Final Fantasy 7

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Ten


After their frantic escape of the Sector 5 church, Cloud and Aeris both sat panting on top of the church roof, trying to catch their breath after what they had just gone through. Aeris was gradually beginning to return to her normal colour now that she was away from the guards that were desperate to catch her, while Cloud was merely exhausted from his long climbs in attempts to save Aeris.

There was no sign of Reno or the soldiers since they escaped via the roof – and thought that maybe they had given up the chase now that they were out of their reach. Still, Cloud knew that people like that never gave up easily, and there was still a chance they could come after them again.

"Ha, ha..." Aeris said, laughing a little in relief of their escape. Cloud looked at her in bewilderment. The young woman brushed her brown hair out her face and took a deep breath of air, even if it was the stale, musty air of the slums. "They're looking for me again."

Cloud stared. "You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?"

Aeris looked down and pulled her knees up close to her chest. She then wrapped her arms around them to hold them close to her, and gently lay her chin down on her kneecaps. She looked very sombre and serious, very different from the cheerful happiness of before.

"...No."

"They're the Turks."

"Hmmm..."

"The Turks are an organisation in Shinra," Cloud explained to her. "They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."

"This violently?" Aeris asked in surprise, lifting her head up from her knees. "I thought they were kidnapping someone."

Cloud nodded. "They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side," he added. "Spying, murder... you know."

Aeris did know. She put her head back on her knees. "They look like it," she muttered gravely. She closed her eyes for a few moments and took another deep breath, still in shock.

"But, why are they after you?" asked Cloud. "There must be a reason, right?"

"No, not really," replied Aeris, opening her eyes. She shrugged. "I think they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!"

"Maybe you do," said Cloud, looking her over. "You want to join?"

Aeris shrugged again. "I don't know," she admitted. She lifted her head. "But I don't want to get caught by THOSE people!"

"Then, let's go!" Cloud said, climbing to his feet. Aeris climbed to her feet beside him, and together they began to head off across the rooftops away from the church, before Reno and his soldiers could get their acts together and come after them.

Cloud took the lead as they jumped across the rooftops – the easiest way to make some distance from the church without being seen. Officially it wasn't rooftops they were jumping over – rather piles and piles of leftover junk that had gathered and collected outside of Sector 5. Once upon a time people actually lived in that part of the slums, but over the years the land had become a waste yard, with the church at the centre of it all.

As Cloud jumped along, a few feet at a time, he kept an eye out for anyone wandering around on the ground below. As sad as it appeared, there were many people in the slums who would willingly turn people into the authorities in the hope that they would be rewarded, and they often hung around waste yards such as these in the hope of mugging unsuspecting travellers. So Cloud kept up a quick pace as he jogged from pile to pile, looking for a decent place for them to jump down.

"Wait..." came Aeris's faint voice behind him. "Wait, I said!"

Cloud came to a stop on a metal panel, and turned to look behind him. Aeris was a good few metres behind him, standing on the edge of a large chunk of metal over a small drop. She carefully swung her arms back and to before finally making the jump onto the ground below, right beside another jump. She did the same thing by swinging her arms and jumping daintily to the ground, finally reaching the level that Cloud was on and running towards him. She stopped beside him and leaned over, her arms on her knees, panting heavily.

"Puff... wheeze..." she panted heavily, trying to get her breath back once again. "Slow... down... Don't leave me..."

Cloud tilted his head to the side in amusement. Aeris was a difficult person to try and read. When he first saw her she had appeared gentle and smiling, and not the kind of person who could be violent towards others. Yet, in the church, she had found it very easily to pick up a pipe and hit one of the Shinra soldiers around the head, and could possibly be a good SOLDIER candidate. Now here she was, once again back to her delicate self, unable to keep up with him on the rooftops.

"Funny..." Cloud said, observing the differences within her. "I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?"

Aeris immediately pushed herself up and put her hands on her hips stubbornly. "Oh! You're terrible!" she shouted at him angrily. She then glared at him fiercely.

Cloud stared back at her with equal intensity. They held one another's gazes for just a few seconds before they burst out into a fit of laughter, both equally amused by their actions.

Aeris was the first to stop laughing, and looked at Cloud's face. Cloud felt her gaze on him as he stopped laughing, and stared back at Aeris. The young woman looked at him for a few moments more.

"Hey... Cloud," she said suddenly, the laughter gone from her voice. "Were you... ever in SOLDIER?"

"........." Cloud mumbled quietly. He wasn't sure how to answer that question, when he knew many people feared and hated SOLDIER. "I used to be," he answered finally. "How did you guess?"

Aeris pointed to her own green eyes. "Your eyes," she remarked. "They have a strange glow..."

