Tseng was driving the Shinra car back to his hideout. After leaving Aerith in safety, he had some business to attend before the night was over. He had to deal with the two Turks who had kidnapped Aerith. He was unsure about how he'd have to act. He wanted to fire the guys immediately, but Aerith had asked him to not punish them. They surely deserved some kind of punishment for their terrible performance in the mission, but he had not chose what to do. It would not be an easy decision, but he had to go for it, anyway. Some minutes later he arrived in the temporary Turk headquarters. Oh yeah, Aerith was right about the stickers. He would have them removed as soon as possible. Maybe that would be a perfect mission for the two clowns. No, they had to learn to take their responsibilities as Turks seriously. Imagine if they had killed Aerith. What would Tseng do? He couldn't leave it as if nothing had happened. Well, his decision would be harder than he thought it would be.
Tseng parked the car in the hideout garage, left it in a hurry and waited impatiently for the elevator. He was the kind of person who liked to deal with his problems immediately. There were just three floors, it should not take too long for the elevator to come down. Probably someone had left the door open, so the elevator would not work. How he hated that building. He was so used to the luxury offices in Shinra Building. He would understand the need to leave the main offices for a while, but it didn't need to be such a decrepit building. While lost in his thoughts, the elevator finally arrived. Tseng lost no time to go to the upper floor. He was afraid the two men had left the building while he was out. If that was the case, then he'd surely have to fire them. He could accept failure, but not cowardice. But as soon as he got to the corridor on the upper floor, he noticed they were still there. He didn't know if it was better, though, as firing them for desertion would be an easy solution for his dilemma.
Tseng entered the room and the two guys were in silence, watching some stupid post-midnight TV show. The black-haired man was with a beer can in his hand. Though Tseng was not comfortable with the idea of the men drinking while on duty, he knew that a beer would hardly do anything to those crooks who were used to spend all the night drinking strong liquor in the pubs.
"Hey, you two, go immediately to my room. We have important things to discuss."
The two men were not surprised, though they were not at ease as well. They knew the boss would discuss their performance in their last assignment. The probability that the girl had opened her mouth about their behavior was very high, so they expected to receive a big reprimand. They left their couch and followed the boss to his room. The two men were not in good terms and they were not in good spirits as well, so they didn't exchange a word till they were inside Tseng's office. Arriving there, the black-haired man tried to act in a friendly manner, trying to make Tseng lose the focus on the reprimand and eventually forgetting any punishment he had in mind.
"Did you have a good time with the girl?" He asked grinning.
"What?" Tseng was confused.
"Come on, Tseng, we know why you went to take her home personally. She is really hot." The blond man eyed his companion with a furious gaze.
"Aerith? Come on, you don't know what you are saying. I'd never do that. And she would be the last person in the world to do that as well. You don't know anything about her."
"Really, I thought..." The blond man grinned and his companion embarrassment.
"Shut up! You think too much! Now, I have something very serious to discuss with you."
The dark-haired man swallowed hard. "Tseng..."
"Aerith told me about your behavior during the mission."
The dark-haired man went pale. His companion was frightened as well. "But..."
"Shut up! What had I asked you? To bring her for a talk. What have you done? Kidnapped her violently, created a fuzz in the streets, put other people in danger and, if that was not already enough, threatened to kill Aerith."
"But..."
"Do you know what would it mean if Aerith had died? Do you have the faintest idea of who she is?"
"No..." Both men were really anxious. The blond man was speechless. The dark-haired man could only babble some monosyllabic words.
"She is the last of the Ancients!" Tseng was really angry. His usual coolness made him more menacing when he was really angry.
"Ancients...? What is that?" The dark-haired man was confused.
"Don't you know?" Tseng was surprised.
"No..."
"Cetra?"
"I still don't get it."
"Oh, my!" Tseng released a sigh in frustration. "Well, how can you value the last Ancient if you don' t even know what an Ancient is? I thought those incompetent morons would have told you during your training what an Ancient is and why she is so important for us."
The blond man recovered the courage to speak. "Well, to be sincere, I have never heard about them. During the mission, I wondered what would you want with that girl."
