Having passed the noisy Wall Market, Alex together with the rest of the group continued calmly walking toward the Fifth Sector, intending to reach Aerith's cozy home as soon as possible. To the enormous good fortune of the tired travelers, throughout the entire path they encountered absolutely no problems—they were disturbed neither by dangerous monsters nor by local bandits who usually liked to hang around the nearby dump.
Walking along the already well-familiar, well-trodden path, Alex slightly nudged Dean with his shoulder, with a chuckle reminding him that their entire current crazy story had begun precisely from that very moment when they first walked along this road and got tangled in an endless chain of problems that still had not ended in any way.
In response to such nostalgic words Dean could not restrain himself from an ironic joke, noting that in their lives everything always happened exactly according to such a scenario: first they took on some most banal business, and in the end the entire situation turned into yet another saving of the world and prevention of even more large-scale catastrophes.
Looking at Dean with a cheerful gaze, Alex with a smirk reminded him that it was precisely Dean together with Sam who in the overwhelming majority of cases became the main cause of all these unbearable troubles. Turning his head toward Alex, Dean bestowed upon him an absolutely empty, emotionless gaze, after which he good-naturedly delivered a tangible punch to his shoulder. Sitting on Alex's shoulders, Yuffie with unconcealed excitement and wide-open eyes listened intently to this conversation, burning with an enormous desire to learn as many juicy details as possible from the guys' past.
Continuing to casually chat and paying absolutely no attention to the excessively curious shinobi perched on his neck, Alex shifted his gaze to Aerith, who was walking a little ahead side by side with Tifa and Jessie. Talking with her friend, Tifa could not throw out of her head the alarming words spoken by Tseng right before the catastrophic fall of the Plate.
She sincerely did not understand why the commander of the Turks had mentioned the mysterious Ancients and their incredible power, and for what reason Shinra studied such ancient legends with such fanaticism. She herself in childhood had often read books that described the Ancients and the places of their habitation. Even in the kind children's fairy tales that she usually read to little Marlene before bed, mentions of this great people who lived in a fairy-tale and beautiful place called the Promised Land somehow or other surfaced.
"Listen, Aerith…" Tifa began speaking cautiously, slightly rubbing her nervously clenched palms and turning her head toward her friend.
"Yes, Tifa, what is it?" Aerith asked with a light, friendly smile, slightly tilting her head to the side.
"Why did that man from Shinra… well, the one who came for you before the fall of the Plate… why did he so insistently mention the Ancients and their secret power?" Tifa squeezed out with some difficulty, clearly not knowing how to properly choose words for such a personal and complex question.
As soon as such a question rang out from Tifa's lips, the sweet smile on Aerith's face for a short moment barely noticeably trembled. With all her heart she wanted to sincerely tell her loyal friends about herself so that they would finally learn the whole truth. But at the same time Aerith clearly realized: the moment she merely dropped these words, they would step onto a one-way road, and this would launch an inevitable chain of events that in the end would lead them all to the place strictly predestined by fate. Slightly rubbing her palms from nervousness, Aerith looked at Tifa, frantically thinking whether she should even begin speaking about this right now.
Noticing such a strange reaction from Aerith, Tifa became frightened that she had asked an excessively inappropriate and personal question, and was already thinking of saying that answering was not necessary at all if it was inconvenient for her. However, at that same moment the remaining members of the squad also heard Tifa's question and interestedly turned toward them, not quite understanding why the conversation had suddenly turned to such deep things.
Some of them immediately began recalling individual mentions of the Ancients that they had once accidentally come across. Especially well this information was known to Barret, who sincerely interested himself in absolutely everything that was somehow connected with the Planet that he had sworn to protect from complete destruction. Claudia likewise showed lively interest in such a topic and intently looked at Aerith, patiently waiting until she decided to answer.
"The Ancients?.. And who even are they?" Wedge asked again with complete bewilderment, sincerely not understanding about whom the talk was.
"They were often mentioned in some books on planetology… Judging by the ancient records, they were the very first full-fledged inhabitants of our Planet. They could directly interact with it—talk, listen to its call, and everything like that," Barret answered with deep respect, turning his head toward Wedge.
