Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and its characters are the property of Squaresoft.

Path of Seduction

Chapter Nine

“This game you play . . . it takes too long.” Mother’s voice rasped within his mind with the breathy echo of a glacial cave. “Time is lost  while you try to convince that girl to let you between her legs.” Sephiroth only smiled, eyes heavy-lidded at the picture the words painted for him. Mother was not pleased. Her presence hardened in his mind to icicle sharpness, forbidding and cold inside him with the threat of pain.

And he did not care. The sun was warm and the breeze was cool. He leaned sideways against the trunk of the tree he had chosen to sit in, reveling in the feel of warmth on his face. He let his eyes slip closed, felt the ripples of warm light and cool shadow move across his skin and imagined that slender fingers would flutter over him the same way. His mind wandered, providing images that washed over him in waves of heat and dulled the sharpness of the cold threat inside him. It reduced the harsh voice to hoarse, almost distant howling, audible, yet so easy to brush aside.

“She is beneath you,” Mother raged. “Dirty, filthy, conniving little thing, drawing you to her like this!”

“No, Mother.” The smile never left Sephiroth’s lips. “She is the one tied to me.” His eyes flew open, glowing with a half-mad triumph even in the face of the morning sun. “You should have seen it! She longs for me, even in the darkness that goes beyond dreaming! Every moment that we are apart, she grows more desperate for my presence!” He rose with easy grace to stand on the broad branch, reaching up with one hand to grip the one above. He rested his forehead against that hand and stood there, precariously balanced in the leafy canopy, perfectly hidden in the green.

“She will come to me. She will seek me out and she will not stop until she finds me.” The words escaped him in a rolling whisper, barely even reaching the angry one inside him. “She longs to feel my touch. She pines for the sound of my voice. I felt it in her, this yearning. She has come to crave me. I know she desires what I would give her, even if she cannot quite name it as desire herself.” He felt the flare of his mother’s anger but it was dulled. Pain could not reach him while his mind lingered on the innocent one and the cold words Mother threw at him faded in the rosy glow of recent memory.

True, as Mother said, even assumed dead he could still have any woman he wanted, find an agreeable one for a night, or take one by force to satisfy his growing lust. But what good was that when there was only one woman he wanted, when he could bring her willingly to his side? He did not quite know why he was drawn to the slender, innocent one, other than her unearthly beauty, but he was quite sure that she had not wrapped some veil of her own about him, as Mother so often said. Those wide green eyes plainly showed how unaware she was of the darker games lovers played.

There were other little things about her, the startled look in her eyes, the way the rhythm of her breathing changed with her mood, the gentle laugh, the easy smile, the curve of her lips, her hips. . . He sighed with longing and turned his head, pressing the side of his face against the rough bark. Somewhere in that direction, the puppet lingered, but he would come, even if he did take his own sweet time. So long as he brought Aeris safely with him, Sephiroth did not care how long it took.

He ached to hold her willowy body through the night, to thread his hands through her hair. He would have given anything at that very moment to feel her skin against his own, to know the scent of her, and her taste. He wanted to know how much it would take to bruise her throat with his teeth and if she would try to stop him when he began to undress her. He needed to hear the sounds that would escape those cherry lips when he claimed her completely as his own. Would they be gasps or screams?

He leaned back against the tree trunk in a rush of sudden frustration, almost unable to bear the pain of endless waiting. He wanted Aeris, needed her badly, in fact. So badly that he had to force himself to remember that he needed much more than her body. She was the vessel of a power she barely realized, and her blithe ignorance of that fact suited him perfectly. If he could have her closer, keep her nearer all the time and willingly attached to him, that awesome strength would be his to use for his cause and Mother’s. He had to draw his green-eyed girl closer and still never let her know that he intended only to use her.

The proof of his success would be if she came to him of her own accord. The puppet would escort her across the field and into the village hidden deep within the green. He would be so close to satisfaction, to triumph, if she came to him on her own then. And if she would not do so just yet, it hardly mattered. He would play his game to its end and draw her out himself. One way or another, she would be his.

