Children of Prophecy Chapter 4: Burned by an old flame, a final fantasy vii fanfic

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7

Warning: This chapter contains content of non-consensual sexual intercourse. If you don't know what that means, you're too young to read this fic.

Ch.4- Burned by an old flame

Beloved child, wake up. Now is not a time to be sleeping, he needs you Aeris heard the planet's soft message as she slowly gained consciousness. Bright sunshine stabbed into her eyes as they opened causing a headache to immediately form. This just isn't my day Aeris thought, the lack of oxygen in the temple must have killed off at least half of my brain cells, maybe that's why I'm feeling so miserable. In total disregard for the nasty sunlight-from-hell that had so ruthlessly damaged her eyes upon awakening, they shot open as that last thought processed its way through her mind. Forget the brain damage, how am I even alive? I should be a tiny squished ball of goo by now. How did I even escape from the collapsing temple?

Dreading about learning what she knew but refused to acknowledge, Aeris stiffly turned around just to have her suspicions confirmed. There just a foot away the silver haired sword slinger was lying motionless on the ground. The last part of the planet's message became clear as the herbalist noticed how the ground around him was stained a rust-red color.

Immediately Aeris moved closer to Sephiroth, her healer's instincts overriding caution, to inspect the source of the blood soaked ground. When she saw the wound in Sephiroth's abdomen, Aeris cringed, it would take a lot of energy to heal such a wound as his. This time before Aeris rushed headlong into doing something that could get her killed, she thought why should I help him, I saved his life once and he promised that he would kill me later, only because he needed my abilities as a Cetra. Not to mention him causing me to get several bruises along the way. Aeris absentmindedly rubbed those areas when she thought about them, if she actually did decide to save him, it would have to be soon. With the amount of blood he was loosing and had already lost, Sephiroth would die within a few minutes. Why am I even doing this? Aeris despairingly thought as her hands started to glow while she held them above his midsection, this man will be the one to bring destruction to the world and if I heal him, it will be my fault for what will come to pass.

Sweat beaded on the healer's brow as she put more energy into saving Sephiroth's life. Aeris wasn't even sure if she had enough stamina left to even get him past the critical point where he could die again. Progress was painstakingly slow as the gash slowly mended, draining Aeris' energy at a rapid rate. Never before had she used her powers to this extent before. Black spots were dancing in front of the healer's as the skin finally closed over the gash, leaving a large dark brown scab in it place. The wound wasn't fully healed, but she had done enough to stop the bleeding and repair most of the internal damage caused by whatever had caused the wound in the first place. Aeris' last thought before she collapsed on top of Sephiroth was how did he get that wound, was it while he was saving me?

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He felt so cold, like all the warmth was flowing out of him. Sephiroth tried as hard as he could to keep the warmth inside of him, but it kept on slipping through his grasp like water. His thoughts grew sluggish as the warmth continued to drain out of him slowly being replaced with a bone piercing cold, would it be so bad to surrender to the cold and not feel anything for eternity? The thought passed through Sephiroth's head at a snail's pace.

When he was just about to give up on the warmth forever, a gentle energy started pouring into his frigid body with the feeling of spring about it. Drawing towards it, he drew it in like a painter draws in the beauty of nature as inspiration for his masterpiece. Gradually the warmth filled his body once again as the sense of being surrounded by lush greenery and the promise of new life brushed the edge of his mind. With an abrupt jerk, the soothing energy that was flowing into him ceased and Sephiroth was jolted to awareness. The first thing he noticed was that a heavy object was resting on his abdomen. He sat up and looked down, sure enough that bothersome Cetra was draped over his stomach, oblivious to the world.

Sephiroth was just about to shove her off of him when the throbbing pain that had been coming from his midsection that he had been ignoring so far decided to make itself known. Gasping in pain with one arm pressing into his stomach, Sephiroth was forced to lay back down when the pain proved too much to stand. Immediately after his head touched the ground again, the pain went down to an aching soreness. With his hand Sephiroth gingerly explored the tender area that had caused him so much pain. Through his explorations Sephiroth found a thick, long scab that stretched for about four inches that when even touched with the gentlest contact sent needles of pain all through his lower stomach. As Sephiroth withdrew his hand, it brushed Aeris' hair that had long since escaped its braid, surprising him with its softness with it even being matted with mud and leaves.

He was confused as to how he had gotten that painful partially healed wound. Sephiroth was sure that the Cetra had something to do with it. Triggered by the thought of the Cetra, the events that occurred just before the temple completely collapsed flashed into his mind.

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Flashback:

Dammit! Sephiroth thought as he realized what he was going to do, the fates must really hate me. With that he disappeared from the jungle surrounding him.

He reappeared right next to the barely conscious Aeris, who was struggling to breathe. The temple around them was so small that it was crushing Sephiroth's ribs. He grabbed Aeris and said to her before she passed out and he teleported out of the temple again, "looks like that you won't be dying today after all Cetra."

