The realization struck me. From now on I'm going to make the chapters longer but it will take more time to do that. My decision is explained by the fact that I want it to be the story not just some short drabbles connected by the same heroes. So that's why this chapter is twice longer than the previous. Hope you'll like it!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to SE.


Cloud rested his elbow on the knee and started to snap his fingers while he was sitting on a bed. That was the way he always acted trying to remember something. His free hand groped after a statuette of a man with a boy in his arms. Cloud looked at it and threw the statuette away. It was nothing but useful memories that shouldn't have been brought back. He stood up and stretched his legs after a long stay in a sitting position. His muscles ached but he disregarded that. Cloud swung around abruptly and looked at the pile of different things on the bed. His gaze stopped on a photo in the goldish frame. Cloud took it in his hands and fingered the glass gingerly. Thin layer of dust stuck to his finger-tip. The photo held a picture of him and his mother together. The way they would never be anymore: hugging and smiling. Only he and she. But that was just the past. Since then he had to mention Gast man and Aerith too. His new family.

He shook the head and put the photo back. He wondered what they would force him to do next. Change the family photo for a new one? Cloud quickly grabbed the pile and threw it into a big box that served him as an ash can. If he had to accept his new family there was no need to remember his past.

The young man took a counterpane and covered the bed neatly. That went against his principles to leave his room in mess. He took a few steps to the door and looked through his new "refuge". There were not very much furniture and personal things in it. Maybe because Cloud didn't feel he would ever like this place.

He plumped down on the bed and closed his eyes, trying to remember the events of that fateful evening. The evening he met Aerith. The evening he realized she was to be his stepsister.

"So you didn't know that?" his mother asked looking a bit confused. Her eyes shone with tears of joy and that was why that worried expression didn't suit her.

Cloud blinked twice before asking hardly taking his eyes off of Aerith. His mind started to clear a bit.

"You… you mean she is m…my sister?"

"Stepsister," his mother corrected with a smile that pointed out the fact Cloud had used to call her like that.

The young man looked at his shoes and didn't even dare to meet his eyes with Aerith's. The fireworks suddenly popped up in his mind. Beautiful shining fireworks. Beautiful sparkling Aerith's eyes… He shook his head immediately and clenched the fist tightly. Since that moment he had no right to think about her like that. Only his sister, the daughter of his stepfather.

Suddenly he heard her laughing. Cloud looked at her at Aerith warily studying her features. She seemed to take the situation pretty easily. The young woman stopped laughing and outstretched her hand.

"Pleased to meet you finally, brother," she said fighting back the giggles.

Cloud glanced at her hand and shook it hesitantly. It was gentle and warm though Cloud could bet she was shivering with cold. The young woman continued smiling at him but he couldn't bear that anymore. He nodded to the women and turned to go away. Actually, he really walked away without looking around. Making his way through the crown consisting mostly of dancing couples was not as easy as it seemed. Cloud stumbled and nearly fell a few times. He couldn't see why since it had been less difficult before.

Finally he escaped the dancing ground and breathed out with relief. All that invisible pressure of the situation started to disappear a bit. He would take care of it at least after the wedding. Cloud couldn't complain about his stepsister. After all, he had allowed her to approach him. Hence she was not that bad.

Cloud shook his head in disagreement. She was one of those who disturbed his family's peace. He couldn't allow anyone to do that. But she was kind and nice to him. Maybe it was good that he had met her before being properly introduced to each other. He could see her without any bias.

He immediately slapped the head. Tifa! He forgot about her completely. Cloud really wondered what she was doing so he decided to check if everything was okay with her before going away from the party. He couldn't find her anywhere near the ground so the young man headed to a place they always visited when they were children. A high tree made a big shadow on the ground. Cloud stepped closer and heard the sobs.

"Tifa?" he asked vacillatingly and skirted the tree. He found the aforementioned girl cuddling at the tree's root with her hands pressed to her face. She didn't react at the sound of his voice.

"What's wrong, Tifa?" he called again coming closer and kneeling in front of her. Slowly he reached for her wrists and took her hands away from her face. The girl's eyes looked red and puffy. Cloud eyed her closely and then let go of her wrists. "I ask again, what's wrong?"

Tifa looked away her lips shaking after crying. Cloud sighed and stood up.

"So I won't receive your answer… Fine, then I'll go home," he shove his hands into the pockets of his pants and turned away from the girl. When he was about to walk away she grabbed the fabric of his trouser-leg.

"Don't go," she whispered quietly and Cloud turned to face her with a ghost of a smile on his pale face. "I'll tell you."

Cloud nodded and sat down beside her. He saw that nervous biting of lip again but decided not to pay attention to that. The girl took ahold of her jacket that was lying in her lap and fingered a little hole on it. It was obviously that she couldn't think about the way to say everything. Therefore Cloud helped his friend.

