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You boys made a trade—a normal life for power. You can't have it both ways.
Cloud stared at the ceiling of the unfamiliar roof, mako eyes nearly glowing in the dark as the moonlight from the window beside him bled into the guest room. He had woken up from a dream—a very pleasant dream—of his mother, who never failed to deliver some sort of wisdom in those short times they could be together in a land far from the living. However, the words of wisdom she decided to enlighten him with tonight was strange. She had mentioned something about a girl—an older girl—and how he needed someone perfect enough to catch him every time he was being a "silly goose." He had always understood what his mother was trying to teach him before, but with this, he was as good as lost if he even tried to take a moment to figure out what she meant.
But a dream was a dream, and he wouldn't be able to live in the present if he kept his mind dawdling over the meaning of a silly, momentary dream.
Checking the clock hung on the wall, Cloud decided it was time to leave and not overstay his visit; he wouldn't be surprised if Elmyra came knocking at his door to just get him out already. He swung his legs over the bed to stand, but he took a moment to look at his fisted hand before opening it, observing the creases that ran through the fabrics of his glove.
"A normal life, huh?" Cloud sighed. He clenched his hand back into a fist before he stood up and swung the Buster Sword over his back. He had already known that—that a life where he could just enjoy a walk through the sectors or spend his time picking flowers with a girl like Aerith was already beyond his imagination. He knew that normalcy was already too much of a gift to ask, and he didn't need the likes of Elmyra to nail it into his head like a coffin.
Although he would've liked to have one last word with the girl who already managed to make his heart skip a beat in less than a day, melt some of the ice that shielded his heart with her bright smile, and allowed him to experience what it meant to live a normal life of a twenty-one-year-old for one day, he knew that he had to go.
They lived in two separate worlds. It was best to let it remain separate until the very end.
Cloud slowly opened the door, making sure it didn't creak as he took one heavy step through it. Each step felt like it was being held down by solid, lead weights, heavier with each additional step he took. It felt disheartening—wrong even—to just leave unannounced like this to the girl whose heart was made out of gold, but Cloud willed himself to forget all about it—to forget all about today and all about her. Tomorrow, he would see the sunrise, and he would return back to his schedule—an even, controlled schedule, a schedule that wouldn't whirl out of control because of her and her antics.
Silently, he made his way through all the random objects in the small hallway. It was as if they were placed there purposely, to possibly trap him, to wake her up, and get her to stop him from leaving. It was silly of him to even think about dropping the book on the pedestal by "accident," or kick the bucket that had rolled onto its side just so that she could hear the sudden sound from the other side of her door. His mind made up a lot of pathetic excuses to just stay, even if just a minute longer, to say goodbye, a farewell.
But he knew he had to go.
Perhaps it was all the wishful thinking, because even when he made sure he made no noise, made sure to avoid all the rubbish lying around, made sure his footsteps were as light as a feather, a crack to her door appeared, and his heart never stopped to be so still before.
"I knew it."
His eyes automatically looked away to the side, even though it was his desire to see those emerald, green eyes again moments ago. Pink entered his peripheral vision as she took a small step towards him, hand on the knob of her door as she tried to meet his eyes.
"Why are you up?" he managed to ask. Maybe he could still play dumb, make it look like he was heading down to go grab a glass of water, but the large sword strapped behind his back was not convincing as Aerith folded her arms across her chest.
"You're leaving. Without me." It wasn't a question. Then she paused before she spoke again. "What did Elmyra say to you?"
"She said nothing," he curtly answered. His eyes finally moved so that he could look at her, and in less than a second, he knew it had been a mistake.
Because now he really didn't want to go.
It was as if she could read his mind because she gently grabbed onto his arm and pulled at it, nearly causing an involuntary sound to escape between his lips.
"Come, don't just stand there," she whispered, and before he knew it, Cloud was within the darkness of her room, door closed behind them as Aerith pushed her back against it.
