I'm sorry there was a delay in updates again, but my net access is only through my college attendance, and as of late I've been dragged through hell and back again with local thugs starting wars in front of my home.
I've been sick with food poisoning.
In three days I've had three hours sleep.
I've broken my foot and spent four hours in hospital waiting to get it seen to after spending an entire day having to walk around on it.
My College Transportation Driver has forgotten that I PAY her to pick me and take me back home before and after classes, but being the thick trollop that she is, has forgotten that I exist AGAIN.
My sister went out in one of my favorite shirts and – you guessed it! She ruined it, not only ripping it, but getting it filthy and God only knows what!
And to top it all off – I've just had a blood test informing me that I have a thyroid problem!!! For the rest of my life I've to take pills in the morning, and have a blood extracting needle shoved into my veins on a regular basis to test the level of Thyroxin I've to take!
Nice!!!
I'm not sure exactly what I did to deserve all that, but here's hoping I'll have no more bad luck for a while.
But anyway, enough of my compulsive whining. I've kept you guys waiting long enough, so let's just cut to the chase.
Here is Chapter six, hope you like it!
It was quiet – peacefully tranquil. Aeris was breathless and sported a twisted ankle – but was generally unhurt, smiling sweetly at him in gratitude for her rescuer only moments historical inside the large tumbledown church upon which they where now perched. .
Atop of the fragile, red – slated church roof, it seemed so placid, and Cloud doubted seriously that the guards downstairs would be able to get up anytime soon in order to remedy that. If they hadn't drowned in tar by now, after being knocked unconscious by the barrels and smothered with the black substance within, they wouldn't be too difficult to outrun – or even outwalk with all that tar plastered around their limbs.
Being so high seemed to add to the atmosphere. Despite being chased and sought after by a strange assassin known as Reno and his flunkies only minutes before, it seemed so far away in the distance as they sat atop the Holy building where most of Sector Five spread out before them like a wide and spacious carpet of images.
It was nice.
But Cloud was curious.
Curious as to what the Turks would want with the seemingly innocent and friendly likes of Aeris, sitting aside him, panting ever so gently as she tenderly massaged her pained ankle, slender fingers easing in and out of the rim of her soft brown boots.
As Cloud began to speak she sighed, looking to the north, withdrawing her hand from her ankle and wrapping her arms around her legs as she pulled them close to her chest, her fingers clasping together in a gentle lock as she listened to Cloud's words.
"About the Turks – if you don't mind my asking – what do they want with you?" Cloud asked with no pressure on her to answer, his voice sounding out of curiosity as to not give the wrong impression unto Aeris. The Turks where bad news, and he assumed that they at least had their reasons for the attempted abduction of the girl who had cast a rather shy and kind first impression upon Cloud himself. "This the first time they've come after you?"
Aeris shook her head gently, her eyes blinking up to Cloud's direction.
"No – that guy's been chasing me all week, this has got to be the fifth time this week he's tried to catch me – or let his guards catch me."
...
"...and that imbecilic Reno is on the Cetra mission for the fifth time this week..."
...
"For Tseng's right hand man..." Cloud chipped in, crossing his legs and resting his elbows upon his lap. "... He didn't seem too enthusiastic to do the job properly..."
"He'd probably have succeeded the first time had he not decided to start goofing off – you'd think by this point he'd have noticed a flaw in the way he does things..."
"He's an obvious idiot." Cloud decided with a nod of the head, deciding to himself not to enquire at the current moment what significance the word "Cetra" bore on the matter. "You any idea why he's after you?"
Again, Aeris shook her head, her long braid swaying gently from side to side in time with her motion, glancing over to Cloud with serenity in her green eyes. Cloud began to speak once more.
"The Turks - if they aren't murdering someone or stealing something - normally run around looking for potential SOLDIER recruits." He spoke with a tone of suggestion, that this was perhaps the reason as to why they had sought after her although she did not appear at first glance to even begin to have the strengths and qualities that where compulsory to being recruited into SOLDIER.
Aeris blinked reproachfully towards Cloud with a frown, as though the idea of joining SOLDIER would be too painful and experience for her to handle.
