Chapter Text
Long ago, the celestial kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon lived on opposite ends of the world. While sharing a common goal—to support and take care of the Earth—they had different approaches to the mission. The Sun, bold, hot, and brilliant. With its widespread golden rays, it brings life and comfort to the Earth, allowing it to grow and prosper. Green would sprout, life would be born, food would be harvested.
Yet, the Moon is just as important to the Earth. With its serene, calming silver light, the moon would cast a gentle reassurance over the population. The sky turning dark gave the world a time to rest and recuperate. As much as the light was needed to get things done, the world needed that rest as much as the daylight to be able to thrive. Both were needed. Both were necessary. But due to them being so far away, they could not communicate and discuss their mutual goal and other necessities regarding their devotion to the planet. It was the idea of the Earth Princess, Aerith, for the two kingdoms to meet and arrange a closer agreement.
Literally.
The Prince of the Sun Kingdom, Cloud, paid a visit to Princess Aerith one afternoon, checking on her kingdom, and inquiring of any assistance she may need from him. This was when she brought up the proposition.
“Your kingdoms are both very kind,” she started, “but how can anything be done if you two never communicate? What kind of partners never even see each other?”
Cloud, being the epitome of the Sun Prince, immediately did not want to deal with this. “Princess, you know as well as I do why that cannot happen. We’re opposites.”
“Opposites, schmopposites,” Aerith dismissed with a playful wave of her hand. She turned her back to the prince as she went to inspect her castle’s garden a bit closer. “Who is the one being supported here?” she teased.
With that, Cloud scoffed in defeat. She had a point.
“I still don’t think it’ll work out as well as you think it will,” he warned her.
“Doesn’t hurt to try!”
Another scoff, followed by an eyeroll. “So, where do we begin, Princess?” Cloud asked, crossing his arms in annoyance.
Aerith turned back to him, her smile never faltering. “It might be best to have you both meet here, at either dawn or dusk. It’ll be best for both kingdoms,” she stated simply, as if the answer was plain as day. “My mother and I will finalize the arrangements for you both. No need to worry. I would suggest bringing anything you need to keep yourself healthy, just in case. It’s hard to say how even just being in the proximity of the opposite royalty can affect you.”
“This is exactly why I don’t think this is a good idea,” he retorted. “We both take our responsibilities seriously, at a distance. There’s no need for the kingdoms to be more intimate if we’re both doing fine as is.”
“And you don’t see how ridiculous that is?” Aerith snapped back. “Your kingdoms and your jobs may be opposites, but you are ultimately a team. Whether you like it or not, there needs to be some form of teamwork between you two. That is an order from her highness herself.”
Cloud was stuck. He couldn’t fight Aerith when she was dedicated to something. And, as the Sun Prince whose duty was to protect the Earth Princess and her land and eventually take over the throne of his own kingdom, he had no room to object. Defeated, he let out a sigh, bowing to her.
“Yes, Princess Aerith. My apologies.”
“You’re forgiven,” she said cheerfully, patting him on the head like he was a young child. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like your help with this batch of flowers over here. They haven’t been sprouting.”
________
A fortnight had passed, and Queen Ifalna had organized a large (but separate) banquet for the two nations. Due to the meeting time of dusk (the sun is weaker at dusk, causing less potential harm to the Royal Moon Kingdom’s retainers) Cloud, his parents, as well as their retainers, all had a lovely supper, and chatted quietly as they waited for the arrival of the other guests. Naturally, Cloud slowly made his way over to Aerith.
“Aerith, I’m not so sure about this-”
“Don’t even start,” she said, a smile still across her sweet face. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Maybe for you. But you’re able to interact with both kingdoms unharmed. Need I remind you why our nations don’t mix in the first place?”
“I said there’s nothing to worry about,” Aerith emphasized. “You’re just a worrywart. My mother has this under control. Besides, our parents are doing all the talking anyways. Just stay still and look pretty.”
Defeated by her wit again, Cloud huffed. He inched his way back over to beside his father, glancing over at Aerith from the corner of his eye. Noticing his ever present skepticism, she gave him a wink and a sneaky thumbs up. She didn’t even need to open her mouth for him to hear her say Everything will be fine!
As if on cue, a staff member came in and announced the arrival of the Moon Kingdom. A half dozen people were escorted into the room by Earth Kingdom security. All were covered in dark navy blue attire from head to toe. Long gloves, hooded cloaks draping over their faces, boots up to the knees. With a warm smile, Aerith and the Queen both stepped forward, welcoming them.
