Children of Prophecy
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7. The storyline and original characters of this fic I do however.
Ch.7- The Valley of Eden
Aeris woke up in the warm early morning sunshine filtering through the green leafy canopy of the tree she had slept under. The sound of birdsong overhead was the first thing she heard, and from the sheer amount of it Aeris could tell that the forest canopy was filled with birds. Not only birds, but thousands of different kinds of insects, many different types of snakes and lizards, and dozens of different varieties of mammals were in the forest canopy as well. When Aeris got to her feet the din around her didn't change in the least bit and Aeris concluded that this forest hadn't been visited by humans for a very long time. In fact she had the impression that this place had never been seen or visited by humans at all. Aeris's stomach growled rather loudly reminding her of the fact that she hadn't eaten for quite some time.
Aeris got up and was about to wake up her companion but stopped when she saw the content look on his sleeping visage. Suddenly she felt slightly guilty, Sephiroth had practically run himself to the bone getting her out of there while she was sick. The least she could do for him was allow him to sleep some more and gather a big breakfast for the both of them. Her stomach agreed with another growl. Aside from being so hungry, Aeris felt the best she had in years. It must have been the healing properties of that stream that is making me feel so rested and well Aeris mused.
Careful not to make any noise that would wake the slumbering warrior near her, Aeris skirted the remains of last night's fire and set off deeper into the forest. While her purpose of venturing deeper into the forest was the pretense of finding food, it was just an excuse so that she could go exploring. There were some things that would never change about Aeris including her simple childish curiosity and love of nature.
Soft giggling could be heard from somewhere in the middle of the airy and lush forest. The sound lightly traveled through the trees, danced around the canopy and eventually dissipated into the breeze that blew through the tree tops. Aeris had never been happier in her life. Surrounded by such unspoiled beauty of nature, it was hard not to see why she was so. Not even in the place where she had grown up in, Rose Valley, did Aeris feel such inner peace. This place called to her and helped calm her troubled soul. It was like she belonged here. She never knew that such a place like this could exist.
This seemingly unending forest of huge, tall majestic trees with flowering vines crawling up the trunks of many and the pretty shrub trees, with their heart shaped leaves and small sweet yet tart berries that was the main food source for many of the birds and insects about, was just the beginning of what Aeris was beginning to think of as her personal utopia. Small brightly colored insects zipped around everywhere and energetic, fast little creatures with short fluffy tails scampered around on the forest floor and up the trees. The birdsong that Aeris had had awakened to was just as prevalent now as it was then and flashes of their scarlet, gold or sapphire plumage were occasionally seen out of the corner of her eyes. The rustle of small animals could be often heard as they made their way through the leaf litter on the forest floor as they searched for food or water pooled in a dead leaf. Life was everywhere around Aeris and she reveled in its presence.
The air smelled faintly of the many different types of flowers that were blooming everywhere all throughout the forest. The sound of a burbling brook could be heard off in the distance. The light that was able to get through the dense leaf canopy over head tinted the whole forest floor slightly green. Solitary beams of sunshine pierced through the tree tops turned into golden pillars of light with dust motes dancing slowly in them. Flowering and fruiting bushes, vines, and small trees that loved the shade of the forest floor abounded profusely. Noting seemed to be disturbed by Aeris's presence. It was like she was just another part of the natural balance of this lush habitat.
Never once did Aeris trip or stumble as she walked through the surprisingly open and airy forest. Any rocks or roots that easily might have snagged her foot she almost magically avoided without knowing it. So enthralled was she by the teeming forest around her that Aeris didn't ever become aware of where she went and how much time had passed during her explorations. But the sight that now lay before brought her wandering feet to a stop.
"Oh my…." Aeris softly exclaimed.
Vivid green-blue eyes lazily opened in the midday sun. The sound of bird calls and the merry bubbling of the nearby stream filled Sephiroth's mind. The faint scent of flowers in full bloom and sun heated vegetation tickled his nose. The dappled sunlight shinning down on the leaf litter in front of him that Aeris had been sleeping on came into focus. A slight breeze played with his hair playfully tugging a few strands loose that tickled his ears and nose. All in all it was a lovely day Sephiroth concluded. Even more so since Aeris wasn't troubling him at the moment and ruining the fragile tranquility that surrounded him. Wait! Where is Aeris! Sephiroth thought coming into full awareness.
Sephiroth felt some resentment stirring towards the absent girl even though it was slightly illogical. I went to all that trouble of keeping her alive and getting her out of the cave and the first thing she does when she wakes up outside is to leave me behind? Some gratitude! Sephiroth thought slightly peeved, unaware that he was thinking like Aeris. He jerkily got to his feet, his stiff muscles hurting because he hadn't taken the time to stretch them out properly. He idly noted that all the cuts he had received during the cave in were fully healed without any traces of scars to mark their existence. Aside from his hunger he felt fully rested and ready to set off on a moment's notice.
She probably went off to get some food and got side tracked Sephiroth reasoned. He tried to reach out with his senses to detect any trace of the herbalist, but his efforts were in vain. There was no hide nor hair of Aeris to be found. It was like she had wandered off into the forest and completely disappeared. Typical Aeris, Sephiroth thought, we get out of one mess and she goes off and wanders into another. She had not even left a trail that he could follow. Since all other options of finding her had failed, Sephiroth decided to see if he couldn't try and guess where she had gone off to.
