Chapter 6: Aeris's Regrets

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, its predecessor and all their characters.

The temperature hovered between comfortably warm and blazing hot, as it did most days in Costa del Sol all year round. The sea breezes wouldn't spring up until later in the afternoon. Aeris had been in a quandary all morning over what to wear for her lunch date with Sky. Should she make an effort to look nice, or just throw on shorts and a T-shirt?

She had calmed down somewhat overnight, well aware that she had overreacted to Sky's sudden appearance in her life and his appearance in general. Of course she would find him physically attractive! Sky was the dead spit of the man she was mad about, who could reduce her to a mush with a mere glance. But he wasn't Cloud and she just had to keep reminding herself of that. If she still felt tinges of desire when she looked at him today then that was only to be expected.

Thankfully, Sky had shown no signs whatsoever of being smitten in any way with her. He hadn't leered or ogled, hadn't done a single darned thing to create any unease in her in the sexual sense. In view of all these logical reasonings, Aeris decided in the end not to dress too down for the occasion, which meant she allowed herself a skirt and lipstick, instead of her usual layered clothes and unpainted mouth. The skirt was a floral wraparound number, hand painted flowers in the palest of pinks against a creamy milk colored background. The soft folds of fabric reached mid calf, the lipstick a pink that matched most of the flowers. She did run into a bit of trouble selecting a right top to go with the skirt though. After much contemplation, she finally settled for a pink ribbed midriff that emphasized her curves but left her middle bare. Aeris glared at it for a while, than shrugged philosophically. You couldn't have everything, and she supposed a bare middle would be far less provocative than a bikini top with bare everything except the nipples.

As she wound her long hair half up in a simple French braid, she vaguely remembered the sophisticated and elegant hairstyles Cloud had steered her into soon after their marriage… And like a fool she had listened and done his every bidding in every of his words, like the perfect puppet wife he had wanted her to be. Cloud didn't know it, but she would have lived happily with him in a hovel. And been happy…

If only he had loved her…

Aeris sighed then shook herself. This wasn't achieving anything, this maudlin thinking. One day soon she'd be over Cloud, never to be tormented again by thoughts of 'what if' or 'what might have been'. But not today, she accepted with a weary sense of resignation. Today she had to meet with Sky a second time and be reminded of her husband all over again.

Finally, she was ready, a resurgence of nerves claiming her as she left her rented apartment and turned for the short walk down to the inn where Sky was staying. There was curiosity along with her nerves, however. Sky might want to ask her about her marriage to Cloud, but she had questions of her own. Aeris decided that one of her first questions would be to ask him, along with what he was doing here in Costa del Sol, a coincidence which still niggled her a little.

A ten minute stroll brought her to the circular driveway which led round to a door marked 'Reception'. There was an outdoor staircase to the left of this door which led up to the second-floor apartments. A long wooden seat rested against the wall to the right. Aeris settled herself on the seat to await Sky's arrival. She was five minutes early, as was her usual habit. This had amused Cloud greatly during their marriage. He had always been late. In hindsight, she saw this as another sign of his heartless arrogance; his lack of real caring of other people's feelings.

Sky breezed down the outdoor staircase with two minutes to spare, looking coolly handsome in casual jeans and a thin, comfortable looking white shirt. Stylish sunglasses masked his eyes.

A blessing, Aeris thought, in view of his other attractions. The thought also appealed that she could not see him looking at her in any way, either at her body or into her eyes. She rose and smiled up at him. "You're very punctual." She said.

"So are you."

"I only live just down the road."

His forehead puckered into a frown. "But I thought you lived on board the boat?"

"I do stay on board sometimes." She said, quite truthfully. "When Zack asks me to."

"I see," he said rather drily.

But he didn't at all, Aeris conceded. He thought that she and Zack were lovers. She'd let him think that the previous evening, had used the misconception in much the same way Zack had. An unnecessary precaution really… The attraction and tension had all been on her side, not Sky's.

Now, Aeris gave the situation some more thought and accepted that she didn't want Sky to go on believing she had moved into another man's bed so soon after her husband's, especially while she was still legally married to him. She had condemned Cloud for his lies. She would not lie to his brother. "Zack is not my lover... Well, he used to be many years ago…" She said bluntly. "That little scenario out there on the deck last night was for that model's benefit."

Sky frowned his puzzlement. "I don't understand."

"As you probably can tell, Zack is extremely attractive to a great deal of women." She explained. "However, as you probably can't tell, he's not one that plays around when it comes to relationships. He may seem to fit the bill of a stereotypical playboy, however he's anything but. So… In order to throw them off…"

"He uses you." Sky finished. "That's not very above board, Aeris." He added, the beginnings of a smile on his mouth. Aeris appreciated his not making a big deal of her misleading him, and shrugged lightly. "It may seem shady but he really is trying not to hurt as many girls as he can. Of course…" She had to laugh at this second thought. "The boat isn't helping as much as he initially thought it would. It completely backfired."

