Chapter 24

She was reluctant to leave the safety of her parents' bed. It was comforting to be here, even if this place had been her home for less than three weeks and she couldn't remember it. But she couldn't stay here forever, and sleep had already come and gone, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Aeris slowly uncurled and slid to the edge of the bed. She put her shoes back on, took one last look around the room, and left the house.

She was startled to find Reno waiting for her outside. "How long have you been out here?" she asked as he stood and brushed snow from his pants.

"Not that long," he answered.

She glanced at the sky; it was well past dawn. "Did Cloud say when we were leaving?"

"Later this morning."

She nodded. "I guess we should head back."

Reno followed her as she walked along the slippery path back towards the inn. For a moment it felt strange to be so sure of her footing, but she'd been in much worse shape, back then.

"You get everything sorted out?" Reno asked her.

"No," she admitted. "But I've got enough. We'll win this, and I know I'm coming back alive. That's enough."

"What about the rest of us?"

"I don't know. Do you feel like you'll be coming back?"

"Hell yeah. I'm not letting Sephiroth beat me."

"Then you'll be fine."

Reno stopped, and when she turned to look back at him, he met her gaze soberly. "That's the only way you can look at this, isn't it?"

"We have to win," she said quietly. "There's no other option. And whatever happens, I'm not going to die."

"I haven't even been thinking that far ahead," the redhead admitted, his grim expression softening. "I guess I should. After all this is over, it'd suck to be clueless."

"I wasn't so sure what to do either. And then I thought, 'there's a child in Midgar that belongs to me.' So I had to go back for it. I don't really know any more than that. I just feel like if I raise it to have a normal life, maybe that'll make up for something."

"You're gonna need help with that, aren't you?" Reno asked thoughtfully.

Aeris didn't answer. Instead she looked down at her feet. She knew what he was getting at.

"I can't say I'm good with kids, 'ris, but I'll give it a try if you need me."

"Thank you," she said, "but I think we both know you're wasting your time. You should just give up on me, before I end up hurting you. Find someone else, someone who can really appreciate everything you're doing."

He took a step closer and tilted her face upward. "Thanks for the concern, 'ris, but I'm not about to give up when I'm this close to winning."

"Reno, I don't think this is..."

And then he kissed her. She wanted to let him. There weren't any good reasons for her not to, except that it felt like a lie, an empty promise, to let him. And she wasn't sure if anyone could see them.

So she shoved him away and quickly looked around to see if anyone was nearby. They were alone on the narrow path, in the shadow of a nearby house. She didn't even hear anyone just past the bend, and she began to feel anxious. She took a few steps back to put some distance between them.

"Reno, please don't. Not now."

"But you need it, 'ris."

Aeris blinked. "What?"

"All you do is give. You help Cloud and Tifa and whoever else needs it, even that Sephiroth bastard. But you never ask for anything back, and it's wearing you out. I know you don't want anything from me, but you need something, and I know you're not about to start asking for it."

It was that simple, wasn't it? She had known from the start that sympathy from her friends would only hurt, so she'd distanced herself. She hadn't realized, however, that she did need something from her friends. Not something shallow like sympathy, but a real bond with someone, one through which she could get something in return, but she hadn't dared to try forming one. A bond like that could easily become painful.

"I still... don't have any guarantees that..."

"That this'll work out?" Reno finished. "When're there ever guarantees? I knew when I fell for you that even getting a chance'd be pretty unlikely. Doesn't mean I don't want to try."

Aeris felt tears in her eyes and for a moment she didn't understand them. This was Reno. Yes, this was Reno. There were no real secrets between them, they understood each other, and he was... what? In love with her? And not denying one bit of it.

She let the tears come. It had been a while since she had cried.

Reno seemed surprised, but he didn't hesitate to pull her into an embrace. "I guess it's too much to hope that those are happy tears."

Aeris started to laugh, but a sob chocked back the sound. She buried her face in his chest and let the weeping run its course. She had never cried in someone's arms before. It was... comforting.

At length she pulled away and brushed roughly at her cheeks. "Sorry," she said quietly, not trusting her voice.

"Hey, I don't mind."

"Is it strange for you to be so nice?"

Reno shrugged. "Kinda. Don't expect it to last."

She tried to smile, and found it surprisingly simple.

"Feeling better now?" he asked.

"Yeah," she admitted, voice still a little raw. "I've never let myself cry in front of someone like that, but... I guess I needed it. Kind of sad, huh? I can't imagine you ever breaking down."

"You've been through a lot. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Aeris finally regained her composure and looked back at him. "Well. Why don't we get back now?"

"Don't I get anything for my efforts?" Reno asked with mock disappointment.

She couldn't help but smile. "What are you talking about? You kissed me beforehand."

"That's not a reward," he protested. "You pulled away half a second into it. Seriously, 'ris, you can do better than that, can't you?"

Maybe she could let him. Maybe he could help her forget. And maybe, just maybe, she could come to love him.

She stepped closer to him and slipped her arms around his neck. "Just no tongue," she warned.

He pulled her close. "Okay."

"I mean it."

"I'm not stupid."

Aeris closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss him. It had been a long time. She hadn't let herself become seriously involved with a man since Zack. She wondered if this could last.

The moment ended, and they turned for the street. She found his hand while they walked and held fast, not caring who saw. Her friends would worry, but she trusted Reno. In one way or another, even when he had been a Turk, she had always trusted him.

Even if this would not last, Aeris knew she could draw strength from it. When they confronted Sephiroth, she would be ready.


