Chapter Four: A Flower in a Field of Weeds
"Are you all right?" The voice seemed to come from nowhere, reverberating through Cloud's mind, flooding him with strange new thoughts. His mind was a sea of confusion, and those four words flowed through as he tried to make meaning of them.
"Can you hear me?" Again, the words flowed through his mind, but this time they took on clearer meaning. As his mind began to return to consciousness, he realized that the words he had heard before had not been in a dream. Someone was talking to him. He attempted to answer, but no words escaped his mouth. He opened his eyes, and was thoroughly surprised by what he saw.
Standing over him was a young woman that he clearly remembered. She had long, brown hair tied up in a pink ribbon, and her long bangs were draped down the sides of her face. Her cheeks were rosy with the early morning coolness. Seeing that he had awakened, she gave a happy smile. Cloud immediately remembered exactly who she was. He was sure that no one else in the world had such a vibrant smile, or had ever looked so beautiful when they smiled for that matter.
He smiled back and she giggled happily. He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through his back and he laid back down. She put her hand over his face, and felt the cold sweat that had formed over his skin.
"Try to get up, but do it slowly and carefully." She said, concerned now that he might be hurt worse than he seemed to be.
Encouraged by her soothing voice, he again lifted himself with his arms. He felt the pain again, but it was not as strong and it disappeared when he had become fully upright. He looked around him, his eyes beginning to adjust to the light. He was in a building with a very high ceiling. Light streamed through the long, green-hued windows near the ceiling, as well as a very large hole in the roof. All this puzzled him, until he began to realize what had happened. The memories of the reactor explosion came back to him, and he thought to check what he was sitting on top of. Sure enough, he was on top of the scattered debris of the roof, beneath which was a bed of flowers.
"Where am I?" He asked her, scratching his head.
"This is my church. It's in the Sector 5 slums." She answered, smiling again. "You fell through the roof and gave me quite a scare." She giggled.
Cloud shook his head in disbelief, and pointed at the ceiling.
"So I did make that hole."
She nodded.
"Luckily, my roof and flower bed broke your fall. But where did you fall from?" She asked.
"Sorry about your roof and all but I really can't tell you that." He answered.
"You fell out of the sky and landed in my church but you can't tell me…?" She started to ask.
"Maybe I'll tell you some other time." He interrupted. "Right now I just need to get my bearings." He got to his feet and brushed off his pants, feeling a little dizzy as he did so. Reaching down to his feet, he picked up some of the flowers that he had been sitting on top of.
"I thought flowers couldn't grow in Midgar." He said, looking at the petals on the one he was holding. "But then you sold that one to me when I saw you on the upper plate."
"Oh you do remember!" She said excitedly, the smile again returning to her face. "I recognized you as soon as I saw you laying there when you fell through the roof. Not many people buy flowers from me nowadays."
"I can imagine." He said, nodding.
"Actually, I'm not really sure why these flowers grow here, but they do. They say you can't grow grass or flowers in Midgar, but my flowers grow pretty resiliently here. Only around this church, though. I think it is a sacred place. It's beautiful too." She sighed, looking around the church of which she was so proud.
Cloud nodded again.
"It is very beautiful." He replied.
"Say, do you have any materia?" She asked.
"Yeah. A few. They're in my sword and my armlet." He answered. "Nowadays you can get materia anywhere."
"I have one too. But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing."
Cloud looked puzzled.
"How could it be good for nothing? Maybe you just don't know how to use it." He replied.
"No, I do. It just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's…" She trailed off. She walked over to another patch of flowers that had not been covered by debris from the roof and began to work at them.
"Sorry." She said. "I was in the middle of fixing up these flowers when you landed. I just need a minute to fix them."
Cloud nodded. They both remained silent for a little bit, Cloud trying to recuperate back to full consciousness, and the girl working diligently at trimming the stems of the flowers. After a few minutes, she turned away from her work to look back at him.
"I just realized that we don't even know each other's names. I'm Aeris. Aeris Gainsborough, the flower girl. Nice to meet you." She said.
