Chapter 6: Cetra
No buts, now lift up your shirt - Yuffie
A quicker update, this chapter could be a bit longer but then I might as well split it into two since I don't want these ones dragging on too much. There is violence and partial nudity in this chapter not like that's going to make anyone say 'oh no I'm not allowed to read that I must turn back now' but this is here just so I don't get into any trouble. Thanks to Water- Ice, Fiddlesticks and EnchantedMiko for the new reviews just keep em coming. And that's all I can think of so on with Chapter 6... _____________________
Aerith and Cloud met up at the Chocobo ranch a little later, after Aerith had a small fight with the ranch owner about the price of the chocobo's Cloud decided to step in.
"I want your best Chocobo."
The owner nearly fell on his back laughing. "You must be joking hahaha, your lady friend here offered 500 Gil that wouldn't even get you the worst of my bunch so unless you decide to cough up a lot more cash then you better forget it and shove off!"
"How much more?" He asked calmly.
"Hmm for my best 40,000 Gil. Of course with your girlfriends help you only need 39,500."
"Well I think I'm due for a major discount?" Cloud kept his blank face as he held out the small jewel from before. "Like a 100% discount."
"Holy..." The owner held his mouth. "That's a ah yes sir I'm sorry I didn't know... the best I have, of course sir!" He ran inside the stables returning seconds later with a golden chocobo.
'I love this thing.' Cloud put the jewel back in his pocket, he couldn't help letting the small grin escape onto his face. "That will do." He led it over to where Aerith was standing.
Aerith stood up and walked up to the chocobo and began to rub its chest, the bird quickly responded by 'warking' happily. "Well aren't you cute." She giggled.
Cloud scratched the back of his head feeling a bit envious of the bird. "Well, shall we get going?"
"Uh huh, and don't think I didn't notice that look." She smiled and put her arms around Clouds shoulders. "Don't worry though, you don't have to be jealous."
Cloud's face went even brighter red and he decided to pick the flower girl up and put her on top of the giant bird.
"Shouldn't I be on the back?" She questioned.
"Nope, since I don't know which were going your going to be my navigator."
"Yes sir." Aerith saluted him and took out the small map in her bag.
Cloud jumped up behind and held his arms around her body taking hold of the harness, the chocobo began to head forward as he pulled on them. "So which way?"
"The river is straight to the east, then we just follow that round until we reach the waterfall."
"All right then." Cloud grinned and taped his heels into the chocobo's side causing the bird to start sprinting. As soon as it did Aerith nearly dropped the map as she instantly grabbed onto Clouds arms for support. "You ok?"
After fidgeting around for a few moments she nodded and pushed her back into Cloud's chest feeling secure against his body. "Just fine." Smiling she hoped that trip would last a long time, this was something she could get use to.
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'Hmm, maybe this will be a good way to pass the time.'
Sephiroth stood on top of the tallest building watching Cloud ride away on the over grown bird.
'While those mindless creatures slowly take this city I should at least have something to do in the mean time.'
He walked along the roof to the other side, his eyes never leaving their target.
'The girl, I wonder who she is...' A smile crept along his lips. 'They seem quite close, maybe I can have a little fun with her.'
The dark wing stretched out and Sephiroth gracefully took to the air, his masamune stretched out behind him glistening in the sun.
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"How much further?"
"...."
"Hello? You there?"
"...huh? Oh!" Aerith snapped out of her little world, the comfort of having Cloud behind her, his arms wrapped around her body as he continued to guide the chocobo along the bank of the river was just too peaceful.
"You tired."
She pretended to yaw and nodded her head. "Yeah a bit, I must have fallen asleep."
"Well we've been going nearly an hour now, do you recognize this place?"
Aerith leaned up and straightened her back to look around the current area they were in. 'Let's see... I remember that forest over there, and the slant in the ground... we should be quite close now.' "It shouldn't be far now."
Cloud taped his heels into the chocobos side to pick up some speed, he wanted to get there while they had most of the daylight left.
After following the river a little longer Cloud could just make out the waterfall, he was surprised that such a thing could impress him. The waterfall was only part of the scene, at the base was a pool where the water gathered, this was surrounded by a small wood of tropical trees bearing fresh fruit he had never even seen before.
"Impressed?" Aerith sat up.
"I've never seen a place like this before."
"It's a sacred place, not many know about it since few ever leave the city. The few that do rarely follow the river since beyond here is just endless grass planes till you reach the sea."
After the golden chocobo made it's round the waterfall and stopped at the side of the small pool the two dismounted.
"So how did you find this place?" Cloud asked curious.
Aerith hopped off on the chocobo and walked over to the pool. "Like I said, this place is sacred." She turned round and pointed behind Cloud.
Cloud spun round and followed Aerith's directions, a little way into the tree he could make out some small structures. By the looks of them they hadn't been used in centuries, most were falling apart.
