Author's Note: It's been a little over a month since I updated I think. But... I hope you enjoy this installment, perhaps it'll shine a bit of light on things. I don't know when the next update will be, -Shrugs- but hopefully soon. Thank you to all who read this and the ones who review as well.
Disclaimer: I am not claiming to own or be the characters in this fic. I do not own Final Fantasy VII, which is property of Squareinx and such. I do own the fic and the story I have made.
Now on with the fic,
The rain continued to pour from the Heavens upon the Planet, the soft patter on the roof and occassional tink on the window were lulling to say the least. And though she pretended it was clear she was still quite weak by her journey back, but the young blonde who slept on peacefully was blissfully unaware of this. There he lay, one hand clenching the fabric of her dress as if to hold on to her, and even in sleep make sure she was there... she was real. It made her smile to see how much her return effected him, and yet sad... to see the pain there, how he had been hurt when she had gave her life up for the Planet. Cloud would never understand it, and she knew this; he would never understand that she had to do it, that he was not responsible for it. No. The Planet knew well by the time she had arrived in the Forgotten City that the young ex-SOLDIER was in love with her, and would do anything to save her. It had made sure to stop him from saving her as Sephiroth made the strike that took her from him, she had known ever since arriving in The Temple Of The Acients that she would have to do it. But Cloud... it had killed her to leave him, but what truly mattered now was: She was back; she was back and he wouldn't have to be sad anymore. She sat and she wondered quietly... when should she prod him for a confession; yes... she would try getting him to admit it first. Looking down at the peaceful face her smile brightened, her fingers curled around the spikes as she ran her fingers through his hair. When...?
Her head tilted to the left a bit, chestnut brown locks casscaded over her vision and she blew them away; not wishing to remove her hands from his hair. As she began to adjust herself to be a bit more comfortable, she let out a tiny cry of pain, her back... her chest ached in white hot fury now. She froze, not wishing to agitate it anymore. It was then that she looked down to see the small crimson stain leaking through her pink dress, and she knew she had to find a way to hide it before Cloud woke, or he would freak out. Looking around her for anything, she failed to notice the blonde stirring slightly in her lap, a pair of mako infused ceruleans opened to find his pillow to be tense and moving slightly. Looking up and turning he caught sight of her face, panick stricken, it was enough to destroy his grogginess and opened his eyes fully. "Aeris...? What's wr--..." he suddenly stopped mid sentence; he had caught sight of her dress, the crimson stain on it. Shooting up into a sitting position he looked at her, she dropped her head and drapped an arm around her stomach, the other's hand was o the ground, flat palm. Cloud instantly moved forward to examine her and removed her arm gently, "No..." he whispered and looked up into her eyes that now looked into his own, she saw the fear and reached out to caress his face. She bit her lip, a wave of pain crashed through her, but he knew she was hiding it... he had learned long ago how to hide pain and emotions. Without waiting for a word to be said he placed his arms in position and scooped her up gently, standing and heading for the double doors. Using his right shoulder he rammed them open and they exited into the gray, rainy outside; quickly he mounted Fenrir for what seemed to be the hundreth time today and placed her in his lap.
Tucking her legs in away from danger and rain he looked down at her "Hang on..." and started the engine; a smooth purr came after a loud roar, and they took off. Quickly he went the way he came, making sure to avoid Sector 7 for fear of Tifa spotting him and exited the longer way. It didn't take too long for him to rip through the Slums of Secor 5 and through the City... Barely at all, he found his attention was not required to direct Fenrir through the City of Midgar and focused his thoughts on the resting form in his arms. Now that he was on the go he glanced down at her tucked into his lap and used his senses to find that she wasn't bleeding profusely... but that didn't ease his worries She needed to get somewhere where a doctor was and he could tell him what would happen. But then that led him to the questions of... was she going to be okay? Would the wound from Masamune heal? Would she be damaged? If she wasn't okay... if he lost her again just as he got her back... no... he couldn't... it couldn't... ... And yet he knew it was possible. She was a mortal and if he lost her to the same wound twice... there was no reason to be alive. Squeezing her shoulder reassuringly to see if he could still feel her he let out a breathe he held in. Then realized they had made it out of Midgar all ready and now where on the rocky mud splattered path, the rain beat his back, his armor made tink noises as it hit and he became even further soaked. Though he didn't care about that, all that mattered to him was getting her there and making sure she survived. He kicked Fenrir into gear and the speed upped completely, he navigated on instinct through the dark and rain beaten path, around rocky structures and soon found himself in the grasslands of Kalm. Here the moon came through the clouds and bathed him in light, allowing him to see his way through the land and crossed over the mountains. The rain was worse here, but he managed to shield her body from almost all of the rain, if she got sick on top of being injured he'd never forgive himself. With that he leaned forward and reached the mountain peak,and soared over it through the air and landed in the middle as smooth as he could.
