If Sephiroth had been clingy about Rill before after Genesis' attack, AVALANCHE had turned him into a needy toddler. With a six foot sword, superhuman strength, and powerful magical abilities.
This...might be problematic. He concluded after he almost skewered the doctor who was inspecting Rill's injuries. He was still twitchy as hell. Most of the fighting had died down, the AVALANCHE members either killed or captured and disarmed. Just clean up, accounting for the dead and wounded and an after-action report.
"You reached her quickly enough after her ears were damaged so she won't need any corrective surgery." The man informed him, not even aware how close he had come to dying just for being too close to Rill. "Just plenty of rest and she'll be fine within a few days." Rill hadn't said much on the way back to the Shinra lines. But her gaze was still lucid and clear and she responded concisely when spoken to. She wasn't in shock, her mind was just occupied with something else. If it kept her from being afraid of him, he would take it.
Sephiroth, now that he was thinking a little more rationally, was regretting needing to show Rill just how ruthless he was in on the battlefield. When he fought, everything else just seemed to fade away. He had his purpose, and nothing else mattered. In this case, his purpose had been to get Rill to safety and he hadn't thought of much else until that objective was secured.
I'm sorry Rill. I didn't mean to scare you... If he thought it would make things better, he would keep holding onto her. But he had noticed, however distantly, the various negative signs she had shown in response to the stimuli of a combat situation. Elevated heart rate, strained breathing, trembling.
He hoped he hadn't traumatized one of his few remaining friends...
What if she becomes frightened of me? What would that change? Would she still trust him around her family? Would she be the same around him or would she stop meeting his gaze? Like most everyone else does...?
The thoughts stampeding around in his head gave his stillness no rest. The anxious, nervous fear that he had felt upon hearing that she was missing, and all throughout his hunt, was back and somehow even stronger and worse than before.
The thought of Rill being hurt was terrible and tore at his insides as if a wildcat had been released inside his ribs. But the thought of her fearing him was somehow a thousand times worse. Instead of a cat, that was a dragon, breathing fire, acid and lighting all at once.
What should he say? If he said anything, would it make it better or worse?
She looked small, alone and fragile, sitting as the medics worked over her, mending every cut and bruise. Her eyes were distant. They'd never looked more like a night sky than they did then. An eternity away and flecked with shimmering-
A new concern rose.
Rill was fighting back tears.
He had only ever seen her cry once before, and knew he did not want to see it on her again.
"-eneral?" He forced himself to pay attention to the man addressing him. Lieutenant Cobbs. 2nd Class.
"Contact a Turk to take her home, with a guard." He couldn't afford to show more attachment. Sending her away would help him focus, but would also make him more twitchy. Right now it was a necessary sacrifice.
"Yessir." Cobbs threw out a salute before walking away swiftly. He's running scared. Sephiroth concluded with a bit of a resigned air. It would take months if not longer for everyone to get over this display of his unbridled prowess. And the journalists would start creeping out of the woodwork to try and determine what had made him so intent on retrieving her. And if he told them, they would automatically turn on her. Being questioned by the plebeian jackals when she was already in such a state. Unacceptable. The insufferable fools wouldn't leave her alone for months. He thought, irritated already. She's already distraught, they don't need to make things worse.
Sephiroth deliberately tried not to focus on Rill. It made it marginally easier to not stab anyone who came too close that he didn't instantly recognize. An exhausted looking Reno eventually came forward.
"How much caffeine are you on right now?" Sephiroth asked him, running an eye over the disheveled Turk. He had come across Reno interrogating the man who had been able to lead him to Rill. As soon as he had the information, he easily outdistanced the Turk in his haste to make her safe again. In a remarkable show of insight and trust, Reno had gone to help with the crowd control instead of following.
"I'm not that out of it." He replied grimacing. "I'm dog tired, not dead beat."
"I fail to see a difference." Sephiroth retorted, then in a slightly softer tone after verifying at a glance that no one was around who could overhear. "Take Rill to her aunt's." Reno's eyes flashed with understanding and he yawned.
"You got it, general." He sauntered over to Rill, stripping off his suit jacket and laying it around her shoulders. "Up and at'em, princess. Let's get you home..."
