Chapter 28: Leave Right Now

I'm here

Just like I said

Though it's breaking every rule

I've made

My racing heart

Is just the same

Why make it strong to break it once again?

And I'd love to say I do

Give everything to you

But I could never not be true

So I say

I think I'd better leave right now

Before I fall any deeper

I think I'd better leave right now

Feeling weaker and weaker

Somebody better show me how

Before I fall any deeper

I think I'd better leave right now

Leave Right Now – Will Young

Here she was.

Standing in an apartment block on Leviathan Street, Wutai.

Number 46, if we were going to be precise.

And if she knocked on the door, her father would be inside. Well, if she pressed the buzzer and he let her up.

But Aeris had frozen. She couldn't move. She had been standing here for nearly ten minutes.

"Argh!" She groaned. She had finally made it here. This was her only chance and she was going to blow it.

"Just press the button." She told herself.

She lifted a finger to the button and slowly, ever so slowly, pushed it. The speaker crackled into life.

"Who is it?" Said a hoarse voice. Aeris's breath shuddered.

"Is that Eric Gainsborough?" She asked.

"Yes. Who are you?" he sounded slightly more alert now.

"I'm… I'm a friend of Vincent Valentine."

There was silence and then there was a buzzing noise. She hastily pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was a filthy grey building on the outside and the inside wasn't much better. Slightly cleaner, but still a dull grey.

Aeris slowly walked up to the second floor and walked along to apartment 4. She knocked on the door, forcing herself to move.

The door swung open. In the doorway stood Aeris's father. He was recognisable as the man in the photographs. His hair was slightly longer and there was rough stubble over his face. But the eyes that looked at her were the same as her own. The same shade of startling green.

Eric Gainsborough faltered and grabbed the doorframe for support.

"Infalna?!" He gasped. Aeris shook her head hastily.

"No."

"…Sorry… you look just like… never mind. Come in."

The apartment was shabby and as grey as the rest of the building. It was a mess but Aeris got the impression that Eric hadn't noticed.

She sat down on a shabby sofa and he handed her a mug of coffee. Then he sat down opposite her.

"You said you know Vincent Valentine…"

"Yes."

"How is he? I haven't seen him in… three years, it must be now."

"He's great. Nearly finished university."

Eric sipped his coffee and then put it down. Aeris took a deep breath.

"Vincent's not the reason I'm here."

"What is the reason?" He asked sharply. Aeris bit her lip, staring fixedly at her coffee.

"I wanted to ask you about something that happened eighteen, nearly nineteen years ago. In Kalm."

Eric stared at the coffee table. He leant forward in his chair, rubbing his face with one hand. Aeris pressed on.

"Matthew Gast. Richard Hojo. Lucrecia Adams. Infalna Cetra. The cure for Grandia Disease. All of that."

"I know what you mean. Two of them are dead now. Richard and Lucrecia… I looked after Vincent."

"But you left." Aeris whispered. Eric nodded.

"I left."

"I want to know what happened." Aeris said. Eric still didn't look up at her.

"Infalna and I were going out. I got her pregnant. I promised to marry her. Matthew Gast though that I was going to abandon her. I have to admit… I did have a track record for going through girls. Matthew and I fought and I left. Went to Midgar. A few months later I got a friend to ring up and tell them I had died. Richard knew the truth. Knew I was alive. He left Vincent in my care when he died. Stupid idea… I wasn't fit to be a father. I'm still not… but you didn't want to talk about Vincent."

He went and stood by the window.

"I loved Infalna. I truly did. I would have married her, and looked after our child. But Matthew was right not to trust me. He probably did the best thing by driving me away…"

Aeris had to put the coffee cup down. She was shaking. She swallowed hard and asked,

"Why didn't you go back? I mean… didn't you wonder about Infalna and… and the baby?"

"Of course I did! But dead men don't come back from the dead. I don't know what happened to Matthew and Infalna, or the child. Well, it wouldn't be a child anymore. It'd be eighteen, nearly nineteen." Eric said burying his face in his hands. He obviously didn't read the papers. The rest of the world knew who they were, Aeris though wryly.

Eric took a deep breath and looked up at her, suddenly realising.

"Who are you? Why do you want to know about all this?"

Aeris stiffened. She stood up.

"I… I should leave."

"No! Wait! Who are you?" Eric said loudly. Aeris closed her eyes and then opened them again. Eric was staring at her. She went to the door.

"I have to leave."

But Eric closed the door, hard. Aeris looked up at him. His eyes widened in realisation.

"…What's your name?" He asked softly. Aeris looked him in the eye.

"Aeris Gainsborough."

The effect was amazing. Eric slumped against the wall, staring at her.

"Aeris… Gainsborough…" He whispered. Aeris rubbed her arms. She felt cold all of a sudden.

"I don't really know what I'm doing here. I guess I just wanted to find out about my father." She whispered. Eric didn't move. He looked like he was having trouble breathing.

"I always knew that Matthew Gast wasn't my real father. Vincent Valentine, he's my boyfriend. He didn't know that we thought that you were dead. He told me a few months ago, gave me your telephone number. I tried to call once, but I was too scared." Aeris ranted, "And then I came here for the holidays, with my friends and my parents, and with Vincent. And I knew that you were living in Wutai. So I got a directory and looked you up and here I am. I didn't tell Mom and Dad that I was coming. I guess… I guess I just wanted to see you, even if it was just once."

