Disclaimer : I don't own any of the characters, but you gotta give me some props for the plot :)

Author's Notes : Hi! Well, here's my third fic here:) I'm happy with this one; I had a lot of fun writing it!
Originally, it was supposed to be one chapter, but I guess I wrote too much so nowI have to break 'em into parts :P
I already finished writing it, so no need to wait for the upcoming chapters !
Enjoy everyone!

Oops, forgot. I know it doesn't seem like a cloudxaerith fic at first, but keep reading and you'll find yourselves in the midst of a major cloudxaerith story.
Just so you know, I have discovered that I have horrbile grammar, so I apologize in advance if you read something wierd, I'm also a bad speller, so again sorry :P I did my best in proofreading the story and editting it and stuff, so hopefully there won't be a lot of mistakes!

Okay, now you can enjoy :)

Happy Birthday To Me

final fantasy vii : cloudxaerith

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Today was February 22nd, a special day for those who were trying to save the Planet from utter chaos and destruction. It was special because someone had been born on that day, and you all know what that means; it's someone's birthday!

But… who's birthday is it? Well, let's see;

Tifa was running all over the place, shouting commands at everyone to get ready.

Yuffie was right there, helping Tifa, well… More like shouting along with her and jumping around pushing the men around, saying that they were all lazy.

Barret was carrying a few party objects into the room and Cid was helping him…self with a smoke.

Yuffie saw what Cid was doing and jumped right in front of him, glaring. "Hey, old geezer! You wanna turn uglier than you already are?!" She grabbed the death stick from his mouth and threw it on the ground, stepping on it to light it out. "I didn't think so… Now get back to work!" Cid glared daggers at the ninja's back and cursed a few times before going over to Barret and helping him out.

"That damn girl, she thinks she's just so… #!& #$!#( " Cid began to flail his arms all over the place, starting to get pissed off at Yuffie. "Goddammit! ($)!#$" Barret stared at Cid, registering those "colourful" words that Cid had spilt. That was a good one. I should remember to use it one day… Barret laughed at Cid and his crazy antics, which only caused Cid to get even more pissed and swear even more.

"C'mon, ya spazz… Stop yer swearin' and come help me out! "He waved his human hand, signaling Cid to come over and help him as he was about to carry a table in for Tifa.

--

Vincent wasn't doing anything; he was just leaning on some wall, watching as the party ran about the room. He let out an exasperated sigh when he saw Yuffie, who was coming right at him. "Hey Vincent! Get your lazy ass off that wall and go help Red with the decorations!" Yuffie jabbed her finger in his chest, and all he did was look at the finger which was still on his chest. He then stared blankly at the ninja who countered with her own fierce one. Blinking a few times, he asked with an uninterested voice,

"You want me to help with decorations…?" He cringed and closed his eyes when Yuffie spoke back, rather quickly and loudly to say the least.

"YEAH! That's right! Or are you too stupid to even do that?" "I'm not stupid." He replied back in a meek tone. The pupils of the young ninja dilated and a small sneer formed on her lips. "Yeah, sure… Just go help Red with the decorations." Vincent pushed himself off the wall and walked, stopping beside Yuffie. "I thought I was too stupid to do the decorations…" Yuffie let out a rather interesting sound from her mouth, indicating that she was annoyed, and turned around to glare at him before turning on her heels and leaving the other way.

When she was gone, something strange happened to Vincent. His lips… Just at the corners of his lips; they were slightly curved up. The Vincent Valentine, the man who never smiled in his life, had pulled the infamous half-smile that Cloud possessed. He was glad Yuffie hadn't seen it, otherwise… She'd never let him live down with it. Just then, he saw Red walking by with streamers tied to his legs and a bunch of balloons in his mouth. He almost laughed at the sight but instead walked silently to the red dog-like creature and grabbed a few balloons from his mouth.

"I'm supposed to help you…" Red looked at him, unable to speak with the balloons in his mouth and just nodded; leading the way to the room they were supposed to decorate.

