Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Innocent Seduction ❯ Restless Night ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Important Stuff: Final Fantasy VII belongs to Squaresoft, but I'm writing this story since there's a lack of fanfics for this coupling out there! Oh yeah, this is an alternative universe where the whole Cetra and JENOVA stuff don't exist.

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She finished weeding her precious garden and stood back, smiling proudly at her hard work. As she gazed down at the beautiful yet lonely flowers, it saddened her to see that same image reflecting in her own life. Her emerald eyes slowly wandered around the small church that was a home to her hobby and a sacred place her heart could find peace, away from the life in the slums.

Ever since her parents died, Aeris had been living on her own in a one-bedroom apartment that she was able to afford with her waitressing job in the Wall Market area. Unlike some girls, she was lucky to have a decent job in the slums and to keep herself from being tainted by such a dark life most people have been forced to live in. Sometimes she couldn't help but think that people were able to choose the path that they walked and shouldn't blame it on circumstances, but then again, who was she to judge them and their lives? They were just unfortunate people who happened to live beneath the plate of riches and power.

She sighed, walking over to what was left of the altar, and sat down with her back leaning against it. She watched as the light through the hole in the roof began to fade away, giving way to the closing day, and knew she should be heading home now, but after giving her energy to the garden, she was just too tired to move anywhere. Maybe just a little rest before she would return to the only home she had left.

Home. The word sounded so warm and welcoming. How she yearned for those old feelings again, to come back to a house with open arms waiting for her, to embrace with love and warmth that was missing from her life right now. Her weary eyelids slowly dropped as the sleeping spell fell over her like a child having stayed up way passed her bedtime. Her consciousness gently lost itself to her happy memories, but she could still feel the stingy tears that rolled down her face.


An Aeris & Reno Romance
INNOCENT SEDUCTION
written by K-chan


CHAPTER ONE: RESTLESS NIGHT

A man in his mid-thirties nervously sat in the corner of the moving train as he clutched onto the hefty-looking, leather bad like his life depended on it. The train compartment was average on a night where most people were on their way home while others were out for a night of fun. It didn't what their purposes were, the man continued to keep his alertness high, suspecting anyone of them to be after his head.

He knew he should've quitted while he was ahead, but the temptation of the gil was too much for him that he had risked stealing from the most powerfulest company on the Planet: Shinra Inc. And now he was going to pay for it with his life. He smiled madly to himself, thinking that he would be all right if he could just get out of Midgar.

He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when the train pulled to a stop, and visible panick filled his face. But when he heard the announcement over the speakers at having stopped in Wall Market of Sector Six for the usual schedule, it only eased his mind just a bit because now passengers would get off yet at the same time new ones stepped on.

He took out a white handkerchief and dabbed the side of his face of his nervous sweat as he watched passengers leave the compartment, only three people remained with him. Within minutes, different faces appeared, but there was one that caught his attention.

The young man, appearing in his early twenties, walked down the aisle, smiling smuggly to himself, as he took a seat across from the ex-Shinra employee. His long, red hair was tied into a ponytail while his disheveled bangs were pushed back by a pair of dark sunglasses. He looked very suspcious dressed unprofessionally in a dark-blue suit, sitting back casually with his arms stretched out on the back of the seats, as he watched the last of the passengers entering the car.

The red-head noticed the man across the aisle was watching him intently, but his smile only grew wider in return. His blue eyes soon focused on a more interesting sight: an attractive blone on the other side, not too far down the row.

She had been keeping her eyes on him ever since she had sat down. From the way he looked and dressed, she knew he wasn't the good-guy typed, and she liked that. She gave him a flirty smile when their eyes met. The inviting look he was giving her almost had her melting in the seat. Her heartbeat quickened when he stood up and walked over to her and sat in the empty spot beside.

The man watched as the young couple chated, getting to know each other intimately as if they were already a couple. He turned away, having lost all doubts on the young man, when the two began to make-out right there on the train.

Half an hour later, the train was pulling into Sector Five, and the next stop wouldn't be for another ten minutes, but it stopped right there, in the middle of the long railway. "We apologize for the sudden stop," came the announcement, "but a few SOLDIERs have boarded the train for a search. They have given orders for everyone to remain where you are and stay calm as they do their jobs."

The man cursed his luck, and right after the information, he pushed the compartment door opened and left the train scene. The other passengers only watched as the fool went out, wondering if he wanted an early death sentence for going up against SOLDIERs. They quietly voiced their opinions that the elite army was probably after that man, and sooner or late he would be caught. What they didn't notice was another person had stealthily left the passenger car as well, and only the blonde realized that when she turned to her companion who was no longer by her side.

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He jumped to the ground and stayed low, listening to the footsteps retreating into the darkness. He smirked and hurried after the set that he had been assigned to track down. Being fit and trained for espionage and such, Reno soon caught up to the fleeing man. How pathetic the man looked, to throw away his life for a few hundred thousand gils.

