Aerith
Aerith's fingers caressed the small purple flower daintily, brushing against its impossibly small petals and its lime-green leaves. A small, hardy stem rooted it to the dewy, grassy meadow beneath her, and she smiled at the simple beauty of it.
Around her, the soft, warm glow of orange and gold enveloped her like a much-needed hug. Pink crowded the sky in an attempt to blot out the navy that was rapidly fading into lighter shades of blue. The last of the evening stars were winking out of existence, and the glowing red promise of the sun breaking across the plains' horizon was nigh. Overnight crickets had stilled their song and the gentle twitter of waking songbirds began to arise from the landscape. The first murmurings of a stirring town wafted over the stone wall behind her and promised a bustling day to come.
Her time to herself was ending, she knew. Eventually, she would need to make her way back through the Kalm's gates and to the small inn at the center of town where her friends still slept. They had arrived at the small village only the day before last, and while the first night had been full of nothing but blissful sleep fueled by the exhaustion from traveling, last night had been a different story. She had lain in bed, her mind racing as she digested the events of the past week. The room hadn't been silent, either; for one, Barret was a loud snorer, his deep inhales sounding like the spluttering to life of a motorbike. With each growing snore, she had found herself getting more and more restless. Red, although quieter than the large man, was also a snorer. Together, the two of them were a constant cacophony of noise. On top of that, sharing a bed with somebody else was a new experience her mind wasn't quite comprehending. Tifa wasn't a bed hog and nor was she a snorer – in fact she slept like the dead – but the experience was strange nonetheless.
On the middle bed of the three the room provided, Kunsel was usually a light sleeper, but apparently the past few days had wiped him out too. Aerith had been able to sneak out undetected by her friend.
And then there had been Cloud. Cloud, who refused to sleep in a bed and instead propped himself up against the far wall so he could keep an eye on them and the door. Cloud, who had been silent almost the entire time on their way to Kalm, who had barely spoken more than three words as he silently kept an eye out over Aerith's shoulder. They'd spent the first day gathering supplies and checking rumors to see if Shinra knew their whereabouts. The only time he'd so much as shown emotion was when he, Aerith, and Kunsel had come across a freshly-printed wanted poster of Cloud hanging in the bar across from the inn. Cloud had shot the paper a look of utter disgust, curling his lip in annoyance, and didn't hesitate to tear the poster down when nobody was around.
She had been tempted more than once to bring up a few areas of conversation that flitted around in her mind since the fateful escape from Midgar. The first thing on her mind was the subject that really hadn't left it at all: Cloud's mental state. When she had first discovered the younger version of him while in the lifestream, that had opened up a realm of possibilities as to what was going on with him. When they had first seen Sephiroth and he had turned to her to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, that's when small warning bells had begun going off in her head. Seeing the mental, emotional, and physical struggle against Sephiroth again at the edge of the city had prompted something new in her – protectiveness. Aerith hadn't had people to protect, and there was something about that moment against the once SOLDIER first class who had since been declared killed in action that had prompted Zack to assure her she had power there. She had the ability to bring Cloud back, to keep him sane. While Zack nor the lifestream shed any more light on the subject, she took that at face value and had steeled her resolve around keeping Cloud mentally well.
She supposed it wasn't a surprise now that she could sense his eyes boring holes into her back. He'd been there for a few minutes, and Aerith hadn't minded the silent out-of-sight company. She ran her fingers through the damp tendrils of grass and smiled into the sun with her eyes closed against the red light.
"It's a beautiful morning," she voiced out loud, letting him know she knew he was there.
There was a surprised noise from behind her before a quick cough attempted to mask it. "It's bright," Cloud replied simply.
"Are you going to join me?"
She patted the ground next to her and chanced a glance over her shoulder to take him in. Cloud was leaning against the stone wall that stretched protectively around Kalm, his arms crossed and expression contemplative. The red of the sun left an ethereal glow on his skin and dyed his blond hair a honey-gold color. He'd also left his sword and some of his gear back in the inn. As she watched, he pushed off the wall, uncrossed his arms, and slowly approached. He silently sat down next to her in his signature position, left leg tucked under his right while he rested an arm on his knee. He looked impassively at the sun but she caught a slight flush on his cheeks.
"Good morning," Aerith greeted with a small smile.
