-Aerith-

Cloud has been a great help in doing my everyday chores. In my stead, he fed the chickens and cleaned the pens. He seemed adept to the farm life. He also took the liberty of handling the wild chocobos for me. When he stood among them, I thought he had been trampled on because he disappeared among the herd. Frantically, I looked for him, for being crushed by chocobos was no joke; but when I found him, what I thought to be a chocobo's behind was actually his head! For the first time since two years, I laughed hard. Though he looked pretty angry about it, he laughed along too. As he fed the chocobos, he grew silent and thoughtful. I found another side of him as he talked to them like he was one with the huge birds. Then the time came when he came face-to-face with Boco, my special black chocobo. Many of the other chocobos were afraid of him and revered him as their leader. I thought a sparkle appeared in Cloud's eyes as he approached Boco with a steady hand. Boco never took kindly to strangers except me, but I thought otherwise when Cloud strapped a leather saddle to Boco's back.

"Be careful, Cloud!" I shouted most excitedly at the self-assured contender. I bet he wouldn't last 3 seconds on Boco.

For the first try, I won my secret gamble as I watch the blonde being thrown off Boco's back at less than a second. I was happy at winning my bet, but I was also partly worried for Cloud. Not many men persevered after being tossed high into the air and crash-diving into the hard ground, but Cloud proved himself different. After a few tries, he made Boco trot like a well-trained chocobo. I was impressed, not just anyone could attain that feat.

"Not anyone…"

"Aerith?"

The blonde was staring at me with vivid cerulean eyes as he took off the saddle from Boco's back.

"Huh?" Had I spoke those words loudly? I shook my head and beamed brightly. "It's nothing, Cloud."

"If you say so," He had a confused look at first, but then smiled freely. "The roof is next right?"

I nodded at the ecstatic blonde, and led him to the shed where the ladder, hammer, and nails were kept. After the heavy downpour last night, I found puddles of water in most of the rooms of the inn—a sign that holes on the roof were present. One by one, Cloud carried the hammer, nails and wooden planks to the rooftop then he started to cover the holes that he discovered. It was a good thing the sky was clear today.

Knowing the work is tiring, I hurried to the kitchen to prepare sandwiches and a jug of lemon juice. I feel sorry for the blonde because the sun was blazing overhead, but he was the one who suggested to fix the holes so the only thing I can do for him is make the best lemonade he had ever tasted. When he had finished repairing the roof, it was already evening and he had returned to his room to take a long shower. After a hard first day, I arranged a special dinner for him in gratitude. It's the least I could do for all the work he has done for my inn.

-Cloud-

Doesn't she have any helpers in maintaining this place? My arms almost fell from my shoulders from hammering all afternoon. This hard work had better reap good results… though it was refreshing working in a small, quiet farm. I kinda liked taking care of the chocobos and breathing fresh air. The thought almost made me forget what I was here for. No, I had to endure this. Having no money to pay for the inn, I have to exchange manual labor for another night to stay here. Maybe I'll keep this up until Aerith finally falls for me. Hell knows how long that will take. I have a time limit so I have to be more insistent. Step 1 will happen tonight. She'd have to deal with it.

"Cloud, dinner!"

I fixed the last of my spikes before coming down the stairs. Flashing one of my lop-sided smiles, I sat closer to her as opposed to earlier.

You'd better be cooperative, Ms. Gainsborough.

When we had settled down and started to eat, I turned to her to make my move but she stared me down first with her emerald green eyes. She had something going on in that cuckoo mind of hers that I'm curious to find out what.

"So, why are you here, Cloud?"

I almost choked at her question. Too fast!

"I…" I found myself racking my brain for plausible answers. "I came to visit a… a-a friend." Shit, I'm stammering.

She smiled at me and sighed mockingly. "Please… You know fully well that this is an uninhibited region." After drinking from her glass of water, she turned to look at me again. In the eye. Fearless. "This has something to do with the institution, right?"

At those words, I turned dead serious. Who was she? How did she know about the institution? Should I tell her the truth? Should I just gas her now? Everything was happening so fast!

After so many questions that were racing in my mind, I came up with the first one.

"Who are you?"

"I am who I am. I'm still the Aerith Gainsborough that I told you I was."

"What does the institution have to do with you?"

"Let me show you, Mr. Strife. Or is it also a false name?"

She giggled and took my hand that was bruised when the big, black chocobo threw me on the ground. I jerked her fingers off but she flashed me a look that ordered me to behave, and strangely… I obeyed her. Lightly, she placed her warm palm on the wound and concentrated. Out of nowhere, green particles gathered under her fingers. After a few moments, she withdrew her hand and smiled. I stared, dumbfounded, at the bruise that disappeared out of thin air.

"M… Magic."

"Restorative magic," she corrected.

Sweat began to trickle down my temples as my pulse pounded in my head. What in the world have I gotten myself into? Furthermore, how many secrets have the institution stored away from the world? Up until now, I've always believed that magic only existed in fairy tales; but going through it now… I didn't know what to do. Should I fear her? Kill her?

"So, Mr. Strife..." I looked at her face that had on a gentle smile. "What are you going to do now?"