Chapter 3
She had fallen again. She knew that she was slowing him down, and that his patience was wearing thin. She struggled to get up, but fell back into the snow, sensing her own motion only through the strain of her muscles and her vision through squinted eyes, lashes hardly shielding them from the snow that now fell. Her body was numb from the cold.
"Get up," came Sephiroth's harsh voice, and she wondered how long it had been since she'd lost count of hearing the command, always in the same tone.
Aeris tried again to move, but seemed to be getting nowhere. "I... I c-can't, Seph..." Gods, she couldn't even seem to finish his name, and it came out sounding like some desperate plea to a close friend. At this point, she realized, he was her only hope of survival, so maybe it amounted to roughly the same thing in the end. If he chose to abandon her, she would die, so her life now depended on how much she meant to him, in one way or another. The thought should have terrified her, but even strength enough to fear seemed to have been sapped from her.
A sudden flash of heat at her side made her cry out. She wondered at it for a moment before comprehending what had happened--Sephiroth had cast a fire spell. Not at her, but near enough. Too near. Feeling had returned to her, a crawling violence across her skin. She managed to curl into a ball in the snow and slush.
"Get up," he repeated, his tone no different from before.
She struggled again to obey, but her body protested every motion. What would he do to her now? Might he abandon her? The return of sensation had brought with it some semblance of feeling, and Aeris found herself afraid.
She thought she heard him moving away. The sound could have been imagined, but tears pricked her eyes anyway. If he had left her, then that meant it was over, and she would meet her death by his hand, only a little later and slower than the original plan. A pathetic, unobserved, lonely death out here, and her body would be left to the snow. Her friends might not even find her. She'd chosen this over one instant's pain?
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the building sobs away. She would not cry in front of Sephiroth, if he were still standing there. She would not give him that satisfaction. If he were still there. The tears escaped just the same and all she could do was curl up tighter and hide her face. She did not let her sobs shake her body. She kept her voice silent with some difficulty. But she let the tears roll down her cheeks and join the snow beneath her. She could not stop them. Planet, this wasn't what she had wanted that chance for.
"Are you crying?" Sephiroth asked her, and her heart leapt at the sound of his voice, never mind the disgust in it, never mind that it was his.
"N-no," she stated loudly, not lifting her head.
He strode over to her, grasped a handful of her hair, and yanked her head up, making her cry out. "You're lying," he stated, eyeing her tears with a frown. "Don't."
She winced and drew in a shaky breath through her tears. "L-let me go..."
"Let you go?" he echoed, scoffing. "You are in no position to give orders."
Meeting his gaze, she gathered what she could of her obstinacy. "I-it makes more s-sense... the other way around, c-considering I can't... f-follow orders."
Sephiroth laughed, seeming to find something far more worthy in this than her sobs. "True, I suppose. This means I'll have to carry you again, doesn't it?"
"Please..." she murmured in spite of herself, a growing relief wearing her down.
"Hm?" His smile of amusement vanished.
"Just don't l-leave me."
He snorted. "Oh, is that what you were crying about?" He did not wait for an answer, but let go of her hair and gathered her in his arms. "I won't be leaving you anywhere; I am not finished with you yet."
Aeris did not reply. She curled up against him, glad of his warmth and not caring if he was her enemy at the moment. She wanted to live. It didn't matter how. If someone so despicable was to be her savior from dying alone in this cold, so be it. She'd accept that.
Again she fancied that his touch was gentle, but that was a stupid notion. She had to be delirious. That was the only explanation. That, and the warmth she felt through Sephiroth's coat, slowly warming her in turn. She should not have felt grateful to him, she thought in annoyance, but she did.
They travelled for some time, and she shut her eyes against the weather. After a while, she became used to his body heat, and she became aware of the cold and the snow against her skin once more.
"We will stop here for a while," he stated, startling her. She had not realized he had been carrying her for that long. He practically dropped her onto the stony ground, and she yelped, eyes snapping open.
