The gentle golden overtones of early evening deepened into the lavender dusk that served as Midgar's version of night. Aeris and Reno walked slowly through the streets as the city emptied of busy workers. Street lights winked on, throwing hazy impressionistic illumination over the darkened streets. A light snow started to fall, downy flakes floating lazily from the heavens to meet the ground. Aeris turned her face up, letting the flakes kiss her skin gently.

"It's a beautiful night..."

"Eh," Reno grunted noncommittally, another cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Hey, I'm hungry. Get somethin' to eat with me."

"No." She really hated it when he ordered her, rather than asking.

"Come on, I hate eating alone. I'll take you to the best place in this part of town. Cygnus, you can't pass up Cygnus!"

Aeris glowered at him. "Yes, I can, and what am I going to eat there? Five gil milk shakes? I can't possibly afford it. Thanks, but no thanks."

Reno smiled as if he had a sudden epiphany. "I'm buying. Don't even try to say no. It's my birthday present to you, so it'd be rude if you refuse..."

"How did--"

"It's in your file," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "Come on, just say yes. You know I won't stop buggin' you till you do."

She relented, albeit grudgingly. "Fine."

They walked in relative silence as they came upon their destination, a large and fancy looking restaurant. It was decorated in retro-chic; the main part of the restaurant looked like some kind of horrible lounge with a vague jungle theme. Next to it was a smaller section for customers who didn't have the time to wait for a table. It had lots of little booths and a neat looking lunch counter set up, replete with gaudy neon tubing. Reno entered first, chatting up the Maître d' as if he were a long lost brother. Aeris felt very out of place in the restaurant. Everyone else was dressed very nicely, their clothes costing more than she made in a week. Even Reno fit in better than she. The trademark rumpled navy blue suit he wore as a Turk wasn't exactly evening formal, but it was more appropriate than her simple dress.

Reno procured a table, looking back and smiling at Aeris. She returned it weakly. The Maître d' showed them to the diner section, where Reno took a seat in one of the booths. He sat down, immediately picking up the menu to order. Aeris followed suit, consciously aware of the stares she got as she entered. She just wanted this day to end. She picked up a menu, looking it over glumly as she inwardly bemoaned the overpriced food and the overrated restaurants that served it.

Reno looked up from his menu, noticing the troubled look on Aeris's face. "So, what's going on with you? You haven't been yourself. I mean, by now you'd be yelling at me about how expensive this place is and insisting we stop at that stupid vegetarian bar you like so much." She said nothing, looking at him balefully with those incredible green eyes. "Is it about that creepy guy?" She nodded halfheartedly. "Hey, tell me what he looks like, and I'll beat him senseless. Nobody messes with my Chica but me."

"No and No, and I'm not your Chica..." she mumbled.

He harumphed disagreeably, though he was too lazy to negate what he knew to be the absolute truth. "So whatcha gonna order? I'm thinkin' 'bout the steak..."

"It's so expensive."

"So what?! Remember, I'm paying." He paused, coughing uncomfortably as he handed her a medium sized package. "This is for you. Happy Birthday."

"Hey, I thought this was my present!" she objected, reluctantly taking the package.

"Aw, quit yer bitchin' and open the damn present."

She carefully peeled back the colorful paper surrounding the box, folding it neatly and setting it next to her. Taking as much care with the box, she opened it as well. Pushing back the tissue paper, Aeris drew out a small silver cylinder. She turned the thing over in her hands, looking at Reno with confusion.

"What is it?"

"It's a staff, retractable, so you can hide it on ya. And if someone wants to start some shit, push that button and VIOLA! -- a staff with which to beat your enemies senseless." He smiled, pointing at a small button on the side of it with cigarette in hand.

"Thank you, but, uh, I don't know how to use something like this and I'm not sure if I need it."

He scowled this time, snorting as he stubbed out his cigarrette. "Course ya do! What with the creepy guy and all... pretty girls like you need something to beat off thugs with. And don't worry 'bout how to use it, I'll stop by your church sometime and give ya pointers and shit." She gave him a dubious look, lips pursing. Clearly, she wasn't convinced yet. So, he rambled on. "...Plus, when I bought it, it came with a basic materia starter set. You know... Fire, Lighting, and Cure. The whole shebang. So bein' an ancient and all, big with the magic, you don't even have to use it as a weapon. See, I'm thinkin'." He smiled charmingly, pointing at his temple as if to emphasize to her that he was smarter than she took him for.

