DISCLAIMER - I do not own characters or fictional places which exist in Kingdom hearts or other games.

Hopefully this chapter goes a ways to explain the actions of the mysterious Leon and Aerith.

Cloud

Cloud enjoyed the hot water.

He closed his eyes and sighed as it warmed his body all the way through, chasing away the cold of the rain and the mud from travelling, even the tension between his shoulders. The tension caused by the stress of being chased, the worry of the unknown. For the moment it seemed to be paying off. He had an offer of food, hot water, and clothes from his hostess – the stress of the unknown had to be worth it ... but Why?

Why was this turning out so well for him?

He rubbed the water through his hair, not wanting to use the flowery scented shampoo that was on offer here, it may seem weird if a man went around smelling like ... lilac and roses. He snorted slightly and reached for the scentless soap instead.

After a while he heard Aerith knock at the door and tell him that she had a towel and clothes waiting for him outside the door. He thanked her over the spray and finished washing quickly, eager for answers.

Why was she helping him so willingly?

Why had she taken in a Mako SOLDIER fugitive on nothing more than a line from a man he didn't know?

How did that man know Aerith would help him?

He rubbed his forehead and turned off the hot water. This trip had turned out the opposite of what he had expected.

He thought he'd blend in a few days, maybe a few weeks. Integrate with the sheep, if he had to. Scope the city and wait for his chance to get within Sephiroth's range, then kill him and undo what had been done to this world.

However things were far more complicated than he thought they'd be.

His carefully laid plans to join a homeless shelter perfectly placed on the edge of the city centre, find an anonymous job as a delivery boy at one of the struggling shops he'd heard of, and keep his head down - were all blown away. He'd somehow been spotted and identified the moment he'd entered the city, it must have been pure luck that stopped him getting arrested then and there! Maybe a moment of hesitation on behalf of the reporter? His plans to lay low had only made him stand out, and then he'd met a strange man who had, for reasons unknown, pointed him to this … safe house.

The lady living here seemed to trust the brunet's word, whoever he was, and was treating Cloud generously.

Cloud didn't really suspect her. He was always on his guard, that hadn't changed. But she seemed sincere in her actions and words.

But it made no sense!

He stepped out of the shower and retrieved his clothes. A navy blue shirt, plain white boxer shorts, mismatched socks of white and green – same design though, and grey sweatpants. He wrinkled his nose at the loose pants, but put them on anyway. He didn't like sweatpants. Both shirt and pants were a size or two too large on him.

He looked into the mirror and rubbed his hair with the towel, it was already starting to spike up again.

I don't know what's going on, but Aerith promised answers, at least. He sighed and leaned against the sink, powerless and not liking it. But he wasn't going to be in the dark any longer. He was sure of that.

He stepped back into the main room of her house with the towel around his neck to catch the last drips of moisture, and quickly spotted Aerith sitting by a very warm fire.

His hostess smiled at him. She had pale green eyes like new shoots of grass, long brown hair in a braid tied with a pink ribbon, and a red, pink and white dress. Her feet were bare in her own house and she wore no jewellery. She seemed a woman of simple tastes, calming, clever, and gentle. "Feel better?" she asked in a kind voice.

Cloud nodded and moved to sit in the other armchair which faced the fire "Yeah, thanks," he rubbed his hair again with one hand, just for something to do, he felt awkward in her house for reasons he didn't know. Her eyes were the ones which saw too much, just like that brunet's from before, eyes of one merely disguised as a sheep, he wasn't comfortable meeting them - not after he had dismissed their existence ...

Aerith leaned forwards and picked up a tray with food on it, she passed it to him, forcing him to take it or have the meal all over his lap. "Please have those pills with your meal, they'll make up for the nutrition you've missed," she piped up after a moment.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at her and looked suspiciously at the pills beside his meal. Both were small and white "What?"

Aerith sighed "I'm a medic-spellcaster by trade. I can tell just by looking at you that you've missed a few meals lately, and you're lacking in vitamin A and C. They'll help you, I promise," she looked at the fire with distant eyes "I know trust is hard to give so soon, but I'm not going to hurt you or turn you over. If I wanted to I wouldn't have let you into my house."

Cloud studied her and remembered what that gunmetal eyed man said earlier – if someone turned him over they'd be interrogated, or tortured for any other leads, just encase the association wasn't coincidence.

