Children of Prophecy
Disclaimer: I don't own the plotline or characters of FF7 but I do own the storyline of this story.
Ch.8- The Taming of the Spawn.
As per his promise, on the fourth day of their stay in the isolated valley Sephiroth could be found sitting on a log in the shade of the forest meticulously whittling away on a four inch section of a fallen tree branch, a look of utmost concentration on his face. The pervious day he had spent two hours scouring the forest floor looking for a suitable piece of wood that could be made into a comb. The wood had to be dry and rather stout, but not green or rotten. In a warm and moist climate such as this, fallen branches or logs tended to start rotting within three to four months after hitting the forest floor, if not earlier. At the same time it took about two to three months for the wood to thoroughly dry out in the first place. That left a very narrow margin of time for any fallen branches to reach the state Sephiroth was looking for to make the much needed hair de-tangler device.
Luckily for both Sephiroth and Aeris, he had found such a piece after only two hours of almost fruitless searching. The only reason why it was found in the first place was because Aeris had literally stumbled over it, her fall ending in a thankfully thorn-free bush. Tripping over the offending piece of wood didn't seem to faze her in the slightest, apparently the bush she had landed in was a common ingredient used in many of her herbal remedies. While she was happily humming away, collecting as many of its leaves as she could fit into her dress's pockets, Sephiroth on a whim had stooped down and examined the branch that was the inadvertent cause of her discovery. Informing her that he had found a suitable branch, Sephiroth swiftly headed back to the lake to retrieve his hunting knife from his trench coat that he had left lying on the floor of the cave behind the waterfall.
It had been quite a long time since Sephiroth had had to carve anything, since he could always take whatever he needed from human habitations before. Due to this fact, he had gotten quite rusty at using his knife in this particular manner. It had only taken him a half hour of trying to carve into the hard wood before Sephiroth had given up in disgust for the day, tired of the whole affair. But Sephiroth was not the type of person who was easily discouraged, so without fail the very next day he was determinedly scraping away at the obnoxious piece of wood, a small pile of wood shavings collecting at his feet.
Aeris, when she had woken up the next day, upon seeing Sephiroth absorbed in his work had decided not to bother him, so she told him that she would be off today searching for more herbs to make some simple but very useful medicines out of. After a distracted reply from the busy warrior-temporarily-turned-carver, she happily vacated the premises in favor of the shade under the forest canopy.
Time quickly went by for the happily-occupied Cetra while she was out searching for both new and familiar plants with medicinal properties, the planet helpfully pointing out ones she missed and explaining the uses of ones she had no clue about. Eventually though Aeris's feet started to get sore and she quickly tired of her expedition not long after. As she headed back towards the lake, her feet knowing exactly where to go even if she wasn't precisely sure where she was, Aeris was looking forward to another swim in the lake. She also was hoping that Sephiroth had finished carving that comb, her hair was in desperate need of de-matting.
It was times like this when Aeris sometimes seriously debated just cutting the whole length off at least two feet to a more manageable length. But vanity always won out in the end, she was very proud of her hair and she secretly thought that it was the best part about her. Everyone is allowed their own personal vanity, aren't they? Aeris thought every time she considered hacking off the sometimes vexing long length of golden brown hair. Besides, brushing her long tresses reminded her of her mother who had long ago departed for the paradise of the Cetra, joining her beloved husband who had passed on even before Aeris was born. Before her mother had died, they had spent hours every day brushing each other's long hair once Aeris was old enough to do such things. During their daily grooming sessions Aeris often told her mother of her dreams and silly fantasies while Ilfania had dazzled Aeris with Cetran lore and legends.
It was only after her mother had passed away two weeks before Aeris turned seven that she had learned about the accursed prophecy that would cause her so much misery in the coming years. Shortly thereafter Elymara had taken the young girl in and started training her as her apprentice. Her studies at first were a welcome distraction for Aeris's young mind to help cope with her grief. But only a few months after she had started training as an herbalist and a healer, Aeris became totally enthralled with the subject. She joyfully spent the next eight years cramming as much knowledge on plants and their uses as she could before she suddenly found herself packing her possessions, ready to set off on her own.
