Lilium Derived from Latin lilia, which may have come from a corrupted pronunciation of a word from an extinct Eastern Mediterranean language Humility, devotion, restored innocence after death
"Lovers used to give these when they were reunited."
[do we even have gas stations in ff7. we have cars but we have never seen a gas station? mystery. anyway aerith has probably dragged cloud through the door and out to the new area, leading him down the abandoned road and sticking close. she's in the lead, hands behind her back and a little skip to her step.
new changes. new hopes, right?]
This fog's still...kinda creepy, isn't it? Even after a few weeks I don't know if I can get used to it. [and it feels a little familiar, doesn't it?]
[ do... do our cars... even run on gas... oh i refuse to think about this
cloud's looking around as aerith leads, only about a step behind her as he takes in the scenario. ]
It doesn't feel right. [ the fog. and... well, he's not too fond of it after what happened, in that forest. ] Doesn't help that it's where the cultists are hiding.
[ walkies forever... it is no longer affection week, but maybe it has left its mark, because cloud is walking a little closer than usual. wow. ]
Probably. Or maybe what happened to that Geto and the others would happen to us too. [ because he doesn't know those are on a schedule ] Why? You wanna try?
[wow...she does...slow down just a tiny bit to fall more in line with him to walk at his side than ahead of him. he's not the only one still thinking of the last time the fog separated them.]
I'm less worried when it's with you. [is what she says, and she turns with a little grin. eheh? but her staff is in her pocket like always, and she knows the two of them make a great team no matter what.] So. We can try.
[except she takes another step forward, and soon the shadows swarm around them, blocking them in as cloud sees something fun... to 20:06 i think.]
[ he gets to have one moment of sort of smiling back at her when she says she's less worried when she's with him, but then they're swarmed by shadows! woops!
he tries to swipe at them, reflexively-- but it's worse than attacking whispers or ghosts. this is memories, and remembering zack isn't as hard as it was when he first got it in nibelheim, but the entire thing still feels like static in his head and yet so familiar, and by the end of it--
(who was his friend? he remembers zack having that haircut, but who was his--) ]
I-- [ his head hurts and so does his heart and conscience a bit, he thinks, but he doesn't know what he should tell her anymore. tifa said he should let her, but tifa isn't here. ] I knew Zack. Back when we were in SOLDIER. I... we were friends. I don't know why I forgot it, but... I'm sorry.
[the shadows swarm and she instinctively takes a step backwards into cloud, stumbling just slightly as she watches this memory play out. this...wasn't what she thought. and it's not the worst, she thinks, but she finds herself frowning softly because it's been years since she's seen zack fair and it kind of feels like a reminder of what she did to his parents in gongaga. showing up unannounced, dredging up old memories like that.
she tilts her head back when cloud speaks, quietly observing him when he confesses to that.
"i know", she thinks. and she isn't sure why he forgot, but...it's not like she isn't missing memories of her own now, too. even if it's not for the same reason. rather than saying "i know" or blaming him, she gives a quizzical little look.]
... In Nibelheim. He was there, too, five years ago. But... Tifa probably told you that part, didn't she? [ it's why both of them got so mad when he was an asshole unprompted was so dismissive of zack. ] I... thought... I thought maybe I remembered him dying, then, and Tifa said she'd tell you, but I guess she never got the time. But I--
[ he's tripping over his words, trying to get them out, to let her know even if he doesn't get what it means himself-- ]
I saw him again. While we were fighting Sephiroth. He showed up and helped me, right before you did. I didn't get to ask him anything before Sephiroth did something, and he was gone again. He...
[well no. tifa did at least mention that cloud remembered zack, that part is true. and she has half a mind to maybe give up the ghost on this one and tell him that but. um. cloud is saying words. very concerning words.
words that aerith actually did not already know, for once.
the thing is...she knew she was already gone by the time she helped cloud fight sephiroth, and even calling it showing up to help fight is a little loose on account of not being there. she was okay letting cloud think that that's what happened, that she was still alive for now. but now there's this and...where the hell did zack come from?
so anyway she's looking at him with wide and confused eyes because. what. what the hell does that mean. hello? if she showed up and zack showed up and they both left cloud who's babysitting their water bottle?]
Cloud. [well. she can't exactly say that's not possible because it'd then lead to maybe admitting it wasn't possible for her to be there either, and also she's now not actually sure if it is impossible.] ...where...
[is it too much to ask "where do you think he went", because she would like to know how he got back and what that means for her, too.]
I don't know where he went. Sephiroth said... something about worlds uniting and parting. That's what he kept saying his reunion was, too. Worlds uniting. But I don't know if that's the same thing. For a second... he seemed just as surprised as I was when Zack showed up.
[it's kind of debatable if she knows what that means based on the things happening to her, but even so she wouldn't explain it to cloud. not without knowing the full context, and this is now a zack-shaped wrench in things.]
