Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or anything related.
Chapter 7
Aerith sat alone tapping her fingers against the bed frame anxiously. Everyone had been ordered to stay in their rooms and she was scared. She knew she didn't need to worry about Tifa or Yuffie, the two girls were right next to her, but someone was getting punished and she couldn't shake the feeling that she would be getting punished too. After all, she'd talked about escaping too. "Aerith, calm down." Tifa tried, but her voice was too weak to be comforting. Aerith stopped the tapping and looked over to Tifa.
"Do you think he'll be coming here?" she asked nervously. Tifa rubbed the bruises on her arm and shook her head.
"You didn't do anything... right?" Tifa asked.
Aerith shrugged, she couldn't remember. There were several times when she hadn't been paid in full, maybe Don thought she was stealing money. There were also times when she couldn't handle anything, when her customers would leave angry, threatening to file a complaint for poor service.
Yuffie lifted her head, "It's one of the little kids." she said, "They stole food from the kitchen."
"How do you know?" Tifa asked.
"I was there... I saw her." she said.
"Why didn't you stop her?" Tifa asked, "You knew Don wouldn't like that." Yuffie shrugged and put her head back down. Aerith's mind wandered to Zack, he was with the kids all the time, maybe he knew the person who was getting punished. "It's over." Tifa stood up shakily and walked over to the door, "Yuffie, you should sleep, work starts in a few hours." Tifa left the room and Yuffie slowly got up.
"Bye Aerith." she mumbled before walking off to her own room. Aerith watched her leave before getting up to close the door.
"Whoa Aerith!" Zack slipped into the room and shut it behind him. "Are you going to bed?" he asked.
"I was going to." she said, although she wasn't sure if she'd actually be able to sleep, "what do you want?"
"Well, there's this boy, his name is Denzel." Zack explained, "Today's his birthday, we got him a cake."
"Really?" Aerith asked, it'd been a long time since she had cake. They weren't allowed to have sweets, Don said it would make them out of shape and there was no money to be made form fat women. "So why are you telling me?"
"I figured you'd want some." Zack said, "I mean chocolate can cheer anyone up." Aerith rolled her eyes, none of her problems could be solved with chocolate, "Come on, it'll be fun."
"You know I'm not allowed to have cake, are you trying to get me in trouble?" she snapped.
Zack shook his head, "Oh no! I wasn't thinking about that, it's just... well you seem like you cold use some chocolate, you and Yuffie." he said.
"I'm sorry Zack, I'd love some but... I don't even thinking could hold it down right now." she said. Zack sighed and left the room. Aerith sat down on her bed and stared down at the floor, she couldn't sleep and she couldn't eat. Her stomach growled and she shut her eyes, what was wrong with her?
She hadn't been able to eat in days and it was staring to affect her. Tifa had tried to get her to eat but she never could, it all made her throw up. She got up and walked over to the door, maybe she did need some cake.
She hurried to the basement and looked around, "Zack?" she whispered.
"Aerith!" Zack walked over, "did you change your mind?"
"Sort of." she said, "I haven't been able to eat much lately..."
"Don't worry, this will help." Zack led her to a group of kids, "Guys this is Aerith."
"Hey, I know you!" a little girl said, "You came here with me, my name's Marlene." Aerith forced a smile onto her face and waved. "I saved all of my money since I got here, and Zack gave me some of his."
"Alright guys come on, let's eat up!" Aerith looked down at the cake as Zack cut it, was this really a good idea? The cake looked nice but... what if Don found out? Zack handed every child in the basement a small piece, "Here you go Aerith." he placed a small piece on her hand, "Eat up." Aerith watched the other kids gobble down their treats, she pushed a small part into her mouth and forced herself to swallow. "Well how is it?" Zack asked.
"It's okay." she said as she ate it. Zack focused on his own piece for a minute before turning back to her.
"You need your rest right?" he said, "You look sleepy." Aerith blinked, if Zack noticed then her customers would too, she needed to sleep or they'd be unhappy and she'd get in trouble.
"Right," she nodded, "Thank you for the cake." she turned and rushed from the basement dropping the last of her cake on the steps. She flew threw the halls and went to her room, when she got there she found Don sitting on her bed. "Oh... I didn't see you there..." she said nervously. What was he doing there? Was she in trouble? "Is there something I can help you with?" she asked.
