OF A PURE HEART, A FALLEN KNIGHT AND THE ONE – WINGED ANGELS
----------------------------------------- Disclaimer: ------------------------------------------
To the Reader and the Lawyers:
Final Fantasy VII, and all the characters, including Aeris and Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Red, Cid, Cait Sith (Reeve), Ifalna, Professor Gast, Lucrecia, Professor Hojo Frankenstein, Jenova the Mad, Rufus (any anyone I may have inadvertently missed out) are property of Square Enix Co, formerly Squaresoft LLC. Tell me if my disclaimer ain't good enough. I will reward you with a few thousand Chibi - Aeriths dosed to the nines with Hypers, and they shall hug you and squeeze you and kiss you and have a lot of fun with you (you know how… challenging Chibi - Aeriths are from the humour fanfics here).
To other Fanfic Writers (This is more important!) Plagiarism Note:
There are a lot of Aeriseph fanfics around here. I've tried my best to stay as original as possible, but it's a bit hard to write this type of story without treading on someone's toes by accident along the line. Please, if you feel that I may have 'borrowed' some of your concepts or ideas by mistake, notify me immediately. Email a "cease and desist" message to me, point out where I have gone wrong, and I will act immediately to remove or modify the offending section(s).
Thank you very, very much for your understanding and tolerance.
OK, let's mosey, man!
--------------------------------------- End of Disclaimer: ---------------------------------------
FLOWERS BLOOMING IN THE CHURCH
It was dawn already… so quickly?
Aeris opened her eyes to find herself kneeling amidst a small patch of flowers. They were not vibrant and colourful and lush like those she'd seen earlier, but they were brown and wilted and dying. This was no soft grassy field she was resting on, but dirty brown earth, uneven and hard – packed.
She stood up, noticing a faint light filtering from above. The ceiling of the huge hall she was in had a huge hole from which she could see the morning sky, brilliant and blue. Turning around, she recognised at once the stained glass panels where she had run her fingers on lovingly, adoring the lovely portraits of angels and heavenly creatures. On both sides were the old wooden pews where she had sat on a long time ago with a tall and charming dark – haired man…
She was back in the old church at Sector 5, the place where she had led her life as a flower seller in the slums of Midgar. She smiled, as she was finally back in a place that she knew and loved, and this made her heart light and free. But still, she could not help but feel a little emptiness within herself, a pang of regret for what she had lost to come here…
She was alive again.
The Cetra girl looked around the ruined chapel, but her companion was nowhere in sight. She shivered slightly, her hairs beginning to stand up a little. Why hadn't he come yet? Was he lost? Had he been attacked by monsters? Had an accident happened to him? She shook her head, urging herself not to worry too much. He was a strong and cunning warrior, and there was little that he could not possibly handle. Perhaps all she had to do was to wait for him. Meanwhile, there was something that she had to do, and it could not wait…
She returned to the flower patch in the middle of the aisle, and began to tend to her little charges again, and after more than a year of want and neglect, it was a miracle that they were still alive. Taking a rusty old spade that lay on the edge of the earth mound, she began to loosen the hardened, cracked soil, gently pulling away the weeds that had grown all over the little garden, burying the dead yellow stalks and leaves that lay everywhere.
Even as she was tamping the soil around a little rose bush, she felt a small, sharp pain. Her eyes widened with slight disbelief. There was a small scratch on the back of her hand, and a single glistening drop of blood unwillingly emerged from the reddened, broken skin. So she was truly a mortal now, weak and vulnerable again. She looked behind her left shoulder. Her wing had disappeared. It was as if it had never existed at all. Her bleeding hand went to her breast, and she could feel and hear the slow beating of her heart, the ticking of the clock as her new life went by. She bit her lip, and stared at the ground. Her soul was no longer as free as air, and now it was confined and restrained in this prison of flesh and blood and bone. But she'd made that choice, and she was now alive, with all the cute things and the nitty – gritty bits that came with it, for better or worse.
