Anywhere You Are

by pinkpower

An AU in which Cloud and Aerith meet as children.

1. Their First Meeting

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to Square Enix.

Author's Note: With the recent English translation of Traces of Two Pasts having dropped, I'm feeling super-duper inspired and have found myself wondering more-so than usual what Cloud and Aerith's lives would have been like if they'd grown up together. Enjoy!

"Has anyone seen what they look like yet?"

"Of course. They haven't even arrived."

"What do you think they're like?"

"I'll bet they dress real fancy-like and shiny."

"I can't wait until they get here!"

The entire village of Nibelheim was abuzz with chit-chat over the newcomers – after a house had been recently purchased. Townsfolk couldn't stop themselves from whispering and wondering about their yet-to-arrive neighbors; after all, it was quite the sporadic event when the town received fresh faces – Nibelheim was usually the type of community that everyone (secretly) hoped to escape. But perhaps the former city dwellers had grown fatigued of the big city and the fast life; perhaps they were looking for a quiet, quaint residence, away from the noise and neon lights, and where it was certainly more sensible and safer to raise a family.

A family – a word which implied that a child was amongst the newcomers, and a thought that brought delight to the Four Fiends. Ever since the gossip spread about how one of the village's older homes being cleaned up and renovated, the children imagined to one another about their new, potential playmate – hoping and praying for a kid who was around their age and enjoyed Hide N' Seek.

"If they're from Midgar, they're probably up to date on the latest fashion trends."

"Gosh, I don't want anyone too flashy."

"Yeah. What if they think they're better than us?"

"C'mon. They're moving to Nibelheim on purpose."

"Haha. True. They're probably boring."

"Nah, they'll be fun. You'll see!" Lester exclaimed, teeming with optimistic curiosity from his spot around the circular table in Tifa Lockhart's frontyard.

"I hope the new kid likes tea," the eight year-old girl said, pouring the steaming, leafy liquid into a pastel-blue teacup for her group of best friends, as she served the role of hostess to their lively chatter.

Tyler chugged down the earthy beverage, then went on, "I heard some of the grown-ups talking about possibly throwing a homecoming party! My mom was trying to refine her green curry recipe all week long."

"That explains why my mom has been sewing new clothes for me and my dad," Emilio supposed, taking his time with drinking the tea. "And Tifa! You look nice in anything. I bet your dad already ordered you a new dress or something!"

"Hey, do you think that floozy Strife woman and her rodent son will be invited?"

"No way!"

"No one wants that menace around to spoil the fun! Right, Tifa?"

The young girl suddenly felt the unbearable weight of her friends' eyes pile upon her, almost as if they were seeking out her approval to continue to berate her next-door neighbor. Anxiously, Tifa cleared her throat and offered the trio of boys a patient smile. "Anyway, who wants sugar with their tea?"

While the quartet of buddies resumed their elated discussion about the new arrivals and celebrations, a lonesome boy sat upon the ground, concealed by a fence – having heard every word. His jaw strained as he struggled to stifle the urge to roar insults back at the boys; his head leaned against the fence so he could angle his azure irises toward the slightly overcast, afternoon sky, if only to keep the tears at bay.

Unlike the Four Fiends and the rest of Nibelheim, Cloud Strife was not the least bit enthused by the thought of new people. He was not excited for these strangers to add to the collection of scowling, disdainful looks if he so much as went to the grocer to pick up milk, to add to the loud, awful yells of everyone calling him a nuisance, a ruffian, a loser, or whatever the meanest insult they could think of to provoke a reaction out of him. And he was most certainly not looking forward to new people harassing his mom either.

The front entrance to the Strife house swung open, revealing Claudia to be standing in the middle of the doorway. "Honey! Your lunch is ready!"

"Coming, Mom," the nine year-old boy shouted back to his mother, rising to his feet.

"Hey, Strife! What did your floozy mom make for lunch? Weenies?"

"You are what you eat!"

"C'mon, guys, that's not true. Cloud would have to be eating out of the garbage!"

The trio of Tifa's tea party guests emitted hideous, thunderous guffaws at their own, cruel jokes, laughing harder when the object of their teasing lowered his sand-colored eyebrows in a glower.

He turned, determined to defend himself, but Claudia rested a hand to her child's shoulder before he could open his mouth in reply. "I hear your stomach growling, young man. I made your favorite. A tomato and bacon sandwich."

"Yes, Mom. Thank you." One second before turning his head back to Claudia, the boy snuck a shy glance to the girl who had lived next door to him for all of his life, noting the delicate way she sipped from the ceramic teacup with a pinky elevated. She was far more invested in hosting a pleasant time with Lester, Tyler, and Emilio than she was in acknowledging anything that existed outside of her front yard.

And then, Cloud retreated inside, walking passed the nonstop taunts and ugly chuckles.

Upon the following day, after finally getting into town after such a long and tedious journey, Elmyra Gainsborough decided to rest comfortably on the bench of Nibelheim Park. It wasn't the most impressive park she'd ever seen, the playground itself was worringly unstable unstable – the slide structure wobbled with a strong enough wind, there was rust all over the swing set, and there were peculiar odors permeating from the seesaw. She had told herself that she wouldn't stay long enough to mentally criticize the scenery, but that plan changed rapidly when her daughter, Aerith, took no time at all in attracting attention from the excited children, while Elmyra herself was swarmed by the equally excited parents. Of course, she was pleased by all the friendly greetings, but her stomach was full of nerves for Aerith's sake, hoping these kids would be kinder than the Sector Five kids.

"Aerith is such a pretty name!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Yeah! It's so extonic!"

"Exotic," Emilio corrected Lester with an easygoing chortle.

"Thank you! I like all of your names, too!" Aerith bubbled with joyfulness. "Oh, and your dress, Tifa!"

"Thanks, but your clothes are way cuter! I love the moogles!" Tifa reached out to give the moogle-shaped buttons along the new girl's white dress a ginger touch, though she was cautious to not fall off the jungle gym. "Hey, I have an idea! We should all go back to my house! I have all kinds of games and snacks there! Can you come, Aerith?"