Cloud grunted once in reply and looked away. "Morning," he echoed. Aerith smiled at his acknowledgement and resumed brushing her fingers against the small purple flowers that dotted the ground at the edge of town. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, and she let the sun bathe her in warmth and light as it continued its way above the horizon.
"What're you thinking about?" she finally asked with a tilt of her head towards him. He started and she realized he'd been staring at her. His face flushed and he ducked his head, mumbling back, "Nothing."
Aerith giggled and leaned on his shoulder, inwardly grateful he'd left his pauldron back in the inn. He whirled his head to look at her in surprise, and she beamed back at him. "Oh really, Cloud?" she joked with a nudge into his arm. "Just nothing?"
"I –"
He was having trouble speaking, and there was something innocent and adorable in his lost expression. She reached a hand up to his face, stroked his cheek slowly, and pressed her lips to his in a small kiss.
Just like the first time she'd kissed him a couple days before, he gasped against her lips in surprise. Smiling, Aerith leaned into the kiss while wrapping her arm around his neck to turn his body so that they were facing each other. His hands came up to her hair as he responded in earnest. There was a steady warmth beginning in her chest and buzzing into her fingers and toes as she dared to take the kiss a step further; her tongue darted out of her mouth and traced the delicious taste of his lips.
Cloud made a noise in the back of his throat, almost like a half-caught moan. Unable to restrain herself, she pulled back from him and laughed.
"I'm sorry," she apologized in between fits of giggles. "I just really enjoy kissing you, Cloud."
His mouth was open in a shocked 'o,' but his blue-green eyes burned at the lingering effects of the moment. "I enjoy kissing you too," he admitted with surprising gusto for somebody as shy as he'd been. He must have caught up with his words a moment later because he flushed crimson and ducked his head again.
Aerith laughed again, assuring, "It's okay, Cloud. It's okay to like things like that. Haven't you kissed a girl before?"
Face still hidden behind his hair, he shook his head once. "No."
"Never?" The laughter died on her lips and she studied his body language in careful thought. "Not with anybody when you were a kid? What about Tifa?"
"We're not like that," Cloud answered so quickly that the words tumbled out of his mouth. He turned away from her and brought his other knee up so he could hide his face in his raised knees. The position was not unlike the one the younger Cloud had done when he was crying in the lifestream.
Aerith put a gentle hand on his arm and adjusted herself so that she could lay against him again. "It's okay," she promised. "I haven't had a lot of practice kissing either. Maybe we can figure it out together?"
After a few seconds of gentle tugging, she convinced him to show his face again. His face was still pink but that could have been the early-morning glow. He stared at her for a few seconds, and she could practically see those gears turning slowly as he formulated his next words.
"If I ask you something…will you answer me?" he finally spoke, and his voice had taken on a curious but anticipatory tone.
Aerith tilted her head at the change in mood and smiled politely. "Maybe," she answered as she snuggled in closer. "But only if you tell me something in return."
His brow furrowed as he gave her counteroffer some thought. Then he nodded. "Will you…" he tensed, as if waiting for some kind of reaction, "…tell me about – Zack?"
Oh.
"Oh!" her exclamation matched her inner thoughts as she immediately reached into the back recesses of her mind to see if the man in question was listening in. But no, she hadn't felt the lifestream directly since things had quieted down and Sephiroth had taken his dramatic fall off the road. Zack had said he wouldn't be present all the time, and her assumption was that maybe only in direct planet-related emergencies he'd be back. This really was too bad, because she hadn't gotten a chance to ask him some Cloud-specific questions yet. For both that hole in her knowledge and for this explanation, she was on her own.
"I'm sorry, I was just…curious," Cloud said lamely as he scrunched his eyes shut and reached a sheepish hand to the back of his head.
Aerith pulled herself out of her planet-searching and met his gaze. "No, it's fine," she replied quickly. "I was just concerned about you. There are things that set you off and I thought…Zack…was one of them."
At the name she saw him tense again as if he agreed with her, but there was no other adverse reaction to the name. Cloud relaxed his shoulders and sighed as if relieved by that fact.
"Anyway, I'd be happy to tell you what I do know about him, although it probably isn't much," she continued. "And my condition in return is I want to know your story, as much as you can remember…especially about Sephiroth. Deal?"