"That's about the party, right?" he asked looking upwards but still seeing Tifa out of the corner of his eye. The girl shifted confusedly but the answer escaped her parted lips.

"That was my first time… I wanted to be noticed. Just to be asked for one dance…"

Cloud hemmed but didn't interrupt. Why didn't the thing Tifa was saying surprise him?

"And I suppose, Rufus is related to that," Cloud turned away to give his friend some time to make a few futile attempts to hide her blush. When the determined seconds ran out he turned his head to look in front of him and sighed. "So?"

Tifa didn't reply. She just took her jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. It took her some seconds to gather with thoughts.

"Think what you want," she spoke slowly and quietly though Cloud could hear each her word. "So who was that girl you were dancing with?"

Then it was Cloud's turn to blush. He was afraid moonlight that the moon was radiating could reveal that. He rose to his feet and coughed loudly clearing his throat.

"Now that you've seen my stepsister…" he stopped so Tifa could catch his train of thoughts

"So she is your stepsister?" Tifa looked at him with interest and her fists rested against the ground for the support. "Pretty, isn't she?"

With these words a small smile appeared on the girl's lips. Cloud had to agree with her words so he nodded his head and sounded the acknowledgement:

"Yeah, I noticed that."

"Thanks, Cloud!" Tifa suddenly rose to her feet and tapped on his shoulder that time a wide smile was on her face.

The young man stared at her uncomprehending the reason of gratitude.

"Um, for what?"

Tifa walked further and started to disappear in the shadows of the street heading to the party.

"I see," she said turning her head slightly, "I'm not the only one who acts awkward when it comes to a person of opposite sex."

A loud knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Cloud who had been sitting in one pose for a long time stood up and bent his legs by turns. He wondered who had enough courage to disturb him after he had asked to leave him alone for some hours. Cloud came to the door and slowly opened it.

At first the sight that opened to him made him feel stunned. Aerith stood there dressed in a thin loose pink night-dress. Her hair was hanging freely down to her waist. She held a tray with two cups of tea and a plate of sandwiches in her hands.

"Don't mind if I come in?" she asked with a warm smile on her face.

Cloud sighed but nodded positively. He stepped aside to let the young woman in. She walked past him and stopped at the centre of the room waiting for him to close the door. He did that and turned with her face to her.

"Do you want something?" he asked in a stern voice but Aerith didn't seem to notice that. She chuckled softly and sat down right on the floor, the soft fabric revealed bare legs. Cloud gulped at that sight and made a wise decision to look out of the window.

"I noticed that you haven't eaten all day," she replied while giving one cup of tea a stir. "So that's why I brought you some food. I'm a bit hungry too and decided to eat with you. Do you mind?"

Her pleading voice didn't give him many variants of the answer. Cloud shook his head but came closer to the woman on the floor and sat opposite her, near the other side of the tray. He took the cup of hot tea in his hands and stared at it. Aerith giggled but quickly covered her mouth with the hand. She took one sandwich and brought it up to her face but then suddenly stopped.

"Cloud…" she called. The young man lifted his head to look at her. "We've talked only twice since the wedding. Did I do something wrong?"

He lowered his gaze guiltily but remained silent. He couldn't think of words to explain her that. But even if he dared to do that Aerith would definitely become sad.

"No, it's me and my demons," Cloud answered in a low voice as if he was talking trough a piece of cloth.

Aerith looked at him attentively and then took a bite of her sandwich thoughtfully.

"Have you already unpacked your things?" he suddenly asked to keep up the conversation and drank a half of his tea at a draught. The hot liquid scorched his throat but the man pretended not to notice that.

The young woman chewed and gulped the piece of her sandwich. She looked trough his room and smiled.

"I see you have. As for me, it's still kinda hard to move heavy furniture," she laughed making Cloud feel guilty. "But on the whole I'm fine with my new room. And I also have my brother next door, right?"

The young man nodded silently and took one sandwich. It consisted of soft bread, cheese, bacon and… two circles of tomato?

"How do you know I like sandwiches like this?" he asked.

Aerith looked at her sandwich and eyed it. It took her a few seconds to understand why was he has asked that.

"You mean with tomatoes? Well, actually I like them too," she replied taking another bite.

Cloud coughed lightly and changed his previous position. He sat with his legs bended and pressed to him chest making it look like he was building a wall between him and Aerith.

"Feel better now?" the young woman asked with a joy in her voice. She washed the sandwich down with her tea and put the cup down on the tray. The expression on Cloud's face was the answer itself. "I suppose you don't know that mom and dad are out in the city because of your hours of solitude."

"No, I didn't know that," the young man said quietly. Was she hinting or something?

