~Author's Note~
Okay everyone… I was bored at my dad's
house and decided to do something strange. Don't shoot me I was in a weird mood
okay!
OH! And I don't own FF7 (even if I wish I
did)
Once
upon a time, in a far away land called Midgar, a girl once lived. Her name
was
Aeris. Shortly after being born, she lost her mother, whose name was Ilfana. As
a
fitting memory, Aeris' father, Henry Gast,
gave his tiny daughter her mother's last name. Aeris Gainsborough and her
father lived in their large home alone for a year. Then Mr. Gast decided Aeris
needed a
mother. So he remarried a woman named
Elmyra. Elmyra Gast had two daughters, Tifa
and Yuffie. Soon after the marrage to
Elmyra, Henry died in his sleep. The doctors
all said it was because of his age, but,
after growing up with her step fanily, it was so
he could get away from Elmyra. As Aeris
grew up, her family tormented and abused.
They began to call her Cinderela
Gainsborough instead of Aeris. Very few people knew
Henry Gast had changed his daughter's last
name so everyone thought Aeris had gone to live with a relative in another
kingdom.
By the time she was thirteen,
Aeris had become a servant in her own house. The only friends she had were
Barret Wallace andhis young daughter Marlene. When Aeris was young Mr. and Mrs.
Wallace had moved in to help Aeris' mother and father. Only a year after having
Marlene, Myrna Wallace died of pneumonia. Aeris had taken care of Marlene and
Barret since that day about five years ago.
After
Henry Gast died, Elmyra spent all the family's money on forwarding the
interests of her two horrible children.
Soon only Aeris (who had to work for free,)
Barret, and Marlene (who couldn't leave
Aeris alone) remained to keep the house
from falling into disrepair. The only things
that kept Aeris going, was her little garden
in the woods, and the hope that one day all
her prayers would be answered and her
dreams would finally come true...
One
morning Aeris awoke early and slipped on her plain pink dress and her red
vest, along with her brown boots. She
braided her hair
and tied it with two pink ribbons. She
slipped two round objects, which were her only
momentos of her mother, into her upper
ribbon. She had no idea what they were but,
she felt safe having them.
She
ran into the forest outside her house and up towards a small, run down
building. As she approached the steps, a
horse nearly ran her over. She gasped and fell
as she jumped out of the way. A young man,
no older than she was, jumped off of the
horse and ran to her side. He helped her up
and ran his fingers through his spiky
blonde hair.
"Please
forgive me miss," the young man said looking down into her slightly
smudged face.
"Oh
no," Aeris said, "It's alright, I should have been paying more
attention."
She brushed some dirt off her skirt. She
looked up at the man who had almost run her
over and looked into two of the bluest eyes
she had ever seen.
He
looked into her bright green eyes and smiled, revealing a few white teeth.
He took her hand and kissed it, "My
name is Cloud," he said.
Aeris
swallowed and curtsied, "M-my n-name is C-cind-dere-ela," she said
shakily.
The
man began to grin, "It's a pleasure C-cind-dere-ela," he said
imitating her
shaky voice, "That's an interesting
name."
She
brought up one of her hands to cover her eyes. She laughed and shooker
head, "Please, it's Cinderela, I'm
just a bit shaken up because of the fall and
everything. My family gave me that pet name
a long time ago."
"Well
again I apologise for the slight problem with Buster over there." Cloud
said pointing towards his horse, "That
crazy horse got spooked and took off."
Aeris
was about to reply when the bells began to chime eight o'clock.
"Oh
my goodness, I must go, forgive me Cloud I must get back home, my
family will be looking for me.
Goodbye."
"Please
let me give you a ride back," he said, "It's really the least I can
do!"
"It's
okay I just live at the edge of the forrest here. Farewell Cloud!"
"Goodbye
Cinderela, I hope to see you again!" Cloud called after her retreating
figure.