"Wait." She said softly, standing straight and steady, the black jacket still on her shoulders. She walked over to Sephiroth, meeting his gaze with grave blue eyes...
Then she hugged him, brief and simple. She was still trembling slightly. He read the telltale signs of fear in her movements and in the tension in her posture that hadn't been there before. She is afraid... Sephiroth hadn't been injured, but he suddenly felt as though he couldn't draw breath. Disappointment rang in his mind as well as regret. I only wanted to rescue you before you got hurt-
"You come down as soon as you can." She whispered softly, the words meant for his ears alone. "Auntie's going to be worried about you too." I already am worried about you.
"I'm unharmed." He wasn't likely to be injured anymore either considering that the attack had been repelled. Her arms tightened, feeling weak and frail compared to the unnatural strength that coursed through Sephiroth's veins.
"The fight's over, Sephiroth. Put the General away." Oh. Right... Sephiroth felt his muscles relax from their ready position. He was no longer poised to start fighting again at a moment's notice. He hugged her back, being even more careful than usual considering she had been recently healed.
Yes, Rill was afraid. She could not forget what she had seen and it might be some time before she could behave as he was used to. But she wasn't willing to let that fear stop her from caring for him as she had before.
That... was even more of a relief than he had expected.
-vVv-
Rill got the full scoop on how much damage was done as she took an indefinite vacation from work. Despite her being physically fine, she was slightly traumatized and agreed that before returning to work with it's chaos that she should be completely under control and back to full capacity.
Not that Sephiroth intended on letting her come back to work in the building without his personal supervision. She was torn between being touched at his protectiveness and slightly terrified at how far he was willing to go. And this was still him being reasonable!
"He only wants to make sure you're safe." Aeris soothed. "I have to imagine you're one of the most important people in his life right now."
"It's still..." Rill didn't know what to call it. Sweet? Not at this level. Scary?
No. Rill seized the thought and crushed it into nothingness. She refused to be afraid of Sephiroth. She would not let this change the way their lives functioned.
Mind over matter should have been easy...
You're not exactly approaching this with any amount of give, Rill. Aeris wheedled. You can fight fear with discipline and consistency. But you can't kill it.
We're being rude, stop it. Rill held her hands over another wounded man, channeling her Cure materia to seal up the minor slash to his arm. She had Aeris had handled the worst injuries yesterday. A boon and curse because while the older injuries were the hardest to heal, it also meant that there had been relatively few deaths in their part of the slums.
They had Angeal to thank for that. The man was currently out like a light inside their house, having been up all night to ensure that someone from Shinra came to pick up the captured and defeated AVALANCHE members.
But still, relatively few... More than twenty people had died in their neighborhood. Rill knew that she and Aeris would be losing quite a few flowers to their funerals.
But they would pick themselves up and keep moving forward.
"Thanks, Rill." Her middle aged smiled as he flexed his wiry arm gingerly. "That'll be good enough to get me back to work."
"Don't push yourself, Dean." She cautioned. "Another day of no strain, then pick it up slowly again." But the odds were good that her warning couldn't be heeded, not with the state their local economy was in. Most of their employed men were in charge of recycling and trash pick up at the dumps. Right now though, Pres Shinra was offering a special time offer for men who wanted to come above the Plate to assist with construction and clean up in the aftermath of the attack.
He just wants cheap labor. And still his pitiful, penny pinching offer was twice as much as a slum man would earn for a day's work.
Only after their last patient had gone home and they had headed back inside did Rill realize what was setting her on edge so much.
Her phone was gone.
There hadn't been an obnoxious text from a certain redheaded Turk, or a desperate call from a black haired SOLDIER or a shy well wish from a blonde infantryman.
That meant she didn't have a way to get any updates about Reno's or Zack's whereabouts. It was making her itch slightly to be perfectly honest. She worried about them! She knew they were both capable and had been looking after themselves long before she came along but she was concerned all the same. Cloud was actually very good at keeping himself out of the usual trouble that plagued Shinra foot soldiers. He had good sense, something that most people she worked with seemed to lack. Unfortunately, his friendship with Zack balanced that right out.
And there was the fact that Rill kept on looking towards the various entrances in hopes of seeing Sephiroth.
