To love an Ancient 2: An Aeris and Kadaj story
10294 Words
24 pages
Chapter 25
Anxious Awakening
Disclaimer
Nope, I don't own Final Fantasy 7...but I sometimes adopt their kawaii bishonens! (most specifically the silvered haired kind.)
Authors Notes
Hey guys! I hope everyone has been doing well. Atm, I have been trying to improve my painting skills by doing some very random art commissions. Someday I hope to paint a wonderful cover for this fic. I just want to earn a bit more money first doing my commissions haha x
As for the last chapter, I thought it was kinda fun in a dark and twisted way. I send a great big Thankyou to everyone who's sent me a lovely review about my portrayal of Yazoo. I think there is something so deliciously cold about Yazoo's character and he serves as a wonderful binary to Kadaj.
Anywho, Musical muses for this chapter.
Era's Impera. (Best Vinnie inspirational music)
Cristofori's Dream by David Lanz. (Again another melancholy beautiful Vinnyish theme)
FF7ACC Sign (Best for creating warp SHM scenes)
Schindler's List (Pure tragedy that's why it is so beautiful)
Stay with me from the Fountain (The song of tears based on a film about accepting death. Simply beautiful)
Anywho enough of my ramblings and on with the fic!
0o0o0
In the end it was Yuffie who found a very dirty Vincent Valentine slumbering in the Gongaga graveyard. He was sleeping against one of the gravestones, shivering as if he had been laying outside all night. The young female raised a brow as she noticed that the Ex-Turk was not even wearing his comical golden boots nor his dark red mantle.
Yuffie gaped. Her first instinct was to twirl around and leave the sleeping man in peace. But something held her back. This was the first time she had looked at the dark haired male without his wary crimson eyes staring her down. Dressed in only a black vest and thin leather trousers, the gunman looked more vulnerable than the ninja had ever imagined. His long black hair cascaded down his pale shoulders and his long lashes seemed so dark against his pasty white skin. For the very first time, the ninja admitted to herself that Vincent was a rather handsome guy in a dark, creepy, and all too skinny sort of way.
"Gosh Vinny you are so thin! Stop dieting and pig out!" Yuffie wanted to exclaim. But she held her breath, as she watched the gunman's brow furrow against the cold stone. She had not said anything aloud, but it seemed that the gunman had sensed her presence. Yuffie watched as a lazy crack of crimson blearily looked up at her.
"Hey Vinny are you alright?" Yuffie asked, as she squatted down to meet the gunman's eye level. "You look a mess," she added, to prove a point, she reached out to pluck a leaf out of his wild ebony hair.
Vincent sighed, and rubbed a gloved hand to his temple. "I am fine," he answered with a whisper, a little disconcerted with the ninja's closeness to him. He would have moved away, but he simply did not have the energy to do so. "I am…just tired."
"Tired?" Yuffie raised a brow. "Well I don't think a graveyard would be the best place to sleep now."
"Graveyard?" This was the very first time that Vincent took the time to look around. He seemed almost surprised to see the statues of angels and crosses encircling him from all directions. Last night, Vincent knew that Chaos had taken control of his body. He did not know when Chaos relinquished control, but it seemed that before he did, he chose to leave his body in a graveyard. The gunman chuckled silently to himself. "A cemetery seems more than fitting for me," he murmured to the cold air. Vincent was used to sleeping in graveyards. His body had grown accustomed to sleeping on a soft bed of red satin. It seemed Chaos was trying to indulge him by finding the gunman a place to sleep that he had long since been accustomed too all these years. A cold dark place that sighed with the stillness of death… Yes, a cold, dank cemetery was an all too fitting place for a damned soul such as Vincent Valentine.
The gunman's dark crimson eyes rose from the dirt to rise upwards to the melancholy beauty of a white marble statue situated on top of a grave opposite him. His throat tightened as he gazed in silent wonder at the angelic manmade deity that had her arms held together in prayer. Vincent knew deep down that there was something dubiously improper having pure white angels hovering over the dark and empty realm of a lonely graveyard. Stone angels seemed like beacons of false hope. To Vincent, their icy white wings symbolised a false escape from a world that had wronged them. This was what the gunman could not understand about the motif of an angel. If angels had wings, why would they hover and stay in a place which reeked of pain and eternal sadness? Why would something so pure glow in a place where only death and sorrow reigned? Vincent believed that if angels could truly fly, would they not be soaring to places which were bereft of sadness and sorrow? Wouldn't they flee to another world where the darkness of man could not harm nor taint their eternal beauty?
The gunman sighed. Whenever his thoughts turned to melancholy thoughts of darkness, his mind would inevitably shift back to the waning light in his heart.
'Lucrecia…'
Every time he thought of her name. The same cold pang of sorrow shot through him, like a bullet fired by the grim reaper himself.
'My beautiful Lucrecia…'
Looking at the same statue now, the gunman could see his beloved's face in the white ivory. Vincent could easily envision her warm brown eyes, and her small but gentle hands reaching out to touch his dark brow.
'…I…I need you with me… Please… Tell me how… I cannot live without you…'
'…You are all that I lived for…'
'……Please…help me…'
Yuffie shivered as she watched the gunman descend into a silent dream beside her. It seemed he had forgotten that she was sitting there with him. The ninja felt like she should not remain there, but it seemed wrong to leave a man alone when they were so very mournful. The wutainese princess was never fond of gloomy thoughts. Whether they were her own or other peoples. Yuffie knew the best way to rid gloomy thoughts was to promote ultra happy- happy ones.
"Hey lighten up Vinny!" The ninja exclaimed, trying to meet the gunman's eyes. Instead the Ex-Turk seemed to be looking through her, and at something behind her. The ninja turned around and eyed the impressive beauty of the angelic statue which towered over them both. The statue was wearing long flowing robes and had long trailing hair. It was the personification of purity and beauty. Yuffie's eyes slid between the statue and the gunman. He seemed completely enraptured with it.
"She's pretty, isn't she?" Yuffie admitted.
"………" Vincent made no response. There was no thought invading his mind other than his love for his beloved Lucrecia.
"Shame she's only made of stone. You could have asked her out on a date." Yuffie added cheekily, wholly expecting a response for that quip.