"I'm Cloud. I don't really have an occupation. I do just about everything." He replied.
"Oh, so you're a jack of all trades." She said, giggling a little.
"You could say that." He answered.
She giggled again. He was about to ask her what was so funny when he was distracted by a noise at the door to the church. They both turned to see a man open the door and enter. He was dressed in a black, cleanly pressed suit, and he appeared to be very happy that he had found the two of them there. Cloud began to walk toward him, but stopped in his tracks as vague wisps of recognition came to him. Aeris walked behind Cloud, positioning him between the man and herself.
"Say, Cloud? Have you ever been a bodyguard?" She asked, whispering into his ear. "You do do everything, right?"
He ran his hand through his hair, trying to retain an air of confidence in a situation that was beginning to be confused by.
"Yeah, that's right." He answered.
"Then get me out of here. Take me home."
He contemplated this for a few seconds, still watching the interloper who had come through the door as he began to approach the two of them.
"All right, I'll do it." He finally answered. "But it'll cost you."
"I have nothing to give you. I'm only a flower girl." She said as sweetly and innocently as possible. He said nothing, but the look on his face convinced her that he was not going to accept that as an excuse.
"Okay fine." She finally said. "How about if I go out with you once?"
Cloud thought about this again, and then nodded. He stepped away from her to confront the mysterious intruder. He still looked vaguely familiar, but Cloud could not identify him. As he approached the man, another man dressed in a black suit similar to the one the first man was wearing entered the door. He was followed by a small group of Shinra soldiers.
"I don't know who you are, but…" Cloud began.
"You don't know me?" The man interrupted, "I know you."
Perhaps it was the man's voice, or simply seeing him speak, but for some reason the wisps of vague memory that Cloud had of this man finally coalesced into a firm remembrance. He knew this man.
"Yes I do know you." Cloud said distantly. "That uniform…"
The second man that had entered the door approached Cloud, then turned to the first man and spoke.
"Hey Reno. Do you want this one taken out?" He asked.
"I haven't decided yet, Rude." Reno answered. He recognized the other man as well. They brought back very unpleasant memories.
Aeris leaned around Cloud's back, behind which she had been hiding.
"Please don't fight in here. This is a sacred place, and I don't want you to ruin the flowers." She pleaded with them. Reno and Rude ignored her, and began to walk ever closer to Cloud. He was the only obstacle in their way. Cloud saw that they were getting too close for comfort and began to back away.
Aeris looked behind her, and then back to Cloud.
"Come on!" She yelled suddenly, grabbing Cloud's shirt. She ran with him to the back of the church, and disappeared through a door leading to another room. Reno ran toward the door through which they had exited. He turned to call to Rude and the soldiers.
"Come on! They're getting away." He yelled, and then added, "And don't step on the flowers!"
He turned back to the door to pursue the two that had fled.
"They were Mako eyes." He whispered under his breath. Without turning again, he ran through the door, followed by Rude and the soldiers.
***
Cloud and Aeris ran as fast as they could to the staircase in the center of the second room. The room appeared to be some sort of abandoned worship area. Cloud again noticed light coming from the ceiling, and he looked up to see another large hole in the ceiling, this one apparently from the degradation of the building itself. In the center of the room was a staircase which may have once led to some sort of attic, but now only led to wooden support beams that remained near the roof of the church.
"Up there!" Aeris said to him, pointing at the hole in the roof. "We'll escape through that hole."
Cloud nodded and they both began to dash up the stairs. They were very old, and with every step Cloud was nervous that they were about to give out right beneath his feet. When the two of them were almost halfway to the roof, the two men and their soldiers entered the room. The soldiers immediately began firing.
Cloud jumped to block Aeris from their shots, but he was too late. The shots barely missed Aeris' legs, tearing into the wooden stairs and causing them to break beneath her. She fell to the ground under the stairway, only fifteen feet or so from the soldiers.
"Stop shooting!" Reno yelled to the soldiers. "We can't risk hurting the Ancient!"
