Chapter Five: An Odd Visitor

The figure at the window was what scared Aralyn out of her bed. While she didn't yet know if the people downstairs were friend or foe, she could certainly tell that the man in the window was malicious, if not hostile. She decided to take her chances with the former group.

The lower floor was plain, but had been arranged to comfortably accommodate many people. Behind the counter, a young woman with straight black hair wiped down plates and arranged them neatly in a nearby cabinet, occasionally adding a comment to the ongoing conversation between the people behind her. Seated at one of the tables was Cloud, her rescuer from the ruins, with Marlene on his lap and an auburn haired boy next to him.

"You're supposed to be in bed!" Marlene squealed, folding her arms and pouting as soon as she caught sight of her. "Cloud said so."

"She seems fine to me," the black haired woman offered. She turned to Aralyn, smiling. "Nice to see you up! Welcome to the Seventh Heaven!" She closed the cabinet she had been filling with dishes and approached her, extending a hand in welcome. "I'm Tifa. You've already met Cloud and Marlene, and the boy is Denzel. And your name is Aralyn?"

"Yes," Aralyn said. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She nodded her head in the direction of the others. Denzel gave her a wave and Cloud just looked at her with unreadable eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Tifa asked.

"I could use a little something, thank you."

She nodded and went into the back room, calling out as she left. "Cloud, will you get her something from the refrigerator?"

The blonde man stood, placing Marlene on her feet before he walked to fulfill the request. She sat next to the two children, and when Cloud returned, he slid glass of soda toward her, and she partook gratefully.

"Thirsty?" he asked when she downed the whole glass in seconds.

"It's just so good after all that water…"

"Water?" he asked.

Aralyn bit her lip. "I don't…get out much."

"Oh." He put his own soda in front of her, and waved her on when she made as if to protest. Though he seemed casual enough, Aralyn had a sinking suspicion that this was the beginning of an attempt at interrogation. She sipped the soda slowly, looking into the glass instead of at Cloud.

"Denzel, Marlene, go play outside," Cloud said, and the boy and the girl obediently left, leaving Aralyn alone with Cloud.

"You're healed," he commented. "That was…fast."

Aralyn smiled nervously and continued to sip, hoping to evade the question with the excuse that she was drinking.

"….That's good, I guess," he admitted when she would not clarify further. "Not many who encounter Sephiroth can say as much."

She noticeably winced. "No, I guess they can't." She forced a small smile. "Guess I got pretty lucky."

Cloud looked at her intensely, and Aralyn wanted to disappear. She was running out of soda to use as an excuse - soon she would be forced to speak.

When she remained adamantly silent, Cloud stood and turned his back to her, facing out the window. No one spoke for several minutes.

"Luck?" Cloud said after a long time. "That can't be all. With Sephiroth, it never is."

Aralyn's soda was gone, and she couldn't hide it because the ice rattled in the empty cup as she placed it down. Cloud waited for her answer. It was a long time in coming.

"I go there often. Maybe he's seen me before, and doesn't have any reason to think I'm a threat…."

Cloud turned to her again, and locked his icy eyes with hers.

"That wouldn't matter. Sephiroth doesn't need a reason to murder."

She choked on her breath, and she knew he saw it. "I—"

"Do you know why he spared your life?" Cloud asked, point-blank.

Aralyn was backed into a corner. She didn't want to lie, but to tell the truth would be disregarding any sense of self-preservation that she had.

"Cloud! What are you doing to the girl? She's white as a sheet!"

Tifa returned with a plate filled with food in one hand and a bowl of steaming soup in the other. She set the food in front of Aralyn along with a freshly cleaned batch of silverware and another soda.

"I'm sorry about Cloud, Aralyn. He tends to get tense where Sephiroth is involved. He really doesn't mean any harm."

Cloud frowned and began to walk away.

"I'm sorry," Aralyn breathed. "I am. But…I can't tell you anything."

Tifa placed her hand over Aralyn's and squeezed reassuringly. "I understand. You've just recovered. I don't want to dredge up bad memories. We really don't even need to know. Ultimately, it isn't our business anyway." Her head was turned toward Cloud as she spoke, who was halfway up the stairs by now.

"Just know that Sephiroth can't hurt you here, all right? And if you ever need to talk, you're not the only one here who's suffered at his hands."

"Thank you, Tifa. I appreciate it."

"It's all right. We all understand."

It was a lie. They didn't understand. They thought they knew the whole story: she had crossed Sephiroth's path by an unfortunate chance, and through some anomaly of fate, had been only wounded and not killed by the madman.

But she knew Cloud suspected otherwise, and therein laid the danger.

She supposed there could be no harm in them believing that her encounter had been due to chance, that her wounds had been fresh, that her survival was a miracle – certainly, there would be no harm to her.

Cloud and Tifa were fighting upstairs, doubtlessly about her arrival. Aralyn felt terrible to have caused such a heated argument. She ate alone in the bar, silent and weighed down by guilt and other heavy emotions. When her plate was only half cleared, she set down her fork, opting to shuffle the ice in her glass with the end of her spoon instead.

The sun had almost set when the two came back down. Tifa was smiling and Cloud was noticeably not.

"I had better go," Aralyn said as she stood, pushing her chair back in. "Thank you for everything—"

"Oh, no, Aralyn! It's so late, and you still must be exhausted from the ordeal," Tifa said. "Stay the night here with us!"

The image of the silver-haired remnant at the window flashed before her eyes. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly—"

"It's no trouble! The room you stayed in is a spare."

"I don't want to intrude—"

"Aralyn," Cloud said sharply. "Stay."

Tifa shot a glare at Cloud and he sighed and left. The woman approached Aralyn and took her hands earnestly.

"I'm worried about you, Aralyn. It would be a great load off my mind if you stayed until I can be sure that you're healed and back on your feet again…mentally and physically."

Aralyn stilled her protests and thought the offer over. She did owe these people, and she felt that debt deeply. However, though Tifa's reasons might have been true concern, she had a feeling that Cloud had only consented because this would allow him to keep her under close watch.

But it had been a long time since she had been with anyone else. Her life was mostly vacant of friends, and even more vacant of family…

"If that's what you want…I'll stay. But…just for a little while."