Chapter Text
Not everyone could loose everything and then bounce back. Fewer than these people could upgrade. However, after only a year, Cid Highwind had established a small accessory shop in the First District of Traverse Town and was even able to hold a small amount of regular clientele as well as contact a few suppliers from other worlds.
As much as this sounded like a reason to celebrate it served as a memory of what it lost. The one year anniversary of financial triumph was inseparably connected to the one-year anniversary of Radiant Garden’s disappearance. Gently biting down on his toothpick, Cid could taste a hint of blood on his mouth and decided to focus on a year of profit instead.
“Not that there are many people to celebrate with”, he spoke to himself as he locked up shop behind him. Cid was not a man of many connections but the few bonds he had established were something he honored. It was a rather easy thing. Everyone he knew had been swallowed along with his home after all. The good part is that eating alone means you can eat whatever you want, he reminded himself. Even the voice in his head did not seem to believe it.
Nevertheless, the occasion had lead him to the small bakery in the town’s plaza. Donuts, pastries, macarons, croissants, and bread were all displayed in the shop’s window. The scent of sugary sweets filled the streets even now as it was getting dark. Cid passed a young girl that was giddily pressing her face against thew windows and grimaced. He hoped she wouldn’t drool too much against it.
“Ah, Cid! I was already wondering if you’d be stopping by today”, the baker grinned , “One year anniversary to your store’s opening, ain’t it?”
“Yeah”, he hated smalltalk, but sadly, it was necessary when it came to this shop, “Why are you asking? You hopin’ for a celebatory discount?”
“Would you give me one?”
“No.”
Chuckling, the baker began to pack a bag of a few chocolate pastries for him. He did not eve nask for his order. Cid sighed and removed his toothpick. Maybe he stopped by here a tiny bit too often. The baker even knew that he hated the creampuffs and wisely avoided them for a pair of fresh beignets that seemed to have come just from the oven,
“Here you are. On the house. Maybe this will get ma discount next time I come over?”
A small smile made its way to Cid’s lips. The treats were still warm. Carefully, he pressed an arm around the paper bag,
“Maybe.”
As he stepped outside, the sky had completely darkened. He dared to glance up at him and fought himself once again trapped. Cid had loved the sky and the stars more than anything. They calmed him most of the time, spoke stories of adventure and ports one called come home too. Now the little light they provided was cruel – and as time passed, stars began to vanish just like his world had. He did not need another reminder of how little time he had left.
With slow steps, Cid tried to make his way back to the first district, only for someone else to run into him. The collision was hard, forceful and almost caught him out of nowhere.
“Fuck!”, he hissed as he fell backwards, turning to his front to catch his fall. His knees hurt far more than they should as they met the ground.
“Oh! Oh, I’m really, really sorry! I was so lost in thought, I did not see you there!”
In front of him a teenage girl with long brown hair and vibrant green eyes was stretching her hand out to help him. Her blue dress was far too thin for this season – just as she was. Traverse Town was full of homeless kids like her. Cid was almost not surprised anymore to see them.
“Let me help you up, Sir”, she continued and came closer. With a low grunt, Cid got up by himself,
“I’m not that old yet, kiddo. No need to help me up. I’m not a senior citizen.”
She clapped her hands together in relief,
“So you are not hurt?”
“It’ll take much more to hurt me, girl”, he shook his head and wiped his hand on his pants, “Now you better run home to your parents. A girl shouldn’t be out here in the dark by herself.”
There was something in her smile that should have alarmed him back then. Her smile was practically perfect. Her eyes gleamed with pride and satisfaction as he let her pass to bend down and get his paper bag…
… only to notice they were gone.
He heard the footsteps of the girl leaving become faster. So that little Missy had distracted him? Caught his attention to let someone swoop the bag right from under his nose. Swallowing a curse, his eyes began to scan the plaza for the pink ribbon he had spotted in her hair. The thief must have still been close.
There! The girl was moving carefully through the streets of the second district. She did not look back once, seemingly minding her own business, but Cid noticed how tense she was. Obviously she knew where she was going – and thus, he could not help but follow. A small hint of worry crept up in his heart. The alleyways would not lead to any place of safety but only deeper inside. And that was were the Heartless lurked.
The girl slowed down midway through the alley. Cid pressed against the wall and glanced around the corner to spot a familiar face teaming up with her.
The small girl wore a pair of short pants and a far too big shirt. Her short hair was a mess that was barely tamed by her headband,
“Did you see how fast I was, Aerith?”
He recognized her from the shop. The tiny girl that had been drooling at the bakery display was now happily waving at the other one with the paper bag,
“He did not even see me! Master Thief! I’m a MASTER THIEF!”
“Amazing as always, Yuffie”, the Aerith smirked and ruffled the black hair of the younger one, “I’m sure he’ll be proud, too. Thanks to you we can eat tonight.”
Oh.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. He had immediately noticed that they had no place to go but only now it was sinking in that this meant there was barely any food for them.
