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The sun hung high in the sky when Cloud called for a rest.

"I'm gonna go use the john," Barret announced, stretching. Tifa nodded, and Aerith watched as she tugged her foot behind her back to pull the ache out of her thighs.

Cloud held up a hand, staring straight ahead, expression level and casual. "Hold on," he commanded. "Wait a sec."

Is something wrong? Aerith sank to the ground, sitting cross legged and leaning back on her palms. The earth felt soft in her hands.

Red XIII padded up next to him, cocking his head to look him in the eyes. "You noticed it, too, then?"

"Mm," Cloud grunted, nodding. "We're being followed."

Eyes widening, Aerith tightened her grip in the dirt, moss squelching between her fingers. Barret moved to shout, but Cloud covered his mouth with a glove before he could speak.

"It's just one person," Cloud continued, as Barret floundered, face reddening. Cloud winced. "I don't think it's Shinra. Still, though..."

"It's certainly not Shinra," Red XIII countered. "She only smells of the forest. Shinra's scent is always too clean, or like metal." His snout wrinkled at the mere thought of it.

Cloud's eyebrows creased as he stared down at the lion-dog. "It's a girl?"

Red XIII nodded, and Cloud pulled his hand from Barret's mouth to rest it against his chin in contemplation.

"Whoever's following us, come on out!" Barret shouted, as soon as he was freed. He raised his arm to the sky to spray the clouds with bullets. "This isn't a game!" Another bout of gunfire rang into the air. "Do you hear me?!"

Aerith tucked her face into her hands, squishing her own cheeks, and watched as what was meant to be a strategy meeting devolved into an argument.

Her heart beat fast in her chest at the thought of somebody tailing them. She trusted Red XIII's assessment that it wasn't Shinra, but still - another run-in with Reno, or worse, Tseng wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to.

After a few minutes of yelling, everything settled, both Cloud and Barret's bristling tempers mild enough to continue. Aerith sighed and steadied herself.

Cloud pulled a map he'd purchased in the last village they visited from his pack, and knelt to the ground so everyone could see.

"This is the path we were gonna take," Cloud explained, gesturing with his finger. Aerith smiled softly at the sight of Red XIII resting on Cloud's forearm as he pointed. She tilted her head to watch Cloud's face. "But I think it's better if we throw off our buddy by taking this rocky path here."

The map indicated a steep incline, rough with jagged edges.

Aerith bit her lip as her heart fell. A cliff..? She wasn't any good at climbing... and she didn't want to slow the team down any more than she already did.

"Isn't there another way?" She asked, hoping to sound innocuous. "We could walk along the creek over here."

Cloud shook his head, and Aerith resisted the urge to pout.

"No. It's too far out, and it's not enough of a deterrent. She could just keep following behind us." He paused, and turned to Aerith. His lip quirked subtly, knowingly. "Plus, the water would make it way easier to lose track of her."

It'd been days since her fiasco with the fire materia. Cloud had been... gentle with her ever since, in his own way - never pushing too hard, only speaking to her when she started the conversation. The entire thing mortified her, but she was grateful for the breathing room.

Maybe it was time to be a grown-up about this.

Aerith purged any last remnants of hurt from her expression. She inhaled deeply, and smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress. "Well... Whatever Cloud thinks is best, then."

She stared up at the faded blue sky as Tifa, Cloud, and Red XIII ironed out the remaining kinks in the plan. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the rocks were super stable! Or maybe the path led straight across, instead of winding uphill. She wouldn't know until she arrived.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and ignored the trepidation sinking deep into her chest.

~

Aerith should have figured.

The cliff loomed intimidatingly, casting long shadows over her and the rest of her friends. Footholds were scattered sparsely across the face of it, and they looked liable to break off with very little pressure. The incline wasn't completely vertical, but it was close - her eyes went wide with fear, frozen in place even as her companions prepared themselves for the climb upwards.

