Destroyed
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Chapter Six: The Key in You
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~ There's something inside me, which pulls beneath the surface,
Consuming, confusing..
This lack of self control I fear is never ending,
Controlling, I can't seem...
To find myself again..~ ( Crawling, LP )
* * * * * * * * * * *
He watched him as he spoke.
He kept imbuing his words with such prophetic interest, trying to impress upon his new right hand man the seriousness of the contract they had agreed to and forever taking him amongst the Coliseum columns and showing him his next target as he worked and sweated.
He did not want to break the contract with the strange god who had given him another chance, however tainted and filthy that chance was. No matter if he had ruined his body and shattered him open in the process.. he owed the God a tithe of thanks, and would pay up in whatever way Hades saw fit to ask of him.
As those large hands moved expressively, he found his blue eyes wandering to the burly figure of the man he was assigned to kill at any cost including casualties.
He looked innocent, despite the strength that had even the ex-soldier amazed and wondering at it's full capacity. The golden dark hair was slicked back and held in rein by some kind of circlet, his clothes leather, skirted to leave legs bare but for wrap up sandals, a small blue cloak and embossed breastplate finishing the ensemble.
~ I swore the killing would stop.. ~
His brilliant blue eyes tightened in pain.
~ I swore, I'd stop it, because of her.. ~
Cloud sighed and kept his eyes on Hercules even as his mind drifted back to the day when he and Tifa had sat on the crest of a hill, close to Kalm and stared out in wonder at the ruin that had been Midgar, at how quickly life had come and invaded the skeleton of the place they had called home for so long.
Her face was tilted in wonder, slim neck catching the light, sun sparkling in the hidden red of her dark hair and turning those large ruby eyes, fiery. Her hands were splayed out on the ground, gloveless. He could see the scars and bruises, the cuts and dents she had earned by fighting in the last battles. Wild and free.
She turned to smile at him, and helpless he smiled back.
~ When will we meet her then? ~ she had asked.
Tifa, wild and free, impetuous and driven by primal emotions.. and in those ruby eyes he could see grief. Raw, untamed and true grief. His own gauntleted hands clutched at his knee, and turning he studied the horizon and the temples of Midgar, the shadows and patches of dappled sunlight.
~ When she returns to us. ~
~ You what?! ~
He glanced at her through strands of his own blond hair, and saw the shock written there. The Promised Land, land of the dead, resting place for memories. But also.. something in the last had told him, she was still there, still...waiting.
~ She'll come back when she's ready.. when It's ready. ~
~It? ~
~The Planet.. ~
Tifa looked out, back over the fields, eyes drawn to the sprinting figure of Red. ~It's over, finally.~
...The end had come.. for one strand of the story. Bitterly narrowing his blue eyes, Cloud scowled so hard at the broad back of the young man that he turned, feeling the malice. Slinking back into the blue of the shadows, in the small ginney in which he stood with Hades, Cloud looked down at the sand between his booted feet and tried not to snarl at it, tried not to curse the air about him.
The story was still going on.
He was caught up far beyond the simple story of one world.. now every single one was in jeopardy, and here he was, playing poker with the god of the dead... so to speak. He didn't even know if he liked where he was, if this was right. The cold metal of his new arm twitched and he frowned, glancing down at it and smirking ever so bitterly.
~ You would scream if you saw me now, Aeris. I'm coming.. hang in there. ~
"...isn't that right, Kid?"
Alert suddenly, his attention snapped up from contemplation of his arm to the half sneering visage of Hades. The god studied him with one of his "go with the flow" looks, and so he just shrugged and murmured.
"I don't really care."
"Of course not," the god pressed a hand to his brow, "of course, don't let me forget. You don't care... alright, alright... here kid, let's go get a mocha, do some chit chat and you tell me what's eating at you, eh?"
The blue hand found home on his shoulder, and he didn't even bother to shrug it off. "You can talk all you want," he said softly, and moving forward, stepped into the courtyard, avoided the scrutiny of the strange goat creature, stepping his way firmly over to the gates outside.
Behind him, Hades snorted, and folded his arms. "Some serious emotional problems that squirts got.."
Deeper in shadows, a pair of luminous green eyes narrowed, and soft laughter filled the shadows... eerie and mocking. Turning, Hades put a hand to his neck where even his hackles were trying to stand...and saw no one but his own imagination..
* * * * * * * * * * * *
By now, so deep into her study, it was all beginning to be double dutch to her.
