A.N: Hi all! Yeah... apparently exam period is when my muse flairs up. I was listening to Aerith's theme as I was studying about Eyewitness Testimony and I ended up planning a whole short fic pertaining to the relationships different characters may have had with Aerith throughout her short, sweet life. Funnily enough, Aerith had never been a favourite character of mine- I actually only liked her because she made Zack happy (HAHAHAHA elitist fangirl=me), but then, after reading Womble619's fics and his wonderful portrayal of her, I found myself growing fond of Aerith :) So, here's my tribute to her.

The chapters will be rather short compared to my other on-going fics, but that's the whole point of the fic. These are just snapshots :D

I hope you all enjoy! Read and Review people- the reviews will get me through this exam period LOL

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except my ideas.

Chapter One: Innocent Eyes

When Tseng was assigned to watch their target, he was expecting absolute chaos. A child, seven years of age, was bound to be a complete nightmare after all. Nonetheless, as the stoic professional stepped into the run-down church in the slums, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the hunched frame of a tiny girl tending to a small patch of greenery amongst the splintering floor boards.

Her chestnut brown hair hung down her back in a long braid, moving as the fragile child reached forward into the patch of green with enthusiasm. Cherubically chubby fingers gently parted the lush grass into two parts, revealing a small bud amongst the weeds.

"Sir, come see! It's a flower bud!" the little girl exclaimed enthusiastically, not noticing the momentarily surprised look on Tseng's face as the Turk wondered how the little girl had managed to detect his presence.

And then he remembered.

She was an Ancient- of course she could detect the fluctuations of the Lifestream when living beings came and went. Tseng smirked to himself and stepped forward, both curious and wary. It was unheard of to spot blooms within the slums- there was not enough sunlight to sustain any living thing for a long amount of time.

Tseng frowned as he registered the paleness of his target's skin.

The slums were no place for a little girl.

Especially one so important for the future of the world.

"Are you here by yourself?" Tseng asked, his tone flat. The young girl stood carefully and brushed her soiled hands against her pink and blue summer dress. She turned around and tilted her head innocently as she regarded the suited man with curiosity.

Tseng held his breath as his target's clear, green eyes stared up at him, innocently. There seemed to be a sense of loneliness in the young girl's eyes, yet still, she smiled up at him in a brilliant display of childish amusement.

"No, you're here with me, Mr. Bodyguard!" Tseng took a surprised step back at the child's declaration. After his momentary shock at her surprisingly accurate guess of his occupation, Tseng made eye contact with his target yet again.

"My name is Tseng." The girl nodded thoughtfully as she took a step forward. Tseng frowned as the girl reached up and tugged at the sleeve of his immaculate uniform.

She got dirt all over it.

Still, Tseng allowed himself to be tugged down into a kneeling position so that he was at eye-level with his young target.

The pretty child blinked almost blankly at Tseng before she broke out into a wide grin.

"I'm Aerith Gainsborough! My mom's at home- we live in Sector Five!" Aerith shoved her dirty hands into Tseng's field of view, wiggling her chubby digits with fervour. Tseng nodded at his target's fingers and surprised himself as he pulled out a clean handkerchief from his uniform pocket and draped it gently over the young girl's hands.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Aerith. You seem to have made quite the mess," Tseng pointed out, his features forming a grimace as he attempted to remove the dirt from his uniform using his hands. Aerith stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth rather adorably as she concentrated solely on cleaning her hands with Tseng's handkerchief before she settled her large, green eyes on the stoic man's presences once again.

"I like to touch the soil. It's warm and it makes me feel safe," Aerith shivered and averted her gaze from Tseng as she said this, almost as if she recalled a bad memory.

Feeling compelled to do so, Tseng kneeled down and placed a tentative hand on Aerith's small shoulder- attempting to comfort the obviously spooked child.

In such a small amount of time, the child had done the impossible.

She had charmed the company man. She had won over Tseng of the Turks.

Her innocent eyes had charmed Tseng in a way no other ever could.

"People say blue skies mean freedom. When Mommy got hurt, she asked the sky for help. She died. I don't like the sky. It's scary." Aerith's speech pattern was strange, but rung with truth and a hint of betrayal. Tseng gently squeezed his target's shoulder and stood. Aerith turned and watched Tseng's retreating back momentarily before her eyes widened in panic. "I'm sorry for being sad! Don't leave!"

Taken aback by the young girl's words, Tseng allowed himself yet another glance at those clear, green eyes before he let out a small sigh.

"It's getting late. You are expected to be home soon, I assume?" Tseng fought at the niggling order in his mind to bring the girl back to ShinRa… to the labs where Hojo wanted her. But one look into her innocent eyes rendered Tseng helpless to her unintentional charm. He couldn't feed her to the lions… not when she was like this.

He'd wait until she got older.

Until she could protect herself.

Until then…

Tseng looked down at the look of bashful indecisiveness on his young target's face. Tseng couldn't help but chuckle as he gestured at the doors of the church.

"I'll take you home, don't be afraid." Aerith glanced up, her eyes lit up with an expression Tseng couldn't put a name to.

A few moments later, as Aerith slipped her hand into his, she flashed Tseng a charming grin before she pulled him forward towards her home, speaking of hot cocoa and butter cookies shaped like chocobos.

It was as Tseng reluctantly sipped a cup of cocoa served to him in a moogle mug that Elmyra Gainsborough shot the infamous ShinRa assassin a weary look.

"She adores you. Please, don't hurt her." Aerith turned her clear green gaze towards her adopted mother with a toothy smile.

"He's my body guard, mom. He's protecting me. And he's my friend- he looked at the garden with me today." Tseng smiled and nodded curtly as Aerith turned her gaze to him. Happy with his response, Aerith turned back to her cookies with enthusiasm. Elmyra sighed and shook her head before levelling Tseng with a sad stare before placing a plate of butter cookies before him.

Tseng's eyes widened as Elmyra offered him a tentative smile.

"Thank you, then. You're welcome to come and go as you wish, so long as you keep my daughter safe from harm." Elmyra spoke quietly. Tseng nodded before he could even rationalise his actions.

"You have my word. My Turks and I will protect Aerith's innocence for as long as we are permitted to." Elmyra smiled and nodded at the stoic man's serious words.

"That is all I can ask for."

Note:
Drop me a line if you found this interesting :D This fic will only last ten chapters and it's all planned out, so opinions and views are very much appreciated! Also, I use Australian language and spelling conventions, so hopefully that doesn't put too many people off. I made an effort to spell 'mum' with an 'o', so yay! xD