Cloud checked to see if the rope he carried was long enough to tie at the top, but one glance from Tifa and Barret had both of them shaking their heads. Tears welled up in the back of Aerith's throat as she imagined herself tumbling down the rocks, with nothing to pull herself up.

She already stumbled every few feet when making her way through the debris in Midgar, and this seemed like it would be about a hundred times harder. Defeatedly, she relented - she probably wouldn't be able to be a grown-up about this, after all.

Slowly but surely, the others began making their way, until it was only her and Cloud still standing at the bottom. Cloud watched carefully as the others climbed, minding them to ensure they didn't make any mistakes.

"I think..." Aerith started, slowly, coughing as she forced an awkward smile onto her face. "I think it's best if I double back and take the long way around."

She could manage a walk on her own, surely. And perhaps she could divert their hunter's attention from the rest of them.

Cloud snapped to look at her, something steeled and icy lingering behind his gaze. "You're not doing that."

Aerith resisted the urge to stamp her foot like a petulant child. "Someone smart like Cloud should realize someone like me couldn't-"

"Then I'll carry you up," he interrupted, determined and severe. "We're not splitting the party."

Aerith pressed her lips together, eyes squeezing shut. She couldn't go up by herself, but the thought of being carried up was humiliating. Especially if it was Cloud. She sucked in a breath, and relaxed her face on the exhale.

"Please?" She asked softly, glancing rapidly between her bodyguard and the ground. She tried to plead further, but no words came to her.

Cloud said nothing. He only turned back to the others. His vision flickered between each of them to ensure they wouldn't fall.

One by one, the others reached the summit. First Red XIII, then Tifa, then Barret. Aerith squinted and watched with jealousy as they completed the climb, just three tiny blobs in the distance.

"Come on," said Cloud, halting her thoughts. He'd moved to stand just in front of her while she was distracted, and his pauldron was gone, presumably stuffed into his pack, which he'd shifted to lay flat across his chest.

Now, he held out the fastening belt for his sword. "Put this on."

Aerith pursed her lips, but nonetheless, she followed orders. She huffed as she undid a few more buttons of her dress for ease of mobility, then took the belt, raising her arms to fit it over her jacket and stave. Cloud deftly adjusted its straps, hands light against the fabric of Aerith's clothing.

Then, he led her by the hand to the edge of the rocks, where his sword rested, sparkling in the light. Aerith remained quiet, following plaintively behind him.

"It's heavy," he said, dropping her hand and heaving the weapon up by the handle. "Be careful."

"I'm a tough girl from the Midgar slums," Aerith said cheerfully, though her heartbeat quickened in hesitance. "I can handle it."

Cloud nodded, smirking faintly at her. He fit the sword against the specialized magnet, which now rested at the center of Aerith's back - easily, as if it weighed nothing.

So it took Aerith off guard when she stumbled forward with the enormous weight of the blade, catching her hands on her thighs for balance. It must have weighed nearly as much as she did. And Cloud carried this with him all the time? He was about to carry her and the sword simultaneously!

It must have been the special surgery all SOLDIER members received. There was no other explanation for it. But still, the thought overwhelmed her - even quiet, awkward Cloud's strength was like nothing she'd ever seen. And, in comparison, she was...

Well, she needed help with hiking. Cloud crouched before her, gesturing with his gloves for her to clamber up onto his back.

With one last deep breath, Aerith rested her hands on his shoulders, and carefully knotted her legs around his torso. Cloud grunted low in his throat at the additional weight, but held steady as she wrapped her arms around his neck and secured herself in place.

"Alright, Cloud," she whispered in his ear. "Ready."

Her breath fluttered against the hair at the nape of his neck. It must have tickled - his head twitched a little, before he rose to his full height.

A squawk escaped Aerith at the sudden movement.

