I decided to steal some challenge promps from LJ, and started writing for Cloud and Aerith. If I stick with the project, there will eventually be 100. ^_^ I have 3 to share with you all. Please enjoy!

061. Winter

It just wasn't Cloud Strife's season. As soon as the first chill hit the air, and the vegetation started to die, he zoomed off as fast Fenrir could take him. Sometimes he fled to Cosmo Canyon, where it was warm to the point of being uncomfortable. Other times it was Wutai, or Costa Del Sol where there was bright sun and lush vegetation all year round. Unless there was something urgent to call him back to the snow locked continent, he would not return until the weather turned once more.

Red XIII who nearly always accompanied him, having a low tolerance for winter weather himself, had never asked why Cloud had felt the need to flee to tropical or desert climates. He didn't have to. Not everyone else seemed to understand, questioning the red creature until he growled at them to go away. "There's nothing wrong with him," he'd tell them irritatedly. "Let him be."

But if he noticed about the worry he was causing everyone, the blond didn't care. While blizzards raged back in Midgar and Edge, he would surround himself with plant life and run his delivery services to local areas. Once, forced back into the winter-chocked Edge to help Tifa and Barrett, he had become so despondent and moody that Tifa had feared he was sinking back into that deep depression. But as soon as the task was completed and he had returned to the warmth and sun, Cloud had perked up at once.

Red knew the real reason, trotting at Cloud's side as he ran an errand for a flower shop, watching as the spiky haired man paused to sniff deeply the scent of the fresh, dewy blooms. The look that crossed his face was indescribable, but anyone who knew Cloud would recognize it. It was the look he wore when he remembered her. Aerith had always loved the warmth. It was simply easier for him to bear her physical absence where the planet's plant life thrived.

Winter just wasn't his season.


059. Food

"Oh Cloud," she sighed, placing a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Might as well kill me before the others get to me first," he said glumly, staring down at the remnants of what had once been potentially edible food but was now a blackened, burned mess.

A smile twitched Aerith's lips, but she knew Cloud wouldn't appreciate her laughing, so she remained solemn as she took the pot from his hands. "It's their own fault," she said mildly, scraping the scorched food into the garbage can. "You warned them you couldn't cook."

"I don't care if you can't cook; just get your spiky rear in gear! We all have to take a turn!" Cloud muttered, repeating Yuffie's words from an hour ago. "She can eat burned food for all I care."

She couldn't help the giggle, trying her best to smother it. "Well, it may not come to that. If you let me help you, we can start again," she suggested delicately. Cloud's pride was a fragile thing, after all. It wouldn't do to smash what was left of it into bits.

"It won't do any good. I'll find some way to screw it up," he said gloomily.

This time she couldn't hold back her laughter, a sound like silver bells. "Oh Cloud," she chuckled, shaking her head. "You're just. . .just so adorable." I love you, her heart whispered. Another laugh escaped her lips at the bewildered expression on his face, and she reached out, patting his hand. "Don't worry. We'll make sandwiches. I don't think even you could mess that up!"


028. Children

“That’s it!! I can’t take it anymore!” Tifa had shouted nearly an hour ago, throwing her hands in the air. Whirling on the blond who was sitting in a corner booth by himself, working on some paperwork, she pointed at him. “You, take the children somewhere! I don’t care where; just get them out of my hair!”

It had been one of those days where Marlene and Denzel had been whiny, rowdy, and just plain irritating. And so, unable to concentrate on her work, Tifa had pushed the youngsters off onto Cloud, who had not a clue how to deal with them. He had taken them outside to play, but after having them whine at him that there was nothing to do outside, and practically at his whit’s end, he decided to take them to the Church. Marlene had readily agreed, and Denzel a tad more reluctantly, so he put them on the back of the motorcycle and set off.

The two burst into the dusty, silent church laughing and teasing each other as they skipped toward the flower patch, Cloud following more slowly behind them. He sat on a pew nearby, watching as they knelt to care for the flowers, engaging in some game he didn’t recognize. Mako eyes noted the way the pool of sunshine glinted off Denzel’s hair, turning it into spun gold, and the illuminated pink ribbon around Marlene’s ponytail. A soft sigh escaped his lips, leaning back slightly on the wooden back of the pew.

“Remind you of someone?”

Cloud blinked, momentarily startled, before relaxing again, his voice muted to keep the children from hearing him. “Who?”

“The children, of course!” There was the faint echo of silvery laughter. “Look at them! Isn’t it like looking in a mirror?”

Confused, he looked at the children once more. Marlene had woven a crown of flowers, placing them on Denzel’s head with a flourish. The boy, blushing madly, muttered something inaudible, making the girl giggle in delight. “I don’t really know what you mean about the mirror. . . but Marlene. . . she reminds me more and more of you every day.”

