Guardian Angel

Chapter 4

He knew the dream was over, yet somehow he wanted it to last. He kept his eyes closed, trying his best to recall and memorize every single detail of the dream. Yes, it was such a childish behavior, but he did not care at all. The feeling of holding her so close in his arm and brushing his lips against hers was so real, he could have swore he even smelled the floral scent from her hair…

A cold breeze brushed his cheek and brought him back to reality. His eyes shot open as a chilling thought came across his mind.

What happened? Where am I?

Sephiroth bolted up and scanned the surrounding with his emerald eyes. He was inside a cave. A cave with no entrance. Not a single opening.

How did I get here?

The last thing he recalled was the bright wall. And her angelic face formed in his mind. So how did he get here? This was certainly not the cave he was in before he lost his consciousness. Standing to his full height, he realized that the weight of his Supershot ST was missing. As he looked down at himself, he could not believe what he saw with his own eyes. Not only his favorite gun was gone, he was not in his own attire.

From the black leather trend coat, matching black pants and black boots that were up to his knees, to the silver shoulder armors and the two leather straps that crossed his bare chest. The entire outfit looked so foreign, yet it felt so familiar, as if it really belonged to him somehow.

A strange sensation attacked from his back. He swiftly turned around and saw a huge clear ice block behind him. The ice cube was at least eight feet wide, with the height of around four feet. It was not there a moment ago, he was sure. However, he was not concerned about how it appeared, for the object inside this giant ice cube had caught his eyes.

A sword.

Every cell in his body was called by an unknown source. A rising urge pushed him towards the elegant weapon. Slowly, he approached towards the ice cube with his eyes fixed on the sword. Much to his surprise, he did not feel cold as he stood beside the clear block. He saw his hand raised and reached out for the ice cube as if it had its own mind. Just as his gloved fingers touched its surface, a green glow began to form, surrounding his body as well as the cube.

He stood there in awe as the ice cube started to disappear in a rapid rate. Not melting, for there was no water left on the ground. It merely disappeared.

Then the sword was dropped down to the ground.

The urge of touching the long sword was so strong, he could no longer resist it. As his fingers contacted the six-foot weapon, a jolt of electricity ran through his body. He was mesmerized by the power he felt through the weapon as he stood back up in his full height. Suddenly, the white glow was formed around the sword and intensified.

Once again he was blinded.

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She could not suppress the smile on her face when she recalled the dream she had the night before. She did not know why she had such a dream, nor did she really know what was happening in that dream. The only thing she cared about was seeing him again. Whether in her dream or in reality, seeing his face would always made her happy. Her face reddened as she recalled the way he held her in her dream, not to mention the kiss she always longed for…

"Aeris! Your phone!"

"Okay, Mom! I’m coming!" She let out a dreamy sigh. Silently, she said a little prayer for him. In less then two week, she would be able see him again.

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When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the cave in the glacier area.

What is going on? Was it a dream?

His question was answered quietly by the sword lying next to him.

It was not a dream.

He sat up and took the weapon in his hands. Much to his surprise, it was very light in weight despite its size. He unsheathed the sword with great respect as a foreign word escaped from his lips.

"Ma…sa…mu…ne…"

Surprised by his own word, he sheathed the weapon back. Looking down at himself, he realized he was back in his original attire. His Supershot ST was lying next to him ever so faithfully. A check at his watch told him that he had been unconscious for five days. Now, it was time to report back to his commander. He gathered his belongings and hurried back to Icicle Inn.

If he had looked back into the cave once more, he would have noticed something very unusual on the ground.

A snow white feather.

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Rufus Shinra pulled his two-door sports car next to the driveway of a two-story Victorian house. He pulled out his PHS and dialed the number as he shot a glance at the image of his own sapphire eyes through the rear-view mirror.

He flicked back a strand of his strawberry blonde hair as he patiently waited for the person to answer the phone.

"Hello." A soft voice came through his earpiece.

"Hi, Aeris. It’s me, Rufus."