"Onward, steed!" She joked, after catching her breath. There was an idea: if she tried hard enough, maybe this whole situation could be funny instead of terrible. "Your hair is even like a chocobo's," she added, running her fingers through it.

But Cloud only grunted again in response, and his body was warm and sure against hers. His hands gripped firmly around her thighs, as he hoisted her upward to balance himself better. The leather of his gloves felt strange against her bare skin.

Aerith hid her face between his neck and her arm just as Cloud released her legs, and pulled the both of them up onto the cliff face.

It was an arduous task. Not just for Cloud - though he had his work cut out for him, judging by the groans that kept tumbling out of him every other time he moved - but for Aerith, too. Keeping her legs clamped around his midsection was harder than it seemed.

Her mood wasn't getting any better, either. Cloud kept diverting her attempts to lighten things up, cleaving through them swiftly like he would a monster with his sword.

"I wish it were Tifa carrying me right now," she grumbled, wrenching her fingers into the knit of his sweater.

Cloud grunted. "Tifa would have fallen backwards already," he told her, reaching for a handhold a foot above them. "You're not light."

"Oh, you-!"

Without thinking, Aerith scrabbled blindly, smacking him in the nose with the heel of her palm - causing Cloud to wobble backwards.

He managed to clutch at the handhold at the last moment, gasping as he hauled the both of them flush against the cliff face.

She winced as it sunk in what she'd done, biting her lip in guilt.

Cloud stopped. His shoulders heaved as he steadied himself, calming his temper. The setting sun beat down on them with fervor.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't actively try to kill us," he finally muttered, frayed with frustration.

Aerith hummed strainedly in response, but didn't apologize. Inside, she was near overflowing, and her clenched fists trembled against him. She wouldn't be able to knock them backwards off a cliff in the first place if Cloud had just let her walk.

But... She knew she was being childish, too. Shame overcame her, swirling in the pit of her stomach as she felt Cloud against her, his chest rising and falling, sweat falling in beads onto her forearms where they clutched around his neck.

He was working hard. She was sorry. But the strength to tell him so still never came.

"I might not be light, but you aren't so nice to smell," she told him instead, as he pushed them both upwards, resuming their ascent. She wasn't lying - they hadn't had a chance to really bathe for days, now, and it showed.

Cloud sighed, shaking his head. "Stop dishing what you can't take."

Aerith pouted, feeling caught. It wasn't like he was wrong.

So she finally relented. She fell into a terse silence, clutching Cloud tightly, and did her best to put all her focus toward keeping both her and their weapons secure as he climbed.

Her mind couldn't help but wander, though. For a moment, she caught herself thinking about how nice it felt to be pressed close to him like this - but quickly snuffed that out. It was too embarrassing to indulge in that sort of thinking, and in any case, she was mad at him.

She wondered if he even would have let her accompany him out of Midgar if they hadn't been driven out by force. She figured the answer was probably a resounding no .

Aerith wanted to follow him without being protected, or carried. She wanted to travel, and help people, and learn to like fighting as much as the others did. She wanted to get stronger, and not get left behind again...

Maybe it wasn't really Cloud that she was so angry with.

She whimpered softly to herself, arms and legs trembling with the effort of staying attached to him. This was all too much to carry. Would it really have been so difficult to take the creek? Would it really have gotten them caught? Maybe they could have just faced whoever was following them. Everyone in their party was so strong... It wasn't like the others couldn't handle it.

They reached a level area on the incline, and when Cloud immediately went to clamber over it, Aerith worked up the courage to speak again.

"Is it okay if we take a break?" She whispered, voice wavering.

"You're not the one doing the work," Cloud complained, but tugged at her legs to set her down anyway.

Aerith crumpled to the ground, and scooted to lean against the rock wall, tucking her knees against her chin and carefully adjusting the blade behind her. She swallowed hoarsely, eyes shut, as she bit back tears once again.

Boots clinked against the earth, and when her eyes flicked open a crack, Cloud was staring down at her. He cast her in shadow, blocking out the orange and gold remnants of the sunlight. Trapping her.

