A/N: Argh, I've left this collection for so long without updating! Here's a ficlet I wrote a while ago but never posted on here, it's more Tifa about remembering Aerith than anything else, but I guess it could be seen as C/A and C/T. Sorry it's been so long, I have a few other ficlets that I'll upload when I can. And most important of all, I hope you enjoy this one!


Smile


I remember it so clearly, Aerith and I sitting in the bar area of the Cosmo Canyon's inn, having a silly conversation over drinks. I guess I come across as shy most of the time, but a little alcohol is all it takes from me to loosen up, become chatty, turn me back into the Tifa of Nibelheim, before mother died and everything started to happen. We always had this unspoken understanding when it came to Cloud, and though sometimes I'd get jealous when she'd touch his arm affectionately or make him laugh, I always knew that she never meant to make me feel that way. But as I said, alcohol loosens my lips, so after my second Cosmo Candle I ended up babbling about my feelings for Cloud, how I was scared that she was taking him away, how I wished that I was the one who could make him smile so easily.

Aerith, who was always so positive, who always had a smile on her face, stared down into her glass for a few moments. She looked at me, sadness in her eyes, regret on her face, and there it was: 'I'm sorry Tifa, I never meant... I didn't know you felt like that...' and I heard fumbled apologies spilling out of my mouth until she finally smiled again and told me I shouldn't worry, made a joke that dissolved the tension and had me laughing and ordering another round.

But I can feel guilt crawling through my veins as I rinse glasses in Seventh Heaven, guilt for starting our lives again after it was all over, guilt for living with Cloud, guilt for living, when Aerith always talked about the future. Cloud can smile again now, and he sits on a barstool as I finish up the glasses and turn around, asking the question I couldn't quite put into words so soon after the rain made everything alright.

"Did you see her?"

"Yeah."

I study his face, feel my heart swell knowing he's back with us, feel a tingle go through me as usual because we're standing close. I wonder if that ever happened to Aerith? I don't doubt it, I'm sure she loved him like I love him. And there's the guilt again, because if she'd lived, things might have happened with her and Cloud, but she didn't and there are things I'm hoping for that make me feel like I'm betraying her, even though I know deep inside she wouldn't see it that way.

"She sent me back." Cloud says.

And I can almost see her eyes illuminated by the table candle, hear the ice bump the side of her glass.

I lean forward and kiss Cloud, and he doesn't pull away. It's awkward, nervous, but his arms come up to wrap around me, and I remember Aerith's smile.