Seraph: I never had any intention of spoiling that bit of information to you guys, but hey! What's done is done. ) See here's a new chapter to feed you guys and trust me, the next following chapters will grab your mind and have you spinning.
FinalFantasySwordsMan77: Sector Zero is mainly a place that will be explained in "Secrets of a Locked Heart." Unfortunately, I'm still extracting that story from my old hard drive. Thanks for the review!
Sephy-Kuns Girl: No, this isn't a Tifa Bashing story. Quite the contrary since I'm a major Tifa fan. )
Drumscorpsfan08: Yep, I figured I would write a story to fuel the imaginations of all Aeris fans, Tifa fans, Cloud fans, and so forth.
I want to thank all my reviewers for thier support and encouragements, which mean a lot to me. I just have to work harder in earning more readers and reviews! ) I think I might revise the prologue...what do you guys think?
Anywho...-coughs- FF7 does not belong to me except for original characters, certain cities, random people...-shuts up- I'm bad at disclaimers. P
Chapter 6
St. Gainsborough
For the past few weeks, each morning was the same: Get up, eat, leave with Daemon, school, come home and sleep. Lately Dad wasn't home much each night, Reeve kept him held up at these expeditions that were supposed to be temporary, but they seemed to be dragged onward for long periods of time. Odin knew her mother was on a verge of a nervous breakdown any day and all it would take is for Dad to end up injured to have Aeris bring the whole city down to its knees. Little did she know that day would be today.
"Block harder James!" Reno yelled as he watched his students James and Ashes spar together. Ashes was exchanging one offensive blow after the other, almost shattering James spear. She broke away and flung her sweaty bangs back, giving James a chance to retaliate. Someone shouted from the entrance of the training battle area, but Ashes's heart was pounding in her ears, so quickly disregarding it she looked at James who was distracted by the call.
"Concentrate!" Reno barked and noticed as James looked a few seconds too late only to find a sharp sliver of silver metal coming down upon him. To Reno's relief and James, she changed her Katana's directions seconds before impact and the sound of steel on concrete shuddered in the air.
"Daemon! Your father is on TV!" Kyoko shouted urgently. Daemon who was talking to Daniel glanced up at him with slight surprise.
Ashes looked up as well and glanced worriedly at her brother who was making his way toward the exit. She followed as well, wondering what was going on. The vast corridor was cluttered with students gaping at the large screen plasma murmuring among themselves. She looked up to find black haired woman talking nonstop, a helicopter landing near her almost toppling the woman over.
"This is TEX Live here reporting the sudden tragic news of an expedition team in the ruins of Midgar. Informants say that Cloud Strife, the man from AVALANCHE, who helped save the world from utter destruction almost two decades ago is in critical condition." she stated as her and the camera man followed a group of rescue workers pulling a stretcher onto the helicopter.
Her throat constricted in fear as she watched the stretcher get pulled into the helicopter. The camera zoomed in on Cloud, specks of her father's golden blonde hair swaying madly beneath the blades. She swayed...her Dad...no...Mother...she was going to shit...Oh my Odin...please let him be all right.
"Witness's say that the teams encountered an unknown entity inside the ruins that killed off three men and left Cloud Strife barely alive. We have Professor Riley here:" the news woman announced.
A brown haired man in foggy spectacles stood next to the woman,
"I was there when it all happened, my colleagues and I were in the back when we noticed a green crystal beast bar our way and the way it swiped at the General...I mean he should have been dead on impact!"
Strong arms held her slightly as her legs almost buckled, her Daddy...he was the strongest man alive...how could this happen to her?
"Ash?" Kyoko inquired as he held her steady, "You all right?"
She shoved his hands away,
"Yeah."
Kyoko nodded and looked at Daniel who shook his head silently as to not make any other actions around her. Daemon on the other hand, had his eyes glued to the screen and without looking at any of them,
"Daniel, Kyoko, Zephyrus: Tell our instructors that I and my sister will not be attending the rest of the class."
"Yes sir." Kyoko said seriously.
"Come on Ash." he added and the two siblings left the combat arena, students carefully staring in sympathy at the two.
The ride back to the house was unusually silent, but Daemon's calm mood didn't show on the road. He weaved dangerously in and out of passing vehicles at unbelievable speeds. To be honest, it didn't scare her at all but make her all the more worried.
They got off thier exit and sped down into the suburb until the black car found it's way in the parking lot of thier home. Ashes just noticed how beautiful the colors of the leaves were turning, fall was closing in on them. The next few moments must have been recorded in slow motion; She watched as her mom ran out the front door, her words not capable of making one decent sentence.
