Another piece of Clerifa fluff for my beloved readers. I don't normally crank them out this fast, but I've had a bit of inspiration and reading all of your reviews has been really helpful with my depression and overall dour mood. So thank you to everyone!

Enjoy.

"I keep telling you…" Aerith grumbled. "I'm not sick! Do I need to use smaller words? Speak a little slower? Dumb it down, maybe? Me… no… sicky…"

Tifa and Cloud both stood in the doorway to their shared bedroom, arms folded in comically identical poses.

"No, we got it the first time." Cloud said.

"It's just…" Tifa shrugged.

"We're not buying it." Cloud finished.

"Not one bit." Tifa added.

"Come on!" Aerith threw her arms up into the air. "See, I'll show you how not sick I am! Watch this!"

Aerith jumped from the bed to her feet with a dramatic flourish but was instantly struck with a fresh wave of dizziness. Luckily, she caught herself on the bedpost before she could wobble too much. Hopefully Cloud and Tifa missed that unpleasant little detail…

"See?" Aerith grinned in triumph, completely ignoring the fact that her legs felt like quivering jelly. Said triumph lasted right until she was struck with a lancing pain in her lower stomach in addition to the room spinning like a merry-go-round.

Aerith wanted to cry out, but she bit hard on her lip to stifle any sounds. If Cloud and Tifa heard the tiniest peep, they would be merciless in their reactions.

"You're uh…" Cloud looked Aerith up and down. Normally she would be basking in her boyfriend's attention, soaking it up like a sponge. Alas, this was not the time for such things. Especially if she looked a quarter as bad as she felt. "Lookin' a little green there."

"What? Nah. Totally good. I feel like a million gil." Aerith let out a pfft. She was so confident in herself, she risked a step away from the bed. That would surely show those two worrywarts! At least enough to get them to back off so she could go see her flowery children, hopefully.

In hindsight, not one of Aerith's strengths, it was not her wisest decision.

Aerith blinked once, twice, and suddenly the floor was rushing up to say hello to her face.

"Gotcha." Tifa had dashed forward and caught her girlfriend before she could crash land. "Bed. Now."

"But… but…."

"You heard the lady." Cloud was at Aerith's other side, helping Tifa support Aerith's meager almost nonexistent weight. "Bed."

"This stinks…" Aerith put on her finest pout, folding her arms across her chest doing her best to look upset. "I haven't gotten to see my flowers all morning! They need their mom."

"They're not going anywhere." Tifa reassured the girl, taking a seat beside her on their bed.

While Aerith always savored her girlfriend's touch, Tifa's cool hand to Aerith's burning forehead was so pleasant, she almost moaned at the feel.

"You're burning up." Tifa's face contorted with unease. "Not too bad, but bad enough."

"If it makes you feel better, I'll check on them later." Cloud was once again at Aerith's opposite side, smoothing some stray locks of hair out of her sweaty forehead with his equally cool fingertips. "For now, I think we'll stay up here so I can keep an eye on you."

How did she not notice she was drenched in sweat? When did that happen? Stupid illness…

"You two going to be okay up here without me? I can close the bar down for the day." Tifa suggested. "I'm sure nobody will mind if they knew the reason."

"Nah, we're good. I got her."

"Hello? I'm sitting right here." Aerith frowned. "Sick girl can hear perfectly… wait no! I'm not…"

"See?" Tifa smiled smugly. "Even you agree you're sick."

"Nooo!" Aerith wailed dramatically, shoving a pillow over her face to muffle the sound.

"We'll be fine." Cloud lightly patted the despairing Aerith reassuringly.

"But what about my daily kisses?" Aerith peeked out from her pillow hideout. "Can I at least get one? I'll die without them!"

Tifa looked at her girlfriend, as if contemplating something. Stepping closer, she kissed her fingertips and touched them to Aerith's lips for a few seconds.

"That's all?" Aerith's pout grew bigger, if such a thing were possible.

"Best I can do." Tifa smiled apologetically before leaving the room. "We'll make up for it later!"

"Cloud? You can't get sick, right?"

Cloud didn't say a word, but he did lean down to kiss the top of her head, then her forehead, then her cheek. Aerith almost made herself turn to catch his lips with hers, but she barely managed to convince herself not to do so. That might have been a little too cruel. His SOLDIER like enhancements made him resistant to a lot of disease, but not immune.

"Better." Aerith's smile soon turned from warm and loving to icy and threatening, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "You can't keep me here. You know that, right?"

"Wanna bet?" Cloud never was one to back down in the face of adversity. "You're not leaving this building unless I let you. Mark my words."

