Chapter 5- Awakening

            Aeris stared down at Sephiroth.  He had miraculously recovered after being shot in the heart.  She could remember watching as he sank to the floor by her.  At first she had been too panicked to think. The fear from the attack and the shock of seeing Sephiroth pass out on the floor next to her had been almost too much for her to handle. It wasn't until she had seen his shallow breaths that she had been able to recompose herself and get him into the bed.

Now she looked down at him, it was just barely after dawn and his wound was completely healed, as if it had never been there.  She didn't quite understand how, she had some ideas as to how it had happened.  As for now she was simply content to watch him as he slept. 

There was something about him that she couldn't quite describe that made her want to look at him. Sure he was good looking, but so were many other men she had met; and she had never been compelled to look at them the way she could look at Sephiroth.  She felt as thought she could look at him for hours and never tire of it.

Seeing him so close to her, close enough to reach out and touch, seemed surreal.  It added to the feel of the entire place.  Everything was how she wanted it, but something was out of place and it made everything seem slightly off, just enough to make her slightly uncomfortable.

She continued to gaze at Sephiroth and think about these things until his eyes began to flutter open. Noticing how close she was she quickly scooted back her chair a bit then shifted her attention elsewhere, she didn't him to think she had been doing nothing but looking at him nearly the entire time he had been out.

"Ugghh" he moaned slightly as he slowly propped himself up on and elbow.

Aeris casually turned her head towards him as if she hadn't been expecting his awakening.

"Feeling better?" she asked nonchalantly.

"What happened?" he questioned as he looked down at his chest, touching the spot where the bullet had pierced his chest," I mean, there's nothing wrong"

"Is that a problem?" laughed Aeris; she couldn't help but find his confusion amusing.

Sephiroth responded with a glare.

"Ahem", she cleared her throat, plastering a serious expression on her face.

"Do you know what happened?" Sephiroth asked, still confused, and a bit angry at Aeris' childish behavior especially concerning such a serious subject.

"Oh I have my theories, I can't be sure if they are right or not," she stated, quickly returning to her playful mood, she felt somewhat elated that he was awake and healthy again.

"Would you care to, oh, tell me what's going on here? I know I heal quickly, but not this quickly," he watched as Aeris' mood rose by the second, her changes in mood were almost always visible on her expressions.

"Well, as far as I know, this place is controlled entirely by us, or whoever else is around here.  Anything we see, hear, do, even what we look like is controlled by our own minds," she explained.

Sephiroth took a few seconds to think this over. "So from what you believe anything I want to happen, happened. Including the miraculous healing of my body?"

"I guess so." Aeris couldn't' help but be fascinated at the way Sephiroth looked when he thought, he got so absorbed into his own mind. She found herself staring at him again when he spoke again; this time what he had to say disturbed her.

"So we can't die"

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Hojo retreated back to a distance where he once again had complete control over his world.  He was in a sulking mood today.  He hadn't wanted to be cut in half by that troublesome boy, but it had happened.  It went against everything he had figured out about this strange place. Once he thought he had everything figured out something like this had to come along.

Well at least he had the chance to get some new things to play with. The last ones he had come upon had been particularly weak minded. It had taken hardly any time at all to force them under his control. Hojo looked to the deformed creatures in the glass containment cages scattered about his domain. All he had to do was come up with a plan to weaken their minds, after all that's all this place is about.

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Sephiroth looked up at Aeris, he could tell she was desperately trying to retain her good mood. He felt bad for bringing her down, but he wanted to know if it could happen.

"Ha, where would we go anyway? We are already dead" Aeris laughed as she hopped up out of the chair and left the room. Sephiroth could tell that she was upset.  He had probably taken away the only hope she had of leaving this place, of going on to an actual afterlife. 

As bad as he felt about Aeris he was too absorbed in his thoughts to chase after her.  Hojo was back, and he was definitely not sane or friendly.  He had tried to kidnap Aeris and take them both for experiments. He had nearly succeeded, if their minds were the key to power in a place like this, and he had succeeded in knocking the two of them unconscious. Sephiroth shook his head to rid himself of the thought of what nearly happened. How could Aeris just shake it off like she did?

Aeris, he had a feeling she was no longer in the house.  Hopefully she hadn't gone to far. Sephiroth rose from the bed to begin his search for her. He wasn't quite sure what it was that made him want to make her feel better, there was just a feeling he got when he saw her sad.  It had to have something to do with the way she was always so happy. That had to be it.

After searching her out for a while, he found her seated on a log watching the churning ocean, crying.  Sephiroth's heart sank like a brick. He hadn't thought it was that bad, I guess her emotions are not as easy to read as I thought.  Slowly he walked up beside her and sat down.

"Aeris?" he asked uncertainly after a long silence, filled only with her stifled sobs.

"Yes?" she responded as she wiped tears from her eyes, a fake cheery smile on her face.

Actually seeing the tears in her usually sparkling green eyes made Sephiroth feel almost sick, maybe she hadn't taken things as lightly as he thought.

"Come on Aeris don't lie, I know you're not happy," he stated, regretting what he said as Aeris burst out into a fresh fit of tears.

"Oh Seph!" She gasped in between sobs," I just don't know what to do anymore! Nothing is right in this place….I…and….I thought that I was alone, then you came….I thought I was safe, then…then he came. And now, we hardly know how this place works, and the planet will hardly even tell me anything. And, on top of all of that, we are stuck here aren't we? I'll never see my mother…any of my friends, I'm stuck here all alone!" She chocked out between fits of tears then completely broke down.

Throughout her entire confession Sephiroth just sat awkwardly by her without a clue as to what he should do.  "Without any of my friends" did she consider him a friend? He hadn't known that she was so broken up about not seeing anyone. Well he couldn't blame her, who would want to spend the rest of eternity with their killer? Now, she got to spend the rest of eternity with her killer and a mad scientist. 

As Sephiroth became absorbed in his own thoughts he glanced over at Aeris. She looked almost pitiful with her eyes red and puffy from crying, her hair mussed from the wind, but she also looked beautiful.  Suddenly Sephiroth felt an overwhelming need to protect her, from Hojo and from the feeling of despair that she now appeared to be consumed with.

Gently he reached over and pulled one of her hands away from her face and held it in his own. Taking a deep breath to keep himself going, it was one of the hardest things he had ever done simply taking her hand in his.

"Aeris, you have me?" he hadn't meant it to sounds like a question but his nervousness betrayed him.  For moments he was unsure of how she reacted, he even began to sink down into self-despair thinking that she didn't care about him, even though he didn't know why it should matter what she thought about him. But, she looked up at him, blinking the tears out of her bleary eyes.  It seemed as if his kind gesture had actually made a difference.

"Oh Seph!" before he could react she had thrown her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. Caught off guard all he could do was awkwardly wrap his arms around him and return her embrace. As she slowly broke the embrace he looked down at her, it seemed as if she was feeling better but now that he knew how well she hid her emotions behind her façade of happiness, he couldn't quite be sure. 

Presently he found himself entranced with her eyes.  He couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. The way they shone with tears, the beautiful shade of emerald green. Slowly he began taking in her entire face. He had never noticed women much before, but now he noticed her, she was truly beautiful. The way all of her features fit perfectly together to create such an angelic beauty. 

He couldn't tell if she was leaning closer to him or if he was to her, but soon he found that their lips were almost touching. Her delicate hand had crept to his shoulder and around the back of his neck.  Still their eyes remained locked, as if neither knew what was happening. Then the two moved the fraction of the inch forward and found themselves locked in a gentle uncertain kiss as the waves crashed in the background.