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Cloud rubbed his navy blue woolen mittens together and breathed hot hair into them as he waited at the entrance to Yoyogi Park. It was pretty damn cold tonight, and he had hoped that Aerith would be wearing something that would keep her warm.
Aerith and him had discussed meeting here at 7pm for a, in her words, walk along the illumination display. They had started dating just two weeks ago, but the both of them agreed they shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend Christmas Eve together. He smiled upon the memory, remembering how she enthusiastically suggested it and held his hand while doing so.
Cloud then shivered, and he figured it wasn’t because of the cold. Two dates so far, and with the third one they were about to go on, he figured that now should be the time to kiss her. Only two weeks, but he had been pining for her for months. It went the same way for Aerith too.
When they were first getting to know each other, they were mere acquaintances, familiar through friends of friends. Of course, Cloud instantly noticed how beautiful she was, a coy smile on her face when they first met eyes that made his stomach flip. But he didn’t pursue anything further, figuring she was out of his league. Not in her mind though.
At some point during the year, they “coincidentally” ran into each other, got to talking, and Cloud couldn’t keep denying the pull he felt towards her. It was like electromagnetism, a spark that he knew she felt as well. From then on, Aerith would chat him up, outright ask him out on dates. At first it started out friendly enough, but very quickly became more intimate than what he expected.
There was a hesitancy to Aerith’s advances though, it went past the line of friendship, but it wasn’t right at what Cloud would consider being in a relationship. At some point, he believed he’d have to be the one to confess.
“The thing is Cloud, I really like you.”
His heart thundered in his chest, unable to tear his eyes away from her face as she spoke.
Aerith seemed to retract her statement almost instantly. “But ‘like’ can mean a lot of different things, can’t it?”
His heart sank. “What do you mean?” he responded, a frown crossing his face.
Aerith blushed, her gaze rapidly interchanging from his eyes to the ground. She opened her mouth to speak, almost deciding upon closing it again, “Well, there’s ‘liking’, and then there’s… ‘ liking …’”
Cloud’s head started to spin. What was she implying? He’d never seen her this unsure.
She looked up at him shyly from underneath her lashes, and his throat closed up. The two were sitting on a park bench, arms distance from each other, but suddenly he felt that he was a lot closer to her.
He managed to clear this throat, unable to meet her gaze either. Despite it being winter, he also suddenly felt very hot.
“Well, if it’s any consolation…” he took a deep breath, mustering the courage he had built up over time to just come out and say it. “... I’m pretty sure I like you. In that way, the ‘liking’ way.”
Ugh. If there was any other way to sound less lame, he couldn’t think of it.
“Really?!” Aerith exclaimed, her face lighting up.
He doubled back, relieved that she seemed happy. “O-of course? I mean… yeah.”
Aerith grinned broadly, laughing at herself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” She scooted closer to him, her face coming closer to his. “I like you too.”
And ever since, they’d hold hands, hug, and she’d get so close to his face that he thought his heart was going to jump out his chest. She often told him he was cute, but he probably thought that about her twice as much.
“Cloud~!”
His ears perked up at the voice from behind him, and a smile spread on his face. “Aerith-”, he almost didn’t get a chance to finish saying her name due to how tightly she hugged him. He hugged back, revelling in her warmth.
She stepped back, to say hello, but he couldn’t hear a word out of her mouth as he looked at her. She wore a long white coat with a very fluffy collar, on her head was a cute fluffy beanie, around her figure was a beautiful knit dress, and light blue accessories adorned her outfit. He was stunned at how radiant she looked in all white.
“H-hey,” he stuttered out once he remembered to respond.
Aerith giggled sweetly, and spread out her arms. “Like what you see?”
“Y-yeah, I love it.”
Aerith blinked in surprise, not yet used to him being so forward. She smiled again and leant in closely. “Hmm, that’s a very honest comment from you, mister,” she looked down at his gloved hands, and her eyes lit up, “Ah, you’re wearing them!”
On their previous date, she had bought him the very gloves that he was wearing. He fondly remembered how she fawned over them, finding them and the snowflake design on them very cute, just as she was doing now. “They suit you so well,” she cooed, and he had to admit, blue was his colour.
“Uh huh,” he replied, holding his arm out to her.
She swayed up next to him, and hooked her arm under his. “So, shall we?”
Cloud breathed out and chuckled, “Yes, ma’am.”
She nodded, satisfied, and started a slow walk forward with him into the glow of the Blue Cave display. She rested her head on his shoulder as they walked along with the crowd, everyone basking in the cool haze that the lights emanated. Cloud continued to relish her touch; her soft hair tickling his face, her warm hands around his arm. He noticed the gloves she was wearing for fingerless, and so put one of his hands on top of hers to warm them.
She gazed up at him, and he looked in return, his breath hitching as the display reflected off her eyes. Usually, he felt like he was in another world with Aerith, but this time. it felt like that tenfold. He admired her face under the dim lights, and then glanced away, needing to take a second to recuperate. He tightened his hand around hers after doing so, and her face heated up at the soft intimacy.
“So…” she started quietly, her head falling back on his shoulder, “I hope you weren’t waiting that long for me.”
He shook his own head, remembering to be gentle and keep in time with her steps. “No, but I was starting to feel a bit cold. Was worried about you.”
She chuckled, “Worried?”
“Mhm, doesn’t seem like I had to be though. You seem pretty warm.”
“Speak for yourself,” her voice muffled as she snuggled her face onto his shoulder. “You’re super comfy, you know that?”
He smiled again. Damn. She’s really good at doing that.