The gunman blinked, but said nothing.
Yuffie rolled her eyes. It seemed Vincent had gone to a place where only he and the statue existed. The ninja knew that the statue was pretty, but she wasn't that amazing to goggle at. The ninja didn't know what fascination the gunman had with still-life objects.
'Well…I guess with that long hair and those stupidly bug sized eyes, the stone looks a hell of a lot like Aeris…'
Assuming that the gunman was pining after a certain missing flowergirl, the teen rolled her eyes again. "Don't worry Vinny. We will find your lover."
The gunman blinked. This time he raised his head to stare directly at Yuffie. His gaze was penetrating and a little disconcerting. It seemed he wanted her to elaborate.
Yuffie scratched her head. "Well you know. Cloud lost her once and found her again. We will get your Aeris back, don't you worry!"
The gunman's eyes widened, and then he turned his head away to the side as if he had been slapped with the truth. The gunman's persona reeked of pure dejection. He clenched his hands to his sides. He could no longer look at the statue now. Vincent Valentine was now looking at the dirt beneath him. That was all he deserved to look at. He did not deserve to look at any form of beauty. Yuffie's words, no matter how silly and incorrect they were struck a chord in the gunman's dying heart. He foolishly assumed that Yuffie knew how to help him find his beloved Lucrecia. But the remembrance of another beautiful woman caused the gunman's heart to crumble even more. There was something about that flowergirl. Vincent knew Aeris was someone precious. When he thought of her, all he could think of, was why anyone could want to hurt someone so innocent and pure.
'But it always those who are the most undeserving that pay the price for being innocent.'
Vincent mentally mourned those who had been damned by Shinra.
He could not protect his beloved. He could not protect her son. He could not protect Aeris…
The gunman inhaled a dry and musky laugh to himself. What really was the point of his existence if the people he tried to help, were condemned by his inability to act? The answer to that question, Vincent knew all too well. There was really no point to his existence. He had pondered his existence for thirty years and came to that single conclusion.
Vincent stared down at his clawed hand. His crime and punishment. For failing her.
'I have failed them all…'
The gunman did not even have the emotional capacity to cry. He was that pathetic. All he could do was continue his false existence, dancing between the pinnacle of life and self destruction. Vincent sighed. Pining away was getting himself nowhere. He had to get up. His misery would always follow him, but it seemed wiser to move and be melancholy, rather than be still and melancholy. He had remained still in a coffin for over thirty years. If he was going to sit in a graveyard, he might as well have stayed inside the Nibelheim mansion. The gunman shook his head. He knew now was the time for action…
'..Even if I know all my actions will ultimately result in failure…'
'I need to try…'
'…for her…'
'…for Aeris…'
Vincent moved his bare feet beneath him, and then he slowly rose to his tall height. The ninja beside him leapt up to her feet, and she watched in silent awe as the morning wind caused the gunman's long hair to dance softly in the melancholy breeze.
"Whoa Vinny, I think you need to take a bath when you get back to the others. You are D-irt-tay!" Yuffie exclaimed, as she plucked another leaf out of the gunman's hair.
Vincent looked down at himself and eyed the smears of dirt coating himself from head to toe. He could only wonder where Chaos had taken him last night. The gunman mentally sighed once more. In truth, he realised he did not want to know. The thought that Chaos might have ripped a human child to pieces while he remained dormant was not something he wanted to know nor remember.
The gunman tried to rub the dirt off his trousers and shirt, but the stains did not seem to fade. 'Just like I cannot remove the growing sins on my soul. Lucrecia. Aeris. Sephiroth. Please forgive me.'
His dark crimson eyes turned from the grim graveyard to meet the ninja's steel toned orbs. "Yuffie. Lets go back to the others."
"Oh finally! Graveyards really give me the creeps!" Yuffie exclaimed, as she jogged towards the entrance of the cemetery with a reticent gunman warily following on in tow.
0o0o0o0
"Vincent's back Cloud," Tifa called to her leader, whilst looking out a window, watching as a familiar gunman and bouncy wutainese ninja appeared in her vision on the Gongaga streets. Hearing no response from the Ex-SOLDIER, the brunette's dark eyes turned towards the blond laying on the bed. His gaze remained focused on the cracked white ceiling above him.
"Cloud?" The brunette voiced gently as she made her way to the blond's bed. They were the only two in the single room of the Gongaga Inn. "Are you okay?"
Cloud turned his head to the side, as if trying to turn his mind away from the question the brunette had asked. When he turned his glowing mako gaze to stare at the worried brunette, the blond revealed none of the emotional anxieties that were currently swirling in his conscious mind. "I am fine Tifa. I am just tired."
Tifa grinned weakly. "I guess we are all tired." she sighed. She knew she had not had a single wink of rest last night. She was too busy watching over her blond haired leader. All night she had wondered what to say to him, and what he would say to her. Seeing Sephiroth inside the temple had truly affected them all. But how Cloud had acted around Sephiroth was what truly disconcerted the brunette. She wouldn't have believed it if she did not see it with her own eyes. Cloud had readily handed the fate of the planet to a psycho megalomaniac.
The brunette bit her lip. One of her gloved hands moved over her chest to unconsciously score a line where a silver scar remained hidden from the rest of the world.
"Cloud?"
"Yes Tifa?"
It was the question that needed to be asked. "What are we going to do now?"
The blond sighed in bed. "I wish I knew…. I guess we need to find Sephiroth again. He has the Black Materia.." '..because of me..' "-and we are all aware of what Sephiroth intends to do with it. He intends to kill us all to make himself become a God to this Planet."
"He's insane." Tifa shuddered. The nightmare of Nibelheim came back to her mind. All she could think of was fire and death. "We cannot let that happen."
"I know," Cloud breathed. '…I just don't know how we can stop someone like Sephiroth…'
Tifa let the room reside to silence. She then voiced another thought that she knew was on her leader's mind. "Aeris was not with Sephiroth. What does this mean then?"