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Dreams, even a Cetra’s, were never meant to make much sense. That was why Aeris, half aware of the haze of sleep, was not particularly alarmed when the red-headed musician she had been waiting to see swaggered onto the stage bare-chested and grinning. She was not surprised when he looked straight up at the balcony where she sat and flipped a sharp mock salute. She did not even bat an eye when he ran a hand slowly down his body, teasing and tempting all who saw him. The tired groan at her side, however, she had not expected.

Her silvery-haired warrior sat beside her with his head in hands, his hair like a shimmering waterfall even in the darkened concert hall. “Not again, Planet, why?” he groaned. “Where did I go wrong?” He slumped sideways against her shoulder, seeking her comfort in frustration. She reached over to stroke his cheek, to soothe him through her own smothered amusement, but awareness had seeped in too deeply by then.

She woke.

The backseat of the buggy provided a remarkably smooth ride. Long days of hiking and a few close calls had shown her that grassy plains were not as level as they looked. She leaned away from the door and began working out the kinks in her neck. The ride may have been smooth enough for sleep but the seating certainly was not. Red XIII playfully bumped his head into her shoulder and she smiled lazily back at him.

“You have a good sleep?” he asked, nudging her again. She reached over to scratch his neck.

“Good sleep,” she murmured. “Strange dreams, but a good sleep.” She smiled a little as the scenes in her dreams, still vivid, replayed in her mind. He was in her dreams now, as handsome as he was in life, but different, warmer somehow. She had seen him unwell. She had seen him a bit playful and had even seen him worried for her, but each encounter, each soft caress still bore the thrill of newness and danger. She looked longingly to the side where the dream form of the dark warrior had rested his cheek. The shape of his dream self had thrown his head against her shoulder with the ease of a long familiarity. Even in sleep it had been comforting, to know for a few unreal moments what life without even one thread of loneliness was. With things as they were, she would likely never have that long standing comfort with him. She wondered if she would ever have it with anyone.

She sighed.

She shared something with that dark one, something wonderful and strange. But, and she was alarmed at how often she had to remind herself of it lately, he was insane, destructive and murderous. Cloud reminded them all of it when he had too and the tightness that grew in Tifa’s eyes at his words confirmed it. Up close, though, the dark soldier had never seemed that way to her. Dangerous, certainly, but mysterious and inexplicably captivating. She wanted him and she knew after that hazy encounter in the deeper realm of minds, that he wanted her too. There could be no lies there.

She slumped back against the side of the buggy. She wanted him, but for what she did not know. The deep burning inside, low in her body, was telling enough, but was that all? Did he just want that one thing himself? His fiery kisses, that bold touch, the heated look she had caught in his eyes, all spoke of desire and deep-seated need, yet he had not claimed what could have easily been his. He had always been gentle, attentive to her slightest response. Memories of his concern swept over her and she longed to wrap herself in the protection he offered for as long as she could. How long would he keep offering his warm arms to her?

Red nudged her shoulder again. “You’re frowning. I thought you said you had a good sleep.” Her head jerked up in surprise. She took a deep breath before answering, with a tiny smile on her face.

“I did, I did,” she reassured the big red cat, but she could still see the disbelief in his one yellow eye. He tilted his head in a gesture that could have been human if not for the way his ears tilted forward. Aeris’ smile widened before she could help it. “It was a good rest. Only the dream was a bit . . . strange.” Her head hung down as a breath escaped her.

Red stepped forward and rested his chin on her leg with his face tilted up so he could see her face. “It wasn’t scary, was it?” he asked, and Aeris shook her head, her expression almost wistful.

“No, no.” She sighed again. “If anything it was too good.” The quizzical look on Red’s furry face made the smile return to her face. “You know how some dreams can be so wonderful . . .” She trailed off. This was ridiculous.

