Memento

"Forget it." Cloud isn't one to, but he almost laughs in her face at the possibility of him, going into a place like that with her.

The words strike her like a thunderbolt but don't make her back off her request, if only, she activates persuasion mode on full-force.

"Come on!" She pleads in a pout, places her hands on her hips. "It will be so much fun! I can tell you need it, have you looked at your wrinkled brow lately? Have you always looked like that or is it a new thing? Surely you've always had those lines, the way they look so heavy and all at what… twenty-one?"

He stares her down, dumbly speechless. He feels his eyebrow twitching, probably adding more wrinkles to his forehead the way she so thoroughly described them.

He turns around to leave, not going to bother himself any longer with her furtive assaults.

"Wait!" She calls and hastens her steps to stand in front of him, small hands on his chest bracing him to a stop. "Look, I'll do whatever you want."

One of his eyebrows lifts involuntarily. Why has she mentioned his frown? Goddamnit! Now his eyebrows are all over the place. He immediately tries to soften his brow but ends up wiggling it in an up-and-down awkward movement.

She looks at him questioningly and he sighs in frustration.

"That important to you?" He asks crossing his arms to his chest.

She nods trying her best to round her eyes in innocent eagerness, pulling at the strings of his heart. Maybe she could melt it just enough for him to say yes.

"You'll do whatever I want?" He asks, a rare smirk building at his lips.

"Yes! Yes! I will!" She jumps on her feet, holding an arm he keeps strongly folded. Maybe her strategy had worked a miracle. "Inside what's reasonable to ask of course."

"What does that mean? I get to ask whatever I want."

"Well, sure, but!" One slender finger goes up. "No asking for weird things like trying hot lingerie or foot massages wearing a net dress or dancing on your lap and stuff. I can dance for you but I won't do that sexy thing where you sit on a chair and I hover over you, you know?"

"Net dre-?" Cloud stammers in utter shock, not knowing where to begin with to counter-arguing with her. And what worries him the most is the mix of weird things in her list. He sighs exasperatedly, she's exhausting, he's already tired and they haven't moved from the same spot yet.

"Do we have a deal? Or should I mention the no-list again?"

"I think we're fine." He huffs.

"Sooo…" she rocks on her heels, a little eyelash battering hasn't hurt anyone either. "We have time to spare before we barge into Corneo's to save Tifa. Might as well have fun! Who knows when we will be able to again once we go?"

He pauses to think for a moment, the playful perky glint of her eye doesn't fool him. He could be smarter than her, maybe he would ask her to go back home once they're done rescuing Tifa. That way she wouldn't dive right into danger and he wouldn't have to worry about her so much anymore.

Sounds like a plan.

"Fine." He complies, regretting it already.

Persuasion mode on full-force is a skill she prides herself on.

Wall Market is known around Gaia for its many attractions.

But none of them can compare to karaoke club.

They enter a purple and green neon lights flashing ballroom filled with tables around a small stage where a few microphones stood in place, ready for people to start using. Unable to control it, Cloud's mako stained eyes glow fluorescent under the blacklight of the room, two shining opals of a bulging blue.

"That… will scare everyone." She remarks.

"You're going to bash at my eye-color too?" A disdainful sigh, a shake of his head.

"No, of course not, I like your eyes very much mister, so you know." She winks in flirtatious glee. "But people who don't know you like I do may find it scary. I think it's lucky of me to have a glowing-eyed SOLDIER by my side. Especially at night when it must be pretty useful in the dark. I wish mom could see me, oh oops, scratch that, I think my mom wouldn't have liked it one bit but the kids at the orphanage! Ah they would go crazy with you!"

He doesn't reply.

"Can we just… find a place to sit?" He asks trying to rush the night as much as he could. He rubs his temples, it was going to be a long one he could tell by her electric excitement.

"Sure! I'll find us a table!" Cloud's first mistake. Letting her briefly leave him to ask a waiter for a free table in a more secluded corner of the room, for glowing-eyes purposes - not that it matters much comparing to what they are about to do.

