Musings of Emerald and Silver

By turtlerad17

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7

AN: This is my reply to Silvara's challenge, hope you enjoy it!


Drabble 9- Heritage part 1

She should have known that something was off about him all along. The signs had been right there for her to see. His unnatural, yet beautiful silver colored hair, his almost impossibly fast quick reflexes, and those glowing blue-green cat-slitted eyes. And those were just the physical characteristics that stood out about him.

Those very same sea green eyes that had captured her gaze and memorized her the first time she saw them held shadows of pain, sadness and desperation in their depths that the glow in his eyes were unable to hide. Something horrible had happened to him sometime in the past to give him that haunted look, but Aeris had merely assumed that the cause most likely had something to do with losing a loved one in a tragic event or something along those lines.

Oh if only the secrets of his past were so mundane, if they had been, she wouldn't be in this dire predicament that she was in right now. They had been running, trying to escape those who pursued him and had been caught in an ambush. They had barely escaped with their lives from the first one, but they had been not so lucky during the next one.

Things were looking dire indeed for the two of them. Sephiroth was collapsed next to a huge oak tree, an explosion flinging him over there, the impact surely breaking a few ribs along with the broken arm that he had received when the trap had been sprung right next to them.

Normally, if you call running for your life and freedom normal, this wouldn't have hindered them from escaping very much but for two very important details. The first one was that Sephiroth had been blinded after a gas bomb had exploded right in his face during the first ambush; that and the injuries he had received during their current plight making it impossible for him to function normally, let alone fight back or escape.

The second detail, and by far the more important one, was that she was dying, her lifeblood draining out of her at a rapid rate from the two bullet holes that went through her body.

Sephiroth, I'm so sorry, Aeris thought as her body started to shut down, I've failed you…


One month earlier…

"Geeze, why did everyone have to pick today to go to the coffee shop," Aeris grumbled under her breath as she stood close to the end of the long line that snaked across the room in front of her.

"I'll have a vanilla latte with fat-free milk- no wait, I'll have the caramel-chocolate mocha with three shots of espresso," a thin, nervous college freshman ordered in a strained voice.

The girl behind the counter turned to give the freshman's order to the pimple-faced teenager next to the espresso machine. Just as the teenager was about to start, the freshman decided to change his mind.

"Miss, excuse me miss, I've decided that I want a green-tea sugar-free latte with no foam," the freshman piped up as the girl behind the register shot him an irritated glare, "no make that a white-chocolate mocha latté- I mean a double shot of espresso in milk- no wait, an almond iced coffee!"

"Is that your final order?" the girl sarcastically asked.

"Yes!" he rather exuberantly shouted.

"Good," she muttered under her breath, "I was about ready to murder him if he changed his mind again."

The teenager who filled out the customers' orders had just finished filling up a plastic cup with ice when the freshman spoke up once more.

"Ummm…., excuse me but I've decided that I really don't want the iced coffee instead I would like…" he trailed off as he caught the glares from everyone working at the coffee counter.

Aeris growled under her breath, while some of the people ahead of her muttered curses at the offending freshman.

"Would you like to change your order sir?" the girl behind the cash register asked, smiling sweetly, her voice dripping with venom.

"Uh…uh…no, the iced coffee will be fine!" he squeaked.

"Great," the girl answered, "that will be $2.50. Cash or credit sir?"

"Ca-ca-cash," he stuttered, fumbling with his wallet for a few silence filled seconds while his iced coffee was finished.

Finally, he managed to withdraw three wrinkled dollar bills from his wallet and handed them over to the girl.

"Thank you sir for coming to the Caffeine Joint," she merrily called after him as he hurried out of the crowed coffee shop, "Can I help who's next?"

As the freshman passed Aeris by she shot him her patented Evil Glare of Death #86. He took one look at her face and was out of the store in three seconds flat.

Aeris sighed, stupid freshman…, she let the thought trail off.

The caffeine deprived brunette waited fifteen more minutes during which the line moved a grand total of five feet before she gave up in disgust and stormed out of the Caffeine Joint. Deciding that she had a better chance of finding coffee at her friend's place, Aeris took a left around the building and went into the nearby quiet, secluded park to get to her friend Kailley's apartment roughly ten minutes away.

It was right after she had passed the empty swing-set that she first noticed him.

He was sitting under the ancient oak tree that the park had originally been built around. The stranger looked absolutely fascinated by the way the shadows of the leaves above him were in constant movement, creating an ever-changing mosaic of golden sunlight and shade on the brown leaves and twigs that lay under the oak tree.

Aeris stopped and took a moment to take in the scene and get a better look at the strange man. His strange hair, sliver when the sun touched upon it, grey when in the shadows, pooling on the ground around him, would have immediately have attracted anyone's attention, but Aeris was more interested in what the rest of him looked like.

It seemed like the fates were in a good mood that day since at that very moment that the thought crossed her mind, the stranger glanced up from his study of the canopy's shadow on the ground and looked straight at her. Instantly a blush sprung to her cheeks, embarrassed at being caught staring.

She took her time to take in the details of his face with the high cheekbones, thin but sensual lips, his aquiline nose and narrow sliver eyebrows that framed his eyes perfectly. Aeris took in his lithe, muscular frame, his slightly unbuttoned shirt under his jacket giving her a tantalizing glimpse of the firm, pale flesh that lay beneath, her blush growing stronger as her gaze swept southward.

