put her in danger? Then he remembers, there's no saying no to Aerith. And now there they were in that mess together. The loud voices of the presenters could be heard in the distance as well as the cheers of the crowd of people in the audience.
"What a circus..." he mumbles under his breath.
"Cloud and Aerith?" Someone at the door calls. "You're up."
"Ooh!" Aerith lets out a squeal. Her stomach turmoils in nervousness. "Let's do this. Tifa, we're almost there!"
The doors open and they are welcomed by the two tournament presenters. They're the first ones entering the arena. The crowd goes silent as they look at the couple but surely they are not the craziest party of fighters ever seen in that place.
Soon they start cheering and screaming again, words a bit discouraging for they never heard of them before. The doors on the other side rumble open, letting their first opponents be seen.
"The sanguine stalkers!" They hear the presenters yell. A man with two hell hounds enters the arena and Aerith watches in disbelief that the man brings animals to the fight. She braces her staff in her hands.
"Remember, focus. I'll end this in two minutes." She hears Cloud beside her. He nods, she nods back reassuringly.
"Go for the hounds first." The fight starts. The hound master whistles and the dogs dash forward, growling and striding viciously straight at them.
Aerith casts a slow spell on the dogs so Cloud could gain some time. The blond soldier slashes ahead in a fast sprint. Someone would think the huge heavy sword he carries would slow him down but it seems the opposite. He's faster than anything else in that arena.
He finishes one of the dogs, notices the other one going for Aerith, she has it, casts a fire spell, powerful one. The hell hound howls in agony. He darts for the hound master, sword draw ahead of him. Without his dogs he doesn't stand a chance. Tries to strike Cloud with some sort of electric rod but he jumps back on his feet avoiding the electrical shocks. He slides to the side, strikes the hound master with the buster sword, he whimpers and falls to his knees, subjecting to defeat.
He turns around, by then Aerith had already defeated the other hound dog as well. He locks his sword behind his back. The corner of his lips curve into a shadow of a smile. This is his element, what he does best and he had to admit he had missed the thrill these past few days without it.
Against all odds they win the next two fights and reach the final. When they enter the arena they are now greeted with screams of adoration by the people in the audience watching. It seems they have created a reputation amongst the crowd.
The final opponent is announced and the floor rumbles loudly under them. It opens a huge whole where something very big starts coming up out of it in a cloud of smoke.
"It's... just a house?" Aerith questions confused. The final opponent literally is a haunted house. It growls while arms and legs come out of it, fire forms on its windows. Something screams in pain from the inside, sending shivers down Aerith's spine.
"Alright." Cloud draws his sword, readies himself in a stance. "Get ready. Assess first." Aerith nods, grips her staff tightly, the fight starts.
Cloud dashes, Aerith examines the fiend's weaknesses. While its windows are burning, she needs to cast ice materia. This one is harder, much stronger than the opponents they defeated so far. It's trickier, takes a different strategy.
Thankfully, they're already used to fight alongside one another. Aerith casts spells while its windows are alight, while Cloud strikes hard when its down.
Suddenly changing its strategy, the house dashes towards Aerith, it becomes more physical instead of magical. It pushes Aerith heavily. The girl falls on her back and needs to get up quickly so the house won't strike her again.
Cloud rushes to her, places himself in between the house and her. But something happens that he doesn't expect.
The crowd vanishes, the house disappears behind grey smoke. He's alone in the arena. A black figure appears in the middle of the smoke where the house had been before. Tall, long silver hair. Though his back is turned there's no mistake in who he is.
Slowly, devilishly, he turns around. His piercing eyes reflect fire, he smirks in his direction. In his hand he holds the long masamune sword.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud hisses his name.
Sephiroth lifts his sword, pulls back his foot and darts towards the blond soldier. Metal clashes against metal heavily. They keep their swords locked together in a strength dance. The first one to quiver will get hurt. Cloud pushed harder, teeth gritting.
"So you got yourself a healer. I'm curious to see what she's capable of." Sephiroth says.
