Mirror Image

by T'Shael

Chapter Five

When Sephiroth woke up again, Aeris was rolling up her sleeping bag. He was surprised to see her wearing the same pink dress and red jacket she was wearing when he killed her. As she moved about, he could see the ragged tear where his masamune had gone through the material. The skin beneath the torn material was unmarred. He felt a pang of guilt. Glancing down at himself, he saw he was wearing his usual black battle wear. He sat up and watched Aeris.

"Hello sleepyhead," she greeted him brightly. "Are you ready to get started on our mission?"

"OUR mission," he repeated. "An interesting choice of words."

Aeris smiled at him. He crawled out of his sleeping bag and started to roll it up. A thought occurred to him.

"My masamune," he said. "What happened to my sword?"

"Oh!" Aeris jumped up and hurried to the corner of the basement, where the chocobo sat on its nest of leaves. She pushed the sleepy bird aside, reaching between it and the wall. The large bird gave an indignant squawk and shifted its body.

Aeris fumbled around a bit, then her face brightened. She pulled a long black sheath out of its hiding place and stood up. She carried it to Sephiroth. He took it from her hands and examined it.

"Where was this?" he asked. "I didn't see it in the Lifestream."

"Yeah, well-" Aeris blushed. "I didn't want you to have it before we had a chance to talk to you."

He stared at her a moment, then lowered his head.

"You mean you didn't want me to use it on you again," he said quietly.

Aeris shrugged her shoulders. "It did hurt, you know."

He raised his eyes to her again. "You were wise to keep it away from me. When you helped me get my memory back, I wanted to kill you. I thought I should kill you because that was my last memory of you from my previous life. I probably would have acted on that impulse if my sword had been available."

"I know," she said. "You did try to strangle me, but you couldn't have hurt me much in the Lifestream. The Cetra would have stopped you if you didn't stop yourself."

Sephiroth nodded and rose to his feet. "What other supplies do we have?" he asked.

Aeris stood up. "Our sleeping bags, a change of clothes and the chocobo," she said.

"No food?"

Aeris shook her head. "We're going to have to rough it. We can find edible plants in the Sleeping Forest, but it will be dangerous. There are still plenty of Hojo's experiments running around."

"I'm not afraid of Hojo's monsters," said Sephiroth hanging the sheath from his belt.

"I know," said Aeris. "That why I feel safer with you here."

He gave her an odd look and Aeris blushed. She walked over to the stack of clothing Sephiroth had noticed before and removed a few items. "I'm going upstairs for a few minutes, okay?"

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, I need to change clothes," she said embarrassed. "I can't wear this dress any more and we really don't have any privacy here."

"Oh." Sephiroth looked away. "Go change clothes. I'll wait for you here."

"But there's a change of clothes for you too," ventured Aeris. "They're right here. You can change while I'm getting dressed."

Sephiroth turned to her annoyed. "Why would I want to change clothes?"

"For one thing," said Aeris, "You won't look so menacing."

He just looked at her.

"C'mon Sephiroth," she said exasperated, "You're going to have a hard enough time convincing everyone you came back to help me save the planet. If you keep wearing your uniform, it will look like you're coming to fight. Please change clothes."

"I don't care what anyone thinks," he said to Aeris in a cold voice. "I'm not going to change clothes."

Aeris wanted to reason with him, but his gaze was enough to stop her. "Very well," she said softly. "I'll be right back."

She hurried up the stairs. Sephiroth watched her until she turned out of sight. He heard her move to a far corner of the upper room to change. He sat down to wait.

When Aeris returned, she was wearing black leggings and a long pullover sweater top with long sleeves and a turtleneck that was basically dark blue but had flecks of rust, and different shades lighter blues in it. Her hair was tied back in a blue ribbon. She wore simple black shoes instead of the heavy boots she always wore. Her outfit showed off her figure. She looked very attractive.

"Is something wrong?" Aeris looked down at herself.

Sephiroth hadn't realized he was staring.

"No." He picked up his sleeping bag and stood. "It's just that every time I've ever seen you, you were wearing that pink and red outfit."

