:: Chapter Three :: Aeris

Cloud was not dead. He knew that, because he could hear a voice talking to him in the blackness. A deep, consuming voice that seemed to fill his entire being.

Get up, it told him. You're alive, Cloud. Get up.

Cloud groaned. He could not move. He could not speak.He was in pitchdarkness and he could not see. He was afraid and perplexed.

Come on, Cloud, the voice interjected again. You're okay, aren't you? You can wake up.

This time Cloud's senses began to work. He was aware of his breathing, of his body moving in rhythm to it, of his lungs filling with a sweet, pure air. But it was still black.

I'm alive? he thought, his mind numb to the revelation. The voice answered.

Yes. But it's different...now. Back then, you would get away with just a scrape on the knees.

Cloud was slipping away from the voice. He sensed it leaving him, as he began to clear the unconsciousness in his mind. He felt all the more confused because there was another voice going on and on in the background. Sucking in a breath, he willed his brain to move his fingers, and was relieved when they responded.

What do you mean by 'back then'? And who are you anyway? he demanded of the voice, before he could lose touch with it completely.

The voice did not answer, and Cloud surfaced from the blackness and into consciousness.

The first thing to greet Cloud from the darkness was the warm glow of bright light, and then an even warmer pair of green eyes. It startled him that someone should have been watching over him while he had been unconscious. He wondered how long the person had been there. Groaning at his own foolishness, Cloud tried to open his eyes, but found the brightness too much for him. Slowly, a shadow passed over his face, and then a soft hand touched his cheek.

"Are you okay?" inquired a disembodied voice in concern. Able to focus now, Cloud saw that the green eyes belonged to a girl.

"It's okay," she was saying soothingly "You're in a church ruin in the Sector Five slums." She looked up at the gaping hole in the roof above them and smiled. "It suddenly fell on top of me," she explained, good-naturedly. "It really gave me a scare."

Cloud slapped a hand to his forehead. Now that his eyes were working properly, he recognised his unassuming saviour as the flower girl he'd met yesterday. It was her eyes. He couldn't possibly forget those eyes...Sighing with relief, he opened his mouth.

"I...came crashing down?"

Come to think of it, Cloud didn't think he could ever forget her face either. She stood up.

"The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall," she told him lightly. "You're lucky."

"Flower bed..." Cloud sprang to his feet and saw that he'd landed right in a bed of yellow primroses. "Are these yours? God, sorry about that."

The flower girl was regarding him with a pensive countenance.

"That's all right." She stepped away from him and stretched her arms out behind her back "The flowers here are resilient,since this is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass or flowers in Midgar, but for some reason, flowers have no trouble blooming here." She turned away from him and the expression on her face changed. "I love it here," she added quietly.

Cloud could findno words to say to the girl as he watched her bend over her flowers and firm the earth around them. His mind was still reeling from his fall and from this latest encounter. As he looked at her now, he realised why it was that he'd approached her yesterday. There was something about her that no other girl he knew possessed, a silence, an almost unearthly tranquility.

"So, we meet again," she was saying, looking up at him from her flowers. When he did not reply, she questioned him again. "Don't you remember me?"

Cloud nodded his head.

"Yeah, I remember you. You were selling flowers."

A smile lit up the girl's face. "I'm glad." She stood up, rubbing her forehead, with the back of a slender hand. "And thanks for buying my flowers."

All Cloud could do was stand and stare, at a loss for words. Maybe the girl sensed his discomfort, for she spoke again.

"I was wondering, do you have any materia?"

Cloud shrugged in his habitual way.

"Yeah, some. Nowadays, it's hard to find materia anywhere."

The girl gave a furtive grin. "But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing."

Cloud was cynical. "Good for nothing? Sounds like you just don't know how to use it."

The girl shook her head.

"No, I do...it's just that it doesn't do anything, seriously. I just feel safe having it. My mother gave it to me..." Her eyes shifted to the hole in the church's roof. She leaned back against one of the broken pews and gave him a look. There was something in that look that he found odd, a look she'd given him the day before... A flicker of recognition that had clouded her eyes, as though she had known him...

"Perhaps I should introduce myself," she spoke. "I'm Aeris Gainsborough."

Aeris, Cloud thought. Pretty name. It suited her.

"Cloud Strife." he replied, returning her gaze.

Just at that moment, someone entered at the back of the church, interrupting them. Cloud saw that he was wearing a dark blue suit, which looked clean and new, but was being worn in the scruffiest fashion possible. At first Cloud assumed that he was coming in to pray, but then it occurred to him that the man wasn't the type to come into churches and worship. He was too young and too up-front looking, and didn't look as if he believed in anything. Besides, religion was dead in Midgar.

Aeris didn't seem to notice the man at all, who said nothing but watched on quietly.