She wasn't supremely confident about her own studying skills, let alone an ability to interpret what she found into anything remotely understandable. Back home, when trying to explain difficult concepts to people who couldn't "feel" what she did
She smiled slightly, pink lips tilting in her exsquisite little grin she saved for remembering the past. Barret's face had worn an expression of horror, or something close to it on the day she had sat him down, halfway through the canyons to try and explain to him about earth sciences and the planet and how it spoke to her. Confusion, more than understanding, seemed her innate ability.
The books she read were no less confusing in their portrayal of the complex themes about which all the worlds revolved. But, she mused to herself as she curled deeper into her soft bed with the book perched on her lap and knees drawn up to support the back of the book, however confusing the book was she was determined to grit her teeth and carry on.
The book was one she had borrowed from the main library that morning, upon returning the sheaf of books she had spent the last week devouring, digesting each and every morsel of information. Aeris personally believed she was getting closer to a conclusion, closer to some kind of epiphany concerning the fate of the worlds.. and maybe the fate she would face.
She softly read aloud, "The Door of all doors, secretly locked inside.. is opened.. no no.. is unlocked by those who hold the keys to Kingdom Hearts inside them. Seven women, born pure of soul and bright of...destiny?"
Her hands fingered those words, 'Bright of destiny'.
"Not me then," she sighed.
Her destiny was already tinted in darkness. Somewhere along the path she had slipped and fallen into the shadows that pressed ever strongly about her, and she floundered, unable to find a way out.
It had happened softly at first, hunted by those she had escaped from, running from a painful past and trying to ignore the burning in her heart. She thought she'd found some peace in the sanctuary of her church, and later with friends. Friends.. something she was unused to having.
She did all she could for them, and in doing so drew herself closer and closer to the light of Holy. To the innate power of her people.
~ Remember, the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. ~
Wise words.
"Sephiroth.." Aeris whispered, shutting her eyes in pain and trying to stop the prickle of tears behind her eyelids. Bitter hate always surged through her when remembering him, and overwhelming pity. Killer of her life, of her hopes and dreams and the nightly monster that stalked her dreams and laid her to sweating and shivering with the rise of the sun each morning.
She hated thinking about him.
She bore no scars now, the Planet had literally given her new form again with the rebirth of her soul. But Aeris could not help but brush fingertips across the senstive skin of her stomach, concealed under her pink dress and in doing so she bit her lower lip. Almost hard enough to draw blood.
Shaking herself mentally, her eyes flickered back to the words on the page.
Kingdom Hearts.
What was that? Why were women used, not men? Why hearts? Why keys? Hearts... Heartless?
Scowling, unable to find answers, only reams of questions upon questions, she let her legs slide down and the book fall with them. Perhaps she should talk with Leon..Squall. He would probably be able to find some sense in all this chaos that kept afflicting her.
Squall.
She smiled again, eyes sparkling at the very thought of him. Inside however, a tiny voice admonished silently.
~What about Cloud?~
Cloud...Squall. Another pretty mess she had gotten herself into and how this one was going to unravel itself she didn't know.. but even if this all went wrong she held onto one simple belief.
If the Planet had brought her back, then it was because she was going to die again.
In itself, that would solve..all problems.
Ignoring bitter tears down her cheeks, Aeris stared at the book.. then with shaking hands that bespoke her quiet resolve, she drew the book back towards her.. and bent her head haloed in the dim light of the room back to reading.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two men circled each other.
How long they had been walking like this was a mystery.
One was shrouded in black, bands of white here and there on his clothes and wearing heavy boots on his feet. His hair was platinum blond and mostly slicked back behind him. Two bangs however remained to cloud his face and hang down in front of blisteringly green eyes like fangs of some unremembered dragon. A sword, long and cruelly sharpened to disgusting accuracy was trailed on the floor behind him as he moved, the blade sending sparks off into the air as it was dragged.
The other wore baggy trousers and boots much like the other's. As his heels clicked on the floor, his gloved hands twitched nervously about the edges of his tailored coat, embroidered beautifully on the back with a scene of flames and a bird rising up from the flames. His skin was a soft bronze, unlike the black warriors porcelain skin, but his hair was just as pale and slicked back, if not as long or well tended. His eyes were golden, tawny and watching the warrior indifferently.
The tailored man spoke first; "You will not have what you seek."
The black warrior replied, tilting his head at an angle of sardonism, the lips quirking viciously, "How do you know what I seek, what I want?"
"Kingdom Hearts is mine, and mine alone."
"What you seek.. hearts.. hearts have power."