He had been... mildly terrifying when she last saw him. Definitely the vicious Black Demon of the Wutian front lines instead of the polished, well mannered Silver General. But what had made her shudder the most was seeing her dorky, cookie obsessed, socially awkward friend disappear inside an awe-inspiring monster. A monster bent on her absolute safety, but a monster nonetheless.
I need to get my phone replaced... She mused to herself. Hopefully the Turks have a backup of all my contacts lying around somewhere. It was somewhat saddening to lose her phone, in hindsight. She'd been through a lot with that thing. It was actually amazing that it still worked at all given what she had put the poor thing through. One of the most memorable of which involved the infamous Zoo Invasion and Reno wanting to dispose of some...incriminating evidence she had captured on its camera. First time in company history that we had to pay for a rhinoceros' digestive problems. The phone had survived, after a suitably intense clean up. Reno's probation from field work was extended, yet again. The incident was recorded in the company's log as well as her personal records. And there hadn't been an impending lawsuit at the end of the day!
"Are you gonna start sighing anytime soon?" Aeris asked coyly, a tiny grin on her face. "You're almost making moon eyes..."
"You're not funny, Aeris." Rill told her cousin dryly. "Who would I be sighing after?"
"The fearsome demon who came to your rescue like a knight in shining armor. Or I guess it was more like a demi-god in black leather~." Rill wasn't sure which description would get more public support. One thing was for sure: In the mind of the public, Rill and Sephiroth were an item as of today. He had been carrying her through the streets and refused to let anyone touch her until he found a medic he trusted and even then, he stayed within ten feet of her.
She wasn't looking forward to acknowledging that behemoth in the room when she did see him again.
"You're saying you're not at all moved by this?" Aeris teased. "I mean he just came in and swept you off your feet again-!"
"It was more like yanked me out of the debris." Rill replied tartly. "And I'm currently still coping with the trauma of being abducted. Dearest cousin, kindly shut your trap." But there was no real bite to her words. She had Aeris would always be at friendly odds over this aspect of life. Aeris wanted her to live a little so she could have a romance vicariously. Rill just wanted to keep moving and get her work done without getting stuffed into a lab.
When you fall for someone, I will stand here and laugh. She informed the other Cetra girl over the table with a wicked smile. I will tell him all your embarrassing kid stories, and dig out the hoard of baby photos that Auntie and I have been saving, and maybe your old diary for good measure. Aeris jumped and blushed.
Where the heck did you get my diary from!? I burned it!
Hmmm...no you didn't.
Satisfied that she had put her cousin in her place, Rill rose from the kitchen table and stretched,
"I think I'll head over to the church." Someone had to start cutting the lilies and sorting them into bouquets for the deceased.
"I'd like to come with you." Angeal's voice came from the stairs as he came down into the kitchen. "My sword and uniform are still there. If they were found, it would mean trouble for you." Rill shrugged, stepping into her shoes at the backdoor.
"Be my guest."
-vVv-
Whelp...I'm getting deja vu. Rill stared down at the motionless, clearly asleep form of Zack as he lay sprawled in her and Aeris' largest flower bed, surrounded by a few broken boards and old shingles. She looked up at a large hole in the roof and sighed. He felt through the roof and lived... Not only that, but he fell asleep at the bottom?
Angeal was staring at his old protege with his mouth hanging open as he reached the same conclusion that Rill had.
"Did he fall off the top of the Plate?" Rill squinted at the extent of the damage that had been done to the ground, and hummed.
"Looks like it." Judging by the fact that there weren't any unknown boot prints in the flowers, Zack hadn't stirred since he landed. The cheerful flowers nodded over him, their leaves subtly curling over his arms and legs as he lay sprawled out like a starfish. Goodgoodgood. The Planet hummed in her mind, a slightly louder and more complex melody than usual.
"What do you think happened?" Angeal asked, seeming hesitant to come any closer to his former apprentice than he already was.
Rill approached and examined him, scanning him briefly with first her Cure then her Heal materia.
"Got hit with a Sleep spell. Probably while doing one of those fancy jumping sword strikes." She informed the concerned man behind her, who groaned. For all that Zack's... exuberant style made for some powerful attacks, it wasn't convenient for fending off multiple opponents, nor was it especially effective against magic users, as evidenced here.