Daemon embraced thier Mom and said he would call Aunt Marlene to come and watch over the girls while they would go to the hospital to find out what was really going on with Dad.
Aunt Marlene...Haha...she wasn't really an aunt but she was close family. Marlene was unusual though, there were times when the woman would stare at her and smile saying she reminded her of someone she knew when she was younger.
"Come on we are leaving." Daemon called out to Ashes who was still standing in the courtyard. She nodded and climbed into the back seat while her mom got into the passenger side.
They were heading down highway 67 which as memory recalled would lead them down into the heart of Mikotex. Once again, Daemon was racing away down the lanes, thier mom reprimanding Daemon to drive carefully before they all ended up in the hospital next to thier Dad.
Though Daemon slowed down a bit, he sped up once again when they exited off of Broadway St. and turned down Stream Avenue. The tall skyscrapers seemed to hide in the white gray misty drizzling clouds as she watched the passing buildings. Suddenly they came up to a white grand building with large skylights and it was ironic how the sun pierced through the clouds and sprinkling rain, illuminating the glass surfaces.
Daemon drove into the parking lot building and drove to second floor where parking was available. Aerith opened the back seat up and Ashes jumped out following her mom and brother to the automatic glass sliding doors. She noticed how the white tile floors shone underneath the fluorescent lighting, a few plants stood next to the reception desk where her mom was located at along with her brother. She saw thier mouths moving but couldn't hear the words...she looked up to find Aerith motioning her over with her hand as they walked down the corridor past several rooms filled with sick patients.
The elevator doors slid open and the trio walked inside, light music was playing softly through the intercom. The other half of the elevator was made of glass dappled with rain drops and beyond: the scenery outside of buildings, cars, birds that flew from one window to another. The elevator announced fourth floor: Intensive Care Unit.
She followed her family out and watched silently as some of the doctors and nurses nodded at her mother respectively. This hospital was named after her after all: St. Gainsborough... Her mother said it was to honor her father, but people saw it otherwise. Supposedly without her help and ability to speak with the voices of the planet she wouldn't have been able to summon Lifestream to oppose Meteor.
"Mrs. Strife!" a man called out to them, "How I'm honored to have you here. We placed your husband in intensive care and I can take you to him and Dr. Rotowski immediately."
"Thank you Dr. ...?" Aerith began.
"Oh pardon my rudeness, my name is Dr. Davies. Now please, Dr. Rotowski has been waiting for you for quite some time." he said and ushered them down the busy hallways.
The doctor they met, was an elderly man with graying hair and green eyes almost identical to her moms glowing green orbs.
"How is he Stephen?" Aeris asked, concern etched deeply within her beautiful face. Stephen, whom her mother addressed by first name, furrowed his bushy eyebrows and shook his head.
"He's in a coma."
"What?" Daemon exclaimed.
"He has suffered severe head injury to his cervical cortex and it seems there may be a few burst blood vessels as well within his brain. We have already operated on him and stopped most of the blood clots. We have used all forms of healing magic as well, but we can only do so much. By the book he should have died, but he miraculously survived. All we can do now is wait." he explained.
Ashes let all the information flow over her...it swallowed her mind in the terror of losing her father.
"What's wrong baby girl?" a strong voice cooed down at her. She looked up from her seat at the foot of the stairs of the martial arts school, her eyes swelling from another sudden burst of tears. Her round face had a slight bruise on her lower cheek and he frowned as he gently touched the sore spot.
"Daddy, what is a freak?" she asked innocently wincing slightly at the touch. The man looked down upon the six year old and frowned.
"It's not you, if that's what your wondering. Who did this to you?" he asked.
"Some kids at school. I was drawing and they ripped my picture away and made fun of me."
"Oh baby..." he said and embraced her.
"Remember, you are not alone; You have me and I'll never leave you sweet heart no matter what happens. You just tell your old Pa what's bothering you and I'll take care of it." he encouraged. There was a long silent pause before she spoke up,
"I want to be strong like you daddy." she whispered into his shirt. He stroked her soft fair hair and kissed the top of her head.
"All right, I'll teach you to be strong, but you know what?" he said with a smile on his face.
"What?" she said with a pout as she looked up into his blue eyes.
"You are already strong in here, " he said pointing to where her heart was, "Your heart is just as strong as mine."
She smiled slightly as her father placed her small hands against his chest. She felt his heart beat steadily within him like a solid drum of strength soothing her pain away.
The heart beat continued to drum steadily as she faded out of that memory and she noticed that it was her heart that was making that sound.