The soldiers stopped firing and ran to retrieve their prey, the young girl. They had barely made a few feet in front of them when a large barrel came crashing down on them from above.
"Quick, Aeris! Get up here!" Cloud yelled to her from the support beams near the roof. He hoped the barrel had bought her enough time to escape them. She ran as fast as she could up the stairs and met up with him at the top. Together they leapt through the hole in the roof, and landed on top of the church.
Aeris sat down for a second to catch her breath. Cloud looked around nervously.
"Who were those guys?" She asked, panting a little.
"Those were the Turks. Recruiting agents for Soldier." He answered.
"You think they want me to be in Soldier?"
"Could be. Then again, the Turks also specialize in other less reputable activities. They're not above murder on certain occasions." He said, his eyes still flitting around nervously.
"That might explain why they were so violent down there."
"Yeah. On that note, I think we should get out of here." He warned.
She nodded in agreement, and followed him as he jumped to the building that lay right next to the church. Together they jumped from the roof of each building to the next, until they had reached one with a low enough roof to jump to the ground.
"My house is this way." She said, pointing ahead to a small market area. "It's right through this market.
Cloud nodded and followed her lead as she ran through the small huts and trailers that populated the tiny area of commerce. Her house was not far from the market. Cloud was pleasantly surprised to see that her house was just as beautiful as the church had been. It was small, but from the outside it appeared to be cozy enough. To the right of the house was a small garden that only added to the homely feeling of the cottage.
Aeris opened the door, and left it open for Cloud to enter. She was immediately greeted by her mother, who welcomed her with a hug.
"Hi, mom. This is Cloud. He's my bodyguard."
"Oh no! Were you attacked again?" She asked, concerned.
Cloud felt the necessity to speak up.
"She was confronted by a group from Soldier. They may have been a recruiting group, or it may have been for some other purpose. I don't know."
"They were probably after my little girl again. This place just isn't safe anymore." She shook her head. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Cloud. I'm Elmyra, Aeris' mother. Thank you for looking after her."
"No problem. Although, I really have to go if you don't need me anymore, Aeris."
"Oh, where are you going?" Aeris asked, showing genuine interest.
"I have to get to Tifa's bar in the Sector 7 slums. It's called 7th Heaven. You wouldn't by any chance know how to get there from here would you?"
"Sure I do. Take me with you and I'll show you the way. Um, is Tifa a girl?" She asked.
"Yes." He answered quickly.
"A girlfriend?"
"No." He answered even quicker. "Someone I've known since my childhood and I have to meet up with now. It's very important."
Elmyra, who had been silent for the last few minutes, spoke up.
"Aeris will show you how to get there, but for now I think you should both get some rest after what you've been through." She said.
They both nodded, and Aeris ran up the stairs to her room, leaving Elmyra and Cloud alone in the kitchen and living room area of the house. Elmyra stepped closer to Cloud, and whispered in his ear.
"I don't know how to say this, but it would be best for Aeris if you left in the morning without her. I'm sure you can find your way, and she'd be safer here with me."
Cloud nodded, and then walked up the stairs the way that Aeris had gone. She had already gone in her room and sat on the bed.
"The guest room is the one right down the hall. Try and get some sleep." She said politely.
"I will. Goodnight." Cloud answered, and then proceeded down the hall to the guest bedroom. He had no intention of sleeping, but he did want to lay down for awhile. He'd wait for Aeris to fall asleep, and then he'd sneak out as quietly as possible.
He walked over to the bed, sat down with his back to the wall, and closed his eyes. He hoped he'd be able to find Tifa and Barret. He wasn't even sure if they were still alive…and a part of him was afraid of finding out.
He sighed. All he could do was rest and let the new day arrive. He tried to relax his mind, but he still could not clear his thoughts of the day's events. It had been a long day, and it was going to be a long day tomorrow.
***
It was early in the morning when Cloud finally opened his eyes. Looking at the clock, he cursed himself for having fallen asleep. He got his things together and tried to mentally prepare himself for the worst.
