Chapter Text
Cloud and Aerith are sitting at the top of the slide in Evergreen Park; he’s her only connection to a part of her past she thought she lost, and she’s trying to hold onto that past for as long as possible. They had just finished their escape through the collapsed expressway, allowing them to avoid going near the notorious Wall Market, in an effort to return Cloud to the AVALANCHE gang. Cloud’s sudden, brief blackout interrupts Aerith’s recounting of her first love, and the moment is lost; she guides him to the hidden passageway under the wall into Sector 7, then steps aside and moves to begin her walk back to Sector 5 as he clambers underneath. Before Cloud can drop through the entryway hidden under the play structure the massive gate opens and a chocobo-pulled carriage comes out and proceeds towards the gaudy domain of Don Corneo. Riding in the back of the carriage is one Tifa Lockhart, wearing an elegant, short, purple and black dress.
Tifa catches motion coming from behind the dainty looking brunette in the red jacket and pink dress. She’s unable to focus on it however, as her eyes lock with the nearly glowing emerald ones of the florist she’s seen around the slums a handful of times. The bartender had never spoken with the flower girl before, and she isn’t about to now while on a critical mission, but she still gives herself the opportunity to recognize and appreciate the beauty in front of her, as she has whenever they had crossed paths prior. As the carriage turns the corner and the brunette falls out of sight, she returns to the interior of the carriage and draws the curtains closed, not wishing to be distracted further as she descends to the belly of the beast.
Aerith is overwhelmed at the sight of the raven-haired beauty. Their eyes lock as the carriage drives past, and with so little left to the imagination Aerith is immediately smitten with the woman. Oh…. wow. Legs… still going. Arms almost as big as me… Her thoughts take a distracted turn upon seeing the toned martial artist. She feels bad for staring at a woman clearly uncomfortable putting herself on display in this manner, but an eye for beauty is technically part of her job description as a flower saleswoman. She softly hums in appreciation, and her eyes don’t stray from the woman until the carriage has carried her too far to see.
Meanwhile, Cloud struggles to climb out from underneath due to the unwieldy size of the Buster Sword, and then attempts to catch up to the carriage, to make sure that his childhood best friend knows he survived his drop from the reactor above. He’s unable to keep pace with the birds after their head start and his slowed response, however, and Tifa is carried down the scrap-lined road before he is able to catch up with her; the moment of silent assessment between the women across the park resulted the fighter completely missing the sight of the blonde man struggling from the ground then attempting to give chase. He returns to the park area where Aerith is taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, and informs her of the situation. “That was Tifa!”
“O- oh… Well… any idea why she would be dressed up for a trip into Wall Market?” Aerith asks as she finally gains some control over her blush.
“Not a clue. Probably something that happened after I fell.”
Aerith double checks her guard rod, doing her best to avoid Cloud’s eyes. “Makes sense… Well, let’s get going then.” She starts walking down the road the chocobo-pulled carriage had traversed.
“What are you doing?” Cloud asks as he dashes in front of her. “You shouldn’t even be here. It’s too dangerous.. And how are you going to get back home?”
“It’ll be fine,” she responds in her trademark flirty, carefree manner, stretching the word fine out over a full second. “I’ve got a bodyguard after all… and besides, we already know I know the slums better than you.”
The ex-SOLDIER’s rebuttal consists of a long-suffering sigh and a lazy shrug of his shoulders. “Fine then. Lead the way.”
She does just that, guiding Cloud down the road towards the entrance to Wall Market. Few words pass between them as they proceed in silence. Cloud’s focus is, as ever, on the mission before him; the parameters have changed repeatedly since his fall from the catwalk after defeating the Airbuster, but in stressful situations he always falls back on his SOLDIER training.
As the gates of Wall Market come into vision for the unlikely duo, the subdued warks of chocobos settling in for the evening can be heard drifting up the road. A carriage identical to the one they saw carrying Tifa pulls up to a small building nestled by the side of the road; a grizzled, older gentleman hops out of the driver’s seat and takes the harnesses off the pair of birds that had been pulling the carriage before guiding them into their stalls. Aerith and Cloud make eye contact and nod, not needing words to know the next waypoint objective they need to pursue on their way to Tifa: talking to the rider who was carrying her in the first place.
