Unspoken
By mihoyonagi
Author's Note: I can't apologize enough for how late this chapter ended up being. Atop of finding a job that works me 45 hours a week, I landed myself a boyfriend who not only has been my best friend for a while, but whom I'm also crazy about.
Also, it seems my editor developed a, oh what do you call those things? A life? Yes. One of those. So, before you read anything at all, allow me to apologize for any mistakes, grammatical errors, and punctuation rapage of any sort. No one has proof read this, and I read what I write as what I think I wrote, not actually what I really write (as if that made any sense at all).
Wishing everyone a happy winter season, and a happy whatever holiday you celebrate. On with the show!
Chapter 26: Escape
It was mid-afternoon when Sephiroth watched Aerith's emerald green eyes flutter open, confusion mixed heavily with drowsiness swimming in her irises. Placing a hand upon her head, Sephiroth observed her close her eyes tightly as though the room had spun when they were open. "What happened?" Her question was laced heavily with grogginess.
Removing his notebook from his pocket, Sephiroth scribbled a small message to his sleepy companion. 'We were attacked by the Zolom, and you used too much magic when you healed me, and thus passed out.'
It took a moment for Aerith's eyes to focus on the paper, and another for her to register what the note was saying. Turning her head toward the general sitting upon his knees next to her, she smiled meekly. "I know you told me to go to the cave, but I just had a bad feeling. I'm glad I turned around."
He replied with a simple message. 'I am glad too, for if you had not disobeyed my order, I would most likely have died.'
Aerith, upon reading his reply, laughed aloud. "Order? You sound so official. Shall I salute you and call you 'sir' next?"
Slyly, Sephiroth placed a hand to his chin and looked away, pretending to ponder such a prospect.
Again, Aerith laughed. Reaching out a hand, she looked once more at the general. "Help me up, would you? The room won't stay still."
He did as she asked, steadying her as she waited for the room to still. The general watched as Aerith slowly and carefully looked around at her surroundings. "I remember this place!" The smile she gave Sephiroth was pure. "We are in the Mythril Mines, aren't we?"
Nodding, Sephiroth noticed that Aerith seemed no longer dizzy. Cautiously, he let go of her tiny hand, though she didn't seem to notice. Sephiroth bent down and swiftly rolled up their sleeping mats and placed his jacket upon his back once more. Apparently still transfixed with their location, Aerith gazed at the walls and the ceiling with awe. "It's just as pretty as before!"
Sephiroth took a moment to look around. When he had first ventured past the swamp and into the Mythril Mine, he hadn't paid any attention at all to what wonders the cave held. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the cave was glowing with a light that seeped from the very rocks that lined the walls. It was, indeed, a beautiful sight.
Turning to Aerith when he noticed she was looking up at him and smiling, he couldn't help the questioning look that befell his features. Why did it seem as though she was always smiling? "Ready to go, then?" she questioned.
He nodded and began after her. Not long after they had set out, however, did Aerith start to talk of the cave. "I wonder why the rocks glow," she pondered aloud. "Could it be some type of mineral that reacts with air? Or is it a lower form of the magic found in materia that wasn't allowed to properly condense?" Sephiroth, not having the slightest clue as to why the rocks were glowing, made a mental note to check a library and find out when next they stayed in a place long enough to actually access a library and its resources.
On that note, Sephiroth's mind began to wander into the unfamiliar territory that was the deep recess of his mind as Aerith kept asking questions about their surroundings and filling in the answers with guess work. Why, in Shiva's name, were they on the run as though they were wanted criminals? Cloud wouldn't have followed them, would he? How would he know where to look? Where would Cloud start? Would Sephiroth ever be allowed back in Mideel again? What of Aerith?
His mind spinning, it was not a wonder Sephiroth didn't hear Aerith when she called out his name. In fact, Sephiroth didn't fall back into reality until he all but ran into her.
Snapping his attention to Aerith, Sephiroth gave her a questioning look. He reached for his pocket to retrieve his notebook, but she had already read his face; "I'm fine, you didn't hurt me. Now hush for a second."
Sephiroth's brows furrowed. It wasn't as though he was able to make much noise anyhow. What was he going to do? Mime until her ear drums popped? Surely he didn't drag his feet, and just what-
Acute, well trained military ears picked up on the echoing footsteps of two others walking the cave. He had to hand it to Aerith; for being a civilian, she would have surely made a fine candidate for soldier. Too bad she was primarily trained as a magic user.
"Hello? Is anyone up there?" The voice was deep, heavy, and crisp. There was no mistaking who it belonged to.
Pulling Aerith into a small alcove and pressing both of their bodies up against a wall, Sephiroth mentally cursed a strand of words together so terrible that it would have made a sailor's mother cry. 'Speak of the devil,' he chided himself.
"Hello?" Cloud's voice rang out again. He was near the alcove.
Sephiroth felt his heart skip a beat. He felt Aerith's body press against his further, as though she too were afraid of the blonde just outside.