Cloud again wasn't sure how to answer. He knew that his eyes did have a peculiar glow that made them stand out against the eyes of others, but it wasn't usually that noticeable unless someone was clearly taking notice. Obviously Aeris had been looking at him very closely to notice the glow.

"That's the sign of those who have been infused with Mako..." he told her, feeling it was all right to tell her. "A mark of SOLDIER. But, how did you know about that?"

Aeris looked around evasively. "...Oh, nothing."

"Nothing...?"

Aeris nodded her head firmly. "Right, nothing!" she said. She pointed onward. "Come on, let's go! Bodyguard!"

Cloud nodded, and turned away as he began to carry on across the waste. Aeris continued to follow him, but it wasn't long before she was falling behind once again, unable to keep up with Cloud's pace.

They soon found a space to jump down, but they were forced to wait a few moments more while a single man walked slowly across the waste yard. Once he was out of sight Cloud emerged from the rubbish and jumped down towards the ground, where he turned and waited for Aeris.

Aeris was, as he expected, a few paces behind him. He waited while she made her short, careful jumps, being careful not to tear her dress as she jumped. She eventually reached the ground and stood beside Cloud, sighing with relief.

"Whew! Finally made it off!" she exclaimed. "Now what..."

Cloud watched her while she ran ahead of him and looked around, trying to get her bearings right. Down one end she could see the church not too far away, and so she pointed down the other path.

"My house is over here," she said to Cloud. "Hurry before he comes."

Cloud nodded, and ran after Aeris as she ran down the path towards Sector 5.

They had no problems down the rest of the way, and soon emerged into Sector 5 of the Midgar slums. Cloud could see the differences between Sector 5 and Sector 7 instantly – there were a lot less people in this sector. It was just as dirty as he expected, but the prime difference was that there was a gentle smell of freshness in the air, something Cloud did not expect.

Aeris walked ahead of Cloud and stopped next to a large, round pipe – the entrance to one of the slum houses (a sign that the people of Midgar really did use anything and everything to keep a roof over their heads). The young woman pointed to the inside of the pipe.

"This guy is sick," she said to him, motioning inside the pipe. "He passed out nearby and someone must have helped him here."

She walked in through the open pipe doorway. Cloud followed her, and saw her on the inside standing next to a man who was sitting up on the bed.

Aeris had been right – the guy did look sick. His face was slightly pale and shaking, and he was trembling slightly. From the slightly vacant expression on his face Cloud figured he was probably on drugs, for he could not even talk properly or even acknowledge they were there.

"Ooh... aaah... aghhhh......" was all he could muster to say.

Aeris stood up beside him. "This is the one..." she said, putting a hand on the sick man's shoulder. She looked up at Cloud earnestly. "Won't you help him?"

"Ooh... aaah... aghhhh......" the man groaned again, although he wasn't replying to anyone.

Cloud crossed his arms and looked at Aeris. "Listen, I'm no doctor," he said.

"No... I guess not..." Aeris admitted sadly. It had been a false hope, but she knew she had to try. She looked up again. "Hey... that man has a tattoo. I think it was the number 2."

She pointed to his arm, and Cloud spotted the black tattoo imprinted roughly on his arm. It did look kind of like the number two. He thought it was a strange thing to have as a tattoo, but the man was in no condition to answer him.

Aeris and Cloud soon left the man to his 'ooh-ing' and 'aahh-ing' and carried on towards Aeris's house – with Aeris leading the way.

As they reached Aeris's house Cloud discovered where the fresh smell was coming from, and stared in absolute amazement.

Aeris's house was actually a house – and not a building built roughly out of scrap metal. Also, beside the house there was a large garden – and this was where the fresh smell was coming from. The garden was filled to the brim with beautiful flowers and grass, releasing a dozen pleasant fragrances into the air. It was a completely tranquil setting, and seemed completely out of place compared to the rest of the slums.

Aeris walked in through the unlocked door of the house. Cloud followed her almost nervously, unsure of what to expect inside.

"I'm home, mom," Aeris called as she stood inside the house.

Cloud looked around the inside of the house, and found that it was just as comforting inside as it was on the outside. The house was neatly decorated, with a clean table in the centre and a tiny little kitchen just off the side. As Aeris called a fairly elderly woman called Elmyra walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Her face was slightly old but very content, and also very pleased to see Aeris back. As she entered Aeris turned to Cloud and presented him to her.

"This is Cloud," she said. "My bodyguard."

"Bodyguard...? You mean you were followed again!?" Elmyra asked, looking at Cloud. She suddenly jumped and walked to Aeris in a hurry, checking her all over. "Are you all right!? You're not hurt, are you!?"

"I'm all right," Aeris insisted as Elmyra checked her over for any physical damage. "I had Cloud with me."

This seemed to reassure Elmyra. She looked at Cloud again, this time looking more closely at his face. She stared passively for a minute, before her grave expression turned to a smile as she gently bowed to Cloud in thanks.