“That it is sad knowing that real life will never match it?” Red finished for her. The image of a den, warm and filled with the sound of mewling flashed through his mind. Aeris looked down at him and nodded slowly before she slumped further to the side with a cheek resting on one palm, deep in thought. Her other hand came to rest on Red’s neck and she absently petted the longer strands of his mane. He said no more, letting her think in whatever silence she could muster amidst the sounds of Barret and Cloud arguing about map-reading.

This dream, at least, had not brought any strange presence with it.

__________________________

The outline that had been growing on the horizon proved to be a small forest, but a very dense one. Barret swore. “We must be going off course, Spike! We’re looking for a reactor town and the only thing I see out there is more bush!” Cloud kept driving straight towards the trees.

“I think we’ve followed the map exactly, Barret,” Tifa spoke up from the center of the middle row, where she sat to keep Yuffie from being bludgeoned to death in any attempt to dismantle the toysaurus on the other end. The barmaid had the map open out on her lap and with Cait Sith’s help, had been watching for the faint marks of the old trail, long overgrown.

“Absolutely!” Cait Sith chirped. “My internal compass says we’re going the right way, straight to Gongaga.”

“That so?” Barret turned around, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the little robot. “I hope that compass of yours is nothing like your fortunes.” Yuffie snickered, but kept her head tilted against the window and made no other sound. It took no great leap of thought to see that the girl was bored out of her mind, what with her slumped posture and the expression of bland disinterest on her face.

Tifa smiled, shaking her head as she turned back to the map. The young ninja’s leg kept twitching. Tifa could only imagine what kind of torture it was for the fidgety girl to have to sit still so long but they could hardly have her prodding their newest member every few minutes. The dense ring of forest grew nearer.

Barret huffed. “That’s supposed to be Gongaga? Where’s the reactor?” Cloud kept driving in silence, guided by something far beyond a map and an old trail.

Tifa squinted and slid forward in her seat. “Looks like there’s something sticking up out of the trees.” She tilted her head as she tried to figure out what it was. “It doesn’t look like a reactor though.” Quiet took over as she and Barret leaned forward, straining to identify the strange shapes protruding from the green. Then Barret slid back and a harsh breath escaped him.

“It’s not a reactor,” he murmured. “It’s what’s left of one.”

Cloud just kept driving.

__________________________

The evening sun found the blond man at the edge of the small ruined settlement, far more awake than he had been in the morning, the afternoon’s alarms a terribly rude awakening. He could still feel the wound on his arm itching even though no visible trace of it remained after Aeris’ ministrations. The ache inside was even worse, as the sudden realization that one of the small band could be a spy threatened to wound him even further. He stopped on the path, turning back to make certain every last one of his tired teammates caught up. Exhaustion showed in their every step. Could one of them really have relayed information to the Turks? It was almost too much to think about.

The first shot, the one that had drawn his mako-infused blood, had come from Reno. It had been hard and fast, the redhead’s revenge. Cloud raised one hand, intending to motion his friends forward, but froze in his motion when he noticed the fine trembling. He let his arm fall to his side. The shock of blood pouring down his side had pulled him out of the strange, half-waking state he found himself drifting in more often of late. He still could not believe that it had taken that much for him to finally open his eyes. He nibbled at the inside of his lip, using the small pain to ground his awareness in reality. This slipping in and out was dangerous, not just for him but for the entire team.

His gaze focused on Tifa as she dragged her feet on the path. He had never seen her look so tired, with her hair all astray and no trace of her usual encouraging smile. Dark dirt streaked her legs and clothes, the result of a fall she had taken after being hit during battle, but she was unharmed and for that Cloud was grateful. He could almost feel his own energy draining out of him as he looked at her wrap her arms around herself. She began to rub warmth back into her arms and Cloud felt a slight twinge of something, a mild longing mixed with guilt. He wished he had a coat to lend her.

When she raised her eyes, he turned away hurriedly, burying his face in his hand as if contemplating the next move. Hopefully she had not noticed him staring and would not see the redness he could feel creeping up his face.

