An Angel Without Wings Cannot Fly

By: Arcander

A/N: Sorry about reposting this so many times... I kept trying to fix things, and made more errors. Should be good now. Hopefully.

Xobebu (however this applies to anyone concerned about the character's ages) Originally, I had planned to make each of the siblings three years apart, with Sasaria now 4 (3 at the beginning of the flashback), Aeris now 7 (6 at beginning of flashback), and Sephiroth now 9—he would be turning 10 soon. However, a few chapters into the story, I came to the conclusion, that Sephiroth being 9, didn't work, and he would be much better off as a 12 year old. It made more sense for him to be older so as to fit the storyline. (A twelve year old joining the military feels more right than a nine year old joining.) Plus Sephiroth has to fight in the Wutain war and go to Nibelheim before Aeris is the age she is in the game. Making Sephiroth older gives me a bit more playing room. In all this age mess, I figured Rufus to be eight, making him one year older than Aeris, and four years older than Sasaria. In the game his character feels older than Aeris, but not extremely so.

To Sasaria, Sephiroth is a big brother, father figure, and guardian angel all in one. Rufus is a good friend, nothing more, nothing less. Sephiroth and Rufus don't get along… at all. Sephiroth tries to hide his feelings when Sasaria is around, they both do. But Rufus baits Sephiroth constantly, and most of the "flirting" he does with 'Ria isn't for her benefit as much as it is to prove a point. When President ShinRa announced Sasaria's betrothal to Rufus, in essence, she became his property. Rufus is very possessive, because anything he's wanted he's gotten, and he's never had to share it. So he is beginning to think of Sasaria as his, and sees this as a good chance to rub it in Sephiroth's face. Rufus knows how protective Sephiroth is of Sasaria, and takes delight in reminding Sephiroth that she won't always be his to protect. He was reminding Sephiroth that "she's mine, not yours, and there's nothing you can do about it." And through all of this, Sasaria remains oblivious.

Chapter 11

Arms gently pry me from his grip; I feel a claw, Vincent.

-

"Hullo Aeris, had a bit of a slip up, I see." He pulls her up easily. "Seems you have a stalker out there. He, well… at least I think it's a he, has been leaning against the wall for a while. Odd hair color, he doesn't look old. Who're you?" His attention immediately snaps to me, as if noticing me for the first time.

"My name's Sasaria," I quickly take in his ragged appearance: torn clothing, no shoes, thins scars all along his arms, a scarred 'x' on his cheek, green eyes, and bright, long, red hair.

"Like what you see?"

"As if… who are you? And what are you doing with my sister?"

"That information will cost you."

He's obviously being stupid, so I ignore him, "Aeris… Seph brought me so I could see you… he's waiting outside."

Aeris smiles, "You didn't forget me? I thought that you had forgotten me… you didn't come for so long… I thought you weren't going to."

"I'm sorry… I couldn't get away sooner. At first, I didn't want to lead the SOLDIERS to you… and then Sephy was a SOLDIER recruit and couldn't get away. Then…" I glance sharply at the red haired boy. "Excuse me, Red; I'd like to talk Aeris in private."

"Sorry sweetheart, I'm not leaving her. When she got here all these men in blue suits and blue uniforms were chasing her. I'm her guardian… well… her self-appointed one. I can't do a whole lot. I'm sure ShinRa could do a better job at protecting her, I don't know why she doesn't go to them for help."

"Because, you fool, ShinRa's the one that's after her. The blue suits are the Turks, ShinRa's elite tracking and assassination force. And the people in blue uniforms are the SOLDIERS, ShinRa's elite fighting force. They are after her! And you, her 'self-appointed guardian' want her to go straight into their grasp?" I stare at him. "And on top of all that, she's from the slums… what does ShinRa care if the people of the slums live or die?"

"For a slums brat, you know a lot about ShinRa." He leans in close to me, his breath hot on my neck. "It makes me very suspicious about you."

"That's because I'm not a slums brat. And don't worry, I won't take her to father—we're not on speaking terms right now."

Aeris gasps, "Why not?"

I sigh, "Father and the President decided that it would be a good idea if I were to marry Rufie. So now, I'm officially betrothed to him. And they didn't tell me until they let the rest of the world know."

Red snorts, "So what about when you're on 'speaking terms' with your father, you gonna turn her in then?"

"After I went to all that trouble to help her escape?" I shake my head, "Look, how about we exchange names and be cordial?"

"Ah, but Sasaria, I already know your name. Come on Aeris, I'll take you home." I hear him mutter softly, "What's cord-you'll?" He extends a hand to her. She glances over at me and bites her lip. "Aeris, now."

The sound of pounding feet reaches my ears. "Go Aeris! I'll stall them. Red, take care of my sister, I'm entrusting her to you, don't you dare let her get hurt, killed… or worse, captured." I watch them slip out through a hidden panel on the roof. The footsteps grow closer. I quickly scan the room for a diversionary tactic and purposefully slip and cling to the beam, my feet kicking wildly in the air. The Turks storm into the room. "Help me!"

The female Turk—the one who has pretty hair—walks over to me and kneels down. "Where'd Reno go? You give us this information, and I'll consider helping you."

"Don't know who you're talking about." I try to make it sound as if I'm as terrified as I'm pretending to be.

"Don't be daft, you stupid girl, we saw him enter this building. Start talking or I'll step on your fingers."

