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

Disk 02: Chapter 01: A Surprise Guest

After the events I have previously related in 'Stranger Highways' Aerith and I lived together in my home for about six weeks. During this time, she helped me with recovering my memories and we filled each other in on the details we were not aware of; Aerith what she knew from her time in the hospital, and I what I knew from the second half of the game.

In time, I started getting worried about how long we were waiting. Minerva's instructions to Aerith had been clear. We were not to return to Gaia until we received some kind of sign, something which would be "Unmistakable." Nevertheless, I still worried. After all, around five months had passed on Gaia between Aerith' injury at Knowlespole and her journey to my world, and while I was fully aware that the timeframe was longer in reality than in the game (It had, after all, taken more than a year to travel from Midgar to Knowlespole), this particular delay was seeming horribly long. Especially knowing that Meteor had been summoned.

I wished fervently for someone to discuss these concerns with, but neither Minerva, nor Materia, nor anyone from Materia's Tempus Council put in a single appearance during those weeks. More worrisome to me; the fragment of Masamune, shaved off the end of that blade when Aerith closed the Gate of Worlds in Sephiroth's face, had vanished. I knew exactly where I had left it, of course, but a week into our wait it simply disappeared overnight. I should have been relieved, I guess. I wanted the thing gone and now it was. But the mystery was unsettling...

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And so it came to pass that we awoke early one morning, six weeks after our reunion. We ate breakfast, and discussed our plans for the day. "I'd like to get started on the back lawn." Aerith said, looking out the windows. When she arrived weeks earlier, Aerith had expressed upset that the yard around my home was devoid of any kind of flowers or shrubs or landscaping, but it had been winter then and there was nothing to do. "Spring's coming soon, I can feel it." She added.

"It's still awfully cold though... The ground's got to still be frozen." I replied.

"Yeah. No reason to not make some plans though."

"You wanna go check out the local greenhouses?" I asked. "Maybe get an idea of what you'll have to work with?"

"That sounds like fun. Let's go!"

We finished our meal and made ready to go out for the day, unaware that those plans were about to be put on indefinite hiatus. After we were suitably dressed we returned to the first floor. We were about to leave via the front door when a loud yelp and a clattering sound arose from the direction of the kitchen. "Stay back." I whispered. "I'll check this out."

Creeping as quietly as I could manage down the hallway, stepping just so to avoid squeaky floorboards, I moved towards the source of the noise, which had now gone silent. Just outside the kitchen door I paused. Light from the window streamed through the kitchen and out the door onto the floor and opposite wall, and clearly visible in that light was the shadow of someone moving. A small someone I guessed, but still a possible threat.

I glanced around for a makeshift weapon, greatly missing the Katana I had used on Gaia, and settled for an umbrella hanging from a closet door. Shaking my head at the absurdity of such a pathetic weapon, I tensed, waited half a second more, then sprang into the kitchen ready to do battle with...

"Yuffie!?" I exclaimed in shock.

I would have said more, would have asked how in the hell she had gotten here, but before I could say anything further the ninja was leaping into my arms and babbling a mile a minute. "Y/N! You're alive! You're alive? But how... Where am I anyway? What's going on here? How are you alive? We all saw you vanish! What the hell?..."