"...Hullo, Tseng," I said, pushing Marlene behind me. He looked so abnormal - strong, clean and rich - compared to the slums surrounding him. His face was cool and lacked emotion, he stood ready to command. I watched him coolly, refusing to lose my calm to him. I hated him right then. I hated him for being a Turk, for being on the wrong side and being good at it, and I hated him for understanding me so well.
"The Plate will be going down any second now," Tseng mused, as though he were talking about the weather. I hated him for for acting as though it didn't matter.
I narrowed my eyes. I knew Tseng too well. He would never want to kill all of those people. But he would do it if he was told to. "Cold blooded murder. There's something to tell your boss. I'm sure the murder of defenseless poor people is really impressive in your field of work."
"I have orders, Aeris, and like it or not it's ShinRa that runs the world," he answered, pretending to be calm. I hated him.
"Only because they're backed up by mindless idiots!" I shot out. The anger I had kept contained was pouring out. "What 'orders'? Go kill people, Tseng! Go destroy the Planet, Tseng! And while your at it, let's make the whole world suffer by ensuring only rich, powerful people never starve!"
Tseng regained full composure, simply because now he was angry. "You've forgotten kidnapping the last Ancient, you know."
I had opened my mouth to remind him that he wasn't going to touch me when Marlene, cowering behind me began to cry. This really wasn't the time or place to comfort her so I simply put my arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"Oh? What's this?" Tseng walked closer, eyeing the child. "Daughter of some Midgar whore, no doubt."
I gripped my Guard Staff so tightly that my knuckles turned white. "What do you want, Tseng? Are your orders to try and kidnap me again? That shows that your a lying scumbag, and therefore a hypocrit for talking to a child like that."
"I'm here to ensure that you stay out of Sector 7 when the fireworks go off." He now stood only a few feet away, and though I wasn't scared of him, I was suddenly very uncomfortable. A strange sexual tension came between us. I hated him, hated him... but no, I didn't. Really close to it, though. "I won't break my promise..." he said softly, our gazes locked. "But you know, I don't think I'll have to..." I didn't understand what he meant at first, but then his eyes slowly moved down to the weeping Marlene.
"...You wouldn't dare..." I hissed, holding onto Marlene all the tighter. I'm sure the girl didn't catch on. She was sobbing too hard.
The Shinra officers, obviously lost in our conversation, stood awkwardly. "Orders, sir? Should we...?" How I wanted to scream. Did they feel no sympathy?
My eyes met the Turk's, fire running between us. The Turk and the flowergirl, waiting for the other to make the first move. Thoughts flew through my head. Could I carry Marlene? How heavy was she, how fast could she run? When I got to my house, then what? Should I stay and fight?
If I had been alone I would have ran back into Sector Seven and hide. Maybe they would call off the Plate dropping...no, probably not.... but how could I put Marlene in danger, especially after promising to look after her?
"It's your call, Aeris," he said. He took a step even closer. He was so close that I could touch him. So close that I could-
FHWACK. I swung my Guard Stick and hit his side with force that I could only muster when I was furious. I knew that the blow had hurt, he wasted precious seconds registering what had just happened. The time was used for me to grab Marlene, push past Tseng and begin to run. I didn't look back to see if he fell or not.
The ShinRa guards grabbed their guns and ran in front of me, intending to block me off. I pointed my stick at them, and the red Fire Materia gem inserted into the weapon began to glow. Flames shot out from the tip of the stick, engulfing the guards. I used their surprise to gain more time and ran through the smoke, still pulling Marlene.
"Run, Marlene!" I cried out desperatly. She was stumbling and crying and was too heavy for me to carry without being slowed down considerably. But all I could think was that I had to get home, I had to get to Mom. Then Marlene would be safe and I could fight them without burden.
I could hear them chasing us. They were catching up fast. Marlene was still crying like a banshee, and though I didn't blame her I really wished that she would stop. The Healing Wind... maybe that would help. I closed my eyes, feeling the Planet's magic swarm my body, even as I ran. I concentraited on Marlene, and a second later a little breeze filled the air. The wind calmed the girl and she stopped crying. She ran with me silently.
But she was still too slow. I heard a gunshot... oh, no. No, no, no...
Marlene fell to the ground, her body limp. We were right in front of my house, too. I stopped, staring at the child in horror, then I kneeled down and felt her pulse. Yes, she was still breathing. I could only manage a meager sigh of relief.
"She's asleep," Tseng commented, having caught up with us. He stood right next to me. I was shaking with fury, sitting by Marlene. The ShinRa guards surrounded us, their guns pointed.
"Aeris!!" Elmyra, my mom, ran out of the house. She looked so much like me, with chessnut hair and green eyes. Why, by the gods couldn't I have been her daughter? Her face now was wide in terror and shock, and she looked ready to faint. "No! Aeris has done nothing wrong! She's no criminal, don't you touch her!"
"Ma'am," Tseng turned to Elmyra. "I'd never force your adopted daughter to come with us. She is an adult and can decide for herself. However, the girl I will have to take into custody. I have reason to believe she is the daughter of a terrorist, and therefore will be held in Shinra."
