-A Rare Smile-

Heading away from the church; Cloud and Aerith made their way over many rooftops and pieces of debris. Without realizing it, Cloud had traveled too far ahead of Aerith, leaving her behind. "Wait… wait!" Cloud heard a worn out and tired voice call out to him. He came to a slow stop and checked behind his back and saw Aerith femininely judging each gap as she jumped across them. "She's really that girly…"

As soon as she was near Cloud's side, she knelt to catch her breath; she puffed and wheezed; "Slow… down… Don't leave me…"

Cloud crossed his arms and teasingly mocked her; "Funny…" she looked up at him as he added; "I thought you were cut out to be in Soldier?"

Aerith sat up and playfully pouted; "Oh! You're terrible!"

And for the first time in a long time, Cloud broke into a laugh. Aerith's giggles combing with his soft chuckles. He didn't know why he laughed, but something about the girl just lightened his soul. He couldn't remember the last time anyone was able to make him laugh… it was a strange feeling to Cloud but not a bad one. The Flower girl couldn't help but notice his smile; it was boyish and handsome, a lot different than his usual stiff upper lip.

"Hey…Cloud. Were you ever in Soldier?"

Cloud's smile faded; "…I use to be… How'd you guess?"

"You're eyes. They have a glow to them…"

"That's the sign of someone that's been infused with Mako… but, how did you know about that?"

"I don't know…" Aerith hid her hands behind her back timidly.

"You…don't know?" that had to be a lie… it's not like she could have just guessed Cloud thought.

"Right! Come on, let's go Bodyguard!" Instead of asking her again, he sighed and continued on their way.

Cloud and Aerith walked for a few minutes and finally reached a dirt covered road. "Whew! Finally, made it off. My house is over here. Let's hurry!"

"Her house?" Cloud repeated to himself. She was actually taking him to her house… where they were going to be alone. Cloud was suddenly untrusting of himself. He didn't want to hurt her or make a move on her, but… what could he do? He decided that he would just walk her to her door and say goodbye and that was it.

The two started their way through the Sector 5 slums. At first there wasn't much conversation, only the sound of their footsteps. Cloud wasn't really sure what to talk about or even if he should… He glanced at Aerith out of the corner of his eye; she was watching the floor, her face seemed to say she was thinking about something, but what?

Cloud felt his mind wonder back to what had happened earlier. "…Why were they following her…?" Cloud shook off the thought and blankly walked ahead. His steps were heavy and treaded against the floor with a loud shuffling sound. Aerith's steps were light, so light they couldn't even be heard.

Suddenly, the playful flower girl realized that both were just walking quietly. A mischievous smile spread across Aerith's face and she playfully started imitating his movements. The way his arms swung, the weight he pushed down as he stepped. She even imitated his stern facial expression, of course not as good, though. After a few seconds Cloud had caught sight of what she was doing; "…What the? Is she imitating me?" He peered at her, not sure if what he was thinking she was doing was correct. He stopped to see if she would copy him and she stopped, too. He walked a few steps, Aerith following suit, her movements matching his exactly. He stopped again, Aerith immediately stopping alongside him.

"Why is she doing that?" Cloud didn't know why she was imitating him but he didn't care because she looked cute doing it. He felt a weak smile tug at the corner of his lips but stiffened his stern expression. He noticed her happy expression was trying to appear more stiff or more angry like his, but how unconvincing it was made it too hard for Cloud to fight the smile battling to win over his face. However, he managed to quickly straighten his expression. Cloud further examined if she really was imitating him by swinging his arms in front him, catching one of his hands in his fist then dropping it back to swing again—repeating this action. He glanced over at the brunette woman. She was doing the exact thing he was. But Aerith hadn't noticed he knew what she was doing yet. He crossed his arms and she did too. Yes… Cloud knew now for sure that Aerith was imitating him.

Suddenly, Cloud, the cold mercenary, couldn't hide the smile on his face now. He didn't know exactly what possessed her to spark a game like this, but he enjoyed it. The two continued this game, not letting the other know they knew of the copy-cat game they were playing. After walking for a few minutes they eventually arrived at a small cottage hidden away next to a waterfall. It had a huge garden of flowers surrounding the entire area.

"This is it." She chimed happily as she gestured to her house with her hands.

Cloud was completely dumbfounded. He wasn't used to seeing houses like that in Midgar. He was expecting it to be like all the other houses in Midgar… destroyed and dirty. "Flowers must sell good." He thought.