"He probably didn't even feel when he hit the ground." The magically induced slumber had long since run out, Zack was genuinely, healthily and naturally asleep. Rill laid a hand on his forehead, finding and removing the brain damage that the concussion had caused. Her experience with head injuries in general and head injuries on Zack in particular was far beyond what mere words could tell.
She looked over at Angeal with some concern. There was guilt and regret on his face, hope and fond rueful affection. All directed at Zack.
"Do you want to leave before he wakes up?" Or are you going to stay and let him know that you're alive? The former was probably the safer, smarter option. But Angeal would probably regret not having said goodbye properly for the rest of his incognito life if he left now. In any case, it was something Rill was determined to give him.
Angeal chew over the problem for quite some time...then he sighed, shoulders slumping.
"I'll...I'll stay and fix the roof." Rill couldn't help smiling as she understood the unspoken message. I'll stay until he wakes up. The Mako in his system would have been healing Zack from the moment he was injured. And with Rill there to boost his recovering from the concussion, she didn't doubt he'd be up and about at full capacity within a few more hours, at most. It would have been better, naturally, if he hadn't gone to sleep at all and someone had been nearby to heal him as quickly as possible...
But listening to the way he was sawing logs, Rill concluded with relief, that Zack would be perfectly fine and healthy once he awoke with no problems beyond some minor disorientation and a nonfunctional brain to mouth filter.
So nothing out of the ordinary.
She was trimmed some flowers into funeral wreaths when he stirred. Aeris had come by and flushed bright pink upon seeing the handsome SOLDIER sprawled out in her garden. Rill half expected her to boot him awake as she had Angeal, but instead, Aeris just left him alone and sat down to start working alongside her. Though Rill caught the brief, but rather frequent glances that she threw in his direction and the persistent blush on her cheeks.
Vindicated~ Rill sang through their bond, rewarded by deep, wordless embarrassment in reply. Aeris knew better than to deny. Not when Rill could feel her attraction so potently.
When Zack stirred, Aeris was up and at his side before Rill could gather her thoughts and intervene. Unlike her cousin, the flower girl didn't have a built up indifference to Zack's stupidity induced blather.
"Hey, are you alright...?" Zack mumbled...then groaned something out in answer that Rill didn't quite manage to hear. She did feel Aeris' blush though.
What did he say? She asked, rising when she sensed that her cousin needed some emotional support.
He called me an angel... Rill cast her mind back to all the times she had needed to wake Zack...
Yes, his brain to mouth filter is shut off whenever he's just waking up. She said by way of explanation. Or whatever function he has that passes for a filter.
Aeris took a deep breath then. Rill noticed that the Planet was speaking to Aeris, but couldn't make out what was being said. She only noticed that all of Aeris' embarrassment and nerves had vanished, leaving behind hopeful joy and exultant singing.
Rill stood where she was and looked on and smiled as a feeling of peace and fondness wrapped around her. Picking up her completed bouquets, the other Cetra left the church to leave the future couple in peace.
Once Zack stopped gawking, she would come in and embarrass the living daylights out of both of them. But until then, she would let them have their fairy tale moment.
-vVv-
Zack didn't think that waking up after a fight would be this nice and peaceful. He smelt flowers. He hadn't smelt flowers since home-
Wait...no. That wasn't right. Rill always smelt like flowers. She collected them in her house and somehow managed to make them grow and flourish even in the city. It made her small apartment feel more like home than anywhere else in the city. That and her food were what always brought Zack to her place whenever he could swing it.
Was he at Rill's place? It would explain the earthy, green smell.
Nah. Her couch isn't this uncomfortable. And he had been in combat last he knew, he'd have been in a hospital bed or his barracks, not Rill's apartment. Darn...No tasty food.
So where was he?
"Hey, are you alright...?" That sounded like Rill though. Shiva's icy glare, it really sounded like Rill! When she was being nice and concerned, and not all strict and mom-like. Fun Rill vs Boss Rill. Zack relaxed. He could always feel relaxed whenever Rill was around, no matter which version she was right then. He cracked his eyes and saw a mess of brown hair overhead, pulled back, like it always was unless he or Reno managed to steal her hair tie or clips.