He hummed and reluctantly swallowed the pills. It didn't feel right to trust them – her and him – so soon, but they hadn't given him a reason not to. She was being generous, so he supposed he'd show a return of trust by listening to her. Even so, the pills seemed to burn down his throat with his reluctance ...

Aerith smiled and picked up her drink of tea before settling back into her cushy looking armchair "I bet you have questions," she said.

Cloud didn't respond.

"Well, I mean, of course you have questions. I thought a lot while you were showering, on how much to tell you," she said quietly. Cloud listened while taking his first bite of casserole … it was good.

Aerith looked distant "There are some things that I won't be able to answer. Because I was never told the full story, or because it isn't my place to tell you, but you can ask whatever you want. I'll do my best," she promised.

Cloud swallowed and tried to organise his thoughts. Well, first things first I guess. "Who was that man who sent me here?" he asked.

Aerith smiled "He's called Leon."

Cloud glanced at her "Just Leon?"

Aerith winced "And we're already at a question which is hard to answer," she sipped her tea "That's not his full name, you're right. Its best if you don't know it, just encase you let something slip. But the reason why he goes by Leon is because his family name is strongly associated with the leaders of a rebellion which happened here during the war."

"What?" Cloud asked, surprised.

Aerith glanced at him with equal surprise "You didn't know? The rebellion against Sephiroth in favour of the side you fought on?"

Cloud shook his head "I always thought that the city gave up without a fight," he said cautiously.

Aerith's face darkened "Hardly. We were betrayed a commander called Pete, who was the captain of the police and guard for our King Mickey, he told everyone the wrong evacuation dates, soldiers went first assuming the civilians were ahead of them, and the people stayed assuming we were being guarded. Sephiroth caught us off guard, with no soliders to protect us we had to give in. But some of us gathered our wits and weighed our chances, and made a stand against him."

Cloud listened, interested.

"Among the leaders of the rebellion were Leon's parents. When it was crushed the participants were hunted down. It was a ... t-terrible few days." Her hand shook upon her teacup. "Leon's Father gave himself up and took responsibility. Now Leon hides his name to try and keep out of too much scrutiny, just encase they think that apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."

Cloud sighed. "That explains why Leon doesn't like Sephiroth, if he killed his family."

Aerith nodded "Yes …"

Cloud ate a few more bites before asking his next question "Why did he help me? Why are you helping me?"

Aerith smiled "The fights not over, even if the battle is won." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "There's a small group of us who were related in one way or another to the rebels. The group's gotten … smaller, over the years," her voice was quietly pained. Her eyes looked wet.

Cloud was silent as she composed herself.

"Anyway," she coughed "We still resist, but that's all we can do. Resist Sephiroth's rule in any way we can without causing too much suspicion, until there's a chance to free ourselves and the city from the regime." She looked at him, her face brave now "Our tactic is to survive, and aid those the regime hunts in any way we can, that's why we're helping you."

Cloud breathed in silent awe. They weren't sheep, they were fighters "That's … brave and stupid." How could such a sensible girl like Aerith do something so reckless - even to his small knowledge of how the city worked he was sure that she would not be forgiven for her actions.

Aerith laughed "I can't tell you how many times I've heard that one," she smiled as her laughs went away.

Cloud almost smiled too.

He wasn't aware that there were freedom fighters around. He thought that the city had fallen willingly, that everyone had become sheep in the darkness, thralls in Sephiroth's rule. Now that man, Leon, and now Aerith were resisting and defying Sephiroth under his very nose! They could pay with their lives if they found out. Maybe it wasn't as hopeless as he thought.

"Don't you ever worry?"

Aerith's laughing mood went away at the question. "All the time," she whispered hoarsely. After a moment she stood and opened a secret panel in the wall and pulled out a photo, it was a newspaper clipping. She held it out to Cloud in exchange for his empty plates.

As she put things away in the kitchen area behind him he examined the photo.

Leon was there, he looked a lot younger in this photo, his hair was shorter, in the sunlight in the photo it was a sable brown, he had no scar. Aerith was there, she hadn't changed much. And there were several others sitting on some stone steps which led into the city. A black haired girl in a green top and yellow shorts. An older looking blond man in a white shirt, puffing on a cigarette, wearing goggles on his forehead. There was another blond man, with a black headband and blue-green eyes, he had his arm around Leon. A man who looked like he was tinged blue, wearing a black jumpsuit with blue technology lines running along it. There was an old man with a long white beard, a wooden walking stick who wore blue robes of all things.

