He tested the door, turning the knob all the way. It was unlocked and there were scratch marks on the keyhole. He locked it this morning. He always locked it. He opened it and walked in slowly, his hand on his gun. Everything was dark, except for the neon lights which flickered outside illuminating his studio apartment in patterns of color alternating between pink and green, blue, yellow, and then pink and green again. He sighed and placed his gun back into his shoulder holster. He crossed his arms. "You can come out now," he spoke aloud.

From the darkest corner of the room Aerith took a step forward. A siren could be heard off in the distance. "How did you know?" she asked as she wrapped herself tightly with her right arm. She looked embarrassed about being alone in a man's place, if her mother only knew, but she was a girl from the Slums and of course she knew how to jimmy a lock.

"Well," he huffed in annoyance, "for starters, a real intruder would have locked the door back instead of leaving it open. And they don't take their boots off and leave them by the door."

"Oh," Aerith nodded, wincing at her mistakes. "Yeah …"

"Aerith, what are you doing?" he asked in a husky tone, eyeing her carefully. He was surprised she knew where his apartment was even higher ups in Shinra didn't have access to that information. It excited him to think that she must have spied on him, for a change.

The brunette sauntered toward him, swaying her hips lazily. "Oh, Tseng," she sighed. "I wasn't aware that I was doing anything," she replied as she grabbed his tie, pulling him closer to her. "That wasn't wanted."

He smirked at her, she did move fast. Those innocent green eyes belied her true nature. He was lying to himself if he said he didn't want her more than he had wanted anyone his entire life. Or that being this close to her wasn't what he dreamed of and wasn't also the cause of his endless tossing and turning and inability to sleep at night. But, she was still just a young girl, and he was a grown man well into this thirties.

He could smell flowers in her hair. It was too much for him to handle. He pushed her back gently. "You want to thank me for saving you back there," he told her, as he held onto her shoulders. "Then don't, it was my job, that's all." He took off his tie, and unbuttoned the first and second buttons loosening his collar. He took off his jacket and threw it onto the bed. He walked into the kitchen, turning on the light. "You want something to eat," he called to her as he took a look through his fridge.

Aerith just stood in the dark where he had left her. Damn, he didn't have anything to eat because he never went to the market. His work took all his waking time. He turned around, fishing a phone out of his pocket. "I'll call and order something. What do you like?" he asked as he looked back at her. The phone dropped back down at his side, the dial tone beeping incessantly at him. He flipped it off. Aerith was still standing there, her head down. She was sobbing quietly and was trying to wipe her tears on her arms but they kept rolling down her face.

He walked over to her and embraced her, pressing her head into his chest, her face getting his shirt wet with tears, but he didn't mind. She was so light in his arms. He took the pink ribbon from her hair letting her soft light-brown curls fall down her back. "There, there," he cajoled her, stroking her back lightly with his index finger, finding her spine and tracing lines up and down it. "What's the matter?"

Aerith shuddered at his touch, pressing her hips into his. Her sensitivity to his touch made his blood run hot and he looked into her eyes and saw that they were wide and watery. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. He knew it was wrong, but he was only human. She tasted salty from the tears. Her mouth opened into a little hole and he licked her lips gingerly testing to see if he could slip his tongue inside. She opened wider and his tongue met hers. She sucked on his tongue softly and the feeling sent shivers throughout his body. He took a step back forcing her to take a step back and the back of her knees touched the bed that was behind her. She instinctively sat down and he leaned over her. They were still locked by the lips.

He broke apart from her and she lay on his bed. He lay down beside her. His fingers deftly undid the buttons of her pink sundress. He then took her dress, folded it and placed it on a chair beside the bed. When she was exposed to the night air her body shook. He lay back down, staring at her lovely body, drinking her in. Her skin was pale and porcelain. She was very slender with small, round breasts, but her hips were a woman's hips. She lay there shaking, not from the cold; he always left the heat on, but from pure need, the need of his touch.

Her bra and panties were made of peach silk and lace. She might have been poor, but what she did buy was good quality. She had more class than any 'high society' cow he had ever known. He touched her bra and traced the lace lining with his finger. Her breathing got heavier. He smiled at her. "Such a sweet girl," he whispered in her ear as he unhooked her bra clasp from the back. He slid the straps softly down her shoulders and took her bra off, turning around and placing it neatly on the chair beside the bed.

He turned back to lie at her side again. Her nipples were small, dainty and pink. Her hands reached for his pants and he jerked back from her. "Patience," he scolded her, "my sweet girl," and then he kissed her check.

"But I want to touch you," she cried. He saw the need in her eyes and he knew that she was ready. He slid down to the end of the bed and slipped off her panties. He placed them neatly on the chair beside the bed underneath her bra. He returned to her and took in the sight of fully nude Aerith lying before him on his bed. She was like an angel. In that dark room it looked as if her skin glowed from within. The neon lights still flickered from outside and the colors danced on her skin that was as pale and stark as an artists' canvas.

This moment was his. She was his angel. He would love her until the end of time, no matter if she left him, or if anything were to happen to her. He would never love another. He sat in front of her and told her this. Aerith sat up too as she listened to him. Her face reddened at his sincerity. "I'll love you too, forever," she said with a stern face. "I promise."

"Now, I will make love to you," he said as he began to take off all of his clothes. She lay back down and closed her eyes, biting down hard on her lip, waiting for it.

"Aerith," he then said stroking her hair. "My sweet little angel. You've make me the happiest man, do you know that?"

She looked back up at him. Her eyes searched his. "I have?"

"Yes," he replied and sat up on his elbows over her. She reached up and undid his ponytail and as she did, his jet-black hair, being so silky and smooth, fell swiftly down and pooled around his neck and shoulders. She giggled softly. He smiled at her playfulness and took her hand and kissed the top of it.

They made love that night for the first time. When it was over he kissed her all up and down her face, her breath in ragged drawls as was his. He spoke sweet words to her, anything he could think of. Songs, poems, words from the play, Loveless, anything he could think of that was beautiful. No words could surpass this moment, or her.

She smiled up at him, listening to him and in the distance more sirens could be heard, but sheltered in that small room they were lost to what was going on out there.