"Yes, yes they do.."
"Then... no matter."
The tailored man snarled, much to the black one's amusement, "You hide in the shadows as well as I.. who are you?"
"Who are you? I am a General, A demi God, a Warrior and Mage and bearer of shadows and chaos..."
"I am the Heartless, I am the fountain of all knowledge and of truth.. I understand!"
The black warrior stopped, blade screeching and setting teeth on edge. The shadows about them quailed, and even the Tailored one drew back in horror as he threw his head back and laughed with a kind of abandon only madness may truly bring.
"You... only wish. She understand's more than you."
"She? Who is 'She'?"
"Listen well.. seek your Kingdom Hearts, seek to your own 'hearts' content. But when you are gone, when all has faded away... I will remain and have my chance again.." The shadows moved, closing about him with a wail and just as suddenly, the warrior and his sword no longer was.
Shivering, Ansem frowned down at a gloved hand and watched his fingers flex then closed his hand into a fist. Bitterly he snarled, "Kingdom Hearts will soon be mine!"
Shadows moaned, and sinking down he lost himself amid them..
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm here!" she yelled, kicking open the door with two paper cups, one in either hand and two paper bags hanging by straps from her left wrist.
Groaning, the man behind the fliptop of the counter looked over at the bubbly girl, and then shook his head. Nope, nothing had changed that girl's damn chirpy, nothing-gets-me-down attitude. It's like she wasn't human and after spending more time than was comfortable around the teenager he was beginning to think she was some kind of monster, or genetic mutation. It just wasn't damn natural!
Yuffie moved over, down the steps and to the seating area where the small coffee table was and put the cups down carefully, then removed the bags easily from her wrists and smiled up at Cid.
"Cheer up grumpy guts, you should look happy to see me!"
Cid tried...and failed to smile back, merely flashing his teeth at her, then bending his blonde head back towards the figures he was trying to tally up. He hated doing tax but hell, even in this place he needed to do the returns. Life went on, if nothing else.
"Yeah, short stuff, so happy my teeth hurt."
"I got you a cup of coffee, I know what you're like in a morning.. or afternoon... or evening for that matter, heh."
"Heh, funny," he said sourly, and looked up as Yuffie slid the paper cup onto the counter by him, the aroma of bitter coffee curling up his nostrils and setting his stomach to a pleasant growl.
His eyes drifted to Yuffie's face and she grinned back at him. Perhaps it was time he stopped thinking of her as such a kid. After all, the Planet had chosen her as Aeris' protector now the Ancient was returned to the worlds. She had fought valiantly in many a battle and even to the point of her own life whenever the heartless chose to try and invade Traverse. Small scars laced the Ninja's neck, a testament to their last hours in Hollow Bastion. The scarf she wore hid most of them, but tips of wire thin scars peeked from the top of it in a horrific reminder.
"Thanks," he said, in a much softer tone of voice.
It clearly put Yuffie off-beat for a moment and the dark purple eyes faltered in brightness. Then she smiled and shrugged, moving back for her own drink.
Cid sighed, and straighted up, putting hands on the middle of his back and arching to get the "cobwebs" out of there, as he liked to say. "So, how's things?"
"Pretty quiet," Yuffie opened hers and sipped greedily. Chocolate, if Cid knew her well enough. In spite of her rigorous training the girl still owned a sweet tooth. Yuffie blew on the hot liquid after a small yelp, and looked up at Cid, "Leon spends a lot of time avoiding Aeris, and Aeris spends a lot of time in her books."
"Has she found anything else?"
"A few things... bits about Keys and doors and Princesses."
"Hmm, sounds like riddles to me. I hate riddles," Cid reached for his coffee and opened it. Yuffie obviously owned a good memory however, black and no sugar. Just how he liked it.
"Yeah, I understand," she nodded in agreement.
"So, why is Leon avoiding her? Thought the guy was meant to be her protector like you?"
The girl frowned and shrugged, "Dunno.. I think he likes her."
Cid laughed, and put the cup down, "well of course he does, it's Aeris. Everyone likes her."
"No you dense old man," she scowled at him, then sipped her drink before mumbling, "I mean *likes* her.."
The emphasis on the word made Cid stop short, and slowly the pilot blinked. One hand came up to scrub in his short crew cut hair, as his blue eyes slid to Yuffie who avoided his curious glance. "He likes her...?"
"Yeah. I think it's upsetting him because Aeris spends a lot of time thinking about the past.. "
"That's only natural."
