Aerith opened her eyes. The sound of the morning birds and the gleaming sun on her face had wakened her. It was going to be a beautiful day.

She looked up at Leon. He was still sleeping peacefully. Aerith smiled. She gently pushed him off her and got up. She glanced at the clock. 6:35 am. Aerith decided Leon deserved to sleep in a little more after all the work he's done. She smiled and pulled the warm blanket back over him. Aerith tiptoed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

She made her way to her bedroom. She sat down in front of her big mirror and started brushing her long hair with a brush. She glanced at herself in the mirror. No, not at herself, but at the person she had become. Stronger, wiser, happier. No longer was she afraid of being lonely. Leon was here for her, and he was able to fill that hole in her heart. Aerith smiled to herself. He loved her. His feelings were strong and pure, it was more than she could ever ask for.

Yet…

Aerith's smile faded. She placed down the brush.

… she knew Leon could never replace Cloud. Ever.

With Leon, she felt safe. But with Cloud, she felt whole. Deep inside her heart, Aerith pined for her true love more than anything, even when she knew he was lost forever. She missed him so much, and she always would.

Aerith sighed. But still, Cloud would want her to move on and be happy.

Leon had always been there for her, and he was broken-hearted as well. Aerith always loved it whenever he smiled his rare smile. She had seen it so often lately. She felt…that if Leon was happy, she was happy.

Maybe she was growing to love him too.

Aerith chuckled to herself. She stood up and went over to her wardrobe. She examined her dresses. Her favourite pink dress was the first thing to catch her eye, but she wanted to try something different today. Aerith picked out another dress, this time white. A beautiful flowing white dress, the colour of purity and innocence. It was time to start a new day.

Aerith removed her night gown and put on the dress. Maybe she would leave her hair down today, just to be a little different. She smiled as she looked into the mirror. She reached for the moisturizer on the bedside table and applied it onto her face. She looked at the clock. It was almost 7 am. The troops would be starting to stir now. Aerith quickly headed down to the kitchen. First thing's first, she immediately made a fresh brew of coffee. Then she took out a few slices of bread and set it in the toaster. She put on her apron and started getting to work with the bacon and hash browns.

"Hey," a voice behind her said. Aerith turned around to see a still-sleepy Leon. His eyes were half-closed, but he smiled.

"Good morning, sunshine," Aerith beamed. She walked over and kissed him.

"I'm still trying to get used to that," Leon said, grinning. He sat down at the table. Aerith poured him a fresh cup of coffee.

"Thanks" he said, taking a much needed sip. Aerith smiled thoughtfully.

"So, how'd you sleep last night?" she asked after a moment. Leon looked at her. There was a spark of mischief in her eyes.

"I slept…" he said, deciding whether or not to play her game "…pretty well." He took another sip of coffee. "You?"

Aerith wrinkled her nose and tilted her head to one side. "So-so." They shared a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Cid's voice came. He had just woken up.

"Oh, nothing," Aerith said cheerfully, pouring him a cup of coffee as he took a seat.

Yuffie appeared at the kitchen door. She let out a huge yawn.

"M-mornin', everyone," she said sleepily. She blindly walked over and sat next to Cid.

"Good morning, Yuffie," Aerith said brightly, placing a freshly made plate of bacon and hash browns in front of her. Yuffie opened her eyes a little and smiled at the food. Aerith handed Cid and Leon their plates.

"Thanks," Cid said, grinning. He immediately tucked in.

Leon gave Aerith a warm smile as he reached for his plate. She returned it.

"So…" Yuffie said, glancing between the two. "Are you guys together now?"

Aerith and Leon looked at her. Cid ignored it, and instead he reached for the morning paper.

"What makes you say that?" Aerith asked. Yuffie shrugged and started playing with her food.

"Last night…" she said casually "You stayed in his room with him." She looked at Aerith. "I saw you." Yuffie smiled cheekily. "Oh relax. I know nothing like that happened. I peeped." She added, seeing their expressions.

Aerith stared at her, then at Leon. He just stared blankly back. She let out a sigh and smiled. She walked behind Leon and wrapped her arms around his neck. Guess there's no need to hide, she thought.

"Actually, yeah," Aerith said brightly. "We're together." Leon looked up at her, his blue eyes sparkling. Cid spat out his coffee and stared at them with utter disbelief.

"What?!" he exclaimed. He glanced at Yuffie, whose jaw had dropped, then back. "You mean the brat's plan to hook you two up worked?"

"Woo hoo!" Yuffie shouted, punching the air with her fist. "I did it!"

Aerith let go of Leon and crossed her arms at Yuffie.

"Your little boost did help us," she said matter-of-factly. "But we'd appreciate it a lot if you—"

"If you canned it and minded your own business next time," Leon finished for her. He forked a strip of bacon and took a bite. Aerith glanced at him. She tried to keep a straight face as she turned back to Yuffie.

"Not exactly the words I'd use," she said, putting a hand on her hip. "But you get the idea." She raised a hand to cover her mouth and forced a cough to hide a smile. She sat down next to Leon and started to eat. She glanced over at him, and they both tried hard not to laugh. Yuffie and Cid watched a little confused. Yuffie looked at Cid for answers, but he just shrugged and went back to his paper.

After breakfast, the team made their way up to Third District. The house was finally done. It was a good thing too, since even more Heartless were appearing. Aerith and Leon led the way, hand in hand. Cid and Yuffie still found this hard to believe.

