Work Text:
*
A girl with slightly curly brown hair falling down to her waist in a silky waterfall sat down on the edge of the bed. Thoughtfully, she slowly ran her comb through her beautiful curls, examining the apartment - small, sparsely furnished, without any frills of modern society, such as a TV. But so cozy and dear that Aerith could not wish for anything more than just returning here at the end of each working day - to a calm, quiet abode, where none of the unkind people can offend a fragile lonely girl. Here it is protected even by ordinary brick walls hidden behind light wallpaper, which are saturated with the memory of long-gone parents. Like a fortress wall around the castle, inside which you can feel like a little princess.
Aerith did not consider her loneliness to be aggravating - the girl knew for sure that the spirits of her relatives, like guardian angels, protect their only and beloved daughter from any troubles. She felt their invisible presence in everything: in the soft yellow light of an old chandelier, in the delicate mother-of-pearl petals of violets on the window, in the oval frames of portraits next to the wall clock. In the bewitching dances of snowflakes behind beautiful curtains not drawn, with a pattern of blue lilies, inherited by my grandmother. And even in the stars, shining with diamonds of wedding rings that have not found their lovers, when Aerith returns home in the evenings. But so much that it cannot be described in words, Aerith's timid heart lacked the only angel that she wanted to see one day, standing by her bed. Who fluttered into the room just for a minute, like a butterfly, to wish her a good day and again rush away on his urgent business, promising to say goodbye by all means to appear tomorrow. Everything is as before, but with one difference, imperceptible at first glance - now his back is decorated with real snow-white wings. However, what a bottomless abyss opens up between former times and the present day because of this fact. However, it is too dark and uncomfortable in her womb to look into it for a long time.
Aerith sighs, driving away sad thoughts, like black butterflies from a flashlight of inner, spiritual light. She was not accustomed to mourn, with love for the world, and gratitude to the gods meeting every new morning. After all, her quiet life remained beautiful for many years, from childhood. Appreciating what she has, Aerith never complained to the higher powers about her fate, did not demand anything from them. And the gods, no doubt, hear her prayers, read every night from ancient books that she found in an abandoned church.
When in the flame she is looking for the image of her angel, she strives to examine the subtle features of his beautiful face, placing candles on the windowsill in an intricate pattern, changing again and again from rite to rite. For an invisible patron, the lights will serve as a bright beacon, directing to the only window where the lifeless electric light does not burn. Aerith threw open the shutters, inviting the dark city night into the bedroom, and watched in fascination as, trembling from the wind, the lights danced on the wick - burning, like a hopeful, but abandoned soul; withering like a flower without moisture. Sometimes bitter-salty tears extinguished particles of magical light - as if orange-red comets shining in the dark drowned in an ocean of darkness. Or the gusts knocked them off the tops of the pedestals. Aerith wanted to think that it was her angel who brought the wind on his swan wings.
If no one in the world believed in magic anymore, thinking only of the artificial spheres of Matter at the mention, Aerith felt it. If the world centuries ago rejected divine powers, rejected their patronage, and equated them with meaningless legends, Aerith heard extraterrestrial voices, secluded among the flowers in an old temple, saturated with the great and omnipotent human Faith. If for the inhabitants of Midgar the sky symbolized only a dreary gray dome of rain that shielded Gaia from outer space - Aerith knew that the downpour would certainly end, sooner or later, illuminating the path into the ocean of azure, bottomless, boundless, similar to unforgettable eyes, which only deities have. So close and at the same time so far away.
Now Aerith will never be afraid of the huge firmament, her heart stops in anticipation of each new meeting with the sky.
If someone is truly dear to you, but you cannot be together, you need to let that person go. Then you will part as friends and forever remember only good things about each other. The angel constantly watched her and, wanting to please him, Aerith decorated this house, dressed up in new dresses, looked after the golden lilies, which suddenly formed an oasis in the middle of the desert - an island of life, like a round sunbeam on scorched earth. Aerith felt uplifted and inspired whenever she created for him.
But today, as happened on previous evenings, a slight, almost luminous sadness crept into the heart of the young flower girl.
