How To Save A Life

Part II: Therapy

Chapter IX

She dreamt of soft voices singing in tune with the mystic music of the sea. When she had fallen asleep or where, she would never be able to say but in her dream it mattered little. She dreamt of ethereal voices of children and the loving touch of a mother she had all but forgotten while the sun laughed in her ears and the wind wrapped her in comfort. In her dream, the ground beneath her naked feet was warm and sunkissed, soft and yielding, cushioning her step as she trailed through groves and grassy plains with the scent of a thousand different blooming flowers in her nostrils. The song in her ears echoed through her heart and peace radiated from her core, an almost forgotten feeling. And when silver weaved through the earthen tones of her dream like silk spun by delicate hands she searched for gleaming green bleeding light even as the soft song in her ears changed it's tune.

As she woke, however, the only song echoing in her ear was the cacophony of roaring waves crashing against stone. Gone was children's laughter and mother's lullaby, replaced by violent tunes that proclaimed reality's harshness with ever increasing fervour. She knew before she opened her eyes that the song had left her again and her heart ached anew with the loss of her dear friend. Since they had torn them asunder, her spiritual mother and her, the daunted daughter, she had not once dreamt of the Planet. She hadn't dreamt at all while she had lingered in the white room in perpetual agony. Neither nightmares or dreams had plagued her with echoes of fear or false hope. Sleep had been brief reprieve, tainted or enriched by nothing but the solace of a warm touch. The comforting warmth that even now enveloped her. Aerith released a shaky breath, still touched too deeply by this strange and loving dream that had been the first to come to her since her rebirth. It's loss was too acute in the face of her inner loneliness.

When finally she dared to acknowledge her senses and push aside the lingering phantom grief, she searched for comfort in the rhythmic roll of the waves. Her verdant eyes fluttered open gingerly and she blinked once, twice to dispel sleep in its entirety. She was longing to lay eyes on the raging waters that were of the the Planet much like was she. A kindred spirit in the waves, she hoped, a sister or brother even in their mother's silence. Whiteness entered her vision and she screamed, instantly shutting her eyes to the world anew. What cruelty, to instil in her foolish hope! To promise her the stormy sea and then to reveal her torture chamber locked around her anew. Her breath hitched in her throat and she felt her limbs begin to shake against the ground and it's sandy grain. Had there been soft sand in the white room in which she had prayed for death? She could not remember as fear clouded her mind.

Warmth closed around her and the wall against which she must have been leaning in her sleep began to move. It wrapped itself around her waist and she struggled faintly against the heavy restraint while confusion and fear mixed in her blood.

„Open your eyes."

The command was spoken with the authority of a god even as sleep clung to the familiar voice. She shook her head, pleading in a hurried whisper. How could she face the cold, whiteness again when she knew that it brought only pain? Again the voice, dark and foreboding and caressing and calm like the sea she thought to hear, commanded her to see and she surrendered to it's wish, green gracing the world anew. Again, white flowed into her vision and she mewled, a strangled sound while the iron grip around her midriff loosened slightly.

„Tell me, what do you see?"

Her shaky, uneven breathing scarcely allowed her to speak and yet she ceased her mewling in favour of uncertain words. Whiteness was all she saw. White cracked surface and greyish skies and foaming teal crashing against more white stone.

„White...I can't breathe..."

She tried, oh gods she tried, to calm herself enough to speak freely but her breath was all but ragged even as she remained silent. She blinked anew, trembling against the hard warmth that held her.

„You see white stone cliffs. Look at how it has cracked over time, yielding to the whims or wind and weather. It's uneven." She blinked again and the image before her swam, changing slightly to accommodate the silver and green that suddenly appeared above her where she lay. The warmth behind her disappeared and she bemoaned it's loss.

„Underneath you, you feel sand. Tiny fragments of stone and shells carried to shore by the waves that you hear. Close your eyes, listen and breathe."

Again, she did as the voice commanded, trusting in it's wisdom while she could not draw on her own. She listened, praying to hear the sound of waves again instead of the sound of scraping steel and machinery that resonated in her head like an infernal symphony. A roar, a crashing sound and then the roll of water against rock filled her ears and she sighed. It had been there since her dream ended, distorted by terror. She listened further, hearing gulls above her and clinging to the rhythmic dance of the waves. There was no water in her torture chamber. The image began to fade along with the phantom smell of formaldehyde and betadine, replaced by the smell of salt.

Her breathing slowed from it's frantic, hectic chase of air and her trembling ceased. She felt something soft tickle her face as she came to, coaxing her into opening her eyes again. Instantly, a different ocean than the one she heard entered her view, one of molten silver and she blinked again only to see luminescent green bleeding light onto well known features that spoke volumes of concern that she knew that only few had ever seen cloud serenity.

She found him all around her as she lay on cushioning sand that felt grounding as her fit ceased. Legs against hers, arm around her waist even as he remained propped up on a single arm to look down upon her with eyebrows drawn together in unveiled concern.

