Cloud wasn't sure what he'd expected Aerith's response to be after her long period of silence. His first assumption had been that he'd somehow done something wrong and accidentally upset her. It had taken an entire lap of his patrol route for him to finally build up enough courage to ask. The last thing he'd imagined was for her to break down into heavy sobs—each one feeling like a knife stabbing into him.
"Wait . . . what? I don't—Did I say something wrong?" His attention zeroed in on the heartbreaking cries coming through the CommLink, disregarding the barren landscape surrounding him. Cloud had no idea why she was crying, all he knew was that he wanted it to stop.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity but could only have been a few minutes, her sobs died down to the point they were mostly light sniffles with the occasional hiccup mixed in. Not wanting to press her and potentially cause Aerith to break down a second time, he remained silent, waiting for her to be the one to speak up.
"No, it's not you, I'm sorry." She sniffed loudly, followed by the faint, muted noise of a nose blowing. "That was so embarrassing, I can't believe I broke down like that." Her voice was much clearer now, and even though it was lacking most of its usual warmth, Cloud breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Hey, nothing to apologize for, I'm just glad you're okay." He hesitated for a moment. "You uh . . . want to talk about it?" Emotional support wasn't really his strong suit, but he felt like he was at least a good listener and if there was anything he could do to help . . .
Aerith swallowed audibly. "I've been trying to come up with a way to bring it up, but I couldn't figure out how to," she said softly, almost sounding afraid.
"Well, I don't want to force you or anything, so—"
"No!" He heard her take a deep breath. "No, it's about you and I do want to talk about it, it's just . . . hard."
"About me?"
"Yeah . . . more specifically SOLDIER. I kinda did some poking around."
Cloud's blood ran cold. He hadn't expected her to actually dig around, much less find anything. How much did she know? And how much danger did that put her in? Given the way she was reacting, it seemed like she probably knew the worst of it. "What about SOLDIER?"
"Not all the details, but I did learn how—wait, what in Gaia's name? That's impossible . . . Cloud, look out!" she finished with a scream of terror.
Pure instinct, reflexes, and luck, combined with Aerith's warning, were the only reason he managed to avoid the worst of the attack. Even so, the sword blade cut deep into his side, sending a sharp lance of pain through his body. Rolling in the opposite direction, Cloud regained his feet while drawing his sword from its sheath on his back in the same motion.
"There's three of them," Aerith said, breathlessly.
Three? Cloud could only see two of his attackers, meaning the third was most likely somewhere behind him. He'd been so distracted by the conversation he hadn't noticed them sneaking up on him. They weren't trying to be subtle about it this time—Shinra's assassins weren't even disguised as Wutai soldiers, presumably because this location was already so distant from the front lines.
Spinning in a tight circle while doing his best to keep an eye on the two in front of him, he quickly confirmed that his suspicions were correct—they'd surrounded him in a triangle formation so that it was impossible for him to be able to track all of them at once. Unfortunately for them, he happened to have eyes in the sky.
"They've got me surrounded, I'm going to need you to let me know when the one behind me is closing in."
"Of course, but for some reason, they're not showing up on the monitor again, Cloud. I've taken manual control of the satellite once more, but this is a lot harder. How did Wutai even make it this far behind our lines?"
He didn't bother to correct her, the less she knew in this regard the better. It was already bad enough Aerith was helping him, hopefully, that wouldn't get her in any extra trouble. Charging forward at the one to his left, Cloud was frustrated to see the man smoothly mirror his movement—he clearly knew exactly how to fight an outnumbered opponent. Which meant that—
"Behind you!"
Already anticipating it, Aerith's warning served to confirm his suspicions. Whirling around, Cloud swung his sword to parry the incoming attack, smirking at the surprised look on his opponent's face. Before he could press an assault of his own, the man had jumped backward, putting himself out of Cloud's range.
"I'd heard he was good, but I wasn't expecting this," one of the assassins muttered. "How the hell is he tracking all three of us?"
"His Handler is obviously helping him, you dumbass," another one said.
"Wait, what? I thought—"
"Shut it. It doesn't matter, we finish this now."
The three of them rushed him simultaneously, or at least, he assumed the one he couldn't see was also attacking, given Aerith's sharp intake of breath. It was a mistake, given the wound in his side and the fact he likely wouldn't have been able to win if they'd kept up their original strategy, but, then again, they'd never faced a SOLDIER like him before.