"No way?! Did such amazing people really once exist?.. And what happened to them in the end?" Wedge exhaled with sincere surprise, widening his eyes from shock.
"They all in their time returned back into the Lifestream, where it is predestined for them to be… All without exception disappeared, with the exception of only a few," Aerith began speaking with an incredibly tender, sad smile, putting her hands behind her back and carefully interweaving her fingers with each other.
"So… you are actually…" Tifa began speaking, holding her breath, instantly realizing what Aerith was leading to.
"Yes, Tifa… And believe me, far from only I," Aerith answered, softly shaking her head, and mysteriously shifted her gaze toward Alex and Dean.
"Now it is finally clear to me why those dogs from Shinra tried to grab you with such ferocity…" Claudia said in a calm tone, understandingly nodding her head, when the entire picture of what had happened finally fell into place.
Having received direct confirmation from Aerith, everyone in the group finally realized with extreme clarity why she was so incredibly needed by the Shinra corporation. However, noticing her mysterious gaze directed right at Alex and Dean, the group did not immediately understand why exactly she was looking at these two.
At first this caused only slight bewilderment, but then in the heads of those present the words of Aerith spoken literally a moment ago flashed with a bright flare—about the fact that far from absolutely all the Ancients had once merged with the Lifestream. And when the true, deep meaning of these mysterious words finally reached them, absolutely everything finally fell into place.
The strange magic of Aerith that was capable of suppressing with one wave the terrible ghostly creatures that had suddenly appeared in the Seventh Sector in the middle of the night… The way Dean had managed in an incredible manner to tame the most dangerous Tonberry capable of instantly killing anyone whom it only chose as its victim… The way Alex with ease used ancient, unseen Materia that even the best minds of Shinra could not subdue…
And even his crazy transformation into a blazing fiery Giant for a deadly battle with the ancient Dragon, and the turning into a black cat! And especially the way he managed in one moment to grow luxuriantly flowering trees where for long years nothing had grown at all… All these questions hanging in the air finally received their single and exhaustive answer.
Experiencing colossal shock, Barret and Tifa with unconcealed shock looked at Alex and Dean in search of final, personal confirmation. However, the guys merely carelessly and synchronously shrugged their shoulders, not intending at all to deny the obvious. Outwardly preserving extremely imperturbable and stone faces, Alex and Dean at that moment mentally together were bursting with unrestrained laughter, observing the stretched, stunned faces of their friends.
Maintaining a calm expression, Alex proposed to discuss such a delicate topic in more detail already in a far more convenient and safe place, and not right in the middle of the open road on the way to the Fifth Sector. None of those present had absolutely any objections on this account—for it was already very clear that discussing such secrets where Shinra spies could easily overhear them would only cause even more dangerous problems.
"Well… at least now it is finally clear to us why you are always so…" Jessie said with a sigh, straining with all her might to digest and fit the received information into her head.
"So what exactly? So incredibly handsome? Or so indescribably cute?" Alex asked with a dazzling smile, deftly using the little palms of Yuffie perched on his shoulders to coquettishly prop up his cheeks.
"Yeahhh… And just like that in one second you spoiled the entire mystery and pathos of the moment, buddy," Biggs responded with sincere laughter, turning his head back and looking Alex up and down with a teasing gaze.
"And what did you even expect from me? Am I, in your opinion, supposed to instantly start behaving extremely mysteriously, put on a bright green cloak, and start seriously spouting all sorts of nonsense about how I every day communicate with the grass, little flowers, and trees? I'm still not so bored with life as to engage in such nonsense," Alex answered, slightly rolling his eyes, and lazily spread his arms to the sides while Yuffie with a lively smile playfully squeezed his face with her palms.
"And if you're simply dying to hear such gibberish—go and join some local sect. There they'll with the greatest pleasure hang kilograms of noodles on your ears about the imminent end of the world and other crap," Dean added with a venomous smirk, carelessly throwing aside an empty glass bottle from under whiskey.