Reflecting upon the happy years of her childhood in Rose Valley, Aeris belatedly realized that she wasn't as careful about her heritage as she should have been. The only reason why more people other than Zack had put two-and-two together and figured out her biggest secret was because life in Rose Valley was so carefree and fulfilling. To the people who lived there, their existence was so fulfilling that they never pried into their neighbor's lives extensively or really paid too much attention to strange events. She had been luckier than she had thought, since her secret was never revealed by those who had figured out. Elymara must have known, Aeris thought ruefully, why else would she take me in so quickly and easily. She knew that helping others was in my blood, what professional in the healing arts could ask for a better apprentice than a young nubile Cetra eager to learn their profession? Well it could also be because she was such a close friend of my parents before they died…
Though she never knew the exact events of their first meeting, Aeris vaguely remembered the story of how Ilfania met Elymara on the one year anniversary of her parents when they were still courting. Her dad, a traveler who was known by his last name only, Gast, had just settled down in Rose Valley the previous year to court her mother and had planned something romantic for Iflania. But like he often did, totally fumbled his attempt at impressing her mother by falling in the fountain in the middle of the village. It was a chilly day out and upon hearing the commotion outside, Elymara, an apprentice herbal healer at the time had rushed out and dragged Gast into her cottage to dry next to the fire, her mother following chortling. Apparently Elymara was still inexperienced in her practice since she was worried about Gast catching pneumonia within the hour. They became fast friends after their first encounter.
The story how her parents had met, on the other hand, was very well-known and beloved to Aeris. Ironically enough Gast had originally attracted Ilfania's attention by falling into that same fountain that he did one year later. He had caught sight of her mother's hair flashing in the midday sun and was immediately drawn to it. He wasn't watching where he was going and performed a lovely belly flop into flowing fountain. Her mother's reaction was to laugh merrily at his antics while helping the sopping wet wanderer out of the fountain. Her mother had joked that it was love at first sight when they met, at least on her father's behalf.
It was pure chance that Gast had found out that her mother was a Cetra. But he took it the discovery in stride, claiming that he knew from the first time he laid eyes on her that there was something magical about her. Ilfania had whacked him for that comment saying that he was being a smart-ass. By the time he had proposed to her in front of the whole village at the spring equinox celebration her mother was so fed up with him not willing to make the next move she was about to ask him herself. Needless to say she instantly accepted. Three years later Iflania was two months pregnant with Aeris when Gast died in a hunting accident.
Upon the moment of his death the planet had informed Ilfania of Gast's unknown and undiscovered half-blood heritage when he had surprisingly showed up in the Promised Land. All those years she had yearned to revel in the planet's song with her beloved thinking that he couldn't because he was human, while he had been half-Cetra the whole time. In its own way fate was just as cruel to her mother as it had been to her these past five years.
By the time Aeris had finished reviewing her life's story, she was back at the lake.
After an hour of not much progress and making his thumbs sore, Sephiroth was finally getting much more fluid and efficient with using the hunting knife-converted-into-carving-knife. As the wood shavings fell faster the shape and teeth of the comb gradually emerged, but it was hardly a piece of art. Holding the completed comb in his hands Sephiroth stared at the fruit of his labors. It was about four inches long and had ten thick, uneven teeth spaced at irregular intervals along its length. He had done his best to get it as smooth as possible, but the comb was still unsatisfactorily rough to the touch. But it would have to do, since he was thoroughly sick of working on the dammed thing.
With the task of making the comb finished and Aeris still off "gathering herbs" (although he seriously doubted it, he figured that she had probably gotten lost in the forest again) there wasn't much else to do. He really didn't feel like wandering through the forest after their fruitless search along the cliff base a few days ago. With Aeris gone, he had nothing to distract him from his thoughts and he was tired of thinking. It was one of those rare times in his life where he was experiencing the torments of the emotion called boredom.
After half an hour of laying underneath the dark green leaves of a twenty foot tall young tree Sephiroth agitatedly got to his feet, inactivity eating away at his inner peace. Marching off to the cave where his belongings were stored, Sephiroth was thinking of something, ANYTHING that he could do to distract himself from his boredom. The first thing his eyes fell upon when he entered the cave was his sword, looking forlorn and begging to be used (to Sephiroth at least). Sadly there were no monsters in this valley, nor even any large predators that he could hunt down. In short there was nothing in this place that he could stick Masamune into, other else than trees which Aeris would yell at him for. But that doesn't mean that there is nothing I can do with Masamune, Sephiroth thought, an idea striking him, I do need to keep my skills sharp and a little practice never hurt anyone.
Picking up his sword like it weighed less than a feather, Sephiroth strode out of the cave and back under the forest canopy to do some much needed training. He raised his sword up into the air to perform the first move in his customary routine, only to have the tip of his blade sink into the trunk of a tree nearby. Looking around, Sephiroth growled, while it was rather open under the tree canopy, there wasn't enough room for him to be able to fully perform his workout. He walked back out from under the shade cast by the trees and onto the sunny lakeshore.