The blond closed his eyes and inhaled softly. "I really don't know." Cloud had thought of all the reasons why Aeris was not at Sephiroth's side. The only realistic and most logical thought he could come across was how Sephiroth had kidnapped her again, had no use of her, killed her, and had disposed of her body somewhere for the scavengers to feed on. The blond clenched his hands at his sides. He wished he could think of other thoughts but whenever he thought of Sephiroth, all he could think about was death. He vocalised his internal ramblings to the brunette in the room.
She gasped. "Oh Cloud don't say such things!" Tifa said.
"We all need to be realistic here Tifa. Aeris is most likely dead." The way the blond said these words made the brunette believe that something had truly died inside the warrior's heart. Cloud was not acting like himself. The glowing mako fire in his eyes seemed much dimmer than usual, void of the warrior vigour she had seen in the past.
"There is no proof that Sephiroth has killed her," the brunette argued, trying to instil some form of hope into the blond.
"There is no proof that Sephiroth has not killed her." Cloud finished.
Tifa could not respond to such a statement. Her leader seemed like he had given up on the flowergirl. To Tifa, Cloud's responses seemed so very wrong and unnatural. No, Tifa realised. It wasn't that Cloud had given up on Aeris. Tifa realised that Cloud had given up on himself. She had an unconscious urge to slap some sense into the blond, but she knew that violence would do more harm than good. Although most people failed to see it. Cloud… was a very sensitive person. She did not want the blond to turn away from her. She only wanted to help him. She was his only connection to his past, as he was hers.
"Cloud, we will find a way out of this. If we found Aeris once, we can find her again," Tifa encouraged softly.
"I guess," Cloud voiced softly to the ceiling.
And then the room went silent once more.
The silence was broken by an all too familiar yell of a wutainese princess reminding everyone that she was in the neighbouring vicinity.
Cloud cringed and threw a hand over his eyes, as his bedroom door banged open and a cheeky ninja bounded inside, along with a silent gunman lurking at her side. The blond groaned silently. Oh how he wished he could escape the rest of his life in the land of dreams. In that land Cloud was sure wutainese princesses would either be mute or cease to exist.
"Hey Cloud! Wakey wakey! You need to get up now! Make plans! Go after that prized Black Materia and smash that meanie Sephiroth down!"
The blond blinked. He was not the only one surprised by the ninja's unexpected words. Even Tifa and Vincent was baffled by the ninja's positive attitude. They all knew Yuffie was all too aware of how dangerous Sephiroth was. After all she was the first to flee in battle when they encountered him in the Temple of the Ancients. But for some bizarre reason, Yuffie now seemed ready to take him on. No-one could understand the teen's sudden change of heart.
"Um Yuffie?" Tifa began. "Are you feeling okay?"
The ninja grinned and pumped a fist. "I'm feeling great actually. I'm just getting fed up with how everyone is acting so down in the dumps. I found our dear Vinny sleeping like a tramp in a graveyard." The Ex-Turk's back tensed, as he fought the urge not to glare at the teen beside him. "And Cloud has never been Captain Positive to us all, and well…walking around this town has given me time to think over everything that has happened to me." The ninja walked around the room as she spoke. "Well what I realised is this. No matter what life throws our way, in the end we are the ones who choose how to act when we face life's challenges. Staying sad, scared and miserable really doesn't change a thing, nor does it really help our future prospects. In fact fear and sadness can only make things worse. Sadness makes our fears bigger. It makes our anxieties stronger, till it gets to a point that the only thing we can do is cower in our beds and worry over what the next day can bring." After saying this, Yuffie bounded over to the blond. Cloud was listening to Yuffie for what seemed the first time since they had first met. "Cloud doesn't it make more sense to get out of bed and see what we can do, than wallowing in what we cannot?" Now Yuffie had whirled on Vincent, pointing at him as if accusing the gunman of a secret crime. "Why think in a way that cripples you from day one? Isn't it better to think in a way that strengthens you?"
"What are you saying Yuffie?" Tifa asked. She was interested in what the ninja was saying.
"What I'm saying is that everyone needs a huge kick up the butt. If you want to find Aeris, then we all need to get up and find her. If you want to beat up Sephiroth, Cloud pick up your sword and beat him up with it. What are you guys waiting for?!"
Tifa smiled grimly at the young ninja. "We all understand what you say Yuffie, but sometimes life isn't that simple."
"Why can't it be that simple then, huh?" Yuffie countered. "I haven't even reached twenty and I have realised now that life can only be what you want it to be. You see…when I first met you guys, the only thing that was important to me was bringing back power to my home, and to do this I thought the only way was by stealing back all of the materia that rightfully belongs to Wutai!"
The ninja pumped a fist in the air. "In truth…I still plan to return my country to its former glory. But I'm sidetracking myself. When I first met you guys…I was too single-minded. I was not thinking things through logically. I thought it was only with the power of materia that I could help Wutai bring down Shinra…" Yuffie paused then, as she envisioned green mako eyes staring at her from within the darkness.
"But….when I met him…when I faced him…for the first time…Sephiroth unknowingly taught me something."
"Despite having materia on me. I was still powerless. He k-killed me and-"
Yuffie inhaled a breath. She was getting emotional again. She did not want to be emotional for what she was going to say next. "And then when Sephiroth brought me back to life as if on a whim, I realised that Sephiroth's fearsome power didn't come from some dinky materia or from a person's sword or gun or knife. In the end power comes from what choices we can make in life. I have nooo idea why Sephiroth brought me back from the dead. But all I know is that he did it by his own free will. If he didn't well…I would be scavenger food now." Yuffie shuddered to herself.
"Anyways…what I'm trying to say is we all choose who we want to be. Good. Bad. Semi-bad. Semi-good? We can either be lazy recluses who waste each day wallowing in bed, sleeping in graveyards and coffins….or we can be strong warriors who squash the bad guys and always fight to win! Hyah! I know now that I'm not going to waste my life being afraid of someone, when we might have an opportunity to kick Sephiroth's ass in the future!"
When Yuffie finished her speech, everyone remained silent. Tifa was the first to speak. "You know what Cloud, Yuffie is right. We all need to get up and strategise what to do next. We cannot complain about not being in control of our own future if we do not attempt to fight!"