"Let me check with my mom!" The sprite-like brunette launched herself from the top of the monkey bars, nearly landing on her knees, with the rest of her friends following suit. "Mom, Mom, Mom! May I please go over to Tifa's house?" she pleaded, jumping up and down.

"I don't know, sweetie. We still have to get our suitcases to the new house and I don't know how to get around the village yet," Elmyra retorted, combing her fingers through her daughter's wild bangs.

"We can help Aerith get home!"

"Yeah, your house is across from mine!" Lester insisted. "Please, Missus Gainsborough!"

"Please, Mom?" Aerith stuck out her lower lip to create a pitiful, but sweet pout that could have gotten her away with murder, while her arms closed around her mother's midsection.

"Oh, Elmyra, have a heart," one of the mothers piped up in aid of the children, endeared by Aerith's puppydog expression.. "We can help you carry your luggage and you can catch us up on your harrowing travels."

Expelling a sigh of defeat, Elmyra nodded down at Aerith. "Okay. Behave yourself and be on time for supper.".

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Yay!" the Four Fiends cheered in unison, before running off toward Tifa's house to have the time of their lives.

In the meantime, the disgraced child of Nibelheim bounced a basketball up and down along the walkway, doing his best to keep himself entertained, as Claudia ran around inside the home like a drunken chocobo, stitching party clothes together for herself and her son for the upcoming party. The villagers had invited the Strife family at the last minute, wanting some kind of karmic points for considering Claudia and Cloud, while also hoping they were unprepared to show up. Apparently, everyone planning to attend the event must come in party-appropriate attire and must bring a dish for the town to share. Audibly snorting at the ridiculous notion of his mother trying to please the gaggle of small-minded snobs, a part of the boy longed to tell Claudia that she shouldn't bother; what was the point in dressing up for people who hated them? He couldn't stand the inevitable outcome of seeing his mom forlorn and heartbroken when all of Nibelheim would sneer at their presence, no matter how hard she tried. But Cloud remained outside, another part of him wanting to avoid bringing down his sweet mother's efforts.

As the young boy considered whether or not it was right to burst his mother's bubble, the Four Fiends skipped up the path to Tifa's house, a new girl at their side. Cloud couldn't stop himself from doing a double take at the sight of the girl, whose eyes were as green as a forest after a heavy rain. The basketball laid forgotten at his feet when those same, green eyes took equal notice of the blond boy.

She offered him a kind smile as she stopped in her tracks, and then went right up to him. No hesitation. "Hi! I'm Aerith!" she introduced herself, her just just as kind and radiant as her smile.

For a moment, all Cloud could think to do was blink. No one had ever just come up to him before, least of no one who looked happy to see him.

Fortunately, the new girl, Aerith, filled the dead air. "You probably already figured out that I'm brand new to Nee-belle-hime," she resumed awkwardly, uncertain how to correctly pronounce the town's name.

"I'm-" Just as Cloud had summoned all the moxy in his spirit to open his mouth and speak his own name, the three boys caught up to Aerith.

"Ew, gross! Get away from her with your cooties, Strife!" Tyler yelled, yanking at the girl's wrist. "Let's go, Aerith. This guy is nothing but an accident of birth."

"Yeah, and a menace to society."

Cloud's heart dropped into his stomach when the sweet, friendly smile plummeted from the brunette girl's cheerful face, and transformed into a scary, horrible glare. His entire body tensed, preparing himself for her to join the bandwagon of ridicule, or for her to run away. Instead, however, she turned toward Lester, Emilio, and Tyler. "That's not very nice," she chastised them. "How could all of you say something so mean?"

"Because it's true," Lester asserted. "He's a jinx and a bully!"

"Right now, the only bullies I see are you three." In an accusatory fashion, the spunky, gangling youth jabbed an index finger in their direction and pulled her other hand free from Tyler's sharp grasp.

"Let's stop arguing with each other and go to my house. Remember?" Tifa apprehensively interjected, doing her best to ease everyone's tempers, while also avoiding the scalding, magma-esque heat of their mutual scowls.

"Okay," concurred Aerith. She then reset her sights back on the fourth boy, the one the others had been picking on. "Would you like to join us?"

"Oh, um, actually... He can't."

"Why not?"

"My dad. He said that Cloud's not allowed to visit."

Once more, Aerith knitted her eyebrows together to formulate an expression of bitter, outraged impatience, but then she gave the silent boy another smile. "You four go on without me then. I'll stay here with...?"

"Cl-Cl-Cloud," he stuttered shyly, shocked by her statement.

"Cloud," she repeated softly. "You don't mind me sticking around, do you?"

"Y-You-You can st-stay."

"Then it's settled."

Snorting a resentful chortled, Emilio jeered, "Okay. Both of you can be losers together."

Before retreating into the Lockhart residence for tea and cakes, the three boys snarled and grumbled insults at the pair, though mainly at Cloud. All the while, the stress in the Strife boy's muscles released, relief washing through his bloodstream, as the new girl stood her ground. He was astonished, mostly by the fact she wanted to play with him, and that she didn't seem too bothered by how quickly the boys turned on her.

"They're going to hate you now," Cloud warned her.

Shrugging, Aerith replied with a dismissive shake of her head. "Big whoop. I don't want to be friends with anyone who could spout so much venom with so much ease. Now..." Pausing, the female child bent down and picked up the discarded ball between her hands. "I can't believe you managed to shrink a planet! But you can't have it! I will protect it with my life!"

Puzzled by how Aerith abruptly dashed away from him while erupting into a fit of giggles, it took Cloud a second to understand what was happening and what she was doing. She wanted him to chase her around the front yard and try to retrieve the basketball from her – when, at least, he realized, his sullen facial features contorted into childish bliss, a smile embedded upon his mouth, as he played along with her game. For the very first time ever, laughter and playful taunted resonated from Claudia Strife's front yard, as the two children clomped after one another, practically for the entire afternoon, until they collapsed into a bed of grass in exhaustion.

"Okay, you win." The nine year-old panted profusely, his chest rapidly rising and falling. "I won't destroy your puny planet."

"And once again, the day is saved, thanks to me!" Equally breathless, Aerith barely succeeded in making her triumphant declaration.