"I thought she was a street harlot..."
"Enough!" Tseng was irritated and confused. "Enough! She is the last Ancient and she is of extreme importance for us. The Ancients were a race that lived in this planet a long time ago and they wee rumored to have great powers. We need her alive and by our side. That is why I always keep an eye on her. That is why we Turks protect her. That is why we want her to join Shinra. That is why killing her would be a tragedy."
"Sorry about that. I didn't know she was so important." The dark-haired man was not really sincere, with some hints of sarcasm in his voice.
"Even if she were just a prostitute that I wanted to spend some hours with, your mission would have been an utter failure, smarty. When I asked you to bring her here, without attracting unwanted attention, it never meant killing her, nor threatening everybody in the streets."
"Sorry..."
"Well... I don't really know what I should do about you. You were incompetent and almost ruined everything. The natural choice would be to punish you. Fire you. Yes, that should be the logical choice. We can't trust on incompetent people like you. The Turks are a strategic organization inside Shinra. We are always needed for the most important missions. I can't have two guys here who manage to mess up a simple mission like this one you messed up. No, I can't let you remain as Turks."
"See what you have done?" The blond man pushed the dark-haired man's shoulder, angrily. "Back to unemployment!"
"Hey, it was also your fault..."
"Shut up!" Tseng seated in his chair. "I don't want to hear any excuses now. I should be signing you off now, but someone asked me to not do so. I just don't know what to do with you. I feel that I can't assign you any important mission. I really don't know what to do..."
Tseng's hesitation made both men shiver. They were scared and confused. Who would have asked them to not be fired? What would Tseng do? Their future was in his hands and they were really afraid of what Tseng had in mind. Tseng was known for being merciless. He was known to be cold-blooded and emotionless. He would not pity them. They were afraid not being fired would mean something worse than being fired.
"Well, I have an idea." Tseng broke the silence after some seconds. "It looks like a really bad idea, but... anyway..." He sighed deeply. "We must have Aerith under constant surveillance. We are afraid of an anti-Shinra group, which seems to be interested in her. You two could keep an eye on her. Keep a constant watch on her, without harassing her, though. In case you notice anything strange, please, call us immediately. And, please, don't screw up this time. If you screw up this mission too, I'll fire you immediately, as it was my original intention, had she not appealed me to not punish you.
The men were doubly surprised. First because they concluded that it was the girl who appealed Tseng to not punish them because Tseng had not been with anybody else other than her. The dark-haired man was feeling bad. He regretted treating the girl so unkindly. They were also surprised by Tseng's idea. They had never thought Tseng would give them a second chance with the girl after their poor performance on the mission. The blond man's countenance showed a great surprise. For him, it would not only be an opportunity to keep him in the job, but also to be near that mysterious girl. Though he was supposed to keep a silent watch on her, he knew it would be an amazing experience to share more time with her. Now knowing that she was also good-hearted and special, he was even more interested in her than he was before. He didn't know what being an Ancient really meant, but who would not want to be the loved one of the last member of a special race? Specially when the last member of this race was pretty and charming. Oh yeah, if Tseng knew his infatuation for her, he would fire him immediately, so it was better to keep his mouth shut and his expectations low.
"Well, you start you mission tomorrow. Usually she is out from 9am to 10pm, so I'll let you arrange your schedule at your own will, but, please, never, ever, let her unguarded. That will be the last chance I'll give to you. Please, don't fail. Or something really bad will happen to you both. And I am not talking of unemployment."
"Yes. Thanks, Tseng." The black-haired man started acting as the leader again. "Let's go, man, let's protect her."
"Hey, stop acting foolishly. She is safe at home for now. I'll go home and get some sleep." The blond man would not accept the dark-haired man as his leader anymore. "Tseng, where does the girl live?"
"She lives in Sector 5 of the slums, near the market."
"Alright, I'll be there tomorrow." The blond man left, ignoring his partner.
"Hey..." The dark-haired man followed the blond man. "Excuse me, Tseng. Can I go now?"
"Yes. But don't ever forget about your mission."
"Thanks, Tseng."
