A/N: Hello everyone!! Thank you so much for reading, I thought this chapter would be the actual date but as I made it pretty much a conversation between Cloud and Aerith, the date will happen next chapter! Thank you for being here, hope you like this one! :)

The Ship Ride

Cloud Strife had a date. He had a date. The only time he had been on a date was with Tifa when they were seventeen, went to the movies together and an after hours dinner. The other times they had done things together couldn't exactly be called dates because they did everything together and it didn't feel like they were dating like the true meaning of the word, they already knew everything there was to know about each other.

It wasn't that Cloud wasn't interested, he liked girls, he was a man after all and had needs and desires as one, but the whole process of dating just wasn't for Cloud. He didn't know how to do romance, how to courtship a girl, never needed to, never met a girl worthy enough for him to try at least. Until he met her. Aerith. And her charismatic personality turned his world upside down to the point that he actually considered doing stuff girls like. Like spending time, having fun, maybe hold her hand at the end of the day. He winced at the thought. What the hell?

Something was bothering Cloud though. They were going to be together alone for a good long day. He had only been with her small bits of time. What would he say, what would he do?

"Relax bro!" Zack chuckled as he leaned against Cloud's guest chair in the blond's office. "It's going to be alright! Aerith is great, I'm sure whatever you do it'll be fine for her."

"I just... have no idea where to take her."

"Why don't you use the Gold Saucer tickets I gave you?" Zack suggested.

"You mean that I won." Cloud lifted one eyebrow, he was pretty sure he took a number fair and square from the bowl of tickets at the party.

"Sure." Zack fanned a hand disregarding his statement.

"That's too far. We would have to take the boat."Cloud argued.

"So? What are you, eighty?" Zack scoffed. The raven-haired man's eyes fell on the yellow flower pot on top of Cloud's desk, the corner of his mouth quirked up mockingly. It had been a gift from Aerith, as well as a box full of flower-shaped gums, Zack couldn't understand the reason why. Cloud hadn't seen her the rest of the week but sometime in the middle of the week she had sent someone down to Cloud's office with those two gifts and a note from her saying she was busy but looking forward to their date next Saturday. That person carrying gifts for Cloud had been an event alone in Cloud's division. One of Cloud's team members, Jessie, even dared enter his office to make sure the gifts had been sent to the right place. Zack couldn't help chuckling at his friend. "Man, it's good to have a girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Cloud was adamant about that. Although the idea wasn't so unfamiliar to him anymore he still found it too soon to be taking such conclusions. "And that thing you did unplugging your computer was really lame."

"It worked didn't it?" Zack grinned, scratched his nose. "Got you a date."

"Don't ever do that again." Cloud glared at him. Zack had no limits when it came to Cloud and girls and as much as Zack wanted to help his friend, Cloud hated when he did things like that.

"You'd never have gone to up if I told you I was with her."

Cloud turned silent as he stared at his friend, a question forming in his mouth before he even thought clearly about saying it: "You were interested in her in the beginning weren't you?" Cloud was too familiar with the idea of every girl Zack met throwing herself at his feet so it kind of surprised him that Aerith was an exception in that regard.

Zack paused a moment, his eyes remained fixated on the floor.

"I never stood a chance with Aerith." He said at last. He glanced up at the blond, his clueless friend had no idea of what was happening around him if someone wrote it in a huge neon sign and flashed it in front of his face. He wasn't hearing it from him anyway. "I think Aerith is great and we've got a chance at becoming good friends. You know I don't date friends."

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Cloud met Tifa at the entrance hall later when he was finally heading home. He had been meaning to talk to her about Aerith, not because of what Zack thought they were, but because she was his friend and because of their history together, she deserved to hear from him what was going to happen.

"You wanted to talk to me?" She asked as they met halfway, ruby eyes looking curiously at him.

"Yeah..." Cloud began, but hesitated in his words. Why was it being so hard to tell her he was simply going on a date with someone? No one knew him better than she did but somehow he wasn't feeling comfortable reaching out to her and tell her he was going out with someone else, it all felt new to him. "Listen... I... I..."

"Yes?" She frowned at his stuttering. What could possibly be so hard for him to tell her? She became worried, he should know he could tell her anything and everything. Her forehead creased.

"I don't think you know..." He continued. "I'm going with Aerith... on a date."

Tifa paused and stared at him for a moment, maybe waiting for him to carry on. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that it?" She blinked. Confusion crossed her gaze briefly.

"Y-yeah." He scratched the back of his neck, wasn't that enough?

"Oh thank goodness Cloud." Tifa sighed in relief, finally taking a breath. "I thought you were going to tell me you were sick or something. I'm really happy for you. That's such a relief."

"A relief?" Cloud's eyebrows furrowed.