While there was enough room to suit his needs, there was sand everywhere. Sephiroth's lip curled in disgust at the thought of training in the sand. His moves tended to whip it up and more often than not, it ended up getting into places he preferred that it not, like his eyes. Surveying his surroundings for anyplace that he could use to practice on, his eyes fell upon an area on the right side of the waterfall about thirty feet away from the cascading water. Not having anything better to do he set off in its direction.
When he got there, Sephiroth was pleased by what he saw. It wasn't prefect but it was better than on the beach or under the trees. In front of him lay a thirty foot long and twenty foot wide relatively flat stretch of rock with the cliff bordering it on one side and the lake on the other. He would have preferred that the area was larger and that the lake wasn't on one side, but beggars can't be choosers, and it was the only clear space around that didn't have sand or trees that was big enough for him and his eight foot long katana. There were downsides to having such a long sword sometimes.
Lifting his sword into his first pose, Sephiroth quickly slashed it horizontally across the air, followed by a diagonal swipe upwards. Soon he found himself settling into the rhythm of the sword dance, his body knowing what to do since he had done this exercise hundreds of times. Sephiroth unexpectedly found his thoughts wandering while he rapidly moved from one move to another. He remembered the time he first set eyes on the legendary Masamune when he was just eight years old.
Flashback:
He had been scrounging for food out in the woods when he came across a slumbering warrior from the far off island in the north, called Pallin, known for its traditional values and impressive fighters of almost all weapons. The warriors from that island were most acclaimed for was for their unique sword fighting styles, there were over a hundred of them on that far off island. The sword of choice for many of these warriors was the katana, the only sword that was created there and the most predominately used even now. To find one of these warriors this far away from his native island was very odd, but what really caught young Sephiroth's eye was the monstrously long sword leaning on a tree next to the man.
Being the child of Jenova, even though it had made his childhood miserable due to human hunters trying to kill them (though they never got close), he was totally fearless and had no qualms about taking what he wanted or in satisfying his childish curiosity, regardless of the consequences for others. And right now, his curiosity had been fully sparked by that impressive looking weapon casually leaning on that tree. Boldly walking past the napping swordsman, young Sephiroth confidently grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands.
Having his hands grasping the hilt of this masterful sword sent a thrill down young Sephiroth's spine. He knew right then and there that he had to have this sword. So he callously tried to lift the sword, but it was heavier than he had thought and he could barely hold the long thing at eye level. Sweat beaded on his brow as his arms quickly tired and he fought to keep the sword's tip off the ground. I will not be defeated by a mere sword! I am the son of Jenova, the chosen one to rid the world of its filth! young Sephiroth furiously thought. Suddenly he felt a sharp, cold point being pressed into the back of his neck.
"If you want Masamune little urchin, you must earn it," a gruff voice spoke behind him.
Finally lowering the blade to the ground young Sephiroth fearlessly turned around and boldly looked the now awake swordsman in the eye. Amusement rippled through his mind, a mere human defying me? He must not know who I am young Sephiroth smugly thought.
"Oh you're certainly arrogant enough for a stripling, I'll give you that," the swordsman spoke again, sheathing his weapon.
"That sword is mine," young Sephiroth confidently stated.
"You're not humble either I see," the warrior responded, "given your unnatural strength at this young an age, you'll certainly be able to lift Masamune without any trouble in a few years. But you are absolutely not ready even to do the most basic moves with even a regular katana."
"Who are you to be judging my skill!" young Sephiroth angrily yelled.
"Someone with far more experience than you, boastful youngling," the warrior replied, tight lipped, "I'll give you a deal little imp, you train under me for a few years and when you are able to beat me with a broom handle without breaking it, I'll give you Masamune."
"What kind of fool do you think I am? A broom handle? What an absurd idea," young Sephiroth scoffed.
"Take it or leave it, you'll never get this sword any other way," the warrior said, strapping Masamune to his back and walking away.
-If you really want that sword so much son, swallow your pride and take his offer, you could do with the discipline his training would provide you- Jenova grumpily spoke in his mind. Young Sephiroth scowled, he didn't like getting lectured by his mother, but he really did want that sword and he would do almost anything to get it. Besides, learning how to most effectively use it to kill things sounded useful. With that last though young Sephiroth scampered off after the moving warrior.
The sound of Masamune's blade cutting through the air echoed off the cliff and into the forest, reaching Aeris's perceptible ears. What is going on? Aeris confusedly thought, is Sephiroth under attack? There's nothing in the forest that can harm either of us except a falling tree and I think that Sephiroth would be fast enough to be avoid that.
