Because Lefora is Down

Cloud pulled back a bit to get a better look at her and he smiled.
"You're drunk." He teased, tickling her side. "But I love you too."
He continued to move, moving so he'd brush against her clit every time he moved.

Aeris smiled, but she shook her head at him. She knew she said it, and sadly she'd probably remember it. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he continued to move, pressing hard up against him. She squeezed him with his muscles, sober enough to remember how much he liked that. She moaned as his movements stimulated her clit, body shaky as she held out for a few more thrusts before she came around him, biting his neck softly.

Cloud lost his train of thought when she squeezed around him and he pushed a bit harder against her. He was so close to the edge he wasn't sure how much longer he would last. He pumped a bit harder as she came, working her through her orgasm before he came inside of her, nuzzling into her neck as he kissed it gently.

Aeris waited a moment before unhooking her legs from around his waist, running her fingers up his spine. She closed her eyes, savoring his touch and how he made her feel for a moment before she kissed the side of his jaw.
"We should probably move off of the couch." She whispered, thinking of Emma or Sora stumbling upon them.

Cloud chuckled and he nodded moving off of her when he saw it, the tattoo. He lightly traced around it and he tilted his head.
"This one is new." He whispered, looking back up at her.

Aeris was too drunk to be embarrassed, in fact she hadn't even thought of him seeing it. She put her hand over his before she shook her head.
"I got it when I was four months along." She told him. "I just never got to show you then."
It was a beautiful tattoo. The sky, what represented Sora, was done in watercolor, as were the cloud which obviously represented Cloud. It was probably her favorite, even though most days she avoided looking at it.

Cloud smiled getting the idea what it might have meant. He moved to hold her hand and leaned in to kiss her on the lips.
"It's a nice tattoo." He whispered. "Come on, let's go to bed."
He moved off of her and pulled on his pants at least.

Aeris pulled her t-shirt over her head and pulled her panties up his legs before she followed him. It had been years since she had been in Cloud's bedroom, but it looked just the same as when she left it. She flopped onto the bed, smiling lazily as she crawled under the covers.
"Your bed is so much more comfortable than mine." She told him, but she was pretty sure that was only because Cloud hadn't been in hers at the new apartment.

Cloud chuckled at her, moving into the bed with her. Once under the covers, he pulled her close to him and kissed her neck.
"Eh, it's better sonce you're in it." He whispered.

Aeris smiled as she rested her head on his chest. A few minutes later, she was completely out. In the morning she was still curled up to his side, her arm around his waist. She woke up, groaning slightly, with a terrible headache. And then she realized she was in Cloud's bed...with Cloud...and the night came back to her in flashes.
Fuck.

Cloud felt movement next to him and he groaned aoftly, his head pounding. He glanced next to him seeing Aeris in bed with him. What...he remembered bits and pieces of the night before most of it feeling like a dream. What should he do? Should he mention it? Should he ignore it?

Aeris was honestly going to sneak out when she felt Cloud stir. She shouldn't have drank last night. Any time she had alcohol around Cloud, she always lost control. She knew though that she couldn't blame it all on the alcohol. A great part of her had wanted to hold him, touch him, and love him. That feeling had never gone away, even though she had kept it caged the last four years. Maybe they could reconcile? But she was so stubborn, and a part of her was still untrusting. He still worked for Arcadia, how did she really know if he wasn't killing kids anymore? She knew what had broken her faith in him, but she didn't know what would put it back.
"Hey." She murmured. What should she do? Get out of bed? Stay? Jesus what a mess.

Cloud stayed still for a bit, he couldn't hear the kids, so it was probably still early enough that they were still in bed. They probably should get up to avoid any confusion with Sora, but it felt so good to have her near him again.
"Hey yourself, blue eyes." he whispered, smoothing down her hair.

Aeris closed her eyes when his hand moved over her hair. Maybe if they just didn't talk about it, they could go back to how they were in the very beginning. Just together without any verbal confirmation of it, having sex and getting along. But it'd be impossible to hide from Sora. She gave him a small smile before she stretched and got out of bed.
"I should run home to shower and change. I can come back afterward for breakfast. So that Sora doesn't know." She said quietly.

Cloud frowned slightly as she spoke, sitting up. He didn't want her to leave, he wanted things to be like before, but he knew he shouldn't want that. He was a terrible person who had done terrible things. A few short years of being a decent father didn't change any of that.
"Or you can stay..." he found himself saying instead.

Aeris was sitting on the bed with her back to him at that point, putting her socks on. But when he spoke she froze. She wanted to stay. But it was never that easy with her and Cloud. If it was just them, she'd probably stay, but she had to think about Sora too. He wanted them back together so badly, what if she dangled that in his face and the next week she didn't get along with Cloud?
"I want to." She whispered, looking over her shoulder at him. "But we don't exactly have the best track record at staying together. Sora really wants us to work, you know? I don't want to tease him. I don't know if we...I mean it's been so long, Cloud." She started, swallowing a lump in her throat. "I'm not even mad anymore, but I don't know...I don't know how to fix us."

Cloud frowned slightly as she begin to speak, and he ran his fingers through his hair. He knew she was right, knew they would have been fine if the kids weren't in the picture. If and when they fought it was ugly, and he didn't want Sora to see any of that. He knew what it was like to have parents fight all the time, and even though everyone argues, he knew he could spout nastiness in Aeris direction when he got heated, and he loved her too much to do that.

