Standard disclaimer applies. Also, while not necessary, knowing a thing or two about FFVII & VIII will shed light on some of the references made :)

Leon was the first person she met, after arriving in the strange town with nothing but the faint memory of a name. He found her as she wandered in the alleys, wondering at how the moonlight made her skin look transparent, touching her hand to a phantom pain in her stomach.

He'd asked her if she was real, and she hadn't known how to answer.

She remembered blushing though, under his intense stare, and that if she let her focus slide a little bit she could almost find a memory in his face. She had reached out to him, brushed her hand against his cheek, and he had flinched but did not pull away.

He had wings painted on his back and she thought he was her angel, but she learned not to call him that because the one time she did he tensed up and disappeared for several hours.

He introduced her to Cid and Yuffie, and they stirred within her the same blurry memories as Leon, but stronger, and she thought that maybe he only reminded her of someone, when she actually knew the others. They said they did not remember her, but when they first met Yuffie clung to her tightly and left tearstains on her dress, and even gruff, all-business Cid held onto her shoulders and stared at her with wet eyes before coughing and mumbling a greeting mixed with how he needed to get back to work.

Leon was quiet and cold, but she loved his company anyway. She would follow him when he went to the caverns to train, and she found she could hear voices in the echoes of the water. When she wasn't listening to those, she would speak to him, trying to force out answers longer than one word, trying to make him laugh. She learned about Hollow Bastion, and how he and the others were from there but they weren't sure if it was their real home. That he knew there were other places and other people buried in his past, but he had no memories of them—just a feeling. That he blamed himself for the destruction of his home (homes?), and that he was waiting for a warrior who carried a weapon called a "keyblade" to arrive, because that warrior would be the one to restore peace.

She told him what she learned from the voices in the water—about the heartless and a man named Ansem, that Hollow Bastion had not yet disappeared, whenever a planet did disappear. When he would trail off in the middle of a story, she would hug him from behind and whisper in his ear that it was okay to be sad and that he should never give up hope, and when they were with the others and he was silent and broody she would chide him for not speaking his mind.

He was her best friend, and it was possible she loved him, if not for cloudy memories telling her it was wrong.

He kissed her, once, after they returned to Hollow Bastion and the war was over. They stood outside watching the skies, finally able to look at the planets without wondering when they would go out, and she saw a shooting star. She turned to him and pointed at it, her face telling a mix of awe and childlike fascination, remembering stories about shooting stars and destiny. He had given her a look then, one that scared her because he looked so far away, like he didn't know where he was or even who she was, and then he had pulled her to him and kissed her.

She wanted to enjoy it, tried so hard to lose herself in it, but all she could see was that look in his eyes and she finally pushed him away, turning around to hide the tears she could never seem to control.

When she finally spoke, all she said was "I can't be your angel too," and faced him. He was him now, back under the stars at Hollow Bastion, looking at her with embarrassment and gratitude and a little bit of love, and she truly wished it didn't have to be this way.

This time he hugged her from behind, and told her she should never give up hope, not after she finally convinced him.

And then the next day, she met Cloud.

This is part of a set, I suppose...I know I at least will write one between her and Cloud, though I haven't decided if there will be a third part to it or not (which, ironically, would be of the pairing I originally intended for this to be, though a pairing I doubt anyone will guess!).

I completely blame cosplay for why Aerith now manages to find her way into everything I write (well, and Crisis Core, since we get to see yet another side to her)...Thanks for reading:)