Aeris
ran in the door to the kitchen and began to make breakfast. She quickly made up
the three trays and hurried to her step-sister, Tifa's room. Tifa was a quiet,
yet opinionated girl. She had dull brown hair (as did her sister and mother)
and evil amethyst eyes.
"Could
you have taken any longer?!" Tifa asked.
"I'm
s-sorry Tifa I-I it won't happen again…"
"It
better not" Tifa said arrogantly. Aeris picked up the basked Tifa had left
by the door and headed toward Yuffie's room. She knocked on the door.
"Get
in here Cinderela!" Yuffie screamed, "I'm starving!"
Aeris
hurried in and set Yuffie's tray down in front of her. Yuffie was different
from Tifa, She yelled her head off.
"I'm
sorry Yuffie," Aeris said "It won't happen again. She grabbed
Yuffie's basket and hurried toward her stepmother's room. She knocked on the
door.
"Come
in!" Said Elmyra's commanding voice.
Aeris
walked in and set Elmyra's tray down, "Please forgive me Stepmother,"
Aeris said, "I assure you, it will not happen again."
Elmyra
nodded and Aeris grabbed Elmyra's laundry. She slipped down the stairs and
quickly ate her breakfast. She sighed counting the hours until she could leave.
Suddenly she heard the doorknocker.
She opened the door,
"Yes, can I help you?"
"A royal proclemation
from King Vincent and Queen Lucretia." said a royal messenger, "There
is
a ball tonight for the prince. All elegible
women in the kingdom are invited." He handed her the invitation,
bowed and left.
Aeris
took the letter up to her stepmothers room.
"Nanaki,
I have found her!" sighed the prince, "She's so perfect!" He
looked down at the red
lion that served as his guard and was his
closest friend, "I hope I can find her..."
"I'll
help," said Nanaki, "What does she look like?"
The
prince sighed again, "She has long brown hair, sparkling green eyes, a
beautiful smile..."
"Yes
yes yes, I understand, pretty..." Nanaki said.
"No
not just pretty," the prince
said looking at the dark blue suit his valet had picked out. He pushed it aside
for a deep green one, "Angelic perhaps..."
"I
got it, I'll look for this girl but if you don't hurry you won't even be able
to look for her." Nanalki said.
The
prince looked at the clock, "You're right..."
Aeris
sat in the kitchen crying. So clearly could she remembered the jeers from her
stepsisters.
"You,
go to the ball?" asked Tifa.
"You
want to dance with me your highness? Of course, but please wait, oh Tifa please
hold my
broom!" they collapsed laughing.
Her
stepmother told her she couldn't go disgracing the family that way. When she
thought about
it she cried all over again. Barret and
Marlene walked in and saw her crying.
"Aeris
why are you crying?" Barret asked.
"Oh
Barret," Aeris sobbed, "I can't go to the ball!"
"What?"
He asked.
"There's
to be a ball tonight and Elmyra says I can't go..." Aeris began to cry all
over again.
"There
now you can go. I'll help you..." Barret said.
"How?
How can I go? I have no dress, my hair is a wreck, I'm covered in dirt, no way
to get
there..."
"If
you're done?" Barret said, "Now stand up."
Aeris
stood. Barret touched her forehead. Suddenly she was clean, no dirt or smudges.
Her hair
was also clean. She stepped back and looked
at him.
"How'd
you do that?" She asked.
"I'm
your fairy godfather. Myrna was your fairy godmother. I'm supposed to take care
of you
not that Lady and your father are
gone."
She
hugged him, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"There
wasn't a need for you to know." He replied, "But now I have a suprise
for you that isn't
Fairy magic."
She
followed him up to her mother's room. He walked toward a bare wall and clapped.
Out of
the wall a door opened. Barret pulled out a
crystal blue gown made of silk. Aeris gasped, it was her
mother's. Barret grinned and touched the
dress and in the blink of an eye the dress was on Aeris instead
of in his hands. She looked into the mirror
that had once belonged to her mother.
"You
look like your mother," he said, "now for your hair." he touched
her head. Instead of the
braid that was there only seconds ago, now
her hair was pulled up in a blue silk bow and curled.He
touched her neck and a necklace appered. It
was a tiny crystal rose on a silver chain.