Cautiously creeping towards the sounds of the whistling blade, Aeris silently made her way towards the clearing on the right side of the waterfall. What she saw took her breath away. Right before her eyes, sun flashing off his silver hair and silver blade was Sephiroth performing a graceful and complicated sword dance, sweat glistening off his back. Even though it was a dance of death, Aeris felt no violence in Sephiroth's movements as he was lost in the motions of his sword. Rather she saw his routine as a sign of dedication to sword fighting itself as an art rather than a means of killing others.
Without warning another part of the dream she had days ago hit her full force. I must be imagining things, I could have sworn that I saw this exact pattern of swordplay in my dream. There's no way that I could be seeing this right now. It can't be real! Aeris dazedly thought. A twig scrapping her arm reminded her that what she was seeing was very real and no, she wasn't going crazy. In awe Aeris watched Sephiroth perform his final move, his sword saluting the sky.
"You might as well come out of the bushes Aeris," Sephiroth's voice drifted over the lake.
Caught, Aeris emerged blushing from behind the bush she was spying upon Sephiroth from. Her embarrassment didn't last long and within a few moments she had reached Sephiroth's side.
"That was beautiful Sephiroth," Aeris commented softly, "so this is what you do in your spare time."
"Normally when I get restless, I go off and find something to fight," Sephiroth answered her unspoken question.
"Well when I'm bored, I go off and walk through the woods and collect useful plants for my remedies," Aeris said.
"You mean that you go get yourself lost in the woods," Sephiroth corrected her.
"Nope," Aeris happily corrected him.
"Humph, obnoxious Cetra," Sephiroth half-heartedly snorted.
"Anytime Sephiroth," Aeris happily replied.
"………" was Sephiroth's response.
"Phew you stink Sephiroth! If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn that you had a run in with a sunk," Aeris exclaimed.
"No better than you," Sephiroth said, in a deadpan voice.
"Well that might be, but things that stink so much need a good WASHING!" Aeris shouted, pushing a startled Sephiroth into the lake.
"That's it! I'm going to KILL YOU AERIS!" Sephiroth shouted when he surfaced as Aeris broke into a full sprint laughing her head off at the steamed warrior.
An hour later, an exhausted, dripping wet Aeris crawled onto the sandy beach next to the clearing near the waterfall. A few seconds a less exhausted, but worn out and equally soaked Sephiroth did the same. Contentedly sighing, Aeris flipped onto her back and stared at the passing clouds in the sky.
"That was fun, wasn't it Sephiroth?" Aeris asked.
"Your definition of fun quite differs from mine Aeris," Sephiroth answered.
"You can't spend all of your time hacking and slashing at monsters," Aeris replied, "geeze, you need to live a little and I intend to make you."
Sephiroth groaned. Life with Aeris would be interesting to say the least.
"So where did you grow up Sephiroth?" Aeris asked out of the blue.
Not feeling up for another match of verbal sparring, Sephiroth responded, "in the wild all over the Werely and Emal continents. My home was the forests and grasslands, my backyard the mountains and canyons."
"Wow, you sound so nostalgic, makes me wish that I could have spent my childhood rather than the last five years out with nature," Aeris remarked.
"My child wasn't full of flowers and sunshine, Aeris," Sephiroth replied darkly, "unlike you, I had to fight to survive."
"Just like I had to for the last five years, thanks to you," Aeris angrily muttered too softly for Sephiroth to hear.
"Well unlike you Sephiroth, people weren't afraid of me and I was constantly being hunted by people afraid of the prophecy," Aeris shot back, "not that that matters anymore, since no one knows where we are and even if they did, they can't reach us, being stranded and all."
"So now things can go back to being sunshine and daises for you?" Sephiroth snapped at Aeris.
Aeris was about to make a nasty shot at Sephiroth when she remembered the argument in the cavern under the mountain. Forcibly calming herself down, Aeris carefully chose her next words.
"Let's stop this before it gets out of hand, we don't want a repeat of our last argument," Aeris rationalized.
Sephiroth stopped whatever hurtful remark that was about to leave his mouth. She's right Sephiroth thought, shaken. He couldn't believe that he had let his anger cloud his judgment again. It quickly dispelled, leaving him feeling weak and drained. Aeris's influence it seemed had been bringing out all of his emotions, not just amusement and displeasure. As much as he tried to stay disinterested in Aeris he found himself envying her openness and pure expression of her happiness. To his amazement the longer he was with her the more he found that he could do all those things and more. What was even more astounding was that Sephiroth actually wanted this change in his demeanor. He wasn't sure how much of an effect this valley was having on this need, but it was mostly fueled by Aeris herself.
"If you learn to let go of your anger and arrogance you will find that you too can experience roses and rainbows," Aeris quietly commented with great insight on Sephiroth whirling thoughts.
Sephiroth chose not to respond to that.