"Did you have to do that?" she asked, glaring at him and tenderly touching a fresh wound in her side. Not too bad, but painful all the same.
Sephiroth did not bother to look in her direction, nor did he bother to reply. He sat down and leaned back against the rock wall, closing his eyes. He did not move.
Aeris watched him for a long moment, waiting for him to acknowledge her question, but he continued to ignore her. She sighed and drew her fingers away from the small gash. Blood. She doubted for an instant that she had the energy to heal herself, but reminded herself that such a tiny wound wouldn't much tax her. She took a moment to close the flesh, and wondered what had happened to her burns. Had her enemy really healed them, or had she done so in her daze, scarcely realizing it?
She cast him another glance, then looked around at their shelter. It was not quite a cave, but rather a narrow passage between two stony walls, one of which had an overhang. The snow and the wind could not reach here, but it was hardly any warmer.
Rubbing her arms, she curled up, huddling close to the wall as if hoping it could warm her. The stone was cold and unfriendly. This was still better than walking alone and half-naked through the snow, she consoled herself.
"How can you stand it?" she asked of her captor, who had never shown the slightest reaction to the cold. Even that heavy black coat couldn't shield him from all of it.
"Hey," she said, raising her voice when he remained silent. "I'm talking to you, Sephiroth."
"I realize this," he stated.
"Then answer me. How can you stand it?"
Again no reply.
Aeris sighed. "How silly of me to think you'd talk to me," she muttered to herself. She studied him, noting how tangled his hair had become from the wind. Her own hair was still thankfully tied back, the wind pulling only short strands to whip at her face.
And the White Materia was still there, she thought, remarking on it not for the first time since he'd taken her captive. She wondered why he let her keep it. If he meant to break her, shouldn't that, her memento of her mother, symbol of her completed duty, be something to rip from her? She couldn't believe he simply hadn't thought of it. Was there a plan for later, or was he not so cruel as he pretended?
She hesitated, and then asked, "What does Jenova think of this?" Saying the name made her uncomfortable, an invocation of the bane that had nearly wiped out her ancestors.
"What does it matter?" he asked, not opening his eyes or making any other movement.
"She probably doesn't like it, that you didn't kill me, does she?"
He did not reply.
"Why do you put up with her?"
"She is my mother."
"Do you actually believe that?"
He reacted now, opening his eyes and shooting her a glare. "What, you have some new lie to tell me?"
"I'm not a liar," she protested, unthinking.
"No?" he asked, mouth twisting in an amused smirk. "With the position you are in, you have ample reason to be. Besides, you have lied numerous times, when it suits your purposes. I am not so blind as your friends."
Aeris frowned. "I wouldn't lie about something like this. I just... Well. All right, if you won't believe me... Jenova went along with it when you thought you were a Cetra, didn't she?"
Sephiroth eyed her warily. "Yes..."
"But you say she knew Cetra, so she must have known all along that she wasn't one of them, and therefore, neither were you."
He closed his eyes again. "What does it matter?"
"Don't you see?" she asked, sitting up straighter in determination. His tone made it clear this wasn't something he had entirely made up his mind on. "She lied to you! And maybe she's lying to you now."
"If she had told me then," he said quietly, "do you think I would have believed her?"
She slumped back, and shook her head slightly, and though he could not see it, he seemed to sense her answer.
"Why should she have tried to tell me the truth? Do you think she wanted me to hate her, too?"
"But... she still lied," she repeated. "Isn't that what you hate everyone else for?"
"Only in part," he answered guardedly. His desire to end the conversation was so obvious, it surprised her that he kept replying. Maybe she was getting somewhere after all.
"What is she then? The lesser of the evils?"
"You do not understand. Stop trying to."
Aeris stifled a cry of exasperation and persisted. As long as he responded... "But, Sephiroth, I want to understand you."
"What for?"
"I... I'm curious," she lied, hoping it sounded convincing enough for him. She was never going to get anywhere if she couldn't understand him. "I want to know why you're really doing this. Who wouldn't?"
"The rest of the world," he replied dryly.