"So, what do you do?" she asked him conversationally.

Cloud forced his attention back to her.

"Me? Oh, I do a little bit of everything."

Hersmile was wry."Oh...a jack of all trades, I see."

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed."

The smile on her face unnerved him; it was as though he'd given exactly the answer she expected. When next she spoke her voice was softer. "Then...have you ever been a bodyguard? You do do everything, right?"

"Pretty much."

Aeris looked pleased. "Then will you take me home?"

Cloudwas inwardly surprised at the suggestion but shrugged instead."It'll cost you."

"Will it?" Aeris looked serious, her eyes widening. "How about a date then? That okay?"

"What?" Cloud mouthed, taken off guard. His glance slid over to the man at the back of the church. Had he just heardAeris' proposal?

"A date," Aeris repeated, perhaps a little self-consciously. "I'm afraid flowers don't earn me enough to pay a man like you."

The words hardly seemed to find their way to Cloud's ears. He was more preoccupied with the presence of the other man. It was obvious he was up to something, the way he was just standing there and staring. Aeris' gaze followed Cloud's. She seemed strangely unmoved by the man's appearance, intimidating as he seemed to be. His eyes met Cloud's, and, as though trying tobait him,he gave a smug little grin in his direction. Cloud fell into the trap.

"What do you want?"

The man still had the aggravating smile painted on his face.

"A member of SOLDIER, I see you have there, Miss. Aeris."His voice was smooth, mocking."What a nice idea. It seems to make this little game of oursmore fun."

"Do I know you?" Cloud intervened.

"Reno, of the Turks," he introduced in a casual tone, running a hand through his reddish hair. "And I've come for the Ancient."

Ancient? The word struck a chord in Cloud's mind. Where had he heard the word 'Ancient' used before? And this man, Reno, he had come for an Ancient?

Turning to Aeris, Cloud tried to get this fresh question out of his mouth, but he should have known that this was not the time or place to do so. A pack of Shinra soldiers came barging in behind Reno, fully armed with guns and ammunition. Reno gave a look of arrogant self-satisfaction and smoothed his hair lazily.

"You see, Miss. Aeris, it would be much better if you co-operated," he informed the girl mildly. "We don't want to hurt you."

One of the soldiers, who had noticed Cloud, suddenly spoke up.

"What shall we do with the guy, Reno? He looks as if he might give us some trouble."

"Yeah, and I will, if you're planning on doing anything to this girl!" Cloud cut in defiantly.

Reno looked mildly surprised at the outburst, and slightly amused. He laughed.

"Well, that would figure. After all, you are her 'bodyguard', right?"

Aeris stopped Cloud as he was about to challenge the other.

"It's no good taking them on, Cloud." she whispered urgently to him "They out-number you, and they've got guns. We've got to run."

"Where?"

Aeris looked about her hastily.

"There's an exit behind us, let's run for it."

"But..."

"You're my bodyguard, right? I can trust in you, I know it."

Cloud nodded slowly.

"It's no use going anywhere," Reno informed them. "The slums are our patch and we know it like the back of our hands. We'll catch you in the end."

Cloud made no replyreply, and, grabbing Aeris' hand quickly, he began to run toward the exit.

"We'll catch you!" Reno repeated, but they had no time to listen to idle threats. Running into the vestry at the front of the church, Cloud encountered a dead end.

"That's it, we're trapped!" he exclaimed. Aeris shook her head.

"No. There's some stairs that lead to beams on the ceiling." She pointed. "We'll have to go up through the hole in the roof."

Cloud looked up. It seemed a little risky as the wood appeared to be rotting, but there was no other way.

"Okay, let's go!"

As they were racing up the stairs, the footsteps of the Shinra soldiers could be clearly heard approaching from the front of the church. The cock of rifles echoed from down below as Cloud and Aeris neared the roof's hole.

"They're going to shoot!" she gasped.

Cloud looked about quickly, and noticed some barrels of fermenting beer that someone had conveniently left a little way off. As they ran past the nearest one, he kicked it viciously off the edge of the beam and sent it tearing down to the company of soldiers down below.

Cloud turned quickly back to the hole in the roof, taking a last look at Reno and his injured men, who were cursing at their failure. Some had managed to get up and were making to pursue Aerith again. However, as though suggesting an omen dooming their efforts to disaster, the whole stairway collapsed. The enemy was left at the bottom, swearing savagely at their calamitous luck.

Both Cloud and Aeris were out of breath as they reached the top of the church roof. Rearranging her hair, Aeris began to laugh ruefully.

"They've been looking for me again. Don't those guys ever give up?"

Cloud was shocked. "How many times have they been after you?!"

She was complacent. "I'm not sure."

Cloud scratched his head in confusion.

