Christmas Flower

Sorry guys, like I said – I'm a horrible procrastinator. This chapter was tricky to write because it's mostly filler, but the next chapter will be up on the weekend because it's the second-to-last one and wraps up a lot of things.

BTW, happy new year!

Chapter 5: Tifa

"So how was work today?" Cloud asked, popping a meatball in his mouth. Across from him, Aerith shrugged.

"Cid loves the Christmas village scene I set up on the second floor, but he's not entirely happy with the tree decorations," she replied. "He's in love with the window designs, says they're the best he's had in years." Aerith began twirling a few spaghetti strands around her fork as Cloud chewed and swallowed.

"So you're happy there?" Cloud asked carefully.

"Yeah, Cid treats me alright. I mean, he curses a lot, but I think that's just his way," Aerith said. Cloud nodded. It had been a little over a week since Aerith had entered his life, and the two had settled into a routine of sorts. Cloud left before Aerith in the morning, but she wasn't there when he got home and came home about an hour later. Cloud would cook diner and Aerith would arrive home just as it was ready.

Cloud was still getting used to the idea of a roommate. He had lived on his own ever since he had moved from his mother's home nearly a decade ago. But while the feeling was strange and foreign, Cloud was discovering it wasn't a bad one at all. It was nice having someone there in the evening to talk to, seeing as how Yuffie only came during the day and was gone when he got home. Plus, there was the feeling of waiting for Aerith to come home, and the daily anticipation of that wasn't unpleasant either.

"I like having her around, I guess," Cloud thought, chewing his food. He did, Aerith was sweet and she always came home excited and cheerful. Her nervousness around him had faded once she had accepted the reality that she was being given the chance to lead something of a normal life. According to the phone conversation he had had with Cid the other day, Aerith was working hard on the displays around the store and was otherwise learning cashier work on the side. Cid had said that he had no problem hiring Aerith permanently as a cashier, if she continued to do displays on the side for him for the holidays and special occasions.

"What do you think?" Cloud lifted his head as Aerith spoke, and realized she had kept talking while he had drifted off into thought.

"I'm sorry, pardon?" he replied.

"I said, Cid says there's a special investment account being offered at Nibel Banking," Aerith repeated. "Apparently if you hold down a job for more than fifteen weeks, you can apply for a home loan for a down payment for an apartment and furniture. With what Cid's paying me, if I stay there long enough I can qualify for the loan and pay it off easily within a year or so."

"Apartment?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah," Aerith nodded. "Don't get me wrong Cloud, I'd practically kiss your feet for letting me stay here on top of everything. But I can't stay here forever, right? Cid said he might be willing to let me shack up in an unused office after the holidays if I stay on the staff at the store."

"Oh…okay," Cloud mumbled, lowering his eyes. Aerith sighed and reached over to pat the back of his hand.

"Hey, don't be like that," she soothed. "I'll come around to visit all the time, no worries about that."

"Right," Cloud said. Aerith stood up and smiled down at him as she carried her plate into the kitchen. Cloud pushed his last meatball around his plate with his fork, furrowing his brow.

"She's even talking about taking out a loan for an apartment," Cloud muttered, taking a drink of his coffee. Across from him in the small restaurant he was eating his lunch in, Tifa shrugged slightly. Beside her, Sephiroth observed the conversation silently as he ate his salad, green eyes glancing up now and then.

"That's good though, Cloud. She's thinking about her future," she replied. "What's wrong with that?" Cloud mumbled something into his coffee. "What?" Tifa asked.

"What's wrong is that I'm not part of it!" Cloud said louder, lifting his head. Tifa smiled slightly at Cloud's confession.

"So, that's it," she said. "You don't want her to go, hm?"

"Is that so wrong?" Cloud replied. "I just got so used to having her around so easily…I don't want to get used to not having her around again."

"If you're so smitten over her, say so," Tifa replied. "Come on Cloud, you haven't had a girlfriend in like, forever."

"It hasn't been that long," Cloud grumbled, sipping his coffee again.

"As of nine PM tonight, it will have been six years, four months and twenty-three days," Sephiroth listed. Cloud and Tifa turned to stare at the silver-haired lawyer. "I remember these things," he said simply.

"Your point?" Cloud asked, taking another drink. Tifa leaned over the table.

"The point is you need to go out and get laid once in a while!" she hissed. Cloud's eyes widened as he coughed on his coffee, putting down the cup. "Really, Cloud. Just tell Aerith you like her and don't want her to move out."

"I can't do that."

"Sure you can, it's easy, watch," Tifa held up her hand and moved it like a mouth. "Just say 'Aerith, you're cute and I like you, please don't move out'. Simple."

"She has a point, Cloud," Sephiroth said. "Just speak to her and ask her to stay with you."

"No. I'm just her friend and benefactor, she's not interested in me like that. Besides, how am I supposed to stand in the way of her building a new life for herself just because I happen to find her attractive?"

"Well that's her choice to make. Besides, how do you know she doesn't feel that away about you?" Tifa asked.

"I don't know, but if you think-" Cloud stopped himself as he watched Tifa stand up and sling her coat over her shoulder. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Well, if you don't know what she thinks of you," Tifa replied, grabbing her purse, "then allow me to find out for you."

"H-hey!" Cloud protested as Tifa walked out. He moved to follow her, when the waitress approached the table.

"Would you like your bill now sir?" she asked. Cloud looked up at her and sat back down.

"Dammit," he muttered, grabbing his fork. Sephiroth watched Tifa exit the restaurant.

"Would it truly be so terrible for you to voice your attraction to her?" Sephiroth asked as the waitress left. Cloud finished his pasta and set his fork down.