"Then I guess I'm not like the rest of the world. I never have been. So tell me."
Sephiroth looked at her again, raising an eyebrow. "You expect me to tell you simply because you ask? You are more naïve than I thought."
"But I think you want someone to understand you."
"Why should I?"
"Because I do," she answered without thinking through the implication. "And..."
He snorted, catching it immediately. "You actually think I am anything like you?"
Aeris sighed and retreated from his gaze, resting her head against her knees. "No, not really... But I've always thought that everyone wanted to be understood. I... Wouldn't it be that much nicer, not to be so alone?"
She felt it when he looked away again. "Do not unburden your soul to me, Cetra. I do not care."
Frowning, she closed her eyes, wishing she could sleep here. But she did not dare with it being so cold, so she resigned herself to her thoughts.
Maybe she really was a little curious, she admitted to herself. When she'd first heard Cloud's story, about how he was a Cetra, she'd wondered about him. Had it made him lonely, too? In spite of everything else he'd done, she couldn't help thinking that they shared something, in being different. She thought she'd gotten over that on learning he was something else, but it still lingered. It remained that neither of them was entirely human.
But any vague similarities that brought with it weren't something she should dwell on, no more than she could use them. He had nearly killed her, twice now. The last thing she needed to do was start commiserating with her enemy. He'd experienced something like she had, probably, but now he had gone so far in the other direction that they were near complete opposites.
A shiver ran through her body, bringing the cold around her to the forefront of her thoughts, and she curled tighter against it. "Too bad you don't have any gentlemanly qualities," she bemoaned aloud. "If you did, you'd lend me your coat."
"If I didn't, you would be naked," Sephiroth replied matter-of-factly, "and quite possibly flat on your back."
His remark almost silenced her, but she soon found her voice again. "That doesn't count. The underwear was a compromise, and this isn't any place for... that."
"Fine," he said indifferently. "I am completely ungentlemanly."
"That's better," she replied, determined not to show how much his apathy annoyed her. Planet, sometimes she just wanted to cut him. But she couldn't seem to hurt him with what little she had at her disposal. Maybe she was going about it the wrong way. He responded easily to her spite and sarcasm; letting that go when she spoke with him was what had drawn the most varied responses from him. Maybe she should have been showing him kindness, just to throw him off.
But be kind to him? Oh, that would be loathsome. But her friends knew her to be kind to everyone. Sephiroth could not be an exception. She could not grant him that, and compassion was the last thing he seemed to want. So she would go hard on herself, too, and do the exact opposite of what he did to her.
But impersonally. He could break her all the more easily if she had some attachment to him.
Despite her decision, it was a long time before she made any further effort to speak to him. It was one thing to decide on it, it was another thing to discern how to go about it. Moreover, the likelihood of still freezing to death here was a much more immediate concern. Sephiroth was ignoring her entirely, but she didn't have any options outside of him. Even if she could get away, it was unfamiliar territory, with gods knew how far to any civilization, and she could scarcely last ten minutes in her condition.
She could ask him for any number of things to help her, but in the end she could expect nothing from him. Asking wasn't the way to go about it.
Taking a deep breath, Aeris got to her feet and walked over to join him. She sat down close enough to brush shoulders with him and followed his gaze to an unimpressive point on the wall opposite them.
He did not even glance at her.
At length, she sighed and decided to break the silence once again. "Why do you hate them anyway? What did they do to you?"
This time Sephiroth deigned to grace her with a reply. "I thought you would have known that already."
She shook her head dismissively. "I've heard the part about the humans stealing the Planet from the Cetra and you wanting to take it back, but you don't believe that anymore. So now what is it?"
"Many men seek power. Must there be a reason besides the wanting of it?"
"Not in all cases. But I don't think you're power-hungry. Not like that."
"And why not?"
"If that was all, you would have done something like this a long time ago," Aeris reasoned. "You were Shinra's great hero after the war, and you didn't take advantage of that in the slightest. It took Nibelheim to set you off. And as long as I'm mentioning Nibelheim, none of what you found there should matter now either, now that you know how much of it isn't true."
