Part III Chapter II – Conversations of Life and Death

-Evening-

"This…this is what it's supposed to be." Aeris breathed, taking in the view she was offered by her position. The ocean was as beautiful as she could have ever imagined, especially during the time of day it was nearing now. They'd arrived some-time mid-afternoon, and now the sun was sinking slowly, casting both the sky and the distant waters on the horizon a natural mixture of reds, yellows, and oranges while the rest of the sky faded into darker blues and indigos. She had a perfect view of the near-complete rainbow, laying face-up in the clean white sands that served as a small intermediary between the land and water.

They'd had to travel some distance to find this beach-head, for miles and miles the coast was rocky cliffs. They got lower and softer the further away the two chocobos had traveled until they'd stumbled across this one point, far on the northern end of the Midgar continent. Or, maybe they hadn't stumbled, Vincent hadn't seemed like he didn't have a destination in mind. It was completely possible that he'd already known of this place and had decided to take her to it.

Speaking of the man, Aeris heard the soft sounds of sands being moved to her right and soon his quiet, but attention grabbing voice drifted above the soft lap of the sea's waves against the sand, "If we're to be back before dark, we need to get moving."

But she didn't want to go back yet. Not back to the dead place that had been her home as long as she cared to remember. While her garden offered her a sanctuary in the cold metal city, it was nothing compared to this. Nurturing the small bit of life that existed within the depths of Midgar held an immense satisfaction, but it was a pale replacement for the peace that surrounded her now.

She must have muttered her thoughts aloud, because there was another shift of the sands and Vincent spoke again, "Speak to your mother about that. It's warm enough, we could stay over-night and head back tomorrow."

The brown-haired girl pondered the thought for a moment. The trip hadn't been planned as an over-night venture, so they did not have any tents or equipment of the nature. But…was that so bad? Would she be able to spend the night here? In the warm sand, under the sky, relying on her companion to keep away the monster as she slept?

It didn't take much to find the answer. Of course.

She was sitting up a second later, reaching for the PHS she'd relieved from her pocket when she'd decided to lie down in her bed of sand. The number was dialed, and the idea was proposed. Elmyra wasn't too keen on at first, and she mentioned the lack of equipment and the monsters, but Aeris wouldn't listen. Eventually she wore her mother down and the woman ended with a quiet "You're old enough to decide now. Just be careful."

Once the conversation finished up, and declarations of love were exchanged, Aeris clicked off the phone and glanced up at her chaperone, communicating to him the decision via a warm smile. Vincent nodded, having heard the one sided conversation, "I'll secure the area."

Within seconds he was gone, not even so much as the sound of sediment moving could be heard when he wasn't trying to catch her attention. Aeris lay back down in her bed of sands again, nestling in and reshaping the small hollow that she'd disturbed when she'd sat up to take the phone call. There were sometimes when she suddenly realized that she didn't know much about Vincent, besides that he was Cloud's friend, and that he'd once been a Turk. This was one of those times, her eyes flickered in the direction the red-cloak had vanished, eyebrows furrowing in thought. He was secretive, but she had figured it was more to protect himself from the memories—it would make sense that a Turk's life would try to stay buried.

Aeris liked Turks. Her first encounter with the group was a young man named Tseng, who she'd later discovered was actually the leader of the organization. Considering her…status as the last living Ancient, she'd always wondered why the Wutaian never reported her whereabouts to the Research Department. But, regardless of his reasons, Tseng had always been nice to her over the past few years, and had protected her when he could in the short time before Vincent's arrival. Now that the sharpshooter had taken over the post, Aeris hadn't seen the other Turk around anywhere. It made her sad at times.

She sighed; it wasn't really a good idea to think of potentially depressing thoughts in such a nice place. Aeris returned her attention outward, noting happily that the sun wasn't much lower that it previously had been, meaning not much time had passed since Vincent had left. Occasionally she'd find herself spacing out like that, especially when in her garden, and recently Vincent had taken it upon himself to try and break the habit. She knew it could be potentially dangerous—she didn't have the experience to react if something attacked her in such a state—but she couldn't help it when she just felt safe.

"The sky…" The sound of her own voice surprised her at first, she hadn't meant to speak, but it just slipped out. She found that she liked it. Liked being able to hear the thoughts and allow her mind to expand on them.

"The wind…"

"The water…" Leaf-green eyes, almost a dark forest green in the dying light, closed slowly and soon she was only listening. She could hear it; hear the hum of the life around her. The wind whispered, the water lapped, somewhere up the beach in the small patch of forest bordering the sands she could hear the song of the night-life, just waking up as the sun sunk lower.

"It's just so…"

"Alive?" Apparently Vincent had returned, his slightly amused voice fitting almost perfectly over the symphony of sounds that the girl was listening to. But then, it shifting, bringing discord with the harmony around it, sounding disgusted. "Not like Midgar."