"Ahem," the stranger cleared his throat, causing Aeris to quickly snap her gaze back to his face, "is there something that I can help you with Miss?"

"Uhhh," Aeris intelligently answered, her eyes focused on the way his lips moved as he shaped each word, like an artist using a paintbrush to caress a canvas.

"Miss?" he asked again, "are you alright?"

"Fine!" Aeris squeaked.

The silver haired man raised an eyebrow.

"I-I mean- I'm fine," Aeris stammered, her blush threatening to overpower her small red jacket that she had worn today over her pink sundress, "heh-heh… sorry about that- I mean the whole staring thing, I guess that my brain decided to not function for a few seconds there…I'm fine now."

"If you say so…" he replied unconvinced.

"Well either way, it was totally rude of me to stare at you like that," Aeris said, "I should have greeted you the proper way, starting with introducing myself."

"Hi, my name is Aeris," she greeted him, her hand outstretched.

"Sephiroth," he responded taking her offered hand, a sudden mischievous twinkle coming into his eyes.

"Nice to meet you Sephiroth," Aeris replied, a friendly smile on her face, "I know of a nice little café just a few minutes away from here that we can- gah!"

Sephiroth cut her off mid-offer as he abruptly pulled on her hand, jerking her towards him and causing her to fall face first onto the ground next to him.

"Hey! What the Hell was that for?!" Aeris yelled as she pushed herself up.

"I just thought that you might want to join me for a moment under this tree, it is rather tranquil here," Sephiroth smoothly explained, "well, at least it was before you came here."

Aeris glared at him.

"Not that I mind," he added, "it's would be nice if a friendly local like yourself would show me around. I'm new in town."

"That was rather obvious from the get-go," Aeris muttered.

Apparently Sephiroth heard her since he chuckled at her statement.

"You are a fresh breath of air, thank you" Sephiroth told her.

"You're welcome…" Aeris trailed off as she gazed into his eyes for the first time.

"Wow…" Aeris murmured.

"What?" Sephiroth asked, "is there something on my face?"

"Your eyes…they're beautiful. But there is something different about them…I just can't place it…" Aeris spoke in a breathless whisper.

Aeris was mesmerized, enchanted by those unique, captivating sea green eyes that hid so much from the world. She reached up and tenderly brushed his bangs away from his face to get a better look.

"Oh Holy… they're glowing… what on earth….?" Aeris murmured.

Alarm grew in Sephiroth's eyes, he jerked his hand up to bat Aeris' fingers away from his face but stopped mid-motion. For he saw something in her own eyes that caught his attention. Her eyes were bright and sparkled with good humor, but secrets and hidden pain lurked behind her cheery facade.

Sephiroth brought his hand up and gently tilted her chin up so he could get a better look at her eyes. To a normal bystander Aeris would have appeared to be a normal happy young woman, content to just be alive. But Sephiroth was far from normal. What even her friends would have missed, he spotted.

This woman who had stared at him for almost three minutes straight was hiding things about herself from everyone around her. Secrets, that if known, she feared would cause her to loose everything. He sensed that there was something that she felt that she was supposed to do, but was reluctant to carryout. She was running, running from an unseen enemy, from herself, from her duty. She was…

Abruptly Sephiroth snapped back to himself. He had come way to close to revealing her innermost secrets, a thing which he had no right to do, but more importantly to revealing himself for what he really was.

He heard Aeris sigh and involuntarily his gaze was drawn back to her emerald green eyes. Once again he was caught up in her gaze, but this time he felt something far different from her than the first. He sensed longing, for what he didn't know, growing attraction, that he could readily recognize, and the stirrings of something that he just couldn't place.

Their faces slowly grew closer to each other. Before either of them knew what had happened, their lips brushed softly against the other's, barely touching, but that slight contact sending shivers down both of their spines.

It was then everything clicked.

A bond had formed between the two though they could barely sense it at the time. That was the beginning of their relationship, the spark that ignited the mutual attraction between the two. It was also the beginning of the end, though neither of them knew it at the time. But what was going to end?- that was the important question.


Things between the two of them proceeded rather rapidly after their first meeting in the park. Though their relationship developed rather fast, its progress didn't seem forced but flowed smoothly as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Aeris came away from their first kiss rather infatuated, but that infatuation quickly turned into a full-blown, turn the world on its head, chaotic and wonderful case of I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-him love. Within two weeks they had proceeded past the getting to know each other phase as well as the fun, thrill-seeking, party-your-heart-out phase and had settled into a serious relationship.

By the end of the month, Sephiroth and Aeris had moved into a new apartment together and had proceeded to christen their new bedroom the first night with a lot of vigorous headboard banging against the wall, moaning, screaming and other such noises. The old lady next door had called the cops on them, worried about all the noise that was coming from the apartment next to hers.

The cops had started banging on the front door just as Aeris was screaming Sephiroth's name out at the top of her lungs as he was grunting and vigorously thrusting in and out of her. Immediately both of them froze as the cops burst into the apartment and quickly scrambled to get their clothing on that had been previously scattered around the room.