"That does not change the fact of the experiment that created me, and it only adds to a long list of lies."
If he had said that with even the slightest bitterness, she could have easily pitied him. As it was, she only glanced at him, wondering how he could speak of everything so indifferently. "That's right... Everyone seems to lie to you, don't they? But that's only part of why you hate them, you said."
Sephiroth glanced at her, looking entirely unimpressed.
At least he had looked at her.
"Aren't you lonely?" Aeris asked abruptly.
He had fallen silent, and it seemed unlikely that he would reply.
She leaned forward, hugging her knees. "All that made you outcast, too, didn't it?"
"Do not compare me to yourself, Aeris. You'll only end up with nothing."
Looking back at him, she met his gaze for a moment before she had to look away from its intensity. "What, are you afraid of getting too close to someone?"
"I have no need of being close to anyone."
"You're just telling yourself that."
"You merely want to make me seem human."
"Why should I want you to seem human?"
"Because you are more comfortable around them."
"Yes, I suppose I would be more comfortable around people who let me wear clothes in freezing temperatures."
Sephiroth cast her a glance that contained--to her astonishment--genuine amusement. "That is not what I meant."
"I know," Aeris replied. "But even so... most humans haven't been particularly kind to me either. If you were a Cetra, that would make me much more at ease with you. As it is... you're something alien, and probably more human than I am anyway."
"How is that?" he queried, sounding vaguely suspicious and yet actually curious.
"You did say I was only half-Cetra, but both of your parents were hu--"
"Ridiculous," he interrupted. "My mother is most definitely not human."
She managed to meet his gaze steadily, hoping her eyes would show she was indeed telling the truth. "I'll agree that Jenova isn't human. That's obvious. But she's not your mother."
His eyes narrowed, glowing a dangerous emerald. "It would not be wise to continue, Cetra."
"Your mother's name was Lucrecia," Aeris went on, clasping her hands together till her knuckles turned white. The look in those eyes scared her, but she did not want to show it beyond that.
"I know nothing of this 'Lucrecia,'" Sephiroth said contemptuously.
"Of course you don't. No one bothered to tell you."
"Why tell me Jenova was instead?"
"I don't know," Aeris admitted. "I don't know who told you, but... well, Vincent said it was a theory, so maybe it was just how Professor Gast and Hojo thought of it." She saw how he tensed at Hojo's name, and made note of it to herself.
"How do I know that you are not lying to me as well?" he asked sharply. Still, there was something in his eyes that made her hopeful.
"Look at me, Sephiroth," she said. "Look me in the eye; I can't hide anything from you anyway." There was a short pause. "Well? Do you think I'm lying?"
He met her gaze for a long moment, but she could not read his expression. Suddenly, he looked away with a noise akin to a snarl. "You are lying," he stated.
Aeris sighed and looked down. "Did Jenova tell you so, or did you decide it for yourself?"
"You should stop trying to make excuses for me," he told her tonelessly.
"Advice from you?" she remarked incredulously. "That's making it a bit too hard on yourself, isn't it?"
"No."
She found herself leaning against him, and she wondered when she had moved. His body heat had drawn her in, she supposed, and as long as that was all, she could ignore it. "You're not nearly as cruel as I thought you'd be," she said.
"You say this despite the fact that I have nearly killed you, kidnapped you, forced you to walk half-naked through the snow until you nearly froze to death, and threatened to rape you?"
He said it so simply. "Yes," she said. "You didn't kill me; that's the important thing. You've kept me alive, too. You haven't... raped me. And you won't."
Sephiroth smiled slowly. "Would you like the pleasure of taking off my clothes, or will I have to force you?"
Her eyes widened slightly. "You... you can't be serious..."
"I am. Now is as good a time as any, yes? Well? Are you a willing victim or a fighter?"
Her voice fled from her, and she searched his face for some indication that he was joking. He couldn't really mean to do this now, could he? She didn't think she could handle it, not those kinds of wounds, not now.