She didn't believe it for a moment, but she didn't disabuse him of the thought either as she laughed lightly. "Yeah, okay, thanks. I suppose it'll come in handy."

The waitress came up to take their order, taking Reno's first then Aeris. She wrote down quickly, giving Aeris another one of the many odd stares she'd gotten this evening. Before she left he asked for a newspaper, she nodded and left, returning a few minutes later with their drinks and a newspaper for Reno. He took it with a nod, rustling the pages as he looked for the sports section. Sipping his coffee and pretending to read, he looked over at Aeris again. He'd really like to find out who that guy was. It bothered him, because while her status as an Ancient wasn't widely known, there were ways for the wrong people to find out those kinds of things.

Shaking the paper importantly, he waited until he was sure he had her attention. Setting it down, he looked her straight in the eye. "So, seriously, tell me about this guy." She let out a strangled growl that he quieted with a hand. "Call me concerned..."

She sighed resignedly. "It's... it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"You always do that 'Don't worry, it's nothing you'd understand' bullshit. In case haven't noticed, this city is a shit pile, filled with criminals and fuck jobs that'll knife you for the hell of it. The only thing keepin' every prick in this city in line is fear, and even then that don't amount to shit. Midgar ain't no place for someone like you, Aeris. You see the good in everybody. That's why I worry..." At this, she snorted and rolled her eyes. Her reaction wasn't appreciated. Reno scowled and smacked the surface of the table demandingly. "Who the fuck is he and what's he look like? I wanna know, so I can educate him on who not to fuck with."

The flower girl shifted uncomfortably, mumbling something about a nightmare and a duty to her people. Clearly, this went deeper with just an encounter with a creepy guy. Hell, there were thousands of 'em in Midgar and he knew she'd had her fair share of bad scares, but this was something else; he'd never seen her so rattled. Inhaling deeply, he thumped a knuckle on the table and gazed at her inquiringly. "'Sides, I might not understand a damn thing about all that Ancient shit or whatever, but at least I can listen. You can't just bottle your shit up all the time, ya feelin' me?"

Another long and heavy sigh came from her, before she asked quietly: "Reno, do you believe in fate?"

"Nah, the only person who decides what happens in my life is me," he answered without thinking. The dejected, almost hurt look she gave told him he'd answered wrongly. "Do you?"

She looked at him sadly and nodded. "Reno, what if you knew what was going to happen to you? Like, if at a certain time and place, you knew you were going to die and who was going to kill you. What would you do?"

"At this point, this is all just hypothetical, right?" He waited, and she nodded again. "Well, if I knew the guy who was gonna wack me, I'd find him and shoot the mother fucker in the back of the head while he slept." This drew a disapproving look from Aeris, to which he smiled sheepishly. "But, uh, that ain't you. You'd probably just give him a hug and cookie, and send him on his way... Sorry, my advice is bad. Please, continue."

"I'm not sure if should," she teased, realizing that it really did feel good to at least get it off her chest. "I had this dream and in it I saw the exact moment of my death."

Reno took a sip of coffee and thought for a moment. "Hmm. So, it's like that one slasher movie with the guy with the claws and the killing in your dreams. I thought that if you died in your sleep then you die in real life..."

Aeris rolled her eyes. "No, you don't. Well, at least in mine I don't. Anyway... In my dream, I was murdered and I saw the face of my killer. The guy who I saw in my dream looked just like this guy I saw on the street today. I sort of freaked out... but then he left and I forgot, but then later... he must have followed me, because at the end of the day, he came to my stand and started asking all these questions--"

Reno's eyes narrowed, a dangerous light glinting in their depths. "What does he look like? For real. I don't believe in fate, and I don't know that I believe in your dreams but if you think he'll hurt you, I'll find the sonvabitch and hurt him first... free of charge."

Aeris shook her head. "You don't have to--"

"No, I want to know. What does the cock sucker look like?"

She thought for a moment, and then began to describe the stranger animatedly. "He was really tall, pale-- probably a SOLDIER. He had Mako eyes... um... His hair was sort of a silver color and really long. He had these bangs that..." Aeris paused to look at Reno, who's eyes had gone wide. "What?"