"Let me guess…. Now EVERY girl wants to have a good time on the Zephyr."

"Exactly… You'd be surprised how many."

"But not you…?"

"Hmmm… Not anymore… But..." She said thoughtfully. She couldn't help thinking how she would have loved spending a night on board the Zephyr with Cloud when they'd first been married and seemingly so in love. What a honeymoon spot it would have made, much better than the high class hotels he'd taken her all over the world. They could have lain together under the stars, soft breezes playing over their naked bodies, the gentle rocking water a rhythmic backdrop to their lovemaking.

"With anyone else?" Sky asked, speculation in his voice. "Anyone else?" she repeated her mind still fuzzy as if it was jerked out of the lovely, yet distressing dream. "Is there another man in your life now?" Sky asked. "Someone you spend romantic nights with?"

"No." She replied quickly, her voice sharp.

"No one?" He persisted, skepticism in the question. "In six months?"

"I doubt there'll be anyone in six years! I loved Cloud very much… With all my heart and all my soul… He shattered me with his betrayal of that love."

"You hate him now, don't you?"

She gritted her teeth as she ground out her reply. "I despise him."

"I see…"

"I doubt you do, Sky…" She bit out. "You know nothing of my marriage. Or me."

"Then why don't you tell me all about both?" He said in a soothingly, sympathetic voice. "Come on." He nodded his head across the road to where a large, slick, heavy looking motorcycle was parked under the shade of a tree. "My ride awaits. Let's go get ourselves a cool drink and some food. But I'll have to rely on you to guide me somewhere where the food is decent. I don't know Costa del Sol too well yet as you probably already know… I only arrived yesterday."

"And you came out on our cruise the very first night? She asked as they crossed the road. He shrugged his broad shoulders and passed her a helmet. "I didn't want to waste any time."

Aeris nodded and swung her long legs over the vehicle, positioned herself behind Sky and held onto his broad back so she wouldn't fall off. Once she did that, she was assailed by that musky scent, the one which reminded her so forcibly of Cloud. Every pore and nerve-ending in her body sprang to attention again. Another of those disquieting niggles about Sky's true identity resurfaced.

This time she could not remain quiet.

"Sky." She said abruptly.

Her tone must have communicated something, for his head jerked up from where he'd been bending to start up the engine. "What is it?"

"I… That cologne you wear…"

She could almost see him frown beneath his own helmet. "What about it?"

'It… It's the same as the one Cloud uses.'

All of a sudden she wished she could see beyond the tinted visor of his helmet. She would have liked to see the expression in those blue eyes. He tensed visibly. 'What are you saying? That you might think I might be Cloud?"

"I don't know what I'm saying."

"Look… I've been using that same cologne for years. Obviously, so has Cloud. Why is that such a problem?"

"It's very expensive." Aeris pointed out.

"I'm well aware of that. Our mother gave us some on our thirteenth birthday and I guess we both got hooked. Once you get used to the best, it's hard to go back to cheaper varieties. Still, if it bothers you, I'll stop using it."

"Would you mind?"

"No. But it won't change the way I look, Aeris. I'll still look the same as Cloud."

"I realize that. But there's something about your smelling the same which I find… Upsetting." She had almost said arousing. Had very definitely thought it. She wasn't handling the familiar fragrance any better than she had the previous night. "In that case, I definitely won't wear it anymore." Sky pronounced firmly. "I'll buy some new stuff later this very afternoon." At that, she sighed, feeling reassured about his identity once more but no less curious over Sky, the man.

"I presume you're here in Costa del Sol on holiday?" She asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Why here?"

He shrugged. "I was told it was a great place to get away from it all. I've been working too hard for too long… Too many years. I needed a break, and the time to reassess my life." So both the brothers were workaholics, to a degree, Aeris mused. But at least Sky realized it before it was too late.

"What is it you do Sky?"

"I'm an architect."

Yes, that fitted, she thought. A creative and well-thought-of profession. Not as high profile or as gung-ho as being the CEO of a talent agency, but Aeris had no doubt that Sky was a winner in his own field. He had that aura of confidence and decisiveness which went with success. But he would be more of a quiet achiever, whereas Cloud wanted the world to know of his success. Both brothers built and molded things. But Sky would care about the style of the building he created and the people who lived there. Cloud's focus had always been on the almighty gil, she thought bitterly.

"Anything with my being an architect?" he asked as he maneuvered the bike smoothly out onto the road and headed towards the centre of town. "Not at all. I'm impressed. Do you work for a company, or have your own?"

"I have my own. I like to do things my way."

She nodded. "Yes. That's what I thought. You have that air about you."

"What air?"

"The air of being a boss."

