The blonde smirked at her and threw the keychain in her direction. Aerith caught it softly and whispered a silent ‘thanks’. Cloud shrugged and returned his gaze to the windows. The brunette turned her attention to her pen and notebook and began copying from the blackboard. She glanced at Cloud at the end of her eyes and smiled.

Maybe this beginning wouldn’t be so bad after all…

“Ms. Gainsborough!”

Aerith stood up instantly and looked forward.

“Hai!!”

.-+-.

Aerith sighed as she walked down the hallways with her lunched box in hand. She wanted to get away from the noisy and stuffy classroom and be somewhere quiet enough to contemplate. Her emerald eyes sparkled when she saw the fire exit at the shadowy part of the building. The door creaked slowly and she stepped forward into a breezy balcony. Aerith smiled happily as she took in all the fresh air into her lungs. While enjoying her moment of peace, a voice coughed from behind causing her to stop at the peak of her respiration. She looked back to see two sapphire orbs staring straight at her.

“Cloud?!” She said in a high-pitched voice.

The blonde grimaced at her shock and exhaled heavily. Aerith stared at his pale body open-mouthed. After a few minutes, as to which Aerith was still frozen, the blonde finally took the initiative and spoke, apathetically.

“Stop looking at me like an idiot and sit down.”

Aerith dropped down on her knees with books stacked by her side. She placed her lunchbox at her lap and glanced at him.

“Have you eaten yet?” she asked him.

Cloud slightly shook his head and sighed. Aerith frowned as she silently studied her long-time friend. It was 2 years since she had left Midgar without saying goodbye to him so it was no big surprise that he’s not that excited in meeting her. The girl pursed her lips and she opened her lunchbox that contained food that she cooked that morning.

“Octopus dogs?”

Her head shot up when those words were registered in her mind. Cloud looked at the oddly shaped hotdogs with nostalgia. When they were kids, Cloud’s mom taught them how to make octopus-shaped hotdogs and all kinds of animal-shaped food. Aerith smiled at him and nodded while placing the last of the dogs into a separate container. Cloud’s eyes widened when Aerith presented one-half of her lunch to him. Sooner than he could decline, the brunette shoved the box in her arms and swiftly said a prayer before starting to dig in. Cloud blinked at her many times and stared at the food that couldn’t even satisfy him.

You never did change… He shook his head and smiled at her.

.-+-.

“Where’ve you been this past 2 years?”

Aerith stopped eating and looked at him with a single rice hanging from her mouth. The blonde let out a lop-sided smile and took it with his own fingers. The brunette watched him eat with her guilty emerald eyes. Cloud, noticing her silence, swallowed the last of the food in his mouth and stood up.

“If you don’t wanna tell me, fine. I can live with that. Heck, I’ve lived without you for 2 years.” He turned his back on her and ran a hand through his blonde locks. “Thanks for the food.”

“Wait…”

Cloud looked to the side, waiting for her to speak. Aerith’s head was facing the ground as she twiddled with her fingers that rested on her lap. After swallowing hard, she came to a decision.

“I’d like to visit Auntie later. Why don’t I come visit after class? I’ll tell you everything…” she said with a smile at his direction.

“Heh… Guess you didn’t know what happened.”

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at his words. How could she know what could’ve happened? They weren’t in touch for 2 years!

“It’s better you don’t know… See you around, Aerith.”

It couldn’t be…

With one quick movement, Aerith stood up and thwacked the back of Cloud’s head with her fist. After the impact, the blonde got down on his knees with his aching head facing the ground. Her breathing grew hoarse as she finished the deed off by placing a foot on his back. She was still in utter shock of how Cloud blew her off like a disregarded stranger. It wasn’t like him.

“Since when have you acted this way, Cloud? If you don’t want me around fine! Why should I stop seeing Auntie?!”

“She’s gone…”

When those words entered her ear, Aerith backed away. Her eyes burned of tears, her throat dry and her hands shook. Cloud wasn’t a good liar, she knew that. It just that, she couldn’t believe it…didn’t want to believe it. She always thought of Cloud’s mother as her own. She was shocked, saddened…

“I’m going.”

After Cloud walked a few meters ahead of her, the brunette found her tongue and she called out to him.

“Cloud, I…”

The blonde turned to her and smiled a smile that she knew broke his heart.

“You’re too late…”