Flower Girl (Invites)

[Ayen]

"All right, bodyguard. Read my mind."

Ayen sat down next to Aerith on the bed nervously, slowly bringing his hands up to the left and right side of her head before closing his own eyes and concentrating on her mind. He tried to block out all other distractions from his mind to focus but there was one thing that kept nagging at the back of his mind, his attraction towards the Flower Girl. She was a beautiful young woman with a nice personality and tough to boot, and that made it impossible for him to read anything more than the thoughts at the forefront of his mind.

“I can't.”

[Alex]

Aerith opened up her right eye to look back at Ayen and then her left. The Flower Girl tilted her head in confusion at the man's inability to read her mind.

"Can't? What do you mean you can't?"

[Saephara]

Cloud quickly brushed his hands alongside his pockets along his pants and nodded briskly to Tifa, muttering a brief, "No, I am ready." Sighing, Tifa turned into the shop and walked up to the counter, quickly asking for 3 potions and a phoenix down. The old man behind the desk nodded and slowly turned away, leaving both Cloud and Tifa alone. "So Cloud...what else can you not remember?" she asked quietly, a concerned tone entering her question. She turned and braced her forearms on the counter, her reddish-brown eyes boring into him.

He had been staring at Tifa as she ordered her items, but looked to the floor as she addressed the same question that he had been asking himself for the last few minutes. What had been forgotten? All he could attribute to it was the darkness that dwelled within him. Perhaps that was what caused his memories to atrophy? Regardless, he only said, "I'm not sure...", his answer trailing off into the silence. He refused to taint Tifa with any of the blackness inside him. A hand came up to run through his blonde hair, but that was the only indication of agitation.

A slight frown came across Tifa's face as he ran his fingers through his hair. She nodded gently and answered, "That's okay, Cloud. We'll figure it out together. This journey we're on will definitely help you remember everything."

"Young lady?"

Tifa turned back to the old man's voice, seeing the items that she had requested on the counter in front of her. Quickly, she rummaged through her pocket and grabbed 450 Gil, dropping it into the wrinkled hand. He nodded slowly and thanked her for her purchase and sat on a stool in the corner, no doubt taking a nap. The 4 items were placed in her free side pocket and Tifa turned, nodding to Cloud. "Let's go. We're almost there."

They entered the pathway leading to the flower girl's home and the quiet closed down on the two. Tifa was unsure of what to say to ease Cloud's mind, and Cloud simply did not want to say anything else to further prove how much he had forgotten. Halfway down the path, Cloud stopped, gently grabbing Tifa by the wrist to halt her progress but quickly released her. "Wait, Tifa."

"What is it Cloud?" She observed how his eyes scanned the area top to bottom and she pulled down her gloves even further, clenching them into fists. She was ready for another fight. In three words and a nod upwards, he quickly stated, "We have company." Cloud removed his sword and assumed a neutral position, ready to shift into an offensive or defensive position. Tifa glanced upwards and couldn't help but smile at the man she saw. Rude from the Turks. "Rude? What do you want?" She had no doubt that her recognizing him in this time and age would thoroughly confuse him, but it would give them a slight upper hand.

[Ayen]

"Can't? What do you mean you can't?"

“Can't: as in cannot. The opposite of can.”

Ayen said irritably and turned slightly on the bed to stare at the wall across from them.

“I don't know why. This never happened before.”

[Garrus Vakarian]

Rude looked over to see the blonde male from the church and his latest traveling companion that fit the description Reno relayed to him earlier. She was familiar with him, which didn't sit too well with Rude as he had no recollection of the woman and now wasn't the time to ponder.

"The girl," he answered. "Do not interfere."

[Saephara]

Cloud made an abrupt sound and stated, "All he wants is to take her. I cannot allow that." He moved to approach the still Rude, but Tifa ran over and blocked his path. "Cloud, don't be so reckless."

"Why not? The Turks are going to take her, Tifa. Don't you realize that?" Cloud had lowered his sword as she blocked him, careful not to harm her. He swept his arm out to the side, uttering in a hushed tone, "If we don't stop them now-"

"If we don't stop them now, it won't matter. Both you and I know this. At some point she will be taken and it'll be up to us to find her. We can do our best to protect her but for right now, why don't you go over there," Tifa shifted her eyes towards the path leading to Aerith's house, "and try to sneak away and find her? At the very least if I can't hold him here, you'll be there to fend him off." After a short pause, Cloud sighed softly and nodded. "Okay then. We'll do things your way first. If he gets past you, then it's my turn to do things."

With Cloud's concession, Tifa turned back around and faced Rude. Raising her arms up and to the side in a friendly gesture, she called to him, "Why don't you tell us why you want the girl, Rude? It's not that difficult." Her smile remain pasted on her face as Cloud began to roam around, his boots knocking into dirt on the ground. Small plumes of dust rose into the stagnant air. On an off note, Cloud felt it getting darker outside. In the distance, he could see the sunlight that fell where Aerith's house was located and saw the shadows growing deeper and longer as time passed.

