They say I'm seeking out the danger

that one day you won't let me go

The first time he heard her scream, he rushed to her room with his rapier clad only in his cotton pants. He broke through her locked door and scanned the surroundings. It was the middle of the night; the moon hid behind clouds and bathed the room in complete darkness. He narrowed his eyes, wary of how the room remained dark despite his night-vision. He blinked several times but he could see almost nothing but the faint outline of objects in the room.

He made his way to the bed where the girl was. A glance at her told him all that he needed to know. She was having a dream; her eyes were closed, her body twisted in an uncomfortable position as tears rushed down her cheeks. She whimpered and shook her head this way and that; an expression of agony etched upon her young face. She was gripped by a nightmare that didn't want to let go, no matter how much she trashed or screamed. He tried to ease off the blankets that tangled around her form as she bucked her body like a thing possessed. She called, prayed, pleaded, begged for her mother, and even Goddess herself to make it stop, oh, the pain!

At the contact of his fingers against her skin, she suddenly flung herself into his arms and held tight. Her grip was strong and he had to sit down beside her to ease the tension in their positions. He waited for her to calm down. Broken sentences escaped her lips; utterances of pain and terror that you wound never expect of a young, innocent girl.

A brief thought flickered in his mind. Perhaps she was not so innocent after all.

Every night her nightmares came. Her screams echo throughout the mansion, bidding him to come like a siren's song. When he reached her side, she would always awaken with a jerk and ask him to stay as she trembled with remembered fear. She would plead, in a voice so soft, steady in the belief that that his mere presence would keep her safe. She asks him to hold her, to make it go away. And to his surprise he find that he could not refuse; could not turn her away in her hour of need.

So gradually, night after night, he got used to sleeping with someone in his arms. In time he gave up the idea of ever sleeping in a bed alone. He would rest his rapier against the nearby wall and resign himself to become another pillow to warm and comfort her as she slumbered and fought her demons.

But she is not the only one who has nightmares.

On nights when his mind replays the things he's seen, the things he's done, she is there for him too. She would hold him gently and he finds comfort in the smell of the flowers that clung to her skin, the scent of a woman in the body of a girl.

They never talk about their nightmares in the morning. It remained with the litanies uttered to the shadows that preyed on them, the whispers and promises made in the dark; that he will always be there for her, that he will never leave her and that it's alright, shh, because he's here now, and he won't allow anyone to hurt her ever again.

"Genny."

A suppressed giggle, familiar and associated with the mischievous gleam of forest green eyes brought him back to reality. He wonders what he's done to deserve this as the heady scent of flowers, which he'd been trying to ignore, wafted up his nose. He became aware of additional people in the room beyond the leaves and petals in front of his eyes.

"Mrs. Gladwell asked for some irises." Aerith's voice floated from somewhere behind him. There was no mistaking the teasing lilt to her voice; it never bode well for him. A few weeks ago she'd adapted that nickname for him and it now stuck no matter how many times he requested her to correct it. He held back a sigh and trained his eyes to the two women in front of him. They stared intently at him for who knows how long now.

"I'm very sorry but I don't know which of these—" he gestured to the bouquets Aerith shoved into his arms earlier. "…are the ones you desire."

"Oh, I desire—" Mrs. Gladwell started, reaching out one hand to the general direction of his face.

"The one on your left. The violet ones." Aerith's voice cut in.

He held out his left hand toward the woman and hoped to keep her at arm's length. She blushed prettily and took it from him without meeting his eyes. He sighed inwardly and fought off an incoming headache. He felt like a piece of meat on display as the woman eyed him like a hungry carnivore, ready to pounce.

The bell on top of the door of the shop rang and a young woman stepped inside. "I'm sorry Ms. Camper but the dandelions are the only flowers I have left today." Aerith called to the other woman who burst in to the shop.

"Oh that's not it… I heard about a gorgeous man—" Her eyes wandered to the direction of the other women in the room and spotted Genesis. "Oh! I'll take him... it. I mean, your flowers dear, whatever's left..."

Genesis held back a groan and handed the bouquet to her, holding them at an arm's length again. But the new arrival was bolder than he gave her credit for because one of her hands took the flower while the other closed around his wrist. "Aren't you sweet..." she said, not letting go of his arm. Her grip was firm and she continued the conversation as if she had no plan of letting him go. "It's like you've been holding this out for me..."