The ex-Shinra employee had a hard time running with the way he held the bad with both arms holding the heavy bag. A dreadful feeling overwhelmed him as if his guts was telling him someone was already on his tail. It couldn't be the SOLDIERs since he had easily snuck pass them without their knowledge, so who could it be that was after him now? Could it be the secret task force that had been rumored to be employeed by the president of Shinra Inc. himself? If it was the highly trained group, then he was certainly doomed.

He never believed a word that traveled within the company about these so-called TURKs, but now the fear was intensifying in his heart at the severity of his actions against his employeer. The company had treated its citizens of Midgar unjustly, filling its pocket with riches at their expense, and he had reasoned that stealing from the company was due justice, but it was only now that he realized that he was no different and he was about to pay with his life for that greed.

But that fear pushed him forward in hopes of escaping his fate.

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Aeris slowly stirred awake, feeling somewhat refreshed from the nap. When she opened her eyes, finding the church enveloped in darkness, she knew she must've been tired from all the work. She stood up and stretched, thinking about heading home now having overstayed at her garden. She brushed her bangs from her face and gathered up her things, preparing to leave, but she was quickly startled by footsteps outside the church.

Not giving it much thought on who it could be, she panicked, scanning around the church for a hiding place. She heard gunshots in the distant and covered her ears as the sounds of shooting and stomping shoes came close to her sacred place. There was a pile of rubble in the far corner that she ducked behind, just perfect enough to hide her small, quivering form.

The footsteps were loud and clear, echoing in the gathering room. The man stumbled down the short steps, gripping his wounded, left shoulder. He dropped the bag onto the ground and fell forward.

Aeris shrunk farther back against the wall, holding her breath for fear of being caught and killed. She heard the man utter a few foul words as he shuffled to his feet again, dragging something across the floor. It was tempting to sneak a peak, and eventually the bugging curiosity got the best of her. She carefully inched, silently thanking the darkness for hindering good visibility, and soon trembled at the sight of the man staggering on his feet.

Then another shadow filled the luminescent entrance of the church. "That's as far as you go, buddy," the figure said, pointing the gun at the wounded man. He chuckled, walking down to the pleading fool.

"Please forgive!!" he cried, "I-If you spare me, I'll split the money with you!!"

"Split it?" he laughed, cocking the gun at the man's head.

Aeris's green eyes widened in horror, quickly clamping her hands over her mouth to suppress the cries she so wanted to get out.

"I can just kill you and take it all for myself, idiot."

"NO!!" he begged, "Just take the money!! I don't care, but please let me live!! My death wouldn't do anything for you!!"

"You're pathetic," he snorted in disgust. "Shinra will be less of a useless employee like you."

Aeris winced, shutting her moist eyes, when he pulled trigger at his victim. Of all her life in the slums, she had seen many dead bodies, but never had she witness such a merciless killing as this one. All for money, people would do anything. She pulled back, leaning against the wall, as she tried to keep herself from making a sound. She heard the body slumped to the ground and the murderer insulting the dead man, kicking the body roughly to make sure he wasn't faking.

Reno flipped the corpse onto his back and checked the dead pulse. Satisfied, he strolled over to the bag of gil and sat down next to it, taking out a cigarette. He lit the end with a lighter and leaned against the bag, content with his successful assignment. He opened the bag and rummaged through the gils, giving the dead man's suggestion one last thought before letting it burn in hell.

How ironic that he had killed another in this church, a place most people considered holy. He had taken so many lives that he no longer kept count--like it mattered to him whose life he had ended. They were all lowlifes of the slums, and he was no different except for one aspect: he made something of himself, even if it was being an underling to the Shinra conglomerate.

So what if he did the dirty works for Shinra? He didn't care as long as it paid well, and it did because if his skills weren't highly looked upon, then they wouldn't have even considered him a position as a TURK.

Aeris kept her hands over her mouth, huddling in her little spot like a trapped animal without a single alternative. The tears were streaming down her face as the image of the man shot plastered itself in her mind. Neither were innocent, yet the greater crime laid on the killer's shoulders. He could've easily pardon the defenseless man of the petty crime or turned him into the authorities, but taking another life was too cruel.

She still couldn't shake the image away even if she tried to think about going home after all this was over. The presence of the murderer lingering behind was slowly weakening her restraints on her emotional terror. She prayed he would leave soon, but thoughts of him killing her in place of that man shook her body to the core. She could hear her mind screaming for her to get away, but she would be quickly killed if he discovered her.