...I don't know if there's anything we can do with that yet. [because WHAT. but she does move to reach for his hand.] But if Zack was able to reach you, then...we might be able to find him when we get back. [maybe that's her job.]
Don't feel bad he got away. That wasn't anything you did, and we'll find a way to bring him back to us. [she'll swim through the lifestream to find zack herself, i guess.]
[she's just stepping around so she's in front of him, looking up into his face while holding his hand still.
there's something bittersweet in thinking about how zack always talked about her, and she's once again wondering if he ever got her letters. or why he never wrote back. and it does make her happy, knowing she meant so much to him.
but there's something sweet here, too, about cloud saying these things just because he thought zack had hurt her and she thinks that it's a very big difference from the cloud she first met who didn't want to take a flower from her. there's a little smile that's both fond and sad somehow simultaneously, even if the words are light.]
He was a good guy. [because that's zack through and through. he was a person who changed her, too, someone so good and so brave and promised to be there and change the world for her. but instead, her world changed with cloud, the one who actually brought her along and stood with her to see the sky for the first time. zack was her first love. she's never going to forget that, and she's never going think otherwise. but...that doesn't change how she feels about this, too.]
Sooo...does that mean you'd say the same about any guy you thought would hurt me? [it's a joke to tease him a little because. what even are they to each other right now.]
[ she steps in front of him and his eyes widen a little as he watches her. this feels like... something. he can't quite tell what.
zack was a good guy. he knows that much. of course he was, and--thinking about him is still hard, the details fuzzy, but that's not important, because he is busy staring at aerith with a furrowed eyebrow at the question. he doesn't... get it. ]
Of course I would. [ it's sincere, is the thing, a little too harsh, like he's surprised she's even asking. ] I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you, Aerith.
[ even if--he's not always so sure he can stop himself from hurting her, like what he thinks might have happened with the black materia. but he doesn't want to fail her like that.
[oh. the sincerity surprises her a little. it's not like cloud says things he doesn't mean, but he's not always assertive about things. she did know the answer, and she seems to understand maybe they're talking about two different things.
does that even matter? the sentiment remains the same. "i'm not gonna let anyone hurt you."
she trusts him. even knowing how sephiroth, somehow, is able to reach him and even knowing she might lose him if he strays too far, she still trusts him. she's taking his other hand to hold in hers.]
I know you wouldn't. I told you. I'm less worried when it's with you. [that had been about walking down this empty road, but it extends to...everything. being in this place, being amongst people who might turn on each other at any moment, having to face sephiroth and stop him. she's going to do everything she can to make sure nothing hurts him either. even if she's the one causing pain in the end.
[oh. she sees this. she is aware of what she's looking at, and she takes in the sight of that water tower in nibelheim, thinking to herself that the memory itself is a little sweet. and cloud's just as hopeless now as he was back then. it's a big promise to make...but she also thinks it isn't any less sincere than what he's just said to her.
but the question she has on her mind is "will sephiroth let you keep that promise now", and there's no way to ask that. so instead...a little smile.]
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residentflorist) wrote2024-06-08 12:51 pm
w2 monday
new changes. new hopes, right?]
This fog's still...kinda creepy, isn't it? Even after a few weeks I don't know if I can get used to it. [and it feels a little familiar, doesn't it?]
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cloud's looking around as aerith leads, only about a step behind her as he takes in the scenario. ]
It doesn't feel right. [ the fog. and... well, he's not too fond of it after what happened, in that forest. ] Doesn't help that it's where the cultists are hiding.
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Think if we kept walking down this road we'd just loop right back to where we started?
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Probably. Or maybe what happened to that Geto and the others would happen to us too. [ because he doesn't know those are on a schedule ] Why? You wanna try?
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I'm less worried when it's with you. [is what she says, and she turns with a little grin. eheh? but her staff is in her pocket like always, and she knows the two of them make a great team no matter what.] So. We can try.
[except she takes another step forward, and soon the shadows swarm around them, blocking them in as cloud sees something fun... to 20:06 i think.]
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he tries to swipe at them, reflexively-- but it's worse than attacking whispers or ghosts. this is memories, and remembering zack isn't as hard as it was when he first got it in nibelheim, but the entire thing still feels like static in his head and yet so familiar, and by the end of it--
(who was his friend? he remembers zack having that haircut, but who was his--) ]
I-- [ his head hurts and so does his heart and conscience a bit, he thinks, but he doesn't know what he should tell her anymore. tifa said he should let her, but tifa isn't here. ] I knew Zack. Back when we were in SOLDIER. I... we were friends. I don't know why I forgot it, but... I'm sorry.
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she tilts her head back when cloud speaks, quietly observing him when he confesses to that.