"This area use to be a small Cetra settlement."
"The Cetra..."
"Cetra, they were once a very powerful race with the power to become one with the planet. But from what I have learned a long long time ago a terrible disaster struck the planet nearly wiping them out completely." Aerith's face seemed to sadden. "Now there are only a few left."
Cloud stood silently as he watched Aerith stare into the water. He wasn't so slow as to realize that Aerith was most likely a Cetra herself, that would explain her sadness towards the story. Unknown to Aerith, Cloud knew as much as she did about the Cetra.
He crossed his arms remembering his Soldier training. 'They we're considered as an 'evolved' version of humans. That would explain her skills in fighting, a Soldier is injected with Mako to increase their physical and mental abilities, this is believed to have been the source of the Cetra's power only they were born with a high amount of Mako already in their body, an amount that is deadly to normal humans.' Cloud looked up towards her. "Your parents, they were Cetra?"
Aerith laid down aside the pool, her arm draped over the side as she ran her fingers over the surface of the water. "Yeah, you figured it out huh?"
Cloud nodded slowly. "The Cetra, I heard many stories about them while I was in Midgar. Many think it's just a load of lies, a trick so nobody will question Mako treatment."
She smiled slightly. "I guessed you had been injected with Mako, the glow in your eyes shows it. Artificial Cetra though, they are far from what a pure Cetra is."
"I can guess."
The flower girl turned round to face him, a slightly puzzled look on here face. "What do you mean?"
Cloud smiled sitting down next to the pool, he let his legs drop over the side dangling just above the water. "Well my experience with you for one thing."
"Oh...?" Aerith watch as Cloud sat down.
"In these few days since I met you, you have taught me a lot."
"You mean how to dance and all that stuff?" She giggled shaking her head. "I wouldn't call that special."
Cloud stared down into the water watching his reflection stare back. "No, I mean the other things... like when you wanted to take me to the festival and when you showed me your... gift earlier today. You taught me something that I forgot a long time ago."
Aerith brought her knees up to her chest as she watched the view in front of her. "I'm not sure I understand."
Cloud sighed still watching the water, the words were difficult to bring to mind. "From the moment you met me you have put your trust into me, you opened up yourself so easily. It's something I could never have done."
"From the moment I met you, you have given me no reason not to trust you. All the time we have been together you have tried to protect and help me, you may not have realized it Cloud Strife but, you opened yourself up to me more than you think."
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"Cetra..."
Sephiroth stood on top of the waterfall high above as he watched the two talking to each other.
"So that's what makes you so special, you are a Cetra too."
He kneeled down and squinted his eyes trying to make out what Cloud was saying, the ability to read lips was a basic part of becoming a Soldier and of course Sephiroth passed everything with the highest grade.
"That's too bad, I didn't want to have to kill one of my own but..." His grin widened. "What has to be done, has to be done."
'Now, what's the best way to do this... " He paced around at the top pondering what to do. 'I want Cloud to suffer so, he's going to have to watch...'
Sephiroth stopped as he heard the two laughing, he sat down on the edge of rock and continued to watch them. 'I'm sure something will come to mind.'
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"So do you know how to swim?"
"Hm? Me? Sure its part of.."
"...Soldier training, I guessed." She smiled.
"Do you?"
"Not really, I've always wanted to but I've never had the chance."
"Never?"
Aerith shook her head laughing to herself. "It's just one of those things you never do." She rolled over next to Cloud putting one arm around his chest. "Think you could teach me?"
Cloud sat up putting his arm around her back. "...Sure I guess it should be easy enough."
"Great!" Aerith jumped to her feet and walked up to the edge of the pool. "Ready?"
"Huh? Now?" Cloud stood up and stared at her. "You want to swim now?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Well we don't have swim suits for one thing."
She turned away from the pool and tilted her head staring at him. "Well what did you do in Soldier? I bet you didn't have swim suits then."
Cloud shrugged. "Underwear."
"Well there you go! If its good enough for Soldier then its good enough for us." Aerith kneeled down and began to untie her boots.
"But what about.." 'Cloud are you an idiot? Just shut up and nod you head.' Cloud obeyed the voice in his head and stared as if he was in a trance.
Aerith kicked off the boots and then reached for her belt, after undoing the knot she looked up at Cloud and smiled at his expression. "Cloud?"
"Uh... yeah?" He woke up out of his stare.
She made a twirling motion with her finger while holding her dress closed with her other hand.
"Ah! Sorry." Cloud quickly spun round feeling a rush of blood to his cheeks, after a few moments he heard the water splash.
"Ok, I'm in." Aerith held on to the bank with both hands, the small pile of clothes just next to her. "Your up Solider."
Cloud smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Right, my turn..." He hesitated before sitting down and pulling off his boots.
