~A Wild Heart~
Chapter Three
~~~ooooo~~~
Tifa had finished folding the laundry and was just slipping Aeris' blouse back inside her dresser when a fierce gust of wind swept into the room and something fell from the windowsill onto the rug.
She set the basket with the washing aside and crossed the small bedroom to pick it up.
Her lips pursed as she held up a long-stemmed white lily found along the banks of the stream. "Now where did you come from?" she asked the flower out loud. "I didn't see you on Aeris last night." Not that that meant anything. Aeris could have picked it a week ago or on any other day during the week, and unless Tifa was watching her every move like a hawk, it would have been easy to overlook. But lately the shepherd girl had been coming home with a long face which meant that Tifa had been keeping a particularly close eye on her.
She rolled the flower slowly between her thumb and forefinger, observing the way the sunlight glinted so brightly on the huge snow-white petals, it seemed to reflect it back into the room. If anything could cheer Aeris up, it would have to be this particular flower, she thought, smiling. She brought the flower to her nose and inhaled of the clean-smelling scent that reminded her of water with just a hint of a floral fragrance.
The smile became a frown as her eyes drifted to the fluttering curtains. "There she goes again," she said with a shake of her head. Prior to Zack moving into his parents' room after their passing and Tifa had moved into his, Aeris' habit of sleeping with the window open at night had been the only issue in the two girls sharing a room.
With a sigh she closed the window and placed the lily on Aeris' dressing table. It wouldn't do for her friend to find the flower on the floor where anyone could step on it.
~~~ooooo~~~
"Hey! You forgot something!" A voice hollered from behind her and Aeris, yawning and rubbing her eyes, turned back and saw a tall figure running down the path in the darkness of dawn.
"Oh!" she gasped as the dark-haired young man caught up to her. From the look on his face, he must have called her several times. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."
"Clearly." Zack grinned at her, not the least bit winded from his run. "You're lucky Tifa saw it by the door or you would've had to make the walk back home for it again." He held up her bag containing the day's meal and snacks for her and the dogs, his eyes twinkling a merry blue, almost similar in color to the other pair her sleepy mind had been on.
"Or we could just go without food and starve," she said with a grateful smile as she took the bag from him. "Where would I be without you two?"
He chuckled. "A sack of bones drying out on the hills."
Aeris laughed at what was in all likelihood the truth. "I hope I didn't make you forget your lunch?"
"Tifa's packing it." His eyes searched her face. "Aeris…"
She smiled at his uncharacteristic hesitation. "Yes?"
"If something was troubling you, you would let us know, wouldn't you? You would tell one of us."
The question had caught her off guard. "Yes. Why do you ask that?"
"No reason." He smiled back at her, but it was not his usual light-hearted smile. "But it's a beautiful morning. Maybe things will be better today."
Remorse filled her at the realization that her melancholy had not gone unnoticed by her friends. "Yes. I believe they will be." She resolved to put on a happier face for them, regardless of how the day turned out. Her mind wandered to the flower she'd found on her dressing table the previous evening, and her happiness was not forced at all. "Good luck with the men today, Zack. I'll see you at dinner." She gave him one last reassuring smile and hurried off to catch up with the sheep.
~~~ooooo~~~
Aeris brought her flock to the northernmost trenches branching from the stream and as some of the sheep hurried toward the small ditches and holes while the others waited their turn, she made her way to the fork in the road, letting her eyes drift over the woods that seemed so dark and foreboding to humans. In spite of the silence, it teemed with forest life though few humans set foot far inside it. Men were known to go into the woods in search of game and come out miles away from where they'd started after days of wandering in circles. Children playing by kept their distance but every so often, a brave one would come forward and enter it on a dare. However, they were careful to keep the hills in their sights at all times for their parents had warned them plenty of times that the forest was enchanted and if they turned their backs to the hills, when they turned around, the forest would have closed in on them.
She didn't know when she'd first felt it but at some point, she became aware that she wasn't alone. Someone was watching her.
Slowly she turned her head to her left.
The bluest eyes she'd ever seen framed by thick, blond lashes met hers and she found she couldn't move. He stepped noiselessly out of the shadows of the trees and the movement seemed to break her from her trance. Her eyes automatically went straight to his abdominal area. There were no marks there, not even a scar, just smooth pale skin covering hard muscles on a lean, tight torso.
Suddenly realizing where she was looking, she flushed and looked up, immediately encountering those blue eyes watching her intently, and blushed harder under his bold scrutiny.
"Hello." She smiled at him, a nervous, shy smile that was not at all like her. "I thought… I feared I'd dreamed it all but you're real."
He gave a small nod and Aeris felt a surge of elation flood through her.
"This isn't a trick then?"
His eyes widened slightly, and she chided herself silently. No, it wouldn't be. He seemed so different from the fairies she'd heard about in the stories—quiet, courteous, even curious, nothing like she'd been told.