Looking at the tree they had slept under gave Sephiroth an idea. Why not see if he could spy out her location from the tree top? It had a very slim chance of succeeding, but he had no other ideas. The lowest branch of any of the trees around was at least fifty feet off the ground, a big jump for even him. With all the effort that it would take to even get up to the lowest branch of any of the trees surrounding him, Sephiroth figured that it would be easier to just fly up the top of the trees. Backing up about fifty yards Sephiroth broke into his fastest sprint and when he reached his top speed he launched himself as high as he could into the air… and landed hard on his butt thirty feet away.
"What the Hell!" Sephiroth exclaimed without intending to.
Why the hell didn't it work! Sephiroth thought beginning to panic, how come all of a sudden I find myself without the power of flight that I've practically had for my entire life? Never before had something like this ever happened to the dumbfounded swordsman. To suddenly find that one of his powers had deserted him overwhelmed poor Sephiroth. There was no logical explanation that Sephiroth could think of for how or why this had happened. Utterly disheartened by his attempt to find a way up to the top of the canopy Sephiroth noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
There a few trees, he observed, that had rather sturdy looking vines growing up the lengths of the trunks. Vines that looked like that could support a full grown man's weight. The logical conclusion of that observation Sephiroth immediately deduced. If he couldn't fly or jump high enough to get to the lowest branch of a tree, why not climb the vines to get up?
Sephiroth looked around for a few minutes before his gaze fell onto a gigantic tree that was easily three times the size of one of the trees around it. The tree was easily over a hundred feet in diameter and was at least a thousand feet tall. Circling the tree almost three fourths of the way up the trunk was a huge woody vine whose creepers were at least eight inches thick. This tree, Sephiroth decided, is exactly what I've been looking for.
Two hours later, sweaty and with trembling limbs, Sephiroth broke through the top of the canopy of the gargantuan tree he had decided to scale. The moment his head broke through, he was almost overwhelmed by all the vibrant green that was all around him. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight pouring down all around him, Sephiroth shimmied up the last twenty feet to get to the very top of the tree. The view astounded him. What they had emerged from the cave wasn't a simple small forest, this was a huge fifteen mile wide and fifty mile long valley hidden in the center of the central mountain range of Emal continent. This place was so secluded that Sephiroth found the idea of any humans ever seeing this valley laughable.
As he surveyed the valley around him he became quickly dismayed. The valley might be huge, but it was surrounded by sheer, unclimbable cliffs that were over two thousand feet high. Above the cliffs, incredibly steep, impassable mountains with glaciers on top of them made up the horizon from his view point. There was absolutely no way out of this valley they had come into emerging from the cave. Beautiful as it was he wasn't too sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life in this valley, but there appeared to be no way out. No wonder this valley had never been touched by man before, it was too isolated and unreachable for anyone to get here by more conventional methods.
This place could readily be described as a genuine Garden of Eden. No scratch that, Sephiroth wryly thought, more like the Valley of Eden. Sephiroth took another, more detailed survey of the valley. What he saw was a carpet of forest that covered most of the entire valley except for a few small meadows near the edges. At the opposite end of the valley, about seven miles away from his current location, there was a long thin waterfall that fed into a small lake. From the other end of the lake a small river started that split up into many lesser streams. The streams eventually all went underground like the one they had come out of the cave through.
The waters of the distant lake beckoned Sephiroth. It had been so long since he had last washed and he was beyond filthy and smelled pretty ripe. It suddenly dawned on him that Aeris might have had the same idea, he was pretty sure that she valued cleanliness almost as much as he did. Over the course of their journey he had noticed how much she was attracted to places of magnificent natural beauty, and he had no doubt that her feet had unconsciously taken her to the lake and the waterfall during her explorations.
With his destination firmly in mind, Sephiroth quickly scaled down the huge tree and set off into the depths of the forest in search of his wayward charge.
After staring mesmerized for almost an entire hour at the spectacular thousand feet long waterfall, Aeris snapped out of her daze when a sharp breeze blew some of the mist from the waterfall directly into her face from across the lake. The breeze also blew her own body odor directly into her face, reminding her that she was long overdue for a through cleaning. Aeris walked closer to the lake's edge and dipped her hand into its clear waters. Good, it was pleasantly cool but not frigid. She quickly divested herself of her well worn traveler's boots and socks, one of which had a hole in the heel she absently noted, and stripped down to her purple undershirt and red underwear.
Aeris had always had an odd sense of modesty, she didn't even bat an eye when she had bathed naked during the rare times that she had used a public women's bath house, but when she was out in the middle of nowhere, even when she was all by herself, she never was nude when she washed. One of the reasons for this odd behavior was practicality, she always had to be prepared for anything to happen out in the wild when most times she was in greater danger when she was in a human habitation. Even here, where she felt like nothing would attack her, Aeris didn't even give her odd behavior a second thought as she slipped into the water in her underclothes.
As soon as the lake's waters completely covered her whole body, Aeris felt like she was in heaven. She swore that at least three pounds of dirt came off her body the second she fully entered the lake. Eager to get rid of the rest of the filth off her body, Aeris dunked her head fully underwater and vigorously scrubbed her scalp until her lungs forced her to the surface for air. After taking a deep breath of air Aeris dove back under water and quickly started swimming to the opposite shore about three hundred feet away. Her wet, shinny hair flashed in the sunlight as her arms moved in even, strong strokes as they slipped out and back into the water time and time again. Her legs kicked up and down quickly, thrusting her body forward at each kick until they sunk into the soft sand ten feet away from the opposite shore as the water got shallower.
