She tromped beside Sephiroth, looking a little peeved. Maybe because he'd thought it necessary to take firm hold of her arm and practically drag her at a pace too fast for her to walk but too slow to jog. The general glanced down at her from time to time, quite sure now that she was indeed the one he'd been dreaming about- for he'd had another of those weird dreams. Suppressing his sigh, he looked away from her before he started imagining things that might cause embarrassing consequences. Besides, they had just entered the lower portion of Hojo's lab.
He missed seeing her expression, but she didn't stop, acting as if she didn't know where they were going already. After all... if ever she was going to hurt someone and not regret it... but only if she got the chance. Play it cool... be calm, act stupid. Sephiroth led Katy into the elevator at the back of the lower level of the lab, stopping and pressing the button for the next floor and waiting as they went up. In fact, Katy made a show of inspecting the buttons... though it was an excuse to press up against Seph. Yes, she finally decided, that WAS a blush. Inwardly, she did a victory dance.
The elevator stopped and the fencing over the door slid back, Sephiroth dragging her out. The room wasn't quite like it was in the game, there was a portioned off section where there were a few benches with lab equipment on them as well as giant tubes covered with sheet metal- and near them was a dog cage with a young woman trapped inside it, her brunet hair tangled and slightly bloody on one side. She stared out with bright green eyes.
Covertly, Katy winked at her, knowing well enough that it was Aerith, who ELSE would Hojo treat like that- other than Sephiroth, though the man could probably get out of such a flimsy structure. Hojo stepped into view, smirking a bit- didn't he usually wear glasses? Katy couldn't remember, but he certainly wasn't wearing any at that moment. He took a breath, his nasal voice proclaiming something that was probably pompous and incorrect. Sephiroth didn't look impressed but let Katy's arm go.
She missed seeing the slight look of worry in his eyes, but Hojo stated, "Come." She stared at him, expression blank, not seeming very impressed. "Come here!" he snapped, pointing at the ground before him. Both her eyebrows raised and her expression turned disgusted. She shook her head vigorously, cringing.
"Come HERE!" Hojo shouted, stabbing his finger at the floor once again. Looking up at Sephiroth, Katy saw that he was attempting to NOT laugh... and was nearly failing.
Finally, the young woman looked back at Hojo- felt a hand on her back only a second before she got shoved towards the grimy scientist. Stopping a few feet away from him, she stood there, staring up at his face. Frustrated, and slightly frightened, Hojo reached out, grabbing her arm. A mischievous spark entered her eyes as he got a better grip on her- and immediately got a fist in the chin. "Pervert!" she howled and on his way down, she slammed her knee into his face.
Sephiroth stared in slight shock as Katy proceeded to beat the bloody shit out of Hojo... then slowly began laughing, folding his arms on his chest and neglected to even go to the professor's rescue. After all, with the flailing of arms and legs, he doubted he could even get CLOSE without getting a bruise or two.
Aerith had her hands over her mouth, watching with wide eyes at the strange woman gleefully clawed Hojo's face, pulled out his hair, kicked him in the groin several times to keep him down, bit and punched, elbowed, and kneed the professor until he was bleeding in some place, quite black and blue in others, and unable to breathe. When he stopped fighting and just curled up in a ball on the floor, the girl got to her feet.
Katy looked down at Hojo for a moment, aimed one last kick at his rear, and dusted her hands off, smiling proudly at Sephiroth and Aerith before marching herself back towards the elevator. The general was still laughing even as he led her to her cell, startling the guard still standing there.
The girl was about to step into her cell when she felt a hand on her shoulder, directing her into the room next to hers, the one in which all her stuff had been taken. Giving a little head-tip type shrug, Katy stepped in, noting that they'd cleaned up the mess she'd made in her earlier attempt to escape. Stepping over to one of the tables filled with trash, Katy looked back at Sephiroth, gesturing to the whole table. "Namagomi," she stated, "Trash." He didn't nod, but she figured he'd gotten the point and proceeded onwards.
What to do first? Picking up a book, one that happened to be Michelle's history book, she paused. How to convey the concept of history? ... how to ask where Michelle went? Instead, she set that book down and picked up the math book she'd used to nearly break that guards nose. Flipping to a random page, she pointed, "Geometry. Math." Glancing to the side, she nabbed a piece of paper and dug into her book bag for a pencil, sighing when she was unable to find another one. She was somewhat surprised when Sephiroth suddenly held her precious click eraser and mechanical pencil towards her.
Making sure to smile sweetly up at him, she made three marks on the paper, then a plus sign and four marks, an equal sign and the number of marks the two added together would make. "Math," she repeated for him, doing another problem of four times three. Then four minus three, and finally, twelve divided by four- that being the easiest she could think of to demonstrate the concept... other than struggling through dividing something that wouldn't come out evenly. Pointing at her first set, "Addition. Multiplication. Subtraction. Division." Making a gesture that encompassed all four, she stated, "Math," and pointed at the book once more.
And for another bout of Pictionary, Katy flipped the sheet of paper over. She didn't want to just give up on describing the concept of history, after all, he might enjoy reading through the book.
Actually, he probably WOULD enjoy it. Staring at the book, she opened it and started flipping through the pages, trying to find a good picture of a battle. Finally, she found one that was of George Washington on his horse, leading some charge or something. She didn't bother reading the caption under it. Pointing at the picture, she pulled her paper beside the book, scribbling out a stick figure scene- aware of Sephiroth's leaning over her to see.
Drawing 'people' in battle with distinctive hats, she then drew a clock and some of the people with distinctive hats walking with canes... though that was hard to tell with stick figures. Frowning at the paper, she tore out another from her notebook, shoving the other one aside in favor of attempting more detailed stick figures. This time, she made some black and some simple outlines of bubble people. Drawing the clock, she drew the people with canes again and off to the side tomb stones. Then an arrow back towards the battle scene, and pointed at the book.