The
journey over the mountain and down them didn't take as much time as
normal even with the rain it seemed Fenrir was carrying him quickly
over to his destination. Which suited him just fine of course, and
within no time he was nearing the city of Junon, where he would find
her help. Glancing down at her he squeezed her shoulder gently "Don't
worry... I'm gonna get you some help." he whispered to her, and
continued on through the rain. Wind began to whirl all around them as
they entered the city, he forged ahead, making the engine roar he
sped up to the former ShinRa building at the end. The evelvator
opened for him and he went in on Fenrir. The elevator rose, he sat
and looked down at her, she was barely wet, his body having shielded
her well enough, just as he felt the lift arrive at the top he felt
the rain hitting harder now that he was in the open again. Fenrir
purred quietly before he turned her off and dismounted, gathering his
precious cargo and taking off toward the door. Kicking it hard with
his foot, which shook and nearly cracked with the brute force from
the ex-SOLDIER; soon his kicking call was answered by the newly built
peek slide opening and a pair of eyes peered out at him. "Cloud?
Back so soon?" came the person's voice, "Yeah. And I
brought Aeris! She's hurt! She's still wounded from Sephiroth's
Masamune!".the normally calm tone showed his desperation and a
slight bit of fear. "What do I do?"... the man took a
moment before he narrowed his gaze "I have no way to help but
one. And I know you will not go with it. Go to a Doctor, boy.",
with that he slammed the small slide shut. This shocked him and he
stood for a moment listening to the footsteps disappear and the rain
beat down, before long he shook himself from his stupor and his face
twisted slightly in fury; how? How could he do that to them? He could
have at the very least he could have done was to examine her and see
if that what he said could cure her would really work and was the
best... "Dammit...".....
Knocking with his boot again instead of waiting for the answer he busted inside the establishment, it looked the same as it had at the point he had to disguise himself as a foot soldier for ShinRa again. From the closet room came a man with greying hair and glasses, a lab coat on his form and a beard heavily greyed, a scowl on his features as he snarled "I thought I told yo-". But he was interrupted, Cloud's face was a mixture of disgust and fury as he spoke, his calm and even tone did not show the anger and fear he felt "You're going to help me... you have to. No one said she'd still be injured!" he nearly roared at the man. Such fury broke his resolve and the scientist gave a gruff reply with a nod before gesturing for him to follow him through the doorway. Said ex-SOLDIER did as told and went along with him carrying the precious cargo in his arms, the man exited for a moment to another room leaving the two alone. During the entire ride and up until now the young Cetra had remained quiet and hiding in Cloud's chest, now she looked up with him eyes full of innocence and adoration. She knew that if she tried protesting he would easily shoot it down with his valid argument and so she remained silent. Besides... why should she protest when she felt so warm, safe, cherished.. he was protecting her, there for her as he had always been. And it was a comfortable spot, her only discomfort was, of course, the wound she still had. But now as she looked around the lab area at everything she felt a tinge of fear, it reminded her of ShinRa's labs... where she spent the first seven years of her life and then again when Tseng had brought her back. She never told the others but she still had nightmares about her childhood there, as she thought about it she wound her fingers deep into the fabric on his chest, clutching tightly to him. Seeing this he took it as a sign of fear as it was, and gave her a softened look to try and reassure her. "I know it's scary... but... Hollander knows what he's doing. You'll be okay.", he told her as once again Hollander appeared from a doorway and gestured for him to follow once again.
Cloud gave a grim nod before following him through the doorway and into the next darker room, there was alot of machanical devices in here, and in the center.... a pod filled with green liquid. Immediately bright flashes of memory rippled through his mind of awaking in one, seeing the distorted outline of Zack Fair, and then clean air... ... He shook his head to rid himself of the memories. But looking at the pod he felt a disgusted loathing, he remembered how painful it had been... the mako shot into him and the other twisted experiments of Hojo. Subconciously he took a step back, Aeris noticed this first and looked up at him with a look of pity, having known some parts of his past experience in mako. She tugged on his shirt reassuringly and he looked down at her, then Hollander's voice broke him from his thoughts but his gaze did not break from those emralds. "Rememberin' your time in one of these, hm? It doesn't matter boy, you aren't the one climbing in it.", Cloud snarled in his direction "Me? I'm not worried about me! I'm worried about her...." and once more his gaze found hers. An inner turmoil within him as he tried to figure out what to do now, quickly at that. Hollander stood watching him with an unreadable expression before saying "It's the only way, Cloud. The only way to sufficiently heal her at a quick rate and make sure there's no damage.". The ex-SOLDIER's mouth twitched into a thoughtful scowl, gaze torn away from her to the side in thought, he took a moment before quietly asking "....It won't hurt her... will it?". Hollander stroked his beard and shook his head "Shouldn't hurt her. Thing that was painful for you was how you adepted to it, how you went through so much at once. And were exposed to a near poisoning level by Hojo." as he saiid the name it sounded like a foul curse spat out. Suddenly he steeled again and looked up at Hollander "Fine... if she consents I will let you do it... but... if it's too high a level I will know... you'll regret it.". His eyes found the Flower Girls's again and he gave a questioning look she took a moment before nodding. The scientist broke the moment "Excellent. Lets begin..."