The moment before he vanished, a part of the stone floor broke and its jagged end tore deeply into his stomach. When he reappeared outside the hole where the Temple of the Ancients had previously occupied, he fainted from the combination of energy use from the teleportation and blood loss.

After the flashback stopped its assault on Sephiroth, he immediately knew why the Cetra was sprawled on top of him. Once again she had saved his life at great risk to herself, this time actually using her heritage to heal his wound. Judging by the knocked out Cetra and how much pain his wound still caused him, Sephiroth concluded that she had regained consciousness only a few minutes before he would have died from blood loss and had used up all her energy healing his wound while trying to keep him alive. Sephiroth couldn't decide if the Cetra was out of her mind or a hopeless dreamer who believed that she could heal the entire world. Her irrational behavior towards him and humanity was starting to drive him crazy. If she kept this up Sephiroth felt that he would be forced to make her act sensibly.

Sephiroth snorted, he couldn't believe that he was starting to become protective of the troublesome Cetra. Realizing where his train of thoughts was heading, Sephiroth felt the urge to kill her spring up. There was no way in hell that something as scrawny and helpless as her could "tame" him, and if she even tried, he would take great joy in dismembering her.

It had been several minutes since he had woken up, and by now his self-repairing capabilities had healed him enough so that he could get up without reopening his wound and minimal pain. Carefully, so as not to jar his wound, Sephiroth got to his feet, winced as he bent over again, and picked Aeris up in his arms as he looked for a suitable place to camp nearby.

The sound of meat sizzling brought Aeris out of the realm of dreams. The stars were scattered about and the moon was a bright white crescent in the night sky. Fighting off the nasty aching feeling in her head caused by the massive use of her magic earlier that day, the herbalist sat up and groggily surveyed the clearing she lay in. Above her was a huge tree, trunk covered by climbing vines, its foliage casting a patchy shadow over the campsite. A warm, humid breeze swept through the clearing bringing the moist, earthy smells of the interior jungle to Aeris, swirling around her. A small fire was crackling merrily five feet away from her, two small, unidentifiable, furry creatures roasting over it speared on sharp sticks. The sound of boots crunching the leaves and other dead bio material of the jungle floor reached Aeris' sharp ears, long accustomed to pick up anything out of place that comes with survival in the wilds.

Five minutes later, Sephiroth came tromping out of the brush, with a skin of water in one hand, some edible roots in the other. Wordlessly he tossed them to Aeris who out of reflex caught them. Looking in askance towards the silent swordsman, Aeris received no answer, so she set about roasting the tubers next to the sizzling creatures. After a long drink from the water skin, Aeris curled her legs up to her chest and sat watching the fire as the food cooked.

Throughout the whole time, Sephiroth remained silent, lost in his thoughts. He only glanced up when Aeris moved to retrieve the food from the fire before it burned. He blinked when he saw the large rodent he had caught earlier thrust in his face along with one of the tubers he had found. When Sephiroth took the food from Aeris he didn't miss the small smile she made when she thought that he wasn't paying attention. He left the Cetra to her amusements, as long as she wasn't being annoying her presence was tolerable. Sephiroth scowled, he was getting too soft towards that dammed Cetra. Once I get to Emal continent, I'll get rid of that Cetra for good Sephiroth resolved, his own words sounding unconvincing even to himself.

It was getting late and the moon was dipping down towards the eastern horizon. Aeris yawned, the days events had seriously drained her. She moved around a few times before settling down.

Sephiroth looked over and noticed that Aeris was asleep. He stifled a yawn, he also was exhausted by his earlier actions during the daylight hours. Teleporting three times in one day, not to mention from recovering from a wound that almost killed him was definitely not a good way to conserve energy. For once Sephiroth put aside his pride that demanded that he remain awake, and he too drifted off into Morphious' realm.

In the back of Sephiroth's mind Jenova smiled, her son was already in the process of completing the prophecy. Soon the planet will know great sorrow Jenova thought with relish.

A crash caused by a branch falling brought both Aeris and Sephiroth out of slumber and on full alert. Aeris stretched and dusted herself before getting to her feet while Sephiroth was checking over his gear. The soft thrumming of the planet brought Aeris' attention over to a tree a few feet away. Hanging from its lowest branches were several plump, purple globular fruits that hung from the bottom branches of the giant tree. Using a stick to dislodge several, Aeris picked up the fallen fruit and took them back to camp. Walking past Sephiroth, he grabbed half of the fruit without asking from her arms while Aeris swallowed a sigh. She hungrily finished off her fruit, its nutrients and energy needed to replenish her magic.

Sephiroth discarded the remains of his breakfast and started walking back into the jungle, he wanted to get off this island quickly since there was no longer anything he needed to do here. Before he could reach up to grab the Cetra to get her moving, Aeris got up and started walking after him, deftly avoiding his grasp. He was amused at the Cetra's actions, she was finally starting to learn. Maybe now she would stop being so obnoxious. That thought was dispelled when she started whistling. Sephiroth shot her a glare, she didn't seem to notice.