"Watch me."

Cloud rolled his eyes and made for the door. "I'll be right outside if you need anything."

Aerith's only answer was a thrown pillow that Cloud easily dodged by slamming the door.

"Bleh…" Aerith threw herself back only to realize too late she was now a pillow short. A pillow, that she had just thrown to the far side of the room. "Aww, come on…"

As if waiting for such a que, Cloud reappeared in the doorway, threw the item back to Aerith, then vanished just as quickly as he arrived.

"Thank you!" Aerith called after her boyfriend and settled back into the covers. If she had to suffer house arrest, she might as well suffer in comfort.

A strange noise from outside reached Aerith's ears. Almost like a tapping sound. Must be whatever Cloud was working on. Probably still trying to piece together that furniture in the guest bedroom after Tifa and Aerith made a jumble of it. Not her fault the stuff didn't come with directions!

Regardless, Aerith put those thoughts out of her mind. If she did rest for a bit, maybe Cloud or Tifa would allow her some fresh air outside later. Not likely, but Aerith was nothing if not an optimist.

As it turned out, resting was difficult. A glance at the bedside clock old her she'd only been out a couple hours and she was already near to losing her mind.

Hell with this…

Swinging her legs out of bed, Aerith made to stand up. Again, she wobbled in place, but at least this time she didn't need the support of the bedpost to keep her feet. Progress!

Lucky for her, Aerith had managed to get dressed for the day before Cloud and Tifa descended on her so that was one less task she had to accomplish. Now for the hardest task of all- sneaking out of her house without a man with the senses of a SOLDIER noticing her.

Ugh… she was so screwed!

Tip-toeing to the door, Aerith opened it and peered outside. No sign of Cloud, but no noise either. He must have been in the guest bedroom like she thought. Lucky for her, that just meant she had to fight his hearing.

Ignoring the stairs leading back to the first level, Aerith made for the back door. It was the quickest and most direct way outside. At least these stairs were newer and…

Aerith's eyes caught a note tapped to the door. A door, Aerith noticed to her disbelief, that was literally nailed shut.

"Nice try, but your babies can wait. Back to bed. Love, Cloud." Aerith read under her breath. "You have got to be…"

"Going somewhere?"

Aerith would later claim the sound she made in that moment was not a shriek of terror, but merely an attempt to scare and intimidate an enemy.

"Not at all!" Aerith laughed nervously as she wheeled around to meet a stony-faced Cloud.

"Bed."

"Going, going…" Aerith shuffled her feet, deliberately going as slow as possible.

Cloud just sighed and, before Aerith knew it, had yanked her off her feet with an arm under her knees and a second beneath her back.

"Now this brings back memories." Aerith grinned as Cloud carried her back to bed and gently deposited her upon the mattress. "Aww but I wanted to be carried a bit more!"

"Rest." Cloud insisted again, but harder this time.

"Oh, I'm getting outside." Once Cloud was gone, Aerith glared so hard at the door it was a miracle it didn't burst into flames. "You will never stop me. NEVER!"

Waiting a reasonable amount of time to reduce suspicion, Aerith made another play for the hallway. Just like before, Cloud was nowhere to be found. Odd, considering Aerith would have expected him to be watching the hallway like a hawk this time.

Oh, well. Aerith wasn't about to question her good fortune.

At least she didn't, until that fortune turned sour and she kicked over a bucket she didn't remember sitting in the hallway. The resounding clank as it tumbled over had her cringing hard.

A few seconds later, she was again in Cloud's arms being carried back to bed.

What on Gaia was a bucket doing in their hallway like that so close to their door? It was a severe trip hazard for crying out loud! And how the hell did she miss it?

"Not important." Aerith told herself. "Just need to be more careful. We got this this time."

Except, she didn't have anything. She managed to evade the first bucket, but ran smack into a second bucket she also somehow managed to not see.

Her next attempt she knocked over a stack of books on a stool.

The one after that she kicked the first bucket again.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Aerith almost snarled once Cloud was again out of earshot. "Where is all this stuff coming… from…"

Aerith's mental train of thought came to a stop with a memory of years ago at Elmyra's house. An eerily similar situation that Cloud had found himself in that followed the same pattern. This must be how Cloud felt trying to escape Aerith's house.

"Cheeky son of a… gah!" Aerith rubbed her temples with her thumbs. "This is payback for all those years ago. Well, you're not stopping me Mr. Merc. You made it out of that, I can make it out of this!"