From beginning to end of the day's encounter, Claudia had been peaking in on the two children through the living room blinds – checking in on them between her daily chores and party preparations. At first, she'd been concerned when she'd heard Lester, Tyler, and Emlio hurling a slew of hurtful phrases, of which she carried no doubt that they'd learned from their parents, at her poor baby boy. She thought to intercede on his behalf before tempers flared out of control, only to realize that a young girl stood at her son's side and didn't even flinch when their wrathful insults targeted her. And then, the pair started playing. Her son, her pride and joy, was actually playing! In all honesty, not since Cloud mumbled his first word, could Claudia recollect being this happy – as a slight, yet warm glaze of tears pricked at the whites of her eyes. The sight of Cloud's brilliant smile, the sound of his sweet laughter, would forever be engraved her memories. And the gratitude she felt swelling in her heart was immense.

Eventually and unfortunately, the sun was sure to set, and Claudia was certain that Cloud's new friend was due back home before the last ray of light fell down the sky. So, as much as Miss Strife took a strong dislike to the idea of putting a halt to her son's playtime, she walked herself outside to do just that. "Well, it looks like you two are having the best time of your lives," the blonde matriarch remarked as they greedily chugged water from the hose.

"Oh, yes, ma'am! This is the most fun I've had in a long time! I'm so grateful to Cloud!"

"I'm glad to hear that," replied Claudia, leaning down to get a closer look at Cloud's new friend. Goodness, she was quite the pretty, little thing too. "What's your name?"

"Aerith!" she exclaimed chipperly.

From the peripheral of her sharp vision, Claudia could have sworn that she caught a glimpse of Cloud melt at the utterance of his playmate's name – his shoulders relaxing, his eyes softening. Smiling wide, she stated, "Well, Aerith, I'm grateful to you for being you. However, it is getting a bit late and I'm sure your parents are going to start worrying soon."

Both children glanced at one another, frowning in unison, but Claudia's heart could only grow warm in reaction, a feeling of reassurance flowing through her veins – their sad visages were a promise that future playdates would occur tomorrow and many other tomorrow's after that.

"I will see you again, won't I?" the young boy questioned.

"Yes! Of course!" Aerith answered.

Standing up straight, Claudia idly dusted off her apron. "Do you know your way home, Aerith?"

"Not yet, Ma'am."

"Then Cloud and I will escort you back to your house."

"Oh, yay!" the twosome shouted gleefully and high-fived each other, pleased that their time together was prolonged at least for a few minutes longer.

And so, the three set off for a brisk walk toward Aerith's house. In the seven minutes it took to get from place to place, the Strife family got to learn a little more about Aerith herself – she was relocated to Nibelheim by Shinra themselves after Sector Five was deemed too risky a place to raise a 'special child,' though Aerith made sure to add that she wasn't exactly sure what made her special when Cloud asked. She also explained that Elmyra, her mother, was a single mother, and that she never had a father, nor a father figure in her life, to which Cloud pointed out as a similarity between themselves.

"Here it is," Claudia stated upon arriving at the Gainsborough house. "It's not a very far away at all. One of the good things about small-town living is everything is conveniently close-by."

"That means we can play whenever we want, right?" Cloud queried calmly, hellbent on keeping his excitement subdued.

"Right," Aerith agreed. "We'll play every day!" The little girl, though she was indeed an inch or two taller than Cloud, delicately rattled a hand against the freshly polished surface of the front door. It took less than a second for it to open wide, and for Aerith to spring into her mom's welcoming embrace. "Mommy! I had the best day ever!"

"Oh, is that so? I'm happy to hear it." If Elmyra had been at all concerned or annoyed by her daughter being tardy for supper, her conflict was instantly chased away now that she was home safe and sound, and in her arms.

Setting Aerith back down on the ground, her stare landed upon the boy and his mother standing outside the doorway. Naturally, the womenfolk of Nibelheim enjoyed their gossip almost as much as a well-made celebration cake, and they took no time at all to caution Elmyra against the town's infamous tramp and her bully of a son. They explained to Elmyra that Claudia, an alleged harlot, had thrown herself at the first man who would have her, then got herself pregnant, and at such a young age no less, and then that 'good-for-nothing out-of-towner' disappeared into the mountains the first chance he got to escape the responsibilities of fatherhood. With Cloud growing up without a father to discipline and direct him, he was growing up to be a fearsome troublemaker. He had persuaded Tifa Lockhart, another girl who was still mourning the loss of her dearly departed mother, to climb up Mt. Nibel and nearly got her killed! When Elmyra inquired if Cloud had done such a thing on purpose, the women looked as if she asked them to solve an incredibly difficult math equation, until one of them brushed it off and said, "It doesn't matter. He's still a violent, little gremlin! With your little girl being as pretty and sweet as she is, he'll target her next!"

Admittedly, it was a challenge for Elmyra to not surrender to the absurdity of prejudice, especially after the town women spent hours recounting the terrifying misadventure that came within an inch of resulting in an innocent girl's death, and especially because she had an innocent girl of her own to protect. Not to mention, the court of deeply concerned mothers seemed rational and honest – after all, they'd been such a godsends to help their newest neighbor unpack. What reason would they've had to embellish if not every word was true – that, post-incident, Cloud's savage nature developed tenfold, always getting into gruesome fights with their own sons.

But, as fate would have it, somehow Claudia and Cloud Strife ended up delivering Aerith home to her.

"Thank you for walking Aerith home," Elmyra said, giving the much younger woman a nod of gratitude.

"Mom, this is Cloud, and he's my best friend!" Aerith piped up, noting how the boy nervously shrank behind Claudia, in fear of Elmyra's scrutiny. He was too afraid to return her gaze. Back in Sector Five, Missus Gainsborough had spied that same expression upon her daughter's visage countless times – one of the worst symptoms of rejection for a parent to bear; that's when she realized that Cloud wasn't the monster everyone claimed he was – he was just a little boy, just as innocent as any other kid.

Just like that, Elmyra's suspicions and misconceptions trickled away. "Best friend, huh? Those don't come around too often." Then, she looked at Claudia again, this time with a warmer, more comprehensive expression. "Would you and your son like to stay for dinner?"