He laughed abruptly--at her expression of horror, she realized. "I thought you were certain?"
She blinked at him slowly. "Then... you're not...?"
"Not now, Aeris, not now." He trailed a finger down her bare side, making her shudder. "In time, though, perhaps..."
Aeris inched away from him despite her body's protests.
"How illogical," he murmured absently.
"What do you mean?" she asked, glad she had regained relative control over her voice.
"Now that I have told you I will not harm you, you move away. I thought you were cold."
"I won't have you touching me like that," she told him, casting him a glare that probably contained more fear than anger.
Sephiroth looked amused. "You think you have some sort of control over that, do you?"
"Well, I... you..."
He pulled her unceremoniously into his lap, his hands resting comfortably about her hips. She dropped her gaze, blushing furiously and wishing she could manage to pull away from him somehow. She also wished her body would agree with her; it was taking far too much pleasure from his warmth and his touch.
"Do you like this?" he asked mockingly.
It took her a moment to find a reply, and even then she was surprised at her words. "You shouldn't become too attached to me if you're only going to throw me away in the end. You have too much fun doing this to me. I think you must like it as much as I do."
"Nonsense, Aeris. I'll have other toys."
"And when you're through with them all? What then?"
"Worried?"
"Why should I worry about you?"
"I don't know. But you do."
Aeris looked up at him, astonished because he had realized it before she had. And indeed she couldn't think of a reason. "I just..." she began, and stopped, not knowing what else to say.
Sephiroth got to his feet without waiting for an answer that wasn't coming, lifting her with him, and threw her over his shoulder as she yelped surprise. He said not another word, but stepped out from the crevice and back into the snow fields, continuing westward. I guess he rested long enough, she thought wryly. She did not even consider asking him to carry her in another fashion.
The wind whipped his hair about, constantly blowing it into her face. At first she tried to shield herself with her arms, but it didn't work very well. In annoyance, she grasped at his hair, twisting to gather it together and then separate it into three thick locks of silver.
Sephiroth turned his head slightly, as though trying to look over his shoulder at her. "What are you doing?"
"Braiding your hair," she replied. "I'm tired of it getting in my face."
"Don't touch my hair," he said, a veiled threat in his tone.
She peered at him. "Vain, are we? Doesn't it bother you?"
"Leave it."
Aeris hesitated, then went on twining the three locks together.
Suddenly, he pulled her off his shoulder and thrust her downwards. She landed hard in the snow, floundering for a moment before managing to sit up. Wincing, she looked up at his retreating form. "What was that for?" she demanded.
"I told you not to touch my hair."
She scrambled to her feet and hurried after him, becoming uncomfortably aware of something else. She managed to catch up to him without tripping. "And for that you toss me in the snow?"
"Yes."
"But I was only trying to help!" she protested.
"For your own benefit."
"Mutual benefit," she corrected, watching the unfinished braid come loose and the strands whip about him once more. "Now come on, why don't you let me finish and tie it back? That can't be pleasant."
"Leave it."
"Impossibly stubborn man," she muttered under her breath.
Sephiroth glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.
Aeris dropped back, trying to avoid that gaze. Why could she never decide whether she wanted him to look at her or ignore her entirely? In any case... "Um..." she began uncertainly.
He probably heard her, but offered no convenient question to allow her to continue.
She faltered, then went on in embarrassment, "Sephiroth... I have to go to the bathroom."
The swordsman laughed and shook his head. "There is no 'bathroom' for miles."
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
He offered her a shrug in reply. "Go if you must."
"Out here?"
"Where else?"
"But... it's..."
"I will not wait for you," he interrupted. "You will have to catch up somehow." He glanced at her over his shoulder and added dryly, "And I've no desire to watch, so you needn't be so embarrassed."
Aeris considered saying more, but eventually decided against it and stopped in her tracks. She did not trust him despite his words, and she suddenly felt very nervous out here in the open snow fields. She watched him for a moment, but he didn't so much as glance back. She turned aside a little from the trail he had left, not feeling very comforted.
