Your breakfast was interrupted by a nasty call from Skylar's mom. That awful women actually had the nerve to insult you for not getting Skylar back first thing in the morning, meanwhile she wouldn't even come pick up her own kid. How people like that awful women could have kids. Upon hearing the call, Cloud decided that it was time to head out. In the time it took you to run up stairs and pack a quick bag because Cloud mentioned you'd have to stay overnight in Kalm, the kids had barricaded themselves in their room in order to prevent Skylar from leaving. You walked out of your room extremely confused, even Cloud was trying to convince the kids into coming out. Tifa leaned against the door in annoyance, after all the simple solution would be to kick open the door which either Tifa or Cloud could do easily, but then Tifa would have to replace the door and it would probably scare the kids. Plan B is you.

"Why do you think they'd listen to me?" you asked skeptically.

"Come on you're great with kids" Tifa argued. "Besides they listen to you more."

"No they've just realized that Cloud can't let them get away with everything anymore." you replied.

Tifa blinked a few times, before it sunk in, she turned to Cloud and punched him as hard as she could making the ex-soldier flinch, "you're the one whose been giving them cake for dinner!"

You couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Cloud flinching, it was hilarious, especially because Tifa is like half his size. You could tell that Tifa was about to yell at Cloud some more but you decided to put an end to that by physically putting yourself between the two. Tifa just huffed and kicked the wall in annoyance but let it go, You thought you saw Cloud relax but it was such a slight change you weren't sure. Regardless you knocked on the door to get the kids attention.

"Go away" Marlene called.

"You know I can't do that." you told them.

"It was worth a try" you heard Denzel mumble.

"Come on let us in" you tried to reason. You were met with silence, "Riley" you called. You heard a slight scuffle before the door opened a crack. Tifa went to pry the door open but you gave her a look stopping her. "Come on kiddo aren't you gonna let me in" you asked.

"We have demands" Riley said trying to act tough.

"Which are?"

"Skylar doesn't leave." Marlene said.

"No can do kid" you said, "As much as I don't want to we have to take Skylar home" you replied softly. "I'm going to talk to her mom, I'm sure she'll let Skylar visit" you reasoned.

The door slowly opened and all the kids stood there looking sad, you were amazed how quickly Marlene and Skylar went from being sworn enemies to the best of friends. You felt bad, but you had to bring Skylar home, theirs too many orphans in the world, besides you plan to keep an eye on her and letting her stay here would be kidnapping. The kids finally let Skylar go after you made sure that Skylar has the number to the bar, the address and the number for both yours and Tifa's cell phones. Tifa even promised to bring the kids to Kalm once in a while to visit Skylar at home.

Once all the kids said their tearful goodbyes, which included Marlene giving her favorite sweater to Skylar, You, Cloud and Skylar headed outside to fenrir. Cloud headed into the makeshift shed and returned seconds later with one helmet, which he made Skylar wear. Skylar almost instantly tried to take it off but Cloud pushed it back on and latched the strap, taking the hint Skylar stopped fighting it. Its safer with the helmet anyway. You pulled on your leather jacket before realizing that Skylar only had a light sweater on. You shrugged off the jacket and handed it to her. Skylar gave you a curious look.

"we're going to be on the motorcycle for a while, it will get cold" you told her. Skylar realizing your right just nodded a thanked you.

Tifa stood to the side with the rest of the kids. "When do you think you'll be back?" She asked.

You looked over to Cloud, "Probably tomorrow night?" you asked. Cloud just shrugged, you rolled your eyes and looked back at Tifa. She just laughed and told you and Cloud to be safe.

Cloud mounted fenrir, once he was settled he picked up Skylar and put her in front of him and instructed her to hold on to the two small handles that he installed this morning just for this trip. Skylar seemed a bit nervous but Cloud whispered something you couldn't hear to her and she seemed to relax. You timidly got on the bike behind Cloud, you wrapped your arms around his waist and could feel the tips of your ears burning in embarrassment. Cloud seemed to tense for a moment before relaxing. Then Cloud offered you a pair of sunglasses, you hesitated a moment. A flash of Jace's memory crossed your mind as you remembered the first time Jace came home, he rode a motorcycle back and wanted to take you for a ride on it. You had been a bit nervous about being on the back of a motorcycle but trusted Jace, he handed you a pair of sunglasses once you were settled on the bike behind him…

"Autumn?" Cloud asked quietly, "are you ok?"