As silently as possible, he opened the door to the guest bedroom and crept down the hallway. Being in Soldier had taught him more then just fighting. It had taught him stealth as well. He was confident that no one could hear any of his footsteps. Luckily, Aeris's door was closed, so there was no chance of her seeing him either.
He made it down the stairs and out of the tiny cottage without any problems, and was soon on his way through the market that he and Aeris had passed through the day before. It was mostly deserted because of the time, and Cloud made it through easily and quickly.
He had made it to Sector 6 before he decided to sit down and rest for a moment. Ahead of him was a small park for the young children that lived in the slums. He was pretty sure that the park led to another market, and Sector 7 beyond that. He got up again and started to walk toward the park when a noise from behind startled him. He whirled around, only to see that he had an unexpected companion.
"Hi, Cloud." Aeris greeted him meekly. "Did you really think I'd let you go without me?"
"You're stronger willed than I thought." He admitted. "But I think you'd be better off with your mother. Obviously it isn't safe out here, and I can do just fine on my own."
"Oh don't be silly. I can handle myself. Besides, you might enjoy my company." She pleaded. "Come on! I need some excitement in my life!"
"As if being chased by the Turks isn't enough." Cloud answered sarcastically. She simply looked back at him with the cutest puppy dog face that she could manage. He couldn't help himself. He had to smile.
"Okay, okay. You can come with me for now. But once I find the 7th Heaven Bar, you'll have to leave. I have very important things I need to take care of."
Aeris shook her head.
"No, no. It doesn't work that way." She said indignantly. "You're my bodyguard now. You have to watch over me and make sure I stay safe."
Cloud opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped. She was right. He couldn't go back on his promise. Finally, he just nodded and began to walk toward the park. Aeris ran ahead of him.
"Oh it's been so long since I've gone on this thing!" She said happily, as she climbed onto a slide shaped like a mog, one of the stranger creatures known to be found outside of Midgar. It was only the head of the creature, and it resembled a bear. The slide went through its mouth. She sat atop its head, and Cloud followed her. Together they sat with their feet dangling over the face of the artificial head.
She looked up into the sky at the bottom of the plate that sat high above their heads. They were silent, and they could hear the sound of cars driving over the plate in every direction.
The park was small, with a few things to play on besides the slide. There was a fence behind them that led to the market that Cloud had remembered. Also behind them was a huge mechanical wall that led to the Sector 7 slums when opened. That was Cloud's destination, but he felt it would be better if he relaxed with Aeris a little first. After all, she seemed friendly enough.
"You were in Soldier, weren't you." She asked, turning to him.
He nodded.
"I thought so. You have a presence about you…I can just tell." She said distantly. "What rank were you?"
He seemed to consider this for a moment, as if trying to recall a distant memory.
"First Class." He finally answered.
"Just like him." She sighed.
"Who?"
"My first boyfriend. He was First Class also. Before…" She trailed off.
"Who was he?" Cloud asked. "I probably knew him."
"It isn't important." She answered, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."
He shrugged and decided to stop asking about it. He didn't know why she'd mentioned it, but it seemed to bother her. Just then, the mechanical wall to the Sector 7 slums opened. Cloud and Aeris turned as the wall opened completely, shaking the playground and breaking the morning silence. A small carriage drawn by two chocobos (large chicken-like creatures used throughout the world as beasts-of-burden and racing animals) entered through the now opened wall and turned to leave through the fence leading the market.
As the carriage passed, a young girl could be seen sitting in the back. Cloud's jaw dropped as he saw it.
"That was Tifa!" He exclaimed.
"Her?" Aeris asked, surprised. "Where's she going?"
"I don't know, but we'd better find out. Let's go." Cloud answered, jumping off the Mog's head and running toward the fence. Aeris followed him.
"What market is this?" Cloud asked.
"It's the Wall Market. The Shinra Headquarters lies on the plate just above it." She answered.
He nodded and ran through the fence, Aeris tailing right behind him. Together they ran ahead into a market that neither of them had ever seen, and a vision of the slums that neither of them had ever imagined.
