"Like this?"
Aerith stood straight, gripping her staff tightly in a diagonal position to her body. This feels silly.
Her long braid swung as she looked over her shoulder for reassurance, grinning widely.
"..Sort of." Murmured Cloud.
Aerith did already know how to fight - but admittedly, she was not as skilled as the others. Her real strength was in her magic and healing abilities. However, it couldn't hurt to be more proficient at smashing up heartless. That kind of skill was pretty necessary to survival, after all.
"Bring it in a little bit." The blonde demonstrated as he pulled his own weapon closer to his body. "You can defend yourself better that way."
Originally he had set out on his usual evening excursion to the outskirts of the city; valuable alone time where he liked to train up and enjoy the peace. However, tonight he had gained a plus-one.
Aerith had insisted on heading out with him, asking if he could practise a few moves with her and show her how to wield her weapon more effectively. He hadn't resisted her request at all. If anything it was strangely nice for once to have some company on his trip, no matter how much he hated to admit it.
She jumped erratically in front of him, waving her long metal staff playfully before pointing it straight at him.
"Let's fight!"
He stared at her quizzically.
"You want me to fight you?" He said a little perplexed. "I'm not doing that."
"Because I'm a girl?" She pouted, swinging her weapon gracefully over her shoulder as she paced a little closer to him, her free hand moving to her hip.
He quickly sheathed his sword behind his back to make a point of his refusal.
"Because it's dangerous.. this things sharp, y'know."
Aerith laughed. "You think I don't know that?"
She began to pace around him, spinning the staff artfully with one hand as she followed him with her eyes. Her expression was mischievous.
"How am I supposed to learn without an opponent?"
Aerith was an incredibly playful creature, more so with him than anyone. He knew exactly what she was doing - she seemed to get a lot of enjoyment in winding him up. Usually this sort of behaviour irritated him and would prompt a snappy telling off, but with her he felt powerless.
Without warning a burst of flaming orange energy suddenly shot towards him, his fine-tuned reflexes springing into action instantly as he pulled out his sword to defend himself. The ball of burning fire ricocheted loudly off the solid metal as it flew in the opposite direction, Aerith missing it by mere centimetres as she jumped quickly out of harm's way.
"What the hell was that for?!" Cloud grunted, caught off guard by her sudden random attack. She'd launched a fire spell at him in the hopes he'd actually practise some real combat with her - although she was careful to only administer a small one, she didn't want to cook him alive after all.
She looked straight at him wearing a teasing expression on her face. Once more she shot at him, the flame surging out the end of her staff and towards him rapidly as he deflected it effortlessly.
"Cut that out." He said, irritation creeping into his voice as he held his sword as if ready to attack, lowering it only when he remembered who he was pointing it at.
Suddenly metal collided with metal as she smashed her staff into his now raised sword, grinning as she pushed down into him with all of her strength. Once more she swiftly raised her right arm as she went to deal another blow, the swordsman instinctively blocking it again with ease through gritted teeth. They jumped away from each other, weapons held up in a fighting stance. He had no choice but to play her game now.
"You want some more?" She teased, vaulting towards him pole first.
They sparred back and forth, Aerith throwing her full weight around as Cloud repeatedly dodged and blocked her attacks without difficulty.
Slightly out of breath she circled him, watching him like a hawk. Was he smirking at her?!
Suddenly her hand flew up and pointed to something over his shoulder. "What's that over there?!" She exclaimed, gasping. He turned to look.
"Think fast!"
Thwack.
"Fuck!" Cloud yelped, grabbing the top of his skull. She jumped back in horror as her eyes grew wide at the realisation of what she'd just done.
"Oh my god." She gasped. "I'm so sorry, I thought you'd react quicker than that."
He stepped away from her as he continued to rub his head, looking at her a little perplexed. Didn't expect that one.
As he removed his hand he felt something wet coating his fingertips, inspecting them only to discover that he was now bleeding. Aerith looked mortified. She leapt over to his side, reaching up to try and see the wound but he quickly flinched, pushing her away.
"It's fine." He muttered as he wiped his bloodied fingers off on his trousers, standing back from her.
"I feel awful!" She wailed, trying once again to see the top of his head. "Let me see, please.."
Before he'd had a chance to open his mouth in protest she had her hand on the back of his head, trying to push it down slightly so she could inspect the damage. He relented, sighing with defeat as he knelt on the floor.
She gently moved her fingers through his hair, pushing the soft golden spikes aside to get to his scalp as she noticed that a large red welt had begun to appear, blood speckled at the centre. He could feel his muscles tense up instantly at her touch as he sat there awkwardly.
Her face came into view as she knelt down in front of him, one hand clamped tightly to her mouth as she glanced into his eyes, mischief dancing in her own. Without warning she burst out in a fit of laughter, softly placing her hand upon his shoulder as she did so. Cloud frowned.
"I'm so sorry." She said between giggles. "I can't believe I just did that."
Plopping her weight down onto the floor, she sat with her legs crossed facing him as she motioned for him to drop his head once more.
"Here. Let me have a proper look."
He did as he was told, allowing her to sift through his hair one more time as he looked the other way, instead choosing to focus on the orange and pink hues of the dusky horizon. The way she handled him was so gentle that he could feel his body relax, letting his guard down a little bit and allowing himself to be vulnerable in her caring hands.
"I don't have any potions on me." She spoke softly, as she smoothed his hair back down carefully. Aerith then stood up, extending a hand down to him as she smiled. She couldn't help but giggle a little more, seeing such a strong man sat so sheepish on the floor like that.
