Phoenix had woken up to a soft pitter patter on the windows. The rain had been going on for a few days, never ending. Sometimes it was only spitting and other times it was a downpour. All she knew was that it wasn't the faint sound of thunder that awoke her.

The ex-SOLDIER shivered. She held her bed covers close to her thinly dressed figure, her fingers nearly white from the grip on the tyrian purple duvet.

Sitting up in bed wasn't something she did on a day to day basis - or on a night to night basis, in this case. It often left her paranoid for a few moments and it was a pain for her to get to sleep.

Phoenix was thankful that her shivers did not go unscathed: warm arms had found her and had wrapped themselves around her waist, hands lifting her silk, Venetian red pyjama top, and a warm chin rested on her bare shoulders, neglecting the thin strap of her top. Her shoulder was situated at the nape of his neck, body held against his bare chest.

The male's warm breath ghosted over her ear and cheek, the soft spikes of his hair rested firmly against her skin as he nuzzled his head closer to her.

"Another nightmare?" He asked softly, voice barely above a whisper. The sheer serenity in his voice told her that he had been awake for a while. An hour tops.

Phoenix nodded solemnly, not wanting to speak in case her voice came out croaky and left her with a sore throat from coughing to clear it up. She instinctively rested her crimson haired head on his, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Tell me about it."

A shaky breath escaped her lips. "It's ... hard to explain, Cloud."

"Many things are hard to explain." A soft kiss to her temple had already made her feel better as he continued. "And you always find a way."

An inaudible, breathy laugh came from her, the only tell tale sign of her laughter being the unnoticeable shaking of her shoulders. "It...it's more like a forever haunting memory."

The quick glance towards the male had truly made her feel like she had nearly forgotten what he looked like as the night sky looked down upon him.

Although there were the rain clouds to cover the sky, a flash of lightning would show off his fair complexion and fair hair. His sky blue orbs, mako enhanced, were looking down at her like he knew exactly what memory she was on about. The same one that haunted her peaceful dreams two years before the recently cured disease of Geostigma.

Zack's death.

Her brother was one of the best people in her life: always making her laugh and always teasing her over who'd she be cute with. Always.

Cloud tightened his grip around her ever so slightly, making her feel secure despite her SOLDIER training, urging her to just snuggle up against him. The fact alone reminded her that he was there for her like he had been for nearly twenty years.

And that was never going to change.

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A/N: I changed Aura to Phoenix because I realised that another one of my FFXIII OCs was called Aura. Also, if you want to know more about Phoenix, I'm writing a fanfic series that goes through the Final Fantasy VII series. The one set in Crisis Core is already published and it's called Promises if you wanna read it. xD