Chapter Eight: Aerith's Church
Marena makes it back to the bar right when Cloud is stepping off his bike to go inside. She parks and looks up at him.
"Do you want to leave now, Cloud?" she asks.
Cloud nods and says, "Yeah, I'll just tell Tifa, so she doesn't worry."
Marena nods as Cloud goes inside the bar and comes back out moments later with three bottles of water.
"Here; Tifa gave these to me," Cloud says as he hands her a bottle and then gets on his bike, starting it.
Marena says, "Thanks. Lead the way, and I'll follow you, Cloud."
Cloud nods and they take off toward the outskirts of Midgar. They drive for an hour, and finally come to the edge of a cliff with a sword sticking in the ground. Marena and Cloud turn off their bikes and get off walking toward the sword.
They stop and Marena asks, "Why is this broadsword here, Cloud?"
Cloud puts his hands on top of the hilt of the sword and says, "One of my friends was killed, and I marked his grave with this broadsword. It's a memorial for him since I never found his body. This is where he was killed."
"What was his name, if you don't mind me asking, Cloud?" she asks.
Cloud looks out toward Midgar thoughtfully saying, "Zack... His name was Zack."
Marena's face turns emotionless as she remembers Zack from SOLDIER. He was in Cloud's group, and Marena was assigned in a different group which was also under Sephiroth's command.
Cloud looks down at the sword and says, "My father died when I was still young, and my mother was killed by Sephiroth after he went crazy. You were in SOLDIER at one time. I can tell by your eyes and your skill. What happened to your family?"
Marena looks at him and then looks at the sword saying, "I once had a family, when I was younger. My parents were killed when my brother and I were little, and they were killed by SOLDIER. I don't know why though."
She pauses so Cloud asks, "Why did you join SOLDIER then? Don't you hate them for what they did to your parents?"
"Yes, I do, but I have a good reason for joining, Cloud. You see, when I was fifteen and my brother ten, I was out looking for a job. I came home and found my brother covered in his own blood on the floor, and two men from SOLDIER standing over him talking about how he should have told them where I was. I killed the men from SOLDIER out of hate and vengeance. I ignored them and kneeled by my brother, and found he was still alive, but I knew he had a short time left on this planet. His last words were: live for me, Marena. I still don't know why they came back to get me. I thought they just wanted to kill my parents, but apparently there is more to it than I know.
"So, I joined SOLDIER under a different identity in hopes of preventing other children's parents from being killed. I even changed my hair style and wore contacts until I was injected with the Jenova cells, and my eyes turned color. I succeeded in evacuating people on the hit-list several times without SOLDIER finding out. They always knew someone was leaking information, but they didn't know it was me.
"Then I got Geostigma. I had heard everyone died from it, so I gave up and traveled till I got to Midgar. I changed my appearance to what I had looked like when my brother died, and I introduced myself to people under my true name. I was still wanted by Shinra for killing those two SOLDIER men. I didn't really care if I lived or died. All I wanted was to kill the man responsible for sending those SOLDIERs to kill my family: Rufus Shinra."
Cloud was looking at Marena the entire time and is surprised to see a tiny tear trickle down her cheek, and she quickly wipes it away.
"Now I'm here, trying to find a place for me in this world. I used to go from town to town and earn a living by being a body guard and singing on the streets. Sometimes if there was a group of children playing, I would start singing to them for free. Marlene met me when I was singing on the streets in Midgar, and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. By the way, who is her father?" Marena explains and asks.
Cloud looks at her and says, "The leader of Avalanche, which is Barret. He works on a friend's ship that is also in Avalanche. You saw some of them at the party, remember?"
Marena nods and says, "Yeah. Hey, let's go to the church, Cloud."
Cloud nods and they get on their bikes and leave toward Midgar again. They arrive at a church and turn off their bikes.
"Why is this place important to you, Cloud?" Marena asks as she gets off her bike.
Cloud gets off his bike and walks into the church with Marena following him as he says, "An old friend of mine used to take care of this place. Her name was Aerith. I met her one day in the city, and then I met her again when I fell through the roof of this church from the upper plate. I had just finished a battle where we destroyed one of the Shinra reactors, but the bridge we were on collapsed. I was with Tifa when that happened. I found my way back to them, but I had to protect Aerith. Well, Aerith kept a garden here, and I come by as much as I can to pay my respect to her through the flowers. People say flowers can't grow in Midgar, but they did here because of their connection to the Lifestream."
They are now standing in front of the flower garden with beautiful flowers of different colors. Marena smiles and takes a deep breath of air as she closes her eyes. Cloud pulls out the extra bottle of water and opens it. He pours the water all over the flowers and closes the lid when he's done. He throws the empty bottle into a nearby trashcan he kept here.
"I used to live here, after Aerith died, and I defeated Sephiroth the first time. Then Kadaj and his gang came and started messing everything up again. Now, we can finally live in peace for a while, but we'll still have to deal with monsters," Cloud says as he walks to the exit slowly.
"Cloud..?" Marena says and this causes Cloud to stop.
"Yeah?" he says looking back at her.
"Thanks," she says.
"For what..?" Cloud asks puzzled.
She turns and looks at him with a smile saying, "For lightening my spirits. I've been pretty sad lately because I can't stop thinking about my brother. I'm a twenty-three year old woman, and my brother would have been eighteen today if I had saved him."
Cloud looks at her sadly and says, "From what you told me, it seems you couldn't help not being at home. You went to find a job to help your brother and you survive, right? You were trying to take care of him. Isn't that all that matters?"
Marena smiles and says, " Now, I finally see I can do something better with my life. It's all because of you, Cloud."
Cloud gets a slight blush on his face and he turns saying, "Let's get back to the bar. Tifa might have supper ready for us."
Marena smiles and follows him out to the bikes, and they head back to Tifa's bar. When they arrive, Cloud and Marena are greeted by Marlene.
"Tifa told me to tell you to be ready for dinner when you got home!" Marlene says cheerfully as she hugs Cloud and Marena.
Cloud says, "Well, tell Tifa we'll be ready soon."
Marena nods and says, "I'm going to go take a shower then come down for supper."
Cloud nods and says, "Me, too."
Marlene looks at them funny and says, "There's only one bathroom. Are you going to take a shower together? Are you dating?"
Cloud and Marena blush furiously and say together, "No! I'll take mine last! I mean first! I mean..."
They look at each other and Cloud says, "You take one first, Marena."
Marena nods and looks at Marlene saying, "No, Marlene. Cloud and I are not dating, and no we are not taking a shower together. Go on and wash your face."
Marlene nods and runs off with a big smile on her face, giggling like a river. Marena and Cloud watch her run off and smile.
Marena looks at Cloud and says, "Thanks again, Cloud."
"For what?" he asks.
She walks up the steps saying, "For showing me Aerith's Church."