"Oh, hi, Rufus. What’s up?"

"I was wondering if you have time right now. I’ve got something to show you."

"Now?" There was a moment of hesitation.

"Yes. But if you’re busy right now, that’s alright. I should have called you earlier. It’s my fault entirely. I apologize." Rufus recited his line with an amazing speed.

"No. That’s not what I mean…" Aeris was cut short.

"It’s a ‘yes’, then." He smiled triumphantly.

"Alright, I guess." A soft smile was heard from the other line. "Where do you want to meet?"

"I’ll pick you up…" He once again checked out his image in the mirror.

"Okay, see you later, then."

"No. Now." He corrected her.

"…Now?"

"Look outside your window, Aeris." He turned his hear towards the Victorian house and waved a little as he saw Aeris’ surprised features appeared behind one of the bay windows .

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"What do you want to show me?" Aeris was sitting in the passenger side of Rufus’ car, wondering what he was up to.

"A special place." His lips twisted in a light smile as he glanced at the girl from the corner of his eyes.

The trip was very short. In fact, it was within walking distance from her house. Pulling his car next to a church, Rufus got out of his car and opened the door for Aeris.

"Is this that ‘special place’?" Aeris scanned around the surrounding. "How come I’ve never noticed there’s a church in the neighborhood?"

"It’s an abundant church. There used to be tall trees surrounding this church. My father bought this piece of land lately and have the trees cut down. So now you can finally see it from here."

"So your father wants to demolish this church and use the land?" A sad feeling washed over Aeris somehow. Indeed, the church was a masterpiece of architecture.

"Yeah. But I asked him not to." Aeris looked at him puzzled . "Let me show you the inside." He gently put his hand on her shoulders and guided her to toward the heavy wooden door.

An indescribable peaceful feeling surrounded in the church. Although it had been abundant for quite sometime, dust hardly covered anything inside the church. Yet, what really surprised Aeris was not the dust-free environment. There was something in the front of the altar . Something she would not have expected to see in Midgar, much less inside a church.

A flowerbed.

Flowers recently planted, had started booming in the flowerbed. Aeris’ eyes widened in shock, yet happiness was clearly written across her face.

"It’s beautiful!" She shook her head as if she did not believe her eyes.

"Do you like it?" Rufus took a few steps towards her.

"I love it! It’s amazing! Whose flower bed is it?" She bent down and touched the flowers gently.

"It’s yours." He replied with a smile on his face.

"…What?" She turned around quickly, eyes widened. "…Mine?"

"Yes." He nodded. "It’s my gift to you before…" Suddenly he dropped his gaze and took a deep breath.

"Before what? What’s wrong, Rufus?" Her voice was filled with concern.

"My father has appointed me as his Vice President of the company." He said so softly almost like a whisper.

"Wow! Congratulations, Rufus!!" Aeris walked in front of him and threw her arms around his neck in a friendly hug.

Part of his dream finally came true. There he was standing in the church, hugging the angel of his dream. Rufus inhaled her floral scent greedily as he returned her embrace and buried his face on her slender shoulder. It was almost perfect. Almost perfect if…

Aeris noticed his embrace was tighter than a friendly hug and he was shaking slighting within her arms. Something was wrong. Gently, she pushed him away and looked up to him. Standing in front of her was face filled with sadness. His sapphire eyes were shinier than usual.

"Aren’t you happy that you’ve become the Vice President at the age of sixteen? I mean, you must have been the youngest V.P. ever." She giggled a bit, trying her best to cheer him up.

"But not when I am going to stay in Junon from now on" He closed his eyes and frowned. Not when you are not around me…

"How long are you going to be in Junon?"

Rufus could only replied with a shrug as he slowly opened his eyes.

"As long as I’m the Vice President, I guess. Someone has to be in Junon."

"When are you leaving?" He could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. Was she sad because her friend is leaving? Or was there something more? A bittersweet feeling overwhelmed the young Vice President.

