I do not own Final Fantasy 7, if I did I would pay to be as skinny and gorgeous as all of the characters.

I didn't put this section of the story in just to be funny, I put it to show that Aerith isn't going to be a complete chronic martyr in my plot. And that they naturally rile each other. I'm so sick of reading Aerith as a helpless little girl who doesn't do anything but gets told she is great because her heart was in the right place. She seems like a pretty tough person to me, I think she would accomplish what she wanted to even if she had to get really creative about it.

The song for this chapter is "The Invisible Wall" by the Gazette.

She did not mean to fall asleep, in fact she didn't even realize that she had until she woke up to a full moon.

Immediately she sat up and looked to the sandy valley below her, Sephiroth wasn't there.

Damn it, she cursed, she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Her intensely frazzled hair flopped in front of her face, mostly obscuring her vision, further disorienting her as she raced to the crest of the hill, frantically looking around. This made her very uncomfortable, not knowing exactly where he was, that made it all too easy for him sneak up on her.

"Hello!" she shouted at the surrounding terrain.

"You're too loud", a low voice murmured.

Sephiroth was sitting on the other side of the dune, his knees tucked up to his chest and his long arms wrapped loosely around them as if he were trying to be as small as possible. Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment, of course she would just have to lose her head in front of the most unfailingly calculating person in the world.

But not really, a voice crept into her head and she recalled his half dead body collapsed on the ground, was that only a few short hours ago? He seemed fine now, not quite his...she was hesitant to use the term... normal self but certainly close enough.

He must have picked up on her chagrin because his still stained mouth turned upward into a wry little smirk she would have loved to slap off of his face.

"It's dark" she defended herself sharply.

"The moon is out", was that a laugh?

"I suppose you can see in the dark" she challenged.

"Perhaps", he was definitely mocking her.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a royal pain in the ass?"

"Many times".

She sighed and decided that she would try and get some answers while she had him talking, "Care to explain what happened?"

His face went blank and he seemed to retreat within himself, "No", he snapped.

Her temper flared at that, "I saved your life! The very least you could do is tell me why I had to do it in the first place".

He snorted derisively, "Had to? Forgive me but I don't recall pointing a gun at your head".

"You would have been to busy pointing it at your own".

His demeanor cooled many degrees, "What happened to my knife?".

This was definitely not what she wanted to be discussing, just knowing that he wanted the thing back was enough to make that primal, instinctive part of her want to run away screaming.

"I threw it away"she told him, instead.

He blinked, "Why?".

Now she took an opportunity to laugh at him, "Getting run through once is quite enough for me".

He raised his silver eyebrows, "So that's what this is about".

"What?" she spluttered angrily.

He sighed heavily, "I'll make you a deal. Explain why you helped me and I will tell you what you want to know".

"How kind of you", she retorted.

His large, green eyes narrowed, "Do you want me to tell you or not?". His expression read clearly that it was not an idle threat, she supposed the Great Sephiroth did not suffer indecision.

What was the real harm in telling him? Aerith was if nothing else, comitted to living out her ideals to the fullest extent possible and as it stood she believed that he had a right to at least know why his death was abruptly interrupted. If he chose to use it against her so be it, this was the point of letting him live, she would not manipulate as he had.

"I'm not sure exactly why I helped you, at first I just sort of froze up but...", she trailed off.

"But?", he prompted.

"I wanted to prove something, to myself, to everybody" she paused and thought how best to say this, "To you, that I was the stronger one. I was faced with a situation similar to yours in Nibelheim you know, faced with the one responsible for my misfortunes. But I still made myself do the right thing, I helped you as I would anyone else, I didn't let myself be like you". she finished with her voice barely above a whisper.

He didn't pick at her motives or phrasing, just nodded and said "I used to be a lot like you", he frowned, "Or at least I thought I was".

He did nothing at all to further clarify, just sat like a child would in the sand and watched the ocean.

After a long moment he spoke again, "I thought perhaps you might have been seeking to punish me, forcing me to live on when it seemed ah-quite clear that I had no desire to do so".

She looked at her feet to shield herself from his inhuman, knowing eyes, now she felt guilty.

