Are you alright?
So dark... Am I dead?
Can you hear me?
Cloud listened carefully, through the darkness, he could hear the voice, the same voice that had spoken to him in the first Reactor. It was so terribly familiar, like a haunting memory. Maybe it was best he couldn't recall who it was, there were so many other things he wanted to rid from his already muddled past.
Yeah.
Back then... You could get by with just skinned knees...
He floated aimlessly in the darkness, unable to see anything.
What do you mean by 'back then'?
What about now? Can you get up?
He wrinkled his brow in confusion, or at least, tried to.
What do you mean by 'that time'? What about now?
Don't worry about me. You should worry about yourself...
Struggled to move, anything, that might reveal his location, or the male voice.
I...I'll give it a try...
He was suddenly able to feel the ground beneath his back. Cloud tried to move again, but this time, he was met with waves of pain raking up and down him.
"Oh! He moved!" He heard a female voice exclaim.
Cloud tried to communicate with the previous voice.
How about that?
Take it slow. Little by little.
"Hello... hello?" The female called.
Cloud concentrated on the first voice,
I know. He paused for a moment. ...Hey... who are you?
"Hello? Hello?" The female called again.
Without really controlling it, Cloud slowly pulled into consiousness. He was staring up at a wooden ceiling, a good distance above him, with a large hole through it. He weakly looked to his right, and saw the girl he had bought a flower from after his first mission with AVALANCHE. She smiled sweetly at him. "You okay? This is a church in the Sector 5 Slums. You suddenly fell on top of me. You really gave me a scare!"
He brought a gloved hand to his forehead and winced painfully. "I came crashing down?"
She nodded, her bangs swinging into her cheerful face. "The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."
"Flower bed? Is this yours?" He stood up and brushed some of the dirt off his shoulders. "Sorry about that."
She stood up as well, still smiling. "That's all right. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass or flowers in Midgar, but for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here." She looked around her and breathed the air in deeply. "I love it here." She kneeled and began to tend to the flowers that Cloud had flattened from his fall. "So," She looked up, her eyes shone brightly. "... we meet again. Do you remember me?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I remember you. You were selling flowers."
She brightened up. "Oh, I'm so happy! Thanks for buying my flowers." She paused for a moment. "Say, do you have any materia?"
"Yes, some." He affirmed, picking up his sword that had been embedded in the floor next to the little garden. "Nowadays you can find materia anywhere."
She pointed to a white materia orb that was secured to her thick braid of hair. "But mine is special," she giggled. "It's good for absolutely nothing."
He threw her a questioning glance. "...... Good for nothing? You probably just don't know how to use it."
She shook her head. "No, I do... It just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's..." She looked upwards, frowning thoughtfully at the gaping hole in her roof. "Say, I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again, right?"
He thought for a moment, "I don't mind."
She beamed happily at him. "Wait for a minute, I've got to check my flowers. It'll just be a minute." She went to work quickly, propping up a few broken flowers and sprinkling a bit of water on them. "Oh! Now that you mention it... we don't know each other's names, do we? I'm Aeris, the flower girl. Nice to meet you." She bowed her head slightly.
"The name's Cloud. Me....? I do a little bit of everything."
"Oh! A jack of all trades."
He nodded. "Yeah.... I do whatever's needed."
She laughed a bit and he looked at her questioningly. "What's so funny? What are you laughing at?"
She stopped and smiled at him again. "Sorry.... I just..."
Cloud tensed suddenly and glared at something behind her. Noticing his sudden mood swing, she looked behind her to see a tall, lean man with a wrinkled business suit on in the doorway of the church.
They turned to the lanky man. He calmly brushed a strand of firey hair out of his aqua-green eyes. Cloud only saw a nightstick strapped to his thigh, but he guessed that his wrinkled suit concealed more weapons. The intruder smirked, his cigarette dangling from his lips.
Aeris seemed to shrink back, and she leaned closer to Cloud for protection. "Say, Cloud," She whispered, "Have you ever been a bodyguard? You DO do everything, right?"
He noticed the stranger wasn't making any hostile movements, but he didn't take his eyes off him for a split second. "Yeah, that's right."
The flower girl clung a bit closer to him, "Then get me out of here. Take me home."
