I always knew that I would be a pilot. The first time I had seen a plane was with my father out in his fields. I saw something fly low overhead and I panicked. I had never seen anything like it. It was amazing and terrifying all at the same time.

"Papa, wha's that?"

"One of Shinra's airplanes. Now no more lollygagging boy, we gotta get this harvested bafore the first frost sets in."

Father never explained much of anything about flying, but I was obsessed. I would ask for model planes for the holidays, I read everything I could get my hands on about them. It was my dream to one day fly the things that flew so gracefully over our fields.

Papa called it a fools dream, but he would still get me magazines and books if I asked and smile when I would happily run off to our orchard to read them. He always told me that he had dreamt of living the way we did. Living off the land as a farmer. He had always wanted a wife and son to share it with. We were such a happy family, until the day that changed it all.

I was ten years old. We had just spent the past weekend planting what we needed to for the next growing season. I was running home from school, hoping that Papa would have borrowed me another flight manual from the library in the next town over. I came up over our hill and three men in suits were standing next to a helicopter handing my father paperwork. He was so angry he was screaming at them and shaking the papers they handed him. Momma was crying, but none of the men cared.

"You have three days sir."

Was the only thing I heard the man say before he climbed into the cockpit of the chopper. I ran to my family, Momma was still crying and my father was trying to get her to stop. It didn't work well, because he was crying too.

"What's wrong Papa?"

"Those fucking Shinra bastards are taking our land to build a reactor. They are just taking it in three God damn days and moving us near Nibelheim. It took me years to get this land. To find the right fucking spot and now they are stealing it all and moving us into an apartment in Nibelheim."

Momma moved what we could out of the house, but Papa refused to leave. She alone saved our photo albums and the memories we had of that farm. Papa just sat in his favorite chair and swore under his breath about those Shinra bastards.

The third day came and so did Shinra's troops and an entourage of other Shinra employees. Papa put up a great fight, but in the end they simply over ran us and forcibly moved us to the place they had saved for us in Nibelheim.

Nibelheim wasn't too far from our home, but it was just far enough that Papa became home sick. He hit the drink harder than anyone in town and had made a mockery of our name. He became violent, he beat Momma and I, until we were ashamed to show our faces in town. When I was younger I never understood why Papa changed the way he did after the farm was taken. That is until I got much older and knew what it meant to have tasted your dreams and then have them ripped from your fingers.

Papa had no job so that left me to do work around the town to get money for food. Our rent and utilities were paid for through Shinra, such as a shit hole apartment it was, but we still needed to eat and clothes on our backs. So I became a jack-of-all-trades and did whatever people would pay me to do. There was one woman who was always giving me work. She was about the same age as my mother, but she was alone. She had no children and her husband was a Soldier First Class that had died in a terrible accident. She always needed help with something and she always paid really well. She would make me snacks, fresh lemonade, and even make me a hot meal if it carried on over a long period of time.

One day after Papa had been especially vicious, she came out to talk to me while I washed her windows.

"Cid dear, could you come down here?"

I climbed down and she walked me into her kitchen. She asked me to sit and handed me a large plate of cookies. While I ate she left and came back with an ice pack and some salve.

"Oh, Ma'am I'm fine. S'Just cause I got clumsy on a job and-"

"Cid. Don't you lie to me. Now see here, I have heard about your family and what your father does. No child should ever have to live like that. What does your mother do about it?"

"Nothing. Or he hits her too." I said, trying to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks.

She gave me a hug and bandaged me up, "Now you see here. I am going to head to the store. I will be right back. If you would please finish the windows once you have eaten and then wait for me, that would be marvelous."

I nodded and continued to eat, grateful that she had given up on talking to me about my father.

She returned with several bags of stuff, just as I was finishing the last window.

"Oh, Cid they look beautiful! Come on down!"

I happily climbed down and walked into her parlor where she sat drinking Earl Grey tea.

"Cid. I need to talk to you about something very important. Would you please take a seat?"

I sat in the chair next to hers and she gave me a happy smile.

"Cid what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"I want to be a pilot."

"That is very ambitious of you, but you know Shinra requires a diploma to do that. Are you getting good grades in school?"

"I ain't going to school. I need to work so that Momma, Papa, and I can have food to eat."

She nodded and carefully took a drink from her teacup.

"Well, if you aren't going to school, you won't have a chance to make it into the Shinra flight program."

I felt my heart sink. Flying was my dream, but I needed to eat and Momma needed to eat.

"Cid, do you think your Momma loves you?"

"Yes, my Momma loves me very much. She tells me every night."

"If your life was in danger, do you think that your Momma would do anything she could to save it?"

"Yes, that's why she tries to get Papa to hit her instead of me."

"If your Momma could get into Academy private schools, do you think that she would?"

"Yes, she tells me she wants the best for me."

She smiled and set her tea down, "If you could get out of your house and know your mother was safe, would you do it?"

"If I knew she wasn't going to be hurt anymore and that we could live on our own. Yes I would, but Papa's the one whose name's on the paper so that we can stay in our apartment. We can't afford to move out."

"What if your Momma went to live with your Grandmother?"

"Gramma dun like me. She says I am like my good for nothing father, so she wouldn't take me in."

"Well, what if you had another place to stay?"

"Who would want a kid like me? I can't do nuthin' right."

"Cid, I would want a kid like you. I always wanted a son, but my husband died before we could ever have any children. Cid I would have done anything to have had a son that was like you and wanted to be a pilot. You are kind and generous boy. Your mother is very lucky to have had you." She got up and walked to where I sat, "Cid, I spoke to your mother today. She knows that you two are miserable and that in this world you two can't make it on your own. To save you both from your father, she has given me the okay to let you live here. I can't adopt you, but she said she will sign guardianship papers so that I can enroll you in Academy. I am willing to have you live here Cid, but I won't force you. If you want to still live with your parents, you are more than welcome to and I will still hire you for odd jobs. However, if you want I will do everything I can so that you will be a pilot and that one day you will fly what ever you can think of. What do you say, Cid? Do you want to live here?"

My entire world had been turned upside down. I was being offered a new lease on life, but the nicest woman in the world. She looked at me, so patiently, so hopeful.

"Will I still get to see Momma?"

"Yes, of course! I'm not stealing you away forever. You can see her whenever you want!"

"And she'll go to Gramma's?"

"Yes. I can arrange to have everything moved for her."

I looked at her hopeful face; she honestly wanted to help me. She was going to give me everything I had ever dreamed of, simply because she could.

"I would love to. Thank you."

I gave her a hug and she hugged me back.

"What do you want me to call you? I already have a Momma. What do you want me to call you Ma'am?"

"How about Aunt Mabel?"

She was my Aunt Mabel and I vowed to do everything I could to make her proud.

~Here it is chapter 18. I hope you all liked it! Thank you to trabeck, fetherhd, and Namantos for the amazing reviews. I love hearing from all of you, so please always feel free to review! ~CR