Sephiroth had barely managed to pull his pants on when the cops entered their bedroom, took one look at him and Aeris who was wearing only Sephiroth's discarded t-shirt before the profusely apologized and beat a hasty retreat from the apartment.

The moment they left, Aeris promptly burst out laughing and even Sephiroth could see the humor of the situation as he too started laughing a few seconds later. Pretty soon Aeris ran out of breath and collapsed onto Sephiroth as she inhaled deeply. Sephiroth pulled her closer and she happily leaned onto him.

"I love your laughter," Aeris commented, "just like I love your smile and all the odd quirks about you, including the fact that you were the one to put the potpourri baskets in the kitchen and bathroom and not me."

"I love your laughter, smile and odd quirks as well including the fact that you can make the world's best cup of coffee, but can't boil a pot of water correctly to save your life," Sephiroth retorted.

Aeris stuck her tongue out at him and then broke into giggles.

Sephiroth smiled indulgently down at her.

"I can't believe how fast we have been taking things," Aeris remarked, "I mean moving into an apartment together after one month of dating-"

"And earth-shattering sex," Sephiroth cut in which earned him a poke from Aeris.

"One month of dating and one night of earth-shattering sex," Aeris continued, "and yet it feels like I have known you forever."

"Hmm," Sephiroth agreed.

"Do you think it odd for me to want to marry you and eventually bear your children?" Aeris suddenly asked, looking up at him.

"Not at all," he responded without blinking, "would it seem odd to you that I am astounded to find the woman of my dreams in this little backwater town and want to settle down with her?"

"Oh Sephiroth!" Aeris squealed, "I love you!"

The silver haired man winced slightly at her high-pitched voice but smiled in satisfaction.

"That's good to know kitten," he murmured, "because now that I have you, I don't intend to let you go, ever."

Aeris gave him The Look.

"I love you too," he added chuckling.

"Good," she stated and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.


Outside, the two highly embarrassed police men just got into their car when the noises that they had been called in for resumed rather loudly in the young couple's apartment. They only shook their heads and muttered something about "young love".


The trouble started just a few days later. It all began one afternoon when Aeris and Sephiroth were eating a late lunch at a small sandwich shop close to their apartment.

"I still can't believe that Mr. Lawson came in today with his hair dyed bright, neon orange!" Aeris exclaimed, telling her boyfriend the latest escapade about her very "unique" boss at the small clothing boutique that she worked part-time at.

Suddenly the brunette stiffened almost unnoticeably as she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. If Sephiroth hadn't been looking at her that exact moment, he would have missed it entirely. Curious about what could have caused his girlfriend to show even the slightest sign of distress, Sephiroth glanced over at what had caught Aeris' attention.

The reaction that he had to the figures in the familiar blue uniforms holding standard-issue rifles over their shoulders was quite different from Aeris'. He didn't even bother freezing in place, instead he swore vehemently under his breath, got up and made a bee-line for the men's room to avoid being spotted by the Shin-Ra MPs that were on patrol.

What are the Shin-Ra shock troops doing in this town all of a sudden? Sephiroth furiously thought, have I been discovered already?

All it would take was just once glimpse of his telltale sliver hair by one of the MPs to have the whole patrol of them come charging into the restaurant trying to capture him. That was the last thing he wanted, especially with his girlfriend sitting there in plain sight.

Sephiroth knew that he should have done something about his hair ages ago, due to all the attention that it attracted him, especially in a situation like this one. He had tried to dye it on several occasions, but any hair coloring product was never able to set in. His hair seemed to repel any and all types of hair dye, just like oil repels water, they can't mix.

He refused to wear a wig on the principal that they made him look ridiculous and that they itched horribly. Likewise Sephiroth refused to cut his hair for several reasons. For one, his long mane of hair was surprisingly easy to take care of and secondly he was illogically proud of his magnificent locks.

Of course now the main reason he had for not chopping the whole length off altogether was currently sitting alone at the table he had vacated just moments before to avoid the Shin-Ra patrol. It was his hair (naturally) that had first attracted Aeris' attention to him in the first place and she was rather fond of running her fingers through his silver locks. Sephiroth was rather fond of Aeris, he loved her in fact, so as long as Aeris liked his long hair, it would stay that way.

Sephiroth watched the Shin-Ra patrol go around a corner and disappear from sight from the small window in the bathroom. The moment they were gone, he made some noise that would indicate that he was washing his hands to anyone who was waiting outside.

"So what was that all about, you suddenly get the runs or something?" Aeris joked as Sephiroth sat down.

Sephiroth grimaced at the thought.

"No," he answered evenly.

"Then why did you so suddenly rush to the bathroom as if your hair was on fire?" Aeris asked.

"I'll tell you my reasons if you tell me why you were scared by those Shin-Ra MPs," Sephiroth countered.

Aeris looked startled and scared by Sephiroth's perception.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Aeris stammered.

"I saw your reaction when you saw those MPs come into view," Sephiroth softly explained.

"Ha-ha, you saw that?" Aeris nervously asked.

"Why are you frightened by Shin-Ra?" Sephiroth demanded, "you haven't done anything to attract their attention have you?"

"Ummm…. not exactly…" Aeris replied, not giving Sephiroth a real answer.