"Are you all right?" The voice seemed to come from nowhere, reverberating through Cloud's mind, flooding him with strange new thoughts. His mind was a sea of confusion, and those four words flowed through as he tried to make meaning of them.
"Can you hear me?" Again, the words flowed through his mind, but this time they took on clearer meaning. As his mind began to return to consciousness, he realized that the words he had heard before had not been in a dream. Someone was talking to him. He attempted to answer, but no words escaped his mouth. He opened his eyes, and was thoroughly surprised by what he saw.
Standing over him was a young woman that he clearly remembered. She had long, brown hair tied up in a pink ribbon, and her long bangs were draped down the sides of her face. Her cheeks were rosy with the early morning coolness. Seeing that he had awakened, she gave a happy smile. Cloud immediately remembered exactly who she was. He was sure that no one else in the world had such a vibrant smile, or had ever looked so beautiful when they smiled for that matter.
He smiled back and she giggled happily. He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through his back and he laid back down. She put her hand over his face, and felt the cold sweat that had formed over his skin.
"Try to get up, but do it slowly and carefully." She said, concerned now that he might be hurt worse than he seemed to be.
Encouraged by her soothing voice, he again lifted himself with his arms. He felt the pain again, but it was not as strong and it disappeared when he had become fully upright. He looked around him, his eyes beginning to adjust to the light. He was in a building with a very high ceiling. Light streamed through the long, green-hued windows near the ceiling, as well as a very large hole in the roof. All this puzzled him, until he began to realize what had happened. The memories of the reactor explosion came back to him, and he thought to check what he was sitting on top of. Sure enough, he was on top of the scattered debris of the roof, beneath which was a bed of flowers.
"Where am I?" He asked her, scratching his head.
"This is my church. It's in the Sector 5 slums." She answered, smiling again. "You fell through the roof and gave me quite a scare." She giggled.
Cloud shook his head in disbelief, and pointed at the ceiling.
"So I did make that hole."
She nodded.
"Luckily, my roof and flower bed broke your fall. But where did you fall from?" She asked.
"Sorry about your roof and all but I really can't tell you that." He answered.
"You fell out of the sky and landed in my church but you can't tell me…?" She started to ask.
"Maybe I'll tell you some other time." He interrupted. "Right now I just need to get my bearings." He got to his feet and brushed off his pants, feeling a little dizzy as he did so. Reaching down to his feet, he picked up some of the flowers that he had been sitting on top of.
"I thought flowers couldn't grow in Midgar." He said, looking at the petals on the one he was holding. "But then you sold that one to me when I saw you on the upper plate."
"Oh you do remember!" She said excitedly, the smile again returning to her face. "I recognized you as soon as I saw you laying there when you fell through the roof. Not many people buy flowers from me nowadays."
"I can imagine." He said, nodding.
"Actually, I'm not really sure why these flowers grow here, but they do. They say you can't grow grass or flowers in Midgar, but my flowers grow pretty resiliently here. Only around this church, though. I think it is a sacred place. It's beautiful too." She sighed, looking around the church of which she was so proud.
Cloud nodded again.
"It is very beautiful." He replied.
"Say, do you have any materia?" She asked.
"Yeah. A few. They're in my sword and my armlet." He answered. "Nowadays you can get materia anywhere."
"I have one too. But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing."
Cloud looked puzzled.
"How could it be good for nothing? Maybe you just don't know how to use it." He replied.
"No, I do. It just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's…" She trailed off. She walked over to another patch of flowers that had not been covered by debris from the roof and began to work at them.
"Sorry." She said. "I was in the middle of fixing up these flowers when you landed. I just need a minute to fix them."
Cloud nodded. They both remained silent for a little bit, Cloud trying to recuperate back to full consciousness, and the girl working diligently at trimming the stems of the flowers. After a few minutes, she turned away from her work to look back at him.
"I just realized that we don't even know each other's names. I'm Aeris. Aeris Gainsborough, the flower girl. Nice to meet you." She said.