Aeris sighed. She needed a pair of gloves. She got up, and walked to the room at the back of the church, hoping that the rest of her gardening supplies had not been stolen after she'd left. Fortunately, everything was intact, except for the fertiliser. The barrels that had once held the compost lay in twisted wooden and metal shapes all over the back room. She smiled again, recalling wistfully the day on which Cloud had rescued her from Reno and his Shinra guards. They had cornered her here, but the quick – thinking mercenary had tossed the barrels of fertiliser from the beams, giving her pursuers some nasty bumps on the head, allowing her to escape their grasp. She had promised him a date, and he had promised to become her bodyguard, and from there, their relationship had flourished… And the smile vanished from her face. These were just memories now. Things were different now…
Aeris left the room quickly, for it would only cause her more pain if she were to stay. She tore her mind away from the spiky – haired man, trying to think about her flowers instead. She needed some water to keep them alive, but where would she be able to get it?
Her gaze strayed to one of the pews, the one closest to the flower patch. There was a small satchel resting on the wooden bench, and a long, slender rod was propped up against it.
She frowned, pursing her lips in surprise. This was her travelling bag that she had brought along during her adventures with Avalanche. The rod in question was her favourite, a staff called the Princess Guard, crafted many ages ago by the Cetra.
She went up to her satchel, opening it. All the supplies she had brought along to the City of the Ancients were there. There was a change of clothes, some food, a flask of water and a blanket. She checked her weapon and found that all its seven slots were loaded with gleaming materia orbs. There were some that she knew, like Lightning and Exit, and others that she did not recall possessing. She brought up her hand, and she realised that she was wearing her metal armlets, and they too had been equipped with materia.
This was so strange… she distinctly recalled that her friends had stripped her corpse of all weapons and equipment before burying her in the lake. Cloud, being her faithful bodyguard even to the very last, had protested vehemently, nearly attacking Yuffie when she had taken but one step forward, but they had persuaded him eventually to relent. Not that she could possibly blame them either. Supplies were hard to come by, and there was obviously no way she could have used them.
She checked her pockets, and not surprisingly, she still had her purse, and it was filled with gil, more than the little she had with her before leaving the group. Everything else she had carried on her person was also present, from her sewing kit to her hairbrush. Instinctively, her hand went to the back of her head, and she felt a comfortable, reassuring weight. Her heart beating faster, she pulled it off her ribbon, eager to see if her senses were deceiving her. It was a small stone the size of a marble, and it was as clear and round like a drop of dew, sending thin rays of colour everywhere like a small prism as it caught the morning light.
It was the White Materia.
She had been sent back into the world to face hatred and hurt again, but her journey would be slightly smoother now that she had received a little helping hand from above.
Thank you, Mother.
The White Materia suddenly lost its glory, and she looked upwards to see a black shape blotting out the light, plunging straight down from the hole in the ceiling. An unbelievably long sword was held tightly in his hands. She could do nothing save stand transfixed in one horrifying moment, watching him descend with speed and effortlessness, swiftly and gracefully close the distance, coming closer and closer towards her…
To land on the flowerbed just a foot away from her. His weapon was sheathed. Her shoulders sagged when she realised that this newcomer was not an enemy, at least, to her.
Sephiroth had arrived.
He drew the Masamune, watching as the large sword slid freely from its oiled scabbard, eager to be wielded at last. The blade caught the sunlight, shooting a bright golden glare to any who dared defy its power. He was very surprised that he had awakened clutching his weapon. He had dropped it when Strife had killed him, and he thought that the puppet would have taken it as a grim trophy as was the wont of many mercenaries. He swung the sword, attempting to dispel the phantoms that were always lurking at the edge of his sanity. They did not fear him, but they would always be gone when the Masamune challenged the air, singing its lethal song. He observed, not with displeasure when he saw the Ancient step away hurriedly. Of course that coward did not want to have her tender flesh scratched again by his blade. His weapon was well – balanced and weightless despite its size, and he gave himself up to the rhythm of his swordplay, stepping from side to side, twirling the blade in tight and fast circles meant to deny his opponent advantage and to catch him off guard. And the Masamune responded instinctively to all his movements, no matter how slight, no matter how quick, no matter how demanding. This sword resembled the long – lost friend he knew and loved once…
But there was one last test of faith. Spotting a small plant next to him, he swung his sword and sliced it at the stem, sending a cloud of leaves and petals flying upwards like startled birds. His blade began to flow, demonstrating its true artistry, creating an invisible vortex of moving air that pulled the silver locks of his hair forwards towards it. And as the flower petals began their slow return to the ground, they curled around the sword, swirling around the cone of pure force that only the Masamune could control with its magic.