She realized that his words had served a dual purpose, not only acknowledging that he was satisfied with her answer but willing enough to offer his own, inside she laughed, always efficient those SOLDIERS.

"Will you explain how you got...that way?", she asked gently, afraid that the smallest wrong move would send him back into silence.

He hesitated, and stared at her directly in the eyes, carefully, like he was looking for something. The gaze though innocent enough on the surface, paralyzed her and she stood caught as a deer in the headlights would be.

It was then that she saw it for the first time.

Aerith drew a shaky breath.

He was very attractive, as in shouldn't even be allowed attractive. Even too thin, paled, and bloody he was otherworldly handsome. His face was structured with almost delicate features that were smooth and perfectly symmetrical, the skin flawless. His jaw, by contrast was carved sharp and elegant, even proud. His hair still stood as the strangest natural color she had ever seen, the long strands ranged anywhere from a shiny starlight silver to charcoal gray and curiously enough it flattered him. And the eyes, large and feline in shape with slitted pupils to match, in her brief examinations during her past encounters she had classified the color as bright green. Now that she was able to examine more closely she saw that jade would be a more accurate term, the very center surrounding the pupil was a heavily pigmented emerald but the edges faded to a more natural light blue.

"I want to begin by saying that my memory is faulty," he began, startling her from her reverie and she sat down not beside him per say but within reasonable proximity and fussed with her hair so he would not see her blush, "and that for the time being you should not take my accounts as truths".

She nodded, trying not to contemplate the way that she had been ogling the man that had killed her. He continued to fix her with a stare both inquisitive and guarded, if he new of the ludicrous thoughts that had just possessed her he did not do anything to indicate so. That bizarre jolt of attraction had made her wonder though, was he why she had been sent back? Was she meant to save him? Her? The little nobody from the slums of Midigar? The flower vendor. How could the planet possibly expect her to help someone like him? The thought made her head spin.

He was staring at her oddly and she realized that she had been off in her own world for several long moments, she forced herself to concentrate on the present.

Her eyebrows elevated, "Amnesia?" she inquired, it seemed like a reasonable guess.

He shook his head and spread his hands out before himself and studied them as if they were of great interest, she noticed the shiny, ribbed scars that now decorated the insides of his wrists, she suspected that he was sporting a matching one on his neck. Aerith rubbed at her own throat in involuntary sympathy, that one had to have hurt.

"No, I assure you that I am quite aware of what I am and why. These are more like black out periods", he shared bitterly, was it her imagination or did he sound...sad? How was it that everytime he spoke she found herself increasingly pitying him.

"From what I can work out Shinra had me extracted from the Northern Crater, I wasn't dead you see, after my", he paused and contemplated, "little scuffle with your friends I went into a coma".

"I know", she agreed quietly, "I kept waiting for either you or one of them to enter the life stream but no one ever did, I guess I got to be the casualty", no reason to spare his feelings or dance around what had happened, it wasn't as if he actually felt bad about it or anything.

Except he looked away from her and she saw his shoulders hunch fractionally, the action reminded her so much of a shamed Cloud that her mouth fell open and the urge to close the distance between them and comfort him ached in her limbs. She folded her arms tightly across her body and reminded herself that he was not and never would be a friend with which she could share such familiarity. It wasn't so much him as the knowledge that a living something was hurting, it was like she was programmed to react that way.

She heard him sigh quietly, "The turks came in a helicopter and took me into custody, I never once saw any of them, I was kept in a cargo hold away from the cockpit. I suppose they expected me to hijack them at any moment but I was to weak" she noticed how his lips curled to a snarl around the word, as if it were the most deplorable of poisons, "to even try. I would guess the most intimidating thing I did was shout in my sleep, I've always had strange dreams." he laughed hollowly again and she was beginning to notice that he wasn't really being unpleasant, he had a habit of doing that whenever an uncomfortable topic was broached.

She was unable to form an appropriate reply, what should she say, I'm sorry? Sephiroth did not want anyone's pity and she was unsure if she was willing to give it.

Still the question nagged at her, how often was he misread? Was he even cruel and arrogant at all, or just horribly inept at dealing with people? He had been raised in a lab, that much she already knew, certainly one could not expect the level of social grace that a normal, healthy individual would possess?

