To love an Ancient: An Aeris and Sephiroth story

8600 words

Chapter 54

To love or hate an Ancient? Part 2

Author's notes

Wow! 22 reviews for my last chapter! Thanks a lot you guys! You have made me so happy Aer-seph bows down lowly For that, I am updating this chapter uberquick, just for you. !

Now here is the other half.

On with the fic! lol. !

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There were no words that could describe the feelings Sephiroth were experiencing at that precise moment. Nothing could have prepared him, nor have shocked him to the greatest degree like the what he had just witnessed this very night. His heart was still racing. His lungs were still burning, and all Sephiroth could do was lay on the wet beach, panting for breaths that failed to come. He had watched Aeris do the unthinkable before his very eyes.

He had watched Aeris try to kill herself...

There was no other possible reason...

The idea was so ridiculous that he almost wanted to laugh out loud with crazed despair. He was so angry that he wanted to pound his fists into the wet sand beneath him. He wanted to crush her lifeless body to his and scream out obscenities why she would do something so unbelievably stupid! But he knew such actions would not be very wise when he had so little time to amend the crisis. Aeris' lips drew no breath, nor did her chest rise with the essence of life. Aeris had drowned again while he acted no better than a silent spectator, responding only when the tides were ready to pull her under.

Lying underneath him in an appearance of pseudo-sleep, was Aeris. His dark haired female companion. Her long bangs hung across her cold skin, while the ominous light of the moon transformed her porcelain skin into a white mask of death.

Sephiroth reacted immediately, as he brushed the girl's hair from her lips and undid the first five buttons from her dress with quick haste. Uncaring of issues of modesty, the swordsman peeled the pink, wet, cotton away from the girl's front, deciding not to remove her jacket or dress since he was running out of time. Ripping off his gloves that he failed to remove before he dived into the water, Sephiroth firmly planted his hands over the brunette's chest and pressed downwards in fifteen quick repetitions in an attempt to dislodge the water from the girl's lungs. He only paused his actions to bring his head down and seal his lips over her cold ones; pushing a full rush of air into Aeris; system. He repeated the actions once; twice, three times and as the minutes passed, his actions became more uneven, more frantic, that he had to control his strength as to prevent from crushing the girl's ribcage.

'It did not take this long the last time, so why is she not awakening?' was the frenzied thought that buzzed through the swordsman's head, as his mind retraced back to Junon harbour. That familiar scene replayed vividly through his brain; where he watched Aeris' terrified face, before she fell into the water, sinking far beneath the waves. Before then, he was unaware then that Aeris could not swim. He was shocked and disgusted at himself how he managed to make such a fatal slip that could have ended in disaster. But still that scenario seemed different than now. Before, Aeris' drowning was an accident, despite his guilt that he was the one to blame for causing Aeris such harm. If he knew Aeris couldn't swim, the thought of tossing her overboard would not have even entertained his mind. But this time, Aeris intentionally ran into the sea, with the knowledge that she could not properly swim.

He could not understand why she would do such a thing?

'She said she was deathly afraid of the water so why would she do such a thing?'

'What was she trying to achieve?'

'What was she trying to prove?'

'Did she try to drown herself to get away from me?'

'Did I...'

'Did I do this to her?'

'Did my actions drive her to this point of madness?'

'I only blocked her out to teach her a lesson.'

'I thought that my silence would cure her insubordination...'

'-that she would tire of her own childish antics...'

'but-'

'-I did not know that she would try to...'

'try to commit suicide because I bloody ignored her?'

'Aeris?'

'Aeris!'

'AERIS!'

The seconds were ticking away and Aeris was still not breathing.

How could one day of tension turn into such a disaster...?

Sephiroth shook his head to erase his thoughts. He had no time to think; only to act. His actions became more hurried; his own breaths became more uneven, and as the countless seconds ticked away, Sephiroth's worry began to transform into an emotion he rarely felt in his entire life. Fear.

His hands crashed down upon her lifeless chest once more, and his lips dropped back down to her icy cold petals, tinged blue in death.

"One."

Press.

"Two."

Press.

"Three."

Press.

"Aeris! Wake up!"

Press.

"You are stronger than this!"

Press.

"You are a Cetra!"

Press.

'You can survive this!'

Press.

"You cannot die now."

Press.

"You can get through this!"

Press.

"Breathe Aeris! Breathe!"

Press.

"God-damnit it girl breathe!"

Press.

"Our journey has just begun and I am not letting it end here."

Press.

"You aren't leaving this planet yet Aeris!"

Press.

"This Planet won't take you away from me!"

Press.

"Aeris...you...can't... you won't...ever...leave me..."

Press.

"I won't let you!"

After the fifteenth compression, Sephiroth's head dipped down to capture the girl's lips once more, and pushed every last ounce of breath into her mouth.

And then there was silence...

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Wild green eyes suddenly snapped open, and Sephiroth moved back in reflex as Aeris vaulted up into a sitting position and painfully hacked out all the sea water from her lungs. No sooner had she done such an action that her body was suddenly pitched forward into an iron-tight embrace. With green eyes still wide with shock and silence, Aeris' could not comprehend anything that had happened or what was happening around her. All she was aware of were a pair of arms that were wrapped around her body possessively, making her feel very small...yet very safe. But that was before the grip tightened and Aeris felt a whoosh rise out of her lungs. Her ribcage was compressed so tightly that it almost hurt to be in such a crushing embrace. The brunette blinked, as one by one all of her senses began to flood back into her mind. She could feel the dampness of her clothes, and the cold breeze of the air. But what she felt more than that, was the heat of another's flesh surrounding her form; an elixir of heat that Aeris clutched onto with all her might. Soon, the song of a pounding drum hammered in her right ear, in a tempo not unlike the rhythm of her own pulsing heart, followed by the rough staccato of another's breathing. Her blurred vision cleared from shapes of bronzed rock and silver thread, into wet skin and ice tinted hair. Aeris felt dream and reality, light and darkness converge till everything and nothing forced her mind into a state of bitter confusion.

