To Love an Ancient 2: An Aeris and Kadaj Story
5696 words
17 pages
Chapter 12 A Woman's Embarrassment
Disclaimer
Nope, I don't own Final Fantasy 7...but I sometimes adopt their kawaii bishonens! (Most specifically the silvered haired kind.) lol
Author's Notes
Hey everyone! Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. In all honesty, I thought mine was far too short. I had, what, two days off, before I had to go back to work?! Lol. Ah well, at least I got New Years off.
As for my musical muse today. It is completely orchestral. Hmm, I don't know why, but I have an extreme fascination with the 'Legend of Dragoon theme', and Contrafools Tour de Japon's 'FFVI Maria and Draco', 'Theme of Love' and 'Aeris' theme' on Youtube. They are all so beautifully dark and mesmerising. If anything, listening to such music makes me regret giving up my violin all those years ago. But ah well…que cera cera. Lol Life goes on and all that other whatnot. lol
Ahem anywho, enough of my ramblings…
And on with the fic!
o0o0o0o
Across the unknown seas of Gaia…
o0o0o0o
'…This…this is ridiculous…'
'I…'
'I cannot do this…'
'…No…not like this….'
Those were the very thoughts, which pervaded the gunman's head, as he eyed each Avalanche team member with growing weariness. No sooner than Cloud had guided his team out of Wutai, and into their makeshift boat, he had wasted no time in accosting the Ex-Turk, clearly commanding Vincent to seek out their missing friend.
The ever-watchful eyes of his team-mates did little to help the gunman's concentration. They stared at Vincent with their unblinking eyes…expecting so much from him…. Demanding too much from him.
The gunman closed his crimson eyes.
And his fingers clenched inside his lap.
'….I…'
He could feel the sound of their rocking vessel; the lugubrious whisper of the waves, and the unnervingly high-pitched caws of the seagulls above his head. He could hear the annoying chipper of a certain Wutai princess, and the ugly discords of someone sneezing. His senses caught onto the sound of a lighter clicking, and the exaggerated sigh of somebody breathing. He heard the groaning gnaws of grinding teeth, and the repeated rubbing of worn leather against knuckled skin. There were sounds he could recognise and coloured scents that he did not even want to imagine. The clotting stench of salt. The toxic aroma of fresh Wutainese tobacco…
The gunman's thin brows knitted together in mounting frustration.
"………"
Vincent simply could not focus. His mind was awash with blank confusion. He was still emotionally drained from yesterday, however no amount of sleep could have ever made him recover for today.
However, despite all this….
Vincent still tried to search for the bright-eyed flower girl. Her energy signature was still memorably fresh in his head from that night he had stayed with her. His mind tried to seek out her coloured threads of pale pink interwoven with gentle green, to no avail.
The colourful souls of each Avalanche member blinded his inner vision. From wavering reds and burnt umbers, to cerulean blues and vigorous purple, Vincent was alarmed by this garden of pure colours, from which he could not escape. These colours surrounded him. Enclosing him. Imprisoning him in their morbid brightness. It was at this moment, that Vincent felt something at the back of his head; try to slowly awaken.
'…Chaos…'
The gunman's crimson eyes snapped open in surprise, his eyes widening slightly when a certain demanding blond haired swordsman filled his entire vision.
"Did you find her?" Cloud asked him ardently, despite the fact that he had been repeating the same question over and over again for the last hour and a half.
"No…" Vincent replied, weakly yet honestly. It was the only response he could give. The blond sighed wearily, already expecting such an answer from the taciturn gunman.
"Vincent, do you think if we moved the ship around, you may sense her somewhere else?" Cloud questioned, as he drew his broadsword from the water, aka his temporary makeshift oar.
'……'
"….perhaps…" the gunman answered with a visible amount of reluctance.
"Alright then, Cid lets take this ship further up North," Cloud commanded quietly as he plunged his stout blade back into the sea.
"Aye aye Spiko," The pilot replied cheerfully, as he moved his spear along side Cloud's with a little more gusto. His thin lips tightened to keep a grasp of the lit cigarette that was partly dangling from his mouth.
Barret huffed to himself, swiping away the dribbles of sweat from his forehead with his bare hand. "This is so gonna take forever. Are you sure der ain't no faster way we cud find Aeris Spikey?"
