May 17, XXXX

Dear Diary,

Not only did something interesting happen lately, but my life may have been changed forever. First off, Aeris was attacked at the church this morning by those no good Turks. Upon reaching home safely, I find she's accompanied by a young man named Cloud. He is, or was, part of the SOLDIER program affiliated with Shinra. He describes himself as a "jack of all trades" kind of person. He definitely reminds me of Zack, Aeris' last boyfriend.

Cloud seems to have a harshness to his exterior but I can see a softness in his eyes. The funny thing is even if he hadn't said he was in SOLDIER, I would still have been able to tell just by looking into his eyes. The bright blue shine of Mako shimmered as I looked at him, just like looking at raw Mako itself. I can tell that he took good very good care of Aeris as they fled from the Turks.

Cloud seemed to want to pass through the slums to get back to Sector 7 and of course against her better judgment Aeris wants to escort him there. And as I always do, I implore her to reconsider. But as always, once Aeris decides on something, there is no way to convince her otherwise. In order to protect my daughter, I asked Cloud to head through the slums alone.

Aeris told me that there is something about him that makes her want to look after him. I definitely understand, the boy fell from the sky for crying out loud. But after the incident with Zack, I don't want to see her hurt again. She's too precious to me to let that happen.

Elmyra Gainsborough