"Ah…"

She wasn't sure if he was pleased by her saying that or not. "Where is your company located?' She asked. "Over here on this continent?"

"No… In Midgar."

"In Midgar??" She exclaimed, nearly falling off the motorcycle, shocked. "You've been in Midgar all this while??"

"Yes."

Aeris shook her head. "I'll never understand Cloud. How on this planet did he think he could keep you a secret indefinitely? Midgar's not that big. Frankly, I don't understand why he kept you a secret at all…"

"The Cloud you married has no time for things past, Aeris. I'm his past."

Aeris sighed. Sky was so right. Cloud lived for the present, and for what he called 'progress'. He had often said the past was not worth thinking about. He never countenanced regrets or recriminations. He always went forward. He was the most pragmatic man, not indulging in sentiment or sentimentality at all. Except, of course, when it suited his purpose, she realized ruefully. He had not been above bringing her flowers, when he wanted to butter her up or smooth over something he might have done to upset her.

Not that he had transgressed often during the nine months of their seemingly idyllic marriage. A couple of times he'd left unexpectedly on business and had not telephoned till he was in the air and on his way. She had been rather put out by his presumption that she wouldn't mind, that she would understand that business sometimes came first. She had tried to, but probably hadn't been able to keep the dismay out of her voice. Each time he'd come home with his arms full of red roses and his pocket containing a very expensive piece of jewelry.

As a blushing and besotted new bride, she had accepted his gestures in good faith, moved by his assertions that he'd missed her like mad and missed her even more after their separation. No matter how irritated or put out she had been while he was away, it had never taken him long to wind himself around her heart… And around her body.

The memory sickened her now.

"Gil for your thoughts?"

Aeris's head whipped up to stare at the back of Sky's head. The intensity of her wide-eyed stare startled him even without him actually looking at her face.

"What is it? What did I say?"

"That… That thing about gil for your thoughts. That's what Cloud used to say to me… In exactly that same way…"

"Did he?"

She continued to stare at him, her head spinning as she struggled to ease that sudden awful fear that this wasn't some long-lost twin brother sitting there but Cloud himself!

She could feel the furrows forming on his forehead deepening. "Look Aeris, there's going to be lots of things that remind you of Cloud." He said, reading her mind quite accurately. "We're identical. I can't help that. But I'm not the man you married Aeris. I swear that to you on my mother's life."

His mother's life. That was a pretty strong vow. There was the scar too, don't forget, she reminded herself. Aeris sighed her relief. Great spirits of the planet, but she had been really rattled there for a moment. Her stomach still felt squeamish.

"Which way?" Sky asked, slowing as he approached an intersection.

"Turn right at the next street" She directed him. "Then second on the left. Park anywhere you can find a spot down that street."

The town centre of Costa del Sol was pretty basic, consisting of two parallel streets lined by an array of small shops. A new air-conditioned supermarket had been built down in one far corner, and there was another shopping mall on the outskirts of town, but both had taken time to gain clientele, the locals not liking the change.

And who could blame them? Aeris thought as she glanced around her. Costa del Sol had its own character and very individual charm, a mixture of tropics and a unique subculture, with palm trees, red dirt, sandy beaches and simple architecture all on its own. No tall buildings here. Nearly everything here was made of wood, sand and stone and hopefully cyclone proof.

Midgar's urban development community were beginning to move in, however, seeing gil signs with the increase in tourism. More land was being chopped into housing blocks and more roads were being curbed and guttered. Aeris could understand why the long-standing residents of Costa del Sol resented the changed. In twenty years time, the small town as they knew it would be unrecognizable.

Progress, she had decided, was not always in the interests of the community. Aeris was glad now that the church in Midgar still stood as it did. It just wouldn't feel the same…

"This place is beautiful." Sky remarked as he expertly slid his bike into an angled spot under a convenient tree. "Let's hope it stays that way… Will this do?" He asked as he tugged off his helmet and turned to throw his pillion a questioning glance.

They would have to walk a little way, but it would be nice to sit on a cool seat when it was time to head back…

"Perfect," Aeris praised and smiled at him.

"What's the smile for?"

"For being you."

"For being me?"

"Yes. For not looking around and seeing nothing but developmental dollar signs… You know, since you're an architect."

"I see…"

She guided him to a small sidewalk café which wasn't flash but served great fish and chips. And fantastic milkshakes.

Sky smiled when she told him what she wanted. "Order the same for me then," came his easygoing reply. "I'm game. Here's 1000 gil. That should more than cover it."

Aeris left him sitting at one of the outdoor tables as she went inside to order, thinking that this would never have happened with Cloud. For one thing, Cloud only ate at a la carte restaurants – even for lunch – and he always ordered. She'd once been very impressed with his knowledge of wine and food. He could order from a Wutai menu like a native.

That type of thing no longer impressed her. It was shallow. Without any real value. The only qualities that impressed her in a man these days were honesty. And integrity.