Feeling totally refreshed after her trek through the woods, Aeris set off back to the opposite shore where her discarded clothing was so she could do her best to clean them. A few minutes later Aeris climbed out of the lake to retrieve her clothing. She walked a bit down the lakeshore until she reached a point where a large flat rock jutted out of the water's surface a few inches above the water's surface. It was a few feet from the shore and completely surrounded by shallow water making it a very small island.
Wading out to it, her clothing clutched loosely in her hands, Aeris settled gracefully down on the slightly warm rock and got to work scrubbing the travel stains out of her light blue traveling dress and dark wool cloak that had been much too heavy to wear in the pleasant warmth of the forest. Aeris sighed looking at the long rip that Zack had made in the front of her dress that she had crudely stitched up with some twine that Sephiroth had given to her. She wanted to get a new one, but with Sephiroth around the chances of that happening were slim so she would have to make due with what she had. She was still amazed that the cloak had survived the journey through the cave and had not been lost during her flight in the dragon's claws.
The sun was about an hour past its zenith in the sky when Aeris spread her clothing out of the rock to dry. Her swim had tired her out and scrubbing her clothing had made her arms so worn out. The sunlight was deliciously warm and relaxing as Aeris sunk to her knees and lay down on her stomach, her arms cradling her head. What a wonderful place this is Aeris lazily thought as one of her fingers trailed around in the water.
It was mid afternoon when Sephiroth first caught glimpse of the light reflecting off the lake. When he got his first full view of the lake and waterfall up close he quickly inhaled. The sight in front of him was simply stunning. After seeing just how magnificent this place really was Sephiroth had no doubts why Aeris had come here, even he would have gone out if his way in his quest to see this view.
Speaking of Aeris, where was she? He had traveled across the whole valley to get to this place in hopes of finding the brunette and was starting to lose his patience. The familiar feeling of irritation at Aeris's actions was building. Why could she never stay in one place for longer than twenty minutes? Now more ever he wished to quell her wanderlust. A sudden splash drew Sephiroth's attention back to the lake.
A very wet and dripping herbalist was pushing herself up from her hands and knees after her nap had been rudely interrupted by rolling off the rock and into the lake. Against his will Sephiroth's lips curled into a very faint smile, but it was gone before anyone could see it. Aeris just sat there for about a minute staring at her reflection with a bemused look on her face, blinking owlishly. As she stared at her rippling reflection, her eyes wandered across the lake's surface until she noticed a very familiar figure's distorted reflection on the disturbed lake's surface.
"Oh hi Sephiroth. Isn't this a wonderful place?" Aeris cheerily asked.
Unprepared for such a response, Sephiroth stared at her with his mouth slightly opened.
Unperturbed by his behavior, Aeris got up and went to check on her now dry clothing.
"Oh drat! Now I have to get dried again before I can put on my clean clothes," she complained halfheartedly.
Finally collecting himself, Sephiroth opened his mouth to demand why she had wandered off without his permission. But Aeris cut him off before the first word ever left his lips.
"What a lovely day for a swim, don't you think?" Aeris playfully commented and with that had splashed back into the deeper waters of the lake diving underwater.
Sephiroth shrugged, why did it matter anyway, Aeris wouldn't be changing her habits or demeanor anytime soon. Anyway, she did make a good point. It was an excellent day for a swim and he longed to get out of his filthy garments and wash off. In three seconds flat Sephiroth had stripped off all his clothing except for his black pants and had dived into the clear lake after Aeris. The cool water enfolding him felt like sliding into fine silk. Damn, that felt good. His walk through the forest, while not very exerting had left a faint sheen of sweat on his already grimy skin. To feel almost two weeks worth of filth and dirt wash off him in seconds felt heavenly.
Surfacing from his initial plunge into the lake, Sephiroth took a good look around him and decided that he could use some exercise to loosen up his still slightly stiff muscles. Soon his strong arms were making powerful strokes through the water and he was quickly swimming at full speed towards the far shore, copying Aeris's earlier route. Very quickly he got lost in the rhythm of his free stroke and was effortlessly making countless laps back and forth across the small lake.
Just when he was starting to feel some strain, Sephiroth suddenly felt a strong tug on his left foot and was pulled underwater. He instinctively lashed out and his foot hit Aeris hard in the stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs. Shit! Sephiroth thought while he quickly swam after the rapidly sinking, dazed healer. His right arm curled around her middle and he quickly began swimming towards the surface. Both of their heads broke through the surface and Sephiroth hauled the sputtering Cetra towards the lake shore. Dumping the coughing brunette on the sandy shore, Sephiroth turned his full anger towards the confused Aeris.
"What the hell were you thinking you stupid idiot!" Sephiroth yelled at her, "never try to sneak up on me or catch me off guard, I'd likely kill you out of reflex! All my life I've been battling and my instincts are super sensitive, or did that fact not register in your mind when you decided to pull that stupid stunt!"
Aeris just blankly stared at him and blinked several times after he stopped. Sephiroth forced himself to calm down and sighed. She probably didn't mean any harm when she decided to pull him under the water, but she should have known that trying to surprise him like that resulted in injury or sometimes even death.
After a few minutes when she didn't respond, Sephiroth gruffly said, "it's lucky that I didn't do more than simply kick you in the gut. I've been around you long enough to know that there was no malicious intent behind that action, you probably thought it was a good joke to pull on me. But NEVER do something like that again or the results could be much worse for you. Got it?"
"I'm sorry Sephiroth, I guess that I should have been more careful around you," Aeris finally responded, eyes cast down at the ground.