Satisfied, he lowered his trusty sword, watching the petals touch the ground slowly, yet not a single one so much as grazed his weapon. This was indeed the Masamune, his closest companion, his one true friend in this world full of hate. Without thinking, he gripped the blade harder, holding it close to his heart, running his fingers over the cool, unyielding metal, tempered in spell – fire. It was then that he noticed the Cetra girl staring at him.
"Eaygh! Mind the flowers!" She rushed up to the decapitated plant, but there was nothing she could do for it already. She looked upwards, fixing her gaze at him. Her eyes were bulging with wonder, yet her brows were knit with annoyance.
"…They are just plants. Nothing more."
She shook her head, turning her attention to the other plants, checking to see if they had been hurt by his sword. Sephiroth snorted, wanting to laugh at her concern for those things that couldn't even feel a thing. He just couldn't believe that he had such a silly little creature as his commander…
He returned to admiring his sword. It had seemed ages since he had last seen it. The last time he had used it, it had been to… He preferred not to think about it. The Masamune was the one possession in this world that he had ever valued, far above all the gil and the finery he could have obtained as a SOLDIER general. Without it, he would have died many times over, and he would not be half the swordsman he was without it. He caressed the handle lovingly, feeling the reassuring roughness of the black dragonskin hide that was wrapped around it. And his gaze fell upon a single stone that was set into the pommel of the sword. Round as a teardrop and as small as a pebble, it was dark and unassuming, but as he looked harder at it, he found that he could not see beyond it, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that he was staring into the cold void of space itself. The light from above was much brighter now, as the morning went by, but this strange object reflected nothing, and indeed, it allowed no light to pass through its inky depths.
He shuddered. This could only be the Black Materia, the very instrument he had used to summon the Meteor, the means by which he had tried to destroy the Planet. But why had it been returned to him now? Surely the Planet would not trust him with the Ultimate Destructive Magic again?
And if the Black Materia was his again…
He looked at Gainsborough, who was still looking after her little plants, humming a silly tune to them, blabbering uselessly in low tones to them. On top of her ribbon lay that horrible hair ornament, that accursed bauble that was the very instrument she had used to bring about his ultimate end… now everything was clear.
The Planet, even after giving him a 'second chance', had not forgiven him completely. The Black Materia would stay on his sword, mute testimony to his weak – mindedness and the hubris that had led to his end. Whenever that Cetra turned her head, he would see the White Materia, representing the transparency and purity that he could never have, but that ditzy girl had in plenty, symbol of the pain and the shame he had suffered in his life. The Planet did not trust him, and wanted to remind him unceasingly of his past, telling him what would happen to him again if he strayed from that little fiend's instructions. But if the Planet was trying to make him angry, trying to provoke him into going back to hell with this put – down, he would not lose his cool, not this time. He would follow that creature, no matter how much it annoyed him and rubbed against his pride. He would not be defeated, not by her.
Sephiroth looked at the flowerbed again. It was then that she took a water bottle from her backpack, pulling off the stopper, shaking the contents all over her flowers, not stopping until the last drop had fallen out of the container.
Now it was his turn to shake his head.
"… Foolish girl."
The Ancient waif stared at him questioningly.
"Do you realise know how precious water is, especially on a mission? A soldier soon learns to treasure every single drop, especially when he cannot hope to find a fountain every half – mile! You are stupid to waste it on frivolous things such as watering the plants. You should be thankful that you are not journeying through a desert or a waste, for you would certainly be dead by now."
The girl opened her mouth to protest, gesturing with a dirty hand towards her beloved flowers.
"I know… but look, the flowers are wilting… I just can't let them die! I'm not worried about something happening to me, but all I know is that someone has to water them, or they won't survive!"