"I don't care if I'm a potential SOLDIER or whatever," she spoke indignantly, a hint of anger towards the Turks. "I'm not going with them..."
Cloud nodded in understanding, unable to blame her in her dislike for the Turks and their motives, knowing that whatever it was they had in store for Aeris, it wasn't likely to be something she'd enjoy.
"Yeah, well – if that's how you feel, we'd better get going in case that Reno guy starts to wonder why his friends haven't turned up..." he said, stretching his arms and legs out for a few lengthy moments before erecting to his feet, and almost sliding and falling back down had it not been for his quick reflexes to allow his body to snap into a balancing stance.
Aeris gave a small laugh blinking at Cloud and her glance darting away from him upon sight that he was looking at her, her cheeks blushing warmly as she got to her feet and almost teetering and falling back down herself before using her staff as a balancing post.
Cloud turned from Aeris and looked around as he steadied himself on his feet, spacing his stance evenly as to lessen the chance of falling off of the church roof. Falling through it had been bad enough...
There was no sign of Reno, no sign of any Shinra guards, and no sign of any other Turks or potential opposition. For the time being they where safe from immediate danger. The time being was a perfect escaping opportunity.
"Coast looks clear enough..." he muttered to himself as his eyes took to scanning the church roof for means of getting down and resting upon a very heaped pile of rubble and debris tipped and leaning on the edge of the church roof. A hill of spaces and crevices to ensure safe climbing - certainly convenient!
He took her hand.
He took the time to notice that her hand was warm as her fingers clasped around his.
He indicated the pile of debris with a toss of the head.
"Let's go." He smiled guiding her over on the slippery and brittle red slates carefully as to avoid falling, and yet Aeris continued to teeter and totter haphazardly as she walked, keeping her eyes on her feet, monitoring each step she took before Cloud hopped upon the rubble and turned to help her down.
She tripped suddenly upon an uneven wedge of slate, and with a cry jerked forward in a direct face forward tumble. And within that same split second, she was in Cloud's arms, slamming into his chest as he caught her and tipped backwards a little with her weight.
"Uh... Are you... alright?"
She looked up to see Cloud's pair of inhuman eyes blinking down at her, and she felt the blush dye into the crests of her cheeks as she lifted herself hesitantly out of Cloud's form and turned away, embarrassed.
"I – uh – I'm sorry, I'm fine, thank you..." she peeked up at Cloud, half – expecting him to be courteous and gracious about the accident.
But he just smiled. His face lighting up as he delivered a shrug in dismissal of the apology, his bright eyes shining with a catch of the light as he replied to her casually as he gently pressed her back onto her feet.
"Great! Let's go and get you home – where do you live?"
Aeris frowned a little before her grateful smile was back in its rightful place as she came to describe the whereabouts of her home.
"I live in a cottage just outside the Sector 5 Slums, just beyond the town,"
"Okay..."
Cloud took Aeris by the hand once more as he began his run down the pile of rubble and debris, each step calculated and precise and Aeris cried out softly as she fought to maintain her balance, dust and tiny pebbles scattered with her clumsy footing, her knees buckling over and over as she battled not to fall, her free hand holding her staff batting madly as though it would maintain her balance for her as they sped down the hill of junk and garbage, nearing closer and closer to safety.
But it was over soon enough, the slope was over and now they faced before them a wilderness of debris as a ground, edges of torn planks, shards of broken glass winked nastily at them as the dull light glinted off of their filthy surfaces, bricks and rocks scattered everywhere as filth and disarray of the land they where now to cross in a landscape of garbage.
Aeris did not appear as worried of this wasteland as she had been with the slope. Standing over it and scanning it over with her bottle green eyes with a soft hint of a smile on her lips. She had probably had to cross this path alone several times in order to reach the church, assuming by her love of the flowers there that it was a very regular hang – out spot for her.
"You ok?" Cloud asked, his bright eyes blinking up at her as he loosened his shoulders casually before relaxing, his arms dropping to his sides.
Aeris' smile broadened as she glanced back at him, cocking her head at a slight tilt, her long hair swaying gently behind her back and brushed over her dress, another tinge to her cheeks.
"Fine thank you,"
Cloud nodded once again.
