Chapter 3
Aeris looked up at the airship in wonder. It was enormous! She couldn’t have imagined anything this big. Cloud smiled at her
“Do you want to go for a ride now?” She smiled
“Yes please! Is it safe?”
“Absolutely.”
Vincent watched Aeris running through the Highwind peeking into every room and looking out of the window in the front room. It was like she was a little girl again. She stood next to him
“Vincent. When we get back can you explain what happened after I… I died?”
“If you want.”
“Thankyou.” She walked over to Cid and watched him pilot the aircraft. He grinned at her
“So where do you want to go?”
Aeris looked over the map. There were so many strange places! Wutai, Junon, Nibelheim, Icicle Village, Cosmo Canyon…
“Erm… Can we go to Icicle Village?”
“Sure. Have we got chocobos?”
Tifa nodded
“We’ll have to double up.”
“Why do we need chocobos?”
“We’ll have to land a way off. The Highwind can only land on grass.”
Aeris nodded and grabbed hold of the bar at the front of the ship. Cloud joined her
“Can you remember anything else?”
“No… it’s all muddled up.”
“What about… when I dressed up as a girl to get into the Don Corneo’s mansion with you?”
“I don’t think so…”
“Good! It was very embarrassing!”
“Yes it probably was!” Cloud smiled and went to talk with Tifa.
Aeris looked out and saw an island approaching. She stood on tiptoe to see it and saw an icy island.
“Vincent, what’s that thing up there?” She asked he stood next to her
“It’s the northern Crater.”
“It’s… It’s bad isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It feels cold. Not snow cold… deeper than that.” She frowned, watching it until it disappeared behind a mountain. They had
landed.
Standing outside in the cold Aeris shivered. Vincent saw and passed her his cape
“Won’t you be cold?”
“No.” Tifa called them over
“It’ll take about an hour to reach the Icicle Village. Red’s walking so we need to pair up for chocobos. Yuffie and Reeve. Cloud and I. Barret and Cid. So Vincent and Aeris will take the last one. Is that okay?”
Everyone nodded and Vincent took a chocobo. Aeris looked up at the bird and Vincent helped her onto it. Then he sat in front of her and she put her arms round him, holding tight. She enjoyed riding chocobos and was looking round at the scenery when she saw something strange
“Vincent what’s that?”
“Wolves.” He halted the chocobo and the others stopped. At least 20 wolves were running at them and Cloud shouted
“Battle stances.” Vincent leapt from the chocobo and all except Aeris lined, ready for action.
Soon they were all fighting and Aeris was staring in horror at the blood staining the snow. Then she saw a lone wolf running towards her.
It was as if she were a puppet and she knew exactly what to do. She jumped down and faced the wolf. It lunged at her, teeth bared and dripping. She hit it in the stomach with the Princess Guard.
Again and again she struck. It scratched her leg and she winced in pain. Then she took a materia. Before she had not known how to work it at all but now she held it in front of her and cried
“Fire 3” a large spiral of flame hit the wolf and it fell to the ground lifeless. Aeris looked down at it in shock, dropping the materia as she did. She looked up and saw the others staring at her. She took a step and gritted her teeth.
Looking down she saw the wolf had shredded the skin and blood was pouring freely from it. Cloud steppe forward with a cure materia but Aeris had another one and held it before her
“Cure…” she whispered and green light shot through the wound, closing it.
Vincent walked towards her and she looked up at him
“How did I know?” she whispered, her eyes threatening tears
“I don’t know Aeris.” He placed his arms round her and she started to sob freely into his chest.
Tifa looked back as they were riding towards the Icicle Village. Aeris was in front of Vincent now and he had his arms round her, clutching the reins. She was staring towards the village on the horizon. Tifa looked up at Cloud
“She’s…different isn’t she?”
“Yeah… Why is she alive? Dead people don’t just come back to life for no apparent reason.”
“We’ll have to do some research. But not too soon. Let her get acquainted with herself first.”
“Yeah.”
Aeris stood in the village, looking round
“I know this place!”
“How? You didn’t come here.” Yuffie said, surprised. Aeris shook her head
“I did! I know I did!”
Cloud nodded
“She has been here. Remember those tapes we found?”
“Oh yeah!”
“What tapes?” Aeris asked. Cloud was about to answer when she stopped him.
“Hang on.” Then she walked slowly towards a small building next to the pathway. The door was blocked but she pushed against it, and looked in.
“This is it! I knew it was!” she rushed in and the others followed. Aeris was standing in the
center of the circular room, turning round. She looked at her friends
“This is where I was born! My mother was right!”
Cid frowned
“You mean Infalna?”