"Am I still alive?"

She wasn't aware that she had spoken the words aloud, until she felt 'his' arms tighten around her. Aeris visibly winced as his nails bit into her skin; and at the back corner of the brunette's mind, despite all the loss and confusion that plagued her, Aeris was well aware how his hands had never once touched her without the barrier of his leather gloves. Shifting her head from his chest, and turning her gaze towards her left, Aeris stared at the large hand across the small bone of her shoulder, and then to the other encasing her waist. Aeris knew without a doubt that those very hands could so easily break her body in two. Yet this realisation did not give her fear, as her gaze left the hand upon her shoulder and followed the line of wet corded muscles, to a bare shoulder partially obscured beneath a veil of metallic locks. No; fear was not what she feeling at all. Her feelings had evolved into something so much stronger; deeper, darker and nothing like she had ever felt before. Aeris' gaze had moved on long before her mind realised she had made such an action. Her tear-stained eyes crossed over pale, wet flesh; unconsciously moving upwards until all that she saw were those haunting mako eyes. Those ice green flames that burned with the blackest passions, and it was in those captivating eyes that she remembered everything. She remembered the roaring water, and the thrashing waves. She remembered Sephiroth's anger, as well as her own. She remembered her dreams and the dark message that was wrapped within the image of the silver haired swordsman. She remembered everything... the pain; the sadness. The loneliness and shame. The fear of truth. The reality of her lies...her love for a man she barely knew...a man she felt more for than just a companion...more than just a friend. Her deepest fear. Her greatest sin.

She loved a killer.

A killer who had more interest with watching the waves lapping the sands than to truly see her; touch her; want her.

A man who saw her as nothing more than a weak, helpless, child...who could never love her...would never love her in the way she could ever hope to dream...

Then suddenly, Aeris' body was suddenly jerked from once side, then to the other, and before the brunette knew it, Sephiroth was shaking her shoulders like a broken rag doll. He shook her body so hard that her teeth gnashed her lower lip and caused a thin trail of blood to trickle down her chin. Her head bobbed up and down with a force that made black spots dance in the girl's vision. But despite all this, the brunette's eyes remained transfixed upon her guardian's face; her tormentor's lips, which screamed and shouted at her with all of hell's might. Aeris couldn't make out all of the words but it did not seem to matter as she saw something else which stilled her mind to silence. She couldn't believe it. It just wasn't possible.

'Sephiroth...?'

Aeris gasped aloud as her own hands flew up to the sides of his face, causing the swordsman's shaking to stop. She just couldn't believe that what she was seeing could be real. It was true that his face and hair was drenched wet with water, and countless silver droplets dripped down his nose and chin. But that did not hide the truth that was glaring in the swordsman's eyes. Sephiroth had two thin trails of crystal streaks that seemed to glow upon his pale cheeks. But no water, nor rain could be the create such an ethereal sheen that Aeris could see now. It almost looked like very droplets had been infused with the mako from his eyes, as the brunette followed the wet track to the swordsman's dark green depths. She had admitted to herself once before that Sephiroth had the most fiercely beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

She watched as his pupil shrunk and dilated into slits; in an appearance, not unlike a dangerous dragon, ready to tear its prey asunder. His platinum bangs lashed at the sides of his face, while his mouth continued on in his fevered expression of anger.

"You stupid girl Aeris! What the hell were you thinking? You know you cannot swim, so why the hell did you risk your life that way! I almost lost you Aeris! You almost died! Answer me Aeris! What caused you to act with such disregard for your safety?"

Aeris felt her mouth open and close at the torrent of questions that the swordsman threw at her. She wanted to answer but she couldn't find the words. Sephiroth's voice was hoarse, yet vicious and Aeris could barely grasp the meanings behind his endless accusations. The only thing that Aeris was all aware of were those tears, seeming to sparkle with a otherworldly light. The brunette's whole gaze was entranced by them and Aeris could do little to stop herself from touching such a rare sight. They looked so strange; so unnatural that Aeris had the voice the thoughts in her head to believe the image to be true.

"Sephiroth...are you-"

At once, the swordsman's body stilled as Aeris slowly traced a finger across one path of tears, committing the strange sight to memory.

Aeris felt her next words threaten to clog up her throat. "crying-for me...?"

The swordsman's face dipped down at her words and before Aeris knew it, her hands were suddenly clamped by ones much larger than her own. Sephiroth's face was leaning towards her own; his breath ragged and his chest heaving. The brunette felt her heart jump in her throat by the next words the swordsman said.

"Why the hell did you try to kill yourself Aeris!?" he all but demanded, as his face expressed all of his emotional torment to her.

"Huh...I tried to kill myself?"

The brunette's lips parted, ready to deny such an accusation. "But I didn't-"

She didn't have the time to explain for before she knew it, Sephiroth was shaking her once more.

"Why Aeris! Why! I almost lost you Aeris! You drowned!"