Tseng dismissed the man with a wave of hand. He stayed in his office for some time. Partly because he had some papers to oversee and some strategies to think of. That anti-Shinra group was making him lose his sleep. They had already lost many Shinra officers in the last months. Worse than that, their terrorist tactics made it almost impossible to prevent further attacks. As the secret intelligence service of Shinra, the Turks were under pressure. Tseng had to come up with a new strategy, something that would allow them to stop the coward terrorist attacks and make Shinra gain the upper-hand in the war.
To make matters worse, the terrorist group had hacked all that important data about the Ancients. Whether it was a deliberate move or not, he couldn't tell. Anyway, it was something to worry. They'd have to keep an eye on Aerith not only because the regular dangers of the slums. This threat was much more serious. If the antagonist group managed to capture Aerith, there was a good possibility they'd use her powers. Or worse, that they would use her to find the Promised Land, given it really existed. If so, the anti-Shinra group could become so powerful that they would be able to openly challenge Shinra's authority all over the world. No, that was a risk they could not run. Sad as it would be, it would be better to have Aerith gone for good than falling in wrong hands. But Tseng had sworn he would do everything he could to try to protect the precious girl.
The two Turks were leaving the building, still trying to digest what happened in the last hours. The blond man was trying to ignore the dark-haired man, but the dark-haired man grabbed his arm while they were crossing the gates of the building.
"Hey, listen here! I know we may have had an argument before, but we are still a team and I'm still the leader of our team. Stop acting like a child!"
"Well, man, I don't trust you anymore."
"Why? Alright, we have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. But now we will have to work together. You are still under my orders. And I'll make sure you will not make any bold advancements towards the girl."
"Bold advancements? What are you talking about?" The blond man tried to dismiss his partner comments, but he blushed.
"Yes, bold advancements. I know you are somewhat in love with her. But I'll make sure that will not put our mission in jeopardy. Imagine if you start making advancements on her and she ends distrusting you? What will we do, then? You will certainly be removed from the mission and eventually fired."
"What do you have in your mindt? Of course I'll do nothing to harm the mission. I feel nothing for Aerith..." The man's voice betrayed embarrassment
"Come on, you can't hide your infatuation for the girl! Well, anyway, I hope you don't do anything stupid this time."
"Anything stupid like... killing the girl?"
"Man..." the dark-haired man buried his face on the palm of his right hand, shaking his head negatively. "It won't take you anywhere. If I made a mistake, it is already done. Your stupid bickering won't change a thing. It will only make our mission and your life harder."
The blond man only dismissed the dark-haired man sermon. The dark-haired man, seeing it would be useless to keep talking to the blond man, left. He was really angry with his companion. He admitted he had made an error, he had treated the girl very badly when he shouldn't. But he didn't know the girl was so special. He was used to work as a thug for gangsters, pressing people to pay the fare, kidnapping people to scare them. He thought the girl was only someone worthless, who had done something that could harm Shinra. Though the company was the most powerful organization of the world, he knew that the Turks were nothing more than gangsters, acting in secrecy, doing questionable things, sometimes even illegal, just to protect the company's interests. It wasn't much different than the criminal organizations he had worked for in the past. How could he know that the girl would be some legend among the living, the last specimen of a precious and extinct race, a living fossil? Had the boss not been so secretive about the nature of the mission, he would have performed in a different way. Anyway, what was done, was done. Now, he had the task of protecting the girl from a phantom menace; an organization that no one really understood, nameless terrorists, without a defined objective, fighting Shinra, aiming who knows what. If his boss was right and the terrorists were after the girl, he would have a very difficult and dangerous task ahead. He would need all the cooperation he could get from his partner, but his partner started acting like a jerk. His instincts were telling him that soon he would be screwed.
Early in the morning, the blond man was already observing Aerith's house from a safe distance. During most of the day he did nothing but following the girl, wherever she went, keeping an eye open for any suspect movement nearby. Aerith noticed the man, but she didn't seem to be affected by his presence, as she was used to constant Shinra harassment. She acted almost naturally, performing her daily duties, tending the flowers in the church, making arrangements of flowers to sell, shopping for her mother and selling flowers. Late in the afternoon, the dark-haired man started his turn. The girl was not affected by his presence either, despite of what had happened the night before, when the man almost killed her. She just sold her flowers as usual and returned home late at night with some money, enough for she and her mother to survive one day more. The next day started similar as the day before and soon it had become a routine for the trio: the two men would take turns in watching every step the girl took and the girl would live her life as if nothing was happening, though she was aware she was being constantly watched by the two men.
