Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters.

A/N: Now it's Aerith's turn to be in the spotlight. I'm quite sure there's only one chapter left after this one… or not.

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08. Aerith

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Aerith awoke from a long sleep. For the first time in a long time, she overslept. But the silence outside told her that she wasn't the only one who was still lying in bed. The celebration for Hollow Bastion- or Radiant Garden as it's now called, went on through the night. When she got home she went straight to bed and instantly drifted right off to sleep with memories of that day clouding her mind. She was only relieved that she didn't have any dreams of them.

"…Do you love him?"

Those words were still stuck in her head. The moment Leon had asked her that question she doubted her feelings for a second. But yes, she loved Cloud. She's loved him for a long time but just never told anyone. Though she was sure that the only one who knew was Tifa. Aerith wasn't sure if the feeling she felt for Cloud was true love, so she kept her feelings hidden away. But when Leon had poured his heart out to her the other night, she felt her heart ache for some unexplainable reason.

She couldn't sleep any longer. After getting herself cleaned up for the morning, she went outside. From where she stood, she could see Leon's house. The curtains covered the windows, and it looked as still as ever. Aerith walked to the house and peeked through the windows anyway. Through a slit in the curtains, she could see the living room. It was dark inside the house. She pulled away from the window and looked around the street. All was still. She felt lonely.

"Leon?" Aerith called out. No answer.

When she headed to the bailey, it was empty. Again she called to him, but she only heard her voice call back. She ran to the postern, hoping to see at least a glimpse of him. There was an urge for her to speak with Leon, to see him and make him smile. But she didn't know why she felt that way. But she knew that she wanted to make all his pain go away.

When she neared the postern, she noticed that someone was sitting against the wall. All she saw was the figure's legs. She was about to call out Leon's name again, but the figure stood and she saw his blonde hair.

"Cloud?" She asked, as if not really believing it was him.

"Yes?" He was monotonous as ever. But when he spoke to Aerith, there was a certain gentleness in his voice.

"Oh, it's nothing." Aerith leaned on the wall.

"Are you alright?" Cloud stood close to her.

"I'm fine. It's just… I was wondering if you saw the fireworks yesterday night."

"Yeah, I saw them."

"Weren't they beautiful?"

"Yeah."

Aerith smiled. Being with Cloud made her feel calm and safe, but it was the same feeling she got from Leon. Yet it was also different. She glanced at Cloud, and the first thing she noticed were his blue eyes. Blue, like Leon's. She looked away. Cloud was the one who she loved, so why did she keep worrying about Leon? A feeling of despair buried itself in her gut, and she wanted to rid of it.

"…Have you seen Leon?" she asked, wondering if Cloud would tell her if he knew.

He looked at her strangely. "Why do you ask?"

Aerith didn't respond. Cloud was a person who was easily hurt by words, and she was afraid of saying something to hurt him. But he looked upset, even when she said nothing.

"…Do you love him?"

She stared at him. Disbelief spread through her body when she heard him utter the same question. It was happening all over again, and again she doubted her feelings.

"Why do you doubt yourself?" Cloud spoke as if he read her thoughts.

"I don't…"

"And you deny it."

She looked at him with her emerald eyes. "Will you let me go to him?"

Cloud stepped closer to her, forcing her back against the wall as he caged her between his arms. "No." he said quietly. "But just give me one reason why I should."

Aerith was shocked. Cloud waited for her reason, all the while staring into her green eyes with his blue eyes. Blue. They reminded her of Leon so much that she found herself staring back.

"Just one reason." Cloud repeated. Aerith fished out all the reasons in the world that she could think of, but just couldn't sum them all up into one. She thoughts of things Leon had said to her, what he's done, anything that involved him. Looking through their memories together, a warm feeling overtook her and she found the one reason. But the thought of being rejected and denied by Leon turned her cold. Cloud watched as Aerith drew her trembling fingers to her lips. Just the touch of her fingers against her lips reminded her of Leon's kiss.

"Tell me something…" Cloud looked tormented. "Do you think you'll be happy with him?"

Aerith lowered her hands from her mouth. With tears in her eyes, she nodded. Cloud closed his eyes, upset and hurt. But repeated again, "What's your reason?" It seemed that Cloud already knew her reason why, but it was if he wanted to hear her say it herself before he could believe it.

Aerith sadly raised a gentle hand and touched Cloud's face. He took her hand, and lowered it saying, "I'm not the one you love. At least, not the one you love in that way."

He kept hold of her hand, and said once again, "Give me a reason."

"Because… I love him." Aerith told him at last, tears streaming down her face.

Cloud's face was completely blank. The only emotion on his face would be from his eyes that showed so much pain. His arms slowly fell to his side, but his hand still clutched gently onto Aerith's. He drew her hand to his lips, kissed it, and let go.

"Cloud?" Aerith stepped forward, but Cloud stopped her.

"Go to him." He told her. "And be happy."

Though Aerith was unsure, she ran from the postern to Leon. And not once did she look back.