Aerith turned round and looked towards the waterfall which was at the other side of the pool thinking if it was the first time Cloud had ever done something like this with any other girl. 'Well Zack did say something about a girl call Tifa, but then again he said they were only friends.' After a few moments Cloud was still behind her and she was wondering what was taking so long. "You ok Cloud? Or do you need any help?" She giggled.
"Ah no, no I'm fine." Cloud said hastily in a panic.
After a little longer she heard a splash a little to her left. "Woah this waters cold!"
"Mmm it really refreshing." Aerith made her way over to Cloud by shimmying along the bank. "So what's first?"
Cloud stared blankly at the semi-naked flower girl in front of him. "First we ah need to emm... to to..."
"Cloud." Aerith clicked her fingers in front of his face. "Am I going to have to blind fold you?"
"No, no, first we well, first lets see how far you can swim." Cloud swam to roughly into the middle of the pool and then turned round to face Aerith.
"What do I have to do?" She said still clinging tightly to the side of the pool.
"Just try to swim to me."
Aerith looked up and down the length of water between her and Cloud. "I can't do that, its too far."
"It's ok, just kick off the bank and keep kicking the water until you reach me." He held out his arms shortening the distance.
"But, but what if I don't reach you? Or if I go under?"
"Then I will come and get you in a flash."
"You promise?"
"I promise, you will be perfectly safe."
Aerith lifted her feet up to the wall of the bank. "Ok then, get ready." She pushed off and madly kicked her feet splashing the water everywhere.
Cloud couldn't help laughing to himself as he saw Aerith causing more waves than the waterfall, he swam forwards a little more since she seemed to be struggling. After a few more moments and a lot more splashing Aerith finally felt Cloud's arms around her.
"I-I, I made it," She said gasping for breath.
"See it's not so hard."
The flower girl put her arms around Cloud and rested her head on his shoulders still catching the rest of her breath, the feeling of nothing under her feet was a little unnerving. "Just don't let go though."
Cloud smiled holding on to Aerith's waist. "I won't."
For sometime the two just stayed there, Cloud tried to take no notice of the fact he was holding a semi-naked angel and instead just concentrated on keeping her above the water level.
Aerith started to enjoy the moment as she felt weightless, her soaked through hair danced freely in the water. She felt Cloud's arms around her back holding her tightly, she couldn't help but feel totally safe in his care. 'I wonder what he's thinking right now... He's always so quiet.'
'Come on just do it, you know she has feelings for you so just kiss her.' Cloud brought his hand up to Aerith's head and stroked her hair softly. 'Wimp.' He ignored the voice in his mind and brought up his other hand and pushed Aerith's chin up gently with the side of his finger.
Aerith looked straight into his eyes realizing what he wanted. 'Same thing as you.' She smiled slightly and leaned closer towards his lips.
"Is that all you think about?" A voice from above startled the two and they quickly parted. "It's disgusting."
"What?" Cloud looked around for the source of the voice until his eyes settled upon the dark shadow a little behind him.
"And you," Sephiroth crossed his arms in disgust. "You call yourself a Soldier, I bet you never saw me coming."
"Who are you?" Aerith stared at the stranger.
"Me?" The dark man descended down until his feet touched the water. "My name is Sephiroth... a Cetra like you."
"A Cetra? Like me."
"He's not like you!" Cloud snapped. "He's just a experiment that was screwed up by a man named Hojo, a complete failure."
For the first time Aerith felt the darkness in Cloud's body, his hate for this Sephiroth becoming very clear.
"I would be careful with your words," Sephiroth grinned pointing to Aerith. "You might anger me and make me do something 'you' will regret."
"Like hell I would let you touch her."
Laughing at Cloud's attempt to protect the girl Sephiroth drew his sword. "And what are you going to do? Splash me with water?"
Cloud looked over to where they left the chocobo, his sword was still sheathed on the side of it. 'Wonderful.'
Sephiroth moved in closer and Aerith felt her fear growing. "Stay back!" She held out one arm while keeping a firm hold on Cloud with the other.
"Quiet girl, I'm not interested in you yet." He carried on moving towards them.
"Fine, I warned you." The palm of her hand began to glow red, a large ball of fire grew in the center and shot towards Sephiroth hitting him in the chest.
Cloud took advantage of this time while his enemy was stunned and grabbed hold of Aerith arm before swimming as fast as possible towards the bank.
"Stupid girl!" Sephiroth screamed as he cast away the fireball. He retaliated with his own water attack which caused a huge wave to throw the two into the side of the bank, slamming them into the side.
"Here get out of the water!" Cloud grabbed Aerith's hand and tried to lift her onto the grass.
Sephiroth laughed and descended on to the bank next to the struggling two, he reached down and grabbed Aerith by the neck lifting her out of the water with ease. Cloud grabbed hold of Sephiroth leg and began to hit it as hard as he possibly could hoping he would release her.
