Chapter 13: Stronger Every Minute

No matter where I am

I'm always thinking of you

It may be hard

But I need you to understand

That I don't often say what I feel

And so this is straight from my heart

My love grows stronger every minute

And it won't ever die

I want you to stay with me

Not just this day

But for all my life

Stronger Every Minute – Lisa Andreas (Cyprus Eurovision Entry 2004)

When Aeris and Vincent got to Kalm, they made their way to Aeris's house, but when they got there they got a shock. There were a large number of reporters crowding around the front door, shouting questions, clearly hoping that one of the Gast's would come out.

"Great. How are we supposed to get through that lot?" Aeris moaned. Before Vincent could reply, she seized his hand.

"This way. Shh, don't let them see us!" She whispered.

She led him along the street to a small alley between two houses. This led to another alley, bordered by the surrounding house's gardens. They walked along until Aeris saw her own garden. Then she stopped and started pushing against the fence. Vincent watched in utter bemusement until, with a cry of triumph, Aeris pushed a loose board. It left a sizeable gap which they could just squeeze through.

Once inside the back garden, Aeris ran to the door and opened it. Her parents were in the kitchen, sitting at the table with cups of tea. As the door opened, they jumped up.

"Aeris!" They said as one, rushing to hug her.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"Yes and nothing. I just… I wanted to see you. I'll have to go back tomorrow. Oh, hang on." She went back to the door, where Vincent stood, looking awkward. She pulled him in.

"Mom, Dad, this is Vincent Valentine."

Matthew and Infalna exchanged glances.

"Vincent Valentine?" Infalna asked. Vincent shook Matthew's hand.

"Yes. My father is- was Richard Hojo."

"My god! Of course, you look just like him!" Infalna said, holding a hand to her chest. Matthew stared from Vincent to Aeris.

"You go to Midgar University?"

"Yes, sir."

"Vincent's been a really good friend to me ever since I got to MU. He helped me today, there were these reporters and he got me away from them." Aeris explained.

Vincent and Matthew were staring at each other. Aeris touched her father's arm.

"Dad? What's been going on? There were so many reporters outside."

"Oh. Yes." Matthew said. They all sat down at the table as Infalna made tea.

"The reporters are determined to get a comment out of us. Your mom and I have decided to talk to them after we've spoken with our lawyers. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, honey."

"I do. I want to tell them how I feel about it." Aeris insisted. Matthew sighed.

"Very well. I'll call you with the arrangements just as soon as we organise everything."

"But what about you? Have they been bugging you?" Infalna said, handing Vincent a cup of tea. Aeris nodded.

"Yeah. I went over to James first thing this morning and he was having an interview. It's being shown at 6 tonight. Anyway, I went to Cloud's media production class and then I was heading over to the café when all these reporters saw me. Luckily Vincent was there and he managed to get me inside. But I haven't said anything to them."

She looked up at her parents.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Aeris, sweetie, we were going to. I know that sounds pathetic, but we really were. I don't know when, but we would have. It's just… oh, I don't know. We don't have an excuse." Infalna said. Matthew said,

"I guess we've been feeling guilty about gambling with your life that way."

"But it paid off." Aeris pointed out.

Infalna wrung her hands.

"But so many things could have gone wrong. Richard was right, it was dangerous to use the cure, but we were so afraid of losing you. Matthew and I weren't together at the time. It was only after we found out that you were going to live that we got married. But so many things had gone wrong in our lives."

Matthew touched his wife's hand. They exchanged a glance and Infalna closed her eyes. Aeris frowned.

"What's going on?"

"We've done a lot of things we're not proud of. So many bad things had happened in the space of a few years. We didn't want to lose you as well. It wasn't just the three of us who discovered the cure for Grandia Disease. There were five of us altogether." Matthew said. He got up and walked over to the cupboard, where he took out a photo album that Aeris had never seen.

Matthew looked at Vincent.

"Vincent, this involves you as well. Or your parents anyway."

"What?" Vincent asked, in disbelief. Matthew handed them both a photo and they looked at it.

There were five people in it. Two women and three men, all in their mid-twenties, all smiling cheerfully. Aeris touched two of them.

"This is you and Mom."

