Lost in the Shadows
Chapter 24 - A Hold on Time
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7, its characters or settings and the like. These words, however, are mine.
Sephiroth's thoughts had disappeared the moment he saw Toyori's grip on Aerith's wrist slacken. Rational thinking and tactics were forgotten as he lunged forward and, with highly trained and calculated ease, impaled Toyori with his Masamune, rendering him useless for the time being and giving Reno and chance to escape. He let himself fall then and looked down to see Aerith falling farther and farther, becoming closer and closer to the ground beneath her.
He knew Toyori was seething inside andcould only hope Reno had managed to get both himself and Elena out of harms way.
The free fall lasted a moment or two before he snapped his head around and focused his attention on the ship behind him for a second, as an intense shockwave hit his body and pounded in his ears. He saw Cloud and Yuffie fall towards the ground and the fiend fly away from the ship. Deciding that they had things under control, for the time being anyway, Sephiroth refocused and called to his inner strengths.
His Jenova cells. His powers that he'd kept hidden, that he'd practiced and refined without anybody knowing. Both his father, Hojo, and his 'mother', Jenova had had no idea what he'd been doing for so many years.
Calling down to the deep recesses of his body, he willed himself to fall faster. He felt himself speed up by only a bit and opened his eyes. He could see Aerith's face more clearly now and saw the tears escaping her eyes. This only encouraged him to fall further and, with his powers reinforcing the urge, he fell faster and faster until he had almost caught up with her.
Aerith's eyes opened and immediately found their way to him. She gave him an apologetic look but Sephiroth paid it no heed; all that mattered was getting to the ground in one piece. They were so close too...
Aerith held her arms out and managed to clasp them around his neck when he'd reached her. She tightened her hold on him as they continued to fall and let out the sob she had been holding in.
Sephiroth felt her tears on his cheeks and a wave of relief washed through him.
Aerith opened her eyes and gasped. "Sephiroth...!"
A sharp and wholly consuming pain started at his shoulder and moved down the front of his body in a fiery rage. He faintly felt newfound tears against his cheek but looked past Aerith.
There, lodged halfway through his left shoulder, was his sword. Had Aerith moved over any closer, it would have hit her as well.
He was beyond glad that there was only a small amount of space between them and the ground.
Aerith suddenly let out a shriek and pushed herself backwards and Sephiroth almost lost his grip on her. Using her as momentum, he swung himself around to look behind him. There he found the obvious cause of Aerith's distress; Toyori was falling towards them faster then Sephiroth could move.
His mind worked to devise some sort of plan, but he was already feeling his warm blood seep down his shoulder and a slight amount of dizziness was overtaking him. He shifted Aerith in his arms so that he was holding her bridal style and when Toyori came close enough to hit them, he executed a flawless backflip, kicking Toyori under the chin in the process, causing him to let go of his weapon. Sephiroth grabbed it before it could hit either he or Aerith and threw it back at Toyori. It lodged itself in Toyori's leg and Toyori's focus then became his leg.
Sephiroth landed on the ground beneath them and jumped backwards, away from Toyori. He let go of Aerith, almost clumsily, and fell onto one knee. He moved his arm around behind him and took as good a hold on the Masamune as he could and pulled.
It came out of him soundlessly and he gasped at the sudden rush of pain. He'd never felt this much before in his life.
"Sephiroth?" Aerith moved closer to him and inspected the wound. "It's not that bad..." She said, shaking. She put her hands over the wound and closed her eyes, slowly beginning to heal the wound.
Sephiroth looked up at Toyori, whose leg was now fixed and looking to be in perfect condition. He narrowed his eyes.
This would end now.
The trip to Kalm had been a quick and tireless one. Plunging onward, Yuffie and Barret made it there in complete silence. They hardly noticed the rest of their team save for Tifa and Vincent following them just as silently. Cid had left the airship behind as there was nothing he could do for it at the moment, nor did he want to.
Yuffie set out to check all of the houses while Barret removed debris and rubble from the roads in hopes of uncovering a buried person. He found several, few alive and most deceased and he carefullyplaced the bodies on the side of the road until they had time to perform a proper burial. His comrades helped those they found that were alive.
"Barret! Barret!" Yuffie yelled, coming out of the house, tears shining brilliantly on her face. Behind her came a roughed up Marlene being led by an unhurt Elmyra.