"I just feel bad that you never were able to enjoy your childhood," Aeris reflected, "having no one to care about you is an existence I would wish on no one."
"And yet that is what my whole life has been apart from Jenova's guidance," Sephiroth recollected.
"Not anymore. I'll make sure that you're never alone again Sephiroth, I'll stay by your side," Aeris promised him without hesitation.
Sephiroth found himself speechless. He couldn't even put together a rational thought after Aeris's declaration. How loudly his heart seemed to be beating after that last statement. Strange feelings welled up in Sephiroth's heart, preventing him from speaking.
"Thank you," he finally replied, his voice thick with some unknown emotion to both him and Aeris.
The subtle gathering of energies nearby awoke Aeris from her slumber. She had been in a deep sleep when her senses felt the very slight shift in the natural lifeflows. Usually Aeris wouldn't be bothered by such a minor change, but when it steadily grew stronger and more centralized, Aeris grudgingly left Morphious's kingdom. Her mind still clouded with sleep, Aeris observed the odd spectacle going on in front of her with a detached interest. Despite the momentous importance of what was occurring before her eyes the significance of what Aeris was seeing went unregistered in her mind.
Wisps of vibrant emerald green lifestream were coming from all around and were gently swirling around the sleepy Cetra and the sound asleep warrior. Inside the faint circle of lifestream that was circling around the edge of the cave another more solid, thicker circle of the very essence of the planet's power was rapidly spinning around the two. Faster and faster it rotated, with each completed cycle, the circle getting thicker and brighter as it drew closer to the sleepy and sleeping individuals. Soon the whirling mass was close enough to touch the skin of Aeris's neck and was caressing Sephiroth's hair.
Then, contact! The moment the circle touched Aeris's skin at the same time it did for Sephiroth, it immediately started sinking into her psyche and her soul. But instead of feeling alarmed like she should have, Aeris only felt a gentle infusion of warmth and quickly found herself falling back asleep. Now the circle wasn't a circle anymore, instead it had formed two loops, one encircling person that was connected by a thick band. Before Aeris could witness the completion of the ancient ritual the planet was performing for the two, the blanket of sleep covered her again. She slept through the rest of the night undisturbed by dreams.
Aeris woke up feeling rejuvenated and ready for anything, greeting the light of false-dawn with a bright smile. She just knew that today's sunrise would be absolutely enchanting and she didn't want Sephiroth to miss it. Gently nudging his shoulder Aeris got up and stretched before padding to the entrance of the cave to wait for her stirring companion, the previous night's events completely forgotten.
"Why would you get me up at such an early hour?" Sephiroth quietly asked.
"Look," was Aeris's one worded reply as she pointed towards the east.
Not a second later the true sunrise began, both of them silently watching it and absorbing the tranquil and lovely event. A few minutes later, the sun was fully up and both occupants of the cave had turned their minds to other matters. The first thing to do obviously would be to find something to eat. But instead of setting off in different directions to look for something edible to consume, Sephiroth followed Aeris as she walked under the trees. They walked together for a few moments in a companionable silence, the sounds of birdsong everywhere.
It was shaping up to be another warm and lovely day in the forested valley and Sephiroth idly thought if it was always like this. It wouldn't be too unreasonable of an idea, since this his sense of direction told him that they were just a bit south of the equator, which spent most of the year in perpetual summer. This place truly is a paradise Sephiroth thought with wonder. Here a person could live without any worries or hardships, the vast abundance of this valley enough so that they could spend their whole lives here causing hardly an impact on the place if they respected nature's flows.
"It must rain here sometime, everything around here is so lush for it not to," Sephiroth idly mused.
Such a statement would have been totally out of character for Sephiroth a few weeks ago, which Aeris instantly picked up. How rapidly he is opening up and becoming more relaxed around me, Aeris thought. Unfamiliar emotions rose up in Aeris at that idea. One thing for certain that she could make out of these strange feelings was that she was glad, even proud of his progress.
A breeze of wind blew past Aeris telling her many things about the forest going on around her. It also told her that…
"It's going to rain later today, sometime in the afternoon," Aeris informed Sephiroth.
He didn't look very pleased at the prospect.
"Don't worry, it will only last an hour or two, we did get here in the middle of the summer rainy season after all. The last few days have just been a break between storm systems," Aeris explained.
"And how do you know this?" Sephiroth questioned.
"The planet told me," was her short answer.
During their conversation they had come upon a short, shade-loving tree that was heavily laden with pink, wedge shaped fruit. Reaching up Aeris snagged two particularly plump looking specimens and handed one to Sephiroth while she hungrily bit deeply into the other. Both of them had hardy appetites, all the travel they had been doing had kept it sharp, and within a few minutes they were both reaching for more.