Cloud nodded his glare not wavering for a second. "I'll do it... but it'll cost you."
She frowned slightly; she didn't have any money on her. "Well then, let's see... How about if I go on a date with you once?"
This time Cloud looked at her, confused. The strange man in the doorway of the church took a couple of steps forward, causing the now-bodyguard to shift the weight of his enormous sword. He stalked toward the intruder. "I don't know who you are, but..."
The other man smirked sadistically again. "You don't know me....?"
I know you.
Cloud nodded. "Oh yeah.... I know you. That uniform..."
Three ShinRa guards followed up behind the scruffy man. "Reno! Do you want him taken out, sir?"
Reno smirked again and ran a gloved hand through his flaming red mop of hair, then back along his unkempt ponytail, "I haven't decided yet."
Aeris put her slim hands on her hips. "Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!" She ran forward and snatched up Cloud's arm. "The exit is back here, let's go!" He nodded and followed her through the back door.
Reno chuckled quietly to himself. "They were... mako eyes." He turned to the lethargic guards behind him. "Yeah, all right. Back to work, back to work." He licked his lips; savoring the taste of the beer he downed before his latest assignment, and took his time walking to the exit. On his way, he made use of his boots, tramping on as many flowers as her could. He had made it to the door, when he turned back to the ShinRa soldiers behind him. "Oh! And don't step on the flowers...." He laughed louder as the three of them started jabbering at once.
"Hey, Boss! You just stepped on them!"
"They're all ruined!"
"You're gonna catch a holy hell!"
Cloud and Aeris ran into the large room. He looked up and saw another hole in the ceiling. He turned to Aeris. "Can we get down if we go out through the roof?"
She nodded, her thick braid swinging behind her. He ran up the creaky wooden steps and she followed behind him. She watched in fear as he agilely cleared a rather large gap in the floorboards. He landed light on his feet and turned to her. "C'mon! This way!"
She was about to protest when the door was kicked in and Reno and his three back-ups walked inside. "There they are!" He shouted to his men as he pulled out a handgun from the inside of his jacket. The four ShinRa employees opened fire.
Aeris screamed and stepped back. Unfortunately, it couldn't support her weight and she fell through. She heard Cloud shout her name but the old air rushing past her ears muted it somewhat. Reno directed on of the guards to catch her. "Think we killed her?" He asked, loud enough for the Ex-SOLDIER to her, "That's what they get for fighting."
She landed, but instead of the guard catching her, she flattened him. She took off for the stairs, but one of Reno's men attacked her. "Cloud! Help!" She suddenly wanted to smack herself for leaving her fighting staff at home. She noticed the man had stopped advancing and was looking up in horror. She glanced upward long enough to catch a glimpse of a heavy barrel crashing down on the man.
Aeris raced up the stairs, knowing that she wouldn't have made it if it weren't for Cloud. He met her half way and helped he clear the gap, then crossing it himself. He laughed quietly as he and Aeris climbed through a large hole in the roof. The pair climbed out on the rickety roof and from the shadows, they watched the red-haired man leave with two of his men limping away. Aeris grinned triumphantly. "Ha! He's looking for me again!"
Cloud looked at her, surprised. "You mean it's not the first time he's been after you?"
"No." She shook her head.
"He's part of the Turks." He explained quietly. "The Turks are an organization in the ShinRa. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."
A worried look spread across her features. "This violently? I thought they were trying to kidnap me."
He nodded, "Yeah, they're also involved in a bunch of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder... you know."
She agreed wholeheartedly. "They look like it."
"But why are they after you? There must be a reason, right?"
She shook her head again. "No, not really. Maybe they think I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER."
He smirked a bit, remembering his tough training to get into the elite group. "Maybe you do. You want to join?"
"I don't know... but I don't want to get caught by THOSE people!"
He stood up. "Then, let's go." She followed him down the roof and across other rooftops and chunks of debris. After a while she noticed he was a good distance in front of her.
Cloud focused on finding a safe route to get away from the Church, and hopefully Reno as well. "Wait!" She called, "Wait, I said!" She climbed doggedly to where he was standing, panting and wheezing the whole way. "Slow... down..." She panted. "Don't leave me!"
