Title: Scars of Friendship
Chapter: 3/50
Comments: Thank you for your response! I wonder if many of you have picked up on certain things yet?
Chapter Three:
Twenty-Three Tiny Wishes
Aerith had been unable to feel Zack for over five years. The presence that the Planet would so readily show her before had disappeared, lost in the ether of the Lifestream. Sometimes, late at night when the louts were aiming firecrackers at the windows of her house or the Turks were being particularly forceful, Aerith would try to follow that link that no longer existed.
And always the Planet gently moved her away.
Until recently it had done that with Cloud too. Wherever Cloud had been he'd been considered worse than dead to the Planet and Aerith was glad to have been shielded, even if only a little. Meeting Cloud again, feeling the roiling mess that he'd become, Aerith wasn't sure if she wanted Zack to be alive or dead.
When something came hurtling through the roof of the Church, Aerith had been struck by deja-vu almost immediately. When she saw who it was she became even more unsettled. She'd avoided any further contact with Cloud since he had returned from wherever he'd been. Watching him impersonate Zack was almost too much to bear. To have fate throw him through the roof of her Church as well...
She knelt down at his side and smoothed the blond hair away from his face.
"...Cloud?"
*
Cloud felt like he was floating. There was nothing around him. He then felt something light brush across his face. He opened his eyes. Through the darkness there was a ghostly figure.
"...You all right? Can you hear me?" the figure asked. Cloud squinted. He could make out glowing blue eyes and dark hair. The face was moving in and out of focus though.
"Yeah..." Cloud replied, trying to figure out who this person was. He seemed familiar somehow.
"Back then, you could get by with just skinned knees..." The man smiled and tapped Cloud on the nose.
"What do you mean by 'back then'?" Cloud questioned. The man's eyes shadowed and he looked like he wanted to ask more questions. Instead he seemed to look beyond Cloud and then shake his head.
"What about now? Can you get up?" he asked, standing and offering a hand down to Cloud. Cloud didn't take it though, remaining on his back staring up at the man's face who seemed so familiar...
"What do you mean about 'that time'? What about now?" he asked persistently. The man smiled and shook his head once more, offering his hand again.
"Don't worry about me. You just worry about yourself for now," he insisted. Cloud frowned.
"I'll give it a try," he said and took the offered hand before jerking into consciousness once more. In his ears echoed the words.
"Take it slow now... Little by little..."
*
He could smell flowers.
Cloud blinked up at the girl who was leaning over him. He blushed when he realised that his eye line was straight at her cleavage and looked up to her face. He blinked when he realised that it was the girl from the flower market.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You fell through the roof of the Church. We're in Sector Five's slums. You gave me quite a scare, you know."
Cloud sat up and put his hand to his head, trying to ignore the pain he felt. Everything ached as the mako had forced it to heal too fast. His head felt like it had cracked open like an egg and knitted back together just as quickly.
"I came... crashing down?" he asked, looking up at the mostly missing ceiling of the church. There were numerous holes in it.
"The flowers broke your fall," she replied. Cloud looked back down and realised that had been the unique scent. He brushed a finger against a flower petal.
"The flower bed... is it yours?" he asked. He felt a twinge of something in his chest, something that made his stomach flip unpleasantly. He turned his gaze away from the flowers and back to the girl, disturbed when the feeling only increased. "Sorry about falling on them."
"It's okay. The flowers here are quite resilient. This is a sacred place, after all. There's no natural light in Midgar, so it shouldn't be possible to grow flowers or grass. Yet here they grow so strong. That's why I love it here," she said, getting to her feet and offering him a hand. Cloud hesitantly took it, being careful with his grip so he wouldn't hurt her as she pulled him to his feet.
"You look confused. Don't you remember me?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a little. Cloud wondered how best to answer. He stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, I remember you," he said. He saw her eyes light up with something and a smile tug half-heartedly at the corner of her mouth.
"You were selling flowers," he said. Her smile faltered for a moment, then returned, seeming happier than ever.
"You were in quite a daze. I'm glad you remembered me... even a little," she said. Cloud began to get the strange sense that he was supposed to have met this woman before but when he tried to remember her things went hazy. He chalked it down to her having helped him when he first came to Midgar. It had to be that.