The blond in question, frowned. "I don't know," he remarked softly. "But for now, Vincent is our best and only choice in finding Aeris." Cloud admitted as he turned his gaze back upon the crimson-cloaked gunman.
The Ex-Turk tensed his clawed hand, and averted his dark crimson-eyed gaze to one side.
'…If I am their best and only choice…then we have already failed…'
Barret snorted, as if he heard the older gunman's inner thoughts.
"Can you feel her now?" Cloud called out softly.
"No…" Vincent drawled out quietly.
The 'ship' was moved a little more forward.
"Hey, How about now?" Cloud voiced out.
"No…." Vincent tiredly repeated.
The 'ship' was moved a little more to the East.
"Vincent? What about here?" Cloud voiced.
"……" The Ex-Turk negatively turned his head from side to side.
Two hours passed on.
"Here?"
"…no.."
"Here...?"
"………."
"Hey, what about over there?"
"…….."
Another hour passed.
"Here?"
Another shake of his head.
And the hours continued on….
Vincent felt his head nodding off. He had never liked being out at sea. However, the oscillating sounds of the waves had the power to lull his body into a false sense of comfort.
"Hey how about now?"
"……." The gunman did not even attempt to deign an answer.
This was getting beyond ridiculous.
"Vincent?"
The gunman closed his eyes, and moved a gloved hand to his temple. He exhaled breathlessly. Vincent longed to escape the watchful eyes, which surrounded him. He was getting fed up with hearing Cloud's voice, and seeing the wrong colours in his mind. A low groan escaped his clenched teeth.
"Oh. Did you say you found something Vincent?" the blond swordsman asked eagerly.
"…….." Vincent had to fight the urge to groan again. "……no." he muttered dismissively.
"Oh this is hopeless Cloud," Yuffie whined loudly, catching every Avalanche member by surprise. "We won't be able to find Aeris like this!"
The blond leader opened his mouth to speak.
"But-"
"No buts!-" Yuffie interrupted. "If we do things your way, we'll all end up searching the entire ocean, that is until we all die of potential starvation, and besides…" The ninja paused; transforming the glare on her face into a look of pure pity. "Poor Vinnie is sleepy! Come on guys, look at him!" Yuffie exclaimed while pointing at the now obviously startled gunman. "You've been pushing him too hard. I'm surprised he hasn't fainted from exhaustion and-"
The gunman placed his head in his hands, muffling a low derisive sound from his throat.
'Leave it to Yuffie, to make everything seem so much worse…'
"-aww, don't worry Vinnie. I'm here for ya," the Wutai princess finished in an annoyingly high-pitched, saccharine tone, leaping from her seated position to find one much closer to the groaning gunman. "I won't let Cloud and the others abuse you like this."
"Stop it Yuffie, you're embarrassing him," Tifa scolded, even though there was little bite to her tone. She had even noticed that Vincent seemed like he was about to nod off, sooner or later.
"Cloud?" Tifa began softly. "I think, Yuffie is right…."
The blond bit his lip, as he stared at the dark haired gunman.
"But Aeris…" Cloud began weakly.
"Why don't we try and get back on land, and let everyone get some rest first, before we make any more hasty decisions on what to do next." Tifa offered gently.
The blond frowned. He really did not want to stop looking for Aeris….
"No," the swordsman decided with a slow shake of his head. "Let's continue on with the search. I'm sure Vincent will be able to find her soon."
"Cloud!" Tifa and Yuffie both exclaimed in unison, while Red, Cid and Barret all shook their heads in clear disagreement.
The dark gunman dipped his head down, and silently averted his eyes. He hated this responsibility….the confidence that Cloud and the others had placed in his questionable abilities. Abilities that he had never known he had possessed, until just a few days ago.
"So is that alright with you Vincent?" the blond asked.
The gunman refused to answer. It wasn't like he had a choice…
'Perhaps it would be wiser to direct your focus on what we can all do now…than what I cannot…' Vincent murmured to himself, before turning his gaze back to the empty sea.
"Then that's settled. Alright then, Cid, let's move towards the East."
Then Vincent voiced a question. A question that no one had ever thought of before.
"Cloud…why are you searching for Aeris…?"
