Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy

Chapter 9

How could he let it happen? He should've done more, he should've fought back... but he didn't and now Aerith was dying in the basement. Angeal had done all he could but he had to face it, Angeal was not a doctor. They'd gotten the bullet out and wrapped the wound but still... she hadn't moved since she'd been shot. He desperately wanted to take her to the hospital but he couldn't. Aerith would never survive the cold, the hospital was too far. He was even more angry with himself for letting don walk away.

He kept telling himself that he had to stay with Aerith, to make sure she didn't bleed out. But then he'd tell himself that he could have still stopped him. But no, instead he watched the man leave and even followed his orders on cleaning the sheets.

Zack continued to scrub the sheets, he needed to get the blood out. In reality, he was trying to take his mind off the situation. He was angry with himself for not protecting her. "Zack calm down." Zack ceased his scrubbing and looked towards the voice. One of the young boys, Rick.

"I'm trying." Zack mumbled.

"She's been moving since you left." Rick said, "She rolled over and made noises."

"Really?" he felt a little better hearing that, but until she woke up he'd be on edge forever.

"Yeah." Rick nodded. The young boy took the sheets from him, "I can finish these for you." he offered, "and you can go see Aerith."

"No it's fine." Zack sighed, "You should rest."

"But you've been doing everything." Rick said, "All we've been doing is sleeping. Maybe you should rest." Zack nodded and stood up, he was tired but he didn't want to see Aerith the way she was. He walked towards Angeal's room. The man was planning, he was sure of it. He'd decided they needed to leave right away. It would be a little harder to get to Yuffie but they'd succeed somehow.

"'Geal..." he mumbled.

"Zack, go give Aerith her shot." Angeal said.

"I can't." Zack said, "I can't..."

"Zack, come on." Angeal stood up, "Look at this. I have a place set up for you guys to go. But Aerith needs to survive until then or she'll never get home."

"You don't understand, it's my fault she's like this." Zack said, "I wanted her to know I wasn't like all the other guys who have forced themselves on her! I tried to be different but I... I couldn't."

"It wasn't the same Zack, you know that." Angeal tried.

"No, I tried to hate it Angeal. But I couldn't because deep down, I wanted it." Zack mumbled.

"Zack, you're 15. You were just hormonal." Angeal said, "Really, it's not what you think." Zack didn't speak, he knew Angeal was just trying to make him feel better. But it wasn't working... Angeal pressed a needle into his hands and pushed him to the door, "Give her the shot, she needs to get better."

Zack sighed and walked away, "Alright." he walked down towards the basement. He looked out of a window and noticed it was getting dark. Don would be coming back soon.. "And when he gets back, I'm going to kill him." Zack mumbled to himself. But he didn't know how he was going to do that, Don had a gun and it was obvious he wasn't too shy about using it. If Don was able to shoot one of the important workers, it wouldn't take much for him to shoot a servant.

He entered the basement and walked over to his bed. Aerith had indeed moved. The blankets he'd neatly tucked her into were thrown messily to the floor and she was now lying on her stomach. A low whimper escaped her lips and she rolled onto her side. "Aerith... I'm sorry." he whispered. He leaned down next to her and gentle grabbed her arm. He hurried and gave her the shot and stood up. He needed to get out of there. He was halfway up the stairs when he heard her mumble his name. "...come back..." she mumbled. Zack turned and slowly walked down the steps again.

"Aerith?" he questioned. He couldn't tell if she was awake or not.

"Zack..." she mumbled again. Her eyes opened for a second before closing again.

"Aerith, don't try to speak." he walked back to her side, "You need to rest."

"It hurts..." she whimpered, "d-did you get shot too?"

"No..." Zack said slowly.

"Where is he?"

"He left, I don't know where." Zack said. Aerith stayed silent and Zack waited for a minute to see if she was asleep. "Aerith, I'm so sorry about what happened. Please forgive me..."

"I'm hungry." Aerith mumbled.

"Um... okay, how about soup?" he suggested

"Cheeseburger."

"Huh?"

"I want a burger." Aerith said louder, "And cheesecake." Zack rubbed his neck, why would she ask for those things? It must have been the medicine making her talk like this.

"How about soup?" he asked again.

"Yeah." Aerith agreed. Zack watched her for a little longer and left up to the kitchen. He'd make the soup, but she wouldn't eat it, he already knew it. She was falling asleep already and by the time the soup was finished, she would be fast asleep.