Cloud was about to follow her inside but thought of how weird it would be to be alone with her in her house. He didn't completely trust himself to not try and kiss her. He hesitated to enter until she said; "Aren't you coming?" he looked up at her. She was standing with her hands behind her back, lightly twisting her body left and right. Cloud suddenly found himself unable to keep himself away from her."…it won't matter if I just talk for a few minutes…"

As soon as they arrived inside the house Aerith called out; "Mom, I'm home!"

"Mom?" Cloud abruptly looked at Aerith, confusion and shock written on his face; "Her mom lives here?" Cloud backed up against the door nervously as her mother, Elmyra, walked in.

"Mom, this is Cloud, my bodyguard."

The woman walked closer to Aerith; "Bodyguard…? You mean you were followed again? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, mom, I'm all right. I had Cloud with me." Elmyra glanced past Aerith and looked over Cloud; "Thank you, Cloud." Her voice was stern as if she was weary of him. Elmyra turned and went upstairs, leaving the two alone. Aerith spun around to face Cloud; "So, what are you going to do now?" The blonde crossed his arms and leaned against a counter. Well, there goes having any alone time with Aerith Cloud thought. He sighed lightly and answered her; "…Is sector seven far from here? I gotta head to a bar owned by someone named Tifa."

Despite them just meeting Aerith had to wonder whether or not there was a relationship between the two, after all, she did promise him a date; "Is Tifa…a girl?"

Cloud nodded at her question. "A girl…friend?" she whispered playfully.

"What? Girlfriend? Why the hell would she think that…" Cloud quickly shook his head and said; "No way." A flirty smile appeared on Aerith's face as she giggle; "Okay, okay." She moved closer to Cloud, their bodies just a short distance apart due to the small kitchen space.

"Well, let's see… Sector 7… I can show you the way."

Cloud closed his eyes and gestured with his hand for her to stay; "You gotta be kidding me. Why do you want to put yourself in danger again?"

"I'm used to it." A proud smile was on her face as if it was normal for a girl like her to be involved in danger. "…She's just a girl… how the hell could she be used to danger?"

"Used to it?" his brow forwarded as he concentrated a serious stare on her. The stern look in her eyes told Cloud she didn't mind being in danger so he changed the subject; "Besides, getting help from a girl…"

Aerith puffed out her cheeks and put her hands on her hips; "A girl? What do you mean by THAT?" she crossed her arms and added; "I am definitely going to help now, that's for sure." Before Cloud could protest any further Aerith shouted; "Mom! I'm taking Cloud to sector 7! I'll be back in a while." As Aerith moved towards the door Elmyra hurried down the stairs.

"But dear—I give up! You never listen once your mind is set on something. But if you must go, please do it early tomorrow. It's getting late…"

"I don't know, mom. I could be back in a while."

"But Aerith, those men could hurt you." Elmyra's voice was shaky, Cloud saw the worry in Elmyra's eyes and decided to jump in; "Aerith, I agree with your mom. It's late and you'd have to walk back alone. Which would defeat the purpose of me being your bodyguard."

Aerith nodded at the points brought up. "Okay, you're right."

"Good. Aerith will you go make the guest bed?"After Aerith was upstairs Elmyra turned to Cloud; "That glow in your eyes…you're from Soldier, right?"

"I used to be…" Cloud said in a low voice, half ashamed of his background.

Elmyra crossed her arms; "I'm not sure how to say this, but… Would you please leave here, tonight? without telling Aerith?"

Cloud understood why her mother would want him gone; "…I'm dangerous…" Cloud wasn't one for the drama and figured it'd be best if he did leave. Not to mention, he was growing fond of Aerith and he wouldn't ever want to drag her into danger. He nodded and headed up stairs. Aerith showed him into the guest room and turned to say; "We'll need to go through sector 6 to get to 7. But it's pretty dangerous in sector 6 so you should get rest."

Aerith stood in the door way; "Cloud…" he turned to look at her as she finished; "Good night." She shut the door behind her and left Cloud alone. Cloud dropped his arms; "Oh, man…" He couldn't lie…he was attracted to her. Who wouldn't be? But because her mom asked him to leave, Cloud couldn't help but see their situation as…impossible. "She probably has a guy anyway…" Reluctant to leave, Cloud waited for a few hours to go by but he ended up dozing off to sleep.

Author: Thanks for all the reviews guys! I hope you like this chapter. It's short but the next one will be up tomorrow too!