The blond swordsman stared blankly at the gunman.
"?"
Cloud blinked.
'…was….'
'….that a joke?'
"You should know why we are all looking for her," the swordsman answered slowly and with a quiet frown.
The gunman shook his head regretfully. "No…" he murmured softly. "…I do not know why you wish to save her Cloud…"
The blond slapped a sweaty hand to his head. 'Maybe Yuffie and Tifa are right. Vincent really does need some rest. The sun has really made him lose his intelligence.'
"We are looking for Aeris because she needs to be saved." The blond stated bluntly. "She was kidnapped and-"
"How do you know whether Aeris was truly kidnapped?" Vincent retorted in his low and lugubrious tone.
"…….."
A unnatural silence settled among the group of Avalanche.
"And who ever said that she needed rescuing?" the gunman continued in a slow and deep murmur. "Have you ever thought that Aeris left on her own free will? That she… wanted to be alone?"
"Don't be stupid."
The blond glared at the dark haired gunman.
"Aeris is our friend, and I know that wherever she is, she is in danger!" Cloud responded in a near shout, as his mako-tainted eyes flared an angry indigo.
"From the moment I met her, danger was always attracted to her. The first time I saw her, Shinra tried to kidnap her. I had to become her bodyguard in order to protect her from the Turks!"
'However I failed her then…'
'…and I failed her now…'
The blond's eyes darkened in the realisation of his shame.
"The Turks have been after her for years. Shinra has been after for years. And Vincent, wasn't it you who saved her from Sephiroth?! The Ex-General of Shinra! No, Aeris didn't leave us…she was taken from us… and I would bet my right arm that Shinra has her! At this moment, I bet she is locked away in a cell, cold alone and frightened. Fearing for her life. Fearing the sounds outside her locked door. Unable to do nothing more than cry out to the empty walls, crying out for her bodyguard to save her…her promised protector…"
The blond paused, and turned his head away, to inhale an unsteady breath.
"Shinra is likely to treat her body and mind with pain and violence. They will interrogate her. They will force her to answer all their hate-ridden questions. And she will beg and plead for them to stop. But I know they will not stop! They will continue to force her, until they find out everything they want…even after it breaks her…"
The blond's eyes became haunted then, and his heart sank even further inside his chest.
"I only pray that she doesn't fall into the hands of Shinra's scientists. For then she will be treated like an animal. She will be experimented on. She will be tested on. She will be crushed by their insanity. Injected with their Mako treatments. Their countless shots. The blinding pain.. The hallucinations…Coughing up streams of blood….and feeling your bones melting and breaking at the same time…."
'Sir, please give me a number…'
The blond swallowed uneasily and Vincent dipped his head downwards to his lap, to his gold and monstrous claw.
"I can't….I won't let anyone hurt her." Cloud finished quietly.
The gunman's eyes darkened in all-knowing understanding, as the demons in his head painted him a story of the girl's potential suffering at the hands of Shinra.
His eyes flickered slightly as he remembered fingers, which were so pale and delicate, and a white palm... marred with a black hell-marked symbol... that had been written by the only man Vincent could regard as his own personal Satan. The gunman tightened his upper lip in consternation. Cloud was right. However Vincent knew that the blond was wrong with one thing...Shinra had already tainted Aeris' spirit.
And then the blond leader of Avalanche directed his murmured conversation towards the rest of his comrades.
"Like I said before, Aeris was born into a life of danger, and as we are all aware, she cannot save herself from Shinra. And since we are the only ones, other than Shinra who know of her existence, if I cannot…if we cannot rescue her from harm, then …"
The blond paused again to shake his head, before returning his gaze towards the Ex-Turk's face.
"Vincent… I made a promise to Aeris. I made a promise to protect her from Shinra. I cannotbreak my promise. So Vincent, if you still have the energy, can we look a little longer... even if it is just till nightfall…"
"…Cloud…" Vincent murmured softly, acquiescing himself to his fate. "Alright…" he consented, as he let his dark crimson eyes disappear beneath his long black lashes. Then voiding his soul of thought, and freezing his heart of emotion, the gunman tried once more to see the sliver of pink innocence, entwined with soothing slips of ephemeral green…
O0o0o0o
'…No please…'
'…It can't be…'
'…Please, I don't think I can deal with this now…'
The thought had occurred to her at least half an hour ago. However, Aeris had felt the symptoms long before then. There was a mounting tension in her lower stomach, clenching and clamping her insides into uncomfortable twists and curls of pain. The brunette had felt a nauseating need to eat something sickly sweet. She also had the needy urge to lay down somewhere soft, with a large and fluffy hot water bottle resting against her very sorry stomach.