"Not as much as this, she's almost absorbed in it, she can't seem to stop herself from drowning in memories." The ninja gave vent to a small grunt of frustration, and put the cup down in time so she could wave her hands about expressively, "I mean, just the other day she stared off into space and mumbled something about her church!"
"That's a bit wierd.. does she think about...you know, him?"
"I think so, hell, they literally promised each other to the other. Maybe she's clinging to some random hope but we all saw it.. we saw him.." Yuffie swallowed. She didn't have to finish the sentence.
The pilot looked down at his coffee, unmasked and filling the room with delicious odours. He tried not to think about it, whatever happened happened and there was nothing he could do to change it. But possibly Aeris felt worse for the double blow of being returned to life and losing both planet and friends within one fell swoop. Then a strange thought occured to him.
"Have you heard the bells ringing recently?"
"Bells? In the second district, over the old Gizmo shop?" Yuffie looked up and frowned, "Not since we got here. Why?"
"I had a dream last night, kept hearing bells." Cid shrugged and lifted the coffee taking a long swallow of it. It felt nice even as it trickled down and burnt him raw in the throat.
"Cid," Yuffie said slowly, trying to ease the tension, "You are one crazy old man."
"Maybe, " he grinned back, trying not to think about Aeris, and Leon.. about shadows and home. "But you're the most fucked up girl I know."
At this she laughed and lifted her paper cup in a kind of lame salute.. then drank, to drown her sorrows and the awkward silence.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bitterly, she sat out on her balcony. Not on the chairs at the table, or even on the table. She sat on the very edge of the balcony with her legs dangling over the wall and her smooth face tilted up to the stars.
Where was she?
How had she gotten here?
Where was she going?
No answers, only questions.
Her feet struck the wall with each impatient blow of her foot, and the dammed tears prickled the back of her eyelids again. Cursing her own feelings and helpless against the tides of emotion that she was always so vulnerable to, she looked down.
The keys in the Princesses were coming to light and how she understood now that soon everything would vanish. How to unlock those keys, how to show them the way.. if only she could puzzle it out!
Feeling the beginning of a headache round her temples and the dull throb of her lower back at the position she was sat in, Aeris put a hand on the wall and twisted to move back onto solid ground. Then stopped.
On the balcony across from hers was stood Leon, in his leathers and denim, eyes crinkled and soft as he watched her. Hesistantly, she stopped moving and sat there, poised and quivering.
"You busy?" he said softly, his low voice reaching her ears easily and she shook her head in the negative. Squall slowly lifted a hand and beckoned to her.
Not wanting to leave him waiting, she slid off the balcony and onto the safety of the inner floor.. then moved across to the edge of her balcony that was only feet from his and rested her hands there. The strands of her blue belt whispered in the breezes of night, and her bracelets all jangled together impatiently, but she only tilted her head to see what he was bent over and doing.
"Le...Squall?!" she questioned softly.
"Hold on..." slowly he stood up, with slight strain on his face and a strange oblong box in his hands, filled with aromatic dark stuff. He balanced it between their balconies, setting it down so it spanned the distances, and then dusted his hands of with a very satisfied smile.
"There."
Aeris tilted her head, "what...?" her hand crooked a finger which she slowly dug into the dark stuff. It was soil, and then with strange abandon, she literally shoved her hand into the soil, feeling the pleasant touch of it on her skin.
"It's a present," he said softly.
"Present? But why..?"
She looked up and locked her green eyes with his over the box, and the easy smile he had been practising, it felt like, just for her graced them. She almost leant over, pulling hands from the soil.. but didn't. She badly wanted to press her lips to his again, but just held onto sanity with the small voice chiming in about Cloud..
~I want you so badly.. but promises.. ~
~Remember Cloud!~
Something must've shown on her face, because his leather hand suddenly moved over and took her soiled one, his thumb stroking over the skin on the back of the hand. She shivered and gripped the wall tighter.
"It's a gift for you, you said you missed being able to grow things. Now you can.. have a piece of the world with you."
She looked at the box, and blushed, tears coming to her eyes. "That's thoughtful of you... very thoughtful."
"Anything to make you happy, Aeris."
~Anything?~
Aeris looked back up at him, and saw no trace of bitterness in his eyes, only understanding. Softly, she laughed and as she 'twined her fingers helplessly with his she succumbed to her emotions. As night drowned down, she whispered to him of keys, of plants and many things besides as the small voice in her ear said softly..