“What now, Spike?” Barret spoke with no trace of his usual gruff demeanor. All that was left now was weariness. Cloud looked back again to be sure the rest of his team were together. Tifa gave him a small smile and a short sigh of relief as she drew to a halt beside him. Yuffie remained just behind the her, looking sullen and obviously sulky. She was not even trying to reach the big zipper on the little robot next to her. Cloud narrowed his eyes at the toysaurus. Cait Sith was being unusually quiet. Something was not quite right here.

The blond man shook his head violently. He had felt himself drifting off again. He spun around, looking for Aeris, but she was not on the path. Almost before the thought registered, a chill ran through his body and his heart thumped in his chest, though his mind remained clear. Before he could question the severity of the reaction a pink figure emerged from the brush off the side of the path. Cloud felt his body return to normal immediately.

“So many people died here,” Aeris murmured as she approached, her voice bearing a slight note of helpless regret. Mercifully she did not seem haunted. Her face did seem a bit pale in the green-tinted shadows but perhaps it was only because the deep blue blossom she was burying her face in enhanced her natural pallor. How did she keep finding these things? Cloud knew he had never seen anything like it.

It hardly mattered. “Come on,” he waved the group forward. They needed supplies, perhaps better weapons or armor if there were any to be had in what was left of Gongaga. There was little light left. It would not hurt to find a place to sleep for the night. Cloud hurried onwards, intending to make the best use of what daylight remained, but a sad, womanly sigh reached him, made him stop.

He turned around, just a bit annoyed, ready to snap at the one responsible for wasting time, but Aeris’ expression hushed him. He had not noticed the graveyard, crowded with pale, roughly-hewn tombstones. Care was evidenced throughout the small cemetery. Not one of the markers was overgrown with the wild greenery that shot forth wherever dark earth met sunshine here. A woman, garbed in black, knelt before one near the center. Cloud stared wordlessly as she traced the letters on the stone. Her lips moved but she made no sound, her words meant only for the departed one.

The others stood quietly by, stunned to silence, as Aeris entered the graveyard through the narrow gap in the fence and approached the mourning woman with a gentle gait. The woman heard her, turned to face her, ready to warn her off, but Aeris’ look of genuine sympathy froze the angry words in her throat. She turned back to the headstone and tenderly patted the name there. When she did speak, her voice was low, sad and raspy, as if pain and tears had taken their toll. “The reactor exploded three years ago,” she said. “My husband is here now.” Grief lived still in that ragged voice.

Aeris said nothing. She only knelt down and gently placed her night blue wildflower on the grave. The widow smiled. “I thank you.” She reached out to touch the flower girl’s arm. “I wish you better luck with your love than . . .this.” She returned to tracing the dead one’s name, her eyes shiny with new tears. Aeris stood quietly and left the woman to her grieving while nursing a new ache in her own heart and, for some reason the girl did not know, the ghost of an old one too.

The rebel group moved on, perhaps a little slower than before, more silent, weary and disheartened. The tragedy of this accident, one like so many others, was made a little more real here. Everywhere, the stories were the same. A reactor built among controversy. An explosion so great that even years later the wreckage was still lying around. A home lost, a father gone. A brother. A mother. A sister. A son.

The loss was all the more heartbreaking in the face of the sheer bravery of Gongaga. Its people had pulled together, gathered what was left of their lives. They carried on, almost completely forgotten by the company that had brought this sorrow upon them. It suited them perfectly. “People can live without Shinra’s mako reactors,” so many on them had said, and there was a cold, knowing glint of harsh experience in everyone’s eyes.

One shopkeeper in particular had noticed the distinctive mark of a SOLDIER, but the company Cloud kept had convinced the man that the blond meant no harm. “Ex-SOLDIER, eh?” The man had looked thoughtful. “You should visit that house on the south side of town. Folks who live there would probably like to talk to you.”

Cloud had no idea what the man meant by that, but still, he went.