The mercenary and the flower girl walk up to the bearded man in front of the chocobo stop, who promptly greets them. It’s unclear if his mannerisms and speech patterns are a product of time or of sales, but they certainly jive with the service he’s responsible for. Chocobo Sam is a gruff man; his blunt practicality and his jaded acceptance of the status quo do not sit well with either the comforting countryside accent nor with the optimism and hope ever-present in Aerith. While they received confirmation on where Tifa was taken, a rough idea of why she went, and what it will take to meet up with her, they’re no closer to a solution to plotting the rescue. Just a few steps from the threshold of Wall Market, Cloud and Aerith are considering their conversation with the transport specialist and taking stock of their options.
“So rude. Who does he think he is, taking poor unsuspecting ladies to that gross man?” The brunette tries to mask her contempt with sass, but it’s still intensely obvious how she feels on the matter between the stomp of her boot, the crossing of her arms, and the puffed-up cheeks as she glares daggers back towards Chocobo Sam.
“A man just looking to survive. Sounds like we’ll need to take his advice and seek out another member of the Trio for recommendations. Andrea Rhodea or Madam M next?” Cloud grounds his frustration at the trick coin in his hands via focusing on the next sub-objective. Aerith is still caught a bit off guard every time he reacts so even keeled to such major events; after a brief moment to regather herself she taps her chin and audibly hums, pondering their next move before responding.
“I think… Let’s start with Andrea. I’ve heard much nicer things about him than I have about Madam M.”
“Alright then. Let’s go. Honeybee Inn, right?”
“Unfortunately - I’ve always tried to avoid that part of town. All the handsy guys end up there for… obvious reasons,” Aerith begins, a little hesitant to enter the shady district by force of habit, her mood lightening as she continues with a bubbly laugh and smile. “But I’ll be fine this time, since I’ve got my bodyguard with me!”
Cloud responds with a humourless chuckle. “The men never had a chance with you anyway.”
Aerith nearly trips on a pebble, not expecting the ex-SOLDIER to say anything regarding the nature of interpersonal relationships nor to potentially have caught on to her preference for women. “Wh… why would you say something so heartless?” she asks of the blonde man, a playful pout forming.
“Other than the kids and the doctor, you only spoke to women in Sector 5. You haven’t looked at any men for more time than to make sure they weren’t going to cause you trouble,” Cloud rattles off his observations easily.
Aerith blushes lightly, not expecting her self-assigned bodyguard to have observed her so carefully, though she does consider as a mercenary and as a SOLDIER he must have experience with reading people and situations. She brushes a loose lock of hair behind her ear as she nervously responds. “Well… maybe it’s because women are less likely to treat a beauty like me poorly?”
Cloud fires back, “I’ve been in town long enough to have seen men and women treat each other like shit often enough to know you don’t believe that.”
She turns on her heel towards the gates with a short huff and mutters, “So petty,” and before she can take another step forward, he continues.
“Mostly though, I saw how you looked at Tifa when she was brought through the park.”
That admission is enough to get Aerith to whip herself back around to look at Cloud dumbstruck, and Cloud can’t help but be impressed she didn’t hit herself in the face with her long braid in the process. While he holds his resting neutral expression - if only barely - the flower girl is left stuttering and fishing for words to explain herself as her blush deepens in an attempt to match the shade of her face to that of her jacket. She takes a deep breath, exhales to steady herself, then gives her travelling companion a saucy grin. “Alright, fine. You caught me. Got a problem with that, hmm?” Her tone does an excellent job of masking her nervousness.
Might as well get this conversation over with, she thinks with some resignation.
“Not at all. Only caught on ‘cause of spending so much time with Tifa as a kid, but it’s your life anyway… wouldn’t dream of telling someone how to live theirs.”
Aerith quirks an eyebrow, surprised by the amount of personal information - and the depth - Cloud was willing to share about not only his own childhood but his childhood friend, and files the implied information about Tifa’s preferences away. “Glad you’re so… accepting. Wouldn’t have expected such a soft side from an ex-SOLDIER with your grit.”
Cloud shrugs and walks past her, muttering lowly. “No issues with Tifa, obviously. Dunno why I would have issues with anyone else.”
Aerith’s face lights up with a genuine smile as she turns to follow him, speaking softly. “You’re a far kinder man than you give yourself credit for, Cloud. Extend that kindness to yourself sometime, maybe?” Cloud doesn’t visibly react or respond to the request, his mind already whirring to prepare for their next steps.
With the conversation over and an unstated understanding struck between them, the duo walks through the gates, out of Shinra’s world, and into the domain of Don Corneo.