a/n You know I'm going to be fucking productive while I can. I hope I can get this done well.

"So...are going to get out of here yet Vexen," Aerith asked, playing with her food a little. The pair were sitting across from each other in a dining hall, a few guards stationed around the walls.

"We don't talk about that," Vexen warned her. He whispered a little. "They might here us."

"Oh, right," Aerith responded with a nod. "...Do you think Marluxia has noticed we're missing?"

"Of course he has," Vexen replied. "We've been gone for a few days now. Whether or not he cares is something I don't know."

"He cares," the girl said. "He loves you a lot. I bet he'll come save us."

"He won't. He can't," Vexen told her. "You can't always rely on other people to save you, Aerith. This isn't a Disney princess movie. No prince is going to come riding in on some white stallion to defeat some insane dragon to save us. Bad things happen, just like this bad thing happened, and most of the time you just have to get yourself out of it."

"But friends are supposed to help you when you're in bad situations just like this," Aerith told him. "Just like when Cloud and Tifa helped me get my stuffed cat out of the tree when Yuffie accidentally threw it up there."

"This really isn't the same scenario." He fiddled with his plastic fork and looked down at it, staring at it, twirling once more before it clicked in his head. "We'll be able to get out of here, though. Don't worry. I'll show you how to be your own hero."

"Right," she cheered excitedly. Vexen smiled a bit and nodded, quickly sliding the fork into the hem of his pants where it wouldn't be seen. They were escorted to their rooms shortly after and he sat on his bed, watching the guard walk out. As soon a he was alone, he pulled out the fork and snapped it in half, working the sides of the bottom half with his nails and teeth.

He didn't finish until late that night, but when he was done his handiwork was one to be admired. He'd memorized the ridges of the key the guards used to open the doors, having seen the key many times in the past few days. He'd turned the bottom half of his plastic fork into an almost perfect replica of the key. He slide the fork into the lock and grinned when it successfully turned, stepping out and moving down the hall with the agile quickness of some who's done this before.

It took him a while but he found Aerith's room and slid in the key, having a little bit of trouble managing to unlock it with a little bit of fiddling. He opened the door and put his finger up to his lips when the girl opened her mouth to greet him. He took her by the hand and began guiding her down the halls.

They ran down the hall until Vexen spotted a ceiling vent he was able to reach and froze the bolts, making it easier for him to pull it off. The guards would have noticed something on their security cameras at this point, so he didn't have much time to work. He pushed Aerith up into the vent and climbed in after her, pulling the vent back into place and freezing it there. He moved past her and led the way, having memorized the layout of the hallways and hoping that aided him in their escape through the vent.

He was in luck, finding one that went up to the roof, he pushed it out and moved the girl out, following her and looking up to the sky. He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding, knowing deep down that there had been a possibility that he would have never seen the sky again. He smiled and saw that Aerith was doing the same, and she hugged his waist.

"You did it," she cheered. "You got us out!"

"Yes yes I know," Vexen said, pushing her away just slightly. "Now hush, we're not in the clear yet. Get on." He bent down and let her climb on his back, and then began climbing down the side of the building. He would usually use ice to just slide down, but he didn't want to leave too much evidence as to where to he went. He set her down as he stepped onto the ground and took her hand, leading her away. "I'm sure Tifa will be excited to have a roommate again."

"I'm so excited to see them again," Aerith said excitedly. "We're going to go to the park so I can see the flowers again."

"I'm sure the flowers will be very excited to see you," Vexen told her. As they walked she continued to chatter excitedly as they walked, and he would give the occasional amused response, actually enjoying the personal time with the young girl. However he was more focused on keeping them away from populated areas, as he wasn't able to find a change of clothes for them and they were still in their uniforms. As they walked, he began sensing something moving behind them. He turned around and saw a shadow move, frowning. "Stay close to me." He saw a flash of light and summoned his shield, moving it front of him just in time to block a long sword. From behind his shield he saw the glinting eyes of Sephiroth.

"You're a very clever man," Sephiroth told him, pressing against the shield. "Too bad you're making such a foolish decision by keeping these children alive."

"That level of insanity doesn't even warrant a proper response," Vexen replied, pushing back. Sephiroth flipped away and got into a fighting position, running at him and slashing. Vexen quickly blocked it. "I am more than capable of keeping these children out of the hands of these monsters."

"How do I know I should keep them out of your hands as well," Sephiroth asked, continuing to slash. Aerith had run away, and was watching the men fight from behind a tree. Vexen continued blocking the slashes, occasionally attempting to bash the man with his shield and shoot ice at him, more interested in tiring him out than injuring him. "You have his same eyes, that same look. You're just like Hojo aren't you."

"I am not!" Vexen yelled, pushing his shield out to attack, Sephiroth slid under it and moved to strike him, Vexen coming to his senses in time to just barely dodge it.

"The anger you feel when told that means you are," the silver haired man told him. "You want to experiment on these kids, don't you? You want to look further into seeing what makes these powers physical. Cut them up and find the source of their life force."

"SHUT UP," Vexen yelled, raising his shield above his head to attack. Sephiroth moved to slash up through him, but the air went cold when they both heard a gasp. They looked down to see Aerith between them, sword sticking straight through her, having torn up her stomach just slightly. She coughed up some blood and fell over dead. Vexen stared down at her, breath growing shallow as his pupils slowly decreased in size.

He hadn't even been all that close with Aerith, but seeing her lying there dead after telling her all these things about showing her how to be her own hero, well, something inside him he didn't even know existed snapped in half. His eyes began to glow bright white and he let out a demonic screech, letting out ice spikes through the ground, piercing Sephiroth's right arm. He continued to bash at the man with his shield, shooting ice at him with relentless, merciless fury.

He continued to attack even at the man retreated, freezing everything around him and causing it to explode, even Aerith's body, screaming as he did. When it finally over he collapsed to his knees, panting in a mixture of emotional and physical exhaustion. After a few minutes he shakily stood up and started walking, heading towards where he knew his home was. He knocked on the door and stared at it as it open.

"Who is i- Vexen," Marluxia exclaimed, startled. He stared at the blond, who was covered with dirt and a few scrapes and stared at him with a haunted, dead look. "Vexen, are you okay...?" The blond walked up to him and pressed his head into Marluxia's shoulder, and felt a pair of arms wrap around him. It was only then that he finally let out his pent up emotions, letting himself cry into the other's shoulder.

a/n Sweet two chapters in one day. I'm being productive! WHOOP!