"I would hate to impose," Claudia answered, her eyebrows arching to the top of her forehead in surprise at Elmyra's invitation.

"Nonsense. I insist, Missus Strife. I've gone and cooked entirely too much food."

"Miss Strife, actually," Claudia corrected the elder woman. "What do you think, Cloud? Should we stay for awhile?"

Nodding eagerly, Cloud's sky-infused gaze stuck back on Aerith, who was already pulling him inside of the house. Both mothers laughed together before trading glances of understanding – Cloud and Aerith needed each other.

/ / /

"En garde!" Cloud growled mischievously, then charged at Aerith with a wooden sword.

Gracefully, the little girl twirled away from his attack whilst brandishing a broom. "You will have to be quicker than that if you wish to triumph, Captain Strife!"

"That's Evil Captain Strife to you, you dirty landlubber!" he yelled back, putting on a thicker pirate accent before lunging at Aerith a second time.

This time, she stayed in place – the sword and the broom noisily clashing over and over again. Although they were earnestly trying to land blows on one another with their respective weapons, it was all in the name of good fun. And fun was what the two children had ever since the day they met. Cloud no longer had any energy to get into fight with the neighborhood boys, mostly due to the convenient fact that Aerith monopolized all of it with her games, while the harassment remained relentless – arguably, even worsened. Tyler, Emilio, and Lester never ceased having the personalities of toe fungus; but, for whatever reason, their bullying stopped whenever the precocious brunette came around. He suspected that the reason was because none of them wanted the only other girl in town their age to think poorly of them, but if Cloud thought too much of the true, actual reason they wanted into his best friend's good graces, his heart would go berserk.

"Beware that you don't underestimate my combat prowess, Evil Captain Strife. Misunderstanding your opponent will surely bring your downfall," the ten year-old girl teased, her words tinged with an English emphasis, and came within a centimeter of poking the enemy's abdomen.

Then, the blond lad leapt onto a boulder and poised himself for the kill. "It's over now, Aerith! I have the – Oh!" His attention strayed from their theatrical match when he felt something fuzzy rub against his bare ankle.

"Maru!" Aerith giggled, dropped the broom, and sprinted over to give the cat headscratches. "Don't tell me you've joined the dastardly captain on his bloodthirsty crusade?"

"Aye. I keep my allies well-fed with the meat of my enemies," Cloud declared, abandoning his weapon in favor of tending to the creature.

"You're treacherous," Aerith retorted as she stuck out her tongue in disapproval, then lightheartedly shoved on his shoulder. "Seriously, we should bring Maru back to Tifa. She's probably looking everywhere for this precious baby."

When Aerith began to cradle the kitten in her arms, Cloud's neutral expression was suddenly overcome with panic and dread. It was as though someone told him to stick his hand in a jar full of tarantulas. In return, all his best friend did was offer him her signature, glowing smile and hold out her hand. She seemed uniquely confident and sure that nothing would go wrong, as if nothing could go wrong. Despite counting each and every way he could bear the brunt of the blame for Maru's great escape and why he should stay far away, Cloud's hand instinctively found its way to Aerith's.

Together, the two companions walked next door. To Cloud's relief, Tifa was the one to answer the door upon hearing Aerith's gentle knocks and not her dad.

"Aerith, Cloud. Hi," the raven-haired girl greeted them politely, though her voice was laced in perplexity. "What are you two doing here?"

"Aerith?"

"Aerith!"

Suddenly, the front door widened, with the knob banging sharply into the wall, with Tyler and Lester at Tifa's flanks in high hopes of visiting with Aerith. However, the boys' blithesome expressions went sour when they realized Cloud was in her company, then quickly returned to being cheerful again.

"Maru ran away from home again, and we wanted to deliver her back home to you," Aerith announced, holding the escapee out.

As Tifa reached out to grab Maru, the latter started aggressively struggling to get away – swatting her paws and hissing at her owner – then jumped inside of the house, able to evade the young mistress altogether. A little embarrassed at the feline's dramatic display, Tifa paled, before nodding slowly at Cloud and Aerith. "Thank you for bringing Maru back home. I'm sure she'd say the same if she could."

"Yeah, we were all looking for her!"

"You're an angel for bringing her back safe and sound, Aerith!"

"Actually," Aerith began, moving to stand in her male companion's shadow, "it's Cloud who you should thank. He's really the one who found your cat, Tifa. He's the hero."

"Thank you, Cloud," Tifa said as her neighbor stood there awkwardly in front of her, not even muttering a word.

"Oh, Aerith, won't you come inside?"

"Yes, Aerith! Play with us!"

"Sure," Aerith responded matter-of-factually, "if Cloud is also invited."

The younger friend's shoulders slumped as though in defeat, then craned his neck to the side to deliver a frustrated glower. A second later, he settled a slightly more tamed gaze on the girl next door, who audibly stammered in reaction to Aerith's persistence; it was plain as day all over her face that she had no intention or desire to permit Cloud inside the Lockhart house, and her own friends loathed the idea in equal measure.

He hated being forced to allow Tifa to cling to her polite, ladylike disposition – she was too nice to plainly tell him to get lost – but he had no choice. "Let's go, Aerith," he muttered, his tone cold and sharp, as he turned to walk away with his pride somehow still intact.

"Uh, see you around!"

"Bye, Aerith!"

"See you later, Aerith!"

Tifa, Lester, and Tyler shouted toward the audacious brunette, who quickly waved farewell before jogging after Cloud.

"If you want to hang out with them, go ahead," he grumbled.

"No, I want to spend time with you," Aerith replied – either oblivious to the icy quality in his voice or outright ignoring it. "You're my best friend."

"But they want to play with you. Not me."

"Too bad. You and I are a packaged deal."

"No we're not. You don't need me around all the time." He felt a new strain of anger simmering underneath his skin as he stomped up to his house – a great, big bubble of ire readying itself to pop inside of his stomach and spill out of his mouth, at Aerith. He didn't understand this foreign breed of frustration – as he pictured Tifa's lackeys crowding around his best friend in an effort to steal her time and attention away from him; the dorky way Lester and Tyler grinned at her, a far cry of the horrible things they'd said to her in the beginning.