He sat down at the island and put his head in his hands, he was so tired. He slowly lowered his face onto the island and sighed. This must've been how Aerith felt when she was so stressed that she couldn't sleep. He lifted his head again and yawned, he'd just work himself until he passed out. He walked over to the fridge and took out a few ingredients, he could make chicken noodle soup. He sighed, he was a little tired of making soup but Aerith couldn't exactly eat anything else. "Zack!" Angeal called from his room, "Where are you?"

"In the kitchen." he replied. He stepped out and looked for the older man, "What is it?"

"I sent someone to get Yuffie." Angeal came into view and started down the stairs, " She'll be sent home sooner then Aerith."

"That's great." Zack nodded, "How much is this costing you?"

"just my entire college fund." Angeal shrugged.

"Angeal!" Zack gasped, "Your college money?"

"It's fine Zack, I went to a community college. I had more then 30,000 left to spend." Angeal said, "But I knew before I came into this... business... that i'd need a lot of money."

"I still feel bad." Zack said, "I could give you some of mine whenever I get paid."

"It's fine." Angeal said again, "Now go to bed."

"Aerith asked for soup." Zack said.

"I can make it." Angeal said, "Just go to bed." Zack rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I'm not tired." he lied, "I just need something to keep myself busy." He walked back into the kitchen and looked for a knife, "plus I need to make dinner before Don gets home."

"Just a few more days Zack." Angeal said, "After I get you to the safe point, it's your job to get to the airport."

"What? Where are you going?" Zack asked, "You aren't coming with us?"

"No, I have other people to help." Angeal said, "Once you're safe, give me another call, I'll try to visit you two."

"Uh huh." Zack mumbled. He found the knife and began to slice the carrots, "who knows how long that will be."

"It shouldn't take more then a few weeks." Angeal said.

"A few weeks?" Zack paused in his slicing, "There's an airport right here in town!"

"But the safe point is in Poland." Angeal said.

"Poland! That's so far away!" Zack set the knife down, "Why so far?"

"Don has friends in a lot of countries. Poland is the only place that's clear for now so that's where you need to go. The moment you escape, Don will tell everyone to find you. Poland has a place set up for runaways." Angeal said.

"How risky is this going to be?" Zack asked.

"How risky is what going to be?" Zack almost jumped out of his skin as Don entered the kitchen.

"We were talking about Aerith, she's not doing to well and we were discussing the options." Angeal said, "I suggest getting her to a hospital."

"No, she'll be fine here." Don said, "I refuse to spend anymore money on her."

"but what if she dies?"

"Then you can bury her in the yard." Don sneered, "What are you making?"

"Soup for Aerith." Zack said.

"No, I want a normal meal. I haven't had a decent one since I got here." Don said with a sigh, "Make me some pasta."

"We don't have the ingredients for any type of pasta." Zack said.

"Well take Aerith to get some, you can use my car." Don said.

"I can't drive." Zack said, "And Aerith needs rest."

"Then I guess you'll walk." Don dug through his wallet and took out more money, "Hurry now I'm hungry." the man tossed the money onto the floor and walked away. Zack glared at the back of his head as he bent down to pick up the money.

"Calm down, maybe taking a walk is what you need." Angeal said, "I'll stay down with Aerith."

"Alright." Zack put the bills into his pocket and left the kitchen. He walked down into the basement and saw Aerith was still awake. "Aerith, why are you still up?"

"I'm waiting for my soup." Aerith said softly, "You said you would bring me some."

"Well Don came back and told me to go to the store, he doesn't want me making anymore soup." Zack said.

"You're leaving?" Aerith asked sadly, "And Don's back?"

"Yeah, but it won't take long." Zack promised.

"I want to come with you." Aerith said, "Don't leave me here."

"But you're too weak Aerith, you wouldn't survive out there." Zack said. He grabbed his coat, "I'll be back soon." He hurried out of the basement before she could say anything else. Why did she have to make him feel guilty about a trip to the store?

o.0.o.0.o

Yuffie hugged her pillow tightly. The day was finally over but she was really upset. Tifa and a boy named Cloud had run away last night and if gossip was true, they got away. But why would Tifa leave her alone? It wasn't fair... Tifa promised they'd run away together, they'd both get to go home. But then she left...

And Aerith was gone too. Don had taken her to his mansion and Italy. Another rumor was going around that she'd been shot and killed already. She was totally alone now. The other girls wouldn't talk to her and she could never find the opportunity to talk to any of the servants her age.

Yuffie sat up and stared at her door, she could hear speaking outside. She walked over and pulled the door open. "We're closed." she said immediately as she noticed the two men.

