Zelos's house only had three rooms, half of the boys slept in the guest room, the other half slept in Zelos's room, and the girls slept in the last guest room. Among those that slept in Zelos's room was Cloud, upon his insistence. Cloud had spent the night leaning against a wall sleeping in a position that would have caused strain on an ordinary person's neck and back. Not Cloud though he was used to rough sleeping conditions. Someone was shaking him though, trying to wake him no doubt. Cloud decided to humor whoever it was trying to awaken him. Much to his delight it was Aeris Gainsborogh.
"Good morning…" she chirped, "Sleep well?" "Yes, thank you…" Cloud replied trying hard to avoid her bright, cheerful emerald eyes. The memory of what happened last night was still very clear.
Flashback begins; Cloud and Aeris are talking about their Cetra ancestors. Colette's with them but isn't paying attention she's looking at flowers. "What kind are these ones, Ms. Aeris?" she asked. "Those, my dear, are daffodils…" Aeris told her after inspecting the flowers. "Colette, Lloyd just got back!" Genis's voice sounded from the house. Colette left them in the garden alone. Cloud's face had lit up brightly, he turned his face to avoid looking Aeris directly in the eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked. "N-nothing…" he stammered. "You're not shy are you, Cloud Strife?" she asked demurely. "No!" he replied somewhat irritated. He closed his eyes in another attempt to avoid her persistent eyes. With his eyes closed he couldn't see what she was doing. The next thing he felt was her pressing her lips lightly against his. With that feeling his eyes popped open, his heart pounded in his chest. It only lasted a few seconds, but to Cloud it felt like it lasted a lifetime. The flashback ended just as quickly as it began.
"You liked it didn't you?" she asked. "Liked what?" Cloud asked trying to play dumb. "You know that I'm a Cetra too, right?" she asked. "Damn!" Cloud thought. "I suppose…" Cloud told her trying to lie. She chose that moment to kiss him again in the same manner. Cloud's face lit up again. "You like it, don't you?" she asked him. "Uh, well… Um…" Cloud stammered nervously. "It's ok…" she said and kissed his cheek. She walked away leaving a very confused Cloud Strife in her wake. Cloud stood and stared for a moment before remembering where it was he stood.
That morning Cloud came floating down the staircase. "You're in a good mood today…" Raine replied upon seeing Cloud come down the staircase. "I slept well…" Cloud lied. "You slept hunched against a wall…" Zelos replied. "Dad, did something happen?" Colette asked. "No. Nothing happened…" Cloud lied again. "Nothing, huh?" Aeris's voice sounded in his head. "He's grinning ear to ear… Something happened when the stunning Ms. Aeris went to wake him!" Zelos quickly inserted. "We don't have time for this, let's get to the bridge and meet Kuchinawa…" Lloyd replied crossly. "What's with him?" Zelos asked. "He was up all night…" Vyse whispered. "Thank you for telling the whole world…" Lloyd yelled. "Calm down, Lloyd, it hinders your ability to think strategically when your upset…" Cloud instructed. "What were you thinking about that kept you up all night anyway?" Genis asked. "Kratos…" Lloyd responded. "That would do it…" Vyse admitted.
The group managed to get to the Tethe'alla bridge. There was one problem, the area that Kuchinawa described was locked up. A coded padlock held the gate closed. "This gate is locked…" Presea announced. "We know that…" Cloud replied. "How do we get through it?" Fina asked. Vyse stepped up to the gate. "I'll take care of that…" Vyse announced. Vyse grabbed the lock and inspected it carefully. "Damn, it's a combination lock!" Vyse cursed, "I hate these things…" Vyse pulled out the cutlass on his back. Everyone expected him to cut the lock into two, but Vyse bashed the lock with the hilt of his cutlass. At first it didn't seem to do anything, but through continual bashing eventually the lock fell from it's fixed position. Vyse picked up the lock and whispered, "Don't leave evidence…" No one was paying attention; instead everyone was trying to stop his or her ears from ringing. "Let's go before we have unwanted company…" Cloud scolded.
They decended down the stairs halfway down Colette stopped. "Are those things exspheres?" she asked. Lloyd walked up to her with sorrow. "Yes…" he told her. "How sad…" she replied. "I know, Zelos said that there are 3,000 here," he told her. She started to cry about failing as a Chosen. Lloyd hugged her and said, "Give us just a moment… You guys go on ahead…" Lloyd told them. They all left, except Cloud, he turned looked at Lloyd and Colette. Cloud and Lloyd exchanged knowing glances before Cloud walked off. "It'll be ok, Colette… We'll find a way to stop all this suffering, I promise… You know I never break my promises," He told her. She wept on his shoulder. "I couldn't save them, Lloyd. I failed them all! Zelos could probably have done a better job than me…" she cried. "Zelos? No way! You did your best! It was me who failed… I failed to protect you!" Lloyd admitted.
Vyse chose that time to walk up. "Hey you two, everyone's getting tired of waiting…" he said. "Why are you telling us this?" Lloyd asked suspiciously. "Please, don't shoot the messenger…" Vyse said with a bit of dry humor evident in his voice. "Com'n let's go before our "friends" get impatient," Lloyd laughed. "I think they already are…" Colette laughed back.
The three came to dock to see the others. When Kuchinawa saw them he began explaining the object in his hand to be a Wing Pack. He handed the Wing Pack to Lloyd. Lloyd looked curiously at it first, until Sheena instructed him how to use it. Zelos was back in his bad frame of mind, so everyone was ignoring him. "I have to go, before I'm spotted. Then my cover is blown!" he explained. "Thank you, Kuchinawa!" Sheena said as he ran off. He passed by Zelos again and the two glared once more at each other. Piling into the small vehicle they found it to be much larger on the inside, easily capable of carrying more than 15 people. The last thing anyone heard Raine say before the EC left the dock was Raine say, "I hate the ocean!". To this Cloud just chuckled. Cloud sat down near the back and began his usual meditation. Something he hadn't been able to do for weeks.
The EC kept going and the group, except Sheena who was driving, just relaxed. Everyone knew it might be the last chance they get to.