Waiting for them to get close enough, Cloud tensed his muscles, coiling up like a spring as he prepared to unleash himself. The moment they were in range, he struck—his blade flashing out in a complete circle around him almost faster than the eye could see. Opponents unfamiliar with his sword always assumed it would be a slow, clunky weapon, something they would easily be able to see coming. It was a fatal mistake.
Two of the assassins dropped with screams—instantly removed from the fight—while the third had barely managed to pull his weapon up into a block. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough. The impact from Cloud's sword shattered the assassins' blade before continuing along its path and cutting down the final threat with brutal efficiency. Just like that, silence descended around Cloud. The sudden contrast was jarring, but as he stood there catching his breath, the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears gradually faded as the noise from the amusement park above returned.
"Cloud?! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he said, slumping down to catch his breath. Now that his adrenaline was dying down, the pulsing agony in his side was growing stronger.
"I don't believe you, I heard that hiss of pain right after I warned you, mister. How bad is it, really?"
Glancing down at his side, Cloud winced as he finally examined his wound. While it could have been a lot worse, it still wasn't looking very good. "It's pretty bad," he admitted. "I'm going to need you to call the medics again."
"Are you sure that's such a good idea? I hate counting on them."
". . . Why?"
There was a brief moment of silence. "I . . . might have overheard them talking about wanting you dead," Aerith said quietly.
Shit. That meant she at least had some clue Shinra was trying to take him out. Which quite possibly meant she was in almost as much danger as he was. Cloud knew firsthand how cruel and brutal Shinra could be, not hesitating to take down anyone who might threaten their control.
"I see. Well, just like last time, they're not going to do anything this time either."
"But how do you know that? What if this time—"
"Aerith." He cut her off, hating the panic creeping into her voice. Why was she so worried about him? He was nothing, no one. "I need you to trust me, okay? Besides, it's not like we have a choice, I'm going to bleed out at this rate if you don't contact them."
"I hate this," she whispered.
"Trust me, I know," Cloud said, his lips curling upward into a bitter smile. "I don't know if it helps, but SOLDIERs always die in combat, without exception. Thanks to you, I'm still alive and kicking."
She made a soft humming noise, but he couldn't tell if it was pleased or upset. Once again, he wished they could talk in person, even though he knew that would never happen.
"Alright, they're on their way, should be there in a few minutes."
"Thank you." He took a deep breath, pushing the pain away and focusing on Aerith's voice. "So, you still wanna talk about SOLDIER?"
"Yes, but now doesn't seem like the best time. It's a lot to go over and I'd rather you not be bleeding out while we talk."
Cloud grinned. She did have a point. "Fair enough, we can save it for later."
"Can I call you tonight?"
"Yeah, of course." He did his best not to sound too eager. Ignoring the pain of his injury, he waved to the approaching helicopter. At least he had something to look forward to later.
Aerith had spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening fretting. She knew it wasn't productive, but when she'd tried to distract herself by reading a book, she hadn't been able to focus on it—the events of the mission returning to haunt her. It didn't make any sense. Just like the last time, the display had shown the enemies for a brief moment before they abruptly vanished, forcing her to manually verify that they were real.
Once was unusual, but twice . . . twice was a pattern, especially taking into account how unlikely it was for Wutai forces to be anywhere near Gold Saucer. It simply wasn't possible. But try as she might, Aerith was unable to come up with a suitable explanation for what was going on. The one thing she did know, was that asking anyone who worked for Shinra was completely out of the question.
She glanced over to the clock hanging on the wall. It was barely past seven, which meant she had to have waited long enough by now. Hopefully, talking with Cloud would help fill in some of the missing gaps—he clearly had a better idea of what was going on than she did, Aerith just had to figure out a way to pry it out of him.
Reaching up to activate the connection, she paused with her finger on the button. Was her heart beating faster? Aerith shook her head, dismissing the thought. This was a simple call, checking in to make sure he was okay and to talk about what she'd discovered, nothing else. Firmly pressing the button, she nervously cleared her throat as the link connected. "Heya!"
". . . sounds like there's not much time left then," a voice that wasn't Cloud faintly said.
She blinked, caught off guard. "Oh, sorry, is this not a good time?"