"I mean, I've worried about you all this time!" She said, eyes round with concern. "Now that you finally found someone you feel comfortable with, I can finally step away!"

"You were with me because you felt an obligation?" Cloud asked, knowing deep down that that couldn't be it, still he wondered.

"No of course not!" She sighed. "It wasn't like that! I really love you but I want you to find someone you can be happy with. We both know we would never work out, even what we had now, it wasn't going to last. Maybe Aerith is that sense of happiness we used to talk about, you should give it a try." It felt weird to Cloud hearing her say that.

"Yeah..." Cloud wasn't convinced and it kind of hurt him knowing his best friend felt she needed to be with him afraid he would be lonely. He looked up, breathed out, the sky was alight that night, but the city lights overshadowed its sparkling stars.

"I'm really cheering for things to work out between you two." She wrapped her arms around him blissfully. He didn't move. "I'm going shopping with her tonight." She looked up at him, his body stiffened.

"Should I be worried?" Cloud glanced down at his friend with half lidded eyes. No matter how much his life changed, no matter the turns it took, he was glad Tifa was a constant presence in his life, and her arms a safe haven.

"Nah..." Tifa laughed. "Want me to put a good word for you?"

"Something tells me Zack has already brain washed her about me." Cloud wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked. The chill night breeze blew on their faces. "I haven't talked that much to her and still she seems interested..."

"Don't sell yourself short Cloud. You're a very interesting guy once you let people get to know you." Tifa paused, they were going separate ways. "And you're a cutie too." She messed his blond locks with her hands. He slanted away from her reach, smiling.

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Cloud sat against his motorcycle, fidgeting as he waited for Aerith. Her house was even more beautiful in daylight, a classical manor with white-washed walls in the middle of a garden of flowers of every color like no other he had seen before. The walls around the property had security cameras in every corner which looked a bit suspicious to Cloud but he shook the suspicion away as a place like that in the middle of a huge city had to be properly guarded.

As he watched her come down the path towards the gates, already smiling at him, he couldn't help wonder for a second how in the world had he put himself in that position. He shrugged, no going back now. She was wearing white jeans, a light pink long-line coat with brown boots to match her brown crossbody bag. Her hair was tied and braided in the pink ribbon he came to get used to on her.

He felt his lips twitch in response to her cheerful smile.

She closed the gate with a loud bang and turned at him. Her smile could light up a room.

"Four-pm sharp, just like you said you would be." She leaned forward, taking a closer look at the blue in his eyes. He turned his face at her closeness, if she went for a kiss he'd be prepared this time. She straightened up, her smile glinting with mischief.

"So, how do I look?" She did a little spin on her heels. "You know, you're supposed to compliment your date when you see her."

Cloud stalled a moment as he considered her request. He crossed his arms to his chest, shifted on his feet and tried not to stare much at her. Afraid he would give her the pervert vibe, his eyes did a little dance from her to the ground, then head to toe again and finally landed on her face.

"You look good." Cloud said bluntly and immediately thought about Zack and how he'd shake his head at him for giving her such plain praise; he wished he'd kick himself too.

"Huh." She tilted her head, her expression a little disappointed as she studied his face herself. "I'll take it. But you could use a little work on that." She pitifully patted his shoulder and approached his motorcycle. "My helmet dear sir." She extended her hand and he handed her the helmet he brought for her.

"Ready?" He asked as he watched her fasten the helmet under her chin. "We got a long way to go."

"Ready." She gave him a thumbs up and climbed onto the bike after he had settled first. He revved the engine on and accelerated through the streets of Midgar, her grip tightening around him everytime he sped up.

The ride to Junon, where they would take the boat across the sea, took them about an hour with a little break for Cloud to straighten up his back.

Reaching the bay village, once a military base, they parked Cloud's bike aboard the ship on the main deck alongside some other cars and headed for the bow to look at the view. The ship's engines rumbled loudly as they started moving and the boat drifted off into the sea, leaving a white trace of foam as it glided across the water.

"Have you ever been to Gold Saucer before?" Aerith asked as they sat on the passengers seats placed around the main deck. The salty sea breeze blew on their faces as the ship teared through the tides.

"I think I went there once when I was a kid." Cloud looked into the distance, images of his childhood surfacing in his memory. He remembered something about a snowboarding arcade game.

"Tifa told me you are both originally from Nibelheim and moved to Midgar when you were kids." Aerith looked at him, her curiosity peaking as they sat quietly shoulder to shoulder hearing the whooshing sound of the waves clashing at the boat.

"Yeah." Cloud rested his elbows on his knees. "What else has she told you?"

"Oh... She told me you sucked your thumb in your sleep until you were twelve." She glanced at him through the corner of her eyes.

"She told you that?" Cloud winced at her statement, his pupils flared.

