Ghost in the Church
Disclaimer: I do not have affiliation with nor claim in anyway whatsoever to own Final Fantasy, the characters Cloud Strife nor Aeris/Aerith Gainsborough, nor of SquareEnix.
I do happily own my various plot bunnies but as of this posting, no one genuinely wants them. I can deal with that.
It was when stepping into the musty, old church that I had my first glimpse of that image. It was brief, only a mere instance in reality, but it left a lasting impression for ages to come.
Red and soft pinks blended together, her soft auburn hair loose and down to her knees.
I was about to question; "your hair bow?" when the cold realization got to me: the bleeding wound in her midriff. An inch wide and I was wondering what I was seeing just then.
The image faded to me then like a ghost, and I took a look worriedly at the girl at my side. Aeris turned to glance at me and smile - she, the girl whom I saw dead - was alive.
That was all that mattered.
Ever since our fateful encounter within these sacred walls, there was something compelling me to get ever so closer to this girl. It was an instinct I couldn't grasp on. What do I feel with her? Was it a pang of mercy for her problems? Was it the desire to keep her safe? Was it love?
The holes in my subconscious revealed nothing.
"Ah! I think some-one's been watering them since I was away!"
Aeris seemed rather pleased and ran to check on her flower bed. She was carefully inspecting the soil quality as though aware if it needed fertilizer or some trite nuance. I was unsure about her luck.
"No idea as to whose taken care of them since our raid on Shinra?"
"What? Oh, I think I know who did it... Don't be such a worry-wart, Cloud."
I turned my head and scoffed a bit at her teasing. The only other people I've seen in that church until then had been the Turks, and they had every reason to set a trap here for us. Aeris wasn't very unpredictable and somewhere in my mind, I was still in disbelief over how she could have stayed under the radar all this time.
Considering it was only an hour from our escape from Shinra with their "prized specimen" (Hojo's words) in tow, we had limited time to flee this city. Blame Aeris for her need to say a goodbye to her flowers.
"Make this quick. Remember, we have to climb that fence and get back to where the others are waiting soon. Midgar is no place for us to be now."
"Right. I just had to tend to them one last time..." She had a vaguely serious expression which I attributed to our departure from the only world she's ever known.
"If they can grow in a place like Midgar, I'm sure nothing can ever hurt them. We'll be back eventually, Aeris."
A few moments passed before Aeris got up from where she kneeled and brushed off her dress.
"Alright, I'm done, Cloud. Let's return now."
"Good." To be quite fair, that 'ghost' horrified me. I had never really thought of Aeris - let alone any of my new comrades dying. I didn't want to. As long as I had the Buster Sword at my side, I'd do whatever it took to keep the people around me safe.
Never again would I allow a loved one to die, like before.
Never again would I allow Sephiroth to destroy anymore lives.
Aeris was a bit ahead of me so I easily caught up and enclosed my hand around hers. Aeris smiled and squeezed my hand in response and I again thought back to my musings from before.
If there was something within me, drawing me ever so closer to Aeris, then it doesn't matter if I ever find out what or why. As long as we can keep going on this journey - together - nothing else matters.
Together, we left the sector 7 slums, and our journey began there.
A/N: Please review. Any helpful criticism will be appreciated.