"Ok, let's go then..." and with that, he was off like a shot, in leaps and bounds, covering such distances in such little time and in such volatile conditions, and Aeris' hand flew out after him silently as though it would magically get him to halt in his travel. But it didn't. He sprang over each hurdle as it came without fault or pause and as Aeris stood, gazing after him with fascination as he began to grow smaller and smaller in the distance, she began to realize that she may lose him if she didn't hurry up and move.
She took a timid little jump onto a tilted box before her.
She landed with a tap of boots on wood, shuddered upon landing, struggling to remain and hold within a firm standing position
So far so good... but it hardly tightened the ever growing distance between Cloud and herself.
Gripping her bo – staff tightly and narrowing her eyes in determination, she took a tiny leap from the box and onto a pile of crumbling bricks, and began to run, watching her feet all the while, carefully avoiding potential hazards and swatting away anything she couldn't jump over and wasn't willing to touch by hand, with her staff.
She looked up, Cloud was still getting further and further away and Aeris bit her lip in frustration as she forced herself to run faster, her carelessness going and almost falling once or twice before she decided that she had to be heard to get Cloud to slow down.
"Cloud!!"
He turned, hearing the wounded voice calling him from behind and seeing the slender young lady in the pink dress clambering carefully over filthy obstacles, before having to hop down a number of rocks in order to reach Cloud, and each one was taken with calculation, standing before her jump, crouching her knees slightly before jumping, and eventually rushing up to meet Cloud, bumping herself on several pieces of junk and trash on the way there before coming to a halt before Cloud, gasping and panting for breath.
"Y'know..." Cloud mused with a smile. "Maybe it's just as well for Reno that his buddies didn't catch you – you woulda made one lousy SOLDIER!" he grinned jokingly as Aeris threw him a mock glare on a smile as she began to compose herself.
"You really know how to make a lady feel special, don't you?"
"Just another of my talents!"
"I'm sure!" Aeris laughed as she propped herself upon her staff, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead that Cloud could not help but note. She really wasn't built for battle, an unfit fighter – but a determined one nonetheless. He had to admire that in her. Her strength of mind set on defending herself at all costs, he had assumed that she had only bought the weapon that she held in her hand to swat at Reno or to try and warn off any would – be attackers with the bluff that she was armed and dangerous.
"Hey Cloud?" Aeris came to voice suddenly as Cloud considered this of his new friend. She tilted her head a little to the side as she spoke, leaning on her staff a little. "Could I ask you something?"
"Sure I guess," Cloud replied, his hand straying to the back of his head with a small shrug of the shoulders whilst flicking loose strand of his golden hair from his eyes. "What do you want to know?"
"Well... your eyes have this really hypnotizing glow to them, and you said that you where and Ex – SOLDIER so... I was just wondering if all warriors of SOLDIER have..."
"Mako eyes?" Cloud finished for her with a little blink that Aeris smiled at amiably as she crossed her arms delicately over her front, her staff balancing loosely in her slender fingers, dangling from side to side as they flexed. "Only people who've been infused with Mako have can have Mako eyes - Why did you know someone else from SOLDIER? How did you know about the connection between Mako eyes and SOL..."
"It doesn't matter, it was a stupid question and I'm sorry I mentioned it..." Aeris dismissed with a wave of her hand and a slight laugh and the light caught a blinding flare of shine on her bracelet and Cloud's eyes flickered, but he was quick to blink it off as he felt Aeris take his hand and he came to blink not in retaliation to light but to surprise. "Let's go then Mr. Bodyguard!" she grinned and pulled Cloud the first few steps onward to the Gainsborough household through the piling waste and trash that cluttered up their route much to Aeris' personal annoyance.
But she didn't show it – today she had a protector – and a very handsome one at that to hang onto along the way. He seemed a little slow with her – perhaps that was just his way with women or just with meeting new people, but he held that enigmatic quality that she liked, as though he didn't even know who he was inside himself...
It wasn't to long before they where able to touch down on solid ground that was not a dangerous landscape of garbage and the unwanted fragments of whatever the people of Midgar had decided to dump there. Cloud had to gently guide her down from the pillage as she once again calculated her leaps down to reach this flat ground, but it didn't take long, and Cloud seemed perfectly happy and obliged to do so, and Aeris felt her heart skipping beats.