"..."
Aeris knew that her body was giving her all the telltale signs and warnings of what was about to happen.
And Aeris knew that if she didn't do something soon...
Then she would be in dire peril.
For Aeris was in a situation that no woman would ever want to be in...
"..."
She was walking in a dense forest…
….with nothing but the bare clothes on her back…
…travelling with a boy she scarcely knew…
And…
….she
….she
…. she was feeling the symptons of her period…
It was times like these, that Aeris hated being a woman.
Clutching her yellow-feathered baby chick to her chest, Aeris tried to conceal her distress from her silver haired companion. However, the thought in itself was impossible. The more she tried to ignore the sensations of her body, only added to the growing stigma that if she didn't do something very very soon….she was going to end up humiliating herself, in a way that no woman would ever want to be humiliated in her entire lifetime.
'…and these are my only pair of clothes…'
Aeris winced in both growing fear and discomfort, as her inner muscles clenched and squeezed her lower abdomen, giving her an all knowing foresight of what was soon to occur.
She clenched her eyes shut and stopped walking.
'…Of all the things to happen…'
When Aeris next opened her eyes, her vision was filled with an all too familiar face framed with ivory locks; staring back at her with a soft, inquiring gaze. "Mother? Is something wrong?" Kadaj asked in a voice, which unveiled an unnatural depth of concern.
The brunette's eyes bulged at the sight of the young teen's probing eyes. Fearful of Kadaj noticing her embarrassing situation, Aeris averted her eyes and said the first thing, which came to mind.
"No. Nothing's wrong...Just...I'm just… thirsty?" Aeris lied, frantic to get the teen's attention away from her. She did not think she could bear the humiliation if he noticed a stain on her dress that really should not be there.
"Thirsty?" the teen questioned aloud, his tone voicing the doubt he held in his mind; that his Mother would get so worked up over something which he deemed a fairly trivial matter. However, Kadaj, being the eager teen he was, and wanting to please his beloved Mother, dropped swiftly to his knees and began rummaging through his bag.
"I've got some milk-"
"No…" Aeris growled through gritted teeth, shaking her head, feeling her eyes start to well up with tears of frustration.
Her gnarled tone caught the younger male by surprise, and his eyes expressed the shock he felt.
"Um….what would you like Mother?" Kadaj asked uneasily.
The brunette squeezed her eyes shut.
'A box of tampons or even a few pads will be fine.'
'..Or maybe a noose to hang myself with…'
'..Whatever comes out of your bag first...'
The brunette shook her head, trying to negate her growing apprehension.
"I'll be fine Kadaj," Aeris stated with a calmness that she did not feel. "Let's continue on."
"I've got a flask of water Mother," Kadaj pressed on, as he lifted the unopened drink out of his bag.
'…yeah of course you do…I bet you have everything you need in that bloody bag. You probably have a four-course meal and-'
The brunette's darkened thoughts stilled instantly, as she thought about the implications of her words.
"!"
'…..it could be possible right?'
'…and maybe if it isn't what I need, then there might be something of a similar equivalent…'
The brunette's eyes flittered from the drink in the teen's hands and then at the bag on the floor.
'However I'd be too embarrassed to search for some sanitary pads right in front of this kid.'
'…no I could never do that…'
'….However if I could think of a way….'
'…to lure Kadaj away…?'
The brunette's lips twitched.
'….yes…'
'…. I need to think of a way to make Kadaj disappear for a little while…'
'….so I can have full access to his bag…'
Aeris gnawed her lip in silent contemplation, and then her eyes settled back upon the liquid offering in the teen's outstretched hand…
And then a brilliant thought came to her.
"Thanks Kadaj," Aeris answered in her sweetest tone as she plucked the black flask out of Kadaj's pale fingers, before passing Kwee-Kwee into the teen's befuddled arms. "You are such a dear… " she added as an afterthought, watching in slight amusement as the teen's frowning lips suddenly flipped upwards into a beaming grin.