"S-stop shaking me Sephiroth! Just stop it!"

"Not until I get the truth out of you!" he snapped back, as he shook her body harder.

"What the hell were you doing? Were you trying to escape from me? Did you want me to see you drown again? Answer me Aeris!"

Aeris felt her vision waver as a fresh layer of tears dripped out the corners of her own eyes. "I-I-"

Sephiroth continued on and Aeris struggled to get out of his grasp. His words only caused her to fight back harder to get out of his unbreakable grip.

"You wanted to leave me right?" the swordsman all but snapped. "Are you afraid of me or something? Do you hate me so much that you tried to commit suicide? You know that I cannot bring back a life that willingly chose death! Did you want to die so much Aeris that you tried to end your life and-"

'He truly thinks I just wanted to...' With that realisation Aeris' control collapsed.

"I DIDN'T TRY TO KILL MYSELF!"

The sheer volume of her exclamation stilled the swordsman to silence. With the chance that she was given, Aeris successfully wrenched herself out of his grasp, but unfortunately the pulled momentum caused her to crash down on the wet sand taking Sephiroth down on top of her. Aeris continued to thrash beneath him, kicking and screaming for him to move. However Sephiroth's body remained rigid as stone and it seemed the more the brunette fought, the harder it became to breathe underneath his crushing weight. What was most puzzling was how the swordsman didn't even try to protect himself from her futile onslaught. In fact, his whole body was immobile all but his eyes which seemed to be searching for answers for non-existent questions. Aeris felt her arms and legs flop to her sides as she stared at his handsome face that haunted her night and day; looking up at him as if he could heal the conflict in her own mind.

And then, Sephiroth spoke.

"If you didn't try to-... then why... why did you...?"

He didn't finish the words, but the brunette already knew what he was going to say. Now that she really thought about it; her impulsive action seemed somewhat suicidal. But, that was never her intention. It was impulse which made her run to the water in an attempt for Sephiroth to see her. At that moment in time, she wasn't thinking of the dangers nor the consequences of her actions. She just wanted Sephiroth to see her. She wanted to prove herself to him as much to herself that she wasn't weak; and that she was strong. She wanted to run away from her embarrassment; her shame that she loved a man who could shed human blood as easily as she could shed tears. There was over thousand of reasons that made her do her foolish actions.

"I-"

He had even shed tears for her. The Great Sephiroth who had never been known of having feelings, had cried for her! Aeris swallowed nervously, as if the action could delay her from speaking the truth.

"I-I...I-"

The brunette turned her gaze to her side, not wanting to stare into his mako gaze any longer. She had no idea how he was going to react to her next words.

"-only wanted you to notice me..."

As her head was turned away, she did not see the swordsman's expression tilt to sheer puzzlement. "Notice you?" He questioned, in a tone which seemed unlike his own.

Aeris sniffed to herself, before slowly nodding. She had no choice but to tell him the truth, regardless of the consequences.

"I-I know that I have hurt you somehow...and...I wanted to apologise, but I didn't know how. I know you didn't want to talk to me, and when you woke me up...you shocked me and I reacted before I even had a chance to think...and then...you made me so angry when you called me a child...but-"

Aeris had to pause, to take a breath to steady her voice.

"...when you just stood there, staring out towards the sea, unapproachable... impenetrable... uncaring of my presence... it made me realise."

It was then Aeris' voice begin to crack.

"It made me realise the truth of your words...to you, I am no better than a child...you have protected me since I cannot fight...you have endured my childish whining and complaining...and after all this time...you have provided for me...protected me...y-you saved me from Shinra...and how have I repaid you?...I have been no more than a burden to you...All I have contributed is delaying you from meeting your mother...I am weak and undeserving of the Cetra heritage bestowed upon me...if I am a Cetra at all..."

The tears began to fall anew.

"-you made me see that weakness in myself...when you refused to look at me...for why would you want to...?...I have not done anything worthy enough to be in your presence... and so as I saw you staring at the sea...I thought that if I could get within your line of sight...could cross that distance...then I could prove myself to you...and to myself...that I am w-worth s-some-thing-"

Aeris closed her eyes, as her lungs began to give out beneath her.

"-and.. ...then... ...you... ...could... ...forgive... ...me... and... then... maybe... you could...see me for what I really am...and then I may finally believe that I am a Cetra, but I wasn-"

Sephiroth had heard enough.

To say that Sephiroth was angry was an understatement. His eyes literally bled with fury and surprise, and he could barely prevent himself from throttling the brunette. Aeris put herself in danger just because she still thought she wasn't a Cetra! He almost lost her because she wanted to foolishly prove herself to him? She thought she was worth nothing! Sephiroth now realised that he was going to cure the girl's insecurities once and for all.

He was going to prove that Aeris was worthy of him; right now!

"Aeris...you are such...a stupid, stupidgirl!" The swordsman all but growled, as his lips suddenly dropped down and captured the brunette's in an ardent kiss. Aeris' eyes suddenly snapped open in shock from the onslaught. She could not believe it! It was so unlike his previous kisses and Aeris could barely fight the urge to breath before his mouth fell upon hers once more. Fresh blood soon rushed from her cut lip and the swordsman was there to absorb the crimson droplets that tried to fall down her chin. Sephiroth was kissing her; brutally; fiercely; mercilessly and Aeris could do nothing to make him stop. Not that she wanted him to. His lips were quite literally sucking the life out of her spirit, and the brunette could only submit to his zealous passions. At that precise moment, Sephiroth was her whole world and nothing else existed. Not the cold...the water...her fears...nothing mattered; only him. Her fingers scratched at the sands below her, before she suddenly threw her hands upon his heated flesh.