"Thank you very much!" she smiled as her light boots tapped off of the ground and her knees bent fluidly as she landed in front of him, her long braid swinging gently behind her back whilst her soft brown bangs swayed softly between their faces.
"No problem!" he offered back once again as he turned around to face the paths set out before him, knowing that one of which would lead to the slums of which Aeris lived.
A lone young woman walked passed them idly eyeing Aeris up with interest and with a particular glint of the eye as she sauntered by, yet neither Cloud nor Aeris herself came to notice her.
Aeris stepped forth beyond Cloud and reached up on tiptoe, her elegant neck looking out over the land before her feet, her shadow stretched out before her like a long dark painting of dark ink, to be joined by the firm and masculine shadow of Cloud walking up by her side.
She turned to face him with a smile to which he smiled back with a slight blush to her cheeks, knowing just how much like a couple they must have looked.
It was silly.
She was being silly.
She hadn't even known him for an hour.
Already she was fantasizing about being his girlfriend. But... where her mind and sensibility told her to get a grip on reality, her heart egged her on – love at first sight had occurred with many other lovers, and after all he had seemed so sweet and strong and...
Okay, perhaps she was getting a little ahead of herself – but it was something she could hardly help. All she knew was, that she wanted the strong, handsome young man beside her...
"Your home anywhere around here?" Cloud asked aloud, giving her a friendly nod as a gentle press onto events. The way he saw it – she was a nice and friendly girl, he'd see her home and go back to Sector Seven to let AVALANCHE know that he was alive. As much as he liked Aeris' company, he really did have more important things to do whilst in Midgar than make friends.
Aeris seemed a little disappointed once more but was quick to mask it, pointing down a particular road which led down to a slum town which like most others in Lower Midgar was dark and dingy up until the border where the air at least didn't smell like a neglected bathroom twenty - four / seven.
"In there?" Cloud checked rather foolishly as though he had somehow misunderstood the direction of which Aeris was pointing.
"Uh huh!" Aeris nodded meekly, her bottle green eyes shining up at him innocently. "Come on, I'll show you around..."
And without further ado, Aeris had his hand in hers and they where walking down path lined with trash and haunted with dark clouds of steam arising from waste and unbeknownst to Aeris who was at least used to putting up with it as she walked to and from the church – churned Cloud's stomach horribly beneath his carefree expression.
He really should have gotten used to this by now, the rancid smell that plagued Lower Midgar like a foul disease as it scratched at his nostrils as he walked along, looking around the town as he came to enter.
It seemed busier than he had noticed Sector Seven to be, with more people to see as they walked around, going about their everyday lives.
A lone man stood near the mouth of a pipe of which a homely glow came from within. Cloud shuddered as the pained moans and whines of a person echoed quietly, yet all the same clearly audible, whilst the lone man, whom Cloud assumed to be the person's guardian, looked in on the person inside with a face of concern.
The other locals included a pair of Children, playing by a battered old caravan with what Cloud assumed to be an anorexic dog, the creatures ribs lining its flesh uncomfortably as it tried to forget its obvious starvation by playing with the local kids.
Other people took to wandering idly throughout the streets, in and out of shops and houses, constructed of what looked to be old crates and scrap pieces of wood and metal – Cloud had to admire the people of Lower Midgar for that – they where forced to use whatever they could to survive and they wasted not a thing, not a scrap nor single idea in doing so.
Whilst his personal exploration of the town continued with his eyes from where he stood, Aeris had approached the 'Guardian' of the pipe and opened up a quiet conversation, which Cloud only became involved in when Aeris had grabbed his hand and pulled him over none too gently.
"So how is he today anyway?" she asked as Cloud was jerked over and into the circle of three and into the conversation of the man. The man in question exhaled a deep sigh and shake of his head as he indicated towards the innards of the pipe.
"We got him to eat some soup t'day, but he still ain't saying much..." he explained, and Cloud blinked in contemplation of the situation that the two referred to, looking towards Aeris whose face lit up upon the man's sentence.
"You finally got him to eat? Aw that's great, I thought he'd starve!" she sighed as though a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, where the man's face still remained a little grim.
