Talk It Over (Tag: Cloud)

Aqua had promised not to go back to the beach, but she was tired of avoiding places simply because she had gone there with Cloud. So she found herself back on the beach, this time just watching the sun set. Cloud was right, it was pretty here. She leaned against the rails of the boardwalk, unable to actually go onto the sand. She wasn't there to swim. She was just there to prove herself that she could. She hadn't even been to the garden since then. Her expression fell.

Cloud was on his way back to the dorms to make himself some food. He walked through the sand until he reacht the promenade, where he walked on a little, until he  stopped. He just saw her from the distance, but it was unmistacable Aqua. Was she still mad at him...? The blonde decided to just find it out by asking her, so he went to her the last few meters and stopped next to her. "Hey,  Aqua.... How are you..?", he began slowly to speak and smiled at her. He was mentally preparing for every possible reaction of hers.

Aqua looked up when she heard the soft tenor of Cloud's voice. Suddenly her mouth went dry and she looked back out at the water. Of course Cloud would be there. He had many attempted seductions at the beach. It was his excused to go shirtless and look a touch more appealing than he already did. She sighed. "I've been better." she decided on. The truth was better than lying to him. She hadn't had an easy time with anything after she ran into him. Fetch nearly set her on fire. Vidia had egged her into fighting. Alisa had been prepared to smack Cloud... Aqua's shoulders drooped a little as she thought about it. "And you?"

"Well...", he sighed and scatched the back of his head. "Actually the same...", Cloud admitted. He had been a boyfriend and was now an exboyfriend, got terribly drunk but also really comforted by Rosetta and Astrid..he  couldn't complain, could he? He looked down on her, now realizing that he had actually missed her. "Would it be  okay if I uhm, sit with you?", he asked slowly. He really wanted to, but on the other side he didn't want to force himself on her, if she didnt want to see him.

Aqua frowned. Cloud had been so happy before he found out about her powers? How could he be so upset now? She was tempted to try and check his memories again but she had learned her lesson with that one. She didn't want to know what Cloud had been up to the last few days. When he asked if he could stay with her, she bit the inside of her cheek. She couldn't hold a grudge forever. So she sighed and scooted over. "Fine," she said crisply.

He could see her hesitation and wondered if it wouldn't be better to just keep going.. "Okay.. but you can tell me to leave anytime, alright?", he offered and sat down next to her, with enough space between them, but not too much space. "So... what have you been doing lately..? Haven't seen you anywhere..", he asked and looked at her. Hopefully she hadn't been too upset...

"You don't really want to know," she replied, not because she didn't think Cloud didn't care, but because of how she had behaved after finding out about Cloud's other lovely ladies. She was still pretty much shut down to anyone aside from Alisa and Nyx. She ducked her head in shame. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Actually I do, but if you don't wanna tell me it's okay...Mh, me? Well... slowly going back to normal I gues..", he meant and leant back on his hands, looking at  the ocean. "I concentrate more on my training right now.. that's why we're here after all, right..?", he went on.  And sure, he needed some distraction. Not that much anymore, because he was over Remi, but he was still pushing himself more than before.

"What... about that girl you were seeing?" Aqua asked slowly. Reni? Rissa? No... Remi. Her name had been Remi. Cautiously she glanced up at Cloud. Had he really just upset someone else? What had happened in the time they hadn't seen each other?

"....Remi?", he asked and shrugged. "It didn't work, that's all. But I knew it from the start, so it wasn't a  big surprise or so.", he explained. "I'm over it.", he then said and smiled at her.

Aqua wasn't so sure Cloud was as sure as what he said but she wasn't going to push him. "I'm sorry to hear that." She said. And really she was. She thought Cloud would have gotten dumped because he saw other women on the side. She didn't know the circumstances of their break up. She sighed. She hadn't imagined an awkward conversation like this. "Listen, can we just... Can we pretend the whole kiss thing didn't happen? Start over? As friends this time?" She couldn't see herself trying to pursue him romantically again.

"You don't have to be.", he said and waved aside. There was nothing to be sorry about. Well, at least not for Aqua or for him. Fuck it, who cared? She had just been one in a sea full of fishes. When Aqua started talking again, he listened up again. As she talked, his smile got bigger. "Yes, that would be great! I'd love to be your friend", he said honestly and gave her a sunny smile. "So this time we're surfing buddys?", he asked with a wink. Cloud was truely glad that she wasn't mad at him anymore and wanted to build up a friendship with him. He honestly didn't have many true friends as girls, most of them just pretend to be friends but secretly they all wanted him. And usually he loved that. But he felt that it wouldn't be good if Aqua grew any feelings for him, he didn't want to hurt her gentle soul.

"No, but you liked her." Aqua said. He liked Remi a little more than he liked Aqua. At least that's what Aqua got from Cloud's memories. She felt horrendously embarrassed about seeing that side of Cloud. "Just friends," Aqua confirmed. It would take a little while for her to trust him again. But now that she had time to think things through when she wasn't as emotional as she was when he had kissed her, she realized Cloud was lonely. He had a lot of flings but he had always cut them short so he didn't end up the one getting hurt.

He just dropped the theme Remi and kept smiling at Aqua. "Hey, does that mean surfing buddys are not friends?", he asked and playfully hit her shoulder with his. He didn't surely know how to be just a friend to a girl, with no flirting and stuff, but he would handle it. How difficult could it be anyways?

"We can be surfing buddies and friends, after winter passes. Until then, I'm not going anywhere near the water." she told him. This was a first for her - staying with someone she used her powers on. Normally, she used her powers, sent them on their merry little way and never saw them again. She certainly knew more about him than he knew about her. She would have to keep that in check to make sure she didn't abuse her knowledge of him. She could handle it. Right?