"Is your name Yuffie?" one man asked.

"Yes." Yuffie eyed the men wearily, they had to know the place was closed right?

"My name is Lazard, please come with me."

"Look what she's wearing, it's freezing outside." the other man said.

"I have a coat for her." Lazard handed her the coat he was holding, "Let's go."

"I'll get in trouble if I go with you." Yuffie said. She moved to close the door and Lazard put his foot in the way.

"We were sent by your friend to bring you home." he said quietly, "But we need to go now or you won't be able to get out of this." Yuffie's eyes widened and she put the coat on. She wasn't sure if Lazard was telling the truth but what could he do to her that was worse then what was already happening? He followed the men down the hall, there were guards outside the building, how would they get by them?

"Aerith sent you?" she asked hopefully, "She's didn't get shot?"

"She did get shot, but she's still alive." Lazard said, "Now keep quiet." Yuffie nodded and looked forward, they were heading for the door... Her heart sped up and she closed her eyes. She buried her face in the coat as they stepped outside. They kept walking and Yuffie sensed them passing the guards.

"Hey wait!" someone grabbed her arm, "Does she work here?"

"No, this is a friends child. He doesn't want her around here so I'll be watching her." Lazard said.

"I didn't see her walk in here." the guard said. He loosened his grip on her arm but didn't let go.

"I suggest you let her go right now, if she tells her father you grabbed her you'll be in trouble." Lazard threatened. The man let go completely and Yuffie looked away. The man hadn't seen her face yet and she had a feeling if he did, she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. "Let's go Felicia." Lazard said. Yuffie almost spoke up, she almost told him her name wasn't Felicia, but she caught herself in time. They walked away and Yuffie let out a breath.

"How long until I get home?"

"I'm not sure, you'll need to meet Zack and Aerith in Poland." Lazard said, "But you'll have to stay with me until I can get you there." Yuffie nodded, she couldn't wait to see Aerith again. They got into a car and started to drive away. Yuffie watched as they drove further away from the building, she still wasn't sure if this was real but she was still happy. "Are you hungry, we should eat as much as we can before we start running."

"Running? I thought we were going to Poland." Yuffie said.

"We are, but once they find out you're gone, they'll start to look. Don is serious about his workers." Lazard said, "But since he won't be back for a while, we have time. Would you like McDonald's?"

"Yes!" Yuffie exclaimed, "and ice cream and apples and candy and everything!"

"Not all at once." the other man said. Yuffie looked to him, he hadn't told her his name.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Veld." he answered. Yuffie nodded and sat back, she was still upset that Tifa had left her but that sadness was being drowned by the happiness that came with her escape.

o.0.o.0.o

Minerva sat across from Genesis at the dinner table. This would be the first time she'd made dinner since Aerith had disappeared and William wasn't even there. "Genesis, where is your father?" she asked.

"At the bar." Genesis mumbled. He picked at his food and sighed, "Who's that guy you've been talking to lately, the one with the weird hair."

"Kadaj? He's just a young man I met last week, he's been helping me look for Aerith." Minerva took a bite of her food and noticed how bland it tasted, she really needed to work on her cooking, "The police refuses to look for her anymore."

Genesis dipped his head and dropped his fork, "Will things go back to normal when we find her?" he asked. Minerva shrugged and stood up.

"How about we order some pizza?" she suggested.

"Yeah, okay." Genesis pushed his plate away and nodded. Minerva took his plate and stood up. She felt a little guilty about the way she'd treated him the week before. It wasn't really his fault someone abducted Aerith. "Can we have pepperoni?"

"Sure." Minerva said. She walked back into the kitchen and scraped the plates. She put the plates in the sink and looked around for her phone. She found it near the stove, she had two new text messages. One from William and one from Kadaj. She looked at the one from her husband first, 'Minerva, I'll be home for dinner' Minerva rolled her eyes, that was obviously a lie. She opened the one from Kadaj, 'I have a lead on aerith's location see me tomorrow.' she smiled at her phone and dialed the number for the pizza place. She could feel it, she'd be getting her daughter back soon.

0.o.0.o.0

I'm sorry to everyone who thought last chapter was the absolute last chapter. I want you to know the story is no where near over. Well yeah it is but we've got at least 10 more chapters. I'll probably stretch it more to build the relationship between Zack and Aerith, but you get the point. I'm also sorry for the length of the last chapter as well. It was too long and I meant to cut it in half but I forgot. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, it inspires me to write more.