Chapter 35: Leave Me Alone

It's crazy but

Sometimes I feel like

I wanna run away

Sometimes I feel like

I've got to get away

One day you will see

Another side of me

My life that I command

It's not the way that you planned

Leave me alone

Leave me alone

Out on my own

Leave me alone

Leave Me Alone – The Corrs

The 23rd of March dawned. Unfortunately, it brought with it torrential rain. Aeris glared out of the window.

"Stupid rain." She muttered. She had woken up a moment before to find that Tifa had already left. She got up and went for a shower. The hot water revived her slightly. Aeris dressed in a denim skirt and pink t-shirt.

"Nice of you to wait, Tifa." She murmured, drying her hair. She pulled on a jacket, put up an umbrella and walked out into the rain.

Being carefully to avoid the muddy puddles, she made her way to the café, desperate for a coffee before music. She didn't like rain. It always made her feel horribly cold. She pushed open the café door and jumped as Yuffie launched herself at her. Aeris hugged her, somewhat bewildered.

"Um. Hi." She said. Yuffie grinned.

"Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, Yuffie." Aeris smiled. She went to the counter, where Vincent, Tifa, Cloud and Reeve were seated.

"It's our Birthday Girl!" Cloud said, hugging her, "Happy Birthday, Aeris." After lots of hugs, Aeris sat down. She looked at Tifa.

"I thought you were going to wait for me this morning."

"Sorry, I had something to do. Like prepare you a big Birthday Breakfast!" Tifa said. Barret came out of the kitchen, carrying a huge tray laden with food. Aeris stared at it. Barret laughed at her.

"Happy Birthday. Eat up." They needed no more bidding. They tucked in with relish. Barret asked,

"What lessons have you got today?"

"Two hours of music and an hour of Literature." Aeris mumbled through a mouthful of fried bread. Tifa pulled a face.

"Sounds fun."

"I'll be back here by two to help prepare for the party. Thanks for letting us have it here, Barret."

"It's my present."

"Speaking of presents…" Cloud said. Aeris perked up. "You can have them at the party." Aeris threw a piece of toast at him.

"You're so mean!"

"Hey, we all agreed on it." Cloud protested. Aeris turned on Vincent.

"You too?"

"Well, it's… I mean, we should wait for your parents to get here." Vincent said, almost nervously. Aeris glared at him.

"Traitor." She jumped as her mobile phone rang. She answered it quickly.

"Hey, Aeris, it's Eric."

"Oh, hi!"

"What it does it start today?"

"Four, at Barret's Café. It's about ten minutes from the campus."

"OK, I'll get a street map and meet you then. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Aeris hung up. After they finished breakfast, Yuffie said,

"We'd better get to music, Aeris."

"OK. See you guys later." She said. Vincent kissed her. She smiled.

"Yay. Birthday kiss. I'll see you later."

"Don't eat too much before the party!" Tifa called. Aeris nodded.

"OK. I'm expecting lots of unhealthy goodness!"

As she sat in music, Aeris decided to practise the violin. It had been a while since she'd played properly. She took down one of the school violins and opened up a book. One of the first songs, Runaway (a childhood favourite) fell open. Aeris played the song once through slowly, taking each note carefully. Bernadette joined her.

"Hey Aeris."

"Hey."

"Happy Birthday, by the way!"

"Oh, thanks Bernadette. Do you know this song?"

"Runaway? Yeah, I know it. Want to duet?"

Bernadette stood behind Aeris and they played the song together. Aeris sighed.

"You're so good at the violin. I've lost my touch recently. So much to do."

"I know what you mean… I barely have time to practise these days." Bernadette agreed. She looked at Aeris mischievously.

"But some of us have more to do than others, I guess… what with being an international star!"

"Stop it! I'm not…" Aeris protested. Bernadette shook her head.

"Don't be ashamed of it! It's incredible! I know a celebrity."

"Bernadette!" Aeris reprimanded her. Bernadette shrugged. Yuffie joined them.

"Hey Bernadette. What's going on?"

"We're just talking about what a star Aeris is."

"Bernadette!"

Yuffie laughed and Shera joined them.

"Finish this in your own time, ladies. We're here for the music."