"Care to enlighten me?" he suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Aeris let out a sigh of defeat. She knew that there was no deterring her boyfriend when he got into this mindset.

"I'll tell you, but not here," Aeris wearily answered, "too many people around."

"Then we'll make this meal to-go and return home," Sephiroth decided.

"Fine," Aeris acquiesced, "but I have to tell-all, so do you. I have the right to know why you didn't want your face to be recognized by someone from Shin-Ra, especially since you will be the first person that I have ever told about my secret."

Sephiroth stifled a groan, he should have known that Aeris would demand to know his side of the story. She was rather like him in that regard, when she set her mind to something, Aeris would stop at nothing to accomplish it.

Just look at their current relationship, Sephiroth never wanted to get attached or involved with anyone, but here he was, a little over a month later living with this bright cheerful girl, hopelessly in love with her.

Sephiroth never wanted Aeris to be caught up in his troubles, but she already was by just being associated with him. The least he could do before he skipped out of town was to make sure that Shin-Ra would never know of their brief, but passionate relationship. He knew that leaving would break Aeris' heart, but better that then being captured or killed by Shin-Ra while trying to haul him back to that hell-hole that he had barely escaped with his life from.

He was not looking forward to telling her the sordid details of his past. Sephiroth just hoped that Aeris would still talk to her after she knew everything.


"I'll go first," Aeris announced as she sat down with a cup of hot green tea at the kitchen table across form Sephiroth, "I'm really human, but a Cetra."

"Right," Sephiroth snorted, "the Ancients have been extinct for the past one thousand years."

"Not extinct," Aeris corrected, "a few of my ancestors survived the great plague that nearly wiped out my people. They have been living in secret, hiding from human society for all this time."

Sephiroth looked skeptical.

"Or at least they did until my father, who was a Shin-Ra scientist found my mother wandering around in the forest on the Northern Continent one day twenty-five years ago," Aeris continued, "it was one of those rare cases of love at first sight, a bit like you and me I suppose. They spent their first day together just sitting under the tree he had found her at talking about whatever came to mind."

"I can see the similarities," Sephiroth interjected.

"He returned a week later and found her in a different part of the forest," Aeris recounted, "they spent the whole day together, my mother Ilfana showing my father many of her favorite spots in the forest. Before parting they both agreed to meet at the same tree that he first found her at in three days. They spent their third day together making love on under that same tree. I was conceived from that union."

"They certainly were quick to get to third base," Sephiroth commented.

"So were we," Aeris countered.

"I hardly call one month a short time," Sephiroth retorted.

"To a man perhaps, but to a woman, a month can be a very short period when they getting into a serious relationship," Aeris shot back.

"You're getting off topic," Sephiroth stated, "continue with your story."

"Watch it or you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight," Aeris growled.

"You're cute when you are annoyed," Sephiroth teased.

Aeris gave him The Look.

Sephiroth shut up.

"Ilfania, knew that she was pregnant almost right away, since being a Cetra meant that she was much more in tune with the nature than any human," Aeris continued from where she left off, "although she didn't tell my father that he was going to a daddy until three weeks later, when she was sure that he would stick around when she told him the good news."

"You're not pregnant are you?" Sephiroth interrupted.

"No, why?" Aeris snapped.

Sephiroth sighed in relief and slumped in his chair.

"You being pregnant would have tremendously complicated matters," Sephiroth explained.

"How so?" Aeris asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You'll understand later," Sephiroth told her, waving it off, "let's not fight, I still want you to finish your story."

"Fine," Aeris huffed then resumed the story of her past.

"My father's reaction was predictable," Aeris spoke with a fond smile, "he fainted dead away when my mother told him. She got a good laugh out of it. When he finally came to, the first thing he did was to blurt out a marriage proposal. Ilfania had been expecting something like this and was more than ready to say yes. When a Cetra finds someone that they are compatible with and can easily love and devote themselves to, they don't waste time with a long courtship, they usually get straight to business."

"I think that the longest courtship between two Cetra was a little over four months. Males, even Cetra males, have a hard time resisting a Cetran female when they are compatible. The courtship phase between my mother and father was rather typical, meet and greet then make love one to two weeks later and then get married a few weeks after that. The fastest courtship was completed in less than a week, by the fifth day, my great-great aunt and uncle eloped to the closest town and got hitched."

"So by your description, I should be popping the big question any day now?" Sephiroth asked good-humoredly.

"I don't think that I'm quite ready for marriage yet," Aeris replied with a smile, "I don't want to pressure you into wanting to rush things. I prefer to let our relationship proceed naturally."

"So what happened after your parents got married, how did you end up in this little town of all places?" Sephiroth prompted.

The smile faded from Aeris' face and was replaced by a sad expression with a sigh.

"The first few months of when my mother was carrying me were the best months of my parents' lives," Aeris spoke, "they lived in for the moment, taking joy in each other's presence and the growing life in my mother's womb. They were living in a dream, but it ultimately turned into a nightmare."

"What happened?" Sephiroth asked.

"Hojo," Aeris spat, "that bastard came up to check up on the progress of my father's research expedition and discovered my mother. They both were forced to flee and were constantly on the move up until my birth. Hojo pursued them wherever they went relentlessly, wanting my mother and her unborn child for research subjects."