"Well see that it doesn't happen again," Sephiroth answered more calmly.
Aeris just stared out at the lake, avoiding his gaze. Honestly how stupid could I be? Aeris chided herself. When she had first impulsively decided to try to pull a fast one on Sephiroth she didn't think of what his reaction to it would be. The whole reason why she did it in the first place was to get him to lighten up. As he was standing there after she woke up from her unintended nap, he had looked so serious and just a bit lonely. She figured that that was no way to live life and since she would be with him for heaven knows how long she at least wanted to teach that there were more things to life than fighting and scowling all the time.
"It's getting late, we should look for a place to camp," Sephiroth mentioned, changing the subject.
"Why not stay here? We don't really need a fire since it's so warm here at night and I'd really love to sleep out here with the stars reflecting on the lake near the waterfall," Aeris suggested hopefully.
"Fine," was Sephiroth's one worded reply.
Aeris smiled, delighted.
It was a beautiful day in the forest that Aeris now called home. A playful wind blew her long chestnut tresses about softly carrying the scents of the forest on it. Aeris inhaled deeply relishing the sounds and smells of nature around her. Even after all this time the beauty and diversity of this place never ceased to amaze and refresh her. How nice peace felt after a whole life of struggling to survive among the humans who misunderstood and hated her kind. Everyday she thanked the planet for leading her to its most hidden treasure.
Growing bolder the wind started tugging at her tresses more strongly, as if it wanted to lead her somewhere. Deciding to follow its gentle guidance Aeris's feet started moving in a very familiar direction. Looking up Aeris noticed that it was cloudy overhead, it looked like rain. Moving onward Aeris picked up her pace a bit hoping that she hadn't missed it. Faster and faster her feet moved until she practically flew along the forest floor. A light drizzle had started a few minutes ago, but it didn't dampen her mood at all. On the contrary, the excitement that was fluttering in her chest was growing by the second.
There! She had made it in time. Her race through the woods had taken her to her favorite spot at the base of the misty waterfall that fed the small lake. Some days she would spend hours sitting at the base of the waterfall watching the mist it threw off create rainbows on sunny days. But the object of her attention wasn't the rainbows created by the waterfall, there weren't any now anyways since it was cloudy out. What she had come here to see was the graceful, flowing movements of the silver haired figure as he swung his sword through the air in complicated patterns and movements. Watching the warrior's dance of the swords always took her breath away, leaving an ache in her chest every time it ended.
Slashing away at invisible foes with his marvelous, long katana in sweeping fluid movements that wasted no energy the object of her attention continued his dance undisturbed. The minutes seemed to blend into hours as she sat there watching his ever moving form. With what seemed like a snap, the sliver-haired fighter performed the last move of his warrior's daily ritual, his sword extended straight up as if saluting the skies. Drops of water ran down his soaked body mingling with the sweat he had worked up during his exercise. He stayed like that for several seconds before walking behind the waterfall, Aeris silently following behind.
There she found him drying off his sword with the rags that used to be his overcoat in the surprisingly dry cave behind the waterfall that they lived in. He glanced up when he heard her bare feet padding along the smooth rock floor of the cave. Slowly he put down his sword, got up and approached her. No words passed between the two as they gazed into each other's eyes that conveyed to each other their every thought. Slowly he gathered Aeris up in his arms in a light, hesitant embrace. While the months they had spent together had done a lot towards making him comfortable around her he was still very gentle with her as if he was afraid that she could break at any second.
When they were together like this it felt like the whole world had melted away and all that existed was the two of them. Aeris still found it hard to believe that the man that had originally set out to kill her was now cradling her in his arms as they gazed out at the waterfall through the entrance of the cave. A sudden thought struck Aeris as the rain slowly disappeared. Moving out of his light hold, Aeris took his hand and led him out of the cave and continued walking until they were about fifteen feet away from the base of the waterfall, in the place where she had been watching him practice with his sword just a little while ago.
Looking up into the sky Aeris wasn't disappointed in her hunch as the sun suddenly broke through the cloud cover. Instantly a huge, gorgeous rainbow spread from the top of the waterfall and disappeared in the forest's horizon. Life was often like this rainbow Aeris observed, you always have to be on the lookout for opportunities or you'll miss out on the splendor of it. Aeris remembered the last great opportunity that had come suddenly like this rainbow had and was eternally grateful that she had fully embraced it. A sudden warmth spread throughout her body at what had come from that night. As if reading her thoughts Sephiroth's arms once came around her pulling her willing body up against his bare chest.
Both of them fell silent simply savoring the moment like they had so many others since they had come here, neither willing to break the mood. Once again Aeris's mind was drawn back to that moment so many months ago. One of her hands unconsciously drifted down to her growing belly and stroked the tiny life that was developing inside of her. Her lover seeing this gave her a gentile squeeze and one of his rare smiles came to his face as he too anticipated the arrival of the symbol of their union into the world.
Aeris awoke to the soft light of early morning feeling incredibly refreshed, the last moments of her puzzling dream fading into the ether. It took her a moment for her to realize where she was and when everything came back a huge smile broke out on her face at the prospect of spending another day in this lovely forest. Soon last night's dream she had had was almost completely forgotten, retreating back into her subconscious to process fully the meaning of what had happened in it and be examined at a much later time. The issue of food suddenly came to mind and luckily for Aeris there were berry bushes just a few feet away.
