Lost in the Shadows
Chapter 12 - Missing Comrades
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 and its characters, settings or the like. These words, however, are mine.
"What do you mean, there's no cure?" Tifa asked.
"I mean what I say, Tifa. We can't fix this, we've tried everything." Cloud said, guilt crossing his features. "I should never have done this. Sent us off on some goose chase. We had no idea what we were facing, no idea what any of this was about! Yuffie, Vincent, Aerith and Sephiroth are missing and we've no way to contact them while… One of us is dying." Cloud mumbled.
"Cloud, this is no time to be blaming yourself! First of all, it's not your fault. Second, we need to keep trying to help Nanaki! Third, Yuffie, Vincent, Aerith, Sephiroth! They're missing! We know! But I'm sure they're fine. Vincent and Sephiroth wouldn't let anything happen to Yuffie or Aerith." Tifa said, exasperated. She collapsed on the bed in her and Cloud's room, closing her eyes tiredly.
So much had happened over the course of a few short days. Fiend's were popping up in unexpected places and the Turks and the rest of the crew, save Nanaki, were gone to try and get it under control.
Cid and Barret's news also was troubling them to no end. The fiend's were so untouchable. But at the precise moment that all hell broke loose, Barret, Cid and Nanaki had found out that they wereable to inflict damageand had been able to drive out two of the beasts.
Tifa felt tears prick at her eyes but shook them away. Now was not the time for tears. She'd cried enough this week.
She'd noticed the looks the others gave her when they were around her. She was being treated like she was made of glass and all because of a certain lapse of security.
How could she not feel insecure, with Aerith back in their lives. Sure, she was Tifa's best friend, even a sister! But the way Cloud looked at her… Her stomach churned with jealousy and feelings she couldn't quite place.
She looked over at Cloud who was gazing out the window.
'Waiting for the woman in the pink dress who stole his heart…'
Tifa scowled at the thoughts. She shouldn't be thinking about Aerith like that! Aerith would never deliberately hurt her, she knew that. Nobody could control their feelings toward others. Tifa, of all people, knew.
Tifa stood up and walked over to Cloud, looking out the window.
"Who are you waiting for?" Cloud heard someone whisper. Someone standing beside him.
Cloud jumped slightly, startled that Tifa had been able to come up beside him without him realizing. What was he supposed to tell her? He knew the thoughts running through his head would ultimately hurt her should she take it the wrong way.
But how could he not be worried about Aerith?
He looked over at Tifa and felt the familiar flutter in his stomach and felt his heart speed up in pace. Only Tifa could do that to him. Cloud never knew how to express his love to her.
He'd never been able to tell her that she was beautiful, with her soft brown hair framing her picturesque face, or how deeply stunning her brown-red eyes were and how he was so able to get lost in them. Never was he able to be there for her like she had for him.
He loved Aerith.
But he was in love with Tifa.
He could never be in love with Aerith. She was more a sister to Cloud than anything and he knew that it would always be that way. Sure, at one point he thought he felt more for her. But he had been confused.
He turned to Tifa and gave her a warm smile which was immediately returned. If only he had the courage to speak up and let her know how he felt. But was risking their perfect friendship worth it? Cloud had no idea how greatly the feelings he felt for her was returned.
Cloud wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace, hands stroking her hair that he so loved to feel between his fingers. She relaxed in his arms and nestled her head into the crook of his neck.
'I'm waiting for someone… Just not who you think,' Cloud thought.
Sephiroth had long fallen asleep after staying awake for countless nights in hope that Aerith might finally awaken. Obviously, his attempt was in vain as fate simply couldn't comply and he'd fallen asleep in the makeshift bed beside Aerith's sleeping form.
The eyes of the tired young woman had only just opened and she looked at her surroundings, trying to put a name to the place that looked so familiar to her. All she could remember was an excruciating pain in her side.
Eyes widening, she hastily undid a few of the buttons on her dress so as to see her stomach properly. The sight took her breath away. The scar she thought she'd be burdened with for all her life was… gone.
Although, she knew in place of the scar was the white orb that had caused herso much stress and confusion.
After buttoning up her dress, Aerith turned her attention to the figure sleeping soundly beside her. Confusion crossed her face as she struggled to move but found that she was too tired. After a few moments of trying to move, Aerith sighed in frustration. She was obviously going no where on her own.
