-Through Your Iris-

Cloud had finished yet another damn mission with the group AVALANCHE. They had destroyed yet another Mako reactor… and also had quite the run-in with President Shinra. It was any ol' day for Cloud in the life of a mercenary working alongside a rebel group. Except, the last thing Cloud could remember was holding on to a blown out floor board of a metal bridge, trying not to fall to the city below. Thoughts of; "…this is the end…" flashed through his mind. But it wasn't out of him being scared to die. It was more like something he subconsciously didn't care for if it happened or not. Cloud had no real reason to care if he lived or died. The only thing he knew was the meaningless nights he'd spend with woman, the dirty games of the vicious streets of Midgar, and the cold killings of being a mercenary. Cloud fought to survive but if death happened it wasn't a frightening thought… was it?

It was the next day, December 10th when Cloud woke from a strange dream; and little did he know that he would wake in a piece of heaven…

"Oh! He moved!" a female voice continued to lure him awake; "Hello, hello…"

"That voice…" it was familiar to Cloud… the blonde mercenary slowly opened his eyes. They were blurry from the fall but his vision slowly cleared, revealing a beautiful face. Brunette bangs covered around her jade eyes…small ropes of curls dangled in front of her shoulder. Cloud felt as if he was dreaming when he saw just who was waking him, "It's the flower girl…"

She was kneeling beside him, concern on her face and a gentle look in her eyes "Are you okay?" she asked tenderly. Despite her question, Cloud stayed quiet. All he could do was gaze at her, his mouth slightly open in awe. He felt so stupid not being able to say anything, but she was making him speechless. What could he do? He felt like some stupid kid not being able to say anything. He just wanted to say something… anything! Just as long as she didn't see him acting so… boyishly shy. But he couldn't help it…

Her eyes were, once again, captivating him against his will. Cloud would have thought he died and went to heaven, but;" I wouldn't get in heaven…" The only way he knew that he was alive was his redefined pulse through her iris… Granting him what felt like a new life.

Her voice started out softly as she spoke making sure not to startle him; "This is a church in the sector five slums… you fell through the roof and on top of me," she playfully scrunched her nose and said in a phony mad voice; "You gave me quite the scare, you know."

A boyish smile spread on Cloud's face as her innocent attitude washed over his pained soul. He had only known her for a few minutes, in yet… he already found himself fond of her playful teases and the cute way she just scrunched up her nose… even the way she smiled so easily and honestly.

However, that smile faded as Cloud realized he was staring at the pretty girl and realized how weird that must be for her. He broke eye contact. Wait a minute… she said he fell all that way and lived; "…I came crashing down?" Cloud muttered as he propped himself on his elbows and glanced around the room, it really was an old church.

"The roof and the flowerbed must have broken your fall. You're lucky." She said in a friendly voice. Cloud realized he was sitting in a large bed of all yellow flowers. The flowers nearest to his crash site were all damaged and pressed against the floor. "Shit!"

"…Flower bed…is this yours?"

Without his question being answered Cloud quickly stood up; "Sorry about that…"

The flower girl stood as well. "That's all right. The flowers here are quite resilient. It's cause this is a sacred place, I think."

Cloud watched as the girl walked around her flowers and continued to speak; "They say you can't grow flowers in Midgar. But for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here. I think that's why I love it here, so much." Just as she finished speaking, she kneeled to her flowers and began to tend to them. Cloud was a little confused. Not from the fact that he just fell that far and lived, not that there was flowers growing in Midgar, but he was confused at why or how she could speak so friendly to a complete stranger.

Cloud looked to the floor, he wasn't sure if he should just leave, "She probably wants me off of her flowers…" he thought. Cloud tried to not ruin any more of the plants as he walked to the wooden floor. He felt like saying thank you to the flower girl but wasn't sure. He hesitantly stepped closer to her but stopped and rubbed his forehead… "What the hell do I say now? Sorry I destroyed the way you make money…Yeah, that's fucking brilliant…"

Cloud crossed his arms, frustrated that he didn't know what to do. He glanced at her out of the corner of his cold eyes. She was gingerly straitening the tall flowers. Her porcelain skin glowed in the warm light of the church. She was wearing a long pink dress; a small red denim bolero jacket was covering her shoulders. She had on the strangest shoes; they looked like small brown boots.

Cloud couldn't help but think of how amazing it was to have met her again, and in such a storybook way no less. Just the other day he found himself captivated by her and now he was nervous as hell about how he should speak to her. This definitely wasn't like himself. Since when did he get nervous? Shy? That sure as hell wasn't how he acted to anyone else… in yet… he felt so simplistic and awkward around her. "She probably doesn't even notice me right now…" he couldn't remember one time of his life where anyone paid attention to him, at least the people he usually wanted to see him never seemed to. That was another one of his problems; he was always pushed aside so he decided he would push others aside before they could do it to him; it was his defense mechanism against the world. But little did Cloud know that everything he had trained himself to do to the world was slowly being stripped from him as he continued to get lost in the woman just a few feet away.

"I'll just tell her thanks…" Cloud told himself, trying to calm his nerves. Timidly, he walked closer to her, and a breaking sound in the floorboard caught her attention; "…So, we meet again." the girl stood and paused as she turned to face him; "You probably don't remember me…" she hid her hands behind her back and looked to the floor.