His eyes blinked rapidly to not only adjust to the lack of light once more, but to the sudden boldness of her moves as she smiled at him. "Why are you—"
"I'm not an idiot, although my actions might dictate otherwise," Aerith smiled, her eyes twinkling as she gazed at him through the darkness.
His heart pounded a little bit harder in his ears as he stared at her, eyes widened a bit as he tried to comprehend the sudden situation between them. If Elmyra discovered them, he knew he was going to get blacklisted from Sector 5 for life.
"She's going to sleep. She's not going to check on you. She trusts you enough to follow her orders," Aerith spoke again, quenching his anxiety. She bit her bottom lip as she played with the bangles on her slender arms. "She told you to leave, didn't she?"
"… No."
"Stop lying."
"I'm not."
"I don't believe you."
"It doesn't matter. Because I'm leaving." Cloud wasn't going to play this sort of game with her, not tonight when it was already hard enough to detach himself from her, so he made the motion to push her over to the side and grab the handle of the door, but she stopped him by reaching to the knob first.
"Sector 7, right? I'm going with you." Aerith was adamant as she removed herself from the door and pulled Cloud away with her, making sure he was nowhere near it as she tried to convince him. "That was the deal, remember?"
"I never promised it," Cloud sighed, and he continued to lie through his teeth as he crossed his arms and stood intimidatingly in front of her, weight shifted onto one leg. "I have to get going tonight."
"I know, and that's why—"
"You're not going with me."
"Even if I say I want to?"
"… Why?"
Cloud sharply inhaled when she suddenly took a step closer to him, face close as she peered up at him with a mischievous smile.
"Because I'm not sick of you yet."
His mouth opened and closed dumbly, lost on what to say, before he sighed and steeled his jaw. He laid a hand on her shoulder, a touch that sent a trail of fire down the entire length of his arm, as he tried to get her out of his way, but she didn't budge as she shook her head.
"You can't," Cloud repeated, and he looked away from her brilliant eyes as he struggled to get the simple words through. "Because you and I—"
"Are two people who can't be with each other?"
He gasped lightly when Aerith gently laid a hand against the side of his face, skin soft like silk as her warmth spread into his body through the singular touch. Her smile never faded as her thumb ran across his cheek, as if beckoning him under her fiery will.
"I asked only to ask—I heard what you guys were talking about in the kitchen," she explained, voice soft. "I was just wondering if you would be truthful to me, is all."
Cloud swallowed the hard rock lodged in his throat before he roughly grabbed onto her hand and pulled it away from his face. "If you know, then don't try to stop me."
"Is it just me who wants to be with you longer?" Aerith sucked her lips in as she turned his rough grip on her into a pair of interlocked hands as she pushed him against the wall of her room, audibly taking away his breath as the air around him suddenly started to suffocate him slowly. "I know we've only known each other for half a day, but there's something about you, Cloud, something I want to figure out. I don't want you to go yet."
He wanted to say the same to her, to tell her that there was this unbelievable pull on him that made him want to stick to her side like a magnet. It was unexplainable, but the heat he felt around her was addicting, and he wouldn't want anyone else other than her to melt his hard exterior.
But today was enough for him—enough to last him for a lifetime.
"You've shown me more than I've ever had in a single day," he croaked painfully as he took his hand away. "But a day is all I'll take. I have things I gotta do, to go back to, and you need to stay here."
At his words, Aerith looked at the analog clock that stood by her bed before her eyes landed back on his.
"If you're talking about today, then it's not over yet," she breathed hotly. Creeping her hands up his chest, she met them behind his neck, pulling her body flush against his hard one. "If you won't let me come with you, at least let me show you more until today ends."
"Aerith—" Cloud unintentionally let out a low groan when a hand found itself in his hair, tugging it lightly as his chin tilted up.
"Just for a little bit," she coaxed, and one of her fingers slipped underneath his turtleneck to feel the skin below it. "It won't hurt. Promise."