"Well, no, not really. But she already feels obligated to me, if I tell her I've got the hots for her or something, she'll feel even worse. It's for the best."

"Hmph," Sephiroth grunted, going back to his salad.

"Beyond that, I need your help. You said you have a cousin who knows the history of the town, right?" Cloud asked, pulling on his coat.

"Yes."

"Call him up and see if I can get access to his records," Cloud said. "I'm gonna try and see if I can track down Aerith's family records. Maybe she has some distant cousin alive somewhere, who knows?"

"I can call him and ask him to look," Sephiroth nodded. "What is her full name?"

"Aerith Ilfana Gainsborough!" Cloud called as he rushed out of the restaurant after Tifa. The salad fork stilled as Sephiroth turned to stare at where Cloud had been.

"Gainsborough…" he murmured, narrowing his eyes. "Why do I know that name?"

"Thank you for shopping at Highwind's!" Aerith smiled, handing the woman her bags. The woman nodded and rushed out of the store, and Aerith sighed and turned to look at the clock. It was almost one o'clock. "Shera, tell Cid I'm taking my lunch now," she said to the cashier on the lane beside hers. Shera nodded as Aerith untied the store apron and walked in the back of the store. She hung the apron in her locker in the change room and pulled out her jacket. Aerith smoothed out a wrinkle in a pink sweater she had one and put on her jacket. True to their words, Cloud had financed a mini-shopping spree for her, and Yuffie had taken her out and gotten her several new outfits to wear. As per her request though, Yuffie had allowed her to keep her mother's jacket, although Aerith had relinquished it for the day since it was snowing and the jacket was too small for her.

Aerith pulled on the light blue jacket Yuffie had bought and walked back out into the store. The snowfall from early that morning had lightened a bit, and Aerith smiled as she saw Yuffie waiting at the entrance to take her to lunch. The girl's bouncy energy got a bit overbearing at times, but she had to admit, Yuffie had grown on her.

"Yo, come on!" Yuffie called, crossing her arms. Aerith rolled her eyes as she walked over to her and followed her outside. "So, where to?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm feeling like…something different," Aerith shrugged. "You mind pizza?"

"Mind it? In college I existed on a diet of pizza, Pepsi and dipping sauce," Yuffie scoffed. "Come on, it's downtown Midgar, walk two blocks in any direction and you'll find a pizza place of some kind." Yuffie and Aerith began walking, and after a moment Yuffie spoke again. "So, what's this I hear you're running out on us?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's gonna take a while and some work but I hope to find an apartment early in the new year," Aerith nodded.

"And here I assumed you were gonna stay with us," Yuffie huffed. "Why bother moving out anyway, Cloud doesn't mind you sticking around."

"Cloud's done so much for me already, Yuffie. He's paid for clothes, got me a job and agreed to let me stay until the end of the month," Aerith listed. "It just wouldn't be right to impose on him like that."

"You're not imposing on anyone, honey, Cloud likes having you around," Yuffie said.

"Yeah right, I'm just the homeless flower girl he's helping out," Aerith said.

"Oh no you're not! You know what he told me a few days ago? He said he was giving me a raise because I made you look beautiful at the spa," Yuffie replied.

"He did not say that!" Aerith cried, blushing.

"He did so!" Yuffie insisted. "What do you think?" Aerith thought.

"Well…he is really handsome," she said after a moment. "And he's practically a saint to do all this for me…Yuffie, I don't know."

"It can't hurt to try," Yuffie encouraged. "Besides, you two are already living together, he's cooking for you, you said he was taking you to dinner for Christmas Eve. You're already meeting eighty percent of the requirements for what makes a couple. All you two need to do is lip-lock once in a while and it's a done deal."

"Yuffie!" Aerith's blush flared up again.

"Tis the season for mistletoe," Yuffie teased. "Come on Aerith, make some sort of move before I duct tape you two together. I'll do it, I told you I've been to college, you'll wake up tomorrow connected at the hips."

"Well…I was going to get him a Christmas present, but I'm not sure what he'd like," Aerith said. "You have any idea what I could get him for Christmas?"

"One thing comes to mind, but you're already blushing so I won't mention it," Yuffie said coyly. "Seriously, not really. I talk to him now and then but I don't pay attention to his hobbies much."

"Well, you've known him longer than I have, what does he like?"

"You."

"We've already covered that."

"Ask Sephiroth or Tifa then, they work with the guy, they spend a lot more time with him than I do," Yuffie said. Aerith smiled.

"That's a good idea!" she nodded. "I'll call them up sometime tomorrow. Who would you recommend I talk to, Sephiroth or Tifa?"

"Well, Tifa has known Cloud longer, but Sephiroth knows Cloud more in the professional sense," Yuffie thought aloud. "It's up to you." Yuffie's phone rang, and she stopped and pulled it from her pocket. "Hello?"

"Yuffie, it's Tifa. Where are you?" Tifa asked on the other line.

"Going to lunch with Aerith, why?"

"Take five steps away from her," Tifa ordered. Yuffie gave Aerith a strange look and walked five steps back.

"Okay, what's up?" Yuffie whispered, turning away from Aerith.

"I need you to do a little recon for me. Cloud likes her, think you can casually bring up the idea of her liking him, see what she says?" Tifa asked. Yuffie giggled.

"Way ahead of ya."

"Well?"

"Hang some mistletoe in the right doorway and they're good to go."

"I thought as much. Any ideas?"

"Some, we'll chat later, kay?"

"Right, later. Bye." Tifa hung up, and Yuffie slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"What was that about?" Aerith asked as Yuffie walked back to her. Yuffie smiled innocently.

"Oh, nothing."