"You tried to kill yourself so that I could notice you?" He whispered against her lips, before pushing her further into the sand beneath her. Aeris gasped beneath him in surprise; as her eyes slid shut in passion, but he paid no notice as he captured her lips once more. His anger had reached a point where he couldn't even think of anything other than taking Aeris as his. Memories of last night plagued him. Seeing her lying in blood. Failing to protect her. Her body lying lifeless in his arms. It was just too much to comprehend and now Aeris was living and breathing beneath him; her dress opened to her waist and revealing her womanly curves to his burning gaze. He wanted to punish her in the only way that would not physically harm her...much. After all this time she still did not believe she was a Cetra! She intentionally put herself in harms way to prove herself to him, in an act of forgiveness! He was so stunned with rage that the girl could act so irresponsibly...how she could be so idiotic...and yet be so positively alluring at the same time? He used his kiss to restrain her; to tame her; to make her understand his thoughts and to make her disregard her own. The swordsman's lips drifted from her bruised petals, as he continued to mumble his words of distaste all across her skin; from her chin to her temple, then back to her lips once more.

"You Stupid girl! You stupid, stupid girl... putting yourself in danger...why didn't you just listen to me and rest in the first place...you stupid girl...mystupid, stupid girl-"

His words were like a mantra in the brunette's mind, and before Aeris could realise the meaning behind his mumbling, Sephiroth's lips descended on her throat. Aeris hissed as his teeth scraped across her cold skin followed by the sensations of a hot, wet tongue lapping across her neck. His touch was scorching. Her blood was boiling. Her heart was soaring. She barely believed that was she was experiencing was real. Sephiroth had kissed her! Sephiroth had cried for her! Nothing seemed believable anymore and Aeris was readily accept this dream as reality...as long as she never had to wake up from it. Sephiroth's lips continued to be violently passionate across her sensitive skin; while his hands fondled her in a way that was so possessive...so desperate.

It was becoming too overwhelming to be real.

'My stupid girl...?'

'Stupid girl...he called me a...'

'My...'

'.my...'

'MY?'

'Does that mean...I am...?'

'I am his?'

'...does...that mean...he-?'

She knew she must have been dreaming, but...the hot wetness of his lips and tongue erased that thought completely...as did his voice that burned the same words into her head. Those cruel words sounded very, very real...and his touch was so warm and firm. It felt too unreal to be a dream, but not impossible as not to be real. Either way, Aeris was going to clutch onto this moment as long as she could. The brunette moved her hands to thread them through wet strands of silver. His hair pooled around them while hers fanned beneath her head, mixed with sand and sea salt. But none of that mattered. All of her thoughts and feelings had moulded into one single thought; one word; one person...

"Sephiroth..."

So blackened were both their passions of anger, pain, fear and confusion, that neither could distinguish their feelings between the feelings of their deepest love...for their darkest hate.

She was unaware of the time when she lost her jacket or of the time when her hair had fallen from his ribbon. Nor was she aware of when her nails scratched across the swordsman's back and created countless pink strips of marred flesh across his alabaster skin.

Aeris could not stop her own wandering hands, even if she tried. Her lips parted in want as she felt the swordsman's hands glide across her heaving bust line, that was demurely covered by the thin fabric of her bra. Despite the barrier of white cotton, her back arched in shock as his thumb scraped across her covered nipple; once, twice, three times. Her feelings were overloaded with fear, love, anger, surprise, shame and confusion. She was even unsure whether she was ready to go forwards to the next step, and her body trembled when she felt an unfamiliar hardness pressing on her thigh. It appeared he was more than ready to... But, despite her hesitation, Aeris knew that she could not stop herself from wanting him...she could not vocalise the words to slow his actions...all she could do was graze her own bruised lips against his own and accept his welcome blessings of passion.

And that was why Aeris was so stunned when Sephiroth suddenly leapt off her, as if he was burnt; before dashing off until he was standing no closer than fifteen feet away from her.

Aeris quickly pulled herself upwards in a sitting position, as she stared wide eyed at the heaving back of her silver haired guardian. Her mind was trying to process all her scattered ideas in one thought, while trying to soften her ragged breathing. The cold touch of the breeze stole the last traces of warmth from her body, causing the brunette to raise her arms to cover herself from the harsh winds in an act of modesty.

'What-?' She mentally gasped, as she clutched her unbuttoned dress around her, all the while gazing at the swordsman who had his back facing her; his long icy locks, dancing in the cold breeze.

Gone was the lascivious lover; the man whose inner fires burned with the flaming passions of his entire soul. No; the man she saw now was not him. Sephiroth had now became the ice warrior; cold; silent... distant... unapproachable.. .unattainable... The rapid transformation from fire to ice was staggering, and the brunette could do little more than wonder what caused such a change.

'Why?'

'What just happened?'

Aeris shivered, and it wasn't only due to the chill.

The light of the full moon loomed ominously above them; making the sands an icy white and enhancing the darkness of the night around them. Aeris continued to stare at the swordsman in utter confusion, as her own flames of passion waned into dying embers. She had no idea of what thoughts were crossing his mind now. Was he regretting touching her?...feeling her?...kissing her? Did he even like her? Was he even attracted to her? Was he disgusted with her body? Or was he insulted at her lack of experience? Or maybe...he just doesn't want her...at all...?