He smiled politely and was thankful he had the presence of mind to wear long sleeves today. He did not oblige any of them with further conversation.

"Who is this delightful young man Aerith?" Mrs. Gladwell asked, moving into his line of sight again. He involuntarily took a step backward and looked back at Aerith, a moment of panic broke through his face.

With amusement shining in her young eyes, Aerith calmly walked to stand beside him, gently wrapping her hands around Genesis arm, and disengaged him from Ms. Camper. "He's my boyfriend. He came to help me with my flower shop today."

He bit back an inward groan. This could not get any worse.

"But he seems much older than..." Mrs. Gladwell started.

"Oh, so he's one of those types..." Ms. Camper said as her eyes gave him another once over.

Scratch that, it had. He counted to three and refused to be baited. Thankfully, they paid and left without further remarks but not without giving a lingering glance to Genesis as they exited. When they were alone, he turned to give a sharp look at Aerith who was trying to suppress a grin but failed magnificently.

"What? You looked like you needed my help."

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself from unwanted advances." His hands pulled to try and loosen the collar of the turtleneck that he wore as he cleared his throat. He felt more exposed now than ever, having shed his SOLDIER fighting attire for civilian clothes and their tight-fitting styles. He thought he could get through the task of keeping her within his line of sight as she went about his business, but boy had he been wrong.

"Yes, and you'd do so violently I'm sure." She giggled and tugged at his arm. "But where's the fun in that? I sold all my flowers in record time, so now we can go home early! Come on boyfriend," she called as she finished tidying up the shop.

They exited the establishment, Aerith bade her farewells to the other shopkeepers that they passed by on the street and practically skipped as she walked. He took the point for a time but was surprised by the sound of a slap and the slight sting on his behind as Aerith whizzed past, proclaiming victory at having caught him unaware enough to slap his ass. He rolled his eyes and wondered how, at so young an age, could she be so forthcoming with the opposite sex. Then it struck him. Puberty. Raging hormones. He groaned inwardly again. He noticed the bright spring in her step, the sway of her hips and the happy glances that she threw back at him. She was almost a woman, he could not deny that. Perhaps not as curvaceous as the other women that has caught his eyes but...

Don't go there. He frowned and sighed. He kept her within his sight, waited until she was at a considerable distance, then brought out his phone and pressed the number on speed dial.

"Lazard."

"Speak."

Aerith in front of him suddenly turned around and blew kisses in his direction. "...how long must I tolerate this indignity?"

There was a pause from the other end, as if the other male was seriously considering it. "Will I receive these calls from you every week?"

"...yes."

"One more call like this and I will send Sephiroth to disembowel you. Are we clear?"

A smile started in his face, though he knew it should not be there. "If you send Angeal too, I would die a happy man."

"Genesis..." Lazard practically growled.

"...I'll make it every two weeks."

Weeks turn into months and they settled into a comfortable routine. The other ShinRa MPs were recalled back to Midgar a few days after he arrived, their 'protection' now rendered useless by his presence. Now only the two of them remained in the house. She never once asked about his sudden appearance, nor how long he planned to stay. She simply accommodated his company and promptly harrassed him at every opportunity.

Still, they had a fair arrangement; she would cook their meals and he would clean up after them. In the mornings, she would do gardening while he went through his exercise routines. In the afternoon, they would spend some quiet time in the library, with her reading, knitting, or sometimes pounding away on the piano. On weekends, they did the laundry, cleaned the house and walked around the countryside if they could spare the time. Once, Aerith even managed to goad him to go shopping at the local market with her but that wasn't an experience that he was willing to go through again.

Sometimes he would catch her talking to herself; mostly in her garden, the indoor greenhouse, or wherever, when she thinks she's alone. There seemed to be something sacred in those moments when she holds a conversation where he could only hear one side of. She would always speak fondly, as if she talked to a loved one who talked back to her in her mind. He never gave those much thought and just chalked it up as another one of her deviant behaviours.

Sometimes he felt that she hovered over him during both his sleeping and waking hours. She was always there to strike up a conversation about anything and nothing. He suspects that she's made it a point to coax him out of his shell, out of some nonsense about boyfriends and girlfriends knowing everything about each other...

Headache again.

At nights they slept together, sharing his bed. It was common sense. The mansion was large; it got very drafty and the only room with a fireplace upstairs was in his room. It also felt good to share someone's heat in the cold of the night. Those were logical reasons...