"This must be heaven, cause you're an angel..." He heard a tiny sound of surprise and mentally fistpumped. He opened his eyes all the way, knowing he had a goofy grin on his face. When his vision cleared, Zack abruptly choked with mortification.
That's...not Rill.
The girl was just as pretty, but she wasn't Rill and that was slightly disappointing, because he would have gotten all the bragging rights for making her flush. But mostly, this was extremely baffling, because that wasn't Rill!
It's not Rill.
Rill's eyes were blue, the dark azure of a starry night sky. Her hair was mahogany brown and super soft and shiny. It was a mortal sin that she kept her eyes hidden behind reading glasses and had her hair tied back all the time. Not descriptors he usually used, but he had had a lot time to put it together...
Zack had had a slight, or, well, severe, crush on Rill when she had first begun to work in the SOLDIER department. It was a common enough ailment and one he had gotten over with time and exposure to her...For the most part.
But there was a pretty girl standing over him that he had just flirted with who was looking a little flushed, but was smiling beautifully.
Her smile is like Rill's.
Rill's work smile was a faint upturn at the corners of her mouth. Her real smile pulled up one side of her mouth, showed a dimple in one cheek, and made her eyes crinkle and glitter with internal laughter. And this unknown girl was smiling in the exact same way, except the dimple was on the other side. How is that possible?
Zack felt his mind, and manners, snap into traction almost at the same time.
The flowery smell and his discomfort stemmed from the fact that he was sitting in a flowerbed. The strange girl was offering him her hand.
"Sorry to disappoint. You're in an old church in the Sector 5 Undercity." Zack swallowed and accepted her hand, though he still did most of the work in getting up himself. The girl was wearing a nice white dress and even though her hands weren't or weak, he was far from light and he didn't want her clothing to get dirty. Her eyes were green-blue and her hair was a lighter shade of brown than Rill's. Their faces were similar, but Rill's was a trifle softer. His friend looked a little younger than this girl.
"Ah...Sorry about...angel thing." He apologized awkwardly. "I thought-" He cut himself off. Rill had been drilling him excessively about what was a good thing to say to a girl and what was a bad idea. And something like what he had just said would make any girl blush, or most of them at least, and telling her that it had been meant for another girl would be a very bad idea.
"You thought I was someone else?" She inquired, giggling. Damn. "I'm no angel. And I'm glad I'm not because that would mean you would be dead, and that would make the flowers sad." While Zack wasn't that...happy with having been caught, he was...curious?
"The flowers would be sad?" He asked, looking down with some guilt at where the delicate stems had been crushed under his boots. They do look kinda sad right now...
"Yeah. I would be too." This was said with another bright smile in his direction. Zack could feel his brain fizzle for a second. He cleared his throat, aware that she was still standing kinda close...
"I'm Zack." He blurted. "Zack Fair." She performed a mock curtsy, still smiling at him with that dimple...
"Aeris Gainsborough."
Aeris was like Rill in yet another two aspects, Zack concluded.
She was really easy to be around. After he had sent a check in message to explain what had happened to him, and that he'd be back in a few hours, Zack realized that he had never had such an easy time talking to a girl that he had just met. He'd have thought that Aeris would be angry for crushing so many of her flowers, but instead she just waved it off.
"They'll grow back. They always do. And they kept you from getting hurt, so it's worth it."
And she was really good at getting him to work with her without him realizing what he was doing.
He came to this realization as he held a bouquet of flowers for Aeris to tie together as she explained what she was doing and why.
"I didn't think I'd see two people who could grow flowers in Midgar." Zack remarked, thinking back about Rill and wondering. He hadn't gotten to see her, but he had been told by Sephiroth that she was safe and with her family. Didn't he say they were in the slums somewhere? No, Reno had said it. Something about Rill scaring the living daylights out of him when he was on duty.
"Oh?" Aeris asked, seeming to be more focused on tying the white ribbon into a pristine bow.
"Yeah." Actually... It had to be a pretty rare thing to have flowers growing. Maybe these girls knew each other? Ha! I can too be smart, Reno! "You wouldn't happen to know anyone called Nerilka would you?" It might have been a major blow to any points that he might get from her, but his friend was kinda more important than a stranger... Even if she's a really cute girl- Stop it!
