Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any related characters, plots or themes.
Authors Note: For the past two months I have found myself beginning too think of General Sephiroth and Flower Girl Aerith as a possible pairing. And as Spring as arrived and the world is now turning green with splotches of color here and there I've decided too start exploring this pairing. So, this is my first Sephiroth/Aerith fan-fiction. Please read and review. Thank you.
Chapter one: I remember you when you were young
It was cold, gray and eerily silent. She didn't know if she enjoyed being outside of her containment cell or not. When she was in the containment cell she was afraid, afraid that she would never see outside of the cell again, but when she was outside of the cell she was afraid that she would suffer agony and would wish to once again be back in the cell with her mother. She trembled as she looked around. She was seated upon the high metal table, covered in only a simple white cotton gown. The metal table sent chills up through her naked thighs and bottom making her shiver more violently. The tiled floor was to far down for her to get off of the table without either hurting herself or causing so much of a racket she'd get caught and punished for attempt escape. The walls were gray, the shelves were gray, the tables were gray, everything was gray. She froze, her eyes widening, her body stiffening as her ears picked up on an approaching noise. The sound of thick rubber soles meeting well polished tilted floors. Her heart beat quickened as she drew her hands to her chest and bowed her head a bit, her chin resting near her hands, eyes wide and gazing unblinkingly towards the door, fearful of who would walk through at any moment. The automatic door slid open with a mechanical whooshing sound and a figure entered. She blinked and straightened up a bit, a little surprised.
A boy entered, well not really a boy but a young man. He was tall, but not as tall as a full grown man. He was lean and muscular, dressed in high laced black leather combat boots that looked extremely heavy, baggy blue combat fatigues, a brown leather stomach guard with the Shinra logo studded upon it, a blue sweater and heavy looking black shoulder guards. His face was angular with a firm jaw, strong slender nose and cold but tired looking eyes. His hair was long and straight, falling down past his middle and was silver in color. It seemed to shimmer under the labs florescent lights.
The girl blinked again as she gazed at the figure. He was just a boy and yet he was dressed like one of the scary SOLDIERS that worked for Shinra. Could he really be one of those scary people? He was so young!
Sephiroth sighed as he entered the labs. The automatic door slid quickly closed behind him, the breeze causing his hair to flutter a bit, his bangs falling into his face and annoying him slightly. He huffed and blew them away from his eyes as he sighed and looked up expecting too find the Professor waiting for him, clip bored in hand and snippy remark dangling just on the tip of his tongue. His weary eyes shifted this way and that in search of the man he despised but instead they came to rest not upon the Professor but upon a young girl seated upon the examination table. He blinked, his eyes widening slightly as surprise overcame him. She was starring back at up with much the same expression upon her young and frightened face. He shifted slightly before moving forward, approaching the table. "Who are you?" He asked curiously in his deep yet still immature voice. Sephiroth jerked back in surprise and a bit of horror as the girls lips started trembling and pathetic whimpering began escaping her as her wide green eyes brimmed with sparkling tears. "Ah, uh what did I do?" He asked a little startled. He was used to people being intimidated by him, frightened by him but he had never once made someone cry by his mere presence. The girl bowed her head in her hands, her shoulders trembling as her whimpering turned into soft sobs, tears spilling down her chin and falling onto her white clad legs, graying the material slightly.
"A-a-are you h-here to take m-me away?Sephiroth was startled and shifted his weight as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with a gloved hand before letting a exhausted sigh pass his lips.
"What are you talking about?"
The little girl lifted her head, her wide eyes a little bloodshot from crying, tears still pouring down her face. Her nose was red as were her cheeks.
"Y-your one of t-those s-s-scary SOLDIERS a-aren't you? Y-y-you came to t-t-take me away and do h-h-horrible things to m-me!"
Sephiroth blinked. What could he do in a situation like this? He sighed and glanced down, fumbling with the leather straps on his stomach guard, pulling that off before pulling off the shoulder guards and setting them down out of the girls sight. He scooted closer and knelt down and looked up at the little girl. She sniffled and peeked over her hands down at him, tears still sliding down her cheeks. He offered her a gentle smile.
"I'm not a SOLDIER anymore, see." He said showing her that he'd removed his guards and the logo. He rested his arms on his knees as he gazed up at her. "I'm just a kid, like you. So no more crying okay?" He said, leaning over to a shelf near the table and grabbing a tissue and handing it to her. She took it and held it but didn't use it. "I'm not here to do terrible things to you. I'm here because I have an appointment."
"A-appointment?" she hiccupped, her tears finally stopping as she wiped at her eyes with the tissue. "With that scary m-man?"
Sephiroth couldn't help but chuckle at that. He shook his head as he chuckled and stood up with a sigh.
"Yeah the scary man. But it looks like he's forgotten about me." He smirked. "All the better for me." He stretched his arms above his head, several vertebra popping in his neck and shoulders before he let his arms swing back down by his sides. "Why are you here?"
The no longer crying girl curled in on her self a little.
"I…I don't know…I…I've always been here." She whispered. "The scary man…he…, he does experiments on me and my mommy…." The little girl let out a unsure mumble as she gazed at the boy whose demeanor had changed considerably.
His green eyes had narrowed, dark gray eyebrows furrowed causing two little wrinkles to appear between his eyes, his lips thinned to nothing but a line as he glared. And his eyes, green as they were before had started to glow.
Sephiroth blinked at the sound and forced himself to relax. His anger and spiked at the little girls words. He closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths. He'd greened up, and knew he needed to calm down before he did something he would later regret. He sighed and opened his eyes, which no longer glowed with Mako energy. "I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you." He huffed. "I have a bit of a temper, and well. No one should treat a little girl like that." He stated gently gripping the girl under the armpits and lifting her off of the table and gently setting her down on the floor. "Come on, let's get out of here for a little while."
She blinked up at him.
"Where are we going to go?"
"For a walk, I can't take you out of the building, but at least we can get out of this stuffy old place. My name's Sephiroth by the way." He said as he offered her his hand. She looked at it before gazing up at him. A small smile appeared upon her pink lips as she put her small hand in his larger one.
"I'm Aerith."
Aerith knelt with the flowers, her hands running along the stems and over the leaves, but she no longer saw them. Her vision had been blurred with unshed tears. Standing several feet away near one of the pews was Tseng, the commander of the Turks. He stood as stiff as ever, arms clasped behind his back as he gazed emotionlessly towards her. "I thought you would want to know."
Aerith nodded and gently wiped at her eyes as she stood up and offered a smile at the Turk commander.
"Thank you Tseng. You are a good friend."
The smallest of small smiles graced the stiff mans façade before he turned to leave, glancing over his shoulder.
"This conversation never happened Aerith, remember that. I would hate for Shinra to learn of your location."
She nodded. She understood. "After all now…I am your only line of protection." He said before leaving the church.
Aerith sighed and gazed down at the flowers. Sephiroth…I knew what you were…couldn't you see that I didn't care? I hope wherever you are now, that you are happy.
Authors Note: This is a drabble, I have other ideas, more romantic ideas, but this is kind of just exploring maybe how they met and came to rely upon one another. I always kind of thought that the guy who killed the army guys shooting at Aerith and her mother when they were escaping was maybe Sephiroth. And that he and Tseng both protected her from Shinra.