Hmm now I am getting an itch to write another story, but not an aer/seph one. It will probably be a while before I post it though. Ah well. At least I have a good idea for an eventual twist in this story!Anywhooo here is the new chapter. Please enjoy... pretty please?

The voyage to Palon had taken the vessel almost 5 whole days to cross the ocean. The first time Aeris had laid eyes on the large ship she was to board she had almost turned and run the other way. She had honestly thought it was a joke for the boat was made of wood with several large pieces of rusted metal bolted in strategic places. Aeris had wondered if the metal was keeping the ship from falling apart or just covered several holes.

Once on the ship she found her stress diminished because there were other travelers who were on their way to the Western Continent. The ship was large enough to accommodate a hundred people, but there were only 40 people abroad, including the crew. So most of the cabins ended up being unoccupied and the ones that were in use were spaced out. Aeris had only occasionally seen her fellow passengers. Not that she had minded, she didn't want them paying too much attention to her.

The young woman at first spent her time on the front deck, watching transfixed as the water crashed against the ship's hull. She cringed every time a strong wave hit the metal pieces of the boat.

She wished she had brought a warm sweater because her torn clothes were no match for the icy wind. Eventually an older woman had knitted her white mittens, much to Aeris's delight. After that, Aeris had then spent her time with the knitting woman, oddly enough trying to learn her art.

By the end of the voyage, Aeris had managed to finish a scarf although it looked more like a huge square handkerchief.

But now that she was in Palon she didn't want to leave even though she knew she had to. The village was absolutely adorable in Aeris's mind. Palon was basically a small fishing and herding community. Even though several massive boats passed through the small port, very few people actually came to see the village.

With the money Sephiroth had given her, Aeris rented a room in the small inn, which turned out to be a guest room in one of the houses. But Aeris didn't complain.

Beyond the outskirts of the village were grassy hills where the sheep and goats grazed like little fluffy clouds on the velvety green scenery. Seeing those cute animals graze, Aeris immediately bought one of the local specialties, a white woolen vest. Along with the vest, Aeris had purchased a black tank top and a pair of brown pants that molded perfectly to her legs. Thankfully she didn't have to buy a new pair of boots because her black ones were holding up.

Now Aeris stood in front of her bed, looking at the many scattered items she had bought during her stay in Palon. The organized Cetra was mentally checking her list to see if she had everything she needed. Grabbing her new leather backpack she began packing.

"So," Aeris said aloud to herself, "Food, check. Tent, check. Potions and ethers check as well. Water, blanket, check and check. Well looks like I am all set then."

As she looked one final time at the small room she had occupied for the past three days, she regretted having to leave so soon. Aeris made sure her backpack was closed before she swung it over her shoulder and walked out.

Aeris was happy with her choice of clothes because she didn't look like a tourist, more like a seasoned explorer.

She calmly walked out of the village and headed the way one of the villagers had told her lead towards Costa del Sol.

The Cetra unconsciously touched the silver armband where a new bolt and restore materia rested snugly. Aeris would have bought more materia but money was running low. So she had decided against another staff. Besides her last one had been pretty useless. But she did splurge on ethers to keep her magic energy up. Aeris was not going to be defenseless again, now she had materia on her side.

Aeris took her time walking to Costa Del Sol, stopping here and there to observe something that caught her interest not in the least bit worried about time. She didn't want to think of anything troubling but Sephiroth kept popping up in her mind.

Where was he and why hadn't he tried to find her? After all he had been able to find her easily before so why not now. Aeris scoffed at herself. It wasn't important why he wasn't here, she was just grateful he had left her alone. It's not like she needed him right now, after all the enemy was an ocean away so all she had to worry about were the monsters lurking around here.

Walking near the water on the beaches had been a good idea because she hadn't met a single monster in the few hours she had been alone. She could have chosen to walk more inland near the lush forests but that would increase the odds of encountering something scary.

Aeris kicked a smooth pebble on the sand and watched it land a few feet away.

She didn't really want to think about it but the thought of fighting scared her because she wasn't sure if she could win.

Kick, the pebble flew once again.

Her materia was young and so their attack and restorative powers were relatively weak so she couldn't entirely depend on them.

Kick went the pebble.

Then again she'd have to fight something in order to begin mastering her materia. Oh the irony. This time she picked up the pebble and tried to skip it across the water but it ended up just dropping into the blue ocean with a dramatic splash.

Nothing was ever easy!

Aeris sat herself on the warm sand and let her senses relax. The sun's warmth seeped into her skin as the mild ocean breeze ruffled her braid and long bangs. She inhaled deeply the salty smell and cocked her head to listen to the seagulls and laughing. Laughing?

The young woman was immediately on alert. But as she scrutinized her surroundings she didn't see anything. That meant the sound must have come from behind her where the tall grass was. The high wheat like grass grew near the beaches around Palon and Aeris had been weary to walk through it in case she lost her bearings.

Aeris got herself up as quietly as possible, crouching slightly just in case someone would see her. As she began inching away a scream suddenly pierced the still air.

Without thinking, the small woman ran into the tall grass towards the sound. With her arms outstretched in front of her, Aeris pushed the overabundant vegetation out of her way to allow her to see better. Eventually she stopped running because she had no idea where to go. Her raspy breathing was the only sound she heard. So she held her breath for a few seconds to see if she could detect something.

