Never Again
Chapter 2: Erm…huh!?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Final Fantasy VII…NOTHING. Do you hear me!? NOTHING!! So don't sue me…for you will get NOTHING. Why you ask? Because I don't have money…I have NOTHING!!
With shockingly less self control than the Cetra, Sephiroth yelped and very uncoordinatedly, fell off the bed with a thump noise. This caused her to laugh, "Nice to see you too."
Sephiroth poked his head above the mattress, a rather annoyed look upon his face, "And what are you laughing at, little Cetra lamb?"
Shutting up, her cute expression turned to a glare, "I have a name, 'sir' and that name is Aeris."
Becoming rather annoyed, Sephiroth stood at full height before stating with pure ice in his voice, "I will call you whatever I want to call you, lamb."
Flinching at the tone in his voice, Aeris slowly sat up in the bed, pulling the blankets to her chest in a protective fashion. When she spoke, her voice came out in almost a whisper, "…I wonder where we are…why are we alive…and why were we sleeping in the same bed?"
Growling due to his past-pray making a good point, he sat back down on the bed, putting his face in his hands while his elbows rested on his knees, his beautiful black feathered wing folded on his back in almost a defeated fashion, "…I can't give you answers."
Aeris gazed at his back. Something about this just seemed so wrong. Sephiroth…the Great Sephiroth being in such a defeated…and vulnerable state just seemed so wrong to her. And for some unknown reason to her, all that she wanted to do was to reach out her hand and touch him. So what does she do?
She does just that. Stretching out a petite and feminine hand, Aeris attentively took hold of Sephiroth's left shoulder (the one that didn't have the wing on it) and used her thumb to stroke soothing circles on his surprisingly smooth skin, "Tell you what: we can go exploring later. We can go and figure out what's going on together, okay?"
Her voice was soft and gentle. The same voice that she generally used when talking to her flowers. Sephiroth roughly shook her hand away, "What makes you think that I'd wish to go anywhere with you? And," he turned around to face her, "why the hell would you wish to go anywhere with me? I killed you, remember?"
The expression upon Aeris' face was one of hurt and…was it sympathy? Sephiroth couldn't really tell, "…How could I forget? Of course I remember…but," she paused and turned her face away and toward the small colonial style window, "the Lifestream…I was in there much longer than you. I learned things…about you."
As Sephiroth gained a look of shock, anger and curiosity, Aeris' head fell so that her emerald gaze was now on the floor, "there are so many things that I could tell you about yourself…things that are the reason for why I'm not screaming and trying to run away."
At that point, Aeris turned her head to face Sephiroth's confused mako glare so fast that her chestnut hair dancd around her face. Her emerald eyes were rather moist and there were tear tracks going down her rosey cheeks, "Right after I had come to the conclusion that your life was so unjust and unfair, I wake up in this – " she used her hands and arms to furiously gesture around the room, "this…beautiful room and birds singing the morning away, the scent of fresh linen and life and to wake up next to my killer…" her voice became less furiously epic and more soft, "…my killer…the very man that I had been sympathizing with. I – "
Aeris was cut off from finishing her sentence as Sephiroth suddenly lurched forward and…embraced her.
He had moved so fast and suddenly that his wing had become unfolded and had sent lovely, black feathers flying around the bedroom. He had one arm around the small of her back and one arm around the back of her neck and his hand grasping her shoulder. His chin resting in the nape of her neck. His wing was stretched out, encircling the both of them on one side. He had reacted so fast that he had no real idea as to why he felt like embracing her. Maybe it was because of her Cetra lineage, she was able to make silent requests of the planet…and it was because of her that he had this second chance at living. Maybe it was because that he knew now that she had information about him that he had been yearning for since he was a small boy. Or perhaps it was simply because she was beautiful and she was upset and crying…not because of him…but for him. He didn't really know why he was now embracing her. All he did know was that he felt a need to comfort her…so he did.
He spoke in his low, yet soft tone, "Don't ask me why I'm doing this…"
To his amazement, Aeris shook as small giggles filled the room, "Let me guess. You have no answers for me, right?"
Sephiroth backed away just enough so that he was looking into Aeris' bright green eyes, their noses all but touching. A small smirk crossed his lips, "You catch on fast. Good."
In almost a too sudden movement, Sephiroth let Aeris go and as he stood up his black-feathered wing folded to his back. As his wing folded, a slightly annoyed frown appeared on his face, "…that's odd."
Aeris sat on the bed, blankets still clutched to her chest. She tilted her head slightly to the side, bright green eyes filled with confused curiosity, "What do you mean?"
The wing twitched, "I can't make it disappear."
Aeris blinked, "You mean your wing? I didn't realize that you could make it disappear."
Sephiroth turned his annoyed gaze toward Aeris, "…You're far more naïve than I thought you were," he sighed and folded his arms, "Generally, I can make the damned appendage disappear. Makes it easier for me to blend in with other people."
With that Aeris gave a short laugh, "Ha! You blending in. Now that's something that I'd like to see."
Rolling his reptilian mako eyes, he continued as if Aeris had said nothing at all, "I find it strange that I can't will the damned thing to disappear," the look on his face went from annoyed to slightly worried.
Aeris shrugged, "I'm not sure what to tell you. Maybe you can hide it under a coat or something?"
Pondering that for a moment, Sephiroth looked up at Aeris. Gazing at her innocent angelic face before finally stating, "I'm going to find the shower in this place."
And with that, he turned his feathery back to Aeris and walked out of the bedroom door, almost slamming it when he left.