If I thought before that the scenery was a just cause for frivolous poetry, the intense, captivated light shining within her glimmering viridian eyes is certainly disproving my weakly based theory. She looks out to the far reaches of the park, surveying the blossoms and trees scattered about with a gaze full of wonderment. No inch of the park goes unnoticed under her calm surveillance, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant it may be to other people. I watch her quietly, a small, nearly unnoticed smile tugging at the corner of my lips while I study the fascinated gaze she directs toward her surroundings.

I lick away the slowly dripping substance that lines the edge of my ice cream cone, unwilling to waste any of the treat my companion had so insistently paid for. Aeris had been resolute when we stopped at the small ice cream parlor near the outskirts of Sector 6. Despite my attempts to get her to reconsider, she was adamant about her decision to pay for both of our selections by herself. I wasn't pleased that she had wasted three gils on me, but I resigned myself to the inevitable and started to eat my vanilla ice cream. As I continue to eat it now, I wonder briefly if the fascinated gaze Aeris directs toward her surroundings is anything akin to the reverent stares I often direct toward her when I hope she's not paying attention.

"I agree," she says in reply to my previous statement regarding the beauty of our surroundings, happily and blissfully focused on the magnificence around her. "It is rather enchanting today." Being thrown into training for nearly five years, I had never been able to just stop everything and smell the roses, so to speak, but the more time I spend with Aeris, the more I wish I could see all the beauty she so easily finds around her, and the more I start to appreciate the little things that mean so much to her.

Smiling to myself, I direct my gaze back to the wrestling couple I watched moments before, unsurprised to see that they have finally given up the fight. They lay side by side in the grass, propped up to look at one another, whispering quiet words that even my trained ears cannot catch. The blitz ball they had been so determinedly fighting for had rolled a few feet away and lay still, forgotten. Hands laced together between them, the couple paid no attention to the white and blue ball of mischief, instead lost within the other's eyes.

For a moment, I wish that I could have that some day: the childish wrestling in the park, the quiet whispers and gentle handholding, maybe even possibly with the girl standing not a foot away from me. My hopes are pointless, I know, but I smile again, more from watching them together than at the thought that I might experience a love like that some day. My observation of the couple is cut short by a soft, surprised gasp to my right.

I glance back to Aeris, automatically checking for any signs of danger. Call it paranoia if you will, but five years of training has taught me that paranoia can very well save your life. After studying our surroundings for a moment without seeing any signs of imminent danger, I finally direct my eyes toward Aeris, confused. Her soft giggle flutters to my ears as she brings her hands to her mouth. Warmly sparkling eyes catch my own, soft strands of silk whispering about her flushed pink cheeks. Once her hands finally reach the level of her mouth, I can see why she's laughing. Her observance of the park had caused her to forget about the remaining strawberry ice cream in her hand. Said remnants were now trickling down slender fingers and snaking their way across her palm.

I blink and swallow the sudden lump in my throat. Only Aeris can make licking spilt ice cream off her hand look so… enticing. She hurriedly licks the edge of the cone to keep any more of the sticky substance from escaping, but then turns her attention to her hand, being careful to catch it all before it falls to her dress. Her lush, pink lips glisten with the hint of ice cream as she continues to work at cleaning it all up. Suddenly, her gaze is drawn upward. Her smile widens as small droplets of moisture fall to the bridge of her nose and across her forehead. I glance to the heavens as well, now able to feel the rain myself.

It starts slowly, but gains intensity quickly. I look back down to Aeris in the now nearly pouring rain, blinking away the slowly trailing moisture that drips from my brow and into my eyes. She's completely unbothered by the rain, and if anything, her smile has grown wider. I sometimes wonder how she can be so happy when she's soaked to the bone, but I realize now that it's just part of who Aeris is, always looking at the bright things in life. Of course, rain isn't bright, but somehow she finds something amazing within it.

Darkened bangs cling wetly to her forehead, providing a sharp contrast to the ever sparkling emerald orbs beneath that glitter brilliantly with her happiness. Moisture gathers across the bridge of her nose, about her flushed cheeks, slick along her forehead and ears. Gravity tugs them down to drip from the tip of her nose, the curves of her lips, sliding along the line of her jaw. Stray droplets trickle down her graceful, swanlike neck, gathering in the hollow of her throat and spreading in a thin, glossy sheen across her collarbone.

I glance down at my now rain-smothered ice cream, slightly mourning the loss. My gaze lingers on the strange, unappetizing image that vanilla ice cream mixed with rainwater makes for a short moment, but my attention is drawn away quickly. Slender, slightly slippery fingers brush against my forearm, and I raise my eyes to a smiling emerald starshine. She smiles even brighter at the drowned-rat look I'm surely sporting.

"Come on," she says softly. She must have noticed that I don't do well in downpours, for if she was alone, I'm sure she would just continue to endure the torrent descending around her. Ever the considerate friend, she does what she believes is best for her companions. Her fingers encircle my wrist gently, feather-light even through the heavy haze of the rain. She takes a small step down the concrete path I had forgotten we were standing on, hesitant, as if she's unsure whether I will follow her or not. Unwilling to lose the feeling of her warm hand embracing my wrist, I move along with her.