"So… you really are capable of doing something like that?" Tifa asked quietly, showing sincere interest in the words thrown by Alex.
"Oh, Tifa, this is actually very difficult to explain properly… Simply listening to the Planet and speaking with it is not at all the same as how we communicate with you in words. There everything is arranged completely differently…" Aerith answered, slightly tapping a neat little finger on her chin, and slightly tilted her head to the side, trying to choose the most correct words.
Looking at Aerith, Tifa merely slowly and thoughtfully nodded her head, completely getting tangled from such complex explanations. It was already incredibly hard for her to fit into her head everything that she had learned literally just now, not to mention immersing herself in even deeper secrets of the Planet.
Barret, for his part, was quite satisfied with what he had managed to hear—and this did not embarrass or frighten him in the least. On the contrary, the stern leader of "AVALANCHE" once more became convinced that he had once made an absolutely correct choice, deciding to fight Shinra until his last breath so that these greedy bastards would finally stop destroying their common home.
Tenderly running a broad palm over the silky hair of his daughter Marlene, who was comfortably perched on the slowly rolling motorcycle, Barret with unconcealed tenderness noticed how his little angel was already nodding her head like a sleepy fly, practically falling asleep on the go. A warm, infinitely kind smile immediately blossomed on his stern face.
Continuing to smile softly, Barret carefully lifted Marlene into his arms so that the little one could calmly fall asleep, and he himself would no longer have to worry that she might accidentally slip off the motorcycle seat. And the moment the little one found herself on her father's strong chest, her little eyes finally closed, and literally a moment later Marlene was already sweetly sleeping, comfortably burying her little nose into his broad shoulder.
The peaceful sight of the sleeping Marlene immediately responded in all those present with an incredibly powerful attack of surging fatigue, literally forcing them with the last of their strength to hurry to the Fifth Sector. Having spent another good half hour on the unhurried road, they finally came out to the familiar and so cherished hole in the gigantic concrete wall separating the sectors. Understanding that they had practically reached the goal, Alex sighed with deep relief, with pleasure imagining how very soon he would be able to drink a cup of hot coffee and be a little lazy.
By this moment Yuffie, having completely lost any shame, had moved from his shoulders right onto the seat of Fenrir and lazily stretched out there, carefreely throwing her legs onto the instrument panel. The remaining members of the squad likewise were practically collapsing from wild exhaustion, and the completely worn-out Aerith had altogether comfortably grabbed herself a place on Alex's back, openly refusing to walk further on foot.
"Well, here we are! There's only a little bit left to go," Aerith said with a satisfied, sleepy smile, sitting on Alex's back and pointing the direction with her thin little finger.
"Oh, finally… Another couple of minutes of such walking and someone would definitely have had to carry me in their arms! My poor stomach is already literally going crazy from inhuman hunger," Wedge uttered in an incredibly tired tone, pitifully rubbing his loudly growling belly.
"Ooooh, if you're simply burning with the desire for someone to give you a ride in their arms, then over there we have one ideal candidate!" Biggs needled with a venomous smirk, shifting an expressive gaze to Alex, who was hung with girls.
"Don't even think about such a thing, Wedge! There's definitely no more room for you here!" Jessie cut off, cunningly narrowing her eyes, and, leaning more tightly on Alex's shoulder, practically completely hung on his other arm.
"And forgive me, dear Wedge, but I carry guys exclusively like a heavy sack of potatoes… And believe me, this procedure is usually accompanied by rather unpleasant physical consequences," Alex supported the joke in a cheerful tone, bestowing upon Wedge a mischievous gaze.
"Uhhh… Perhaps I'll still somehow walk myself!" Wedge muttered, dryly coughing, and instantly picked up the pace, breaking a little ahead of the group.
"Oh, Wedge is always in his repertoire!" Tifa softly laughed, walking close to Alex and with sincere amusement observing the sharply perked-up Wedge.
Having laughed a little at Wedge who had picked up the pace, Alex turned to Dean, on whose face the passionate desire to lie down as soon as possible and knock back a bottle of good beer was literally written in plain text. Meeting gazes, Dean with a sly smirk nodded his head, wordlessly confirming that he was indeed dreaming of knocking back a bottle of cold frothy and simply finally resting—and even despite the fact that he did not feel any particular physical fatigue at all.