He smirked teasingly. "Funny... I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?
"Oh! You're terrible!" She frowned but her look softened a bit as he laughed. "Hey... Cloud. Were you ever in SOLDIER?"
He stopped laughing and turned to her. "I used to be. How did you guess?"
She looked bashfully at her feet. "Your eyes have a strange glow."
He nodded. "That's the sign of those who have been infused with mako... A mark of SOLDIER. But how did you know about that?"
She hastily looked away. "Oh. Nothing."
He cocked his head skeptically, "Nothing?"
She glanced at him, a bit annoyed at his persistence. "Right! Nothing! Come on! Let's go, Bodyguard."
They walked on in silence, hoping desperately that they wouldn't run into Reno or anyone else from the Turks on the way to Aeris' house. Cloud turned and helped Aeris down a large chunk of debris, she thanked him and searched her bleak surroundings. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. "Whew! Finally made it off!" She indicated to the difficult route he had chosen. "Now what..." Again, she looked down the dark alleyway. "My house is down that way. Let's hurry before the Turks come looking for us." Cloud nodded. She led him through the Sector Five slums before they finally came upon a small house with flowers blooming all around it. He shook his head, the little house reminded him of his own hometown... No... he needed to stop living in the past. That was all gone now. He came back to his senses when Aeris lightly touched his upper arm and beckoned him inside. It was tastefully decorated inside, and fresh flowers were in vase on the kitchen counters and on the quaint little dining table. Aeris stood at the bottom of a small flight of stairs. "I'm home, mom!" She called. An older woman, well into her forties, stepped down. She smiled warmly at her daughter, but frowned thoughtfully when her eyes wandered over to Cloud, standing awkwardly near the doorway. Aeris sensed this and turned back to her mother. "This is Cloud, my body guard." She piped in. The older woman looked at her, worry evident on her face. "Bodyguard...?" She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You mean you were followed again? Are you all right? You're not hurt are you?" She was still smiling even as she shook her head. "I'm all right, I had Cloud with me." Her mother sighed, a bit exasperated and walked towards him. "Thank you, Cloud." She bowed slightly. "I'm Elmyra Gainsborough, Aeris' mother." She turned and left, leaving complete silence until she was all the way upstairs. Aeris turned to Cloud. "So, what are you going to do now?" He stretched his arms and legs a bit, still quite sore from his horrendous fall. She was amazed he had been able to survive; not only that, but he didn't sustain any serious injuries. "Is Sector 7 far from here? I want to go to Tifa's bar, the Seventh Heaven." She looked a bit more serious for a moment, "Is Tifa... a girl?" "Yeah." "A girl... friend?" His face immediately burned red. He wished he could call Tifa his girlfriend... But they had been friends since they were just kids. Why should they have to risk that? And besides, he was such a failure, that he should feel honored that she would even talk to him. 'Tifa deserved so much more than a smart mouthed, poor, weak, insignificant jerk like me anyway...' He thought sadly. He regained his train of thought to the sound of Aeris' high- pitched giggles. Before Cloud could protest, she moved next to the stairs, and called to her mother. "Mom? I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7! I'll be back in a while!" Elmyra came down the stairs and looked pleadingly at her daughter. "But dear... I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you wait until tomorrow? It's getting late now." Aeris seemed to consider this a moment. "Yeah, you're right, mom." The other nodded back, "Then go make the bed for our guest." Aeris nodded and left her mother alone with the mercenary. She turned to him. "That glow in your eyes... you're from SOLDIER, right?" He nodded, suddenly very tired. "Yeah. Rather I used to be." She looked to her feet. "... I don't know how to say this, but... could you please leave tonight? Without telling Aeris? He looked at her, surprised for a moment, and half-nodded. Walking upstairs, the only thing on his mind was sleep. He saw Aeris as he climbed up, and she smiled sweetly at him again. "You need to go through sector 6 to get to Sector 7. 