Aeris, contrary to her current position, was enjoying herself. She couldn't help it, surrounded by the planet's song and beauty in a blissfully warm climate with birdsong coming down from the forest's canopy, it was hard not to enjoy life. Without knowing it she started to whistle, a childhood habit that had stuck all these years that came out whenever she was truly content and happy. The last time she had felt like this was the day that she and Zack had spent together. I wonder how he's doing now? Did he reach his dream of becoming a high ranking soldier in the army? Does he still remember me, I wouldn't blame him for moving on, it has been five years after all Aeris mused. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sephiroth halted and she almost ran into a tree.

"Shut up Cetra, you are alerting all the predators to our location with your tone-deaf whistling," Sephiroth stated.

Aeris was caught off guard, she had gotten used to his silence. Hearing him speak to her again was a bit unsettling. The herbalist realized that Sephiroth was right and stopped without argument. The less I annoy him, the more likely he will leave me alone Aeris figured. But she was in such a good mood that even an ill-tempered Sephiroth couldn't ruin it. For some reason she had the feeling that she would be meeting someone she cared about very much soon. Aeris just wondered how they would get off the island without a boat, they were at least fifty miles out in the middle of the ocean.

After another hour of walking, Aeris and Sephiroth exited the jungle's interior and stepped out onto the pebbly sand of the beach. The cool sea breeze felt so good, even Aeris had to admit that the humidity of the jungle was starting to become dreary and oppressive.

"So, umm, what are you going to do now Sephiroth, it's not like we can get off the island," Aeris mentioned.

"Stupid Cetra," he replied, "you really do have a memory of fishing net, all holes and little content."

Aeris chose to ignore his insult, she found she was getting used to such remarks coming from Sephiroth. She continued to walk towards the sea, the waves gently lapping over the pebbly sand. Aeris didn't care about what he said, all she wanted to do was to cool her hot aching feet in the salt water.

No matter what she did, the Cetra always managed to annoy him. When he wants her to shut up, she doesn't. When he wants her to listen to him, she ignores him, just like she is currently doing. Sephiroth watched the girl as she practically ran to the water, throwing her boots off and flinging them away in random directions as she went.

"Ahhh," Aeris sighed as the water closed over her feet, "that hits the spot. Why don't you join me Sephiroth?"

"I have no need of such things Cetra, you're just being foolish," Sephiroth answered.

"No matter, I was just finishing cooling off my feet. Now what do we do o violence-is-my-way-of-life one? We're stuck on this island anyway, there is not much we can do, except build a raft," Aeris spoke as she retrieved her boots.

Instead of answering her, Sephiroth simply walked to her, grabbed her around the waist and started running. Aeris let a surprised squawk at the abrupt departure of her feet from the sand and glared at sprinting warrior. She wasn't prepared at all when they reached the other end of the beach for the mighty leap Sephiroth made, vaulting them at least twenty feet into the air. Closing her eyes and bracing for impact into the ocean, she felt nothing but the wind in her face. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes only to shut them again quickly at the dizzy spell that hit her. She couldn't believe it, they were flying for Gaia's sake. Actually, I can believe it Aeris thought as she recalled her first sight of the homicidal swordsman for the first time in five years, he was flying then too… She felt nauseous, Sephiroth's arm was digging into her stomach and the slight swerving caused by the wind resistance generated during their passage wasn't helping very much either. Aeris let out a moan, this was going to be a looooong flight.

Three hours later, a very weary and airsick girl dropped ungraciously to the ground. Thank heavens that it's over! she thought. She never wanted to do that again ever. She had never felt as awful in her life. It didn't help that due to the position that Sephiroth was carrying her in that basically left her whole body hanging in mid air except where Sephiroth's arm was curled around her waist. Aeris could tell that Sephiroth was amused at her discomfort, even though she wasn't looking at him.

"I hate you," she moaned.

"The feeling is mutual Cetra," Sephiroth replied.

After a few more minutes of feeling like everything was swirling around inside of her, Aeris shakily got up. She dimly took in her surroundings. They had landed on another beach, this one filled with fine alabaster colored sand instead of pebbles. About thirty feet off the beach turned into dunes, grass and various weeds growing along the tops. Lovely Aeris thought more walking. Sephiroth was already climbing the first dune and Aeris ran to catch up, knowing to keep up. Walking on her own two feet was much better than being slung over the swordsman's shoulder and having his shoulder guard digging into her side any day. It took thirty minutes to transverse the sand dunes and Aeris was ready to collapse, it had been a very long and crummy day.

As if sensing her change in mood, Sephiroth blandly spoke, "keep moving Cetra."

Thoroughly grumpy by now, Aeris said, "could you at least use my name? Its not that hard."

"No," was his reply.

She sighed, why me? If it weren't for that stupid prophecy none of this would be happening to me now. I would be happily married, hopefully to Zack, with 1.5 kids and a dog. There is no way in hell that I could fall in love with THAT, the person who concocted that prophecy must have been loony. Aeris sighed again, I really wish that Zack was here now, he would chase Sephiroth off and we could live in our own version of happily ever after.