When she returns she hastily pulls him by the hand towards a table at the farthest corner of the room, slightly covered by a huge speaker, where they could sit at a safe distance from prying eyes.

Cloud slumps down against his chair. She grabs hers and drags it all the way around the table to place it right next to his. She sits and their shoulders brush lightly.

"Is the table not large enough?" He gives her a side-look.

"It is." She flashes him a wide smile, leans against him playfully, hands clasp together on her crossed knees and green eyes look up brightly. "But the view is much better from here." He lets out a low grunt turning to the side. Her easiness makes him nervous, though he can't tell especially why, usually people don't get too close.

"Can I get you guys anything?" A waitress asks over the burbling voices.

"Uh I think I want something to drink, you know, to hydrate my vocal cords!" Aerith slightly jumps on her chair, her curious green eyes dance around the room. "We want two of those cocktail things with an umbrella? And a straw! And a slice of fruit at the border?"

"Certainly." The waitress nods. "Virgins?"

"That's a weird question to ask someone at a singing club." Aerith's lips curve down a bit in confusion. "Are we in the wrong place? Is this a different night?"

"Uh… oh my God miss, no." The waitress' face flushes crimson red.

"That's not what that means." Cloud drops his head in a sigh, his cheeks blushing a modest pink.

"It means, alcohol or not in your drink?" The waitress smiles tilting her head patiently.

"oh-OH!" Aerith laughs it off clapping her hands. "In that case, no virgins here, because this one…" she points a thumb at frowning Cloud by her side. "Needs to take the edge off a bit."

"I'll be right back." The woman shoots a suspicious glance at Cloud before leaving.

The bustling of chatting voices over the floating sound of a cheerful tune coming from the speakers immerses the room in a lively atmosphere. The place is packed and too busy for Cloud's liking and maybe that's why he gets the feeling he's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Aerith takes off her red jacket fanning her neck with her hands, blowing her dampening locks of hair away from her eyes, the air felt hot, but not hot enough to make her flinch away from her seat right glued to his.

Cloud distracts himself looking at how she happily taps her fingers on the table's surface as the lights dim down a bit and the first person to open the karaoke night climbs onto the stage to excitedly grab a microphone.

As soon as the music starts and the woman begins to sing, Cloud cringes in his spot lifting his fingers to cover his eardrums, wrinkling his nose in annoyance. He definitely doesn't belong there.

"She's a natural!" Aerith smiles eagerly, opposite to his reaction. As soon as she sees what he's doing, she grabs Cloud's hand and pulls it away from his ear.

"A natural out of tune." He grits his teeth. "Why are you torturing me?"

"It's not torture!" She laughs, clearly and willingly. "We're having fun! You should try it from time to time."

The waitress comes back with their drinks setting them down on the table and Aerith insists Cloud drinks his, to calm the nerves.

"What nerves?"

"Oh yeah haven't I told you? We're up next!" She nods, a mischievous little smile spreading on her innocently pertinent lips.

"Up next where?"

"On the stage silly!"

"You've got to be kidding me." His voice hoarse in an angry disbelief. "You wouldn't catch me dead on a singing stage."

She hums. "You sure?" The music stops and the room is washed over by a wave of applause.

"Think you've had enough of them? Straight out of the arena of death, we call to the stage, our beloved Cloud and Aerith! A couple of lovebirds who go all-in with a song carved from the depths of their love story. They are unstoppable! Cloud and Aerith everyone!" The familiar voices of Kotch and Skotch rumble from the speakers making Cloud shudder hauntingly with the sound.

"No." His voice trembles. This is certainly a mistake.

"Awww they remember us!" Aerith stands up in a jolt lifting her arms up as people start clapping in encouragement.

