On Cloud's next day off, Zack drags him to the Sector 5 slums. "You have to meet my girlfriend! I know you two will love each other!" The teen had said, looking so excited that Cloud didn't have it in him to correct him. Couldn't bring himself to let the other know that nobody could love him. A small voice in the back of his head tells him that Zack seems rather fond of him, so maybe his girlfriend will, too. But he silences the voice before it can get his hopes up.

When they round the bend and Cloud finally sees where Zack's girlfriend lives, he can't help the amazement. Can't help the breathless "Wow…" that passes his lips, his eyes wide. The house itself is made of wood with a red roof and appears to have actually been constructed properly, unlike the makeshift dwellings of the rest of the slums. But it's not the most surprising sight. Instead, the sheer amount of greenery throws Cloud for a loop – he's never seen this much green in Midgar before. Definitely not in the slums. And definitely not in one place.

As they walk down the stairs and cross over the bridge towards the girl's house, Cloud gawks at everything around him. He's never been to this part of the slums before – he would have remembered – but as he looks at the flowers, the waterfall, and the fish swimming carefree in the pond to the side, he can't shake the feeling that he's been here before.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Zack says from somewhere next to him. Far too absorbed in his thoughts, Cloud can only manage to nod numbly as they reach the front door and Zack knocks, signaling their arrival.

The sound of rushed footsteps can be heard and then the door is flung open to reveal bright green eyes staring straight at him. The girl in front of him wears a light pink dress covered with a darker pink jacket. Her light brown hair is tied in a two-strand braid, some left free to frame her face. As with the scenery outside, she feels bafflingly familiar.

The girl gasps and then her face lights up with the brightest smile he's ever seen – brighter even than any of Zack's. "You must be Cloud!" When she clasps her hands in front of her as if in prayer, an overwhelming urge to cry washes over Cloud, images of a giant conch shell and glowing white trees flashing through his mind. Unlike with Zack, though, he manages to control himself, blinking several times and biting the inside of his cheek to hold the tears at bay. If she notices the strained look on his face, she's kind enough not to say anything.

"Uh… yeah." He answers lamely, not yet recovered enough from the unexplainable grief to be more articulate. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind.

"I'm Aerith!" She provides, before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him past the threshold and into the house. Once inside, he thanks whatever deity listening that he was able to keep himself from crying – they are most definitely not alone. Two people are already seated at the table in the center of the room, a porcelain teapot between them. Cloud assumes that the older woman must be the Aerith's mother. The man, on the other hand, Cloud recognizes as the Wutaian Turk from earlier – Tseng, he had said.

"Mr. Tseng is here, too?" Cloud asks before he can stop himself – his surprise so great that he temporarily forgets that he normally wouldn't say anything in this situation, not without being spoken to first. Not when hoping that he'll somehow make a good impression.

"Maybe he thought I could be the greatest SOLDIER yet!"

Cloud stares in confusion at Aerith. The voice in his head had sounded a great deal like hers, but nothing about her screams SOLDIER. Then again, he probably has no room to talk himself, he realizes a little bitterly, short as he is.

Aerith luckily does not notice his internal struggle, having already turned towards Tseng. "Tseng is a family friend." This does nothing to help his bewilderment, something about her explanation just feeling off. He doesn't say anything, though – who is he to contradict someone he had only just met?

The Turk regards him, a small, pleased smile on his face. "I'm honored that you remember my name, Cadet Strife."

Cloud can't help but stare at the man, unbelieving. Tseng was pleased that a cadet remembered his name? Would things ever make sense again? At least the Turk doesn't seem to expect a response, Cloud definitely would not be able to show any semblance of eloquence right now.

"I hope that my subordinates haven't caused you any more trouble."

"Uh… No, sir." That's right – Reno and Rude. Cloud had been rather disrespectful then, as loath as he was to admit it. Granted, Rude totally deserved his ire, blushing over Tifa like that, but Tseng hadn't done anything wrong. He supposes Reno hadn't either, as infuriating as the man was. Perhaps he should apologize – that's what his mother would tell him anyway. Well, at least it's Tseng and not Reno. He's not sure he could stomach apologizing to the red-head. Running a hand through his hair, he bows his head slightly, trying to imitate the Turk's gesture from the other day. "I'm sorry for my temper the other day." He almost apologizes for being short, but stops himself just in time – he doesn't want to give anybody the chance to respond that he's always short.

