A/N: Hey guys! Let me just say that I am glad you are all enjoying the story so far. As for who the father is, you will find out in the next few chapters. I won't leave you in the dark for too long!

When the next day came, Aerith was glad to finally be out of the clinic. She had spent most of the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep as she thought about the baby she was carrying. She was angry at herself that she couldn't remember much of what had been done to her. Aerith got out of bed and took off the white night gown that she had been wearing while in the clinic, taking the time to notice the bandage that went from her chest, all the way down her torso and to her waist.

Aerith sighed as she changed into her normal dress, trying to be as gentle as possible. She could have never imagined that something as simple as getting dressed would be so painful for her. Aerith painfully made her way out to where Cloud and the others were waiting.

"Alright, for the next three weeks she needs to strictly rest. After that she can do whatever it is that her heart desires but its important that she rests. Make sure that her bandages get changed every three to four hours," Doctor Sheiran tells them, giving Cloud several rolls of bandages to take with them.

"You got it, doc. We will make sure that she takes it easy," Barret says, the group turning and looking at Aerith as she made her appearance.

"How do you feel?" Tifa asks, noticing that Aerith was limping as she walked.

"Sore, but I'll be okay," she says as she closed the distance between all of them, pain shooting through her with each step that she took.

"Are you sure? I can carry you if you want," Cloud says, crossing his arms and staring in concern.

"I can also get a wheel chair for you to borrow."

"That isn't necessary. I'll be fine."

Doctor Sheiran nodded, "Well I wish the best for you, Aerith. Take it easy and make sure you come back if there's any sign of infection."

Aerith nodded, "I will. Thanks."

Cloud took Aerith's hand in his and led her out of the clinic, the rest of the group following behind as they began heading to the ropeway to go to the gold saucer.

The trip to the hotel felt as though it took forever. The group had to stop every few minutes for Aerith to rest since the slightest movement took a lot out of her. The cetra felt terrible that she was slowing everyone down despite the group reassuring her that they didn't mind and that everything was fine.

After a rather painful journey, the group finally arrived at the hotel and Cloud immediately led Aerith to the elevator to bring her up to her room. As soon as they got into the elevator and gave the attendant the floor to bring them to, Aerith slid down to the floor, feeling light headed from the exertion.

"You okay, girl?" Yuffie asks as they all turned to look at Aerith in concern, Cloud kneeling next to her.

"Yeah, I just feel light headed, that's all,"

"Don't worry. You can rest soon." Red says, sitting down beside her.

"Can you walk?" Cloud asks, helping Aerith up as the elevator arrived at their floor.

"Yeah, I think so," she says, standing on shaking legs and taking a step forward but immediately stumbling.

Cloud immediately caught her and picked her up, ignoring her protests as he brought her down to her room and unlocking the door. Cloud gently kicked the door open with his foot the rest of the way.

"You didn't have to carry me," she says as he set her down on the bed.

"And let you fall and stumble all over the place?" he asks, raising an eye brow at her before turning to the door as Tifa cleared her throat to make her presence known.

"The rest of us are going to hang out in the park and I know Aerith needs to rest but maybe an hour couldn't hurt?"

Aerith shook her head, "no thanks I'm really tired so I'll just stay here."

Tifa nodded, "Do you want to come, Cloud?"

Cloud shook his head, "nah I'm good. I'll keep Aerith company."

Tifa nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her as she did to give the two some privacy. Aerith looked down at her lap, unsure of a way to make conversation. She wanted to bring up the pregnancy badly, but she wasn't quite sure that she was actually ready to tell anyone when she only found out a mere twenty four hours before.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Believe me. If I wasn't, you'd know."

"I'll let you rest." He says, getting up and going for the door.

"Wait, Cloud?" She asks, looking at him as he turned around to face her, "can you stay?"

"Yeah of course," he nods, putting his sword against the wall and sitting on the edge of the bed as Aerith lays down.

Aerith let herself fall asleep, feeling safe as long as Cloud was there.

Aerith painfully opened her green eyes, the bright light shining down on her and blinding her.

The cetra woke up a little more, finding herself on a metal exam table, shivering at the cold. The first thing that Aerith noticed was an IV in her arm and hooked up to some kind of machine, both of her arms held against the table by straps. The next thing that she noticed was that her legs had been spread, being held apart by stirrups.

"What's happening? Stop!" she begged as she noticed Hojo approaching her with a syringe that had the longest needle she had ever seen.

"Don't be like that. You're helping my science," he says with a chuckle, putting down the first syringe as Aerith started struggling against her bonds and put down the syringe and picked up another. Hojo injected what was in the syringe into her IV.

"Please, stop," she begged weakly, her struggling becoming futile as she began to grow tired.

"Think about how powerful this child would be."

Those were the last words she would remember hearing before everything went black once more.

Aerith woke up in a panic, not remembering where she was at first as she started hyperventilating.

"Hey, Aerith, it's okay. You're safe." Cloud says, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close as he tried to calm her down.

Aerith calmed her racing heart, allowing Cloud to comfort her as she realized that she was just in the hotel and not in Hojo's lap. Aerith allowed him to continue comforting her until she grew increasingly nauseated from not only the pregnancy but also the nightmare, she had that told her exactly how her baby was conceived. Aerith pushed Cloud away from her as she got up and immediately rushed to the connecting bathroom.

The ancient emptied what little contents of her stomach she had into the toilet, her hand subconsciously traveling to her stomach and ignoring the excruciating pain that the sudden fast movements had caused. Cloud rushed in and knelt next to her, holding her brown hair back for her as she vomited.

She felt absolutely disgusted and violated as she remembered what Hojo had done to her and she hated herself for allowing it.

"You want to talk about it?" Cloud asks finally as she stopped vomiting and flushed the toilet.

"No, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare," she says, not meeting his gaze, too ashamed to say anything else.

"You know, there's nothing to be ashamed of. I get them too."

Aerith blinked at him, unable to do or say much, so her immediate reaction was to burst into tears, surprising Cloud as he had never seen Aerith so distraught in the months since he had met her. Cloud sat back and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as she cried.

"Please don't leave!" She cries as she buried her face in his chest, further confusing Cloud as he patted her back.

Cloud pulled Aerith closer as he finally spoke after what seemed like hours.

"I won't. I'll always be here for you."