Aerith first appears in Final Fantasy VII as a girl selling flowers in the slums of Midgar. Initially encountering Cloud after his first mission with AVALANCHE, Aerith offers him a flower before he goes on his way. Cloud next meets Aerith when he falls through the roof of the church where she gets her flowers from. When he learns that she is menaced by Reno, a Turk hired by the Shinra Electric Power Company, Cloud becomes Aerith's "bodyguard" with the offer of a date as payment.