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It had been a while since they last saw Kalm. Cloud sighed tiredly as he gazed at the chocobos strolling around the Grasslands.
The big yellow birds looked at him with contempt, as if they were mocking him for his failed attempts to tame them. He had tried to catch one earlier with Aerith's help, reasoning that it'd both reduce the time they spend on foot and it would make it easier for them to cross the marshes. Cloud had noticed a big, long shadow slithering around and through the sparse greenery of the dirty sludge that lied before them and he didn't like it one bit.
Feeling anxious and exhausted, he turned his head to take account of his allies. Tifa and RedXIII appeared deep in conversation about something. Barret was happily cleaning his new weapon, a gun arm that he had managed to salvage after beating some Shinra armor that had attacked them earlier. That weird ninja girl they met a while ago and for some inexplicable reason allowed to join them was practicing juggling with different types of Materia.
Cloud shook his head in disbelief and grunted as he sat heavily next to Aerith who appeared absorbed by her new PHS- cellphone. He bended his knees and rested his crossed forearms on them, while discreetly glancing at the chestnut-haired woman beside him. Her pink ribbon was fluttering in the gentle breeze. Her emerald green eyes shone with mischief and a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she was looking at something on the cell's screen. Cloud wanted to ask her what was so funny but he found himself tongue-tied... again.
He was frustrated with himself. What was happening to him? Why did his heart skip a beat when she was close? What were those weird glimpses of her? Eyes closed, kneeling on the floor of a mystical place that he had never seen before...
Why did those short visions of her filled him with such agonizing dread, it felt like he was being torn apart from the inside out?
You can't fall in love with me.
Why? He wanted to ask.
Even if you think you have, it's not real.
You're not the one who gets to decide this.
He didn't know how he found the composure to answer her, to object and declare his intention to save her. Maybe it was because of the magical atmosphere that surrounded them, or maybe because he was half sure he was only dreaming.
Because how else could she have been there?
The woman next to him now was definitely real. Her body felt solid, clad in a pink, soft, flowery dress and a red biker jacket, a contradiction among many. Every time he thought he had figured her out, she'd show him a new facet of hers and he'd be back to square one, feeling awkward and utterly mesmerized. He saw her long braid move and hastily turned his head to avoid getting caught staring. He almost jumped upright when he came face to face with a chocobo.
"Back off", he said brusquely and tried to push the chocobo's beak away.
The feathery bastard deftly avoided his hand and stared at him, unimpressed.
"Aw, don't be like that!" said Aerith who, in the meantime, had put her phone down and was looking at them. "He's adorable", she continued in her usual, cheerful tone.
"He's a jerk!"
"Kweh!" said the chocobo, as if answering back.
Aerith giggled.
"I think he's cute. He kinda looks like you."
Cloud felt his ears grow hot. His heart started tripping on itself again, trying desperately to keep the rhythm stable. But it was so hard when she was smiling at him like this.
Cloud coughed and, avoiding her warm gaze, said in cool voice "I don't see it."
He heard the click of a phone camera and in the next moment, Aerith held her phone in front of his nose, a photo of his profile and the chocobo in the background shown on the screen.
"Now you do!"
Damn it, he DID look like a chocobo. Even the back of his head looked like a chocobo's tail. How had he never noticed before? He had to find a new hairstyle, stat. His face beet-red, Cloud tried to grab the phone.
"Give this to me!"
"Nope!" Aerith jumped on her feet and gave him a teasing smile.
"You want this? Come get it!"
She laughed and started running away from him.
Cloud gave chase and easily caught up with her. She was a formidable mage but agility wasn't her strong suit.
"Gotcha! Now give it-"
"Nuh-uh!"
She twisted her body and slipped out of his arms. She didn't make it very far before he jumped and landed right behind her. Cloud swiftly tried to snake his arm around her waist, to prevent her from running away. In his haste, he tripped on his own feet and they both fell unceremoniously on the ground.
"A-ha!"
With her body safely pinned under his, Cloud reached and plucked out the cellphone from her loose fingers. He smiled triumphantly and turned his face towards her only to see her shyly avoiding his gaze while biting her bottom lip.