'He is so eager to please…'
'…Hn…maybe this will be easier than I thought…'
Unscrewing the lid off the flask, Aeris made an elaborate motion of pouring herself a drink, before slowly and carefully raising the cup to her lips. All the while, her eyes remained fixed on the green-eyed teen standing before her.
However when she was just about to take her first sip…she stopped.
"What's wrong Mother. Is the water not to your liking?" Kadaj voiced out; his smile waning due to the brunette's extended silence.
Bright, emerald green eyes sent Kadaj her most cruellest glare that she could manage. "No," Aeris answered in her most coldest tone. "No it is not."
The teen paled instantly, and his eyes widened in surprise. His expression could have almost been funny, if it wasn't for the fact that he appeared so deeply hurt by the brunette's words.
"Is it because the water is too cold, too warm? Or is it not fresh enough to your liking? We passed a river not too long ago; we could go back and get you some if you wish it Mother."
Aeris frowned. If she went with Kadaj, that would ruin the whole point of trying to get him away from her.
"Wouldn't it be faster if you went to get it yourself?" she voiced in a clearly harsh and no nonsense tone.
"W-why, of course," Kadaj agreed quickly, confused and startled with the change of his Mother's attitude. "I'll go and get it right now," he replied; as he bent down to pull his inventory bag over his shoulder.
The brunette's eyes widened in alarm.
"NO!"
The teen's entire body went as brittle as a board. His wide green eyes, dilated at the sight of the fiery eyed woman standing before him.
"Why are you taking your bag with you?!" Aeris snapped harshly.
Kadaj blinked, looking from his bag and then back to his scowling Mother.
The teen's brows furrowed in growing confusion.
"I…" Kadaj tentatively began, not knowing what to say to the narrowed green eyes, which were staring at him with such anger…and with such disapproval. Thinking it would not be wise to continue his words any further; the teen shrugged his bag from his body, dropping it to the ground with a careless thud.
Seeing the renewed approval in his Mother's eyes, Kadaj inwardly sighed in relief. He did not know what he did before to invite his Mother's wrath upon him, but he was glad to see that the angry flare had abated from her eyes.
Then with lowered eyes, the teen bent down to pick up the lidless flask from the floor.
"I'll be back Mother. I promise I will return as swiftly as I can…" Kadaj confirmed vehemently, before pivoting on his foot and sprinting out of sight. However, due to his haste to please his Mother, the teen was unaware that he was still holding the sleeping Kwee-kwee inside his arms.
No sooner than his black and ivory form disappeared into the forest, Aeris lunged for the leather bag, almost tearing the entire lid off in reckless desperation. She pulled out item after item. Tool after tool. Her fumbling fingers chucked out random bottles, and other knick-knacks, which served little purpose to her womanly needs.
"…Blanket. Another Blanket. Bottle. Empty bottle. Boiled Sweets...Huh? Tinned soup…"
Aeris gritted her teeth in irritation. She could not understand how Kadaj could keep so much stuff in such a relatively small bag. Taking her hands out of the bag, the brunette grasped the edges and suddenly flipped the bag upside down, watching as everything fell out onto the grassy ground below.
Then like a deranged animal, the flower girl dropped to her hands and knees, and accosted every item she found. Digging and throwing each useless item from her vision. She plundered the teen's inventory.
And then her eyes caught a flash of cream.
And what Aeris saw, had more value to her than a block of pure gold.
"Bandages!" Aeris screeched out in excitement, as she stared at the huge roll of cream toned fabric. It was much more than she could have ever hoped. Even if they were not tampons, Aeris was sure they would work well as a makeshift pad.
'…especially if I bunch them together…' the brunette thought to herself, as she stared down at the treasure in her hands, totally oblivious to the destruction that was littered around her.