"…….." Cloud sighed, and wearily got himself out of the bed. He himself did not know what to do, but even he knew that wallowing in bed wasn't going to change things for him.
"Now guys! Let's plan!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Vincent, go and get Barret, Cid and Red. We all need to be together to bring Sephiroth down and get Aeris back."
The blond leader of Avalanche raised a brow, as he watched the Turk leave the room to do what the ninja told him without question. 'Okay? Who has made Yuffie leader of Avalanche?' Cloud shook his head as he watched his team-mates gather around her. The blond really didn't care who led their party now, as long as it wasn't him. Today he really did not have the motivation nor the will to drive the others on.
'..hahahah. Of course not. After all Cloud, you are only a puppet…'
Cloud's eyes widened. The voice in his head were back again!
0o0o0o0
Midgar: Shinra HQ.
0o0o0o0
"Okay. Thank you for that Elena," Rufus coughed into his PHS, before closing it shut and tossing the item across the other side of the room. The young President cursed in pain, as he leant back in his office chair. His entire body burned all over. And it was all because of Hojo's damn mako shots. Elena has just contacted him to let him know that Tseng was out of commission. It seemed that Sephiroth had interceded him at the entrance of the Temple of the Ancients. The truth was unfortunate, as it went against one of the blond's main plans. Rufus' first priority was to find the Promised Land so he could carry on his father's legacy. Rufus coughed again and drew a hand to his mouth. His shoulders wracked with the pain of each sound that came from his lips. When the blond drew his hand away, he was half alarmed to see black flecks of blood coating his palm. Whipping a cloth from his pocket, the President cleaned the blood off his hands before throwing the handkerchief in a nearby bin. The blond sighed deeply before leaning back into his office chair. Things did not seem like they were working in his favour. Hojo had promised him that the shots would enhance his body, not cripple him.
"Damnit!"
The President's temple was pounding a fierce drum song of pain. And his skin burned all over. Rufus' eyes were red rimmed from all the many tearful nights where the pain was just too great to bare. His body felt like one painful agony. Rufus could not understand why he even thought of allowing that crazy scientist to play with his body. He even swore that since the first injection, some nights he had heard voices in his head telling him to do things he had no intention of doing. The words always told him that he was meant to be going on a journey to the far North. Rufus simply thought these were the painkiller drugs talking. But the voices didn't seem to change. They kept telling him to attend a place where a being of unprecedented power would be born in the far North. The young President cursed, and wearily went looked inside his white jacket pockets to light himself a cigarette. It seemed that madness of the mind was the price to pay to possess supreme power of the body.
The blond breathed out smoke from his lit cigarette. Rufus' intensely blue eyes were tainted with mako as he pondered his next actions. He knew he needed to see Hojo tomorrow to request for more painkillers, and find out if the buzzing voices in his head would be something permanent, or a temporary side affect.
Rufus sighed. For now, he had other things to attend to. The President of Shinra had files that needed to be read and signed. Most of the papers were from the Weapons Department about the future funding costs of the Mako cannon. But the blond knew such files could be through at another time. Rufus turned his attention back to his mobile phone on the floor. With great effort the white clothed male got out of his chair and painfully made his way over to his PHS. He picked it up. It seemed that it was still in working order. The President then scanned the list of names in his phone list. His eyes flickered on Scarlet's name for a moment, before grimacing. Now that was not a woman he had never appreciated seeing during his work time, let alone his free time. His eyes went further down the list, before going back up again. It seemed there was no-one who seemed suitable to accompany him tonight. His mako eyes then gleamed as a unusual thought came to him. His thumb pressed the call-back button, and the President raised the mobile to his ear.
"Elena. I need you to attend my office in one hour for dinner. And…" Rufus paused, as he envisioned some of the scantily clad numbers that Scarlet had worn in the past to woo him. He visibly cringed. "I recommend that you dress appropriately."
He clicked his phone shut before he received an answer. The President knew that none of his Turks could say no to any of his whims.. After all, he paid them far too much to allow them to think for themselves..
0o0o0
Midgar: Elena's Room
0o0o0
The blonde female blinked. Her mouth almost hit the floor when she repeated aloud what Rufus had just said to her.
"Elena. I need you to attend my office in one hour for dinner. And I recommend that you dress appropriately. What the hell?!" the blonde exclaimed, as she looked at the time on the wall. The blonde Turk felt like a complete mess. She had been upset ever since she had found out about Tseng's wounded condition. The last thing she wanted to do was go on a date with anybody, let alone the President of Shinra. After all he was the one who sent Tseng on the suicide mission. He was the reason why Tseng was hurt. Elena mentally seethed.
"But an order is an order," the Turk sighed, as she dropped her mobile to her bed and made her way to the shower. "And what the hell does Rufus mean by dress appropriately?!"
0o0o0
Northern Continent: Back to a very cold cave
0o0o0
Aeris awoke.
But when she awoke she swore she must have still been dreaming. For only dreams could envision such mad situations. In her moment of awakening, the flowergirl could feel many sensations and nearly all of them were unpleasant. First and foremost she was cold. But not just mildly cold. She was absolutely freezing. Instinct made her try and curl up to the heat which encompassed her back and chest. The heat she was feeling was something she did not want to part with, for if she did not have the heat, all she would have around her is the cold. Her vision was blurred and her mouth felt slurry, as if sometime during the night her mouth had frozen over and was still in the process of defrosting.
Eventually Aeris' vision cleared enough that she could see the vague crackling embers of a fire close to her right side. It did not seem strong enough to create any form of valuable heat. Thankfully it lit the cave so that Aeris could see her surroundings. Aeris sighed and blearily looked down at the dark cloak which covered her form. One by one her senses enhanced. She could hear the crackling fire, but more puzzling was how she could hear a pulsing beat which sounded awfully like a heart pounding at the back of her head. The brunette froze, almost wanting to turn around to reprimand Kadaj for surprising her. Aeris knew this was not the first time the teen had decided to sleep so close to her. She was about to use her left arm to tap him to ask him to move when Aeris realised something even more positively disturbing. It was something she knew she should have realised from the very beginning of awakening. A black cloak covered her, but she did not have to see anything to know that something hot was laying in her lap, hidden from her vision. Whatever was on her body had pinned her left arm between them. Fortunately the flowergirl's right arm was free to move as she so pleased, and Aeris she warily lifted the cloak to see what strange heat was laying on her body.