"What do you think she's trying to say?" Liam asked, blinking in confusion at the first picture, which he held up near his face to look at closer. Of course, he currently had bandages on his nose and sounded slightly stuffy, making him rather amusing after the incident with Hojo, though Sephiroth managed not to giggle at him.
Instead, Sephiroth concentrated on looking at the picture she'd drawn, aware that she was looking up at him over her shoulder almost expectantly. "People fighting," he said slowly, "people crippled and dead."
Liam coughed softly, "Maybe it's a medical book?"
Reaching over, Sephiroth flipped through the pages of the book, looking at some of the pictures, "I doubt it. A medical book would likely have pictures of dissections." He stopped at a picture of a monk of some sort seated in a road aflame. It looked rather familiar from what some people had done in protest to the war with Wutai. Shaking his head, he closed the book and watched as Katy sighed, moving onwards.
She picked up a strange apparatus and smiled after flipping open the latch to a compartment. Fiddling with it a moment, she turned towards Sephiroth and stuffed something onto his head. Or tried to. He was a bit too tall and she only managed to get the round foam parts over his ears, the flat arch of it resting on his nose. She giggled, but he barely heard it as there was sound coming from the things over his ears.
"Time's crowd is drastic, The city that it runs through is a savanna. As if it were struggling, as if it were sneaking away, It wants to test this power," a voice sang. Music... Katy messed with the other end of the thing that was connected by a wire and the music changed.
"Sir?" Liam asked, reaching out towards Sephiroth, and the general's eyes snapped towards him, a hand reaching up to remove the headphones. "What was that..?"
Deciding to actually answer the man, Sephiroth stated, "A portable music player."
Meanwhile, Katy had turned it off, stated the name for the main body part of it, then the name of the headphones. Then she opened it, pulling out a flat disk with a prismatic shiny bottom... which she called a 'SeeDee'.
As she went though, she picked up a short bottle of some sort that they had been unable to figure out its use. She blinked at it, sniffed her armpits and popped the cap off, swiftly reaching under her shirt and applying the product under her arms. Pointing at it, she grinned like some commercial for the stuff and stated its name.
Liam stared, "what's that?"
"Deodorant," Sephiroth stated, frowning at the SOLDIER. It WAS rather obvious what the stuff was NOW.
Katy picked up a brush, pulling off one of the stretchy things wrapped around the handle and slipping it on her wrist briefly as she brushed her hair, finally tying it up with the hair band. She stated the names for each of those items as well before putting the brush down and continuing with her tour around the room, displaying the uses for and names of the items in the room.
At least, until another SOLDIER came running in. "Sephiroth- Sir!" He saluted, "Professor Hojo is unconscious-"
Katy paused, looking towards the man with an entirely TOO innocent expression. It was so innocent as to be a neon sign of 'guilty' above her. "I know," Sephiroth stated.
Silence rang a moment, "But sir... aren't you going to... do something about it?"
"Like find out who did it?" the corners of Sephiroth's lips twitched. "There's no need." He got stared at, "After all, I already know who did it." He glanced briefly towards Katy who still managed to retain that tarnished halo, though it was beginning to crumble. She turned her back and started giggling into her hands, though it may have been mistaken for sobs. "Apparently, she thought he was getting fresh with her." His tone of voice clearly stated that ... he did not blame her in the least... and thought it rather amusing. "Don't you have something you need to be doing?"
As soon as the door closed, Katy practically fell over laughing... as if she'd known the whole time what was being said.
Aerith sat in her cage, watching the SOLDIERS pick Hojo up from the floor and cart him off, somewhat amused and shocked from the whole encounter still. She sat against the side of her cage, knees pulled against her chest, though she really wanted to take a long stretch, but the cage wasn't long enough for anything like that.
"Hey girl," one of the soldiers stated, coming to look down at her. "Did you see what happened?"
Blushing, Aerith looked up at him, noting his handsome features beneath a somewhat wild shock of black hair. He looked down at her, his hard expression softening and he crouched, "I'm Zack," he stated.
"Aerith Gainsborough," she replied, moving to sit on her knees, though she had to hunch down on her hands- giving Zack a good view of her teenage breasts. "And I did see," she sated, laughter sparkling in her eyes. "Hojo was setting up for an experiment when Sephiroth came in, dragging a girl with red hair. He stopped about near the table over there and let her go and Hojo came in and told her to come to where he was standing somewhat near me. She stared at him for a bit, then he raised his voice and told her to come again, pointing at the floor in front of him." She burst into giggles then, having to take a moment to compose herself.
Zack waited, one black brow arched above the other, his brown eyes sparkling with interest... though they were staring at what was just below her face currently. "And?"
Finally, Aerith pushed her giggles down enough to answer, "She got this strange disgusted expression and shook her head. I think Sephiroth possibly thought of it too cause he looked disgusted for a moment. Then he pushed her forward and she stopped a bit away from the professor. He grabbed her arm and suddenly she shouted 'Hentai' and decked him." Once more she started giggling. "And Sephiroth just stood there laughing!"
Her laughter was infectious... and Zack- who's mind was already somewhat in the gutter at the moment- imagined the scene... and burst into laughter as well. "Hell! If I was her, I'd be disgusted too!"
After a few moments, Zack and Aerith managed to calm down and stared at each other for a long moment before he asked, "So why are you here?"
She looked down, shifting her position slightly, "I... was the last Cetra... Ancient. Even then, I'm only half, but Hojo has two new full Cetra but he won't let me go."
Zack's brows drew together and he reached out, putting a hand to her cage door, "That's horrible," he said softly, lowering his voice so the others in the room couldn't hear him. "I'll get you out, Aerith," he whispered, "I promise. Probably soon. Hojo probably won't be feeling like doing anything in here for a few days. He really took a beating." Her smile was like sunlight through the clouds and Zack felt his heart flutter. "Promise," he whispered once more and stood, the last to leave the lab... and he glanced back at her from the door.