"Now what shall we do with this delicate flower."
"Let go of her!" Cloud tried to lift himself out of the water only to be kicked back in.
"Stop making a fool of your self Cloud."
Aerith held on to Sephiroth's arm hoping to free herself but the mans power was unbelievable. 'How can someone be this strong?' She lifted her legs up and kicked out into Sephiroth's stomach hearing a cry in pain as reward.
"Urgh!" The former Soldier knelt down in pain and he shot a vengeful stare at Aerith. "Huh maybe this flower needs a little more time in the water." He grinned and threw Aerith back out into the middle of the pool.
"Aerith!" Cloud tried to push himself off the bank to go after her only to find himself been lifted out of the water by Sephiroth's hand. "Let go of me you freak!"
"No I don't think so." The mad man drew his sword and pressed the blade up against Cloud's chest, the pure sharp blade ran over his skin slicing it open with ease, he continued to slash at his chest untill Cloud grabbed hold of the sword as tried to hold on to it but Sephiroth pulled it away causing the blade to slice along Cloud's palm opening up a deep wound.
"%$£^ Get the hell off me!" Cloud punched Sephiroth in the face with his wounded hand, the pain struck both of them and Sephiroth dropped his prey as he reached up to his face to cradle his now broken nose.
Aerith splashed her arms in the water as she struggled to keep above the surface, slowly she began to tiyer and had to take in gulps of air before falling below the water level.
Cloud hit the water and instantly began to swim back to the middle, his heart sped up as he pushed himself harder to reach the point she had landed. He dived under the water and saw Aerith's figure struggling to reach the surface, within seconds he managed to reach her and pull her back up to the air.
Aerith coughed bringing up the water she swallowed. "C-careful he, he could.." She held on to Cloud desperately afraid to go back under the water.
Cloud lifted Aerith further up and tried to swim back towards the bank, he looked round trying to see where Sephiroth would attack from next. 'Where the hell are you?' They managed to reach the edge of the pool with out been attacked, Cloud spun round looking along the pool and above for Sephiroth.
"He's gone?"
For a little while there was silence, the only sounds been made was from Aerith's heavy breathing and the waterfall. Cloud held his breath still waiting for the finishing blow to come. After minutes past he finally stopped. 'He was toying with me... It would have been too easy to finish me here and now... This was all just a game, to let me know he's here.'
"Cloud.." Aerith coughed. "What are we going to do?"
He lifted her out of the water followed by himself. "We have to get back, are you ok?"
She nodded and put her arms around him. "I'm fine, but I your chest.. and your hand we need to..."
Cloud smiled slightly and hugged her back. "...later, let's just hurry and get back."
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"What happened to you guys?" Yuffie ran up to the golden chocobo as it approached Cid's house, the two riders looked totaly drained.
"We ran in to trouble." Cloud stopped the bird.
"I'll say, you need any help?" Squall reached up and helped Aerith off.
"I'm ok," She turned back to Cloud. "But Cloud have a some wounds that need healing."
"It's ok I'll take care of them later."
Cloud jumped off the chocobo at the same time Cid walked outside. "The hell happened?"
"Who did this to you?" Yuffie led Aerith back into the house, she had a dazed look on her face.
"Sephiroth, he must have followed us." The flower girl sat down brushing her messed up hair out of her face.
"Sephiroth?" Yuffie sat on the table next to her. "Wow so its true about him..."
Outside Cloud gave the chocobo to Cid who led it back to the ranch. Cloud explained what happened to Squall, in this area it seemed that SeeD did most of the work and Squall decided to go and report this to his commander just in case Sephiroth decided to come back.
Cloud rubbed his face feeling tired, on his hand was a tied rag he used to keep the wound closed. After a few minutes he felt better and decided to head inside to say goodbye and check Aerith was ok.
"Wow really?" Yuffie and Aerith giggled, Aerith was trying to comb her hair free of knots and Yuffie sat on the edge of her chair listening to her. "You mean actually saw him without his.. oh hi Cloud!"
They stopped and glanced at Cloud as he walked in, an innocent smiled was spread across both of their faces. He walked up to them a bit curious about what they were talking about.
"I just came in to say goodbye, I should really be heading back to the barracks now."
"Oh no no no no," Aerith jumped up and push Cloud back in to the chair she was just sitting in. "After we clean up those cuts we'll see about where your going to stay."
"But..."
"Ah!" Yuffie put her finger in front of his lips. "No buts, now lift up your shirt, I need to see those cuts." She smiled at the last part.
Cloud raised his eyebrow and looked at her and then over to Aerith who while she was undoing the rag on his hand she had a mischievous smile on her lips.
"Come on I don't have all day!" Yuffie stomped and crossed her arms.
He sighed and obeyed the ninjas orders. 'Why do I feel like I'm always missing something?"