Nodding understandingly in response, Alex made it clear that he himself right now would under no circumstances refuse ice-cold beer or at least a mug of strong hot coffee. And, to their greatest good fortune, all of this without problems was available to him in his personal inventory stocks.
Continuing to smile warmly, Alex calmly walked through the hole in the wall while the tired Aerith and Jessie hung on him like family, clearly not expressing the slightest desire to move under their own power. Having walked along the quiet alley and come out onto the main street of Sector 5, they were forced to stop behind an impressive crowd of local residents who with breath frozen from horror were watching the fresh news on a huge street television. On the screen the terrible frames of the recent collapse of the Plate in the Seventh Sector were fully being broadcast, accompanied by the confident comments of the announcer about who exactly was guilty of this catastrophe.
The moment these brazen accusations rang out from the speakers, Barret almost broke into a deafening, furious shout, wishing to curse Shinra for all he was worth. And the only thing that held him back from an instantaneous flare of rage was little Marlene sweetly sleeping in his arms. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge likewise heavily frowned, hearing how they were once again cynically accused of absolutely all mortal sins.
Having looked for a couple of moments at the screen, Alex did not see there at all anything of what he had really committed. In the news not a single word about his actions had slipped through—there were only continuous veiled and fabricated accusations. But what sincerely amused him was that Shinra's propaganda without a twinge of conscience had presented him as the official leader of the entire "AVALANCHE" organization.
"Whoa, well congratulations! Now you're a full-fledged leader of dangerous terrorists… Well, at least they didn't present you as the local Demon King," Dean said with a mocking smirk, fraternally patting Alex on the shoulder.
"Ha-ha-ha! Damn funny joke, idiot," Alex laughed sarcastically and without hesitation tangibly nudged Dean with an elbow right in the side.
"You bastard…" Dean grumbled still with the same satisfied smirk, beginning first to unhurriedly walk farther away from the crowd of onlookers.
Looking with an absolutely empty gaze at the back of the unhurriedly departing Dean, Alex turned to the others and softly reminded them that it was time for them to go further, and not stand and once again listen to how Shinra cynically blamed them for practically all the troubles occurring in Midgar. Barret cast yet another heavy glance at the gigantic screen and with sincere disgust on his face loudly snorted.
The remaining members of the group likewise trudged after Dean, who was confidently walking forward, perfectly remembering the road to Aerith's house. Already intending to follow after the group, Alex suddenly noticed that Claudia was still remaining standing in place, frozen like a statue and thoughtfully peering in the direction where among the buildings the old abandoned church was located.
At that very moment in Claudia's head a strange, frightening confusion was occurring—as if there, near those ruins, something incredibly important was supposed to happen that was capable of turning and changing absolutely everything. And the more she tried to think about this, the more strongly a dark ripple grew and floated before her eyes. Tightly grabbing her forehead, Claudia again clearly heard that very familiar, ghostly voice from her recent dream that quietly whispered to her that this time she did not even have to fall…
Feeling how the pressing headache with every second became more and more wild and unbearable, Claudia clenched her fist until it cracked, with the last of her strength trying by force of will to overcome the surging attack. But before the pain finally paralyzed her mind, Claudia was again saved by a familiar sensation: a warm, strong palm softly lay on her shoulder. And at the same moment the pressing, scorching pain evaporated without a trace. Taking a convulsive, deep breath, Claudia slowly raised her head and met the gazes of Alex and Aerith, who were looking at her with sincere, worried eyes.
"Are you okay?.. Did your head start hurting strongly again?" Aerith asked in an anxious tone, carefully climbing down from Alex's back onto the ground.
"Everything is fine… Just a little fatigue hit. Everything has already passed," Claudia answered in a quiet voice, slowly shaking her head.