Cloud sees red at the mention of Aerith. His blood burns inside him, a wave of new energy takes him and all of his senses. Every cell in his body is now in survival mode. He screams and pushes Sephiroth's sword further.
The silver haired man's feet slide slightly back. Their swords unlock and as they do Cloud slashes forward, slashes Sephiroth over and over and over again until he's all instinct, no brain, no thought. He feels blood spilling everywhere and smiles. His eyes glazed, mad with fury as he continues to cut through flesh and bone.
"CLOUD!!!!"
He hears his name.
That's her voice.
The only thing that snaps him out of his trance, back to reality. His eyes focus again, the fluorescent green light of the make dim, showing their true aquamarine blue color. Instead of Sephiroth, he had gone berserk on the house that now laid completely shattered at his feet.
He realizes it was a living thing after all as there is blood all around him. His hands are crimson red from it. He drops his sword. The crowd is silent, the presenters stare completely aghast at the scenery.
Suddenly the crowd roars above them in their seats. They cheer, clap, dance and scream Cloud's name. Cloud turns to look at Aerith who stares at him from afar with eyes wide open, mouth slightly parted.
There is only the two of them in the world at that moment, despite all the commotion around them.
He lets out a cry. They won Corneo's fucking Cup but nothing erases the frightening sick feeling that he somehow has disappointed her, scared her.
The presenters go to meet them, take their hands and lift them high up in the air while the crowd is going crazy above them. No one has ever seen anything like that before in there.
They leave the arena pushed by the two presenters and the world becomes quiet again, lonely. They stand in the dark corridor past the doors to the arena and keep silent. Aerith is the first one to break it.
"Are you alright?" She asks, concern spread across her beautiful features. He just wants to hold her but now he's desperately thinking he's a monster that can never touch her again.
"You went somewhere else in there didn't you?" She insists as he didn't answer.
"I'm sorry." He breaks and drops to his knees. Looks at his hands covered in blood. Panic strikes him like lightning. Did she just saw him like that? He feels her hands touch his arms and abruptly shakes them away.
"Don't run. It's me." She says and insists on holding him. He lets her this time.
"I don't deserve you. I'm... broken." He says as he looks down avoiding her eyes. He doesn't bare to look at her disappointment.
"Well, thankfully I'm a fixer." She says and lifts his chin up with her hand. She smiles. "Let's get you cleaned up. You deserve a hot bath and a nice meal. Come on."
His eyes search hers. She's looking at him all the same way she ever does. So full of love, so full of affection for his miserable soul. He stands up with her help and they leave that goddamn place.
Back at the Inn, Cloud leaves the bathroom to be met by Aerith and a banquet of food on top of the desk ready for him to dig in. There's meet and fish, potatoes of all kinds, rice, soup and lots of fruit. Everything to choose from.
"Who is this for? An army?" He asks. "Where did you get all of it?"
"We're now superstars around here apparently." Aerith informs. "They will give us anything we ask around here now, for winning the tournament."
Cloud doesn't care about any of that. He reaches her.
"Did I scare you?" He needs to know.
"No. You don't scare me, not one bit." She shakes her head. "I was scared for you, that's different."
"I don't know where I go when it happens." He says. "These episodes.."
"It's ok. That's why I'm here, to get you back to reality. To me." She places her hand on his cheek. Her eyes look at him brightly. "But I need to tell you, you were awesome! Truly my hero! I have to pay you more for having you as a bodyguard. You must be so expensive now!"
"For you, I'll only raise you another date." He says. It still surprises him how she can always lift his fears away. Save him from whatever dark sea he'd start drowning in. She had seen him at his worst and yet there she was smiling, closing in on him while she should be running away.
She threw herself in his arms, leaned her head against his chest feeling his heartbeat. So strong, so alive. But she couldn't help the sadness she felt knowing that that was their last night in there and tomorrow they had to move on.
Mint's note: Hey, you didn't give up reading by the middle? Yay! It had been a long time since I wrote an action scene, so bare with me! '
The next chapter is the very last one of this story. I feel like I have expressed all of the feelings I have for these characters about these parts of the game and now it's reaching its end.
Thank you for reading.