"I'm Cloud. I don't really have an occupation. I do just about everything." He replied.
"Oh, so you're a jack of all trades." She said, giggling a little.
"You could say that." He answered.
She giggled again. He was about to ask her what was so funny when he was distracted by a noise at the door to the church. They both turned to see a man open the door and enter. He was dressed in a black, cleanly pressed suit, and he appeared to be very happy that he had found the two of them there. Cloud began to walk toward him, but stopped in his tracks as vague wisps of recognition came to him. Aeris walked behind Cloud, positioning him between the man and herself.
"Say, Cloud? Have you ever been a bodyguard?" She asked, whispering into his ear. "You do do everything, right?"
He ran his hand through his hair, trying to retain an air of confidence in a situation that was beginning to be confused by.
"Yeah, that's right." He answered.
"Then get me out of here. Take me home."
He contemplated this for a few seconds, still watching the interloper who had come through the door as he began to approach the two of them.
"All right, I'll do it." He finally answered. "But it'll cost you."
"I have nothing to give you. I'm only a flower girl." She said as sweetly and innocently as possible. He said nothing, but the look on his face convinced her that he was not going to accept that as an excuse.
"Okay fine." She finally said. "How about if I go out with you once?"
Cloud thought about this again, and then nodded. He stepped away from her to confront the mysterious intruder. He still looked vaguely familiar, but Cloud could not identify him. As he approached the man, another man dressed in a black suit similar to the one the first man was wearing entered the door. He was followed by a small group of Shinra soldiers.
"I don't know who you are, but…" Cloud began.
"You don't know me?" The man interrupted, "I know you."
Perhaps it was the man's voice, or simply seeing him speak, but for some reason the wisps of vague memory that Cloud had of this man finally coalesced into a firm remembrance. He knew this man.
"Yes I do know you." Cloud said distantly. "That uniform…"
The second man that had entered the door approached Cloud, then turned to the first man and spoke.
"Hey Reno. Do you want this one taken out?" He asked.
"I haven't decided yet, Rude." Reno answered. He recognized the other man as well. They brought back very unpleasant memories.
Aeris leaned around Cloud's back, behind which she had been hiding.
"Please don't fight in here. This is a sacred place, and I don't want you to ruin the flowers." She pleaded with them. Reno and Rude ignored her, and began to walk ever closer to Cloud. He was the only obstacle in their way. Cloud saw that they were getting too close for comfort and began to back away.
Aeris looked behind her, and then back to Cloud.
"Come on!" She yelled suddenly, grabbing Cloud's shirt. She ran with him to the back of the church, and disappeared through a door leading to another room. Reno ran toward the door through which they had exited. He turned to call to Rude and the soldiers.
"Come on! They're getting away." He yelled, and then added, "And don't step on the flowers!"
He turned back to the door to pursue the two that had fled.
"They were Mako eyes." He whispered under his breath. Without turning again, he ran through the door, followed by Rude and the soldiers.
***
Cloud and Aeris ran as fast as they could to the staircase in the center of the second room. The room appeared to be some sort of abandoned worship area. Cloud again noticed light coming from the ceiling, and he looked up to see another large hole in the ceiling, this one apparently from the degradation of the building itself. In the center of the room was a staircase which may have once led to some sort of attic, but now only led to wooden support beams that remained near the roof of the church.
"Up there!" Aeris said to him, pointing at the hole in the roof. "We'll escape through that hole."
Cloud nodded and they both began to dash up the stairs. They were very old, and with every step Cloud was nervous that they were about to give out right beneath his feet. When the two of them were almost halfway to the roof, the two men and their soldiers entered the room. The soldiers immediately began firing.
Cloud jumped to block Aeris from their shots, but he was too late. The shots barely missed Aeris' legs, tearing into the wooden stairs and causing them to break beneath her. She fell to the ground under the stairway, only fifteen feet or so from the soldiers.
"Stop shooting!" Reno yelled to the soldiers. "We can't risk hurting the Ancient!"