“Yes! I heard her! She was speaking from here…” Aeris stopped when she saw them giving her strange looks. She shook her head and went to the television screen in the corner. A row of tapes was next to it and she selected one
‘Daughters diary. 20 days after birth.”
Aeris watched the tape, saw her mother and her father, heard her fathers dieing cry and then the screen went blank and the tape was ejected. She stood from her kneeling position and walked to the stairs. She went down and they heard her moving around below them. She emerged, her face confused and sad.
“Did you find anything?” Barret asked. She shook her head
“No. I didn’t really expect to. I was just hoping, praying that I’d find something to explain who I am.”
“Your Aeris Gainsborough.” Cloud said. She hook her head again
“No… that her. Something else. But how can I find something if I don’t know what it is?” She sat on the table thoughtfully, legs swinging in Vincent’s trouser.
“Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?” Cid asked. Aeris looked towards the tapes again
“Can… can we go to that place, with lake? Where Vincent found me?” They looked at each other.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tifa said. Aeris nodded
“Well, we’ll go there. But not today.” Cloud said. Aeris gazed at him
“Why not?”
“It’s too far. We’d have to go through bone Village and the-“
“Sleeping forest.” Aeris finished. She looked up shocked
“Sleeping forest? Is that right?”
He nodded. Aeris shook her head quickly, trying to clear the thoughts.
“Actually, can we go home?” she said to Vincent. He nodded
“Cid, can you drop us off at Junon?”
“Sure. We’ll swing past on the way back to Kalm.”
“You can stay with us.” Offered Tifa, bout Vincent shook his head.
“We’ll go to Junon tonight and come round in the morning.”
Vincent opened the door to his apartment and Aeris followed him in out of the rain. The apartment was decorated with dark mahogany and dark red wallpaper. It was in disrepair but could look decent. Vincent said nothing but walked down the hall to a kitchen. It was dusty and he wiped it away before turning to her.
“Hungry?”
“A little bit.” He opened his cupboard and poked through. A tin of baked beans. He took it out and turned on the hob. Aeris watched in interest, looking round the apartment
“I haven’t been here for a month or two.” Vincent said. Aeris nodded
“It’s nice here. It’s you.”
“How?”
“It’s dark, mysterious. Like it’s hiding something. That’s the impression I always get from you.”
Vincent raised his eyebrows. Aeris regarded him
“What… what are you searching for?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know something. A woman, something to do with Sephiroth. I’m not sure but your looking for something.”
Vincent sat opposite her, behind the countertop. He looked into her eyes with burning coals and she looked back.
“Think hard Aeris. Think to the Gold Saucer, the balcony.”
Aeris closed her eyes and her forehead wrinkled. Vincent watched her and his hand reached out and touched hers
It was like being given an electric shock. Aeris brain flashed and she saw herself, Vincent, fireworks, words. One word stood out and she screamed it
“Revenge!” She flung herself back and landed on the floor, staring up at him. He stood and stretched out a hand. She took it and he pulled her up.
“I saw it. It was so clear, like I was reading your mind.”
Vincent didn’t answer but held her close. She leant against him. Both stood in silence and jumped as the PHS rang. Vincent flipped it open and Aeris leant close to listen
“It’s me, Cloud. Red asked if you want to go to Cosmo Canyon tomorrow. He’s got a few theories about how Aeris came back.”
Aeris nodded and Vincent said
“Yes. Can Cid pick us up?”
“Yeah. Oh and Tifa says hi, and wants to know if Aeris will go shopping after going to Cosmo canyon, in Wutai. Aeris needs some clothes.” Vincent affirmed and closed the PHS
“Erm Vincent. The beans are smoking.” He turned and lifted the pan from the hob. He poured them into a bowl and gave them to her with a spoon.
“Aren’t you having anything?”
“No. I’ll go prepare the bedroom for you.”
He left Aeris alone. She ate the food slowly, chewing thoughtfully, thinking about what she had seen. He had helped her remember. And the other night when he had found her. He had been touching her then too. She finished the beans and washed the bowl under the tap. Then she went to find Vincent he bumped into her in the hallway
“There’s a bed in there for you. I’ll be in here.” He gestured towards another room and was about to walk away when Aeris took his arm.
“Is something wrong?” he asked. She didn’t answer but shut her eyes again. He let her do whatever she had been doing but she gave up.
“I’m probably too tired.” She though then smiled at Vincent
“Goodnight. And Thankyou.”
“Goodnight.”
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More soon. Hopefully. Well I still have a whole week of holidays left so that should be enough to get a few more chapters out!
Lotsa love
Katie