Sephiroth snorted, turning away from her. Why did she hold those plants in such high regard? It would be no great tragedy if those flowers were to die, and no one would certainly mourn their loss. Yet she was treating them like human beings, going beneath her own dignity by soiling that pretty pink dress of hers, sacrificing her own personal comforts, and possibly her life for those deaf, uncaring, unfeeling things! She had her priorities all wrong. The young Cetra was naïve and stubborn, all right, and it would be pointless to argue further with her, especially since she wasn't terribly keen to accept the facts. It would be but a little while before she started to complain of thirst, and he would be the one laughing the longest.
More than a quarter of an hour passed, and he began to become restless. What was taking Gainsborough so long? He despised tardiness, and if she were one of the SOLDIERs he was leading, he would have sent her back to base as a private already. He tried to release his tension by pacing around the round patch of earth, tapping a booted foot on the tiled floor none too quietly.
"Just a moment more." It seemed that the Ancient wanted him to lose his patience. As much as he wanted to put the Masamune at her throat and demand that she give him her orders, he knew that it was but another test set by his enemy, and resolved not to give in. He sat down on a pew, and attempted to get comfortable.
It seemed as if an eternity had passed him by before the Cetra was finished with her little lives. She stood up, brushing the dirt off her dress, announcing in her shrill and high voice, pasting that horrid grin on her face again. "I'm done!"
He grunted. Now they could get about business at last.
One of the plants suddenly caught his eye. That particular shrub was wilted, drooping and dying a few moments ago. But now… from the yellowed stem was growing a small green sliver that could only be the beginnings of a new leaf, and the flowering plant was now straight and turgid, bending itself slightly towards the source of light coming from the ceiling. That was so strange… no one could possibly effect such a marvelous turnaround in such a short time… but that girl had done it. And as he looked around the little garden, the other flowers were also beginning to bloom, and everywhere he could see a little hint of blue shyly coming out of nowhere, a small red bud blushing in the sun, a white blossom emerging from below him. Beauty surrounded him, and he cursed himself for a fool for not noticing it earlier. Perhaps that little Cetra had a good reason after all for taking care of those flowers… but now was not to time to reflect about it. He wanted his orders.
"So… where to now, Gainsborough?" he asked with a sneer, waiting to hear and laugh at whatever sort of instructions that pint – sized gardener could possibly give.
Aeris winced as he made fun of her name. He had taken great care to pronounce it with as hard and rough a sound as he could, stretching out every syllable slowly and mockingly. Gains – bow – rough. So he believed that she was merely trying to use him for her own gains. He thought that she would make him bow before her. He seemed so sure that she would treat him roughly. He was so wrong. Didn't he know that she wanted to be his friend? She sighed, reminded anew about the enormity of the task set for her. He was waiting for her to prove her worth to him.
She forced a little smile, leaning forward, clasping her hands behind her back. Perhaps he would feel less threatened if she tried to speak to him in as mild and sweet a tone as possible.
"Do you think we should travel to Kalm, Sephiroth? I'd love to go there… Please?"
The thin lips of the silver – haired SOLDIER opened slightly and his brows were raised out of its familiar wedge, puzzlement peeping through his usual mask of assertiveness and near – arrogance.
"… As you wish." He took up his blade, turned and walked out through the open wooden doors without another word. Surprised at his quickness, the flower girl could only gather up her things hurriedly and break out into a dead run after him.
Even though Meteor had been preventing from colliding with the Planet due to Holy and the Lifestream, Midgar had been totally devastated by the monstrous comet. A tremendous amount of heat had been generated upon the Meteor's re – entry from space, and many parts of the giant city were vapourised immediately, more quickly and more completely than a Mako reactor melting down. The speed of the juggernaut's fall to the Planet had caused a titanic gale stronger than a hundred tornadoes, tearing apart the Plate, flattening the slums and sending a cloud of debris spewing into the atmosphere that reached even North Corel, which was relatively far away, being on another continent. Only a small portion of the once great capital of the world still remained, and they were the only two beings still currently alive in this area. Not even the monsters had survived the destruction from the heavens.