A dozen tries later, a dozen times being carried to bed, Aerith was considering blowing the backdoor off its hinges with magic. The world wasn't spinning uncontrollably anymore, but even so, Aerith wasn't sure she could conjure a spell to save her life. At least most of the nausea was passed, now she was just wobbly and exhausted.

"One more try." Aerith took in a few deep breaths and made another pass at the hallway.

Slow and steady, step by step, she made her way down the hall, avoiding whatever diabolic obstacles Cloud saw fit to throw in her pathway. The buckets were an especially cruel callback.

Aerith almost didn't dare breathe until her foot made contact with the top of the stairs.

The stairs were slow going, Aerith wasn't as steady as she would have liked, but with a firm grip on the railing, she slowly eased her way down.

Heart hammering in her chest, Aerith reached the end and almost fell over. With no more railing to hold herself up, her fatigue was catching up. Reaching into her jacket, she produced her staff from it's hiding place and extended it with a weak flick of her wrist.

"Much better." Aerith sighed, leaning heavily on the weapon.

The door to freedom was finally in sight!

Lucky for Aerith, the renovations they'd done months before isolated the staircase from the bar's central room. It gave their upstairs home more privacy and didn't require them to walk through the bar's sitting area just to do something as simple as visit their bedroom.

More importantly, it narrowed Aerith's danger zone to a single doorway.

The bar was hopping today, otherwise Tifa would have spent the day fussing over her girlfriend. The noise of the patrons wasn't deafening, but loud enough to cover any creaky floorboards. The real issue, though, was the doorway had a perfect line of sight to the bar itself where Tifa was currently standing. Depending on how busy she was, Tifa would see Aerith the instant she walked across.

All Aerith could do was pray to the planet the townspeople were keeping Tifa distracted.

Using her staff as a walking stick, it was too slow going but Aerith was lacking in options. She dind't stop for a single second, but she did turn her head to get a glimpse of Tifa behind the bar. She was mixing drinks, working her own type of magic.

The sight brought a frown to Aerith's face. She could watch her girlfriend work all day and never grow tired of it. But right now, other concerns were driving Aerith on. There would be time for watching later.

When Aerith opened the door and made it outside into the fresh air, she half expected Cloud to come out of some dark shadow and catch her in the act, but no, the man was nowhere to be found. He must not have expected her to make it this far.

At last, Aerith was finally home free and nothing could stop her!

Except for a sight so strange, it had Aerith rubbing her eyes and wondering if she was still asleep in bed.

Cloud, his hair and overall shape unmistakable to Aerith, sat on his knees bedside her beloved garden, pulling up weeds while humming a tune she recognized as the one that the tulips, the same batch of flowers he was now cleaning up, liked.

"That should do it." Cloud picked up his basket of weeds and switched over to another patch of flowers. This time, the roses. "Your turn."

As Aerith watched, and listened, Cloud began humming a different tune. Not only was it the rose's favorite, it was one Aerith recalled her mother singing to her two lifetimes ago. He was badly out of tune but Aerith could recognize that melody anywhere.

Aerith leaned heavily on her staff, almost unable to comprehend the scene before her.

Since when did Cloud know anything about gardening? Yet, he seemed perfectly at ease in his work, the kind of peace that he normally only showed when fighting or relaxing with his girlfriends. How could this be?

Aerith thought back to all the times Cloud spent with her in the backyard while she did exactly what he was doing now. She always assumed he just hung around to spend time with her, not that she would ever complain about that, but it never occurred to her he was observing and learning all the while.

"I know, right?" Cloud was talking again but Aerith almost didn't notice. For an instant she began to worry he was on to her but he didn't seem to be. "She just won't stay in bed. I know, I know, she wouldn't be Aerith if she wasn't so headstrong and stubborn. But she'll see when she gets better you guys were in good hands."

Cloud was talking to the flowers just like she did. He knew how to look after them and care for them with proper respect and love.

Dear Gaia, did she adore this man!

The only way this could possibly be better was if…

"Cloud!" Tifa appeared from the backdoor Aerith had just come from and she just barely had time to dive behind a conveniently placed bush. She managed to avoid detection, but it was going to be a royal pain standing back up judging by the way her stomach was lurching "I found the stuff."

"Great." Cloud threw a half-smile at Tifa over his shoulder as the woman made her way over to him with another basket. "Crowd easing up?"

"Finally." Tifa breathed a sigh of relief. "Lunchtime rush hour just left. The ones left will be fine on their own for a bit. Think we should to check up on Aerith? She's being awful quiet."

The concern in Tifa's voice brought a wave of regret onto Aerith for being the one to make her worry so, while simultaneously making her feel a swell of fondness.