What she saw made her eyes bulge.
And then she opened her mouth to scream.
But suddenly a large hand covered her mouth before she could utter even the smallest cry of horror.
"Do not awake him. He tired himself to the point of fatigue to save you," A calm and detached voice whispered in her ear. Aeris body tensed. Her instincts were telling her to move. But the hand around her mouth clenched down, causing her pain. The brunette trembled. Hers eyes were framed open with shock at the sight in her lap. She did not expect to see this. Kadaj was naked, and curled as innocent as a babe on top of her naked body. If that realisation could not make her faint first, then the sight of two strong thighs positioned on either side of her hips, and long silver hair pooling down her right bare shoulder, should have! Aeris was all too aware that Kadaj and she were not the only naked individuals in the cave. Aeris tried to struggle but the silver haired gunman behind her grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from jostling Kadaj awake.
Now the flowergirl was fully aware of the gunman, Aeris could feel intense eyes on her from behind. She wanted to be free of him. But the gunman refused to release his grip. The brunette's eyes watered with pain, fear and the cold. All she could think about was crying. Tears slipped out of her tear ducts and splashed on the gunman's hand around her mouth.
"You cry when Kadaj and I save you? You are so ungrateful," Yazoo murmured in her ear. Aeris scrunched her eyes shut but the tears still continued to come. "If it was not for us, you would have died. If your little feeble mind cannot comprehend why Kadaj and I are positioned around you like this, then I will tell you myself, it is not for our benefit, but for yours."
Aeris shuddered. Her back was tense against the gunman's chest. This was the last thing she had ever imagined or wanted. "It almost amuses me how you are upset when it should be me who should be affronted after being forced to save your undeserving life. I did not have to do this you know."
Aeris raised her right hand to grasp the gunman's covering her mouth. Her feeble attempts did not affect his iron like grip on her. "Promise you will not awaken my Brother and I will let you speak."
Aeris nodded reluctantly, and when Yazoo removed his hand, the brunette remained silent. It was more out of shock and fear than obedience to the gunman's words. However the flowergirl continued to cry. Unfortunately, her wet tears did not irk the gunman at all. In truth, they confused him. He believed the girl had no reason to cry. "Why are you still crying?"
Aeris looked down at the pale haired Kadaj laying on her chest. His legs were woven in her own. She stifled a sob. "I cant help it…" she cried weakly.
The brunette's words weren't good enough for the gunman. "So you cannot control your urges to cry. You are that weak?" Yazoo drawled.
The gunman's words seemed all too similar to another silver haired warrior she knew and Aeris was amazed by her own answer, "Yes! I am weak!!" She exclaimed, uncaring whether she awoke Kadaj up or not. "I'm weak and useless! There you go! Are you happy now?!"
Yazoo felt his lip tense. Somehow the brunette's words did not satisfy him. "Even though you acknowledge being weak and insignificant. Explain this to me then. What does Sephiroth see in you?"
"I don't know," the brunette was blubbering now. "I don't care. I just want to find him. I have things to tell him about his past that he doesn't know about. I know what I say can help him."
"And what are you planning to tell Sephiroth?" Yazoo asked blandly.
The brunette shook her head. She did not need to tell the cold gunman anything. The words Vincent had told her were sacred. They were her only hope for Sephiroth's salvation, and for her own. "Sephiroth only needs to know them. No-one else."
"Fair enough," the gunman said in a stale tone. Genuinely he did not care about the brunette's intentions. The only thing he cared about was preventing her from jeopardising Kadaj's mission. He turned his gaze from her and looked towards the fire. It was the only visible form of life in the cold cave.
Aeris had not stopped crying but her blubbering had lessened. She listened to the faint crackling sounds of the fire and the powerful pulsing of Yazoo's heart from behind and Kadaj's at her front. In the silence, the flowergirl truly took in what Yazoo had just said to her. She realised now that the silver haired pair had saved her life. They had shared their body heat so she could survive the night in the cold. Aeris did not know what to make of it. Embarrassment and fear prevailed the logic of Yazoo's words. It seemed insane how she got herself into these crazy situations. Her face burned with shame and mortification. Her mortification quickly bled to fear. Her green eyed gaze then gazed down at the solid pale thighs of the man laying behind her, and her mind warped back into a new state of raw horror. New tears began to slip from her eyes.
In the dark, dimly lit cave, the naked flowergirl's gaze bravely flickered down to her chest where Kadaj was currently sleeping. Aeris noticed for the first time the frozen tears which were misted at the corner of the young warrior's eyes. The flowergirl felt a warm pang flicker in her heart, and the brunette raised her right hand to brush away the teen's pale locks from his face. Her embarrassment of her situation had far from faded. Knowing that Kadaj's head was now resting against her naked breasts was a experience she hoped she would soon forget in time. She had the same thought about being aware of the hard contours of Yazoo's torso against her naked back and rear. Still out of the two men, Kadaj naturally gave her more comfort than Yazoo. In that decision alone, Aeris grabbed at the opportunity of not sinking further into a deeper realm of madness. With her right arm, Aeris drew her arm around Kadaj and clung to him like a vice. Aeris knew that in the cave, Kadaj was the only source of life who genuinely cared for her welfare, and Aeris did not want to let go of such a precious gift of warmth.
Aeris knew between the two men, her frightened heartbeat could not slow to allow her to sleep, but she stilled her body enough, that eventually Yazoo wrapped his cloak back around them all.
And then time passed for memory.
Aeris knew she had not slept a wink, but slowly the warm bundle in her lap began to move, and the pale face on her buxom shifted silently. Two catlike eyes, the colour of mint starlight blinked up at her.
And that was when the tears came.
Which were not Aeris'
But instead Kadajs'.
"OH MOTHER! YOU'RE AWAKE! " Kadaj exclaimed, as he hugged the brunette for all she was worth. Tears of pure elation were dripping from his eyes. "I-I, when I found you frozen, I thought I had lost you, but Yazoo helped me to warm you up. I would have never been able to forgive myself if something happened to you."