"I've never met anyone named Reno!" Tears threaten to pour down my cheeks. "I want my brother!"

The woman moves her foot and lightly sets it on my fingers, "Don't play coy. You're not fooling anyone with that crying act of yours." She presses down on my hand.

"Break my fingers if you must, I still don't know who or where this 'Reno' is." My tears have dried and I transform into the stubborn sister of Sephiroth. "And if my crying is an act, why does everyone fall for it?"

I feel my fingers crush and the bones shatter as she stands up swiftly and grinds her shoe on them. Tears brim in my eyes and I furiously blink them back, determined not to shed real tears in front of her. A scream tears at my throat, but it does not escape. My whole body begs for me to recoil my hand—but I do not let go.

The click-click of well-polished boots moving up the stairs greets my ears along with the shuffling thuds of more poorly maintained boots worn by a person obviously dragging their feet. Nearly indistinguishable and highly muffled voices reach my ears. "Why are you dragging me all the way up here? I'd much rather be at home." I strain my ears to listen to the response; an obviously more soft-spoken person speaks. "Sasaria went up there a while ago and hasn't come back. I would have left you out of this, but your Turks went up there ten minutes ago and I haven't seen hide or tail of any of them. Your fiancée included." The first person speaks again and his voice is much louder; they're obviously closer now. "So instead of investigating like you should, you call me. Figures, you're just a pathetic, worthless experiment." The second person flippantly returns, "She's your fiancée, and they're your Turks. They don't take orders from me… yet."

The Turk I met just before learning that I had a father steps into the room. "Two boys coming this way, we can easily take them."

The woman nods her head and returns her attention to me. "Who are they?"

I grin, "Pure speculation here, but I suppose one would be the brother, but the other could be pretty much anyone: Rufus, Professor Hojo, President ShinRa, Zack, some random guy off the streets… As I said, pretty much anyone. But since you said boy, it's most likely Zack or Rufie, 'scuze me, Rufus."

The woman stares at me in horror, "Who are you?"

"Sasaria." I turn my gaze on Sephiroth. Without another word, he storms forward and shoves the woman aside. In the same smooth motion, he grabs my wrist and pulls me to my feet. He wraps an arm protectively around me as the Turks level guns at us.

"Put your guns down." The Turks don't move. Rufus slams his hand into the wall. "Did you not hear me? I said put your guns down. That's an order." The Turks don't move. "I'm sure Professor Hojo will love having you as experiments. Those are his children you're holding at gunpoint—his precious experiments… completely priceless. And my father will no doubt gladly donate your body to science if you were to shoot my fiancée."

The female Turk gives a signal, just a brief twitch of the hand, and all of the Turks immediately lowered their guns. "Sir." She lowers her head in a brief, perfunctory nod and moves toward the door.

"I haven't dismissed you yet." She stops dead in her tracks, but does not turn to face Rufus. "Why did you threaten my fiancée?"

She slowly turned around. "Sir, we are searching for Reno, he knows where the Ancient is. Upon seeing him enter this building, we followed. When we arrived, she was the only person present, so we detained her for questioning. However, she proved to be most uncooperative and necessary measure had to be taken." Her eyes flicker guiltily to my mangled hand, "We thought she was a slums bra—kid, Sir."

Rufus spends a few moments pondering what he will say next. "Very well, Sephiroth, Sasaria, and I require an escort back to ShinRa Headquarters. You will provide that. Upon arrival at the building, you will accompany her to Professor Hojo's lab. Sephiroth, you will go with them." His gaze flickers to the other two Turks. "As for the two of you… you will explain your actions to my father."

"Sir!" The Turks all salute.

My one good hand clutches Sephiroth's arm, and I cradle my other broken one tenderly against my chest. The procession back to the train station is solemn. Rufus has not spoken a word to me, and his comment about me as my father's precious experiment hurt. I try to catch his eye more than once, but he doesn't even seem to notice… or if he does, he's doing a very good job at ignoring me. After yet another futile attempt at making eye contact with Rufie, I look around apathetically. That's when a flicker of red catches my eye and I see a red-headed figure dart from behind a dumpster into the shadows behind us. I glance around to see if anyone else notices. The female Turk stiffens and turns to him, but a sharp glance from Rufus drags her attention off of our stalker and back onto escorting us. Although, I still notice her surreptitiously glancing over her shoulder.

I catch Red's eye when he darts to the next shadow and slip a white orb from my pocket. I roll it softly in my fingers, remembering how it felt when mother slid it into my hands just before she boarded the train. It was cool, soft, and thrumming with power, now it just lies in my hand with no pulse. Sephiroth, picks me up. I caught his attention when I removed the orb, because I only had the one good hand with which to free it from its confines. Under the pretense of him picking me up, I allow the material to fall to the ground. I hold Red's gaze and I know he gets the message. Give this to Aeris. The white materia is the only one of its kind, it was our mothers, and somehow I just know that giving it to Aeris is the right thing to do. And then we're past the orb lying alone on the dirt ground. I glance over Seph's shoulder and see Red darting away from the spot where the orb once lay, flitting back into the shadows. There is no trace left on the ground of its brief presence. Not even a slight depression.

On the train, I sit next to Rufus, but he turns his gaze from me. I keep glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, but not once—not even once, does he look at me. As the train pulls to a stop on the plate, I quickly whisper, "Thanks Rufie," before disembarking. Had I turned around, I would've seen a tiny smile creep over his face as his eyes riveted to my retreating form.