Ever since leaving the church, they had come across nothing but haphazard piles of rubble and wreckage, and jagged girders and warped steel superstructures poked the sky at regular intervals, remnants of the Plate and the skyscrapers that had once adorned Midgar's skyline. The ground itself consisted of grainy rubble, and it was uneven and treacherous.
Several times Aeris lost her footing, and she had fallen heavily onto the sharp and rough debris that littered the entire cityscape. She was covered from head to toe with all manner of cuts and abrasions by the time they reached the twisted array of metal sheets that marked the once impassable walls of Midgar.
Sephiroth, however, was unaffected by the inhospitable terrain, moving with catlike grace, every step sure and steady. He had reached the city limits long before her, and he stood to watch with slight amusement as Gainsborough slowly and daintily made her way across all the bumps and sinkholes in front of her. She had one last low ledge to cross before she reached the walls, and she closed her eyes before jumping forward. The shaky ground gave way the moment it came into contact with her foot, and she slipped and ended up landing on her derriere. He could not help but smirk as she got up uncertainly, shaking her head groggily and dusting herself. Satisfied that the girl had (finally) caught up with him, he stepped off the last mound of debris, and onto terra firma, continuing his trek to Kalm.
He had walked for about a quarter of an hour before he decided to look over his shoulder to find out how Gainsborough was doing. She was at least a few hundred metres behind him, and he could hear her cry faintly, pleading with him to stop.
Had Sephiroth worn a watch, he would have duly noted that it took another five minutes for her to reach him. When she arrived at last, she was panting loudly, her breathing quick and shallow, her face reddened, blinking rapidly as the sweat poured into her eyes. She would have collapsed if she hadn't been leaning on the Princess Guard for support.
"Puff… wheeze… can we rest?" she managed to gasp eventually.
"… Whatever."
That weakling. They had but covered one mile, and she was acting as if she'd just run a marathon.
Aeris slumped onto the ground, resisting the urge to curl up and sleep away her exhaustion. She wiped the perspiration off her brow, peeling away the bangs that were gummed to her face. She looked at the black – cloaked swordsman, who was even now glaring at her, his arms folded, waiting for her to catch her breath. She had the uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu; the way Sephiroth had entered her new life, by falling through the hole in the roof of the church, the way the white – haired warrior had led the way, waiting impatiently for her to catch up with him, reminded her so much of her first meeting with her bodyguard. She remembered her first impressions of him; he was handsome and brave, no doubt, but he had been cold, monosyllabic and mean. But underneath his nonchalant exterior, he was gallant and passionate. Cloud had been indifferent to her at the start, but he had warmed to her eventually.
But Sephiroth… he still treated her as his enemy, travelling with her only out of sheer necessity, and he had been nothing but sarcastic and uncaring, laughing at her mistakes and inadequacies, trying to break her heart every step of the way. But still… the silver – haired man didn't look too bad himself, if only he could drop that haughty, condescending mask of his. She remembered how Sephiroth had promised her mother and father to go with her, and she knew that he too could be noble, he too could be generous… if he wanted to. But he hated her with a passion, and how in heaven's name would she be able to change his mindset this time? Everything seemed so similar now, yet so different, and so much more difficult.
"If you are quite finished?" she heard his deep voice, rumbling with restlessness.
She sighed (how many times had she done that today?) and got up slowly, trying hard to ignore her aching limbs. The history book on the shelf was always repeating itself, it seemed.
They had gone on for only several minutes before they had their first encounter with the enemy. The monsters they were facing were Custom Sweepers, Shinra security robots that had proved defective. They had been released into the hinterlands outside Midgar where no sane man would normally venture into on foot.
The Sweeper was a ranged attacker, being armed with missile launchers and machine guns, and Sephiroth quickly closed in on the first one, eager to deny it any strategic advantages its ranged capabilities offered it. His blade moved as quickly as his mind, his materia giving him preternatural swiftness as he struck the Sweeper four times in rapid succession, one blow to each of its legs and one blow to each of its two gun – arms. The mechanical monster, knocked off balance by his sudden attack, tumbled to the ground, right at his feet. He raised the Masamune, and brought it down with speed and strength on the robot's head, where the central processing unit lay. There was a shower of sparks, and chips and circuit boards flew heavenwards. The Sweeper shuddered, and lay still, the fight taken out of it permanently.