"Cloud, are you sure you heard something?" The voice was clearly female.
Sephiroth sifted through a stack of mental notes. Back in Mideel, cloud had called the voice 'Tifa'.
"I thought I heard something." Cloud hesitated. "You saw the fire pit near the entrance, too: someone was here not too long ago. Maybe I heard them as they were leaving the cave, and it echoed in here."
The female voice sighed, though merely out of annoyance and not anger. "Well, that could be it. We should head to Fort Condor for the night anyway, right?"
Sephiroth could hear the blonde shuffle his feet. "Yea, I guess Fort Condor sounds like a good idea. Who knows- maybe he took her there, too."
The female voice retorted quickly with venom and irritation. "You don't know for a fact that he's keeping her hostage."
Cloud's voice grew as cold as the female's. "Why else would she travel with him, let alone stay under the same roof? The doctor in Mideel told us that they got along, didn't he? He's got her under some spell, I know it. How else could they have come back? It's Jenova all over again I tell you!"
"Cloud, if you had bothered to even listen to what the doctor really said, you wouldn't be assuming things like that. I mean, what if they aren't even who we are looking for?" Sephiroth distinctly heard the repetitive tap of a heavy combat boot on the gravel of the cave. "What if these people just happen to meet the same general description of Aerith an-"
"Teef," Cloud sighed. "I know you think this is all in my head. But think of it this way for just one second; what if this is the real deal? Aerith was last of the Cetra, after all, and until I figure out why the planet brought her back, I don't think I'll be able to rest. What if she needs our help? What if this isn't just a feeling?"
The silence that seemed to echo through the cave was one of the most uncomfortable, awkward pauses in a conversation that Sephiroth had ever heard. He could actually feel his heat beating in his ears as though he weren't listening in on his one time enemy but rather hearing some sort of television drama. Though he was still scared, Sephiroth was more anxious to hear what the Tifa woman was going to reply with. Was this truly how people interacted through normal conversation? Sephiroth, not ever having been one for common chit-chat, had never bothered to say more than what was needed. The conversation unraveling before him had his mind truly spinning. He had heard Aerith talk back in Mideel to many of the locals, of course, but he head heard trivial conversations regarding weather and how to cook cake. Never before had he heard such a heart-felt conversation in which he could almost feel the emotions of those talking.
"What if your feeling is wrong, Cloud?" Tifa's voice was hardly audible.
"But what, Tifa, if I'm right? Would you be able to rest at night knowing that Aerith died because we were unable to protect her? She died once and no one was able to protect her. I can't live with myself if that happens again."
Another sigh was heard, though it was less heavy and filled with new-found understanding, albeit a slight amount of annoyance. "Alright, Cloud. You win. We'll continue chasing whoever these people are. But I want you to promise me something." Another small pause in conversation, although extremely less awkward and uncomfortable. "If we don't find them, and nothing happens, we go home."
"Teef, you're an angel. I promise."
Two sets of footsteps echoed through the cave until finally dying off, less anxious and angry than when they had entered.
Sephiroth let out a tremendous sigh. Letting his body relax, he leaned against the cold of the cave wall. The dank stone pressed against Sephiroth's back cooled his skin. Carefully and slowly, he looked down at his traveling companion. After several moments of close observation Sephiroth was astounded to find that the flower girl was shaking. Gently bringing up a hand and placing it on her shoulder, Sephiroth attempted to see what was causing Aerith to fret so.
Startled by Sephiroth's touch, Aerith jumped. Sephiroth watched as she let out a sigh, and then shook her head while she forced a smile on her face. Looking up hopefully into the general's eyes, Aerith forced her fake smile to look sincere. Sephiroth, however, noted that she looked rather as though she were going to be ill. Fake smiles did not fit her in the least.
Raising a cautious eyebrow, Sephiroth poked deeper at Aerith. He had never before pushed her reasoning, but he could tell that their near encounter with Cloud had left her shaken.
Instead, however, of acknowledging the general's inquiry, it seemed to Sephiroth that Aerith ignored it.
She, in fact, had.
Sephiroth, not accustomed to being ignored, was unsure of how to take it. He decided that it would be best to remain silent over the matter, despite the fact that he could not speak; mind, he was thinking figuratively.
The two remained silent (though one of them didn't have much of a choice). Both carefully edged from the rock crevice they had managed to scoot into, though it seemed much smaller as they tired to squeeze out. It wasn't until the sun was shining down upon their faces and the Mythril Mines were behind them did Aerith break the silence.
"We can't go to Fort Condor, that much is certain. If Cloud is looking for us, we need to stay hidden."
Sephiroth nodded his head in agreement, refusing to meet Aerith's eyes. The ground wasn't interesting, however, and he the urge to look at her when she spoke purely from habit was nearly overwhelming.
"Junon, then?"
Again, Sephiroth nodded.
The sun was nearing the horizon. Without conveying any kind of kind of message to the other, both sped their pace; Junon was quite a ways father than Fort Condor, but it was something that could not be helped.