Lost in her musings, Aeris didn't realize that Sephiroth had stopped until she was several feet past him. Glancing at him she saw that he was on full alert. Not a second later a dozen figures sprung out of the grass at the pair. Before any of them could even get within three feet of Aeris, they were all dead and blood was dripping off Masamune's blade.

"Why did you kill them!" Aeris yelled at Sephiroth, "they didn't deserve to die even if they did attack us. They might have just been protecting their homes when you mercilessly slaughtered them!"

"They were bandits you dolt, they would have slit your throat without a second thought," Sephiroth irritably spoke, "anyway, I was doing the planet a favor by removing such scum from its surface. Trash like that doesn't deserve to live anyway."

"You're a heartless monster and a murderer Sephiroth," Aeris hissed, "you're worse than those thugs you just killed. It is you who doesn't deserve to live."

As soon as those last words left her mouth, Aeris knew that she had made a mistake. Sephiroth's eyes were smoldering, he whipped out his sword and was about to dispose of her once and for all when he let out an anguished cry. He dropped Masamune and backed up a few feet clutching his head. She heard him pleading with something called "Mother" to forgive him and promising not to do it again.

As the blinding pain from Jenova's fury left his head, Sephiroth forcibly stilled his shaking limbs and glared at Aeris with pure hatred. He couldn't believe that Mother had sided with the dammed Cetra, her exact words were –Stop acting like a spoiled brat Sephiroth, the girl had every right to be angry at you.- Her insistence of keeping that bitch alive irritated him to no end. Just thinking about her opinion on his violent tendencies put him in a foul mood. She had said, -Next time you need to take your frustration out on something, make sure you do it out of the Cetra's range. We do need her cooperation when it comes time to use the Black Matera and having her hate for you for your blatant disregard to her sensibilities will not help us secure it.-

Sephiroth felt someone was observing him. He looked up and unsurprisingly he found the Cetra had been watching him, she had probably been staring at him for the whole time Mother had been "lecturing" him about the Cetra's worth. The after effects of Jenova's punishment of Sephiroth trying to kill the Cetra were starting to develop as he picked his sword off the ground and resheathed it. The throbbing headache that was emerging made his mood even worse. He decided that he wasn't up to listening to the Cetra's questions and remarks that would invariably come if they continued traveling for the few hours that were left before sunset. So he went about looking for a place to camp with a firm "stay put" told to the confused herbalist. Fifteen minutes later he had located a suitable place to camp near a stream that flowed through a small copse of scrub trees.

Sephiroth was about to leave to retrieve the girl when she walked into the enclosed area formed by the thicket of the scrub trees. He let out an exasperated sigh, it seemed that the wench could not even follow a simple command to not move. Either that or she really did love courting danger. His attention was caught by the object in her hand that was dully reflecting the afternoon sunlight into his eyes. It appeared that the girl had taken the liberty of relieving the dead bandits of at least one of their possessions, a tarnished, soot-stained cooking pot. Apparently she was tired of eating crispy rodent a-la flambé which had been their main meal for the past two days. He bemusedly watched Aeris as she took the battered pot to the stream and gave it a through scouring with some sand from the stream bank. While she was cleaning the pot Sephiroth got up and went looking for some food to add to the pot. He came across another one of the infamous unidentifiable rodents that lived in every part of the Emal continent and surrounding islands and quickly killed it. He also found some similar roots to what had been growing on the Ancient Isle along with some mushrooms that appeared to be edible.

When Sephiroth disappeared into the brush, Aeris set about making a fire. Reaching for her flint and striker her hands encountered only empty space before she remembered that it had been lost after she had dived into the ocean after Sephiroth. Aeris really didn't want to use her powers so soon again after healing Sephiroth, but it was either that or eat raw tubers. She opted for soup. Calling upon her inner powers she channeled heat into her fingertips and when they were sufficiently hot enough, she set them on the kindling and released the energy. The kindling immediately caught the sparks and a flickering flame was dancing among the sticks a few seconds afterwards. After the fire had enough fuel in it to last thirty minutes without having to add more, Aeris filled the newly acquired pot with water from the stream and set it to boiling above the fire. As the water's temperature heated, she added some of the wild barley and rice she had found in the meadow as she went after Sephiroth. Aeris also put in a generous pinch of a sharp smelling herb from a watertight packet that had survived the dunk in the ocean and following events that occurred afterwards.

The soup was happily starting to simmer as Aeris walked to the stream and quickly stripped to her under clothing. She then proceeded to use the sand on the stream bank to thoroughly remove all the grit from her skin that had been accumulating for the past two days. A now pink skinned Aeris had just finished putting her dress back on when Sephiroth came back to the campsite carrying some food he had collected in the thicket. Aeris scrunched up her nose when she noticed the same type of detestable rodent that she had eaten for the past few days along with the too familiar typical tubers that grew just about everywhere. But she brightened up when she noticed the mushrooms that he had found. While Sephiroth efficiently skinned and chopped up the rodent, Aeris had picked up the mushrooms and was sufficiently pleased that Sephiroth hadn't brought back any of the poisonous species of mushroom. They were quickly added to the pot along with the meat and chopped roots.