The building shook, the lights went out... and just in time too. The man who gave Katy her dinner had just arrived. The man dropped the plate and dashed away, shouting something down the hall. Katy gaped ... but then ran for the door, sweeping up the tray on her way out. After all... being shocked over something like that when she could help it was kind of stupid... after all... she might not get the chance to make a run for it again! A thought occurred to her though... She didn't have a keycard. But Hojo might! Beating him again was a wonderful idea.
An evil smirk twisted her lips as she dashed down the hallway, incredibly lucky that the guard that had brought her dinner had run far enough down the hall not to see her when she slipped into the nearest dark corner. She was thankful that her eyes adjusted to the dark quite quickly. The next thumping she heard was not her heart, but thankfully the guard ran back down the hall towards her cell, not noticing her hidden in the corner. Once he was clear, she dashed out and into Hojo's lab, muttering to herself when she realized that the power was out and that the elevator was NOT going to work.
The power came back suddenly, the lights flickering to life though at a lower brightness than before. "Maybe AVALANCH attacked? Though it seems a bit early for them... Is North Corel even burnt down yet?" Katy murmured to herself, pushing her glasses back up and shrugging. "In any case, that means the video cameras are working again, but if I can get Hojo to..." Except that that would require a gun.
Damn, damn and triple damn. She stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the next floor up. She figured she'd just wing it if she could. Her eyes came over the edge of the floor and she breathed a relieved sigh. Hojo was not there. But what was even better was the fact that Zack WAS there, standing in front of the opened dog cage, Buster Sword drawn, the girl peeking out from between his knees. Throwing the gate open as soon as she could, Katy dashed into the room, grinning. "Let's go then!" she said cheerfully, forgetting that they couldn't understand her.
They stared at her blankly for a moment before Aerith slapped Zack's leg and he stepped aside, letting her get up, reaching out and catching hold of her when she swayed, his other hand clipping his sword to his back. He looked at Aerith, questioned her about something, and at her shrug, he gestured for Katy to follow.
The tall black haired man led the way to the stairs where he used a key card and opened the door, allowing Aerith and Katy in first before following behind and pointing down the stars. With a sigh Katy started down, making sure to peek around the corner before going down past a door. After several flights of stairs, Zack took the lead, opening a door and stepping out to look around.
Katy nearly groaned. The stupid hide behind the busts and sneak past the guards room! She COULD get through this part of the game, but it was always tedious and annoying. She watched as Zack stepped out, calling out to the guards jovially easily distracting them, his hand swished behind him and Aerith remained still. Frowning, Katy grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her across the open space into the other room across the way. Moving to the other door, Katy pulled her out just in time to see Zack start joking with the other pair of guards standing in front of the elevators slapping their shoulders and covertly swiping some keys hanging half out of one of the men's pockets. Pulling her towards the elevator, into it, and stuffing her into a corner out of sight.
Finally, Zack came... swiftly before the elevator got called elsewhere and stepped in, looking towards Aerith and Katy giving a smile. Katy looked back at Aerith, seeing the confusion on her face. And finding this the PERFECT time to quote Xelloss from Slayers, Katy lifted one finger, cocked her head to the side, closing her eyes with her smile and stated, "Sore wa himitsu desu." In other words: That is a secret!
Aerith slid close to Zack, watching as Katy moved to look out the glass of the elevator, arms folded on her chest. Still she hadn't managed to find Michelle, but she'd learn enough of the language and come back to save her friend... before Hojo had his way with her hopefully.
The elevator stopped and Katy turned towards the door, fully expecting the Turks to walk in... instead, this appeared to be the floor they were getting off on for Zack took hold of Aerith's arm and led her out. Past the desks of several people, Zack walked with confidence, talking with Aerith as Katy trailed behind, the people at the desks looking up from their work and staring at the trio. Finally, they came to the metal box of an elevator, entering it and heading downwards once more. Katy leaned against the wall, watching as Zack stood in front of the door, Aerith and herself behind him. He seemed ready for anything though he'd acted as if there was nothing wrong in front of everyone else.
He had to, Katy knew, otherwise they'd suspect... of course, with how SHE looked currently, how could they NOT suspect already. Oh well. Zack knew what he was doing. She hoped anyway. The elevator dinged softly and Zack paused, looking around the dimly lit area that lay before him, then gestured for them to follow, jogging across what appeared to be a parking lot.
Pulling out the keys, he unlocked the door of a beat up old car in about the same shape as Katy's Bonneville, and gestured for Aerith and Katy to get in. Katy paused though, looking at him with a slight smile. "Go," she gestured back towards the door. "Shoo." He stared at her, "Sephiroth!" she stated, gesturing back towards the elevator as she took the keys from him the moment he looked back. He blinked when she pulled the door shut, and started up the car easily. Looking back towards him, she made another gesture towards the elevator and started off.
She didn't know where she was being taken, but Aerith had to sit quietly for the ride. Amazingly, the strange Cetra knew how to drive, and she did well at it, though she didn't quite go the speed limit, Aerith figured that that was as fast as the girl wished to go on some of the streets, mostly just matching the speed of the traffic. Ahead loomed the corner of the street Aerith usually stood on selling her flowers, and from there she could find her way home... but what of this other Cetra?
Looking towards the girl, she gestured towards the right, pointing at the turn coming up. A nod was given and slowing down- and easy turning on of the blinker. The turn was taken smoothly and Aerith pointed straight. Despite her apparent inability to understand words, she seemed to know what was going on, as well as a healthy respect for Sephiroth. Though she wished Zack had come with them, she saw the wisdom of leaving the first class SOLDIER there to deal with Sephiroth as well as to turn eyes away from connecting the theft of a car from the parking lot and their escape... and himself.
Blinking, Aerith came out of her thoughts, pointed at a street on the left. Nodding, the girl slowed and made the turn around the dark corner and when Aerith pointed at the train station parking lot, the girl pulled in and parked. Aerith stepped out, looking back the way they'd come, then towards the train station, closing the door of the old brown four door. Then realized that the other girl hadn't gotten out yet. Leaning down, she looked through the window to find the girl wiping everything down with a dirty shirt that had been in the back seat. After wiping off the keys, she dropped them onto the front seat and got out, wiping off the handle of the door and edge of the door. Shutting the door using the hand holding the shirt, she came around to Aerith's side, doing the same to the handle and edge of the door.