"Sorry Shera." They all muttered. Shera turned to talk to Aeris.

"Aeris, I'd like you to work on an original piece to show the class."

"OK… which one?"

"You can choose. But we've been hearing a lot of covers from you lately."

"OK, sure."

She pulled out her lyrics book and flipped through to find a song. Yuffie came and sat next to her.

"Which one you gonna do?"

"I don't know… this one, I guess." She said. Yuffie shook her head and then grabbed a piece of paper that had fallen out of the book.

"What's this?"

"Oh… um, well, that's one…" Aeris said lamely. Yuffie smiled.

"One for Vincent?"

"Yeah."

"It's good. You should sing it."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely!"

Aeris dashed to the piano and started to practise the song. After half an hour, Shera told them to come back to the middle. Aeris was the last performer. Eventually, Shera nodded to her.

"Aeris, your go."

"Alright." She sat at the piano and said, "This is called Blessed."

She started to play. It was a fairly simple song, as she hadn't had time to finish it. She sang,

"When I think how life used to be

Always walking in the shadows

And I look at what you've given me

I feel like dancing on my tiptoes

I must say

Everyday I wake

I see you're lying by my side

I know I'm truly

Blessed

For everything you give me

Blessed

For all the tenderness you show

Do my best

With every breathe that's in me

Blessed

To make sure you never go…"

They applauded and she went to sit down. Then Shera said,

"OK, we've got one more song to do." Aeris looked up. She had been the last person. Terry sat down at the piano and started to play. And to her great embarrassment, everyone started to sing Happy Birthday. Aeris felt herself go extremely pink. Yuffie grinned at her when they finished singing and pretended to warm her hands on her face.

"Why Aeris, you've gone terribly red!"

Aeris slapped her hands away. Shera smiled as they got ready to leave.

"Happy Birthday Aeris."

"Thanks Shera. Are you busy this afternoon?"

"No, I'm free. Why?"

"I'm having a sort of party. It's pretty small, but if you could come… and Mr Highwind too."

"I'd love to, Aeris. Cid's working at three, but he can come after that."

"Great! Barret's at four."

"I'll see you then."

Literature passed quickly and Aeris made her way to Barret's. Tifa and Yuffie were putting up decorations inside. Barret was obviously in the kitchen. Aeris brushed out her wet hair (the rain had not let up and showed no signs of doing so) and stared around.

"You guys! It looks incredible!" Blue, pink and silver balloons hung from the walls, tied with ribbons of the same colour scheme. Tifa grinned.

"You like?"

"I like! I love it!" Aeris said, happily. Barret stuck his head out of the kitchen door.

"Lockheart! Get to work!"

"Yes sir!" Tifa saluted him mockingly and dashed into the kitchen. Yuffie pulled one of Aeris' dresses out of her bag.

"Go put this one."

"Where did you get that?"

"I went through your stuff of course. Go put it on." Before Aeris could protest at this invasion of privacy, Yuffie had vanished. Grumbling, Aeris went to put it on.

When she came out of the bathroom Cloud and Vincent had arrived. Aeris looked gleefully at the mounting pile of presents. Vincent looked at her sternly.

"Not yet. Not until everyone else is here."

"Fine. Mr Grumpy." Aeris teased. Vincent looked unamused. Aeris laughed and hugged him.

"I don't mean it."

"I hope not. Otherwise I won't give you your present."

"Ooh, present! Is it a good one?"

"I hope so."

By half past three, Infalna and Matthew had arrived. Aeris hugged them joyfully.

"Mom, Dad! Yay, presents!"

"Not until the others are here." Infalna chided. Aeris stared at her.

"Unbelievable! It's a world wide conspiracy to stop me opening my presents!" The door opened again and Reeve came in. Yuffie joined him quickly and dragged him off to help her organise food. Infalna and Matthew sat down with Aeris and Vincent.

"How are you both?"

"We're both good. How are you?" Aeris asked. Matthew smiled.

"We're fine. I just can't believe our little girl's all grown up!"

"Dad you've been saying that for the past 8 years. I'm nineteen. We get the message." Aeris told him. Matthew grinned and Infalna smiled at her daughter. Aeris grinned back.