Although she didn't appear to be receptive to the boys' crushes, Cloud wondered if she secretly wanted more friends, other friends, than just him. Did she stick by him out of pity?

"Oh, Cloud," she sighed, managing to force a smile as she cooked under the heat of his accusatory, cerulean glare. "I thought you already understood – I want to be around you."

"Why? Why me? Why not them?"

"Silly." Aerith didn't answer his question in any satisfying way that would lay the mystery to rest, fore she wasn't quite sure what words, if there were any, that could convey how she treasured Cloud's friendship. Rather, she simply stepped forward and pressed a whisper of a kiss against his cheek.

Before he could react or even question her intentions, she ran off back toward the Gainsborough home, and yelled, "Bye, Cloud! See you tomorrow!"

His jealousy, forgotten. His anger, at rest. His paranoia, dismissed. There was not a single trace of negative emotion left in his four-foot-four body. Just confusion. And maybe a handful of butterflies in his stomach, as he placed a hand to his cheek to feel the way it grew hot, and smiled.

/ / /

Once a month for the past two years ever since Elmyra and Aerith Gainsborough began living in the town of Nibelheim, men dressed in suits visited their home – disrupting the peace and quiet with their noisy helicopters; once a month, they brought the villagers a variety of goods from the city – medicinal herbs, seeds, fancy cheeses, colorful fabrics – to make up for the hullabaloo; once a month, Aerith was not her normal, happy go-lucky self, though they insisted they were only in town to check upon the flowers. After all, the plant life flourished in Nibelheim, particularly around the Gainsborough residence – hydrangeas, lillies, blue bonnets, and an assortment of other countryside flowers sprouted by the dozens; hence, the visits from the sharply attired men, who claimed the flowers for research, since there weren't as many in general, nor such an eye-catching variety in Midgar. Once a month, Aerith contented herself with lazily staring at the peak of Mt. Nibel from a safe enough distance, with nothing but her own thoughts to entertain her.

But this day was a little different. As Aerith casually made her way home, in no rush at all to have her nostrils tainted with the stench of the Turks' heavy cologne and shoe polish, she contemplated the mysterious disappearance of Zephyr Darling, Cloud's father. Cloud never knew him and Claudia didn't like talking about him too much, but some of the town gossip had openly divulged their memories of the angelic beauty, who vanished one day after heading up the mountain. Evidently, Zephyr had been somewhat of a nomad, his wanderlust rumored to be his greatest downfall, his first love, his main priority to the point where some believed he possessed a loopier brain than most; sometimes he even spoke of the mountaintop calling to him, like a mother beckoning her child home. He heeded the sweet call, abandoning his pregnant, sixteen year-old girlfriend behind and never returned. The townsfolk of Nibelheim suspected that's why Cloud went up to the mountain one day – whether he'd heard the calling like his 'crazy, lunatic' father, or perhaps in his naive mind yearned to find Zephyr somewhere on the other side – and persuaded Tifa to follow him.

Granted, Aerith already knew about the villagers' misconceptions of the accident, but she found herself quite intrigued by the enigma of Zephyr Darling – finding herself hoping that, maybe Cloud was also -

Actually, no. It didn't matter. It shouldn't matter. Yes, she immediately decided that it didn't matter the least bit – that interviewing Cloud about his father would have been insensitive – upon reaching his address.

Currently, he was outside, raking up the autumn leaves, though the troublesome wind was determined to undo his hard work every time he reached a finishing point. The twelve year-old grumbled profanities under his breath, then immediately shut up when Aerith walked up.

"Hey."

"Hey. Did I come at a bad time?"

"No. That leaves can wait. What's-"

"I'm a Cetra," she abruptly, cautionlessly blurted out out, a momentary, emotional crack betraying the somber tone of her voice. "Well, actually, half-Cetra. The last one."

"Okay. Cool." Cloud nodded, leaning the yard tool against the house. He feared coming off as too nonchalant or too uncaring when his best friend had clearly confessed something monumental to him, but he didn't have a clue what she meant. "You're a Cetra. What's a Cetra?"

For the next thirty minutes, the twelve year-old girl informed Cloud just what it meant to be a Cetra, also known as an Ancient. Prolific in the use of magic, the Cetra were the stewards of the planet long ago, meant to protect it from calamity and destruction, able to wield the Lifestream, and perform other spectacular tasks. Over the course of history, however, the Cetra were annihilated, first by a monstrous being who called itself Jenova; their population dwindled due to genocide and a war against the great monster to preserve the planet, until it was only Ifalna left. Aerith also elucidated that Elmyra was not her biological mother; her biological mother was Ifalna, once the final, known full-blooded Cetra, who passed away after escaping the Shinra facility with her seven year-old daughter. For the next couple of years, Aerith lived with her adoptive mother, Elmyra, in the Sector Five slums of Midgar. But, realistically, the slums were no place to safely raise a child, let alone safely harbor the child as rare and the last of her kind, so the scientific division of Shinra commanded the Gainsborough to migrate to Nibelheim.

"The Turks come here to see me. They're sort of like my protection detail, you could say," Aerith stated.

"Those are the guys in the fancy-schmancy suits, right?"

"Yeah."

In unison, the pair of friends released long, exhausted sighs as though neither had taken a breath in the last half-hour. Numbly, Cloud nodded – gradually digesting everything she had just disclosed, from learning that the planet itself was sentient to the personal tragedies of Aerith's past. It was a lot for any one person to process, but the thing he couldn't wrap his spiky-haired head around was why she told him any of this.

"Aerith," his gentle voice murmured, while his azure gaze fixated upon the sullen contours of her face, "you know that all of your secrets are safe with me, but why did you tell me?"

"Because I'm scared and I'm tired of hiding it," the brunette admitted, fiddling with the loose, tawny strands of her braid.

"Scared?" the prepubescent youth echoed quizzically. "Of what?"

"Shinra, their scientists, the Turks," she listed. "I'm afraid that one day they'll come here for me, like they did with my mother, and I'll be forced to go with them. Then, you'll forget me. 'Aerith? Oh, yeah. I used to know an Aerith. Strange girl. Anyway, pass the carrots, wife.'"

