Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 1: Arrival

FORTY-SEVEN

At the bottom of the stairs was a man in a purple outfit kind of like Cloud's, and he was holding a sword in his hands while a group of bad soldiers from Shinra marched toward him with guns. And right behind them was a man in a dark blue suit with long black hair. There was also a helicopter nearby, and it was really loud as it sat there on the ground with its big long rotors spinning.

"Aerith!" the man with the sword said. "They showed up a minute ago while you were still inside."

She nodded as we went down the stairs. "Tseng..."

"It's been too long, Aerith," the man in the blue suit said.

"Not long enough," she said.

As we went down the stairs, Tseng looked at her. "It would've been wiser for you to stay home."

She smirked. "Always was a little foolish."

That was when I saw Cloud and Jessie's motorcycle. It was close by, right next to the stairs. Then I remembered Jessie telling me today that she was gonna go polish it and make it shine really bright before Cloud got back. He was gonna take her for a ride, and that did sound like fun. But he hadn't come back with Daddy and Tifa, and Jessie had been sad. So the motorcycle was still out here.

Then, before Tseng or those soldiers could stop her, Aerith picked me up, jumped onto the motorcycle, and started it. It was really loud as I sat in front of her, but I didn't mind. And while we did that, the other guy—the one holding the sword—stayed in between us and the Shinra soldiers as Aerith revved the engine.

"Go!" he told us. "I'll keep these guys busy!"

Aerith waved, and then we started moving. Tseng went back to his helicopter while the guy with the sword started fighting the soldiers as we drove away. The bike was really fast, and I held on tight to it and the flower and Aerith as we raced down the road.

— — — — — — —

Our kiss was a short one, both because of our position and because of Jessie's wounded condition. I'd have to take a closer look at her soon, but I could tell she was in pretty bad shape. As I held us aloft using the rotor gauntlet on my left hand, I held onto her with my other arm and tried not to jostle her and aggravate her injuries. Jessie rested her head weakly on my shoulder when our lips parted, and it seemed like it was only then that she realized we were in the air.

"Hey, Cloud..." Jessie wondered. "Are we... flying?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But this thing's not made for two. I should find us a place to land. Hold on."

We were already slipping a little lower from our combined weight, and I knew we didn't have much time before we started to fall. Pressing another button on the control rod, I used it to steer us back over to the pillar. I set us down on the thirteenth floor as gently as I could, not far from the stairs leading up. When we were safely down, I turned off the rotor glove, removed it, and tossed it aside.

"Nice landing..." Jessie quipped, smiling in spite of the pain.

I helped her sit with her back to the low wall by the stairs. "Guess it wasn't too bad. How's that?"

She gave me a weak thumbs up. "Awesome..."

"Here, Jessie," I took a potion out of my pocket, opened it, and gave it to her. "Drink this. It'll help a little."

She did, still managing to make a face as she swallowed it. I looked her over in the meantime, not liking what I saw. Jessie had been shot at least four or five times in her right arm, shoulder, and collar, and if she hadn't been half-turned away from the chopper to throw that grenade, the armor-piercing rounds would've torn through her chest, heart, and lungs instead. Her arm hung uselessly at her side, bleeding all down its length from multiple bullet wounds.