Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews guys I love them! And Chrono, it is definitely strange that you want to try out some of Seph's artificial lab meatloaf lol :D
I hope you enjoy, it is definitely a long chapter and will be the longest they ever get in this fic hopefully. This one is 4.5k words, my plan is to keep them down around 3.5k but eh! Once I get caught up in the flow of writing I tend to lose track haha.
The long continuous scream of Aerith's 5.15 AM alarm begrudgingly kicked the teenage girl from her sleep with a sharp uncomfortable noise that made her groan to life in irritation. Rolling limply onto her back she wriggled an arm out of her tightly wrapped covers to blindly swat the noise away but to the human caterpillars despair the snooze button didn't work. Of course it never worked, it hadn't worked in over a year now and the once soft and pleasant beep of the alarm had turned into a hideous screech even longer since. It was during snuggly warm moments like this that Aerith asked herself why she kept the damned thing, then when she groggily sat up and turned on the bedside lamp she was immediately reminded why. The cheery smile of the happy pink moogle clock made the slightly blinded girl grin back. It was the kind of alarm clock that nearly every female on Gaia had at some point had in her life, 'some point' probably being around five or six. She on the other hand had got it as present from an anxious Sephiroth on her twelfth birthday.
An audible laugh escaped Aerith's husky throat, Seph had always been completely hopeless at that kind of thing despite his best efforts, but it was cute and no matter how broken he got she couldn't possibly throw Gary away.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Turn it off already you ditz!"
"Sorry!"
Aerith bolted alert at the sound of Lacey, her dorm room neighbor, shouting angrily through the wall and she leaned over to bang the alarm clock moogle's head on the bedside table as it was the only way to turn the ancient device off anymore. In a strange way that was a good thing. It forced a former snooze button abuser to get up on time at the dark early hours of the morning so that she wasn't late for practice, a discipline that was always far more difficult to obey when she had to train alone. But training was training and she had to work extra hard while her mentor was away so that she could impress him with her progress when he returned.
That's when it hit her, Sephiroth wasn't away anymore! He was back and for the first time in ages she wouldn't be training alone today! Aerith clutched the covers excitedly, he would be waiting for her at 5.30AM on the dot over at the B wing intersection that lead to the training hall!
She looked at Gary.
5.18AM
Crap!
Leaping out of bed Aerith's feet hit cold marble floor and she rushed over to turn her bedroom light on, cursing meekly as the bed post decided to be a git this morning and jump in her way to smash against her hip bone as she passed. Limping the rest of the way the room was quickly illuminated and Aerith's turquoise nightdress was hoisted overhead and discarded carelessly across the room. Hobbling to her wardrobe she closed the slightly ajar door and pulled down the side of her knickers to observe her hip in the full length mirror and shake her head at the beginnings of a new bruise. Then Aerith just shook her head at everything, briefly taking the opportunity to step back and look up and down the length of her bare body with a sigh.
She felt like a girl.
All the other females in her classes and dorm were in their early to mid-twenties and were all so much more 'womanly' than her. Aerith eyed the meager curves of her own body critically, wondering sourly when it was going to be her turn to become shapely and capable of impressing anyone. Perhaps in three weeks from now when she went to bed she would wake up on the morning of her sixteenth birthday transformed like a beautiful swan princess? A girl could wish.
Silently reprimanding herself for letting her mind relapse into silly trivial thoughts when Gary was ticking against her, Aerith threw open the wardrobe doors and reached straight for the second draw of the built in unit. Pulling out a black sports bra she secured her chest tightly, changed her underwear, then pulled out a pair of black lycra trousers and a comfortable plain white training vest. She needed to be able to move quickly and freely.
A sudden burst of excitement filled the girls lungs as she hopped the gym pants up over her thighs and backside. Seph was going to be so impressed with her and with a bit of luck she might even catch him off guard enough so that he was the one landing square on his butt for once. Aerith indulged in a small giggle at the ridiculous thought as she roped her crazy hair back into its waist length twist and slid her toes into heavy black combat boots stationed at the door. She really wished that she had remembered Sephy was back and got up earlier so she could make herself look a bit more presentable.
Oh well it's too late for that now she mused, grabbing her wrist wraps and PHS off the lightly decorated shelf nearest the door and dashing from the room.