Kadaj's tears would not stop, and Aeris felt warmed at the sight of them. Kadaj genuinely cared for her. He was distraught at the thought of her dying. The brunette raised a hand to the teen's cheek and brushed a tear away. Kadaj stilled and blushed with shame. "I'm so sorry Mother. I promise I will never leave you alone with Yazoo again. I promise. I will never leave your side. I will be your shadow."
The brunette cracked the teen a smile and ruffled his hair. If nothing else, she could always rely on Kadaj to be too adorable even in the most darkest and dingiest of situations.
Aeris felt Yazoo shift behind her, and she froze at the sensation of feeling of his hard body rubbing behind her. She was then nudged forward none too gently. Aeris yelped when she was roughly pushed into Kadaj's solid form. The tall gunman did not bother to look at the pair, and Aeris tried not to look at him as a naked Yazoo bent himself over the fire. It took a moment for the flowergirl to realise what the gunman was doing. It seemed he was drying all of their clothes.
Looking between the two silver haired men, Aeris was constantly reminded of theirs, and her own immodesty. Using Yazoo's black cloak, Aeris wrapped herself and Kadaj in it, to remain warm while watching Yazoo unfreeze their clothes. The silence in the cave quickly lapsed into gentle conversation between the flowergirl and the young warrior sitting beside her.
"I do mean it Mother," Kadaj began softly.
"Mean what?" Aeris asked .
"I will never leave your side, I promise."
The flowergirl shook her head., "Well as long as you keep Yazoo away from me, that's what will make me happy."
The gunman did not turn his head, but Aeris was more than aware that the cold male had heard her words.
"I can promise you that, and anything Mother," Kadaj readily consented. "Tell me Mother, how was your bike ride with Yazoo?"
The flowergirl cringed at the memory. It was all coming back to her now. "Oh it was terrible. Yazoo was so horrible to me. He drove as if he was trying to kill me with his crazy bike driving skills. It was awful."
The teen sighed before glaring at Yazoo's bare back. "Did you purposely try to frighten Mother Brother?"
Yazoo shrugged and did not bother to turn to look at his younger brother. "We are running on a schedule, are we not? I drove knowing that I had to reach this cave before the heavy blizzards came."
"I refuse to bike with him ever again," Aeris said stubbornly. "Even if I have to walk a hundred miles. I rather have blistered feet than a broken neck."
Kadaj looked genuinely sympathetic. He could only imagine how scared his Mother was, riding alone with Yazoo. Under the blankets, Kadaj found the brunette's hand and he held it in one of his own.
"Don't worry Mother. I'm here now. Yazoo cannot harm you when I'm around."
The more Kadaj said his gentle words of reassurance, the more Aeris almost believed them to be true.
Eventually Yazoo had finished drying everyone's clothes, and Aeris eeped when her dress and Kadaj's leather clad suit were thrown her way. Kadaj snatched the items from the air before they could hit her.
"Now we can get ready and leave Mother," Kadaj said, as he got up out of the blanket. Aeris flushed and turned her head away, as both males dressed with no modesty or care that she was sitting there between them. When they had both finished, and were clipping their weapons in position , the pair looked at the flowergirl shivering in the blankets with dubious confusion.
"Aren't you going to get dressed Mother? Now is the best time to leave, unless you need more time to rest?"
Aeris heard the Kadaj's softly spoken words, but she still refused to move from her blanket. "Why are you not changing?" Yazoo asked evenly.
The brunette blushed as the leather clad males both stared down at her. Both wanted an answer. "Erm…is it ok if I wait for you guys to leave the cave first. I kind of want to get changed alone."
Kadaj and Yazoo blinked. Neither could understand the logic of the brunette's demands. "Why?" They voiced together.
The brunette flushed further. "Please. Can you both…just leave the cave for a moment. I just need some time by myself that's all."
Yazoo rolled his eyes. He believed the woman was more trouble than she was worth.
The gunman turned his attention away, before silently proceeding to open up the entrance of the cave. Yazoo said nothing and left the cave as soon as it was open. Kadaj reluctantly followed his brother out soon afterwards. The cold blistery wind whistled inside the cave chilling the flowergirl to the bone. She almost regretted asking the brothers to leave, when she realised how cold the cave had quickly became.
The flowergirl sighed to herself before shaking her head. She did not have the time to think of such nonsense. She needed to get ready to travel. The brunette quickly stood up from the blanket and picked up her bra and underwear, her face was cringing due to the coldness of the air. She put her white set of underwear on as quickly as she could. As she was halfway through latching her bra, she paused instantly when she heard Kadaj's words from outside the cave.
"YOU PERVERT STOP LOOKING AT MOTHER!"
The brunette froze and peered out the cave to see the brother's arguing. Or more precisely at Kadaj screaming while Yazoo tried to appear unfazed. Neither were looking in her direction, but she was still in their line of sight if they were to turn their heads towards her.
""I SAW YOU! DON'T DENY IT! YOU WERE LOOKING AT MOTHER WITH NO CLOTHES ON!"
Aeris flushed after hearing Kadaj's words, and she quickly threw her dress on so she could cover the rest of her modesty, as fast as she could. She pulled on her socks and boots and put Yazoo's dark cloak around her shoulders. She checked that her Mother's materia was still clipped in her hair. Now fully dressed Aeris was ready to leave the cave. But something prevented her. Aeris stared at the weak fire that was desperately trying to stay alive. As Aeris looked at the fire's condition, it reminded her of herself. In a way she was the fire. Weak but she knew she needed to survive. She would survive!
"DON'T LIE! I KNOW YOU WERE LOOKING AT HER BREASTS BROTHER!"
The brunette's eyes bugged and she felt herself slip to the ground. Kadaj's last words were the last straw. The tears came and before she knew it Aeris realised she was crying. She was descending into madness. Her sanity had left her long ago. But she knew she could not crack. She was almost there. She was going to see Sephiroth. And she was going to help him! Aeris knew that she was going to heal him of his madness! The flowergirl knew she could not break now. She refused to break! The madness was not going to consume her! She was not afraid of anything! She did not care what strange events life threw her way! She did not care how she a virgin, had slept between two men! She did not care at all!
