Penance
©®™ Lt. Commander Richie
((Disclaimer:I own nothing. I own COPIES of several songs, including but not limited to Dark Water, One Winged Angel and Vincent Valentine's theme song, but not the rights. ALL HAIL TETSUYA NOMURA AND NOBUO UEMATSU! HAIL WEISS! I mean, uh... Who said I was a Tsviet? WHO TOLD YOU?))
Chapter 6
"So when are we going to Nibelheim?" Was the question one everyone's lips for the next week, even Yuffie's; because even though she knew it meant having to take the Shera there she was still going to help. Mira had managed to fit into some of Marlene's old clothes, graciously donated by Barret; he had come to Midgar as soon as he could to help in any way he could and to, of course, see his daughter. Mira had not gone outside since the day where she had tried to play Blitzball, she flat-out refused to even play with anyone. The six-year-old would play by herself, driving a toy motorcycle around Seventh Heaven and jumping it from chair back from chair back. It was one Friday later, however, when a girl with light brown hair that Tifa had never seen before walked cautiously through the bar's door.
"Are you lost?" Tifa asked, concerned. "You're not supposed to be in here."
"No, no, it's alright." The girl assured, straightening out her pink dress with a white lace fringe and yellow apron. "I'm looking for my friend. She has black hair and a red ribbon."
Immediately, Tifa's thoughts went to Marlene. "Marlene isn't here, sweetie. She's with her dad right now." The brunette leaned over the counter to get a better look at the apparently eight-year-old girl. The little brunette shook her head wildly, showing a yellow ribbon tying back the large amount of hair.
"Marlene isn't the one I'm looking for. I never got her name, but she has glowing eyes. They're really pretty, too." The brunette trailed off, staring out into space quietly. Tifa nodded, and walked quickly around the bar. She stooped down in front of the girl and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"My name's Tifa. I'm one of the people looking after Mira. That's her name. She never told me she had any friends. What's your name?" Tifa asked, curious as to what a girl that was older than the Orphan in their midst wanted with Mira.
"Aerith. Aerith Zeit, ma'am." The brunette said, bowing respectfully. Tifa straightened up, speechless. "I was the only person that stood up for Mira last week. Everyone else just tolerated her."
Tifa nodded mutely, taking Aerith by the shoulder once again and steering the girl towards the staircase at the back of the bar.
"She's up there. Probably in the third room on the right. If not, then she's with Yuffie somewhere." Tifa said, waving the girl up the stairs. Aerith nodded, bowing again before heading up the stairs. She reached the top, bowed once to Red XIII respectfully, and then continued on her way. The second door she passed was a guest room, and a woman with short black hair was sitting on the bed and sharpening a Shuriken.
"Oh! Hey Aerith." The woman looked up and flashed violet eyes, before looking back down to her Shuriken once again. Then she did a double-take, alarmed, but Aerith had already continued down the hall. The eight-year-old knocked quietly on the third door on the right, not expecting an answer. The door opened just a sliver, to her surprise, one large and bright blue eye peeking through. The door shut quickly, the six-year-old on the other side squeaking in surprise. Aerith could hear a body sliding down the other side of the door, and she crouched down on the balls of her feet to match Mira's height.
"What do you want?" Mira's muffled voice was heard from the other side of the door.
"I want you to come out and play." Aerith said, hoping that the little Mako-eyed girl would take the invitation. Mira paused for a moment, then spoke up.
"Why?" She asked, surprised.
"Because I want to play with you, silly!" Aerith chirped, and then paused before speaking again. "And... Nobody else will play with me. The Orphans don't like me."
There was shuffling on the other side of the door, and as Aerith go to her feet the door was opened all the way. Mira stood in the doorway, her hair still pulled back with her red ribbon. Her tattered black dress had been replaced by a dark brown sweater with no sleeves and a black and white striped shirt under it with a simple black skirt and a pair of simple slip-on shoes.
"Your name is Aerith, right?" She said, more of a statement than a question in its own right. Aerith nodded.
"That's right." She said, smiling.