"My name's Aerith," she offered. Cloud felt another wave of recognition wash over him but he ignored it, instead holding out his hand for her to shake. She accepted it.
"Cloud," he replied. "I'm a mercenary."
"Oh, I see," Aerith said and brushed some soil off her dress. "What kind of mercenary work do you do?"
"A bit of this, a bit of that," Cloud said with a shrug. "I don't tend to stick to one thing alone..."
Aerith nodded and began to pick dirt out from under her nails. "Say, Cloud... Would you mind staying here and talking to me for a bit? The sound of your voice it's... comforting."
Cloud nodded. He realised that he didn't want to leave her alone either.
*
"Get your hands off me you big oaf!" Herta snarled, struggling against the MPs that were dragging her out of the house. Anabel was anxiously stood to one side, her eyes wide and a handkerchief grasped tightly in her hand as she watched. Herta couldn't blame her. The woman was terrified of Shinra.
"Gentlemen, a little decorum with the lady if you please."
Herta looked up to see Rufus walking towards them. The street outside was deserted apart from Shinra personnel. There were some soldiers in high visibility jackets who were waving glow sticks around.
"What's going on Rufus?" she asked as the MPs let go of her. Rufus came to a stop beside her, scanning the sky.
"The President wants to see you," he said, sounding faintly annoyed. Herta's hands clenched into fists.
"Why?" she asked. Rufus shook his head.
"I don't know. I can't imagine it will be a pleasant call though. I hear he's coming to Junon for tonight only and tomorrow morning he's flying back first thing to Midgar. It seems a rather ridiculous journey if he's just come to check you're still in captivity," Rufus surmised. Herta saw his blue eyes narrow as they caught the red lights of the helicopter. Soon the sound of the propellers could be clearly heard over the sound of the sea.
"Will it be the first time you've seen him since you woke up?" she asked. Rufus nodded once.
With nothing left to say, Herta pulled her shawl tightly around her. Her eyes followed Rufus' gaze to the helicopter. She knew the reason the President was here. He could have ignored her existence if she hadn't woken Rufus, but now she knew that Rupert would want some kind of revenge.
She looked away as the helicopter came down to ground and her hair whipped out of the tight bun that she'd placed it in. Random wisps of hair hung down around her neck and by her face as she turned back, tilting her chin up defiantly.
President Shinra stepped from the helicopter and met her eyes straight away. He was smiling and Herta felt her mind go back to all those years ago when she'd first known him. He'd been handsome, suave and thin then. Now he was fat, he'd grown facial hair and taken to wearing gaudy suits.
The man that Herta remembered had looked much more like Rufus.
"Mrs. Strife," the President greeted her. He held out his hand but Herta refused to take it.
"You know as well as anyone alive that I was never married," she replied. Rupert seemed to become more and more amused by that.
"Indeed," he said and then turned to Rufus. He didn't offer his eldest son his hand and Herta was struck by the callousness of this man all over again.
"Why are you here, Rupert?" she snarled, ignoring Rufus' surprised look at her casual use of his father's name. Rupert shook his head.
"I'm here to review some information on the Junon Cannon. Seeing you was just an extra bonus, my dear," he said. Herta wanted to punch him.
"Unless you've come to tell me that Shinra has brought my son back to life as well as falsely rebuilt my town, I don't want to see you Rupert," she hissed. Rupert's smile widened.
"Oh my dear, such venom. I forgot what a temper you had on you," he reached forward as though to touch her face. Rufus' hand snaked forward though and grabbed his father's wrist. For a moment father and son seemed to have a battle of wills until Rupert backed off.
"Goodnight, Rupert," Herta said and turned back towards her house. She heard Rufus bid his father goodnight before he followed her inside.
"Just what game are you playing, Herta?" he demanded once they were inside and the door was shut. Herta sighed and removed her shawl.
"The only one I can."
*
Reno walked into the Church with a hint of remorse. He knew the message he had to pass on. He wasn't going to like it. He would have rather not told Aerith anything at all rather than lie to her, but Tseng had insisted.
Zack's message had to be passed on. Aerith couldn't continue to wait for him to come back to Midgar.