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A quicker update, this chapter could be a bit longer but then I might as well split it into two since I don't want these ones dragging on too much. There is violence and partial nudity in this chapter not like that's going to make anyone say 'oh no I'm not allowed to read that I must turn back now' but this is here just so I don't get into any trouble. Thanks to Water- Ice, Fiddlesticks and EnchantedMiko for the new reviews just keep em coming. And that's all I can think of so on with Chapter 6... _____________________
Aerith and Cloud met up at the Chocobo ranch a little later, after Aerith had a small fight with the ranch owner about the price of the chocobo's Cloud decided to step in.
"I want your best Chocobo."
The owner nearly fell on his back laughing. "You must be joking hahaha, your lady friend here offered 500 Gil that wouldn't even get you the worst of my bunch so unless you decide to cough up a lot more cash then you better forget it and shove off!"
"How much more?" He asked calmly.
"Hmm for my best 40,000 Gil. Of course with your girlfriends help you only need 39,500."
"Well I think I'm due for a major discount?" Cloud kept his blank face as he held out the small jewel from before. "Like a 100% discount."
"Holy..." The owner held his mouth. "That's a ah yes sir I'm sorry I didn't know... the best I have, of course sir!" He ran inside the stables returning seconds later with a golden chocobo.
'I love this thing.' Cloud put the jewel back in his pocket, he couldn't help letting the small grin escape onto his face. "That will do." He led it over to where Aerith was standing.
Aerith stood up and walked up to the chocobo and began to rub its chest, the bird quickly responded by 'warking' happily. "Well aren't you cute." She giggled.
Cloud scratched the back of his head feeling a bit envious of the bird. "Well, shall we get going?"
"Uh huh, and don't think I didn't notice that look." She smiled and put her arms around Clouds shoulders. "Don't worry though, you don't have to be jealous."
Cloud's face went even brighter red and he decided to pick the flower girl up and put her on top of the giant bird.
"Shouldn't I be on the back?" She questioned.
"Nope, since I don't know which were going your going to be my navigator."
"Yes sir." Aerith saluted him and took out the small map in her bag.
Cloud jumped up behind and held his arms around her body taking hold of the harness, the chocobo began to head forward as he pulled on them. "So which way?"
"The river is straight to the east, then we just follow that round until we reach the waterfall."
"All right then." Cloud grinned and taped his heels into the chocobo's side causing the bird to start sprinting. As soon as it did Aerith nearly dropped the map as she instantly grabbed onto Clouds arms for support. "You ok?"
After fidgeting around for a few moments she nodded and pushed her back into Cloud's chest feeling secure against his body. "Just fine." Smiling she hoped that trip would last a long time, this was something she could get use to.
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'Hmm, maybe this will be a good way to pass the time.'
Sephiroth stood on top of the tallest building watching Cloud ride away on the over grown bird.
'While those mindless creatures slowly take this city I should at least have something to do in the mean time.'
He walked along the roof to the other side, his eyes never leaving their target.
'The girl, I wonder who she is...' A smile crept along his lips. 'They seem quite close, maybe I can have a little fun with her.'
The dark wing stretched out and Sephiroth gracefully took to the air, his masamune stretched out behind him glistening in the sun.
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"How much further?"
"...."
"Hello? You there?"
"...huh? Oh!" Aerith snapped out of her little world, the comfort of having Cloud behind her, his arms wrapped around her body as he continued to guide the chocobo along the bank of the river was just too peaceful.
"You tired."
She pretended to yaw and nodded her head. "Yeah a bit, I must have fallen asleep."
"Well we've been going nearly an hour now, do you recognize this place?"
Aerith leaned up and straightened her back to look around the current area they were in. 'Let's see... I remember that forest over there, and the slant in the ground... we should be quite close now.' "It shouldn't be far now."
Cloud taped his heels into the chocobos side to pick up some speed, he wanted to get there while they had most of the daylight left.
After following the river a little longer Cloud could just make out the waterfall, he was surprised that such a thing could impress him. The waterfall was only part of the scene, at the base was a pool where the water gathered, this was surrounded by a small wood of tropical trees bearing fresh fruit he had never even seen before.
"Impressed?" Aerith sat up.
"I've never seen a place like this before."
"It's a sacred place, not many know about it since few ever leave the city. The few that do rarely follow the river since beyond here is just endless grass planes till you reach the sea."
After the golden chocobo made it's round the waterfall and stopped at the side of the small pool the two dismounted.
"So how did you find this place?" Cloud asked curious.
Aerith hopped off on the chocobo and walked over to the pool. "Like I said, this place is sacred." She turned round and pointed behind Cloud.
Cloud spun round and followed Aerith's directions, a little way into the tree he could make out some small structures. By the looks of them they hadn't been used in centuries, most were falling apart.