"I know this is a little too fancy for travel," said Aeris, "These were provided by the Cetra. They used their powers to reach back into this world to help me. We-I can buy new clothes somewhere as soon as we find a way to earn some money."

Sephiroth nodded. He turned his attention to preparing the chocobo for travel. Aeris took the clothes for Sephiroth and hid them in the rolls of her sleeping bag while he wasn't watching.

When the Chocobo was properly harnessed, Sephiroth arranged their sleeping bags on its back leaving room for both of them to sit. Aeris lead the way up the stairs. Sephiroth came behind her leading the chocobo. When they reached the upper room and entered a dusty kitchen, Sephiroth was the first to see the pile old coins on the kitchen table.

"Maybe we won't have to look for food in the forest," he said, nodding at the coins.

Following his nod, Aeris saw the coins.

"Oh!" she said. "That's strange. I didn't notice those before. I guess now we can find a town and buy our supplies."

Sephiroth waited while she collected the coins. Aeris wrapped them in a cloth to keep them from bouncing around and put them in her pocket. She followed Sephiroth and the chocobo outside.

"Are we going to ride aimlessly, or do you have some place special in mind?" he asked Aeris.

"My father told me he had a house in Icicle Village," replied Aeris. "We can set up residence there and figure out what to do."

Sephiroth looked amused. "Do you mean you and me in the same house?"

Aeris folded her arms. "Do you have any better ideas? I don't remember you having anywhere else to live except maybe at Shinra headquarters."

She had him there.

"We have to live somewhere until we find out what the danger to the planet is," said Aeris. "There's more than enough room in my fathers old house."

Sephiroth suddenly looked crafty. "Does your father's house have separate bedrooms, or will we have to share one?"

Aeris stood very still and stared at him. Her face turned red.

"I don't mind sharing a bedroom with you, if you don't" Sephiroth said, looking her up and down. "Is that what you had in mind?"

Aeris found her tongue at last. "NO! And you know that's not what I meant. My father told me the house has two bedrooms. One for me and one for you. If you think for one minute, you're going come sneaking into my bedroom at night, I've got news for you!"

"Just checking." He mounted the chocobo. He turned to hold his hand out to Aeris. She took it and he and pulled her up behind him. Aeris was reluctant to hold on to him.

"You have nothing to worry about," he said turning slightly to look back at her. "I have no intention of violating your honor."

"Thank you," she said. She still didn't touch him.

He looked impatient. "Are you going to hold on or not?"

Aeris blushed and put her hands around his waist. Sephiroth nudged the chocobo forward and they rode slowly through the City of the Ancients. Aeris took a final look back at the former home of her people as they exited the city. She didn't know if she would ever see it again.

The chocobo settled into an easy trot as they passed through the Sleeping Forest. Aeris marveled at the way Sephiroth handled the animal. He's ridden them many times before, she thought. As a Cetra, she could pass through the Sleeping Forest with no conditions. As her escort Sephiroth had the same privilege. She hoped they wouldn't run into any monsters lurking among the trees.

"We should stop at Bone Village to get those supplies," Sephiroth called back to Aeris.

"Okay," she answered.

The ride was uneventful until they reached the Zango Valley. The chocobo was trotting along when it suddenly let out a loud wark and reared back. Caught off guard Aeris lost her grip on Sephiroth and tumbled off its back. She hit the ground, rolling over twice. The chocobo began to hop and buck trying to throw Sephiroth. He held on expertly, fighting to regain control. The Hungry that had startled the chocobo licked its lips and ran toward Aeris.

Aeris sat up brushing dirt and grass off her face. She didn't see the Hungry until it was right in front of her. She screamed as it opened its mouth and blew a yellow mist in her direction. Her scream turned into a squeak as her body shrank to the size of a chicken. The creature rushed at her opening its mouth.

Aeris barely managed to avoid the snapping jaws as she flung herself to one side. She rolled over and climbed to her feet. She ran for her life. The Hungry pivoted and went after her. Aeris felt it nip her sweater. She screamed again and ran harder.