Aerith knew not to get sucked into eyes the color of mako. She knew not to accept its invitations, to swim in them like she did before when she was so much younger. She knew—she knew it all—but she couldn't help herself as a different pair stared at her, full lips parted as his breaths came out as rattled and shaky.
What was the best part of it all was that the handsome man before her was not Zack. It was someone different. It was Cloud Strife—hotter, better, alive.
"A little bit," she repeated, voice dimmed down to a mere whisper as she tilted his head forward, lips just a mere inch away from touching his. She was simply just waiting for his consent. "Then I'll let you leave."
Cloud stared at her with half-lidded eyes, orbs darting between her green ones and her pink and inviting lips. His eyebrows were knitted together, conflict evident in them as they exchanged heavy breaths with each other.
When Aerith thought he was going to give her one last warning and pull away, she sighed in delight when his posture relaxed and his arms wound around her tightly around the waist.
"Midnight," he whispered shakily. "And then I'm leaving."
That was enough of a signal for Aerith to push him against the wall, pull him down by his collar, and meet his lips in a burning kiss.
He was more than she could've asked for as she clawed at his shoulders and tasted him. She tasted the hesitance in his mouth as he slowly followed her lead and tasted the hungriness as she devoured him, indulging in all that he had to offer in the one hour they had left with each other.
Aerith felt like she couldn't get enough as she brought her hands to his face and pressed her mouth into his, rubbing their lips against each other even harsher so that she could feel the delicious friction better and harder.
When he grasped onto her waist tighter and ground against her, she gasped when she felt his erection.
"Sorry," he pulled their mouths apart just to apologize, and she wondered how much of a gentleman he truly was. First he had apologized to stepping on her flowers, and now to something as simple as this.
"No, I like it," she said. "It feels good. Kiss me more."
She didn't need to say it a second time as Cloud bent down and angled another kiss into her sweet lips, instantly melting her with the way he ran his slick tongue along her bottom lip and teethed it.
A hand traveled down to cup her ass, giving it a firm squeeze before bringing his hand forward to ride her against the hard tent in his pants as Aerith fought to release the suspenders that held his stomach brace.
It was hard to do it when she couldn't find the clip anywhere.
"Why is this so hard?" she complained as she tore away from his mouth momentarily to squint her eyes in the darkness.
"Here, I got it," he said softly, and even the gentleness in his voice was enough to reduce her to a mere puddle.
His hand clasped hers so that it could lead her to where she sought. When the clip finally found its way into her fingers, she eagerly removed it and let his brace drop onto the floor.
The moment his shirt was free from its constraints, Aerith immediately dove her hands underneath it as she kissed him again, feeling every line and contour of his abs with her dainty fingers.
Cloud followed her bold lead as his hand bunched up her dress so that it rode up to her waist. He delved his hands beneath the flimsy cloth of her panties, feeling the bare skin of her ass before he gave it another tight squeeze.
"Open your mouth," he muttered in between their kisses.
Aerith gladly listened to his request. Her mind went blank as he prodded his warm tongue into her cavern, uncertain as he swiped at her tongue and felt the edges of her teeth as he explored.
When her legs gave away, their kiss got disconnected once more as he immediately bent his knees a bit so that his two arms could steady her.
"You okay?"
"Take me to my bed," Aerith commanded.
His response never came so fast before as he scooped her into his arms and carried her over to her bed. Placing her on her soft sheets, Cloud swiftly climbed over her as his knees sank into the softness of her mattress and lips traveled up her neck and onto her lips as he trapped her once more in his intoxicating kiss.
When he gave her his tongue again, she sucked on it delightfully as her hands wrapped around his neck to pull her closer to her.
"More, Cloud, more," she urged him. She knew that he was still uncertain with the way he kept his hands above her head, toying with the loose strands of her hair as he allowed her to have her way with his mouth.
Cloud didn't say anything as he listened to every word she spoke, giving her tongue one last suck before his mouth traveled down to kiss her collarbone.