He spoke again and now she paid more careful attention to his tone, the tiny expressions that played over his face, searching for what he meant in what he said.

"I thought I was going to be handed over to President Shinra and the remaining SOLDIERS, did you know that there's a hundred thousand gill prize on my head?", a genuine laugh, he had a morbid sense of humor, "However I was turned over to the science department and from there it gets vague. There were needles and pain and lights, I felt just like a kid again.".

Did he have to be so casual about it? It was worse than if he had broken down in tears, which she certainly could not imagine him ever doing, could he even cry? Didn't that require a heart?

His mouth moved again and for a moment it looked as if he were about to make some sort of revelation but before the words could make it out he cut him self off "Eventually I regained my health and escaped. As for the scene you encountered I merely decided that a different course of action would be beneficial".

His voice was monotone and robotic and his articulation more militant with each word.

"You're a pathetic liar", she hissed harshly.

His expression was still stony, "On the contrary, I am an excellent liar. I simply do not feel as though you deserve the trouble it would take me to deceive you".

Aerith scoweled indignantly, "I had forgotten how arrogant you were, need I remind you who saved who?", she demanded.

"Whom" he corrected blandly.

She blinked, "Excuse me?".

"It's who saved whom", he reiterated.

She laughed, not in real mirth but for the sole purpose of being as scathing as it was in her character to be, had the situation been different she might have been able to register it as funny. The comment after all was childish, petty words on the lips of a hero.

"Surely someone as outstanding as yourself has more important things to do than correct the grammar of a nobody like me", she mocked.

He sneered back and his brow furrowed, "At least when I dealt harm to you I didn't make it personal".

He had a way of knowing exactly what to say to shut her up.

Not for long though, she quickly formed a response to fire back at him, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard".

"Oh?", he questioned.

"There is nothing impersonal about taking a life. You of all people must know that, did you ever kill for any other reason?", she replied.

"Don't kid yourself little girl, I was high general in the Wutai war when you were running around your parent's back yard", he growled.

She didn't bother telling him that she had never had a yard, or multiple care givers.

She snorted, "Please. You didn't decide to fight them, you were following orders. Stop trying to scare me".

He shot her a small, dry, insincere smile, "Touche'"

"Why do you do that?", she asked suddenly.

"What?".

"Laugh when something upsets you", she specified.

"I was not upset", he lied again, his voice very, very dull.

She rolled her eyes, "I should have known that you of all people would have a macho complex".

"Pardon?", was he actually offended?

"You and all of the other SOLDIERS, always so worried about looking tough. I thought you might be different, you're so famous anyway...", she trailed off when she realized that her words could have been taken the wrong way, she was not and never had been a fan. Even when she was little and she couldn't go anywhere without seeing his picture, he and the rest of the infamous trio had always been too much icons of war for her to admire them.

"My lack of desire to disclose my every slightest emotion certainly does not mean that I must be fixated upon my own sense of masculinity. Why do you insist on simplifying me to a series of base desires? I am not an animal", he even raised his perfectly flat voice a little at the end of the phrase. That surprised her, had she actually touched a nerve? In fact, she seemed to be prodding quite a few nerves. It was like throwing darts blindfolded, she couldn't seem to control her mouth but she was saying all of the things that could make him talk.

"Are you convincing me or yourself?".

"How did your little friends ever stand you?", he bit out sharply.

Her eyes narrowed, "I'm not normally like this", she said quietly.

"I would hope not", he replied.

She wanted to scream, as if Sephiroth had any right to scold her for not being nice. The man was a total hypocrite and it irked her tenfold more because she was certain that if she said anything he would find a way to be justified. Bad upbringing be damned, he was too aggravating to not have been told how he affected other people at least once in his life. Clearly treating people decently was below the Great Hero of the War in Wutai.

She half hoped and half dreaded that he would speak again. Hoped because she was itching to give him a piece of her mind, dreaded because he would probably just turn it back on her. But the long seconds dragged on and the only thing that told her time was passing at all was the changing position of the moon. Her limbs and eyes grew leaden and despite her best effort weariness scattered the thoughts inside her head to a jumbled series of images that meant nothing.

When the sun finally began to rise at her back willpower failed her and she closed her eyes against the pink and crimson sky.