There was a point when Aeris changed for want of a better word. Cloud had little enough other explanation for it. She was always pretty, a beautiful woman seemingly immune to the grinding pressures of the city, who could pick her way amongst the grime without a second thought. But outside she was something else.
Subtle differences in the pre-dawn air, when Avalanche assembled on the dead land outside Midgar. Aeris had stamina to spare before, guiding him towards Sector Seven, rushing around Wall Market, the frantic race across Sector Seven and the escape from the Shinra building. Most people – certainly the rest of Avalanche – would be lagging by now. Aeris had seemed like she was tiring when she let go of the steering wheel, but perked up as her feet touched the sand.
How far behind them could Shinra be at this point? SOLDIER enhancements could only go so far, and Cloud would have liked nothing more than a rest. But they struck out across the wasteland for Kalm. Barret lead the way, setting a bearable speed. A speed Aeris kept exceeding.
She surged forward in fits and starts, staring ahead to the distance, remembering the rest and waiting for them to catch up before overtaking them all not long after. No monsters in the vicinity fortunately. The sky brightened, the light hurting in intensity. The sun; how long since Cloud had seen it? The sun had set when he reached the Shinra mansion. Before the fire. There must have been another occasion after. But-
Aeris rushed ahead with a wordless shout. "Aeris?" Barret shouted after her. "What's wrong?"
"Grass!" She yelled her response over her shoulder and ran on. In the distance, a thin strip of green glowed under the rising sun. Barret's shoulders slumped when Cloud caught up with him.
"Can't blame her." Barret grinned. "How long she's been looking forward to being out here?"
"All her life." Cloud sighed. "I'm going to catch up with her." He jogged on, rapidly leaving Barret behind. Ahead Aeris had pulled her boots off and padded at a slower pace over the green grass, heading from the withered, dry grass into the lusher vegetation further out.
Something about her was different. She glanced over her shoulder and waved to him. "Cloud! Grass!"
Aeris was alive. Absurd; of course she was alive. But she stood taller in amongst the grass. Her green eyes caught the sun somehow, an intense green, a nagging reminder of something. Her hair was a shade lighter. And her smile-
She had smiled at their first meeting, handing him a flower and charging him money. She had smiled when he remembered her after awakening in the church. She smiled when he promised to get her home, when she stood waiting for him at the edge of Sector Six, when they broke into Hojo's lab. Aeris had smiled at Cloud before, but somehow those smiles were nothing like this smile. This near empty grassland suited her, complimented her more than the church, more than her Mom's house ever could.
Cloud caught up with her- And the world was different. He stepped from the dead sand of the wasteland to the grass and the world brightened around him. The wind, the smells, the feel of sunlight on his skin. Why did it feel so long since he had experienced any of this? Behind them, Avalanche was still making their way towards them. He and Aeris could wait here. Would they feel as good? Would their tiredness evaporate once they were away from the city? Hopefully. They would be able to make it to Kalm easily like this.
Aeris crouched beside a clump of wildflowers, nudging stems and petals around to examine them, each clump forgotten when she spotted another example. She glanced to Cloud, staring up and past him. A bright expanse of blue overhead, clumps of white clouds drifting here and there. Back towards Midgar, the sky dimmed, greying as if also affected by the city's constant drain on the Planet. Aeris sat back on the grass, rearranged her dress over her legs and flopped onto her back. "Wow."
Cloud sat beside her and followed her gaze. "I read about the sky. I mean, I've seen the sky, but never like this. I-" She trailed off, hands brushing over the grass. "And so much green. Puts both of my gardens to shame."
"Yours were unique. At least in Midgar."
"But out here, the Planet has done so much more." She did not seem disappointed. "I know it wasn't intentional or anything, but I'm so glad I met you. Because I get to be out here. I never wanted to leave Mom behind, but-" She smiled. "Thank you."