The soldiers stopped firing and ran to retrieve their prey, the young girl. They had barely made a few feet in front of them when a large barrel came crashing down on them from above.
"Quick, Aeris! Get up here!" Cloud yelled to her from the support beams near the roof. He hoped the barrel had bought her enough time to escape them. She ran as fast as she could up the stairs and met up with him at the top. Together they leapt through the hole in the roof, and landed on top of the church.
Aeris sat down for a second to catch her breath. Cloud looked around nervously.
"Who were those guys?" She asked, panting a little.
"Those were the Turks. Recruiting agents for Soldier." He answered.
"You think they want me to be in Soldier?"
"Could be. Then again, the Turks also specialize in other less reputable activities. They're not above murder on certain occasions." He said, his eyes still flitting around nervously.
"That might explain why they were so violent down there."
"Yeah. On that note, I think we should get out of here." He warned.
She nodded in agreement, and followed him as he jumped to the building that lay right next to the church. Together they jumped from the roof of each building to the next, until they had reached one with a low enough roof to jump to the ground.
"My house is this way." She said, pointing ahead to a small market area. "It's right through this market.
Cloud nodded and followed her lead as she ran through the small huts and trailers that populated the tiny area of commerce. Her house was not far from the market. Cloud was pleasantly surprised to see that her house was just as beautiful as the church had been. It was small, but from the outside it appeared to be cozy enough. To the right of the house was a small garden that only added to the homely feeling of the cottage.
Aeris opened the door, and left it open for Cloud to enter. She was immediately greeted by her mother, who welcomed her with a hug.
"Hi, mom. This is Cloud. He's my bodyguard."
"Oh no! Were you attacked again?" She asked, concerned.
Cloud felt the necessity to speak up.
"She was confronted by a group from Soldier. They may have been a recruiting group, or it may have been for some other purpose. I don't know."
"They were probably after my little girl again. This place just isn't safe anymore." She shook her head. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Cloud. I'm Elmyra, Aeris' mother. Thank you for looking after her."
"No problem. Although, I really have to go if you don't need me anymore, Aeris."
"Oh, where are you going?" Aeris asked, showing genuine interest.
"I have to get to Tifa's bar in the Sector 7 slums. It's called 7th Heaven. You wouldn't by any chance know how to get there from here would you?"
"Sure I do. Take me with you and I'll show you the way. Um, is Tifa a girl?" She asked.
"Yes." He answered quickly.
"A girlfriend?"
"No." He answered even quicker. "Someone I've known since my childhood and I have to meet up with now. It's very important."
Elmyra, who had been silent for the last few minutes, spoke up.
"Aeris will show you how to get there, but for now I think you should both get some rest after what you've been through." She said.
They both nodded, and Aeris ran up the stairs to her room, leaving Elmyra and Cloud alone in the kitchen and living room area of the house. Elmyra stepped closer to Cloud, and whispered in his ear.
"I don't know how to say this, but it would be best for Aeris if you left in the morning without her. I'm sure you can find your way, and she'd be safer here with me."
Cloud nodded, and then walked up the stairs the way that Aeris had gone. She had already gone in her room and sat on the bed.
"The guest room is the one right down the hall. Try and get some sleep." She said politely.
"I will. Goodnight." Cloud answered, and then proceeded down the hall to the guest bedroom. He had no intention of sleeping, but he did want to lay down for awhile. He'd wait for Aeris to fall asleep, and then he'd sneak out as quietly as possible.
He walked over to the bed, sat down with his back to the wall, and closed his eyes. He hoped he'd be able to find Tifa and Barret. He wasn't even sure if they were still alive…and a part of him was afraid of finding out.
He sighed. All he could do was rest and let the new day arrive. He tried to relax his mind, but he still could not clear his thoughts of the day's events. It had been a long day, and it was going to be a long day tomorrow.
***
It was early in the morning when Cloud finally opened his eyes. Looking at the clock, he cursed himself for having fallen asleep. He got his things together and tried to mentally prepare himself for the worst.