But they needed to get out of here. There were people who needed their help.
Sighing, she took in his features that were now so peaceful, the idea of waking him up seemed almost cruel. With the moonlight reflecting off his skin and his sleek silver mane shimmering, Aerith noticed how… incredibly attractive he was.
It certainly wasn't the first time she'd noticed, though. Everytime he spoke to her, every time he brushed up against her she felt the all too familiar feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She would be a fool not to see it.
She found herself finally able to move her hand and she lightly brushed her fingers across his jaw line. She let her fingers rest there for a moment before retracting her hand.
"Sephiroth…" she whispered.
After gaining no response, she began to wonder how long he had been awake for. Actually, how long had it been since the Materia had entered her body? He was obviously tired or in some deep sleep because usually a whisper was all it took to get him up, due to his heightened senses.
"Sephiroth." Aerith said, poking him in the shoulder. Her face contorted into a frown when he still didn't stir.
She forced herself to sit up even though her muscles protested against it in a way they never had before. She groaned slightly when she moved over to Sephiroth.
"Sephy. Come on, wake up!" Aerith said, reaching her hand out to poke him in the face. Before she knew it, her hand was gripped rather painfully by Sephiroth's and she let out a startled yelp.
Sephiroth's lazy green eyes looked around, finally resting on her. He realized what he was doing and dropped her hand immediately. Aerith couldn't miss the slight glare that had appeared on his once peacefulface.
"So you finally decided to join us in the land of the living?" Sephiroth asked, annoyance seeping through his usually calm tones. Aerith looked away guiltily.
"How long?" She asked.
Sephiroth snorted and got himself off the bed. He moved over to look out the small misshapen window on the other side of the room.
"Four days. That PHS was driving me up the wall, by the way." Sephiroth said, motioning towards the PHS.
Aerith looked over at the contraption on the desk before looking at Sephiroth.
"Someone's been trying to call us? Why didn't you answer?" Aerith queried.
"You told me not to." Sephiroth clipped.
"Huh? What are you--" Aerith began.
"You woke up a few times telling me not to answer it. I simply figured it was the Planet speaking through you." Sephiroth said, cutting her off.
Aerith stood there staring at the PHS while thoughts tumbled through her head. The Planet speaking through her…? The Planet couldn't speak through anyone, it didn't have the power to. Aerith stood there contemplating how it could have happened before Sephiroth spoke up.
"It could have been the White Materia."
Something clicked in Aerith's mind. That's why the Planet wanted her to have Holy! It was the one thing that the Planet could have complete control over. Nobody, not even the Cetra, knew for sure the powers that the White Materia held and the Planet wouldn't reveal it to them either. But why did it want the power to speak through her?
"I believe we should be getting out of here."
Aerith looked over at Sephiroth and gave him a warm smile.
"Yes, I think we should." She chirped, tilting her head to the side.
Cid grumbled as he walked along the beach near Midgar, clothes torn and hair a mess. He and Cait had just spent a day of trying to fight off the annoying fiends that were now popping up in various places at one time. As far as he knew, everyone else had nothing else to deal with, so it was time to pick them up and get back to Cloud and Tifa.
Cait was slowly trailing behind him, tiny cape tattered and golden crown no where to be found.
"Man! Was that ever hard." Cait gasped, running to keep up with Cid.
Cid shot him a glance before stopping in his tracks. He stood and waited until Cait jumped onto his shoulder before continuing. There was no way that Avalanche could keep track of all these fiends and keep them away from the people!
His PHS ringing made him jump, startled, but he quickly regained him composure. He managed to pull his PHS out of his pocket and go to check who it was without a making a sound but once he saw the name, curses were flying.
"Cid $& Highwind, where the &$ have you $#$ been?" Cid yelled.
"Cid, stop swearing." A small voice sounded over the phone.
"Aerith, you alright?" Cid asked, wanting to hear an explanation. "What the hell happened?"
He heard Aerith giggle and his worry was quickly replaced with a wave of relief.
"Sephiroth and I got caught up in something but we're fine. How's everything out there?" Aerith asked.
Cid paused, wondering if he should tell her or not but decided it would have to wait.
"You need to get back to the Sierra. Everyone's been $&& worried about you. We'll tell you everything later." Cid said.