As she slowly chewed a small handful of berries, savoring their surprisingly sweet and tangy taste, Aeris's mind drifted back to yesterday's events at the lake. While stumbling upon it had been such a wonderful find, Aeris itched to do even more exploring today. She wanted to examine every bush and tree in the forest, watch as many different animals as she could going about their daily lives, look under every rock and into every fallen log and find everything in it that was wonderful. She wanted to explore this place to its very limits and discover what secrets it held. Never before had she come to a place that called out to her as much as this place did, it was if she had finally found the place that she could settle down and call home. Aeris never wanted to leave.
Maybe she could convince Sephiroth to abandon his destructive vendetta and stay here with her. She was certain that this place called to his troubled soul and calmed it like it did hers. Ever since she had gotten here it seemed like all the pain and loneliness that she had experienced for the last five years fell away, leaving her feeling free and light as a feather. It had not missed her attention that this seemingly utopian forest had had a very similar effect on her silver haired companion. For the first time since she had performed CPR on him on the Ancient Isle he looked truly relaxed.
There were still shadows of his old self-imposed seclusion and deeply buried hurt and yearning lurking in his gaze quite often. Aeris was determined to drive all those shadows out of him and teach him how to enjoy life, starting today. Although he may never trust any human, she concluded. Some things were impossible to achieve even for an empathetic healer such as herself. But at least she was sure that she could get him to at least trust her given enough time.
While Aeris was lost in her contemplations Sephiroth had woken up in much a similar manner that Aeris had. It had truly been such a long time since he had slept so well or woken up feeling like he did since he had come to the valley. While his rest had left him completely refreshed, Sephiroth was starting to feel slightly restless. Being trapped in this valley with no apparent way out for gods knew how long had put a definite damper on the progress of his mission. But such thoughts didn't stay long in Sephiroth's mind. This place just seemed to make all of his worries and anxieties seem so distant and unimportant. He had a hard time trying to force himself to hold on to them since such thoughts and feelings really didn't help him in his current situation.
Sephiroth blinked suddenly and found Aeris's hand thrust in his face. Unsure at what she was trying to do he just sat there calmly regarding her. She had a big, genuine smile plastered on her face as she was bending over in front of him, partially blocking the sun. Ever since they had gotten here, Aeris had always gone about with a smile on her face Sephiroth idly noted. Oddly enough he found he preferred Aeris like this to the relationship they had had on the Ancient Isle. In any case he sometimes felt himself letting his guard down when he was around her out in the wilderness. And to top that puzzling fact off, he found that he really didn't care that he could be possibly be getting "soft" on Aeris.
Aeris slightly annoyed by Sephiroth's lack of response at her offer to help him up, (although she knew that he didn't need it, it was purely a gesture of friendship) swiftly grasped one of Sephiroth's hands that was resting idly on his legs and pulled his arm upwards, his body automatically following Aeris's lead. Apparently, Sephiroth thought, Aeris wants to get going, no doubt to go off exploring again.
"Don't tell me that you want to sit around all day on a beautiful day such as this?" Aeris asked Sephiroth amused.
"Well what do you propose we do, Aeris? It's not like there is anywhere to go anyway," Sephiroth answered.
"What do you mean there is no place to go? There is a whole forest out there to explore and beyond it the entire Central Mountain Range awaits our presence," Aeris playfully retorted, starting to become excited at the prospect.
"Don't get your hopes up too high, if you haven't already noticed we're virtually trapped here. Even I can't find a way out of this valley," Sephiroth told her trying not to sound too harsh.
Suddenly a snippet of her dream last night came back to Aeris. Being trapped in this forested valley for months would definitely explain her familiarity she felt of the forest in her dream. Even so, Aeris felt like she was forgetting some important parts of her dream that she hadn't remembered yet. All that she had remembered in that sudden flashback was the very beginning of the dream strangely enough since most people only remember the very last bits of their nightly dreams (think the first two and a half paragraphs of the dream sequence).
The prospect of being trapped in this valley with Sephiroth, no matter how big it was, suddenly sent a thrill down Aeris's back. It was if she was excited at the idea of being around him for a long time without human interference, no matter how guilty that last part made her feel. What better opportunity could there be for her to work on softening his demeanor and teaching him how to embrace and find joy in nature? Looking out to the lake Aeris got an idea, but it would have to wait. First she wanted to get some serious exploring done.
"Come on, let's get going sleepyhead! Time won't wait for us to get moving and this valley won't be explored without us," Aeris excitedly spoke up.
"Why would you call me that Aeris?" Sephiroth found himself asking, "I got up only a few minutes after you did."
Aeris was delighted by this uncharacteristic question from Sephiroth, but she was careful not to show it.
"So where do you think we should go today?" Aeris asked, ignoring Sephiroth's previous question though he didn't seem to notice it.
"Anywhere's fine, it's not like there is much anything else to do while we're here," Sephiroth replied, "we could always set off to the other end of the lake and follow the cliff face to see if there is any place where we could climb up out of the valley."
"I don't understand why you seem so stuck on the idea of getting out of this place, we just got here," Aeris said, "and it would be a shame not to fully explore this place that the planet obviously led us to, to enjoy."
Sephiroth was stumped. Why did he keep on thinking about leaving when they had just got here? He could use the break and frankly Aeris's idea seemed like a pleasant pursuit. It couldn't hurt to stay for a few days or even a few weeks. It wasn't like he could proceed with his plans while he was stranded here anyway.
"To the waterfall it is," Aeris spoke up, making the decision for both of them.