"How can you stand all this fruit day after day Aeris?" Sephiroth asked after his fourth piece.
"Easily. After having to eat roots and fleshy plant leaves for months along with the occasional crispy critter, all this fruit is a very welcome relief to my poor abused taste buds," Aeris told him with a tone of distaste at the memory of the previous staples which she had to survive off of.
"Werely continent had little in the way of fruits or berries every since summer ended a while ago. There were times when I even ate grubs I found in rotting logs just for a change of flavor to my diet," she continued.
"Still as much as you relish fruit, you need protein in your diet Aeris," Sephiroth reasoned.
She gave him a bland look.
"You expect me to eat more of those roast rodents?" she asked disgustedly.
"Since there isn't much else around here, yes," Sephiroth answered in a clipped tone.
"It's kind of hard to eat rodents raw and I wouldn't dream of creating a fire here unless it was absolutely necessary. I don't want to cut down any of these trees," Aeris replied back impishly.
Sephiroth sighed, Aeris is being stubborn again. In this mind set I will never convince her to eat more meat. Besides, I also don't much feel like making any fires here, it's too warm and using any potentially destructive tool of man here feels totally wrong.
"I agree with your sentiments about disturbing the forest as little as possible, but that doesn't change the fact that we can't survive off of fruit alone," Sephiroth tried to explain.
"Actually I can. Cetra by nature don't eat meat unless there is nothing else available. We can survive just fine off of fruits, nuts, roots, and other edible plants," was Aeris's unexpected reply.
"The planet really designed this place for your kind to live here didn't it," Sephiroth tossed out.
"I had never thought of this place that way," Aeris murmured disturbed.
If that was the case then it was no accident that they had ended up here. Had Aeris finally found the ancestral home of the Cetra? It was an idea worth pondering. What purpose did the planet have in guiding them here? Aeris could understand it taking her here, but Sephiroth? What role did the planet hope that he would fulfill?
Normally such thoughts would have haunted Aeris for days, but this valley was no normal place and within a few moments Aeris found her worries and misgiving disappearing. Soon she had totally forgotten her apprehensions from a few moments ago. It was such a nice day that unhappy and disturbing notions never stuck around long anyway. Before she knew it they were traveling back to the lake, a happy tune bouncing around in her head.
Sure enough, two hours after the sun reached its zenith it started sprinkling. Aeris had earlier dragged Sephiroth back out into the forest for a leisurely walk, so consequently they had been caught out in the open when the light sprinkle turned into a heavy downpour. Quickly sprinting to the cave to escape the rain, Sephiroth was busy trying to keep his wet hair out of his face while Aeris was savoring the experience of running in the warm rain.
Breathless Aeris dashed into the cave, a wet and irritated looking Sephiroth following. As Sephiroth sat down and starting wringing the water out of his hair Aeris went to the back of the cave and starting rummaging around in the meager pile of their possessions that had come out with them from the under mountain cavern. With a triumphant exclamation Aeris pulled her prize out from the heap.
Without wasting any time, Aeris put the object she was holding to good use, a content look coming over her face as she settled into the rhythm of her activity. Looking over at Aeris who was happily combing her hair, Sephiroth suddenly felt like his own hair was in a disgusting state. It really had been too long since he had taken proper care of his long mass of hair and now he wished that he had thought of going for the comb before Aeris did. That way he could have gotten his hair untangled first. As much as Aeris seemed to be enjoying her ministrations, it appeared that she was having some trouble with a particularly nasty knot that the comb was getting hopelessly stuck in.
Swiftly he got up, moved over to her and took the comb out of her hands as she was tugging hard on it. He patiently worked the comb out of the huge tangle that it was stuck on with surprising gentleness and then proceeded to start working on untangling the knot himself. I'm just doing this because I don't want all that work I put into the blasted comb to go to waste if she broke it after its first use, Sephiroth reasoned to himself. Secretly he really wanted an excuse to run his fingers through her long soft hair that could even rival his own. Aeris sighed as she sank back into his touch, enjoying the feeling of his strokes with the comb through her hair. He was so gentle that she never felt anything even when he furiously fought with every knot and snarl that he came across.
Aeris felt so safe and secure while Sephiroth was combing her hair. With her mother, brushing each other's hair had been an expression of close intimacy. Now she was feeling the same thing while the puzzling enigma called Sephiroth was doing the same thing. But in a way it was different than the times with her mother, she felt the same tenderness in Sephiroth's actions as she had felt from Ilfania, but with him in a way it was deeper, more meaningful. There was nothing parental about what she was feeling from Sephiroth now.