'Oh who am I kidding?! Of course I care. I care so much I don't want to leave this cave to face either of them.'
Aeris hiccupped softly as she pulled on Kadaj's gloves. She clenched her hands. She knew she had to be strong. She could be strong. She will be strong. Her fate was hers to make. Fate had dealt her a good hand if she was willing to grasp it. She was going to do what the Cetra willed her to do. And Yazoo's creepiness was not going to prevent her from completing her destiny.
She inhaled a breath a inner courage.
And then moved outside the cave.
Kadaj was instantly at her side. His eyes were softened with concern. Already he was searching for her hand to grasp against his own. Aeris wasn't sure whether the action was for her comfort, or his own. The brunette noticed that Yazoo had not even attempted to look at her. Not even once Whether it was through the shame of what Kadaj had yelled, or his apparent lack of care towards her person, Aeris truly did not know. All the brunette knew was that if Kadaj was not there, she was sure she would not have been able to manage the journey with Yazoo alone. Despite how Yazoo had supposedly had helped save her life last night, all his actions were for a specific function. There was no genuine kindness in him. In truth, Yazoo was simply cold and unpleasant. Aeris flushed as she remembered the words that Kadaj had yelled outside the cave. The flowergirl hoped the teen was simply imagining things. In truth, Kadaj must have been, because Aeris knew a man as callous as Yazoo could only loathe a woman like her. He could not even stand the the idea of looking at her now.
Aeris did not want to think anymore about the cold hearted gunman, and so she drew her attention to the cold white expanse around her. The blizzard was over and the entire grounds were blanketed with crisp white snow. It seemed everything was so pure and pristine. The brunette wished she could almost appreciate the beauty that almost killed her last night. But she simply couldn't. Aeris knew that whenever she thought of snow now, all she would identity it with…was death…or potential death. White and deadly. Cold and uncaring. The brunette felt her gaze flicker towards a dark figure who seemed to share a lot of similarities with the snow.
Aeris then felt Kadaj squeeze her hand, and the brunette's heart warmed. She turned her attention from Yazoo to look Kadaj in the eye. She had no doubt now. Kadaj was the one who made things so much easier to bear. He was the innocence that the snow feigned to be. Yazoo was like the snow. Cold and unloving. But Kadaj was more like the spring. He was the lamb that was happy to frolic in the grass. Aeris beamed, and before Kadaj knew it, he was almost barrelled over when the brunette let go of his hand to suddenly leap on him, nearly hugging him to death. His eyes bugged and it took a few seconds for his brain to work, before he curled his body around the flowergirl like a happy kitten.
"Mother?" The teen's eyes wavered with raw emotion.
"I'm so glad you are here now Kadaj," Aeris said gently, as she drew herself back to look at the childlike face which stared back at her in innocent awe. She was smiling fondly at him. She couldn't help it. She did not know when or how, but Kadaj had become something necessary in her life. The teen reminded her why she was travelling in the first place. It was to preserve innocence. The teen was beaming back at her through his pale bangs, and before she knew it Aeris started giggling, before outright laughing. The teen's grin faltered. Had he missed a joke?
"Mother why are you laughing? What is funny?"
The brunette shook her head. "No. No. You have simply reminded me of my purpose, that's all."
Kadaj blinked.
"Eh?"
The teen was baffled. His baffling was cut short when he noticed in his peripheral vision, a black figure was currently climbing up the snowy mountain.
"HEY! Yazoo!"
The gunman turned to look down at his Brother before continuing up the steep cliff.
"Hey wait for us!" Kadaj shouted out. 'Sneaky bastard.' The teen turned back to his very startled Mother. "Don't worry Mother, when we get to the Reunion, I will tell Sephiroth everything that Yazoo has done so he can be accordingly punished."
The brunette shook her head.
"Come on Mother, Let's catch up with my Brother," Kadaj stated eagerly, as he looked up the steep mountain they had to traverse. His eyes noticed a less steep pathway than Yazoo had taken and Kadaj gestured his Mother towards it.
The brunette grinned as she watched the wind play across the teen's vision. She did not doubt the young teen's words, she was sure Sephiroth would not be happy with Yazoo's treatment with her. But then, she had more pressing matters to talk about with Sephiroth, than strange, creepy Yazoo. And so Aeris and Kadaj began climbing up the mountain.
"Kadaj? What do you think of Sephiroth?"
The teen paused to think, however he continued to trudge through the snow beside her.
"I don't know him very well Mother. All I know… is that Sephiroth decides what we do and everyone follows. And he is the one who keeps us all protected in the lifestream."
"What are you to Sephiroth then? I mean your resemblance to him is striking. Are you his son?"
Kadaj grinned and shook his head.
"You know I am no-ones son but yours Mother."
The brunette shook her head. She could only wonder the relationship between Sephiroth and Kadaj. She knew they were related. Even Yazoo. They all looked too similar for it to be coincidence.
'Sephiroth called both Kadaj and Yazoo his puppets? What did he mean? I know he…can communicate using them? Do they share some warped form of telepathy with them?
Aeris sighed, as she continued to trudge onwards. It seemed amazing really. In the past when Kadaj used to call her Mother. It used to incite so much irritation and confusion in her. In truth, she was still a little confused, but now the term Mother had become more of a cute endearment more than anything else. Before whenever Kadaj said it, Aeris translated the name coming from an insane kid that had escaped from a child's mental asylum. Now whenever Kadaj called her his Mother, it now translated as someone who was he wanted to protect and keep safe. Aeris was more than sure that Kadaj would never try to harm her.
Still…she was curious about the strange relationship between Kadaj and Sephiroth…even Yazoo. She knew they all had to be related somehow.
"He must be some form of family member to you?" the brunette reasoned. Kadaj shrugged. In truth, he had never thought about Sephiroth that much. He had only wanted to find his Mother, and now that he had found her, he was complete. "Why don't you ask Sephiroth when you meet him in the Sanctuary Mother."
Now that was a good idea. "You know what? I will," Aeris agreed happily.