Holding out her hand as if they were striking a business contract and not spending time kissing each other in the quiet of an early morning, Aerith was delighted when he took her hand in his and gave a strong tug on it. The corners of his mouth lifted, almost revealing a smile.
"Deal," he said, but then he frowned. "Although I'll probably need to save my story for everybody. Barret's been hounding me since we got here to talk about what happened."
She sighed and made the decision to stand up, stretching her arms above her head and letting the warmth of the low-hanging sun envelop her one last time. "I suppose we should head back then," she sighed sadly as she admired the purple flowers one last time.
Cloud looked from the flowers to her. "Do you like flowers?" he blurted out suddenly as he shifted to his feet and waited for her reaction.
"I do," she affirmed with a small smile. "Zack used to sneak me flowers from all over the world when he went on missions. Of course, they'd come back a little worse for wear, but the ones that made it always smelled so pretty. And then there's the church in the sector five slums." Sighing, she looked back towards the village entrance. "I used to go there twice a year to pay homage to my mom and Zack. It was the closest I felt to the planet, sitting with those flowers. If I stop and listen to them, sometimes I think they want to speak with me, to share something with me."
The dreamy quality her voice took on caught up to her and she smiled sadly as she gazed back towards Cloud. He was staring with an unreadable expression. "In conclusion, I really like flowers," she finished.
He nodded as if he was storing the information for later. "Let's go." He held out his hand and she took it, content to bask in the sunlight at her back and the warmth in her chest and in their intertwined hands. Whatever happened next, she could handle it. She had Cloud, and there was an entire world of freedom on her horizon.
Rufus Shinra
Rufus thoughtfully studied the files in front of him as a world of snow flew by his helicopter window. Normally he wouldn't have taken this mode of transportation so far north, especially in a snowstorm, but he had been assured the matter was urgent and needed to be handled delicately. Annoyance streaked across his mind and his fingers bent the particular paper he was studying as the helicopter lurched forward and dropped a few feet.
"Keep it steady!" he snapped to the Turks in front of him.
The Turks in question – Reno and Rude – didn't give any indication that they cared about Rufus's wellbeing other than for Rude to nod curtly with a, "You got it, boss," and Reno to grip the steering a little tighter.
Rufus settled back in his seat and returned his gaze to the files. The thicker file underneath the one he had just finished leafing through in an off-hand curious manner was briefly titled "NI – 0002" and contained a short list of firsthand reports from a situation in a small reactor town on the western continent some five years prior. While the file had gruesome details in the recognizably-indifferent tone of the Turks, Rufus kept his interest mild and detached as he'd skimmed through the accounts of the SOLDIER mission assigned there: the turning of the great Sephiroth in a flash of fire and death, and then the impossible matter of rebuilding said town to not arouse suspicion among the rest of Gaia. Although it was a cover-up, it was a poor one at best and was completely unnecessary considering how his father had allowed many other towns to be destroyed without any indication of a coverup.
He was treating the matter like he was regarding one of his directors – oh, how he liked to remind himself that he was in charge now, not his insolent father – with a taste of disdain. His father had been cruel and ruthless, but he also didn't take the financial matters of things into consideration when doing something as stupid as dropping a plate on a couple of slum-dwellers who broke the rules.
How exhausting, he contemplated on the unnecessary effort.
Smiling to himself at his much smarter thought process, he focused on the youthful face at the top of the page he now held. The face staring up at him held light blue eyes with no indication of enhancements, the cheeks were more youthful, and the uniform was only from basic infantry. There was almost no indication the boy in the picture was even remotely related to the man he'd fought the week before, except the ridiculous hair. There was no mistaking that hair on anybody else.
Cloud Strife, he read for the third time before his eyes skimmed the rest of the page. The boy the file described was short, rather weak, and definitely not SOLDIER material if the bolded note about mako sensitivity was anything to go by. And then there was the standard red stamp in the top right corner too:
KILLED IN ACTION.
"He didn't look very dead to me," he mused out loud.
Next to him, Tseng adjusted himself and took a quick glance over his shoulder. "That's the official report per the request of Professor Hojo. In reality, he and a SOLDIER were taken for an experimental project operating out of the company manor in Nibelheim."