"The only reason why I didn't grow up in Shin-Ra's labs was because my mother switched me with a still-born human child before fleeing into the night with the dead baby in my mother's arms," Aeris bitterly continued, "my foster mother Elymara discovered me when she came to say her last goodbyes to her stillborn daughter. She knew that I wasn't her real child, but she still took me in and nursed me claiming that I was a miracle from God, I was the soul of her stillborn daughter in a different mortal shell."

"Later that night, Hojo finally caught up with my parents, killed my dad and critically injured my mother while trying to capture them. He was furious when he discovered that the baby that he thought was my parents' was dead. He ordered the bodies of both my dad and the baby be thrown into the sea while he hauled my mother back to his labs in Midgar. She died a few days later of complications of her wounds."

"That's it, the end of my story," Aeris murmured, tears streaming down her face, "to this day, neither Hojo nor Shin-Ra knows that the child of Ilfania and Professor Gast still lives, nor do they know that I am the last Cetra. Now you know why I am scared by any Shin-Ra worker I see. If I was ever discovered, Hojo would send out the Turks to haul me to Midgar and I would never see the light of day again, spending the rest of my life locked in his labs."

Sephiroth who had been silent since she had uttered Hojo's name took her into his arms where she proceeded to cry into his shirt. He had no choice to believe her, the hatred he heard in her voice when she spoke of Hojo was all-too-real and was shared by anyone who had been the subject of one of Hojo's experiments or scientific curiosity. He could very well believe that Hojo would want to get his hands on Aeris if he learned about her existence.

Sephiroth remembered Hojo's fury when he came back with the seriously injured Ilfania, having his desire to study the woman's daughter thwarted by the fact that the child was dead and therefore useless to him. He had taken his anger out on him as well as the Cetran woman, practically beating her to death. He had beat Sephiroth again after Ilfania died two days later of her injuries. Despite being beat black and blue, he was vindictively satisfied that Hojo would never get the chance to make the lives of the Cetra and her child pure hell like the sadistic man had made his own.

Or so he thought until Aeris told him her story. He certainly had no wish to see her locked up in one of those cold glass cells that Hojo had stuck him in for the majority of his childhood. All the more reason for him to break things off with her as soon as possible and get out of town before his presence here was detected. Her safety was far more important to Sephiroth than his own personal happiness. He had to protect her from Shin-Ra and Hojo at all costs, for if he was found with her, it would not be long before her true nature was discovered and they both would be shipped back to Hojo's labs.

If he left her now, there was a chance of him escaping this town undetected and Aeris staying behind undiscovered by Shin-Ra or Hojo. He had no choice, he would leave after she fell asleep tonight but not before he told her his tale, she deserved at least that.

"Aeris-" Sephiroth began but she cut him off.

"You're planning to leave me now aren't you?" Aeris demanded.

"Yes," he truthfully answered without thinking, "wait- how did you know that?"

"I could read you intentions from your aura," Aeris sadly answered.

"Read my aura?- never mind, you'll under-"

"Shin-Ra doesn't know about me, there is no reason to run from what I am!" Aeris interrupted desperate, "we can still make this work, no one but you knows what I am and no one will ever find out!"

Sephiroth gently disentangled himself from Aeris.

"Yes they will if I continue to stay with you," Sephiroth stated.

"Why? Why does it have to be this way?!" Aeris pleaded.

"Because I am an escaped subject from Hojo's lab," he coldly told her, "even as we speak, Hojo has hundreds of people out looking for me. That bastard wants his most precious research specimen back at all costs. If I stay, then someone will find me and almost certainly find you as well!"

Aeris sat in stunned silence.

"Aeris this is the only way you can stay safe and undiscovered by Hojo, I grew up in Hojo's labs as a test subject, I wouldn't wish my life on anyone, most especially you!" he exclaimed, "no more discussion, I'm leaving and that's final!"

"No" Aeris firmly stated.

"What?!" Sephiroth sharply demanded.

"No," Aeris repeated, "you're not going anywhere without me."

"You have got to be kidding me," Sephiroth snorted.

"Not on your life," she retorted.

"I think you are mistaken," Sephiroth growled as he approached, forcing her to back up against the wall, "I'm not getting you anymore involved in this than you already am. I'm leaving and you are staying right here where you will be safe."

"It's a bit too late for that!" Aeris shot back, "people already know your name and know that we've been dating for a month and would easily be able to recognize you if someone described your profile. If you left, it wouldn't be too long until I had someone from Shin-Ra knocking at my door demanding to know where you went."

"But-" Sephiroth tried to protest.

"No buts!" Aeris shouted, "if you didn't want to involve me in your trouble then out should have never agreed to go out with me on our first date! My secret will be discovered by Shin-Ra eventually anyway whether I am here or on the run with you. I prefer to take my chances with you."

Sephiroth sighed.

"I can't convince you to stay can I?" he wearily asked.

"You already know the answer to that Seph," Aeris replied looking over her shoulder as she picked up her purse.

"Where are you going?" Sephiroth asked.

"I'm going out to tell the landlady and my boss that we're going to elope to Costa del Sol and we don't know when we will be back, if ever," Aeris replied as she pulled on her shoes.

"That won't throw the Turks off for long," Sephiroth stated.