As the days passed, the blond man couldn't stay quiet anymore, so infatuated he was with Aerith. He tried to force himself into Aerith's path, as if it was a random encounter, but he was mostly ignored by the girl. He also left some small gifts like chocolates and small souvenirs in strategic places, to be picked up by her. She was aware of his presence, aware of the not-so random encounters and aware of the gifts. She had a good time laughing about the man's naivety, which she considered cute. He was very young, probably younger than her and his clumsiness was charming. Aerith was annoyed by him, but she tried to avoid anything that could make him think she was interested on him. She was still fresh from her non-relationship with Zack. Besides, she still loved him, even after all those years of rejection. At least the blond man make her laugh, so his constantly watching on her had a lighter side that made her feel more comfortable.
The dark-haired man, though, didn't have any veiled interest on the girl. However, he had been uneasy because he regretted acting so rudely, he regretted threatening to kill her. He had something of personal nature to tell the girl. So, one day, he went straight to her.
"Aerith?"
"Yes?" Aerith was a bit surprised and blushed.
"I need to make some amends..."
"It is not necessary to apologize." Aerith shyly smiled at the man.
"Really? But..."
"Yes, everything is okay. Don't worry about what happened that night anymore.."
The girl turned her back on the man and left him before he could say anything else. The dark-haired man was left feeling worse than before talking to Aerith. He really expected to surprise the girl asking forgiveness, but in fact he ended being surprised by the girl, who didn't hold any negative feelings towards him and had already forgiven him.
After two weeks of constant watching, nothing suspect had happened. Even so, the Turks were not allowed to leave Aerith unwatched. The dark-haired man believed the threat against the girl was just in Tseng's mind and he had already asked Tseng to be relieved from that mission and relocated to a better one, but Tseng refused. It was very frustrating to stay hours in a corner, watching the surroundings, then following the girl by distance as she returned to her home. He had seen men harassing her, but not in a dangerous way, just because being a pretty young woman living in the slums lead her to be constantly harassed by men. Anyway, Aerith was used to deal with those situations, so, after the third time it happened and Aerith dealt easily with the harassment, the dark-haired man did not worry anymore.
What he didn't know was that the lack of purpose of his mission was set to end. Aerith was selling flowers in one large avenue, as there would be a famous romantic singer concert in a conceited concert hall and she expected to sell more flowers than in an average day. The dark-haired man was, as usual, doing his silent watch on the flower lady. Suddenly, he noticed a man, standing up in a dark corner. The man was not doing anything that would render him suspicious under normal circumstances, except that he was wearing a mask. But he was constantly staring at Aerith and that was enough to make the dark-haired man panic. He called Tseng to tell him of the threat and kept his gun ready, just in case.
The concert ended a bit later than the expected and Aerith stayed there for some extra time, selling flowers to people leaving the concert. She sold much more flowers than the usual, that day. As the crowd dispersed, the dark-haired man noticed the masked man had disappeared with the crowd. He feared the man would set an ambush in one of the nearby streets. When Aerith left the place to return home, all happy for being able to sell all her flowers, the dark-haired man followed her much closer than he used to. On her way to the train station, from where she would take the train home, the streets were somewhat crowded and well-lit, despite of the advanced hour. Aerith was not worried with possible threats, but she kept walking in a fast pace because she didn't want to lose the 11pm train, otherwise she'd have to wait for one hour and a half for the next train. She arrived at the station just on time to take the 11pm train, which was almost departing. For the dark-haired man, it meant bad luck. He didn't have the ticket yet and he was not able to take the train on time. He had lost the track of Aerith. He was angry with himself and desperate. He called Tseng.
"Tseng? We have a problem."
"What is it?"
"That mysterious man disappeared and Aerith made it safely to the train."
