Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 1: Arrival

FORTY-EIGHT

Me and Aerith went really fast down the road while the helicopter flew right behind us and above us. Its lights were bright and white, and they stayed on us as we drove away from Sector 7. Even though I was a little scared and I didn't know where we were going, I knew that Aerith wouldn't let those Shinra people get me.

When the road split, we went left, and it went through a lot of junk piles before we got to a big wall. There was an old, open gate in it, and I held onto the vase and Jessie's flower as we rode through it. We came to another part of the slums, and the helicopter was still following us. As I rode with Aerith, I looked up at it sometimes.

After a while, we followed the road into an empty scrapyard, and I saw lights far away. They were from another town like Sector 7, and we drove right through it. Aerith said it was Sector 5. The helicopter went away and started going down, maybe to land somewhere while we kept going. We passed a big long house with benches in front of it and went onto a narrow trail that turned a lot.

We finally came to a nice house with lots of flowers growing across the big yard. It had bridges and a waterfall and was really pretty. When we got in front of the house, Aerith stopped the motorcyle and turned it off. Then she got off and helped me down, too. She gently picked me up and put my feet on the little stone path.

"Is this your house?" I asked.

Aerith smiled. "Yep! You're gonna stay here for a little while. Don't worry, Marlene. We'll let your daddy know that you're here just as soon as we can so he knows where you are, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay!"

Then we went in her house. It was really nice, with more flowers, a table, chairs, and some stairs in the back. When Aerith closed the door behind us and leaned her staff against the wall, an older lady in a green dress and a nice white apron came downstairs to see us. She went over and hugged Aerith and then looked at me while I stood there and held the flower and vase I had brought with me.

"I'm so glad you're back, Aerith," she said. "Although I'm not happy that you snuck out. But anyway, who's this?"

Aerith put her hand on my shoulder. "Her name's Marlene. I told a friend I'd take her someplace safe. You've heard about Sector 7, right? It used to be her home, but now..."

The lady nodded. "I understand. I saw the news."

"Shinra's doing it, though. Not Avalanche, no matter what the news reports say. Avalanche is trying to save everyone. Cloud's one of them. So's Tifa, the girl who asked me to take care of Marlene. I promised her I would. So that's why she's here."

"Did you run into the Turks?" the lady asked.

Aerith let go of me. "You could say that. Had a short little chat with Tseng. I got away when he tried to bring me in, but I think he followed me here. It's... about that time, Mom."

Her mom sighed. "I always knew this day would come..."

"So did I," Aerith said. "But I won't let them take Marlene. And if it means that I have to go back, then... I will."

"Aerith..." her mom looked at her.

She smiled. "It'll be alright, Mom. Cloud'll come save me. He's still my bodyguard, after all. I won't be gone long. But in the meantime, will you take care of Marlene for me?"

"Of course," her mom said. "You know that."

Then Aerith got down in front of me. "Marlene, my mom's gonna look after you while I'm gone. Her name's Elmyra."

"Where are you going, Aerith?" I asked.

"Nowhere you need to worry about, sweetie," she said.

Just then, the door opened behind us. Aerith stood up, and we saw the man with black hair and a blue suit standing there. He was the one she had called Tseng. There were two soldiers from Shinra behind him. I stepped closer to Aerith.