"Thank you, Cloud."

Then Elmyra turned and headed up the stairs towards the upper part of the house, leaving Aeris and Cloud alone in the living room. When she was gone Aeris turned to Cloud curiously.

"So what are you going to do now?" she asked him.

Cloud folded his arms for a moment, unsure of what he was going to do. So much had already happened since he crashed through the roof of the church, and he had almost forgotten about it. He suddenly remembered Tifa and Barret, and wondered if they had managed to get out of the reactor before it blew up on them. And if they did survive, they would surely be out of their minds with worry, wondering if he had survived his fall. Tifa would be much more worried than Barret, he figured.

"...Is Sector 7 far from here?" Cloud asked of Aeris as he remembered Tifa. "I want to get to Tifa's bar."

Aeris raised an eyebrow at Cloud. "Is Tifa... a girl?"

"Yeah," said Cloud, nodding his head.

"A girl...friend?"

Cloud stared. "Girlfriend?" he asked. He shook his head vigorously. "No way!"

Aeris smiled with something that looked like relief, and even laughed a little at Cloud's reaction. "Hee hee hee......" she laughed. "You don't have to get THAT upset..." She stopped laughing as she winked at Cloud. "Well, that's... nice. Let's see, Sector 7? I'll show you the way."

"You gotta be kidding," Cloud said in utter disbelief. They had barely managed to get to Sector 5 in one piece, and now Aeris was offering to go out into the dangerous slums again. "Why do you want to put yourself in danger again?"

Aeris winked again. "I'm used to it," she replied.

"Used to it!?" Cloud demanded, now completely shocked. He took a breath and folded his arms, thinking about it. "......Well, don't know... getting help from a girl..."

Immediately Aeris's eyes flared as she glowered at him. "A girl!?" she raged at him furiously. "What do you mean by that!? You expect me to just sit by and listen, after hearing you say that!?" She turned to the stairs and called up to Elmyra. "Mom! I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while."

As she spoke Elmyra began to walk down the stairs. Upon hearing Aeris's words she looked up in alarm, concerned for Aeris's safety.

"But dear..." she protested. She then realised her protest was futile, and so she sighed. "I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late now."

Aeris nodded. "Yeah, you're right, mom."

Elmyra almost sighed with relief. "Aeris, please go and make the bed."

Aeris nodded and quickly headed upstairs to make up a spare bed for Cloud to stay on. Cloud watched her go, feeling a little like an outsider in this happy family household. When he looked back down he noticed Elmyra looking directly at his eyes with a rather grave and serious expression, and Cloud felt uncomfortable.

"That glow in your eyes..." she whispered, staring at him. "You're from SOLDIER, right?"

"Yeah," replied Cloud. "Rather I used to be..."

The old woman in front of him closed her eyes heavily and swallowed hard. Somehow this revelation seemed to strike a nerve within her, and when she reopened her eyes and looked at Cloud, she looked very regretful, but firm.

"......I don't know how to say this, but..." she began nervously, unsure of how to say it. "Would you please leave here, tonight? Without telling Aeris." Cloud stared blankly for a few seconds, and Elmyra looked down at the ground. "SOLDIER... the last thing Aeris needs is to get her feelings hurt again..."

Cloud stared for a few more seconds, before he finally nodded his head. Elmyra was instantly relieved, and gave Cloud a brief, apologetic smile, before she turned and quickly headed into the kitchen to carry on with her work. Cloud on the other hand, went slowly up the stairs after Aeris.

She was just coming out of the spare room as Cloud walked up the stairs. Cloud hesitated for a few seconds as he saw her, unsure of what to say. Something about the way Elmyra had asked him to leave gave him the impression that Aeris had run into SOLDIER before, although he knew it was none of his business to ask what. But when he saw Aeris look down at him and smile, he immediately began to feel the painful feelings of regret for what he knew he had to do.

"You need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7," Aeris said to him as he walked up. "Sector 6 is a little dangerous, so you'd better get some rest tonight."

Slowly Cloud nodded, and began to walk sombrely into his room. He tried not to glance at Aeris's happy face as he walked past her, and fought the urge to turn around and look at her.

"Cloud..."

Cloud stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists to fight the urge to turn to her. Instead he lifted his head up and tilted his head only slightly, just to give the impression that he was listening.

"Goodnight," Aeris said quietly, and began to walk down the stairs.

As she was heading down the stairs, Cloud slowly turned and spotted her as she was walking. Seeing her gentle face made him immediately wish he had not turned around at all, or at least not to even enter her house. He felt like an outsider in a strange world that only Aeris and her mother belonged, and it seemed a painful thing to do what Elmyra wanted him to do.

"Oh, man..." he groaned.