"Come on, you. There's a nice pile of bandages at home with your name all over it."
—
Poking her head round the door to see if anybody was in, Aerith cautiously put one foot over the threshold of the house. For Cloud's sake she hoped they were alone. She only knew how much Yuffie or Cid would relentlessly tease him if they knew that she had beaten him up in a pretend battle.
Seeing that the coast was clear, she pulled him into the front room.
"Weird. Everyone must be at Tifa's." She remarked, hanging up her jacket and resting the staff up against the back of the couch nearby. He too placed his sword down, stretching his back out and hearing it crack as he went to touch his head to see if it was still bleeding.
"Stop touching it! You're gonna get it infected." She scolded, flicking his hand away.
"I've got some potions upstairs in my room."
—-
As she knelt down to rummage around in a drawer, he took a look around at the bedroom, noting how neat and put together it was. He had never been inside her room before, the experience making him feel awkward and weirdly nervous at the same time. Flowers and potted plants adorned the windowsill and dresser, their leaves and blooms healthy looking and lush - typical plant obsessed Aerith. The wooden blue dresser next to the window was empty apart from a few bottles of perfume and a mirror, a small unframed and torn photograph of a woman stuck to its surface. She looked just like Aerith, only older and with a slightly longer face.
She noticed him looking around, letting out a little giggle.
"You can sit down, silly. Make yourself comfy."
The little green bottle of potion popped as she uncorked it, pouring a small amount of the sparkling mixture onto a cotton ball and gesturing for him to sit before taking up position in front of him and poking around at the wound. Cloud stared into his lap, not daring to look up for fear of glancing at her body in such close proximity. He couldn't help but notice the way she smelt, a mix of old sweet perfume and lilies hanging in the air.. his heart raced. This strange nervousness terrified him.
Finding the silence between them a bit unbearable, he hesitated before opening his mouth to speak.
"Who's the picture of? She looks like you."
Knowing he was referring to the tiny photo taped to the mirror she exhaled, smiling sadly to herself.
"Oh, that's a picture of my Mom.. Well, my first mom. I had two."
He knew that Aerith was an orphan, much like himself. Personally, he didn't like to talk about his family and so was unsure whether he'd messed up by forcing her to think about hers, and so decided to not probe any further with it.
"She died when I was seven the day we arrived in Radiant Garden.. but I still remember her, even the sound of her voice. We were really close. After she passed I was taken in by someone else, and she became my other Mom." Aerith continued, wiping the blood off his head with such gentle strokes.
"What was her name?" He asked without thinking, intrigued.
It stung to think about those close to her who she had lost, but talking about them was one way to keep them alive.
"Ifalna. She was really special, y'know. Not just because she was my Mom, but because she was a Cetra. One of the last of us, mind you."
"Us?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm a Cetra too. Well, half. My Dad was just a plain ol' regular human being like you." She laughed.
"An ancient race, right?" Cloud said.
Taken back a little, she momentarily paused her cleaning.
"You've heard of them?"
"Yeah.. I think there was something about it in a history book in school. I don't remember much else though, really." He responded a little sheepishly.
Aerith chuckled a little to herself, feeling a pang of sadness strike hard at her heart.
"Doesn't surprise me, we are history I think at this point. I've never heard of or met any other people like me." She said wistfully. Aerith had mentioned this sort of stuff before, but this was the first time he was hearing so in depth about it.
"So you're connected to the planet, right? The lifestream. The stuff that binds all the worlds together."
"Bingo." She smiled. "It's a spiritual thing, really. Like a feeling I get. I just feel connected to stuff.. I can even still hear it, sometimes."
As he listened to her talk he remarked at how relaxed he felt in her presence, his nerves having melted a way a little bit.
"I used to hear a lot of voices from the lifestream when I was younger. Not so much now.. but, occasionally." She said before leaning down to his eye level, a playful smile dancing on her lips.
"But I'm not crazy, don't you worry."
"Coulda fooled me." He said sarcastically in attempt to match her style of playful banter.
The open sore on his head stung sharply as she dabbed a final few times, feeling the tingle from both the potion working its magic and the electricity of her touch.
"There." She said confidently. "Now just to patch it up so you don't go touching it again with grubby fingers."
She cut a length of cloth bandage off and popped it on top of the welt, securing the sides down with tape before stepping back to admire her handiwork.
"Sorry for messing up your hair do." She laughed, adjusting her own hair as she tightened her braid.
Cloud had always thought Aerith was kind of weird, but not necessarily in a bad way. She was endlessly kind and gentle, but could be so cheeky and stubborn until she got her way - and sometimes she could just be flat out bizarre. Not like Yuffie was, but it was definitely an experience. There was just something about her. Regardless of how much he tried to fight and deny it she held this unusual power over him.. and now knowing what he knew about her past, he wondered if it was anything to do with being the last of a dying magical breed.
"Jeez, I hope I didn't concuss you as well." She said, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Cheeks reddening he looked away, rubbing his eyes and blinking.
"You were pretty good, y'know." He croaked.
Grinning at his praise, she clapped her hands together.
"You really think? I mean.. I guess I did beat up one of the world's most accomplished swordsmen. So I must be pretty high class." She said proudly, flicking her tumbling hair over her shoulder.
Smiling felt alien to Cloud, almost as if his muscles had forgotten how to pull off such an expression, but he mustered up the strength to give her a little one, finding her patter quite funny.
"You're never gonna let me live this down, are you?" He said sarcastically, getting up from his position on the bed and stretching out his tired muscles.
The two shared a few seconds of eye contact before Aerith broke the silence, poking him hard in the arm.
"Nope."