"Nah." Cloud took the basket of Tifa's hands, setting it down beside him. "Tough as nails that one, and twice as stubborn. She's fine."

Aerith wondered whether Cloud had time to tell Tifa about her numerous escape attempts.

"Still not sure we should be doing this." Cloud began to set aside the new basket's contents. "She likes doing this herself."

"I know." Tifa kneeled beside her boyfriend. "But if we never show her that we can handle it, she'll never let us help with the gardening. Betting this oughta do it."

"Oh, we'll show her alright." Oh, the things hearing confident Cloud did to Aerith's insides. Much more pleasant than some sickness. "Got that replacement trowel?"

"Right here." Tifa handed over the tool in question.

From her position, it had been a little difficult to see what her lovers were doing, but Tifa shifted aside and suddenly, Aerith had a perfect view.

The patch they were working in had a good-sized bare spot, unlike the rest of the terrain around it. This was because of a disease that swept through recently that killed off some of her precious babies, despite Aerith's best efforts to save them. A few of the carnations had been saved and were safely tucked away in trays until they could be safely transplanted back into the garden. It was one of the things she had planned for today before her illness decided to rear its annoying head.

Aerith was dumbstruck as Cloud and Tifa together transplanted the flowers back into their proper home. Perfectly sized holes, not too much nor too little fertilizer or water, each step accomplished with care and gentleness that rivaled Aerith's own. And all the while, Tifa hummed the carnations preferred song.

Was there an affection step that happened after one was already head over heels in love? If so, Aerith was reasonably sure she was hitting it with the force of a runaway chocobo stampede.

"All done." Tifa announced proudly, admiring their handywork. "Think she likes it?"

"Don't know." Cloud turned his gaze suspiciously close to Aerith's hiding place. "What do you think, Aerith?"

Aerith froze in place. No way he knew she was here. There was absolutely, possibly, no single way he could…

"Need one of us to come and get you?"

Aww, hell, Tifa knew, too?

"No." Aerith flushed in embarrassment as she used her staff to push herself back to her feet. "I, uh, think I got it."

A couple steps later, and Tifa was already over and giving Aerith her arm to support her girlfriend. Aerith nodded her thanks, but otherwise avoided the other woman's eyes.

"When?" Aerith couldn't bring herself to look Cloud in the eye, either.

"Moment you opened the door." Cloud tapped his ear. Right, enhanced senses. Aerith really should have thought of that. He must have removed the nails and used the upper backdoor while she was walking down the stairs. "You were too slow to be Tifa."

"Why not stop me? Send me back to my room?"

"Because no matter how many times I try, I know you'll just keep going until you pass out or you get out here." Cloud scowled for a brief moment, obviously not approving but knowing full well how badly she wanted to come outside. "So, I made sure you could get around well enough on your own then came out here."

"And I made sure you made it to the back." Tifa added in her two gil. "Saw you the second you crossed the doorway to the bar. You were looking better, but not good enough to be without supervision outside of bed."

So much for being sneaky…

"How did we do?" Cloud changed the subject as he took up a spot supporting Aerith's other arm and motioned to the garden. "Not too bad, right?"

"You guys did perfect." Aerith's smile couldn't be wider looking at her freshly replanted carnations. "Not sure if I could have done better myself."

"Great. Now..." Tifa sounded relieved but now she turned serious. "Will you please go back to bed?"

"On one condition." Aerith drew herself to her full height, trying her best to look and sound like she would accept no argument. The effect was somewhat diminished by the fact her stomach hurt too much to stand fully up, her hair was no doubt still a sweaty stringy mess, and she'd used up every last ounce of strength and energy making it this far. She physically would not be able to walk back inside. "Tifa carries me back to bed."

"Why not me?" Cloud asked in genuine confusion.

"How many times have you carried me back to bed, already?"

"Point taken."

Tifa rolled her eyes before gently sweeping Aerith off her feet and into her arms exactly like Cloud had done earlier. It took a little more effort on Tifa's part than Cloud, but she managed without too much trouble.

"Ahh…" Aerith relaxed, her arms loosely wrapping around Tifa's neck while she rested her head on her girlfriend's chest. "One of my two favorite places to be."

"You're lucky we love you." Tifa tried to sound stern, but she never could stay that way for long when Aerith was involved.

"Yeah." Aerith smiled over Tifa's shoulder at the sight of Cloud, returning to work on the garden's upkeep. Catching his girlfriend's eye, he gave her a small wave. "I am. I really am."

Yet another one that went a bit longer than I first figured it would but I'm happy that it did. Let me know what you all think! Reviews/comments/suggestions are more deeply appreciated than I can describe.