Tseng nods his head in return, smile still on his face. "Please think nothing of it. I'm already fully aware of how trying Reno and Rude can be." He smirks. "Especially together."

Something of an awkward silence follows, Cloud unsure of what to do next. Before he can decide whether he's supposed to say anything, Aerith is stealing the spotlight again.

"Oh, I know!" She exclaims, clapping her hands and coming to stand in front of Cloud again, effectively redirecting the conversation. "I promised to gather some flowers for Leaf House, but Zack is useless at that." Ignoring Zack's cry of "Hey!", she continues, "You'll help me, right, Cloud?"

"Uh, what?"

"Great!" Aerith claps again. "Let me go get my baskets!" And she turns and hurries up the stairs to the second level of the house.

Cloud turns wide eyes on the remaining occupants of the room, not sure in the slightest how to deal with this new development. Tseng is absolutely no help, one hand raised to cover his mouth, looking entirely too amused by Aerith's antics and Cloud's absolute confusion.

Turning his attention to Zack next, the other teen provides no further assistance, instead shrugging and saying, "I've just learned to roll with it."

Aerith's mother is his last resort, but when he looks to her, she just sighs. "Aerith is quite the handful, isn't she?" Cloud's not sure if she expects a response, so he keeps his mouth shut.

As quickly as she left, Aerith is back, two empty baskets in tow. "Here you go," she says, offering one of the baskets to a still overwhelmed Cloud. He accepts it dumbly, brain on auto-pilot. Smiling, she grabs his hand and tugs him after her again, this time outside the house.

Stopping just past the threshold, she gestures to the garden in front of her. "Ok, pick whatever you like."

"Anything?"

She nods, eyes crinkling happily. "Yup! I just know you'll have an eye for this sort of thing!"

On the contrary, Cloud has absolutely no idea what he's doing. But like with Zack, she just looks so happy that he can't contradict her. He doesn't want to disappoint her. Doesn't want to fail her. Again, something deep inside him supplies, but he ignores that like all the other confusing voices.

Picking a path at random, Cloud heads over the bridge to his left. Not entirely sure what to look for, he walks further down the path, glancing around him as he goes, Aerith and Zack following silently behind. As he comes to the bottom of a set of stone steps, right before another bridge, he notices a bunch of flowers on either side of him – he supposes they'll do.

Crouching in front of the yellow flowers on the right, he turns to Aerith for confirmation. "These ok?" He asks hesitantly. She had said that he could choose anything, but he was still worried that he would choose wrong somehow.

"Great choice!" She beams at him as she kneels down next to him. "They're my favorite! They symbolize reunion." Cloud tries to subtly shake away the strange image of black-robed men at that thought – he doesn't have time for that now. "Lovers used to give these when they were reunited."

After they've collected enough of the yellow flowers, he turns his attention to the ones on the other side of the path. Gesturing towards the white ones with yellow centers, he asks, "How about these ones?"

"I told you you have a good eye for this!" Cloud rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed with the praise, as Aerith continues her tale. "People used to give these to declare their loyalty to one another." Cloud almost considers giving one to Tifa, but knows he would never build up the courage for that.

Finished with the white flowers, too, Cloud notices what looks like green, fuzzy spikes next to them. He likes them, thinks they look cool, so he points to them next. "And those?"

"Foxtails? Nice! That'll definitely take them by surprise."

Take them by surprise? Did he choose wrong? It certainly sounds like he did. Aerith probably doesn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him he made a bad choice. Bringing his still outstretched hand to his chest, he looks at Aerith apprehensively. "It's ok. I can choose something else…"

Aerith clasps his hand between both of hers before he can say anything else, cutting off his downward spiral of uncertainty. "No, this is wonderful! I love it!"

When Cloud discovers that Aerith grows everything in the garden herself, he can't help himself. He has to ask. After telling her how amazing everything is – his mother had raised him right – he says, "Do you sell flowers on the plate?" Perhaps she was who he was thinking of the other day. With flowers as beautiful as these, people would definitely talk.

Sharing a look with Zack that Cloud can't quite make out, Aerith shakes her head. "I only sell them in the slums currently."

"Oh," he says, looking at his feet as they walk towards Leaf House, or the orphanage as Aerith had kindly supplied. "I thought I had heard something about somebody selling flowers in Sector 8." This is why he normally keeps to himself; he doesn't like being wrong.