After all the ingredients had been added to the soup and it had stewed for an appropriate amount of time, Aeris carefully removed the pot and poured a generous portion into two cups that she had found along with the pot. She handed one to Sephiroth who wordlessly took it and then pulled out another waterproof packet from a pocket in her off-blue coat. Opening the packet, she took a large pinch of the mysterious sweet smelling herb and stirred it into her soup. This seemed very suspicious to Sephiroth.

"What are you doing Cet- Aeris?" he warily asked.

Aeris was startled to actually hear her name come from Sephiroth. Maybe there is some hope for him yet Aeris thought.

"I'm on my moon cycle, this herb is to help relieve some of the more unpleasant parts of it," Aeris replied, "without it I would get really cranky due to cramps, any problem with that?"

"No," was his one word answer. Like all males on the planet, Sephiroth got uncomfortable around the subject of a woman's menstruation cycle.

Aeris was glad that he had accepted her answer so readily. She was pretty sure that that explanation would work but if it didn't she wasn't sure that her hastily formed plan would get by Sephiroth's keen senses. She hated herself for being so deceitful, but she really had no choice. Aeris really had no idea why she was feeling so guilty about what she had done to Sephiroth, especially since he had tried to kill her yet again today. The thought he really is starting to grow on me passed through her head. She mentally slapped herself, for her sake and the sake of the planet she couldn't afford such thoughts. It only made what she would do later tonight all the more important. No matter what the prophecy couldn't come to pass.

During the time Aeris had been absentmindedly stirring her food Sephiroth was observing Aeris' body language, looking for any sign of uneasiness on her part. When her mental inspection was over, she looked down and realizing that her soup was rapidly cooling and starting eating it with a gusto. His suspicious nature reassured, Sephiroth started consuming his meal as well. Not too long after they had finished and cleaned up, Aeris let out a big yawn. It was still early in the evening, the stars were just starting to come out, yet Sephiroth too felt the same weariness that the herbalist was showing signs of. As Aeris prepared her sleeping area, Sephiroth put out the fire, since there was no need for it in this warm area, he sat down with his back leaning against a tree facing Aeris. Just because she seemed to be more comfortable around him didn't mean that he didn't trust her not to try to pull something. With that last thought Sephiroth closed his eyes and sleep claimed him soon thereafter.

The moon was at the peak of its path through the night sky when Aeris woke up. She cautiously got up and approached Sephiroth's sleeping form. She bit her lip, this was the moment when she had been waiting for all night, it was now do or die time. Nervously Aeris extended a trembling finger towards the sleeping warrior. If he woke up everything would be over and she would never get another chance to get away from him. Judging by his soft rhythmic breathing, he was in a deep, dreamless slumber. Banishing all doubts from her mind, Aeris gently but firmly poked Sephiroth's chest, not even a twitch. Aeris let out a muffled sigh of relief, the herb had worked. She was afraid the herb she had put into the soup wouldn't be strong enough to knock out the tough warrior. Her excuse of being on her period had effectively masked the purpose of the herb she had added to her own cup. The first herb that she had added to the soup was a strong sedative that when given in the dose that she had used put the patient under a deep, cationic slumber for a number of days. The only reason why she wasn't dead to the world as well was because of the second herb she had added to her own cup. One of its main properties was that it counter acted the effect of the first drug, but even still Aeris still felt dopey from the first herb's effect.

Now assured that Sephiroth would be out for at least 24 hours, Aeris was a bit less careful to keep the amount of noise down as she collected her belongings. Aeris still felt guilty about drugging Sephiroth, but she knew that she had to do it since she couldn't bring herself to harm any living thing, even her would-be killer. Time was precious and she had to get moving to put as much distance between her and the slumbering swordsman as possible before he woke up to find her missing. Aeris knew that there would be hell to pay if he ever found her again, so she had to get as deep into the wilderness as she could, possibly even get to another continent if she had the chance.

Aeris followed the South Star since she had no idea where she was. By doing so, she would eventually hit the large, heavily forested mountain range deep in the interior of the mountains. A person could spend their whole life there and not meet another human because of its high peaks, deep ravines, hidden valleys and intricate cave system. In fact many an explorer had gone into there and never returned. The only advantage Aeris had over those seasoned outdoorsmen was her connection with the planet, with that she could never truly get lost. This was her best chance to prevent the prophecy from ever occurring while being able to live out her natural lifespan. Aeris knew that her decision was desperate and that she was choosing a life of loneliness and hardship, but wasn't her life like that already?

