Wheee, lookie, I'm back! Yeah, go fig, eh? I decided to actually try and accomplish something, and I did. Amazing.

Anyway...

As a note that everyone should read if they know what's good for them... this is where I deviate a great deal from the usual Final Fantasy VII timeline/plot. (You'll understand by the end) And that's okay of course, because this is a combination of two fandoms and therefore can't be canon no matter how hard I try. So just keep that in mind while you read, please oh please!

Aerith's song courtesy of star, who was kind enough to send me the lyrics.

Takes place after Kairi's rescue; contains spoilers for the end of Kingdom Hearts.

Written from Cloud's perspective.

Ephemeral Blossoms

Akai Kitsune

Part 15: A Walk in the Clouds

A song drifted to my ears, and I clenched my eyes shut even more tightly, feeling a sudden warmth against my skin as I became aware of the world around me. I shifted my hand a little, feeling something soft and slightly damp beneath me. What was that...?

Familiar...

My ears caught a faint sound, growing in volume as footsteps approached where I lay. Gradually I recognized it as a song, and though the lyrics were unfamiliar, I found the voice itself very soothing. I relaxed on my makeshift bed, listening in silence, as the voice continued to sing, and someone knelt beside me.

"... wings...

... unseen only by eyes...

... held by undecorated hearts..."

Hearts...

Heartless! The train!

Something cold and wet pressed against my forehead, and my eyes snapped open as I suddenly remembered what had happened.

I was lying on a bed of grass, flowers scattered here and there. Above me I could feel the sun shining through a rather unorthodox hole in the roof - I winced in memory of how that must have gotten there. A girl sat beside me, her song cut off abruptly, startled by my sudden movement. She moved her hand away, and I reached up to touch my forehead, feeling the cloth she had placed there. She was... taking care of me?

I turned back to her, bracing my arms against the grass beneath me and struggling to sit up. She was pretty, I couldn't help but notice, with brilliant green eyes and brown hair tied in a long braid that trailed down her back. Wearing only a plain pink dress and the most gentle smile I'd ever been graced with, she was by far the only one who could make such simplicity so... breathtaking.

She lifted her hand, taking the cloth from my lap where it had fallen as I sat up, and offered it to me. "I'm glad you woke up," she said quietly, her smile widening. "I'm sorry about that... I don't sing very well."

I frowned at this, though I said nothing; it had been the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard. She misinterpreted my expression and giggled a little, blushing. "You think so too, hm? Well, I suppose listening is the least you could do for breaking through my roof."

I burned bright red. "I... it wasn't my fault," I muttered, even though it certainly had been. Just... not all my fault.

She laughed again, covering her mouth with one hand. A few silver bracelets jingled at her wrist. "Well, I'm sure it's a very interesting story. And it's very nice to meet you - I'm Aerith. Who are you?"

I lowered my gaze, keeping my hands limp at my sides. I was too sore to move, besides, I doubted she'd want to shake my hand anyway. I caught sight of a flower being crushed beneath my claw and I hastily moved it aside, wincing inwardly.

"Cloud," I finally answered in a lame voice. I reached up and rubbed my left shoulder, half out of nervousness and half because it was beginning to ache again. A quick glance in that direction told me that the wing was gone once again, to my immense relief. Explaining that would have been a chore I'd much rather avoid.

Aerith's smile faded, her hands clasped together in her lap. "Cloud... you... you've changed a little."

I blinked. "What?"

She pursed her lips tightly. "When I first found you, you had... something on your back-"

Protective anger flared in my eyes, and I snapped, "It was nothing!"

She jumped, surprised, and the anger faltered. I looked down again, face flushed, but unable to speak further. It wasn't her business, anyway.

I didn't want to be treated like a freakshow...

"Is it painful?"

My eyes widened, and I stared over at her. She watched me carefully, concern in her gaze, but some curiousity, too.

Wasn't she scared?

I was quiet for a long time, unable to answer. Finally I replied, "Why aren't you afraid of it?"

"Should I be?"

She countered with yet another question, and I sighed in frustration, raking my claw through my hair. "I don't know. It's not something I can control, so whether or not it's painful shouldn't matter."

She smiled gently. "I'm sorry you think that. Pain can teach you things, just as easily as any joy. But only if you understand it."

I blinked uncomprehensively, and she covered her mouth, eyes wide. "I-I'm sorry! That made no sense. If you don't want to talk about it-"

"I don't," I interjected, cutting her off again. I was being rude, I knew, but so was she. Dealing with Zack and Tifa's questions would be hard enough - I didn't want to explain myself to a stranger.

My eyes widened as I remembered my companions. How long had it been since I left the train?

They'll be worried... I need to find them...

I tried to get up, but she placed her hands on my shoulders, trying to push me back. "Don't strain yourself! You're still recovering from a long fall, and you'll only hurt yourself again if you're not careful."