"Come on!" Before he is able to utter a single word, Aerith grabs the hand he slips away from her grip like butter. "Cloud! You just need to read the lyrics, I'll be next to you the whole time." She calls and goes for his arm with both hands, pulling at the maximum strength a florist could pull. Not wanting to cause a scene, the blond SOLDIER gruntingly stands up. The audience in the room cheers more enthusiastically as he does.

"See! They love you!" She eases.

With Cloud on his feet she flits behind his back and pushing his surprisingly heavy body across the floor, they make it onto the stage. Two spotlights come on with the sound of a click and drench them in a cilindre of white light as Aerith picks up their microphones. She extends one to Cloud who stands frozen in place, he accepts it blankly, hardly believing what is happening to him.

As music starts playing in a slow beat, Aerith holds the microphone between her hands first, closes her eyes bowing her head slightly, taking a second to concentrate but it looks almost as if she is praying. She lifts her microphone to her lips and taking a short breath:

"I know that you're hiding things…" her voice sings, a soft and clear melodic tone.

"Hell no."

Cloud spins on his heels and heads for the steps out of the stage. The light follows. No way this is going to happen.

No. Way.

He should have seen it coming, she must have had this planned since the beginning. What was she thinking? What was he thinking when he said yes to this? But wait, he didn't say yes to this. How could he have fallen for it? Aerith interrupts her singing to follow him, barely catching his slanting hand.

"At least stay here with me. Come on it'll be fun! Please?" She encourages, the grip on his hand tightens, her wide smile fills with hope and her sparkling eyes longing for his support. That's why he had fallen for it, he realizes a little too late. So stubborn. So mischievously deceiving. So irresistibly annoying. Unable to say no to her, Cloud stumbles back, looking around like an animal caught in headlights.

His eyes flicker to hers - those damnable beautiful eyes of hers - as her warm fingers cradle his chin, lifting his head up to look at her, asking him to forget about the rest. She takes a few steps backwards and he slowly follows her to the center of the stage, foolishly hypnotized.

"Not that easily…" she sings in her youthful voice - he's almost impressed but he'll never admit it.

"I acted so distant then, didn't say goodbye before you left…"

She sings effortlessly and he denies his reality, grimacing at the spotlight, he clenches his hands into fists while his legs are fidgeting to get out of there quick.

"But I was listening…" A slender arm stretches and curled fingers spread delicately his way.

Oh she was so going to make up to him for this.

Sweat creeping down his neck, Cloud looks around but the blinding lights cast upon him keep his eyes from seeing the people in the room; around the stage everything falls dark like a black curtain closing up.

Coming to terms that he must be inside a nightmare, he focuses his gaze back at her and her delicate voice almost lulls him into forgetting they are actually in a crowded place. The way she intently looks at him granting him the feeling she's singing only for him.

He swallows dry. Shit.

He feels the warmth of her voice intertwining with the melody moving through him like magic.

"Shouting might have been the answer…"

Her body moves with the music as she elegantly spins in her floating pink dress, doing all the right things to melt away his anxiety.

The audience feels silent, he can picture them staring at her and only at her, and like them he doesn't hear anything except her voice or see anything except her determined dancing gracefulness. Her messy brown braid, kissed by sunshine, swings with her movements, she's mesmerizing, and captivating and beautiful all the while, for someone who is doing that for the first time. He can hardly believe his eyes.

"Cause a thousand words, call out through the ages…"

She slowly steps away in the song's stately tempo, hand reaching for the curtain, and even disappearing out of stage, her soft voice fills the walls. He panics for a second, losing his breath as he is left there under the lonely lights. He tries to find her but the brightness dazzles him and he covers his squinting eyes with a hand.

She doesn't stray for too long, coming back almost instantly with some people to whom she hands the remaining microphones with a nod.

The group of three or four - he's past the point of remembering how to count - join in her singing and she moves closer to Cloud stretching him a hand he slowly, reluctantly, takes. Luckily enough, she doesn't ask him to sing.

