Chapter 3: Captivity

The time passed by relatively quickly at the Shinra building. Every day was the same routine. They got up, went to the lab for observation and tests, they had lunch together and then Hojo separated them to study them individually. Ifalna always quizzed Aeris about what they had her do that day but never once told Aeris about the tests she had done. She always looked exhausted at the end of the day, but perked up enough to tell Aeris her bedtime stories about the planet and the ancients and sing her Gaia's lullaby.

She worked hard with Aeris, telling her how important it was that she not use her abilities and try to hide them as best as she could. It was difficult, especially when they had their breaks after lunch in the arboretum. Even from a few months old Aeris would inspect the plants and coax them to grow and Ifalna had to make it seem as if she was the one doing it. If anyone around them was hurt or tired or even stressed, Aeris was drawn to them ready to heal and it pained her that her mother kept her away. She compensated for that by learning to speak before she was able to walk. She could comfort those around her with her words and it made her feel better when they felt better.

Aeris grew stronger every day while Ifalna grew weaker. Hojo was picking up on his research and preforming progressively more dangerous experiments. He told his colleagues that Ifalna, being a full ancient, was the stronger of the two and therefore would give them better data to use for future research. When Aeris was almost a year old, her mother had to be carried into their room. Asalie had volunteered to bring her in when he saw her. He had developed a fondness for the pair and felt responsible for them. As soon as he excused Aeris' caretaker, he watched as the toddler waddled over to her mother, rested her hands on her and healed her. Ifalna's breathing that had been labored moments before came easier now. She opened her eyes and looked at the turk standing there with a look of awe on his face. "Please..." She whispered. "don't say anything." He just nodded and left the two of them alone without another word.

Ifalna turned her head and started to cry silently. Aeris climbed up onto her stomach and laid down on her chest. "Don't be sad momma." She said in her tiny sweet voice. "Gaia has given us a gift."

She turned to her daughter. "You are my gift dear." She whispered as she ran her fingers through the girl's hair.

"The planet says it's given us a knight." Aeris said insistently. Ifalna raised an eyebrow and listened for herself. She was right, though not a cetra, another gift from the planet had been born. She could not understand why, the voices were overpowering and not making any sense. She lifted Aeris off of her, rose and wiped away her tears.

"Let's not talk about this now." She said softly. "Try to forget it and get some rest dear. You'll have to wait until tomorrow night for your stories I'm afraid." Aeris gave her a kiss and obediently climbed into her bed and fell asleep. Ifalna stayed up for awhile after that trying to get a better idea of what this new gift was. All she found out, however, was what Aeris had already told her. This gift was a knight. She tried asking Aeris about it the next morning, but the little girl had taken her mother's words to heart and had really forgotten about it. She decided it was for the best and went about the rest of the day relatively freely. Asalie had reported about the condition he found Ifalna in to President Shinra who in turn scolded Hojo for getting carried away and ordered he give the ancient time to recover. Almost a full month passed before the tests began again and then it was business as usual.

So it went month after month and year after year. Then the war with Wutai began. Many people died and Aeris had a difficult time dealing with feeling so many lives end. She cried almost every night in her mother's arms.

"Shhh. Don't cry." Ifalna would say soothingly, "They've returned to the planet. Can you hear them? They're at peace now."

At first, she took very little comfort from what she said, but once she listened to the voices of the planet, she could tell they were at peace. Soon, she no longer cried for these fallen ones, but she prayed for them and continued to do so everyday thereafter.

After Aeris turned six years old, Hojo decided they no longer needed to share a room together. He felt that Aeris did not seem to be as strong as he thought she would be at this age and it must have to do with her dependence on her mother. He hoped that separating them would help her to develop.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ifalna jumped on him enraged. She tore at his face and tried to choke him, all the while screaming like a banshee. After six years of undergoing countless experiments, she could not bare the thought of him doing the same to Aeris. It took four security guards to pry her off of him and then she was placed in isolation. After she was let out, she was sure to behave herself so she could continue to see her daughter. They were allowed to see each other at meal times and there was always a guard present, but te treasured their time together.

Their separation did produce the desired result however, although it was not evident to Prof. Hojo. Aeris discovered that she was able to visit her mother in her dreams and together they would go to a field of flowers within her mother's memories. Ifalna promised her that she would see it someday. You'll breathe the fresh air and feel the warm sun and hear the birds sing as they fly by. She would tell her. You just need to stay strong and I promise you'll see it.