The newclipping read 'restoration committee' – new graduates and friends aim to restore the old bailey before summer's end.

Aerith came back in and looked sadly at the photograph that Cloud held. "That's our group. Before we lost Tron, and Cid, Seifer, and Yuffie."

Cloud looked up, shocked that so many had been caught. "I'm sorry."

Aerith took the photo back and pointed "That's Cid," she pointed at the blond man with the goggles. "He was our every-man, he always had something we needed. He was our sergeant, our communications man, our coach, our engineer. There was a surprise raid at his house and they found some of the old weapons the rebellion used in his basement and he was taken away. We heard that he was tortured, but he didn't give the rest of us up," she half sobbed as she chuckled "Heard that he cussed and sassed his guards till the end … we never got to say goodbye, we didn't even get his remains to bury …"

Cloud covered her wrist when her voice began to shake.

Aerith swallowed and she smiled slightly and kept talking, her finger landing on the blue-ish man "Tron … he was a computer genius, practically thought in code, was a little bit of a computer at times," she shook her head. "Didn't know how to interact with people sometimes. Silly boy … hacked into the wrong files one day, its how we now know about Captain Pete's betrayal. He was trying to find out where our King Mickey was. They caught Tron within the hour. At least I got to say goodbye this time, even if it was over a patched phone …" she sniffed. "Same with Cid, we never saw him again."

She pointed to the young black haired girl "Yuffie. Leon and I decided that it wasn't safe for Yuffie here, we smuggled her out of the city and she's been living outside ever since. We haven't seen her in years, she protested, of course. But she's a loud girl, everyone knew she was close to both Cid and Tron. We didn't want to risk that they'd come for her next and interrogate her, so we got her out."

She put the photo away after giving it a last sorrowful look.

Cloud frowned "What about Seifer?"

Aerith stiffened at the name and then looked furious "He-!" she covered her mouth and breathed a few times "He's dead to us," she said at last, positively seething.

Cloud tilted his head "What did he do?"

Aerith clenched her hands together and breathed "Seifer got cold feet after Tron … he signed up to be part of the city Knights. That … Traitor!" she hissed. She kept her eyes closed "I suppose I should be thankful that he's not revealed the other members of our group, Merlin, Leon, Myself, even Yuffie, to anyone. He found out what happened to Cid and Tron and told the rest of us, true … but he's on their side now, hunting the people we promised we'd protect, serving the man we swore we'd never bow to."

Cloud felt her anger and glared as well, looking into the flames and wondering how anyone could betray such an obviously tight knit group such as theirs. It was obvious they were all close, Aerith spoke of them fondly, proudly and sadly. The photo showed Seifer with his arm around Leon. How had Leon handled the betrayal?

When he asked Aerith went quiet.

Eventually she said "He … he didn't take it well."

She didn't speak for a while.

"That's when our group split up, in a sense. Leon's idea, he was ... is our leader. To protect ourselves from an insider we've become separate, we work independently now, under the same banner. We don't know each other's moves or motives, we can guess of course, but it's not the same." She looked at Cloud and smiled grimly "Leon always was the better reader than I was. I can't guess his motives or moves, but he can easily guess mine. He knew you'd be safe here for a day."

Cloud nodded, now more in awe than ever over the risk these strangers were taking for him. At any moment this Seifer could hand them over, let something slip or they themselves could miscalculate and find themselves arrested.

"I can't thank you enough," he said gratefully.

Aerith smiled "Anything to get back at Sephiroth," she vowed. She returned to her seat and primly smoothed her skirt.

Cloud smiled, liking her even more with every passing minute, her fighting spirit was something to be admired. He leaned back in his chair and they sat in silence for a while. But Cloud had more questions "What's with the line I gave to you at the door? A seed recommended your couch?" he tilted his head curiously.

Aerith's face lit up in mirth "Oh that." She smiled at him "It's code, obviously," she allowed "In the rebellion the leaders wanted to take back our city, and restore it to what it was before Sephiroth took it and renamed it."

"What was it called before Hollow Bastion?"

Aerith tilted her head with melancholy "Radiant Garden."

Cloud blinked.