The gravity of the task was inescapable. They walked down the crater's slope in silence, and none of them smiled. With the whirlwinds of the Lifestream gone, the Highwind's crew had been able to drop them off relatively close to the center, but it was clear that the landscape had changed. The Planet had unleashed its Weapons and Sephiroth had summoned Meteor, and nothing was the same here anymore.

They couldn't tell when they reached the center; the earth had been shaken and split, and boulders made the path even more maze-like than it had been. They were looking for a way deeper, though, a way beneath the Planet's skin. That was where Aeris had said Sephiroth was waiting, and Cloud knew she was right.

A cave entrance appeared abruptly when they rounded a corner. They crowded around it, peering inside. It led steeply downwards and soon disappeared into the darkness.

"Nanaki," Cloud said, "you mind leading the way?"

The feline nodded and went first into the hole, his glowing tail casting a dim light against its walls. Cloud hung back, motioning for those without Mako-enhanced vision to follow, and the rest of them brought up the rear.

That put Cloud with Reno and Vincent, with Cait Sith trailing after. Reeve, not being a fighter, could only send the stuffed toy. No one thought it would last long, but any help it could provide would be useful.

It was the redhead who held his attention, though. He and Aeris seemed to be growing steadily closer. For whatever reason, they had already known each other relatively well when Reno had joined the group, and the ex-Turk surely knew Aeris better than any of them. The rest of them called her a friend, but none of them could claim to know her very well.

Cloud didn't like where that relationship was going. When he and Tifa had returned to the inn, Reno had had his arm around the Cetra. If it were anyone else, Cloud wouldn't have had a problem with it, but this was Reno, an ex-Turk, a man who used to kidnap and torture and murder for a living. Hell, he had wiped out all of Sector 7. It didn't matter that it had been an order. The redhead could have refused, but he hadn't. So what if he had been nothing but helpful to them? A man like that couldn't be good for Aeris.

Although, Cloud had to admit, Vincent had been a Turk once, and he had nothing against the man. Maybe that was because Vincent had been a Turk thirty years ago, and none of them had been personally affected by whatever he might have done. But Reno... Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were dead because of him. Thousands of others, some of whom Cloud had known, were dead because of him. Cloud hadn't had as many ties to Sector 7 as Tifa and Barret, but he still hated Reno for what he had done.

And now Aeris was growing close to him? Maybe even romantically? What was she thinking? She had to know what he'd done. She'd seen the destruction herself. Surely she couldn't dismiss it so easily. Out of all of them, she'd always cared the most about other people, whether she knew them or not. Or had she changed since then? After they'd gotten her back from Sephiroth, she'd grown distant. But hadn't she been getting better? Hadn't she cheerfully wished him good luck after pushing him out the door to find Tifa?

Cloud didn't know what was going on with Aeris, but he was worried. After this battle was over, he hoped she'd be able to settle into a normal life, and they could all stop worrying about her.

Of course, that brought him back to the task at hand: killing Sephiroth. Finally, finally, they were going to accomplish what they had set out from Midgar to do. Nearly a month of chasing after him, trying to stop him and failing at every turn, always because of Cloud. But he was strong now that he had Tifa. He had something to fight for besides revenge, and he wouldn't let Sephiroth manipulate him.

The path underground continued downwards at a rapid pace, making it all too easy to lose one's footing, especially in the darkness. Cloud was also certain that there were monsters lurking down here, creatures not mutated by Mako exposure but born amidst the intensity of the Lifestream's energy. He doubted even their large party could frighten such creatures away. The others had likely come to the same conclusion, and only Aeris moved without unease.

They were growing slowly closer--Cloud could feel it--but they still had a long ways to go before they reached Sephiroth. It almost seemed like their enemy was at the very core of the Planet. It was amazing how deep these caves went.

It was many hours later, after fighting off nightmarish creatures and climbing ever downwards, that they decided to stop and rest one last time. They weren't far from their destination. A faint blue-green glow had begun to color the walls of the cave, shimmering like light reflected off water, and he could sense Sephiroth's presence ahead. A part of him wanted to press on--a few hours more and they would be there--but they were all tired, so he suppressed his eagerness and agreed to rest.

"Can you keep watch while the rest of us get some sleep?" he asked, turning to Cait Sith.

"I'm tired myself," Reeve admitted through the stuffed toy. "I'm not sure if I can stay awake too long, and Cait can only do so much by himself."

Aeris spoke up, her tone free of the anxiety the rest of them were feeling. "The Planet is lending us a little of its strength. It'll protect us for the night, so we don't have to keep watch."

"You're sure?" Cloud asked.

She nodded. "It knows we need our rest if we're going to defeat Sephiroth. We're fighting to save its life; it wants to do what it can for us to return the favor."

"Tell it 'thank you,'" he said hesitantly. He knew Aeris was a Cetra, and Cetra were supposed to be able to talk to the Planet, but she rarely relayed messages from it like this. Cloud had a hard time thinking of the Planet as a sentient being, capable of thought and emotion.

They settled down for the night, eating a quick and somber meal before rolling out their sleeping bags. Cloud welcomed Tifa into his, the feel of her warmth in his arms still like some kind of dream. In spite of what they'd have to do the next day, he could feel his worries easing out of him. For a while, they just lay awake together, whispering to each other about what they would do after this was all over. He had never even thought about it, before Tifa. His plans had always ended with Sephiroth, but now that was just an obstacle. After they beat Sephiroth and saved the Planet, things would go on. That was what gave him strength now.

When he finally did fall asleep, his dreams, surprisingly, were pleasant.


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