Darkness Building [Cloud/Sephiroth]

[Aerith]

Please Let Me Help

Now came the usual stubbornness, but Aerith couldn't help that. She certainly couldn't crawl inside Cloud's head and rearrange his personality for him. He would always question himself as long as this fight remained mostly in his own mind.

Regardless, she decided to offer as much encouragement as she could. Whether or not he actually took it to heart was out of her control. "Cloud. I wish you would believe me when I tell you something the first time. Do you think I would lie to you about this?" She gave him a serious look, a hint of hurt behind it. "You are not a monster."

Releasing his arm, she took both sides of his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. "I'm serious. You are not a monster. Stop thinking you are."

With a soft sigh, she stood to her feet and smoothed her dress a little. "If you ever turn into one, I will let you know." She turned to face him. "Why don't we go home? I can make you something to eat if you'd like." A smile spread across her face.

[Cloud]

Okay...

Cloud may have been uncertain on the matter, but Aerith certainly didn't appear to be. It wasn't really as if he thought she was lying. No-- well... at least not consciously. Perhaps she was lying to herself though. Aerith had a way always insistently seeing the best in everyone. She could convince herself that even the most evil and twisted of people weren't really all that bad, and that with the power of kindness and friendship, there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Of course she would want to deny the idea of her childhood friend being a monster. She was clearly biased.

He felt her hands against his face, as she forced him to look at her. Reluctantly, he allowed her do so. Looking at her face, he could sense a hint of hurt behind it. Suddenly, he felt very bad. Great, she was upset and it was entirely his fault. Not wanting to make matters even worse, he conceded. "Okay..." There was still no mistaking the lack of confidence in this agreement. Cloud was simply not much of an actor.

One thing was for sure: he was ready to get out of the dark street. So Aerith's proposition to leave definitely wasn't one he was against, although he wasn't so sure if he was in the mood to eat much. He tried to return her smile with one of his own, though his success in this was questionable. Standing up, he nodded. "Yeah, let's go."