He saw her in the flower beds and shouldered his baton, prepared to just get it over with. When she turned, however, he saw that she wasn't alone. With dawning realisation Reno realised who he was seeing. Cloud Strife had made it to Midgar?!
Sensing him as a threat, Cloud moved towards him. Reno realised the light behind his head must have been obscuring his face so he moved closer as well.
"Yo, Cloud. Hey, Sis. Long time no see," he greeted, raising his baton in salute. The blond just continued to look at him.
"You're not holding it against me, are ya buddy? I honestly didn't know Hojo was involved in all this-" Reno noticed that Cloud's eyes were still mostly blank. "Er... Cloud?"
"This is really bad timing..." Aerith muttered. He looked at her, blinking when he saw the calculating look in her eyes.
"What's-"
"Say, Cloud? Have you ever been a bodyguard?" she interrupted him. Cloud was still staring Reno down and the Turk wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve such hostile treatment. Not unless Cloud knew about Reno's involvement in Nibelheim... but that was impossible, wasn't it? Not even Zack had known the true depths of Reno's involvement in the Company.
"Yeah," Cloud replied, his eyes not leaving Reno for a second.
"Toots, what's goin' on here?" he asked. Aerith shook her head firmly.
"Get me out of here. Take me home," she said, putting her hand on Cloud's bicep. Reno felt he'd flipped into a parallel universe when Cloud seemed to lean into that touch a little. What the fuck? Is this really Strife?
"It'll cost you," Cloud replied. Aerith's smile was slightly forced and Reno looked between the two of them. He could see the mako burning in Cloud's eyes and he didn't particularly want to get the shit kicked out of him. If Hojo had made Cloud even half as strong as Zack had been in the end, there was no way that Reno could fight his way past him to pass on his message.
"One date," Aerith said. Reno's hand clenched around his baton. Oh would Zack have been pissed.
"What the fuck are you playing at, Sis?" he demanded, pointing his baton towards Aerith. Cloud stepped immediately in front of her, his gaze hardening.
"I don't know who you are but-" he began.
"You don't know who I am?" Reno spluttered. Seriously, Strife, NO ONE forgets Reno. Cloud seemed about to say something more but then his hand went to his head and he began to tremble. His eyes went out of focus. Reno looked over his shoulder at Aerith and the other mouthed 'sorry' at him. He looked back at Cloud.
"You're really ill, aren't ya buddy...?" Reno mumbled to himself. Cloud was completely out of it. He was making small gasps of pain as he clutched his head.
"I know you," Cloud said suddenly. Reno immediately took a step back, narrowly missing a punch that would likely have cracked his skull. "That uniform..."
Reno cursed and hit the switch on his baton. A high-pitched whining sound came to his ears and the unique smell of burning ozone drafted through the church. There was no way in hell that he was going down without a fight.
"What the fuck happened to him, Sis?" Reno yelled as he quickly side-stepped another blow. He caught Cloud with his baton but despite briefly twitching where he stood, it had no other effect on the man.
"Shut up you Shinra spy!" Cloud replied. Reno scowled. This is a parallel universe. I'm pretty sure if I walk out of this Church I'm going to find a Midgar that's brimming with daisies and chocobos and that Rufus has turned into a Moogle dictator or something...
"Shit, Strife, I don't want to fight you," Reno did his best to continue to dodge the blows but eventually he felt his back foot hitting against one of the pews. Distracted by the lack of space he caught a blow to the side of the head that send him sprawling across the floor, coming to rest at Aerith's feet in front of the flowerbed.
"Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!" Well, gee, thanks Aerith. The flowers must be so much more important than stopping a psychotic ex-Turk from committing homicide.
He heard the sound of Strife's boots against the planks and tensed, preparing for whatever else the man decided to dish out. He opened his eyes to see the boots directly in front of his face. I really don't need a boot to the head, Strife. I'm fucked up enough already without more brain damage...
"Cloud!" Aerith called. Strife's boots turned and walked towards the back door of the Church. Reno let his eyes close as he heard two sets of footsteps retreating behind him. Eventually there was silence, with the odd creak of the roof or a floorboard the only sound besides his breathing.