Finally, the girl nodded and headed towards the train station, dropping the shirt in the trash. How Aerith wanted to ask the girl what she was doing, but her inability to speak coherently was frustrating. Jogging, the flower girl took the lead and approached the station worker who was a friend of hers and bought flowers often. "Otis," she called. He looked towards them, smiling slightly.
"Oh girl, haven't seen you in a while... who's your friend?" the old man's eyes were going bad, but he wasn't blind yet, simply farsighted and somewhat slumped around the spine area. The other Cetra stopped, turning and watching the area, giving Aerith a look that plainly said that she hoped the flower girl wasn't doing something stupid.
Aerith smiled, "Otis, I need a favor. We don't have any money, but we need to get on the train."
He looked her over, then looked at the other girl, frowning slightly, "You two girls gotten in trouble?" he asked slowly.
Blushing guiltily, Aerith immediately shook her head, "Uh no! Not at all!" she gave a fake laugh- and got slapped in the arm by the Cetra girl and frowned at. "Actually..." Aerith said truthfully.
However, before she could finish her sentence, Otis stepped aside from the door. "You'd better get on before the train leaves then."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Aerith pressed her hand against her chest, "Oh thank you, Otis, thank you." Reaching out, she took hold of the girl's arm and they climbed into the train, seating themselves as the train started.
Katy sat sideways in the seat, arm on the back of the seat, eyes looking out into the night, or maybe it was day? It WAS Midgar after all: strangely beautiful, yet sadistically sick- far worse than any city in her world. After all, the cities of her world weren't sucking the life out of the planet directly; killing all the animals and plants in the immediate area yes, but not making it so that no life could ever exist there again because the world had been sucked dry.
Aerith sat beside her, silent once more after the incident with the train guy. But she kept glancing towards the somewhat older girl. Katy cast a smile towards her, "Katy," she touched her chest, then pointed at Aerith, "Aerith," and back at herself, "Katy." Aerith sat in shock, gaping. Katy sniggered, finding it actually kinda fun to do that to them. Sighing, she returned her attention out the window, wondering why the card scanners weren't working or whatever. Oh well, one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
As for the train, it pulled to a stop in the slums finally. Aerith got to her feet and Katy followed, walking behind the girl, eyes watching out for thugs that might think little girls wandering around by themselves were tasty treats. A set of creepy men wandered out of a dark crevice in the piles of junk, looking at them with wolfish grins. Katy moved closer to Aerith, placing a hand on the girl's back and pushing her walk just a bit faster, taking them past the thugs as swiftly as possible. They didn't follow though.
After a glance back, Katy sighed with relief, then turned her attention to watching for more dangerous foe.
Aerith padded along, aware of the girl's hand on her back, pushing her along, feeling somewhat worried with the heat coming off her hand... and how shaky it had become. She couldn't have been more relieved when she saw her house and she burst into a run, dashing up to the door and throwing it open, glancing back to see that the other Cetra girl got in before shutting it.
Darkness engulfed them- until Aerith hit the light switch, just as a pair of feet came into view from the stairs. "Who's there?" Elmyra's voice called, then she came into full view. Face lighting up with excitement, the middle aged woman hurried down the stares and threw her arms around her adopted daughter, "Aerith, oh Aerith!" she breathed, squishing the slender flower girl against her breast, finally moving back only to cup Aerith's face in her hands and shower kisses. "Oh Aerith! I was so worried!" tears flowed like rain from them both, but Aerith's eyes strayed past her mother, watching as the full Cetra sat at the table and put her head on it.
"Mom- can we talk in a bit?" she asked, pulling her mom's hands off her face and pointed. "I think she may be sick."
Elmyra looked back, blinking a moment before moving closer to gently pry her unexpected guest up from the table and put her hand to the dirty girl's forehead. "Doesn't have a fever. More looks tired, worn out, and certainly needs a bath. Both of you need baths. Where did you find her?"
Aerith slowly took a seat at the table, "She helped me escape... Mom," she looked up at the woman, "Hojo said she's a full blooded Cetra."
Slowly, Elmyra stopped petting the redheaded girl's back and looked down at the slumped and tired form. "Dear?" she asked softly, shaking the girl's shoulder, watching as the Cetra lifted her head and blinked.
"I don't think she can understand you. I heard Sephiroth say something about trying to learn her language," Aerith answered. "But maybe she'd like something to eat... I know I haven't eaten yet."
Elmyra reluctantly left the girl's side and went into the kitchen searching in the fridge for something she could swiftly heat up. "Take her to get a bath, this will take about ten minutes." Nodding, Aerith stood, coming over to help the other girl stand and leading her to the bathroom.
Warmth... fed... bathed... rested... free. Yes, Katy was quite happy at the moment and she lay in the bed, curled up among the blankets that Cloud would eventually sleep on. Stupid man. Sighing, she snuggled further into the soft mattress, hearing the thumps of life from downstairs and not wanting to go join them. After all, she'd be tempted to speak, join the conversation... but she couldn't... Besides, Aerith needed time to catch up with her mom and tell her everything about Zack.
Alas, the smell of food was too much to handle... GOOD food at that. Katy got to her feet, getting dressed in some of Elmyra's old clothes, not being the right body shape for Aerith's... The girl was built like Michelle. Looking down at herself, Katy idly wished she could've been built like Tifa...
With a sigh, Katy headed down the stairs, padding into the dining-living room, and flopping into a chair at the table. Yawning behind her hand, she listened idly to the babbling talk of the two other females in the kitchen. They'd noticed her entrance, but had decided to leave her be. That was fine.
However, Elmyra turned towards her, said something, and waited a moment. Katy stared at her, quirking a brow and finally shaking her head with a shrug. Slowly, the woman returned to speaking with her daughter. The name Hojo, Sephiroth, and Zack came up often. Softly, she giggled, thinking of the beating she'd given Hojo... or more like the one-sided catfight. After all, Hojo didn't qualify as either a male or female. He was just gross. Folding her hands on the table, she looked at the flowers, smiling slightly.