You blinked a few times before quickly saying, "I'm fine" as you took the sunglasses.

Cloud gave you a skeptical look but accepted your response. He hesitated a moment before looking back at you, you awkwardly stared at him realizing that he was waiting for you. Taking the hint you awkwardly wrapped your arms around him again but tried to keep some distance between you and him. Cloud revved the engine and took off towards Kalm. The second fenrir started moving you felt like you were losing your grip on Cloud and in a panic closed the distance between your bodies and locked your arms together.

Cloud turned his head slightly never taking his eyes off the road as he sped out of Edge, "Scared?" he questioned, if you didn't know better you could have sworn he chuckled.

"No…" you mumbled, it wan't a lie, you were in a mild panic because you thought you were going to fall off, but you weren't scared. Now you're nervous and embarrassed about being so close to Cloud, which is silly because you trust Cloud and you spend most of your time with him. Being this close shouldn't be a problem but the butterflies in your stomach are really getting on your nerves. You tried to push your thoughts of Cloud away trying to focus on the landscape and the road ahead but you kept getting distracted by his well toned abs just beneath your hands.

(Cloud)

Focusing on the road ahead of you was difficult. As much as you tried to push the thoughts away you were too distracted by Autumn. You couldn't help but chuckle when she held you tight when you started fenrir. Much to your displeasure, she soon loosened her grip, but she was still closer than she's ever been before. As much as you liked the feeling of her arms around you, you weren't sure which was stronger, your growing feelings for Autumn or the guilt you hold for betraying your fallen friend.

Skylar shifted in front of you bringing you back to reality, you were surprised at how well she is on the bike but could tell she was getting tired. You've already been riding for over an hour, and its at least another 2 hours to Kalm, stopping probably wouldn't hurt. Now Autumn shifted behind you, which was significantly more distracting because for a moment her grip tightened and her body pressed against you before she pulled away again. If you didn't stop soon you wouldn't be able to focus on the road. Thankfully theirs a small town in a few miles.

As you rode you tried to focus on the road ahead or on the scenery, or on making sure Skylar was safe, but your mind kept wandering back to Autumn. Why did you tell her you'd have to stay overnight in Kalm? Dropping off Skylar and making your deliveries would easily take up the day but you don't mind riding at night. Sure you'd get back to Tifa's late but thats not out of the ordinary for you.

(Autumn)

As you rode through a town, Cloud slowed down, you thought because you were riding through a town, but you soon realized that he was stopping. Once the bike came to a full stop, you released him and hopped off, nearly losing your balance, your legs were a bit more cramped than you realized. Cloud placed Skylar on the ground before dismounting himself.

"So why did we stop?" you asked curiously as you stretched your legs. Cloud just nodded to you and then to Skylar doing the same thing. "You've got a point" you added.

To be honest you were thankful Cloud stopped aside from your legs getting cramped you felt so awkward holding on to him, and you hated that you felt awkward about it. You tired to distract yourself by looking around the town but there really wasn't much. You took off your sunglasses and looked around, their main street consisted of a gas station/convenience store, a few small run down houses and some sketchy looking shops. You were familiar with towns like this, it probably didn't have a name. There was no one on the street. You kept a close eye on Skylar, sometimes towns like this are more dangerous than Midgar ever was, especially with how impoverished the world is now.

"You ok?" Cloud asked, the sound of his voice startled you.

You turned around quickly and nodded, "Just want to keep an eye on Skylar."

Cloud nodded thoughtfully as Skylar walked up. She started asking a million questions. As you tried your best to answer the questions about where we are and why we stopped, Cloud seemed to disappear. He had left fenrir near a brick wall that about four feet high, you figured it would probably be best to stay near the bike anyway, so you helped Skylar up onto the wall and then pulled your self up and crossed your legs. You leaned back enjoying the sunny day,

"Autumn?" Skylar asked suddenly, you glanced at her with a questioning look, "Are you and Cloud together?" she asked innocently.

You shook your head as your eyebrows knit together in confusion, "What gave you that idea?" you asked, a bit taken aback by the little girl's question.