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“Sam, get the door, will you? My hands are in soapsuds here.” Marie shook her head and smiled as she washed the dishes, big, heavy plates made right there in town. She could hear Sam’s exaggerated groan as he pulled himself upright. She swore that the man grew lazier by the day. She listened for the creak of the opening door and waited for the visitor to speak.  Instead there was an unusual gap of silence after the entering footsteps. She frowned. Usually either Sam or the visiting neighbor would have spoken by now. Immediately, she was struck with the fear that something was very wrong. She turned from the sink, hurriedly drying her hands on a thin dishcloth as she scurried out of the kitchen.

Sam finally did speak when she was almost into the living room. “Hey, you’re not from around here!” Marie looked up to see a handsome young man standing a bit stiffly just inside the doorway. Both she and Sam noticed the unnatural light at the same time, like a bright glow in deep water in the blond man’s eyes. Sam was astonished. “You’re a SOLDIER!”

A SOLDIER. Of course. Marie felt her heart leap. “You really are a SOLDIER, aren’t you? Tell, me, do you know anything about our son?” The old man next to her nodded.

 Words left Sam’s mouth in a rush. “It’s been about ten years since he up and left to join SOLDIER. He said he didn’t want to live in the country anymore.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to have you standing like that. Please, come in. Have a seat!” Courtesy had caught up with  Marie, but it paled next to the excitement the young man’s presence had brought. She stared at the young man as he nodded and took the seat she offered. Make him a bit taller, turn his hair dark . . . Was that what her boy looked like in his uniform? The young women behind him called out there polite greetings as they came in behind him. Marie turned a critical eye on them.

Both were quite pretty, Marie thought, and though she did not think much of the well-endowed one’s clothes, the girl at least had a bladed fighter’s glove to ward off the unwanted attention such an outfit would bring. The woman narrowed her eyes at the other girl. Petite and pretty and the expression on her face might have almost been sweet if not for her eyes. They stood out from the rest of her, bearing the look of one startled, rubbed raw, one who had seen more than one so young should have. Brown hair and very green eyes . . . the combination rang a bell.

“Didn’t you know someone named ‘Zack’ in SOLDIER?” Sam was saying. “Darn boy ran off, like I said, though that was long before that business with the reactor. He wrote and told us he made it in, but he never came back.” The grey-haired man leaned back in his seat, looking weary. “He used to write a lot but it’s been about five years since we last heard anything from him.”

The blond man shook his head. “I’m sorry.” His voice was quiet, with a reserved quality that Marie knew her son had never had. “The weapons dealer told me you would be interested in speaking to me, but I didn’t know it was anything like this.” What had he been expecting, exactly? “I never heard of anyone named ‘Zack’ in SOLDIER. I’m sorry you haven’t heard from him for so long.”

Marie frowned. Zack had to have been in SOLDIER. He would not have lied to his own parents. She knew she had raised him better than that. She heard a small, stifled cry from the corner. “Zack . . .” the girl in pink had her face down, her lips covered with her fingers. Zack’s mother stared, her eyes widening. The memory of words, a broad, bold scrawl, clicked instantly with the image before her.

“You know him, young lady?” she leaned forward, eager for information, eager to know this girl. “He wrote us six or seven years ago saying he had a girlfriend.” Marie saw the green eyes flicker at that, shining with more than just the lamp light. She swallowed before she phrased the next question but she had to know. “Was that you?”

The girl’s face crumpled, the tears that threatened to spill confirmation enough for the older woman. But whatever memories that line of questioning had dredged up seemed to be too much for the girl. With all eyes on her, she buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. “It can’t . . .I’m sorry!” Before anyone could move to offer comfort she bolted from her seat and fled the house.

__________________________

Evening had set the sky fully ablaze when Cloud finally stepped back out onto the path. The vibrant green grasses seemed to have caught fire too. Everything was touched with a deep shade of glowing gold, though it was fading fast. Cloud exhaled heavily. It had taken only a few more minutes of questioning from Zack’s parents, whoever he was, before they became convinced that he truly knew nothing about their son, but it had been enough time for darkness to begin its slow crawl across the land. Even as he stood wondering where Aeris had run off too he saw the shadows lengthen and the brightness of the land around him cool to shades closer to despair, just as Zack’s parents had.