Touching her felt like bathing in heaven. Every part of her body was beautiful, and Cloud never knew someone could be so perfect as he licked and kissed and sucked every inch of porcelain skin on her neck.
His ears heard music when Aerith moaned with the way his hand slid down to her chest, grabbing onto one mound and giving it a delicious roll against his hand. Not feeling enough of her through his blasted glove, he tugged it off with his teeth and tossed it onto the ground before he finally dove underneath the dress that pooled at her hips and felt for her fantastic breasts.
"Mhm," Aerith mewed as she felt his hot hand move underneath her dress. She could feel his tender motions as he gave her breast soft squeezes and kissed the same, sensitive spot on her neck over and over again.
She loved it, his gentle, thoughtful touches as she sighed again and again. Her core itched as her legs rubbed together, trying to relieve the tension as much as possible as Cloud spent every single second to worship every part of her body.
He was slow, but she didn't mind.
She had to cover her mouth when he took his hand out, slipped the strap off her shoulder to reveal her chest, and planted his mouth onto one of her pink buds.
"Ah, Cloud," she huffed as she fought to catch her breath, biting onto her finger.
He yanked his other glove off desperately before he sucked her, giving her other mound a gentle massage.
"Good?" he murmured. His teeth bit down on her bud before he soothed it with his skillful tongue. The only thing Aerith could do was lay there, watching his mouth do so many wonderful things to her as she nodded eagerly.
"It's really good."
Because she thought he was slow, Aerith didn't expect his hand to travel down and slip two fingers beneath her panties.
"Oh!" she exclaimed out loud, voice piercing the quietness of her room as she instantly clamped a hand over her mouth.
Cloud stopped his ministrations when he felt her.
"You're really wet," he groaned, the blood immediately rushing to his pants as he breathed into her dress. How much longer can he spend in this very difficult state?
"It's because of you," she continued to moan as he dipped a finger inside. "That's really good. Don't stop, don't s—ah."
He thrusted two fingers into her, and he nearly lost it with the way her walls instantly clamped onto him. It took all of his concentration to maintain an even breath as he curved his fingers into her, watching her to see what she liked as her eyes began to see stars in the ceiling.
Aerith began to have her doubts as waves of pleasure hit her like an ocean current. He seemed like a naïve guy who had never touched a woman before in his life. The way he awkwardly stumbled with his words and stupidly let out um's and ah's every time he replied to her was enough of an indicator, and she felt a bit like a predator as she targeted the youth younger than her by a year.
When he continued to hit that same spot that nearly made her fall off the edge with how good it felt after a few moments of experimenting, she knew that he knew how the whole thing worked.
"Cloud, stop now," she begged as he rammed his fingers into her at a speed that wouldn't have been possible to maintain with normal human strength. It was amazing how his wrist wasn't tired yet. "Stop, Cloud, st—mmph! Ah!"
Aerith couldn't stop him in time before he delivered her first orgasm of the night.
When he took his fingers out, the instant cold of the air met them as her slickness coated their lengths. Making sure she was watching, Cloud licked it clean, causing her to burn her first blush of the evening.
"You're amazing in more ways than one," she panted, her legs still spread open as he hovered over her to give her a kiss.
"Not really," was all he offered.
His eyes strayed away from hers just for a moment to look at the clock, and he wish he didn't.
Thirty-minutes left. That was all the time he had left with this goddess.
"Don't look anywhere else," Aerith said sweetly, hands reaching up to cup his face and forcing them to look her in the eye. "Look only at me. Let me show you."
He didn't think he would receive any relief from the tightness in his pants before Aerith sat up and began to work at his belt buckles. Just like his suspenders, it was unnecessarily difficult, and Cloud had to take over once more as he gently pushed her hands over to the side and undid it for her.
The moment his zipper was down, Aerith climbed over his lap and took it out, causing him to shudder with the way she grasped him with her hand.