"What do you want to play?" Mira asked, curious. In her left hand she clutched her toy motorcycle tightly, as though she was afraid she would loose it. From one bulging pocket on the front of her apron Aerith drew a battered old Baseball, one of the seams was partially unwoven and there was what looked like grass stains all over the manufacturing logo.
"How about catch?" She asked, hopeful. Mira nodded mutely, running back into the room she apparently shared with Marlene when the other girl was there and depositing the toy motorcycle on the bed. The younger girl returned to the older's side, and together the two scampered down the hall and down the stairs to the back door. It opened up into a field that had just enough room for anyone to practice martial arts, or to throw and catch a ball. The field was hemmed in on all sides by the surrounding buildings, three alleyways leading off it onto the surrounding streets. Aerith tossed the ball to Mira, who tossed it back. Both girls ran out into the small field, jumping over rocks and cans and avoiding larger debris that they couldn't.
"Throw it harder!" Aerith yelled across the field, once Mira had gotten too far and her throw had gone short. Mira scrambled forward, almost losing one of her slip-ons in the process, and grabbed the ball. She wound up to throw, and threw with all her might behind it. The ball went whizzing past Aerith and impacted the brick wall behind her, sending dust and rubble flying everywhere. Mira gasped in surprise and bundled her hands to her chest, crouching down low.
"I'm sorry!" She yelled, but that didn't stop Aerith from grinning ear-to-ear and stepping over broken masonry to examine the damage the beaten-up Baseball had done to the wall.
"Cool!" The eight-year-old brunette said, picking up the skin of the Baseball and waving it above her head to show Mira. "You threw it so fast the rest of the seams split!" The back door to the Seventh Heaven burst open, a distraught Tifa and Yuffie running out at full speed.
"Cloud! Cloud, where-" Tifa stopped short, seeing the overjoyed and excited Aerith and the now-curious Mira standing in the rubble of the brick wall. The two women had run out at top speed, Yuffie with a Shuriken in one hand and a blue First Aid kit in the other, expecting to see a wrecked Fenrir and an injured Cloud. Instead, Tifa sagged with panicked relief at the sight of the two girls unhurt and happy. Aerith noticed them first, once again waving the Baseball skin over her head.
"Look what Mira did!" She yelled, as Mira stooped down and picked up the battered innards of the ball. The six-year-old giggled brightly, holding the mesh of rubber forward with one hand.
"I threw it as hard as I could!" She said, grinning from ear to ear with wide blue eyes. Tifa nodded mutely, walking slowly over to the two girls. Yuffie dropped the First Aid kit, and then ran back inside as fast as she could. Tifa sunk to her knees in front of the two girls, taking the two parts of the Baseball from the two different girls.
"You threw the ball all the way across the field and blasted a crater in the wall with it?" Tifa asked, and Mira nodded, still grinning. Aerith looked down at her dress absentmindedly, pulling the white lace hem away from a bramble it was beginning to tangle into. Mira nodded wildly, her hair flying everywhere and getting in her face.
"There was a big crash, and it was so cool!" Aerith said, grinning and jumping about. Yuffie ran back out with a blue ball of Materia in her hand, a Mastered Ice Materia. She pointed it at the large hole in the brick building's crumbling wall, and gave a command.
"Ice Three!" She shouted, and froze a pane of solid ice into the hole, effectively patching it and holding up more than likely part of the building from an otherwise imminent collapse. Tifa laid a hand on both girls shoulders, rising to the balls of her feet as she did so.
"You know, maybe you two should wait until the guys get back from whatever it is they're doing before you throw anything else around. Okay?" Tifa asked. Mira nodded, her smile slowly disappearing as she hung her head. More of her hair fell in her face; her ribbon had once again fallen onto her forehead. Aerith nodded, brushing hair behind her ear absentmindedly.
"Yes ma'am. I should be getting home before I'm in trouble. I apologize for any trouble I may have caused you." The eight-year-old bowed respectfully, trying to break out of Tifa's grip on her shoulder so as to leave.
"Wait a moment. You've only been here ten minutes!" Tifa said, and Aerith nodded and flushed a bit.