“Thank you for joining us today,” Queen Ifalna greeted. “How was your journey?”
“The journey was quite pleasant. Very scenic. No disturbances at all.” The Moon King’s answer was muffled from his fabric over his face, but the Earth Royals were able to hear him well enough and smile at the news.
“That’s wonderful news. I’m glad the journey was safe.”
“If I may,” Aerith prodded, folding her hands behind her back. “I might imagine it is rather uncomfortable wearing all of that. Our other guests are at the opposite ends of the room, and it’s not a strong hour right now. I assure you that it’ll be safe. If you wish, you can remove any protective wear.”
Ifalna, quick to be a pleaser, and ease any nerves of the Kingdom her daughter might have caused, took back control of the conversation. “B-But, please, only if you are comfortable! If you feel like you will be unsafe or feel any insecurity, feel free to keep them on.”
Without missing a beat, the shortest of the figures slid their hood off of their head and removed their mask, revealing their face to all. The tall figure next to them followed shortly after, removing their helmet without a word.
What Cloud saw amazed him.
Revealed behind the fallen hooded cloak was a young woman–the Moon Princess, no doubt. Her raven locks were pulled back into a bun at the back of her head for convenience. Skin fair and radiant like the moon itself, and without a single blemish due to her age being close to his own. Despite the long distance from across the room, there was no need to be a step closer to see the princess’ large, sparkly, ruby colored eyes. They were the most beautiful pair of eyes he’s ever seen. Without a doubt, she was captivating.
Coming face-to-face with the princess brightened Aerith’s smile. “Hiya,” she said quietly. “Thanks for coming.”
The Moon Princess smiled at her and bowed slightly. “Thank you for inviting us here.”
At this point, Cloud completely zoned out of the conversation. His eyes only focused on the Moon Princess near Aerith, as well as the tall man standing next to her. Even then, he barely paid attention to him. He was enamored with her grace, her gentle movements, and how her lips moved when she spoke. Occasionally, he caught her glancing over to him as his father discussed with Queen Ifalna and her own. Maybe he was just imagining things, but Cloud was certain he saw her cheeks grow rosy as the meeting went on. He wanted to talk with her, to get to know her better. It's only when he watched her turn her back to return to her own Kingdom that he realized how awful his tunnel vision was. It didn’t help that Aerith stood in front of him with her hand on her hips and a very smug, un-princess like smile.
“You’re smitten.”
“Huh?”
“Admit it! You’re smitten with Princess Tifa!”
“Princess Tifa…” So that was her name.
“Oh my gosh, you zoned out so hard that you didn’t even catch her name?!” Aerith groaned in disbelief. “You’re hopeless.”
“Wait,” Cloud said, stopping Aerith on her tangent before she could continue to tease him. “So what are we all doing? What was decided?”
Aerith’s smirk only rose higher. “Why don’t you ask Tifa next week?”
________
“Are you alright, Tifa?” asked Zack, her royal guard, as he escorted her to the dining room after the meeting. “Your face is very flushed.”
“O-Oh? Is it?” Tifa tried to hide her face behind the stray locks of hair that were framing her face, free of being tied into that bun. “I suppose it’s due to the Royal Sun Family. Their heat must have made me grow a tad feverish.”
Zack smirked at her excuse. “Oh, I’m sure the Sun Prince made you feverish. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you all evening.”
“N-Nonsense!” she immediately scrambled out, turning her face away from Zack. “You felt it too, didn’t you? There were nine of them. Even if they were on the other side of the room, they were still scorching. Heat travels like the moon’s light.
“And don’t act so confident. I noticed you taking long glances at Princess Aerith.”
“Yup. You did,” Zack admitted. “But you’re right, it was a bit toasty in there. I might be catching a fever myself.” A love fever.
Zack didn’t buy Tifa’s excuse for one moment. But for this evening, he decided to let it slide, and have her convinced he believed her excuse. There will be plenty more opportunities for him to poke her over her newfound fondness for Prince Cloud. And for him to get to know the Earth Princess better.
“A reminder, Your Highness. I will be accompanying you each time we come to visit here. I don’t know if I fully trust Prince Cloud yet. For a sun prince, he seems rather cold. And we can’t risk you getting hurt by his kingdom.”
“You take being my bodyguard way too seriously,” Tifa jested. “Everything will go smoothly. Princess Aerith won’t allow anything bad to happen.”
“Tifa, I’m serious!”