Despite its size, it took Aeris and Sephiroth almost an hour to reach the other side of the lake while traveling at a leisurely pace. At the base of the cliff wall where the waterfall fell into the lake the mountains' bedrock was exposed to the open air, the pounding stream of the waterfall keeping the area clear of soil and plants for fifteen feet on both sides. By the time they had actually transversed the whole length of the bare rock, both Aeris and Sephiroth were slightly damp. But that fact didn't seem to deter Aeris in the slightest, it was a very warm day anyway, her burning curiosity driving her on to know what exactly was behind the waterfall.
Sephiroth, despite what some might think based on his past reactions, was only very mildly irritated since Aeris had insisted on this diversion. But it really didn't matter anyway, since they were stuck there, and he found no harm in allowing Aeris to indulge in some of her whims. The best part of just allowing her to indulge in these childish behaviors was that it kept the peace between them and Sephiroth definitely preferred it that way.
"Wow! Sephiroth you must come over here! I can hardly believe this!" Aeris exclaimed.
Sephiroth followed her summons, he had nothing better to do and the chance that she had actually found something interesting wasn't all that far off. Skirting past an errant stream of water that fell separate from the rest of the mass, Sephiroth stepped behind the main column of the waterfall itself and was slightly impressed. Though it didn't seem physically possible, there was a large, dry cave that ended about forty feet back that extended slightly to the right behind the waterfall. This place was very well hidden from sight by the waterfall and was large enough to easily accommodate at least ten people safely and comfortably. If he were just passing through this valley he would have immediately made this cave his camp; that is, if he could have found it.
"For some reason this place seems familiar, but I've never been here before….," Aeris distractedly murmured.
Sephiroth felt no such thing about where he was standing and frankly he didn't care.
"Oh well, not like it matters," Aeris chirped, "this place looks cozy, makes me think of home."
Sephiroth could find no connection between this dry, bare cave and the humble little cottages that populated the lush meadow valley she grew up in. Aeris thinks in strange and convoluted ways, Sephiroth thought. Although saying that was like the pot calling the kettle black, neither of the two gifted beings in the cave thought in the commonly accepted "normal" patterns.
When Aeris had first stepped into the cave behind the waterfall, the sudden sense of familiarity had hit her so strongly that it had taken her a few seconds to regain herself. But the feeling had quickly faded, from where it came, becoming lost to Aeris. What she did notice was the lack of moisture in the cave and how, despite having no plant matter in it, it had the same sense of openness and peaceful natural flows in it like the rest of the forest had. The smooth bedrock that the cave was carved out of neither felt warm or cool to the touch and her fingers glided effortlessly over its surface, its texture feeling wonderful to her callused fingers.
Being in here made Aeris feel safe and secure, a feeling that Aeris had been missing for the better part of the last five years. If the valley was her home as she was beginning to think of it as, then this cave was her sanctuary.
"This will do," Aeris heard Sephiroth comment.
"This will do?" Aeris echoed Sephiroth's words.
"You mentioned that this place felt like home, didn't you? It's a much better place for us to make camp than out in the open next to the lake," Sephiroth explained.
"Plus in here, we won't tramp all around in the same place compacting the soil and making it harder for plants to grow," Aeris added.
Always thinking of not interrupting the natural flow of things, Sephiroth noted.
"Let's get moving now that we have decided upon a location for our base of operations," Sephiroth said.
Without warning Aeris suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter. Frowning at Aeris for her illogical behavior, Sephiroth calmly waited for her to settle down.
"It's just that when said that you sounded like an army commander," Aeris explained, wiping a tear out of her eye, "I never took you to be the military type. The egotistical bastard and the violent nutcase yes, but never the rigidly ordered persona of a military officer. You've never shown that side of your personality to me before, you see."
"Thank you for pointing out to me that I'm a more complex person than the average Neanderthal," Sephiroth responded sarcastically, "although I did like the part about me being an egotistical bastard and a violent nutcase."
"Well you're a lot less violent than when I first met you," Aeris shot back, trying in vain to hide her amusement, "but you're still an egotistical bastard. That much about you hasn't changed."
"Humph, annoying Cetra," Sephiroth grunted.
"Obnoxious jerk," Aeris retorted trying to sound like Sephiroth.
"Resorting to calling names now girl?" Sephiroth asked.
"You started it, SEPHY," Aeris replied in the same manner.
"Illogical creature," Sephiroth bit back, starting to enjoy the argument despite himself.
"Over-inflated, pompous, arrogant, prick," Aeris countered, getting into the swing of things.
"Over-infatuated nature lover," Sephiroth returned.
"Insensitive brute," Aeris answered, starting to giggle.
"Space-case," Sephiroth retaliated.
"Vain peacock," Aeris quipped.
"Naive simpleton," Sephiroth responded.
"So now you're insulting my intelligence, you bleached airhead?" Aeris shot back.
"Leave my hair out of this Cetra," Sephiroth answered slightly offended.
Aeris couldn't help herself, she broke out into hysterical laughter. Sephiroth scowled at her over her victory at getting such a statement out of him.
"You…your hair…that indignant look on your face…" Aeris struggled to speak before her amusement at Sephiroth's expense overwhelmed her again as she started laughing even harder.
"Oh thank you Sephiroth," Aeris unevenly spoke, getting over her fit of laughter, "I haven't laughed like that for ages, no offense to your 'precious' hair."
Seeing the look on Sephiroth's face, Aeris hastily continued, "it's really lovely, your hair that is. But I just couldn't help myself back there when you started going after my intelligence. It's always been sort of a sore spot for me and whenever someone started trying to provoke me by making fun of my intellect I sort of instinctually went after their most cherished vanity."