"Can we see him?" Aerith asked.
"Of course. I only pray that you might be able to make some sort of impact on your husband." he stated calmly. Aerith nodded and spoke up as they began to make thier way down another hallway,
"I haven't spoken to the planet for years now Stephen. After I gave birth to Desiree and Sam...it's like they left me alone. I can feel them, I can feel the pulse of life, and I have tried speaking to them but I have had no answer."
The doctor nodded and stopped at a double door that slid open. They walked in, Daemon and Ashes following behind.
The first thing she noticed were all the machines surrounding one white bed, thier lights and screens flashing various numbers and the steady sound of a heart beat. Then she noticed the multi-colored tubes inserted into somebody laying, propped up on a white spotless pillow, in a brilliantly white bed, with the sunshine streaming through the skylight windows.
Her mom went over to the side of the bed and placed her hand on the brown of the blonde man laying there. She didn't want to believe that that was her father laying there...
Who would she turn to now? Her father was always there when she needed someone to talk to...someone to ask for advice and encouragement...he was the only one in her family who she felt the most connected with. The image of Daemon popped into her entranced pondering mind as she stood at the foot of the bed, Daemon talking quietly with the doctor.
Daemon? No...he would never understand her need, her bond like she had with Cloud, her father. He was distant, her mother wasn't even that close, Desiree and Sam didn't even cut close. They were there, but her heart held only one parent figure: that was the man before her, in a coma, laying helpless and lost.
"Daemon, take your sister home and tell Sam and Desiree that I won't be home for a couple of days. I have to stay here and have Aunt Marlene watch over the house and the girls. I'll call when anything changes." Aerith said looking at her eldest and then back at Ashes.
"Ashes dear?" her mother asked, concern entwined with each word.
Aerith noticed her daughters stoic reflection, her stone cold visage...she was lost in thought; Her hands gripping the side of her pants. Her fair daughter was in shock...she understood what was going on.
"Daemon." Aerith ordered, snapping her son's attention back to her from the doctors.
"Take your sister out of her. She's in shock." Aerith ordered, her voice gripped in fright. The last thing she needed was for Ashes to have another attack like she did when she was a child. Whenever her daughter went through a rough time, she would be grasped by vicious seizures and plenty of hospital visits and be on medication. That all stopped when she turned seven though, after Cloud was with her day and night at her bedside.
Daemon looked over at his sister and frowned, nodding toward his mother and excused himself from the doctor. He walked over to the rigid woman and tried to coax her,
"Come on Ash. Let's get going."
No movement, she was frozen to the ground, her eyes staring vacantly at Cloud. He tried a different approach,
"Sweetheart, come on...I'm here for you. Everything is going to be all right. I'm right here..."
He remembered his father do this to her several times when she would come home crying from school. Perhaps his soft words would bring her out of her present state of mind; her rigid body relaxed suddenly and he was able to escort her outside of the room towards the elevator.
The sharp ping of the elevator jerked her back to reality and she looked at the red light that flashed repeatedly, notifying the two that the doors were about to open. She walked inside this time, without Daemon's help. Daemon shrugged and walked in behind her pressing the Parking level 2 button.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked after he glanced over at her. She was staring out into the city, the rain picking up, splattering against the thick glass.
"Nothing." she replied solemnly.
"You know, I'm here too..."
"It's not the same." she replied coldly. He frowned, anger bubbling to the surface,
"Why do you always do this!" His yell made Ashes hair stand on end; he never snapped and today was the first time she had heard him so angry, but she continued to ignore him.
"Damn Odin to Hell and back! You push us all away except for Dad. We are your family too Ash! I can protect you just as good as Dad!" he continued.
"I don't need to be protected anymore." she said.
"Liar!" The accusation seemed to itch her subconscious and what really irked her was that in a way it was true. She needed her father though...she needed the blonde knight that saved her from the nightmares, the pain of the past, the feeling of loneliness.
The doors slid open and she walked out leaving the brunette fuming, his azure eyes glowing with irritation. Luckily the drive back home was ruled by silence once again and when they parked into the drive way, two girls ran out to greet them. Both bombarded Daemon with questions and when Sam looked at Ashes and asked how thier father was doing, the fair haired woman ignored by walking past.
Sam seemed bewildered by the new behavior that tears spilled from out of her green orbs. Seeing her sister like this meant that thier father was worse off then what Daemon lead them to believe.
"Ignore her." Desiree whispered as they followed everyone back inside.
Ok...what do you think? Enough detail? Enough emotion and surprise? I hope so. )