It WAS nice to see something fresh and green after so long in either her cell and going through the city. Even at home there were trees and grass... and pollen. Lots of pollen that made her sick with allergies...
Aerith watched as the strange girl stared at her mother after Elmyra asked if she wanted water or milk. "See?" Her gaze returned to the older woman and Elmyra scraped at the eggs with a spatula, "In any case, she helped me escape. She knew my name too. I don't know... it's like she knows me almost as well as I know myself and it's a little bit frightening." Her eyes strayed back towards the girl, watching the slight smile on the girl's lips fade and disappear as if it'd never been there, Katy's eyes gazing distantly at the flowers. Perhaps the Cetra was disappointed in the world as it was?
"Are you going to try seeing that Zack again?" Elmyra asked.
Immediately, a smile came to Aerith's lips and she laughed, "I might... he seemed pretty nice. Certainly handsome."
Elmyra scraped the scrambled eggs into a bowl and handed them to Aerith, who set them on the table, "I just want you to stay here a few days... let things calm down a bit before going back up there. Your garden has missed you."
Green eyes turned towards the older woman and Aerith smiled sweetly, "Alright."
The rest of the meal followed and plates were distributed. Katy paused a moment, watching the other two simply start into their breakfast and she followed suit, glad that they weren't going to pray. She was hungry for some bacon! Conversation flowed over her and she ignored it for the most part, though she wished dearly that she could understand. It was like the time she'd tried playing that SNES Slayers game on an emulator on her computer... only the battle commands were translated.
Finishing off her breakfast and forcing herself not to swipe more bacon, Katy waited while Elmyra and Aerith finished eating, her eyes drifting around the room, looking out the window above the kitchen sink and wondering if the birds had all been killed by cars or the smog. Though she stopped that thought where it was. She didn't want to think about home again and start crying in a place where she couldn't complain to anyone about how much she missed her parents.
How long HAD she been there?
Her question, and attention was diverted by Aerith getting up, picking up plates- including the plate with four strips of bacon left on it and heading towards the trash can and starting to scrape off the remains. Getting to her feet, she reached out and snagged the bacon before it was sacrificed to the gods of the trash. Aerith blinked at her, but smiled and shrugged somewhat.
Turning, Katy headed towards the door, opening it and stepping out into the gloom that was the slums of Midgar, her path turning towards the garden tucked against the outer wall of the slums somehow there was sunlight here and Katy stepped into a patch of it, turning her face upwards, eyes closing. After a moment, she bowed her head once again, sniffling somewhat and giving a shake of her head before heading off further into the garden.
A large stone was set in the garden and Katy climbed atop it and sat, nibbling on her bacon, finally noticing Aerith who'd followed her out. The flower girl had gone to dig in the garden not that far away, her eyes straying up from the flowers she was tending and to the redhead every now and then.
Silence persisted. With a sigh, Katy put her now empty hands on the rock, leaning forward to watch Aerith. Softly, she began singing Aerith's theme from the game, watching as the girl lifted her head slightly but didn't look back, instead staring straight forward.
Oh so quietly, Aerith began to sing along, a lovely second soprano that matched Katy's rather well. Grinning, Katy sat back and continued to sing 'la la la' to the tune as those were the only words she really knew that would go with it. At least, it wasn't quiet anymore.
Maybe a week passed, or seven days. Or maybe nine, or ten... In any case, Katy realized all over again that she HATED her period. At least they had kotex in this world, after all, what kind of hell would the world be without pads?
The days sped by without incident, or word from Zack or even about what had happened when the power went out. Nor was there word if Sephiroth or Hojo were mad about their getting away. She hoped Seph was alright now. After all, she'd been making some headway with him... getting him to find her amusing at least. But that was as good a start as any. She needed to find him again though. She did NOT want him going to Nibelheim! Or if he did, she wanted to be there.
She stood on the corner with Aerith, wearing a quaint little dress that was one of Elmyra's older ones, feeling rather strange and hating the weird feeling she got when her legs were bald. Her hair was pulled into a French braid over the top of her head, holding back her bangs while the rest was left to hang in waves behind her shoulders. It HAD been fun to have her hair done, but she felt uncomfortable in the dress, yet had no way to tell them without being impolite... besides, it was clean clothes and all Elmyra seemed to wear was dresses.
Her hands, holding one of Aerith's baskets of flowers, she stood watching while the girl called out to strangers. How wrong it felt... like someone was watching them. Katy didn't really want to be there, but Aerith had gone and Katy almost wanted to get caught again. Not by Hojo, but she hoped Sephiroth had been sent out to get them.
Alas, her hopes weren't answered- at least not this time. The day went by without incident and they returned to Aerith's house unbothered. Amazingly, they weren't even bugged by the thugs, which made her wonder if Aerith had had some boyfriends before Zack that took care of things. After all, she seemed to go for the strong guys... but who didn't? Aerith was probably going to go back again tomorrow, maybe at least Zack will show up and she could ask- in Pictionary terms- when they were going to Nibelheim.
President Shinra was TIRED of hearing Hojo's complaints about losing two of his Cetra, but until the Turks found them, there wasn't much he could do but listen.
Hojo, still recovering from his one-sided catfight, stood before the president's desk, scowling, "I want them back, otherwise I can't do a thing with my research. Your Turks are slacking off and there's no excuse for it!"
"Don't you have the other one?" the president asked, puffing on his cigar, his rounded belly jiggling somewhat as he leaned back in his chair after knocking ash off into the trey on his large and expensive desk.
The professor stood still for a long moment, staring through his half-moon glasses at the president. "Naomi is still being infused with Mako and will not be even close to being useful for another month. I started my original tests with the one and to switch to Naomi would ruin everything. The other one will be used for something else, perhaps breeding with Sephiroth. If I'm careful, she won't die, and being Cetra, she should last longer than Sephiroth's Host Mother."