"I'm fine," I muttered, ignoring her protests and standing up. She hesitated for a moment, and then stood as well.

"You don't look fine," she noted, as I wavered on my feet. She giggled a little when I stumbled through my first step, and I glared at her, but there was no real mockery in her expression. After a moment she took my arm, a smile still on her face. "Here, I'll help you if you help me."

My gaze drifted to where her hand touched me. "Help... you?" I questioned.

Aerith's eyes glinted with amusement. "I need you off my flowers, don't I?"

Flushing with embarrassment, I let her lead me away from the odd little garden, finally getting a better look at my surroundings. "You live in a church?"

She laughed more softly this time. "No, I don't live here. But I visit a lot, and I take care of my garden when I have time. It's almost like having a second home, I suppose."

I looked up, wincing at the broken wood and the sunlight shining down from above us. "Sorry... about your roof, I..."

"Don't worry about it. You can fix it, right?" she smiled again, and it didn't take as much effort to fight back a scowl as it usually did.

"I guess so," I muttered.

"So where were headed before you... um... came to visit?"

I was grateful for the change in subject, though I suddenly felt cautious. Zack said that secrecy was important, after all. "I just arrived in town, so I don't really know. But I was separated from my friends..."

"We'll have to find them, then!" she announced. Her cheerfulness was a bit annoying, but strangely I began to feel better at the same time, though it made me more uncomfortable than anything else. "I'm looking for someone as well," she carried on. "Tell you what - I'll be your guide around town if you can guard me while I'm searching. How does that sound?"

A guard? We just met, and already she trusted me with that kind of job? "What am I supposed to be guarding you from?" I asked irritably, not answering her question.

Her smile didn't falter. "Everything," she said quietly, squeezing my hand. Somehow, that single word made me agree, even though I pulled away to walk on my own.

What are you afraid of? Why do you need me to protect you...?

I didn't ask, though, and as we left the church it was she who broke the silence.

"I feel like I am leaving home," she said in a hushed voice, glancing back at the church. "I'm going to miss this place."

I looked over at her, surprised. "Can't you come back?"

She laughed, shaking her head sadly. "No, not as often as I'd like to. I'm... moving away."

"Too far to visit?"

A glimmer of mischief entered her gaze. "Oh, did you want me to?" I scowled and turned away. "I suppose you could call it far. I'll be living in the castle from now on."

My eyes widened. The castle... "Ansem's castle? Why?"

She turned guileless eyes towards me. "Why not? I needed a job, and a new home, so I took it. I'll be helping out in the library and in the castle gardens. If I do well, I can live there."

I glanced back at the church. The entire building was surrounded by flowers of different shapes and colour. The mixed scent was impossible to describe, but it was the most amazing place I'd ever seen.

"I don't think you'll have trouble," I mumbled matter-of-factly, and she gently touched my arm in thanks.

We continued down the road, entering a district that resembled the slums of Midgar, the buildings dark and compressed, people darting in and out of the shadows around us. Aerith stuck close to me, but now and then she pointed out landmarks as we passed - inns, bars, shops, and important buildings to see or avoid. She was true to her world; within an hour, I knew a great deal about the city I was to live in from then on.

And... since she hadn't lied to me, I decided to take a chance. "Are the people happy here under Ansem's rule?"

Aerith was quiet for a long moment. "Most are," she finally replied. "But no city is a paradise for everyone. Anyone who lives in the slums could tell you how they feel."

"What about you?"

She smiled faintly. "I'll be working in his castle. Does that answer your question?"

For some reason, the thought of her working there - for my enemy, as an enemy... I felt an inexplicable wave of sadness wash over me.

"At least you know what you want to do," I muttered, unable to address such strange emotions.

Her smile faded. "You sound so sad when you say that. Do you think knowing makes things easier?"

I looked up, surprised, but she merely continued walking, and I had no choice but to follow.

She stopped outside a rickity old building, and when she looked back at me, the smile was back in place. Another surprise. "The man who lives here knows a great deal about pretty much everyone in this city. He can help me find who I'm looking for - you can come in if you like, but I doubt he'll know about your friends yet."

I shrugged. "Even if there's a small chance, I'll take what I can get. I'll come in."

Aerith hesitated, making me wonder, but finally nodded and led me inside.

The interior of the house was dark, but Aerith had no trouble navigating through the mess of furniture, tugging on my hand to guide me. Even with the Mako enhancement I had trouble seeing, but once again she came through and wouldn't let me stumble.

An old man sat in the shadows, dozing quietly on a corner chair. Aerith slipped her hand from mine and knelt beside him. "Sir... sir," she called gently. "I need your help again."

The man stirred, blinking behind small spectacles, then smiled as he recognized her. "Ah, Lady Aerith. Welcome. What can I do for you?"