He was a bit surprised when she did catch up to him; he had expected to have to stop and wait for her or perhaps even to go back and retrieve her from the snow. Her gait, though, was unsteady, and she wouldn't last much longer.
She gave no cry when she fell this time, and he stopped to watch her struggling back to her feet. She stood still for a long moment, perhaps gathering her strength, then resolutely continued forward.
Only to collapse at his feet, shivering.
Sephiroth stooped to gather her up and walked on in silence.
Aeris, of course, had to interrupt the quiet. "I don't understand it," she murmured against his chest. After a short pause, she went on. "Sometimes I hate this so much, but then... It doesn't all fit. So maybe I was wrong. How many sides are there to you?"
"None to remark on. You're delusional." Wrong about what? What was she saying? That sometimes he seemed kind?
"No, no, I'm not," she insisted. "It would be easier if you were nothing but a monster. But you're not. You're still not sure."
Make her shut up, Jenova said in disgust. Such idiocy, really.
He ignored her. "About what, exactly?"
The Cetra seemed to brighten at his question. "You know. Your beliefs. Whether or not Jenova is your mother and even whether what you're doing is right."
"She is my mother, and we are right."
"How do you justify it now that you can no longer claim to be a Cetra?"
"You have seen what the humans have done to this planet. Surely you hate them for it also."
"Shinra, yes," she answered. "But there are people against Shinra. People who only want to help the Planet--"
"And it is in their nature to harm it."
Aeris shook her head slightly. "You're just saying these things," she said softly.
"Then what do you think, Aeris?"
"I'm not sure... There's something beyond revenge, but of course you won't tell me. You don't need anyone to understand you. Certainly you don't need me."
Sephiroth smiled, though she could not see it. "You learn quickly."
"I guess," the Cetra sighed, falling into a thoughtful silence.
What is she talking about? his mother demanded. If there is any truth in her words...
Don't mind her, Mother. She thinks she knows me, but she does not. This desire of hers to understand me will only harm her in the end.
You should not let her speak so.
What are you afraid of?
You believing her foolishness.
I won't, he told her, annoyed that they had to repeat this conversation so often. They are nothing more than lies, and I am finished with putting faith in illusions.
The Cetra were always plotting, Jenova agreed. And they put on such convincing demeanors. Do not deny you felt a thrill of doubt in my words when she said I was not your mother.
You are my mother, Sephiroth said firmly. She cannot convince me otherwise.
Good. So long as you remember she is nothing but a liar.
Of course. Yet that was never what he saw when he looked at her. At first, of course, she had appeared so innocent as to disgust him, but now he could tell that she was not quite so unmarred as she pretended. The gentle smile and bright eyes hid something far more dark than most who knew her probably imagined.
Sephiroth shook his head slightly. Perhaps she really was dangerous after all, if he had begun to think of her in such a light. But in the end it only provided him with more opportunity; if she was hiding behind that silly facade, it only meant she had more wounds he could reopen. All he had to do was wait, let her break the silence and provide him with one of those same openings he had mostly ignored until now.
Predictably, Aeris spoke up after a while. "I think I see a town. Is that where we're headed?"
Snow Village had been in his sight for some time now, but she must have finally noticed it. "Yes."
"How people can stand to live this far north is beyond me," she remarked with a frown. After a moment, her face brightened. "Can we stop for breakfast there? It's morning now, and you said maybe..."
"When was the last time you ate?" he queried. If she had managed to keep silent about it for this long, she could not be starving, could she? Then again, being a slums girl, she had to have built up some endurance, and he certainly had not encouraged complaints.
"I must have grabbed something or other before I left from the Temple..." she answered uncertainly.
"Three days ago or longer," Sephiroth translated, then sighed. "Very well. If they will give anything to you, you may have it."
Aeris peered at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Surely you have not forgotten the condition you are in."
She looked down at herself, and a thoughtful expression crossed her face. "Oh, I'm sure if I stumble into someone's house, they'll be kind enough to help me out. You don't plan on coming inside with me, do you?"