"Oh, a thousand words…"

As the song changes dynamic to a more upbeat harmony, she twirls on her feet into his arms - he reflectively lifted to steady her - and sways with the rhythm controlling her movements wrapped under his hold.

Drawn in by the courage in her emerald eyes, his chest flutters frantically.

Body acting on its own, he tries to sway with her but his feet betray him, plodding him forward and making him slip a step.

"Fuck. S-sorry." He wavers and she smiles. She draws back a foot but his hand clutches on to her free one to place it on his shoulder and with slow deliberation his hands travel down to her waist.

She stops singing to look up at him in curious surprise, as they continue to slow dance too lost in the music and under the swirl of the smoggy lights.

His body feels stiff, though he's graceful when he fights. It's something that comes natural to him. The movements are easy and quick and effortless. But dancing… dancing with her… is nothing like fighting.

"It's okay." She reassures. "We're actually here to sing."

"I don't sing."

"You dance?"

"I'm not dancing."

Right foot, then the left, a slow right. He tries to concentrate on his feet but looking at her and controlling his steps at the same time proves a little too hard for him to. He tries to relax his arms but at the same time he wants to make sure he's holding her with the right steadiness, not too tight, not to loose. It's hard, he struggles… but he tries, which is more than what he thought he'd do. All the while remembering to breathe as well.

In a thread of newly found confidence, he spins her with a hand but clumsily pulls her back too fast to his chest where she bumps gently against.

He grimaces at his lack of talent. But she must be much more comfortable in his chest and that's where he keeps her in a smooth gentle swing. Better not venture into the unknown.

"Look who's finally having fun." She whispers lightly in his ear. He tenses as her body presses against his; she feels warm and smells of flowers. The same earthly sweetness that had accompanied him all the time her yellow flower had been strapped under his suspenders.

Time passes quickly as they move slowly on their feet and he doesn't care anymore they are on a stage in the middle of a room filled with strangers. Heart pounding, that seems to be the least of his problems.

"They'll hold you forever…" The group voices finish the song, because Aerith isn't paying attention anymore.

All she sees is blue, the kind of heart-stopping, life-changing soft blue. One that had filled her life with joy in the past, and now returns to her in a different kind of light she most certainly would love to welcome into her heart. It's a broken blue, a hurt blue, one that needs to mend, a blue that has shined a little brighter that night when his thoughts had been cleared of surviving.

Yet… it is the kind of blue she can't fall in love with.

The music comes to an end but they remain in place as if it kept on playing endlessly. Green eyes locked on green-fleckered blue, she may have led him into doing something far beyond the limits imposed by his conscious, but still he holds her against him as if she was the most important thing in his world.

"Cloud." Her voice is breathless.

His fingers rise and press gently to her cheek cupping it lightly, his thumb slightly strokes the corner of her full lips. Her skin a velvety invitation to his touch, it makes his skin spark like a flame. Heat rises up his body to lodge in his face, he feels his head spinning as it shuts the world around.

He wants to lean into her but stays rooted to the ground.

He holds her gaze instead and what must have been a few empty seconds, seems to have lasted for hours.

He doubts. If the room hadn't shaken with the furious roaring of cheers, he doubts what he would have done.

Pulled back to reality, they finally move parting ways. She lifts his hand in hers to take a bow. The group on stage turns to clap at them and Aerith tries to gather herself whole while cheerfully clapping at an already stepping out of the stage Cloud.

She rushes to meet him. "That wasn't so bad was it?" She asks as they sit back on their chairs to slow down their racing hearts. Her skin a wild fire in comparison to earlier.

"What are you talking about, that was terrible. I'm going to have nightmares about this for years." He says shaking his head. His cheeks flushing with nervous embarrassment, he finds it difficult to look straight at her.

"Oh Cloud, so dramatic." She softly giggles. "I had the time of my life! Well worth the free-coupon I gave you. You have to admit we kind of make a great team! Even though you didn't sing." She whispers that last part, leaning closer to his face and resting her hand softly on top of his.

