She wasn't the only one who felt like she'd dared to want more for herself and had it taken away yet again. It was the first time he'd opened his heart in a long time, first time he'd wanted to take a risk like that, and then she was gone. But she was here again, she was safe, and he wasn't making the mistake of moving too slowly again.

"I will," he promises into another kiss, holding her tighter to him as the kisses get deeper, just wanting to have her close. "And I'll keep asking you." He already has ideas, things he wants to show her, and the promise of ending up with her back here in his arms makes the prospect all the more wonderful.

The hum of pleasure she gives is divine, as is the way she shifts to straddle him again, this time leaving him to stretch his legs out against the mattress. When she pauses to touch his face like that, asking for her name, he sees the girl in the garden again, lonely and unsure, carrying a lifetime of the coldness of court around her.

He takes her face in both his hands, tracing her cheekbones as he looks into her gaze, smiling gently as he does. "Aerith," he breathes. "My sweet, adventurous, pushy, wonderful Aerith." This time when he presses her lips to hers, there's hunger in it, breath coming sharp in his nose, and the memory of her so desirous on her birthday makes a low sound of pleasure escape against her lips.