6 is pretty dangerous, so you'd better get some rest tonight." He nodded and managed to drag himself into the tiny bedroom and flopped onto the soft mattress and it wasn't long before he was overcome by darkness. Seem pretty tired Cloud was suddenly alert. He heard that mysterious voice again. He wasn't sure if it was his subconscious talking to him, or if it was a voice from his past... I haven't slept in a bed like this... in a long time. ...Oh yeah. Cloud wasn't sure if he was actually speaking or telepathically talking, but he didn't really care. Ever since that time... Suddenly, the devouring darkness faded. The Ex-SOLDIER was lying on a bed, but in a completely different house. It had only one room, and there was a blond woman walking back and forth between some kitchen appliances across from the bed. It was his mother. She turned and smiled lovingly at her son, who was still loafing on the bed. "My, how you've grown. I'll bet the girls never leave you alone." He remembered shaking his head at his mother. "... Not really." There had been a pause, as she tended to the food that she was preparing. "... I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city... I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend." "I'm all right." He vividly remembered his mother's hurt expression, and how she had quickly covered it up. "You should have... an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you." "I'm not interested..." He had sighed. Cloud's deep blue eyes snapped open suddenly. "...I must've fallen asleep." He shook his head, as to physically clear away painful memories of his mother. Slowly, he slung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He checked the small clock on the wall and the hands revealed that it was almost one thirty in the morning. "Sector 7's past Sector 6... I should be okay by myself..." He thought out loud. He checked his materia and snatched his sword from the corner. Slowly, he opened the door and quietly padded down the creaky wooden stairs. He made it to the front door without any trouble and in no time at all, he had already crossed through Sector 5 and was almost at the alleyway that lead to Sector 6. He turned the corner abruptly, and right into an annoyed looking Aeris. He noticed that this time, she had a fighting bo strapped to her back. "You're up bright and early." She put her hands on her slim hips. Cloud instantly went into a defensive argument. "How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" She rolled her shimmering emerald eyes. "Are you done?" She watched him run a nervous hand through his spikey blond hair, and almost laughed out loud when the stiff spikes returned to their original position. "You have to go through Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven. I'll take you there." Before Cloud could civilly protest, she was already running down the way. He sighed and jogged up after her. They walked in silence through Sector 6. It really wasn't anywhere as dangerous as he had imagined it. The worst dealing they had was a couple of everyday street thugs. 'I'm a lot stronger than her, though' Cloud reminded himself. Aeris sighed in relief as they made it out of the demolished sector and pointed to a heavy iron gate just beyond the beat up playground they had come to stand in. "That's the gate to Sector 7." Cloud nodded and smiled. He couldn't wait to see Tifa and let he know that he was okay. "Thanks. I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be alright going home?" "Oh no!" The thought had never crossed her mind. "Come with me to Sector 7 and we'll get you home tommorow." He offered. "I could do that." She agreed. "But won't I be in your way?" Cloud grew a little impatient. He really had to see Tifa... "What do you mean 'in the way'?" She quickly responed to him. "Nothing!" She smiled to cover her haste. "Can we take a break?" He nodded to her, and she climbed up to the top of a moogle-shaped slide. "Cloud! Come up here!" He smiled tiredly and climbed up and sat down next to her. She looked at him and grinned brightly, glad that he had joined her. "What rank were you?" She asked suddenly. "Rank?" "You know in SOLDIER." "Oh, I was..." Aeris watched confused as his eyes suddenly went blank. She breathed a sigh of relief when he came back to his senses. "...First Class." She looked away sadly. "Just the same as him." "The same as who?" "My first boyfriend." "You were... serious?" He looked at her, wondering why they both suddenly prying into each other's lives. She laughed. "No. But I liked him for a while." He smiled back at her. "I probably knew him. What was his name?" He frowned thoughtfully as she shook her head sadly. "It doesn't really matter-" She was cut off as a loud rumbling erupted from the gate to Sector 7 slid open. "Huh? Hey, back there...!" Cloud stood up and watched as a carriage being pulled by a chocobo lumbered toward Wall Market. "Tifa!?" He shouted in surprise. Aeris followed his gaze to see a girl her age riding in the back. Within seconds the cart was out of veiw. "That girl in the cart was Tifa? Where was she going? She looked kind of odd..." She didn't let Cloud reply as she hopped from the slide and raced after the wagon. Cloud shouted to her. "Wait! I'll go on alone! You go home!!" He growled to himself when she ignored him and kept following it towards the market. Quickly, he jumped down too, and ran after her.
