FIVE

Gratitude and proper introductions.

Gratitude was an experience she felt in the more abstract sense. From the meat that wolves would lay before her to the odd yet comforting companionship Sera gave her, she had felt gratitude when it was due. However, Aerith had never been the receiver of gratitude before. 'Thank you' was a phrase that sounded so strange to hear when it wasn't uttered by herself. Then again, her primary company should be taken into account. Her animal friends had no ability to speak, and Sera was Sera.

To hear someone thanking her for something she had done was strange. Even stranger, it came from one of the scientists on the base.

From the first day she arrived, she would have never thought that any of these people were capable of politeness — or any emotion at all besides coldness. However, with the recent events that had transpired, perhaps it wasn't so strange after all. Aerith would think and linger on it, especially in the moments where boredom took over. After a few hours of ruminating, she came to the honest conclusion that perhaps she shouldn't have been too surprised, especially when the person who thanked her was the odd Doctor David Wang.

If Aerith were to be completely honest with herself, she would have never thought he was List's protégé. He seemed a bit out of place in the image this place created for itself. Where everyone was distant and almost glacial, Wang just seemed so close and personable. Their small meeting last week proved it even more.

Doctor Wang — in all his ruffled and wild-haired glory — came into her cell on a Tuesday afternoon with a pad in his hands and a nervous smile. First and foremost, he introduced himself (properly, he said) in a rambling yet endearing sort of way that only he could do.

"My name is David Wang — Doctor David Wang. You can call me David — oh well! Maybe not, David. That would be too personal, won't it? Er, just Doctor Wang would be okay and maybe Doctor D but there is a literal Doctor Dee in the base." he said, running a hand through his wild locks.

"May I call you Wang?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh yeah! Wang is good. Wang is cool. Oh crap. I just said that. Jesus. Just forget I ever said that."

He was certainly different in a good way. Wang didn't make her uncomfortable. He always smiled at her reassuringly and answered her questions more amicably than List. In fact, the reason Wang expressed his gratitude to her was because of him.

"I'm sure he would never admit it – or say anything to you. He can be a stubborn basta— guy" Wang coughed and corrected himself, making her smile, "but I just wanted to say… Thank you. Thank you for saving his life. You didn't have to. You could have just let Strucker shoot him, but you didn't. So, thank you."

The smile he gave her was adorably infectious. She never thought anyone could express so much with a little, crooked smile. She never thought she would encounter it here, but she did. She liked seeing it on him. It made him look younger than he was; less tired and less stressed.

He was a refreshing conversationalist too. In just one meeting, Aerith was able to learn more about things faster than she did in the wild or with List. With Wang, she was able to have an actual conversation that wasn't tense or forced.

It made her almost beam in pride when Wang gave her a smile or laughed at something she said.

It was like Wang was the sun under the floors of concrete.

So, when he told her that he would become her personal doctor from now on, Aerith wasn't going to deny that she may have smiled much bigger than she usually did. In fact, she had been smiling ever since. (Though, Wang wasn't only her personal doctor anymore. He recently started becoming her tutor as well – an accident that started with a simple question of 'Who is Hitler?' and later was made official by List.)

Things were honestly looking brighter than they did before. Aside from the odd doctor, there were many things that changed since then.

The first one was her powers. Exploring and practicing it was an exhilaratingly interesting endeavor. It felt like something buzzed beneath her skin, flowing through her veins. Every time she closed her eyes and focused on it. A wonderful feeling would always race through her. It felt alive. Churning and swirling inside her waiting to be released. In a way that shouldn't be possible, it felt like home. While she couldn't quite put a picture to the word, she at least had a glimpse of what it felt like.

Aerith loved it.

The second change was her cell. It looked like her old one with the exception of a missing bed frame and a calendar she was allowed to keep. The cell was cleaned out every seven hours since practicing her powers meant dirt accumulated everywhere. Since nearly squeezing the life out of Strucker, he had taken it upon himself to make sure she wasn't doing anything 'naughty'. (Wang was present at the time and Aerith didn't understand why he thought it was 'cringey').

However, the biggest change was the company, and Aerith wasn't talking about Wang, List, Strucker, or even her new neighbors. It was the guard that was regularly posted on her door. Compared to the others, it seemed miniscule but Aerith knew the guard. She knew his face, gait, and deep brown eyes that she caught watching her as she practiced.

When it came to being watched, Aerith hated the feeling. A feeling that progressed with the knowledge of the mirror in her cell being a one-way window. It had been something she was steadily trying to ignore (fruitless her attempts may be). However, it was different with this guard.

Like the first time they met – when he was injured and she healed him – Aerith knew she could trust him. A rather odd feeling she hadn't felt without anyone else that wasn't a wild animal in the woods. The moment they met again, she still felt like she could trust him and, in an odd way, found his steady company comforting. The guard never said anything and just stood by the door until his next shift – as was his job – but Aerith found him communicating in a different way.

As the guard watched her practice, Aerith learned to read his expression. It was still on a trial-and-error basis but she was getting somewhere. Though, she did get to hear him speak for the first and probably last time for a long while. Thankfully, that short-lived conversation provided her with a name to call him.

"My name is Aerith." She introduced herself, watching as the guard's face shifted into a lighter demeanor.

"Elias." He promptly returned – his voice accented and a bit raspy – before another guard arrived for their shift.

Since then, they had no room to talk, but it was amusing to try and communicate non-verbally. It was the most fun Aerith had when Wang wasn't around to keep her company. In the little game Elias and Aerith created, a little bond of companionship was made.

With the bonds Aerith was able to make, she didn't expect it to happen. After all, no one really thought a HYDRA soldier would become friends with an experiment nor that she would befriend a HYDRA scientist. These small moments kept Aerith from the brink of despair — small moments that could light even the darkest corners of the world.