'But he called me...my'

'My...his?'

'Sephiroth-'

'What...what does this all mean?'

'-what do I mean to you...?'

Aeris had no idea, but then... she thought that she never wanted to know...especially if it was an answer that she wouldn't be able to bear. Her stomach churned with fear and apprehension as the brunette awaited for Sephiroth's judgement.

However the swordsman stood stoically; his platinum locks sliding across the bareback of his white flesh.

From the clash of fire and ice; to the contrast of sound and silence, the two companions stood like strangers across the moonlit shore.

And then Sephiroth spoke, and his words shattered the stillness of the night.

"What power do you have over me Aeris?" He whispered softly, his voice thick with unbridled emotion, despite his best effects to hide it

His words were nothing like what the girl expected to hear. She expected his anger, and irritation. She expected his words of anger; of disgust and repulsion.

But...not this.

'Huh...Power...?'

Aeris blinked with genuine befuddlement. She had no idea what the swordsman was even talking about.

"But I don't know what you mean Se-"

"RAARRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

The loud scream startled the brunette; and Aeris frantically jerked her head from side to side to find the source of the sound, expecting to find some malicious field monster snarling across the shore. But she could see not see anything, and the brunette swore the sound did not come from the water. Aeris was more than sure that she was alone on the abandoned beach; sans a certain silver haired, half nude swordsman.

And then it clicked.

The inhuman cry must have came from none other than Sephiroth

'Huh...Sephiroth?'

"...What the?"

But Aeris had little time to contemplate her revelation, as the swordsman suddenly pivoted around to face her.

His haunting green glare could bring the most strongest of men to their knees.

And that was why Aeris could do little more than gape in horror at his hostile behaviour.

"What have you done to me Aeris!?" Sephiroth raged as he paced across the sands, kicking thick globs of sand up into the air. "What spell have you put over me!?"

"I-" Aeris began, but could not go no further as the swordsman screamed out into the night.

"You make me lose controlAeris!" He roared, as he violently threw his arms up in the air; his silver bangs slashing shadows across his pale skin. "Your actions! Your words! Your very thinking aggravates me!" he ranted, as he sent a dark glower in the brunettes direction, not once pausing in his movement.

Aeris' heart thundered in her chest, unable to deter herself away from his fierce gaze.

She had never seen Sephiroth looked so enraged; so unstable; so psychotic...

And Sephiroth had said he had lost all of his self control.

All because of her.

All because of her?

Sephiroth had lost all his self control ?

Aeris had never seen him lose even the slightest composure...

His bare chest was rising and falling with unrestrained emotion.

His hands were clenched in his hair.

His eyes were quite literally bleeding with mako energy...they looked so animalistic in the night... .so... deadly... so... dangerous... so murderous...

And that was why Aeris was absolutely terrified!

"You make me lose control Aeris! I never lose control! I have never-" Sephiroth paused then, inhaling the air as if the night's coldness could lessen his burning anger. "-had to deal with something-no someone as..."

The swordsman could not even find the very words to convey his thoughts of her.

"But you..." Sephiroth continued, as he hands clenched and unclenched at the sides of his face, before slowing falling down to his sides. His emotions had fallen from its peak and was now descending into darker territories of emotion that he had never before witnessed, let alone experienced himself!

His hands drew into fists once more, while his lower jaw twitched and flexed from the influx of raw emotion. His feelings had gone beyond anger. No, his anger was the mask he wore to conceal his true feelings from view.

Aeris...when she...

...almost died...

she made him feel fear...

for her...

But Aeris did not realise she possessed such a power. The girl did not understand...she did not know the amount of control she had over him! She simply did not know... She was far too innocent...so fragile, so vulnerable...yet so confused. But it was her innocence; no, her ignorance which made her dangerous, for him, and for herself. She appeared so frail, as if the very winds could push her to the ground. The moonlight made her skin look like china, that could crack with the slightest of breeze. Her hair stuck to her frightened face. She looked so deceivingly weak...as if their roles were reversed and it was he who was the puppeteer and Aeris was the manipulated puppet.

But...

The strings she had upon him were so strong that Sephiroth could feel them binding him; choking him. Aeris' connection with him could rival his relationship with his mother. Aeris had became a part of his universe and he knew that there was no possible way for him to break the bonds she had around him..

He could not even take his eyes off her now.

Even now he was looking at her lips; plump, wet and unnaturally red in the moonlight; those same lips which were once tainted blue in death.

And it was by staring at her face that Sephiroth finally realised the truth.

Aeris controlled him.

Not by materia...or by force..

And that was the twisted irony.

Aeris made him feel...

By his own free will.

She made him burn with anger.

Burn with want.

She made him fear for her.

...and for himself.

Aeris made him lose control of his emotions...

and for that he hated her...

"Oh by all the heavens I hate you..."

'-as much as I want you...'

The words escaped his lips before he had the chance to stop them, but only when Sephiroth saw Aeris' mouth slacken with disbelief and horror, and her wide green eyes dilate in surprise; he knew he wanted her to hear them. He wanted her to know the insanity she created within him. He wanted her mind to whirl in confusion as much as his own.

The brunette's expression was visibly heart-broken even through the distance and the darkness. "W-what!" Aeris all but whispered, and hearing the cracked tone in her voice, Sephiroth almost felt guilty...until he remembered that she was the cause of all his pain and torment from this night...and that the words he had spoken were indeed the truth.

