Hero of Mine
She really hated how stubborn she could be sometimes. She had told the group that she needed a walk and had insisted that she went alone, so that she could have a chance to think. However, now that night had fallen, providing cover for stalking creatures, she was becoming a little frightened.
She shivered slightly and quickened her pace, her hand reaching into her pocket to grasp a small mobile phone. She waited until the screen lit up before searching through her contacts. Barret was first, since they were in alphabetical order but Aerith knew he would more than likely be drunk at the bar with Cid and she didn't want to walk the town with two drunks. That effectively elimiated her second contact too.
The next one was Cloud, which she was certain would be fine. After all, Cloud would not be drinking, he would more than likely be up and he wouldn't be with anyone else and therefore drag a whole party out to rescue her when she didn't need rescuing. She just wanted to let him know she was safe and ask him if he would walk with her. Nothing had happened to her yet but she wasn't going to take the chance. If she had phoned Cait Sith(who was the third contact) he would have panicked and probably told everybody her corpse would be found in the morning in bloody, mutilated form, which was why she skipped him instantly.
She sighed as she listened to the ringing on the other side, frowning at how long it was taking Cloud to answer. She stopped walking and leaned against the wall, glancing around her a few times. After waiting a few more seconds, she sighed and hung up, putting the phone back in her pocket.
Before she felt a hand cover her mouth and another encircle her waist.
Cloud threw open the bathroom door and raced towards the table where his phone was lying, buzzing as an indication that someone was calling him. However, just as he reached for it, it stopped. He gave an annoyed growl and picked it up. He blinked when Aerith's name appeared on the screen, wondering what she had wanted. Quickly, he pressed the green, redial button and waited for her to answer.
She struggled relentlessly against her captor, screaming against his hand and trying to move her legs so she could kick him. Her hands lay on each of his, digging her nails in as hard as she could but still he didn't let her go. He just chuckled darkly.
"Oh, you're a fiesty one aren't you? I love that kind," he whispered in her ear. She flinched and struggled harder. Growing up in Midgar made her aware of the fact that rape and murder did happen but it had never happened to her before, having always managed to outrun the Turks before they caught her.
A ringing sound echoed through the air and it only took the Cetra a second to realise it was her mobile. Her attacker realised too an quickly thrust his hand inside her pocket and grabbed the item, reading the screen.
"Cloud? Who's that?" he sneered before he threw it away. She squealed as she watched it hit the ground but didn't have time to ponder it before she was thrown against the floor too, the man's weight settling on top of her. His hand had left her mouth and she wasted no time in screaming out, bucking against him and using her hands to push him away.
But then her hands were grabbed in one of his and slammed hard against the ground. His other left her hip for a second to give her a hard slap and then grabbed her chin, turning her head back to press his lips against hers.
She screamed harder against his lips, thrashing her hands against the one that held them and trying to kick her legs up against him but he wouldn't budge. His tongue pushed her lips apart but the moment it entered her mouth, she bit down as hard as she could, not caring as she tasted the blood in her mouth from it.
"You bitch!" he snarled, back handing her again. Her phone rang again, but this time only once before the voicemail was read out:
"Aerith it's Cloud, I noticed you phoned me a minute ago, what's wrong? Call me when you get this okay. Tifa's worried. In fact, nearly everyone is worried. Nobody has seen you."
"Aww your boyfriend worried is he?" the man chuckled, wiping the rest of the blood from his chin with his spare hand. The flower girl glared at him and shifted again, earning a soft sigh from the man. "You just don't learn do you." he shook his head and let his hand linger above her chest, a devilish smirk appearing on his lips.
"We should split up." Nanaki commanded. "We need to find her."
"Like we don't know that?" Yuffie snapped angrily.
Nanaki said nothing in reply, nobody did. Everyone was too worried about Aerith, scared that something awful had happened to her. It was plainly obvious to everyone that Cloud was worried the most. It was obvious to most of the gang how he felt about the flower girl.
The blonde appeared in the hall, slipping on his black gloves and glancing at each of the AVALANCHE members.
"Search everywhere," he commanded. "Every allyway, every shop, behind every bin. I don't care where you have to look, just find her!"
Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly poured out the door, taking off in every direction to find the missing girl.
The man had succeeded in ripping her dress, revealing her white underwear to his lustful gaze. Aerith squirmed beneath him, begging him to stop, crying out for anyone to help her. But there was nobody to hear her cries.
She heard him pull down his zipper and she closed her eyes tightly, feeling her hot tears spill over her cheeks. She used the last ounce of strength to kick out and scream out, begging that somewhere, someone would hear her.
"You like it rough then bitch?" he chuckled, grabbing her legs under the knees and lifting them up to his waist, his right hand instantly pined down her wrists as she continued to struggle.
"Aerith?"
The shout of her name snapped her attention from the situation for a moment. She recognised Cloud's voice instantly.
"Cloud! Cloud help me! Clo...!"
"Shut up!" the man hissed, slamming her head against the ground roughly and the Cetra felt her vision go hazy. The man took advantage of her still body to kiss her again, roughly and hard, taking pleasure in her protesting moans.
Then suddenly, the weight was lifted off her and loud angry voices echoed around her. She focussed her gaze on a man with blonde hair, who she recognised, as her mind began to clear, as Cloud.He had the man who had attacked her pinned against the wall before he punched him hard in the stomach, kicking the attacker's face the moment he touched the ground.
The man groaned and attempted to cover his face, his eyes falling upon Aerith who was trying to stand on shaky legs. He smirked and looked up at Cloud, who had just glanced at the flower girl.
"I don't know why you're defending the bitch. She was begging for it," he chuckled.
Aerith's mouth dropped open in disbelief and she began to protest but Cloud instantly grabbed the man, slamming his head into the wall with a sickening crack. After a moment of staring at the heap, Cloud turned to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, taking her hand and pulling her closer to him. She nodded.
"Is he...dead?"
"No," the blonde sighed, removing his jacket. "Here, put this on," he said, wrapping it on her shoulders. She smiled gratefully and pulled up her dress a little, using the jacket to cover the parts of the dress that had ripped.
"Did he...?" Cloud began but the thought of what could have happened prevented him from saying the words aloud.
"No...you stopped him just before," she replied, unconsciously moving closer to him. Cloud smiled a little at her and linked his arm possessively with hers.
"Well, I guess that's made it a little better," he whispered. "I'd hate to think of him..."
Aerith blushed. "You don't have anything to feel guilty if anything had happened," she protested but Cloud shook his head.
"When you love someone, you protect them no matter what. I can't stand the thought of anyone hurting you."
"You love me?" she repeated, her blush darkening. Cloud had one of his own too as he nodded slowly. Aerith sighed and threw her arms around him. "I love you too."
Cloud smiled, nuzzling his head into her soft hair, inhaling her scent. "Come on, we should get back," he whispered, slipping his hand into hers.
"Cloud, could you not tell anyone about this?" she asked.
"If you don't want me too," he answered, moving his hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders, holding her protectively by his side.