Warily flicking her eyes from the left and the right, Aeris checked to see that no one was looking. Then leaning back on her heels, the brunette began to undo a few buttons from her dress, from the waist down. Her thin pale hand slid beneath the pink fabric, and her fingers slipped inside her white cotton panties. Removing them as quickly as she could, Aeris tried to keep the grimace off her face as she lifted her fingers to her disgusted vision. However as soon as her eyes saw her fingers, her eyes lightened in pure relief. There was no crimson discharge smearing her fingers. However, Aeris knew that the stomach cramps were merely shadowing the inevitable. Fortunately, her own body was able to warn her in time when her cycle was near. Giggling to herself, more in relief than anything else, Aeris turned her attention back to her bandages, contemplating the best way to tend to the situation when…
"Mother!"
Kadaj's startled cry of horror caused the brunette to drop the bandages to her lap in pure fright.
'Oh God! Why did he have to return so quickly?'
Whipping her head around, in a speed that nearly gave her whiplash, Aeris stared at the silver haired boy that had entered the clearing. With a flask in hand, and a chirping birdie in the other, Kadaj was the last thing that Aeris had wanted to see.
Aeris watched as Kadaj's flashing green gaze flittered from his upturned bag, his items all thrown haphazardly across the ground and then at her with an unaccountable amount of alarm.
And then his eyes felt to the item in the brunette's lap.
And the teen's eyes dilated.
"!"
In a flash Kadaj was kneeling beside her.
"Mother? What's wrong? What happened? You're hurt? Who hurt you Mother?"
Kadaj was reeling one question after another. Not even pausing for a single breath.
"You're hurt! You're hurt!" He kept on chanting, as he dumped the flask on the ground along with Kwee-kwee, to grasp onto one of the brunette's arms. "Oh Mother! Where are you bleeding? Where are you in pain?"
Aeris balked, however Kadaj was oblivious. Instead, he thought Aeris' response was more to do with her pain than her shame.
And then Kadaj plucked the bandages from out of the brunette's lap, much to her horror.
However Kadaj was oblivious of her reaction.
For he, himself was positively frightened. "I tried to return as quickly as I could. But I was still not fast enough! I'm so sorry Mother. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you!"
He bowed his head down in shame and his hand tightened on the brunette's upper arm.
"I only took three minutes Mother! I only took three! I should have been faster. I should have known that you would be in danger! That everyone wants to try and take you away from me! That everyone out there wants to hurt you!"
Kadaj was hyperventilating and finding it difficult to breathe.
Aeris had long ago lost the ability to talk.
Embarrassment had clouded her entire being.
"Where did they go Mother? Did you kill them? I hope you did, for if not, I will avenge you. Just tell me what they looked like and-"
Kadaj paused, and began violently shaking his head.
"No, I can't leave you again. Someone else may try to harm you! Where did they hurt you Mother? Tell me so I can make the pain go away."
The look of his face was torturously pained and full of anguish.
"I'm alright." It was the first thing that Aeris could even think to say.
"I'll heal you Mother. Just let me find my curative materia and you'll be fine," the teen rambled, as his narrowed eyes searched the grounds, before finding the glinting piece of green halfway hidden beneath a packet of unopened tissues. Snatching it from the ground, Kadaj drew the orb to his chest and willed the materia to life. It did not take long for Aeris to feel the all too familiar sensation of powerful curative magic flowing through her veins.
"Is that better now Mother?" Kadaj asked, after dropping the materia to the ground. "I used a Cure 3. Has the pain gone now?"
Aeris opened and closed her mouth in voiceless surprise.
"Err…"
"I can try again if you wish Mother," Kadaj offered. "Has the wound closed, or are you still bleeding Mother? Where are you bleeding Mother? Would you like me to staunch the flow Mother?"
Aeris placed her face inside her hands, too embarrassed for words.
"Why are you holding your head Mother?"
"Does it hurt?"
"Would you like me to massage the pain away?"
That was the final straw.
"That's enough Kadaj!"
Kadaj stared wide eyed in surprise. "But Mother?"
"But Mother this? But Mother that? Mother! Mother! Mother! Mother! Gods Kadaj shut up, before I shut you up myself!" Aeris snapped as she pushed the teen away from her. Her face was flamed red in a visual cocktail of embarrassment and anger.
"But Mot-" the teen began, however the brunette's angry glare silenced him.
"Just go away. Get lost! Leave me alone! Stop being so nosy and mind your own bu-"
Aeris was unable to finish her sentence as a sudden cramp in her lower abs caused the brunette to hiss a curse of surprise, and her body hunched over to fight the pain. She wrapped her arms protectively over her stomach, biting her lip in clear distress.