As long as she wasn't late that was the main thing. Twenty laps of the training yard was the last thing she fancied first thing in the morning, even if her mentors SOLDIER's did all get fifty.
Aerith frowned as she arrived breathlessly at the B wing intersection to find the entire corridor deserted and that Sephiroth wasn't anywhere to be found. Miraculously she wasn't late and of course he couldn't be late either, Seph was never late for anything and after five minutes of extra waiting around she decided to go look for him in the first most obvious place that he could be.
Catching the elevator along floor twenty-seven she rode the metal cage up nine more levels, rubbing her hands against her bare arms that were covered in goose bumps, half wishing that she was in the middle of those twenty laps now. Arriving at her desired level she fled from the freezing cold contraption to traverse more spacious but equally as empty halls with the only sign of life she came across being the janitor on the back-end of a night-shift.
"Hey Giles, you haven't seen Seph about by any chance have you?"
A gruff angry old face popped out from behind the cleaning cupboard it was buried in, saw her and transitioned into a toothy smile.
"Wee'I dare'nay see neighbody oah 'ere, boo I 'ear 'em tottin' aboits"
Well I haven't seen anybody over here, but I heard them walking about
It had taken Aerith years to learn apparent ex-Mideel navy officer turned janitor speak.
"Thanks Giles"
"Ooheys'a plooshere ma doolin"
She smiled kindly but then scowled moodily once she had passed the old sweetheart, stomping the rest of the way way towards Sephiroth's office. Only one person would be up here this early in the morning, and to think of the cheek he often had at lecturing her about not being where she was meant to on time! Well... she was going to tell him precisely what she thought about that!
Twisting the crystal-glass handle she flung the heavy white door open with as much gusto as she could and stormed uninvited into the brightly lit and spacious environment that was the hypocrites office. An expensive wide chrome desk stood thickly on the far end of the room with large city view windows and the down-turned silver crown of a man's head behind it. Sephiroth was scribbling away studiously beside a thick wad of paperwork and even though his enhanced hearing must have picked up on her approach from at least half-way back down the corridor, he still didn't look up from his desk which ticked her off even more.
"And why aren't you down waiting for me in B wing huh!?"
Sephiroth's pen ceased it's diligent scratching.
"I suppose you've completely forgotten about me haven't you!? After all the fun you had while you were away and all the new exciting people you got to meet! No time for boring old Aerith anymore!"
Sephiroth cooly placed down his pompously prestige pen to glance up at her and was about to speak but she wasn't done yet and stepped closer towards his desk, as close as she physically could with her arms folded tightly.
"And I don't suppose you're going to be made to go out and run a bazillion laps of the freezing cold yard now as punishment are you Mr high and mighty!? I don't suppose you've been looking forward to our training for weeks and weeks and walked into a bedpost at the crack of dawn in a rush just to see me!"
Aerith's voice and breathing was becoming ragged now and Minerva only knew why she was getting so upset because she sure didn't. He had never missed training before so this was all new.
"Aerith" he spoke in a soft but firm tone of voice.
"No Seph! This is our time together! Me and you! You could have at least told me you weren't coming instead of le…"
"I did"
Aerith stopped yelling and inhaled deeply, finding she was in dire need of oxygen.
"…?"
"I messaged you"
Sephiroth sat forward at his desk, linking his fingers together and resting his forearms delicately in front of him while indicating his eyes to her pocket.
Aerith floundered slightly, she had checked her phone she was sure of it.
"No you didn't!" she blurted out her defense adamantly.
A pair of eyebrows above a set of intense mako infused eyes were lifted at her.
"I looked! You didn't send…"
Looking at her PHS frantically the Cetra girl's voice cut off and her cheeks flushed when the sight of 1 unread message was there to greet her mockingly. She opened it.
Hi. Sephiroth here. I will be unable to attend training tomorrow, a last minute pressing request has been made by the science department to receive a copy of my latest mission report on the Condor assignment. Quite why I do not know. Perhaps Hojo wishes to know exactly how many of his family members I have killed. LOL :)
Aerith swallowed the lump in her throat along with her pride.
"Oh… Seph… I'm sorry" she mumbled sincerely down at the device, feeling incredibly dumb and embarrassed now.
Sephiroth reclined lightly in his seat, staring up at her with a glint of amusement in his eye and she shrugged sheepishly.