This outburst caused Tifa to stop in her tracks. Tifa viewed Zack as more of a friend than a bodyguard–to the point that she didn’t mind when he called her by name only and without a title. So she knew that, whenever he dropped his smile and jovial tone of speaking with her, he wasn’t playing around. Zack was serious. Very serious.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, or the Earth Kingdom. And I don’t want to distrust the Sun Kingdom. But we both know how dangerous they can be to you. Your parents can start a war over these things if they find out , even if it’s just an accident. We can’t be careless.”
Stricken with understanding, Tifa placed her hand on Zack’s arm. “Thank you for your concern. With you, I’ll be okay. Nothing will go wrong.”
“I sure hope so, Tifa.”
_______
A week passed, and already things had changed in the Sun Palace. All the staff were becoming more efficient as they found ways to streamline for their new objectives. The cooks were coming up with recipes due to new ingredients being shared from the Moon Kingdom, the horses were preparing for long travel and getting lots of exercise, and even the seamstresses had some joy while creating new garments apart from fixing the same uniforms repeatedly. Already, this new pact for mutual aid all around was benefitting the Kingdom. Cloud could only imagine how Aerith was doing.
But, he was more interested in seeing Princess Tifa again. He often dozed off, imagining what her Kingdom looked like at the moment. How it looked before this agreement, and how it compared to what it may look like today with new supplies over in her territory. “I’ll ask her later today,” he thought to himself as he was escorted to Aerith’s Kingdom for the next meeting of the nations. “And I can tell her about how well our Kingdom is doing in return.”
That was the plan. But-things didn’t go as planned.
After being the last to arrive at the Earth Castle, Cloud couldn’t help but hide behind a rather tall bush in the garden as he watched Princess Tifa admire the Earth Kingdom’s garden. He had been here so many times that he’d assumed the Moon Kingdom’s princess had as well. But he had to admit that seeing the gentle woman kneel beside the blossoms, wafting their scents and admiring the atmosphere, was strangely captivating.
“You’re so obvious, y’know.”
Startled, Cloud turned around at the sound of Aerith’s voice. She wore a knowing smirk on her face, full of mischief and playfulness.
“I-I, uh, just don’t want to frighten her in any way,” he coughed out. Both of them knew how lame of an excuse it was.
“So, watching her from behind a bush like a kidnapper won’t frighten her?” Aerith asked with a raised eyebrow. “You’re hopeless. Let’s go over there and talk to her.”
“You just want to talk to her bodyguard,” Cloud grumbled, refusing to move from his spot, regardless of how hard Aerith tugged on his arm.
“At least I’m not denying my interest in him. Now come on! She’s expecting to talk to us, anyway. Just be cool. She’s extremely kind. You won’t make a fool of yourself.”
Begrudgingly, Cloud followed Aerith to meet Tifa in the garden, noticing the way her lips curled prettily as she giggled at a comment made by her bodyguard. She really is beautiful… Cloud also didn’t fail to notice the hood around her neck, or the gloves covering her hands. Despite knowing their purpose, it didn’t make him feel any less awkward. All he needed for protection was his emergency locket, filled with dust left behind from golden hour rays. He never had to use it before, and he doubted he would have to now. It was clear he was the bigger threat here…
Trying to mask his discomfort, Cloud stepped forward and bowed to Tifa, fighting his instinct to take a hold of her hand. Even if gloved, he didn’t want to take a chance and harm her. Especially not for Aerith’s sake. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess.”
In return, Tifa curtsied back with a smile across her lips. It was smaller than her previous one, yet still as warm. “The pleasure is mine, Prince Cloud. I am very excited to collaborate for the protection of Aerith and her Kingdom. Her family has been a healing wind to ours. We would do anything to help her and her people.”
“As would ours,” Cloud said. “However, I’m sure you’re aware of why we had some reservations.”
“Of course,” Tifa agreed. “But I’m sure that with our combined strength and sharing of resources, the outcome will be bountiful.”
“I’m certain of that. Yet I worry about the dangers our Kingdom may pose to yours. Hence why my grandfather suggested our current scenario.” He noted the earnest smile on her face, sensing her optimism of the new political agreement. “Princess, I’m curious, what ideas do you have?”
While the other royals chatted, Aerith’s eyes followed past Tifa to and landed on her bodyguard. Despite his casual posture, she could feel the burn he was leaving into Cloud’s forehead. Seeing how the other two were engrossed in the details of cooperation, Aerith made her way over to the tall man.
“Excuse me,” she said, grabbing his attention. “I couldn’t help but notice that furrow of your brow towards His Highness over there.”
Getting out of his hyperfocus, Zack tilted his head down towards Aerith. “Forgive me for my bluntness, Princess. But, as someone who has seen the harm the Sun Kingdom can do upon our people, I need to watch his every move. No harm can come across Her Highness.”