"It should given us enough time to get a good head start," Aeris explained.

The Cetra shoved her cell phone and checkbook into her purse then turned around to face Sephiroth.

"Will you promise me that you will stay put in the apartment until I return and not leave without me or do I have to knock you out and tie you up to keep you here?" Aeris asked.

Sephiroth snorted. The idea of Aeris trying to knock him out was laughable, but he knew that if he didn't promise her to stay she would try and make good on her threat and there was a good chance that he would accidentally hurt her in the resulting scuffle.

"Well?" Aeris demanded.

"Fine," Sephiroth huffed and flung himself onto the couch.

"Promise me that you won't leave the apartment until I get back," Aeris insisted.

"Alright! I promise that I will be a good boy and not leave my room," Sephiroth shouted.

"Good, just making sure that that's clear," Aeris responded as she closed the apartment door behind her.

Sephiroth grumbled about Aeris' stubborn pigheadedness and turned on the TV.


Aeris was back five hours later holding a several large plastic shopping bags as well as a brown paper bag in her hands.

"What's that?" Sephiroth idly asked.

"You'll see in a minute," Aeris answered, "now plant your butt at the kitchen table."

"Yes Master," Sephiroth teased as he sat down on one of the wooden chairs humoring her.

Aeris dumped the contents of the brown paper bag out onto the table. Out spilled a comb, a brush, a packet of bobypins, a packet of hairclips and a black ski cap.

"What are you going to do with that stuff?" Sephiroth asked.

"Making you less noticeable," Aeris answered as she picked up the brush and the comb.

"How?" he replied.

"Just shut up and wait until I'm finished," Aeris told him as she started brushing his hair.

Aeris had done this before on occasion, and Sephiroth had never complained once when she freed his hair of all tangles. It felt good, and her ministrations put him into a pleasant daze.

"Ouch!" Sephiroth yelped as Aeris started pulling his hair into a weird braid, "what are you doing?!"

"Making you less noticeable," Aeris replied.

"By pulling all my hair out?" Sephiroth retorted.

"You'll see," Aeris stated as she continued to yank his hair into a strange hairstyle.

Half an hour later, Aeris announced that she was done and led Sephiroth to the bathroom mirror.

"What the hell is this?" he asked aghast.

All of his hair including his bangs had been braided into a crown that circled the middle of his head.

"I look like a girl!" he almost wailed.

Aeris snickered and pulled the black ski cap onto his head, covering up all of his silver hair.

"It does the trick doesn't it?" Aeris playfully asked, "you won't be easily recognized this way."

Sephiroth had to admit that Aeris was right. He could hardly recognize his own reflection with all of his hair hidden under the ski cap. Plus, due to the way Aeris had used to put his hair up, it was unlikely to come undone.

"Here," Aeris said as she shoved one of the plastic shopping bags at Sephiroth, go get changed into those clothes, "I'm going to change into my new outfit as well."

Sephiroth had to admit that he was impressed by Aeris' foresight, she certainly had planned this well. Ten minutes later he was finished and came out of the bathroom to watch Aeris put the finishing touches on her disguise.

Sephiroth's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Gone was his sweet small-town, country-girl girlfriend, and in her place was a wild biker chick. Aeris was wearing a black bandana that went under her hair which she had pulled into tight fish-bone braid and tied at the nape of her neck. Her legs were encased in skin-tight black, hip-hugging pants and knee-high black leather boots. She had fingerless black gloves on her hands that ended at her wrists and was wearing a small, dark purple tube top and over it a tight biker jacket with the words "Wild Child" sewn onto the back in silver thread. Black sunglasses were perched on top of her bandana. Grey, smoky eye shadow and dark blood-red colored lipstick finished the outfit as Aeris watched her boyfriend's reaction to her change in clothing.

"I can truthfully say that I would have never expected you to wear something like that," Sephiroth stated as he looked her over once more, deciding that it wasn't that bad of a look on her.

"That was what I was going for," Aeris replied taking in what he was wearing, "I must say that the gangster look suits you."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, obviously he wasn't as pleased with his new clothes as Aeris was with hers.

He was still wearing the black ski cap that Aeris had shoved on his head, but along with the hat, he was also wearing black cargo pants, a black t-shirt with the word "Night-prowler" printed on it in crimson ink and a loose, dark-grey half-zipped up jacket over that. About the only thing that Sephiroth really approved about his clothing were the black, heavy-duty combat boots that he wore on his feet.

"Is there a reason why you choose these specific outfits for us?" Sephiroth asked slightly annoyed.

"Catch!" Aeris called as she picked up a bulging dark purple backpack and tossed something small and shiny at him.

Sephiroth snagged the object in mid-air. It was hard and cool to the touch, suggesting that it was made out of metal, with a long, slightly jagged projection out of the slightly-rounded rectangular main body of the object.


Curious, Sephiroth opened his fist to see what he was holding.

Glittering in the light of the setting sun was a brand-new sliver key.

"So where are we really going?" Sephiroth asked as Aeris climbed onto the shiny, black motorcycle, settling herself down behind Sephiroth.

The engine roared to life as Sephiroth started the brand new motorcycle up.

"Corel," Aeris answered as she adjusted her backpack that was full of their supplies so it was comfortable on her shoulders.

