To Love A One Winged Angel
Chapter 18: For Mother
Aeris huddled in the corner of
her cell, wrapping a faded brown blanket – her only comfort now – around her
small, shivering shoulders. She could barely see anything, the only light being
a small, red bulb above the door. What would happen to her now? She was unsure
of whether or not Sephiroth would actually go along with Hojo’s plans. Though
she had strong feelings for him, she did not trust him entirely yet.
He had promised, but did a
promise mean anything to him? He was still a cold man though he had admitted
his feelings for her, and she was unsure of what he was capable. His kisses had
always been quite sudden and unexpected, and she now supposed that unexpected
doings were part of his personality. But would he go so far as to remove her of
her virginity?
The door beeped, and the light
above it turned green. The room lightened somewhat, and the door slid open with
a faint whooshing sound. In the doorway stood Sephiroth.
His long, silver hair hung in his face. She could see the demonic glare of his
eyes, hidden entirely by shadow.
"Sephiroth…" she
murmured.
He stood still for a moment,
until a guard shoved him inside with a shout of "Get in there!". The door closed again, and the light dulled to red.
Aeris stared up at him, drawing the blanket up to cover her mouth. Her eyes
glistened with tears. What was he doing there?
"Sephiroth?" she
repeated.
His boots thudded heavily on
the floor as he slowly stepped toward her. The sound echoed throughout the
room, lending an ominous heaviness to the atmosphere. Aeris stood and hurried
out from the corner, running past him to the other side of the room. He didn’t
move as her arm brushed his. He stood with his back to her, his hair shimmering
against his dark clothing. Aeris stared at him.
"Are we leaving
now?" she asked.
No answer. Aeris’ heart
started to beat rapidly in her chest. Why wasn’t he moving?
"Sephiroth!" she
said forcefully, reaching out to touch his arm. "Are we going?"
His hand caught her wrist. His
strong fingers crushed her bones. She winced and tried to pull out of his
grasp, but he held on tightly. His head turned, and when his eyes caught hers,
Aeris was reminded strongly of his expression during the days of AVALANCHE. His
green orbs burned into her, searing flesh and soul alike. Something just wasn’t
right. When she started to struggle, he struck her hard on the cheek. She fell
back onto the porcelain sink by the cot, shocked and abashed.
"Sephiroth…" she
said in a weak, tearful voice. "I thought we were
going to leave…"
He turned to face her fully.
His hands had left her, but she was too scared to move. What was going on? She
was more than a bit confused and worried for her well-being.
"Say something!"
"I changed my mind,"
Sephiroth growled.
He lunged at her and grabbed a
fistful of her hair. He forced her head back; she choked out a small cry, he
leaning toward her neck. Her hands flailed and she found his face. She tried to
push him back; he growled, and would not allow such an action. He shoved her
down onto the edge of the sink until the small of her back pressed painfully
into the hard porcelain. She kicked him in the shin; he let go, and she ran for
the door. He caught her and, with a furious grunt of effort, threw her to the
floor.
He knelt over her, his hand
pressing into her chest to hold her in place. She shrieked in pain, the feeling
of his palm pressing into her bone more than a bit uncomfortable. His head went
down to taste her skin. She tried to squirm out of his grasp.
He wouldn’t let her.
She gave in.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Tifa stood on the corner under
the umbrella Vincent was holding for her, shivering from the cold and rain. Her
hair and clothes were, thankfully, dry, but Vincent looked like he had been
recently thrown into a lake. Though he did not show it, Tifa knew he must have
been cold.
Cid and Cloud had gone into
the coffee shop to buy them something warm to drink. They were on their way to
She shivered again and started
to breathe on her hands. Gods, was it cold! She didn’t think she could stand it
any longer.
"Don’t do that,"
Vincent said suddenly. "Here… put your hands in my pockets. It’ll be much
warmer."
"Are you sure…?"
Vincent nodded. Tifa
hesitantly put her hands in his pant pockets, a faint blush creeping up her
face. She glanced up shyly at Vincent. He was not even looking at her. His eyes
were fastened on an old "Loveless" poster. But she didn’t mind. Her
hands were warm. She could feel his legs through the thick fabric of his
pockets. The blush deepened.
""I don’t think
Cloud would be very happy if he saw us," she said quietly.
Vincent’s red gaze turned on
her. "That isn’t my fault. There is nothing to get jealous about."
Tifa was about to reply, but
the door to the coffee shop opened and out came Cid and Cloud. She quickly
pulled her hands out of his pockets and stood, trying not to let Cloud see her
face. Already she missed the feel of Vincent’s warm body.
"Here, Tifa," Cid
grunted, handing her a styrofoam cup. "You owe me
twenty Gil."
She took the cup and sipped a
bit. The coffee warmed her immediately. She glanced up at Vincent. He was
looking at her unsmilingly, his dark brows knitted over his crimson eyes. She
wondered what he was thinking about.
She hoped it was about her.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Aeris sat against the far wall
of her cell, tears drying on her cheeks. Sephiroth had only left five minutes
before, and much as she wanted to remove him from her mind.,
he was all she could think about. Why had he done it? Why? Tears started
to spill down her cheeks anew, but she was too weary and in too much pain to
bother wiping them away. She sat there, staring at the opposite wall, her mind
buzzing with questions. The scene kept replaying over and over in her head. Why
wouldn’t it go away? Didn’t her mind know it caused her anguish?
The lower half of her body
ached terribly from Sephiroth’s forceful abuses. She wished it would go away.
Why couldn’t the world go away? He had gone away. Only half an hour before, she
had loved him almost whole-heartedly – but now, her heart blazed with something
like hate.
But she couldn’t hate him
fully. There had been something in his eyes as he had assaulted her so
viciously. Something like sorrow. No… sorrow was too
strong a word. It had been something like regret. But no matter how much he
regretted it or berated himself for his actions, there was no was to undo what
had been done. Did he not understand the importance of the thing he had taken
from her? Why had he lied? Why?
She cried his name, leaning
into the wall, letting the tears flow freely down her cheeks. If only they
could wash away the pain she felt. Was it too much to ask for? An end to the pain, the suffering? Why did she have to go
on? What was the point of living? The man she loved had raped her, had
taken something that might have been given willingly had things been different.
But things weren’t different.
Hojo had turned him against her, and in doing so, had turned her against him.
He was partly to blame. But she blamed Sephiroth more.
For he had
been the one to make the decision.
The door whooshed open again.
She blinked against the sudden light from the hall. In he doorway stood the
large, bulky form of a chocobo. A silver chocobo. A silver chocobo, with green eyes that widened when they took in
the blood trickling slowly down her legs.
"C – Conrad…?" she
whispered. "Why did he do it?"
Conrad closed his eyes and
shook his head. "Don’t worry about that now. I’m here for you…
Mother…"
Author’s Notes: Why must I always make Sephiroth a
sexual beast? And congratulations to you people who guessed that Conrad was
Aeris’ son way back in chapter 7 or whatever it was. I guess it was kind of
obvious… :P
Next Chapter:
*Conrad tells his story
*some Tifa/Vincent
Next Chapter