"They were... mako eyes... Zack, why the fuck did you ask me to keep Cloud's survival a freakin' secret?" he bitched, pushing himself up wearily and switching his baton off to save the battery. He ran a hand over his face.
"How the fuck do I keep this a secret from Rufus anyway? This is ridiculous man. This is fucked up. Everything's so god-damn fucked up..." he dragged himself to his feet and stood for a moment, his back to the flowers.
"I tried to pass on your message, yo. Guess that someone up there just doesn't want her to hear it right now."
*
Cloud crouched on the roof feeling a little strange. Fighting that Turk had been odd. Like fighting a brother or something. Cloud found it difficult to explain why he hadn't just finished him off, despite Aerith's urging that they get moving. He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.
Aerith was crouched on the roof looking glum. Her green eyes were downcast and she had her arms wrapped around her knees tightly. Her skirt was tucked tightly round her thighs so Cloud couldn't see her panties, not that he was particularly keen to at the moment. He heard the Turk swearing as he left the Church and the sound of a motorcycle starting up.
"I guess they're looking for me again," Aerith commented, getting to her feet. The air of Midgar was stagnant and no breeze ruffled her hair as she stood on the roof, watching the red-haired Turk disappear into the Slum.
"You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?" Cloud asked, getting to his feet as well. Aerith turned to him and shook her head, folding her arms in front of her chest defensively.
"They're the Turks," Cloud pressed. Aerith made a non-committal noise. Cloud began to grow agitated by her determination not to tell him anything.
"The Turks are a Shinra organisation. They scout for SOLDIER candidates," he continued, watching her face for any reaction. At the word SOLDIER her eyes widened minutely, but she didn't look at him or flinch away.
"This violently? I thought they were looking for someone," she replied. Cloud frowned. Hadn't she just suggested that they were probably looking for her? Who did she think the Turks were really after?
"They're involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder, that kind of stuff," he continued. Aerith did flinch then and Cloud wondered why. Was she involved with the Turks somehow? But how? What could they possibly want with her?
"Why are they after you? Must be a reason right?" he asked. Aerith turned to face him, a smile on her face. All traces of her previous reservedness gone.
"Maybe they want me to be a SOLDIER?" she said brightly. Cloud scowled.
"The SOLDIER programme apparently stopped years ago," he replied. Aerith's smile fell a little.
"I know," she said. "I know that there aren't SOLDIERs anymore. Shinra killed them all. Wiped them all off the face of the Planet. They didn't need them anymore, did they?" Her hands were shaking and Cloud watched as she dug her hand into her pocket and drew out a grubby ribbon. It was obviously well used. It was almost identical in colour to the one in her hair, but Cloud could tell there was something special about this one.
"I don't know. I wasn't a SOLDIER during that period," Cloud replied. Aerith wrapped the ribbon slowly around her hand, the satin lying against her fingers.
"AVALANCHE, Shinra, Wutai... They're all as bad as each other. Fighting, fighting, fighting until the Planet screams from its very core," she pocketed the ribbon again and turned to Cloud, a bitter smile on her face.
"Shall we?" she asked. He remained frozen for a moment, wondering what she knew about AVALANCHE, whether she knew that he'd been a member of two of the organisations she hated so much. She jumped down from the roof onto the iron roof of the slum house next to them. Dumbly he followed.
As they moved across the rooftops Aerith grew more and more out of breath. Cloud ignored it at first, his mind still trying to puzzle out what the hell was going on with the girl, but eventually he heard her calling him to stop.
She bent over, breathing hard. He watched her for a few moments before turning away to scan the area to make sure they weren't being followed. He saw her straighten in his peripheral vision.
"Hey Cloud...?" she began but Cloud shook his head and began moving again.
Something just wasn't quite right with this girl...
*
Cloud really didn't know what to make of Aerith's house. It all at once felt comforting and disconcerting. It was almost like the flowers were watching him constantly, trying to gauge his intentions. That and Aerith's mother was looking at him like she'd seen a ghost.
"This is Cloud, my bodyguard. Cloud, this is Elmyra, my mom," Aerith introduced him. Cloud raised his hand to say hi but Elmyra turned away from him.