"There's always something you could help me with." he purred, "But there is another reason I'm here." He stood up, "Please close the door." Aerith did as she was told and waited for him to go on. "I'm returning home for the next few weeks and I'm taking you and a few servants with me." he said, "I want you to prepare your things, we're leaving tomorrow, I'm giving you the day off."
"Yes sir." she said quietly, inside, she was a little relieved she wouldn't have to be with more then one guy for the next few weeks, but then she had to be alone with Don and he was very violent. Corneo left the room and Aerith fell to her knees, how much more of this could she take? She rubbed her temples as a headache began to form, at least she had the day off right? She sighed, she couldn't exactly rationalize the situation, it was horrible. She was going to be alone with Don Corneo for several weeks... There was a knock on the door and she stood up.
"Aerith?" it was Zack. She opened the door and looked him over.
"Don't you have work to do?" she asked.
"No, i've been given the day off." Zack said, "I'm leaving with the Don tomorrow, I just wanted to tell you."
A small smile appeared on her face, "What? Are you happy about me being gone? I didn't know I annoyed you that much." Zack rubbed his head.
"No, it's not that." she said, "It's just that I'm going too."
"Oh man..." Zack said, "At least you'll have some sort of friend there." Aerith nodded and looked down, "Well, I need to go out and get some things alright? Do you need anything?"
"Um..." Aerith played with her uniform, "...condoms..."
"Oh, right... anything you want, you know for yourself?" he asked.
"I'm not sure if he'll let me bring anything, you know how he is." she said, "But... I want to come with you."
"Aerith, you aren't allowed outside... are you?" Zack asked.
"Well, I don't really know. He's only said that if we try to escape we'd be punished." Aerith said, "But I'm not trying to escape, I just want to see what's out there."
"i wouldn't want to get you in trouble." Zack said.
"Please Zack, I can't stay in this room another minute." she pleaded, "I have the day off he won't even notice." She watched Zack as he thought it over, he looked really conflicted. He didn't want her in trouble but he couldn't say no at least she hoped.
"Alright, but only for a little while." Zack said finally, "And bring a coat, it's cold out."
"I don't have a coat, they took it when they..." she paused, "I don't have one."
"What... okay I'll see if I can find one for you." Zack said, "I'll bring it to you later alright stay here and try to get some sleep." Aerith nodded and watched his walk away, she closed the door and got into bed. She felt a little happier, yes happier. Of course that wasn't saying much, she was still miserable here, but maybe going out would help clear her mind.
She yawned and closed her eyes, she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep but, she needed to try. Several minutes later she was still wide awake, but she felt exhausted. Zack returned with a coat for her, "Did you sleep at all?" he asked.
"Yeah." she lied. She got up and took the coat, "Where are we going?"
"Well, I think we should shop first, then we can take a break at a garden I like to go to." he said.
"But you said it was cold, what's the point of a garden?" Aerith asked.
"It looks nice when it's covered in snow." Zack said, "Now hurry up, I want you to get some rest too."
"alright." aerith nodded. She slipped the jacket on and followed him into the hall.
"You didn't have any pants to put on?" he asked as he stared down at her legs. Aerith shook her head, "Well you're going to freeze out there."
"It can't be that cold can it?" she asked, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been outside. Zack said nothing as they exited the building they walked down the long driveway and were stopped by gaurds.
"Who is this? A honeybee?" the guard looked her over, "Oh it's her! I've heard lots of things about you." Aerith stared down at the ground while the guards stared at her, she was used to it by now but she didn't like it.
"We need to get some things we'll be back before 6." Zack said.
"Does Don know you're taking one of his girls for a spin?" the guard asked.
"Yes." Zack lied, "We've been given the day off to prepare for a trip."
"A trip?"
"Yes, we're going with Don to his home." Zack said.
"Oh wow, he's going to destroy you." the guard laughed, "Have fun while you can." Aerith's heart raced as Zack led her away from the two guards.
"Don wouldn't hurt me too bad would he?" she asked. She knew he was capable of it, she'd seen what he'd done to Yuffie and Tifa, not to mention torture her the day she'd gotten there. But she didn't want to go through weeks of that... "Zack?"
"Aerith I'm sorry, he will hurt you. He likes that kind of stuff, I won't be able to stop him either but Angeal might..."
"Who's Angeal?" she murmured.
"A friedn, I'll call him for you." Zack said, "Please don't cry." Aerith bit her lip and sniffeled, how could she not cry? This entire situation was horrible.
"I'm sorry..." she wiped her eyes and continued to stare at the ground.