"Yeah, well that's about it, I think there ain't nobody home f'ya know what I mean?" he said, tapping his own skull with two fingers, indicating that the person of whom the conversation was about had been reduced to a living vegetable. "Don't think there's much we can do for him, 'cept feed him and give a roof over his head. Whose this, by the way?" he redirected over to Cloud, studying him up and down and not even asking Cloud directly to himself or even offering a handshake as though Cloud where an invalid of some sort, unable to answer for himself.
"This would be Cloud Strife," Cloud returned coldly and to his verbal opponents face, narrowing his Mako – Mutated eyes to slits as he stood straight and tall.
The man seemed taken aback, backing off a little with startled eyes in the manner of which Cloud had addressed him and obviously wasn't in the mood or fighting a man who had a sword that was almost the same size and width of the beholder.
"Cloud!" Aeris scolded, rushing between them and making distance with her arm span, blinking her wide green eyes at him, pleading with them not to start any trouble. Cloud paused, transfixed by the pools of green that gazed at him, huge and innocent pieces of sparkling bottle green...
Cloud sighed and lowered his stance, and both Aeris and her friend behind her relaxed, and no more was mentioned on the matter, as Aeris took his hand and led him inside the pipe without another word.
The pipe was warm, yet smelled strongly of sweat and human waste. Cloud held his breath as his eyes watered as he walked through the murky rounded walls, led by Aeris.
There was what appeared to be a bedroom within the pipe, complete with a bed and table, and an inhabitant.
There was a man. His current state told Cloud that he was not as old as he looked. He looked around fifty, yet perhaps having been cleaned up a little he would look closer to around thirty.
His eyes where pale and bloodshot, where his papery skin was greasy and baggy, lank, dark hair hanging around his face as his breath rasped. Cloud could see his emaciated and skeletal frame even through his soiled black robes. The man shivered and looked around timidly, eyes fixing on Cloud, staring fixedly upon him.
Cloud was shocked. The man was clearly ill, terribly malnourished and in desperate need of expert medical attention, and he saw Aeris walk over, sit down by the man's side, and took his hand, obviously she had taken a huge part in his care.
"Hi there!" Aeris smiled kindly upon the ill – stricken man, and he clung back to her as a frightened child would cling to his Mother, eyes still fixed upon Cloud. "This is my friend, Cloud!" she waved a single hand over to the larger and more dominating young man who looked on nervously, unsure of what to do in such a situation.
The man omitted a very hollow and high pitched whine, lifting a quivering hand to Cloud very slowly, pointing a black fingernail in his direction.
"...Oooaaah???"
"We found this man around two weeks ago," Aeris explained, looking up to Cloud, and tenderly rubbing the man's hand in comfort. "He was in a pretty awful state as you can imagine, and I was wondering if you knew of anyway to help him? All we've managed to do is get him to recognize us – the townsfolk who help him, and as you've heard today, we've only just got him eating...Do you have anything that would help?"
"Uhh..." Cloud voiced uncomfortably, reaching a hand up and scratching his head whilst his mind contemplated an answer of which he could give. He pitied this poor man, obviously suffering tremendously unbelievable mental trauma to have reduced him to such a wreck. "Um... Have you tried using a potion?" Cloud asked.
Even in his head the words had sounded stupid.
"Yes..." Aeris lifted an eyebrow up at him, and Cloud swallowed upon her gaze, knowing that his suggestion had been so very idiotic.
"Ah... then no..." Cloud apologized, lowering his hand and his shoulders sank a little, hearing Aeris sigh, crestfallen and the man shrieking out softly, looking away from Cloud and into his surroundings as though he had suddenly been taken to a completely fresh and new location.
"Darn it..." Aeris complained to herself, lowering her eyes as though he had been her last and final hope.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not a Doctor – the only medical knowledge I have is Mouth – to – Mouth, and by the look of it – he's breathing just fine!" he pointed out in subtle humor as Aeris got to her feet, and gently released herself. The man's head whipped around to face her and moaned in protest to her leaving.
"I'm sorry, but I'll drop by and visit later, okay – I have to go now!" she explained guiltily as he clung to her hand desperately. But she pulled away and indicated with a nod of the head to Cloud that they where leaving.
