Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Seduction ❯ Chapter Twenty Seven ( Chapter 27 )

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix. No profit is sought from this work. All original characters and elements are my own.

 

Path of Seduction

Chapter Twenty Seven

 

“What the hell was he thinking?” Adrean hung on to the railing in a last ditch attempt to keep from falling flat out on the bridge. It was no use. His arm slipped free and he fell back, rattling the wood with his landing. He groaned and stretched himself out to lie on his back and sighed up at the night sky. “In midair. It's not right.”

 

He was silent for a while, his attention far away. “Yes, I am grateful for your help but my head hurts right now. It's been a while since I had to do anything like that.” He flinched a little. “I didn't drink that much.” He struggled to sit up and failed. All he could do was lie still and try to block out the voices hammering against his already hurting head. He glanced sideways at the river and briefly considered taking a little roll off the bridge. The water would probably do him some good. Then he remembered that he was in no condition to be swimming. He turned his head and attention away from the water.

 

“Why, no, as a matter of fact, I don't think the whole thing was romantic. I think it's crazy.” He listened for a moment, then sighed. “Look, he's welcome to try any kind of kink he wants just so long as he doesn't break her neck doing it. Other than that, it's really no business of mine. Or yours, for that matter.”

 

What he heard next made him curl up and cover his ears. “Degenerates!”

 

“Doc,” someone called from the end of the bridge. “You been drinking again?”

 

Adrean blinked. “Not that much,” he said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “Who's that with you, Yuki?”

 

The young man blinked and glanced at the girl hanging somewhat unsteadily off his arm. “A friend.”

 

“Oh, a friend. I see,” Adrean drawled, his voice dripping honey.

 

Yuki sighed, his eyes seeking Da Chao for strength as he awaited the inevitable. It did not come. “Aren't you going to say, `I told you so' or something?”

 

“Why bother? You already know I'm thinking it.” Adrean grinned and his head lolled back against a post. “You know, you're far too sour for someone with a pretty girl on his arm.”

 

Yuki shrugged. “Old habits are hard to break.”

 

“This a friend o' yours, Yuki?” Yuffie tipped forward as she asked and Yuki was forced to grab hold of her waist to keep her from falling. Just as quickly, he snatched his hands back and put them somewhere proper. He caught Adrean's smirk and answered it with a scowl, daring the healer to comment.

 

“Whatcha doin' there, stranger?” Yuffie hopped from one foot to another. “Yuki, what's he doing?”

 

“He's the troupe healer,” Yuki replied. “He likes to watch the stars on clear nights.”

 

“Really?” Yuffie bounced once and bounded across the bridge before Yuki could stop her. “Can you read my fortune? What's my horoscope say for tomorrow?”

 

“What?” Adrean blinked up at her.

 

Yuki caught the girl's hand and patted it a little to try to make her calm down. “I don't think he does that kind of thing, Yuffie.”

 

“Aw, man.” Yuffie slumped and pouted at the man sitting against the rail. “So you can't read my future?”

 

“Afraid not, princess. There's no future up there,” Adrean said slowly, looking past her head to the skies above. “There's nothing up there but the distant past.” He winced a little and slouched further down onto the bridge. His hand twitched, reaching for the bottle that he knew was nearby. Questing fingers only knocked the thing over. It rolled over the wooden bridge with the resonance of hollow glass and came to an abrupt stop in the gap between two planks.

 

“Adrean,” Yuki said, “ I thought you said you hadn't been drinking that much.”

 

“I haven't,” the healer said, his attention distant.

 

“Right. Can you stand?”

 

Adrean frowned and did not seem to make much effort. He glanced up at Yuki. “Maybe if you help me up.”

 

Yuki nodded and sighed and offered the man a hand. “Come on, doc, I'll walk you home.”

 

The healer nodded and stared towards the edge of town for a while before following meekly. He walked two steps behind the young couple and threw Yuki a little smirk every time the boy glanced back to be sure he was still there.

 

Yuffie clung tight to her betrothed's arm and hummed something completely tuneless as she walked. The space between them veered on indecent. The boy considered himself lucky that there were not too many people on the streets to see it. If word got back to Yuffie's father, or worse, Yuki's mother…

 

“Apothecary shop's that way, Yuki,” Adrean reminded him. Yuki turned, giving Yuffie a gentle tug to lead her along.

 

“Whee!” Yuffie could not stop herself in time and ended up plastered to Yuki's side. “This is fun, Snow-boy!” Yuki stiffened.

 

“Aren't you going to put your arm around her, Yuki?” Adrean called out.