Putting down her comb, Aerith stood up, her hair fluttering behind her back, without braiding. Slowly, went around her small apartment, checking whether it was necessary to tidy up today. Fortunately, cleaning usually did not take too much time, and after that she can walk along the shining neon upper levels of Midgar, where there are hundreds of beautiful glass windows, high-rise buildings and colorful signs. But, of course, can't buy anything. It seems that enough money has already been saved in the piggy bank to go to the theater - once a year it is quite possible to afford such an exquisite pleasure. Trying to entertain herself with thoughts of the coming journey, Aerith took care of household chores. A little later, she turned on the radio in the living room: in the same way, a month ago, while waiting for Zack, his lover pressed the button as she passed by. Accidentally got on the news channel, and heard the most terrible news in her life. Since Cloud was not found, the friend of the brave Soldier First Class was presumed dead, although when Aerith came to the grave - which no one else could dig, because the soldiers who had completed the inhuman mission immediately disappeared, - she managed to make out a chain of footprints going in the opposite direction from the cluster people to the side, next to which a narrow strip stretched, deeply cutting through the sand. But in a couple of meters, turning ever steeper into the desert, the prints were lost under a layer of brought sand.
The music was not at all suitable for raising the mood. On the contrary, sad male and female voices sang a song about the tragic fate of lovers who did not understand and did not forgive each other. But Aerith left this song, catching in the very motives, unhurried and viscous music, slightly reminiscent of country genre, something common to their history with Zack. An unfairly short and eternally closed circle of doomed incompleteness: she could never dismiss the memories, he would never return. But is there another person in this world to whom Aerith can entrust his heart and soul without fear? She only had to guess.
That song told about the flame of feelings, suddenly extinguished, about loss, about searching, about grief, unspoken confessions and death. The death of the human soul. But, in spite of everything, they remained true to love, whose image was engraved in memory once, and remained unchanged until the last minute. Too sad to listen with a broken heart, but too heartfelt to refuse.
So, Aerith continued to stand, her back to the chest of drawers with the radio, leaning her hands on the tabletop; sinking deeper and deeper into her thoughts and, it seems, completely forgetting what she was going to do. Until there was a knock on the door. At first once, then again and again - still quietly, but more insistently. In full confidence to see one of her friends who ran to visit her in the evenings, and extremely pleased with this fact, Aerith ran to the door.
“I'm coming!” - She shouted joyfully, and flung open the sash.
This was followed by a short pause, during which all participants in the action froze in the absolute, ringing silence of an empty, half-dark corridor of a five-story building. Green eyes widened either in horror, or in amazement, her breath trailed off as she inhaled. And the cup of tea, taken by Aerith a second before the knock, which she forgot to put down in excitement, fell out of her weakened hands. The Midgar FM radio host at that very moment announced the last lines of greetings and congratulations, which were of no interest to anyone except the radio listeners who sent them to the studio, and launched a new song, strikingly contrasting with the previous one. Apparently, after a moment of melancholy, he wanted to cheer the audience.
**
Zaсk caught the cup in the air with lightning speed, without even looking and, moreover, without spilling its contents, after which he prudently left it with him.
“Well, why are you so worried? It is me!” - The blue-eyed guy put his free arm around the girl's waist, fearing that she would faint with delight.
Aerith grabbed his shoulder, seeing clearly in front of her and contemplating the white wings with some inner reverence. Let her see them alone. The gods heeded her prayers, but this cannot be!
The floor under her feet turned into clouds, on which it was impossible to stand straight, and the space around was reduced to a ray of light that pulled out of the darkness two figures - a green-eyed girl with brown hair, and an insanely handsome man, smiling so gently and brightly that all her hardships immediately receded, forever drowning in the fog of oblivion.
Only this cannot be. Because no one is given to work miracles, even the Ancients and the powers from above.
“Where have you been?..” - Freeing from the lingering captivity of tears, Aerith whispered, burying her face in his chest and trembling with every sob. Zack stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head like she was a kitten.
“Hiding in a safe place, in the strictest secrecy. Huge thanks to Cloud for saving me. My friend, why are you lurking there, in a dark corner, like a ghost? Come to us!”
Hearing footsteps in the distance, Aerith cried harder than before - she worried about the fair-haired guy no less than for her beloved. Each new meeting involuntarily kindled a merciless flame of despair in the soul, smoldering like an unextinguished forest fire, when in the first weeks after the tragedy, Tifa, over and over again, appeared in her house. Hopelessness, doomed humility and pain in the deep brown eyes that looked pleadingly at Aerith, as if in timid expectation of not only moral support, but a miracle; like she was the one with the power to create it. It was impossible to endure this look, but Tifa did not know how to live on: her whole world was based on Cloud. And then this world fell and shattered after the incident in the reactor, like a beautiful crystal vase thrown on the floor. And her older friend again and again listened to all the memories and experiences, trying to support her at least a little. The lines of their destinies crossed quite by accident, intertwining into a tight knot, pushing two girls together, united by a common grief.