"Bodyguard?" Elmyra questioned and Cloud noticed a look pass between them. "What are you talking about? Isn't he-"
"Mom, he's not, okay?" Aerith interrupted. Cloud folded his arms over his chest and watched the scene unfold. He didn't know what Aerith was mixed up in, but he had enough on his plate without taking on the girl's troubles as well.
"Have you asked him about Zack?" Elmyra demanded. Cloud frowned. Who was Zack? People would mention him and go quiet in his presence. Was he meant to know him? It was getting annoying how everyone seemed obsessed with this other guy.
"Mom, just leave it, please?" Aerith begged, turning away. She began to unlace her boots. Elmyra gave her a look that could only be described as pitying as she turned away.
"You're going to have to face it sooner or later," she warned. Aerith's fingers froze against the laces of her boots but she didn't look up. Elmyra sighed and turned to Cloud.
"Thank you for walking Aerith home," she said, somewhat stiffly. She then took one long look at her daughter and walked upstairs. They were both silent for a few moments.
"Who's Zack?" Cloud asked, deciding to break the silence. Aerith pulled off her boots and Cloud watched as she wriggled her toes and went to put them by the door with a sigh.
"What are you going to do now?" she asked. Cloud dropped his arms. He guessed he probably shouldn't pry if she didn't want him to. Besides, he guessed that this Zack character probably had something to do with the Turks being interested in her.
"I've got to get back to Sector 7. Tifa owns a bar there and I need to tell her I'm okay," he said. Aerith smiled and took a few steps towards him.
"How is Tifa anyway?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I only know her vaguely but she seemed a nice enough girl. She's your childhood friend, right?"
Cloud nodded. He wondered how Tifa and Aerith had managed to meet in a city the size of Midgar, but knew that was probably yet another question Aerith wouldn't answer. She sure was a mysterious woman. He sat down at the dining table.
"She's doing good. She got bored of bar work pretty quickly though. She's been helping me out," he said. He purposefully didn't mention AVALANCHE. It wasn't his place to out AVALANCHE members, particularly to someone who might rat them out to the Turks.
"She was very concerned about you," Aerith said, sitting down opposite him. Cloud didn't know what to reply to that. He knew he was meant to be happy about it, but he just felt a little embarrassed.
"Well, anyway, it's good she's doing okay," Aerith said. They lapsed into silence again. Cloud heard Elmyra walking about upstairs. The house was probably as old as the church, although in much better state of repair. The floorboards upstairs creaked in the same way the church's did.
"I can show you the way to Sector 7 if you like," Aerith offered. Cloud realised his eyes had closed as he listened to the sound of the floorboards and he opened them again, fixing Aerith with his gaze.
"You've got to be kidding. You're being followed by the Turks. Why would you put yourself in danger again?" Cloud asked. Aerith's eyes became distant.
"I'm used to it," she replied and Cloud leaned forward.
"Used to it how?" he demanded. Aerith shook her head and made to stand up. Cloud caught her wrist. She winced and he loosened his grip a little.
"Why are the Turks interested in you?" he asked firmly. Aerith shook her head again and Cloud could see something akin to fear in her eyes. He let go of her wrist and she brought it up to her chest, rubbing it.
"I'll take you there," she said. Feeling guilty for hurting her, even if only by accident, Cloud nodded. He put his head in his hands.
"I heard raised voices. Is everything all right down here?" Elmyra was walking down the stairs, in her hands were dirty bedsheets. Aerith dropped her hands immediately and plastered a fake smile on her face. Cloud took his head out of his hands and tried to look smart.
"I'm taking Cloud over to Sector 7," Aerith said. Elmyra shook her head.
"You might not realise it but it's after nine. You should go tomorrow now," she said, dumping the bed linen in the washing machine. Cloud looked down at the table. Would a few hours rest really make all the difference?
"I made the bed already," she said. Cloud blinked and Aerith turned bright pink. "He's going to sleep in the spare bedroom. Aerith, can you move all your things out of there? The old flower cart blocks the door."
Aerith quickly went upstairs to move whatever it was that was in the way and Cloud found himself face-to-face with Elmyra. She was watching him with a careful expression on her face.