Images of the night sky and smoke rising from the waste in their wake flitted through her mind and she felt remembrance wash over her like the waves over the stone. There were no more white walls, no more white clad hyenas to hunt her. Instead there was the ocean only a few feet away and familiar warmth around her. She breathed in and out once more before a small, apologetic smile crept onto her face.

„I'm sorry. I didn't...well, I was..."

She never had the chance to finish her sentence before she watched him rise from his position next to her and extend a hand for her to take. She grasped it silently, coming to her feet easily, no pain or soreness from sleeping on the ground impairing her movement.

Instantly, wind blew in her hair, caressing her skin gently and she sighed anew, relishing the feeling that invigorated her. When a hand led her a few steps further across the bright sand and past rocky cliffs, maybe ten or twenty steps, she felt cold kiss her toes. She jumped slightly watching in amazement as the the edge of the water lapped over her bare feet as she reached the shore.

Once more, twice then, the waves rolled in and tickled her feet, spreading a smile across her face as they did.

„Do not apologise for your nightmares."

She looked up to see Sephiroth beside her, relinquishing his hold on her hand as he stared out across the wide expanse of sea across which they had soared.

„I dreamt for the first time since I came back. And the dream was beautiful. It wasn't what scared me," she answered, taking a step further into the water, enjoying the cold against her legs as her toes sank into the wet sand.

„It was when I woke up. The white...," she trailed off, looking to the alabaster cliffs to ascertain her past folly. „It was a memory, that's all."

„They're composed of chalk and flint mainly though you can find quartz if you dig deeper into the cliffs."

She smiled, noting just how much he sounded like a soldier when he recited the facts of the world like others might have mentioned the weather. No matter how long it had been since he had actually served ShinRa, it seemed ingrained into his very being. She laughed a little, earning a raised eyebrow from the general whose boots did not allow him to feel the same life-giving water against his skin. That was her privilege.

„It doesn't matter what they're made of. They're beautiful."

He watched in confusion as she laughed and smiled ever so slightly while staring off to the northern shoreline that was as white as snow against the stark grey waters below. She was a strange creature, even more so now that there was no threat of pain or agony hanging above her head, though he doubted that she realised her freedom.

„A second ago you were screaming and trashing, mewling and pleading," he noted her folly, following her out until water lapped at her knees and his booted shins. That he would not have been adverse to the sound of her mewling and begging under different circumstances, she needed not know. It seemed that every wave carried away more of her uncertainty as she woke up entirely and he watched as reality crept up on her. The tiny specks of blood that stained her dress caught his attention and he frowned. The garment was horrible enough as it was but was rendered impossible to look at by the stains and it reminded him of the pressing need to procure necessities.

„Where are we exactly? Last I remember we were flying, so I must have fallen sleep half-way."

„One of the islands south of the northern continent. To my knowledge, none of those who could be looking for us have a strong presence here. No mako springs and inhospitable land makes for unattractive soil for greedy minds."

She nodded and continued to stare out over the sea.

„There is a town a few miles south of here."

She needed no further invitation it seemed, for she turned, a smile still firmly in place on her lips and looked up at him, hands clapsed behind her back.

„What are we waiting for then?"

For you to realise that you are free and to run for the hills.

The town of which he had spoken was one that was of little consequence to anyone but it's inhabitants, Aerith found, as she watched from. The houses were made of white washed brick and decked with thick layers of straw. When Sephiroth had carried them both up the cliff with a few flaps of his wing before he withdrew it from view, she had seen it nestled against the edge of the cliff, balancing precariously on the precipice. Around it, all she had been able to see had been highland hills coated in heather and mountains rising in the horizon. She imagined people with weathered faces and sturdy boots working hard to raise upstanding families in this place that was almost mystical in it's lonesome existence. Heather tickled her toes as she stood next to Sephiroth, on a hill about twenty minutes of walking away. He had the look of a tactician on his face and she watched in curiosity. Once upon a time she might have just wandered into town as she was and have expected to be given not a second glance. But such naivete had not survived either the long war she had fought to save the Planet or her death or what followed. In Midgar, blending in would have been easy but in small towns, people knew one another and a young woman who was all but dressed for the weather followed by a strange man with military attitude would rise suspicion.

„We will have to lie, will we not?" she questioned, disliking the notion of dishonesty. The nod that she received in response did nothing to ease her conscience but she pushed it aside.

„If you wish to remain here while we discuss further plans, I see no other way unless of course, that you'd prefer me to annihilate the place and forage what remains."

Horror-stricken she gaped at his serene features and for a moment she was acutely aware that he was not joking. There was no malice in his voice and his words were nothing but a statement of possibility and yet they sent shivers down her spine.

„No!"
„Then, innocent one, you will have to indulge me."

She sighed and frowned, eliciting a chuckle from his looming form. Then, before she could react, she felt warm lips pressed to her forehead and a warm blush creep to her cheeks. Then he withdrew and proceeded to rid himself of his epaulettes and his boots. How mercurial he was, speaking of slaughtering an entire village as though it wasn't a vile feat but simple option and kissing her forehead the next moment. Still, terror was driven from her system as she watched his garments fall to the ground one by one, until he wore nothing but black underwear. Her blush flared up a little more until confusion trumped attraction.