"Two things, if you can," she answered, waving me forward. "We've been separated from our friends, both of us from different groups. We were hoping you could help us find them."

The old man turned squinting eyes towards me, and even in the darkness I could see the age-old wisdom hidden in their depths. "How did you come to be separated from them?" he asked, and there was a moment of silence, both of us wondering who the question was meant for.

Finally I took a deep breath - swallowing my pride at the same time - to respond as I'd been instructed to by Tifa. "It was a landslide!" I forced myself to say, and then my eyes widened as another voice joined mine at the same time. I whirled around to face Aerith, who stared back at me with a similar expression of surprise on her face.

What? She was part of it too?

How...?

Another silence fell between us, and suddenly the old man chuckled, patting Aerith's hand. "It seems as though you've found one friend already, my lady," he said musingly. "The others should be waiting a few blocks north of here, at the abandoned restaurant. Look there, but go carefully."

Still stunned, Aerith straightened up, quietly thanking him and taking my hand to guide me out. As soon as the door shut being us I wrenched free, staring at her. "You... you've joined-"

"Shh!" she covered my mouth, and I fell silent, pushing her hand away. "Yes, I'm part of Avalanche. Not so loudly, though..."

"But you're working at the castle..." I began, trailing off as I realized how foolish I was being. A job at the castle, right under Ansem's nose... wasn't that what Zack and Tifa's intentions were? And here this girl had beaten us to it.

"Ansem's changed a great deal in the past few months," she explained in a quiet voice. "He used to be a kind ruler, though he kept mostly to himself. But he's been secretly creating these monsters... these Heartless, and I can't sit by and do nothing anymore. I want to help stop him." She lifted her gaze to meet my eyes. "We've all lost something to the Heartless, Ansem's experiments. I lost my home, and my mother. Why have you joined the resistance? What did you lose?"

None of your business, I wanted to say. I wanted to push her aside and find the rebels on my own. I didn't want to be near her anymore.

You're doing something to me.

I don't like it.

Instead I looked down, curling my claws into a fist, shuddering at the sickly feeling of metal moving above and beneath my skin.

"Myself," I answered faintly.

I don't know who I am anymore.

"Just a puppet..."

Suddenly I felt fingers close around my clawed hand, and I looked up, fear and surprise mingling in my eyes.

But in her eyes, I found only determination.

"I said I'd help you, Cloud," she murmured. "I didn't lie."

And... somehow I'd known. I'd known she was going to follow me.

I don't want your help.

I couldn't force the words out of my mouth, any more than I could hold back my nod.

"Let's go."

She was already moving, pulling me along with her. At that moment I knew... she would have followed me whatever answer I'd have given her. I didn't know what to think about that.

It took us less than half an hour to find the building the old man had described. I was surprised at what I saw - this was no great fortress, or even a secret hideout of serious rebels. It was, as we'd been told, an abandoned restaurant. It was also the most pathetic structure I'd ever seen.

Aerith didn't look daunted by its appearance. "Come on," she encouraged, tugging at my arm. "Let's meet with the others."

Holding back any retorts I might have had and swallowing my pride, I followed her inside. Great. The place wasn't even guarded.

We were greeted cheerfully enough by two men and one woman, all of them recognizing Aerith already. Leading me over, she smiled brightly and announced, "This is Cloud; he's part of the team. Have his friends arrived yet?"

"So you're the third."

At the new voice, we both turned. A bulky man wearing a gruff expression stormed down the stairs from the second floor, looking me up and down.

Third?

"Awfully scrawny for a SOLDIER," he surmised. I bristled.

"I'm not a SOLDIER," I growled back, "But I can hold my own. Where are Zack and Tifa?"

The man shrugged. "Looking for you. The name's Barrett - good of you to join us, Spike."

Spike? Spike?! What kind of a name was that? Aerith started to giggle, though at the name or my expression, I couldn't guess.

"My name is Cloud," I said firmly, trying to sound halfway intimidating. It might have worked if I hadn't been 15 years old and little over half the man's height.

Barrett raised an eyebrow. I got the distinct impression that he didn't care. "You're part of Avalanche now," he rumbled after a moment, "And if your girl didn't tell you already, I'm the leader. Here's your first order - sit down and wait for the others. As soon as everyone's here, we're startin'."

I glared daggers at him as he disappeared into the back room, but Aerith tugged me towards an empty couch. It nearly sunk as we sat down, and though it was a little undignified, I had too much wounded pride at that moment to complain.

The other woman introduced me to the remaining members of the resistance group. They now had, in total, eight members. Thanks so much, Tifa. I made a mental note to show my appreciation to her for signing us up with such an organized bunch when I saw her again. Vaguely I wondered if she had known ahead of time and had done this on purpose... for whatever reason. I couldn't see the humour in any of this...