"That would never happen. You know I hate carrots," Cloud joked, hoping to trim the tension. "Besides, I could never forget you. Would be kind of hard to do that when we'll be best friends for the rest of our lives."

That last part earned a glimmer of a smile from the budding florist, however small. She was touched by Cloud's declaration, but he was being naive about the entire subject, not that she blamed him for it. "There's a very real chance that we'll never see each other if they take me away. My mother was Shinra's prisoner for years. They used her all up, until-"

Cloud shook his head. He didn't want her to think about it. "That's not gonna happen to you."

"But it can" the half-Ancient apprehensively assured him, leaning her back against the trunk of a tree. Somewhere deep inside of her heart, Aerith wished she could shut herself up and stop burdening Cloud with these horrid fears, but she couldn't find the strength to compose herself. "I'm the last of my kind. The only Ancient in the entire world. They need me."

"Too bad," he shrugged, inwardly adding that he needed her far more. "I'll protect you, Aerith, from anyone or anything that tries to take you away."

For just a second, his proclamation chased away Aerith's fears, sending her emotions into a dizzying tornado in a very different way. Her cheeks were conquered by a raspberry-pink hue, while her teeth delicately chewed on her lower lip. She knew with her whole heart how earnest Cloud was in making his pledge, that she could trust how much they meant to each other. "Thank you, Cloud." And although she didn't quite believe one boy could guard her from Shinra's scientific ambitions, she would happily take how ever much time was left with Cloud.

"You're not gonna, like, kiss me again, are you?"

"Thinking about it."

"You should really ask for permission first."

"Alright." But she didn't ask for permission. Rather, Aerith turned on her heels and began to walk away. "See you later."

In a tone of complaint, Cloud shouted out to her, "Hey! Wait a minute! I thought-"

Turning herself back around, walking backwards, Aerith – her fairy-like mirth returning, cast a mischievous smirk. "I'll believe you're brave enough to take on Shinra when you kiss me."

Right as Cloud was on the verge of stepping forward, ready to meet Aerith's challenge, Claudia opened the front door and announced that it was time for him to come set the table for dinner.

That night, while he placed the eating utensils upon the supper table, the village-born, village-hated youngster abandoned his dreams of enlisting into the SOLDIER program, telling his mother that his new aspiration in life was to become a Turk. Cloud was positive that plan would ensure that, if he was able to successfully join up with the men in black, he would always be around to protect Aerith.

/ / /

There was no chore worse than having to go out for groceries, in Cloud's humble, thirteen year-old point of view. He could have giddily washed soggy cheese from last night's dinner; he would have been just fine with tending to Claudia's flower garden; and it would have been a much easier responsibility to take care of if he's been tasked with returning Maru to the neighbors for the thousandth time. Going out for groceries should have been classified as a form of torture.

Usually, when the flaxen-haired lad paid the store a visit, Aerith was in his company – ensuring that Tyler, Emilio, and Lester kept a comfortable distance from them both, even if they were equally persistent to chat with her about her gardening hobby. But the Turks had arrived that day and kept her occupied; thus, the other boys in town felt no need to conceal their disdain for the Strife boy – grinning like a shiver of hungry sharks about to go in for the kill. They followed Cloud from aisle to aisle, repeatedly shouting at him to beware of stealing, and ending each of their unnecessary warnings with some kind of insult.

"Better not let those hands grubby, needle-brain!"

"Shouldn't you be shopping at the town dump for your next meal? That's where all the curs eat!"

"If you I catch you stealing from my parents' business, I'll beat you blind, stupid ass!"

Cloud did his utmost to tune out those aggravating scumbags, knowing that he would get himself banned from the store if he reciprocated or reacted; Emilio was the beloved son and heir of the grocery store's owners, so he and his friends could get away with doing and saying anything they pleased. More importantly, he loathed the idea of succumbing to their putrid revilement for his own sake – knowing that he was superior to such childish taunts – and had no yearning to present them with the attention they were clearly begging for.

"C'mon, Strife, you know we're just clowning around with you!"

"Yeah! Why do you always have to give us the cold shoulder?"

"Give us a little smile! You never smile!"

Although he didn't quite comprehend what they were playing at, the blond teenager immediately tensed every last muscle in his body when Emilio, Lester, and Tyler started yanking at his shoulders in attempt force him to face them. Gritting and grinding his teeth, he struggled to ignore every natural instinct telling him to fight these goons.

"Do not touch me," Cloud asserted coldly. Stating his boundaries was all he could do.

"Or what?" Tyler mocked, hyena-like chuckles resonating from his vocal chords.

"Don't go making threats at my buddies, puke, or you really will have to go dumpster diving just to eat. Your floozy mama, too," Emilio threatened, jabbing an index finger into Cloud's side to provoke him further.

Tyler, Lester, and Emilio continued on with their group harassment for approximately fifteen more minutes as Cloud shopped around for the things on his mother's list, no matter how increasingly desperate he was to yield to the fight-or-flight responses baking within every, solitary fiber of his existence. Miraculously, he'd been able to obtain all of the listed ingredients and made it out of the grocery store, without resorting to shoving a two-liter bottle of soda down their throats; the adult customers didn't care much for Cloud either, but some of them threw dirty looks at the other three for their blatant mistreatment, which put a pause on their provocation – until Cloud checked out and started his way back home.

"Give up already. Don't you guys ever get tired of being jackasses?" Cloud inquired, rolling his eyes as the trio of nuisances trailed menacingly behind him. Now that he was homeward bound, he could afford to use franker speech.

"Don't you ever get tired of being an attempted murderer?" Emilio fired back in reference to Tifa's fall.

"You think Aerith knows how dangerous this guy is?" Tyler asked, harshly shoving on the back of Cloud's shoulder.

"Definitely. But you want to know what's actually funny?"

"What's that?

"Aerith told me that she's friends with loser-boy because she feels sorry for him."

"Haha! You're right! That's rich!"

"Makes sense to me. Aerith is too nice for her own good."

"But she secretly hates him. Calls him a stupid brute."

