Dreams of Him

Her skin felt as if it was a blaze. As if the flames of the sun was licking at her skin. She opened her eyes and sat up. Her body ached and she cringed at the unsuspecting pain. September had laid herself a makeshift cot behind an old church down off in the slums. The way her body felt it seemed as if the cot was an unworthy one. She slipped off her coat and tossed it next to her in attempt to relinquish the small sting that lingered upon her flesh. She heard a motor revving up. It sounded as if whatever it was, it was getting closer. She gathered her things and moved over to a shadowy spot underneath a piece of lumber. She peeked out through a break in the wood. The roar of the motor hushed, though it sound as if it was right next to her. Then there was a sudden loud rapping on the wood she was peeking through. She nearly leaped out of her skin in response. She hesitantly eased away from behind the rotted wood. September's eyes met a pair a piercing blue ones, ones that matched her own.

"You scared the shit outta me!" She protested to a spiky blonde haired man. He was pretty slim but muscular. "You're a SOLIER?" She asks in a calmer tone.

"Who are you?" The Spiky haired man questions, sounding as if he had already lost his patience with her. September's eyes trailed down the man's arm until they rested upon a large buster sword.

"That looks familiar." She thought out loud.

"Who ARE you?" The man asks once again, more agitated than before.

"September Rhapsodos, what's it to you? I haven't done anything wrong." She snips back. The man's eyes widened in a state of shock.

"Rhapsodos?" He questioned in a mumbled tone. He scanned her over, toe to head. "Hmph, I believe it."

September frowns at the man, "Hey, what does that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"Cloud Strife." He replied as his cell phone began ringing. He just kept his eyes on September.

"Aren't you gonna answer that?" September asks in an attempt to get Cloud's eyes off of her. His stare was making her a bit uncomfortable.

He slowly reaches down off in his pocket, retrieving his flip phone. He opens it and puts it to his ear, "Tifa?" Cloud stands silently for a minute or maybe more. "It's funny, I've just ran into someone fitting that description."

September places her hands over her face and sighed into them.

"And this is a favor to Reno?" Cloud asks switching the weight of his body to the opposite foot.

September drops her hands, "Reno…" She mumbles under her breath. That was the name of the red headed man she had met the day before.

"She is not a child Tifa, I can only offer…" Cloud looks back up at September. "M'kay." He closes his phone and places it back inside his pocket. "Tifa wants to extend her hospitality to you."

"Who is Tifa?" September questions in reply. "Is she your girlfriend?"

This question seem to have jolted Cloud a bit as he starts fidgeting, "Um, she's a…  a childhood friend."

"A childhood friend huh?" September smiles coyly, "Invite accepted."

Cloud quickly turns, "Good hop on." He tells her as he climbs on to his fenrir, shoving his sword in it's side compartment.

September climbs on behind him with her coat tied around her waist. Cloud starts the engine and speeds off. After a bit of a ride, Cloud pulls in front of a building. September looks it over and spots it's sign.

"7th Heaven…" She trails off. Cloud gets off and stands next to the fenrir with his hand extended to her just as a brunette walks out the building with a smile spread across her face. September sees her, "Uh, thanks but um…"

"Welcome Ember, I'm Tifa." The brunette says in a chipper tone. While September's attention was on Tifa, Cloud took her hand and politely pulled her off the bike.

"So, you're Tifa. Nice to meet you." September greeted as she took her hand away from Cloud and extended it to Tifa. Tifa took her hand and shook it lightly.

"The pleasure's all mine" Tifa chimed. "Reno's told me a lot about you."

September's face took on an odd shape, "He did? Didn't know he knew that much about me, since I don't know that much about myself OR him." She taps her index finger on her bottom lip. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with that boy."

Cloud folds his arms and shakes his head, "I'm wondering if the Turks are keeping an eye on you."

"On me? Why would they?" September stammers over her words in surprise.

"Your eyes."

"Mako." September interrupts.

Cloud nods, "And by the sound of it, you had Mako poisoning."

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you Cloud?" Tifa commented before September could ask another question. Then September fell silent. "Why don't we continue this talk inside? There's lunch ready. Are you hungry Ember?"

September blushed and bit down on her bottom lip, "I guess so, a bit, yes."

Tifa smiled, "Well come on."


While over lunch, Tifa and Cloud tried to fill in some of the gaps September had about Shinra, SOLDIER, and the experiments. September absorbed all the information in. Until they hit on Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth… I seen him." September admitted.

"When?!" Tifa and Cloud shouted at the same time.

"Yesterday."

Cloud stood to his feet and started pacing. "He just doesn't stay gone does he?" He murmurs over his shoulder to Tifa.
At that moment September begins to feel numb and the room started to spin as everything fade to black. Then she started to fall towards the floor as Tifa and Cloud rushed to her side. Cloud, seeming to catch her just before her head hit the floor. He picked her up and carried her up to the spare room. Tifa prepared a small pot of cold water, grabbed a towel, and carried them up to the room to nurse September.

Tifa sat on the bed along side of where September lies. She places her hand on September's forehead, "She's burning up!" She wetted the towel and placed it where her hand once were. "She's got it bad Cloud."

"I know but the only thing we can do is wait it out and keep her hydrated."


She felt as if she was floating… not on air but on water. If only she could open her eyes to see where she was. But she couldn't. It felt like they were glued shut. She tried to call out for help but no sound came out of her mouth. All she could do is lay there paralyzed. A faint light started to flicker in front of her eyes. Then a picture started to form within the light. Was the picture moving? There was two boys each holding a dumb apple. I remember those! September thought to herself. Then the picture switched to three men. One had blackish hair, the second had rusty brown hair, and the last one was… Sephiroth. The one with the brown hair had a book and he was reading from it. Loveless… he'd always read Loveless. The other two men looked familiar, especially the one with brown hair. Genesis…

"Think Ember, Think!"

Sephiroth? Why, why are you here?

The Sephiroth in the picture turned and looked at her, "It's all right here Ember, you just have to think." He tapped his temple.

I'm remembering a few things now… September took a good hard look at Sephiroth. You know, you look a bit like her…

"Who?"

Lucrecia.

The picture started swirling around as if it was being sucked inside a funnel. All reality started coming back to her. She opened her eyes to see Tifa looking over her.
"You've given us a bad scare." Tifa announces as September's eyes roamed, trying to get a hold of her surroundings.

"Sounds as if I'm being a bad guest." September uttered as the pain of a headache stabbed at her frontal lobe.

"You just lie still. I think you're still suffering from Mako poisoning." Tifa instructed. "We'll take care of you."