Aerith continued "The leaders wanted to bring the city back to Radiant Garden, the soldiers referred to themselves as SeeDs, our bases of operation were called Gardens. Call it a pun if you will, Leon was a SeeD back in the rebellion, when he was eighteen."

Cloud was shocked "That young?"

Aerith shrugged "He was an adult, younger participated beside him. It's not so different than the army, am I right?" she shot back in her defence.

Cloud nodded in acceptance. He had been drafted young too.

"Anyway, my clinic was my aunt's medical base for our SeeD soldiers, hence why it's called Garden Clinic, any building called Garden still is one owned by a freedom fighter. I guess it's a flag to anyone who's brave or stupid enough to join our little group of resisting rebels. But as for my couch," she covered her mouth "That's a bit of a private joke between us, the night after the rebellion we both camped out there on my couch, and we spoke late into the night talking about it. After his Father was taken away he didn't want to be alone," she admitted. "We did manage to get some sleep eventually, but the first thing Leon said to me before he left was 'remind me to ask you where you bought your couch, I need one'."

Cloud glanced at the said couch.

Aerith was silent as she relived the night.

Cloud grunted "You two sound close. Are you and him …?"

Aerith blushed "What? Oh, no, not at all. We're just good friends," she put her hands in her lap "I liked Tron."

"I'm sorry."

Aerith nodded trying to be strong even as her eyes began to fill with tears "Doesn't matter."

Cloud leaned back and they watched the fire die down.

When two Knight patrol cars went by at fifteen minute intervals Cloud spoke up again.

"What happens now?"

Aerith shrugged delicately "I don't know." The fire crackled in a few sparks in the empty silence the followed. "You'll stay the night, obviously," she said at last. "I'll clean your clothes, maybe help you with blending in a little, get your nutrients up to a healthy level, some meals too-"

Cloud tried to interrupt but she raised a hand again and cut him off "The rest will be up to Leon."

Cloud quietened. "I know you said that you don't discuss your game plans anymore, but do you know what's going to happen?"

Aerith shook her head "I won't pretend to know what Leon's planning, but I'll help in any way I can. I'll call him here tomorrow to see what he's up to," she looked him over with curious eyes "Depending on what your purpose is here, and what you intend, will change our next move, I suppose." She looked into the fire "We can help you get out of Hollow Bastion, but maybe that's not what you want."

Cloud shook his head "No."

Aerith hummed "We'll discuss tomorrow then, don't bother telling me anything."

Cloud tilted his head "Aren't you going to ask me anything?"

Aerith shook her head "Not tonight, maybe not even tomorrow, sometimes the less you know the better," she explained.

Cloud leaned on his knees "Just one more question then."

"As many as you need," Aerith generously replied.

"What have you and Leon done to defy Sephiroth that's made harbouring me no consequence?" he asked, curious to find out what these not-sheep were doing under Sephiroth's watch.

Aerith hummed to herself "You had to pick a heavy question, didn't you?"

Cloud waited.

The girl poured herself another cup of tea before retaking her seat and saying "I can't speak for Leon. He'll tell you himself what he's doing when he's ready, or maybe he won't. Need to know and all that."

She tilted her head "I do know, of course. But we don't talk about it. But as for what I've done," she rubbed her cup and cleared her throat, a small blush coming to her cheeks "It's a bit of a list really. Some things I did with Leon and Merlin and others before our group split. We ambushed patrol cars, freed the prisoners, and messed with their communications. But those are things of the past, we can't get involved in team efforts for our own safety."

A defiant light started in her eyes "Personally, I've handed out some … uncensored flyers about Sephiroth and the war, and hidden secret messages within prescriptions to get word to people. News about missing relatives, warnings that someone's suspecting them, urgent messages to get out of town, things the state doesn't tell you. I've changed and forged a few records in my time, names, dates of birth, addresses, that sort of thing. Being a medic is useful in that sense, I get unlimited access to records as part of my job. Once or twice I've made poisons for those going on high risk missions, just so they can go out on their terms. I've harboured a fugitive or two, for a while, and patched up more than a few unlucky resisters."

Cloud was sure his jaw was hanging.

Aerith blushed at his impressed look "It's not that much compared to the others. All these things are pretty low risk and all of that's happened in over six years, not all at once or I'd have been a woman of the state's interest years ago," her humbling monologue did nothing to reduce Cloud's impressed feelings.

"Leon's worse you say?"