"Oh, Chica… Your constant 'I'm fine' is already, honestly speaking, starting to get rather tiresome. We are actually friends, and there is absolutely nothing bad in simply asking for help when you feel bad. If your head hurts—then say so directly, and don't start again that habitual 'everything has already passed' of yours," Alex said with a light sigh, looking at Claudia with a sympathetic, tired gaze.
"Right-right! We are the most real friends with you!" Aerith picked up with a dazzlingly bright smile, quickly and lively nodding her head.
"And since when did we suddenly become friends?" Claudia asked with habitual cold detachment, calmly folding her arms on her chest.
"And does there even exist some concrete moment when people officially become friends? It simply happens in one second—and that's it… Or maybe you secretly wanted us to be something more than just friends? Oh, and I didn't even suspect your innermost desires! My trembling little heart is still clearly not ready for such a passionate confession!" Alex began speaking in an incredibly cheerful tone, playfully propping his cheeks with his palms and bestowing upon Claudia the most coquettish gaze he was capable of.
"I'll punch you right here right now…" Claudia uttered in an extremely dry tone, clenching her fists and bestowing upon Alex a thoroughly irritated gaze.
"I agree! But only tenderly… and exclusively with the lips," Alex responded with laughter, joyfully and teasingly shaking his head from side to side.
Staring at Alex with an absolutely empty and expressive gaze, Claudia clenched her fist even more strongly, in her mind frantically thinking whether she should right now heartily punch his insolent, smiling physiognomy. Taking a deep calming breath, Claudia merely resignedly shook her head and instead of a full-fledged blow merely lightly punched him with a fist in the chest, throwing on parting that he was still a hopeless idiot.
Passing by Alex and Aerith, Claudia with rapid steps went after the remaining part of the group, having not the slightest desire to listen to his next stupid phrase. However, to herself she could not help admitting: this guy had already for the umpteenth time helped her instantly cope with a wild attack of headache in some completely unknown and incredible way. But this did not at all mean that she was going to openly play along with his unbearable, childish behavior.
Observing the departing back of Claudia, Alex thoughtfully turned his head toward the abandoned church and slightly tilted his head to the side. He, of course, knew perfectly well what exactly was supposed to happen there according to the canon. But he was far more interested in why Claudia had just been peering in that direction with such an unconcealed, stunned gaze. Slightly narrowing his eyes, Alex thoughtfully twirled a finger in the air, gradually beginning to guess the true reason for what was happening.
And the main reason turned out to be his own large-scale actions in changing the predestined fate! He clearly realized: thanks to his bold intervention, what was ironclad supposed to happen near that very church never happened. And this global intervention so powerfully influenced the entire habitual timeline that it led to a small, resonating contact of parallel time streams.
Barely managing to finally figure out this complicated spatial riddle, Alex felt someone incredibly insistently poking him with a neat little finger right in the cheek. Turning his head, he met the gaze of Aerith, who was looking at him with obvious, childish offense for those frivolous words that he had just spoken to Claudia. Slightly laughing from this cute gaze, Alex playfully squeezed the tip of her nose and carefully led Aerith in order to catch up with the others. Softly and with ringing laughter responding to this gesture, Aerith tightly took Alex by the hand and walked side by side with him.
"You… will definitely protect me from Mom, right?" Aerith asked quietly, sweetly narrowing her eyes and coquettishly pressing against Alex's shoulder.
"So you right now openly want me to take the entire scolding and Mom's anger upon myself while you will cowardly hide behind my broad back?" Alex asked with a smile, turning his head toward Aerith and right away guessing her entire cunning plan.
"Well… almost! Maybe just the tiniest little bit… What if she, looking at you, won't even properly scold!" Aerith said in an incredibly cute tone, slightly rubbing her little cheek against his shoulder.
"I still think that she will first of all be insanely worried about you. So prepare to first listen to literally a couple of strict parting words, and then receive the tightest and warmest hugs," Alex said with a kind smile, playfully poking a finger into Aerith's neat little nose.
Softly smiling, Aerith squeezed his hand even more tightly and with joyful enthusiasm dragged Alex after herself in order to catch up with the remaining group as soon as possible. Quickly walking along the dark alleys of the slums, Alex and Aerith soon came out to the local children's orphanage. Trying practically not to make noise so as not to accidentally wake anyone, they carefully made their way onto the narrow path going around the building.