I didn't have much time to think about it. Although to me it seemed an eternity, shortly after we arrived, the door opened and finally Zack and Tifa stepped through.

Their eyes swept over us, catching sight first of me, then of Aerith who sat right next to me. I was suddenly aware of how close she was, and I looked up uncertainly to meet Tifa's gaze.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Cloud," she spoke quietly, not moving any closer since she'd frozen in the doorway. "Who's your... friend?"

Inwardly, I winced. "This is Aerith. She's part of Avalanche. She, um, helped me get here."

Tifa eyed us both warily, but Aerith just smiled brightly. Finally the darkness in Tifa's eyes faded, and she stepped over to shake Aerith's hand. "I'm Tifa. Welcome to the team, I guess."

"Thank you!" Aerith beamed. Tifa released her quickly, turned to me... and flung her arms around my neck, hugging tightly.

Panic flared in my expression, but for that moment I had no idea why.

"Don't ever do that again, you hear me?" Tifa whispered into my ear.

I swallowed hard. "I'll... try not to."

"You'd better."

She drew back after a moment, and I looked up just as Zack stepped forward. I offered him a tiny, sheepish smile, ready to apologize for disappearing - despite the fact that it really hadn't been my fault - when I realized it wasn't me he was looking at.

Aerith stood as Zack reached her, shaking hands as she and Tifa had done. Before they pulled back their fingers lingered together for a moment, eyes meeting, and suddenly it seemed to me like they could see only each other. I watched Zack's expression, wary, as something in his eyes appeared to... change.

I wondered if it was the same for Aerith, whose face I couldn't see, and for some reason that thought infuriated me more than anything.

Zack finally broke the silence with a smile. "I'm Zack," he offered.

"Aerith," she replied in a quiet voice, even though I had introduced her a moment earlier. He didn't comment. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

I remained where I was for as long as I could stand the silence, then I looked at Zack, speaking up. "You went looking for me?"

Zack blinked, meeting my gaze as he released Aerith's hand. "Yeah, sort of. We've also ordered a weapon for you - since we'll be working soon, you'll need it." He grinned.

"Finally someone's showing some sense!" Barrett growled, re-entering the room, his feet pounding loudly on the cracked tile. "About time you all showed up. Now we can get moving again."

Right. Like it was our fault his directions had to be so cryptic? I didn't have time to voice my thoughts, though; Jessie, the woman who had introduced me to the others, stood up, dutifully withdrawing a photo from a folder that rested beside her chair.

"Here's the scoop, newcomers," she explained quietly, slapping the image onto the table centered between us. "This is Ansem's castle, which can be found above the city, just beyond the Rising Falls. Ever been there? No? Well, you'll be going now. We've managed to get a foot in for three positions in the king's service; assistant librarian, apprentice cook, and castle guard. Aerith, you've already gotten yourself a job, correct?" Aerith nodded. "Good. Tifa, since you ran an inn, the cook job's right up your alley." Jessie's gaze turned to where Zack and I were sitting. "And our former SOLDIERs will apply for the duties of the guards."

"I'm not a SOLDIER," was all I could think to mutter, fists tightening, aware that I was repeating myself. I felt a hand squeeze my arm, and I looked over at Aerith, my eyes flickering to where she had touched me.

"It doesn't matter who you used to be, right?" she murmured encouragingly. "You're part of Avalanche now. You're part of our team."

Surprised by her quiet confidence, and remembering her resolution to do as much as she could from earlier, I didn't argue anymore, while Jessie continued to lay out our plans. I tried hard to pay attention, but my mind kept wandering back to the girl who remained as my side. I was sure she had no idea how deeply I had taken her words to heart.

And I wasn't the only one.

AN: See what I mean by changes? But this is all part of the fun, right? Heh... we'll see how this all flows together. (And don't you all just loooove love triangles? You know you do...)

I won't claim to be an expert on how Ansem ran his castle, or the world for that matter. This is a fanfic, and thus I claim creative license on everything. Please keep that in mind as well!

Sugar cookies for the first one to guess who the old dude is! Not that it isn't pretty obvious...

Chapter 16: Cloud's not happy. (What else is new?) Warning - excessive whining ahead! Oh yeah, and Zack dies.

Just kidding. But some of you may wanna kill him. =grin=

Reviewer Responses:

link no miko: You'll find out about the girl next chapter. Just be patient.

Seishin Kibou: =sends cookies= Have you seen some of the latest magazine scans? There's a pic of Zack from the special flashback scene in AC graphics. Looks like Zack's in AC after all!

Jade-Jaganashi: Yay for playing FF7! Hope you're enjoying it!

Koorino Megumi: =can't say anything because she's too amused to speak again=

sore-wa-himitsu-desu: Zack... well, I leave things with him pretty vague, I'm sorry to say. Most stuff shows up in the RP, truthfully...

Till next time!