“She does, huh?” There was a light, feathery touch on his arm, causing shivers to race up his spine. “I suppose then that you can’t see how much Denzel is like you?”

“Like me?” he repeated, startled.

Again her laughter came. “Of course. He is the child of our souls after all.” As if sensing his surprise, she responded, “Why else do you think I brought him to you?”

“I don’t know,” he whispered lamely, still stunned. “But Aerith. . . what did you mean by Marlene and Denzel being a mirror? A mirror for what?”

There was the hint of a breath by his ear, sending goose bumps down his neck. “Silly Cloud. If Marlene’s like me and Denzel’s like you, then. . .”

“You mean they’re-?” he blurted out, his face reddening at the implications.

The flower girl’s sweet laughter warmed his soul. “Afraid I can’t tell you for sure, dear heart. You’ll just have to wait and watch, won’t you?”

Staring at the children together, he thought for a moment he could see them as they would be in the future: together, he and Aerith’s sacrifices had given countless children like Marlene and Denzel a chance at happiness.

He glanced at the space beside him, staring at the translucent young woman in pink, staring into the depths of her emerald eyes. “If they really are anything like us, then I guess I already know the answer.”

*huggles Alantie*

You have no idea how much I enjoyed reading these 3 short tales. All three were incredibly cute and heart-warming! Your ideas are really fantastic, and wow, LJ has such awesome ideas and projects. I demand that you share the rest of your little stories with us, pretty please? I don't want to miss out on any of them... :wub:

Aww, thanks so much! *huggles HD in return* :huggle:

I'm so glad that you enjoyed them so much! ^_^ When I write more, I'll be certain to post them here! Keep an eye out for them! :D

And your sig is to die for. Van= :heart:

I agree, drabbles like these are love. Keep going the good work!
:)

Thanks! :huggle: I'm glad you liked them!

And now, I have another one for you guys! Hope you'll like this one as much!


025. Strangers

Aerith’s endless selflessness still stunned Cloud, even after months of knowing her. He had never believed it possible for someone to give and give so much, but with her, there seemed to be no end to her generosity.

They had arrived at Gold Saucer, and after dividing up their collected gil as evenly as possible, the group had split up- off to all different parts of the park for relaxation and a well deserved break from their quest. Yuffie had dragged Vincent off to watch one of the plays, and Red had tagged along while Tifa and Cait Sith had gone to the arcade and Cid and Barret had made their way to the Chocobo races to place bets. As for the other members of the party. . .

Cloud had wandered around uncomfortably for awhile, not sure how to spend his gil. He had dropped in on each of his companions before moving onto the next, feeling restless and bored. After playing a few rounds of arcade games with Tifa and Cait Sith, he realized that he had not seen any sign of Aerith and had left in search of her. After turning Gold Saucer practically upside down without seeing even a hair, he suddenly wondered if she had maybe taken the cable car back down to Coral.

Acting on this thought, he took the path he thought she must have gone, and no sooner had he entered the run down, broken mining town did he see her. She was smiling radiantly, a crowd of people surrounding the lithe girl so that Cloud could only see flashes of her; the pink of her dress, a flash of the silver bangles on a pale wrist, mahogany hair, and emerald eyes. Trying to get a better look, Cloud moved closer, and his jaw dropped as the realization of what Aerith was doing struck him.

At her feet was a huge sack that he had no idea how she had carried, bulging with supplies. Apparently Aerith had asked the townsfolk to gather, and she was now distributing the various items such as blankets, clothing, and food. Eventually the group thinned out and returned to their own tasks, leaving the flower girl to fold up the bag neatly. She started to walk in his direction, and caught sight of him. Smiling, she waved and ran to meet him, her long mahogany braid flying out behind her.

“Cloud! What are you doing here?” she asked, flicking her bangs back from her green eyes as she slipped her arm through his.

“I could ask you the same question,” he responded, allowing her to steer him back towards the cable car. “I saw what you were doing.”

Puzzled the girl cocked her head to the side. “Yes. . .” she responded slowly. “And?”

“Why?” Seeing the confusion in her expression, Cloud tried to explain as they took their seats on the car, waiting for it to return them to Gold Saucer. “I mean, why did you spend your gil on them? They’re strangers- you don’t know them at all. Who are they to you Aerith that you would do something like that for them?”

Aerith pursed her lips as she considered his question. “Well, I suppose I could have spent my gil playing games, or buying toys and things I don’t really need, but that seemed silly to me. Then I remembered all these people, and how much they struggle to make ends meet. So I thought, well, why not? They could certainly use the gil more than I can!”

“But. . .”