"Alright," he told her, face set even and stern. "Tell me."

Aerith looked away, biting the inside of her cheek. Her voice sounded far too young when she replied, "It's nothing to worry about."

Cloud knocked her worn leather boot lightly with his own black one. "You haven't been talking to me."

"I don't always feel like talking to you," she harrumphed stubbornly, undercut with facade and sarcasm, as she squeezed her eyes shut hard. "It's very bold of you to assume that I do."

"Okay," he said, then paused for a long time. He stepped away, glancing up at the summit of the cliff - before stepping back towards her, and setting his gaze downward again. He was drenched in sweat, out of breath, and absolutely beautiful. "What if I want to talk to you, though?"

Aerith could only hum, and tug her knees closer to her chest. Her cheeks burned both at his face and his admission.

"You are mad," Cloud accused softly, dipping to his knee to sit in front of her.

"No..." Aerith protested weakly, meeting his gaze for a moment before her eyes darted away. He was so close. It was easier before, when he wasn't looking at her - she could pretend he really was a chocobo, and not the boy she...

"I just-" She bit her lip as she finally spat it out. "I can't fight, and now I'm not even allowed to walk by myself."

It reminded her old fights with Tseng, when she was a child.

Cloud's eyebrows wrenched together, and he pressed forward to rest a gloved hand against her forearm. "Aerith..."

"It's not really you," she interrupted, frantically scrubbing the tears from her burning eyes. "It's probably bad of me to take it out on you. Maybe I'm from the Midgar slums, but I'm not so tough, after all."

From the moment they left the city limits, the towers of evidence of Aerith's sheltered life stacked higher and higher. She was supposed to be good with materia, but she couldn't even do that properly - healing was all she could do. She walked slowly, and ran even slower.

And now she had to be carried up a stupid hill, because she knew she'd trip and fall if she tried on her own. Plus, on top of all that - poor, awkward little Cloud had to approach her to resolve a fight she'd started.

Cloud rubbed the bridge of his nose roughly between the thumb and index finger on his free hand. "Let me-" he started, then stopped. "Okay."

"You don't have to-" Aerith started, hiding her face in her forearms.

"No, Aerith." Cloud pulled at her wrist, and she gave in instantly even as he pulled away, hesitantly meeting his eyes. "You're driving me insane. Just gimme a sec."

"Alright..." She agreed weakly. She was driving him insane? She didn't really understand why that surprised her, considering, but...

Cloud huffed in frustration as he finally found his words.

"It is a hundred times easier to carry you than it would've been to watch you walk out on your own," he explained sternly. "Do you get it yet?"

Aerith froze, and she felt her face go from burning to blazing.

Sure, Cloud wanted to keep her safe - she knew that. Her mother had obviously given him some sort of talking-to when they'd met, and it was surely natural for a boy to want to protect the girl he liked. But hearing him say it , by choice, was an entirely different animal.

Aerith let her teasing facade take over, to mask her overwhelm. His words sank into her chest.

"I understand that my Cloud is playing my knight in shining armor," she acquiesced, turning her head up with mock primness. Teasing turned out to be a much easier task now that she wasn't feeling quite as hurt. "So I suppose it's alright to let him keep his role."

"Bodyguard," he corrected grimly, lifting himself to his feet. He extended another hand, and she took it, allowing him to hoist her to her feet.

He kept a hold on her for just a moment. The blazing on Aerith's cheeks wouldn't be fizzling out any time soon, much to her chagrin.

"Bodyguard," she repeated quietly, nodding. She was the one who hired him, after all - but the reminder of the payment they'd agreed upon wasn't any help in dissipating the whirlpool of crazy in her head. Every passing day made their eventual date feel heavier and heavier.

Aerith scrambled back onto his back, and they went on with their climb. Cloud grumbled, panting hard, and she pressed her hands against his collarbone, spaced out and lost in thought.