"At least you used 'lol' in the right context this time... that's a first"
Sephiroth nodded his head but still didn't speak making Aerith drop her gaze again and pick at the stretchy material of her trousers. He was doing that analyzing thing on her again.
"So… you're really not going to be able to make it today?", emerald eyes lifted hopefully.
He shook his head apologetically and Aerith cringed at the sharp prod of disappointment she felt twist in her gut.
"I'm afraid this request is rather out of the ordinary but I assure you I have voiced my disapproval on the matter. This will not become a regular occurrence. I promise"
She nodded, trying to appear somewhat cheerful.
"Ok yeah, it's good you told them, don't let them work you into the ground. So ummm... I guess I'll go train on my own then"
He didn't respond and turning her back to leave Aerith threw him an unsure little wave goodbye then made for the door.
"Wait"
She glanced back questioningly and saw Seph stand behind his desk assertively.
"Let's go train"
He pieced his papers together, opened one of the many desk drawers to place them inside and closed it shut firmly. A smile played across her lips momentarily but she quickly dismissed it away, knowing it was selfish to guilt trip him away from his job.
"No Seph, don't be silly, you should carry on..."
"Too late. They're in the special drawer now"
Aerith chuckled as the tall SOLDIER who towered an easy foot above her stalked regally around from behind his desk.
"Well get them back out of the 'special' drawer then"
"I'm afraid the special drawer does not work that way"
The somehow always immaculately presented SOLDIER swept passed her in long legged strides, the tails of his long black coat struggling to keep up with him as he marched for the door.
Aerith's insides glowed warmly, how could she have ever accused him of not caring? That was so stupid. No one cared more than Seph did… despite how he might try to pretend otherwise at times.
"Aerith, unless you want to do those laps around the yard I strongly advise that you keep up"
Like a rocket she skittered out the door after him happily and half walked half jogged down the corridor to keep pace beside him.
"So, you have maintained your training while I was away?"
Aerith nodded eagerly and watching his arms swing in synch with his stride, she timed it just right to catch his hand mid flight and link her fingers firmly into his.
"I finally got up to 40 strikes a minute Sephy!"
He glanced sidelong at her looking genuinely impressed which was sweet considering he nearly held the world record at 226.
"Truly?"
"Yep" she squeaked excitedly. Nothing felt better than Seph's approval and that was only half of what she had learned! The rest she would keep as a sneaky surprise for later.
"Impressive, most well trained cadets cannot achieve that level of accuracy and speed with sword"
"Most cadets don't have you as their teacher" she affectionately squeezed his arm close, silently thanking him for the compliment and for ditching work for her.
"And how about your studies?"
Aerith perked up even more enthusiastically, if that was even possible.
"Well! Samantha finally found out about what Lorna did with her boyfriend at the med annuals and called her a bitch right in the middle of class. It got pretty crazy"
He looked down at the cheery girl bouncing alongside him with a small incredulous smirk. Aerith always did seem to interpret 'how are your studies going?' as 'so what's the latest gossip and drama among your fellow colleagues?', which was strange considering how often she claimed to be an outcast from the other women.
"Personally I'm just glad I don't have to keep it a secret anymore"
Oh yes, the great secret, he remembered the day well that Aerith came to him for advice on that one. It hadn't gone so well.
"And then! Lacey came out and told everyone that Sam deserved it for messing with Lorna's old boyfriend first!"
"That's… terrible?"
"That's exactly what I thought!"
Sephiroth mentally patted himself on the back victoriously.
"Oh and then there's been the news about the woman in prosthetics! She's been in a really really bad state all week so if you see a tall blond women crying in the halls don't be mean ok?"
Sephiroth frowned, when was he ever 'mean'?
"Ummm ok"
"I feel bad for her, I think I might try to talk to her"
"What is the matter with her?" Sephiroth humored the girl, his query about the her educational progress becoming nothing more than a distant memory now.
"Her sister went missing about a week ago, they reckon she wondered off into the slums on her own. She's only nine. Tabby said she's most likely dead by now which Eva overheard and kicked off at her about it, saying she was out of order for saying that and then they argued. That's actually how the whole secret came out about Lorna kissing Sam's boyfriend"
"But I thought you were the only one who saw that?" Sephiroth asked in genuine curiosity, making a mental note to familiarize himself with the details of this lost girl some time.