Before she knew it he was done and her hair, while still damp felt much lighter than it had been and was silky to the touch. Sephiroth rain his fingers through her hair once more, supposedly checking for any last tangles, before regretfully withdrawing his hands for the final time. Aeris's scalp tingled with the after effects of Sephiroth's ministrations to her hair and she ached for him to run the comb through it again.
His task done, Sephiroth next turned to straightening out his own tangled and matted hair. But he wasn't even able to start on his own messy hair before Aeris plucked the comb from his hand with a mischievous smile. Plopping herself down behind him she set about repaying Sephiroth the favor as she starting working out the first knot with equal gentleness to what he had used with her. Grateful for her intervention, Sephiroth allowed himself to relax and let Aeris work on his hair without complaint.
Normally in the past when he had wrestled with his long mane, he usually never made any real effort to be particularly careful about how hard he pulled the brushing implement through his hair, preferring to get the task over with quickly. Aeris's gentle touch when working on his hair was a new experience to Sephiroth and he found that he enjoyed it very much. During the time Aeris was working on his hair he had dropped into a light doze. When Aeris noticed the effect her combing had on Sephiroth she decided to take advantage of the situation and indulge in something she had wanted to do for a long time. She slowly put down the rough, wood comb she had been using and resumed combing his hair with her fingers alone. She had already worked out the nastiest knots with the comb by the time she replaced it with her fingers, so she had no trouble with getting the last of them out. Sephiroth didn't seem to notice the change.
But alas, all good things must come to an end and eventually Aeris pulled her hands away with equal regret that Sephiroth had shown when he finished with her hair. Snapping out of his light stupor, Sephiroth instantly felt the loss of contact from Aeris who had recently been so close to him. His backside felt suddenly cold without Aeris's body being right behind him.
"Oh look, the rain is gone," Aeris pointed out.
Slowly Sephiroth uncurled his long limbs from his reclining position and rose to his feet. Taking Aeris's unvoiced suggestion walked out of the cave, Aeris at his heels. The air had that just rained scent in it and everything looked so fresh. A light wispy cloud cover that was all that was left of the storm stretched across the sky, shafts of late afternoon sunlight already piercing through it. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath as Sephiroth stood there with Aeris by his side, waiting for he didn't know what to happen. Then the clouds abruptly parted unveiling the sun as it poured its light across the whole valley, a brilliant rainbow spreading from one end of the valley to the other.
Again another part of her dream a few days ago came back to Aeris. It seemed like all the events of her dream were replaying themselves in the waking world. Much of her dream had come back to Aeris but its elusive end she still couldn't recall. For almost a month now Aeris dreams had been portraying what was in store for her in the future. While they had started off with terror and destruction, seeming more like bad nightmares than real premonitions, they gradually took on a more mournful feeling, like the participants of her dreams were lamenting for the roles they played in the scenes of devastation. When she entered the valley, her dreams changed yet again and the omens of destruction stopped together. Instead they showed Aeris glimpses of a possible future in the valley with Sephiroth by her side. She wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or worried at this change.
"Another lovely day come and gone, makes me wish that we could stay here forever," Aeris murmured.
Sephiroth silently agreed with her. Right now he wanted to do nothing more than that; stay in this valley with Aeris forever. They stayed there watching the sun slowly sink and eventually set, casting vibrant reds, oranges, and pinks on the last of the lingering clouds before they too faded until the stars started coming out.
"Nikki get back here!"
"Don't make me come after you young lady!" Aeris yelled chasing after her four year old daughter.
"But mommy why do I have to help you grub around in the garden when I can be out in the forest playing and enjoying my childhood?" Nikki yelled back at her mother as she was pumping her little legs as fast as she could to get away.
"Nikki!" Aeris shouted after the little delinquent.
Although she had to admit that her daughter's logic made sense. The garden really didn't need to be worked on very much since no weeds ever grew in it, but her wild daughter had to start taking on some responsibilities, or she would grow up to be a spoiled brat. But Nikki never really listened to Aeris much anyway, she was her daddy's little girl and could only be brought in line by him. It bothered her to no end that she had so little control over her firstborn, a fact that Sephiroth constantly found joy in reminding her of. But just wait till she gets into her teen years, I wish him luck with a moody, hormone driven teenager, Aeris perversely thought, I will gleefully allow him the joy of dealing with her then.
It was at that exact moment that Sephiroth decided to come onto the scene, a roped bundle of fallen branches slung over his shoulder. His shrieking daughter collided with his strong legs at full speed knocking her to the ground. Quickly dropping his burden, Sephiroth swept his pouting daughter up into his arms and proceeded to sling her over his shoulder in the same position the branches had been. Stooping to retrieve his bundle, Sephiroth calmly crossed the area between him and Aeris, his daughter madly giggling the whole time. He planted a quick peck on her forehead, before moving on to deposit his burdens in the cave.