He said nothing, holding up a finger while he shuffled through the newspaper. Lighting on the page he was looking for, he held it up to Aeris. A tiny gasp escaped her lips as she looked at the picture in front of her.

"Is that him?" She nodded. "Titan's hirsute ass-crack, Girl! Do you live under a rock? You dreamed that Sephiroth, THE General Sephiroth... is going to kill you! I'm not gonna call you crazy, but I have to say it is pretty effing weird."

She frowned, a passing look of hurt flickering across her face. "You know I don't read the papers!" she snapped defensively, to which he only shook his head and sighed.

"What, General Sephiroth? Never heard of him... do you know how ridiculous that sounds? How could you NOT know it was him?"

"Well, he wasn't in his battle gear! He was dressed all casual and... I just don't take the time to think about people like that! All I could think about at the time was that his face was the face I saw in my dream..."

"Well, true or not, I'd hate to go up against him; youngest General in Shinra history and one cold bastard, if you believe the press. Tseng's met him, says he makes the Turks look like warm fuzzy bunnies. Said the dude was ruthless..."

"Okay, remember the part about you reassuring me and letting me get my feelings off my chest? So not helping."

"Okay, all right... I'm just sayin', if he wanted you dead, I think you'd damn sure be there already. Prolly just hitting on you -- Ramuh knows, you're awful cute. So no worries, yeah?"

"I didn't say he'd do it now. It's far in the future..." she grumbled, dunking her straw in her water.

"Well, seeing as you're so worried, I'll stick around. Escort ya to your train tonight, and how 'bout I meet ya at your church tomorrow morning? Keep an eye on ya and stuff. Though I still don't understand what you're so worked up about. Most girls in a thirty mile radius would be creaming their shorts if the Great General Sephiroth wanted their ass. I've heard he likes 'em young..."

Aeris stuck her tongue out at him by way of reply, looking up as the waitress came and gave them their food. She ate quietly, listening to Reno chatter on about the most mundane of things. He didn't seem to mind that she wasn't contributing much. In the end it didn't matter, it's not like he'd understand what she'd have to say.

Humans were disconnected from the world, never hearing its cries, whereas a Cetra was intimately connected to the planet, and the web of life. It constantly surrounded her like a warm embrace. It was what allowed her to know what made everything around her, from people to the rocks to the buildings to plants, right down to the fiber of her own being. She could hear the planet's cries, feel its pain, and to not have anyone to share it with was worse than death to her.

Still, her confession had made her feel somewhat better, even though Reno didn't believe her, and the food was good, even though it was much too expensive. She even got to try her very first five Gil milk shake, and she had to say it was worth what was spent. And anyway, she hadn't really expected him to understand. He was right about one thing though: sometimes you really did have to let things go.

After the meal, Reno walked her over to the train station, saying good-bye as she got in. He watched her safely seated in the train, until it took off and sped through the darkened streets. He too was troubled. Why was the General of the entire Shinra armed forces snooping around, looking to do... whatever it was he wanted to do with Aeris? Had they finally got tired of him screwing up and assigned someone else the job? Reno hoped for Aeris's sake that they hadn't. Both he and Tseng had agreed long ago to screw up as much as possible when it came to her. She was too sweet a kid to land into the hands of a freak like Hojo.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Another thing I was going to mention -- in the original story there were parts that had overtones of certain pairings. You'll note that this isn't the case so much in this version. Yes, I do touch on the various people in her lives. The fact that many of them are men sort of brings up the issue of her being a very pretty girl and them being men. And not to stereotype, but if you are a pretty girl and you have a straight male friend, chances are they like you. A lot. Even you both consider each other just friends, in the back of his mind... he's probably thought about you in a less than friendly manner at some point in time.

In fact, I'm sure if you're a pretty girl with lots of hot guy friends, I bet you think about them too sometimes... alone... at night. You know you do.

Sicko.

But I kid.

What I'm trying to say is this: there are no concrete pairings in this story. You'll get overtones, but if you're looking for a story with a singular OTP -- then swim away. (Personally, I don't believe in OTP, it's silly and quite frankly... boring. Really, if you can dream it, write it - draw it - be it and don't be ashamed.)

So, if you have an open mind and aren't completely devoid of intelligence, this story might just amuse you for a certain amount of time. Also, note THERE WILL BE NO SMEX! No, really -- NO SMEX! Just a bit of mild romance that sort of bleeds into WAFF.