"No—" Cloud mumbled. Why did he say that? That wasn't true. He remembered her completely! From the look of her eyes to the way she smiled. In a matter of fact, never has he remembered someone so vividly before. He closed his eyes in thought for a brief moment and tried to sort his thoughts. He spoke slowly, making sure he didn't mess up or lose his cool in front of her. "…I mean, yeah. I remember you. You were the girl selling flowers the other day."

She threw her hands in front of her mouth and giggled; "Oh, I'm so happy!" her hand moved over her heart; "Thank you for buying my flowers." Her pink lips formed into a soft smile and Cloud had to avert his gaze because he knew he was staring at her again. All of a sudden Cloud saw her lean forward, her hands clasped behind her back. She tilted her head to speak; "Say, do you have any materia?" It was clear to Cloud she was trying to break the ice. And luckily, it was about something he knew. "Yes, some. Anyone can find it pretty much anywhere."

"But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing." She laughed.

"…good for nothing?" Cloud repeated, bewildered at the statement.

"You probably just don't know how to use it." Cloud paused briefly and moved towards her, holding his hand out as if to ask to see the materia as he finished his sentence; "I can—" Before Cloud could finish offering his help the girl interrupted him, half giggling; "No, I do… it just doesn't do anything. I just feel safe having it… it was my mother's…" she looked skyward then back at Cloud. "Say, I feel like talking more. Do you?" her lips formed a bright smile; "After all, here we are meeting again, right?"

Cloud nodded at her kind gesture. He knew he had to be going but; "It won't slow me down to talk for a minute…" was what he told himself in order to make an excuse to stay longer in this what seemed like a piece of heaven. His reply made the girl happy, "Okay, wait here. I've gotta check my flowers; it will only be a minute, I promise!" she skipped over to her flowers and started to tend to them a little more. And Cloud watched for a moment. She looked so ethereal tending to flowers… Cloud found himself fighting a smile from forming on his face. For a split second, Cloud felt happiness tug at his lips, forming a weak smile but as soon as he realized it he shook the expression off of his face, his stern expression returning. Then, suddenly, she stood abruptly; "Oh! I don't think we know each other's names do we?"

As soon as her words reached Cloud's ears, he felt a sense of embarrassment as he remembered that they didn't know each other's names; "Fuck…" he felt like such an idiot for forgetting something as basic as that!

She leaned back down to Cloud like how she did before and said; "My name is Aerith. I'm a flower girl."

"…Aerith…" Cloud repeated in awe. He thought her name matched exactly how she looked and acted; innocent, beautiful, and unlike anyone else. Living in the city brought many temptations—women being one of the major of them all. And Cloud had heard plenty of women's names…but none were as beautiful as hers.

"The name's Cloud. Me?" he paused, not sure whether or not he should tell her he's a mercenary; "…that'd probably scare her…" he decided against telling her exactly what he does for a living; "I…" he paused again then continued; "…do a little bit of everything."

"Oh…" Aerith began, "…a jack of all trades."

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed." A soft giggle rolled off of Aerith's tongue. Cloud couldn't help but wonder why she was laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Sorry….. I just…" she was interrupted as she saw Cloud's gaze locked with something behind her. She turned to see a red haired man wearing a messy tux standing in the church door. Cloud moved toward the strange person, stopping next to Aerith. She had a worried look on her face; "…she's scared of him…?" he thought as he took in the worry on her face.

"Cloud…" the sound of her voice saying his name pulled him to look at her; "Have you ever been a bodyguard? You said you do everything, right?"

Cloud smoothed his blonde locks back in a calm motion; "Yeah, that's right." he stayed on guard as he spoke in case the stranger at the door decided to try something stupid. "Then will you get me out of here and take me home?" she pleaded softly. Cloud crossed his arms and thought about it. There was no way in hell he was going to leave her here alone with this guy hassling her... but, Cloud wasn't one to do something for free. Even though he was more than willing to protect for nothing at all, he still had to try for something...

"Okay, I'll do it…" he paused slightly, "…but it'll cost you." A weak smirk spread on his face as he hoped she would agree. Cloud, being the man he was, couldn't help thinking about being with her. He noticed the curve of her hips, the shape of her pink lips—her eyes were the most breathtaking his own ever saw. And she was definitely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, that's for sure... so, why not? The flower girl might have had him shy and awkward before but he was feeling more brave now.

Aerith bit her lip before saying; "Well, then, let's see…" she placed her finger on her chin, clicking it against her skin until an idea popped into her mischievous mind; "How about if I go out with you once?" Thinking she had come up with the flirty idea first.

Cloud was hoping she would say something along those lines… "Close enough." He thought as he quickly nodded his head and immediately confronted the man with red hair.

Author's Notes: Okay... I know Cloud was... a bit... what's the word... reduced to a mushy ball of shyness as he met her this time. But, honestly, I feel as though that's what happened. He wanted to remain calm, cool, and collected but on the inside he was getting weak-kneed for her. And yes. Cloud was having some steamy intentions with his "it'll cost you" comment. He knew exactly what he wanted from her.

Next chapter will be up tomorrow.