Even though he was echoing her earlier thought, she couldn't help the way her stomach squirmed at the fact. Midgar wasn't near as alive as it was here, but it wasn't…completely dead yet. When a soft, almost inaudible movement gave away the gunner's position, the flower-girl rolled on her side, eyes opening to stare up at her odd guardian.

"It's still alive, Vincent."

The man shrugged, and Aeris had to stifle a quiet laugh—the movement looked so funny from her position. When he didn't seem to respond, she decided to press forward, "Someday, even Midgar will be like this. Someday."

"In what future?" It wasn't a demand, but it wasn't merely polite interest, just a quiet question, as if he didn't expect an answer. It was nice, Aeris decided, to be the one to answer, instead of ask. But still, why did he always have to doubt?

"Our future, silly. It may be a year, or five, or a decade, but some day. The Planet will recover."

The sunset was fading now, giving way to the deep indigo of night. The stars slowly appeared, first as faint bright spots against the dark, and then evolving into merrily twinkling individual specks, growing brighter as the sun sank below the horizon. All of a sudden, watching the evolution from dusk to true darkness, Aeris was immensely pleased that they'd decided to stay. It was a real treat to watch the stars, here, where they weren't blocked by the ever-present dark-grey metal of the plate that was the perpetual sky above the slums, or, when one managed to find a gap in the plate, through the smog given off by the reactors.

Oh, she knew how much those things bothered her guardian. It didn't quite affect her to the extent Vincent felt, but she could feel it in her bones, the presence of the perverted Lifestream in the air. It was wrong—the origin of all life being forcibly removed from its shell, and turned into a poison. A deadly poison. It was a poison that, if given enough time, would cleanse the city of those who created it.

She hadn't been lying when she said it would be cleansed. One way or another. Although, if she were to truly be optimistic and listen to Cloud, there was a possibility that humans would learn their mistakes in time.

Hmm, Cloud. The girl watched the faint grey splotch of a late evening cloud float across the sky. She wondered if Vincent had any idea what his other protectee knew. Cloud never really told her directly what he saw, but she knew, from waaay back when she first met him. She'd been the one to help him figure them out, so long ago, when the little blonde-haired child had broken down in front of her, lost and confused when the images had revealed her existence to the small country boy before his mother had ever considered coming to Midgar to visit a friend. After that, he'd gone back home and everything had started. After writing to her, telling her about Vincent's discovery and the fact that, yes, there was a truth in those dreams they hadn't spoken of it again, but they'd kept in touch.

"Cloud can see that future." She smiled to herself at the double meaning in the statement, "I can. So why can't you?"

As usual, no answer was forthcoming. Aeris would have shaken her head, but the action would have invited far too many grains of sand into her braid—there were more than enough in there already. Her eyes drifted shut for the second time and the Ancient just listened to the voices on the wind.

Voices that spoke in anticipation. Something was going to happen. She'd always heard voices—it was part and parcel of being a Cetra—but these particular ones had been getting louder and louder, originating way back before she'd ever met Vincent, and shortly before meeting Cloud.

She could hear them, but they wouldn't tell her what they were waiting for.

They never did.

-Next Day-

The office was quiet. Too quiet. True, it was far earlier than Zack usually arrived at his place of work but…

Truth be told, Zack didn't get much sleep last night. He knew exactly why, worry being the main culprit. Ever since the first time he'd caught Sephiroth after one of his appointments, the General had never failed to show up. Sometimes he was early, others he stumbled in well after midnight, but never had he failed to show completely. Zack had been up all night, straining his ears for any sound at the door even as the clock ticked further into the morning. Eventually he'd fallen asleep around dawn, but had been awake in less than an hour, when he decided to head into the office on the off-chance that Sephiroth would be there.

Normally Zack would wander in around nine or ten, but everyone knew that the General arrived well before that. It was currently around the time when Sephiroth normally showed, but everyone he'd spoken to hadn't seen him. And so Zack was left alone in the office, sitting in Sephiroth's large, rather comfy leather chair, and trying—in vain—to justify the man's absence.

Perhaps he'd gone to his own quarters? (Unlikely, since Zack had stopped by and knocked before heading in to work) Or, Hojo had decided to keep him over night for observation? It hadn't happened before, but it was possible. Unfortunately, Zack didn't like that idea much. The only reason Hojo would keep him was as if he did something beyond the usual poking, prodding, and the numerous mako injections. The thought of his general, his friend, at the mercy of that madman did nothing to calm his nerves. Of course, it could just be speculation. Maybe Sephiroth would show up if he waited. Just a little longer.