So dark... Am I dead?
Can you hear me?
Cloud listened carefully, through the darkness, he could hear the voice, the same voice that had spoken to him in the first Reactor. It was so terribly familiar, like a haunting memory. Maybe it was best he couldn't recall who it was, there were so many other things he wanted to rid from his already muddled past.
Yeah.
Back then... You could get by with just skinned knees...
He floated aimlessly in the darkness, unable to see anything.
What do you mean by 'back then'?
What about now? Can you get up?
He wrinkled his brow in confusion, or at least, tried to.
What do you mean by 'that time'? What about now?
Don't worry about me. You should worry about yourself...
Struggled to move, anything, that might reveal his location, or the male voice.
I...I'll give it a try...
He was suddenly able to feel the ground beneath his back. Cloud tried to move again, but this time, he was met with waves of pain raking up and down him.
"Oh! He moved!" He heard a female voice exclaim.
Cloud tried to communicate with the previous voice.
How about that?
Take it slow. Little by little.
"Hello... hello?" The female called.
Cloud concentrated on the first voice,
I know. He paused for a moment. ...Hey... who are you?
"Hello? Hello?" The female called again.
Without really controlling it, Cloud slowly pulled into consiousness. He was staring up at a wooden ceiling, a good distance above him, with a large hole through it. He weakly looked to his right, and saw the girl he had bought a flower from after his first mission with AVALANCHE. She smiled sweetly at him. "You okay? This is a church in the Sector 5 Slums. You suddenly fell on top of me. You really gave me a scare!"
He brought a gloved hand to his forehead and winced painfully. "I came crashing down?"
She nodded, her bangs swinging into her cheerful face. "The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."
"Flower bed? Is this yours?" He stood up and brushed some of the dirt off his shoulders. "Sorry about that."
She stood up as well, still smiling. "That's all right. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass or flowers in Midgar, but for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here." She looked around her and breathed the air in deeply. "I love it here." She kneeled and began to tend to the flowers that Cloud had flattened from his fall. "So," She looked up, her eyes shone brightly. "... we meet again. Do you remember me?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I remember you. You were selling flowers."
She brightened up. "Oh, I'm so happy! Thanks for buying my flowers." She paused for a moment. "Say, do you have any materia?"
"Yes, some." He affirmed, picking up his sword that had been embedded in the floor next to the little garden. "Nowadays you can find materia anywhere."
She pointed to a white materia orb that was secured to her thick braid of hair. "But mine is special," she giggled. "It's good for absolutely nothing."
He threw her a questioning glance. "...... Good for nothing? You probably just don't know how to use it."
She shook her head. "No, I do... It just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's..." She looked upwards, frowning thoughtfully at the gaping hole in her roof. "Say, I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again, right?"
He thought for a moment, "I don't mind."
She beamed happily at him. "Wait for a minute, I've got to check my flowers. It'll just be a minute." She went to work quickly, propping up a few broken flowers and sprinkling a bit of water on them. "Oh! Now that you mention it... we don't know each other's names, do we? I'm Aeris, the flower girl. Nice to meet you." She bowed her head slightly.
"The name's Cloud. Me....? I do a little bit of everything."
"Oh! A jack of all trades."
He nodded. "Yeah.... I do whatever's needed."
She laughed a bit and he looked at her questioningly. "What's so funny? What are you laughing at?"
She stopped and smiled at him again. "Sorry.... I just..."
Cloud tensed suddenly and glared at something behind her. Noticing his sudden mood swing, she looked behind her to see a tall, lean man with a wrinkled business suit on in the doorway of the church.
They turned to the lanky man. He calmly brushed a strand of firey hair out of his aqua-green eyes. Cloud only saw a nightstick strapped to his thigh, but he guessed that his wrinkled suit concealed more weapons. The intruder smirked, his cigarette dangling from his lips.
Aeris seemed to shrink back, and she leaned closer to Cloud for protection. "Say, Cloud," She whispered, "Have you ever been a bodyguard? You DO do everything, right?"
He noticed the stranger wasn't making any hostile movements, but he didn't take his eyes off him for a split second. "Yeah, that's right."
The flower girl clung a bit closer to him, "Then get me out of here. Take me home."