"I don't mean to be rude Cloud but... Could you leave tonight? Without telling Aerith?" she asked. Cloud stood up and tucked the chair in.
"I... Yes I can but why?" he asked. Elmyra's mouth thinned.
"You bring up bad memories for all of us. Please just do as I ask."
Cloud was even more confused, but he nodded anyway.
*
Aerith saw Cloud to his room and then went downstairs to talk to her mother. Elmyra had been shooting Cloud distrustful looks throughout dinner and Aerith was pretty sure that her mother had been at the end of her patience. She was going to ask Cloud why he didn't remember her. She was going to ask Cloud why he thought he was Zack and Cloud would give her that blank look and get kicked out and-
"Are you okay, Aerith?" Cloud had interrupted her. She'd been forced to nod and Cloud had allowed himself to be shooed upstairs out of the way. Aerith was glad that he went without a fuss and felt his spirit quieten as he began to drift off to sleep. She rested her hand against the door for a brief moment before walking downstairs.
Elmyra had her hands on her hips, her mouth pressed into a thin line. Aerith felt the urge to apologise, but stopped herself. It wasn't her fault that there was something wrong with Cloud. It wasn't her fault that Zack had never come back – or at least that's what she told herself in her stronger moments. Sometimes she did wonder if Zack had run away because she'd been too clingy or come on too strong for the SOLDIER.
"Just what is wrong with him?" Elmyra demanded. Aerith rubbed the back of her neck, a trait she'd picked up from Zack and never really lost.
"I don't really know. He... He went missing with Zack. Only he returned to Midgar about a month ago... You remember that night that Elfé rang here asking me to heal someone and I said that it had been impossible to heal that person?" she paused, waiting for the light of recognition in Elmyra's eyes. "That was Cloud."
"Whatever I did, I couldn't heal him. He was so severely mako poisoned that it was impossible to repair the damage. The mako just repelled every effort I made," Aerith slumped into a seat at the table and put her head in her hands.
"And then he woke up. He was... He thinks he's Zack. I don't know what happened to them both, but Cloud definitely thinks he is Zack," she said. Elmyra's gaze softened a little.
"He isn't Zack," she said softly. Aerith gave her a bitter smile.
"I know he's not. I just... I want to protect something that I'm sure Zack cared a lot about," she replied. Elmyra patted her hand gently and began to turn off the kitchen appliances.
"I don't know about you, but I'm tired. Let's go to bed, sweetheart. We'll talk more about Cloud's problems in the morning."
*
Cloud was dreaming. He was certain he was dreaming because there was that man again. His blue eyes shone out of the darkness like beacons.
"You seem pretty tired..." the man said. He smoothed Cloud's hair away from his face gently. Cloud made an alarmed noise in the back of his throat and jerked away. The man withdrew his hand, smiling sadly.
"You know... I haven't slept in a bed like this for a long time... You're at Aerith's yeah?" he asked, and seemed to be looking around. "There's something homely about it. Like your Ma's house."
Cloud saw his mother's house materialising around them. The dark-haired man had his hands in his pockets as he moved around the room, Cloud's room, and sat on the bed as though he owned it. Cloud took a step towards him but he stopped when he saw his mother enter the room. A group of shadowed people came to the door.
"Sorry-!" There was a noise like rushing wind and Cloud's vision went white for a moment. "And you're all smart too!" she said, grabbing hold of a dog's collar. Cloud went to sit by the dark-haired man, who was watching the shadow-people walk into the house.
"Come in, come in. Introductions can be done inside I'm sure..."
Cloud blinked as his mother was suddenly in a different part of the house. "So you're the one who abducted my baby and kept him in Midgar instead of settling down here and making his ma proud!"
"I never brought anyone home with me," Cloud said, frowning. His dark-haired friend just smiled.
"Don't remember huh?" he said enigmatically. Cloud turned to him and almost missed his mother's next words.
"So... tell me about what you've been getting up to in Midgar. Nothing of the sanitised crap I get in my letters mind you. I'm not stupid enough to think that you haven't sampled at least some of the vices a city like that has to offer. In fact, if you haven't I might have to disown you," she said, waving a cooking spoon at them. Cloud just stared at the scene before it began to dissolve in front of his eyes, the shadow people first, then his dark-haired friend, who waved goodbye sadly, and finally his surroundings.