Barret's eyed widened in surprise. "Ell?" He whispered in shock. "You're alright..."
They walked over closer and Barret inspected her himself before letting himself feel any kind of relief. Marlene had immediately gone to Cloud, who picked her up and began to look over her. Elmyra gave Barret a smile and fell into his arms. He hugged her with a force, but Yuffie noticed the slight lax in his arms. He didn't want to hurt her, even though she came out of her house unscathed. Marlene squirmed in Cloud's hold and he set her down on the ground. She went over to Elmyra and Barret and they both included her in the embrace.
"I checked the other houses..." Yuffie said, trailing off. "There are no survivors other then those we have here so far. I'm going to check the bar. Cid, can you check the shops?" She walked off in the direction of the bar and Cid, though reluctantly, walked off in the direction of the shops. The fiend had fallen almost directly onto the shops above; the chance of finding any survivors were slim to none. Cid said nothing though, as Yuffie was still upset about Aerith's sudden disappearance.
Rude followed quickly after him.
"Damn." Cloud said, looking down at Red. "Yuffs is really upset."
Red nodded. "Yes, she would be."
"What do you mean?" Cait Sith asked, joining into the conversation.
Red sighed and sat on his haunches. "She thinks of Aerith as a big sister, but also as a mother figure, though I doubt she would ever admit that." He looked both Cloud and Cait in the eyes. "She lost her mother at a young age -- Aerith was the only one who was even remotely kind to her in the beginning. They formed a strong bond. That's why Yuffie broke down after Aerith had died at the altar."
Cloud nodded. "Makes sense."
Cait Sith snorted. "Sure it does..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cloud asked defensively.
"Nothing gets through to you, Cloud." Cait said matter-of-factly. "You're losing that bet as we speak because of your stupidity."
"You know," Cloud spoke suspiciously. "For a stuffed animal, you sure got a lot of nerve."
Red walked away before he could hear Cait's response. He sighed at their bickering -- that's all that Cait and Cloud ever did. Bicker.
He walked slowly towards the bar that Yuffie was at and entered noiselessly. He heard a slight sob and moved out of the room just as slowly andsilently that he'd come in. He sat at the entrance and watched as Yuffie began to openly cry.
"Mama... Leviathan, Da Chao... What do I do?" She whispered to the air, looking up. "Everything's... Wrong. Aerith, Vincent..." She paused. "Cid."
Red perked up and listened closely at the mention of Cid.
"He's got a new baby on the way, Mama. He's more of a father to me then that damned Godo." She spoke roughly and punctuated her speech with a swift kick to a piece of metal when she spoke of Godo. "But... What if he just... Forgets? What if the new baby takes up all his time."
She let the tears run freely and spoke more loudly and clearly.
"I'm scared. Scared of losing Aerith and Cid..." She let out a choked sob. "Of what I'm feeling for Vincent."
Red let his ears droop and he lowered himself to the floor, letting out a small whine. He knew better then to interfere with Yuffie at this moment. She was vulnerable and wouldn't appreciate his listening and cutting in. She kept things so bottled up sometimes, he mused.
And what of Cid? Obviously what she was getting at was Cid leaving her for the unborn child. She'd finally sound something that made sense. A father figure who made her feel accepted and loved. Did she really believe it would all be over with this new addition?
Red sighed and closed his eyes.
He sat there and listened to her cries and let his thoughts wonder.
This girl had gone through the worst kind of childhood and yet she was so cheerful and amusing. She put up such a believable barrier and such a facade.
A true warrior, she was. Brave and strong of heart, kind and full of complex morals and depictions.
But did she really have any reason not to hide herself from the world?
Did the world not owe her anything?
They had retraced every step, searched for every little clue possible and tried calling out but to no avail. Once again, Aerith and Sephiroth were missing. Tifa felt a pang of worry when they searched the airship and found both PHS' in their respective drawers. She sighed and closer her eyes, sinking to the floor.
"Do not give up hope." Vincent spoke out of nowhere and Tifa started slightly. "Sephiroth is not easy to kill. You and I both know." He said, standing beside her, arms crossed in front of him.
She sighed again. "I know, Vincent, but..."
"They are fine, Tifa." Vincent said.
"I believe you. In fact, I know they are alright." She said, smiling up at him. "I just have that tendency to worry... excessively."