"Well so did I! But as it turns out Lorraine caught them in the bathroom later on doing the exact same thing during Professor Hollander's never ending speech about G-cell superiority. Then Lorraine told Martin who obviously told Tabby who then told Lacey who had to tell…"
Sephiroth followed the long chain of who told who closely, knowing that if he lost track or focus for a second his brain would turn to mush shortly after. It was frivolous nonsense that a man of his authority who was expected to one day rise to the position of general could not be seen indulging in. Aerith on the other hand was one of the few people in his life who existed outside of these boundaries and he always listened keenly when she provided him with this type of insight into 'normal' human interactions and complex social situations. It was actually rather intriguing and in many ways it benefited him greatly. If he was to become general, social competency would become a necessity and as they made their way down to the practice hall together, Sephiroth wondered if Aerith knew that the teacher-pupil relationship was working in both directions.
With the force of his unrelenting strength slowly bearing down on her arms, Aerith grit her teeth and she knew she had to break away from Sephiroth's blade soon. Like her mentor always said, trying to hold your ground against someone stronger than you was a dead mans strategy.
Dropping deftly to the ground she curved his blade away and broke into a floor roll to disengage. Successfully gaining some distance she dashed away, looking for a chance to escape and reengage on her own terms but Sephiroth stayed close on her heels, keeping the pressure on her to see if she would break. He never ran, even when she moved at a sprint because he didn't need to, Seph had this way of being freakishly fast even when he walked and having that right on your tail was a lot scarier than you might think.
Keeping her nerve she quickly changed direction and spun back in with a high slash towards his neck but his sword met it with graceful ease. She hacked low, he blocked low. She cut for his middle, he parried her off to the side. She stabbed back in to try and catch him before he could recover, Sephiroth always recovered. She swung at him in quick succession regardless. Keep him blocking, never attacking. Steel clashed hard on steel. He observed her movements, she gave him everything she had. Sweat beaded across her face. Now stay focused, keep breathing. There was only one way this could end, one of them on their back and today it would be him.
She struck at Sephiroth a few more times until the first opportunity for him to attack her back presented itself. Aerith stayed light and nimble on her feet, ready for whatever strike he might use with the dull three foot training blade they each used but His foot came up instead and a heavy black boot was kicked mercifully into her center of gravity sending her stumbling back. Damn it the boot! It was always the boot that got her! Fortunately she managed to stay on her feet this time.
A skilled enemy attacks with more than just their sword
Aerith could almost hear his voice saying it in her head now and just as she regained her footing, Sephiroth practically teleported the distance between them to shoulder barge her off her feet. For once she was ready for it and dived clear, tumbling 360 degrees straight up onto haunches and looking back. He looked impressed. Now she would show him just how skilled an enemy she was.
Running for the far wall Seph was in pursuit again, he would think this was another cat and mouse chase in which she was the prey, he would never suspect that she was luring him into a trap. This was it, the moment she had practiced hard for over the last couple of weeks, this was what was going to put his butt to the ground at long last and earn his maximum admiration.
Sprinting head-long towards the concrete wall Aerith braced her oxygen and mere moments before collision she swung her weight back with as much momentum and speed as she could. One foot hit brick, then the second, now it was time to push off. The fifteen year old Cetra girl flipped herself away from the wall and caught a satisfying glimpse of an upside down startled looking face. It was a split second of distraction that was enough to make her lose concentration. She snapped her foot around just liked she had practiced to try and deliver a powerful kick against Sephiroth's chest but now her timing was off and she drove the force of her leg straight into the sword he held at waist height.
Luckily for her the training blade was dull enough that it didn't take her leg clean off, unluckily however the edge was still sharp enough that a wave of pain erupted across her left shin and she was thrown in a yelping heap to the floor.
"AERITH!"
"Ow ow ow ow ow"
She heard Sephiroth's sword clatter loudly across the floor as it was thrown away and Aerith felt two strong hands flip her over to look up through tear pricked eyes at the most terrified face she had ever seen.
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh fuck!"
A gasp and a heavy flutter trembled in the pit of her stomach, she had never heard him swear or sound so scared before and as he reached down to her searing leg she instinctively placed her hand against his arm.
"Hey... it's alright"
"What was that!?" he barked angrily, suddenly surprising her and making her hand recoil away.
"It... was in the book you gave me"
"You did not tell me you were going to do that! Nor did I give you permission to attempt such a thing!"