"Good a place as any," Sephiroth grunted.

"They certainly wouldn't expect us to head that way," Aeris commented, "once we get there, we can go into hiding in the mountains and stay there for a few months before we head to Neilhelm."

"Ready?" Sephiroth asked.

Aeris tightened her arms around his waist and Sephiroth took that as his signal to head off. The wind caused her tight braid to continuously bump onto Aeris' backpack as Sephiroth drove down the highway, pushing the speed limit. They rode on in silence each absorbed in their own thoughts.

You can't deny what's in your blood forever, a thousand different voices whispered into her mind.

Not if I can help it, Aeris grimly thought, it's my life, I will not be a pawn to the whims of the Council of Elders.

You can't deny the inevitable, sooner or later you will have no choice but to accept your birth duty and fully awaken, the voices responded.

Never! Aeris vowed, not now, not ever.

Never is sooner than you think…

The voices faded out, leaving Aeris alone with her troubled thoughts.


The ambush, as they are wont to do, came out of nowhere. One moment they were leaving their hotel room, the next a bunch of figures dressed all in black jumped at them.

Sephiroth didn't even blink. He sprang into action, having been expecting such an occurrence ever since he spotted the Shin-Ra patrol a week ago. For the past five and a half days Sephiroth and Aeris had been traveling down an old, dusty highway that connected with a little used dirt road which ended at Corel.

Not once did they ever look back, leaving the security and comfort of Aeris' hometown, trading it in for the lonely, dangerous and uncertain future of a drifter and fugitive on the run. Now with a dozen anonymous goons barreling at them from all sides, the pair didn't waste a moment in breaking through the trap that was closing in on them.

Sephiroth, each hand holding the opposite arm just above the wrist, ruthlessly drove his elbow into the throat of the nearest goon, crushing the man's windpipe and delivering a death sentence upon him. He then followed by delivering a swift roundhouse kick to the thug that was creeping up behind him. Sephiroth's foot caught his opponent square in the chest, the force of the blow sent the man crashing into the wall behind him, cracks appearing in the bricks due to the force of the man's impact.

Meanwhile, Aeris, knowing that this was not the time to play nice, pulled the classic female self-defense move that all men fear. The petite brunette jammed her right knee hard into the crotch of the nearest goon who had tried to punch her in the face but missed, the blow causing him to drop onto his stomach moaning in agony. She dodged another wildly aimed swing from a different thug and sprinted towards the motorcycle while Sephiroth punched a different thug in the face, crushing the man's nose.

The fugitive from Hojo's labs already had killed one man and had knocked out, if not killed, three more. Aeris had taken down another one of the bounty hunters that had been hired to capture Sephiroth, leaving eight left that still needed to be dealt with. Sephiroth was working on taking another man down when three of them tackled the silver haired man and pinned him down to the ground.

"Hurry up Carl and get me one of those tranks!" one of the men, most likely the leader of the group, shouted, "our employer wants this one returned to him as intact as possible!"

Another thug, most likely Carl, lobbed something into the air. The first man jumped and barely managed to snag the object. He quickly strode over to the wildly struggling Sephiroth, jabbed a thick needle into his neck and forcefully injected the content of the syringe into Sephiroth's bloodstream.

"Not so tough are you now freak!" the leader sneered, "our employer told us all about you, how some big-wig at Shin-Ra wants his pet monstrosity back."

"You think that the Turks will let you live after you have turned me in?" Sephiroth sardonically laughed, "you are nothing more than disposable pawns to them!"

The leader snarled and hit Sephiroth in the face.

"Hey boss, what about the chick?" one of the others spoke up.

"Leave her, she probably ran away, abandoning this loser," the leader yelled back, "I doubt that we will be seeing her anytime so- Holy Fuck!"

The leader was barely able to dodge out of the way of the roaring motorcycle that almost plowed him over. Not bothering to slow down, the driver of the motorcycle caused it to swerve into a sharp turn, tires squealing, scattering the bounty hunters like bowling pins. The three that were holding Sephiroth down took one look at the incoming motorcycle and decided that their lives were worth more than the reward for Sephiroth's capture and followed the example of their fellow bounty hunters.

"Get on!" Aeris yelled as she struggled to maintain of the still moving motorcycle.

Sephiroth half-climbed and was half-yanked by Aeris onto the seat behind her. He had barely managed to secure his arms around her slender waist when she gunned the throttle and the bike went screeching out of the parking lot, leaving a black streak on the pavement behind them.

"Are you alright?" Aeris asked, yelling over the wind as she turned the motorcycle onto the highway.

"One of those thugs hit me with a tranquilizer," Sephiroth told her.

"Shit!" Aeris swore, "try to fight it off at least until I can find a place where we can lay low until it wears off."

Back in the hotel parking lot a figure wearing an immaculate, crisp blue suit stepped out of a black, nondescript car. His long, black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and his face had a distinctive Wutanese cast to its features. He approached the leader of the group of bounty hunters as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Mr. Tseng, I can explain-" the man began.

"You failed Stockman," Tseng, leader of the Turks, coldly cut him off, "Shin-Ra has no room for failures."

"But Sir, I know where him and that chick that was with him are heading toward-" Stockman tried pleading.