"i know", she thinks. and she isn't sure why he forgot, but...it's not like she isn't missing memories of her own now, too. even if it's not for the same reason. rather than saying "i know" or blaming him, she gives a quizzical little look.]
...when did you remember?
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was an asshole unpromptedwas so dismissive of zack. ] I... thought... I thought maybe I remembered him dying, then, and Tifa said she'd tell you, but I guess she never got the time. But I--[ he's tripping over his words, trying to get them out, to let her know even if he doesn't get what it means himself-- ]
I saw him again. While we were fighting Sephiroth. He showed up and helped me, right before you did. I didn't get to ask him anything before Sephiroth did something, and he was gone again. He...
[ ... ]
He told me to save you.
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words that aerith actually did not already know, for once.
the thing is...she knew she was already gone by the time she helped cloud fight sephiroth, and even calling it showing up to help fight is a little loose on account of not being there. she was okay letting cloud think that that's what happened, that she was still alive for now. but now there's this and...where the hell did zack come from?
so anyway she's looking at him with wide and confused eyes because. what. what the hell does that mean. hello? if she showed up and zack showed up and they both left cloud who's babysitting their water bottle?]
Cloud. [well. she can't exactly say that's not possible because it'd then lead to maybe admitting it wasn't possible for her to be there either, and also she's now not actually sure if it is impossible.] ...where...
[is it too much to ask "where do you think he went", because she would like to know how he got back and what that means for her, too.]
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I don't know where he went. Sephiroth said... something about worlds uniting and parting. That's what he kept saying his reunion was, too. Worlds uniting. But I don't know if that's the same thing. For a second... he seemed just as surprised as I was when Zack showed up.
[ what does any of it mean ! find out in part 3 ]
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...I don't know if there's anything we can do with that yet. [because WHAT. but she does move to reach for his hand.] But if Zack was able to reach you, then...we might be able to find him when we get back. [maybe that's her job.]
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... Right. We can find him. Maybe... Sephiroth's got him trapped somewhere. [ maybe? he doesn't know. he still doesn't fully understand. ]
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Don't feel bad he got away. That wasn't anything you did, and we'll find a way to bring him back to us. [she'll swim through the lifestream to find zack herself, i guess.]
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[ ... ]
I thought he was just some jerk that hurt you. But that's not Zack. He was ... He was always talking about you. Couldn't shut up.
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there's something bittersweet in thinking about how zack always talked about her, and she's once again wondering if he ever got her letters. or why he never wrote back. and it does make her happy, knowing she meant so much to him.
but there's something sweet here, too, about cloud saying these things just because he thought zack had hurt her and she thinks that it's a very big difference from the cloud she first met who didn't want to take a flower from her. there's a little smile that's both fond and sad somehow simultaneously, even if the words are light.]
He was a good guy. [because that's zack through and through. he was a person who changed her, too, someone so good and so brave and promised to be there and change the world for her. but instead, her world changed with cloud, the one who actually brought her along and stood with her to see the sky for the first time. zack was her first love. she's never going to forget that, and she's never going think otherwise. but...that doesn't change how she feels about this, too.]
Sooo...does that mean you'd say the same about any guy you thought would hurt me? [it's a joke to tease him a little because. what even are they to each other right now.]
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zack was a good guy. he knows that much. of course he was, and--thinking about him is still hard, the details fuzzy, but that's not important, because he is busy staring at aerith with a furrowed eyebrow at the question. he doesn't... get it. ]
Of course I would. [ it's sincere, is the thing, a little too harsh, like he's surprised she's even asking. ] I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you, Aerith.
[ even if--he's not always so sure he can stop himself from hurting her, like what he thinks might have happened with the black materia. but he doesn't want to fail her like that.
again--]no subject
does that even matter? the sentiment remains the same. "i'm not gonna let anyone hurt you."
she trusts him. even knowing how sephiroth, somehow, is able to reach him and even knowing she might lose him if he strays too far, she still trusts him. she's taking his other hand to hold in hers.]
I know you wouldn't. I told you. I'm less worried when it's with you. [that had been about walking down this empty road, but it extends to...everything. being in this place, being amongst people who might turn on each other at any moment, having to face sephiroth and stop him. she's going to do everything she can to make sure nothing hurts him either. even if she's the one causing pain in the end.
man what a miserable thing to have in common.]
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[ want you to not be worried, maybe. whatever he was going to say is lost because it is cloud's turn to memshare a random romantic moment with someone else when you were younger ha ha!!!! id tell you when it ends but youve played the game ]
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but the question she has on her mind is "will sephiroth let you keep that promise now", and there's no way to ask that. so instead...a little smile.]
Even back then, huh? [she does not clarify.]
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... Back then? What do you mean?
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Just...seeing how important you are to each other. That's all.
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... Misunderstanding, turns out. It's cleared up now.
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