Rated M for future cursing and adult themes.

I'll Hold You To That

Prologue

"Excuse me, sir."

Sephiroth stopped in his tracks, not sure about what he heard. A feeble voice called to him but he couldn't discern the sound's direction. He looked around, his jade eyes piercing the alley's darkness. He couldn't see anything, or anyone. People had ran back to their homes when the rain started falling. It was most unlikely that anyone had dared to be exposed to the foul rain that poured from the toxic cloud above Midgar.

"Excuse me, sir."

And then he saw her: The girl had been there all the time, so quiet and still that he couldn't notice her. She was all clad in pink and her dress hung wet from her body. Her hair was braided and also wet, the chestnut locks falling delicately above her shoulders.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you want to buy a flower? They're only a gil...?"

Sephiroth thought absently if he should move on and just ignore the girl. However, she had already lifted her raincoat from the top of a flower's cart. Her white and yellow flowers were delicately planted in small vases or decorated in flower arrangements. She smiled softly when she saw the expression on his face. That girl was standing in the rain and her raincoat was protecting her flowers. After everybody had ran home, the girl stayed there, dripping wet, waiting for her customers. And the flowers were only a gil.

"I don't see many flowers around here."

"The flowers in my church are quite resilient because it is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar... But for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming there." She smiled again.

Something inside Sephiroth shifted. He was accustomed to so much luxury that the thought of having to sell flowers in the rain never crossed his mind as a job. And that girl was young... very, very young. Although the soft curves of her face denied her young age, her eyes expressed maturity, experience and pain. That girl had been through a lot, he could tell that by her determined posture. However, she still complimented people with a smile, not even bothering to be bitter to those who had a much easier life than her.

He searched in his pocket for a penny. However he could only find cash. 50 gil cash. ShinRa didn't bother with offering their best SOLDIER's small daily wages, fearing to be questioned for being greedy. Sephiroth held out the money and she looked at it with her eyes wide open. She held the bill in her hand, not sure of what to do with it.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any change."

"You can give me what you have and I'll come back later to retrieve the rest."

She blushed and looked at her feet.

"You see, sir... I usually sell flowers in the slums and people there can't afford such luxury. And up here... I'm just a slums' girl. I barely make ten gil per day. And with all this raining, you are my first customer today."

Sephiroth felt a knot forming in his throat. That girl was from the slums. That explained the pained look on her face and the way that she stood miraculously on the damp streets. She was accustomed to monsters nearby her house, accustomed to beggars, thieves and burglars.

"You can keep the change, then. Don't worry about paying me back."

"Sir, I may be poor, but I'm not covetous. If you want, you can come back tomorrow with a gil. I won't take your money."

Sephiroth searched in his pocket for the rest of the money. He looked at the cash in his hand and gave it to her. Her mouth opened in protest but he interrupted her.

"I'll take a hundred flowers, then."

The girl gasped and Sephiroth noticed her trembling hands "Sir I can't..."

"Of course you can. How many flowers do you have in your cart?"

"I...I...A hundred and fifty."

"The only excuse you could use was not having enough flowers with your right now. Although, even if you didn't, I would gladly escort you back to the slums to help you collect the remaining. But since you have them right here with you, I think our transaction is complete."

She looked surprised at the sudden burst of words. Sephiroth wasn't very talkative and even the girl knew that just by meeting him in the streets. Or did she know that he was Sephiroth, ShinRa's general?

"I...I..."

Sephiroth tucked the money in her hand and started helping her single out the flowers. Sephiroth didn't really need them, but he knew that the girl had too much honor to accept charity. They ended up securing the hundred flowers with the girl's pink ribbon, since the small elastics with which she clipped her arrangements were too small and weak to hold together so many flowers. She pulled back her hair while she worked and Sephiroth noticed the delicacy of her neck, her collarbone and her lips. She was beautiful, beautiful and certain.

"I will come back to give you back your ribbon." He said, after all the flowers were deposited in his arms.

"Oh, you really don't need to" she said, smiling "You have done enough today. Keep that ribbon as a token of my appreciation."

"You have nothing to be thankful about. I bought your product, with fair money. It was a commercial transaction. You ribbon is not mine, it is yours."

She seemed taken aback with those cold words. Sephiroth bit his lip, knowing that it was the only way to preserve her dignity.

"I'll meet you again soon" he added.

She looked at him, suspiciously. Then her lips curled up in a smile.

"I'll hold you to that."