Cait Sith had been hiding from Yuffie and Tifa, and was up in his room. The puppet seemed to be doing a little dance when a paper popped out of its mouth, the cat grabbed it and slipped it in an envelope and grabbed another object, beginning to write with it.

Cloud and Aerith were together, walking hand-in-hand around Kalm. It was Cloud's job to keep Aerith from the Inn until 5' o'clock.

So whose birthday is it? It's Aerith's, of course!

Everyone was doing something except her, so it has to be hers… Right?

Right.

--

Why am I the one here distracting Aerith? I mean, I don't mind, I get to spend time with her but… How come I was chosen? Cloud sought over the thought, and didn't notice that Aerith was looking at him.

"Cloud…? Are you okay? You're thinking a lot over there." He snapped out his thoughts and looked at Aerith, nodding. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm with you aren't I?" He blushed; he was never comfortable in expressing something so similar to love to someone. Aerith giggled, hearing him say that made her happy, and the way he blushed always made her giggle. "Thanks, I'm glad we could spend this time together… alone." He squeezed her hand gently, and intertwined their fingers. Feeling his fingers between hers, she looked up at him and smiled, gently swinging their hands back and forth. Cloud liked how that felt and joined her, swinging their hands together.

As they walked around Kalm town, enjoying each other's company they saw two kids; a boy and girl. They looked about 6 years old and as the two passed by the kids, the girl pointed to them and looked at the boy. "Hey! Let's hold our hands together like that couple over there!" Both Aerith and Cloud stopped, and blushed as they both heard what the little girl had said. They weren't used to being called a "couple" so it slightly embarrassed them. The little girl took the boy's hand in hers and began swinging it, like what they were doing. The boys face seemed like it was painted over with red because that's what it had looked like.

Aerith laughed, looking up at Cloud, their blushes had subsided by now. "Sorta reminds me of someone…" She burst into a fit of giggles when Cloud's blush returned, redder than ever. "S-stop it!" That only made her laugh harder which, of course, made him blush more. He glared at her and looked away, only to hear Aerith's laughter die down and her voice speaking, quivering under the little laughter that was still there.

"Ok… I'm sorry, but you can be really funny when you try not to." She laughed again, but forced herself to stop when he didn't look back at her. Clearing her throat, she apologized again but he still didn't look back. Sighing, she looked to the ground before looking back up at him. "Don't make me do this…" Cloud furrowed his brows together, wondering what she meant. He turned his head around to look at her, "Do wha-"

Before he could ask, a pair of lips caught his. His mako-infused eyes widened, seeing Aerith's eyes wide-open as well. They both detached from each other quickly, parting from their accidental kiss and dropped their heads to the ground, blushing furiously.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kiss you on the lips; it was meant for your cheek!" Aerith kept on apologizing and her face grew even redder, she looked up at Cloud who had been staring at her, smiling. If they weren't in the public where everyone could see, he would've easily planted his lips on her own to stop her from rambling on, but sadly they were, and it was Cloud after all… He didn't like to express love in public.

So, he let her ramble on and as she tried to explain, he noticed her face getting redder. It was his turn to laugh now; he opened his mouth and let a string of laughter flow out into the peaceful atmosphere of Kalm.

Aerith stopped, blinking and not believing her ears. Cloud is… laughing? She looked up at him, a quizzed expression growing on her face. "What are you laughing at?" He continued to laugh, and looked at Aerith, stopping. "You." This time he chuckled when he saw her mock anger reaction, and continued to walk again, dragging Aerith along.

The two walked down the cobblestone sidewalk, a smile curved on both of their lips. Aerith broke their calm silence with a statement. "I can't believe you were laughing, Cloud. I'm so proud of you!" She brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle a giggle. His smile disappeared and Cloud had put on that cold, hard look on his face again. "Shut up…" Aerith looked at him, afflicted by his rude comment. She watched for signs of mockery on his face, but saw nothing. She lowered her head in slight pain, only to bring it back up to see Cloud's half-smile. "I was only kidding…"

She squeezed his hand and a smile graced her face, finally noticing that they were outside of Kalm and in a more isolated place, with trees surrounding them, she looked up at Cloud. Emerald met with sapphire, as the other shrugged giving an effortless excuse. "I thought we could use some privacy..."

