Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, except for the one mentioned at the bottom. The story is mine, however.
Special thanks to: platinum-OneWingedAngel, KDMN, SimpleNClean92, and trankwility for the reviews. They make me so happy!!
Chapter 3: The Kiss of the Masamune.
Cloud tried his hardest to sleep on the living room couch, but it just didn't feel right. He'd tried to explain to Tifa that he would be fine in Aeris's church, but she took one look out of the window to see over a foot of new snow, and stood in the doorway, arms crossed, face stern. So now he was watching the seconds tick by on a nearby clock and felt the seconds tick away within himself.
The tock terrified part of him, because it just represented more seconds of his life gone, never to be recovered. He thought of all the time he'd wasted in his life, back when he was younger and life stretched on in front of him like a highway of opportunity. He thought of the time he'd lost, the time that the Shinra had stolen from him. He thought, finally, of the times he wished he could revisit and the events he wished he could alter. Screw all that nonsense of butterfly wings causing hurricanes.
He rolled over so he could no longer see the clock, but that didn't stop the incessant ticking. Tick You're Tock still Tick lying Tock here Tick alone Tock She's Tick still Tock gone Tick You're Tock still Tick alone Tock. Cruel whispers from his mind mingled with the ticking and threatened to drive him mad. With a growl he launched himself from the couch and put a fist through the clock.
Satisfied, Cloud returned to the couch to find himself suddenly exhausted. He pulled a blanket up over his head and curled up in a child-like manner. He tried to shut off his mind by thinking of calm things, cloud formations, gentle streams, or flowers in the breeze. However every thought reminded him of her. As he finally drifted off to sleep, his mind focused on her eyes.
"So beautiful." He muttered. "Like emeralds in firelight."
As Cloud slept peacefully, the lake in the Forgotten City was anything but peaceful. The surface of the water bubbled and frothed, as if it was boiling from within. Strange patterns of colored light played beneath the rolling surface, like the Aurora Borealis was occurring underwater. No breezes stirred the trees, no animals moved in the darkness of the shore. It was as if the world was holding its breath. Then the rolling waves calmed, the lights dimmed and the colors fades.
One second passed, then two, then three. The world continued to hold its breath. Finally a hand shot out of the water, grasped at the air, and disappeared back beneath the water. Moments later it was joined by another hand, then a head, contorted in pain and sputtering in a sad attempt to breathe.
There was a sound on the shore, like an exasperated sigh, and something slipped into the water. It doggy paddled to the floundering shape in the water, and then with a sudden bright flash it changed shape. An arm wrapped around the waist of the figure in the water and dragged it toward the shore.
Once the two figures were on shore a strange light flared from the tip of a red fur coated tail. The tail came from the first figure, a young woman with dark, almost mahogany colored skin, short red hair, and yellow eyes. She carefully pulled at the buttons of the second woman's pink dress, which was rapidly turning red with her blood. Green eyes opened, filled with excruciating pain and locked onto yellow ones.
"Edenni…"
"It's alright Aeris. I'll have you healed in a moment. Just lie still, it's alright." Edenni said, casting a curing spell on the wicked wound which passed from Aeris's stomach to her back. Aeris's breath went from pain-wracked to gentle and confident.
"Edenni… I didn't know you could look like a human." Aeris said when she had the strength. In a voice like warm honey and sweet smoke Edenni answered.
"Not quite human, my friend. I've still got this tail to deal with, after all." Edenni waved her tail, trailing fire as it moved. Suddenly fire spread from the tip of her tail and seemed to engulf her, and when the flames went out in her place was a slender, red, wolf-like creature. Beads and feathers were woven into her mane-like hair. They eyes and the voice were the same. "I feel much more comfortable like this, however."
Aeris sat up and examined her friend. She looked just like Nanaki, though she had both eyes and no number tattooed into her skin. She was also much more lithe than Nanaki, and also slightly shorter.
"Nanaki never turned into a human…oid before. How come you can?" Aeris asked, tilting her head to one side.
"Because your mother gave me a transform materia before we left. She said it would make traveling easier if I blended in. After all, according to you this 'Nanaki' is all that is left of my people." Edenni said, shaking herself free of the water that soaked into her fur.
"He certainly is under that impression." Aeris said through chattering teeth. Edenni fixed her friend with a calculating stare.
"Come you, we need to get you indoors, in front of a fire, and in new clothes. That dress is ruined." Edenni said, as Aeris slowly rose to her feet. Edenni headed towards the large shell homes, sniffing at the ground. "People have been here. Are you sure this place is abandoned?" Edenni asked.
"How recently?" Aeris asked, shivering and trudging along after Edenni. Her skin was chilled, wet, and still tender, especially around the new formed scar. Her lips were turning blue and her hair was a freezing, tangled mess.
"Yesterday evening." Edenni answered, her nose still to the ground. "This smells like the house your mother told us would have supplies in it." Aeris stopped walking, despite the fact that her clothes were actually starting to freeze.
"Y… yesterday?" Aeris asked in shock. Edenni once again flamed into her human shape then hurried to Aeris's side, leading her along.
"Yes, my nose is never wrong. I do not know who the smells belong to."
"Cloud…" Aeris whispered, half hoping and dreading it was him.
Cloud was dreaming a memory on Tifa's couch in the living room. It was three years ago, just after Yuffie had joined their mission. After traveling for three weeks through swamps, caves, plains and forests, the travelers has just come to Fort Condor. Yuffie had disappeared off on her own, Tifa and Barrett were looking at weapons, Nanaki and Aeris had gone for a lie down, and Cloud had gotten a bite to eat. When Cloud had gone to their room he saw Nanaki on the couch but no sign of Aeris. He walked over to the bathroom door and opened it.
Aeris was in a shower so steamy it blurred out the details of her body, except the calm, almost sensual look on her face. The water trickled over her hair and face, as she rinsed her hair clean and hummed quietly to herself. Her eyes were closed, she couldn't see Cloud in the doorway. All she knew was the luxurious feeling of getting clean again, of the warm water and soap swirling over her skin, of feeling alive again.
Cloud backed away to leave when Aeris opened her eyes. She didn't seem to see him. She shut off the water and reached for a towel. When her back was to him he saw it, the long, wicked, puffy red scar, the kiss of the Masamune. His jaw dropped.
"Now that you're clean, is it time to leave?" asked a female voice behind Cloud. He turned, it was… Nanaki?
"Yes, let's go E…."
Cloud suddenly found himself on the outskirts of the Forgotten Capital. He saw two figures in cloaks walking toward him. One was holding an odd looking torch and wore a cloak of crimson. The other carried an odd staff and wore a cloak of emerald. Their figures both appeared to be female. They walked right through Cloud as if he wasn't even there. Then the figure in the emerald cloak turned, and her matching emerald eyes caught his.
"Aeris!" Cloud shouted, sitting up on the couch in the light of early morning.
Edenii is my female ... um... whatever it is Nanaki is. I won't update again until I get 2 more reviews. Please review, it makes my heart feel toasty warm, and on days like today, with 20 below zero windchill, that's important.