She couldn't stand how her legs twitched with discomfort at holding the same position, when Cloud was the one doing all the heavy lifting. She squeezed the boy in front of her gently.

Aerith could tolerate it for now, if just to give him some peace of mind. The look in his eyes when he'd talked to her earlier caught in her head.

Cloud was so handsome. And he was a kind boy, to carry her all this way. She thought that maybe, she'd chosen her bodyguard well.

Perhaps even a little too well.

They began to near the summit. She could hear Tifa and Barret bickering about something or other, voices wafting through the air. Soon she would be able to disentangle herself from him, and they could go about their day as usual - no coldness between them, no running away, no avoiding. Just the usual.

"Hey," Cloud said, pulling her from her thoughts as he paused to rest a moment. "Aerith."

"Cloud?" She responded. "Why'd we stop?"

She watched as his gloves flexed against the rock he was holding onto. "I think I figured out your materia issue."

A bead of sweat glided down her cheek, and Aerith resisted the urge to hide her face in his neck.

"Hm?" She hummed. Hadn't they talked about this enough, already?

She would have preferred to forget about that day entirely, and never have it brought up again. And if Cloud was going to carry her, then why should she have to think about that, too? She could try to accept being protected, but she didn't know if she could handle both that and facing her lack of skill head-on at the same time.

She tensed against him and, despite her worries, didn't interrupt as he spoke. She wasn't going to let her childish belligerence get in her way anymore.

"You're an Ancient," he started, and Aerith repressed a wince. "You're better with healing materia than any of us. You're powerful. What happened with the fire materia... that's not normal."

Aerith sucked in a breath and held it.

Maybe she could climb the last few meters herself, after all. Then again, with his sword on her back...

"That's- I didn't mean it like that," Cloud backtracked, evidently sensing her anguish. He couldn't even see her face right now - was she really that easy to read? He continued, "I meant that's not normally what goes wrong. Usually the caster ends up misdirecting the flames, or nothing happens. But for you, it just kept burning, and the fire spread."

"What does that mean?" Aerith said measuredly, attempting to keep her tone even. Every word out of his mouth felt like another knife.

"I mean that when you use healing materia, there's no danger of over- healing someone," he replied. "You get a hell of a lot more out of a healing spell than I do. It's the same principle. You're powerful, and the fire materia reacts to that - but unlike healing, there's such a thing as too much fire."

"Oh." The puzzle pieces clicked into place. "Huh."

"I bet you could train yourself to control it. But it might be easier to start with something that's a little less destructive."

"Maybe," Aerith muttered, having reached her limit several minutes ago. She wasn't above begging for mercy here, not when even the thought of pressing a new marble of materia into her stave made her stomach turn. "We can talk about it another day, my noble chocobo. For now, let's go meet the others, 'kay?"

Cloud paused, and she watched him lift a glove off the cliff face, hesitate, then place it back against the rock.

"Okay," he agreed, before hauling the two of them upwards.

By the time they reached the summit, Aerith was sure her legs were going to fall off. She pried them off of Cloud's midsection and immediately stumbled under the weight of his gear as soon as her boots touched the ground. Tifa helped her strip off the heavy belt, and Aerith nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck just to feel her squirm.

"Any sign of her?" Cloud asked, still flushed and sweaty from the exertion.

Red XIII shook his head, fur fluttering with the movement. "Not for now. But she seems determined. I'm sure she will resume tracking us shortly."

Barret groaned loudly, throwing his head back. "Why don't we just face this brat next time we run into her?"

Cloud shot a glance Aerith's way, mako infused eyes glittering in the setting sun.

"I don't see why not," he said. "We're a strong group. We can take her."

The soft smile playing at his lips had Aerith's heart fluttering wildly in her chest. She gave him a grin in return when she offered, "Well, whatever Cloud thinks is best."

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