Admiring his dedication, Aerith’s lips stretched into a smile. “I wish I had a bodyguard as assiduous as you. But I assure you, Cloud means no harm. Princess Tifa is perfectly safe with us.” She threw some bait into the conversation. “Especially with you around.”
Zack caught her hook. “Glad to hear it. I’m sure she wouldn’t need me here every visit. But I would miss the beauty of your kingdom. Not to mention the delicious delicacies you have here. I would hate to be left behind.”
“But I bet Tifa wouldn’t,” she teased.
“What?! Why?” Zack asked, surprised the Earth Princess was so straightforward.
“You would get in the way of Cloud getting to know her better,” Aerith said matter of factly, a small smirk appearing on her lips. “Beyond our politics.”
Zack let out a small chuckle, his posture getting even more casual despite him barely knowing Aerith. “So you noticed too, huh? Tifa usually can hide her feelings well to those who don’t know her well.”
“I might know Tifa better than you think,” Aerith teased.
Another chuckle. “Oh yeah?”
“Women’s intuition~”
“Absolutely,” he agreed, a drip or two of sarcasm in his voice. “And His Highness and I are attached at the hip.”
“As much as I would love to indulge in this gossip about our friends, I need to get back to your bestie over there before he drools all over Tifa’s gown.”
With that, Aerith turned her back to Zack, intentionally making sure he got a whiff of her gardenia fragrance that she had applied to the ends of her hair that morning. Leaving her flirt session as she went back to Cloud and Tifa, she was surprised to see Cloud so…warm. Of course, being the Sun Prince, he was always radiant. But like the sun, he could be harsh and hard to look at for a long time. While Cloud wasn’t a bad person, he could be rather blunt, straight-faced, and more awkward than he wished. Right now, while talking to Tifa, it was the warmest Aerith had ever seen him. She hadn’t seen a smile on his face like that in years. Seeing him happy made her smile by instinct.
She approached the two, standing in a middle point off to the side to avoid blocking their view of each other. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all,” Tifa insisted. “Cloud and I were just discussing specifics on transporting moondust between kingdoms.”
“I suggested our cavalry units travel with carriages of sun dust to exchange, as well as to keep on hand while in their terrain,” Cloud explained to Aerith. “Does that sound reasonable?”
“Absolutely!” Aerith said. “So, am I safe to assume that today’s meeting went well?” Both royals nodded. “Great! So next week’s meeting is still on?” They both nodded again.
“Thank you again, Prince Cloud. The Moon Kingdom is grateful for your efforts. Let us know if there is ever anything else you need.”
Cloud nodded, his smile still present. “The same to you, Princess Tifa.”
Zack came over from his spot in the garden, gently placing a hand on Tifa’s shoulder. “If everything is settled, I believe it is time to go, Princess. Shall we?”
Tifa nodded, the corners of her lips lowering so slightly that you would miss it in a blink. “Yes, Zack. Thank you. We shall be going,” she directed to Aerith and Cloud. “Next week, we can discuss larger matters, and how the moondust delivery went.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Aerith said, eyes going to Zack for a split second. “Travel safely, you two.”
“We will,” both dark haired beauties assured, before giving a swift farewell and exiting the garden.
Once out of earshot, Aerith turned back towards Cloud. “You sure seem sunny.”
Cloud couldn’t roll his eyes harder if he tried. “I’m the Sun Prince, Aerith. I’m always sunny.”
“We both know that’s not true. Admit it! You like Tifa!”
“I-I...”
“Cloud, I saw how you looked when you were talking to her. You were glowing! You weren’t nervous or unnatural around her at all. I’ve never seen you interact with anyone like that before.”
Cloud stayed silent, unsure how to answer. He knew Aerith was right, but he didn’t want to admit it to her (something they both knew). There was just something about Tifa he couldn’t place that eased him. Despite his sweaty palms before today’s meeting, he found himself on a level of comfort where he didn’t need to think before speaking. He didn’t have a chance to embarrass the royal family and their reputation, he didn’t need to suck up to commoners who only wanted him for his blood status, he didn’t need to stand at perfect angles with perfect grooming and perfect posture. And neither did Tifa. Both had improper stance, slang they surely weren’t supposed to be speaking, and comments a royal shouldn’t be caught dead saying. Talking to her was easy. And Cloud wanted to talk to her again. But what made all of this so congenial to him? He wasn’t sure yet.
What he knew was that next week couldn’t come any sooner.