Chapter 6
The young girl shifted her gaze to the unconscious man on the floor. The green tint of their surroundings were strange, she had to admit.
"Mother, are you sure I should approach him?"
"Of course I am, Child. He can no longer harm anyone while he is here."
She remained silent, her green eyes still locked on the handsome figure before her. A million thoughts ran through her head. For one, why was he even here? She could only wonder. Unless, of course, the Planet actually decided to answer her. Finally, she spoke. "Mother, why is he even here? He's evil…he tried to destroy you!"
There was a soft laughter in the ethereal voice. "Oh, child. It was not he who did those awful things..it was his insanity. The poor child went through years of torture and isolation from human beings, save Professor Hojo and his staff. Locked inside a cell with no love, no friends, no nothing. He knew no love throughout his entire life. That is part of what drove the poor man to insanity" there was a sad sigh as the voice paused, as if silently mourning. It then began to speak again. "He is now free from those monsters which held him for so long.."
Aeris' brow furrowed. She had never considered the pain and torture the man had been put through. She nodded her head in answer to the Planets reasoning. The kind voice left her alone. She was by herself now, save this man. It didn't bother her though, so she was okay. Seeing it was time to get started, she straightened her delicate shoulders and made he way to the silver haired warrior.
Upon reaching him, she knelt down and timidly brushed aside a strand of silver hair from his face and admired the man's sheer beauty. Odd. A beautiful male. She chuckled at the thought and traced his jawline gently with her finger. His skin was so smooth, so flawless. And so cold. Aeris shivered slightly and wondered how such a beautiful thing could wreak such havoc.
His lips were what really drew her attention. She ran her thumb over his bottom lip gently sighed, wondering what he would be like to kiss him. She blushed horribly then. What was she thinking? She drew her hand away as if burned and bit her own bottom lip. She was thinking of kissing –him- what was wrong with her? She'd never know.
Knowing she had to wake the man, she gently shook him, calling his name. He didn't respond the first few times, but finally, he woke. The small girl gasped softly as he opened his eyes. They were so green..!! And how did they have that glow? Well, of course she knew. But this was the strongest she had ever seen it. He was disoriented, she figured, by the way his eyes weren't focused on anything.
The tall man opened his eyes groggily and looked around. Everywhere he looked, it was green. His head throbbed and he couldn't concentrate. Where was he? Who was he? Pushing himself up on his elbows, he squinted his eyes trying to get them to focus. He could faintly hear someone calling out something. A soft, gentle voice. Finally they came into focus. Yes, everything around him was green. And this being before him? Who was she? Her chestnut hair flowed all about her. It was so long! And her eyes. He'd never forget those eyes. A bright emerald colour, and surrounded by thick, black eyelashes.
"Oh, good, you've come around…I was getting worried. How do you feel?"
He remained silent. No matter how beautiful that woman was, he for some reason had a horrible dislike for her. Instead of commenting to her remark, he asked in a cold voice, "Where am I, girl?" He saw her face harden as she frowned.
"We're in the Life Stream, Sephiroth."
The LifeStream..Sephiroth..he slowly regained everything that had happened. Meteor..Holy..that Puppet. And yes, Aeris. That was this girl's name. He remembered killing her. He also remembered being killed. He got up in one fluid motion and towered above the small girl. He felt for his blade, Masamune, but to his disappointment, it was nowhere to be found.
"What am I doing here?"
Aeris rose herself and tilted her head back a bit in order to look at Sephiroth. "I don't know. The Planet decided to bring you here. It wasn't my decision." She said to him, none too nicely.
Sephiroth scowled. He had to be stuck here with that woman he killed. That Cetra. He did come to notice one thing, though. Jenova was not screaming at him for associating himself with this girl. Was she even there? He doubted it. But he looked at the girl and decided to find out all he could from her. "Tell me, Cetra, what happened?"
Aeris' brow furrowed once again. What an awful man he was. So rude. "From what I can tell, Sephiroth, Jenova is dead and Cloud defeated you.Holy defeated Meteor..so your 'mothers' plan didn't work."