He had yet to take his eyes from her face, Aeris noticed, and felt her face grow hotter. Unlike before he was looking at her as if he was as fascinated by her as she was by him. And if she wasn't mistaken, it looked like the fairy's cheekbones had a faint pink tint to them. The thought made her heart beat faster.
"I didn't think you were real," she said self-consciously, suddenly all too aware of how she must look after a day out in the fields with the sheep. Loose curls that had escaped from her ribbon blew gently about her face in the light breeze, and she tucked them back behind her ears hastily. "The stories say we can't see you, that you move among us, invisible to the human eye."
"Not invisible," he said, and she thrilled to hear the sound of his voice again. "But you can see me because I choose to let you see me."
"Is that why I was able to see you last time, too?" Aeris asked, puzzled.
He shook his head. "You saw me then because I wasn't able to control my surroundings anymore. I didn't have the strength to do anything. I was just trying to hold myself together so you wouldn't see my true form and become frightened. If I'd faded, you most certainly would have seen what I really look like."
"You mean, all of this…" Aeris made a gesture with her hand at him, her eyes widening as she recalled what he'd said to her at their first meeting. "You have wings."
He gave the merest hint of a nod.
Glamour.
Of course. She'd heard of it before. He was hiding his wings from her.
The sheer wonder of her discovery, of him, and everything he represented was almost more than her mind could fathom. She could only look at him in awe, standing just at the fringe of the forest, as full of mystery as those woods behind him, wondering what other secrets they both held.
"What is your name?" She finally found her voice again to ask. "I didn't get your name last time."
He gazed at her for a long moment before he spoke, "In your language, my name would be translated as 'Cloud'."
"Cloud," she whispered. She said it again, louder. "Cloud. I'm Aeris."
He inclined his head.
"Aeris," he said. "I've been watching you."
Her eyebrows rose.
"Why?" she asked. "Because I saw you…?"
"No," he was quick to reply. "I've been watching you since we were both children. You live with Tifa and Zack."
"Have you been watching them too?"
There was a short pause before he answered. "We watch all of you."
"That…that's not a very nice thing to do…" Blond brows drew together slightly but the blue eyes watching her were calm, and she flushed and stammered, "I-I don't mean to offend but we…humans don't like to be watched without our knowing about it."
"We watch to learn, to see, to do what we can to protect the planet but without interfering." His voice remained polite but she had the distinct impression that he was not at all pleased with the conversation.
"But…we like our privacy. It feels invasive, having strangers watch us."
"We don't go into your homes. Not onto your land either for the most part. Any place where humans have settled and claimed for their own is off limits to us." He appeared to think about it for a moment. "Well, the king and queen and their advisors go into people's homes sometimes, but the rest of us are forbidden to do so. We watch from afar." There was no change in the tone of his voice but she sensed his growing displeasure. His next words confirmed her suspicion. "I only came to say "Thank you"."
Her heart sank.
It had been silly of her but a part of her had hoped…
She dropped her eyes and hung her head. "There was no need," she whispered miserably. "I am deeply sorry if I've upset you. It is not my place to question anything fairies do. Watch us by all means but this just feels much nicer…being able to see you as well," she forced herself to finish. "I meant no disrespect."
No reply came and she thought he had left and vanished back into the woods.
"I think it feels nicer, too."
Aeris' head shot up. "You do?"
There was no trace of anger on his face that she could see. "They must want to move on," he said, gazing past her shoulder.
She looked back behind her. The sheep appeared to be trying to scatter about, with not a single one heading in the same direction as its neighbors. The dogs were keeping the animals in line but they were all clearly ready to go home.
Naturally, she thought with a rueful smile.
~~~ooooo~~~
"All right, who's helping me with the dishes?" Tifa asked, disappearing through the doorway into the tiny kitchen with the leftover blueberry pie that would be packed for lunch the next day.
Sitting at the table, Aeris lifted her eyebrow at Zack. He lifted a black brow back at her.
She sighed and threw her last piece of cornbread at him. His hand flew up, catching the bread easily and popping it into his mouth.
"Hey, I brought in the water and heated it." The young farmer leaned back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head as he chewed and swallowed the bread down.
Aeris got up and began clearing the table. "I was hoping you'd forgotten that."
"Not a chance." He propped his feet up on Tifa's chair and grinned lazily at her. "And I didn't forget that I had to chase you halfway across the hills this morning either."
She rolled her eyes. "It was just the next hill over."
"Hurry up, whoever has cleanup duty tonight!" Tifa called from the kitchen. "A rabbit spooked one of the mules this afternoon and he overturned the cart. I'm still sore. I need you to carry the dishes into the kitchen for me."
Zack chuckled.
"It's not funny, Zack!"
Aeris burst out laughing at the expression on his face.
"I swear, she's got ears like a bat," he muttered.
Still giggling, she swept through the doorway with a stack of plates and bowls.