Having walked a little farther forward, they saw the waiting group, the members of which were patiently standing at the metal crossbar leading right onto the vacant lot. Waving a hand to them and quietly apologizing for the small delay, Alex proposed without delay to go further—for they only had to overcome this short tunnel overgrown with dense foliage, and they would finally come out to Aerith's house.
The closer they approached the cherished goal, the more distinctly and brighter became the enchanting smell of fresh flowers that a light night breeze gently brought. Feeling sincere, pure joy from the long-awaited return home, Aerith noticeably accelerated and joyfully broke ahead. Leaving the motorcycle at the foot of the wooden steps, Alex habitually picked up the bags and began climbing after Aerith.
Having climbed the steps onto the small paving, Alex quietly and satisfiedly sighed, once again being amazed at how stunningly beautiful it was at Aerith's house. Only one week had passed since his last visit here, yet this place had not lost its fairy-tale charm in the least. Around stretched lush, well-tended flower beds with buds of all the colors of the rainbow, above which hundreds of fireflies softly fluttered; the space was filled with the warm light of night lanterns, and right in the center of the garden a clean murmuring stream unhurriedly flowed.
"Aerith… do you really live right here?!" Tifa asked with hidden amazement, looking with an open mouth at Aerith, who was unhurriedly descending the steps downward.
"Yeah! Well, how do you like my favorite home? It's incredibly beautiful here, right?" Aerith responded in a cheerful tone, deftly spinning on her heels and putting her hands behind her back.
"This is not just beautiful… It's as if we in one fell swoop found ourselves in some magical fairy tale! Believe me, even throughout my entire acting career I have never once seen such an abundance of living flowers!" Jessie exhaled with no less astonishment, quickly running down the steps and with admiration admiring the flowering garden.
"Well, you all calmly admire the beauties here for now, and I, perhaps, will slowly go and first receive my rightful couple of blows with a broom to the head…" Alex muttered, slightly yawning, carefully placed his hands on Aerith's shoulders, and began softly pushing her toward the front door of the house.
"Well, since that's the case… I'll take your heavy bags for myself, so that you absolutely cannot defend yourself from the blows… Oh, that is, so that you can at any moment run away lightly!" Dean began speaking with laughter, deftly taking the sports bags right from Alex's hands.
"Yeah, well well… What a great friend you are, of course," Alex answered, wearily rolling his eyes, continuing to imperturbably push Aerith toward the porch.
Dean merely smirked even more widely: as the most real and loyal friend, he was simply obliged with indescribable pleasure to observe how his comrade was now going to collide with yet another everyday problem. Silently showing Dean the middle finger, Alex continued carefully pushing Aerith toward the doors of the house. And while the two of them were approaching the porch, the remaining members of the squad continued sincerely admiring the lush flowers.
The only exception was Claudia, who with a calm, measured step went after Alex and Aerith. Yuffie by this moment had already found herself on the opposite side of one of the flower beds, with hyperactive interest poking a little finger into literally every bud that came her way. Slightly smiling at this picture, Barret softly stroked the sleeping Marlene, sincerely wishing that his little angel would also wake up and admire such a pleasant and fairy-tale place.
By this moment Alex and Aerith had already reached the entrance doors. Through the door glasses they clearly saw Elmyra, who was quietly sitting at the table with a book in her hands. Joyfully lighting up, Aerith tightly grabbed Alex by the hand and literally dragged him after herself into the house. The moment the doors noisily swung open, Elmyra immediately raised a strict gaze.
Noticing who exactly had crossed the threshold, she first shifted her gaze toward the street and saw an entire group of unfamiliar people with a mountain of bags, and then again looked at Alex and Aerith. Slowly closing the book and setting it aside on the edge of the table, she first of all intently examined her daughter from head to toe. And only when she finally made sure that Aerith was absolutely whole and had not suffered in any way, Elmyra finally allowed herself to exhale with relief. Aerith, for her part, with the brightest and happiest smile jumped up to her mother and immediately tightly embraced her, comfortably resting her chin on her shoulder.