"And this is Hojo." Vincent said, tapping another man. Matthew leant over and pointed to the other woman.

"This… this is Lucrecia."

"Who?" Aeris asked.

"My mother." Vincent whispered.

Both of them looked at the last man. Aeris touched his face.

"Who's this?"

Infalna let out a sob. Aeris hadn't noticed that she was crying. Infalna took a deep breath.

"That's your father, Aeris."

Aeris couldn't breathe. This was her father? Her real father, not Matthew. The man who had died.

"That's…"

"Eric Gainsborough. Your biological father." Matthew said quietly. Vincent said,

"Five. The five working on the cure for Grandia Disease?"

"Yes. We had been working on it for seven years. We started three years before the birth of Aeris, and just one year before Vincent was born. Richard Hojo and Lucrecia Adams were already married. We knew them and Eric from college." Matthew told them.

"Matthew had been my best friend for some years." Infalna said. "We were all good friends. And when we started working together on the cure for Grandia Disease. Lucrecia was already pregnant with Vincent. But just six months after he was born, Lucrecia died. She had been ill for some time after his birth. After her death Richard changed. He never stopped working on the cure for Grandia Disease. We all thought it would be best to give him some space."

"But mostly, because we were having our own disputes. Eric and Infalna had been together for a while and I was jealous. I always thought that maybe Infalna would fall in love with me." Matthew admitted. Infalna took his hand in hers.

Aeris and Vincent hadn't spoken for some time. Even now they remained silent. Infalna turned to them.

"Eric and I got engaged. I was pregnant with Aeris, just. But…Matthew and Eric had a fight."

"We were fighting about Infalna. Eric had always been the type to date a lot of girls, never stick with one. I was afraid that he was going to abandon her."

"Eric got angry and walked out. He disappeared for several months. And then we got news that he had died. I don't know how." Infalna whispered.

Aeris closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again.

"What happened next?" She asked slowly. Infalna was staring into space so Matthew continued.

"When you were four years old, Richard, Infalna and I found out that we were close to developing a cure. And then you developed Grandia Disease. You were in hospital for a long time. When we found out that you only had a few weeks left, your mother and I decided that we would risk using the untested cure on you. Not to test the cure, but only because we wanted to save you. You were already like a daughter to me. Richard was against us using the cure. He said it would kill you, that it wasn't ready. But we ignored him. We used the cure and it worked."

"It was just after then that Richard left. He took Vincent and went to the city. But he died in a car crash on the way. After that it was just us left." Infalna finished.

"That's not true." They jumped. It was Vincent who had spoken. Matthew and Infalna stared at him, as did Aeris.

"What do you mean?"

"Eric Gainsborough didn't die."

"But… we got a phone call from a friend of his in the city." Infalna said. Vincent shook his head.

"Eric Gainsborough didn't die."

"How do you know?" Aeris demanded. Vincent looked at her.

"I know because after my father died, Eric Gainsborough became my legal guardian. He was living in Midgar until a few years ago. I think he's in Wutai now."

Matthew and Infalna stared at him. Matthew spoke slowly,

"Eric Gainsborough is alive?"

"Yes. I lived with him until I was seventeen. Then I got my own flat." Vincent confirmed. Infalna fell back.

"I don't believe it. Why didn't he tell us?" Vincent was digging in his wallet. He pulled out a photograph and showed it to them. It was Eric Gainsborough.

Aeris couldn't bear it anymore. She stood up. They all looked at her.

"I'm going to my room."

"Aeris…"

"No! Mom, I just need to be alone right now." Aeris said, leaving.

When she got to her room she sat down on the bed. This was all too much. This couldn't possibly be happening.

First to discover that she had nearly died. Let's face it, that's enough of a shock for anyone. And then to discover that the man she loved had written an article slandering her parents. And then to find out that her biological father, who she thought had died, was, in fact, alive.

Aeris buried her face in her hands and just let it go. Tears started to pour down her face and she started to sob loudly. It seemed to provide a relief.

She picked up her bag and pulled out her lyrics notebook. Opening it, she reached the page where she had slaved over the song she was going to sing at the concert. 'Thank you', the song she had written for James. Aeris ripped the page out and tore it into shreds, still sobbing. She threw open the window and flung the scraps of paper into the air. The wind picked them up instantly and blew them away.