"Alright then. We'll see you later." Aerith said, hanging up.
Cid grumbled and turned his PHS off. At least he knew they were alright. But what of Yuffie and Vincent?
Cid continued walking with Cait chattering away in his ear, knowing that it was going to be a long day.
Everyone had managed to get back to the Sierra before Aerith and Sephiroth and they were patiently waiting in the meeting room for them. The news of their being alright had lifted most, if not all, of the tension from the air.
One question was left to be answered. Where were Vincent and Yuffie? Of course, there was the concept of Nanaki being ill and needing some sort of treatment but Aerith's healing powers would surely fix that up. Nobody had healing powers like the young Cetra.
Avalanche waited for the pair to get back before starting any kind of conversation. All of them, save Cloud and Tifa, were exhausted. They had been fighting the fiends all day until they had miraculously backed off.
Which brought up another question. Why had they backed off at the exact same time? And why were they untouchable one minute and touchable the next?
If anyone knew the answers to these questions, it was Red. Unfortunately, Nanaki was still unconscious and showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. The only thing they could do was wait for Aerith to walk in.
"Aerith may be Red's only chance." Tifa whispered to the group. Her statement was met with silence until Elena couldn't take it anymore.
"Why is that?" She asked.
"She is the most skilled healer on this Planet." Tifa started, looking at the floor. "If anyone can heal him, it should be her. If not…"
The group went silent once more. Until Aerith and Sephiroth walked in.
The pair of them looked around the room before taking a seat silently. Aerith lay her head on the table and waited for one of the others to start of conversation.
"Alright, what happened to you two?" Cloud asked, glaring at Sephiroth, a glare which Sephiroth decided to ignore.
Sephiroth proceeded to tell them their story with Aerith filling in the bits that he didn't know and were important. Cloud and Cid filled the two of them in on everything that had been happening the past few days they were gone. Aerith gasped at the last bit of news; Yuffie and Vincent were missing.
"How are they missing? They have a PHS, don't they?" Aerith asked.
Cid looked up at her before looking uncomfortably at the ground.
"I was on the $$ phone with the brat and she #$$& screamed and the line went $$& dead." Cid said as calmly as he could, though nobody could miss the unmistakable concern showing through.
Aerith went quiet for a moment, looking down at the table. An idea came to her and she asked if she and Sephiroth could be excused for a minute.
When they were out of earshot of the others, Aerith spoke.
"Sephy, we need to find them! You and me, let's go." Aerith pleaded.
Sephiroth regarded her for a moment.
"Wouldn't you be happier looking for them with your friends?" Sephiroth asked.
Hurt flashed in Aerith's eyes and Sephiroth immediately regretted what he said, but made no indication of the sort.
"Oh… I see." Aerith said looking down and Sephiroth looked away.
"Why?" Sephiroth heard Aerith ask.
Sephiroth looked over at her and snorted.
"It was simply a suggestion. You don't always have to be paired off with me." Sephiroth said, finding no better excuse and silently hoping she wished to go with him anyway.
Aerith smiled and put her hands behind her back, tilting her head to the side.
"Aw, but I asked you!" Aerith chirped and she was met with a genuine smile.
'He sure has changed…' Aerith thought. It was true, he had. And she was glad.
"Let's go tell the others then!" Aerith said, taking his hand and leading him into the other room. Everyone looked at them in surprise and Aerith noticed that both Cloud and Barret had averted their gaze.
Aerith smiled warmly at them even though it cut at her heart to see them giving her such disapproving looks. She could take care of herself!
"Sephiroth and I are going to search for Yuffie and Vincent." Aerith declared. Everyone gave them strange looks and a few of her friends looked alarmed.
"Aerith, you can't." Cloud stated, looking her in the eye.
Aerith looked at him and saw the emotions floating around in his mako-blue eyes. Aerith swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking again.
"Actually, I can. And I am." Aerith said. "Sephiroth won't let anything happen to me and besides, we can probablyfind them faster then any of you can."
"At least stay the night and get prepared. Get some rest." Tifa pleaded.
Aerith smiled at her before complying. She pulled Sephiroth out of the room with her and went to get something to eat, not quite being able to shake the feeling in her stomach when their hands touched.
She smiled and started skipping down the hall. Might as well make the best of it.