Closing her eyes, she focused all her energy on making out any other signs of life. Her mind made out the slight wind rustling the grass around her but then she heard it, faint murmurs but distinct enough for Aeris's ears to make out.

She slowly opened her eyes and turned to her left where the noise was coming from. Quietly making her way towards the sound, she crouched down and peeked in between the thick stems. Aeris instantly counted three pairs of legs, two men and one girl. The ground they were standing on was black, as if the grass had been scorched with fire to get rid of the vegetation.

Her green eyes fixed onto the scared woman's face. One man held a knife to her throat while the other was going through her backpack. Thieves, Aeris thought.

The man rummaging through the bag suddenly got up and grunted.

"Not much gil in here, only this blue materia," he said roughly.

"Take it, it's all I have. Please don't kill me!" the woman stuttered.

Aeris could painfully see the fear written on her face. Her messy blonde hair and wide blue eyes gave her an air of fragility that seemed to plead for help.

The other man, the bigger one, pulled her hair further back exposing her neck even more to his knife. The girl whimpered some more.

"No one asked your opinion," he yelled into her ear causing the other man to laugh.

"So all we have are a few books and one materia. Bah, she was hardly worth the effort," summed up his co-thief dropping the bag down, looking disgustedly at the shaking girl.

Aeris had had enough. Without thinking, she stood up and brought one hand in front of her and screamed, "Bolt 1!"

A bolt of lightning hit the thief holding onto the girl, causing him to yelp in pain and let go of both knife and woman. Sadly, Aeris had aimed for the man further from her and so the closer one was already running towards Aeris's hiding place.

She should have thought her attack plan more thoroughly Aeris thought. But instead of running the opposite way, the small woman ran towards the charging man. At the last minute, Aeris swung her backpack into his face sending him falling to the side.

Meanwhile, Aeris was trying to find some way she could get out of this situation alive. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a rope. Suddenly an idea formed in her mind. She quickly grabbed it and ran towards the dazed blonde who was kneeling on the ground.

The Cetra woman grabbed her by the elbow and forced her to her feet before forcing them to run. The two men had already regained their senses and to Aeris's alarm, had armed themselves with shotguns.

Aeris knew that she only had one chance to put her plan into motion.

'I am going to need your help," Aeris semi-yelled to her unlikely companion. "You are going to have to grab one end of the rope and I'll hold the other. But we are going to have to stop running and split up so that it'll create an obstacle."

The other woman looked at Aeris like she was mad but she eventually nodded. She grabbed one end while Aeris took hold of the other. They now stopped running and ran opposite ways in order to make the rope taut.

The brunette hoped that neither would slip and cause the rope to slack. Aeris was basing this trap purely on the hope that the two men were going to follow their tracks in the grass.

Aeris was not to be disappointed because soon two pairs of heavy footsteps were heard. Quickly she leaned back and held the rope with all her strength.

A few seconds passed by when Aeris thought they had missed the rope completely when suddenly a violent pull almost knocked her right off her feet. Two different screams were heard but then a few gun shots followed.

Bewildered, Aeris made her way towards where the two men were and was shocked to see them dead. The blonde woman soon came too and was as surprised to see the blood seeping into the soil.

"What happened?" she asked Aeris, shock and even a little relief evident in her voice.

The Cetra looked at her and then looked back down at the two bodies.

"They both held their guns too close to their bodies. When they fell, they must have accidentally pulled the triggers and shot themselves."

"Oh God, that's horrible."

Aeris just nodded absently and began walking towards the thieves' encampment/burn site. The other woman followed her silently and once there, she picked up her books and other objects the men had thrown all over the place. She glanced up a few times to see the small brunette chewing her bottom lip, her green eyes vacantly staring at nothing.

Once her stuff had all been assembled and packed, the blonde walked over to the smaller woman.

She put one hand on Aeris's shoulder and said, "It's no one's fault so you don't need to beat yourself up about it. They were mean men."

Aeris automatically smiled and said overly cheerfully.

"I'm fine, sorry. I was just thinking. Don't worry about me. Oh I'm Aeris by the way. What's your name?"

She noticed Aeris's babbling but she decided not to comment on it.

"I'm Mae. I live in Elsmaia and was on my way there when those two thieves attacked me."

Aeris interest suddenly perked up.

"Elsmaia? Where is that?"

Mae looked at her funny. Who didn't know about Elsmaia?

"Elsmaia is the great city of knowledge. Many scholars live there and students from everywhere study at the schools. I work at one of the libraries as well, a librarian," Mae responded sheepishly. "But I need to leave because I have several books that need to be urgently delivered otherwise the head librarian will have my hide. You should come and visit the city, it's really quite a sight."

"I will, well I'll try to anyway," mumbled Aeris.

"Good," Mae clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Come and see me in the Library of Fire, it's where I work."

Mae turned to leave but turned to Aeris.

"And thank you for your help." The blonde woman reached into her bag and got out the blue All materia and threw it to Aeris who caught it.

"You should have this. The next time you use bolt, you will be able to aim at all the baddies."

With a smile, Maewalked away leaving Aeris waving at the grass.

Ok maybe a boring chapter but I needed to do it. Sort of to show Aeris's development. BUT next chapter will be more interesting because it's Costa Del Sol! Pina Coladas and sword fights! Wow that sounds like such a funny chapter name. Reviews? whine whine