"I told you to stop for a reason," Aerith muttered, and before he could ask her why, his vision went white as she gave him a long lick up his cock.
"Aerith," he panted, hand instantly flying to her head as he grasped onto her hair. He throbbed as he watched the woman before him eat him up, taking in his entire length in her small, tight, and soft mouth.
It took him all of his self-control to keep from pushing her head and just shove it in her, to fuck her mouth like crazy as he felt her tongue slide against him every time she bobbed her head back and forth. He didn't want to make her gag or hurt her in any way, but his patience was running thin as he felt it build up.
"Stop," he demanded, and he grabbed onto her hair and pulled out of her mouth as a small pop sounded when it left her. His cock hit against his stomach as it stood straight up, straining as it pleaded for something warmer, much softer than her mouth.
"Impressive self-control," Aerith said, but her voice was raspy as she coughed a little bit to clear up her throat.
The guilt instantly hit him a bit as he watched her feel her jaw, but all of it disappeared the moment she grabbed onto the hems of her dress and pulled it above her shoulders, revealing the body that deserved all the praise in the world. Without a warning, Aerith grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled her down with her to tumble back onto her welcoming sheets.
"Aerith, I don't know," he finally voiced his uncertainty. His voice was rough and raw as he did everything he could to hold himself back from just spreading her open. "I don't think we should—"
"Cloud, I just stripped," she interrupted him hotly. She took his hand and pressed it against her chest. Even though he seemed against it, his hand automatically squeezed her breast. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"
"What is it?"
"Cloud, I want you to fuck me."
That was enough for him.
All his strings broke as he instantly stood up on his knees and placed his hands on her milky thighs. Spreading them open, a hand positioned himself before he inserted it in her, a loud and audible groan echoing against the walls of her room as he felt her walls at the tip.
Elmyra could listen in for all he cared. He didn't give a shit anymore. He wanted to leave one last message to her before he exited Aerith's life forever.
The daughter that she sought to protect from him had been sucking on his cock happily just a minute ago, and in a few seconds, he was about to make his mark in her.
He wondered how that would make her feel if she knew.
But he wasn't doing this just to take a small revenge against Elmyra. This woman—she was so gorgeous, and being with her like this was more than he could ever ask for.
In twenty minutes, he was never going to see this woman again, but he made sure he had his heartbroken after he was done making her his.
"I'm not glass," Aerith gasped as she felt him slowly enter her as she felt that delicious, burning stretch. "Fuck me, Cloud, make me feel good."
Cloud grunted as he fully sheathed himself in her. He had to bite his lip hard, hard enough to draw blood, because just one more move and he would've come inside her already, and he didn't want to finish just yet before he gave Aerith a moment of sex that she'll never forget, even if she wanted to.
Aerith let out a long, drawn-out moan when Cloud pulled back and slammed right back into her, rocking the bed and its entire frame as he gripped onto her hips for leverage.
When he found enough control to not cum at every thrust, Cloud plunged into her mercilessly, eyes trained on hers to make sure he wasn't too rough as he felt a knot building up at his stomach as he slid in and out of her.
"So tight," he managed to say as he held a hand flat against her stomach to fuck her better. "So beautiful."
"Harder, fuck me harder," Aerith said with those seemingly innocent lips of hers. Her dirty-talk turned him on more than he expected as he bent over her and breathed into her neck, relishing in her addicting scent as his cock drove into her, making sure to hit the same spot that made her hands go crazy in his hair.
When she purposely tightened her walls and clenched onto him, he gasped loudly as he ceased his thrusts.
"Don't do that," he warned, voice cracking. "It's too tight—I'll cum quicker."
"Then do it," she whispered tantalizing into his ear. "I want to make you feel good too. Go ahead."
And she brought her hips up so that she could meet him, instantly shutting him up as he pushed into her again, harder and faster and deeper.
"Do you feel good?" he panted. He wanted nothing more than to just walk out knowing he gave her the night of her life. "Does it feel good for you?"