Softly, the fat blonde man- though he had a ring around the cranium- sighed, "The Turks are working on it, Hojo. Have more patience with them. Go... do something else, Hojo, I have other things that need to be attended to." Sharp blue eyes stared at the scientist from beneath heavy lids. No, he didn't get to the top by being stupid. Hojo was valuable, but he needed to remember his place in the grand scheme of things. Pouting, Hojo retreated down the stairs, his lab coat fluttering behind him as he walked.
They sat in Aerith's church, the girl in pink pulling weeds from the flowers that grew in the center of the broken floor. Katy sat in a pew at the front, staring up at the ceiling, which did not have a hole in it currently, Cloud had NOT fallen through it yet. How the hell a roof could break someone's fall... Damn, that'd have to hurt.
Of course, it WAS a game. Can't let the hero die that early in the game. Hero Shield indeed! Katy just hoped she had one, though, so far things seem to have proven that she did. After all, how else could she have survived this long?
"Mimimimi mimimimimimimimimimi Flowers mimimimimimi mimimimi?" Aerith said, looking back at Katy... or more, she said her word for flowers, "Flowers pick, come?" she tried when she got stared at. Slowly, Katy had learned a few words of the language, but nothing either of interest or much use unless you were talking about flowers or cooking. It was hard to understand the words sometimes as well, simply because of the tendency to speak everything practically backwards. But then, she probably thought the same thing when Katy tried using words of their language. Hard way to learn Japanese, that's for sure, though Katy wasn't quite sure it WAS Japanese.
Getting to her feet, she brushed the back of her long skirt off and came to crouch near Aerith, watching as the girl carefully picked flowers and put them into the basket she'd brought with her. Moving to the other side of the garden, Katy started doing the same, though she simply put them into her skirt and carried them back over to the basket where she set them in, all the blooms facing the same direction, leaning against the side of the basket. Another trip like that and Aerith gestured for her to stop. Picking up the basket, Aerith turned towards the door- and stopped.
Reno stood leaning against the frame of the door, his clothes rumpled, hair a mess, and a cig hanging from his lips. The tall lanky man lifted a long hand to his cigarette and took it from his lips, holding it aside and tapping the ash from it. "Hello Aerith," he said, sharp eyes watching as the redhead backed up a step or two, frowning slightly, her glasses reflecting light and hiding her eyes.
The flower girl straightened, "Hello, Reno," she returned, offering a bit of a smile.
"I'm not here to capture you two, just visiting," he stated, puffing on his cigarette once more.
Aerith glanced back at Katy, casting the girl a smile. "Oh, so you're off duty right now?" He nodded slightly. "We were just heading to the upper plate." She gestured slightly with her basket, stepping forward. She could hear Katy's soft sneakers shuffling behind her as she walked. If only she could reassure the girl that it was alright. She seemed to be rather nervous around men for some reason. Perhaps the girl had gotten raped? Or maybe she didn't like guys like that? Either way, Aerith couldn't just ask her. The language barrier was still a solid wall ... and Aerith was FAR too embarrassed to draw stick figures to demonstrate the concept.
"You shouldn't," Reno stated, breaking into her thoughts. "Sephiroth's been put on search duty for you as well. Hojo insisted."
The girl perked up immediately, "Sephiroth?" she asked, gaining both Reno and Aerith's attention. With a faint blush, Katy spoke again, "Sephiroth-" her hand lifted to shade her eyes and she made as if she were looking for something, then pointed at herself and Aerith. "Hai? Iie?"
"What?" Reno asked, pushing off the splintering wood of the door frame, his hand taking the cigarette from his mouth and tapping the ash from it once more.
Aerith nodded, "Hai," she stated to Katy, then looked back at the Turk, "She was asking if Sephiroth was looking for us. She always puts nouns at the beginning of her 'sentences', but once you start thinking backwards, she gets easier to understand. At least she tries to get straight to the point."
Giving a snort, Reno looked towards Katy, noting the dreamy look on her face. "Why would she care?" he fell silent, and the redheaded girl turned her attention back towards him... finally. "Unless she's got something for the bastard."
Aerith laughed, "I don't think so. She seems rather scared of men as far as I've seen." Shrugging, "I could ask though." Pausing, Aerith thought a moment on how to ask, finally pointing at Katy, "Sephiroth," she hugged on Reno- inadvertently pleasing the Turk who smirked slightly.
Katy stared, processing the words and gestures. Finally grinning mischievously, "Bishonen," she agreed.
"Well. That answers that question," Aerith murmured, putting a hand to her face.
Reno laughed slightly, "She must be masochistic."
Turning a frown towards Reno, "That's mean to say of her. She isn't... I don't think so anyway. If you'll excuse us, we've got a train to catch." She started past Reno, but was stopped by his catching hold of her wrist.
"I really don't think you should," he told her truthfully. "The place is crawling with SOLDIER and Sephiroth's lurking around up there. Here, I'll buy your flowers-" Reno was stopped by Katy swiping the basket and skipping out the doors past him. Aerith gave a bright laugh and slipped from his grip, dashing after the other girl. "Damnit," he muttered, throwing his cig down and stomping on it as he headed after the two.
Though he couldn't stand near them, he COULD watch from across the street. After all, if anyone saw him with them- specially a Shinra employee who knew that he was supposed to be out looking for them- he'd get in trouble for not doing his job, even though he was technically off duty today. Reno huffed slightly, blowing smoke from his nose and watching it trail upwards again, forming a halo around Aerith.
Katy stood by Aerith's side again, her hair done into several braids wound around her head, bangs left loose but curled. Aerith enjoyed playing with hair, but that was alright, after all, she didn't pull it painfully like Katy's sister did sometimes. Her gaze wandered the area, noting Reno standing leaning against a lamppost some ways down the street, having another smoke. She'd have to illustrate to him what would happen. She sniggered slightly to herself, briefly imagining how she'd do it.