She nodded and sat down, releasing their grip and instead patted the space next to her, gesturing Cloud to sit down. He stared, and took a seat; he left one knee up while the other leg crossed under it. He rested his arm on his knee, and extended the other one behind Aerith. Aerith looked at him, sitting in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked up at the clear, blue sky, a glaze of sadness washed over her eyes.

"Zack sat like that…" Cloud fidgeted, hearing Zack's name and changed his seating position, crossing his legs this time and had one arm still extended behind her back while the other hand was scratching his head, dumbfounded. She shook her head to the side, and shyly smiled, lowering her head into her knees. "You didn't have to change; now you look uncomfortable…" Cloud shook his head in disagreement, extending his other arm to the side, resting the palm of his hands on the grass beneath. "No, it's fine."

She straightened her posture, sighing and rested her head on his shoulder. A faint pink shade formed across his cheeks. Now that they were alone, he could express himself freely. Cloud took the arm that was behind Aerith and wrapped it around her waist. He gently pulled her closer to him as he felt her nuzzle herself closer in his shoulder. There he rested his head on hers, pulling at the grass with his other hand. Aerith closed her eyes, and heaved a sigh.

"Sometimes… I wish we could just tell everyone about us. I don't want to hide our relationship anymore." Cloud just moaned, captivated by the sweet scent that Aerith possessed. He closed his eyes and snuggled closer into her head, breathing in the heavenly smell.

"It feels like they know that we're together…" Cloud shot his eyes open, realizing why they had sent him instead of someone else. Is that why they sent me? Because they know about us…? Nah… He waved off the possibility and lifted his head off Aerith's, looking at her.

"I promise that one day, we'll tell them… It's just that…" He didn't really know why he was so embarrassed at the idea of everyone knowing about them. When Aerith had looked up from his shoulder and he saw those emerald eyes pleading for an explanation, he quickly made one up and blurted out. "I'm afraid that Yuffie will make fun of us…" He mentally slapped himself. Afraid? What are you, a wuss? Before he could let Aerith speak, he spoke again. "I mean, not afraid… But you know how Yuffie is; she just never leaves you alone when she finds something out until she bores herself with it…"

Aerith was about to say something, but decided against it and only nodded. She sighed, a little sad that they would hold their secret in a little longer more. Cloud noticed how sad she looked and it tugged at his heart. He felt guilty for making her sad and brought his other arm over, reaching her face and cupping her cheek. Aerith stared at him, captured in his sapphire orbs. He twitched his mouth into a very small smile and moved his hand to grab her chin. Gently, he lifted her face up to his, leaning in towards her, their noses touched and he took a moment to stare in those vivid, emerald eyes which always caught his attention. When her eyes closed, so did his and he finally leaned all the way in, meeting up with her soft lips, planting a small, soft kiss.

When they parted, they took in the oxygen they needed and stared at each other, lovingly. Cloud pressed his forehead against Aerith's and released his grip on her chin and wrapped his arm around her. He held her close and felt her arms slowly wrap around his back, he dug his face in her neck and mumbled something to her.

"I promise we'll tell them soon…" Aerith turned her head, snuggling on his neck and nodded. "I know we will…" For awhile, the two sat there, embracing each other and never wanting to let go. But Cloud just had to check his watch and let Aerith go. She looked up at him, confused at why he let go. Her head titled to the side, giving him a questioning glance.

"We should go soon, the others are probably wondering where we are…" A little sad that they had to leave, Aerith nodded slowly and kept her eyes on Cloud as he stood up. She took his hand when he offered it and pushed herself off the ground, with Cloud's help, and dusted off the dirt on her dress. "We can walk slow…"

She didn't want to smile, but one curved up her lips anyways. Together, the two walked through the forest, and back to Kalm.