She
looked down and realized she wasn't wearing any shoes, "Barret... I might
need some
shoes...," they both grinned as she
lifted her skirts and wiggled her toes.
"Let's
see..." Barret said thinking, "I've got it!" He pulled out the
blueish-white orbs from thin
air, "These will do." He placed
one on the ground and touched it with one finger. They turned into two
glass slippers.
Aeris
slipped them on, "What if they break?" she asked.
Barret
laughed, "They're Fairy made, they won't break."
Aeris
giggled, "Oh yeah I forgot.
Barret
closed his hand over the other one and when he opened it the other orb was
gone. He
looked toward the window and nodded. Aeris
looked and saw a carrage and that matched everything she
wore and horses and footmen.
"Hon,
you'd better go, it's getting late. But you must be back by midnight. It's the
only rule."
Barret said as he followed her to the door,
"Wait! I forgot something!" He looked at her and touched the
top of her head. A small silver tiara with
a crystal rose that matched her necklace appeared, "I'll explain
this later. Now enjoy yourself..."
She
hurried toward the carrage, "I will! Thank you Barret! Goodbye!" she
called as the carrage pulled away.
"Have
you found her Nanaki?" asked the prince for the hundreth time that night.
"No
your highness." Nanaki said with a bow, "But everyone is here.Come
help me look."
The
prince nodded, "Okay, maybe you have just missed her."
He
walked out into the ballroom looking for the angel he'd met that day. He
smoothed back his blonde hair that refused to stay down.
Aeris
entered the palace a little late. As she walked by the guards turned and
watched her enter
the ballroom.
Aeris
walked into the ballroom and bumped into a red lion, "Please forgive
me." she said looking
down.
"Quite
alright." he said looking up at her, "Green eyes, long brown hair,
nice smile, definatly
looks like an angel," he thought.
"Perhaps
you can help me," Aeris said to the lion, "I'm looking for a young
man I met earlier
and maybe you've seen him. He has bright
blue eyes and blonde spiky hair. He told me hos name was
Cloud..."
"Ah,
Cloud, he's a good friend of mine m'dear. In fact he's been looking for you.
He's been
driving me out of my mind, 'have you seen
the angelic girl with the emerald eyes?'"
Aeris
giggled, "Did he really say that?"
"Oh
believe me it get's worse," he said, "But I'll save that for another
time. By the way my
name's Nanaki." he said with a bow.
"I'm
Aeris." she said with a quick curtsy.
"If
you'll just wait here I'll go get Cloud." Nanaki said.
Aeris
nodded, "Thank you Nanaki."
Nanaki
hurried toward the pilliar that the prince was hiding behind, "Cloud I
found her!"
"You
found Cinderela?" Cloud asked.
Nanaki
gave him a funny look, "She told me her name was Aeris."
Cloud
began to laugh, "Cinderela is a pet name her family gave her. Man did you
get here just
in tim. Some crazy girl named Tifa just
threw herself at me."
Nanaki
laughed and looked up at Cloud, "You do know that Aeris doesn't know
you're a prince
right?"
"I
didn't tell her." Cloud replied, "Now where is she?"
"Next
to the pillar by the balcony." Nanaki said.
"Thank
you friend," Cloud said as he handed his crown to Nanaki. Then he hurried
toward Aeris.
Aeris
looked around her and saw the balcony. She walked toward the open doors and
looked up
at the stars.
"Pretty
huh?" said a voice behind her.
She
whirled around and was face to face with Tifa and Yuffie. She nodded and turned
back
around.Then she felt a tap on her shoulder
and looked back into two of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.
"Cloud?"
she asked.
"Hello
my dear," Clouds said offering her an arm, "May I have this
dance?"
"Of
course," she said taking his outstretched arm. She noticed the shocked
look on her
stepsister's faces.
He
led her toward the balcony and Nanaki closed the doors behind them.