 

“She's had too much to drink,” Yuki said, easing Yuffie onto her own two feet. “I'm not going to do anything that will get me into trouble when she sobers up.”

 

“I don't think you'd get into trouble.” Adrean picked up the pace to walk alongside the boy. “In fact, judging from the way she's snuggling against your shoulder, I think she wants you to.”

 

“She's drunk, Adrean.” Yuki glanced sidelong at the man as he tried to peel Yuffie off. “What she thinks she wants is highly suspect. And so's your advice because you've been drinking too.”

 

“Not that much,” Adrean insisted, walking ahead a little as they neared the shop. He stopped at the narrow side entrance and rooted around in his pockets for the keys to the little back room he rented. “You can't play it safe all the time, Yuki,” he said, testing the keys in the lock. “Take a chance now and then.”

 

“Says the man who won't quit lecturing me on proper prophylactic use.”

 

“That's different.” Adrean finally got the creaky door open. “Speaking of which, you do have-?”

 

“Yes, Doc!” Yuki turned and took Yuffie firmly by the hand. The girl was fidgeting around, smiling up at nothing, lost in a world of her own. Yuki looked back over his shoulder and met Adrean's eyes. “I'm taking her home now.”

 

“You two mind your step,” was all Adrean said as he retreated halfway into the shadow of the doorway. The tension Yuki had not even felt building slid away. He nodded once to the healer and began to walk, leading Yuffie gently along.

 

“Bye, doc!” She spun backwards and gave Adrean a little wave as they walked. The man laughed and waved back, watching them go.

 

“Yes,” Adrean murmured as the young people turned the corner. “Taking chances is good, within reason. It comes down to how much a person's willing to risk.” He leaned back against the doorjamb and tilted his head upwards. “Well, a slap on the cheek for moving too fast isn't anywhere as bad as shattered vertebrae.”

 

He stood still for a long while, listening hard although the sound of footsteps had long faded. Eventually he straightened up, sighing in exasperation at the heavens. “Look, you all can hash it out however you please. I'm going to bed.”

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

“Yuffie?” Yuki asked, sighing lightly, “You do this often?”

 

“Do what, Yuki?” Yuffie bounced at his side and stumbled, ending up against the boy's side again.

 

“Get drunk,” the boy murmured and did his best to straighten her up.

 

“I'm not drunk!” Yuffie shouted.

 

“You're not sober.”

 

Yuffie sniffed. “I can hold a lot more than I did back there.”

 

Yuki frowned and looked straight ahead, considering that he should have paid more attention to how fast the girl chugged her sake back at the bar. She wasn't drunk outright. She was still making a certain amount of sense, but she was prancing about just this side of uninhibited.

 

Or maybe she was like this all the time. Yuki had to admit he knew more about Yuffie's family background than he did about her. He shoved his free hand deep into his pocket and thought it over. Yuffie took advantage of his distraction and slipped her hand out of his grasp to go skipping back and forth along the street.

 

“Careful, Yuffie!” Yuki warned. “We still have a long way to go.”

 

“Nuh-uh,” Yuffie skipped closer. “I don't live with my father. I got m'own place.”

 

“You do?” Yuki watched her go, wondering where she found the energy for it after the day she'd had.

 

“Yeah, it's closer to town. That's it.” Yuffie pointed to a rather large rock.

 

Yuki looked at the closest building. “Uh, near the cat lady?”

 

“Yeah, Mrs. Kitazawa,” Yuffie said, skipping dangerously close to the edge of one of Wutai's many rivers. “Used to belong to my mother's family. Nobody was using it so I made it the bachelorette pad.” She skipped over the bank and into the shallow water.

 

“Careful!” Yuki lunged and yanked her back. “The bridge is that way.” He put an arm around her to keep her from falling and marched doggedly onwards, brow set. Between the healer, the troupe and now the Lady Yuffie, he figured he was going to spend much of his life hauling drunks home. “If things work out like they've been planned,” he said, glancing down at her, “I'll be making sure you don't hit the sauce so hard from now on.”

 

Yuffie became a dead weight in his arm, rigid and refusing to move. She turned her face up and shot a withering look somewhere beyond his left ear. “Listen up, hubby,” she snarled, “you're not gonna order me around.”

 

Yuki fought the urge to step back. Something set him quivering right down to his toes. “I won't,” he said slowly, “but I will take care of you.”

 

Yuffie's eyes went wide. “You will?”

 

“Of course.” Yuki nodded. “Wutai needs you strong and capable, not passed out drunk and drowning in a gutter.”