More tears gathered at the corners of the brunette's eyes, as her hands clutched her frantically beating heart. She did not want to believe it to be so.

'Seph-Sephiroth...He-he hates me...?'

But Sephiroth continued on.

"I hate what you do to me Aeris. I loathe the feelings you make me feel..." he said, as his tone softened from anger into a pained anguish from the knowledge that what he was going to say next would never be able to be erased. But Sephiroth knew that there was no other way. The uncertainty and distance between them was only breaking them and Sephiroth knew if nothing was said this night...then only torment and suffering would follow.

"You make me feel..." He didn't want to finish the line with 'human.', but it was too late as his thought already processed the word in his mind.

"...You make me fear."

There; he had finally said it.

"I have never been afraid of anything, ever. But you-" The swordsman's head dipped down, as his voice lowered to a gentle murmur, as if whispering the words would reduce the impact they had upon his being. "-unsettle my equilibrium. You distort my thinking... my actions... my being...and then you..."

His crescendo of emotions rose once more.

" you can act so stupid! So foolhardy!" He exclaimed as his pacing stopped abruptly, wanting nothing more than for the brunette to take everything he said into account. He cared little for Aeris' jump of surprise, or the tears that were now trickling down her eyes; the truth needed to be said no matter of the painful consequences..

"How...no...why do you think you are anything other than what you are?" Sephiroth questioned harshly, as he raised his hands up in the air with emphasis. "Even if you were not a Cetra which is a ludicrous thought in itself, you are far from human!"

His arms then fell back to his sides, as another thought soon dawned upon him. "Is that what you are frightened of? That you are a human?"

He stared at Aeris then, as if his gaze could extract the information from the girl's head.

And then something clicked in the swordsman's mind.

"That is what you fear right?"

Sephiroth suddenly laughed, however the sound was cold and unsettling rather than warm and comforting.

"Aeris you are nothing like those putrid traitors that taint this world with their sick malice and greed!" He shouted, his voice dripping with the hatred he felt for the humans. "Don't ever think that you are apart of their foolish society!"

Aeris finally found her voice to speak. "But I don't-"

"Silence!" Sephiroth snapped as his left hand sliced the air in irritation. "Did I give you permission to speak?" the swordsman asked harshly as he swiftly moved towards her. "I am not going to let you talk until you get it through your thick skull that what I say is true!"

His feet stopped abruptly in front of her, and once again Aeris was held captive to the swordsman's gaze. His large hands fell upon the girl's shoulders and Aeris feared that he would try to shake her again. But his hands did not move; they only tightened into a firm grip to prevent her from struggling. But Aeris couldn't fight back even if she tried.

"You are not human Aeris!" Sephiroth said slowly, as he clipped each word with a harsh note. "You are better than them in every possible way!"

"You are far from human and you are apart of something greater! There are connections between us that go beyond the Cetra blood that flows in our veins... You have so much untapped potential...so much power that I could teach you to control!-"

Sephiroth continued on, all the while knowing that the brunette wasn't listening to him.

"You do not understand your worth at all, do you Aeris?" he said as his voice lowered in exasperation. He could not understand how, or even why Aeris would even consider questioning her Ancient ancestry. She was so unique in so many ways, and despite their visual differences between them, Sephiroth could see a potential in the girl which had superseded the rest of man.

'But why can she not see it?'

His hands were tempted to swoop down and crush her tattooed hand alongside his own cursed one if he knew that it would prove the girl's identity alongside his own. If there was one thing that Sephiroth could grudgingly compliment about the deranged scientist Hojo, it was that he had an profound knowledge about otherworldly matters. So if Hojo could see that Aeris was an Ancient, that was more than ample proof that Aeris was not a human.

'Aeris...what do I need to do to make you understand!'

'What can I do to make you see?'

Aeris clenched her hands at her sides, wishing all the more that she could turn away from his burning gaze, and that Sephiroth would simply stop bloody talking! She knew that he still didn't understand. It wasn't over the fact that she 'wasn't' human. She would have willingly accepted that identity with open arms if she knew she was normal. But she was 'not normal', but she knew she was not 'uniquely special' either to be this Ancient or Cetra that Shinra, Hojo and Sephiroth praised her to be. She believed that she was no more a Cetra, than she was human...and she hated the fact that Sephiroth did not realise; that he could not see the truth...it hurt her so much that Sephiroth kept on saying she was connected to some glorious ancestry of divine beings...when she could not even learn how to swim...

'Yeah, like I am a Cetra...and the only thing I know about my past is now lying decomposed in the Midgar Swamp...not to forget my heirloom from my real mother...is a piece of materia that doesn't work...that stupid orb cannot prove anything and...'

Her thoughts soon melted away as she felt a warm sensations moving across both of her shoulders before slipping down her arms; the touch was firm, yet gentle and Aeris felt her eyes close from the heavenly pressure on her skin.

And then it occurred to her...

Sephiroth was stroking her!

When did THIS happen?

Aeris was getting very unnerved with her platinum haired companion. One moment he looked more than ready to kill her...then the next...he was acting so gentle and loving that it was so undeniably creepy!

And it only managed to get creepier as Aeris listened to the swordsman who had continued to ramble on about her so-called- Cetran heritage, before his words took on a strangely elusive turn.

"-you have the power to pull my strings of my soul...yet you do not realise so."

The brunette's brow furrowed as she contemplated Sephiroth's words. "?"

"you are...so innocent...so pure...so everything that I am not, but everything that I wish to possess..."