He regretted that he could give them no information, pitied them even further for having completely lost contact with their only child. It was a shame that the one person who actually might have been able to tell them something had run out so soon, and that halfway through his own interrogation, Tifa had slipped out the door as well. Well, she could not have possibly known this Zack person. Could she?

Cloud saw her close to one of the shops, taking shelter from the sun’s fast-fading glare in the shadows. She seemed to be all right, though she was chewing her lip with a pensive expression. Perhaps she knew where Aeris was. As Cloud approached, he saw Tifa’s lips moving, as if she was speaking to herself, thinking out loud, but he was as yet too far to hear what his childhood friend was saying.

“Zack . . .” She trailed off. Cloud frowned. What did Tifa know about Zack?

“Did you know him?” he asked, regretting the words almost the very instant they left his mouth. Tifa jumped and turned to face him, wide-eyed and startled. She shook her head violently.

“No,” she blurted, staring right into Cloud’s eyes as if to see if he believed her. “No, I don’t know him,” she added for emphasis.

Despite the vehement denial, or perhaps because of it, doubt stirred in Cloud’s mind. Something was just not right about Tifa’s stance and expression. “Your face tells me differently,” he said blandly. The words had some effect on her, raised some emotion, but whether it was shock or anger he could not tell. She stamped one foot and turned her back on him the moment the reaction reached her face.

“I told you, I don’t know him!” Her voice was seething and Cloud knew he would get nothing more out of her. Tifa always had been a rather stubborn one, beneath the shyness.

“All right, then.” He shook his head and turned to leave.

“He sounded just like you,” Tifa’s words stopped him. “From what his parents said, I mean” she continued, quieter than before. Cloud turned back but she was still not facing him. “You know, leaving town to join SOLDIER and all.”

Cloud shrugged, though he knew she could not see him. “There were a lot of guys like that back then.”

 “You really must be something to make it out of a big group like that.” Tifa looked at him over her shoulder. “I really respect that, you know.” Cloud’s mouth twisted into an uncertain frown. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, unaccustomed to this kind of attention, and from Tifa no less.

“I got lucky,” he mumbled.

Tifa turned around, smiling openly at him. “Don’t be so humble. It must have taken a lot of hard work, I bet.” She walked towards him, more cheerful than she had been when he had first found her. “I’m going to find the others at the inn. Thanks for caring, Cloud.” He could not even mumble anything further, thrown off guard by her sentiment.

He straightened as soon as she was out of sight. He still had to find Aeris and it was definitely past ‘half-light’ now. She had seemed very upset. Who knew where she could have run off to, what despicably unclean mako-beast she could have met out there in the green? He hurried along the pathway back towards the cemetery, his body fully in the throes of a rebellious streak of panic. Gods above, he hoped she had done the smart thing and just gone back to the inn where Red and the others waited.

What if she hadn’t? A thousand thoughts bombarded his mind, a thousand fears and worries, from where, he could not tell. He could only feel his heart slamming his ribs in a rhythm that matched his hurried footfalls. Heaven forbid she be lying somewhere at the side of the road, poisoned or petrified. What would he tell her mother?

A deeper fear ripped through him, dizzying in its intensity. What would he do without her? How would he be able to breathe knowing he had left her to come to harm? Fear gripped him tight, its claws so tight that he did not notice that he was no longer seeing what was really in front of him, that this severe emotion was not his own.

A rustling sound at his side drew his attention and the pink blur he could not see drove the anxiety from his mind, leaving the space to be filled with a relief that was at least partially his. He felt his mind and body return to him without ever realizing that they had left. Aeris stood before him, picking twigs out of her braid. Her nose was tipped with an unusual pink glow and the dark eyelashes seemed glued together with dampness. Even Cloud, as oblivious as he usually was to such things, could see that she had been crying.