Sephiroth turned to look at the second Sweeper, curious to see how Gainsborough was dealing with it. Fortunately for her, she wasn't totally brainless in combat. Her rod lay suspended horizontally in the air and a green circle of light flared about her as she prepared to cast an offensive spell. There was a flash, and a silver lance shot out of the blue with a crack like gunfire, blasting a huge mass of molten metal debris from the Shinra machine. The Sweeper crackled and bristled with electricity. Unable to cope with the massive power overload caused by the Bolt 3 spell, the robot careened over to one side, clattering heavily on the ground, falling still.
The battle was over. He afforded himself the quick conceit of a small smile. He had not lost his touch, even after spending so long in the Northern Crater and the Lifestream. He swung his blade in a graceful arc, from left to right, to celebrate his victory.
He looked at Gainsborough, and to his surprise, he found her… dusting off her dress and her jacket, checking to see that her bangs were in place, and patting her chest in relief! He sighed. She was such a wuss! And he wondered again how that wimpish bimbo had managed to defeat him. But he recalled his very first lesson as a SOLDIER and an officer; never underestimate your enemy. She was slight and frail, no doubt. His Masamune had torn the life out of her soft flesh so easily, but that had been his fatal mistake. By dissolving the chains that had kept her soul locked in this corporeal form, he had liberated her spirit. Free of its mortal encumbrances, she had been able to use her powers to the most devastating extent, summoning the Ultimate White Magic and the Lifestream to defeat him…
Her spirit was strong, stronger than even his, he had to concede, albeit reluctantly. Her will was indomitable. Those green eyes sparkled still, glowing with magic far more profound and far more powerful than any materia he'd ever seen. Despite her outward appearance, she was a worthy adversary indeed. She had been the only person with the power to defeat… and control him.
"What's wrong?" The Cetra girl had stepped up towards him, examining him closely, "Are you injured?" she asked gently.
He stopped, unable to speak. No one had ever asked him whether he had been hurt before. Everyone had known that he was the great General Sephiroth, the very man who could defeat an entire battalion without breaking out into a sweat. He did not get injured. He was too good for that. Was she trying to mock him, remind him that he was at her complete mercy, in her servitude? No! Even if he were bleeding from every pore, dying before her, he wouldn't let her help him, for she would think that he couldn't even take care of himself! He wouldn't let that silly airhead enjoy that final little triumph!
"N – No, I – I am fine!" he stuttered involuntarily, ignoring the startled look on the flower girl's face. He tore himself away from her gaze, and hurriedly resumed the long trek towards Kalm.
A/N: See how uncreative I am. Aeris finds herself in the Sector 5 Church again… at least Reno doesn't ambush her again=)… but don't you like making interesting little parallels? Let the Aeris - Sephiroth conflict begin!
I twisted the legend of the Masamune a little bit. I cannot remember exactly how the story went, but if memory serves me correctly, when the sword was forged, it was immersed in water, and the leaves in the pool curled around it, rather than get cut up by its sister sword, the Murasame. The Masamune was judged to be the better sword because of this. Too bad Aeris' flowers had to die to prove my point!
Note that the name "Gainsborough" is normally read as "Gains - brrrr" (I think), but I like to pronounce some words in the way they are spelt out (for example, the word "envelope" ("on-velope") would become "en - velope".) Here, Sephy deliberately mispronounces her name to cheese her off.
Hope you like the famous Squall catchphrase I inserted here. I couldn't resist, you see.
BTW… To those who require some action scenes to liven up your day: you will be rewarded in the next chapter.
Now… time for your section!
To Homunculus:
Thanks for the review, better late than never, right?
Tifa and Sephy? I really don't know about this pairing, it's very unconventional, maybe someone will do it one day. So… what do you think about an Aeris / Cid relationship? Sounds challenging.
Don't be so mean to Cloud, I would say that he blew his chance with Aeris, then he blew his chance with Tifa, but now he's been given a second chance with Aeris, so I hope he sets things right this time! Rumour has it that KH2 may also feature Cloud and Aeris, and will focus more on their dark past. I even heard a suggestion that Sephiroth is Riku's father! It was a pity that you could fight every member of the FFVII cast in KH except Aerith and Cid… it would be nice to see the flower lady in action!