"You're making all of that up." Cloud knew that Lester's allegations were false, and that Aerith was his best friend because that's what she craved. He unconditionally, undeniably, and unabashedly trusted in her a thousand percent.

"I ain't no liar," Lester retorted, jogging in front of Cloud – their glares intensifying the space between them. "Face it – Aerith hates you. She hates the stupid way you style your hair, she hates how you talk like you're better than us, and she even told me that she hates how ugly you are."

"Good. That means I can swoop in and make a move." Tyler snickered under his breath.

"No way! I call dibs!" Lester shouted, briefly peering behind Cloud.

"None of you can call dibs on a person. Aerith isn't a prize to one of your asinine games," Cloud said, feeling his stomach chin nauseatingly as Tyler and Lester verbally tugged over the Midgar native like she was a piece of beef.

"Shows what you know. Aerith winked at me the other day while she was gardening. Waved, too," Tyler boasted, bobbing his head in delight. "What do you think of that, Strife?"

Again, one of the boys pushed Cloud; this time, however, the much more aggressive Tragically, Cloud had been shoved right into Lester, sending them both hurdling toward the ground.

"You clumsy oaf!" Lester roared as Cloud quickly scrambled to his feet. "Look at what you did!" The bully's shirt was caked in runny, sticky egg yolks and leaky buttermilk.

"Not cool, Cloud. You attacked him!" Emilio growled, helping his fallen friend to his feet.

"I did not. One of you pushed me into him." Thanks to Lester, Tyler, and Emilio, all the time and energy spent in the grocery store – forcing himself to calmly endure their constant bullying – was officially a wasted effort. A waste of time. Now, Cloud was well and truly pissed. But it was a different species of anger. It wasn't the kind that inspired him to make a fist, nor the kind that conjured violent desires. This breed of pure, fresh aggravation stained the young boy's complexion with a furiously red fever, while searing tears stung at his glowering, sea-colored orbs. It was the kind of anger where he was seconds away from reaching his limit, despite that he yearned to cling what threads of patience lingered.

"Look at this, guys! Nibelheim's greatest embarrassment is actually crying!" Tyler exclaimed, roughly pinching at Cloud's chin, before the latter wasted little time in yanking his face away.

"That's because he knows that we know he's lying! We both saw you lunge at Lester. You're nothing but a violent bully!"

"And we'll be sure to keep Aerith away from you from now on!"

Faster than a strike of lightning hitting the ground, Cloud charged in the direction of all three tormentor's; he had endured their name-calling, lies, and assault for the sake of getting the groceries home to his mother, but they managed to spoil that too, so now they were gonna pay. Sure, he was outnumbered, but he was nowhere near outmatched. And so, the disgrace of Nibelheim took on three of the Four Fiends – ready to turn each one of them into pulp, as they certainly tried to do the same to him.

Eyes were blackened; wrists were sprained; shoulders popped right out of their sockets; blood was lost. Eventually, the goonish trio succeeded in overpowering Cloud, with Lester pinning him down to the ground, though he continued to take more than his fair share of blows to the face.

Just as Emilio, Lester, and Tyler prepared themselves to stomp at the Strife boy's ribcage, a powerful gust of wind sent the three flying backwards.

"Cloud!" exclaimed the magic-wielding girl, appearing at the bloodied and bruised boy's side in the next instant. "Are you alright?"

Although he struggled to sit up, the town punching bag nodded and swiped away the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. "I'll live."

"Perfect." As Aerith rose from her knees, she twirled the training rod over her head to cast aero upon the group of violent dopes, each of them landing on their rear-ends. "You nudnicks are downright despicable! Ganging up on Cloud like feral monkeys!"

"He started it." Grunting through his nostrils, Emilio rubbed the soreness out of his tailbone.

"Yeah, Strife was trying to steal from the store and-"

"Be quiet!" Aerith commanded Tyler, narrowing her eyebrows to form a glare burned hotter than firaga. "You should be ashamed of yourselves for lying and bullying. Did you really think that torturing him was going to make me want anything to do with any of you? Each one of you thugs is delusional."

"Aerith!" a brand new voice boomed, the deep voice drenched in concern. A man, neatly dressed in a black suit, walked up on the scene. "What's going on? Are you safe?"

"Yes, I'm not hurt, but those three hurt my friend," Aerith retorted, returning to Cloud's side and knelt down.

The Turk turned his head to give Tyler, Lester, and Emilio a disapproving glance, his shades sinking down the bridge of his nose. "All of you should head on home. I'll find out where each of you lives later. Your mothers will probably want to hear about what you've done."

"What?"

"No! Please, Mister!"

"Not our mothers!"

"This is all just one, big misunderstanding."

"Hry, you, blondie," the Turk male firmly called, looking down at the severely injured Cloud, who in turn angled his head to glance up at the tall, black-clad figure. "Was it a misunderstanding?"

The kid shook his head to and from, surprise imprinted across the contours of his face, since he couldn't recall the last time someone, other than Aerith or Claudia, who bothered to ask him for a perspective.

"Okay then."

"It won't do you any good for to talk to their moms anyway," Aerith expressed; carefully placing one hand on the center of his back and the other over his chest, she hauled Cloud to his feet. "Anything broken?"

"Sprained," he respond. His face twisted into an agonizing wince when he wiggled his left knee to demonstrate the injury.

"Here." The stone-faced Turk handed a healing potion off to Cloud, and then fixed his sunglasses.

"Thanks, Rude," Aerith smiled.

"Actually, he's being pretty nice."

"What?"

"He's nice. Not rude at all."

"My name is Rude, young man," the older male stated. He glowered at Emilio, Lester, and Tyler, who stood rooted to the ground in fear. "I thought I told you three future Wallmarket arsonists to get going? Go!"

Ordered away for the third time, the message finally register in their skulls and made themselves scarce, mumbling bitterly about Cloud.

Meanwhile, as the wounded party guzzled the ice-cold, sweet-tasting potion down his gullet, he spared a few thoughts of admiration toward Rude the Turk – his powerful, yet controlled disposition commanded instantaneous respect, easily scaring away those three brats. But, mostly, he was grateful for Aerith's interference; it did his heart good to see his relentless bullies get told off and sent flying on their keesters. A small chuckle bubbled from his mouth, remembering the stupefied expression plastered on their dumb faces when Aerith utilized her magic abilities on them a second time just to prove a point. His very skin was set at ease when she seemed to materialize at his side – even if he also felt that the situation was backwards.