For two days Aeris had been swiftly traveling south at a steady pace, barely taking anytime to eat or rest. She was exhausted and filthy, but she was beginning to hope that she might have just been able to pull off her plan. She had covered at least half of the distance she intended to travel and currently she was in the hills covered in thick scrub that were the precursors to the true foothills of the mountains. There were plenty of places to take cover in around here if someone came upon her. Aeris was so busy planning her travel route for the next two days that she literally stumbled upon on well used road. A bolt of fear shot through her. There was a high chance that she could be discovered if she stayed near the road, but the problem was that the road traveled in the exact direction she was heading towards. If she detoured around it she would lose at least a day's worth of travel time.

Deciding to take the risk to conserve time, Aeris set off down the road, trying her best to look like a normal traveler. She hadn't been walking for long when Aeris heard the unmistakable sound of footfalls. Her instincts were telling her to hide, but she knew that if she rushed off that the people behind her would hear her escape and most likely come after her. So Aeris deliberately slowed her pace and acted like she had every right to be where she was. Within a few minutes the snippets of a conversation floated through the air to Aeris. Forcing herself to relax, Aeris assumed a self-involved look that many travelers on the road wear. As the people got closer, Aeris swore that one of the voices was familiar to her. She knew who it belonged to, but for the life of her she couldn't come up with a name to match the voice.

"Oh my God. Aeris is that you?" a strong masculine voice asked.

Aeris swiftly turned around, and was completely floored by whom that oh-so-familiar voice belonged to. She hadn't seen him for five years.

"ZACK!" Aeris joyfully yelled as she launched herself at him.

Laughing her caught her mid-air and spun her around several times before depositing her on the ground.

"What, when, why, h-how did you get here?" a flabbergasted Aeris asked the excited black haired man, "I thought that you were going to serve in the army on Werley continent."

"I see that you two have some catching up to do, so I'll go on ahead," Zack's traveling companion said and walked off.

"See ya," he replied. They watched him go off.

"I had served for two years at the fort in Galey village, when I was restationed to Shale on Emal continent, something about a possible uprising of religious fanatics," Zack explained, "Luckily for the townspeople and unluckily for me nothing happened. Those were the three most boring years of my life. Thank god it's over. I 'm now on a six month break before returning to my post and I intent to enjoy every moment of freedom, especially now that I've finally found you Aeris."

"Aw, poor Zackary. All work and no fighting makes Zackey a bored boy," Aeris joked.

"Damn straight sugar, but now maybe now I can finally get some action."

"Well whatever crazy plans that are forming in your head, count me in. I haven't had much time to just let loose these last five years either."

"Wow, I never thought that being an herbalist could demand so much time."

"Idiot don't you remember my training, that also took a lot of time. Being a full herbalist takes even more time and energy."

"Okay, okay. Don't get so preachy on me Aeris. But damn the years have treated you well. The last time I saw you, you were a scrawny little thing, always covered in dirt with leaves sticking in your hair."

"Hey!"

"Matter of fact you still are covered in dirt with leaves in your hair. I guess that you haven't changed much after all."

"I've changed more than you think," Aeris softly spoke.

"What did you just say Aeris?"

"Oh nothing of importance, so tell me, what have you been doing these last five years?"

Sephiroth awoke to the sound of birdsong in the morning of what promised to be a very hot day. He felt stiff all over, his eyes and mouth felt all gummy and his head felt like it was full of cotton. He knew that his sleep was much deeper than natural, what he didn't know was what had caused his stupor. Slowly opening his eyes, Sephiroth hissed when bright sunlight stabbed into them, giving him an instant headache. Squinting against the bright sunlight Sephiroth shakily climbed to his feet and stumbled over to the stream where he ungracefully dunked his whole head into the cold running water.

The cold water did its job and cleared up Sephiroth's head, he no longer had the gummy feeling in his eyes or mouth but he was still stiff. Water dripping off his long bedraggled hair, Sephiroth took survey of the campsite. The first thing he noticed was the very prominent absence of the Cetra followed by the absence of her belongings, including the battered cooking pot. He growled, that bitch had lied to him. She even had the gall to drug him and runoff as he slept. Mother's wishes or not, he was going to severely punish or just simply kill the wench when he caught up to her. Whatever he would do when he found her it would be painful.

By the looks of his sleeping place against the tree he had been out for at least two days. He also observed that Aeris had even left him some fruit, now slightly withered, for him when he woke up, how considerate of her. What a contradiction, she runs off and leaves me food because she is worried that I might be hungry when I wake up. Ignoring the offering, Sephiroth strapped Masamune to his back and set about searching for her trail. After half an hour of searching, Sephiroth was extremely frustrated. She just had to know how to disguise her trail, didn't she? He was just about to cut down the nearest thing with his sword to try to relieve some of his frustration when he noticed a partial footprint hidden under a ground hugging branch. Looks like you slipped Cetra Sephiroth smugly thought you may be clever, but I'm better. When I find you, I will make sure that you pay.