"This area use to be a small Cetra settlement."
"The Cetra..."
"Cetra, they were once a very powerful race with the power to become one with the planet. But from what I have learned a long long time ago a terrible disaster struck the planet nearly wiping them out completely." Aerith's face seemed to sadden. "Now there are only a few left."
Cloud stood silently as he watched Aerith stare into the water. He wasn't so slow as to realize that Aerith was most likely a Cetra herself, that would explain her sadness towards the story. Unknown to Aerith, Cloud knew as much as she did about the Cetra.
He crossed his arms remembering his Soldier training. 'They we're considered as an 'evolved' version of humans. That would explain her skills in fighting, a Soldier is injected with Mako to increase their physical and mental abilities, this is believed to have been the source of the Cetra's power only they were born with a high amount of Mako already in their body, an amount that is deadly to normal humans.' Cloud looked up towards her. "Your parents, they were Cetra?"
Aerith laid down aside the pool, her arm draped over the side as she ran her fingers over the surface of the water. "Yeah, you figured it out huh?"
Cloud nodded slowly. "The Cetra, I heard many stories about them while I was in Midgar. Many think it's just a load of lies, a trick so nobody will question Mako treatment."
She smiled slightly. "I guessed you had been injected with Mako, the glow in your eyes shows it. Artificial Cetra though, they are far from what a pure Cetra is."
"I can guess."
The flower girl turned round to face him, a slightly puzzled look on here face. "What do you mean?"
Cloud smiled sitting down next to the pool, he let his legs drop over the side dangling just above the water. "Well my experience with you for one thing."
"Oh...?" Aerith watch as Cloud sat down.
"In these few days since I met you, you have taught me a lot."
"You mean how to dance and all that stuff?" She giggled shaking her head. "I wouldn't call that special."
Cloud stared down into the water watching his reflection stare back. "No, I mean the other things... like when you wanted to take me to the festival and when you showed me your... gift earlier today. You taught me something that I forgot a long time ago."
Aerith brought her knees up to her chest as she watched the view in front of her. "I'm not sure I understand."
Cloud sighed still watching the water, the words were difficult to bring to mind. "From the moment you met me you have put your trust into me, you opened up yourself so easily. It's something I could never have done."
"From the moment I met you, you have given me no reason not to trust you. All the time we have been together you have tried to protect and help me, you may not have realized it Cloud Strife but, you opened yourself up to me more than you think."
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"Cetra..."
Sephiroth stood on top of the waterfall high above as he watched the two talking to each other.
"So that's what makes you so special, you are a Cetra too."
He kneeled down and squinted his eyes trying to make out what Cloud was saying, the ability to read lips was a basic part of becoming a Soldier and of course Sephiroth passed everything with the highest grade.
"That's too bad, I didn't want to have to kill one of my own but..." His grin widened. "What has to be done, has to be done."
'Now, what's the best way to do this... " He paced around at the top pondering what to do. 'I want Cloud to suffer so, he's going to have to watch...'
Sephiroth stopped as he heard the two laughing, he sat down on the edge of rock and continued to watch them. 'I'm sure something will come to mind.'
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"So do you know how to swim?"
"Hm? Me? Sure its part of.."
"...Soldier training, I guessed." She smiled.
"Do you?"
"Not really, I've always wanted to but I've never had the chance."
"Never?"
Aerith shook her head laughing to herself. "It's just one of those things you never do." She rolled over next to Cloud putting one arm around his chest. "Think you could teach me?"
Cloud sat up putting his arm around her back. "...Sure I guess it should be easy enough."
"Great!" Aerith jumped to her feet and walked up to the edge of the pool. "Ready?"
"Huh? Now?" Cloud stood up and stared at her. "You want to swim now?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Well we don't have swim suits for one thing."
She turned away from the pool and tilted her head staring at him. "Well what did you do in Soldier? I bet you didn't have swim suits then."
Cloud shrugged. "Underwear."
"Well there you go! If its good enough for Soldier then its good enough for us." Aerith kneeled down and began to untie her boots.
"But what about.." 'Cloud are you an idiot? Just shut up and nod you head.' Cloud obeyed the voice in his head and stared as if he was in a trance.
Aerith kicked off the boots and then reached for her belt, after undoing the knot she looked up at Cloud and smiled at his expression. "Cloud?"
"Uh... yeah?" He woke up out of his stare.
She made a twirling motion with her finger while holding her dress closed with her other hand.
"Ah! Sorry." Cloud quickly spun round feeling a rush of blood to his cheeks, after a few moments he heard the water splash.
"Ok, I'm in." Aerith held on to the bank with both hands, the small pile of clothes just next to her. "Your up Solider."
Cloud smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Right, my turn..." He hesitated before sitting down and pulling off his boots.
