Stepping over the rubble of what used to be a very busy bar, Tifa's 7th Heaven as a matter of fact, Reeve stopped and stood, his gaze sweeping over fallen bar stools and an overturned refrigerator. Silently, he moved to the right, where an old game machine stood, slightly damaged but in better repair than most of the other things in the sector 7 slums. That was only to be expected when things no smaller than a Midgar plate fell atop it. And when things no more powerful than Meteor ravaged that plate.
Not usually one to waste his time with things as trivial as pinball games, despite having lived through Cait Sith, who posed as a toysaurus, Reeve surprised himself when he reached out to push the start button on the side of the machine. With a violent jolt, the old machine creaked and groaned as it descended into the basement of the bar. Again, to his surprise, Reeve found himself in the midst of what appeared to be a spy base, with things such as video monitors and other mechanical gadgets, and even a large, red punching bag in the far corner.
Avalanche, he reminded himself. Tifa and Barrett and Cloud were members of Avalanche. That explains that, he thought.
He started as he noticed a massive pool of mako in the middle of the room - how he could have missed it in the first place was a mystery to be pondered later. A familiar pair of bright, glittering mako-colored eyes, ever-sweet and innocent appeared in the translucent green liquid, blinking as they beckoned him to their own ghostly image. They seemed to be smiling - somehow, in a strangely feminine fashion - and he relaxed slightly.
Aeris.
He warily took a step toward the emerald shallows and, as he drew nearer, noticed a small orange crystal, sticky with half-dry mako clinging to its strangely perfect roundness. He knelt to pick up the orb, which was glowing faintly, and he heard the sweetly melodic laugh, which could only belong to her beautiful eyes, in a chord - bittersweet in its entirety - within his soul. When the beautiful peals of wondrous laughter finally ceased, he heard - felt - the planet singing out in simplistic joy. It was a sound of freedom.
"Use it wisely," the familiar voice whispered. With that, the eyes disappeared, and Reeve felt himself alone once more in the basement.
Gazing into the strange orange materia orb, he toyed with his PHS. The vibrant orange color was marbled with a deep scarlet that faded into a light pink near the outside. It emitted a subtle warmth and Reeve turned it around and around in his palm. Finally, he dialed in Tifa's number and waited.
"Hello?" Tifa answered.
"Tifa, this is Reeve. Come to the sector 7 slums. I'm at the ruins of 7th Heaven. I have something I think might interest you."
~~~<~~@ *** @~~>~~~
Vincent pushed a bit of rubble out of his way with his foot and looked around in quiet appraisal. Sector 5 had escaped almost unharmed. Surprisingly, an old church sat perfectly unscathed - save for its previous damages. Upon entering, he found a thriving bed of yellow flowers, and suddenly it came to him. This was the flower garden Aeris had talked about so often, longingly, after they'd met. Of course. Only a person like Aeris could nurture something so beautiful in a place like Midgar.
Vincent took a few certain strides toward the holy little flower patch to be halted by a voice from behind. He berated himself for not hearing her approach, what with his excellent senses that Hojo had cursed him with. He turned to face the stranger, glowering at her, yet he was only angry with himself.
"Excuse me, young man. What do you think you're doing here?"
Vincent walked until he was towering over her, his cape rustling only a bit, and stared emotionlessly at the women with his glowing, russet eyes. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by the man with a claw for a left arm and stared right back, a bit sorrowfully.
"It seems I've stumbled across something belonging to a friend."
The woman - perhaps in her mid-forties - gave a strange, mournful laugh before stating, "Young man, this flower garden used to belong to my daughter. She died almost three years ago." The woman turned to leave, but not before addressing him one last time. "Please," she continued in a tearful voice. "Leave this place. Leave this woman's memories the way she remembers them."
"I remember Aeris saying her mother had died when she was little." He surprised himself my saying that. He preferred not to converse about the past.
"Aeris was my adopted daughter. My name is Elmyra Gainsborough." She turned to leave again, trying to hide the tears beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes.. "If you would... please... come to my house. I want to hear about how you knew Aeris," Elmyra called to him, not bothering to look back to see whether he was following or not.
Vincent turned to look at the small miracle Aeris had endowed this Planet with.
Requiescat en pace, Aeris.
End of Chapter 2