Sephiroth stared at her with a blank look on his face. She thinks my hair is lovely! he thought.
"Yes I do, how could it not be? It shines like molten silver in the sunlight and it's so long and pretty," Aeris told him.
Shit, I said that out loud? Sephiroth thought, wincing when she mentioned the word "pretty".
"Yes you did," Aeris amusedly answered him. Apparently he had spoken that last though out loud as well he realized.
"But you haven't been taking very good care of it you know. It's all matted and tangled with twigs and leaves in it. Right now it looks more brown than silver," Aeris commented.
It was quite true Sephiroth realized.
"Not like my hair is in any better condition either," Aeris added ruefully, "you wouldn't happen to have a comb or brush that survived through our attempt in spelunking?"
"No, but I probably could make one," Sephiroth answered offhandedly, as he withdrew a small hunting knife from a sealed inner pocket of his trench coat that had come through the cave intact.
"Really!" Aeris exclaimed with hope in her eyes.
"Yes if I find a suitable branch or bone, but it would be of very poor quality, and it would take some time to carve it," Sephiroth explained.
"Would you really make one?" Aeris asked, pursuing the idea.
"Yes, but not today. We've wasted a lot of time today already with this conversation. Its mid-day and I haven't had anything to eat since we got up," Sephiroth firmly told her.
After a lunch of berries and other fruits hanging from the trees and a quick trip back to the lake to refresh themselves and get a drink, Aeris and Sephiroth set off along the cliff wall, occasionally stopping whenever Aeris saw something that caught her attention. As the pair traveled, the good mood that they had gotten into behind the waterfall had continued as they occasionally bantered back and forth about various random subjects good-naturedly. They traveled for an hour and a half before Aeris suddenly announced that she was tired of walking over the rocks that littered the ground at the cliff's base and was heading back. Sephiroth had no choice to follow or be left behind and truthfully he was starting to get bored with the scenery as well.
Their search for a place in the cliff wall that was scalable was a complete disaster and Sephiroth had the feeling that another search for such a place would produce similar results. He had to admit that they were truly stuck, no matter how much he didn't want to concede the fact. His own stubborn pride had been the only thing preventing him from admitting the truth to himself earlier. He wanted to hold onto that thin excuse for as long as possible, purposely deluding himself so he wouldn't have to admit another defeat.
Upon reflection, it seemed to be too much of a coincidence that they had "miraculously" made their way through the cave to this location relatively unscathed. That they had both survived the cave-in was pure chance, but everything that had happened afterwards seemed too coordinated for it to be an accident. The disappearance of his powers of flight and teleportation only reinforced the fact that they had been deliberately led and trapped here, though Aeris didn't seem to mind being imprisoned here by the planet at all. And that was exactly what this valley was, a prison. It was designed to speak to one's soul, and offer a carefree and comfortable lifestyle, but it was a prison nonetheless, meant to keep them from escaping.
Aeris might think of this place as a sanctuary and paradise, giving her respite from the outside world, but Sephiroth wasn't convinced. The very essence of this place was wearing down his resolutions and the more time he spent here, the more he wanted to stay here. And if things kept on going as they were, it wouldn't be long before he truly wouldn't care about his plans of revenge and godhood and would be content to spend the rest of his life with Aeris here.
Yes, I admit it, Sephiroth thought, I enjoy being in Aeris's company even though it wasn't too long ago that I viewed her as an enemy that I had to dispose of immediately. Gah, what a mess I've gotten myself in. She's wearing down my defenses and is worming her way into my inner self. She really is dangerous, just in a different way than I had originally thought.
Lost in his reflections while sitting on a rock at the lake's shore, Sephiroth never noticed Aeris look over at him and smile evilly. Oh, what a perfect opportunity, Aeris inwardly chortled, he is totally out of it and has no idea what is going on around him. And he called me the space-case! Aeris was determined to make him loosen up and actually smile instead of glowering at everything all the time. The best way she though to go about it was to continually catch him off guard and get different reactions out of him. Although she hadn't planned on the earlier jesting back in the cave, Aeris immediately saw it as a perfect opportunity to start and it had paid off handsomely. Not only did she find out a new side of him, but she got him to get involved in the silly game and had slipped past his defenses with that subtle comment about his hair which he had naturally picked up.
Oh what a wonderful day it had been, but it wasn't over yet. There was still one thing she wanted to try before the sun set. Slowly slipping out of her dress and shoes and carefully laying them aside, Aeris with an air of nonchalance stepped into the lake, waded out until she was waist deep and swept her arm down hitting the surface of the water with a loud smack, sending a large splash right towards Sephiroth that hit him dead on.
Sephiroth was satisfactorily surprised and lashed out at his attacker, his fist going through nothing but empty air. Not giving him the chance to get his bearings, Aeris sent another wave of water at him, followed by another and another, never letting up on her barrage until he furiously strode into the lake and sent a huge splash back at her. Aeris gave a small "eeep!" and started frantically swimming away from the strong swordsman bent on retaliation.
But her flight from him was in vain, for within two minutes he was on her and was dragging her back to shore with an arm around her waist while she frantically struggled to get out of his grip. Both of them were thoroughly wet by the time Sephiroth had dragged her back to the shore and dumped a madly giggling Aeris onto the wet sand. While he really wanted to give her a through tongue lashing for her actions, Sephiroth held himself back since she had actually had done nothing wrong and had got him fair and square.