"Yes..."
"That is it."
"So what is the problem?"
"I didn't make it... to the train..." His voice was fading out.
"What! What are you saying?" Tseng became angry immediately, as he learned what had happened.
"I lost the track of the girl."
"Damn!"
"It was not my fault..."
"Not your fault... not your fault... was it my fault?"
"No, no..."
"Who was entitled to keep an eye on her? Me?"
"No..."
"Well, you screwed it up again! The only thing we can do now is to hope she will eventually return home in safety."
Tseng hung the phone. He was very angry with his subordinate failure, specially after the guy mentioned the presence of a suspect man stalking Aerith. He had to do something about that. He could not leave Aerith unprotected. As much as he hated to do it, he would have to leave his office and make sure Aertih was safe. If he hurried, he would be able to arrive at the slums before Aerith. So, he took two loaded guns and left his office. The elevator took some seconds to arrive and Tseng was so anxious that he hit the elevator gate with his fists, hurting them. The elevator arrived and Tseng pressed a dozen times the button of the garage floor. Arriving there, he got inside the car, the same which was used to kidnap Aerith, but now without the big Shinra stickers. Tseng left the garage in a hurry, scratching the paint of the car in the garage door. He didn't bother, though, as money to fix the car Shinra had plenty, but Aerith the world had only one. Tseng sped up through the streets in a dangerous way and almost caused an accident many times. For his luck, he reached the sector 8 station before the train.
Tseng parked the car in a nearby street and waited. Aerith's house was not very far from there, but it took her a fifteen-minute walk. Tseng considered giving Aerith a ride, but he opted for following her stealthily. Tseng wanted Aerith's protection operation to remain secret. He didn't know to which extent the anti-Shinra group was interested on the girl, but if they knew Shinra kept constant surveillance over the girl, they'd certainly try to kidnap or kill her, not matter what. Besides that, giving her a ride would leave him unable to react in face of a sudden attack. So he opted to stay in hiding.
After five minutes, the train arrived at the station. Very few people disembarked at that station, and Aerith was one who disembarked. She was carrying her empty wooden bucket and started walking down the street which took her to the slums, where she lived. Tseng followed her from a safe distance, enough for him to react and protect her if she was attacked. As Aerith advanced towards her home, Tseng got more and more anxious. He knew every step she took would make her closer to safety, but he wanted the distance to magically disappear. He knew as soon as she stepped in the market street, she would be market would have enough people to prevent an attack even in the late hours of the night. But he feared some dark alleys she'd have to cross before reaching the market.
While crossing one of the dark alleys which was surrounded by piles of trash, Aerith didn't notice that she was being watched, not only by Tseng, but also by some mysterious men. Suddenly, two masked men started advancing towards her, with swords in hand. Aerith was startled. She stopped walking and started considering her retreating possibilities. When she was turning her head to check whether she was surrounded or not, she felt a strange presence near her. When she turned her head to look what was causing that strange feeling on her, she saw a masked man almost grabbing her arm. In a desperate movement, she hit the man in the face with her bucket and started running towards a dark alley. The man who tried to grab her was a bit stunned by the hit, so he let the girl have a head start. The three men gave chase to her through the dark alleys. Tseng, who was shocked by the events unfolding before his eyes, followed suit.
Aerith was desperate. She knew the guys meant her harm. She had to run for her life. As much as she tried, her persecutors seemed to be shortening the distance. She tried to confuse her persecutors by taking turns and twists along the way, but the distance was not enough to make her stay out of sight. Every time Aerith risked to look back, she became more desperate, as the distance to the persecutors was shortening. She was panting, her feet and legs were sore. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep running for more than a couple hundred yards. When she was about to reach an intersection, she was scared by the sudden appearance of a masked man, holding a sword. She didn't have time to think, so she decided by instinct to take a path through the piles of garbage. Her momentum allowed her to travel over the garbage and jump to the other side of a high wall. Her persecutors were surprised by her move and hesitated for a few seconds.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the high wall, Aerith had had a hard fall on the ground, hurting her legs. She was panting, gasping for bits of fresh air. She was deadly tired, her joints hurt, breathing was painful. She was not used to long runs, specially running for her life. She was also feeling very frightened. All she wanted was to cringe her back to the wall and stay there indefinitely, but she knew that in matter of seconds her pursuers would be over her, so she started moving away from the spot she was. She was lost. She didn't know anymore how to go back to her home. The slums were so cluttered that she could be anywhere in the lower parts of Midgar. Anyway, it was better to be lost than dead, so she kept moving on.