Sephiroth's head snapped around the moment he heard Aeris' first scream. He leaped off the chocobo, reins in hand. Sephiroth dragged the chocobo to a nearby tree and wrapped the reins around one of the lower limbs. Drawing his sword, he raced to Aeris' assistance.

The Hungry was bearing down Aeris. She stumbled and the Hungry overshot her, falling head over heels as it failed an attempt to turn and snap at her. It squealed in anger. Aries was already up when it charged after her again. She spotted a large fallen branch and ran for it with all her might. The Hungry was right on her heels as she passed under it. The Hungry was running too fast to stop. It slammed its head into the branch and staggered back. Aeries saw Sephiroth and ran toward him. The Hungry growled and went after her. It stopped short when Aeris ran between Sephiroth's feet and tumbled to the ground in exhaustion behind him.

The Hungry snarled at Sephiroth and opened its mouth to blow the yellow mist at him. It never got the chance. With superhuman speed, Sephiroth crossed the distance separating him from the Hungry and slashed it in half with his masamune. Sephiroth turned back to Aeris. She lay with her hand over her heart panting for breath. She didn't see a second Hungry creeping up behind her. Sephiroth voiced a lightening spell and the creatures charred body dropped to the ground.

"Maybe I should let you stay like that," he said to Aeris caustically. "Since you can't hold on very well, it might be easier to carry you in a sack."

Aeris stood up and frowned at him. "You'd better not!"

"What are you going to do? Sic the Cetra on me?" he asked.

Aeris gave him an angry look.

Sephiroth cast a White Wind spell. Aeris felt her body quiver as it returned to its former size.

"You never used Enemy Skills when you fought us," said Aeris forgetting she was mad at him. "I didn't think you had them."

"I didn't see any reason to waste a good spell on a bunch of would-be heros," said Sephiroth. "Next time, hold on tighter. The chocobo could have outrun that creature."

He turned his back on Aeris and went to calm the frightened animal. Aeris looked after him angrily, then forced herself to calm down. When the chocobo was ready to travel again, Sephiroth climbed on its back and rode it over to Aeris.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded and he held out his hand to help her up. She wrapped her arms around him again and vowed she would never fall off another chocobo anywhere near Sephiroth.

They made it through the Zango Valley without any more problems. They reached Bone Village in record time. They bought a few supplies. Aeris bought warmer clothes and boots. While Sephiroth wasn't paying attention, she purchased warmer clothes and a new pair of boots for him too. She hid them in a supply pack she bought. She noticed a lot of people staring at Sephiroth, but no one asked any questions or made any remarks. If anything, they were extra polite to him but she saw the fright in their eyes. It would only be a matter of time before Cloud and AVALANCHE found out Sephiroth was still alive. She wasn't looking forward to that confrontation but she knew it was coming.

Shopping complete, they loaded up the chocobo and started out for Icicle Village. Sephiroth decided to cross the mountains to save time. They passed several Jumpings on the way and a pack of Bandersnatches, but the gold chocobo left them behind in with an extra burst of speed. Aeris said a silent prayer of thanks to the Cetra who had provided them with the chocobo. They reached Icicle Village just as the sun was about to drop below the horizon.

"Which house is it?" asked Sephiroth.

Aeris' eyes searched back and forth. "Let me think. He described it to me. I think I can find it."

Sephiroth let the chocobo walk up and down each street while Aeris looked at every house. It was getting dark fast. Just as he was about to lose patience with her, she pointed at a dark house sitting by itself at the end of one street.

"There it is!" she said happily. "That's my father's house!"

Sephiroth rode the chocobo into the yard and they dismounted.

"How do we get in, short of breaking the door open?" he asked Aeris.

"There's a key here somewhere," she said standing on her toes and running her fingers around the door frame."

Sephiroth waited.

"Here it is!" Eagerly she put the key into the lock and turned the doorknob.

"After all this time?" Sephiroth shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"Would you break into a house you thought belonged to Shinra?" asked Aeris as she turned the knob. The door opened and musty air wafted out of the house. "I'm afraid it has been empty for many years. There's a chocobo shed in the back. You can put Goldie in there."