Cloud nodded in reply as Aeris overtook him, the man reaching out for her still as Cloud turned his back also and began to leave.
"...Sephi... roth..."
Cloud's body cracked like a whip as he spun around to face him, his own face having paled and his muscles rigid upon hearing the rasped words from the sick man behind him.
"Wh – what did you say??" Cloud demanded harshly. The man squealed in fright and cowered away from him, gathering up the sheets and pulling them around his frame, the arm of his robes sliding to reveal a very clear tattoo.
The Roman Numerals: 'II'
Cloud sank back, a cold sweat drenching his brow.
'Did he just say what I think he said??' Cloud thought to himself as he backed away and turned to walk away, keeping an eye on the man as he took to the exit. 'No – he couldn't have, I'm just being paranoid...' he voiced in his head as he came into the outdoor air to meet Aeris and the 'guardian' who was now sitting down on the ground, slouched by the pipe's mouth.
"What is it – what's up?" Aeris asked, seeing the sweaty pale sheen of Cloud's brow as he emerged, running up to him and examining his face. "Are you okay?"
"Fine –"Cloud gave a rapidly shot back reply as though to tell her to drop the matter immediately, and Aeris caught the hint, yet continued to eye him with concern as she turned to walk.
"Okay, c'mon – this way." She instructed, coming into a light jog and running around and dodging the buildings and the people and replying with "Hi" 's in return to the "Hi Aeris!" 's that came at her from most of whom she came to pass, showing to Cloud – who was trying to take his mind off of the ill man of the pipe – that Aeris was indeed a rather popular girl or so it seemed.
She paused at the top of a rather earthy slop and turned to wait for Cloud. A brighter shine of light caught her and gave a sharper line of clearer definition to her features.
As he drew near, she proceeded to wave over the view that was spread out before her and Cloud blinked in astonishment at what he saw.
The building of what he assumed to be Aeris' home was a cottage – a real one, very unlike the lodgings of the slum behind him, at the direct edge of the Sector, giving a real burst of authentic sunshine upon her home and very rich garden of flowers, with a view out of the Midgar Barrier of the outside world beyond.
"...Nice!" Cloud nodded, thoroughly impressed at what he saw, obviously one of the highest qualities of homing one could ask for in Lower Midgar.
"My Mom worked really hard to get this place, she actually had to buy fertile soil for the flowers because the reactors suck up all the goodness and fertility out of the ground," Aeris explained, before taking his hand once more and running down the slop and into the grassy and luscious beauty that was her home, both of them running down together and Cloud's eyes where everywhere, exploring the light, the green and the goodness of this area of land in Midgar. It was beautiful, and not just by the standards of those in Midgar. People on the outside would struggle to keep it in such peak condition.
"Okay, we're here!" Aeris announced, stepping in front of the cottage door triumphantly, releasing Cloud's hand and turning towards him with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much Cloud – allow me to express my thanks for having you in for dinner!"
Cloud opened his mouth to courteously refuse and make his way to Sector Seven, but Aeris was suddenly speaking again, cutting out his words and trampling upon his refusal.
"You're coming in like or not, it's getting late anyway!" she grinned, swinging the door open wide and snatching Cloud once more to pull him into her house before he could protest or escape
She snatched him violently into the warmly furnished coziness and friendly atmosphere of her home all to suddenly, and the rich smell of cooking was on the stove and breathing around the room, smelling strongly of spicy chicken.
"Mom?" Aeris called loudly, keeping a firm grip on Cloud as she stood in the main room, her eyes on the stairs. "Mom – we've got a guest here tonight!"
Cloud blushed, embarrassed to be a burden on this girl's Mother and to be made a big deal out of, but it was too late to run now as the short middle – aged lady came walking downstairs with her rosy cheeks and charming smile with a soft head of brown hair, issuing a greeting when she saw Cloud.
"Why hello there young man!" she smiled, walking down the stairs and reaching the floor and approaching the duo and offering Cloud her hand to deliver a firm handshake. "And what might your name be? I'm Elmyra Gainsborough – pleased to meet you!"