No matter the case, his nerves, which had been set ablaze by the idiot trio, were tamed. "Thank you, Aerith."

"I need to head back, but if you need any protection or assistance returning to Elmyra's-"

"I'll be okay, Rude," retorted the Cetra, reluctant to show off the Turk. "I'll see you next month."

"Keep yourself out of trouble, Aerith." With that, Rude headed back in the opposite direction, probably back to where the helicopter was stationed earlier that morning. The pair of teenagers silently watched him fade into the distance down the road, before starting up a conversation.

Jutting out her bottom lip in a slight pout, Aerith inquired, "Are you okay? I heard some of the things they said and they were out of line."

Cloud couldn't stifle the tiny laugh that emanated through his nostrils. He was warmed by Aerith's routine concern for his mental well-being, now that she'd already taken care of the physical; and if he didn't laugh it off, he would have blushed. "I've heard it all before. It was the assault that finally got under my skin."

"Three against one." Aerith twisted her head from left to right, her deep, emerald-shaded eyes scorching the direction the trio had escaped in, and then smirked at Cloud. "Pretty impressive work, I must say! They looked way worse than you. Lester's nose was basically on the other side of his face."

"I thought you abhorred violence?" the pointy-haired adolescent queried.

"Self-defense is a different circumstance. Those blockheads are cowards and bullies," she reasoned sourly. Breathing out a disappointed sigh, she turned from Cloud and started strolling down the path, toward home. "I will never understand how the people of Nibelheim can be so unkind."

"Just a few more months now until I'm old enough to venture out on my own, leave here, and carve out a better life," the young man remarked, already leisurely walking at her side.

"Yeah..." Defeatedly, the flower girl folded her arms over around herself as though the spring day had grown frosty.

For just a few, fleeting minutes, Aerith and Cloud walked side-by-side in a silence that couldn't exactly be described as awkward, yet it couldn't be deemed comfortable either, fore the two had merely exhausted their topics of verbal exchange. Or at least Aerith had. She simply lacked the desire to talk about Cloud's future outside of Nibelheim – when he would go far away someday, to where she could not follow – while Shinra kept her shackled to the narrow-minded village, where baking the perfect carrot cake was the top priority for just about every other woman.

While everyone smiled and traded pleasantries to her face, the village women whispered their distaste for Aerith's studious fascination with learning magic, when they thought she couldn't hear. 'She should be learning how to stitch a decent hem and cooking a feast.' 'What use is that staff anyway? Her tricks are cute, but they're hardly necessary.' 'Protection is what we keep men around for.' 'She'll only end up accidentally hurting herself, or worse, someone else.' 'That miscreant Cloud most definitely talked her into it. That's a bad sign for you,' they'd gossip at Elmyra in a poorly pieced together kitchen tribunal. Tyler's mother also suggested that Aerith should spend more time around Tifa, dubbing her the perfect influence for feminine upbringing, since she often treated her male friends to tea parties.

It was possible that the wives of Nibelheim meant well, but the fourteen year-old found herself resenting their collective criticism, more so when it came to placing blame on Cloud for everything.

On the other hand, unlike him, she couldn't escape Nibelheim. She was bound to the village until Shinra felt inclined to feed her cells to their microscopes in the name of research.

But, Aerith didn't want to discourage her best friend from seeking out an optimistic future. It was just that...maybe he wouldn't be as eager to leave if the townsfolk actually understood him the way she did or recognized him for his kindness and intelligence, as opposed to berating him constantly. She didn't want to envision how much she'd miss Cloud, her confidante and source of happiness, and she feared the loss of the wonderful, exhilarating way her heart thumped around him, if he was no longer around.

Meanwhile, the trajectory of Cloud's musings went in the opposite direction. After the events of today, the resolution to become stronger and master the art of combat swelled inside of his roaming imagination; he'd grow and mature into a man who couldn't be messed with, like that Turk. More than ever, he was attached to his dreams of joining the Turks, and visiting Aerith. With any luck, he'd return to Nibelheim more than just a lousy once a month. Perhaps if everyone saw Cloud successfully dressed as a Turk, he would finally earn their respect and trust, and Shinra would station him home.

Suddenly, the teenaged boy's stomach began to twist and tie into knots when he discovered himself trying to sneak at glance at Aerith. Of course, he was aware there was no need to feel nervous, but – well... From time to time, he pondered his best friend much differently than he used to – he thought about how her long, milk chocolate hair smelled like a flower bouquet whenever the breeze blew through it, how pleasing she was to look at, and how extraordinary she was from head to toe, from the inside out.

"One day, I'll take you away from here, too," he said, imagining the future out loud.

"Huh?" Gasping inaudibly, Aerith unfolded her arms – wondering her childhood companion was secretly telepathic.

"The plan is still to become a Turk. I'll train up and be assigned as your personal boyfr-boyguard- uh, bodyguard," he stuttered around his shy tongue. Everything was already figured out. Their future was set as far as he was concerned. "I'll be the best Turk there ever was. I'll gain their trust just enough to persuade them that you're too good for Nibelheim, and we'll go anywhere you want." Swallowing anxiously, Cloud began to swing his hand toward Aerith's. He tried to make the gesture to look purposeful, but casual, though he kept missing.

All the while, Aerith's cheeks burned bright – spellbound by Cloud's frank manner of speaking, his words of promise pumping fresh, clean joy into her being, and love. Yes, that was it. She loved him. "Anywhere you are, that's where I belong."

"Do you... mean that?"

"I always have."

Finally, Cloud plucked up enough courage to circle his pink around hers – gingerly – to cement their vows to one another; in return, Aerith also tangled her petite appendage around Cloud's, her grip tighter, yet just as tender. Pinkies entwined, they walked like that all the way back to the flower girl's house, in full view of the neighbors and acquaintances – sparking rumors that were, for once, accurate – Cloud and Aerith had promised their hearts to each other. And, at least the villagers could admit what a cute couple they made.