He held his hand out for her and she took it, letting herself be pulled to her feet. They decided to leave and head for Kalm seeing as how they were getting nowhere and would probably stay like that despite anything they did. After walking in complete silence for the better part of their small journey, Tifa decided that she didn't want to hear the softly thudding footfalls of their feet any longer.
"So Vincent." She said, looking over at him. "Can I ask you something?"
Vincent nodded.
"What is going on with you and Yuffie?" She asked, keeping her eyes on him.
He shook his head. "What do you mean?"
Tifa smiled. Denial. The first sign that he liked her in some way. She giggled and he turned his eyes toward her. "Come on Vincent, I know you don't just tolerate Yuffie for no reason. I think you finally found someone to replace what you lost so long ago." She paused. "And I think you should go for it. What happened back then wasn't your fault and you don't deserve to suffer like you have."
Vincent walked on quietly, listening to her.
"She needs you. More then I think you realize."
This surprised him. He knew that Yuffie was not truly who she portrayed herself to be and she ad quite a few problems of her own that she had yet to work through, but something told him Tifa was getting at something else.
They had finally reached Kalm at her last comment and she and Vincent simply stood, looking at the damage.
"It may scare you, but life is about taking chances." Tifa said suddenly, avoiding his gaze. "I learned the hard way and you don't have to. Take that chance and don't let it slip away." She ended quietly, walking off into Kalm, leaving Vincent standing there contemplative and, for the first time in a long time, confused.
Reno had been holding Elena close to him the entire time they'd stayed in Kalm. Bodies were lain everywhere around them and survivors were being healed by his comrades. Tifa and Vincent had come back a while ago, saying that they'd found nothing of Sephiroth or Aerith. Tifa sent both himself and Elena a wistful look before walking off. Vincent had simply walked past, putting a hand on his shoulder for a moment.
Was there any hope left, then? Was there anything they could do for Elena or was it all over...
He told himself not to think that way and ended up surprising himself. Elena just wouldn't leave his mind. She was all he could think about. Her getting better, laughing, pulling pranks on him...
His hands tightened on her arm and leg. No, there was a way to save her. There had to be.
Aerith couldn't believe what was happening. Had her heart ever raced this fast before? She tried to stay calm and heal Sephiroth's wound but she was having a hard time with that. Something was coming.
"Sephiroth..." Aerith said, looking up. He gave no response, but simply stared at Toyori with absolute contempt. She looked back down at his wound; it was scabbing over now. She sighed in relief.
"I must say." Toyori said from behind her. She finished healing Sephiroth before turning slightly to look at him. "You are quite resilient, not to mention determined."
"What is it that you want from us?" Sephiroth asked.
Toyori smirked. "I need that White materia." He began to walk towards them and Sephiroth stood, pulling Aerith up with him. "We need to communicate with the Planet."
"Why?" Aerith asked rather sharply. "The Planet knows you've suffered, but why take it out on her? She never put you in your place."
Toyori laughed a little. "I never saw the Planet trying to help us."
"It has no power over those who enter the Lifestream alive."
"We were hardly... alive." Toyori sneered, anger beginning to creep into his features. "Hojo and Kiyoku'sexperiments left us in a state worse than death."
"Hojo? Kiyoku?" Aerith asked, confused. "What does he have to do with anything? And who is...?"
Toyori smiled and opened his mouth to say something when a voice rang out.
"Enough, Toyori! Do not tell her any more."
Toyori shrugged and looked behind Aerith and Sephiroth. "Decided to join us, have you?" Annoyance laced through his voice. "I can't see why; I have everything under control."
"Do you really?" A female voice entered the conversation and Aerith turned in the direction that it had been spoken.
A slender woman stood before them, with silvery-green eyes and dirty blonde hair that fell into a braid much like Aerith's, though it was shorter. She was shorter than Toyori by a little but nothing captured Aerith's attention more then the article around her neck. A shining star pendant lay on her chest, glowing, and wisps of smoke surrounded it. Faint whispers were emanating from it but Aerith couldn't tell what was being said.
At the appearance of the woman, the Planet immediately started screaming at her. A warning.
Get away, get away!
Aerith raised a hand to her head and flinched. "What...?"
Do not let her come near you! Get Sephiroth away, get away!
The woman chuckled lightly. "This should be fun."