„What are you doing?"

The clothes formed a pile on the heather-covered ground and he turned to her slightly.

„Humour me," he said, before he summoned a flameto his palm to her confusion and threw it at the pile, watching it burn for a few seconds before he dispelled the fire and conjured ice instead. That too he threw at the garments slicing it in several places. Then he watched the now tattered fabric before retrieving it from the ground and ripping at the seams until it just barely held together and looked nothing like the meticulous leather with shiny clasps. Aerith watched as the last bit of Sephiroth from her memory was destroyed, replaced by something else entirely. He re-donned the worn and battered leather as she watched, a look of wild confusion on her face. The pauldrons he picked up and, walking to the precipice of the cliff, launched far off into the sea. Then he turned to her, a knowing and determined look on his face.

A second later, he a sharp rock had found it's way into his hand and he proceeded to put it against his skin, creating superficial scraped that barely bled but only added to his now less than pristine appearance. She cried out, covering her mouth with her hand when he glared at her disapprovingly. A few cuts and scrapes later, there was all but nothing left of the impeccable soldier and Aerith marvelled. Wordlessly, he abandoned the rock and walked towards her with all the dignity of a god despite his ragged appearance.

„You can heal them later, if you so wish," he conceded and she nodded, remaining perfectly immobile as she felt him reach out for her.

„Why -"
„A shipwreck, Aerith. These waters are dangerous, wild and treacherous. We could easily have washed ashore and stumbled through heather in search of help."

She understood. A lie, a ruse but one that did not endanger anyone. The townspeople would hardly turn away shipwrecked people. But they had to look the part. She gave a nod of consent and reached for the hem of her dress, only to find that Sephiroth was faster. Kneeling down before her, his hands worked quickly, tearing her dress at the hem and the sleeves, before rubbing dirt on her skin with a gentle motion. An apologetic look was all the excuse he gave before coating his finger in the blood that seeped from one of his newly acquired wounds and smearing it across her shins. She watched him work wordlessly, strangely enjoying the feeling of his surprisingly gentle hands on her skin. He rose and looked at her critically and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks anew. It didn't go noticed, she was certain, as a chuckle reached her ears before he spoke.

„Mh, something is missing."

„What?" she inquired, wondering how she could look any less respectable. Dirt and dust clung to her skin and the dress barely held together now that the flimsy fabric had suffered at his hands.

Then, without warning, she felt herself being pulled into strong arms and lips sealing hers. She gasped slightly at the suddenness of it all. Her eyes fluttered closed as the warm sensation of soft lips moving coaxingly, playfully against her own sent a jolt of warmth to her core. Hands tangled in her hair, toying with the strands as he deepened the kiss, sneaking past her defences easily. She mewled ever so softly, barely hearing the groan she received in response.

„Indulge me, Aerith," he asked anew and she understood then, nodding ever so slightly as she felt her arms move to snake around his neck and his lips seal hers anew. Approval, she could feel radiating from his very being and she felt herself being pushed onto the ground easily. Her hands found strands of silver and buried themselves in their length while she felt his weight hover above her, supported by one arm as the other still continued to tangle her hair haphazardly. Her mind clouded ever further as heat flowed through her veins and her skin was alight. The cold wind was immaterial while her nerves lit up with every touch of calloused fingers. She moaned again when he nipped at her bottom lip and her eyes shot open only to find themselves only an inch from his.

Then, suddenly, he broke away, after what seemed like a too short infinity that had Aerith's mind reeling and her core burning. An indecipherable expression lingered on his features as he remained perfectly immobile above her while she was acutely aware of his weight holding her in place.

„There," he murmured, seemingly satisfied with whatever result his onslaught had achieved.

„Mh?" she inquired, unable to form a coherent sentence yet.

„Your hair. Tangled and messy is much better befitting a shipwrecked woman than a waterfall of pretty curls," he answered.

„All of that...just so that I would look less composed?"
Disbelief tinged her voice as she spoke of her lack of understanding.
„Yes," was the answer she was given followed by a whisper. „And because I wanted to."
Another chuckle escaped his throat and he placed a brief kiss against her lips before withdrawing entirely and rising to stand, pulling her up with him. Her blush raged vibrantly against her pallor and she fought the urge to argue his insanity. Instead she looked down at herself.

„Satisfied now then?"

The question was a loaded one, she could tell from the look that crossed his face and the twitch of his lips before he let out a controlled breath.

„No. But for our story it shall have to do."

A/N.: An update at last! I was on holiday and away from the internet but alas, here I am again and with new chapters in tow! This particular one had been written and rewritten a total of six times, looking utterly different each time...well some chapters just are like that while others almost write themselves. We're slowly progressing to some more tangible 'Sephirith/Aeriseph' material that is very hard to write. A lot of fun also, but primarily very tricky. Theirs is not an empty, frilly romance in my mind but a deep, almost transcending bond that builds on some very disturbing material. But enough of my ranting. Thank you so much for sticking with me and these two lost puppies, it really means a lot to me. Let me know how you like it so far, I enjoy feedback of all kinds.