Aerith giggled "Much. But I'll let him brag. We'd better get to bed, the Knights might knock and ask why the light is on if we're up much longer," she looked at her drawn curtains.

Cloud followed her gaze. "They're that invasive?"

Aerith sighed "You have no idea … I'll get you a blanket," she left the room and left Cloud to his thoughts.

I had no idea. She's so brave, she's done so much. What have I done these years? Waited for Sephiroth to step outside his castle? He rubbed his forehead and felt the creeping links of shame. He was sure that he wasn't even fully aware of the risks these people were taking for him, if Sephiroth's men could knock and ask why someone was up so late … what else could they do?

Enough for a gentle girl like Aerith to answer her door after hours with a fire poker … obviously.

Cloud glanced at the window when another Knight patrol car, the only people apparently allowed to be driving around this late, rolled by, the headlights shining through the curtains. He swallowed. This may be a safe house, but that doesn't mean I'm safe.

Aerith rushed back into the room and pulled another set of curtains down over the first.

Cloud watched, worried as she turned off the lights and left them only with the fireplace glow.

Cloud stood up "What's going on?"

Aerith held a finger to her lips "Shh!" she peeked out of the window.

Cloud moved and looked over her shoulder, she was shorter than him by quite a bit so it was no problem to see. There was a van across the way, opposite and a few houses down.

Men in white jackets, the so called Knights, marched out and pounded on someone's door. The door opened and they forced their way inside.

Cloud stared, the family inside was brought out in their nightclothes, they were lined up and searched, their house being systematically ransacked by the three other men. The driver and a fourth searched the people.

"What's happening?" he hissed.

Aerith swallowed "Random house raid," she glanced over her shoulder, very scared "I'm not sure how they organise them, but everyone's house gets searched at a random time by random Knights. If there's anything of suspicion you get taken away, no questions asked until you're in interrogation," she turned back to the family.

Cloud leaned back "Has your house-"

"Many times. The last one was nine days ago," she cut him off. "Merlin's been trying to figure out a pattern, he's not had much luck."

The Knights walked back outside and they took a few notes, and a few pictures, before getting back into their van and driving away as if nothing had happened. The family quickly scuttled back into their house and turned their lights back off, they weren't going to clean up tonight.

Cloud stepped back with Aerith and realised that half an hour had passed searching that tiny little house. "They're thorough," he acknowledged.

Aerith clasped her hands together "I'm glad the family is alright," she sighed and went back into her bedroom in the dark, their eyes good and adjusted to the firelight shadows now.

The family had looked scared, the child with them had been silently crying the whole time.

Even the sheep of this city were not safe from the State. Cloud felt slightly ashamed for judging them so fast. They were scared, and cornered. Some had lambs to worry about, some had jobs they depended on … who was he to demand that they endanger their families in such a way? Most people only survived by pretending to live in a happy bubble, by turning a blind eye to the problems and hoping that nothing they did was viewed in a suspicious light.

It was dangerous for a sheep.

It was more so for the Garden resisters.

Cloud heard a door open. He turned and saw Aerith returning with a pillow and a blanket "Here, the couch is over there, hope it's as good as Leon tells me," she smiled.

Cloud took the items "Thanks again, for everything."

Aerith shrugged "I'll call Leon over in the morning. Sleep well Cloud."

"Goodnight Aerith."

No where is safe ... Not only does Sephiroth disregard privacy the of the civilians in his search for traitors or deviants, he also has no mercy for those suspected. But maybe worst of all, he's indiscriminate. Meaning that he targets no ONE target, but an entire population by random terrifying acts of power and invasions of privacy.

Tried to show that with having Cloud watch a family getting searched in the dead of night for no reason other than the Knights felt like it.

Cloud is growing more sympathetic towards the civilians here, not calling them sheep so much as slaves or trapped animals who jump through hoops to avoid the chopping block, but even then all that jumping doesn't stop a whip slash or two landing.

We've also got a better look at what Aerith's and Leon's motivations are for saving Cloud and risking their own safeties. Feel free to make comments or theories. Although the rebellion has been revealed through Aerith's words, what happened is still a mystery to Cloud. So it Leon's past, and the other members of Garden.

Hope a few of you now recognise these Gardens as part of the Title? Gardens in the City? It's not very clever, I just wanted to point it out. Updating when I next feel like it, would like some love for this story please!

Review for more.