After taking some random turns, partly walking, partly trying to run, Aerith thought she had heard footsteps behind her. The woman panicked. She was not able to run away anymore. There was no way out. She looked back and caught a glimpse of a man. Though she couldn't see who it exactly was, she was sure it was one of the masked men. The girl could hear from the footsteps that the man was running, so she started running again, but she knew she wouldn't be able to run for long. As the girl took a random turn, she started hearing the sound of more people running. She was definitely screwed and started feeling hopeless. As the flower girl turned her head to look back, she traveled over an iron bar, which sent her crashing on the ground. Her wooden bucket, that she was still holding during all the chase, rolled on the floor for several yards. She used her hands to prevent her face from hitting the ground, but she was injured during the fall. She couldn't walk anymore. She crawled behind a large trash container. Tears were falling from her eyes like a waterfall. The girl knew the men would find her in a few moments. Aerith was feeling hopeless. She was feeling that feeling of uselessness towards a certain death. She was feeling a strong fear of dying, a feeling that she had not felt since the last time she had seen Hojo. Where were the voices now? Where were the voices of the Planet?
Or maybe she was just exaggerating. Of course, the sight of strangers advancing towards her with their swords drawn didn't mean a good thing, but maybe it didn't mean such a bad thing. Would they kidnap her? Maybe. Would they do her some harm? She didn't know. She didn't know who they were. Aerith suspected they were members of that anti-Shinra group Tseng had mentioned. But would they be any worse than Shinra? She didn't know. She couldn't know. Her mind was filled with doubts. The girl knew people from Shinra were a bunch of crooks, rogues with money enough to play of ruling the world. But they were nothing more than a criminal organization which was responsible for all the suffering she had to endure living in Midgar slums. Would that anti-Shinra organization be any worse? Probably not. It was true that members from that organization had killed Shinra members mercilessly, but how many times Shinra has done the same with other people? How many people the Turks and the Soldier have killed mercilessly? That would be an unaccountable number. The biggest example was Zack. She knew Zack was not evil, but how many times he boasted having killed a bunch of criminals? If there was something Aerith hated in Zack was his boasting of having killed enemies. Blinded by his foolish desire of becoming a hero, Zack may have unnecessarily ended many lives that could have been spared. Aerith knew that, in war, it is necessary to kill some people eventually. Even so, it was not a matter of rejoicing. It was not something to boast about. It was something that should be used only as a last resource.
With her mind lost in her thoughts and clouded by anxiety, Aerith didn't notice that the footsteps could not be heard anymore. Instead, loud yells were reaching her ears, though she could not understand the exact words being said. She tried to concentrate in the discussion, but before she could make any sense of the words being yelled, she was startled by the loud crack of a gun, followed by a terrible wail. She froze in terror and cowered back, shivering. After some seconds, she heard other gun cracks and more wails of pain. She couldn't imagine what was happening over there, but surely it should be a terrifying scene. People were being shot. That was too much for her. Aerith was in shock. She felt as if her heart had stopped. It was as if her condition didn't matter anymore. All her thoughts were set in the scene she was overhearing from where she was hiding. If there was something she couldn't stand, it was violence, to see people suffering. She was a natural healer, she didn't want to see anyone injured. It was terrible to learn people were suffering and she was not able to help them.