Eric buried his face in his hands. Aeris felt tears pricking her eyes. She blinked them back and said,

"I'll go now. I'm… I'm staying at the Turtle Inn. Until Tuesday. Then I'm going back to University, Midgar University. I'll… I'll go."

Aeris walked through the door, closing it behind her. She didn't know what she'd been expecting. As she walked out into the street, she glanced up at the apartment. She couldn't see him. Brushing away a stray tear, she started to walk back to the hotel.

Yuffie, Reeve and Vincent got back to the hotel at the same time as Aeris. She waved to them and hurried up the street. Yuffie peered at her.

"Where did you go?"

"I… nowhere important."

"I thought you said that it WAS important!" Yuffie said. Reeve pushed her inside. Vincent looked down at Aeris.

"Did you find him?"

"…Yeah."

"How did it go?"

"I don't know. When he eventually figured out who I was he just sort of stood there, and I just kept rambling and then I left." She looked up at him. "But I did it."

"I'm so proud of you." he whispered, putting his arms around her. She felt comforted by his embrace and welcomed it.

Eventually Vincent said,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah… yes. I am. Come on, let's go inside. How was the pagoda?"

Three days later, on Monday, Aeris and Vincent were sitting outside the hotel. Yuffie and Reeve had gone off somewhere. Aeris leant against Vincent's shoulder.

"Good holiday?" She asked, eyes closed.

"Yes."

"Be glad to go home though. I miss Barret's café." He laughed at her softly.

"I know what you mean."

Suddenly she felt him stiffen. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Aeris…" He said. She followed his gaze and saw Eric Gainsborough standing a little way off, watching her. She stood up and he came closer.

"Aeris." He said slowly. Aeris nodded. Vincent stood up too. Eric looked at him.

"Hello Vincent."

"Eric."

"I… I wanted to talk to you." Eric said, looking back at Aeris. She nodded and they went around the hotel to the patio. Vincent ordered some tea and they sat down at a table in the sunshine.

Aeris noticed that Eric had shaved. He looked much younger without the stubble covering his face. He looked at Aeris.

"I can't believe how much you look like your mother. It's uncanny."

"Got your eyes." She said. Eric smiled.

"Yes, I can see that. Look, I'm sorry about how I reacted on Friday. I was more than a little shocked."

"I know. I should have called or something…" Aeris said. Eric smiled at her.

"I'm glad you came to see me. I-I brought you something."

He handed her a small box. Aeris frowned.

"What is it?"

"Your Christmas present for the last eighteen years."

She opened the box. Inside was a charm bracelet, with various little objects hanging from it.

"Every year I added another charm… but I didn't know where you were. I suppose I could have looked harder, but you would have had your own life. You didn't need the man who ran out on you messing your life up." Eric said. Aeris closed the box.

"I thought you were dead. I love my parents, so much. But I always wondered what my father was like. Mom and Dad didn't get married until I was four."

"It took them that long?" Eric said in surprise. Aeris smiled.

"You don't read the papers, do you?"

"No. Mindless rubbish, most of it."

Aeris explained what had happened. Eric's eyes grew wider.

"Oh my… well…"

"And then Vincent told me you were alive."

"Yes, you told me on Friday. I just can't believe that I'm actually meeting my daughter. Infalna always said that if she had a girl she would call her Aeris."

"Can I ask you something?" Aeris said suddenly. Eric nodded.

"Do you play any musical instruments?"

"Oh, no. I was useless at music. The only musical member of the group was Lucrecia and she only played piano."

"Just wondering. Because I'm terrible at science but I love music." Aeris explained. Eric laughed.

"That's a mystery, I'm afraid."

Vincent left them alone after about an hour. Aeris and Eric walked around the garden, talking. Eventually Eric stopped.

"Aeris… I can't tell you how glad I am to finally see you."

"I know… I mean, I'm glad too. I didn't know exactly what I was expecting. But I think it all turned out OK."

"If I'm ever in Midgar I'll look you up." He promised. Aeris smiled.

"I'll be glad to see you. And now I can call you as well."

"Please do." He stopped and looked at her. "I ran away from you once, Aeris. I'm not going to do that again."

"Glad to hear it. Um… I haven't spoken to Mom and Dad about this yet… I mean, they didn't even know you were here."

"Tell them when you want to. But I DO think they should know about this."

"Yeah… I'll tell them when the time's right."

Eric smiled and touched a lock of hair falling into her face. Aeris watched him closely.

"You're beautiful. You're just like her…" He said quietly. Aeris felt herself blush. Eric smiled at her.

"I have to go now. But call me, OK?"

"I will."

"Goodbye Aeris."

"Goodbye." She whispered.

On the plane, back to Midgar, Aeris felt happy. Really happy. Yuffie looked over at her.

"OK, WHAT is going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been smiling non-stop since yesterday."

"So a girl's not allowed to be happy?" Aeris asked. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Keep your little secrets. See if I care."

To her irritation, this only made Aeris smile more widely.

A/N: OK, no more updates for a few days cos because I'm going away. But I'll be back soon, so don't despair! And the next chapter will be a bit more cheerful than this one. Promise.