Aeris went back to her bed and lay down on it, burying her face in her pillow. Within a few minutes she was sleeping.

Vincent sat in the spare room, where Infalna and Matthew were letting him stay. The pair had asked him a few questions about Eric and had then allowed him to be by himself. It was past midnight now.

He had never known that Eric had claimed to be dead. Even though they had been living together, Vincent had never really cared for him. He drank too much, and sometimes disappeared for days at a time. Vincent had been glad to move out when he reached seventeen.

And now Aeris and her parents were suffering. He felt bad about that. He hadn't gotten close to anyone and now that he had he found it hard to watch Aeris' pain. He wanted to help her, to make the pain go away.

He heard something and went to the window. The large back garden provided a pleasant view for him. There was a large tree, with a tree house in it and a wide swing hanging down. And sitting on the swing was Aeris.

She pushed herself back and forwards, letting the cool air blow her hair back. The rhythm of the swing calmed her, made her relax.

Aeris felt someone watching her. She knew who it was and so didn't look up.

"Hi." She said. Vincent said it too. She shifted over on the swing, giving him room to sit down. She looked at him.

"Vincent?"

"Yes?"

"Why did he do this to me?" She whispered. Vincent joined in the swinging motion to keep the momentum going.

"Who?"

"James. Yesterday he said that he loved me. And today he just tore my world apart."

"I don't know why he did it. Maybe he has his own reasons."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But whatever they are, they don't justify what he did to you."

"And my father… he's alive?" Aeris whispered.

"Yes."

"But he knew. He knew about me. Why… why didn't he come to see me? Or let me know that he was alive? Does he hate me?"

"No! He doesn't hate you."

"But I don't know that." Aeris said, her voice cracking as tears filled her eyes.

"Aeris-"

"I don't know what to do, Vincent. It's like everything that I ever knew has gone. It's just... gone. I came home so I could get stronger, so I'd be able to face everything but I just feel like its too hard and I should just give up."

Vincent took her face in his hands and turned it towards him.

"Aeris, listen to me. You are strong. You just don't feel it know because you're in shock. But you're going to get through this." He dug in his pocket and handed her a slip of paper. She looked in it.

"What's this?"

"It's Eric Gainsborough's telephone number. At least, it was two years ago. You can do what you want with it." Aeris put the number in her pocket and then looked up at him.

"Vincent-"

"You are going to get through this. I'll make sure of that. And so will Cloud, Yuffie, Barret and Tifa. Your parents are going to help you as well. No matter what happens, we will all be here to help you."

Aeris didn't say anything. She swallowed hard and then said,

"You're right."

"Yes, I am."

"Wow, arrogant much?" She joked. Vincent smiled slightly. Aeris put her head on his shoulder.

"I can do it. If you'll help me."

"I'll help you." He whispered. She closed her eyes.

"I think I'm getting stronger." She murmured.

The next morning Aeris woke up in her own bed. She supposed Vincent must have brought her up, because she remembered falling asleep outside on the swing. She dressed and went downstairs. Vincent and hr parents were eating breakfast. Her father was reading the paper and her mother was discussing art with Vincent. Aeris smiled at them and then sat down with a bowl of cornflakes.

"Mom, Dad. I need to ask you to do something for me." They both straightened up.

"Of course, darling, we'll do anything." Her mother said. Aeris smiled.

"Buy two tickets to the Christmas Concert."

Her parents smiled and nodded. Vincent looked at his watch.

"Do you have any classes today?"

"I should have had literature but Professor Jenova is off sick. And I was supposed to meet with Shera for one-on-one but I think Yuffie will tell her where I am. Oh, but I have to be back by tonight. I'm supposed to be singing in the open mic night."

"Very well. Do you want to stay here for the rest of the day?" Vincent asked. Infalna cleared her throat.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Your father and I have already decided that you are spending the day with us."

"Well, I guess that's a yes then." Aeris laughed. Infalna and Matthew started to clear the table. Vincent touched Aeris' arm.

"Are you feeling stronger?" he asked, the merest hint of a smile on his face. Aeris nodded and smiled.

"Every minute."