"I've intruded far too long. I'm sorry, but I really- I really have to go!" Aerith sputtered, wrenching her shoulder from Tifa's grip, bowing again to hid the large blush that was creeping across her cheeks faster and darker, and ran back through the back door of the bar. Behind the two remaining girls, Yuffie put one hand on her hip and held her other hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, watching the pink-clad girl run through the bar to get out.
"Weird little girl. Why'dya think she ran off like that?" Yuffie asked, and Tifa got up. Mira latched onto one of her hands, holding it and looking up at the woman with a grin.
"She only did it after y'said Mr. Vins'nt an' ev'ryone was comin' back." Mira said innocently, catching onto Aerith's predicament before the two women in the field with her. But they played oblivious, not quite sure as to what the six-year-old was trying to get at. Slowly but surely, the trio made their ways inside, Yuffie bounding up the stairs to put her precious Materia away and Tifa to the bar to fill a shouted order. Mira was left somewhat alone, standing in the small hallway that led to the back door or to the bar. Silently she took off her slip-ons, placing them next to the door and padding down the hall in her new socks.
"Mira? A word?" Someone called from the kitchen. Mira turned from the stairs and walked through the back of the bar, emerging on the far side of the kitchen from the person who had spoken. It was Reeve, and he had Cait Sith on the table in front of him. He had a small tool box to his left, from which the former head of ShinRa's Urban Development was drawing screwdrivers and a small sautering iron.
"Yes?" Mira asked timidly, pulling herself into a chair next to Reeve's workspace. She peered inside Cait Sith's stomach, where he was apparently having something replaced. Millions of gold lines traced across fields of green with inset blocks of black and silver, making the tiny girl think of a picture of a city from up very high.
"What was your mother's name?" Reeve broke her from her musings, taking the end of a thin wire and sautering a new silver drop onto several of the gold wires. Mira thought back for a moment, tapping one finger on her chin as she did so. Finally the black-haired little girl looked up, grinning as she did so.
"Ariana! Ariana Leirbach." Mira finally answered, nodding to herself. Reeve nodded, putting down the tools he was using to fix Cait and turning to the petite girl.
"And your father?" He asked, somewhat hopeful. Mira cocked her head to the side, puzzled.
"Didn't really have one. He was never there. Mumma always said that he had stuff to do." Mira said innocently. Reeve nodded, and packed everything back into his toolbox. Without a word he stood up, picked up the inanimate Cait Sith and zipped the stuffed cat's stomach closed.
"Thank you, Mira. That was helpful." Mira beamed at the praise, large and bright blue Mako eyes shining.
"Sure!" She nodded, before scrambling down from her chair in an undignified manner and running from the kitchen with her arms held at her sides. Once again the child was an airplane, and as she ran up the stairs Reeve couldn't help but feel happier that the six-year-old was happy.
"Anything, Major?"
'Yes sir! Lt. Coloniel Ariana Leirbach, Squad Seven. First woman ever to be inducted into SOLDIER. Never made it past Third Class, though. Served as a Private in the Wutai war towards the end, and was promoted simply by CKC.'
"And this woman had a child?" Reeve wondered aloud, and on the other end of the PHS connection the Major doing the computer check grunted in agreement.
'It scares me too, sir.'
"Get on with it, Major Marx." The WRO leader commanded. Marx cleared his throat, and began again.
'She served on the same Squad as the then Colonel Sephiroth, First Class; Captain Donovinh Lords, First Class; then Lt. Colonel Zachary Fair, Second Class, and various others. Lt. Colonel Leirbach herself had black hair, sir. There's no guarantee that the girl didn't get it from her mother.'
"The fact alone that Ariana Leirbach was in SOLDIER explains Mira's Mako. While her paternal heritage is a mystery, we have what we were looking for. Good job, Major." Reeve said, noting the man for a possible minor promotion when all this was over.
'Thank you, sir.'
"Tuesti out." Reeve said, and shut his PHS with a click. He pushed himself from the back outside wall of the Seventh Heaven, stowing the phone away in a pocket as he did so. Finally, he thought. Answers.
... Wooteth?