~ I see the key in you.. Can you see the hole in me? ~
~
Chapter Six: The Key in You
~
~
~ There's something inside me, which pulls beneath the surface,
Consuming, confusing..
This lack of self control I fear is never ending,
Controlling, I can't seem...
To find myself again..~ ( Crawling, LP )
* * * * * * * * * * *
He watched him as he spoke.
He kept imbuing his words with such prophetic interest, trying to impress upon his new right hand man the seriousness of the contract they had agreed to and forever taking him amongst the Coliseum columns and showing him his next target as he worked and sweated.
He did not want to break the contract with the strange god who had given him another chance, however tainted and filthy that chance was. No matter if he had ruined his body and shattered him open in the process.. he owed the God a tithe of thanks, and would pay up in whatever way Hades saw fit to ask of him.
As those large hands moved expressively, he found his blue eyes wandering to the burly figure of the man he was assigned to kill at any cost including casualties.
He looked innocent, despite the strength that had even the ex-soldier amazed and wondering at it's full capacity. The golden dark hair was slicked back and held in rein by some kind of circlet, his clothes leather, skirted to leave legs bare but for wrap up sandals, a small blue cloak and embossed breastplate finishing the ensemble.
~ I swore the killing would stop.. ~
His brilliant blue eyes tightened in pain.
~ I swore, I'd stop it, because of her.. ~
Cloud sighed and kept his eyes on Hercules even as his mind drifted back to the day when he and Tifa had sat on the crest of a hill, close to Kalm and stared out in wonder at the ruin that had been Midgar, at how quickly life had come and invaded the skeleton of the place they had called home for so long.
Her face was tilted in wonder, slim neck catching the light, sun sparkling in the hidden red of her dark hair and turning those large ruby eyes, fiery. Her hands were splayed out on the ground, gloveless. He could see the scars and bruises, the cuts and dents she had earned by fighting in the last battles. Wild and free.
She turned to smile at him, and helpless he smiled back.
~ When will we meet her then? ~ she had asked.
Tifa, wild and free, impetuous and driven by primal emotions.. and in those ruby eyes he could see grief. Raw, untamed and true grief. His own gauntleted hands clutched at his knee, and turning he studied the horizon and the temples of Midgar, the shadows and patches of dappled sunlight.
~ When she returns to us. ~
~ You what?! ~
He glanced at her through strands of his own blond hair, and saw the shock written there. The Promised Land, land of the dead, resting place for memories. But also.. something in the last had told him, she was still there, still...waiting.
~ She'll come back when she's ready.. when It's ready. ~
~It? ~
~The Planet.. ~
Tifa looked out, back over the fields, eyes drawn to the sprinting figure of Red. ~It's over, finally.~
...The end had come.. for one strand of the story. Bitterly narrowing his blue eyes, Cloud scowled so hard at the broad back of the young man that he turned, feeling the malice. Slinking back into the blue of the shadows, in the small ginney in which he stood with Hades, Cloud looked down at the sand between his booted feet and tried not to snarl at it, tried not to curse the air about him.
The story was still going on.
He was caught up far beyond the simple story of one world.. now every single one was in jeopardy, and here he was, playing poker with the god of the dead... so to speak. He didn't even know if he liked where he was, if this was right. The cold metal of his new arm twitched and he frowned, glancing down at it and smirking ever so bitterly.
~ You would scream if you saw me now, Aeris. I'm coming.. hang in there. ~
"...isn't that right, Kid?"
Alert suddenly, his attention snapped up from contemplation of his arm to the half sneering visage of Hades. The god studied him with one of his "go with the flow" looks, and so he just shrugged and murmured.
"I don't really care."
"Of course not," the god pressed a hand to his brow, "of course, don't let me forget. You don't care... alright, alright... here kid, let's go get a mocha, do some chit chat and you tell me what's eating at you, eh?"
The blue hand found home on his shoulder, and he didn't even bother to shrug it off. "You can talk all you want," he said softly, and moving forward, stepped into the courtyard, avoided the scrutiny of the strange goat creature, stepping his way firmly over to the gates outside.
Behind him, Hades snorted, and folded his arms. "Some serious emotional problems that squirts got.."
Deeper in shadows, a pair of luminous green eyes narrowed, and soft laughter filled the shadows... eerie and mocking. Turning, Hades put a hand to his neck where even his hackles were trying to stand...and saw no one but his own imagination..
* * * * * * * * * * * *
By now, so deep into her study, it was all beginning to be double dutch to her.