"Aerith, calm down I promise you won't be alone in this okay? I'll do what I can to help you out." Zack said.
Aerith looked back, they were pretty far into town. "Have you ever thought about escaping?" she asked softly, "you look like you could handle any guy in that place, why don't you leave?"
"There are a lot of reasons for that. Those kids depend on me and well... I have no where to go." he said, "Why?"
"I'm sure you know why." she mumbled, "I can't handle this place, I want to go home."
"look, we're at the store now." Zack pointed to a building, "I want you to try something." Aerith wiped her eyes again and looked at the small shop. It was old, at least it looked old compared to all the other bright buildings around.
"What do they sell here?" she asked.
"You'll see, come on let's get inside." Zack led her into the building, "It's a diner, an American diner."
"Zack... I can't eat." Aerith said, "I couldn't even finish that cake."
"I noticed, I figured it's because you needed something familiar." Zack said. Aerith shook her head.
"I don't think I need anything familiar." she said.
"just try it." Zack sat her down at a booth, "You don't even need to eat alright, we just need to warm you up."
"alright." she rested her elbows on the table and closed her eyes, she could feel people looking at her. "I don't like it here." she mumbled.
"Hey Elsa! How are you?" Zack said, "This is my friend Aerith." Aerith looked over to the woman Zack was talking too.
"Oh she's sooo skinny! I know what will get you fattened up." Elsa said, "A cheese burger will do the trick."
"Actually Elsa, she's been having trouble eating lately, you have anything light?" Zack asked, "like soup?"
"soup? Yes, we have chicken noodle soup and minestrone, which one would you like?" Elsa asked.
"Um... chicken..." she said quietly.
"Alright, how about you Zack?" Elsa asked.
"Um the usual." Zack said. Elsa scribbled some things down and walked off. "You know there's a japanese place around here too."
"Do you have enough money for all this?" Aerith asked.
"Yeah, it shouldn't be over $20." Zack said, "I think you should let yourself go, I mean one burger won't change a thing."
"But he'll notice..." Aerith said, "I can't let myself go like you Zack."
"I know... it's just hard to see you so upset." Zack said, "I thought about taking Yuffie too, she looks like she needs a break."
"What about Tifa?" Aerith asked.
A large smile grew on Zacks face, "Oh Tifa, she's covered." he said, "Cloud has a crush on her and right now, Tifa's exploiting it as much as possible. But I think she likes him too."
"Cloud? You mean the blonde boy who cleans the rooms?" Aerith asked, a small smile appeared on her face as well, "He's so adorable."
"Adorable? I've never heard you talk like that." Zack said.
aerith's smile grew, she had no idea why she was smiling, she just knew it felt nice, "I guess they'd make a cute couple." she said. Elsa came back with their food.
"You're looking better already." she said, "Here you go, will you guys be ordering desert?"
"Yes." Zack said. He picked up his burger and took a bite, "You sure you don't want one?"
"No Zack, I can't." she said. She picked up her spoon and tasted her soup, it was nice and warm, "My mom used to make soup." she said, "I used to help her all the time."
"Really?" Zack asked, "That's cool, my mom did too."
"Do you miss your mom?" she asked, "it's been five years right?"
"Yeah, I send her a postcard or something every now and then... I don't even know if she realizes it's me sending those things... I don't even know if she still lives in that house anymore." Zack took another bite of his food, "Now we'll need to stop at another store before the garden alright, some of these men are perverts so stay close."
"Zack, you don't need to tell me about these men, I deal with them everyday." she said.
"Right sorry." he said.
"No it's fine." Aerith ate a little more of her soup, "How can you be so happy all the time?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"whenever I see you, you're smiling and you always try to cheer me up." she said, "How do you do it?"
Zack shrugged, "I don't know." he said, he finished his burger and looked at her, "You're talking a little more then usual, maybe you did need to come outside."
"Yeah, maybe." she agreed, a yawn escaped her lips and she hurried to finish her soup, "we better hurry." She was feeling even sleepier then before.
"Alright then, no dessert." Zack said, "Maybe we should get you home, you need sleep."
"No, I don't want to go back." she said sleepily, "Let's hurry and see the garden." Zack paid the bills and led her out into the cold again. That seemed to wake her up a little, "How far is it?" she asked.
"Pretty far, you won't make it." Zack said, "Not in this weather."
"No, let's go." Aerith said, "Please?"
"Alright." Zack agreed.
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Sorry I took so long, I was busy. The next chapter will be out soon. Review