"I didn't want to mention it earlier, but I recognised that man's uniform. He's from the Turks, otherwise known as the Shinra Manufacturing Department into Administration Research. But the fancy name means nothing."

"Really?" She looked at him questioningly.

"They're always out scouting for possible candidates for SOLDIER." Cloud continued. "And they get involved with plenty of dirty stuff on the side... murder...kidnapping...you know..."

"So I guess they're Shinra Mafia, huh?" she said, wryly.

"Uh-huh." Cloud stared back at her in puzzlement. "But why are they after you? There must be a reason."

Aeris shrugged.

"Maybe they think I'm cut out to be in SOLDIER."

"Maybe you are." He paused. "Do you want to join?"

She gave a small laugh."You really think I want to get mixed up with people like that Reno back there?"

"Touche." Cloud replied candidly. "Well, we'd better get going before those jokers find us."

The only way of passing through without getting noticed was over the rooftops. Cloud had no problem getting over the tightly packed houses of the slums, but Aeris soon began to fall behind him.

"Wait!" she demanded after a while. "Cloud wait!!"

He stopped and turned to face her as she rejoined him. Resting her hands on her knees to regulate her breathing, she looked up at him through her loosened hair.

"Slow down, Cloud...don't leave me..." She was stopped short by her need for air. Cloud looked at her in amusement.

"Funny..." he commented, "...I thought you were meant to be cut out to be in SOLDIER."

She stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips in mock offence. "Oh! You're terrible!"

As though breaking off the absurdness of the moment, they both began to laugh.

"Oh!" Aeris suddenly exclaimed between her giggles. "That's good!"

"What is?" Cloud asked, feeling lighter now as he tried to contain his laughter. She looked at him apologetically.

"Just you. I've never seen you smile before, let alone laugh. It's a relief to see you can." She began to laugh again at his sudden turn of seriousness. The thought that he had not smiled in a long time disturbed Cloud. He was just about to ask her if it bothered her, when he realised that this was the first time he'd ever got to take her in properly.

She is beautiful, he thought suddenly, she's too good to be living here in Midgar City. He felt himself colouring. He didn't know why, but he felt attracted to her in a weird sort of way -it was the reason why he'd approached her yesterday. He could see in her a sort of child-like innocence, the kind that had made him connect her to Marlene. And Marlene had pretty eyes, just like Aeris, except Aeris' were green.

"Cloud, can I ask you a question?" She had stopped laughing and he forced himself to cease thinking.

"Sure. What?"

She looked cautious before she spoke.

"You were in SOLDIER, weren't you?"

Cloud was quiet for a moment.

"I used to be," he replied shortly. "But you're only repeating what that Reno said."

She shook her head.

"Your eyes told me before that. They have the glow of Mako."

"How'd you know about that?" he asked, surprised.

"Oh, nothing, it doesn't matter," she answered quickly.

"Nothing?" Cloud raised an eyebrow and she grinned at him.

"Right, nothing!" She began to walk on past him "Let's go...bodyguard!!"

Feeling a tiny bit bewildered byher sudden evasiveness, Cloud followed her over the roofs and through the centre of the miserable slums of Sector Five. The ghettos were infested with leering drunks in dark corners and emaciated mongrels scavenging in rubbish tips. Everything was disgusting, dirty and falling apart around the local residents. Cloud was sickened even walking through it all.

When they got to a certain part of the town, Aeris stopped.

"My house is just through here," she informed him. "Mother should be home."

"Mother?"

Sheignored the question and led him through an opening in the slum wall and into a clearing. Cloud took in the place with an element of surprise. The house was old, but had been beautifully constructed. The backdrop was framed by a waterfall splashing from a hole in the plate above down into a shimmering lake. A large flower garden lay nearby, full of roses, bluebells, daffodils and snowdrops. Aeris seemed pleased at his astonishment.

"Sunshine," she prompted, nodding to the shaft of light escaping from the hole's plate. "They say it doesn't exist in Midgar. But it does here."

"It's like a dream," Cloud murmured and she nodded solemnly.

Aeris' mother wore an anxious look on her face as Cloud and Aeris entered the house. It was obvious she was suspicious ofher daughter'snew acquaintance.

"Aeris, who's this?" she inquired, concern in her face. Aeris smiled.

"It's all right mum, he's Cloud, my bodyguard. Cloud, this is my mum, Elmyra."

Elmyra was alarmed.

"Bodyguard?! Don't tell me those swine from Shinra came after you again!"

"I was fine, Cloud was with me," Aeris reassured. Elmyra seemed convinced. She turned to Cloud. "Thanks Cloud. I really appreciate this. Those men have been chasing Aeris for ages now."

"Mum," Aeris cut in quickly. "It's all right, I'm safe now, aren't I."

Elmyra clicked in frustration and walked into the kitchen. Aeris shrugged.