Chapter 4: Deliverance

Aeris sat on the floor, a blue crayon in hand, scribbling furiously on a large piece of paper as she sang a little song to herself. She was almost seven and brimming with energy. Right now, however, she was very focused on coloring the entire page blue, which she had decided that morning was the best color in the world. She was keeping herself busy as she waited for her mother's tests to conclude. She wanted to show off her new masterpiece at dinner.

The doors to Aeris' room slid open and she jumped up to hug her mother. She stopped in place when she saw it was Asalie. She greeted him politely and asked after her mother.

"I'm sorry, Aeris." He said regretfully. "She's not feeling well enough to see you right now."

"What's wrong with her?" She felt her heart constrict like someone was closing their hand around it. "What happened? Why can't I see her?"

"She..." He choked on his words and then knelt down so he could look Aeris in the eyes. "The truth is...your mom hasn't been doing so well since you two have been separated. She can't recover like she did before without you healing her." Aeris' eyes widened and she shook her head.

"I don't know what you mean. I can't..." She began to say trying to deny it.

"I've known since you were almost a year old. I saw you do it, Aeris." He said gently. She began to cry feeling both relieved and scared. "Listen, when they say she's well enough for you to see each other, I'll take you to her OK? Then you can fix her all up." Aeris wiped her eyes then nodded vigorously. Wanting to take her mind off of Ifalna he picked up her picture. "This is very pretty, did you color this?"

"Yes, do you like it?" She asked almost bashfully.

"I do. You are quite the artist." He smiled at her and she smiled back feeling proud of herself.

"You can have it if you want." She told him. He nodded and coughed a little and Aeris noticed his eyes had become glassy looking.

"Thank you." He folded the piece of paper and placed it in his jacket pocket. He coughed again and rose to his feet. "I better get you some food. Come with me." He took her to the cafeteria and ate dinner with her. She talked a lot, about anything that popped into her head, and he listened quietly. She felt more at ease now that he had said he knew about her ability. She had always liked him, he was nice to her, but now she trusted him.

After a little while, his phone rang. "Asalie here." He answered. "I see...Yes. Thank you." He turned to Aeris. "You're mother is stable. You can see her now." He took her to the infirmary where Ifalna was being held. Asalie stood next to the door to give them some privacy as Aeris rushed up to the side her mother's bed and threw her arms around her. She did not look well.

"Mama..." Aeris sobbed quietly. Ifalna reached down and brushed Aeris' hair away from her eyes and grasped her hand tightly.

"You can't heal me now, Aeris. They're watching." She inclined her head to the camera on the wall above them.

"But..." Aeris protested but her mother silenced her.

"I heard Hojo talking. He said it was strange that I haven't been improving as quickly as I have in the past." She coughed violently and Asalie came forward to check her and she waved him away. Aeris started crying. "They'll give me some time to recover before they start again. You can stay with me until then. Don't you worry." She hugged her close causing herself pain as she did and hummed a lullaby to her. It wasn't long before Aeris fell asleep and Asalie picked her up and moved her to another bed. He turned to ask Ifalna if she needed anything, but she had already fallen asleep herself. He stood there for a few moments looking at the two of them before he left.

Days passed and Ifalna gradually healed. On the eighth day, Hojo himself came to examine her and announced that in two more days she would be fit to continue testing.

That night, the lights in the infirmary shut off and the guard that was assigned to them left to find out what was going on. As soon as he stepped out, Asalie entered the room. "Come with me." He helped Ifalna get up and grabbed hold of Aeris hand and quickly walked out of the room and to the elevator.

"There's a riot in sector three and most of the soldiers have been dispatched for crowd control. I took care of the security system, but they'll fix that in no time." They stepped into the elevator and he gently set Ifalna on the floor. He reached into his jacket and pulled out train passes and held it out to them. "You'll need these. Take the train off the plate and down to the slums. You'll be able to hide out there however long you need to." They went down to the fifth floor when he stopped the elevator. The doors opened and he checked the halls before he picked Ifalna up again and walked them to the end of the corridor to the stairwell. "Listen, this is important. Take the stairs down three floors and you'll see a service duct. Get inside and use the ladder to go down the remaining floors and out of the building. Right outside, there's a hatch to a drainline. Go down and follow the red pipes until you hear the train. There will be another hatch outside the station. Don't talk to anyone." He got up and turned to leave. "I'll distract them to give you more time. I'm sorry...for everything." He walked away and headed back to the elevator.

He listened as the door to the stairs opened and shut. He put his hand in his pocket and felt the piece of paper Aeris had given him. He closed his eyes and took out his gun and hoped that this in some way would atone for his sins.