 

“Oh.” Yuffie seemed to shrink into herself. She blew upwards to get the hair out of her eyes. The boy reared back slightly from the alcohol on her breath. Yuffie grabbed his hand and yanked him along, crossing the bridge in silence.

 

“Careful,” he said again as Yuffie stumbled against her own door.

 

“This is my place,” she said, waving off his concern. “It's not very big. The guys are staying at my father's house but my girlfriends should be here if you want to come in and meet `em.” She knocked and waited and knocked again. Then she began fishing around in her pockets for the key. “Bet I get it open before they do,” she mumbled and shoved the key into the lock on the first try. She either knew her house very well or she wasn't as drunk as she seemed to be, Yuki surmised. Either that or it was dumb luck.

 

She swung the door open and leaned forward, rising to the tip of her toes to peer into the dark. “Huh. Nobody's home. Wonder where they went?” She spun halfway around in the doorway and stretched back against the frame. “Wanna come in anyway?”

 

Yuki glanced around for signs of nosy neighbors. “I'd better go. Walking is one thing but some people wouldn't consider it proper for me to stay at this hour.” He turned to go.

 

“Proper nothing!” Yuffie fumed. “We're getting married!”

 

Yuki laughed. “We're not married yet.”

 

“Aww,” Yuffie whined and stumbled forward to reach him. “Can't you come in for just a little while? I've got lots of mater-.”

 

“Careful!” Yuki caught her as she fell, staggering back slightly from the impact.

 

Yuffie tilted her head back up from where she had landed, face in Yuki's stomach, arms around his waist. Her eyes were wide and unusually shiny. “Just a little while? I have something special to show you.”

 

Yuki's brain chose that moment to short itself out. He stood there awkwardly balanced, his arms hovering over Yuffie's shoulders. He had no idea how to begin prying her off. Yuffie solved the problem for him, hiking herself up using his body for support.

 

Yuki almost whimpered. His brain kicked back in, racing full speed ahead to make up for the lapse. He knew what she was saying couldn't be what she meant and even if it was he could not trust her judgment if she was under the influence. He would just have to pay no attention at all to their proximity and her shiny eyes and he really had to get her off him somehow. It could not be too hard. She wasn't very big. No, her body was very athletic, actually, very lean and trim, but there were still curves and some of those curves were pressing against him in all the right ways and didn't he remember that he wasn't supposed to be paying attention to that right now but Leviathan help him, he was only seventeen and it didn't help that there was a voice echoing inside his head, telling him to take a chance.

 

“Just a little while, Yuki,” Yuffie whispered, her lips just inches from his own. Yuki sent a hurried prayer to Leviathan for the strength to do the right thing and almost collapsed with hysterical laughter when he realized that under the circumstances, calling on a giant water-spewing snake to intercede probably wasn't the wisest course of action.

 

Yuffie leaned backwards, pulling him with her. “Come on, Yuki.”

 

“Ah, okay.” Yuki followed. What could he do? He was only seventeen.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

The door swung open with the lightest touch, welcoming Sephiroth inside. He walked slowly into the darkness, not needing light to see. The living room was empty but there were signs of life. A warm woolen throw rug lay rumpled from use across one arm of the sofa. Fresh flowers, closed for the night, adorned every flat surface. A book lay face-down on the floor near a scattering of cushions that must have served as a make-shift bed, abandoned for more suitable comforts with nightfall.

 

Sephiroth walked along, barely feeling his feet sink into the carpet. He headed unerringly to the kitchen. It was dark there too and tidied up for the night. The dinner dishes were arranged neatly in the rack by the sink, gleaming with light from the window. Sephiroth glided to the staircase in a haze. The wooden railing felt familiar. The entire house seemed warm despite the stillness.

 

He floated up the stairs, pausing to retrieve a stray item near his feet. It was a small plush animal of some sort. Sephiroth flopped the worn little thing around in his hands as he made his way up. It was rather tatty. The color had faded a bit and someone had put neat, loving stitches on one ear.

 

Without ever questioning how he knew where to go, Sephiroth drifted to the door at the end of the hall. There was a large bed there and from the shape of the thick covers, there was someone in it. Sephiroth went to the far side of the bed, surprised only at how calmly he was taking this. He had never really cared to share his sleeping space and this was his bed, in his house, never mind that he could not recall ever being there before.

 

Aeris was lying there, as he had half-expected. She was all bundled up in the middle, sleeping soundly with the covers wrapped tight around her shoulders and her hair trailing across the pillow. She was beautiful in the stillness. Sephiroth smiled and tugged at the covers to join her.