As silently as possible, he opened the door to the guest bedroom and crept down the hallway. Being in Soldier had taught him more then just fighting. It had taught him stealth as well. He was confident that no one could hear any of his footsteps. Luckily, Aeris's door was closed, so there was no chance of her seeing him either.
He made it down the stairs and out of the tiny cottage without any problems, and was soon on his way through the market that he and Aeris had passed through the day before. It was mostly deserted because of the time, and Cloud made it through easily and quickly.
He had made it to Sector 6 before he decided to sit down and rest for a moment. Ahead of him was a small park for the young children that lived in the slums. He was pretty sure that the park led to another market, and Sector 7 beyond that. He got up again and started to walk toward the park when a noise from behind startled him. He whirled around, only to see that he had an unexpected companion.
"Hi, Cloud." Aeris greeted him meekly. "Did you really think I'd let you go without me?"
"You're stronger willed than I thought." He admitted. "But I think you'd be better off with your mother. Obviously it isn't safe out here, and I can do just fine on my own."
"Oh don't be silly. I can handle myself. Besides, you might enjoy my company." She pleaded. "Come on! I need some excitement in my life!"
"As if being chased by the Turks isn't enough." Cloud answered sarcastically. She simply looked back at him with the cutest puppy dog face that she could manage. He couldn't help himself. He had to smile.
"Okay, okay. You can come with me for now. But once I find the 7th Heaven Bar, you'll have to leave. I have very important things I need to take care of."
Aeris shook her head.
"No, no. It doesn't work that way." She said indignantly. "You're my bodyguard now. You have to watch over me and make sure I stay safe."
Cloud opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped. She was right. He couldn't go back on his promise. Finally, he just nodded and began to walk toward the park. Aeris ran ahead of him.
"Oh it's been so long since I've gone on this thing!" She said happily, as she climbed onto a slide shaped like a mog, one of the stranger creatures known to be found outside of Midgar. It was only the head of the creature, and it resembled a bear. The slide went through its mouth. She sat atop its head, and Cloud followed her. Together they sat with their feet dangling over the face of the artificial head.
She looked up into the sky at the bottom of the plate that sat high above their heads. They were silent, and they could hear the sound of cars driving over the plate in every direction.
The park was small, with a few things to play on besides the slide. There was a fence behind them that led to the market that Cloud had remembered. Also behind them was a huge mechanical wall that led to the Sector 7 slums when opened. That was Cloud's destination, but he felt it would be better if he relaxed with Aeris a little first. After all, she seemed friendly enough.
"You were in Soldier, weren't you." She asked, turning to him.
He nodded.
"I thought so. You have a presence about you…I can just tell." She said distantly. "What rank were you?"
He seemed to consider this for a moment, as if trying to recall a distant memory.
"First Class." He finally answered.
"Just like him." She sighed.
"Who?"
"My first boyfriend. He was First Class also. Before…" She trailed off.
"Who was he?" Cloud asked. "I probably knew him."
"It isn't important." She answered, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."
He shrugged and decided to stop asking about it. He didn't know why she'd mentioned it, but it seemed to bother her. Just then, the mechanical wall to the Sector 7 slums opened. Cloud and Aeris turned as the wall opened completely, shaking the playground and breaking the morning silence. A small carriage drawn by two chocobos (large chicken-like creatures used throughout the world as beasts-of-burden and racing animals) entered through the now opened wall and turned to leave through the fence leading the market.
As the carriage passed, a young girl could be seen sitting in the back. Cloud's jaw dropped as he saw it.
"That was Tifa!" He exclaimed.
"Her?" Aeris asked, surprised. "Where's she going?"
"I don't know, but we'd better find out. Let's go." Cloud answered, jumping off the Mog's head and running toward the fence. Aeris followed him.
"What market is this?" Cloud asked.
"It's the Wall Market. The Shinra Headquarters lies on the plate just above it." She answered.
He nodded and ran through the fence, Aeris tailing right behind him. Together they ran ahead into a market that neither of them had ever seen, and a vision of the slums that neither of them had ever imagined.