She wasn't supremely confident about her own studying skills, let alone an ability to interpret what she found into anything remotely understandable. Back home, when trying to explain difficult concepts to people who couldn't "feel" what she did
She smiled slightly, pink lips tilting in her exsquisite little grin she saved for remembering the past. Barret's face had worn an expression of horror, or something close to it on the day she had sat him down, halfway through the canyons to try and explain to him about earth sciences and the planet and how it spoke to her. Confusion, more than understanding, seemed her innate ability.
The books she read were no less confusing in their portrayal of the complex themes about which all the worlds revolved. But, she mused to herself as she curled deeper into her soft bed with the book perched on her lap and knees drawn up to support the back of the book, however confusing the book was she was determined to grit her teeth and carry on.
The book was one she had borrowed from the main library that morning, upon returning the sheaf of books she had spent the last week devouring, digesting each and every morsel of information. Aeris personally believed she was getting closer to a conclusion, closer to some kind of epiphany concerning the fate of the worlds.. and maybe the fate she would face.
She softly read aloud, "The Door of all doors, secretly locked inside.. is opened.. no no.. is unlocked by those who hold the keys to Kingdom Hearts inside them. Seven women, born pure of soul and bright of...destiny?"
Her hands fingered those words, 'Bright of destiny'.
"Not me then," she sighed.
Her destiny was already tinted in darkness. Somewhere along the path she had slipped and fallen into the shadows that pressed ever strongly about her, and she floundered, unable to find a way out.
It had happened softly at first, hunted by those she had escaped from, running from a painful past and trying to ignore the burning in her heart. She thought she'd found some peace in the sanctuary of her church, and later with friends. Friends.. something she was unused to having.
She did all she could for them, and in doing so drew herself closer and closer to the light of Holy. To the innate power of her people.
~ Remember, the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. ~
Wise words.
"Sephiroth.." Aeris whispered, shutting her eyes in pain and trying to stop the prickle of tears behind her eyelids. Bitter hate always surged through her when remembering him, and overwhelming pity. Killer of her life, of her hopes and dreams and the nightly monster that stalked her dreams and laid her to sweating and shivering with the rise of the sun each morning.
She hated thinking about him.
She bore no scars now, the Planet had literally given her new form again with the rebirth of her soul. But Aeris could not help but brush fingertips across the senstive skin of her stomach, concealed under her pink dress and in doing so she bit her lower lip. Almost hard enough to draw blood.
Shaking herself mentally, her eyes flickered back to the words on the page.
Kingdom Hearts.
What was that? Why were women used, not men? Why hearts? Why keys? Hearts... Heartless?
Scowling, unable to find answers, only reams of questions upon questions, she let her legs slide down and the book fall with them. Perhaps she should talk with Leon..Squall. He would probably be able to find some sense in all this chaos that kept afflicting her.
Squall.
She smiled again, eyes sparkling at the very thought of him. Inside however, a tiny voice admonished silently.
~What about Cloud?~
Cloud...Squall. Another pretty mess she had gotten herself into and how this one was going to unravel itself she didn't know.. but even if this all went wrong she held onto one simple belief.
If the Planet had brought her back, then it was because she was going to die again.
In itself, that would solve..all problems.
Ignoring bitter tears down her cheeks, Aeris stared at the book.. then with shaking hands that bespoke her quiet resolve, she drew the book back towards her.. and bent her head haloed in the dim light of the room back to reading.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two men circled each other.
How long they had been walking like this was a mystery.
One was shrouded in black, bands of white here and there on his clothes and wearing heavy boots on his feet. His hair was platinum blond and mostly slicked back behind him. Two bangs however remained to cloud his face and hang down in front of blisteringly green eyes like fangs of some unremembered dragon. A sword, long and cruelly sharpened to disgusting accuracy was trailed on the floor behind him as he moved, the blade sending sparks off into the air as it was dragged.
The other wore baggy trousers and boots much like the other's. As his heels clicked on the floor, his gloved hands twitched nervously about the edges of his tailored coat, embroidered beautifully on the back with a scene of flames and a bird rising up from the flames. His skin was a soft bronze, unlike the black warriors porcelain skin, but his hair was just as pale and slicked back, if not as long or well tended. His eyes were golden, tawny and watching the warrior indifferently.
The tailored man spoke first; "You will not have what you seek."
The black warrior replied, tilting his head at an angle of sardonism, the lips quirking viciously, "How do you know what I seek, what I want?"
"Kingdom Hearts is mine, and mine alone."
"What you seek.. hearts.. hearts have power."