“They’re strangers?” she finished. “Should that matter? You were a stranger to me when you fell through the roof of my church, and I helped you. Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet!” Aerith tapped the end of his nose, smiling at the expression in his sapphire eyes before resting her head on his shoulder with a happy, contented sigh.

Numbed, Cloud sat there, her words still washing over him. ‘You were a stranger to me when you fell through the roof of my church. . .’ What would his life have been like if Aerith was not as kind to strangers as she was? The thought chilled him.

“Thank the heavens for your selflessness, Aerith,” he thought silently, closing his eyes as he allowed his cheek to rest against her soft brown hair. “Thank heavens for you.”

Oh my God.
That almost (almost mind you) made me cry.
GAH! Time for me to write some drabbles .
Oh, and you are an a amazing writer.

Wow Alantie! your stories are beautiful they capture Cloud and Aerith so well and their interactions with each other are incredible! AHHHH YOUR WRITING ROCKS!!!!! keep it up!

illwaitforever1: Thank you ever so much! :blush: I'm so glad you liked it! ^_^ And yes, write some yourself! The world can never have enough CxA. :D

Aerithstrife_7: Wow, thanks for your kind praise! :huggle: I'm blushing like an idiot over here, lol.

Those were amazing!

I liked the food one best. The image of Cloud burning the dinner was so funny because I could totally imagine it lol.

If you're interested in more, on fanfiction.net two CxA authors have a 100 drabble Clorith challenge. The words are on my profile since I think they finished it now
It would be great if you posted on there so we can beat the CloTis lol

Thanks ever so much! Lol, yes, I can rather picture Cloud burning the food too. Poor guy, I can't imagine that he's much of a cook! As for the challenge words, I'm definately interested! I'll take a look at them, and when I finish these, I might start on them! And sure, I'll post these up on FF! They'll be under my username, Alantie Mistaniu!

And now, I have a brand new one for you all! I hope you will enjoy! ^_^

036. Smell

Not for the first time, Aerith was glad it was her turn to do the laundry. While the others usually complained, particularly Yuffie, who moaned about handling bloody, muddy, and smelly clothing. Even Vincent, normally quiet and willing to help had voiced loud objections to the unwanted task. But not Aerith. She never minded.

Her arms full of clothing, she traipsed happily towards the large wooden tub, a bottle of cleaning detergent balanced precariously on the top of the pile. She knelt beside it, checking the water temperature. It was still warm, courtesy of Cloud. It was as far as he was willing to go in helping her with the laundry. He would fill the tub and heat the water, and quickly leave, as if fearing she would ask him to stay and help.

The thought of brave, tough Cloud running from something like laundry made the flower girl giggle. A smile still resting on her lips she hummed cheerfully as she poured the soap into the water, the blue liquid falling through in spirals. Removing her bracelets she plunged her arms into it, mixing and stirring the water until frothy bubbles began to form.

Making a sound of satisfaction, she sat back on her heels and began to sort through the clothing. A jacket of Cid’s, smeared in grim from working on something mechanical no doubt was the first thing her fingers touched and she set it aside quickly. Next came one of Barrett’s vests, a skirt belonging to Tifa, one of Yuffie’s tank tops, and a pair of Vincent’s black pants, all coated in some slimy green gore came next. Wrinkling her nose in disgust she placed them into the appropriate piles with a sigh. It was times like this she was glad Red XIII didn’t wear clothing. All he needed to do was take a dip in the nearest water source and he was as good as new.

Still humming, she tossed a pair of socks and a jacket of her own into a pile when her fingers touched something soft and dark in color. Lifting it, she realized it was one of Cloud’s shirts, but unlike most of the other cloths, it wasn’t soaked in blood or filth in any form, merely in need of washing. Slowly she lifted it to her face, sniffing delicately. Yes, there it was- no, not the scent of mud or oil or anything like that. It was purely his scent, unlike anything she knew. Aerith pressed her face against the soft folds, inhaling deeply. A musty, sort of masculine smell of grass and cedar, fresh like the wind, and something else, something she couldn’t quite identify. . .

“Oooh, so this is why you like laundry day so much, eh Aerith?” a chipper voice behind her chirped slyly.

Startled, Aerith lowered the shirt to stare into Yuffie’s mischievous dark eyes. “Yuffie- it’s not what you think,” she began, but the ninja cut her off.

“Oh I think it’s exactly what I think it is.” The younger girl’s smirk widened. “Does Cloud know you like the way he smells?”

“Um. . .” She suddenly found herself at a loss for words, her green eyes wide as she continued to gawk at her friend.

“That’s what I thought,” she replied, her grin growing wider as she pivoted towards the camp. “Oh Cllooooouuuudddd!!!” Yuffie sang out, giggling as she started to run from the suddenly angry flower girl.

“Yuffie!!!!”