Cloud stood, guarding Aerith as he spoke to the red haired man. "Look, I don't know who you are, but…" Out of nowhere, Cloud felt a stab of pain in his head and a white noise drifted through his ears. He suddenly knew who the red haired man was; "…I…do know you. Your uniform…"

Three soldiers ran into the church and readied themselves for battle. Cloud's eyes widened when he saw the Shinra soldiers. He mentally kicked himself for dragging them to Aerith's church. They wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. He must have been seen by someone. Cloud muttered under his breath; "They've found me!" but at the same time he spoke he heard Aerith exclaim frantically; "They've found me!"

Cloud turned to look at Aerith, curiously shocked at what she had said. They locked eye contact and he saw that Aerith's face looked just as shocked at what he said as he was towards her. In unison, the bodyguard and the flower girl both shouted in half belief; "They're after you?" Neither understood why the other would be chased by Shinra.

The red haired man lifted his hand to gesture to Cloud; "…This one's pretty weird." then one of the soldiers spoke; "Reno! Want him taken out?"

Reno examined Cloud; "I haven't decided yet."

Realizing her flowers could be destroyed; Aerith ran to the back exit of the church; "Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!" Her shout caused Cloud to look at her. Her eyes seemed to beg him not to fight here. Cloud couldn't say no.

Cloud sighed and followed Aerith to the back of the church. Once in the back area, Cloud saw that it was three floors high. A large Shinra missile was crashed into the center of the building, leaving gaping holes on the roof and floorboards. Cloud spotted a staircase leading to the roof; he quickly took Aerith's arm and climbed it until a break in the walkway stopped them.

Just then, Reno and his small group of Soldiers ran in; "There they are, up there!"

Cloud pulled Aerith down low, dodging some bullets zipping past their bodies; "Looks like they aren't going to let us go."

"What should we do, then?"

"We can't let them catch us, can we? That leaves one thing."

Quickly, Cloud jumped across the large gap in the floor and motioned for Aerith to follow; "Aerith! This way!"

The flower girl looked down through the hole, it was so high up, there's no way she could jump and make it. She shook her head, fear in her eyes. Cloud sighed but understood, "She probably couldn't make the jump anyway…"

"The ancient is getting away!" called a soldier.

"…Ancient?" Cloud repeated. Did they just call her an Ancient? Hearing some more bullets ring through the air, Cloud pushed the thought aside, and dealt with their situation at hand.

"Okay, look, I'll hold them off. Just stay low so they can't shoot at y—" Cloud was interrupted as Reno ordered his men to shoot towards Aerith. She dived to the floor, dodging the bullets. Cloud was relieved for a moment when he saw that she didn't get shot but fear washed over him as he saw that she missed the floor when she dove down. Without even thinking about it, Cloud quickly outstretched his hand to grab her but she was out of reach;

"Aerith!" Cloud screamed, his lungs shouting louder than ever before.

Cloud watched in shock as he saw Aerith crash to the floor and not move. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a soldier moving closer to her; "Come on, get up!" he pleaded to himself. A few seconds went by but it felt like years to Cloud as he waited on edge for her to sit up and show him she was okay. Suddenly, he saw Aerith slowly sit up, her hand on her side; "She's okay…" a wave of relief washed over Cloud.

"Cloud, help!" Aerith's voice was hoarse as she called out for her bodyguard to help her. Cloud was happy to see her okay but he couldn't exactly jump to her defense from way up here; "Damn!"

Cloud frantically looked around. Above him were rafters with four big barrels. "Perfect!" Without hesitation, he climbed up to the rafters and just as a guard was closing in around Aerith, Cloud shoved the barrel off; toppling the soldier to the floor.

Aerith stood and ran with a limp to the stair case but another man was heading after her. Cloud quickly ran to another barrel and tossed it over the side, knocking the soldier down the stairs. He could hear Aerith shout; "Sorry!" as the man rolled down the stairs.

"…She's actually apologizing to them? They're trying to kill her?"

Despite the hectic situation Cloud felt the urge to smile at her, but he brushed away the thoughts and stayed serious. A few seconds passed and she made it back to the edge of the gap and was nearly shot at. Cloud was luckily near a last barrel. He kicked the barrel down, watching it fall on top of the soldier, knocking the machine gun out of the soldier's hands, saving Aerith from the shots. The flower girl stepped back, readying herself to jump over the hole; "There's no way she can make that…"

Just as Aerith was about to make her leap, Cloud knelt on the rafters above her and outstretched his hands towards Aerith, "Up here!" Cloud shouted, gaining her attention.

"Gimme your hand." the blonde shouted again. Aerith hesitated and looked at Cloud's hand. Unsure why, Cloud detected the girl was either unsure of him or just afraid.

"You don't have to fear me," Cloud murmured firmly, trying to convince her to take his hand. Aerith's gaze locked with Cloud for a brief moment, and she saw honesty in his eyes. Suddenly, Cloud heard Reno shouting for his soldiers to get up and hurry after Aerith and he knew they couldn't waste any longer. "Aerith, take my hand!"

Aerith reached for Cloud's hand just as a bullet zipped past her body and Cloud snatched her hand in his own, getting a firm grip around her wrist and hand as he used his strength to lift her up towards him. Lucky for him, Aerith didn't weigh more than 115 pounds and lifting her delicate frame was more than easy. It took no more than a few seconds for Cloud to pull her to safety. Not wasting a moment's time, he took her hand in his own and lifted her to her feet and hurried to the top of the church through the gaping hole in the roof.

Once in safety, Cloud heard Aerith speak through broken breaths. "Ha, ha… they're after me again."

"…after you? This isn't the first time they've chased you like this?"

"…No."

Cloud felt his mouth go agape as he watched the dainty flower girl act as if this was nothing strange. "You do know who that was right? He was a part of the Turks."

Aerith playfully tapped her finger against her chin as if she was thinking; "Hmmm…"

"What do you mean 'hmm'? They're an organization from Shinra and you're only reaction is 'hmm'?"

"This violently? I was sure they were kidnapping someone…"

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck and sighed; "Well, they also do a lot of dirty and dangerous shit on the side. Spying, kidnapping, murder…"

She wrapped her hands around herself; "They definitely look like it, that's for sure."

"But—why are they after you?"

"I'm not sure… I think they probably think I have what it takes to be in Soldier." Aerith couldn't help but giggle at her claim.

"Someone like her? Yeah, right…"

"Well, do you want to join?" Cloud had no idea why he asked such a stupid question. She was interested in flowers not joining Soldier!

Her bangs brushed against her eyes as she shook her head; "Not really. All I know is I do not want to be caught by people like them." Cloud noticed her usual happy jade eyes had softened and grew full of worry and he felt a tug in his chest. Cloud didn't really understand why the Turks were after her but he was sure it was bad news for her. "…I gotta take her home…she could get caught…"

Cloud sat up and outstretched his hand to her; "Well, let's go, then." Cloud was pleased that he could at least walk her home, it gave him a chance to try and get to know her a little more, after all, he was promised a date by her.

Author's notes: Gar, gar, gar, gar, gar. Secret parallel in there. Kudos goes to whomever figures it out first! Next chapter up tomorrow.