"Yes, yes they do.."
"Then... no matter."
The tailored man snarled, much to the black one's amusement, "You hide in the shadows as well as I.. who are you?"
"Who are you? I am a General, A demi God, a Warrior and Mage and bearer of shadows and chaos..."
"I am the Heartless, I am the fountain of all knowledge and of truth.. I understand!"
The black warrior stopped, blade screeching and setting teeth on edge. The shadows about them quailed, and even the Tailored one drew back in horror as he threw his head back and laughed with a kind of abandon only madness may truly bring.
"You... only wish. She understand's more than you."
"She? Who is 'She'?"
"Listen well.. seek your Kingdom Hearts, seek to your own 'hearts' content. But when you are gone, when all has faded away... I will remain and have my chance again.." The shadows moved, closing about him with a wail and just as suddenly, the warrior and his sword no longer was.
Shivering, Ansem frowned down at a gloved hand and watched his fingers flex then closed his hand into a fist. Bitterly he snarled, "Kingdom Hearts will soon be mine!"
Shadows moaned, and sinking down he lost himself amid them..
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm here!" she yelled, kicking open the door with two paper cups, one in either hand and two paper bags hanging by straps from her left wrist.
Groaning, the man behind the fliptop of the counter looked over at the bubbly girl, and then shook his head. Nope, nothing had changed that girl's damn chirpy, nothing-gets-me-down attitude. It's like she wasn't human and after spending more time than was comfortable around the teenager he was beginning to think she was some kind of monster, or genetic mutation. It just wasn't damn natural!
Yuffie moved over, down the steps and to the seating area where the small coffee table was and put the cups down carefully, then removed the bags easily from her wrists and smiled up at Cid.
"Cheer up grumpy guts, you should look happy to see me!"
Cid tried...and failed to smile back, merely flashing his teeth at her, then bending his blonde head back towards the figures he was trying to tally up. He hated doing tax but hell, even in this place he needed to do the returns. Life went on, if nothing else.
"Yeah, short stuff, so happy my teeth hurt."
"I got you a cup of coffee, I know what you're like in a morning.. or afternoon... or evening for that matter, heh."
"Heh, funny," he said sourly, and looked up as Yuffie slid the paper cup onto the counter by him, the aroma of bitter coffee curling up his nostrils and setting his stomach to a pleasant growl.
His eyes drifted to Yuffie's face and she grinned back at him. Perhaps it was time he stopped thinking of her as such a kid. After all, the Planet had chosen her as Aeris' protector now the Ancient was returned to the worlds. She had fought valiantly in many a battle and even to the point of her own life whenever the heartless chose to try and invade Traverse. Small scars laced the Ninja's neck, a testament to their last hours in Hollow Bastion. The scarf she wore hid most of them, but tips of wire thin scars peeked from the top of it in a horrific reminder.
"Thanks," he said, in a much softer tone of voice.
It clearly put Yuffie off-beat for a moment and the dark purple eyes faltered in brightness. Then she smiled and shrugged, moving back for her own drink.
Cid sighed, and straighted up, putting hands on the middle of his back and arching to get the "cobwebs" out of there, as he liked to say. "So, how's things?"
"Pretty quiet," Yuffie opened hers and sipped greedily. Chocolate, if Cid knew her well enough. In spite of her rigorous training the girl still owned a sweet tooth. Yuffie blew on the hot liquid after a small yelp, and looked up at Cid, "Leon spends a lot of time avoiding Aeris, and Aeris spends a lot of time in her books."
"Has she found anything else?"
"A few things... bits about Keys and doors and Princesses."
"Hmm, sounds like riddles to me. I hate riddles," Cid reached for his coffee and opened it. Yuffie obviously owned a good memory however, black and no sugar. Just how he liked it.
"Yeah, I understand," she nodded in agreement.
"So, why is Leon avoiding her? Thought the guy was meant to be her protector like you?"
The girl frowned and shrugged, "Dunno.. I think he likes her."
Cid laughed, and put the cup down, "well of course he does, it's Aeris. Everyone likes her."
"No you dense old man," she scowled at him, then sipped her drink before mumbling, "I mean *likes* her.."
The emphasis on the word made Cid stop short, and slowly the pilot blinked. One hand came up to scrub in his short crew cut hair, as his blue eyes slid to Yuffie who avoided his curious glance. "He likes her...?"
"Yeah. I think it's upsetting him because Aeris spends a lot of time thinking about the past.. "
"That's only natural."