The
band began to play a waltz and the prince led her around the balcony. The music
slowly stopped and she looked into the
prince's blue eyes. Gently he kissed her. Suddenly she heard
the clock chime.
She
pulled away from the prince, "Midnight," she whispered. She turned
and ran for the steps
on the side of the balcony and hurried down
them. About half-way she felt the slipper slide off her
foot. She knew she couldn't stop. Cloud
couldn't see her dirty and dressed like a servant.She climbed
into her carrage and blew Cloud a kiss as
she drove away.
Cloud
stopped and watched as Aeris drove off blowing him a kiss. He turned and saw
something glitter in the darkness.
"Her
slipper?" he thought.He picked it up and tapped his finger on it.
"It's glass" he thought.
He shook his head and walked up the balcony
steps.Cloud looked into the ballroom where everyone still
danced and enjoyed themselves. He sat on
the balcony ledge and watched the stars.
Aeris
awoke late the next morning. She got up and stretched. After she finished
rubbing her
eyes she saw a tiara, necklace, and one
glass slipper on her small dresser. The memories of the last
night came back in a flood. She twirled and
began to hum the song she danced with Cloud.
She
quickly changed into her pink dress and red vest. She only tied back her hair
today. She
slipped the one orb she still had into her
hair ribbon. She pulled on the brown boots that she normally
wore and stood up. She heard voices
downstairs.
"You're
sure you're the only ladies of the house?" asked a male voice that was
strangly familiar.
She
opened the door and walked down the hallway.In the front parlor sat Nanaki and
Cloud!
"Thank
you then we'll be on our way." said Cloud as he and Nanaki stood up.
"Goodbye
your highness and please remember, don't be a stranger," Elmyra said as
she led them
to the door.
Aeris
hid behind a pillar as she watched Cloud walk out of the house hanging his
head.
"Your
highness?" Aeris whispered glancing out from behind the pillar again. This
time Nanaki
looked back and saw her duck behind the
pillar. He shook his head thinking he was seeing things again.He followed Cloud
out.
"Why
didn't you go after him?" Barret asked.
"How
can I?" Aeris asked "He's the prince and I'm- I'm-"
"The
girl he loves..." Barret said, "Go to yer church, he'll be
there."
Aeris
smiled, "Thank you Barret."
Barret
hugged her, "Yer welcome princess Aeris," he said placing the silver
tiara on her head.
"What?"
she asked touching the tiara that rested on her head.
"You
are the only living Cetra left on this earth. Yer mother, Ilfana
Gainsborough-Gast, was the queen of the Cetra. That makes you a Cetra princess
until you come of age to become a queen."
She
hugged him and ran off toward the kitchen door.
Cloud
approached the church where he had first met the mysterious Aeris. He walked
through the door and saw the beautiful roses she must have grown there. He went
and sat in front of them.
"You
know, it's polite to tell the girl you met here that you're the prince."
Aeris said as she
walked into the church with her watering
can, "Of course I probably should tell you, now that I know, that I'm the
Cetra princess. There now I'm not rude."
Cloud looked at her for a moment,
"What?"
"This
mornrning when you came to my house," Aeris said, "I didn't come out
because I thought
I was beneath you. At that moment I was but
a lowly servant."
"I
wouldn't care if you were a wandering gypsy girl," Cloud said pulling the
glass slipper out of
the small box he held, "I love
you."
"Well
if that's the case then," Aeris said slipping her foot into the little
glass shoe, "I love you too."
"They
were soon married and they lived happily ever after..." said Barret
looking down at Ilfana and Zack.
Ilfana
climbed onto Barret's lap, "I think that's my favorite story Barret."
"It's
my favorite too Ilfana," Barret said looking at the door where Aeris and
Cloud both stood looking at Barret, "It's definatly my favorite."
The End
~Author's note~
Okay so it was
dribble but it was fun writing it! If I can find people who actually like it
I'll do more like it! Hope you enjoyed my story!
((____BLACK____))__Aeris
Gainsborough