I'd like to say thanks to my reviewers and to those people that have this story in their favorites and alerts. It really stimulates me. And also sorry for the long update. I was dealing with the ending of this school year.
Disclaimer: all characters and the world of FFVII are SE's property.
A/n: lines in italics are Cloud's lines by the phone (except the second part of the story, of course).

Safety is above all (Part 1)or Not only Cid can say embarrassing things

"Aerith, you sure you are fine?" Yuffie asked loudly in a worried tone rummaging in the fridge they had filled up before. She shook her head and closed the door.

"You didn't answer my question," the girl pointed out coming into the living room only to see Aerith lying on the couch with her one hand on her stomach and the other on her eyes.

"As you see," the woman said and groaned shortly after that.

Yuffie took a bottle of water and made a sip sitting down on one of the armchairs. She studied her friend for a while and then quickly stood up.

"I know!" she began. "We must call a doctor."

The girl rushed at the phone but Aerith grabbed her by the knee and pushed slightly in the direction of the armchair.

"No, Yuffie," she said quietly but firmly. "There's no need to call a doctor only because I feel sick."

"Actually, there was no need to eat so much chocolate to calm down after those news about Blondie. If you believe in him everything will be fine," the girl took a firm stand and crossed her arms on her chest.

"Honey, sometimes belief isn't enough…" Aerith said weakly.

Yuffie chuckled.

"So I was right about chocolate!"

The woman quickly sat up and glared at the girl.

"Look what you've done to a sick lady," she said and wiped the sweat away from her forehead. "No, it's not chocolate…"

"Wanna something salty then?"

"YUFFIE!"

"What? I can't help being so smart, ya know."

"That's not what you're thinking about," Aerith hurried to insert and her hand slid down to cover her cheeks. Well, to cover her blush, actually. Aerith hoped Yuffie wouldn't notice it due to the woman's sickness.

"You mean you and Blondie don't…"

"Enough already," Aerith cut her off. "I don't want to discuss my private life. At least now."

Yuffie whined but obeyed and stopped to ask questions. Actually, only about that. The girl sat down on the armchair and took the newspaper that was lying near it. She looked at the first page and sighed.

"Is there something new?" Aerith asked.

"No," the girl replied shortly. Then she thought for a while and added. "I apologize for my answer and hope it doesn't touch on your private life."

Aerith ignored the venomous comment as she felt her head spinning. It seemed that if she dared to say a word her innards would almost jump out of her.

Suddenly her cell phone started to ring. The woman waved her hand to Yuffie asking her to take it. The girl snorted but took the phone. The screen showed it was Cloud.

"Hi, sweety," she greeted.

"Hi… Yuffie? What are you doing with Aerith's phone? Is she alright?"

"Of course not. I've knocked her out to steal her phone and proclaim my never dying love to you," she finished and felt Aerith kicking her hip. She turned to face the woman and noticed her barely fighting back laughter. Yuffie wondered what had happened to her sickness.

"I'm not kidding, brat. Is she alright?" he sounded pretty pissed off and at the same time equally concerned.

"Well, Mr. Serious, according to her limp form on the couch I can say that something is wrong but according to her energetic gestures I can say she doesn't want you to worry," at these words Aerith slapped her forehead but lay down again. Nevertheless, Yuffie continued. "So it's up to you to decide what to think, sweety."

"Damn," for some moments he was silent. "Damn, damn, damn!.. Tell her I'm terribly sorry but I have to do one more delivery. Tell her I'll be at home as soon as I can. Tell her I… Don't mind…"

"You're wasting my time, sweety. True Ninja's time cost a lot, for your information."

"Go to hell, Yuffie. But before that deliver my messages to Aerith, please. And then go to hell."

"Of course, sweety."

"And don't call me…"

Yuffie clicked the "Off" button and put the cell phone on its previous place.

"That was your sweetheart," Yuffie announced gloomily.

"And he asked you to stop calling him 'sweetie'?" Aerith finished and a weak smile started to play on her lips.

"Yeah," Yuffie waved that off and continued. "She asked me to tell you that he is terribly sorry and he has to do one more delivery and he will be at home as soon as he can and he.."

The girl stopped. Aerith opened her eyes to look at her but Yuffie was still keeping silence.

"And he…" she tried to help.

"He didn't finish," Yuffie looked at her friend's disappointed face and hurried to continue. "Don't mind that. Probably nothing important. You know him so there're no reasons to worry."

"Only because I know him…" Aerith whispered so quietly that Yuffie couldn't hear her.

"Now look at the clock!" the girl suddenly said with some assumed cheerfulness. "Cid promised to give me a lift to Kalm so I need to go. I have some business there."

"Like stealing Materia?" Aerith asked with a chuckle.