"Fascinating." Rufus eyed the picture with the new lens of the boy being an experiment of Hojo's. It certainly would make sense, considering how he would zone out at random points in the brief time Rufus had been in his presence. While Rufus wasn't familiar with the effects of mako on a sensitive individual, he could hazard a guess that side-effects of putting the two together would result in similarly strange actions by the individual as what was being displayed with Cloud. "So Hojo made him mako enhanced? But why?"
Tseng glanced towards his PHS as it dinged. "We're almost there," he said by way of response instead of answering.
Rufus frowned at Tseng's dismissal, but smoothed his expression a moment later. Fair enough, he thought. The question was rhetorical.
Folding the file together, Rufus caught one final look at the boyish face before he handed the stack back to Tseng. "I would like to be made aware of any other hidden projects Hojo is working on."
"Of course, sir," Tseng said immediately.
"And what is the status of tracking down the director himself?"
Up in the front seat, Reno and Rude shared a discreet glance. It did not go unnoticed, and neither did the extra moment Tseng took to pack the files into the waiting briefcase. "We have been unsuccessful at this time," the director of the Turks finally admitted, although for his credit he kept his tone curt and informative. "In order to improve our manpower, we are looking into hiring new candidates to assist in the search."
"Very well, see that it gets done," Rufus sighed in response. His gaze traced back out to the window and was surprised that the snowfall had lifted somewhat to reveal a fresh, white world coating gray, jagged rocks that sloped downward into an unseen crater below. He was only vaguely aware of the new project up here, since he had never been privy to his father's obsession with the Promised Land. Giving the window another cursory glance told him all he needed to know about just how wrong his father had been on its location. He doubted mako would flow easily in such a cold, desolate land with its permanent ivory coating.
The helicopter was descending now, and he silently clenched a fist at the loathed swooping feeling his stomach experienced at the drop in altitude. The empty view suddenly became full of activity, as small temporary shelters and groups of people flitted about the camp they set down in. Once the chopper had settled on the icy tarmac, Rufus allowed Tseng to open the door for him, sending in a wave of frigid air in the process. Small tendrils of snow entered the space excitedly and settled across the seats in the process. Shoving down the shiver that threatened to roll down his spine and brushing the few flakes that had dared settle onto his clothing, he swept out of the helicopter and into the cloudy, snowy world of the northern crater.
A multitude of science-looking types were hovering like insects around a light, their bodies flitting amongst one another as files were passed, looks were exchanged, and the low buzzing of murmurs reached his ears. He found the sound to be highly irritating, so he stood up straight and marched towards the group in an attempt to make them stop. His strategy worked; he loomed over them and they fell silent and still, one by one.
"Who's in charge?" he snapped at the group, although it was more to scare them than ask for a real answer.
Tseng had fallen into his place at his side and answered before the scientists could. "Professor Lumen, sir," he smoothly filled in the blank.
A few of the eager-to-please crowd bobbed their heads in agreement. Rufus sighed, already feeling a headache blossom from this ridiculous behavior.
"Lead the way then," he said vaguely to whichever person saw themselves the most capable of doing the simple yet arduous task of taking him to somebody more focused and in charge.
Two such characters whose names he decided not to remember respectfully and silently led him towards the small village of tents within view. As they did so, Rufus slowed ever-so-slightly to allow Tseng to fall into step with him.
"Why are they digging up here for the Promised Land?" he asked the other.
Tseng straightened his shoulders and fixed his gaze in the distance. "Aerith painted it in perfect clarity a few months ago," he responded easily, and if Rufus didn't know him better, he wouldn't have known that there was something off about his tone. Filing the information away for later, he rolled the thought around in his mind as the image of the Ancient flitted across his memory.
It's really too bad she decided to shirk her duties to Shinra, he thought passively to himself. She would have made things much easier.
It wasn't a romantic attraction as Rufus assumed others would prefer such a match to be; no, he really didn't see himself in any sort of attraction of that regard. In short, people annoyed him or were of use to him, but rarely did he see himself enjoying the company of others. No, Aerith would have been a means to an end. He had thought of ways to win her over to his side, and somehow they had all fallen flat because of that infuriating not-SOLDIER lab specimen that Hojo had let get escape.
