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When I was about thirteen I met the Great Sephiroth for the first time. Yes, you read that right, I knew him before I found his sword in my back. It was a chance meeting in the market down the street from my home. I was browsing the weapon shop out of curiosity, wondering if I should buy some metal armguards for protection. As I was leaving the shop I spied Rude far off to my right, and without looking I started walking hurriedly in the other direction, lowering my head to avoid detection.

And ran right into Him.

He looked over my head a moment, probably at Rude, then quickly grabbed my wrist and held me in place, his eyes a dull turquoise. There was no breaking his grip, so what did I do? I screamed, that's what. And it worked far too well.

'Cause we had the whole market staring at us.

Sephiroth flushed and I felt his grip loosen a smidge. He wasn't the greatest at social interaction, but he did have quite the reputation behind him. In a split second I looked for something - anything - that might let me get away. Preserving his reputation was only a bonus.

I spied a cat in a tree. "My cat's in that tree!" I said, horrified. He looked at me briefly like I had just lost my mind, then turned to the tree, climbed up, and brought a stranger's cat down to my arms. It was a friendly cat, thankfully, and purred at human contact. "Thank you, Great Sephiroth!" I exclaimed, and even pecked him on the cheek, then skipped away happily.

The whole market was after him like the celebrity he was following that.

"Oh that was amazing of you, Great Sephiroth!"

"Could you sign this, Great Sephiroth?"

"I'll be sure to call on you if my Mittens ever gets stuck in a tree, Great Sephiroth!"

"Wow, Great Sephiroth, you're the best!"

The market was crowded in an instant, and I was out an instant later. I gently put the cat down around the corner, and then hung around in one of the trains in the train graveyard for a while until I figured it was safe to go home. After about fifteen minutes Tseng surprised me.

"Aeris? You're here?" he said, a little startled to find me in such a place. He immediately went onto his radio. "Sectors six and seven secure. Everyone, check Sectors four and five, she couldn't have gone far. Tseng out."

"Thank you," I said, then giggled. "Man, was I surprised to see him in the markets today!"

"Thank you for not making a big scene of it," he replied, then sat down next to me. "We're babysitting him while he's in town off assignment."

"Big baby."

"And tempermental. And powerful. That's why we have all our agents close by him at all times."

"And cute."

Tseng looked at me oddly, and he laughed. We sat in silence for a while before his radio crackled with voices. "Sectors four and five all clear. Reno out."

Tseng turned his on to respond, starting with a defeated sigh. "Call off the search then, and return to primary assignment. Tseng out." He clicked his radio off and turned to me. "One of these days, maybe you should think about leaving town."

"Nah. Where would be the fun in that?"

I looked out over Sector 5, waiting. I pulled a long red denim coat around me, quite similar to the one I wore during the warmer months, only with full sleeves and the back reached to just above my knees. He'd be there any second.

Suddenly, there was footsteps. A quiet, gentle stride, purposeful, and slowly growing in sound. Then they came to a halt behind me.

"Tseng," I said knowingly. "Is this the part where I run away?" I joked.

"Not at all, it's just you and me here, Aeris." Tseng stood beside me and looked out to find what I was staring at.

We stood in silence, looking out over the sleeping city. Finally, I spoke up.

"Aren't your bosses angry that you haven't caught me yet?"

".... Yes."

"Then why?"

".... Because it still feels like I owe you, for telling me about her... About how she's at peace. Also, I rarely tire of your stories of the Ancients."

"Well, those that I can safely tell."

"I know, I know you don't fully trust-"

"It's not a matter of trust, Tseng."



The first time the Turks came after me by force, I was a mere eleven years old. Young enough to be convinced that going with them was in my best interest, or so they thought. I was down at Wall Market (Yes, I know, not the best place for a girl that young, blah blah, I know which places not to walk into, thanks >.>) to pick up some things for Elmyra, and they cornered me. Reno, Rude, and Tseng. Tseng I had met before, he would periodically come to my home to try and convince Elmyra that leaving me with them would be the best thing for all of Midgar, but she knew better. She knew that Shinra just wanted to exploit me, and by her wisdom I wouldn't let that happen when caught alone, either.

"Miss Aeris?" a male voice cooed from behind me. I turned around, slightly startled. As cheerful as I was on the outside, I was always a loner at heart. I didn't have any friends besides Elmyra, the woman who raised me as her own since Mother returned to the Planet, so the fact that someone knew my name or what I looked like was mildy surprising.