Aerith turned round and looked towards the waterfall which was at the other side of the pool thinking if it was the first time Cloud had ever done something like this with any other girl. 'Well Zack did say something about a girl call Tifa, but then again he said they were only friends.' After a few moments Cloud was still behind her and she was wondering what was taking so long. "You ok Cloud? Or do you need any help?" She giggled.
"Ah no, no I'm fine." Cloud said hastily in a panic.
After a little longer she heard a splash a little to her left. "Woah this waters cold!"
"Mmm it really refreshing." Aerith made her way over to Cloud by shimmying along the bank. "So what's first?"
Cloud stared blankly at the semi-naked flower girl in front of him. "First we ah need to emm... to to..."
"Cloud." Aerith clicked her fingers in front of his face. "Am I going to have to blind fold you?"
"No, no, first we well, first lets see how far you can swim." Cloud swam to roughly into the middle of the pool and then turned round to face Aerith.
"What do I have to do?" She said still clinging tightly to the side of the pool.
"Just try to swim to me."
Aerith looked up and down the length of water between her and Cloud. "I can't do that, its too far."
"It's ok, just kick off the bank and keep kicking the water until you reach me." He held out his arms shortening the distance.
"But, but what if I don't reach you? Or if I go under?"
"Then I will come and get you in a flash."
"You promise?"
"I promise, you will be perfectly safe."
Aerith lifted her feet up to the wall of the bank. "Ok then, get ready." She pushed off and madly kicked her feet splashing the water everywhere.
Cloud couldn't help laughing to himself as he saw Aerith causing more waves than the waterfall, he swam forwards a little more since she seemed to be struggling. After a few more moments and a lot more splashing Aerith finally felt Cloud's arms around her.
"I-I, I made it," She said gasping for breath.
"See it's not so hard."
The flower girl put her arms around Cloud and rested her head on his shoulders still catching the rest of her breath, the feeling of nothing under her feet was a little unnerving. "Just don't let go though."
Cloud smiled holding on to Aerith's waist. "I won't."
For sometime the two just stayed there, Cloud tried to take no notice of the fact he was holding a semi-naked angel and instead just concentrated on keeping her above the water level.
Aerith started to enjoy the moment as she felt weightless, her soaked through hair danced freely in the water. She felt Cloud's arms around her back holding her tightly, she couldn't help but feel totally safe in his care. 'I wonder what he's thinking right now... He's always so quiet.'
'Come on just do it, you know she has feelings for you so just kiss her.' Cloud brought his hand up to Aerith's head and stroked her hair softly. 'Wimp.' He ignored the voice in his mind and brought up his other hand and pushed Aerith's chin up gently with the side of his finger.
Aerith looked straight into his eyes realizing what he wanted. 'Same thing as you.' She smiled slightly and leaned closer towards his lips.
"Is that all you think about?" A voice from above startled the two and they quickly parted. "It's disgusting."
"What?" Cloud looked around for the source of the voice until his eyes settled upon the dark shadow a little behind him.
"And you," Sephiroth crossed his arms in disgust. "You call yourself a Soldier, I bet you never saw me coming."
"Who are you?" Aerith stared at the stranger.
"Me?" The dark man descended down until his feet touched the water. "My name is Sephiroth... a Cetra like you."
"A Cetra? Like me."
"He's not like you!" Cloud snapped. "He's just a experiment that was screwed up by a man named Hojo, a complete failure."
For the first time Aerith felt the darkness in Cloud's body, his hate for this Sephiroth becoming very clear.
"I would be careful with your words," Sephiroth grinned pointing to Aerith. "You might anger me and make me do something 'you' will regret."
"Like hell I would let you touch her."
Laughing at Cloud's attempt to protect the girl Sephiroth drew his sword. "And what are you going to do? Splash me with water?"
Cloud looked over to where they left the chocobo, his sword was still sheathed on the side of it. 'Wonderful.'
Sephiroth moved in closer and Aerith felt her fear growing. "Stay back!" She held out one arm while keeping a firm hold on Cloud with the other.
"Quiet girl, I'm not interested in you yet." He carried on moving towards them.
"Fine, I warned you." The palm of her hand began to glow red, a large ball of fire grew in the center and shot towards Sephiroth hitting him in the chest.
Cloud took advantage of this time while his enemy was stunned and grabbed hold of Aerith arm before swimming as fast as possible towards the bank.
"Stupid girl!" Sephiroth screamed as he cast away the fireball. He retaliated with his own water attack which caused a huge wave to throw the two into the side of the bank, slamming them into the side.
"Here get out of the water!" Cloud grabbed Aerith's hand and tried to lift her onto the grass.
Sephiroth laughed and descended on to the bank next to the struggling two, he reached down and grabbed Aerith by the neck lifting her out of the water with ease. Cloud grabbed hold of Sephiroth leg and began to hit it as hard as he possibly could hoping he would release her.