She turned and glanced through the front window of the café at Sky, happily stretched out in a white plastic chair, his handsome head shaded by a garishly striped beach umbrella. Instinct told her that Sky had integrity. And honesty. On top of that, he had the same face and body which still enslaved her senses. She stared at him and felt that tell-tale quickening once more…

What a shame she hadn't met him first…

"Here you are miss," the man behind the counter said at last. "I've put it all on a tray for you."

"Thanks."

Sky sat forward as she carried the tray towards the table, taking his sunglasses off as he did so. Her gaze faltered when his gaze swept over her from her toes up. There was no denying that male admiration in his glittering blue eyes this time. They lingered momentarily on her bare midriff before lifting to her face.

Panic ripped through Aeris when she felt those eyes. She almost tripped on a rough bit of pavement when she started forward again, the malted milkshakes rocking ominously from side to side.

"Got them!" Sky said, jumping up and sweeping the tall glasses into safe hands.

Aeris laughed, though shakily. "You almost had chocolate milk in your lap then."

Without looking at him again, she balanced the tray on the edge of the table and set everything out quite efficiently and with no further mishap, swiftly unwrapping the cutlery which was wrapped in paper serviettes, putting out the salt, vinegar and sauce before finally placing the plates of fish and chips between the knives and forks.

"You did that very well," He complimented on sitting down in his place.

She handed him his change, then swung away to put the tray on a spare table.

"I've had plenty of practice serving up food.' She sat down and shook out her serviette. "Aside from my more recent activities, I also used to be a part time chef in Midgar and Kalm. I loved selling flowers, but I needed the extra gil."

"You must tell me about your life Aeris. Before you met Cloud," he added drily.

She did, happy to find the distraction from the panic she'd been trying to damp down since Sky had looked at her the way he had. But dear heaven…

"Do you regret leaving the slums?" he asked when she'd finished telling him her life story, right up to her marriage.

"Every day… I know it may not seem like the most ideal place to live… But that was still a place I considered as my home. The place I grew up."

"Why didn't you go back there after you left Cloud?"

"I couldn't. Cloud would have found me."

Sky frowned. "This is the part I don't understand Aeris."

"No." She said grimly. "And I doubt you ever will. So don't ask me about it!"

He opened his mouth, then closed it again in a reluctant acceptance of her stance. "Let's move on to your marriage… Were you happy to begin with?"

"Very happy. I thought Cloud loved me. I was prepared to make sacrifices for that love."

"Sacrifices?" He asked in puzzled tones. "What kind of sacrifices? You would have had everything a woman desired, surely…"

Aeris could only shake her head at him. "Spoken like a true man. Do you honestly think that all a woman wants from a marriage is material things?"

"I would have thought they'd go a long way…"

"Then you're wrong. Oh, I won't deny a woman likes a certain degree of security, but that's more for the children she hopes to have. I gave up a lot to marry Cloud, more than I should have. I missed my life selling flowers in the slums terribly. Missed the church… Missed my friends… Missed my mother."

"Frankly, I'm not sure that even if I hadn't overheard Cloud saying those dreadful things I would have stayed happy with him. He never took the time to talk to me about his work, or to understand me. He brushed aside my very real complaint that I needed something worthwhile to do during the day, suggesting instead that I take a silly cooking class. What would I do with that, I ask you? He employed a cook who refused to let me in the kitchen door!"

"There are a lot of women who would envy that lifestyle Aeris," Sky pointed out.

"Then it's a pity Cloud didn't marry one!" she snapped.

"Perhaps he wanted you."

"Yes, of course he wanted me. He thought I was the perfect patsy. The perfect fool. I believed everything he told me."

"Are you sure everything he said to you was a lie?"

"Of course I'm sure. I heard him say so clear as a bell. He didn't love me. He never loved me. Yet, he told me so every single day, would whisper it when we made love…" She went on in strangled tones. "Especially when he… When I…"

Her voice broke before she could make the humiliating confession: that her husband had told her he loved her even as she came beneath him.

Sky looked appalled.

"I… I don't want to talk about him anymore." She choked out raggedly, her eyes shifting from Sky's shocked face to stare glazedly down the street.

Gradually her eyes focused on the people wandering up and down the pavement, her attention drawn to a scruffily-dressed man with a mobile phone to his ear, not too common a sight in these parts. Aeris frowned as she realized he looked vaguely familiar. The man turned momentarily to face her direction and she sucked in a sharp breath.

"No!!" She gasped aloud. "Cid!!"

And there we go…. Apologies this was so late…. My laptop was involved in a routine check and was locked away from me for 3 weeks…. SOBS

But I hope I made up for all that with this long chapter… :

Thanks to all for your wonderful reviews!

Makes you wonder what's going to happen eh? LOL

See you guys again next week!