At four, some unexpected guests came through the door. Aeris jumped to her feet to greet the Turks, Mike and Marlene.

"You came! I mean, I know I invited you, but I didn't think you'd come!" Elena laughed and hugged her.

"Give over, Aeris. Like we'd miss this!"

"Come and meet my parents." Aeris said. Infalna and Matthew joined them.

"OK, Mom, Dad, this is Elena, Reno, Rude and Tseng of the Turks. This is Tifa's sister, Marlene, and this is our manager, Mike. Guys, this is Infalna and Matthew Gast."

Greetings were exchanged and Barret came out to say hello to Marlene and the others. Shera and Cid arrived shortly afterwards. Soon everyone was tucking into the delicious food that had been laid out. In fact, an hour had passed before the door opened and the final guest arrived. Aeris went to greet Eric.

"Hi Eric." She said warmly. He kissed her cheek.

"Hello Aeris. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks. Come on, come and meet everybody." Aeris said. Nervously, Eric followed her in.

"Tifa, Yuffie, Reeve and Cloud. Guys, this is Eric Gainsborough." Tifa and Yuffie nodded, while Cloud and Reeve shook his hand. Vincent was talking with Mike so Aeris didn't bother them. Instead she took him over to the most important people.

"Mom, Dad…" They looked up and saw Eric. A moment of awkward silence fell over the small group. Matthew and Infalna stood up. Matthew held out his hand.

"Eric."

"Matthew." Eric replied, shaking hands. He looked at Infalna.

"Infalna… it's good to see you both."

"You too." Matthew said shortly. Aeris bit her lip. This could have been going better. She looked at Eric.

"How long are you going to be in Midgar for?"

"Three days more. I go home on Monday." Eric said. Vincent called to Aeris and she excused herself.

"What is it?" She asked. Vincent shook his head.

"Nothing. I just thought they might like a moment alone."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." She glanced over at them again. They were still standing awkwardly. Vincent put a hand on her shoulder.

"It will be fine."

"Hmm…" Aeris said, still looking at them and clearly not paying attention. Vincent tried to think of a way to distract her.

"Aeris? Why don't you open your gifts?" She snapped to attention immediately. Vincent looked amused and she blushed.

"Shut up. I love presents, is all."

They sat around a large table as Aeris started to open gifts. Cloud had bought her a bracelet. He and Tifa had clearly gone shopping together because she handed over matching earrings. Aeris was a bit wary when she came to Yuffie's, remembering what she had given her for Christmas. But to her relief it was a sheet music book, with some of Aeris' favourite songs in it. The Turks and Mike had given her a joint present. It was a CD of their song.

"But not just any CD! It's the very first one. We had some trouble finding it!" Elena said excitedly. Aeris grinned widely.

"You guys! I can't believe it!"

"No problem Aeris." Mike said. Aeris turned to the gifts.

"Open mine next!" Marlene said. Aeris searched through for it and nearly dropped it once it was unwrapped. A picture of Rufus Shinra, signed by him. Vincent looked less impressed. Aeris smiled and kissed him.

"I still love you. Don't worry."

Infalna and Matthew had bought her a new saxophone. Aeris grinned.

"I was wondering when you'd notice my old one."

"She got crazy with a pen one night, when she was about fourteen and drew musical notes all over it." Matthew explained. Infalna looked at her shrewdly.

"No doodling on this one."

"OK, I promise I won't." Aeris said solemnly. Fifteen minutes later she had unwrapped everything. There hadn't been anything from Vincent or Eric. Unable to stop grinning she looked around at them.

"Thanks so much… this is fantastic."

"Wait… here's mine." Eric said. He handed her a small jewellery box. She opened it. Inside was a tiny guitar on a little hoop. Another charm for charm bracelet. She took it off her wrist and attached the guitar. She smiled at him.

"Thanks Eric."

"It-It's nothing." He said in embarrassment. Vincent reached under the table and brought out a large, flat box.

"Happy Birthday Aeris." He said. Aeris opened the box and unfolded several layers of tissue paper. It was a framed painting of Aeris sitting at the piano in Vincent's apartment. She wasn't looking towards the painter, but was concentrating on the keys. Her hands were poised on the keys, halfway through playing a note. Sunshine poured through the window behind her, illuminating her.