"You know I'm out of that," Yuffie pretended to be hurt. Despite that she took her weapon that had been lying on the floor since the time she had come. "Will you be okay without me?"

"If you have things to do then go. Anything can be good if choosing between it and looking after a sick annoying woman," Aerith laughed. "Cloud promised to be back soon. So don't worry."

Yuffie nodded and waved her a quick goodbye. She stopped at the door and took the key to it out of her pocket. The girl stepped out of the house and closed it from the outside.

-----

Aerith woke up from a sudden noise. Her head stopped to ache and the sickness disappeared but she still felt somewhat dizzy. She decided to ignore that and go to check who or what was the reason of that noise.

Her bare feet silently touched the floor as she maid her way to the kitchen.

"Cloud, is that you?" she asked loudly even though she was sure if her husband came home he would have woken her up.

The noise stopped and that made the woman feel uncomfortable. Whoever that was he or she didn't want to be caught.

"Yuffie? Cid?" she named the only two persons that had the keys from their house except Cloud and Aerith. "Napster?"

The woman couldn't explain why she had called the cat but the noise repeated and it was coming from the upstairs. She walked to the stairs, put her hand on the railing and started to go up slowly.

When she reached the second floor her heart was already beating fast. She looked at her watches – it was nine o'clock in the evening. She shook her head, darkness and emptiness of a house were never good signs. The woman slowly opened the nearest door which happened to be the door to their bedroom. The noise was coming right from the wardrobe.

"Is anybody here?" she asked warily and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. She slowly walked to the wardrobe and opened it.

"Oh, Napster, so it is you," she smiled in relief and took the cats in her arms. The animal wasn't going to accept that so easily. It tried to escape her embrace with loud meowing.

"H-hey, what happened to you?" she cried when the animal painfully scratched her shoulder and jumped over it.

"I happened," said a gruff voice right near her ear.

She gasped but didn't have enough time to scream. The owner of that voice pressed his one hand to her mouth and the other, with a knife in it, to her neck. The coldness of the blade sent shivers down her spine. Aerith tried to kick but the man pressed the knife harder to her throat.

"You still want to resist?" he asked and as his breath reached her skin the woman closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. "Good girl then."

His hand that was pressed to her mouth suddenly started to slid down though the knife at her throat deprived her of possibility to scream. The man coughed as his hand stopped at her waist and then started to travel up, this time under her shirt. Aerith felt the previous sickness coming back and tried to shake his hand off, shifting.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed venomously though she was about to start crying.

The man laughed and covered her mouth again.

"Such a waste, dolly," he said and took the knife away from her throat.

The woman made a deep breath but her freedom didn't last long. The man hit the back of her neck with the hilt of the knife and she fell down unconscious.

"Read this," Cloud handed Aerith a piece of paper, turned away from her and looked out of the window of his room, his gaze stopping for a while on each passing cloud. When he counted eight of them he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"So he signed up for Soldier…" she stated with a lot of sadness in her voice. "That's so in character for him."

Cloud nodded in reply even though he wasn't sure if she would see that. He had already spent some time thinking over his best friend's deed and wasn't as sad as she was.

"He promised to visit us," Cloud pointed out as her grip on his shoulder tightened. "You know him, he's a man of his word."

"I know," she said with a weak smile on the verge of tears and suddenly wrapped her arms around his body burying her face in his shirt. Cloud froze feeling her warm breath on his back and hesitated to take her hands in his but in the end he just stood there like a column. She didn't cry, no. Aerith remained in that position for a while and then let go of him.

"Are you okay?" he asked still facing the window.

"Why don't you just turn to see that?" the girl said playfully.

Cloud sighed and did what she had said. Aerith looked at him with a wide smile on her face, hands behind her back and leaning forward a bit. Then her gaze fell down on the letter and her face darkened a bit.

"Cloud, listen," she looked at him intently. "Did you read his letter to the end?"

"I… Yeah," he scratched the back of his neck not being sure of what to answer. "I mean, just look at the way he finishes his letters, they are always kinda strange and…"
"No," she interrupted his futile attempts to slip out. "Did you read it to the last word?"

The boy brought his hand to his face in defeat and rubbed his eyes.

"Yes."

"And what do you think of his proposition?" she asked.

Cloud looked away. He was afraid of this question.

"Listen, it's not that easy to say…" he began explaining but she quickly cut him off.

"Yes or no? Cloud, please, be honest with me. Please," Aerith almost whispered the last word.

"Fine," he took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, I will sign up for Soldier too."

Well, I have nothing to add except this: I'm not sure about the next update but I'll try to write it as soon as I can.
And don't forget two things: enjoy this chapter and leave a review!