Her anxiety only increased when she made sense of some words being yelled. It seemed to her as if she was hearing to some kind of plea. People pleading for have their lives to be spared. That was a terrible thing to hear. The pleas were ended by the loud crack of a gun. Aerith shivered. It was as if the shot was aimed at her. She could feel inside her mind the agony of a soul being taken back to the lifestream. A tortured soul, but still a person, with his feelings, tastes and thoughts. Not a bad person at all. No, that was terrible. Some seconds later, another gun crack and another soul departing to the lifestream. That was too much for Aerith to endure. Not only she was the witness of such horrible murders but also she could hear their souls lamenting their deaths inside her head. For what she could guess from their souls, they were not particularly evil men. Even if they were, they didn't deserve to be mercilessly murdered. That was too painful for Aerith. Some seconds more and another gun crack was heard. Aerith could feel the lament of soul of the third murdered man. The feeling was very painful. The planet would only talk to her on such occasions. The girl was not even thinking about herself anymore, so shocked she was. Though still in danger, she didn't care about her safety anymore. It was like a nightmare. And it should have been a regular night. She should be happy. She had sold all her flowers. She should be in the comfort of his home, dining, chatting with her mom. But she was there, witnessing terrible murders, fearing for her life. That couldn't be true. That couldn't be true. But yes, that was true.
It took some time for her to notice footsteps coming in her direction. The footsteps didn't sound like the ones she had heard before. The person was walking slowly. From what she could guess by the rhythm, the person seemed to be at ease. Could it be the murderer? Could it be possible that he would be so cold-blooded to leave the scene of his murders as if nothing had happened? Could it be that he or she was looking for Aerith? Could it be that Aerith was the next in his list? She started fearing for her life again. She cowered even further behind the trash container, hoping whoever was walking down the streets would not be able to see her. The gunfight didn't last more than a minute, but it could be enough for her to have disappeared. It was her last hope, she had to cling to it. She heard the person pass by the container and for a moment she felt a strong feeling of relief, but then the person stopped and started walking back towards her. She panicked again. She realized the person was directly towards her. She caught a glimpse of the person's legs and it was surely a man, judging by his shoes. The man approached the container and stopped. Aerith couldn't see the man, but she instinctively protected her head with her arms.
"Aerith?"
Aerith was shocked and relieved at the same time. She instantly recognized the deep bass voice as being from Tseng. She was relieved to learn the man meant her no harm, but she was shocked to learn that the cold-blooded murderer was Tseng.
"Tseng?" Her voice was shaken and almost inaudibly.
"Aerith... are you okay?"
"No... not really..." Aerith was still in shock.
"What happened?" Tseng peeked behind the trash container.
"I... hurt my foot... can't walk..." Aerith was still shivering.
"Oh, I see..." Tseng handed the girl's bucket to her. "Can I help you?"
"I... I... Tseng... what have... you done?"
"What?"
"With... those men...?"
"Ah, Aerith, I've just saved your life." Tseng was puzzled by Aerith's reaction.
"Why did... you do that?"
"It was necessary."
"It wasn't!" Aerith was angry. "It wasn't! You know it wasn't!"
"But, Aerith..."
"They were already injured! You had no reasons to murder them mercilessly!"
"Aerith... they were terrorists." Tseng couldn't understand Aerith's irritation.
"That doesn't mean they deserved to be killed. I can hear their lament inside my head."
"But they were evil..."
"They were not! Just because they were from an antagonist group, that doesn't mean they were evil! They were like you! They were just doing their work!"
"But they wanted to do you harm..."
"How can you know that? Did they tell you what they were up to?"
"But they tried to kidnap you..."
"Exactly what you did some days ago!" Aerith crossed her arms, in anger.
"Well, sorry, Aerith, but in war we must take some drastic measures."
"No, Tseng, it is wrong. You shouldn't have killed them."
"If I didn't, they'd come back and kill us."
"There is no excuse for what you have done, Tseng. It is never right to kill anyone. I could understand you if you eventually killed some guy fighting for your life, but I've heard they pleas. I've heard the despair in their voices. No, Tseng, there is no way to justify what you had just done today. I'll never accept any of your excuses. You just did a very bad thing today, Tseng!" Aerith started crying.
"Well, Aerith, we have different views on the subject. I did what I did thinking in your safety. I may be wrong, but I felt it was the right thing to do." Tseng shook his head.
"Oh, Tseng. What you have done is terrible! I don't know how you are able to act as if it was just common business."
"For me it is common business."