"I already have the rest of my men and a squadron of Soldiers heading off to intercept them," Tseng calmly informed the quaking man.

"But Sir, surely there is something-"

BANG!

The bullet that Tseng unloaded into the man's forehead cut off his pleading. The body fell to the pavement with a thump.

"Find and dispose of the others," Tseng told the two forms wearing Soldier uniforms that approached him as he went back to the car.


"Damn!!! Hold on Sephiroth, those fuckers are catching up to us!" Aeris shouted.

"I'm trying," Sephiroth ground out between clenched teeth, tightening his arms around Aeris' middle, "but the damn tranquilizer that they shot me up with is making that task a bit difficult."

Aeris turned the handlebars hard to the left, causing the motorcycle to make a sharp turn onto a rough dirt road. She knew that chances were slim that the maneuver would work, but the Cetra was hoping that she could loose at least one of the vehicles that were chasing after them.

"Be more careful, are you trying to kill us?," Sephiroth yelled agitated, "do you even know how to drive this thing?"

"I'm learning as I go," Aeris stated.

"We're doomed," Sephiroth moaned.

They continued on in silence after that and after a while, Aeris turned onto an even smaller and bumpier dirt road that was more of a hiking trail than a real road. Five miles back, two Turks and a small squadron of second class Soldiers riding in three Jeeps turned onto the dusty dirty road just as Aeris turned the bike onto the footpath.

About ten minutes later, just as Aeris saw the first of the three vehicles that were chasing them turn onto the trail in her left rear-view mirror, the front tire suddenly caught on a large rock. The motorcycle lurched sideways, threw its riders twenty feet away into some bushes and finally crashed into a tree a hundred yards away after skidding and rolling a few times along the way.

As soon as they recovered their wits, Sephiroth and Aeris scrambled to their feet and continued their flight on foot. The sounds of their heavy breathing and crashing through the underbrush filled the silent forest around them.

The driver of the first Jeep spotted the abandoned motorcycle and radioed the others of his find. Less than a minute later, all three heavy duty, off-roading Jeeps were turned off and the occupants of the vehicles came pouring out and ran into the forest to search for their quarry.

By now the tranquilizer was really slowing Sephiroth's movements, sheer willpower was the only thing that keeping his heavy limbs moving. Aeris caught onto her companion's condition quickly and slung one of Sephiroth's arms over her shoulders and was practically dragging him onward.

"Sir I see them!" a voice somewhere behind them yelled, "but they are going to get away!"

"Well do something about it you moron!" a red-headed Turk in a disheveled uniform barked.

The Soldier that had spotted the writing on Aeris' jacket unhooked a metal canister from his belt, pulled the ring off of it and threw it at the fleeing pair.

Sephiroth barely saw the Soldier throw something at them out of the corner of his eye. Quickly he threw both of them to the ground. Somehow in his descent, Sephiroth slipped, causing him to roll out of control back down the hill Aeris had been dragging him up. He tumbled down the slope for a few yards before he came to a sudden stop, laying on his back.

The tranquilizer was really affecting him now. Sephiroth could only watch, his unresponsive body not listening to his commands, as the gas bomb went off just feet above him. The canister exploded before he had a chance to close his eyes, sending its contents straight into his face.

Sephiroth let out a strangled scream before passing out. Aeris, hearing his cry of pain was by his side in seconds. She hooked her arms under his shoulders and started dragging him away from the spreading cloud of gas.

The struggling Cetra only managed to get about ten feet before her right foot ankle collapsed under her and both of them went tumbling down the gentle slope. Their descent was halted when they rolled into a shallow ditch, a shower of leaves, branches and other debris falling on them, covering the two from sight. Distantly Aeris heard voices shouting as her mind grew foggy, before she fainted.


"Sir I've completely lost them!" the Soldier that threw the gas bomb cried.

"Of course you lost them you stupid idiot! You threw a fucking smoke bomb at them!" the frustrated red-head yelled.

The soldier looked at the furious Turk in incomprehension.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he snapped, "go look for them!"

The Soldier scurried off, while Reno, second in command of the Turks, lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it.

"Never send a Soldier to do a Turk's work," Reno muttered as he threw down the cigarette and ground it under his heel, "better go after him to make sure that that idiot doesn't fall off a cliff or something."

He shook his head and muttered something as his partner, a bald black man came out from behind a nearby tree. The man was wearing sunglasses even though it was past midnight.

"Why did we have to be saddled with these idiots while the Bossman gets the First Class Soldiers?" Reno asked.

"Dunno," Rude replied.

"I don't even understand how that lunkhead even got as far as Second Class considering how inept he is out in the field," Reno continued, "even my granny could do better and she's been dead for fifteen years for Gaia's sake!"

"Hmm," Rude grunted.

"I mean, fuck! What was bossman thinking when he assigned us these pitiful excuses for Soldiers? We would have been better off ourselves!" Reno ranted.

"Target practice?" Rude offered with a slight grin.

"And that my bald friend, is why we get along so well," Reno chuckled as he slapped Rude on the back, "c'mon, let's go catch Shin-Ra's wayward child before Elena starts to miss my charming self."

Rude rolled his eyes behind his shades and followed after his partner as they walker deeper into the forest.