Aeris didn't seem that bothered, she just smiled all the more brightly.
"Nerilka? I've heard of her." Zack perked up, relieved. It would be interesting to see how Seph reacted when Zack managed to see Rill before him. Maybe I can get him to admit that he likes her...
"That's great! I'm a friend of hers from work. You wouldn't happen to know where she lives down here?"
"Why do you want to know?" Oh...Oh he knew that voice. Aeris was being coy. But Zack was on a mission.
"I'm worried about her." He looked at Aeris with something that his fellows called puppy dog eyes. They also said it was entirely unfair that he could pull the look off without compromising his dignity. Dignity. Pst! Who needs it? I have brownies! "I haven't seen her in a while and I know she got involved with the terrorist attack up top. I just wanna make sure she's alright." The young brunette considered him with a smile that seemed almost impish...
"Alright. Help me carry all of these bouquets to the memorial, and I'll show you where she lives." Zack was about to agree when there came a thud and a splintering sound from the roof. He instantly tensed, reaching for his sword until he heard human voices.
"Aeris! Stop manipulating my friends!" Zack jumped, staring at the old patchwork roof. There was a hole where he had fallen through that was freshly patched, but there were gaps in the tiles and beams that revealed Rill, the Fun Rill.
"Rill!?" He was bewildered for a split second before the happiness kicked in and a thought occurred to him. Zack raced over to where he could grin up at her. "Can I hold it over your head that you're stuck on a roof?" She snorted.
"Not a chance, Zack. I'm up here cleaning up after you, as usual." He really should have expected that Rill knew carpentry as well. Aeris laughed.
"Come on, Rill, I was this close!"
"Nope! You are not taking shameless advantage of the fact that Zack can't say no to damsel's in distress. Tough it out!"
It made sense that they knew each other, Zack admitted to himself as he went to the door to eagerly await Rill coming back onto he ground. Just so he could give her the mother of all noogies for stressing him out by getting kidnapped! He was totally gonna assign himself to be her bodyguard. I love being 1st Class. It was obvious that she needed one. Even Sephiroth would agree!
Zack's initial glance over revealed that Rill was happy, healthy and all but completely recovered from her fright. She didn't look like the pictures from yesterday at all, bloody, dusty, dirty and disheveled. He snatched her into a hug, spinning around delightedly, enjoying the disgusted, but not upset grimace on her face.
"Zack, your post-combat odor is as authentic as an ID card, but completely unnecessary since only you could sleep through falling off the Plate."
"Your snarky comment can not be answered at this time, please try again later!" Then something just kinda fitted into place and Zack could feel the light bulb flash on in his head. "Wait a sec..."
Zack pulled back, looking between Rill and Aeris...
"Come over here." He put them next to each other then proceeded to cross examine them...squishing first Rill's cheeks, then Aeris, who seemed more amused than exasperated.
Rill was a little darker in her hair, eyes and skin, and she looked younger... But right now, with both of them having their hair pulled back and looking at him with matching quizzical tilts to their heads-
"Geez...you guys could almost be twins!" This made the two girls exchange a long look. Zack knew that look, Rill used it all the time. It was the 'I-just-stated-the-obvious-and-am-being-judged.' look. He didn't get to hear what they had to say on this, because another familiar voice spoke behind him.
"It's called a family resemblance, Puppy." Zack went stock still. No way...
-vVv-
When Angeal's voice rang out from the doorway, Rill and Aeris didn't even need to exchange a glance or a single word before they quietly walked out of the church. Zack didn't seem to notice, staring at the figure of his mentor and father figure in the doorway.
Not something that needs witnesses. Rill thought.
Agreed. They only paused to pick up the flowers that they had bundled to carry them outside. Angeal knew where the house was and would come back for lunch. Or dinner, it was getting closer to evening.
The SOLDIER to SOLDIER talk would probably involve Zack shouting at least once, but neither of them felt any impression from the Planet that stated they should linger. So out they went without a backwards glance. There was a beat of hesitation in Rill's steps (This is going to hurt Zack even more than believing Angeal was dead) but with Aeris taking hold of her hand, she allowed herself to be led away.