"I wanted to surprise you with it"
Now real tears began to well up in her eyes, she had worked so hard only to make him mad at her.
"You can't just jump to the back of a martial arts book and try advanced move-sets like that Aerith! It's dangerous!"
"I didn't mean…"
She hissed sharply through her teeth as Sephiroth loudly ripped the material of her trousers at the leg, sending another wave of pain through her and for the first time she looked down at her injury. A pretty deep gash about five inches long traveled up her now completely exposed shin and her eyes widened at the amount of blood that was gently pouring out and beginning spill onto the floor. Nurse in training or not, Aerith did not do blood.
"Oh… ah… I'm... I'm gonna be sick"
The teenage girls view of her leg was suddenly obstructed as Sephiroth shifted to lean his body over her and block it from her view.
"We need to get you to a doctor"
Aerith's senses were extremely dizzy by this point but an audible gasp escaped her as strong arms snaked their way under her legs and around her back and she was lifted up into the air. The ache in her leg erupted in inflamed nerves and she clutched her hands to his jacket fiercly but it was soon forgotten about it again. He was carrying her and it felt nice, it even made the pain subside but he wasn't looking at her and that was distressing, she couldn't handle him being angry at her.
"Seph please... I'm sorry..."
Marching for the door the SOLDIER looked down at the girl in his arms whose eyes were stretched up at him pleadingly and swirling in genuine upset and pain making him grip the girls slight frame closer to him. She seemed so tiny and felt so fragile that a pang of guilt etched its way in and his anger dissipated.
Was it his fault that she had felt the need to push herself beyond her limits? Perhaps he was too tough on her and placed too much expectation on her? He sighed, was this a reflection on his incompetency as a teacher to show proper recognition and praise?
"Do not apologize, your performance, while dangerous, was exceptional. You are becoming an extremely competent fighter and have demonstrated to me that you are ready to learn more". Sephiroth softened his voice when he realized he was still speaking as if he was talking to one of his SOLDIER's and not his little sister, "plus you did a backflip… that was awesome"
His words earned him a small smile from her lips but as he got over to the door it changed dramatically and he felt her body tense with a jolt in his hands.
"Wait! No I don't want to go to a doctor"
Sephiroth froze and snapped his eyes sharply onto Aerith's as a torrent of cold dread washed over him. There had been fear in her voice, a definite edge of apprehension and for the second time today he felt terrified but tried to remain calm.
"Aerith... why don't you want to go to the doctor?"
She squirmed in his arms and under his gaze, she was about to try and lie to him.
"No reason. I just don't want to"
Sephiroth burned his eyes into her, his tone sternly warning her about trying to lie to him.
"Aerith"
"Look the science department will find out ok! And then I'll have to go there and they'll just make a fuss over nothing"
Closer but he still wasn't convinced. While neither of them enjoyed attending their mandatory visits to that hellish department, she hadn't been scared about going there since she was a young child.
"Aerith if they're doing anything new to you, you have to tell me, you promised you would always tell me"
"They're not doing anything! Seriously can we not do this while I'm bleeding all over the place!?"
Aerith despised lying to him and a lie it was. Hojo's tests were starting to become increasingly unpleasant along with his constant hateful remarks that for some reason she wasn't sixteen yet. The truth was she was scared about going there now but she didn't want Sephiroth to know because he would only worry, or worse, get himself in trouble on her behalf.
"Please Seph! Just take me back to your place to heal up. I know you keep cure materia in the masamune"
Sephiroth tensed that she knew that, had she been touching his sword?
"How do you know that?"
"Gaia not now! This really hurts! There's no need to be embarrassed that you have cure materia! Jeez I'll heal myself if you're going to be such a guy about it!"
"Ok ok! We'll go to my place!"
Sephiroth awkwardly extended the hand out holding Aerith's legs and wrenched open the training hall door, setting a swift and direct path back to his apartment.
"But I'm healing you, attempting advanced martial arts was enough for one day, I'm not letting you maim yourself with advanced magic as well"
"It's only cure 3"
"And your only halfway through your cure 2 curriculum young lady"
Sephiroth grinned down at Aerith's surprised expression.
"Well I had to find out how your studies were going somehow between all the tales of Sam and Lorna and who's boyfriend was stolen by who"
Aerith winced in discomfort from her injury then pouted at him.
"You know Seph, if you hadn't just tried to cut my leg off I would have thought that was really sweet"