He silently moved to wrap and arm around her, kissing her cheek from behind.
"You're right..." he finally whispered. "I don't know how we can fix it either...as much as I want to...and we need to think about Sora first..."

Aeris leaned into him when his arm snaked around her. She smiled slightly, fighting down an urge to let out an ugly sob. She had always been so calculating, a bit cold, but Cloud always made her...feel. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sadly this was the latter.
"I'll run home and do that, then maybe we can all go out for breakfast. He's used to seeing us together like that." She told him quietly, putting her hand over his.

By the end of the week, Shaun had packed his bag, and said his goodbyes to Aidan and Rosetta. He was going on a business trip, that was what he told the boy, and he kept on a cheeful smile, saying he would be back before he knew it. With Rosetta, it was more tearful, trying to keep it together as he brought himself into a mindset he hadn't used in years.

He landed in Egypt the next day and was picked up by his men, surprised when he saw Cloud in the group.
"Barrett? What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked.
"Same as you..." Shaun mumbled, but in a way he was glad. At least he wouldn't be so alone, and he had someone to watch his back.

When the arrived at the base, they were given the run down. Clear the rebels, establish order in the small town. It was simple enough, and a hefty paycheck in the process.

A week later, they grabbed their gear and headed to the house where the rebels were using as a base. Shaun mentally prepared himself, trying not to think about Rosetta and Aidan and he went in, almost as if nothing had changed. They were done in the early hours of the morning, doing a final sweep to make sure there weren't any survivors when Cloud heard them.
"Tag him." the woman said, and the man next to her cocked his gun.

"Shaun!" Cloud barely finished before the bullets hit Shaun. He didn't even have time to react before he fell limply to the floor, losing consciousness and blood.

"What the fuck!" Cloud shouted.

"Loose ends, you know all about that, right Valenti?" The woman smirked, leaving. "Leave him, they'll just dump him in a mass grave later on."

Cloud couldn't just leave Shaun, and he watched the man closely, seeing the subtle rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive, he could get him out to help, but he couldn't do it now. He just had to pull through for a few more minutes.

When everyone had left, Cloud pulled his typical carefree attitude about grabbing girls and having a good time. The squad didn't even think to follow through. How the hell were they training these mother fuckers? Cloud managed to make his way to the house, and he found Shaun right where he left him.

"Come on, buddy, you're not allowed to die." he whispered. "Rosetta would kill you herself..."
He didn't know how he managed it, but he got him to the car and drove like a bat out of hell to a hospital within the city. It was there he made the call to Rosetta.

Rosetta was at the hospital seconds later, holding a scared Aidan.
"Cloud?" She asked, seeing that white blonde hair through the crowd in the emergency room. "Cloud! Where is he?" She moved up to him, and although she was trying to keep it together for Aidan she looked terrified.

Cloud smiled at Aidan kindly, before he looked to Rosetta.
"He's in surgery..." he said minding his language. He put a hand on her shoulder, they said it was too close to call, but he didn't want to say it in front of the kid. "Hey, Aidan, there's a tv over there, they're playing some ninja turtles."

Rosetta knew. She had been in the military and seen the gesture many times before, and she immediately teared up. She bounced Aidan slightly, before setting him gently down. He looked up at the TV, but then he looked back up at his mother and frowned. In Aidan's mind, he knew Shaun made Rosetta happy, and she clearly wasn't happy.
"I just want my dad." He told Cloud, looking up when Rosetta put her hand on his head.
"We have to wait to see Daddy, okay?" She told him quietly, bending down. Aidan looked so much like Shaun that it almost pained her. What if she never saw him again? "Why don't you take our things-" She took the light bag off from over her shoulder. She had thrown together some books and coloring books along with Aidan's colored pencils.
"No, I don't want any of those things!" Aidan announced, and just like that fat tears rolled down his cheeks. "I want Daddy."
Rosetta didn't have the emotional strength to argue with him, so she leveled with him instead.
"I want Daddy too. And I promise, I promise we'll see him when we can." She knew it was dangerous, promising something she wasn't sure about, but denial won out. "You need to be a good boy and wait patiently okay? Can you do that? For me?" She took a packet of kleenex and wiped his tears.
Aidan sniffled, clearly debating, but a moment later he nodded. He moved over to the empty seat and ruffled through the bag, although he clearly wasn't interested.
"How bad?" Rosetta asked once Aidan was out of ear shot.

Cloud wouldn't know what he would have done if he were in Rosetta's shoes. If it had been Aeris...no he didn't want to think about it. He watched the two of them exchange, wanting to say something helpful or comforting but he was at a loss for words. Instead when Aidan went to the seat he looked to Rosetta and shook his head.
"Multiple gunshot wounds." He whispered. "One ruptured his kidney, another clipped an artery...they tried to fucking execute him."

Rosetta turned her head to the side and brushed the tears off of her cheeks, crossing her arms to try to hold herself together.
"Tried, so that's good right?" She asked, her smile wobbling. "He's in surgery, I'm guessing?"

Cloud nodded, giving her a small smile.
"Yeah, it's good...and yeah he's in surgery." He whispered. "He's tough, he'll pull through especially for you and Aidan."