"Ten days from now." Ten days from now… That’s two days before Sephiroth’s return…

"Aeris, can you do me a big favor?" Her thought of Sephiroth was cut short.

"Of course! What is it, Rufus?" She looked at him with a sweet smile on her face. Rufus felt his heart skipped a beat.

"Err… There will be a formal party to celebrate my appointment. Actually, it was Scarlet’s idea. I was wondering, if…" Get to the point, Rufus. He mentally cursed himself. Looking down at his shoes as if they were very interesting, he took a deep breath before he continued. "Will you be my date?" There, he blunted out. "I mean, I’ve invited Dr. Gast and your mother as my special guests already… I think they’ll receive the invitation tomorrow… I know it’s kind of rush…"

"Okay!" Rufus looked up from his shoes in shock. That was much easier then he thought! "I would not want you to go to the party by yourself now, would I? After all, you ARE the Vice President!" A teasing smile formed on her sly face.

It was his lucky day.

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"Mom! I’m home!" Aeris looked around for her mother.

"Oh, Aeris. Someone delivered a package for you." Ifalna walked out from the kitchen and greeted her daughter with a gentle hug. "It’s in your room."

"A package? From whom?"

"I don’t know, honey. Go check it out. It’s a very pretty box." Ifalna went back to the kitchen, busy preparing for dinner.

Aeris ran upstairs quickly. A package? Who could it be? Could it be Sephiroth? The thought of Sephiroth made her rushed to her room as if she had been chased by monsters.

Ifalna was not lying when she said the box was pretty. It sure was very pretty. Pearl color fabric box with a pink ribbon tied around it and secured with a matching bow. But she did not tell Aeris the size of the box. It was huge. Almost the size of Aeris’ desk top. Yet the height of the box was no more than eight inches.

What could be inside this box? More importantly, from whom?

Aeris cautiously tried to lift up the box, expecting it to be quite heavy due to its size. Surprisingly, the box was relatively light in weight. What could it be?

She could no longer wait for the answer. Carefully, she untied the bow and removed the lid. A card was placed on top of the wrapping paper that still covered the object beneath it. The light pink envelope did not reveal anything, except for her name. Putting the envelope aside, she unwrapped the wrapping paper. She couldn’t help but drop her jaw slightly as she set her eyes on the object inside the box.

It was a light pink formal dress.

Her eyes widened as she took the dress out of the box. It was absolutely beautiful. Light pink silk full-length dress. At the end of the two thin strips were two little bows, one on each side. Additional layers of fabric beneath the dress from waist down gave it a little puffy look, very subtle, yet very feminine.

Aeris already knew who sent the package. Her guess was confirmed when she read the card inside the envelope.

"Hope you’d like the dress. – Rufus."

Yet, there were something more in the box. A pair of low-heel pumps and a little handbag. All were made out of the same fabric as the dress.

Curiously, Aeris tried on the dress and the shoes. She was stunned by the fact the everything fitted perfect on her.

"He knew I would be his date! But how did he know my sizes?" She wondered out loud.

Then the image in the mirror caught suddenly caught her eyes. She could not believe the image she saw in the mirror was herself. She never considered herself a beauty. Certainly she was not ugly either. But the image reflected in front of her was absolute stunning. Then for the first time in her life, she realized that she was actually quite pretty. She got her look from her mother. Her mother was a very attractive woman without a doubt. So, did other people think she look attractive too? Did Sephiroth think she was pretty? He had never said anything along that line. He had always treated her like she was a baby. What would Sephiroth think about her in this dress? Maybe, just maybe, he would see her differently from now on? Perhaps he would finally realize that she was no longer a little girl.

Her mind wandered to the dream she had the night before. Was it a prediction of their future? Would he ever hold her in his arm the way he did in her dream?

Aeris let out a soft sigh and sank down on her bed. Closing her eyes, once more she recalled his hypnotic eyes. His lips lingered on hers as he whispered those words that she would remember forever.

Was it just a dream?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

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