I could barely find the words to speak. "You... wouldn't..."
He snapped his fingers and one of the guards grabbed Marlene. I tried to hold on to her but I was kicked down by Tseng himself, right in the face.
"Stop it!!!" Elmyra shrieked, running toward me. She was halted by another guard, holding her back by the shoulders.
"Take the child back to the helicopter," he commanded.
My anger turned to desperate helplessness. He knew what I would do. He didn't care about Marlene, he wouldn't take her to the ShinRa building. He wouldn't have to. He knew.
He, followed by confused ShinRa guards, began to walk away...
"Tseng, don't!" I shouted. "Okay, I'll go, you hear? Just let Marlene go!"
Tseng walked over to me, our faces just a few inches apart. "You'll agree to turn yourself in, then, on your own free will in exchange for the girl's safety?"
"Her freedom," I corrected, feeling sick. My stomach was fluttering, my throat was dry. This was it.
His voice fell to a whisper. "Don't blame me, though, Aeris. I've been true to my word with you. I said that I wouldn't be the one to force you into the helicopter... not until you agreed..."
"And I agree, dammit!" I was trembling. I didn't want to go back. I didn't want to see him. I didn't want any of this. But I would agree.... "I gave my own word to protect Marlene. She's just a child..." I felt near tears myself.
Tseng turned away. I didn't know what he wanted me to say. To thank him for not kidnapping me if I wasn't willing? Well, thank you indeed!
"Release the little brat," he said, signalling to his men. "At last we have the Ancient."
"Aeris!" Elmyra screamed. I hadn't noticed that she was at my side now, and she held me tightly just like I had held Marlene back at the gate. "You can't... not after all of these years..."
"Mom, please take Marlene somewhere safe," I said with strength I didn't have, and I stood up. It was so cold all of the sudden. I shuddered.
Again, she was pulled away by the guards. Elmyra didn't struggle, she just stared at me as if I had said something strangely familier. "The Ancients..." The words were just barely audible.
"Mom?" What could I say?
Tseng pulled my Guard Stick out of my hands and tossed it to Elmyra. "A good day to you, ma'am," he said in that same pleasant voice he had used earlier. But I didn't have the strength to hate him anymore All I knew was that I didn't want to go back to the laboratory I had spent my life telling myself to fear. I didn't want to see him.
But... I had saved Marlene. I prayed to the Planet that she might never get involved with ShinRa again. Or at least that she wouldn't remember.
___
I stared out the window of the helicopter. Higher and higher we went. I was dizzy and sick. Ifalna, my blood mother, why did you do this to me? You should have never had a child... I wanted her to answer so badly, but I couldn't hear the Planet here... I wanted to be alone in the church, alone with my flowers. Yet at the same time, I was alone and I didn't want to be. I never asked to be the last Ancient. I never asked to be one at all.
{--End Flash...--}
It seems so long ago when the plate fell. But then again, everything seems long ago now. Time is a rope that binds the world together.
But there is a place that is ageless, beyond time and cycle. I could be there. I could go now to that place so precious that it has been sought after for years. I could leave now and forget about this world.
No. I could never forget about this world. How could I be perfectly happy if I knew that I hadn't taken the burden of the Cetra away from this world?
How could I leave my Planet?
I've lead a harsh life and I haven't complained. I've watched friends die in the streets of Midgar, I lost my blood mother, I never knew my father and I had been running from the ShinRa all of my life... Funny, though. I don't really care. It seems so long ago, anyhow. Life isn't easy. But if I hadn't lived my life, I'm sure someone else would have.
I had been so scared to return ShinRa headquarters. Now it seems so long ago, too.
{--Flash--}
The Plate came crashing to the ground. Many lives were lost, and I felt every one of them. Sitting in the helicopter, I would have screamed but I found that I had no voice. The pain and the shock of the people tore through my very soul like fire. They looked up and saw their sky fall, waited the tedious second that would be their last. Not everyone had made it out. In fact, most hadn't.
I felt the screaming. And then... they were gone. I had felt the loss of people before. I knew what it felt like. Even people I didn't know, like Elmyra's husband killed in war. I knew it. But never before had I felt anything like this. Again I wanted to weep, again I didn't have the strength to.
Tseng didn't speak and I was grateful. I was certain that he didn't feel bad about what had happened, but more ashamed. Partly was his own concious, partly was towards me. I didn't want him to care about me. No, right then I didn't care about him either way. Not after what I had just felt.
To top it off, Tseng had flown over to the top of the pillar, where Tifa, Cloud, and a man that I didn't know stood, trying to stop the bomb that would explode. Tseng had mocked them. It was all I could do to yell to Tifa that Marlene was safe. And now they were dead.
They were dead... right?
I thought of Cloud. So much like him. Zack said that he would always be there for me. Cloud was my bodyguard. Cloud... but... where was he? Confusion, sympathy, hurt.... Did I dare to hope? Could he be alive? And Tifa, too?
No. There was no mistake. They weren't dead. They couldn't be!
As the helicopter landed at the foot of ShinRa Headquarters, my fears were calmed. My Cloud would come for me. I had to believe that. If I didn't hope for him, I didn't have any hope at all.