I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)

Disk 01: Chapter 09: Mister Hojo Rising

In the middle of the night after my talk with Aerith in the previous chapter, I awoke, or thought I awoke, to find myself outside, on dry land. I looked around and saw a complex of large, high-tech buildings in the distance and little else. From behind me came a voice. "Greetings once again Y/N."

I turned to face the speaker. "Ganthet. Where are we?"

"My home. Oa. I won't keep you here long." He said. "But we must speak about the choices you made this day. I am not certain it was the best decision you could have made, tactically speaking."

"I already know that. I don't care. She was in a lot of pain and fear and I wasn't going to stand by and let it continue longer than it had to."

"I understand... Please do not miscomprehend my purpose: I am not upset with you, nor am I telling you that you should not have did as you chose. I am simply concerned that you err on the side of caution in your interactions, at least until after your primary mission is completed."

I sighed. "Yeah... Yeah, I know. Let me ask you a question though... Do you really think I'll be able to keep her from finding out the truth? Do you really think I can keep her in the dark forever? Because I'll tell you right now I don't think so, not for a second. A lot of people underestimate Aerith' intelligence, but she's too smart, and too intuitive. She's sensed that there's something different about me from day one, and one way or another she'll figure it out sooner or later..."

"And this frightens you? Yes?" Ganthet asked. "Why?"

" Telling her scares me. If she doesn't believe me, I lose my opportunity to be close to her. If she does, she might think my feelings for her have been an act just to stay close enough to finish my mission."

Ganthet was nodding as I spoke. He replied "Of course, there is a third possibility: That she believes and also knows that your love is genuine. Given her senses, that seems likely."

"Maybe. You haven't answered my question though. Would it be a good thing or a bad thing if she knew?"

"If the third possibility is realized, then it would be to your greatest benefit for her to know, since that would entail having her knowing assistance in preserving her own existence." Ganthet answered. "Of course, you understand that, at least until such time as Cloud falls into the lifestream and is removed from Sephiroth's influence, it is paramount that no one else know the truth of this."

"Yeah, I figured that."

"Then I take my leave. May you be well until we meet again."

I woke up in my sleeping bag aboard the cargo ship.

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At Costa Del Sol, we departed the ship ahead of Rufus and Heidegger, who apparently hadn't left their private rooms or dismissed their guards since the Sephiroth incident. While everyone else headed into town I hid behind a crate and waited. Information was key, especially when I couldn't be sure of events following the exact course of the game, and I wanted to hear what Rufus said before boarding his helicopter.

Soon enough, both he and Heidegger appeared. "So... Sephiroth AND Avalanche operatives were aboard the same ship as us..." Rufus said. "And not only did you fail to notice this for SIX WEEKS, but then, even after finding out, and knowing with certainty that Avalanche at least was still there, you fail to capture them in limited quarters with two whole weeks to work with? Does that about sum it up?"

Heidegger stumbled over his words, trying in vain to make excuses. "B... but, Mr. President sir... It is a very large ship. Very large... And most of the crew was dead..."