AU Event: For the Planet [action]

[earthlychild]

[Who's the lady dressed all in dark gray and blue? Why she's familiar....almost. Aerith strides right past people in Garden, her loose (and suddenly short) hair flying behind her. There's no time to stop and sort out her memory: she needs to confirm for herself that things really are as safe as they appear to be. She tightens a dark blue scarf around her neck and steps onto the observation deck, gripping the ledge tightly.]

I'll complete my obligation and then I'll leave. I have no use for this, and it has little use for me. How can any of this be important in the end? In the end, it's still our job to ride the tide. Not control it.

[But she is definitely going to ride the tide back home straight into kicking certain awful people in the face, she thinks, clenching her fist. She glares out into the gray of the day, allowing her anger to start to pass.]

Comments

[earthlychild]

[Aerith wavers, but she knows she can't let her guard down yet.]

Like that other self? I have some strange memories of pink.

What belongs in the past...I can't believe it has returned.

[plotdeviceturk]

Yes, like that. I seem to be suffering a similar problem only mine involves wearing a tie.

[There's a soft smile in there, his attempt at being reassuring.]

...may I ask what I was in your past?

[earthlychild]

[Aerith sighs and folds her hands. Yeah, he does look different...but not by much. Her fond memories of him are surfacing even now, and she bites her lip.]

You protected me from Shin-Ra, at great risk to yourself. It was hard for us, we couldn't openly be friends...but one day, we met in the wrong place. I was captured. You were killed.

[She's only willing to say this because she's worked so hard to bury the pain. But this knife is twisting even now.]

[plotdeviceturk]

That... does sound like something I would die doing.

[It's a soft admission, and matches the softening of his expression.]

It's not something done lightly, but... I'm here now and I don't have any plans on leaving.

[earthlychild]

[He's good. Aerith has to admit that. But she shakes her head.]

Believing you would be so simple. But I mustn't.

[plotdeviceturk]

What would help you believe me?

[He's not completely sure why he wants her to, but he does.]

[earthlychild]

Tell me something about us. Something someone researching you to do an impersonation wouldn't know.

[She looks away and pulls her arms close to herself.]

[plotdeviceturk]

Us?

[He looked at her for a long moment before closing his eyes, letting out a breath and digging deep in to himself. Examining what he'd seen in the room he'd woken up in. The vague tug in his chest that was a dull ache was his next target of thought, it wasn't something he remembered having before... or at least not this strong... or deep.

She'd said he'd been willing to die, had died to keep her alive. Over whatever loyalty he had for ShinRa, which given the suits hung in the closet of the room and Reno's questioning and apparent knowledge of him meant at least in one universe he was a Turk.

Maybe in more than one then?

Turks were horrendously loyal, he remembered that. Rumor had it they'd kill their own mothers and children if ordered to.

So why then, why would he as a Turk go against that? What sort of bond did he have with Aerith that he didn't remember? That hadn't formed because he'd never left Wutai until his adulthood?

It had to be something important.

He felt the press of cold concrete against his feet, the wind lift his hair, the sting of ice in the air.

What was it?

It hit him, sudden and painful and terrible.

Love.

Not something light or easily moved. It was the deep sort that made people do things. Crazy things like take on an army to keep them alive.

It's a long long few minutes before he opens his eyes, sorrow evident and he's quiet and slow. ]

I would have torn down ShinRa if I'd had the ability, if only to save you.

[earthlychild]

[Aerith doesn't want to open the floodgates. She doesn't believe him. Definitely not. Don't believe him. It's not true. He's not real. It's not real. It's...he...

When he speaks, the battle's lost. It's true and she knows it. She stands with her head bowed for a few moments, mirroring his pose. When her eyes open again, they're not quite as dry. She says nothing, only walks forward and takes one of his hands in hers.

It's another moment before she speaks at all.]

Tseng.

[plotdeviceturk]

[He's simply going to wrap his arms around her, hoping his warmth can give her something his memories lack.]

I'm here, and so are you. It's got to matter for something, even for however long we're here.

[earthlychild]

[Aerith allows herself to lean on him after a moment. She closes her eyes, listening to his heartbeat for a while. He's here. He's safe.]

I missed you.