Rufus, Rufus, Rufus… how shall I portray him as a bad guy… hmmmm….
To Crow T R0bot:
Yes… the possibilities are limitless indeed… even I haven't sorted them all out yet.
Now that the review block is down… the results are already coming in… thank you!
Oh, and about Professor Frankenstein… there are no plans for him to make an appearance… I quote imperfectly Nomura - san: "this would require the development cycle of a regular Final Fantasy game, because we will have to start from scratch with the game engine", and so on and so forth… I just wish they'd produce Final Fantasy VII-2, and bring Aeris back during the course of the game. Sigh.
To Starling94:
Don't you think Sephy would be another good choice to take up Squall's role? He's quite a bit like Leon too. And I would think that he has more similarities with Cloud than most people would like to concede…
Let's see: an FFVII / VIII crossover with Squall taking over Cloud's role, Rinoa taking over Aeris' role, and vice versa. Quite promising; I can't wait to see how Squall goes on a date with Rinoa, and wouldn't it be great to see Aeris sitting in Cloud's lap in the Ragnarok while "Eyes On Me" plays? Tell me when you've posted it up!
To DClick:
What would happen if there were 6 DClicks? There would be 6 Aikayas, 6 Epsilons, 6 Avidas, 6 Sekanis and 6 Hazes. Which makes for 36 people in all. Not scary at all, in fact, it would be very good to add to my review total.=)
In an interview, Tetsuya Nomura was asked whether the "something" Cloud was searching for was actually Aerith, and basically he tried to skirt the issue. He said something to the effect that he would leave it to the gamer to decide, since Cloud is a very popular character and that the viewer would be able to form "strong impressions" about this scene. Which I would believe (no offence to Tifa fans) would translate to a "Yes" answer (what other conclusion could be implied from this? He has to be diplomatic in this situation.) I would also think that the Cloud / Aeris pairing would probably be the very best among all the possible matches Aeris would have (Ironically enough, I'm making a case for Sephy by writing this story!)
Don't worry about writer's block, if it is of some consolation to you, I have been stuck right in the middle of it for a week already with no sign of it wearing off… you've got the idea right here, but you just can't put it on the screen… damn it… I'm sure you'll regain your touch, just hope I make a speedy enough recovery.
To DemonStarGuard2:
Thanks for the clarification, I took a look at an old Japanese guidebook on FFVII and they indicated Aeris' name in Japanese characters, and there it was, its English translation - "Aerith Gainsborough". Which makes me wonder why they changed the name in the first place.
To Starfall4790:
I hope I'm not getting Rufus OOC, but he always said that he wanted to rule the world by fear… I'm just taking it one step further. He's back, and he's badder than ever.
Yes, people are evil for a reason. But then again, to twist Zidane's famous line, "You don't need a reason to be evil", either.
Interesting that you thought of the last line as a cliffhanger… I never intended it that way. It was a catchphrase from the computer game "Tiberian Sun", where a super - powerful unit that you can control says this whenever you order him to attack a target. It just sounded cool, so I slotted it in. Originally it was placed in the middle of the chapter, but I ran out of nifty little lines to place at the back, so it became the chapter ender. At least it worked out well!
Just a little spoiler - the next chapter will end on a cliffhanger…
To the Constructicons:
Yeah man… it would be cute to see you guys chew bubble gum… just try not to kick my @#*…
"It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum" was immortalised in Duke Nukem 3D. He also spoke something equally cool: "No one touches our babes… and lives!" For FFVII I propose a different take on this phrase: "No one kills our flower girls… and lives!" Too bad Sephy messed with the wrong girl…
To Alx 91:
Not bad! My first anonymous reviewer! A good fanfic can definitely cheer you up no end, glad that it became your bday prezzie! Hope that this fic will keep you entertained till your next birthday =)
While Aeris and Sephiroth are in a sense, "angels" sent down from heaven (and up from hell) to earth, it might comfort you to know that they are more human beings than infallible celestial entities.
Ah… when will I see the icing on the cake…