Cloud nodded his glare not wavering for a second. "I'll do it... but it'll cost you."
She frowned slightly; she didn't have any money on her. "Well then, let's see... How about if I go on a date with you once?"
This time Cloud looked at her, confused. The strange man in the doorway of the church took a couple of steps forward, causing the now-bodyguard to shift the weight of his enormous sword. He stalked toward the intruder. "I don't know who you are, but..."
The other man smirked sadistically again. "You don't know me....?"
I know you.
Cloud nodded. "Oh yeah.... I know you. That uniform..."
Three ShinRa guards followed up behind the scruffy man. "Reno! Do you want him taken out, sir?"
Reno smirked again and ran a gloved hand through his flaming red mop of hair, then back along his unkempt ponytail, "I haven't decided yet."
Aeris put her slim hands on her hips. "Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!" She ran forward and snatched up Cloud's arm. "The exit is back here, let's go!" He nodded and followed her through the back door.
Reno chuckled quietly to himself. "They were... mako eyes." He turned to the lethargic guards behind him. "Yeah, all right. Back to work, back to work." He licked his lips; savoring the taste of the beer he downed before his latest assignment, and took his time walking to the exit. On his way, he made use of his boots, tramping on as many flowers as her could. He had made it to the door, when he turned back to the ShinRa soldiers behind him. "Oh! And don't step on the flowers...." He laughed louder as the three of them started jabbering at once.
"Hey, Boss! You just stepped on them!"
"They're all ruined!"
"You're gonna catch a holy hell!"
Cloud and Aeris ran into the large room. He looked up and saw another hole in the ceiling. He turned to Aeris. "Can we get down if we go out through the roof?"
She nodded, her thick braid swinging behind her. He ran up the creaky wooden steps and she followed behind him. She watched in fear as he agilely cleared a rather large gap in the floorboards. He landed light on his feet and turned to her. "C'mon! This way!"
She was about to protest when the door was kicked in and Reno and his three back-ups walked inside. "There they are!" He shouted to his men as he pulled out a handgun from the inside of his jacket. The four ShinRa employees opened fire.
Aeris screamed and stepped back. Unfortunately, it couldn't support her weight and she fell through. She heard Cloud shout her name but the old air rushing past her ears muted it somewhat. Reno directed on of the guards to catch her. "Think we killed her?" He asked, loud enough for the Ex-SOLDIER to her, "That's what they get for fighting."
She landed, but instead of the guard catching her, she flattened him. She took off for the stairs, but one of Reno's men attacked her. "Cloud! Help!" She suddenly wanted to smack herself for leaving her fighting staff at home. She noticed the man had stopped advancing and was looking up in horror. She glanced upward long enough to catch a glimpse of a heavy barrel crashing down on the man.
Aeris raced up the stairs, knowing that she wouldn't have made it if it weren't for Cloud. He met her half way and helped he clear the gap, then crossing it himself. He laughed quietly as he and Aeris climbed through a large hole in the roof. The pair climbed out on the rickety roof and from the shadows, they watched the red-haired man leave with two of his men limping away. Aeris grinned triumphantly. "Ha! He's looking for me again!"
Cloud looked at her, surprised. "You mean it's not the first time he's been after you?"
"No." She shook her head.
"He's part of the Turks." He explained quietly. "The Turks are an organization in the ShinRa. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."
A worried look spread across her features. "This violently? I thought they were trying to kidnap me."
He nodded, "Yeah, they're also involved in a bunch of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder... you know."
She agreed wholeheartedly. "They look like it."
"But why are they after you? There must be a reason, right?"
She shook her head again. "No, not really. Maybe they think I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER."
He smirked a bit, remembering his tough training to get into the elite group. "Maybe you do. You want to join?"
"I don't know... but I don't want to get caught by THOSE people!"
He stood up. "Then, let's go." She followed him down the roof and across other rooftops and chunks of debris. After a while she noticed he was a good distance in front of her.
Cloud focused on finding a safe route to get away from the Church, and hopefully Reno as well. "Wait!" She called, "Wait, I said!" She climbed doggedly to where he was standing, panting and wheezing the whole way. "Slow... down..." She panted. "Don't leave me!"