And so time passed. Being the bundle of energy he was, Zack got bored pretty quickly. He'd unearthed some papers that needed to be filed and got to work, violet eyes glancing constantly at the door every ten minutes or so. The clock ticked by slowly.

There was still no sign of his general.

Zack's unease merely grew.

--

-Mid-Afternoon-

His footsteps echoed beneath him, his boots echoing eerily against the metal walkway. Cloud couldn't help the anxiety that had begun to claw at him, blue-green eyes shifting this way and that at the slightest sound, taking in the dimly-lit corridor. It was far too cramped for his liking in this maintenance passage, but he could see why he'd been assigned to this mission. Even Zack's modest height would be too much to maneuver comfortably within the confines of the tiny passage. Even he was a bit restricted (he favored a sword that was roughly his height, for crying out loud) but, as much as he hated to admit it, he was the smallest person currently in the SOLDIER program.

While he could understand the reason he was required on this mission, he could not understand how it had come about. A SOLDIER had been called in because this was a place that a rogue monster could really do some damage—the Mako Reactor. Honestly, he had no idea how a monster could get this far into ShinRa's precious money generator. Security was enough to take out most of the nuisances that usually lived around the structures, so either the night-shift had been slacking or this was one devious monster he had on his hands.

One of the nervous workers had pointed him down this tiny maintenance shaft, saying that he'd seen it head inside not too long before. Apparently it hadn't come out; since there was no other exit and the one he'd entered through had been barricaded before he arrived by the anxious staff. This path led to one of the containment chambers for the unprocessed mako, and Cloud could only wonder why the monster had come down this way. Following that train of thought, he really wished he had any kind of information about what he was facing. Apparently none of the workers had gotten a good look. None had been able to give him an accurate description—or even any speculation!

Finally, he could see some light at the end of the tunnel—and it wasn't the dim emergency lighting that illuminated the walls. It was a bright greenish white, probably thrown off by the huge vat of mako he knew to be at the other end of the corridor. Every sense alert, Cloud pushed forward, listening for any indication of the target he'd been ordered to exterminate. His senses were a little dull, after effects of the mako treatments, and his reactions a little slower, but it shouldn't be an issue.

He stepped out into the open room, gloved hand on the hilt of his large sword as he surveyed the area. As he'd guessed, the entire cylindrical room was one large vat of mako. The border of the room near the door was covered by a narrow section of metal scaffolding, and a long path stretched out over the churning liquid to the center pillar, where a control panel blinked innocently.

Now, where is that monster…

Even before the thought was finished, Cloud became aware of movement to his side. Claws scratching against the metal flooring tipped him off immediately, detaching the huge weapon from his back and whirling around with a broad horizontal sweep. There was a brief resistance as the sharpened blade met hardened flesh, but soon it gave, slicing clean through the monster that had been moving to decapitate him.

With a pathetic scream the two halves clanked to the ground, dissolving into a light mist right before his eyes. Cloud frowned, eyebrows knitting together as he studied the spot the monster had been. It hadn't been a very strong monster, nor particularly smart if its method of attack had been any indication, which begged the question: How the hell did it get in?

Unfortunately, Cloud wasn't given long to ponder the circumstances. He was barely aware of movement from behind him—the tunnels!—before a sharp poke in the back became the precursor for the shocking effect of a couple thousand volts of electricity. He didn't know quite how much, he thought absently as he dropped his weapon and slumped to the floor, body tingling, but it was well enough to momentarily paralyze a 2nd class SOLDIER.

Vision blurry, he attempted to shift so he could see what had attacked him, but all he caught were glossy black dress shoes, and what seemed to be a blue suit leg. His muscles refused to work properly so he couldn't lift his head to see any higher. There was a sigh from the person above him and one of the shoes pressed painfully into his side, pushing him firmly to the edge of the narrow scaffolding they were currently located on. "I'm sorry Cloud."

That voice. It sounded familiar.

"You'll just have to trust me."

The effects of the shock were wearing off quickly, too quickly for a shock meant to paralyze a SOLDIER, but not fast enough. Another nudge and he couldn't feel the metal any more, only empty space. The surface of the enormous vat of liquefied mako was approaching quite fast, and the rushing air whistled painfully as he fell closer to what would be certain death.

--

A/N: I had half this chapter done a while ago, but the bit with Zack didn't want to come out right. It's still kinda forced, but I felt I needed it.

Aaand…who saw that last bit coming? Honestly, tell me. I'm quite proud of that little plot twist. Anyone guess who it was that pushed him off? I've written him in the story before, but it was quite a few chapters back in Pt II

Also, for anyone who noticed, I added chapter titles! Look at the chapter list on the top-right and tell me what you think of them. If anyone has any suggestions let me know, I'll consider 'em.

Feedback is much love. A great big thank you to those who reviewed! My only hope is that this story continues to amuse you.