 

The raised sheets revealed that Aeris cradled a doll in her arms. Sephiroth wondered why a grown woman would still sleep with a toy. It was a rather large one too, about the size of a two-year old child, with perfect cherub features and hair like… his.

 

Sephiroth stared. The little doll was snuggled close to Aeris, curling into the line of her body, its head tucked against her chest. There was movement, soft and slow. It was breathing. Sephiroth thought he could see something of Aeris' smile on the tiny lips and he did not need to look any further than the pale, feather-light hair to know the rest. He reached one hand out to brush his child's cheek, drawing back quickly when the skin seemed too delicate beneath his callused fingers.

 

He stood staring for a very long time. Mother and child. His family. The warmth that had lingered in the empty rooms was his to share in as well. He reached out with shaking hands to touch the child's hair. With easy grace, he slid into the space next to his love and child, trying not to wake them. The child stirred anyway and Sephiroth lay frozen halfway on the bed as eyes that in all the world only he was supposed to have blinked sleepily up at him.

 

“Daddy!” The child smiled happily and rolled into Sephiroth's waiting arms. Sephiroth caught his child up and immediately cradled the little one against his chest. The child hugged him, arms still soft with baby fat reaching around his neck. “Missed you, Daddy.”

 

Sephiroth's breath caught. “I missed you too,” he heard himself say, “but I'm home now.” He held the little stuffed animal up. “You dropped your little doggy.” The child released one arm from around Sephiroth's neck to hug the little plush toy tight. Sephiroth leaned back, in awe at the sight, his child, so normal, safe and protected, hugging a toy. He had never had any such thing himself growing up but as the little one settled in, clinging to his side, Sephiroth realized he wouldn't need one now.

 

“Sleep now,” he said as he lowered both their heads to the pillow. “Don't wake Mommy.”

 

“Too late,” Aeris murmured beside him and shifted so he could settle down close beside her. Sephiroth kissed her forehead lightly. She curled herself against his side and put an arm around his waist. Their little cherub of a child still clung to his other side, one leg sprawled across Sephiroth's body. Little Doggy's raggedy ear tickled his nose but he did not complain. He had a family. Safe in his home, surrounded by love, Sephiroth smiled and let himself drift off to sleep.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

He woke to bracing cold, grasping for the shreds of a dream. Aeris groaned beside him, wriggling closer in her sleep. Sephiroth glanced down at her. She looked comfortably rumpled, much as she had in that warm bed. Sephiroth frowned. She deserved that big bed piled high with blankets, not this bleak expanse of rock and endless nights of running and hiding. He sank back to earth, going still as he tried to figure out what to do about it.

 

Aeris stirred again, seeking warmth. It was enough to snap Sephiroth back to the present. He grasped around in the dark for her thin sleeping bag. "Aeris?" He nudged her gently as he levitated the bag over. "Aeris, let me fix up a sleeping space." Aeris made a sound and wrinkled her nose, doggedly fighting lucidity. Sephiroth stroked her hair and waited, reminded of hair strewn across a fluffy pillow. He wanted to see that again. "Aeris?"

 

"Mmm?" She blinked this time, locked in a dream of her own.

 

Sephiroth sat up and raised her shoulders. "Just let me wrap you in this." Aeris murmured again and rose sluggishly, sprawling across Sephiroth's lap. She hooked her chin over his shoulder and wound herself around him. Sephiroth smirked against her head. "Alright, little Miss Octopus," he said and worked with mind and his one free hand to fashion the sleeping bag into some kind of bed again. The thing barely made adequate bedding over gravel. Seph let a sigh escape. "Aeris, what's a home like?"

 

He felt her lashes moving against his neck. "Warm," she breathed.

 

Sephiroth smiled. "Yes, it would be warm, wouldn't it? I never knew for sure."

 

Aeris leaned back in his arms and blinked up at him. "You never had any place to live?"

 

"I've lived many places, Aeris, but never for very long." He thought of scattered books on a coffee table, mismatched crockery and a mattress so well-used that it molded to his shape. "I think," he said carefully, "I think I might like to try having a real home."

 

Aeris laughed and settled back against him, her head heavy on his shoulder. "Looking to settle down?"

 

Sephiroth blinked. "Yes. With you."

 

Aeris went perfectly still, forgetting even to breathe as the words sank in. Sephiroth twisted his fingers in her curls and stared out at the waves. "Will you come with me?" The words felt weighty although he knew he had asked the question before. The sound of his own blood rushing past his ears drowned out the surf as he waited for an answer.