The headache was becoming full-throttled now and he pinched the bridge of his nose in a quick attempt to alleviate the stress. Hojo was indeed a problem, but at this point the damage was already done. The Ancient was no longer in Shinra hands and neither was a dangerous science experiment. They would have to be dealt with, and quickly.
Turning to Tseng, he returned to the matter at hand. "What is the nature of this emergency?"
"I'm…unsure," Tseng returned with a slight frown. "The professor wasn't keen to discuss it over PHS and she demanded you here personally."
"Naturally," Rufus said dryly. He was beginning to feel the cold on his face and was pleased to see they were beelining it for a large tent in the middle of the makeshift village. The two scientists pulled open the flaps of the tent and he strode in, eyes immediately taking in the scene in front of him.
The light in the tent was dark and not ideal. Its source was a single lantern that glowed with the unmistakable hue of mako green. The greenish tint lingered on the faces of the two people who currently occupied the tent, one with an ashen face sitting on a floor cushion while the other loomed over him with fistfuls of photos and a face full of concern. Both looked over when he walked in, and they snapped to attention almost immediately, the sitting man flinging himself up in such a quick fashion that he almost fell over again. It was almost comical, if Rufus were to find such a thing amusing.
"What is the emergency?" Rufus asked the woman in the room as he made the assumption she was the professor due to Tseng's previous pronoun usage. The woman, who realized she had dropped some of her photos, quickly bent down to pick them up.
Nervousness sang in her expression as she edged forward, holding the mismatched stack of photos out for him to see. "Sir, while we were exploring the area, we came across the most peculiar thing, and…well, you'll see," Professor Lumen finished lamely. The man behind her was eyeing his cushion and looked to be considering sitting again.
Rufus accepted the photos, glanced at each of them for a brief moment, and then studied them. Impressive ice sculptures took up the backgrounds of each picture as they reflected that same mako green that he was using to see in the tent at that very moment. The presence of mako in what looked like tunnels of rock and ice was a good sign, but almost instantaneously he realized that wasn't the point of the pictures. No, there was something else that drew his focus. The first photo was a little too far away so he rapidly scanned the next few until he found a closer shot of the item – or person – of interest that presented itself.
"There has been no movement since we stumbled upon him, not even when we were in the room with him," Professor Lumen explained breathlessly as she carefully stepped forward to point at the expressionless face in the picture. "Sir, it's…it's him."
Well. This changes everything.
Eying the photo, Rufus felt the muscles in his back tense for a moment. He thought about his plans for Gaia and his plans for bringing the Shinra Electric Power Company into the next generation. He thought about Aerith the Ancient and Cloud Strife the experiment, and their ragged group of friends. It was as if he were examining the world within his grasp at a birds-eye view. He could easily toss out the vast majority of his previous plans now, and he did as such while his mind began plotting a new one altogether.
"It seems that nobody in that reactor incident will stay dead," he murmured thoughtfully to Tseng at his side. His eyes glanced once more at the obvious figure wrapped protectively in ice, and his cold blood began to heat in a grim excitement:
Let's wake the great General Sephiroth.
The End.
This has been an amazing experience, writing and posting my first multi-chapter fic for FF7. I've been in the fandom since early May last year, and I am always overwhelmed by the support, the idea-sharing, and the fanworks that are produced by incredible people in this fandom. In addition, your comments have made me so incredibly happy. I appreciate your commenting despite my not usually responding, and I promise that I have read EVERY SINGLE COMMENT. Thank you for giving your time to share feedback on my story!
A massive, incredible thank you to my friend Rand0mSmil3z for having the time and patience to edit my document. We became friends when I reached out to her to offer my beta services on her fic Halcyon Days, and then she offered to do the same to my fics. Bouncing ideas off her has become my go-to for new fic ideas. We even have a joint writing series, Midgar Paranormal Files. She has been integral in keeping my interest in the fandom and sharing in my excitement for new ideas and I love her very much. Thank you, my friend.
Future plans: The Star of Midgar is set up to have a potential sequel someday, although there aren't any concrete plans at this time. In addition, I have a few shorter story ideas floating around in my head, not necessarily all romance-based but I have had this earworm of a fic idea in my head for three weeks now that may end up a longer, mature-rated Clerith fic. Stick around for that, although I can't promise a specific time-frame!
Thank you for being here. Stay healthy during these times. - Liv