I turned to face him. His fiery red hair was spiked and held back by a navy blue headband that matched his uniform. "Yes?" I said, trying to be polite but with the tiniest edge of challenge to my one-word reply.

"We're sorry, but we need you to come with us."

"Whatever for?"

"We just want to ask you a few questions, that's all."

I made a face at that, then teasingly commented. "Oh I don't know, Mother says I shouldn't talk to strangers." I put one finger to my lips with my best cute pouty-face. Then I punched him in the gut and ran for all I was worth.

It didn't do much to him, and they chased me down like a rabid animal. Thankfully, at eleven years I was quick and agile enough to evade them - plus I hid in around some garbage cans. I made it home with the groceries for Elmyra and told her about everything. She was really scared for me, she was always scared for me, but that never stopped me from going out on my own, especially after Tseng and I met again that night.



Elmyra was furious that he'd even think about showing up on our doorstep a couple hours later after I got home, but I came downstairs and asked her to let us talk alone. That surprised the both of them, but they obeyed. I got Tseng to sit down and made him a cup of tea. Rosemary, with a dash of milk mixed in. His favourite.

"How did you know?" he asked, astonished that I knew even one single thing about him besides his name.

I climbed up into the chair opposite him, and folded my arms on the table, then solemnly let out the secret I've known since the first day I saw him, when I saw the lines of grief in his expression.

"Your wife told me so."

He stopped and stared at me for a moment, then swirled the teabag around in the cup for a moment. I took that as a sign to continue. "You married young, didn't you? After the first time we met, I asked my ancestors about you, and they told me... About your sadness. She found peace though. She loved you very much."

He was silent for a very long time, it was hard to tell if he was angry with me or if he was sad because I reminded him of her. He just sat there, staring blankly at his tea, swirling the bag around. After a while he just stopped and closed his eyes, then breathed a "Thank you" before taking his first sip of tea.

We talked for a long time after that. An hour or two, at least. He thanked me again and again, and said he didn't really want Hojo to get me, because he thought the guy was a lunatic. He said he would do what he could to protect me, by giving the other Turks red herrings to follow, and by never telling anyone that he knew where I lived.

In return, I told him what I could tell him what I could of the Cetra, but that I couldn't go blabbing about everything regarding them, there were so many things I knew that other people could never know. An endless well of secrets about the Planet and we Cetra, it was a monstruous burden at times but I had to bear it. And people wondered why a nice girl like me never made any friends.

Tseng and I chatted for a bit, and after a while he left to report the day's activities to Shinra HQ. I waited around in the train graveyard until it started to get cold, at which point I picked up my groceries and started to head back home. And who would I find there but Sephiroth, smelling the flowers in my garden. Alarmed I looked around for any Turks, but I didn't see any. He stood up and turned to face me.

"Why are they after you?" he demanded.

".... It's uh, classified." I replied weakly.

"Story of my life," he sighed inwardly.

I looked around a moment, then quietly asked him; "Are any of them around right now?"

"Not right now, they think I'm sleeping at HQ."

I breathed a small sigh of relief. "Would you take a walk with me?" I asked him. He nodded. "Okay, let me put these inside first." He nodded again, and returned to the flowers.

Elmyra was sitting at the kitchen table, fraught with worry. "Aeris! I was so worried. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I think I can guess, sorry about that. Here's the bread and cheese you wanted."

"They were after you again, weren't they?"

"I can take care of myself."

"You keep saying that and I keep doubting it, but what can I do?"

I giggled and hugged her. "Not much. Now, I need to go out for a walk."

"Whatever for? Normal people are in bed at this hour."

"... Yes, yes they would be." I said with a smile. "I need to talk to someone, and no, not him."

"Oh? Who is it then?"

"... Sephiroth."

She hesitated a moment, her face contorted in the strangest expression I'd ever seen. "... He's a bit old for you, isn't he?"

I could hear him grunt outside, obviously listening in. I couldn't contain my laughter. "It's not like that!"

I gave Elmyra a hug and a kiss and a promise to be safe, even though I was going to be spending the next few minutes of my life with the most dangerous man alive. The most dangerous man alive... Who had helped himself to a flower, a blue iris, from my garden.