 

"Where will we go?" Aeris asked.

 

Sephiroth chuckled. "Anywhere you want."

 

Aeris curled up against Sephiroth's body. "Someplace warm."

 

"Okay, we'll have a little house someplace warm." Sephiroth smiled and hoisted them both onto the bed even though what he wanted to do was fly up to the stars.

 

"With flowers."

 

"Yes, you can grow as many flowers as you want." He held back gentle laughter.

 

Aeris turned her head up. "Seph, can we have a real bed?"

 

Sephiroth did laugh then. "Yes, Aeris, I promise, we'll definitely have a bed."

 

"And pretty curtains."

 

"As long as they're not the frilly kind."

 

Aeris pouted. "The frilly ones are the pretty ones."

 

"Fine." Sephiroth sighed. "But not pink, please, not pink."

 

"Not pink," Aeris agreed, yawning. "Maybe yellow."

 

"I suppose I could live with that."

 

Aeris yawned again. "Can we have a big bathtub? Big enough for two?"

 

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I like where you're headed."

 

Aeris snorted in annoyment but Sephiroth did not believe it for one second. She settled herself more comfortably in his lap and reached down to hold his hand. "Can we have a porch and lots of wide open spaces?"

 

Sephiroth smirked. "Of course." The whole world would surely be space enough.

 

"Good," Aeris mumbled, "I want to watch the stars at night."

 

"So it's settled then? A little house with a big yard, lots of flowers and a dog."

 

Aeris reared back. "A dog?"

 

Sephiroth shrugged. "I always wanted a dog."

 

Aeris grinned. "Okay, but he better not leave any presents in my flowerbeds." She rested her head on his shoulder again.

 

"So you'll come with me?" Sephiroth asked again when the silence stretched too long. Aeris shifted over him, sliding a leg along his thighs. She made a sound like a sigh and rocked her hips against his. Sephiroth gasped at the sudden turn. "Aeris! Again?" Aeris only moved against him again, insistent. She clung to his shoulders and licked his neck slowly with the tip of her tongue. Sephiroth gasped and clutched her waist to try to lift her away from him. She made a sound of protest and latched on tight, locking her ankles behind her back. He groaned through clenched teeth as she settled into his lap. "Aeris, you're going to wear me out."

 

He felt his body responding despite the cold and his residual weariness. He leaned back and kissed Aeris gently on the forehead, trailing his lips down to her mouth. He had to reach down to align himself properly. He cried out softly at entry. Aeris was so warm and slick and all she did was sigh and slide herself down to take him in completely. Sephiroth wanted to give himself a moment to adjust but Aeris wasn't having it. She bounced herself in his lap, making him throw his head back, nearly screaming.

 

"Easy, Easy!" He grabbed Aeris' hips and guided her into a gentler rhythm, rocking slowly with her. It was about as much as he could handle. Aeris settled into it without protest despite her initial energy. Her eyes were closed and the find strands of hair at her forehead were beginning to darken from dampness again. Sephiroth thought she had never looked more beautiful. He thrust upwards just a little harder at the thought that giving her the big fluffy bed she wanted would mean he could see her like this every night. He choked back a sob and pulled Aeris against his chest. "Don't leave me, Aeris. Say you'll come with me."

 

Aeris made an indistinct murmur and ran limp hands down his back. She moved down with extra force, making Sephiroth growl, but she still did not answer.

 

"Come with me," Sephiroth pleaded. "I'll give you everything you want. We'll have a home together." Here he broke off and buried his face in her hair, trembling uncontrollably. Aeris curled her fingers into his skin, clutching his back tight enough to scratch but Sephiroth did not mind. He stared out at the waves as he tried to control himself. "Come with me." His voice was hoarse and shaking. "Say you'll come with me."

 

"Yes," Aeris gasped, clawing at his shoulders. "Yes!" She went rigid in his arms, shuddering and tightening fiercely around him. Sephiroth hissed and held her through the storm. When she finally went still, resting her head on his shoulder again, he tried to calm himself by staring at the ocean but the waves were blurry. He hugged Aeris tight and rocked her back and forth. He shook hard as he came and never knew if what he heard was the waves on the rocks or his own beating heart.

 

"Thank you, Aeris, thank you." Aeris did not respond but his words kept tumbling out and Sephiroth did not even know what he was saying. "I'll take care of you, I swear it. I'll make you a home. I'll take care of you, Aeris, I love you, I love you. I love you so much! I love you!" He kept on saying it even though she was fast asleep.