Author's notes: Here it is! :) Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. What a shame.

Hidden Weakness

Chapter 3 -- Realization

"Hellooo!"

The boy opened his eyes.

"Hooray!" she said happily.

He looked back at the sound of the voice, only finding Aeris with a big smile at the corner of her lips.

"Heaven?"

She smiled.

"Not quite. Church in the slums!" she said as he rose on his elbows.

"An Angel…?"

"No!" she smiled again "I am Aeris!"

She looked up at the hole on the roof of her church and pointed to the light coming from it.

"You fell from the sky! Scared me."

The boy looked at Aeris in amusement. "So you saved me, huh?"

She blushed and turned around. "Not really… 'Hellooo!', that's all I did!"

He laughed after she spoke. His laugh was vibrant and young.

Raising up, the boy looked at her. Aeris noticed how tall he was compared to her.

"Thank you so much… Aeris. I am Zack" Crossing his arms, he frowned "I have to repay you somehow…"

Aeris looked to the floor. "No" she declined "Don't worry about it"

He stepped around her, thoughtful "No, no…"

She looked at him, in expectative.

"Ha ha! Hey… what about one date?" he proposed, finishing with a childish look.

Aeris blushed and looked to the ground "What is that?... Don't be silly…!"

He sighed after her decline. Folding his arms, he started to pace around, abstracted...

"Stop! Don't step on the flowers!"

Looking confused, he looked at the ground. A flowerbed was lying on the floor of the church, the flowers blooming in light colours. "… huh, excuse me?"

Aeris put her hand on her waist. "Normally, people are more careful with flowers!" she stated, puckering her lip.

"Well… I guess I'm not normal…" he looked to the flowers then. "Huh? You don't see a lot of flowers in Midgar…! They're like luxury items around here."

Aeris looked tenderly at her flowerbed "They only grow here… Although, I planted some outside my house, too!" She chuckled.

Zack turned back. "If I were you, I'd sell them!"

"Huh?"

"Midgar's full of flowers, your wallet's full of money!"

Aeris repeated Zack's statement for herself, thinking. She smiled."Never thought of it that way…"

The girl woke up from her dream. Zack was always part of her dreams. Her meeting with Zack was one of the things she most enjoyed on her life. A precious memory that would never be erased from her head. The thing Aeris feared the most, besides the wide open sky, was the loss of Zack's memories. Without Zack she would be nothing.

Raising a hand to her head, she understood everything. The memories of the early meeting came flowing from her mind. The voice, knocking her down on the streets, the voice of her friend helping her to run from the stranger… the bright pair of green eyes before her fainting…

Then, the name of the stranger popped into her head. Sephiroth. Sephiroth, Midgar's hero, was the first man she thought of when she fixed that deep gaze. As if she had ever see him right in front of her! But Zack had seen him before. Zack had said he was afraid of his cold gaze. A true, emotionless gaze.

It looks as if he isn't really aware of anything. Like if he is drifting somewhere else. Like if his soul is in the edge of his sword and not inside his chest. As if life was so painful for him that he had to regret it all his life. If everything was took away from him: his identity and emotions…

Zack had said that long ago about Sephiroth. The gaze of the man she had see the other day – had it pass a week? Had it been yesterday? – had remembered her of Zack's description of Sephiroth. Aeris didn't know why, but she did never forget that conversation. She had forgotten a lot of the time they had spent together. But that memory was vivid inside her mind as if it was yesterday.

She rose. The room was little and dark. She could see dust on the floor of all the extension of the tiny room. The sheets were crumpled at the edge of the bed; the blanket fell to one side of the bed. Silence was all around her. Aeris started to feel apprehensive. She felt worst, when she saw her dress laying on a chair, her boots on its seat. Zack's ribbon was nowhere to be found.

Panic started to flow when she really didn't know where she was. Afraid of searching the house, she stayed still and quiet, toying with her fingers, hard breath coming out from her mouth.

What if her friend had leaved her and she was found on the streets by bad men? What if she was touched in an indecent way?

Aeris shivered underneath the covers and felt a couple of tears running down her cheeks. The fear was too big for her to control it. The light was dim and everything in that room inspired fear within her. All the dust and darkness around her were the opposite of her bright church, with her flowers blooming. In that tiny little room she couldn't even sense the Lifestream's presences and the Planet's voice. Everything there made her feel terrified.

However, Aeris wasn't a coward. She stood up and started to search the room, trying to find something that showed where she was. There weren't pictures on the walls neither any sign of life around. Opening the drawers, she didn't saw any kind of clothes, only a slight sheet of dust covering the bottom.

Sighing, Aeris reached for the rusty doorknob. Enlacing her fingers on it, her heart started to bump inside her chest.

She suddenly heard a noise outside the house and footsteps on the corridor. Calm, strong steps coming into her direction. Aeris didn't thought twice: she grabbed the pink piece of cloth of her dress and held it against her chest, only covered by her underwear. The footsteps were closer and closer; her heart was racing, her eyes wide open to danger.

The door was opening on the other side. Aeris took a step back, her garment pressed to her body with trembling hands, her knees shacking madly.

The door opened. A thin stripe of light invaded the room, exposing her fragile figure. There was a great shadow on the passageway. The man's eyes were piercing her like knifes, his mouth drawing a thin line at her sight. He extended his hand. Aeris could not see what he was holding within his closed wrist. She talked.