"Now that you know," she began rumpling the skirt of her night-dress, "I'd like you to come and show me the town. I didn't have enough time to do that before and… Please, please, please!"

Cloud looked at her with wide eyes but said nothing. He put the cup on the tray too and stood up.

"I give you," he glanced at his watch, "ten minutes to be ready."

Aerith rose to her feet quickly and approached him.

"Thank you," she hugged him tightly though Cloud was standing like a statue and ran out of the room leaving the young man with a light blush on his face. He rubbed his cheeks violently and started to unbutton the shirt. He was going to change his clothes.

Cloud closed the door and approached his wardrobe. There were not many things inside: a couple of shirts, three pairs of pants and some footwear. He took a new dark-blue shirt with long sleeves and put it on. It took him only a minute to do that. Cloud sighed and sat down on the bed. He stayed like that for some seconds and then plumped down with his whole body. His head was spinning so he decided to close the eyes just for a moment to clear his mind a bit. His eyelids went down letting him sink in the darkness…

"Hey, brother, wake up!" a feminine voice called him. Cloud stood up at once and stared at the doorway. There was Aerith dressed in a light white sweater and a pair of black pants. Her hair was tied in a braid that time.

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"No, but obviously was going to," she replied then started to walk away and gestured him to follow. Cloud obeyed.

It was windy but warm outside so the young man was glad that he had dressed in light clothes. Aerith seemed not to notice that. She laughed in joy and ran a few steps forward to have a better view on the town.

"Hey, I wanna see that cliff!" she pointed south and Cloud looked there. That cliff was one of the most beautiful things in their town, rather the view that opened from it. One could see the whole town and the chain of mountains that surrounded it. Cloud smiled with a barely noticeable smile.

"It's high, you know," he warned. Aerith just waved him off and started to head at the cliff's direction. "No, just listen. Do you even know how to get there?"

The young woman turned to face him with a wide smile on her face.

"That's why I asked you," she explained simply. "Show me it, brother."

Cloud sighed and passed her.

"Come up with me if you don't want to get lost. I'm not going to wait for those who creep along at a snail's pace."

With these words he headed to the cliff leaving Aerith behind. The young woman kept a frown on her face for a while but then shook it off and followed Cloud.

"Is it very high there?" she asked curiously walking beside him.

"Well, it's high but the slope is not abrupt," he answered and slowed down a bit. "You can see it already."

He pointed in front of him and really, the cliff was seen in all its beauty. Aerith gasped at the sight and clasped her hands at her chest.

"It's amazing," she whispered and suddenly started to run forward. Cloud watched her slender figure climb the rocks lubberly but hastily. He kicked a little stone at his feet and followed her.

When they already reached a path that led to the top of the cliff both were both tired but to a variable degree of course. Aerith, as a woman, sat on a stone and started to massage her calves.

"How long must we climb to get there?" she complained stretching herself. "I want to see it already."

"Well, if you didn't stop here we would be at the spot already," the young man replied. "Come on, brace yourself!"

Aerith stood up reluctantly and trudged behind Cloud faintly.

"I'm beginning to regret that I asked about this."

Cloud suddenly stopped and she nearly bumped in his back. Aerith peeped out from behind the young man and her eyes widened in awe.

"Wow," was all she could tell at that moment.

The scenery was amazing. The sun that was setting slowly played with the clouds making them stain with the hues of yellow. The town below was quiet and calm though they could see little groups of children playing and running. Aerith stepped closer to the edge in longing to see more.

"Be careful," Cloud warned though he doubted she had heard that. He stayed on his place.

Aerith watched the scenery for a minute and then suddenly turned to face the young man. A smile on her face wasn't foreshadowing anything bad.

"Hey, it's so splendidly here!" she brought her hands up to the sky and laughed loudly. "Amazing place."

"Aerith, you're too close to the edge," he repeated the warning in a dull tone.

"Your voice makes me want to jump, you know," she giggled. "I feel like drunk here… Amazing place."

When she started to repeat herself Cloud stopped paying attention to the young woman. That happened with any person who came there at the first time…

"Look, I'm coming closer!" those her words made Cloud look at her immediately. He spotted Aerith making another step closer to the edge. His heart nearly stopped but everything was fine.

"Hey, come back here," he called and started to approach her.

"Don't," she almost whispered but then all of sudden shook and swinging her arms to keep the balance fell down disappearing from Cloud's field of vision…

"Aerith!" he rushed to the cliff and fell to the ground trying to grab her hand. But it was too late. He couldn't see her.


I know that this is a Clorith fanfic so I'm not going to attract the readers' attention toTifa's love story too much since I know Clorith fans like numerous pairings that involve her and I want them all enjoy this story. So stay tuned, guys and leave a review!