So this chapter comes from the Discovery Chapter being broken up into two parts. I hope you enjoy the additions.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or FFVII. Those games belong to Square Enix.
Yuffie runs in from hearing the scream and sees Aerith lying on the floor. "Aerith!" "Aerith are you okay?"
Aerith feels her body being shaken forcefully. She thinks to herself, 'Yeah, shaking me like this is really is going to do the trick.' Her eyes start to open, and there is Yuffie's face inches from her own. Aerith instinctively pushes Yuffie away, "I'm okay Yuffie". She knows that she had spoken out loud just then, but the voice sounds awful, like it could break hearts.
"Like Hell you are!" Leon has appeared now thanks to all the commotion. His eyes were blazing.
"I've kept my mouth shut for weeks about what's been going on with you. All those nightmares you've been having." His eyes make contact with Aerith's eyes, and he begins to lose the pure anger in his voice. After a few moments his normal brooding tone of voice returns.
"Don't look at me like that, we all know about them."
Aerith looks over at Yuffie. How long had Yuffie noticed? Yuffie sheepishly looked down avoiding eye contact with her.
"What did you expect Yuffie to do keep it to herself? And what about little Marlene!"
Again Leon's voice went back to being very loud. This angry tirade of his also brought Cid and Marlene into the room with bewilderment on their faces. Aerith glanced over at the young girl who had just walked in. It broke her heart to think that her blackouts might be scaring the child that had recently come into their lives. Marlene had been living with the moogles in Traverse Town since the darkness had separated everyone. One day Aerith and Marlene had bumped into each other literally. Aerith had felt a connection right away with her and it seemed the same for Marlene. It turned out the moogles were hiding her trying to help her regain her memories before allowing her to go around town. But the morning Aerith met her, she had regained the memory of her adopted father and was out looking for him. After speaking to Cid Marlene started working with him and the moogles in his shop. It didn't take long after that for all of the gang to fall for the young girl and now she lives with them here in Radiant Garden.
"And then the sporadic fainting...What is going on!!" It was an event in itself that Leon had actually lost his temper; he was normally always the one keeping everyone together, which was easy with his completely cold exterior. But there was also a lot more to Leon than meets the eye.
"I'm sorry Leon, everyone, I thought it would pass", Aerith quietly stated.
"What would pass?" Leon stood there with his back against the wall and his arms crossed.
"All of these images in my head are coming to the surface with such force." Aerith took a deep breath; she knew the moment had arrived and she would finally try to explain what was happening to her. She took a moment to retie the ribbon in her hair. "I want to say they're dreams but since they effect me this way, the only word I can use to describe what is happening to me is...visions."
She explained everything the best she could, trying to tell them all pertinent details about all the "visions" she had, even with little Marlene in the room. Many of these visions or memories involved Yuffie and Cid, but their past was different then it was here. Aerith also took time to tell Marlene about her father, Barrett, and how much he loved her. As Aerith finished, her friends sat in in silence and Marlene sobbed softly on Cid's shoulder.
The rest of the day all of them did their best to go about their business, lost in their own thoughts. The group didn't even take time to have their normal wrap up meeting. It seemed no one was ready to deal with what repercussions Aerith's visions had and still could have in the future.
Aerith laid in her bed starring at the ceiling and trying to will herself to sleep when she heard a soft knock at the door.
"Come in."
Marlene tentatively peaked her head in and only came forward when Aerith had sat up and motioned to her. She then took a seat on the edge of Aerith's bed. Marlene didn't speak at first, as if she was trying to find a way to say what was in her heart. After sitting together for a few moments in silence, Marlene finally decided to speak.
"I remember dad putting me on his shoulders while we were in a church; looking at a patch of flowers growing out of the ground towards the front it." her voice sounded far away.
"I can still see the light shining down on them. He had brought me there to reflect the hard work everyone had put into fighting for the planet."
She paused for a moment, her voice cracking a little when she decided to speak again . "But most importantly, to remember the flower girl's sacrifice."
Aerith could hear the depth of sadness in Marlene's voice. It was a sadness that no child should ever know about. Aerith's heart ached for this young child, but finally with Marlene finally opening up many of Aerith's questions about her were now being answered.
"I always wondered why that dream was always the same, but I just figured it was my way of remembering dad...now I know that it is more than that so, thank you". Marlene turned and gave Aerith a strong hug.
" I don't know why things are the way they are, but I am so happy you have another chance...to live. But please let me know if you remember more, I want to remember the way my dad really was, how everyone was, even if the memories are hard to deal with."
And with that the young girl went to her room leaving Aerith alone. She was emotionally and physically exhausted by everything that had happened today. She took a long hot shower to soothe her aching muscles and then eagerly slipped into her welcoming bed, falling almost immediately into a deep sleep.