Kadaj grinned. He loved every moment he could make his Mother smile. His eyes then drew up the mountain where he could see his Brother vertically climbing with little effort. The teen was unsure why Yazoo was hasty to climb ahead of them. In truth, he was grateful as this meant he could spend time alone with Mother. His hand was back in the brunettes, and he swung her arm gently as they continued along a less dangerous path up the mountain.
0o0o0o0
Further up Gaia's cliffs.
0o0o0o0
He was panting. He was climbing and the effort wasn't exerting him. Instead it was his erratic thoughts. He thought the further he was away from her, his logical senses would return to him, but to no avail.
Oh how he hated that flowergirl immensely.
He truly and undeniably despised her.
She had placed a spell on him.
He was sure of it now.
His mind flashed back to a memory that had just recently occurred less than an hour ago. A memory he wished had not happened. When he had waited with his brother outside the cave, impatiently waiting for the brunette to appear, he did not know what compelled him to do his next action. He assumed it was his rare impatience of waiting for someone he did not care for. For reasons that he could not explain himself, Yazoo peered inside the entrance of the cave. What he saw made the gunman's cold heartbeat falter in a way he had never experienced in his life. Yazoo's mako tainted eyes were fixated on the sight of the flowergirl's cold erect nipples exposed to the air. He watched dumbly as she pulled a bra over her chest, concealing her ample breasts from view. When Kadaj screamed at him for his perversity, it seemed it had awoken him from the strange dream he had fallen into.
The thought that the girl could bewitch him again angered him.
It infuriated him.
Yazoo knew that he did not care for the weak girl at all.
He had taken no fancy to her.
Yazoo could not understand why…
Why a girl he had no interest in, could bother him so much?
It wasn't that he cared for her.
He did not care for her at all.
Yazoo remembered when Aeris emerged from the cave, he refused to look at her. It was not due to embarrassment or shame. He simply did not feel like looking at the girl. However what drew his attention back to her was when the flowergirl threw herself on his younger brother in a heartfelt hug. The scene…disturbed him. Yazoo knew that he was not jealous of Kadaj holding her in such a way. He simply did not like seeing such clear displays of affection in public. It…was...simply unsettling to him. And Yazoo knew such feelings were beneath him. After all he did not care for anyone but himself. Nor did anyone care for him. And that was how he preferred it. But the gunman knew that Kadaj seemed happy enough to cuddle himself in the brunette's arms, and for one slight moment, Yazoo could only wonder why his brother would be happy for something that seemed so…trivial and unsettling to him. Yazoo wondered what was so special about being embraced in such a way. Just last night he and Kadaj had lain with the brunette and he had felt nothing for her. But then the gunman knew the reason for their closeness was strictly for survival. He felt neither joy nor comfort with their close setup. Now, Yazoo wondered what Kadaj had to be feeling to so brightly smile at the thought of a weak girl embracing him with limbs that they could both easily snap in two. The gunman rolled his nose in distaste. Whatever Kadaj was experiencing, it was a emotion that Yazoo refused to experience anytime soon. He knew what the brunette felt like when his hands went over her. Her cold flesh did nothing for him.
'….but what about if she was warm?'
'…what would she feel like then?'
The gunman nearly fell off the cliff at that thought. He cursed aloud.
Yazoo chanted a mantra of how he despised the female weakling, and hoped the cold would chill his unusually fervent thoughts. He had never desired anything other than a break from the mundane.
But then why….?
….someone he despised and found so repulsive…
…why did the sight of seeing the flowergirl naked…
….make him think such illogical thoughts…?
The gunman sighed. This was something he did not want to think about any further.
He turned his head to look downwards. He was surprised with how far he had climbed up. He could see his Brother with the girl below, and it seemed they were holding hands again.
His hands clenched against the rock face.
He was not jealous at all.
He was not…
He was not!
Yazoo did not know who he was trying to fool.
'………..'
The gunman mentally seethed.
Yazoo tried to think of all things dull and lifeless as he continued his way up the mountain…to no avail.
'I always craved a break from the mundane. But this was not what I meant!'
0o0o0o0
The further they walked up the mountain, the steeper their path became. Soon enough, Aeris realised their path was more vertical than it was horizontal. Her hands were aiding her upwards. Each time she looked up, she realised that Kadaj and she had not moved much higher than the base below. Aeris could not see how they could reach the top in time before nightfall. Walking through the snow was more tiring than she thought. Every now and then she had to stop to jump up and down to heat the blood back in her system. She was getting a little hungry too. As if the teen could read the flower girl's mind, Kadaj stopped and reached inside his bag.
"Lets take a break Mother. What would you like to eat?"
Aeris was happy to eat anything the teen offered. She grinned when the teen handed her a large bar of chocolate. The brunette had no idea where Kadaj got his endless supply of food from, but she was indeed grateful for his bag. It seemed it had everything they needed.
After finishing their small lunch, the pair trudged onwards up the snowy cliff.
"Hey Kadaj do you think Yazoo is at the top now?" Aeris panted.
Kadaj shrugged. He really could not care less where his brother was. "Who knows?"
The flowergirl sighed, and asked a question that was genuinely bothering her. "Kadaj, why does your Brother hate me?"
Kadaj shrugged again. "I really don't know. But then Yazoo isn't known to like anything nor anyone. I guess that is his nature…"
"I guess…" Aeris sighed and kept on climbing, with Kadaj following on from behind.
0o0o0o0o0
Whew I managed to finish this chapter on a rather warped note. Hmmm… Yazoo…what are you really thinking? As for Aeris, bless her. She really is an unlucky girl. It is good that Kadaj is with her. He is like the stabilisers on her bike. Without him, she would be journeying alone.
And as for Vincent. He really, really needs to move on from Lucrecia. But I believe he is the kind of man who never will. His first love is his only love. That's what makes his character beautiful I guess. Thinking about it now, I think I too carry the same dreamy quality of pining after people who do me more harm than good, but like Lazard says, the best kind of dreams to have are the unobtainable ones. And believe me, most of my dreams are almost unobtainable.
Meh anywho guys tell me what you think of this chapter and where you might want things to go. I enjoy reading what you guys think.
Hon Ja ne
Aer_Seph4eva x
P.S
Don't forget to review. Rawr x