Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Read and Review ^.^
"Ha, ha…… They're looking for me again." Aeris said, sitting on the roof. She swung her legs back and forth and stared at the ground below them.
Cloud sat down next to her and crossed his legs. "You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?"
Aeris shook her head and sighed. "…no."
Cloud gave her a concerned look. "They're the Turks."
"Hmmm……," the girl appeared to be in deep thought.
"The Turks are an organization in Shinra. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."
Aeris looked up and frowned. "This violently? I thought they were kidnapping someone."
The ex-SOLDIER scratched his head. "They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder…you know."
"They look like it."
"But, why're they after you? There must be a reason, right?"
The girl thought for a minute. Her eyes suddenly brightened and she looked over excitedly at Cloud. "No, not really. I think they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!"
The man shrugged, a smirk plastered to his face. "Maybe you do. You want to join?"
"I don't know… But I don't want to get caught by THOSE people!"
Clouded nodded. "Then, let's go!" he said taking off, running along the walls of junk and roofs of houses.
"Wait… Wait, I said!" Aeris yelled trying to catch up to Cloud. She finally climbed up the roof where Cloud was puffing and wheezing from exhaustion. "Slow……down…Don't leave me……"
"Funny…," Cloud said pushing a blonde lock out of his face. "I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?"
Aeris immediately stood up straight. She crossed her arms and glared at him menacingly. "Oh! You're terrible!"
They both tried to keep a straight face, but ended up laughing.
"Hey……Cloud. Were you…ever in SOLDIER?"
"……I used to be. How did you guess?"
Aeris got closer to his face and examined his eyes carefully. "…Your eyes. They have a strange glow…"
"That's the sign of those who have been infused with Mako… A mark of SOLDIER. But, how did you know about that?"
Aeris smiled weakly. "……Oh, nothing."
"Nothing…?" Cloud raised a brow at the girl.
She smiled again and nodded her head quickly. "Right, nothing! Come on, let's go! Bodyguard!"
They continued their way across the roofs. Finally they jumped down off the last of the makeshift metal structures. Dust rose up from the ground as Cloud landed on the dirt road.
"Whew! Finally made it off! Now what…" Aeris looked over at Cloud questioningly. She looked around and eyed her surroundings before finally realizing where she was. "My house is over here. Hurry before he comes." The girl started running off in the other direction. Cloud trailed behind closely hoping they could get to the house in time before Reno showed up again.
They eventually made it to a small run down town in the sector and stopped to talk to a woman outside a huge pipe.
"That guy in the pipe's a weird one. No matter what you ask him, he only answers 'uuh' or 'aahh'," the lady explained.
Cloud and Aeris nodded and ran inside the large pipe.
"This guy is sick," she explained quietly. "He passed out nearby and someone must have helped him here."
They walked deeper into the pipe and found a small makeshift house with a man quite clearly in pain in the middle.
"This is the one……Won't you help him?" Aeris pleaded to Cloud hoping he'd be able to do something about the sick man.
Cloud shook his head. "Listen, I'm no doctor."
The girl let her arms hang limp and looked down at the floor. "No…I guess not…"
She stared at the man sympathetically until she noticed a small black figure on his hand. "Hey…that man has a tattoo. I think it was the number 2."
Cloud shook his head and walked slowly out of the pipe. They both made it through the town a little while later they arrived at a small brown house with a red roof. It had a huge yard atop a small hill where there were dirt paths lined with bright yellow flowers.
Cloud and Aeris entered the home and brushed their feet off at the entrance.
"I'm home, mom." Aeris yelled as she walked inside. Cloud stayed at the door and waited. An older woman with brown hair, wearing a green dress and a warm smile walked into the room.
"This is Cloud. My bodyguard." Aeris said to her mom as she pulled Cloud over to meet her.
"Bodyguard……? You mean you were followed again!?" The woman said, a worried look in her eyes. "Are you all right!? You're not hurt, are you!?" she asked giving her daughter a hug.
"I'm all right. I had Cloud with me."
The woman turned, looked over the newcomer, and smiled. "Thank you, Cloud." Aeris' mom bowed slightly and walked up the stairs.
"So what are you going to do now?" Aeris asked Cloud.
"…Is Sector 7 far from here? I want to go to Tifa's bar."
"Is Tifa……a girl?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah."
"A girl…friend?" she asked not sure she wanted to know the answer.
Cloud took a step back. "Girlfriend? No way!" he shook his head frantically.
"Hee hee hee……" Aeris giggled at the exaggerated response. "You don't have to get THAT upset…Well, that's…nice. Let's see, Sector 7? I'll show you the way."
Cloud crossed his arms and gave her a doubtful look. "You gotta be kidding. Why do you want to put yourself in danger again?"
"I'm used to it."
"Used to it!?……Well, don't know… getting help from a girl…" Cloud said just barely hiding a smile.
"A girl!! What do you mean by that!?" Aeris raised her voice and tried to muster the angriest face she could. "You expect me to just sit by and listen, after hearing you say something like that!?" The girl ran to the stairs and yelled to her mom who was at the top. "Mom! I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while."
Elmyra slowly walked down the stairs and faced the two. "But dear…I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late now."
"Yeah, you're right, mom." Aeris admitted.
"Aeris, please go and make the bed."
The flower girl nodded and smiled back at Cloud. She climbed the stairs and headed up to the spare bedroom to make the bed.
Elmyra slowly approached the man who had apparently protected her daughter from the Turks. "That glow in your eyes… you're from SOLDIER, right?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah. Rather I used to be…"
The woman looked up the stairs to make sure Aeris wasn't listening in and sighed heavily. "……I don't know how to say this, but… Would you please leave here, tonight? Without telling Aeris."
Cloud gave the woman a strange stare and nodded slowly. He climbed up the wooden stairs and met Aeris at the top.
"You need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7. Sector 6 is a little dangerous so you'd better get some rest tonight," she explained while showing Cloud to his room.
Cloud walked into the room and was about ready to shut the door when Aeris peeked inside. "Cloud… Good night." She said before softly closing the door.
Once Cloud was sure Aeris' foot steps were gone he sat down on the small bed and held his face in his hands. "Oh, man…"
Later that night
'…seem pretty tired……' the voice echoed once again.
"……!?" Cloud shifted in the bed trying to get comfortable.
'I haven't slept in a bed like this… in a long time.' The voice continued.
"…Oh, yeah." Cloud whispered to himself, half awake and half asleep.
'Ever since that time.'
Flashback
Cloud laid in a large bed with blue sheets. The smell of food cooking in the oven engulfed the entire room. A blonde woman walked over to the bed and sat down next to him.
"My, how you've grown," she said with a warm smile." I'll bet the girls never leave you alone."
Cloud sighed and shifted his weight slightly. "…Not really."
"…I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city… I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."
"…I'm all right."
His mom looked up at the ceiling and thought for a while. "You should have… an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."
Cloud sighed and stared up at the ceiling. No expression crossing his features. "……I'm not interested."
End flashback