"Now what shall we do with this delicate flower."
"Let go of her!" Cloud tried to lift himself out of the water only to be kicked back in.
"Stop making a fool of your self Cloud."
Aerith held on to Sephiroth's arm hoping to free herself but the mans power was unbelievable. 'How can someone be this strong?' She lifted her legs up and kicked out into Sephiroth's stomach hearing a cry in pain as reward.
"Urgh!" The former Soldier knelt down in pain and he shot a vengeful stare at Aerith. "Huh maybe this flower needs a little more time in the water." He grinned and threw Aerith back out into the middle of the pool.
"Aerith!" Cloud tried to push himself off the bank to go after her only to find himself been lifted out of the water by Sephiroth's hand. "Let go of me you freak!"
"No I don't think so." The mad man drew his sword and pressed the blade up against Cloud's chest, the pure sharp blade ran over his skin slicing it open with ease, he continued to slash at his chest untill Cloud grabbed hold of the sword as tried to hold on to it but Sephiroth pulled it away causing the blade to slice along Cloud's palm opening up a deep wound.
"%$£^ Get the hell off me!" Cloud punched Sephiroth in the face with his wounded hand, the pain struck both of them and Sephiroth dropped his prey as he reached up to his face to cradle his now broken nose.
Aerith splashed her arms in the water as she struggled to keep above the surface, slowly she began to tiyer and had to take in gulps of air before falling below the water level.
Cloud hit the water and instantly began to swim back to the middle, his heart sped up as he pushed himself harder to reach the point she had landed. He dived under the water and saw Aerith's figure struggling to reach the surface, within seconds he managed to reach her and pull her back up to the air.
Aerith coughed bringing up the water she swallowed. "C-careful he, he could.." She held on to Cloud desperately afraid to go back under the water.
Cloud lifted Aerith further up and tried to swim back towards the bank, he looked round trying to see where Sephiroth would attack from next. 'Where the hell are you?' They managed to reach the edge of the pool with out been attacked, Cloud spun round looking along the pool and above for Sephiroth.
"He's gone?"
For a little while there was silence, the only sounds been made was from Aerith's heavy breathing and the waterfall. Cloud held his breath still waiting for the finishing blow to come. After minutes past he finally stopped. 'He was toying with me... It would have been too easy to finish me here and now... This was all just a game, to let me know he's here.'
"Cloud.." Aerith coughed. "What are we going to do?"
He lifted her out of the water followed by himself. "We have to get back, are you ok?"
She nodded and put her arms around him. "I'm fine, but I your chest.. and your hand we need to..."
Cloud smiled slightly and hugged her back. "...later, let's just hurry and get back."
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"What happened to you guys?" Yuffie ran up to the golden chocobo as it approached Cid's house, the two riders looked totaly drained.
"We ran in to trouble." Cloud stopped the bird.
"I'll say, you need any help?" Squall reached up and helped Aerith off.
"I'm ok," She turned back to Cloud. "But Cloud have a some wounds that need healing."
"It's ok I'll take care of them later."
Cloud jumped off the chocobo at the same time Cid walked outside. "The hell happened?"
"Who did this to you?" Yuffie led Aerith back into the house, she had a dazed look on her face.
"Sephiroth, he must have followed us." The flower girl sat down brushing her messed up hair out of her face.
"Sephiroth?" Yuffie sat on the table next to her. "Wow so its true about him..."
Outside Cloud gave the chocobo to Cid who led it back to the ranch. Cloud explained what happened to Squall, in this area it seemed that SeeD did most of the work and Squall decided to go and report this to his commander just in case Sephiroth decided to come back.
Cloud rubbed his face feeling tired, on his hand was a tied rag he used to keep the wound closed. After a few minutes he felt better and decided to head inside to say goodbye and check Aerith was ok.
"Wow really?" Yuffie and Aerith giggled, Aerith was trying to comb her hair free of knots and Yuffie sat on the edge of her chair listening to her. "You mean actually saw him without his.. oh hi Cloud!"
They stopped and glanced at Cloud as he walked in, an innocent smiled was spread across both of their faces. He walked up to them a bit curious about what they were talking about.
"I just came in to say goodbye, I should really be heading back to the barracks now."
"Oh no no no no," Aerith jumped up and push Cloud back in to the chair she was just sitting in. "After we clean up those cuts we'll see about where your going to stay."
"But..."
"Ah!" Yuffie put her finger in front of his lips. "No buts, now lift up your shirt, I need to see those cuts." She smiled at the last part.
Cloud raised his eyebrow and looked at her and then over to Aerith who while she was undoing the rag on his hand she had a mischievous smile on her lips.
"Come on I don't have all day!" Yuffie stomped and crossed her arms.
He sighed and obeyed the ninjas orders. 'Why do I feel like I'm always missing something?"
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