Over the next few hours Aeris and Zack happily caught up on what had happened to each other over the five year separation. Zack told her all about his misadventures in boot camp while Aeris told Zack about her travels and the people she had met. She never mentioned her encounters with Sephiroth or of the many close calls she had had with people hunting her. Their conservation was light hearted, broken by the occasional indignant exclamation by either one of them. One thing was for certain, spending time with all those soldiers hadn't improved Zack's vocabulary very much. She particularly didn't like it when he made jokes about women's views or their virtue.

"So this broad comes up and we talking about the upcoming dog races and what mutt we thought would win, when she said that she had just come from the Sausy Bay port and had heard the 'most frightful rumor'," Zach rambled, imitating the woman in a high pitched voice that sounded horrible, "apparently the Gull's Pride had vanished out at sea and many thought that sea wolves were to blame. But when the transport ship Storm Rider made it to port three days late, the tale that a Cetra had snuck aboard and had disappeared during the voyage after a flying man attacked it quickly spread through the town."

Aeris stiffened when Zack's rambling had turned to the ill-fated voyage of the Gull's Pride. There was some way about how his tone slightly changed that alarmed her. He couldn't possibly know of her true heritage, she had been too careful to let anything slip during her time in Rose Fields. Her apprenticeship to Elymara had been an excellent cover for any seemingly "miraculous" recoveries, and they didn't happen more than once or twice. She had even found her true calling as an herbalist, so her apprenticeship had served two purposes for her.

"It's a real shame," Zack's words cut into her thoughts, "I heard that the Cetra was a real looker. If I were her I would have bedded with the first semi-attractive man I could find, that way her role in the prophecy would be void."

Aeris was morbidly curious to learn what Zack meant, but refrained from asking him to explain in fear that he would read more into her interest other than simple curiosity. She really didn't like the way Zack had portrayed the "unknown" Cetra. That, along with his more crude way of speaking and acting was really starting to make Aeris worried. The youth who had left Rose Fields wasn't the same person as the man who was talking to her right now. Instead of being naively confident, he was now darker and more dangerous. Aeris even found herself wishing for Sephiroth's company as she continued to travel with Zack. The looks her kept shooting at her when she was looking didn't make her feel anymore secure. There was a menacing glimmer in his eyes as he continued to talk that Aeris didn't like one bit. She knew that it would probably be in her best interests to get away from Zack, but the part of her that remembered the energetic youth from the valley held her back.

It was mid afternoon when Zack mentioned a hut nearby where they could take a break. Sweaty and sun-baked, Aeris ignored the voice in the back of her head that feebly gave warning, after hours walking under the hot sun it was barely even a whisper. Taking a small side trail that led off the road, Aeris was relived when they were covered by the shadows of a huge cottonwood tree grove. After about another ten minutes of walking, they came upon a small, well maintained traveler's shelter. Zack went inside and Aeris wandered around to the back of the shelter where she knew a water pump would most likely be. A few minutes later, Zack emerged from the building and joined Aeris at washing off the sweat and dust that they had accumulated on the road.

Zack was in the process of filling up a small bucket to dump over his head when Aeris went inside the hut to see what it had. An empty fireplace, a stack of dry wood, a musty, straw box mattress, and a rack to hang up cloaks near the door was all that it contained. The creak of the door closing signaled Zack's entrance.

"Just right," he murmured so softly that Aeris didn't catch it, "we should rest for about thirty minutes and then head off, by then the temperature should have cooled a bit and be more pleasant out."

"Sounds good," Aeris absentmindedly answered. She was enjoying resting her sore feet too much to really care and hardly noticed when Zack moved closer.

"You know Aeris, I couldn't help noticing that you've become a very attractive woman over the five years since we've last met. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I'm more than ready to go to the next level," Zack said.

"What do you mean?" a slightly wary Aeris asked.

"Common 'Ris, we're both adults now," Zack said as her started stroking Aeris' hair, "there's no reason why we can't become more intimate, we're both ready for the next step."

"I don't quite get what you're saying Zack," Aeris stated as she started edging away from him. The voice in the back of her head was now sharply trilling at her to get out of there.

Zack's hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"I think that you do know what I mean Aeris," Zack darkly spoke, "I mean, why not? I want you bad Aeris, do you have any idea what you are doing to me now? It wouldn't be so bad, this way you could be free from the prophecy permanently without being killed."

"You knew?" Aeris asked apprehensively.

"How could I not?" Zack answered heatedly, "Those people who 'miraculously' recovered were practically on their deathbeds when they all of a sudden got better. And who was the person who had attended them? It was you Aeris, every time. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, since the Cetra were known to have magical healing powers among other kinds of unnatural abilities. The prophecy clearly states 'the Cetra MAIDEN' Aeris, if you're no longer a virgin, the prophecy is void."

"No Zack! Not like this, please!" Aeris begged.

"Shut up Aeris, this is the only to save you. I won't let anyone take you away from me again, you belong to me and no one else, you hear me?" Zack yelled as he hauled her to the straw box-bed.

"Now be a good girl and sit back and enjoy this," Zack cooed as her forced her onto the mattress and held her arms above her head. He started to fumble with the buttons of her jacket one handed. Swearing, he ripped it off and flung the piece of material away.