He woke up with a start, sitting up and clutching his head that was throbbing. He hadn't meant to fall asleep and he got to his feet. There was no sun or moon to gauge the time by, but Aerith's beside clock said it was 4:47am. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Sector 7 is past Sector 6... I should be all right on my own," he said, even though his muscles ached with weariness. He sneaked down the corridor, being careful not to set off the floorboards and crept down the stairs. As he left the house he grimaced as he had to almost slam the door to get the latch to catch.
He made his way through the Slums, keeping his hands free at all times ready to grasp the Buster Sword. He carefully avoided the drunk and the mako-high and felt very accomplished until he got to the hole in the wall to Sector 6 and saw Aerith there, checking her nails.
"You're up bright and early," she said. Cloud growled under his throat. He hadn't wanted to bring Aerith with him. She unnerved him.
"I didn't want to trouble you," he lied. Aerith just smiled at him and went back to inspecting her nails.
"I'll be no trouble. I'm tougher than I look," she replied with a smile that looked too old for her face. "You have to go through Sector 6 to get to Seventh Heaven. I'll go with you. It's been a while since I saw Tifa and the others," she said, dropping her hand and walking confidently through the hole. Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"This isn't going to plan."
*
Cloud stopped at the playground and stared at the weirdly designed slide. It looked like an overweight moogle had been smooshed into the ground. He turned to Aerith to see she had a rather nostalgic look on her face. It must have been her childhood playground.
"I guess this is goodbye," Cloud said, trying not to sound too happy about it. Aerith's eyes crinkled at the corners.
"I was planning to go in with you," she said. Cloud shook his head.
"It's dangerous right now," he said softly. "Some... things have happened. It would be best if you didn't associate with any of us for a while. Until things quieten down."
"You mean with AVALANCHE?" she asked. Cloud decided not to answer. She seemed to accept this and climbed up the slide, sitting on top of it and drawing her knees up to her chest.
"I can't believe that this is still here," she said wistfully, resting her palm against the dirty plastic. Cloud looked at it. It sure was ugly. Someone had drawn a cock on the side of it. It was obviously the drawing of someone who didn't understand what a real erection looked like though. Cloud looked away.
"My first boyfriend was a SOLDIER. His name was Zack," she said softly. Cloud's ear's pricked up at that. This Zack... He was a SOLDIER. "Did you know him?"
Cloud scowled, trying to dredge up a face from his memory. Nothing came. Not even a flicker of recognition. "SOLDIER is a pretty small group but... I don't know him."
Aerith was smiling and she looked up at the Plate. "No. I guess you don't."
Cloud didn't know what that was supposed to mean. He looked up at her, trying to work out her expression, but realised it was too complex. She was too complex. He didn't understand her. She seemed to know more than she could express and she didn't seem to want to even try.
The gate to Sector 7 opened and Aerith's attention was stolen by the wark of a chocobo. Cloud allowed his gaze to wander towards the gate and he stared. A chocobo and cart was being pulled through the gate, but on the back of it, dressed in a gaudy purple minidress, was Tifa.
"Tifa?!" he took a few steps away from the slide, his arms hanging limply by his sides. The cart turned the corner and went out of sight amidst the junk.
"She looked upset about something," Aerith said, sliding down from the top of the squashed moogle thing. She stared at the space where the cart had disappeared for a moment before turning to Cloud.
"Let's go," she said, starting to run towards where the cart had disappeared. Cloud followed her.
"Are you sure? I can take you home first-" he began. Aerith scowled at him over her shoulder.
"I'm coming with you, Cloud. I might be only a girl, but I can still help," she said firmly. Cloud looked into her fierce eyes and nodded. Aerith smiled and looked back to where she was going.
"This way is the direction of Wall Market. Let's go!"
*
Reeve stared at the CCTV footage. One minute it was fine, the next minute it was overtaken by static and then went completely black. After a few moments it returned to normal.
"What do you think it is sir?" the guard in charge of the Shinra Sector 5 CCTV rooms asked.
Reeve had no answer to give him.