Matthew said,

"I never realised how good you were, Vincent. That's incredible." Aeris didn't know what to say. She kissed him instead.

"Thank you, so much." She whispered. Barret had disappeared into the kitchen and emerged carrying a large cake. Happy Birthday Aeris was written in pink icing and nineteen candles adorned the top.

"Make a wish, Aeris." Marlene smiled.

Aeris closed her eyes and thought about it. Then she blew out the candles. Everyone applauded and Barret started to cut the cake. Everyone started to talk again, walking around the café. Aeris sat with Vincent at the table.

"Do you know how much I love you?" She asked suddenly. Vincent was holding her hand. He turned it over, running his fingers over the skin.

"About half as much as I love you." He replied.

"No. Twice as much."

"Not possible." Vincent insisted. Aeris smiled.

"Fine. I'm not going to argue you with you. Just because I'm right."

On the other side of the café, Eric was looking at a photograph on the wall, when Matthew approached him. Eric looked at him but didn't speak. Matthew said,

"Why are you here?" Eric looked surprised at the bluntness of the question.

"To celebrate my daughter's birthday." He replied, stressing the word 'my'. Matthew spoke calmly, but was seething inside.

"Why now? Because she came to find you? You could have found her. It wouldn't have been hard."

"She asked me, so I came." Eric replied. Matthew shook his head.

"I know you Eric. I knew you much better than Infalna did."

"I don't know what you mean." Eric replied.

Matthew narrowed his eyes.

"You would have hurt her. I never told her what happened. About the other women. As far she she's concerned you only left because of the fight."

"Your point being?"

"My point being that I love Infalna and Aeris with all of my heart. And I don't want you to hurt them."

"In case you've forgotten, Matthew, Aeris is my daughter. Not yours. And Infalna loved me first, remember? Everything you've got was originally mine." Eric said, looking smug. Matthew glared at him.

"Go back to Wutai. And don't bother them again."

"Or what?"

"Why are you here? Is it so you can leech off Aeris? Suddenly noticed she's getting quite a lot of money from her songs. Infalna was quite wealthy too. No wonder you liked her." Matthew spat. Eric shrugged.

"Aren't you doing the same thing?"

"No! I love them! They're the most important things in my life." Matthew protested. Eric folded his arms.

"Yeah, right."

"So you admit it? You admit that the only reason you've stayed in contact is with Aeris is because you need the money?"

"Well not all of us are wealthy scientists, Matthew!" Eric spat at him. Matthew seethed angrily and hissed,

"Get out."

"What?" Eric said, frowning.

"Get out of here! Leave us alone. Leave Aeris alone."

"Hey, whose daughter is she? Ah yes. Mine." Eric taunted. Matthew clenched his fists.

"I said get out!"

"And who's going to make me?"

Suddenly, both of them realised that the whole room had gone quiet. It may have been quiet for some time. Aeris and Infalna stood together, staring at them. Matthew pointed at the door.

"Get out, Eric!"

"What's going on?" Aeris asked, perplexed. Infalna stepped forward.

"Matthew, what-?"

"Go on, Matthew. You always loved being the hero." Eric sneered.

This clearly broke Matthew's self-restraint. His fist flew at Eric's face and smashed into Eric's nose. Several people gasped. Eric grasped his bleeding nose and threw a fist at Matthew. Aeris' hands were on her face, nails digging into the skin. Infalna flew forward, desperate to stop the fight. Unfortunately, Matthew had aimed a hit at Eric. Infalna turned and Matthew's hand caught her eye.

Deadly silence fell over them as Infalna fell to the ground, clasping her face. Barret stepped forward and pushed Matthew and Eric back. Aeris looked at her two fathers. She couldn't speak. Matthew stared at her.

"Aeris, I-"

She shook her head, fingers still digging into her face. Barret was bent over Infalna.

"Are you OK?" He helped her up. He stumbled but Barret caught her. Her eye was already swelling. Barret helped her sit down and then turned to Matthew and Eric.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"He started it!" Eric shouted.