Aeris felt her mouth slacken and a pink blush tint her face. "What?" She voiced out loud, not trusting her ears. His words were cryptic yet confusing, and the brunette did not even dare to try and understand the implication of his words...less her guess be far from the truth.

'Sephiroth...what on earth are you saying?'

"Aeris I.." Sephiroth breathed.

His grip tightened around her...

"Aeris, you..."

His head dipped slightly towards her own.

"Don't you..."

His lips were a millimetre apart...

"Don't you see that I want you!"

And with that sudden exclamation, his lips descended upon hers once more.

His kiss was so soft and gentle; so unlike his earlier kisses that it made Aeris' insides melt and her entire body tremble.

Her head felt so light as she carefully began to kiss back, all the while processing the information of what Sephiroth said. Sephiroth wanted her? Sephiroth really wanted her? Aeris gasped, as Sephiroth's arms surrounded her form and pulled her tightly against his bare chest, not once disengaging their kiss. She splayed her hands across his chest in silent rapture, all the while thinking and wondering; what did she do to deserve such a wonder? Why did Sephiroth still want her even after everything that had happened? Why wasn't he disgusted by her weakness? Or her inferiority to himself?

Unless...he...really does...

...care for me...

But...what does that mean...?

...he wants me...

...he wants me...?

Does he...truly...

...want me?

But...

By wanting me...

Is Sephiroth trying to say...

That...he...

...he...

...loves me…?!

Once more, his warm lips slipped across her own; so and soft and light not unlike the touch of a butterflies' caress. A kiss of a lover. Aeris felt her eyes grow large in delight, and surprise as his tongue flicked across her lower lip before plundering her mouth of all its sweetness. His hands caressed across her skin; her hair; her very heart and soul.

His touch was so tender; so loving.

So loving...

Those same feelings...

She had felt...

Once before...

Five long years ago...

From a man she had loved with pure adoration...

A man who would have given her anything she wanted...

But...

That man...

Was not a part of her life anymore...

But now ...

She had another who was holding her...

Kissing her...

Bringing her to new unbound territories that she had all but feared to cross...

...Sephiroth...

As his mouth parted from her face and dipped down to nip at her ears, Aeris' knew she had started crying again.

"Sephiroth!" The brunette gasped, as her neck arched sharply when his lips licked across her jaw line and down the column of her throat.

"Sephiroth-"

'I-I love you...'

Aeris knew that without a doubt.

But...

She had no idea whether his feelings for her were the same.

And there was only one way to find out...

The brunette's lips parted slowly.

"Sephiroth...do you... do -you..."

Sephiroth response was nuzzle to her neck, as if urging her to continue on.

"Seph...do you..." She gulped softly, almost choking on her tears.

"...love me?"

The swordsman's lips abruptly stopped.

And Aeris' mind came to a crashing halt.

"Love..."

Sephiroth's hands went lax upon the girl's shoulders while his body went deathly still.

"...love?"

He repeated the word softly to himself.. The word tasted strange in the swordsman's mouth.

"You think I loveyou?" Sephiroth questioned calmly; a little too calmly.

Two sets of green eyes met...

And Aeris realised she made the greatest mistake of all...

Aeris' world crumbled away...

The swordsman shook his head in an attempt to control his amusement. "And what is this love?" he asked in an all but sarcastic tone, as he moved away from her; as if chiding the brunette for such a question. His eyes burned down into Aeris' grief-stricken orbs, as if checking to see if the girl was joking.

But Aeris wasn't joking.

And Sephiroth knew it.

And that was why he did the most unexpected thing possible.

He laughed.

"Aeris, y-you believe an entity such as love exists?" Sephiroth exclaimed, unable to fight back his laughter despite the brunette's now tearful expression.

Aeris was dumbstruck and horrified, wanting to shake her head in disbelief. Just before he said that he wanted her, and now he just said that he did not love her! Aeris turned her body away, hiding her face in her hands. She did not want to see, or hear him. He confused her. He hurt and upset her. He sent her mixed messages that he wanted her; and now he was rejecting her!

Aeris' tears of happiness transformed into tears of woe. "So..y-you don't-"

She couldn't even finish the sentence.

'...love me?'

It was as she feared.

She felt his footsteps approach her once more, and Aeris turned her body away from him; she did not want to look at him now...She did not want to look into his smirking face...

"Why do you look so sad Aeris?" Sephiroth asked softly as he tilted his head in question, scrutinising her in the darkness. "All I did was speak the truth..."

'Just the truth...'

'Just the truth...?'

'It was just the truth that he did not love her?'

It was just too much to take.

Aeris broke down and cried.

Sephiroth was startled at the girl's outburst, unable to understand why she was upset, let alone crying. Hell; Aeris was even turning away from him, as if trying to put as much distance as possible. Wasn't she happy enough to be in his arms a minute ago when he said he wanted her? Sephiroth felt concern and worry well within him as he listened to the girl cry.

"Aeris?" Sephiroth asked, as tried to grab her shoulders, but Aeris evaded his touch and took off into a run.

The swordsman blinked in confusion.

Aeris was running...

from him...?

'What the hell was wrong with her?'

Sephiroth chased and easily caught up to the girl, grabbing her from behind and holding her in a crushing embrace.

Aeris continued to struggle but even he knew she wasn't putting any effort into it. He had no idea what caused Aeris to get so emotionally distraught. "What is wrong with you Aeris? Why are you running?"