Tifa decided to walk closer to where Rude stood, not worried about Cloud one bit. When it came to fighting, he could handle himself. "Let's meet on neutral grounds and talk about this." She stopped about halfway and her fingers twitched slightly, mostly hidden by her fighting gloves. She still had Premium Heart on from the church.

[Alex]

Aerith placed her hands into her lap and stared idly at the wall.

"You must be tired."

Aerith suggested before she turned her head back over to him and smiled.

"You should probably go and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us."

[Kragen]

"Oi!"

Sounded Reno off in the distance. He had finally made it to the city portion of sector 5 and saw Rude about to engage that woman who appeared back at the entrance of the church before the blonde ran off. Reno went over to Rude's side and held his rod at the ready.

"Looks like I got here just in time."

[Garrus Vakarian]

"That is none of your concern."

Rude observed the two and concluded that the woman was every bit as capable of holding her own in a fight as the blonde male. Unlike the man she opt to her own hands as a weapon in a similar fashion as he did. Rude could respect that. Before Rude could reply to the woman's request Reno rejoined his side and the next move became his decision.

"The woman wishes to meet on neutral footing to discuss our business with the girl."

[Ayen]

"You must be tired."

“Yes – must.”

"You should probably go and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us."

“Not a bad idea. Goodnight, Aerith.”

Ayen sat up from the bed and left Aerith's room, heading down the hall and into his room, closing the door behind him and laying down on the bed that was prepared for him. He folded his arms under his head against the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Ayen planned to get some shut eye and then sneak off in the early morning before Aerith awakened. He didn't want to upset the girl but he couldn't ask her to risk her life again after what he saw today, and how her mother begged him to go on his own. The blonde was also still worried about Yuna and why he wasn't able to read Aerith's mind. Did he like her? But if so what about Yuna? Ayen turned on his side and fell fast asleep on his thoughts.

[Alex]

"Goodnight."

Aerith got up from her bed after Ayen and saw him off with a smile before she closed the door and switched off the light. She turned back around and went over to her bed and slipped underneath the covers, back faced against the wall as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

[Saephara]

As Tifa held the attention of the Turks, Cloud steady kept moving closer to the path that led into the now dusky light. His sword remained in his hand and his glowing eyes never left Tifa. he would be ready as soon as she gave any signal. If she didn't she would give her 3 more minutes before taking off. He could at least warn Aerith...

Great. Reno's hard head showed up. Tifa couldn't help but smirk softly at the two standing there together, looking so tough. A quick glance down to her forearms and she took a quick inventory of what she had equipped. On the right side were Lightning, Speed Plus and Contain materias and on the left were Cure and her summon materia: Phoenix. Looking back up to the two Turks and called out, "Are you going to go and act like a monkey now, Reno? We all know you have a hot head." Her smirk grew into a full smile as she followed up with her next sentence. "Why is she so important? And put away your rod, Reno." Tifa was satisfied that she had their attention. She felt Cloud's eyes on her and with a small flick of her index finger, signaled that he should go now. Within a second, he had taken off. They weren't going to hold off for much longer, she could tell. They needed to get there soon.

Cloud ran as quickly as his legs would carry him. He had noticed the Turks getting suspicious and Tifa now had her hands full if they noticed his disappearance. He had to be quick about this......Within moments he had arrived at the flower girl's home and he held nothing back as he banged on the door. Someone had to be awake.

[Kragen]

"Oh? Well I like it right here."

Reno looked over to Tifa after replying to Rude and was uneasy about how much this stranger knew about him. And on top of that she was standing in their way of finding Aerith. Just how many guardians did that girl have anyway?

"I don't know you, lady! And don't tell me what to do! Now why don't you be smart and stay out of our way?"

[Garrus Vakarian]

Rude said nothing further. He simply stood in place and awaited to see what the woman decided to do. Stay and fight, step aside or persist with this attempt to negotiate with the two of them.

[Saephara]

Tifa simply crossed her arms, one finger to her chin in what seemed like thought at the words that Reno had said. "Hmmm...no, I don't think I'll be stepping aside." She turned her eyes towards the red-head, smirking yet again as she crouched down into a relaxed position. He must have reached her home by now, she thought to herself.

"Now, are you two just going to stand over there and look pretty with your handsome selves or are you going to do something other than talk? I tried to be nice about all of this but it seems all you want to do is move on." She sighed softly as she slide one leg along the ground to stretch, her reddish eyes staying locked on the two, the pink ribbon moving gently along with her movement.

At Aerith's house, Cloud was getting nowhere it seemed with knocking on the door. Either that or his urgency drew his patience thin. Without thinking, he tried the doorknob to the wooden door, not surprised that it was locked. Stepping back, he thought for a moment before doing the most basic thing he could think of. Bending down to the ground, he searched for a hand full of small rocks. One by one, he began to gently throw them up to hit one of the windows on the home, hoping that she herself answered or her mother.