Of course if she was asked why they shared the same bed, she would nonchalantly say that it was part of an elaborate plan to invade his personal space and aide in her quest of 'making him fall for her'. That it was ok, she can wait until he was 'ready to take their relationship to the next level' but she wasn't going to deny the pleasure of being in his arms until he got around to accepting the fact that 'they were meant for each other'.

Sleeping beside each other had another effect as well. Gradually, her nightmares stopped coming though there are still times when she would wake up with cold sweat and sob until morning. It was during those few times in the hour before dawn that Genesis would recognize the woman in her that tried so hard to hide behind the girl. He grew fond of the times when she would turn to him and smile tiredly, enjoying the silence and his warmth in a moment of real intimacy just as dawn's light broke through the windows.

One day, as he sat in the garden reading a book from the library, his phone rang. Genesis stared at the device for a moment, unable to believe the semblance of activity from it after being dormant for so long. He pressed the answer button and held it against his ear.

"Rhapsodos." He could identify the voice from the other end a thousand miles away.

"Angeal?" He could not help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Heard you were playing house in Nibelheim." His eyes drifted involuntarily to Aerith who was watering the nearby bushes while humming a song. "That her? Also heard she's not even legal yet. Never thought you were one to have a Lolita fetish—"

His brow furrowed. "Did you call for any other reason than to mock me?"

A chuckle from the other end. "Part of it, yeah. How are you?"

"Getting a little fat," he answered truthfully.

The other man howled with laughter. "She must be taking good care of you then. I've been meaning to call but we've been busy."

"Rub it in. You're in the heat of action while I'm left to disuse..."

He chuckled. "I'd say you were pretty damn lucky. How many babysitting missions do we get?"

Genesis snorted. Aerith wasn't exactly a girl anymore, though he'd be reluctant to call her a woman. Things would be much easier if he'd been put in charge of a child. Preferably male. In any case he will never accept a mission from Lazard again without looking through the information again.

"Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that you won't be hanging your head in the near future."

"You called a day too early."

He chuckled. "You've always had a flair for the dramatic. Try and 'hang in' there just the same." He laughed at his own joke while Genesis rolled his eyes.

"Thank you for the effort, lacking as it was, to cheer me up. Finding new friends have now been bumped high in my list of priorities."

"Don't be like that. At least you're living closer to the grace of nature. The Nibel mountain air should do you good." He heard a door open in the background from Angeal's end and words were exchanged between the new presence and his friend.

"Angeal?" he asked as he tried to place the other voice.

"Ah, yes. It's Genesis..." Angeal replied to the one who addressed him. "Want to talk to him? Hold on..." He heard wind swoosh on the phone before it was caught and placed against something soft that rustled.

"Genesis." The smooth voice of Sephiroth was unmistakable.

"Ah. Should have known you two would be together before long. Any encounters with the Silver Elite recently?"

The other man snorted and Genesis coughed to keep himself from laughing. The General had the largest fanclub among the SOLDIERs and hiding from the stalking fangirls was one thing all three of them had in common. That's one thing to be glad of at least; he no longer had any worries about women shadowing him wherever he went. Or at least, he only had to worry about one girl with such tendencies now.

"You're in Nibelheim... Shin-Ra Mansion?"

"Yes."

"Take very good care of her, Genesis."

"Yes, I know. My mission. No need to remind me, General." He said this with thinly veiled contempt. Sephiroth outranked him in formal position and he disliked all reminders of his inferiority to the other man. His eyes flitted to brown head again that moved along the bushes. She raised her head and their eyes met, she smiled immediately and went back to watering the plants.

"Beyond that SOLDIER. You've always wanted to be the hero right? Be hers."

His eyebrow lifted at that. But Sephiroth offered no more words and hung up the phone before any further words were exchanged.

"Something displeases you?" Aerith's voice drifted to him. She was suddenly in front of him, an inquiring gaze in her eyes.

Genesis looked at her then something clicked in his mind. So the mighty General was concerned about the girl. Come to think of it, Aerith did mention that she knew him from before.

"It's nothing..." he said, but was unable to stop the smile that formed in his lips. "You didn't tell me that you were close to the General."

He could not ignore the blush that spread across her cheek as she stared at him. "That was Sephy? He should have said 'hi' at least."

Sephy? Genesis looked at her phone, then back to her again. His smile widened. He might finally have discovered a soft spot in the hardened General. "Want to talk to him?"