The brunette didn't answer, and only cried harder.

"Why are you crying Aeris?

The girl's motions stilled yet the swordsman's grip did not loosen.

"Why are you hiding from me?"

"-------------"

"Aeris?"

"-------------"

"Aer-"

"...you said you didn't love me..." Aeris whispered between clenched teeth, refusing to look at the swordsman's face by hiding her face in her hands. "But I..."

Her head dipped further down, while stray tears slipped between her fingers.

"...I love you..."

It was then Sephiroth finally understood the root of the problem.

"------------"

"Aeris," he sighed. "Love is a false emotion created by foolish humans to sustain the procreation of their existence with artificial happiness. You say you love me, but can you even prove that love even exists? What it really feels like to be in love, or to be loved?" He asked rhetorically. Sephiroth didn't wait for Aeris to reply. "You can't, can you?"

" No Aeris, I do not love you, because I do not believe in how an emotion created by those human degenerates could effect beings such as us...We are Cetra Aeris. We are not human and therefore we cannot be influenced by human emotions."

Sephiroth felt the girl's hair tickle his chest as she shuddered in his arms.

"But Aeris," he continued softly; as he bent his chin down to rest above her head. "Just because I do not love you...that does not mean you are not important to me. I care for you as much as I care for my own mother. I need you Aeris...I want you..."

His words had Aeris' mind reeling.

He cares for me, but he doesn't love me?

He needs me... but he doesn't love me...?

He wants me, but he doesn't love me?

He kisses me, but he doesn't love me?

And he doesn't love me...because he doesn't believe that love exists.

"Love does exists," Aeris protested softly to herself. "It is not a false emotion."

Sephiroth sighed again as his bare hands rubbed across the goose-bumps on the girl's skin. "You still won't give up on love?"

Aeris shook her head.

He snorted softly, not at all surprised with the girl's stubbornness. "Aeris, this love you speak of ...even if it does exist...it is so weak...it is such a useless emotion... it can be...tainted...lessened...questioned...corrupted...and is eventually broken in death."

Aeris shivered. In a twisted sense, Sephiroth's words were kinda true...but the brunette was not going to say anything.

"You want me to say I love you right?"

Aeris could not respond to 'that'.

The swordsman's head dipped to the side to breathe in the brunette's ear. "But Aeris I cannot love you..."

Aeris' heart stuttered in her chest. It hurt so much to hear those words from his lips.

"I do not love you……. because the feelings I have for you go beyond this weak human emotion called love."

Then at his words...

Aeris' heart stopped beating.

But Sephiroth still continued on.

"Aeris, I shall give you the gift of rapture...I will take you to a new world where we will live in a shining utopia created by my hand. A promised land; where our eternal paradise is created only with divine perfection...we will rule over our kingdom of light, a world that cannot be corrupted by pain, sadness...or even death. And only those chosen by you, mother and I will be able to enter our world of sublime paradise. It would be a simply perfect paradise Aeris!" He exclaimed; as his eyes sparkled with pure delight of his intended dream.

"I would make you queen of our people. Everyone would adore you. They would pay homage to you during the day...and-" Sephiroth's lips twisted upwards in amusement. "my lips and hands shall worship your divine body in the night."

Aeris gasped and blushed causing the swordsman to chuckle softly beside her face. "Yes, we would stay united; together; side by side; beyond the folds of time...and even after this planet is dust...and the memory of this world has all but faded away...we will remain unchanged; beautiful, immortal for all eternity...Death could never separate us."

"Now tell me...can this construed human love that you speak of...deliver such a gift? Can love overcome such a deity... as death?"

Aeris grasped her chest, overwhelmed. What Sephiroth said was so wonderful. So unbelievable...Oh how she would love to live in a world where everything was perfect. Where the flowers always grew and the planet sung lullabies of life. It was a dream so beautiful; so magical...so utterly bizarre that Aeris would have thought that the swordsman was joking if it wasn't for the look on his face.

Aeris stared at him in wonder as she watched his lips twist into one of the most beautiful smiles she had ever saw on his face.

Sephiroth looked absolutely perfect.

A weaker girl would have fainted.

"Now Aeris," the swordsman said softly, as he reached his hand out to her.

"Do you accept my offer of eternity...?"

------------------------------

Author's notes

Whew, that was steamy, ne? And not to forget REALLY REALLY long! (when 22 pages of pure A/S) I never thought it would end up being over thirty pages. lol. Can we say that Seph and Aeris are almost a official couple now? I dunno why, but this chapter reminded me of my FFX-2 with the argument between Shuyin and Yuna. I think danger can be very sexy ne? This almost turned into a lemon...but alas I cannot do that just yet...lol. It seemed Sephiroth has finally made his move and all Aeris has to do now is accept. Does this mean that Aeris has finally gotten over her insecurities? And what is this about Sephiroth making Aeris the ruler of his Promised Land? What exactly is this utopia is he speaking of and where exactly does it lie?

Heh...I guess you guys will have to find out in the next chapter.

Anywho...

Ja ne

Aerseph4eva

Only 4 more chappies to go! I don't know whether to be sad ;; or happy .!

P.S

Oh I just wanted to thank everyone who has given me so many lovely pictures of Aeris and Sephiroth! I so love to receive your work! Heh...when I finally get my TLAA website up, I'll be sure to post all your work up there!

Heh...oh, and a random point...isn't Kadaj really kawaii? lol. I had to write that down. lol...awww, and not to forget that he cries...that is so sweet...