There's a delighted sound from next to him, then Aerith is linking arms with him. When he looks up in surprise – of course she was taller than him, too – he notices a twinkle in her eye. "That's a fabulous idea! Where do you think I should sell?"

"Oh, uh…" Cloud shrinks in on himself slightly, not used to so much attention. Especially not from a girl. "Maybe in front of Loveless Theater? There's sure to be a lot of people there." That's at least where he thought the other flower girl went. He kinda feels bad for directing Aerith there, too, but Midgar could use more flowers. Besides, he had never actually seen the other flower girl, so maybe she didn't sell there all the time.

If possible, Aerith's smile grows wider. "You're absolutely right! I should keep you around more often!"

Zack laughs from behind them and then a hand lands on Cloud's shoulder. "See, Aerith? I told you you would like him!"

"I sure do!"

Flustered, Cloud doesn't know what to make of both of their words nor the fact that Aerith's arm is still looped through his. Just as well, for when Aerith turns them towards a brick building, Cloud gets the feeling that they've reached their destination.

The orphanage is a large, rather impressive building for the slums, but it's definitely seen its better days. In front of the building are a couple makeshift tables that are already occupied by children learning how to read. To Cloud's surprise, one of the teens he had met in the Sector 7 slums – Biggs – is there as well, smiling fondly at the children.

As if feeling eyes on him, Biggs looks up and locks eyes with Cloud, shock falling over his face. Telling the children he'll be right back, he leaves the table and crosses to stand in front of Cloud. Looking rather uncomfortable, Biggs rubs an arm before apologizing again. "Hey, man. Sorry for confusing you the other day."

"Ohh… It's fine. Don't worry about it." Cloud almost leaves it at that, but he can't help himself. He's not normally the one to start a conversation, but Biggs looks so sad that he wants to cheer him up. Zack must be rubbing off on him. "Do you come to Sector 5 often, Biggs?"

Biggs stares at him with wide eyes before a dazed smile finds its way onto his face. "You remember my name."

"Ah, yeah." How could he forget? The events of that day in Sector 7 had been so unnerving that he doesn't think he'll forget any of their names any time soon. Not that he would say that to Biggs, not when the teen had finally stopped looking so down.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Biggs answers his earlier question, the smile never leaving his face. "Right. Well, I volunteer here. I help out with the kids."

"Oh, right. Folia said you were great with kids. She really looks up to you." The words are out of his mouth before Cloud even has the chance to think. It's Biggs's completely shocked face that makes him realize that he doesn't actually know a Folia. Well, crap.

Entirely embarrassed now, Cloud is thankfully saved by the appearance of the Housemother. The woman accepts the baskets of flowers gratefully, gushing about how wonderful they are and trying, in vain, to reimburse Aerith for them. Aerith insists that it's no trouble at all and promises to return later to pick up the baskets.

As he watches Cloud and his friends leave, Biggs can't help the smile spreading over his face. If things went the same as last time, Folia wouldn't start volunteering at Leaf House for another few years. "The Merc will be back with us soon enough." Returning to the children's side, he makes a mental note to tell Jessie and Wedge later – they would be ecstatic. If he's distracted for the rest of the lesson, he can hardly be blamed.

As Aerith drags him through Wall Market, Cloud can't help but gawk at all the different vendors. One stand offers glowing concoctions in all colors called 'Potion Juice', the barker yelling something about "a bubblicious blend of fantastic flavor and luminescence." Another sells hot buns filled with honey that smell and look amazing. His appetite is soon forgotten, though, when they pass Mr. Monster Burger and he notices that the worker there is preparing a sub with what appears to be a giant monster eye and tongue smack dab in the middle of it. No, thank you.

Before Cloud can check out any more of the questionable refreshments on display, Aerith is tugging him into a clothing store – The Boutique, the sign out front says. Once inside, she starts looking around the clothing racks, still attached to him. As Zack suggested earlier, he's trying to just roll with it.

"Oh! What about this?" Aerith asks, holding up a purple dress for him to see.

"Uh… Looks nice?" Or at least, Cloud guesses it looks nice. Even if he had some luck with the flowers earlier, he really doubts that he has an eye for this sort of thing. Aerith would probably have better luck having another girl come shopping with her.

"I know! And I bet you would look super cute in it, too!"

"He always said that just once, he'd like to dress up like a girl."

Wait. What?

