WARNING: Aerith/Cloud. It's only a warning because some heathens think Cloud's in love with Tifa. Weird and maybe slightly depressing at the beggining?

THANKS:

Ozric 750(...Well, duh.)

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Experimental

Demi: Part One

Half-healed

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"He began to grope his way toward something that seemed significant. Light could change. Every day was testimony to that. Dark could not. Then it was at last that he understood the /true/ meaning of the eternal division which had rent the universe apart."

--- The Seeress of Kell

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~~ Kingdom Hearts, by a small pool of what looks like dark water

Riku looks abstractedly down into the shallow pond below him, absently swinging his bat-wing sword. A shadow skitters behind him. He ignores it. They never attack.

:: Day one-thousand exactly. God, I hate this place. :: He frowns at another shadow, who has gotten a bit too close, then looks back down into the water. He gasps.

"Sora?!"

The image in the water looks up with tired, sad eyes.

*********

~~ Aerith's apartments, ten days after the Dream

Neko rummages through a drawer, searching for the tiny latch she knows is there. She winces momentarily and clutches convulsively at her sloppily bandaged right arm. "Damn you, Oni," she mutters under her breath. She continues to search and finally finds it.

A 'secret' compartment pops open to reveal a small stack of green curing potions. She grabs one and drains it as quickly as possible, then peels back the white cloth on her arm to see the effect. The wound underneath continues to bleed, but very sluggishly. It begins to scab as she watches.

Tension drains from her face as the pain is mostly relived, but a slight stiffness in that arm remains as she quietly slips towards the sliding panel in the wall.

Not quite quickly enough.

The sound of voices moving down the hallway towards her makes Neko freeze momentarily. :: If I keep moving, they may see the passages. But if I stop, they'll see ME. :: Neko thinks for a moment, then darts towards the panel- just as the door opens and Aerith steps in.

As Aerith smiles to someone in the hall, Neko quietly reaches for what looks like a knife strapped to her hip and shifts into a defensive position.

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~~ 2P Aerith, same place/time

"I'll see you tomorrow, Cloud. Take care, all right?"

Cloud nods and smiles in his uncertain, slightly strained way. "'Bye." He looks nervous for a moment, and then walks quickly down the hall.

Aerith smiles gently at his back and turns to enter her rooms. She gasps.

"You're... One of the experiments, aren't you?"

The tiny girl in front of her hisses slightly, pointed teeth glinting and a blush of anger coloring her high cheekbones. "I. Am. Not. An. Experiment." Her hand creeps closer to a sheath at her hip, and she shifts from a purely defense stance to one suitable for both defense and attack.

Aerith smiles nervously. "Sorry, but I don't know your name." She takes a closer look at the girl. "Your arm's bleeding."

"Neko."

"What?" Aerith blinks.

"My name's Neko." The girl- :: Neko ::- relaxes slightly, sliding back into defensive. "Well, that's the name I chose. I hate my number."

"Well... Neko... Your arm's still bleeding. Would you like me to cure it?"

"No. It's fine. At least this time I didn't get KOed. It happened the first two times." A hint of pride creeps into Neko's voice. "I actually hurt Oni this time. He was limping, and his hair was pain-silver."

:: KOed? Who is Oni? She's glad she hurt him? Pain-silver? :: "How old are you, Neko?"

"Seven. Regular years, that is. I'm not sure how I'm gonna turn out. Ansem never got that far in the calculations before he dropped us for the Heartless." Neko's dropped all fighting stances in favor of standing calmly. "May I leave?"

Aerith nods and moves away from the door. Neko, with a grace you rarely see in seven-year-olds, walks towards the portal. When she reaches it, she smiles at Aerith.

"Thanks for the conversation. Takeo can get rather boring. I'm probably gonna get scolded when I get back." With a flip of her silver-red hair, Neko slips out of the room.

Aerith stands a bit shocked for a moment then sits down on the bed. :: Well, that was unexpected. :: She sits for a moment longer, then hits her forehead.

"I forgot to ask why she was in here!"
TBC

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Finished just before I have to leave for my operation...

Posted after I get back.

My foot surgery went well. Actually, the IV hurts more than the toe that got cut open. oo;;