"She's always so over-protective."

Cloud didn't answer. He was beginning to feel apprehensive about Barret and Tifa. He really needed to get back to Seventh Heaven. He turned to Aeris.

"Aeris, do you know how to get to Sector Seven from here? I've got to see Tifa at the Seventh Heaven bar."

Aeris looked at him with an incredulous look on her face.

"Tifa? Is Tifa a girl?"

"Uh...yeah." Cloud replied reluctantly, seeing where this was leading.

"A...girlfriend?"

Despite having already sensed the present situation beforehand, Cloud felt himself colouring. "Well...no, not exactly..." he stumbled, but Aeris interrupted hastily.

"Oh, I didn't mean to embarrass you..." She let him regain his composure for a moment then spoke again. "Well, let me think... to go to Sector Seven, you'll have to go past Wall Market in Sector Six. It's pretty dangerous, so I'll have to help you."

Now that Cloud had got over his embarrassment at being reminded of Tifa, he had the chance to get indignant.

"Help me?! No way! I don't need help from a girl!"

"What!" It was Aeris' turn to feel annoyed.

"I can't let you get into danger," Cloud insisted.

"I'm used to it," she guaranteed. "Besides I should be all right with my bodyguard with me."

"We only agreed that I'd be your bodyguard until I got you home," he said sulkily.

"What do you say about me owing you two dates then?" She did not wait for an answer, but turned to the kitchen. "Mum, I'm taking Cloud to Sector Seven, okay?"

Elmyra reappeared from the kitchen.

"Aeris...you really don't care about getting yourself into danger, do you?" She sighed. "It's no use trying to stop you, so I'll say no more. But at least rest up until tomorrow morning. It's too late to be going down to that Sector Six at this time in the evening."

They agreed on this, and Aeris went upstairs to prepare a room for Cloud. Elmyra sighed.

"I'm sorry. I know I treat her like a child, but I can't help it, she's always such a handful, though you wouldn't think it." She turned and looked at Cloud closely. "I have a favour to ask of you," sheasked. "I don't really know how to put this, but...will you leave here tonight, without telling Aeris? I don't want her getting hurt. Do you understand?"

Cloud thought about it. The trip here had been a needless detour, and much as he enjoyed Aeris' company, he really had to be getting back to Barret and Tifa and didn't want to bring the flower girl into any of his rebel business.

"All right," he said at last."I promise."

Aeris appeared, interrupting them. Cloud was lead upstairs and she showed him his room. He expected to find a bed to shame all others, and he was not disappointed. Aeris had made a good job in aid of his comfort. Dumping his armour on the ground haphazardly, he sat down on the end of the bed.

"Cloud?" Aeris' voice was gentle as she said it. He turned to her and she smiled suddenly. "Goodnight."

The door was closed softly behind her and Cloud lay back on the bed. He felt elated. Hefelt alive. He was on this soft, silky bed. And he had met Aeris.

He thought of the words she said and the way she looked at him. There was something she was not telling him, but he couldn't put his finger on what he thought it was.

Aeris was mysterious. She was different. But most of all, she was beautiful.

...You seem pretty tired...

The voice penetrated into Cloud's dreaming conscience, rousing him from the depths of his colourless dreams.

I haven't slept in a bed like this...in a long time.

Cloud was awake to it now.

No, he replied. I haven't. Not since...

Not since that time.

Cloud remembered 'that time'. He'd been lying on a bed like the one he was in now, five years ago, at his home in Nibelheim. And yes, his mother had been there. She had been talking to him, about his job in SOLDIER, about so many empty, pointless things. And he could not remember why, but her words had irritated him.

'...Cloud, I will always be your mother...'

Of course; Mother.She was always there, he'd been in her womb, in the beginning.

But it did not matter anymore. It had passed.

And yet he remembered.

Cloud awoke and immediately recalled his promise to Elmyra. He wondered how long he had been asleep. Sitting up in bed, he looked at the clock on the wall opposite. It was nearly four O'clock in the morning. He really should have gone earlier.

Sighing, Cloud got out of bed and slipped on his armour. Opening and shutting the door behind him slowly, he wondered if Aeris was awake. He felt somehow reluctant to leave her, but a promise was a promise, and he was probably better off without her. He didn't want to have to be responsible for her if she got hurt.

Creeping on to the landing and down the stairs, Cloud considered saying goodbye to her, but soon cast away the idea, feeling slightly foolish for it. No, he didn't need her.

"Past Wall Market, Sector Six," he muttered to himself. "I should be okay."

Was he crazy?

Gently pushing open the front door, he looked back one last time. He got the impression that he'd been doing too much of that sort of thing lately, but it was too late to go back now.

Cloud shut the door firmly behind him.

-oOo-

Next: The return of AVALANCHE and Aeris is kidnapped...