"Pleased to... meet you too?" Cloud answered politely but nervously as he returned the handshake and fixing to introduce himself like Elmyra before him had done as they parted hands, only to be stopped in his tracks by Elmyra's daughter.
"This is Cloud, my bodyguard!" she announced proudly.
Elmyra's smile slackened.
"Bodyguard? You don't mean...?" she trailed off, looking to Aeris in concern as Aeris gave a still laugh and nod of the head.
"Yup – they came after me again!"
"Oh Good Lord!" Elmyra exclaimed, rushing over and snatching Aeris' hands firmly and scanning over her with eyes, looking for a single hint of an injury over her body and coming to find none. "They didn't hurt you did they?? They didn't..."
"Mom – relax!" Aeris smiled, removing herself from her Mother's hold, and looking away, slightly embarrassed. "Cloud took care of them, they never stood a chance – right Cloud?"
"Uh..." Cloud's face was red again, not enjoying the awkwardness of the situation, but Elmyra was on him now, taking his hands and smiling up to him with utmost gratitude.
"Thank you so much Cloud for delivering Aeris, thank you so much!"
"Don't mention it, it was no trouble at all!" he admitted sheepishly, which was a surprise in itself. Cloud was never usually modest, nor did he embarrass easily. So why was his face reddening like a traffic light??
"If there is anything I could do to repay you, just name it!" Elmyra promised, obviously very grateful for the safe return of Aeris, and with this promise Cloud saw his opportunity.
"Actually, directions would be very helpful..." he tested politely, and Elmyra gave a slow nod before him, awaiting the location Cloud wished to navigate himself towards.
"I'm trying to head back to Sector Seven, I've got meet up with these people you see – Tifa and Barret, and I was wondering if you could..."
The shrill squeal of a kettle screamed and clouds of smoke omitted from the stove, and Elmyra was suddenly in a panicky flap at Dinner being destroyed in front of the guest who had rescued her daughter.
"– just a second..." she paused, rushing off to the crisis of the kitchen area, and Cloud helplessly watched after he as she fled to the puffs of black and jets of steam that clouded the area, and he felt the sudden hard grip of Aeris' hand on his shoulder.
He turned to face her. Her expression was furrowed and demanding.
"Who are 'Tifa and Barret'?" she asked, peering into Cloud's face, speaking accusingly as though he had deliberately held this information from her in attempt to annoy her, and it stirred up a tiny spark of annoyance in Cloud's heart.
"Just... friend's of mine," he replied, hesitantly only for the reason that he was unsure if Barret's place was in that category at all.
Aeris lifted an eyebrow as though unconvinced that he was telling the truth.
"Girl friends??" she pressed on. Cloud reeled, not liking where this conversation was going at all.
"Firstly – Barret's a guy, and an ugly one at that!" he defended himself from the accusation feebly, but it was the first thing that came to mind. But Aeris wasn't finished yet.
"And what about Tifa?"
Cloud stared with a growing air of disbelief that she was asking these questions, his brow knotted over his eyes, and Aeris quickly came to realize what she was doing and recoiled instantly.
"I – I'm sorry, it's none of my business, really – I..."
"It's okay..." Cloud dismissed shaking his own head. "Tifa isn't my..."
"I'll take you back to Sector Seven tomorrow." Aeris offered in interruption as though to make up for her questioning on girlfriends, and Cloud was quick to refuse to accept her offer.
"No – It's too dangerous." He said firmly and with an air of authority to his voice. "And anyway – you're just a girl and..."
"Uh – excuse me, could we go back a bit there? The 'you're just a girl' bit?" Aeris demanded, anger and hurt flashing across her face and fire sparking off in her eyes. "What do you mean by that? Just because I'm female I'm automatically helpless in every situation??"
Cloud could have bitten his own tongue out at that moment, realizing what he said and cursing himself for it, lifting his hands up as Aeris approached him.
"No – no, that's not what I meant, y'see..."
"Than what exactly did you mean?" Aeris asked again, her voice soft and dangerous, showing a side to her that Cloud hadn't counted on existing.
"It's just that..." Cloud racked his mind for a suitable ending to this sentence, lest Aeris continue to rip his head off. "Men are naturally built stronger than a woman, so..."