"Goldie?" Sephiroth frowned at her.

"That's what I named the chocobo," said Aeris. "Goldie."

Sephiroth stared at her.

"Why not? It fits, don't you think?" Aeris smiled at him.

He shook his head in disgust and led the chocobo around the side of the house. Aeries tried the lights. To her surprise they still worked. That was odd after so many years but she wasn't going to complain about their good fortune. Maybe Shinra never got around to turning the power off. She left the front door open and then opened the back door for Sephiroth. The night air was cold, but it was blowing the stale air out of the house and letting fresh air in. She decided to wait until Sephiroth came in before she turned on the heater. She looked over the lower floor.

One room looked like a lab. There were computers and machinery lining the walls. Professor Gast had told her about tapes she could listen to. She would be able to see her mother for the first time. She ran her fingers over the consoles. She would listen to these tapes and watch the videos but not tonight. Tonight she just wanted to experience the happiness of being in the home she almost had.

Sephiroth came in stomping snow off his boots. He shut the back door. "If you like the cold so much, why didn't you just go outside and stand in the snow?"

Aeris shut the front door. "I just wanted to air out the house a little," she said. She'd found the heat controls while she was looking over the consoles. She set the temperature and turned the switch on. She turned to see Sephiroth examining the room.

"This is where Hojo killed my father," she said.

Sephiroth didn't comment.

"We're alike in many ways," she told him.

"How is that?" he asked her.

"For one thing, you didn't know about your past, and I didn't know about mine." Aeris walked around the room touching the control panels idly. "Now you know your past and I have to learn mine. The story of my past is stored on video in this room."

"Are you going to watch them?" Sephiroth looked interested.

"Not tonight," she said. "But I will soon. I'll know who I am too."

"At least your father didn't experiment on you," he said with bitterness in his voice. "He loved you."

Aeris went to him. "Sephiroth, your father was a very sick man. Don't let him go on making you miserable."

"Maybe we should straighten out our sleeping arrangements now," he said in a cool voice.

Aeris sighed. Sephiroth ran hot and cold. 'He'll be hard to understand sometimes . . .' Lucrecia had said. He sure was. Aeris never knew what to expect from one moment to the next. Turning on the lights as they went, Aeris led the way upstairs. As her father promised, there were two bedrooms. Sephiroth chose the smaller one on the left. He left the master bedroom on the right to Aeris.

The bathroom was across the hall from Sephiroth's room. Aeris let him have it first. She went to the kitchen to prepare some of the food that she'd brought. She heard the shower start as she put a pot on to boil. She cleaned up as much of the kitchen as she could while watching over the food. She wanted to make a quick meal before Sephiroth's shower was over. She set the table carefully.

In the meantime, Sephiroth realized he had nothing to wear to bed. Ordinarily, that wouldn't have been a problem. He would have slept in the nude, but he didn't think Aeris would appreciate that if danger threatened in the middle of the night and he came running out of his room with nothing on. His uniform was in need of cleaning. He couldn't put a soiled uniform on right after his shower.

He went to the closet. It was full of Professors Gast's old clothes. Unfortunately, except for pair of sweat pants, that must have been very loose on the Professor, none of the clothes would fit him. The sweat pants had an elastic waist and he could just about get away with length of the legs. At least they were black. He laid them on the bed and went into the bathroom.

He enjoyed a long hot shower and washed his hair. When he finished, he looked in the bathroom linen closet. The closed doors had kept the towels free of dust. He chose an extra large towel and wrapped it around his waist. He crossed the hall and went into his bedroom and shut the door. The smell of food was drifting up the stairs into his room and his stomach rumbled. He hadn't realized until now how hungry he was.

He put on the sweat pants. He decided to ask Aeris if she would take his uniform to a shop in town to be cleaned. He towel dried his hair and used one of the Professors combs to smooth out the tangles. When he was satisfied with the results, he headed downstairs to the kitchen.

A glass of water in her hands, Aeris heard him coming. She took a sip just Sephiroth walked into the kitchen, hair flowing over his shoulders, his muscular chest bare. She took one look at him and started to strangle on the water.