"Zack stop!" Aeris screamed as he tore her shirt down the middle, exposing her breasts to the air. He roughly ran his thumb across her tit and gave her breast a painful squeeze.

By now Aeris could clearly see the large lump in Zack's pants and put up a renewed struggle to escape.

"Stop squiring Aeris, you're making this more difficult that it has to be," he snapped.

Aeris' screams became more incoherent and frantic as Zack pulled up her dress, allowing him to see her underwear. He hooked a thumb through the piece of cloth and drew it down her legs. He growled when he saw her womanhood. Still holding her arms above her head, Zack quickly divested himself of his pants as if he had done it many times before. Positioning his errection at her entrance, Aeris screamed for all her worth hoping that someone would hear and come stop Zack.

"Damn, this is going to feel so go-" Zack was stopped mid sentence when a long, familiar blade erupted from his shoulder.

He dumbly stared at it until he was thrown to the opposite side of the room, revealing the sword's silver haired wielder. Aeris sobbed, someone had heard her screams sure enough, and it was the last person she would have wanted to. Her ill-fated savior was beyond pissed judging by the look in his eyes and Aeris thought that she had been safer with Zack.

"Sephiroth don't do it!" Aeris shouted as if she could predict what would happen next.

"Why should this piece of filth live Cetra?" Sephiroth asked in an icy voice, "did he not try to debase you? Why do you protect this worthless human?"

"All life is sacred. No one deserves to be killed when they are helpless, Sephiroth. So please just let him be," Aeris pleaded.

"It doesn't matter Cetra, all the humans must die in the process of purging this planet. This one just won't survive to be destroyed by the Black Matera summon," Sephiroth hissed, "he should be thankful, a death on Masamune will be much more merciful than what will happen to the rest of the humans when they are purged from the planet by Meteor."

Aeris knew that she could never convince him to change his mind, so when Sephiroth raised his sword to make the finishing blow, she threw herself in front of Zack. Sephiroth snarled, wrenched her off Zack and threw her across the room. Aeris hit the opposite wall hard with a sickening crunch. She winced in pain. That impact had cracked, if not broken, one or more of her ribs. Aeris kept her eyes down, there was no way she could stop Sephiroth now and she didn't want to see the grim scene. Still in very much in pain, Aeris started crawling to the door. On her way, her fingers brushed against a course material. It was Zack's wool cloak that he had taken off due to the hot sun. She used it to cover herself, not caring about how hot out it was, since her jacket was no longer serviceable and her dress was ruined. Aeris heard a swish and a short scream, then the sound of Sephiroth's boots on the wooden floor as he walked towards her. A sharp sword tip came into her field of vision, blood dripping off it onto the floor.

"Get up," was Sephiroth's curt command.

He waited as she slowly, painfully got off her knees and onto her feet. Sephiroth uttered not another word as he headed toward the door, Aeris trailing behind. She too was silent, but out of fear that Sephiroth would snap at the slightest thing and lash out, possibly killing her on the spot. They walked for an hour through the scrubland, Aeris steadily getting weaker the further they went.

Sephiroth barely bothered to check up on the girl, he knew that she was in no shape to try and flee again. He still couldn't believe that he hadn't killed her along with her forceful lover back at the shelter. The only possible reason he hadn't was probably due to his Mother's unending promises of punishment if he did kill the Cetra and her reminders that that they still needed her to help use the Black Matera. Afterwards though…

A quiet thump alerted Sephiroth to the fact that the Cetra had collapsed. He was surprised that she had made it that far after traveling two days practically non-stop and then getting her ribs damaged back at the shelter. Sephiroth groaned, he really didn't want to carry the Cetra again, but unless he wanted to make camp here, he would have to so he could continue south. Mindful of her cracked ribs, Sephiroth actually carried Aeris in his arms instead of flinging her over his shoulder. The girl secured, Sephiroth walked off further into the foothills of the central mountain range.

Sorry about the long update period. I have four words: studying for evil midterms. Hopefully now the updates can come a bit faster, but be warned when finals come round, the updates will come even slower. But hey, no evil cliffy this time.

Ch.5 five will probably be out in a week or two depending on school work.

To Aria Celeste- sometimes it is just appropriate to end a chapter with a cliffy, but not this one. I'm glad that you are enjoying my fic, hope to hear from you again.

To thegr8sephiroth- I tried to avoid that type of portrayal of Sephiroth as much as possible, but the only way I was able to get some humor into that chapter was by using it. Hopefully you don't think that there is too much of it in this one. I hope that my story will fulfill your expectations. Hope that your firebug problem gets worked out…

To mihoyonagi- high praise indeed. The best stories I find are the ones that do just that. I'm estactic that you think my story one of them. Well, I hope that you didn't get too attached to Zach considering what happened in this chapter. After this chapter he won't be around anymore…

To dragonfly63126- well here's your update, but no romance I'm afraid. That comes later and will occur over several chapters I think.

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in.