"I told you, I don't sing."

He stares at her a moment, studying the energy in her eyes, trying to find the answer to his question. How can he not feel things about her when she had came into his life with the force of a hurricane messing up his world in a way no one had ever done. But the scarce room inside his brain can't process these thoughts about her, not yet, now now.

He sighs. "So… do you moonlight as a singer or something?" Adrenaline levels dimming down in his blood and still relatively in awe with her performance, he asks her.

A rarely seen dimple blooms on her cheek as she smiles sweetly with just a hint of amusement.

"Don't you love our hidden talents? I'm pretty sure our previous lives are haunting us, you were a crate operator and I was a singer. Can you imagine, our house must have been a full one!"

He clears his throat, though clearly an innocent remark, he tries to divert his thoughts into something more present. Their mutual disposition about her doing anything he asks.

He has to think carefully about this, it had to be something considerate for the amount of trouble he had just gone through for her. Anything wouldn't do when it comes to her and he came to understand that the hard way.

"No weird things." She almost reads his mind.

"Don't worry." He rolls his eyes. "You're crazier than anyone I know." Crazy doesn't fully cover her description, he exhales sharply; still in disbelief about the night he had.

She grins. "Oh just so you know, this doesn't count as the date I promised you!" She says lightheartedly. "Obviously."

"You mean I'm not off the hook?" He asks, sky-blue eyes widening.

"Not even the slightest." Forest-green ones twinkle.

"Just… no more of this please."

"You know I can't promise you that. And it will be when you least expect it."

"Great." He deadpans.

Outside the air feels crisp, the humidity makes everything glisten against the light of the low golden purple of the street lamps already dimming down with the break of dawn.

Ready to leave, Aerith clenches her hand around the small crystal microphone they were given for their performance at karaoke night. She lifts her closed hand to her lips and kisses it softly. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes or touched it with her own hands, she would have never believed he would do such a thing. Another trophy, another memory, another step towards something she's not quite sure about yet.

"You want it?" She asks him on their way.

He stares at the clear object on her palm, a token of their night, one he most definitely won't forget. He softens, shoulders relaxing and lips almost curving up, almost.

He does. "Keep it for me."

She's a handful, but he could get used to her ways, maybe, she shatters his monotony and he likes it - as surprising as it feels. Though he's pretty sure he's not going to step onto another stage so soon.

For a flickering heartbeat, as he watches her smiling happily, so happy, holding that small prize close to her chest, he feels it in the pit of his stomach, surging up slowly but as surely as he was breathing, he knew she was going to be his doom. His very slip of the heart. But what can he do, it's already there.

Maybe he won't ask her to go home just yet… it feels he needs more time. Maybe if she let's him protect her, she would be safer under his watch, right? If he asks her to stay close it will be alright, he's sure of it. Had to.

"Shall we head back?" He asks in a hurry to get out of that place, won't she come up with something else to do.

"After you." She gestures ahead and he doesn't think twice before striding surely away from there.

Aerith falls behind a moment, watching him walk away and proudly smiling at the events of the night. A well spent one in the company of her precious bodyguard.

She hurries to reach him, walks beside him in a few slow wide steps before carefully taking his arm and leaning her head comfortably on the nook of his shoulder. He won't bother anymore with questions about why she's so easily able to hold him like that, so he adjusts his arm to her grip.

You think you had fun tonight? Wait until you hear you have to dress up as a woman tomorrow. - she thinks quietly as they walk side by side.

She smiles amusedly, wondering about the best way to tell him.

"What?" He catches it. Incapable of understanding the reason why at such late hours, her mischievous little smile makes him shudder; he tries not to, but failing, he lifts an eyebrow in suspicion.

She'll think about it tomorrow.

"Oh nothing."

Come what may, furrowed brow or not, she can't wait to spend another day with him.

Hi! The song Aerith sings is "a thousand words" from FFX-2! :)

Thank you for reading!