"Not as much as this, she's almost absorbed in it, she can't seem to stop herself from drowning in memories." The ninja gave vent to a small grunt of frustration, and put the cup down in time so she could wave her hands about expressively, "I mean, just the other day she stared off into space and mumbled something about her church!"
"That's a bit wierd.. does she think about...you know, him?"
"I think so, hell, they literally promised each other to the other. Maybe she's clinging to some random hope but we all saw it.. we saw him.." Yuffie swallowed. She didn't have to finish the sentence.
The pilot looked down at his coffee, unmasked and filling the room with delicious odours. He tried not to think about it, whatever happened happened and there was nothing he could do to change it. But possibly Aeris felt worse for the double blow of being returned to life and losing both planet and friends within one fell swoop. Then a strange thought occured to him.
"Have you heard the bells ringing recently?"
"Bells? In the second district, over the old Gizmo shop?" Yuffie looked up and frowned, "Not since we got here. Why?"
"I had a dream last night, kept hearing bells." Cid shrugged and lifted the coffee taking a long swallow of it. It felt nice even as it trickled down and burnt him raw in the throat.
"Cid," Yuffie said slowly, trying to ease the tension, "You are one crazy old man."
"Maybe, " he grinned back, trying not to think about Aeris, and Leon.. about shadows and home. "But you're the most fucked up girl I know."
At this she laughed and lifted her paper cup in a kind of lame salute.. then drank, to drown her sorrows and the awkward silence.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bitterly, she sat out on her balcony. Not on the chairs at the table, or even on the table. She sat on the very edge of the balcony with her legs dangling over the wall and her smooth face tilted up to the stars.
Where was she?
How had she gotten here?
Where was she going?
No answers, only questions.
Her feet struck the wall with each impatient blow of her foot, and the dammed tears prickled the back of her eyelids again. Cursing her own feelings and helpless against the tides of emotion that she was always so vulnerable to, she looked down.
The keys in the Princesses were coming to light and how she understood now that soon everything would vanish. How to unlock those keys, how to show them the way.. if only she could puzzle it out!
Feeling the beginning of a headache round her temples and the dull throb of her lower back at the position she was sat in, Aeris put a hand on the wall and twisted to move back onto solid ground. Then stopped.
On the balcony across from hers was stood Leon, in his leathers and denim, eyes crinkled and soft as he watched her. Hesistantly, she stopped moving and sat there, poised and quivering.
"You busy?" he said softly, his low voice reaching her ears easily and she shook her head in the negative. Squall slowly lifted a hand and beckoned to her.
Not wanting to leave him waiting, she slid off the balcony and onto the safety of the inner floor.. then moved across to the edge of her balcony that was only feet from his and rested her hands there. The strands of her blue belt whispered in the breezes of night, and her bracelets all jangled together impatiently, but she only tilted her head to see what he was bent over and doing.
"Le...Squall?!" she questioned softly.
"Hold on..." slowly he stood up, with slight strain on his face and a strange oblong box in his hands, filled with aromatic dark stuff. He balanced it between their balconies, setting it down so it spanned the distances, and then dusted his hands of with a very satisfied smile.
"There."
Aeris tilted her head, "what...?" her hand crooked a finger which she slowly dug into the dark stuff. It was soil, and then with strange abandon, she literally shoved her hand into the soil, feeling the pleasant touch of it on her skin.
"It's a present," he said softly.
"Present? But why..?"
She looked up and locked her green eyes with his over the box, and the easy smile he had been practising, it felt like, just for her graced them. She almost leant over, pulling hands from the soil.. but didn't. She badly wanted to press her lips to his again, but just held onto sanity with the small voice chiming in about Cloud..
~I want you so badly.. but promises.. ~
~Remember Cloud!~
Something must've shown on her face, because his leather hand suddenly moved over and took her soiled one, his thumb stroking over the skin on the back of the hand. She shivered and gripped the wall tighter.
"It's a gift for you, you said you missed being able to grow things. Now you can.. have a piece of the world with you."
She looked at the box, and blushed, tears coming to her eyes. "That's thoughtful of you... very thoughtful."
"Anything to make you happy, Aeris."
~Anything?~
Aeris looked back up at him, and saw no trace of bitterness in his eyes, only understanding. Softly, she laughed and as she 'twined her fingers helplessly with his she succumbed to her emotions. As night drowned down, she whispered to him of keys, of plants and many things besides as the small voice in her ear said softly..
~ I see the key in you.. Can you see the hole in me? ~