Aerith still couldn't calm down, imagining that if she didn't keep believing and waiting, the relationship between her and Zack might end up just like in the previous song. Heaven saved them both from death.
“Do not cry, silly, because I came and will never disappear anywhere again, I swear. I couldn't tell you before, you know?” - Smiling sunnyly, Zack leaned very close to her, wiping naughty tears from his cheeks. “Look, I bought you presents too; traveled half the city.”
Cloud appeared at the door, embarrassed by the feeling of being "the third wheel", with an incredible bouquet of pale purple roses in one hand and an equally impressive teddy bear under his arm, whose hind legs reached the guy's knee. It is not known whether it was on purpose or not, but the fur of the toy had a blue-black tint, and the eyes were blue.
“Aerith, will you forgive me for this month?”
“Oh, Heaven, I would forgive you for thousands of mistakes and a million sleepless nights, because that one, priceless gift is now in front of me!”
“Where are we going now? Cloud asked, jumping into the saddle of a powerful bike, like a warrior on the back of a faithful Eidolon.
“Driving around the night metropolis, I suppose. At least, these are the plans for the next few hours”, - Aerith’s personal angel responded cheerfully, carefully lowering her from his hands onto his iron horse and sitting forward. “When we get tired, we’ll see”.
“Then let's go to the store on the way - I need to buy a box of chocolates and stop by Tifa's. It’s inconvenient to appear empty-handed: we haven’t seen each other for so long, and I brought her so many experiences”, - the blond sighed guiltily.
“No, Cloud, I have a more interesting idea: we'll buy you a ribbon, big, with a bow, like Aerith's, and tie it over you in the manner of such a beautiful gift. And add a letter with a sincere apology. Something along the lines of:
“Sorry, my baby, made you cry.
I'll make you happiest girl tonight.”
Zack laughed outrageously. Aerith looked with sincere delight at her lover, who proudly threw up his head like a black-maned lion when his abilities were appreciated. Cloud's ears really flared up and he angrily nudged his fellow comedian in the shoulder.
“And you’ll needed no chocolates!”
“What a poet, look at him! Infected with the poetry virus from Genesis Rhapsodos? Actually, I'm being serious, Zacл. You can’t even imagine the state of a person who saw his loved one rise from the dead. Remember me - when it seemed to me quite distinctly that you would die right there in my arms; I raced through the desert, forgetting to breathe. And then, at night, in the bunker, already completely desperate, I suddenly heard your weak voice, and your hand fell on my palm. Do you think I should come to Tifa and say, “Hi! I'm sorry, after the mission I was detained a little bit in the service for a medical check. Some four-odd years have passed, just think!”
“Then you won’t pay off with chocolates either.”
Cloud thought about it and smiled a little.
“But it worked for you”.
“Can you write poetry for me too, Zack?” - Aerith smiled.
“The whole poem and right now, my dear muse. Anything you want. "Loveless" will be farther to my poem than to the moon!”
Aerith hugged her angel from the back, clinging tightly and dreaming that the trip would not end for a long, long time, if only she would not unclench her arms. Black bikes started into the night like roaring beasts - wild, free, reveling in life, - this eternal, mysterious and unknowable magic that decides the fate of people at its own discretion. The only thing that the young and blazing bright stars born of a single supernova were sure of - that its energy would never leave them.
They sought to meet adventures, into the darkness, where the molten fires of Midgar floated on the border of the approaching horizon. To them, above the surface of the long bridge, invisible comets drew two glowing neon traces - from luminescent lines and headlights wriggling along the smooth metal body - orange and green.
Hello, my beautiful love
What are you doing tonight?
Let’s get ride on a bike
Through the midnight city,
From club to club
Let me just hold my darling.
While you enjoy the wind
Your hair flutters like an angel wings.
We chasing butterflies,
When you'll win, we share sweet kiss.
My star, you should never give up your dreams
Cause I’m always inspired by
This wild fire in the green eyes
Burning passion in the green eyes.
And somewhere in the caves of the North Crater, in the meantime, a crystal grew and developed, pulsing with a soothing turquoise-blue energy. Something incredible and physically impossible was forming inside it. Looking closely behind the translucent glass, an outside observer could see the outlines of a tall human figure...