However, her attention was caught by someone else... It wasn't Sephiroth, but Aerith might enjoy this encounter. Nudging the girl, Katy leaned in, "Zack- Bishonen?" Aerith's blush was rather humorous and the girl contrived to have Aerith's back turned towards the direction Zack was coming from, though she kept an eye on him... yeah, he'd seen them and was coming. "Aerith ai Zack!" Katy teased.
"Oh! So what if I think he's cute?" Aerith burst out with, fluffing up like a flustered bird.
Perfect timing. "You do?"
Katy burst out laughing, turning around and rapping her arms around herself. "Woot! Mimimi mimimi mimi mimimi mimimimimimi mimimi mimi!"
Aerith's face was an alarming shade of red. Slowly, she turned to face Zack who was looking down at her with an amused grin. "Uh..." was all she managed to squeeze from her throat.
His grin widened, "I'm flattered you think so, lady!" he stated, putting one fist on his hip and striking a pose. "After all, I am your knight in shining armor!"
Still, she was unable to speak, so he continued, aware of the redhead's continuing giggles. "She's rather manipulative, don't you think?"
"Yes... sometimes..." Aerith managed to squeeze out. "Um... how... how have you been? You... didn't get in trouble, did you?"
Zack shook his head, "I was surprised actually... Sephiroth even asked me directly if I'd done it. He reads minds, so I couldn't get away with lying, but he didn't care. He's supposed to be out looking for you... as are the Turks-"
"Reno," Katy stated, pointing towards the Turk, waving towards him.
Zack blinked, watching as the Turk lit up another cigarette and scowled in their direction. "Oh... I guess he's off duty," Zack guessed.
Aerith nodded, "Yes, he tried to stop us from coming up here today, but Katy wanted to." Casting a glance back at the girl, she stated, "Katy Ai Sephiroth." The redhead looked at her and grinned mischievously, winking. Aerith was disappointed that she couldn't embarrass Katy about what she freely admitted to.
Giving a snort, Zack shook his head, "It's still dangerous for you two to be up here. Shinra sent Sephiroth out, and the general only gets sent on things that really need to be done and it doesn't matter if they're done quietly."
The flower girl sighed, "But I need the money... With three to feed..."
Briefly, he looked confused, his eyes trailing downwards. She frowned at him, "My mother, myself, and Katy." His brows lifted and he gave a soft 'oh' and grinned once more. "We'll be alright with Reno watching over us."
"Except when he goes on duty," Zack reminded, glancing towards the Turk once more. "I'm supposed to be out looking for you as well, but I'll tell them that I didn't see you. I'll even lie to Sephiroth," though he was fairly sure that the general would see through that immediately, the man had a knack for spotting things like that. But Aerith didn't need to know that.
Katy turned her back towards the two, unable to understand what they were talking about, but had piped in with Reno's location when she heard something resembling 'Turks' said. She had no clue if it was in a timely manner or even fit in with the conversation, but they knew now. Reaching over, she took the basket of flowers from Aerith's grip, stepping a few feet away to give them a bit more 'privacy', after all, three's company. An elderly man ambled up to her, asked something involving the word 'flowers', "Itch Gil," Katy replied, trying to pick up some idea of what he was saying from expressions and gestures. He pulled out three coins and Katy identified them as gil easily, taking the money and handing him three flowers in return.
Dropping the money into the basket at the end of the stems, she looked around, watching as another SOLDIER went past, looked their direction, but went on by. Perhaps he thought that if they were the ones they were looking for, Zack wouldn't be flirting with one of them. After all, Zack WAS first class. What Katy wondered was if Cloud had not made it, then how much better at the sword was Zack? It was an interesting question, but one she couldn't readily ask at the time. After all... did Zack even currently KNOW Cloud? Possibly.
Another elderly person made their way towards Katy, but she couldn't tell the gender of the thing, just that it was yelling at her. "Itch gil?" she offered, trying to hold her ground before the flapping arms of the creature. Her eyes strayed towards Aerith, who was still talking with Zack. "Aerith!" Katy called, gaining the girl's attention and she immediately caught hold of the old person's hands, speaking gently and possibly explaining that the redhead hadn't meant to be rude in any way. Taking a flower from the basket, she pressed it into the hand of the strange bag of bones and wrinkles. Stated, the creature wandered off, muttering to itself.
Aerith gave a gentle smile, patting the hand that held the basket and Katy pouted slightly, waving her free hand back towards Zack. With one last reassuring look, Aerith turned back towards her boyfriend.
Thankfully, no other incidents occurred, except when one somewhat younger man tried to start up a conversation with her and got stared at blankly for it. Sadly, it was a cute guy that seemed rather kind. Alas, friendships, and certainly love, could not be based only on looks. Besides, if he'd been able to understand Katy, he may have been quite disgusted. After all, her sense of humor wasn't the cleanest.
Zack stood with them all day, leaning against the wall and talking with Aerith while Katy sold the flowers and tried to keep a watch out. Reno left around afternoon, either back on duty or off to a bar now that he was assured that Zack wasn't going to take them in. Evening rolled around and Aerith reluctantly said goodbye to Zack and led Katy back to the train station, heading back down to Sector 7.
Zack walked with a smile pinned to his lips... after all, he'd met an angel! Meandering out of the elevator and onto the floor that housed the first class soldiers, he neglected to watch where he was going- and nearly ran into Sephiroth.
Blinking, he straightened and saluted the general who stood with his arms folded on his chest. "Where did you see them?"
Gulping, Zack blinked, "See who?"
Sephiroth's expression didn't changed, but he didn't look amused. "The two Cetra."
Forcing himself not to look away, Zack let the lie slip past his lips, "I haven't seen them sir."
"You're trying my patience," was the subtle threat and Zack began to sweat. Silence persisted. Zack dropped his eyes, and still felt Sephiroth's gaze burning a hole in his head. A snort, and Sephiroth reached out, grabbing hold of Zack's shirt, pulling the slightly younger man closer. "If you're trying to protect them, you're not doing a good job."