He smirked teasingly. "Funny... I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?
"Oh! You're terrible!" She frowned but her look softened a bit as he laughed. "Hey... Cloud. Were you ever in SOLDIER?"
He stopped laughing and turned to her. "I used to be. How did you guess?"
She looked bashfully at her feet. "Your eyes have a strange glow."
He nodded. "That's the sign of those who have been infused with mako... A mark of SOLDIER. But how did you know about that?"
She hastily looked away. "Oh. Nothing."
He cocked his head skeptically, "Nothing?"
She glanced at him, a bit annoyed at his persistence. "Right! Nothing! Come on! Let's go, Bodyguard."
They walked on in silence, hoping desperately that they wouldn't run into Reno or anyone else from the Turks on the way to Aeris' house. Cloud turned and helped Aeris down a large chunk of debris, she thanked him and searched her bleak surroundings. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. "Whew! Finally made it off!" She indicated to the difficult route he had chosen. "Now what..." Again, she looked down the dark alleyway. "My house is down that way. Let's hurry before the Turks come looking for us." Cloud nodded. She led him through the Sector Five slums before they finally came upon a small house with flowers blooming all around it. He shook his head, the little house reminded him of his own hometown... No... he needed to stop living in the past. That was all gone now. He came back to his senses when Aeris lightly touched his upper arm and beckoned him inside. It was tastefully decorated inside, and fresh flowers were in vase on the kitchen counters and on the quaint little dining table. Aeris stood at the bottom of a small flight of stairs. "I'm home, mom!" She called. An older woman, well into her forties, stepped down. She smiled warmly at her daughter, but frowned thoughtfully when her eyes wandered over to Cloud, standing awkwardly near the doorway. Aeris sensed this and turned back to her mother. "This is Cloud, my body guard." She piped in. The older woman looked at her, worry evident on her face. "Bodyguard...?" She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You mean you were followed again? Are you all right? You're not hurt are you?" She was still smiling even as she shook her head. "I'm all right, I had Cloud with me." Her mother sighed, a bit exasperated and walked towards him. "Thank you, Cloud." She bowed slightly. "I'm Elmyra Gainsborough, Aeris' mother." She turned and left, leaving complete silence until she was all the way upstairs. Aeris turned to Cloud. "So, what are you going to do now?" He stretched his arms and legs a bit, still quite sore from his horrendous fall. She was amazed he had been able to survive; not only that, but he didn't sustain any serious injuries. "Is Sector 7 far from here? I want to go to Tifa's bar, the Seventh Heaven." She looked a bit more serious for a moment, "Is Tifa... a girl?" "Yeah." "A girl... friend?" His face immediately burned red. He wished he could call Tifa his girlfriend... But they had been friends since they were just kids. Why should they have to risk that? And besides, he was such a failure, that he should feel honored that she would even talk to him. 'Tifa deserved so much more than a smart mouthed, poor, weak, insignificant jerk like me anyway...' He thought sadly. He regained his train of thought to the sound of Aeris' high- pitched giggles. Before Cloud could protest, she moved next to the stairs, and called to her mother. "Mom? I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7! I'll be back in a while!" Elmyra came down the stairs and looked pleadingly at her daughter. "But dear... I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you wait until tomorrow? It's getting late now." Aeris seemed to consider this a moment. "Yeah, you're right, mom." The other nodded back, "Then go make the bed for our guest." Aeris nodded and left her mother alone with the mercenary. She turned to him. "That glow in your eyes... you're from SOLDIER, right?" He nodded, suddenly very tired. "Yeah. Rather I used to be." She looked to her feet. "... I don't know how to say this, but... could you please leave tonight? Without telling Aeris? He looked at her, surprised for a moment, and half-nodded. Walking upstairs, the only thing on his mind was sleep. He saw Aeris as he climbed up, and she smiled sweetly at him again. "You need to go through sector 6 to get to Sector 7. 