"I see you still decided to deign to return home, Miss Terrorist? And here I sit and wonder when you will finally deign to appear…" Elmyra began speaking with a light, kind laugh, softly patting her daughter on the back.
"Wellll… It was just a joke! Well, or almost… Circumstances just turned out that way!" Aerith answered with a light nervous chuckle, slightly pulling away from her mother.
"I know all these excuses and little jokes of yours, my dear. I might even have believed you if I knew you a little less well," Elmyra said with a smile, shaking her head, and slightly, lovingly squeezed Aerith's rosy cheek.
"Eh, damn… And it almost worked to get away with it!" Aerith said with feigned regret and pretend-clicked her tongue.
"How good it is that you remained just the same… You must have had it very hard these days?" Elmyra asked in an incredibly soft, warming tone, warmly stroking her daughter's hands.
"Not at all… Actually not hard at all. We all just got a little tired… Actually very strongly tired," Aerith answered, shaking her head, and understandingly turned her head toward the street.
"I know, dear… I heard everything perfectly on the radio—about what happened in the Seventh Sector. To the enormous good fortune, you are all whole and unharmed… Thank you enormously for protecting her again," Elmyra answered, sadly shaking her head, shifting a grateful gaze to Alex standing at the door.
"Well, I did promise that I would protect her. And further I didn't even manage to come to my senses when she already tied me hand and foot," Alex answered, slightly laughing, relaxedly leaning his back against the cabinet.
"And that is absolutely correct, mister! Now you will never escape from me under any circumstances," Aerith answered with a playful narrowing of her eyes and with a mischievous smile threatened Alex with a finger.
Looking in turn at Alex and Aerith, Elmyra without any long explanations and extra words was instantly able to understand exactly what kind of relations had established between these two. Softly shaking her head, the woman sincerely rejoiced that her daughter in this dangerous world had after all found not only loyal friends on whom one could always rely, but also that one who was capable of protecting her from any trouble. Tenderly stroking Aerith's hair, Elmyra quietly reminded that her friends were still waiting on the street, and it was not at all worth making people stand in the cool night air at such a late time.
Hearing these words, Aerith understandingly nodded her head, already intending to approach the exit and call the guests. However, before she could take even a couple of steps toward the doors, Alex softly waved a hand to her, making it clear that he himself would go for the others, and it was better for her to spend more time alone with her missing mother.
Turning toward the entrance door, the first thing Alex saw was Yuffie's curious face pressed right against the glass, who was looking at them from the street with widely staring eyes. Slightly pursing his lips from the fact that the hyperactive kunoichi once again decided to eavesdrop on others' conversations in her far from most stealthy manner, Alex pulled the door toward himself and with an inviting gesture called her inside.
Having received the long-awaited invitation, Yuffie immediately slipped into the house like a nimble shadow and began enthusiastically looking around. Leaving her to overwhelm Elmyra and Aerith with the habitual, unending stream of enthusiastic questions, Alex went out into the fresh air and immediately met the gaze of Claudia, who was relaxedly leaning against the wooden beam of the porch, calmly folding her arms on her chest.
Meeting his gaze, Claudia slightly nodded and silently walked into the house, once again catching herself on the frightening feeling of déjà vu—as if she had already long ago been in this cozy place. Quickly calling out and summoning all the others, Alex finally returned into the warm house, led only by one simple and incredibly desired thought: to make himself strong hot coffee and finally rest after all the endured madness.
To be continued...
(So, here we are back at Aerith's house. After this, we can move forward. It also gives me a chance to really think about why the group needs to head to Sector 0—and who'll be there. Because, as it turns out, I'd completely forgotten about that bunch of morons Yuffie was supposed to run into. I won't say exactly who they are, but think of them like Max-Tac from Night City—only crazier and more brutal. But all that will happen when we infiltrate Shinra HQ. For now, I'm going to grab a bite to eat. Peace, love, and—have you ever seen a naked raccoon?)
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