"Mother!" Kadaj cried as he moved around her hunched over form like an pesky dog, sniffling around her, as if he could lock onto the source of his Mother's pain. His green eyes searched for blood, and his dark fingers wandered over her prone form.
It was only when his long gloved hands found their way to the brunette's lower stomach, that Aeris hitched in a frightened breath and instinctively moved away from the teen's unwelcome touch. However, Kadaj kept his hand in place. In fact, he added a little more pressure, so that even through the layers of pink cotton and black leather; they could both feel the heat of each other's skin against their own.
"Is…your pain here Mother?" Kadaj murmured, as he raised his soft green eyes upwards to stare into his Mother's drastically whitened face.
Mollified, Aeris tried to pull the teen's hand away from her stomach to no avail.
"Stop it Kadaj! There's nothing wrong with me, now let go!" Aeris yelled, stumbling backwards in her desperation to get from the silver haired teen, nearly tripping over his bag in the process.
"Mother?!" Kadaj cried out in alarm, as he continued to follow the brunette's movements, fearful for his Mother's safety.
"No! Stop! Stay there! Don't come any closer!" Aeris cried out, with an obvious taste of hysteria in her voice.
The teen complied with his Mother's wishes in an instant. However his face still appeared rather baffled and visibly worried.
"Mother…" Kadaj voiced out feebly, as his eyes glinted with unseen tears. His fingers began to loosen around the roll of bandages.
And that was the precise moment that the flower-girl struck.
Lunging forward, Aeris swiped the bandages from the teen's fingers and scuttled backwards.
When it appeared like Kadaj was about to move after her, the brunette raised her free hand upwards.
"Don't even dare come near me!" she threatened with all the malice of an angry Mother, all the while moving backwards.
"But Mother-" Kadaj pleaded weakly. "I only want to help you."
"Oh just shove it," Aeris interrupted hotly, trying to further the distance between them.
"If you want to help me, then you should accept the fact that when a woman wants her own privacy... SHE DOESN'T WANT ANYONE AROUND!!"
The teen's brows furrowed darkly. "But you are in pain Mother and-"
Dash her embarrassment.
Aeris had had enough.
"I'm having my 'P.E.R.I.O.D' you silly nit-wit!"
The forest suddenly went very very quiet..
And then there was a pregnant pause.
Then very slowly…
Kadaj blinked…
And then the most curiously innocent expression settled across his beautifully boyish features.
"Your period? What is a period Mother?"
"………."
In that moment, Aeris realised yet another startling similarity between the strange silver haired boy and her lovable nightmare that was her Sephiroth.
And it called her blood to boil into a mindless frenzy.
"Oh for all of Mother Gaia's mercy! What is it with all you stupid silver haired men?!" Aeris all but raged, on a verge of an emotional breakdown. "OOOHH! I bet you expect me to explain what a period is too, right? Well, my answer is NO! This is too much. This is just too much to bear! Oh, I give up! I simply give up! I've had enough of people like you and Sephiroth, who have such a selective knowledge of sex, despite the fact that you have both learnt the entire book of fondling! Grraah! And I've had enough of walking around bare footed in this stupid forest, having nothing with me other than the clothes on my back. I've had enough of this foolishness! And I've have had enough of you!"
The brunette whipped her entire body around, ready to make her leave.
And then silver haired teen took a tentative step forward, and opened his mouth to make a reply.
However, Aeris turned her head to glare at the boy
And her look could have frightened off a ruby dragon.
Kadaj snapped his jaw shut.
And then Aeris stomped off, leaving a positively stunned, and visibly traumatised silver haired teen in her wake.
Author's notes
Heh. I actually enjoyed writing this chapter. I kinda reminded me of a certain other chappie that I wrote in TLAA1. Hn, I think I like the idea how Kadaj and Sephiroth both react different to similar situations. Lol.
Don't forget to review you guys. It really does make my day. Oh and for you guys who are on Myspace, I have redecorated my page. Heh. I think some of you A/S fans may like it. Lol If anyone doubted me losing my liking for A/S. lets just say I have put all the rumours to rest. Lmao.
Ja ne
Aerseph4eva
P.S
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