6 is pretty dangerous, so you'd better get some rest tonight." He nodded and managed to drag himself into the tiny bedroom and flopped onto the soft mattress and it wasn't long before he was overcome by darkness. Seem pretty tired Cloud was suddenly alert. He heard that mysterious voice again. He wasn't sure if it was his subconscious talking to him, or if it was a voice from his past... I haven't slept in a bed like this... in a long time. ...Oh yeah. Cloud wasn't sure if he was actually speaking or telepathically talking, but he didn't really care. Ever since that time... Suddenly, the devouring darkness faded. The Ex-SOLDIER was lying on a bed, but in a completely different house. It had only one room, and there was a blond woman walking back and forth between some kitchen appliances across from the bed. It was his mother. She turned and smiled lovingly at her son, who was still loafing on the bed. "My, how you've grown. I'll bet the girls never leave you alone." He remembered shaking his head at his mother. "... Not really." There had been a pause, as she tended to the food that she was preparing. "... I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city... I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend." "I'm all right." He vividly remembered his mother's hurt expression, and how she had quickly covered it up. "You should have... an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you." "I'm not interested..." He had sighed. Cloud's deep blue eyes snapped open suddenly. "...I must've fallen asleep." He shook his head, as to physically clear away painful memories of his mother. Slowly, he slung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He checked the small clock on the wall and the hands revealed that it was almost one thirty in the morning. "Sector 7's past Sector 6... I should be okay by myself..." He thought out loud. He checked his materia and snatched his sword from the corner. Slowly, he opened the door and quietly padded down the creaky wooden stairs. He made it to the front door without any trouble and in no time at all, he had already crossed through Sector 5 and was almost at the alleyway that lead to Sector 6. He turned the corner abruptly, and right into an annoyed looking Aeris. He noticed that this time, she had a fighting bo strapped to her back. "You're up bright and early." She put her hands on her slim hips. Cloud instantly went into a defensive argument. "How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" She rolled her shimmering emerald eyes. "Are you done?" She watched him run a nervous hand through his spikey blond hair, and almost laughed out loud when the stiff spikes returned to their original position. "You have to go through Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven. I'll take you there." Before Cloud could civilly protest, she was already running down the way. He sighed and jogged up after her. They walked in silence through Sector 6. It really wasn't anywhere as dangerous as he had imagined it. The worst dealing they had was a couple of everyday street thugs. 'I'm a lot stronger than her, though' Cloud reminded himself. Aeris sighed in relief as they made it out of the demolished sector and pointed to a heavy iron gate just beyond the beat up playground they had come to stand in. "That's the gate to Sector 7." Cloud nodded and smiled. He couldn't wait to see Tifa and let he know that he was okay. "Thanks. I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be alright going home?" "Oh no!" The thought had never crossed her mind. "Come with me to Sector 7 and we'll get you home tommorow." He offered. "I could do that." She agreed. "But won't I be in your way?" Cloud grew a little impatient. He really had to see Tifa... "What do you mean 'in the way'?" She quickly responed to him. "Nothing!" She smiled to cover her haste. "Can we take a break?" He nodded to her, and she climbed up to the top of a moogle-shaped slide. "Cloud! Come up here!" He smiled tiredly and climbed up and sat down next to her. She looked at him and grinned brightly, glad that he had joined her. "What rank were you?" She asked suddenly. "Rank?" "You know in SOLDIER." "Oh, I was..." Aeris watched confused as his eyes suddenly went blank. She breathed a sigh of relief when he came back to his senses. "...First Class." She looked away sadly. "Just the same as him." "The same as who?" "My first boyfriend." "You were... serious?" He looked at her, wondering why they both suddenly prying into each other's lives. She laughed. "No. But I liked him for a while." He smiled back at her. "I probably knew him. What was his name?" He frowned thoughtfully as she shook her head sadly. "It doesn't really matter-" She was cut off as a loud rumbling erupted from the gate to Sector 7 slid open. "Huh? Hey, back there...!" Cloud stood up and watched as a carriage being pulled by a chocobo lumbered toward Wall Market. "Tifa!?" He shouted in surprise. Aeris followed his gaze to see a girl her age riding in the back. Within seconds the cart was out of veiw. "That girl in the cart was Tifa? Where was she going? She looked kind of odd..." She didn't let Cloud reply as she hopped from the slide and raced after the wagon. Cloud shouted to her. "Wait! I'll go on alone! You go home!!" He growled to himself when she ignored him and kept following it towards the market. Quickly, he jumped down too, and ran after her.