"Only if any dawdling on your part forces me to retrieve you. And be sure to remember you require no aid beyond food."
"I'm touched, truly, by your regard for my well-being," she said sardonically.
"Who besides your new friends ever showed 'regard for your well-being'?"
"My mother, for one," she said pointedly. "And Elmyra."
"Elmyra?" he queried.
"She took care of me after my birth mother died," she answered quite openly. "A second mother to me. And I'm certain she did a much better job than Jenova."
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Oh?"
"If she'd raised you, you'd never have been in SOLDIER, you'd never have had anything to do with Jenova, and you certainly wouldn't be on this godsdamned mission of yours."
"Really? What would I be doing then?"
Aeris blinked. "How should I know?"
"You seem to know so many other things about me. So tell me what I would be doing if your mother had raised me."
She shook her head, at a loss for an answer. "But you could've been a concert pianist for all I know!"
"Not bad," he remarked, earning himself a puzzled look. "Do you want to know what you would be now if you had shared my upbringing?"
"Sure," she answered slowly, still eyeing him carefully. "What would I be?"
"A corpse."
She was silent for a moment, then asked, "You had it that rough?"
"Does it matter now?"
"Of course it does," Aeris insisted. "It's part of who you are."
"Is it?"
"Yes. Everything you do and everything that happens to you determine who you become."
"So how did an outcast child of the slums grow up to be so accepting?" Sephiroth asked.
She looked away from him, towards the town that they were approaching. "How can I be close-minded when I know how it feels to be judged so quickly?"
He scoffed. "Certainly you do not need so much time to judge me."
"I do," she said, "because you're not as pure black as Cloud or Tifa would have it. You're some shade of grey... Were you raised in a laboratory? Is that it?"
"Why do you insist on comparing your life to mine?"
Aeris looked back at him, startled. "How did you know I spent time in a lab?"
Sephiroth grinned briefly. At times she was all too easy to read. "I didn't."
"Then you just guessed?"
"So what if I did?" he queried coolly. "You know, I am quite certain Hojo will be at our destination. Perhaps I'll simply hand you over to him for a short while. I don't pretend to bear anything remotely resembling a liking for the man, but obviously neither do you."
There was indeed fear in her eyes. "You wouldn't..." she breathed. "Surely you wouldn't, not when you know what it's like."
He frowned. "Did I ever say I had spent any part of my life in a laboratory beyond the time it took for Professor Gast to produce me? Though I don't doubt I would harbor no sympathy for you if I had. I have no qualms about letting Hojo treat you like a lab rat."
"You're lying," she said, though she sounded desperate for assurance. "You won't let me near him."
"So you would rather remain with me?" he queried, raising an eyebrow. "How stupid of you."
"At least you acknowledge that I'm capable of intelligent thought, even if you do condescend."
"I would be a fool to ignore it."
"Then you consider me a worthy opponent?" she asked with some apparent delight.
He eyed her dubiously. "You knew that from the start, didn't you?"
"No. Or at least, I didn't believe you when you said so."
"Hmph."
They came to the entrance to the village, and Sephiroth set her on her feet. Aeris looked back at him in surprise. "You didn't drop me this time."
"No," he agreed. "I had no desire to pull you to your feet again."
She looked down, probably noting how deep the snow was where she stood. "My feet must be numb," she concluded, her tone oddly devoid of concern.
Ignoring the remark, Sephiroth nodded towards the nearest residence. "I expect you can find something there."
She followed gaze, and studied the large house doubtfully. "I guess..."
"I will wait here. You will return within ten minutes, whether you come willingly or over my shoulder."
"Right..." Aeris hesitated, and he almost expected her to state that she had nothing with which to tell time, but she must have realized he knew this already and turned to walk off.
Sephiroth watched her go, wondering if he really could give her up to Hojo. He attributed his dislike of the idea to a desire to break her entirely by himself, but a small part of him considered that perhaps he found some solace in her company.