"Stop it." They all looked at Aeris. She hadn't spoken loudly, but they all heard her. Matthew said,

"Aeris-"

"Just stop it." Aeris repeated. She swallowed hard. Eric stepped forward.

"You saw what happened. He hit me!"

Aeris shook her head. Matthew stepped towards her but she turned and ran out of the café. The bell over the door jangled noisily. Infalna looked at Vincent.

"Please… go to her." Vincent nodded and left. Infalna glared at Matthew and Eric.

"You just ruined your daughters' birthday. I hope you're both happy."

Vincent returned to the café over half an hour later, looking worried and soaking wet. Everyone looked at him.

"I… I couldn't find her."

"Where could she have gone?" Elena asked.

"I checked her room and the apartment …. I don't know where else to look." Vincent said desperately. Matthew stood up.

"There must be somewhere she might go." He said. Infalna said,

"Somewhere special, maybe?"

Vincent ran his hand through his hair in desperation. Tifa said,

"What about the park? By the fountain… she loves it there." Eric got to his feet.

"Well, let's go."

"You're not coming!" Matthew protested. Infalna snapped at both of them, pressing an icepack to her head.

"Sit down! Neither of you are coming! Vincent, you and I will go. I'll take my phone. If she's not there I'll call you and we can start searching in other places. Cloud, can you call anyone Aeris might have gone to? Everyone else, stay here until we call. Any questions?"

No one spoke up. Infalna nodded.

"Good. Vincent, let's go."

They got to the park and went through the gates. The rain was coming down in grey sheets and thunder was starting to roll overhead. Vincent and Infalna struggled through the storm, searching for Aeris. Eventually they reached the fountain. Sitting on the edge, drenched through, was Aeris.

"Aeris!" Vincent shouted above the noise. She looked up, surprised. It was as if she didn't realise that she was sitting in puddles of water. Vincent whipped off his coat and covered her with it.

"We have to get you inside. You'll get sick." Aeris didn't speak. They walked to the apartment, as it was closer than the café.

Once he had put Aeris to bed, Vincent turned to Infalna.

"She'll probably catch a cold… she was sat out for nearly an hour."

"I'm going to send Matthew back to Kalm. Can I stay with her?"

"Of course. I'll make a spare bed."

"No, I'll do that. You go to the café and tell Matthew to go home."

Everyone jumped up as Vincent came in.

"We found her. We took her home, she was soaking."

"Where is she?" Matthew asked. Vincent shook his head.

"Infalna told me to tell you to go home. Go back to Kalm. She's going to stay with Aeris, to make sure she's alright."

"No! Aeris is my daughter!"

"Beg to differ." Eric said. Matthew turned on him but Vincent said,

"Eric, go back to your hotel. Matthew, go back to Kalm. Aeris could be ill. She doesn't need this, least of all on her birthday. You've both done more than enough. Just leave her alone until she's ready."

Matthew and Eric left. Vincent sank into a chair. Tifa said,

"Is she going to be alright?"

"If she gets sick, she'll be taken to hospital." Vincent said. Barret said,

"I'm gonna clear up in here. There's nothing anyone can do right now." Vincent nodded and stood up.

"I'm going home. I'll see you all later."

Before anyone could stop him he walked out. Cloud rubbed his forehead.

"This is so…"

"Unfair." Tifa said. Yuffie couldn't help snickering.

"What?" Cloud demanded.

"It's marriage for you two. You're already finishing each others sentences." Cloud and Tifa both blushed and started to take down balloons.

Lying in her bed, at Vincent's apartment, Aeris vaguely heard Vincent and Infalna talking. She didn't speak. She wasn't sure that she could. She just rolled over and closed her eyes. But the tear squeezed out and trickled down her face all the same.

(A/N: OK, a pretty long chapter. I feel sorry for Aeris… I'm traumatising her so much! New chapter soon hopefully. But I'm back at school now, so the chapters will be up less frequently. Thank you for the reviews! I both read and appreciate every single one! Please leave some more on your way out and tune in for another exciting episode soon! BTW, the song 'Blessed' is by Christina Aguilera. Oh, and I realise that Aeris' birthday is a different date, but what the hey. My universe, my rules!)