"I'm doing the best I can, sir," Zack replied with, lifting his head and meeting Sephiroth's eyes once more, finding strength not in the lie, but in the truth.
Silence fell again, and finally, Sephiroth let him go. "If I had actually had any interest in finding them, I would have found them by now," the general was forced to point out. "I would at least like to know of a general area to avoid in my 'search'."
A startled laugh escaped Zack and the young man's shoulders began to shake. "Once I think I've figured you out, you go and do something else!" Zack shook his head slowly, "The corner of Third and Prince. Aerith sells flowers there, the other girl is helping her." He paused a moment, "She likes you, the redhead that is..."
Sephiroth quirked a brow, looking uninterested despite, "You should be more careful in who you let see you."
"Well... if I'm there and not taking them in, then wouldn't it be assumed that those two aren't the ones we're looking for? I've never disobeyed orders before... and neither have you."
The general leaned against the wall once more, as he had been doing when Zack came in. "Did you happen to find out where they're staying?"
"In sector five slums, I think there would be a garden there somewhere," Zack replied, trusting Sephiroth not to use this information to bring them in. After all... if the man had truly meant to catch them, he would have done so by now; instead of wandering around the richer parts of the city. "Any word on Harold's car?" Sephiroth shook his head, gaze drifting off towards the opposite wall... a somewhat glazed look in his eyes. "I've had my heart in my throat all day and it's rather tiring, good night Sephiroth." This didn't catch the general's attention, so Zack moved on past the man, heading into the room he shared with two other guys.
The silence was deafening. And Katy couldn't stand it anymore. She could almost think she was beginning to forget how to speak her own language. She'd managed to sneak out of the house and into the garden without making a sound, and now she sat on the rock in the garden with the silence tearing at her heart. "I'm so lonely," she whispered softly to herself, her nightgown covered knees pulled against her chest. Well... the thing she was wearing more resembled a muumuu, but she slept in it anyway.
"Mommy... Daddy. Samantha... I miss them. I miss Samantha's slamming the doors and yelling at me. I miss hugging her and getting teased by her. I miss cuddling on mom and dad. I miss being able to understand other people. I miss being misunderstood in everything I said because no one could think the way I do. Most of all... I miss being told I'm loved." Yes, she was desperate enough to hear words she could understand that she would talk to herself. As her words progressed, more tears fell and her voice moved into a normal volume. "I miss Chris even... And Michow... I haven't even figured out where she is... probably Hojo's experiment by now. Good friend that I am."
Something touched her back, blinking, she reached back to brush whatever it was away- and found hair instead. Looking back fearfully, she found a broad shoulder and long silver hair, Sephiroth's profile and glowing green eyes staring back at her. Sighing with relief, Katy moved a bit, allowing him a bit more of the rock to sit on, and leaned against his back. "I wish I could ask you how long you'd been there," she said softly, figuring that he'd heard quite a bit of her monologue already, why not continue it. "But I can't. And I wish I could tell you that everything will be alright and that I'm trying to make sure that nothing bad happens to you... A lot's already happened that you didn't deserve and it's not fair that you have to deal with it. I believe you can be a beautiful person if you were just shown how. You had no control over what or who you were born as." She stopped talking a moment, feeling him shift slightly against her back. "Wo ai ne, Sephiroth." It was so easy to tell him that... specially when she wasn't sure he even understood. But she left it at that, letting him think about it maybe.
Silence met her for the longest time. Yet he wanted to speak... And she couldn't understand him... yet she knew that he couldn't understand her and she'd simply talked. She already seemed to know him, maybe she'd understand on some level. "I keep dreaming of you," he said softly, feeling her sigh against his back and slight shifting to snuggle up against him better, it was a bit chill out tonight. "You tell me things in these dreams, and I understand, but when I wake, I can't remember what you said. I want to know... what power have you over me?" once started, the words flowed, but paused from time to time, and he had to pull them out of the pit he'd thrown all thoughts into when he had realized he was different and that no one would understand. "I almost want you to be able to understand me... but maybe it's better this way. You can't tell anyone what you heard."
"Wo ai ne, Sephiroth," she said once more and he felt her turn, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, her face pressed into his hair, breath warm on his neck. "Bishonen," she murmured, though obviously didn't mean it in the context the word was usually used in. It was a word she knew though, and that came close to what she wanted to tell him. "I understand your pain."
His eyes widened and he nearly choked. Had she really said that? Had he really heard her say that? Suddenly, his eyes began to sting and he lifted a hand to rub one of them, startled as the tear slid out and swiftly down the smooth planes of his cheek to drip from his chin. Her arms tightened around him slightly, firm, but gentle, her fingers clutching the fabric of his black shirt. Silence fell once more, but it was one neither truly wanted to break.
He wasn't really sure how it had happened... just that she'd finally let him go, and left him cold where she'd been for so long. At one point, she'd fallen asleep against him and Sephiroth had been careful not to move and make her fall. How strange it was to have someone trust him enough to sleep in his presence... even in the war those under his command had been wary of him, keeping their tents some distance from his.
But she'd slept ON him.
'I understand your pain' she'd said. He was sure he'd heard it. Maybe she'd learned the words... someone had gotten the concept of 'understanding' across to her and she'd repeated the word? But how could she have gotten the grammar so perfect? Maybe he hadn't heard it? Maybe he was just desperate and had let himself imagine it? In any case, he'd heard her tell him she loved him. He had heard her tell him in simplified words that she thought him beautiful.
His trek back to the tower was long... but only because he took his time and once entering his room, only took off his boots before flopping into bed. Sephiroth was ready for his hentai dreams this night. After all, was it really so bad? She was cute, and did feel something for him... and she understood his pain.
Slowly, he fell into sleep, and let what had become his new reoccurring dream take over. It was FAR better than his old dreams which were usually suppressed memories of Hojo's experiments. She understood though. She knew about all that and loved him anyway. His last truly conscious thought was that he felt like he was flying... that something had been lifted from him, the door to his cage opened and he'd been set free.