Yes. Jenova was dead. That explained a few things. He didn't want to give the girl any satisfaction from seeing his pained expression, so he moved on to other things. "So, girl, is there any way of getting out of here?"
Aeris snorted softly. "First off, Sephiroth, my name is Aeris. And if there –were- a way to get out of here, I'm not sure I'd grant you that pleasure."
The silver haired man glared at her coldly and stalked off. What a wench. Talking to the Great Sephiroth in such tones.
Aeris rolled her eyes as she watched Sephiroth stalk off. Shrugging once again, she tried to gain contact with the Planet. "Mother…Mother, are you there? I don't know what to do right now.."
"Confused again, young one?"
She sighed with relief as the comforting voice answered her. "Yes, Mother. I tried talking with him..he just puts up his wall and ignores me."
"Did you expect this to be easy, Aeris? Heh. Well, I shall tell you what my offer is, so that the both of you may consider it. I am willing to allow both of you to live on the surface again; give Sephiroth another chance at life. And you were too young to die. It shouldn't have happened so early. Only because of the great influence the both of you had on the people, are you allowed to return. A child born in the slums would not be able to return, no matter how I wished."
Aeris' heart froze at the concept. Return to the living? Leave everyone that she had returned to..? Her real mother, Ilfana..Zack..Tseng..for a new life among the living. She frowned and played with a strand of her hair that she decided to wear down. Yes. She would take this course of action. But first, she had other things she wanted to do and people to meet. "I would like that, Mother. Have I an amount of time for my decision?"
There was a long pause as the Planet considered her answer. "You've a few days, Child. Do what you want."
Aeris nodded and made her way over to Sephiroth. She tapped his shoulder gently and tensed as he turned around, his intense glowing eyes seemed to be boring a whole into her head. "Um, Sephiroth, there is someone I'd like you to meet. You may remember her. I doubt it, though. So would you please accompany me? It's of great importance you meet this woman."
Sephiroth glared at the girl and cursed. Who was it that she wanted him to meet? He might as well do as she wished, though. He had nothing better to do. He nodded his head once and brushed aside a stubborn lock of his silvery hair.
Aeris was beaming. He would meet her! She made a motion for him to follow, and he obeyed.
· * *
Sephiroth had to walk slowly to not get ahead of the Cetra girl. At times, he hated being so large. This was one of them. Inwardly, he sighed to himself. He felt so alone..his last few days among the living, he'd had his mother, Jenova, screaming in his mind about how he needed to destroy the planet and take over. He would've become a god. That didn't matter now, though. It was all over and done with.
One major advantage to her being out of his mind, was that he wasn't so feverish and insane. She had truly taken her toll on him. He was a dark minded man anyways, but Jenova had just added to it.
Sephiroth was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't hear Aeris calling his name.
"Sephiroth..!!"
"….."
Realizing he didn't hear her, she giggled softly and grinned.
"Sephy!"
Sephiroth snapped his head up and glared straight at her, his eyes cold. "Don't you ever call me that again, girl."
"Well, I'm so very sorry, Sephy, but you didn't hear me..I had to get your attention somehow." The chestnut haired woman smirked.
Sephiroth growled and got so close to Aeris she had to tilt her head back all the way to look him in the eye "I go by Sephiroth, and Sephiroth only. Just because we are in the Life Stream and already dead, doesn't mean you should be fearless of me." He turned away sharply and crossed his arms over his chest, then turned his head slightly so Aeris could see his profile. "Now, what did you want?"
Aeris swallowed the lump in her throat that had formed and forced herself to look at the tall man. "I was going to tell you that we're here..well, almost, anyways. So, if you don't mind, follow me." She turned on her heel and headed over to a small group of houses. She walked up to a smaller one and waited for him to catch up to her. Once he was there, she gently knocked on the door and stepped back a step with her hands folded behind her back.
The door swung open and a female with light brown hair poked her head out.
It was Lucrecia.
* * *
Okay, so this was short, but I hope you liked it. –Finally- got around to Seph and Aeris. YaY! Anywho, hope you enjoyed it, and I'll try to update soon as possible…………………….and reviews are appreciated!