"Oh! Is that so?? If that isn't the most sexist thing I've ever heard in my life Cloud Strife!!" Aeris shot back, her cheeks burning with anger, before calling to her Mother who had just rescued the evening meal from burning to a crisp. "Mom – I'm taking Cloud back to Sector Seven in the morning, okay?" she called defiantly.
"You're what?" simultaneous entwining voices of Cloud and Elmyra spoke in unison as they stared at Aeris, Elmyra holding a hot tray in Oven Gloves in her hand.
"You heard me." Aeris continued, eyes locked, hard and flinty upon Cloud, arms folded over her chest and with her nose turned up a little towards Cloud. "I'm going and there isn't a thing to be said or done to stop me!"
Cloud and Elmyra hesitated exchanging glances as though silently asking each other for any way to get Aeris to stop letting herself into danger and to let Cloud go along with his business. The moments counted long, and finally, Elmyra sighed as she set the tray down upon the table.
"Promise me you'll be careful, won't you?" She pleaded, looking up to her with sad eyes as she removed her gloves and approached to hug her child. Aeris softened as Elmyra's warm eyes took to wrapping around as she hugged back.
"You know I always am silly!" she laughed gently, and Cloud lowered his head a little, hating to be in the middle to disturb this mother / child togetherness that they shared, feeling the interloper that he was.
The hug broke apart eventually and Elmyra took to laying a smile upon the two of them.
"Well now – dinner will be ready very shortly, I hope you like Spiced chicken Cloud?"
"Um – yeah, I do – thank you," he replied graciously with a slight bow of gratitude to the hospitality shown to him, but Elmyra was already back to her daughter, speaking to her in request.
"Aeris, could you please go and prepare the rooms for our guest whilst I set the table?"
"Sure thing Mom!" she agreed, setting her staff to the side by propping it up against the wall, and reaching the stairs in a light jog, her light tapping footsteps fading the higher she mounted before all that could be heard where the barley audible thuds from the floor above.
"Excuse me, Mr. Cloud, sir..." Elmyra spoke suddenly turning to Cloud as Aeris vanished upstairs and out of earshot. Her voice was grim and Cloud turned to face her as she addressed him. She looked guilty and regretfully into his odd and inhuman eyes, barley able to come out with the words she had to say, but they came in time. "Mr. Cloud... am I right in guessing that you are in SOLDIER?"
"Formerly of SOLDIER Mrs. Gainsborough." Cloud corrected courteously with a slight nod of the head, unsure where she was going with this conversation.
"Right..." she voiced timidly, before inhaling a deep breath of courage, and exhaling out a gasp of nervousness. "Mr. Cloud, I'm awfully sorry to have to ask you this but... tonight after Aeris is asleep..." she hesitated for a moment before swallowing and continuing where she left off. "...After Aeris is asleep would you please leave? It's nothing personal or anything, but..."
"Aeris has had experiences with people in SOLDIER hasn't she?" Cloud guessed grimly, finally working out what she was talking about and remembering Aeris' words on SOLDIER previously, her knowledge of the mark of SOLDIER amongst other things.
Elmyra nodded apologetically.
"I'm really sorry Mr. Cloud – I just don't want Aeris to get hurt, and I am very grateful for what you did for her, I'm just so sorry this has to be the way to repay you. You must think I'm a terrible person!"
"Not at all." Cloud contradicted with a shake of his head. "I understand Mrs. Gainsborough, and it'll be of no trouble at all. And in advance, thank you for your hospitality," he bowed slightly, referring to the meal she was about to give to him and the shelter until Aeris took to her slumber.
Elmyra gave a sad smile and touched his arm.
"Thank you for understanding."
That wasn't the best thing I've ever written, and I blame it all on the crap I had to deal with listed in the Chapter intro! I'll try hard to keep up to dates with the next Chapter, and try to improve it beyond the standards of this.
Now if ya'll don't mind – it's 3.am over here and I have College in five hours, so I'm gonna get some sleep.
(I'm not writing "Until Next Time" at the end of every chapter any more. It's even begun to annoy me to the point where I want to smack my own face. I'll think of something else to write in this space but until then, I'm leaving you with this little footnote -. Seeya's!)