Did she really just say what he thought she said? Waving his free arm in front of him in protest, he hopes that the terrified look on his face is enough to deter her. "W-what? No, Aerith."

Luckily, Zack chooses that moment to come to his defense, slinging a comforting arm over Cloud's shoulders and gently prying him from Aerith's hold. "No dresses, Aerith. You're scaring him."

Aerith sighs. "Fine. You're no fun."

While Aerith continues browsing, Zack pulls Cloud close to say, "Aerith's not that bad. She's just very fond of teasing. Give her some time."

Cloud shakes his head. "She seems nice." Strange as it may be, Cloud finds that he likes her. She seems gentle and she had been kind to him. She didn't look like she had it in her to be malicious. He was still a little wary due to past experience, but something about her just felt right. Sort of like how Zack just felt right.

"Alright. If you won't try on that dress, then you have to get these!" Aerith had returned, showing them the next article of clothing that had caught her interest. Zack snorts and Cloud levels her with the most deadpan expression he can manage. While perhaps not malicious, she definitely has a mischievous side to her.

In her hands was a pair of boxers. A pair of Chocobo-print boxers.

Groaning, Cloud tries to change her mind. "Aerith. I get enough Chocobo comparisons as it is." His hair was more than enough for that. If anybody found out that he owned anything remotely Chocobo-print, he would never live it down.

"Oh, come on. They're cute!" She says, but thankfully doesn't push him further, going back to browsing and blessedly leaving him out of it for the remainder of their time there.

When they leave, he somehow finds himself with the Chocobo-print boxers anyway. He doubts that he'll ever really be able to say no to Aerith. He's just glad that Zack was there to distract her from making him try on that dress. The thought of dresses, though, has him cursing his rather disturbed mind for conjuring up visions of him in drag, dancing with a rather flamboyant-looking man. What was wrong with him?

Once outside, Zack runs off, distracted by a vendor across the street. When he returns, Cloud sees that he has a box of popcorn with him. Offering some to them, he says, "Chocobo bean popcorn. Isn't it so cute?"

As much as he hates being compared to a Chocobo himself, Cloud has to admit that the popcorn itself is cute, each piece resembling a Chocobo. According to Zack, the kernels themselves are Chocobo-shaped and maintain that shape after popping. Interesting.

They munch as they continue exploring, stopping here and there to look around. Once finished with their snack, Zack insists that they try out an arcade. "When we're done, we can get something to eat at KFC!" Cloud has never heard of the place – they definitely don't have one in Nibelheim – but Aerith doesn't seem to mind and Zack had yet to be wrong, so he just nods in agreement.

Inside the arcade, Zack leads Cloud over to a motorcycle game, throwing a simple "Race ya!" over his shoulder. He's never ridden a motorcycle before, but when they start, everything just feels so oddly familiar. As if he had done this a thousand times. Stranger yet, though, is that his motion sickness doesn't seem to be bothering him. Whether it's because it's a game or because he's the one driving, he's not sure. But he's definitely not complaining.

When they finish, both of them are shocked to find that Cloud has won. By a very sizable lead. "Wow, Spike. When did you get so good?" Zack asks, amazement written all over his face.

Before Cloud can answer that he has absolutely no idea, Aerith is clapping. "Yay, Cloud! You were amazing!" If Cloud winning was surreal, somebody cheering for him was even more so.

Pouting, Zack turns hurt, puppy-dog eyes on his girlfriend. "Shouldn't you be cheering for me?"

"Why would I? Cloud's the one who won." Aerith responds, wagging a finger in his face.

"Ouch."

"I'm sorry." The pout on Zack's face makes Cloud feel like a terrible person. He wasn't trying to show anybody up. He doesn't want Zack to get mad at him for winning. And he definitely doesn't want the teen to be upset that Aerith was cheering for him rather than her boyfriend. Maybe he should throw the next race. Zack would still want to be friends if Cloud wasn't the only one winning, right?

As if sensing his inner turmoil, Zack is at his side in a second, ruffling his spikes like Cloud had so quickly become accustomed to. "No worries, Spike! Aerith's right, you were amazing!" The teen says, smiling down at him. And as though he had read Cloud's mind, he points a finger at him. "And no letting me win, ok? No need to worry about me – I'm not a sore loser."

Cloud smiles back – how had he gotten so lucky? How did somebody like Zack think that he was worthy of his attention? Well, whatever. He'll take what he can get. "Ok, Zack."