"Yes, don't stop, Cloud. It feels so good," Aerith hummed as she met her hips with every thrust. "I love it, I love it so much, don't stop."
Cloud mustered all the energy left from his tiresome thrusting as he drove deep inside of her one last time.
"Cloud, I'm going to cum," Aerith groaned, and he nodded as he bent down and gave her a short kiss.
"I'm close too. Cum first."
Aerith moaned for him one last time before her second orgasm drowned all of her senses, making her vision go blurry for a moment as her ears rung. He thrusted hard to make sure she could ride out the entirety of her orgasm before he felt her walls loosen, and a satisfied sigh escaped her lips.
Cloud turned her over so that he could fuck her in the angle he wanted before he joined her. When the knot finally unraveled, he quickly pulled out of her and splashed his white liquid onto her, milking the rest of his orgasm in his hand as he let out a low groan, breathless as he felt some sweat mat the sides of his forehead.
Aerith sat up from the bed and gave him another kiss before she smiled, cupping his adorable face into her hands.
"I was on a pill, you could've done it inside of me," Aerith giggled. He was so much more thoughtful than she assumed he would be, and it made her heart soar.
"It's fine," he roughly grunted, and he immediately got off her bed and redid his belts.
Aerith watched with observant eyes as he instantly grew cold again. He automatically picked up the gloves and his brace and suspenders that were so carelessly tossed to the floor before he wore them again. Not once did he meet her eyes as he went over to where he had placed his sword and swung it across his back again.
Then, his eyes saw the clock.
Midnight.
His time with her was over.
"… I guess this is goodbye?" Aerith softly whispered, and Cloud simply nodded.
"I hope… you get to speak with the flowers better," he gently said as he tightened his suspenders again. All of his reasoning came back as the fantasies that he just experienced faded away. A part of him regretted it, but he knew he would've done it again in a heartbeat if time rewound itself.
"Give me another kiss," Aerith requested, and he blinked at her. When he was about to refuse her, she shook her head and beckoned him over. "One more."
Slowly, Cloud went over to the edge of her bed and bent down, meeting her lips in one last kiss that felt so much more than their first one. His mouth lingered over hers for a second before he pulled away.
"I'm going now. I hope Elmyra doesn't get too mad at you."
"Haha, thanks."
Cloud willed himself to look away before he made it towards the door, opened it, and closed it.
Goodbye, Aerith.
The steps he took that led him to the outside of her house were excruciatingly hard as his mind was still trapped in the daze that Aerith had put him under. It felt surreal, as if the time they just spent together was just a figment of his imagination, a mere illusion created by his desire to stay with her. He never thought he could be so soft like this, and even though he wanted to hate it, the effect she had on him, he knew he couldn't as he looked at her vast gardens underneath the moonlight.
"Time to see what reactor Barret wants me to bomb this time," he said to himself in dark humor. It was his way to return back to his own world—a world that didn't have her in it.
So when he was about to say his last farewells to Sector 5 when he reached the end of it, he had to make sure Aerith hadn't fed him any sort of drug earlier when he suddenly saw her familiar figure pop up at the end of the tunnel in her usual, cheery mirth.
"Gotcha!" she squealed, and she skipped up to him and held her hands up at her hips. "Well, look who it is. Talk about a coincidence."
He couldn't keep the surprise from showing on his face, but it quickly evaporated into disapproval as his eyebrows instantly knitted together.
"What're you doing here?"
"Waiting."
"… Why?"
"Because I'm not sick of you yet!"
At that instant, he knew that he couldn't get rid of her as easily as he thought he could. Somehow, someway, it would always be her way, no matter how hard he tried to fight it, even if they had lived two worlds apart.
Not questioning what sort of black magic she pulled out of her sleeves to arrive here before him, Cloud simply managed a grunt before he moved past her, but he couldn't keep the smile that fought to take over his face.
Midnight.
He was going to have a lot more of them with her, so it seemed.