He visits more often now; some times he is there when Aerith arrives, other times she is about to leave when he walks in, tired and stone quiet. Those times are the worst, the flowers require no more tending so Aerith takes a seat in the pews beside her quiet friend and she silently matches his rhythmic breathing with her own.

Today a dark shadow overcasts his face, purple smudges hang faintly under his piercing eyes, he seems more drained than ever before, even his skin is paler then her own complexion which has never been touched by the sun. Aerith worries for him constantly afraid that the stress is finally catching up to him, but despite the haggard appearance she still believes he is the most handsome man she will ever meet.

Cerulean eyes catch her gaze for the briefest second and she smiles at him encouragingly. Genesis looks away suddenly as if she had stung him, there is fear in his gaze and Aerith's heart catches in her throat. Something is severely wrong. He heaves an outward sigh filled with grief; the arrogance in his proud shoulders suddenly deflates for the first time. Aerith panics inwardly, something is very, very wrong.

"I'm dying."

He says this is a harsh whisper without making eye contact, chestnut brows furrow together in confusion and surprise. This wasn't a word that existed in her vocabulary, not for a very long time since her mother died.

"What?"

"Their experiment, my body is degrading."

It made sense now, the tiredness, the quiet, the looks of pain, the anger, she felt stupid and lost for even considering it to be the stress or guilt. His eyes wandered to the floorboards beneath her sandals, he looked like he was fighting an inner turmoil. She wanted to touch him, comfort him, ease the ache behind those mako eyes, but she was too afraid to touch him, Aerith knew it would only push him away further into himself. She fought to conceal the tears of frustration threatening to whelm up. Instead she pulled her legs up from the floor and buried her face in her knees, an old habit from early childhood. Something in her dress pocket scrapped roughly against the wood of the pew.

Realization dawned on her as she gasped with surprise, she had completely forgotten about it. He watched her with mild curiosity as Aerith dug through her lacy pocket. The forgotten medallion shone in the light, its weight brought her peace and she pressed it into his chest, he flinched, "What are you doing?"

"I promised I'd bring you back something on my birthday remember? I did but I completely forgot I had it."

Genesis scowled, "You shouldn't have brought me anything."

She couldn't help but giggle slightly, "But I did."

His features lightened and his hand reached for the medallion, his fingers engulfing her own, the touch to Aerith was electric. Pools of cerulean surveyed the medallion's inscription thoughtfully, "What is it?"

She smiled, "Its for protection, it will bring you good luck and keep you out of harm's way."

It flipped the thing on its side spotting the made in Wutai insignia, he flipped it right side up quickly before the scammed girl could see. Poor creature had probably blown her whole allowance on a hoax, he pocketed the gift and nudged her softly, "Thanks."

Her face glowed, "No problem, just promise you'll stay out of danger."

She wanted to ask him a hundred questions, all of them seemed to center around how much time he had left. But for now he seemed happy, so she ignored her darkening wants. They fell into a comfortable silence again, not one for stillness Aerith took to swinging her legs off the ledge of the pew. Genesis shifted his weight more comfortably and she caught sight of something silver past his tendrils of hair.

"What's that?"

He looked to her, "Hmm?"

She pointed to his ear, "May I?"

He contemplated for a moment before nodding; Aerith fought a bubble of shy nerves, she was allowed to touch him for once. Her fingers brushed past his auburn hair and settled on a silver earring, it felt cool to the touch despite being so close to the man's skin. His flesh radiated heat and she blushed at the contact, it was then that she caught sight of a scar. It was an old one but it was long and deep and drew an angry pattern down his neck and past the hem of his scarlet coat. She traced her finger along its ridge as he stiffened under her touch. Sympathetic to the pain it must have caused, Aerith kissed the old wound like Elmyra used to do when she was much younger and had earned herself an "ouchie". The girl cringed, instantly regretting her thoughtless action, "S-sorry," she stuttered.

He said nothing, merely stared at the girl and she detected a hunger in his gaze. She was familiar with it, for it had been reflected in her own eyes for a very long time. The awakening of desire and the longing for it to be explored in another, she held his gaze for as long as he would allow it, encouraging a fire or tempting fate she did not know. A gloved finger grazed her chin hesitantly; she must have imagined it for he would never touch her would he? But there it was again the unmistakable feel of leather. It caressed her cheek so lightly and drew her face to his heat, the touch of his lips she was sure never to forget. Aerith wanted to touch him to ensure that this moment was real. Her fingers graced the path of his jawbone feeling strength even there, he jerked away suddenly as realization dawned on him.

Again, all she could do was mutter a halfhearted sorry trying her hardest to hide the hurt in her eyes.

OOOO

The hurt in her face was the last thing he needed, guilt raided whatever piece of soul he had left. He had lost himself in her fire; he stood up from the pew feeling the rotten wood creak with his weight.

"Aerith, I'm sorry – I can't."

She looked up at him from the corner of one emerald eye, he dreaded if she dared ask why. He didn't have an answer for her; he couldn't because he was dying? Or that he was a monster? That it was never meant to go this far? But Aerith didn't ask questions; he knew that much about her. The girl nodded solemnly returning her gaze back to the floor; they slipped into a pregnant silence. He sighed heavily and placed a hand on her shoulder, it seemed to engulf her tiny frame and he admired the contrast for a split second.

"It's getting late, I'll walk you home."

She nodded and offered a weak smile, another stab at his integrity that he couldn't tolerate.

"Aerith, Its not that I don't want to I just can't."

Green eyes swam with an emotion he couldn't place and she blushed heavily, she smiled with a little more meaning this time, "Okay."

Their walk home was filled with the usual mirth that Aerith could bring to every conversation. But behind the façade, he worried. If he couldn't stop the degradation what would he do? His worry wasn't solely placed on himself however, he eyed the cheery girl walking beside him as she ranted on, what was Aerith going to do?