Sephiroth paused and looked at her in concern. "Are you all right?"

Was she all right? Aeris couldn't stop choking long enough to tell him. Didn't Sephiroth realize how he looked? His body was absolutely beautiful. She waved him off and tried to get control of herself. After a while she managed to stop most of her coughing.

"I just (cough, cough) swallowed (cough, cough, cough) the wrong way," she managed to say. "I'm (cough, cough, cough) all right! (cough, cough, cough)."

Sephiroth didn't look as though he believed her but he didn't question her further. He looked at the food on the table.

Aeris got her coughing down to a cough once in a while and waved at him to sit down. She served his dinner then sat in a chair across from him. Except for an occasional cough from Aeris, they ate in silence. Aeris tried to concentrate on her food instead of Sephiroth's bare chest. That was the hardest thing she ever had to do. Every morsel seemed to stick in her throat. Sephiroth ate his meal unaware of her distress.

He finished eating, pushed his plate away and stood up. "I am going to retire early," he announced. "I need to have my uniform cleaned or I won't have anything to wear."

Aeris dropped her fork on the floor. Quickly, she picked it up, and grabbed her glass for a sip of water.

"Could you find a shop in town and have it cleaned for me?" Sephiroth waited.

His words registered about thirty seconds later. She looked up to see him frowning at her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked.

"I have nothing to wear." He said as if talking to a child. "Could you take my uniform to town tomorrow and have it cleaned?"

"Y-yes, yes!" She stammered. "I'll do that for you first thing tomorrow!"

He nodded at her. "I'll see you in the morning."

He turned and went out of the kitchen. Aeris' eyes followed him all the way. Her heart was pounding. She sat paralyzed in her chair until she heard his bedroom door close. If only there was one bedroom. Shocked, she slapped herself. Her face stung.

What in the world is wrong with you? she thought. Why are you acting like this? She put down her fork and held up her hands. They were shaking. Even Zack hadn't got that kind of response out of her. Not even Cloud. Cloud, she thought. She remembered the last time she had seen him.

Cloud and his beautiful blue Mako eyes. That spiky blonde hair. She tried to picture Cloud's face, but even as his face appeared in her mind, the spiky hair flopped down the sides of his head and grew longer. As his hair grew, it lightened and turned silver. His blue eyes turned green. Aeris shook her head to clear her mind. She held her head in her hands trying to concentrate on why she was here. She heard Sephiroth moving upstairs in his room. She lost her appetite. Quickly she cleared the dinner dishes and washed them. She had to make herself concentrate on every dish or utensil she touched. When the dishes were clean and the kitchen was tidy, Aeris leaned against the sink and sighed.

See? she thought. I can control of my emotions. We have a job to do here, and we're going to do it. She heard another noise upstairs. She didn't have to guess what it was. Sephiroth was getting into bed. She heard the floorboards creak as he settled in. Right about now, his silver hair was spread across his pillow . . .

With a muffled shriek, Aeris hurried up the stairs. She forced herself to walk normally past Sephiroth's door. Retrieving her new nightgown and robe from her room, she went into the bathroom and took a very long shower. When she came out, she was going to walk past Sephiroth's door quietly, but it opened the moment she stepped into the hall. Sephiroth stood there in his black sweat pants. Aeris thought she'd faint on the spot. She managed to look unconcerned.

"By the way Aeris," said Sephiroth. "Thank you for dinner. It was very good."

"You're welcome Sephiroth," she smiled at him, not too eagerly, she hoped. He nodded, stepped back and closed his door. It took every ounce of her willpower not to throw herself through the door before it closed completely. What's wrong with you? she thought. Taking a deep breath, Aeris went to her room and shut the door. She looked at the bed. It was big enough for two. Where did that come from? What was wrong with her? She'd never had these thoughts before. She felt her face flaming.

Get into bed and go to sleep, she thought. Get into bed and go to sleep. Get into bed and go to sleep. She repeated this mantra to herself as she took off her robe. She took off the dusty spread and laid it on the floor. She pulled back the covers and crawled into bed still chanting. She kept chanting until she willed herself to sleep.