"Very amusing Aeris," Sephiroth began, "you thought that it was oh so clever of you to try and catch me off guard in a way that kept you out of my reach. What you failed to think about is that I am much, much faster than you on land or in the water. And now I believe that I am due some compensation for your little trick."
Aeris bolted, or tried to but Sephiroth had pinned her before she had even got to her feet. Keeping a firm grip on the wiggling brunette, Sephiroth threw her over his shoulder and started marching off towards the waterfall, ignoring her protests. Once he was next to the waterfall he slung her off his shoulder and threw her into the lake near where the waterfall hit the lake's surface. A few seconds later Aeris broke through the water's surface sputtering while she shot Sephiroth an evil glare, only to quickly backpedal after he kicked off his combat boots and flung off his trench coat and dove into the water right at her.
As if predicting what would happen next Aeris wildly started kicking the water in an attempt to get away from the submerged man. Her left foot solidly hit his chest when one of his arms grabbed her other foot around the ankle and he swiftly dragged her underwater, letting go of her quickly so she had enough air to get to the surface. By the time her head broke through the water's surface for the second time within one minute, Sephiroth had already climbed out of the water and was wringing the water out of his hair.
"No fair!" a breathless Aeris gasped.
"It's perfectly fair Aeris, I was just paying you back for the stunts you pulled yesterday and today," Sephiroth replied in a droll tone.
"No it's not! You're stronger than me, there's no way that I can fight back against that!" Aeris yelled at him.
"I seem to recall differently about your inability to fight back against me when you drugged my soup," Sephiroth returned.
Aeris blushed. Now that some time had elapsed between that incident and the present she was slightly ashamed of her actions. But back then she was desperate and it seemed just the only way to escape from a cruel end at his hands. She was justified in her actions, at that point Sephiroth still was very viable to kill her at any moment's notice without hesitation. Since then he had considerably softened his attitude regarding her and at this present time she would never dream about repeating her past actions. Aeris told him just that, except the parts about him wanting to kill her and his apparent lack of interest in doing that presently (and the part of him getting soft, she didn't want to rile him up anymore).
Still Aeris was pleased at his choice of retaliation against her, (even if she didn't like being thrown into the lake) it showed that his violent reactions were disappearing and he was developing different forms of dealing with her when she was deliberately annoying him. It also showed that his long dormant sense of humor was surfacing, that or he was developing one for the first time in his life. If she could teach him that there were different ways of enjoying himself other than violence and cruelity, perhaps she could convince him to abandon his quest for revenge and power. That path only led to misery and suffering for everyone, including himself and he could very easily end up destroying himself in the process.
Today was a good start, but if Aeris wanted to work her magic on him to the full extent, she had a lot more work to do. Work that she gladly looked forward to, since not only would it be self-fulfilling, but it would also be a lot of fun. She wanted to make him genuinely laugh and see his real smile, not his frequent scowls or less frequent smirks, but a real smile. Aeris couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Warning: while I was writing this author's note, I was extremely high on the after effects of finishing this chapter, so some of the things I might of wrote could be werid.
Whew! That was the longest one yet! Twenty pages of story not including the author's not at the end. Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Especially the part of the cave behind the waterfall and their antics in the lake.
Whee! I'm so excited, things are really starting to develop and heat up between the two. A big event is coming and the climax isn't too far off! There are only three to four chapters left and in the next one I will answer the question that has been on all of your minds: "Who are Sephy's parents?" There's that plus more so stay tuned for the next episode of Children of Prophecy!
Now on to my review responses.
To keeki: well the romance is speeding up and there's even more to come in the next chapter. I glad that you think that this is a good AU Aeriseph, I try hard to do my best. I certainly tried to come up with an original plot, it's harder than one thinks!
To The Hot Mage Aeris: ah, my favorite author of spoof FF7 fics. Always nice to see one of my favorite authors and fellow obsessed Aeriseph fans reviewing my work. Your praise for my story is enthusatic as usual, something that I fully encourage. I'm just disappointed that I haven't received any really strange or wacky ones yet.
To thegr8sephiroth: one of my most frequent reviewers! Thanks for keeping up the feedback! Sorry about the misspelling, I always proofread my chapters before I submit them, but I can never catch everything. But a beta would help…anyone willing? Thought not. Oh well, one can always hope. Other than that I'm glad that this fic meets your approval.
To Brdm18: I'm not the only ones that make misspellings in my writing turkeybutt! Take a second look at the review you left me for Ch.6. Didn't you read my response in one of my earlier chapters where I clearly stated that there would only be FOUR characters from FF7 in my fic, and that they had all been introduced already? J/K, I know you're joking. I will keep writing more of this fic, but the amount of school work that I have will determine how fast the updates come. Thanks for the review! (for those of you who don't know or haven't guessed it, I know this person very well, but I won't diverge our relationship unless I have their permision).
To Tishanna: man, if I knew that leaving a review for someone's story mentioning the fact that they have this fic on their favorite's or alerts list would get them to give me a review, I would have done it much sooner! No I won't do that to anyone else that has my story on their list, but it wouldn't hurt if you did leave a review anyway…Oh well. Thanks for your overwhelming praise for my fic, so glad that you enjoy it so much. Hope this chapter was long enough for your tastes. I just couldn't stop writing it!
I have no idea when the next update will be, but when I have a rough idea of when the next one will be done I will post it on my author's profile.
For those of you who read and don't review, SHAME ON YOU! For those of you that do, my thanks. Those reviews give me impetus to write faster and stop putting off my updates.
So review, review, review! Won't you please leave me a review?