He hadn't realized how close they were. He could feel her lithe, warm figure beneath him, all soft curves encased in thin pink and red fabric. He saw her pulse thundering at her throat and her fragnance flooded his nostrils. She always smelled like the flowers that seemed to bloom around her wherever she went. Sweet, heady.
Intoxicating.
Aerith swallowed hard and cleared her throat.
"Cloud...?"
Her voice snapped him out of his trance and for the second time in a few minutes, he felt his face burn. He clumsily backed off and stood up, his back turned to her.
"'Scuse me", he said and buried his face in his hands.
Why was it always like this with her? He tried so hard to act... cool. Indifferent. But it always came off as awkward and weird. What must she think of him?
Cloud heard her getting up and dusting herself off. He silently groaned in his palms. He had wanted to help her up but he was too ashamed to face her. Cloud almost jumped when he felt her hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to do that, you know", she said softly.
He turned to face her, genuinely confused. She wasn't mad at him? Or weirded out?
"Do what?"
"Try."
He tried to ask what was she talking about but he swallowed the words and just stared at her. "Quit acting like you know me", he had said to her a few days ago. But the thing is, Aerith DID know him. He didn't know how or why but he always felt like she saw through him. Every time he'd try to put up his usual walls, she'd pick up a sledgehammer and break them to pieces. She unmoored him and left him feeling dazed, unsteady, unsure. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time.
"Sit down, Cloud", she said firmly, in the same no-nonsense voice she used when she gave him a flower basket to gather flowers for the Leaf House, ignoring his grumpy attitude.
With slow, deliberate moves, Cloud sat down on the hard ground. Aerith followed suit and sat behind him, with her back almost touching his.
Cloud felt his heart skip a beat.
"I didn't have many friends growing up", she said quietly.
Cloud snorted in disbelief. When he had visited Sector 5, people surrounded Aerith, her effortless charm and sunny personality bewitching them. The adults that thanked her for her help were looking suspiciously at him while the kids begged her to spend more time with them.
"I'm serious! The children... didn't like me much. They thought I was... peculiar."
"This is why I don't like kids."
She startled him by laughing out loud.
"Well, I can't exactly blame them. I mean... You... know what I am."
He knew she couldn't see him but still nodded.
"I was seeing things they couldn't see, hearing things they couldn't hear. It's... understandable to want to stay away. But... I was very lonely, back then."
Her voice was as cheerful as usual but he felt an undercurrent of fragility that wasn't there before. He leaned backwards a little, his back touching hers, steadying her.
"So, I hid my powers. They weren't doing anyone any good, anyway. People don't want to deal with what they don't understand. I decided to put on a smile and kept everything inside. And then... I did it again. And again. Until I forgot that the smile wasn't real."
Cloud winced at the pain in her voice. It was so unlike her to sound so defeated. The only time he had heard her like this was the night he saw her in the garden. And just like then, he wanted to grab her hand. Her palm was splayed flat on the ground to support her upper body. It was so close, he could see the sun glinting off her bracelets. Hesitantly, he trailed his fingers on the ground until they slightly touched hers. This time, his hand didn't pass through. He felt her braid stroking his back as she turned her head to look at their hands.
"But... you saw me. You saw me using my powers, when we met Sephiroth on the Highway. What did you think? Weird, huh?"
Cloud threaded his fingers with hers and tightened his hold. Weird? That was what she thought? That had been the furthest thing from his mind. He was astonished when she fearlessly touched Red and the creature quietened down in seconds. He was entranced when she lifted her arm and opened a portal into a new world, so similar and yet so different from their own. She was a force of nature. She was magnificent.
She was perfect.
"No. Not weird at all. It was... pretty cool."
Aerith laughed a bit weakly but her voice didn't sound fragile anymore.
"Thank you, Cloud."
Satisfied that he had cheered her up, Cloud smiled and tried to say something when he felt her leaning back, her neck touching his shoulder, her braid falling across his chest. The air crystallized around them and his heart started racing when her scent sneaked up on him once again.
"That's why..." Her voice had lowered to a whisper. If she wasn't so close, so torturously close, he wouldn't have been able to hear her.
"I know a defense mechanism when I see one. And I'm here to tell you that..."
She felt her fingers sqeezing his.
"You don't have to try at all."
Her touch was so tender, so comforting, he felt tears forming in his eyes.
"You're perfect, just the way you are."