"So how did Michael's lessons in forestry go today Sephiroth?" Aeris inquired about their two and a half year old son who was currently sleeping in the carrier that Sephiroth had made which was strapped to his back.
"Oh we had a great time, he learned all about the creatures that live in under logs and learned a lesson in not messing with fire ants," Sephiroth informed her with a smile on his face.
"Oh my poor baby, Sephiroth how could you let our son get stung by those insects?" Aeris lectured him.
"Calm down, he only got bitten once, and it didn't even leave a mark. Besides, he got over it a few minutes later when he saw his favorite type of berry bush heavily laden with its fruits," Sephiroth cheekily replied.
"Honestly, I swear that our daughter gets her attitude from you! You really should be more careful with Michael, he's only two for Gaia's sake," Aeris retorted.
"And you coddle him too much, it's good for him to learn things the hard way sometimes or he'll get too soft. You got to let our son breath a little Aeris or else-" whatever else Sephiroth would have said was cut off as Aeris swiftly reached up and yanked on his bangs, bringing his face down to her level.
Sephiroth let out an unmasculine yip at Aeris's harsh treatment of his hair, but it was swiftly cut off as Aeris sealed his mouth in a searing, passionate kiss. Not one to refuse such an offer Sephiroth returned the kiss with even more force. As their tongues started battling for supremacy in each other's mouths, Nikki had the unfortunate timing to come out of the cave and saw her parents lip locked.
"Ewww, stop trying to suck each other's faces off Mommy and Daddy! That's gross!" the four old yelled in the typical childish reaction of catching her parents being intimate.
Unfortunately for both Sephiroth and Aeris not only did it break the growing heat between the two, but it also woke up their napping son.
"Nikki how many times have I told you not to interrupt Mommy and Daddy when we're having a private moment like this," Sephiroth sternly lectured his daughter.
"But you weren't alone, Michael was on your back the whole time, so you were breaking the rules Daddy!" Nikki smartly replied.
Now fully awake, Michael felt that he was being left out, so he decided to pipe up.
"Dadda, Momma is back! When did you get back Momma?" Michael happily chirped.
"Stupid! You and Daddy were the ones that just got back. Me and Mommy have been here the whole time since she wouldn't let me go off play in the forest," Nikki snapped at her younger brother.
"Momma, Nikki's being mean to me!" Michael wailed.
"Nikki, you know better than to call your brother stupid," Aeris chided her daughter, "plus you spent all mourning playing in the forest, you just said that because you didn't want to do your chores."
"Humph" Nikki grunted, crossing her arms defiantly, trying to imitate her dad.
Aeris burst out into laughter.
"What's so funny Mommy!" Nikki angrily demanded, not being laughed at.
"You looked so much like your stubborn father right then, I couldn't contain myself. You really should stop imitating his bad habits, it's turning you into a rude little girl," Aeris told her, trying to overcome her mirth.
"You're being a big meanie Mommy!" Nikki yelled at Aeris, echoing her brother's words he had originally directed at her.
At that statement his daughter just spouted off, it was Sephiroth's turn to break out laughing. Upon hearing that cherished sound coming from him, Aeris's heart practically stopped beating. It didn't matter how many times she heard her husband's rich, deep baritone laugh, she always melted into a pile of goo every time it happened and she fell in love with him all over again. If someone asked what her favorite thing about Sephiroth was, she would automatically respond, "his laugh".
Seeing the pout on Nikki's face as she resumed her "badass Sephiroth pose" Aeris found herself joining in on her beloved's wonderful laughter.
"What the hell was that!" Aeris exclaimed as she woke with a start.
Sorry to disappoint you folks, but the evil cliffy has returned! You're just gonna have to wait to find out what happens in Ch.9.
Some of you may have already noticed, but I've starting sending replies to your email accounts for your reviews, and starting now I won't be doing reviewer replies anymore after each chapter. I only learned that had banned that after I had submitted Ch.7.
Hard to believe that there are only two chapter left till the fic is over. I must say that it has been a learning experience for me and I must admit that my writing has greatly gotten better since I started this story. Man time has gone by so fast since I started this fic last September.
Hope that this update came quickly enough for you folks! I wrote all this in two days! Between homework, assigned readings, and studying for my biology test on Tuesday it's a miracle that I finished it this fast.
Long author's note, I know. But I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter as much as I did the last. Who knows, I might post Ch.9 this month. Within a week if I get proper motivation… (HINT HINT: leave a review).