Skylar just shrugged her shoulders and remained silent. You tried to focus on the warm rays of sunlight but your thoughts kept drifting back to a certain spikey haired blonde. You haven't felt anything close to what you feel around him in three years and the return of emotions like this scared you, maybe you just need time. You sighed looking down for a moment but when you looked up you found that you were face to face with a guy, he looked to be slightly older than you, bright green eyes, shaggy brown hair, a strong jaw line, by all accounts he was attractive and he was a bit too close for comfort.

"Can I help you?" You asked awkwardly.

"I was just wondering why a girl as pretty as yourself is doing in a run down town like this" He said as he flashed a smile at you. This guy is definitely charismatic and very attractive. Unfortunately for him, its not gonna work on you, after all Jace and Zack were two of the most charismatic people you've even known, you know all of their tricks but they at least were genuine.

"Just passing through" You replied slipping Cloud's sunglasses back on glancing around looking for any sign of Cloud. As much as you hated to admit it, sometimes the best way to chase away an unwanted guy is to have an intimidating looking ex-solider at your side.

"Well perhaps I could convince you to stay a little longer" The man said, "I'm Kane"

"I have things to do Kane" You replied. You tried to ignore him but you could feel his wondering eyes all over you, you suddenly felt very self conscious of your crop top.

(Cloud)

Skylar seemed to be taking up all of Autumn's attention with all of her questions, so you decided to head into the convenience store. You thought about getting gas for fenrir, its significantly cheaper here than it will be in Kalm, but you've barely used any since leaving Edge. You bought three water bottles and at the register you saw some candy and remembered that Skylar was promised sweets so you picked that up too.

You were only gone a few minutes but when you went back outside you instantly found Autumn but there was a man talking to her. You felt a sharp pang of jealousy, until you saw how hard Autumn was trying to get away from this guy.

Somehow no one heard you walking over. As you got close you overheard their conversation.

"So do I get to know your name?" The man asked as he reached towards Autumn as she flinched away.

This angered you, without thinking, you grabbed the man's wrist and bent his arm behind his back. As you did so Autumn sighed in relief, "Oh Cloud just in time."

"Hey man let go, I was only talking to the lady" The guy said as he struggled against your grip.

"It seems like she doesn't want to talk to you" You replied as you released the guy, who began to scramble away but stopped to look at Autumn again. It took everything in you not to fight this guy, but your rational side won. Usually you're so in control of your emotions but something about Autumn makes you act this way.

"So how about dinner?" the guy asked.

Autumn rolled her eyes and looked at you, the discomfort was clear on her face. "Cloud can we go?" she asked.

You nodded, as Skylar hopped off the wall, you were surprised that she instantly put the helmet back on, and pulled Autumn's leather jacket back on before taking the bag with the water bottles and candy from your hand. You offered a hand to Autumn to help her off the wall, which she took but as she slid off the wall she lost her balance so you steadied her by placing a hand on her waist, you could feel the goosebumps on her exposed skin.

"Ah Cloud, you can let go now" Autumn said with an amused smile on her face. You released her and looked away missing the feeling of her skin, you tried to ignore the guilt in the back of your mind.

You took the bag from Skylar and stashed it in one of the compartments on fenrir, then mounted the bike. before starting it Skylar rushed over and waited for you to pick her, so you did, seconds later you felt Autumn take her place behind you.

"Can I at least know your name?" The guy asked. You thought about speeding away at that moment but Autumn wasn't secure yet. You did look back at Autumn to see her answer.

Autumn just shook her head and wrapped her arms around your torso but this time she rested her body against your back her head against your shoulder. You allowed yourself to smile for a brief moment. You looked over to the guy who had been harassing her, "Her name is Autumn" you told him before speeding away on fenrir, you made sure to kick up some dirt at that guy as you left.

"Cloud" Autumn said, her lips were so close to your ear you could feel the moisture from her breath even with all the wind, "Why did you tell that guy my name?" she asked.

You didn't want to tell her at you wanted to see the look on his face when he realized that Autumn has no interest, and now that you think about it was pretty cruel, but you've never felt jealousy like this before. You stayed silent.

"Fine don't tell me" Autumn tried to sound like she was annoyed but you tell she was holding back a laugh, "Thanks for coming to my rescue Spiky."

"I promised you I always would." you told her as you glanced over to look at her face before focusing on the road. She smiled at you before resting her head on your shoulder again. You couldn't help but smile as you headed to Kalm.