She was staring at his face as if in shock. She blinked rapidly and turned to look anywhere but his eyes, her blush deepened as she did so. "N-No." She shook her head but the pink in her cheeks did not go away.

Who's got the Lolita fetish now? The smirk remained in his face as he opened his phone again and dialled the General's number. "Someone wants to talk to you," he said by way of greeting and handed the phone to Aerith.

Wide-eyed, she took the phone from him, and without breaking eye contact said hello. Then she frowned then pursed her lips, "Well you didn't say 'hi' to me!". Her eyes flicked toward Genesis, "Yes he's still here..." he held his hand out to take the phone back but he was surprised when she suddenly did an about face and stomped away.

"No. Not until we're finished." Genesis couldn't help but chuckle silently at her persistence. He wondered how long they'd last until the older man would lose his patience. "Yes. Very helpful with my flowershop! I was going to ask him to do deliveries but I don't know if I can rely on him. Sometimes he looks like he's going to have an aneurysm even when he's only holding the flowers for sale." She paused and then laughed at something the other man said.

He snorted and Aerith turned her head back to him and smiled again. Annoyed, he settled down the bench on the porch and went back to the book he brought out earlier. She wandered farther, nearer to the gate but not far enough to drown out her next words. "I'll do that! When are you coming to visit?" Then, "You always say that!" Some more giggles and then, almost as a whisper, "No, he's very handsome..."

His eyes lifted of their own volition and found the back of her head. Did he hear that right? She was stood by the gates; fingered the black metal bars and scratched her nails against the paint. "Maybe I already have..." she half-whispered. "I'm happy!" Her sudden exclamation caught him off guard. Genesis felt heat creep across his cheeks for no discernable reason. He looked at her again and saw that she was looking at him now with a shy smile on her face. "I know." She headed back to his direction then held out the phone. "He wants to talk to you now."

He kept his expression even as he took the phone. "Yes Sephy?"

"Break her heart and I'll break your neck." Then the line was dead.

He smiled to himself, 'Sephy' must be pretty pissed off right now. He looked up at Aerith who stood above him, carefully watching the expression on his face. She smelled like the flowers she was tending to earlier and for a second he thought about letting his nose trail the scent up her arms and wherever it may linger in. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Were you talking about me?" He looked up at her and noticed the tendrils of chestnut hair that escaped her braid framed her face perfectly.

"Yes." Then she bent forward and gave him a chaste peck on his lips, then pulled back a little to look deeply into his eyes.

"What are you doing?" A small frown was on his face, but he couldn't help but feel amused either. How can this girl be so shy one moment and be so bold the next?

"I'm kissing the most gorgeous man I've ever met..." She didn't even bat an eyelash as she said it.

His blue eyes meet hers quite calmly. "Aren't you too young to try to seduce me?"

She smiled that bright sunny smile that could have blinded lesser men. "I'm old enough to start."

She kissed him again. There was nothing decidedly chaste about it this time around.

Extra Scene: Aerith – Sephiroth Phone Conversation

"Hello…"

"Aerith? You made Genesis call me?"

"Well you didn't say 'hi' to me!"

"He's more whipped than I thought. Give the phone back to him."

"No. Not until we're finished."

"Hold on." A door opened and closed. Footsteps. Then silence again. "You're bullying me even over the phone? You haven't changed." A chuckle. "Is he treating you alright?"

"Yes. Very helpful with my flowershop! I was going to ask him to do deliveries but I don't know if I can rely on him. Sometimes he looks like he's going to have an aneurysm even when he's only holding the flowers for sale!"

Laughter. "You find the most creative ways to make people suffer. Why don't you make him sing and dance while you're at it?"

A chuckle. "I'll do that! When are you coming to visit?"

"Soon."

"You always say that!"

"You know how our lives are." Silence. "I'm glad he's there with you. I don't know why he was sent, maybe I'll find out more… Do you have any objections to his presence?"

"No, he's very handsome..."

"I said presence not appearance. Are you falling in love with him?"

"Maybe I already have..."

"Aerith... You know how dangerous it is…"

"I'm happy!"

"Be careful." A deep breath. "You don't know what'll happen when they decide to..."

"I know." She cut him off.

"Very well. Put him back on so I can make sure he takes care of you."

"Yes, Sephy?"

All words of wisdom to impart went away at the use of his moniker. "Break her heart and I'll break your neck."

Phone call end.

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