"That's my buddy!"

They try a snowboard game next. Once again, Cloud has never been snowboarding before, but that doesn't stop him from completely smoking Zack. When they finish this time, though, Zack just laughs hard. "Oh man. You have to come with me the next time Kunsel and them want to go to the arcade. You'll be my secret weapon!"

Before Cloud can ask who Kunsel is or figure out why the name sounds so familiar, Aerith grabs him and pulls him over to a virtual boxing game. There is a console in front of the arena that they use to control their characters. Cloud tries, he really does, but his luck has apparently run out. Aerith absolutely trounces him. He doesn't even get a hit in. He doesn't feel the normal shame he would upon losing, though, not when the look on Aerith's face at winning is so absolutely delighted.

After the arcade, they head to KFC as Zack had suggested and Cloud finally finds out what the letters stand for. One eye twitching, he glares exasperated at the sign, the words Kalm Fried Chocobo staring back at him. Chocobo-shaped popcorn, KFC – both were things that Zack had proposed and Cloud was starting to notice a pattern. The thought that perhaps this was payback for not letting the teen make a Chocobo reference before crosses his mind as he turns an entirely unimpressed look on Zack, the other having the decency to at least look sheepish.

Tifa barely has time to answer her phone and put it to her ear before Aerith is raving. "Tifa! Why didn't you tell me that Cloud was so cute?"

"Because you already knew?" It shouldn't come as that much of a surprise, really. They were both vying for his attention back then.

"He was an adult then! I never knew he was this adorable as a teenager!"

Tifa laughs. "You guys have a good time then?"

"Yeah!" Aerith pauses for a moment, then starts again, sadder this time. "Though, he's a lot more unsure of himself than I remember."

Tifa frowns. "Well, Nibelheim wasn't exactly kind to him. Having no real friends did a number on his self-confidence."

"But you were friends with him."

"I was the only one nice to him. But we weren't exactly friends." Tifa grits her teeth, trying to swallow past the shame. "I should have done more, Aerith. I should have – "

"Oh, that's enough of that." Aerith scolds, cutting her off. "You were a child. You've done so much for him since then. He means everything to you and you to him."

Tifa makes a choked, cut-off sound through the tears falling down her face. "I miss him, Aerith. I want him back. He went through so much shit, but I just want him to remember…" She feels absolutely selfish, but she wants her best friend back.

"I do, too, Tifa. So very much." Aerith agrees, falling silent for a few beats. Then she gasps, as if remembering something important. "Oh, but Tifa! I think he's starting to remember! At least subconsciously…"

Tifa sucks in a harsh breath. "How so?"

"Well, for starters, he looked like he wanted to cry when he first saw me. Like he almost remembered what had happened."

"Or maybe he just knew how much of a troublemaker you would be." Tifa teases. It feels so good to laugh with Aerith again.

"Ha. Ha. But then I had him help me pick flowers for Leaf House and he picked the same ones as last time."

Tifa doesn't want to get her hopes up. She really doesn't. "Aerith. It was probably just a coincidence."

"Yeah, but he picked them in the exact. same. order."

Ok, that was a little more telling, but it didn't mean anything. "Aerith…"

"And get this." Aerith pauses conspiratorially before finishing her thought. "We saw Biggs there and Cloud told him that Folia really looked up to him."

Tifa doesn't get it. What does that have to do with Cloud remembering? "Why is that important?"

"Folia won't start volunteering at Leaf House for another few years."

Tifa's breath exits her in a quick whoosh. "Oh."

Aerith giggles. "Exactly. Annnnnd" She draws out the last word, building suspense. Totally unnecessary, though – she already had Tifa's full attention. "He thought I was selling flowers in front of Loveless Theater on the plate. That's where we first met. I haven't started selling on the plate yet, so no way was that a coincidence."

A smile spreads across Tifa's face. Maybe she would have her friend back soon enough.

Aerith claps her hands together excitedly. "Oh! Biggs looked really sad when he first saw Cloud. Something about confusing Cloud the other day." Tifa can practically hear the grin in the girl's voice. "Well, Cloud changed the subject like he was trying to cheer the teen up. Asked him if he came to Sector 5 often."

Tifa can't help the "Aww…" that passes her lips.

"It was adorable, Tifa! And Biggs looked absolutely smitten! Especially when he realized that Cloud remembered his name!"