"I was kidding!" She laughed leaning back a little in the moment but his reaction made her squeal. "Oh my God, is that true?" Her hands covered her laugh and the clear sound of her laughing made him shudder.

"So much for putting a good word about me." He said aloud, flustered by her giggles.

"Let me see your thumbs!" She laughed harder as he hid them away from her.

"I wasn't that old!" He grunted while he placed his hands under his legs. He made a mental note to let Tifa know these kinds of things weren't alright.

Aerith laughter dissipated as he looked away, hiding his reddening cheeks. "She also told me you two dated for a while." She gazed at the infinite blue color of the sea around them, the sea breeze now waving the few locks of loose hair around her face. "She is really beautiful."

"There's nothing between us anymore." Cloud straightened up on his seat, turned at her as he let the wind chill the hot on his cheeks away. He didn't know why it mattered so much but he needed to get that straight, people often got the wrong impression about Tifa and him.

"I know, she made sure I knew that." Aerith smiled, their eyes met.

"What about you?" He turned his face away, he needed to change the subject. That's when he realized he didn't know anything about her.

"There's not much about me." She started, her fingers curled up as she rested her hands on her lap. "I was born up north, a town named Icicle Village. My parents died when I was very young... so I was adopted then. My adoptive father didn't want me to grow up in Midgar, where he was from, so he sent me to a girls school in Mideel where I've lived most of my life. I recently came back to Midgar as my father got me this job and here I am with you."

"Not much about you huh." It was a more complex life story than his. Cloud couldn't help noticing the hesitation in her voice as if she wasn't telling him the whole story, but it wasn't in his place to ask if she didn't want to talk about it. Silence fell between them. Aerith was easier to talk to than the average stranger that occasionally crossed paths with him, but he still found it hard to engage in conversation with her, especially when it was just the two of them there.

"Oh I haven't asked you yet, did you like the flower I sent you?" Thankfully, she was able to keep the conversation running without him trying so hard. She jumped on her seat and placed her hands on his arm in excitement. His arm pulled back slightly with her touch while involuntarily his body tensed.

"Ah... it's a flower." He looked away embarrassedly, bit his lower lip not knowing what she expected him to say about the flower, he wasn't exactly an expert, never had much contact with them too.

"I know it's a flower, I planted its bulb myself in that pot." She grinned, her hands slowly slipped from his arm as she noticed his small jolt with her contact. "Did you like it?" She wouldn't take a shrug for an answer.

He didn't give it that much thought but if it made her happy... "It's pretty." He finally said and shifted on his seat.

"I knew you'd like it." She smiled warmly, her fingers brushed a few strings of hair away from her face as they kept falling to her eyes with the wind. "Deep down I think you're a flower kind of person."

"What does that mean?" He turned at her, eyes glinting. He was pretty sure he wasn't.

"Well, you haven't had much experience with flowers but you kind of like them now that you've spent some time around them." Aerith bumped his shoulder playfully. "Am I wrong?"

He hesitated for a moment thinking about her question. Was she still talking about the flowers? Sometimes he couldn't tell if she was just teasing him or being dead serious. "I think... they're growing on me." Luminous blue eyes glanced at her softly. A thousand different meanings in his words as his walls started to slowly come down in her presence. Cloud didn't want to, but it was impossible to hold them tall with her. "The flowers."

Emerald-forest green orbs grew large of surprise for a fraction and studied his face. It was the first time she heard him say something heartfelt towards her, even though the meaning had been cloaked. "That's nice, it makes me glad." A few minutes go by between them, the vibrating sound of the boat was all they could hear.

"Just don't forget to water it, okay?" She said after a while.

"I'll try to remember."

"I'm serious!" She scowled. Apparently she took the subject of flowers and their maintenance very seriously, he thought.

"I'm just saying it might slip my mind once or twice." He found her soft spot, a tiny revenge for her teasing him earlier. Her forehead puckered.

"I'll haunt you in your sleep if you don't water that lilly mister." She pointed a finger to his nose. A small smirk played at his lips as he looked over at her.

Now that he took a closer look at her face, he could see all the details of her beauty. Skin as smooth as silk, pink lips as soft as rose petals, brown locks of velvet smooth hair framing her heart-shaped face, her cheeks tinged a light pink with his gaze.

The winter sun was already down when they reached the other shore, the afterglow of the sunset lingering on the horizon touched her locks of hair, made her look golden. His gaze extended on the light on her face until she averted her eyes towards him, he had to turn his face and curse himself for staring.

The boat roamed slower as it started docking ashore. Hadn't it bumped lightly into the harbor, they wouldn't have noticed they were already on the other side.

They got back on the motorcycle and rode towards Gold Saucer while the sun had already set behind the hills afar.