"No, no, it's fine, it's just Zack. I'll kick him out," Cloud replied.
"Just Zack?" the voice she now recognized as belonging to Cloud's friend cut in. "Hey, miss Handler, if you ever want a real SOLDIER, feel free to ditch this loser and sign on with me. Lucky bastard doesn't know how good he has it, I'd love to have a beautiful woman's voice in my ear all day."
"How do you even know what she looks like?"
"You said she has a voice like honey, dude. Trust me, she's beautiful."
Aerith was thankful the two SOLDIERs couldn't see her as she was currently sitting there with her mouth gaping, her cheeks burning. Honey?
"Come on, that was private, not cool Zack."
"Hey, I'm just trying to help you out! Never gonna get anywhere with the ladies with that cold hard exterior of yours. We both know you're secretly a softie on the inside. Let it out a bit, I'm sure your Handler will appreciate it more than the normal shouting and yelling."
"Zack!"
"Sorry, sorry. I'll leave you two be. Alone. At night. With no mission tomorrow. In fact, what are you doing talking with her this late? Wait . . . are you two having a date? Maybe even talking dirty to each other? Cloud, I'm impressed I had no idea—"
"Zack!"
The faint sound of laughter vanishing into the background indicated Cloud had either walked away or Zack had, Aerith wasn't sure which. "Well that was certainly something," she said after a moment, unsure how to respond to anything that had just happened.
"Please forget all of that," Cloud said, a note of desperation in his voice.
She imagined he was blushing and smiled at the image. As tempting as it was to keep up the teasing, Aerith held back, deciding to instead move the conversation over to why she'd wanted to talk with him in the first place. "Honey, huh?" Okay, well, maybe there was room for a bit of teasing.
A loud sigh of despair was Cloud's only response, causing Aerith to grin widely. She wished she could have seen his facial reaction.
"Sorry, couldn't help it. Anyways, how are you feeling? All patched up?"
"Yeah, the medics fixed me up, even if they were glaring daggers at me the whole time."
It was the perfect opportunity and Aerith pounced. "Why do they want you dead? And why does it have to look like an accident?"
He didn't immediately respond, and Aerith was about to ask another question when she heard him exhale loudly. "That's what you overheard?"
"Yes, and I'm not letting it go, Cloud. What in the name of the Planet is going on here, it doesn't make any sense."
"You're asking dangerous questions, Aerith. I don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt."
"That's sweet of you, but I already told you I'm more than capable of looking after myself."
Cloud chuckled softly. "You're dead set on this, aren't you? Even if I refuse to talk, you'll just keep digging on your own."
"You betcha." Aerith smiled, but she hadn't missed the sorrow that had laced his words.
"Regarding the medics, I'm honestly not sure what they have against me, maybe they're jealous? What were you going to say about SOLDIER before?"
She frowned, wondering if he was actually telling the truth—it was so much harder to tell without being in person. Deciding not to press, for now, she allowed him to redirect the conversation. "I know that you're not trained, you're . . . made, as he put it," she said quietly. "I don't fully understand what that even means, but I can't imagine it's anything pleasant."
"It's really not. I don't want to go into the details, but I will say that I still have nightmares about it."
A shiver ran down her spine. "He also said that you and your mother lived on the streets before they . . . took you?"
"Yup. It was several years ago now, but I remember every detail from that moment."
"I am so sorry, Cloud. I can't believe they'd do something so horrible."
"I can, but thanks, even though you shouldn't be apologizing for them. I've always taken my anger out on my Handlers, but you helped me to realize that none of you are responsible for this, it's all Shinra's fault."
Aerith's mood soared, glad she'd been able to help in some, small way. More than ever, she was thankful to have been assigned to Cloud.
"Anything else?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Not really, that's pretty much everything I learned. We should probably call it a night, even though there's no mission tomorrow. I imagine you're ready for bed after how long today was."
"I'm actually up on the roof of the dorms."
"Oh? Why?"
"I like to come up here when I want to relax, forget about everything and everyone and just stare up at the stars."
Aerith smiled softly, imagining him lying there on his back, staring up at the twinkling dots above. Part of her wished she could be there at his side. "That sounds lovely, I'm honestly a little jealous."
Cloud quietly chuckled. "It's not all that special, I'm sure you've seen the same thing many times."