“Aeris?” He stepped towards her, reaching out with one hand but without knowing why, stopped  short of giving her a comforting touch. He watched her chest move as she took a deep breath.

“I didn’t know Zack was from this town,” she explained ruefully. “I was a little shocked, I suppose.” Cloud’s suspicions were confirmed.

“You knew him, then?” The girl turned her eyes on him, the green taking a hint of funereal blackness from the deep purple of the sunless sky.

“Didn’t I tell you?” The words were almost a whisper. “He was my first love.” Cloud could think of nothing to say and chose instead to focus on stifling the prickly jealousy he could feel welling up in him. Aeris continued a bit sadly at his lack of response. “Zack . . .SOLDIER First Class, same as Cloud,” she said, and the blond swordsman almost swore that she was staring right into his soul as she did. It must have been a trick of the light.

He shook the odd feeling out of him. “It’s strange,” he stated, “There aren’t that many who make First Class, but I’ve never heard of him.” Aeris turned away, resignation in her eyes.

“It’s okay. I was just worried because it seems he’s been missing.” She lowered her head and her braid fell forward. “Nobody’s heard from him for a long time,” she whispered. “I thought it was just me.”

Cloud frowned, now genuinely curious. “He’s really missing? When did you last hear from him?” He heard the girl’s deep breath before she answered. It seemed her shoulders were shaking a bit, but perhaps it was only the effect of the fast-growing, darkening shadows.

“It was about five or six years ago.” Again, it seemed that her shoulders quivered. “He went out on a mission and never wrote like he said he would.” Her voice quavered, as if she was close to tears. Cloud stepped towards her once more and again stopped just short of taking her in his arms for comfort. She spoke again, desperately trying to hold back the tears that she had just managed to dam. Words flooded out in their place. “He must have found someone else. He always had been a ladies’ man. Girls were constantly flocking to him.” She wrapped her arms around herself, as if to ward off a chill. “I just wished he had told me.”

She raised her head and turned face the blond once more. “I don’t really mind that I never heard from him,” she smiled despite the damp trails that shone with bright evening starlight on her cheeks. “I really feel for his parents though.”

Cloud nodded. “I know.” There was nothing to be done for the poor old couple, desperate for any word of their errant son. He took a few steps along the dirt trail, back the way he had come. There was no light now but that of the faint stars above. It was no time to be out in the brush anywhere. “Come on, Aeris,” he called back to the stone-still flower girl. “Let’s head back to get some rest. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

Aeris silently followed, bearing both the loss of one love so long ago and fear for what she still dared not call her new one in her heart.

__________________________

Deep in the forest, half hidden in the darkness, the tall swordsman breathed a sigh of relief for the delicate one. She was safe, unharmed, only a bit tearful. The small stabs of jealousy he had felt at realizing that those lips had been tasted before he had sampled them were fading now. He should have known it immediately from her very first response, shy, but knowledgeable. Someone had to have taught her how to kiss that way.

Glowing eyes closed, shutting out the picture of the starlit glade for memories of his fragile flower’s reactions to his touch. The shivering, those startled gasps, the way she almost shied away from his deeper caresses, the way those lovely eyes opened to catch the entire night sky as his hands grew bolder, such deep surprise from her, so intense, it was obvious. The dark-haired one had never done such things to her, had not gone beyond the first very innocent steps of love play.

It did not fit what the former General remembered of the man, but it did not matter. That brash one was long dead. Out of the way. The green-eyed man had done the job himself, long before he had even known there was a prize to be won from it, something worth having to be snatched from the brazen one’s careless grasp. The sweet, shining one was his to claim now. She would scream herself hoarse beneath him and no one else, ever.

He stood facing in the direction of the small village, the direction she would come running from if she did come to him tonight. She would come. He knew it. The night was warm and bright and she might need . . . comfort.

He smiled as he undid the clasp of his coat, prepared to give her that comfort and so much more.

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