Her teary eyes watched the darkness in horror as she heard the man moving about the church, heading in her direction. She bit her bottom lip as she hugged herself into ball, just hoping that he wouldn't see her there. She was as quiet as the darkness, holding her cries within her body, so why was he coming over to her? She didn't want to die--as much as she didn't like to be poor and alone, she didn't want her life to be taken away without a sensible reason.

Her body was shaking harder as she hid her face in her arms, letting every single footstep across the floor echo in her head. The dreadful feeling churned into several tight knots in her stomach at the inevitable outcome. "Well now, what do we have here?" he asked amused.

How strange that she didn't burst into uncontrollable sobs, begging for her life. It was as if she knew she couldn't avoid being discovered, and after she had seen, it was not possible to have him kindly spare her.

Reno knelt down in front of the frightened girl, smiling at her fear he had sensed in the area. He didn't plan on having any witnesses and certainly couldn't leave one behind after a murder, so the only option was for to do away with her. But he was curious to know what a helpless girl like her doing in such a dangerous place at this time of night in the slums.

He remained a meter or so away from her and didn't say another word, just staring at her trembling form, like there was something about her that told him to give her space. He wasn't usually this patient with anyone, not even his superiors, yet here he was, not uttering a sound to his annoyance at the silence.

She was deathly afraid to look up at the young man, thinking that her life would end immediately after seeing the face of a killer, but the silence between them urked her more as if he was toying with her mind. She quietly lifted her a bit, peeking through her moist eyes to see a vague outline of men kneeling in front of her. Soon, her eyes adjusted to the smiling face, and she jerked her body against the wall about to claw it apart to get away from any cruel intentions. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" she wailed, "PLEASE!! DON'T KILL ME!!"

Having expected some sort of outburst from her, he grabbed her arms, pulling her from the ground, and threw her back against the wall. The impact ripped through her shaken body, painfully cutting her cries into small whimpers. He held her arms against the wall as he pressed his body against hers, feeling every part of feminine figure. Being this close to her, he could smell the sweet fragrance of wild flowers and yearned to discover the taste as well, but the haunting eyes that locked on his for a brief second sent a wave of undescribable emotions through his body.

She struggled beneath him, giving him the hint she didn't want the intimacy, and he did back off, leaving her still pinned against the wall. He was just too strong for her, now crossing her arms over her head, and held them there while his free hand roamed the curves of her body. She stiffened in response to the sudden invasion as she tried to voice her protest, but the words only escape her lips in whispers, barely audiable.

He lowered his head onto her shoulder, burying his face into her soft, floral-scented hair, while his mind ignored her objections, finding pure pleasure against her figure. She gasped when she felt his warm breath against her neck, followed by a series of tender kisses. With the kisses and the gentle touches along her body, she began to calm don, succumbing to the sensual enjoyment.

He pulled back to see the tame girl before him, melting at his touch, and smiled. He always had a way with women, and this one shouldn't be any different. He brought his free hand up to her face with his thumb caressing her soft skin and gazed intensely into her dazed eyes. He leaned closer to her face with his lips descending upon hers, and the next second hit her that they were locked in a kiss.

In the moment, he released her arms, wrapping one around her body and the other behind her head, and pulled her against him. She tried to push herself away from him, but he kept her in place and deepened kiss. She dugged her nails into his shoulder, but he didn't register the pain like he was under some sort of spell. Just as he ripped part of her jacket off, she bit his lip, and he jerked back and angrily slapped her across the face. He had put too much power into it that she crashed onto the ground, and the side of her head hit against a rock, knocking her unconscious.

Reno threw a series of curses in the air as he picked up the girl to see that she was all right. He licked his lips and wiped the body from his mouth, having found his lax attitude again, and smirked. He brushed the long hair from her round face and traced his finger across her porcelain skin, thinking she had spirit. All the women he had been with had given themselves willingly, but this girl here had defied him even after his 'kind' gestures, showing her the wonderful time they could have together.

He chuckled and threw her unconscious body over his shoulder, after deciding that he should get home and bring his lovely guest with him. He just couldn't leave the poor girl in the abandonned church, and he at least had to find out her name and where she lived. But then again, this was Reno, and he had other thoughts in mind, but he would have to leave that until he made back to Sector Two to his apartment.

He grabbed the bag of gils on his way out the rundown church and disappeared into the darkness with the money and the girl.


TO BE CONTINUED...

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Gosh darnit!! I'm just not good at those uhh, scenes... Can someone help me with it?!! It'll just get a little more limey, but nothing lemon-ie. I hope this was okay, and please send me criticism 'cause I really need the advice and such for this story. (And just in case you're wonderin', Aeris is like 17-18 and Reno is in his early twenties.)

When I thought about it more, it reminded me a bit of a FFVIII fanfic called Fallen Angel. I don't remember by who ('cause of FF.net), but the story was an AU with Seifer and Rinoa, which is very good. Okie, I'm off to write the AERUF one!! =6_6=