"Nope," she said, shaking her head with regret. "Midgar is so bright that it's impossible to see any stars, even the moon can be difficult to make out at times. I've never left the city before, so I've also never really gotten a chance to go stargazing."
"Ah . . . well that's a shame."
"I know! What if you describe them to me?"
"Uhhh, I'm not sure—"
"Please, Cloud?" she asked, drawing out the first word while trying to sound as sad as possible.
She heard him sigh. "Fine," he replied, also drawing the word out in the same way she had.
"Yay!" Bouncing to her feet, she moved over to her bed and dropped onto her back before closing her eyes—imagining that she was miles away, lying on a roof next to a blonde man.
"Straight above us is the Chocobo. It's being particularly cheeky tonight—the star that makes up the eye is flickering a bit more than normal."
She giggled, imagining one of the giant birds winking at her. "I've always loved chocobos, I want to ride one someday."
"Off to its right is the Tonberry, followed by the Malboro, and finally the Behemoth."
"That sounds intimidating, so many scary monsters."
"Don't worry, you're safe by my side. Over on the left, we've got the Cactuar and just peeking over the horizon you can see the Moogle."
Aerith's heart was soaring free, flying up to the imaginary stars behind her eyelids. Was it silly to be falling for someone she'd never actually met? If it was, then she didn't particularly care. Something about Cloud resonated with her.
"Aerith? Sorry if that didn't really work, it was silly to—"
"No, it was perfect, thank you Cloud, so much."
The connection between them went quiet as Aerith kept her eyes closed, continuing to imagine the constellations he'd described while also considering her growing feelings. Did Cloud feel the same way she did? From what Zack had been saying earlier it certainly seemed possible.
"Hey, Cloud?"
"Yeah?"
"Once this is all over—when the war is won, do you think we could meet up?"
The silence from earlier returned, but Aerith just lay there, waiting, afraid to say anything else as her heart pounded away in her chest.
"Sure, that sounds nice."
"Promise?"
". . . Promise."
"How about going chocobo riding together?"
Cloud laughed. "I'd be up for that, yeah."
"Great, it's a date then!"
There was no response from Cloud, but Aerith didn't let it get her down. She imagined the stunned look of surprise that must have been plastered on his face right now as her heart continued to rapidly beat out of control. Aerith wasn't sure she'd ever been this happy in her life, this excited for the future. There was a lot to be done until that day would arrive, but together, she knew they could make it.
There was still one, burning question she had for him though. "Why?"
"Hmm, why what?"
"Why do you still fight for us? After everything Shinra has put you through . . ."
There was a long pause before Cloud finally answered. "Because it's the right thing to do. Because if we don't then Wutai wins and even more people including my mother will end up suffering, not to mention that it would make the sacrifices of the SOLDIERs before me pointless. There's also the whole, 'we'll gun you down if you don't obey' part too."
It felt like time had stopped. An icy hand gripped her heart and clenched it tight. Dear Gaia, he didn't know. Aerith's vision immediately went blurry as unshed tears filled her eyes. In retrospect, it made complete sense—why would Shinra bother to tell him what they'd done to his mother after all the other horrible things they'd already done. Which, unfortunately, put her in the position to be the one to let him know.
"Cloud . . ." Aerith took a deep breath. "I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but . . . part of what Hojo revealed to me was that he . . . He . . ." She was on the verge of breaking down again and hated herself for it. "He killed your mother."
Surprise action sequence! Last mission we didn't get to experience any of the actual battle since it was all from Aerith's perspective, and I really wanted to include at least one scene where Cloud gets to show off his combat abilities. It has the added benefit of calling out his attackers as Shinra assassins which was the word he cut off from revealing to Aerith earlier (that was a tricky one since as- and ass- don't work very well either.)
Anyways, we get another Zack scene and I love it so much, largely because it involves so much teasing of Cloud and that is always too fun. Poor Cloud. Afterward, they get to finally have their conversation around what Aerith learned (yes, Cloud was lying to her about the medics, he's trying to limit the danger he thinks she's in), followed by a fluffy stargazing moment. It's tricky to have the two of them bond since they're remote, but I like to think this worked pretty well.
And then we end off on a pretty depressing note as Aerith realizes that Cloud thinks his mother is still a hostage and alive. Oooof.
Next Chapter: Erosion