Time slows for a moment as we start to move, slow enough for me to gently tug Aeris towards a nearby trash can where we hastily rid ourselves of our ruined ice cream. From here, time rapidly picks up the pace. Now I find myself running alongside the beautiful girl on the fast track to capturing my heart, a smile planted firmly on my face as we splash through the quickly accumulating puddles, attempting to dodge the inescapable rainfall, hands locked on each others wrists through it all.

There's no time to think as we run, but somehow I manage to wonder where we're going to end up. The only shelter to be seen would have to be the trees rushing by my peripheral vision, but all of the lessons I was taught as I child tells me to steer clear of all of the hulking masses of wood. Electrocution doesn't sound like it would be too much fun, even with Aeris at my side. However, Aeris seems to know where she's going.

The thoroughly drowned grass is slippery under my feet as she tugs me off of the paved path we had been following so religiously. I silently thank the gods that mud has yet to form in this area, but can't help but wonder where we're going. A worn, stone-walled building looms just ahead of us, and apparently that's where we're headed.

Small, circular, metal-supported and glass-topped tables are placed evenly atop the small stretch of crumbling concrete along the wall. Tarnished metal chairs are set upside down on top of the tables, a tinny sound reaching my ears as the ceaseless downpour batters against their undersides. Two large windows reside behind them, thick with fog, hiding the interior of the building from my eyes. I wonder vaguely why we would come here of all places, but I finally notice the small, overhanging cover Aeris must be moving for. Decorated with small stripes of white and blue, its doubtably stable supports hold it suspended above a metallic door covered in cracked and peeling blue-grey paint.

Generally slowing as we near the building, which I assume is the back of a restaurant, or something of the sort, I regard the cover's size with an unhindered apprehension. As we reach the cover, Aeris presses herself safely against the door, unwavering smile still in place. I quickly deduce that the cover is barely large enough to shelter her, even despite her small size, just as I expected. Inwardly resigning myself to the fact that I'll be standing in the rain for who knows how long, I tremble slightly in my waterlogged jacket.

However, Aeris, noticing my shiver, uses her soft, unbroken grip on my wrist to pull me under the small covering, and the small trembles she had so thoughtfully tried to disperse are brought to an all new high as I am pulled gently into her personal space, flush against her, stomach to stomach, thigh to thigh, breast to breast….

I've never been afraid to breathe before, but I guess there really is a first for everything. The darkened, inviting emerald depths before me must have a spell cast upon my lungs; they tighten, freeze, seeming to collapse under the weight of her calm stare. I've always wondered whether holding your breath slows your pulse or quickens it, but the insistent, nearly painful ache that hammers within my chest tells me that it must do the latter. Her fingers slide along my wrist almost imperceptibly, their soft warmth a frightening sensation that counters my desperate attempt to find hold of the cold, slick stone at her back with my left hand.

Perhaps this lack of oxygen will cause me to faint soon. Hopefully.

I barely notice the light, rhythmic rain that continues to drip down between us despite our position under the cover. Wouldn't you know, our savior has a run in it. If I hadn't been so far lost in Aeris, I would have cast a distinctly pissed glare in its direction, but the small hand that rests low on my hip, whose warmth I can feel even through the thick layers of my clothing, stops any thoughts of cursing at something as trivial as hole in a stretch of fabric.

In this moment, time seems to stop completely. I lose myself within the welcoming sea of green, diving headfirst into the warmth that waits within the emerald depths. Somehow, I blink, freeing myself of her riveting eyes and instead find myself gazing fixedly at the lush, glistening curves of her lips. I knew from the beginning that this attraction, this feeling would be my undoing. I knew it was dangerous. That much is proven as the sudden closeness between us and rush of feelings coursing through my body wash away any traces of my sanity. This dangerous attraction is what takes hold and bends me to her lips.

I've never kissed anyone before; another first for me, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that the slightly chilled, incredibly soft lips that are pressed against my own bring out an uncontrollable trembling from so deep within me that it shakes my entire being. That must be it, for I doubt it's the chill of the rain that causes me to shake so obviously before her. Even as time seems to stop, the chill around us slowly dissipates. And even though I feel as if I'm lost in a halting void of timeless eternity where I can feel nothing but the warmth of her lips on mine, that heat intensifies with each timelessly passing moment.

The kiss is brief, but it lasts longer than I would have expected it to. Upon my very first inclination to tilt my lips to hers, I had assumed she would shove me away from her and back into the barrage of the frigid downpour, screaming curses and insults. I had expected anything other than what had happened. Yes, the tightening of her gentle grip around my wrist and hip and the pressure I could feel her exerting against my own lips in the midst of our actions was definitely not something I had expected when insanity took hold. The small, yet intensely powerful smile that tugged at her swollen lips once we had separated was even less expected.

I was right; she tastes like strawberries.