"I can't believe it, Tseng! You are not an evil man! No, you can't just do that without feeling remorse. Don't you feel regret for have murdered those men?"
"No." His tone was very cool.
"Tseng! I can't believe that... I can feel their souls crying inside my head... Why have you done it? Why?" Aerith broke down in tears.
"Aerith, come with me. I'll take you home."
"No! No! You monster!"
"Aertih..."
"No, no, no..."
Aerith lost control over herself. She stayed crying for several minutes. Tseng patiently watched the girl. He was feeling sorry for her. He didn't wan't to hurt her. But he needed to do what he had done. It was part of his job. It was important from Shinra. They have sent a message to the anti-Shinra group that they were not fools. They were ready for fighting. More than that, they were sending an important message to the group to not mess with Aerith. That was the most important thing. All in all, he only had done that to protect Aerith.
"Come with me, Aerith. I'll take you home."
"Tseng..." The girls slowly stood up and took her bucket.
"I hope you understand me, Aerith."
"I'm afraid I can't..." Looking down, Aerith followed Tseng.
"We have different views of life, Aerith. It is just that. Different views."
"Just different views? You are crazy, Tseng. You can't reduce your crimes to a mere difference of views."
"Oh, Aerith, let's not start it again."
"Alright, but it is still not right for me, Tseng. I'm still shocked. I don't think I'll ever get over it..."
"Anyway, Aerith... I hope we can still be friends."
"I don't think we can still be friends..."
"Listen, Aerith." Tseng stopped and held Aerith by her arms, staring at her eyes. "No matter what, I'll keep protecting you."
"No, Tseng." Aerith closed her eyes and shook her head. "Don't try to make it look like it was a good thing. You are just protecting me because your damned company has a veiled interest on me. You and the guys you had just killed are the same; you want me just because I'm not a regular girl. Just because I'm the last of my kind. I'm the last of that damned race! I have to carry all the crosses of the whole damned race on my shoulders! I wish I were just a normal girl. But if I knew I'd cause so much nuisance, I'd rather be a stillborn. If I was not a damned Ancient, those three guys would be alive now." Tears started running from Aerith's eyes. "Dead... just because I'm a damned Ancient... How can I live knowing they died... and I am to blame...?"
"Please, Aerith." Tseng hugged the girl. "Don't blame yourself for that."
"How can't I? If I were just a plain girl and not a stupid Ancient, they'd be alive now..."
"But you didn't do anything wrong, Aerith. Don't cry..."
The embrace lasted for some minutes. Tseng was known to be a cold-blooded man and he didn't feel comfortable embracing a crying girl. He had never comforted anyone before and he was annoyed to have to comfort Aerith. But he was more annoyed by the fact that Aerith was suffering a lot, even from things she was not responsible for. He tried to put himself on Aerith's shoes for a moment and it was really hard to be the last Ancient. The thought of Aerith disliking being an Ancient had never crossed his mind before, but now he could see clearly that she hated being and Ancient and why she hated being an Ancient. Though he didn't agree with some of her arguments, he realized that it was not an easy thing to be the last of the Ancients, so maybe he should treat her in a different manner from now on. That meant not looking at her only through Shinra eyes, but through his own human eyes.
Aerith was feeling terrible. Being an Ancient had always been a problem, a source of pain and suffering. First, the terrible Hojo experiments. Then, the creepy Planet speaking on her mind when she didn't need it. Then, the constant Shinra harassment, always with the possibility of falling into Hojo's hands again. Now, this anti-Shinra group and people being killed because of a stupid fight between two antagonist gangster groups, both interested in her with hideous intentions. She really wondered whether it wouldn't be better if she was dead. Or if she was just a common girl. But no, she had to carry all the heritage of her people on her shoulders. And she was just a weak and frail girl, a common young lady, who only longed for a decent job, some friends and eventually to get married and form a family. In other words, living a peaceful and ordinary life. But, as much as she tried to live an ordinary life, it was impossible. There was always someone or something putting itself in her way to happiness. By looking at her, no one could guess she was an Ancient. And no one could ever tell how much she had endured, how many tears she had shed, how much pain she had felt for being just the last of her kind.