He looked down at her again, his heart softening how peaceful she looked. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was.
“Aerith, hold on,” he said, stopping the two of them. He fished around for his camera, the urge to capture this moment (and his Photography major self) overtaking him. He brought it out, and her eyes lit up.
“Oh, you!” she gasped in delight.
Cloud motioned for her to stand by a tree, and she skipped over to it, grinning cheekily. He started taking photos, going along with how she changed poses. She gestured to the tree, put her hands behind her back, and even did a few cute J-Pop inspired poses. Cloud didn’t stop after that though.
“Cloud!” she exclaimed, realising he was taking more than she could keep up with.
He laughed, glad to have captured the precise moment she pouted in playful anger.
“Okay, you better get over here, mister,” she said, appearing in front of him and pulling on his arm suddenly.
He stumbled a bit, but was brought very close to her, their chests almost touching. She noticed he was stalling, his eyes falling up at her and then back to the ground. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Cloud, you gonna take the picture?”
He stumbled verbally this time, “U-uh yeah.”
He brought the camera up to take a selfie, and she leant in even closer for them to get in frame. They both grinned as he pressed ‘click’.
She giggled, taking the film that popped out. “I’ll put this in my purse while we wait for it to develop!” He felt his heart soften again, watching as she dropped it in. “Let’s keep going!” she cheered.
He nodded, and held out his hand for her to take this time. She happily grabbed it, and pulled him along. They continued walking, luckily uninterrupted by others. They had planned to meet up at a later time so as to not be totally overwhelmed by the influx of people earlier in the night, and the two of them infinitely preferred this, rather than getting caught up in the crowd who waited to see the lights turn on.
They reached the end of the walkway, and stopped to eat something, thankfully not having to wait that long in line due to the dwindling crowd. They sat down at a bench nearby, and ate together. After they’d finished, Aerith leant her head back on Cloud’s shoulder, sighing contently.
“You really like doing that, don’t you?” he quipped, adjusting himself to get comfortable for her.
“Of course. You’re like my giant teddy bear."
Cloud raised his eyebrows. He didn’t mind that.
Suddenly, he felt sweaty, realising that the night was coming to an end. He shuffled again. Aerith instantly noticed of course, and Cloud froze his movements. “What’s wrong?”
“Uh, n-nothing, I just…” he searched for something to say, but came up with nothing.
Aerith tilted her head, scanning his nervous body language. She smiled up at him, resting her hand on his. “I’m glad we met up tonight,” she said soothingly, watching his chest rise and fall as he calmed down.
He blinked at her innocently, and Aerith could’ve sworn she almost melted on the spot at his doe-like gaze.
He nodded, a smile quirking up his lips again, “Yeah, same.”
Inwardly, she laughed and rolled her eyes, ‘ Ah Cloud, a man of many words you are.’ But still, she loved how simplistic he was.
“You’ve made me really happy… I’ll treasure this night forever,” she said, squeezing his hand in reassurance.
He looked at their hands, and then looked back up at her again. “U-um, Aerith…” he began, with his heart in his throat. His eyes held an imploring look. “Can… I kiss you?”
Aerith felt fireworks ring in her ears. And they hadn’t even kissed yet!
She beamed at him, her eyes crinkling, “Of course you can, Cloud.”
Cloud’s heart was probably now running at a million beats per minute, and he felt very self conscious. He knows Aerith’s dated other people; he knows she is much more experienced than he was, and he felt like he was able to buckle under the pressure of not being up to par when it came to it. Yes, he’s kissed someone before. And yes, he also regretted it.
“Uh…” he started, unable to look at her now.
“Hey,” she said, resting her hand on his cheek. “Just relax, we can take it slow. We don’t even have to kiss just yet.”
“N-no, I…” he rested his hand on the one that palmed his cheek. “I want to. Trust me.”
Aerith felt relieved. She’s wanted to kiss Cloud since the moment they started dating, probably even before that. But she knew he was still so much more new to this than she was. She loves to be physically close to him, loves to shower him with all the love she has, but so far she’s been keeping the brakes on a little when it comes to going further than what he hasn’t already experienced. She’s happy to wait for him.
It’s why she’s surprised when he takes her hand from his face, and then puts his hand on her cheek. Aerith inwardly remarked that he seemed to have steeled himself pretty quickly in just a few seconds.
And who could blame him? The girl of his dreams was sitting right in front of him, telling him how much she loved spending time with him, giving him a chance to figure out if this is what he wanted. Cloud found it hard to try not seize the moment, even if his heart was pounding in his ears. He wanted to kiss those lips so badly.
As he leaned in, Aerith's eyes sparkled, and he was mesmerized. She closed her eyes, and he glanced at her lips once more, not wasting a second to close the gap between them.
He felt the softest bliss he didn’t realise was possible. She was sweet, and gentle. A bubbly feeling rose up from his stomach as he continued to kiss her, his hand still cupping her face. She kissed him back more firmly, and he then felt something much deeper. Much hungrier, like he hadn’t had water in hours or food for days.
But before he could further that feeling and satisfy it, she leant back with an impish smile and the most starry glint in her eyes. He blinked his eyes open dumbly.
She leant forward, “That was nice~.”
All he could do was nod in response, a smile eventually spreading on his lips. “Yeah… Actually, yeah.”
The impish smile on her face grew, “You’re wanting more?”
“Yes.”
Aerith smiled gleefully. “Maybe one more after you walk me home. Deal?”
Cloud felt excited, giddy even, and gave her a sly expression.
“Deal.”