"God, they're not going to go mushy in front of us, are they?" Yuffie said through the corner of her mouth.

"When they do, it'd be your fault to start with," Cid answered, laughing. Yuffie rolled her eyes. They stopped at the house. Aerith stared at it for a moment, then turned to Leon. She whispered something in his ear and gave him a sweet smile. He nodded. Aerith beamed at him and then turned to Cid. She clapped her hands behind her back and leaned forward, smiling angelically.

"I was wondering," she said. "Since our supplies for potions and stuff are kind of low, maybe I could go down to the garden and gather some?"

"I… guess that's okay," Cid said slowly, scratching his head. Their supplies were low, but what was she up to?

Aerith beamed. She ran over and took Leon's hand. She looked back at Cid. "Leon wants to help too." Leon raised an eyebrow at her.

Cid sighed and took the straw out of his mouth.

"Look, Aerith," he said. "If you and Leon want to take the day off and have some fun, go ahead. Don't make up some lame excuse." Aerith smiled, her eyes twinkling.

"Really?"

"Just go ahead and get outta here," Cid said. "It's not like I'm paying you or anything." He waved his hand to gesture them to leave.

"Thanks so much!" Aerith cried happily. She wrapped her arm around Leon's and they started heading to the Gardens.

Cid just chuckled and shook his head. Yuffie glowered as she watched them leave.

"So they get to take the day off?" she said angrily. "That means I have to do their jobs too!" Cid shrugged.

"When you start dating, I'll let you have your fun too."

Yuffie gaped at him, disgusted.

"What! Ewww! That's gross!" she cried. "No way am I becoming like them! No way!"

Cid smirked. "Exactly." He handed her a piece of paper with a list of errands, and walked into the house. Yuffie stared blankly at the list.

"What? I have to deliver all that?" she exclaimed. "Am I even getting paid for this?"

"No," Cid's voice said simply from inside the house. Yuffie ran in.

"We should make a delivery business!" she said. "It could help us a lot… financially." Cid took a moment to think.

"You might have a good point, Yuffie," he muttered after a moment. He started to push Yuffie towards the door.

"Hey!" she said. As soon as she was outside, Cid reached for his cell phone.

"I'm gonna consider it," he said, putting the phone to his ear. At that, he slammed the door in Yuffie's face.

The Gardens was somewhere Aerith absolutely loved to visit. Every kind of flower and herb was there. Located just outside Traverse Town, it was a peaceful sanctuary, free of Heartless.

Today, however, it was deserted, but this was how Aerith liked it. She had the place to herself.

Aerith and Leon made their way in. Aerith spotted a huge flower field, with every flower there was in the world. It was so beautiful, she couldn't resist. Aerith ran into the garden and collapsed in the centre. The fragrant of all the flowers was absolutely enchanting.

"Come on, Leon," she said, sitting up. "It's wonderful." Leon looked a little uncertain. He cautiously walked into the flowerbed to Aerith. As soon as he reached her, Aerith grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down. He quickly sat up.

"Relax, will you?" Aerith said, laughing. "There's no poison ivy." She sighed and laid down, playing with the flowers.

"Which one's your favourite?" she asked.

"My favourite?" Leon repeated. He blinked.

"Your favourite flower," Aerith said as she sat up again. She laughed at his confused look. "You have a favourite, right?"

Leon reached down and examined a lilac. "I was never into anything floral." He came across a bed of jasmine. He smiled sadly and picked one. He looked back at Aerith. "What about you?"

Aerith picked a beautiful pink and yellow flower. She smiled dreamily at it.

"I love carnations," she said. "They're just so beautiful." She watched him with a curious smile. "You like jasmine?"

Leon looked at the small flower in his hand. "It was Rinoa's favourite," he said. Aerith placed a hand on his, giving him a sympathetic look. Leon sighed and closed his eyes. "But that's in the past." He looked into Aerith's eyes and smiled. "I'm with you now."

He tucked the jasmine behind her left ear. She smiled sweetly at him. She then looked around at the garden. There were so many flowers, each so beautiful and delicate, each with its own meaning. Aerith gently ran her hand through the bed of various blossoms.

Lilac, tulip, jasmine, carnation, violet, baby's breath, buttercup. A single floret caught her eye. She picked the blue flower and examined it. She felt a painful stab of intensive sadness in her heart. It was a forget-me-not.

Small, sad and lonely.

Aerith quickly dropped the flower and took a deep breath.

She just couldn't it, she just couldn't help throwing herself back into the past. She was trapped in a battle between reality and fate, but she was beginning to realize reality was winning. There wasn't going to be any miracles, Cloud wasn't coming back. That was a fact Aerith was going to have to live with.

Why couldn't the memories just leave her alone instead of torturing her? All she needed was peace for her mind and body, and all she wanted was to let it go and start a new and happy life. She had to let go.

Out of nowhere, a beautiful red rose popped up in front of her face, bringing Aerith's head out of the clouds. She looked at the beholder. Leon smiled softly.

"A rose?" Aerith said, smiling. She took it and breathed in its wondrous fragrance. It made her feel so much better. She let out a sigh.

"It mean… love, right?" Leon said. Aerith beamed at him. She leaned over and planted a tender kiss on his cheek. He blushed slightly. Aerith cupped his cheek with one hand.

"It sure does," she said softly. "Is it your favourite?"

Leon brushed a hair out of her face and smiled. "I guess it is."