"What…What is that?"

He opened his hand, revealing a piece of pink cloth that fell to the sides of his palm. Aeris gasped and grabbed the cloth, pressing it against her lips.

"Thank god… I thought I lost it!" she said, leaning her head down, memories of her dream flowing into her head. She looked to the man again. Accustomed to the light, she could see the man's facial figures. High cheekbones, thin lips, piercing green eyes…

"It looks as if he isn't really aware of anything. Like if he is drifting somewhere else. Like if his soul is in the edge of his sword and not inside his chest. As if life was so painful for him that he had to regret it all his life. If everything was took away from him: his identity and emotions…"

"No…" she said under her breath. "This can't be true…"

The man, being one head taller than her leaned his head to look at her. He didn't say anything. He just stared at her face, his eyes analyzing her reactions.

"You can't be… Are you?" whispered Aeris, taking a step back."You are... him?"

The man didn't say a thing. He simply extended his another closed hand and waited for her to react. Aeris was too confused, too scared to do anything. If the man standing before her was Midgar's hero, the army's general, Wutai's slayer… if that was the man said to be dead four or five years ago… Could Zack be alive too? No… Aeris sensed Zack on the lifestream. Aeris sensed his soul drifting in the emptiness of the Great River. Zack was within the dimension of the dead. He could only talk to the souls of his race. The souls of his people. Zack had fall. Zack had fall in the name of dreams and honor.

Somehow, Sephiroth managed to survive. Sephiroth managed to survive to the big and mysterious accident that happened five years ago. After all, Sephiroth once was the most powerful being in the entire planet. Sephiroth was so powerful no man could harm him.

"Are you Sephiroth…?" she asked innocently, backing away "Are you the Sephiroth…?"

There was a moment of silence between them. He opened his hand, revealing a blue ribbon, the same size as Zack's, the same fabric.

"This is for you. And yes. I am the one you mentioned" he stated firmly. Aeris took the piece of cloth from his hand and touched it. The piece of fabric was so soft under her fingers. The same touch as Zack's one when it was new. She pressed her hand against her chest again, protecting her uncovered chest from his eyes.

"But how did you know…" the brunette asked as she held the ribbon. He looked at her curiously, his eyes capturing hers. Than truth hit her between the eyes. The man, Sephiroth was her friend. Her eight month friend. The most powerful being in the world was the voicet hat actually talked to her from the Lifestream! Aeris didn't hold the shock: she gasped and took a step back, into the darkness of the room. Reuniting all her thoughts together, she tried to regain control calmly. Sephiroth actually managed to survive. Zack had died, but Sephiroth survived. Then, ShinRa said Sephiroth had been killed. Maybe the man was captured by enemies or he fled by his own will. Five years had pass and almost one year ago, she felt him in the Lifestream. She spoke to him, not knowing his identity. Now, he got to Midgar and was in front of her, after being chased by an angry voice.

"Happy birthday, then" he congratulated, trying to ignore her shocked face. When he tried to get behind her, she quickly turned around, hiding her naked back from him.

"Why am I almost naked?" the girl asked, her lip twitching.

"Because you were bleeding and sweating. And dirty like hell. Aren't those enough strong reasons to force me to undress you and clean you up?"

He grabbed the girl's boots and threw them at her. The brunette started to dress on a corner of the room, listening to him. "Dress quickly. We're leaving. Midgar isn't a safe place for you anymore."

Aeris stopped dressing and let the pink garment fall to her knees "Why? What happened while I was off?"

Sephiroth looked at her, and then into the ground. "The president was killed. There is police all around the city and they're searching for the murderer. Lots of people have been arrested in the last night for stupid reasons. When they hear you were running like mad by the streets they will go after you. I can't be here too. We have to leave."

The girl was terrified. The president was killed. Even if the vice-president would take his place, a new Midgar would rise. The chaos would install in the city and it would be hard for everybody to live calmly.

"Where are you taking me?"

Sephiroth's hand slid to the doorknob. "I don't know. Maybe east and then south, through the swamps. I can't decide yet. But come with me. You can't be here any longer."

Aeris intertwined Zack's and Sephiroth's ribbons in her hair, sliding the tiny white material orb between the fabrics. "I have a mother. I can't leave her here. Can she come?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Don't even think about it. I need you, and only you, and that's why you are coming. I can't leave you in danger. Your mother will be safe here. You won't. You know what you are."
Aeris nodded. "I do know. But I can't leave my mother here, alone. It will be very painful for me. Let me at least say good-bye to her." She reached to the door, but he raised one hand and stopped her.

"The turks are around that area. If you go to that place they will find you and bring you to ShinRa's headquarters. I can't lose you now. You need to come with me right away, as still as the guards don't come to this area of the slums."

Aeris sighed and leaned her forehead against the door. She had a terrible fear for the man. She did not dare to deny his requests. After all he was being was polite as possible. Cold, but polite.

"Let's go, then" Sephiroth said, opening the door.

Aeris left the room, followed by the tall man, her heart racing, her mind a storm of emotions. She was completely oblivious to the pair of green eyes that pierced attentively her braid, the two pieces of cloth knotted in each other, and principally, the little round shaped object between the fabrics.

Author's notes: Many thanks to Ranea, ShadowXenVII and Little Dog!. Many, many thanks! :)