“I wished that old geezer would have focused more on you though”, Yuffie grimaced and handed the taller one the bag of pastries, “He sure as hell as munny on him. And we would have needed that. Do you think Squall will be disappointed?”
“He’ll be disappointed that you still call him by that name. It’s Leon now.”
“But Squall is his name! And we need the munny to get you a new dress!”
Aerith laughed but Cid noticed a fake laugh whenever he heard it,
“This dress is just fine. We need to buy him some medicine instead.”
As he felt more and more as if he was interrupting a private conversation and no longer defending his well-earned food, Cid cleared his throat. Aerith immediately stepped in front of the smaller one, though Yuffie looked like she was ready to charge at him despite her very few years of experience. Cid respected that. Eight-year-olds were forces not to be messed with.
“I believe these are my pastries, ladies” he felt like an asshole for saying it but Cid was a person who, once he committed to a decision.
“Shit!”, Yuffie exclaimed before grinning apologetically to the other girl, “I mean…crap?”
“Sir, Iahve no idea what you are talking about”, Aerith’s eyes betrayed her. As Cid was standing where she had entered the alleyway he had cut off their exit. Carefully, she took a step backwards towards the darkness,
“My sister got me these treats by herself.”
“Yes! I got them and because I got them, they are rightfully mine. So get lost, fart face!”
Cid raised a brow. The small one really had guts, didn’t she?
“Your sister needs to learn some manners, as do you, girl”, he shrugged, crossing his arms, “Did nobody teach you girls that stealing is wrong?”
“Did nobody teach you fartface that you’re mean?”, Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him and was no actively held back by Aerith. The older girl seemed to struggle between finding a way out and making sure her kid sister would not provoke a fist fight.
“How about we just talk?”, he suggested and took a step closer. Aerith held his gaze for a moment, then she threw the paper bag to the ground and pulled Yuffie with her as she ran into the darkness. With an exhausted sigh he stepped closer and reached for the bag. The warmth of the pastries had disappeared. All he could smell was his own pig-headedness.
Had he really just tried to get his food back from two starving kids?
“This town has changed you, Cid”, he mumbled
Maybe he should have just turned around. The kids would certainly never bother him again. His eyes wandered back to the darkness.
Maybe they would not even be able to do it if they ran into Heartless down that way. A child was such a perfect target. Stealing a child’s heart would be so easy for them. With a low sigh he dropped the pastries to the ground and walked ahead.
There was no way he’d leave the girls to their fate.
*
Aerith had memorized the alleyways by heart – something she was proud of and regretted. She knew which shops she could approach with a sweet smile on her face to get a few leftovers or at least a cup of tea to warm herself up. She knew which places to avoid, which vendors cursed at her for lingering around and which would get physical and throw things at her as she was reminding customers of their lost homes. She also knew how to move around unseen.
Yuffie’s hand in hers was warm from the pastries. Aerith felt anger and regret at abandoning their dinner but the muscular man meant bad news – who else would dare to run after just a big of bread?
“Aer, you’re hurting me!”, Yuffie whined. Aerith’s grip tightened,
“I’m saving you!”
Her eyes wandered ahead to see if the had reached the exit and to her shadow on her left side. At night dark places where best to be avoided. The people were not the most dangerous thing in Travers Town.
Something moved. Right between her and Yuffie’s shadow.
“Shit!”, Aerith gasped. Yuffie began to run faster. Fear was the best motivation sometimes. The girl now kept up all too easily with her.
“Heartless!”, Yuffie gasped, “What are we gonna do? Are we going to fight?”
“Not here. They’ve got us corned to quickly, we need an open space”, reluctantly she let go of Yuffie’s hand but the child kept up easily with her, “Run as fast as you can ahead, okay?”
The alleyway led them to another backstreet. To their left, Aerith spotted a small basin with water which she knew to be safe. A few bars locked most people away from the cavern it led to – one of their many hideouts over the town’s layout. Under her feet, she noticed darkness moving once more. With anger she stomped at it and jumped to the side.
“Yuffie, go hide!”
“I’m not abandoning you!”, the eight-year-old screamed, reaching into the pocket of her pants. Aerith recognized the small Shuriken – she had already carried them on her person when they had met for the first time.
Aerith carried no weapon but her body. It would have to do anyway. As the darkness reached for her, she jumped away from it, ducking just at the right time when the shuriken flew past her. A group of barrels filled with fruit was standing close by. She ran at it, followed by another Heartless.
She always kept an eye on Yuffie. The smallest one of them, the girl also possessed the biggest amount of spunk. Almost with ease did the kid evade attacks and catch her weapons mid-flight. Yet, from this distance, Aerith noticed the slight flinch in the girl’s face. The dark red on her palm as she used her weapon yet again.
Aerith grabbed for the barrel and pushed it in the Heartless’ direction. From right behind her she heard the familiar noise of a shot. She dared to turn around.
Leon had squeezed himself past the bars and climbed out of the basin. The fabric of the old uniform her wore was covered in dirt and water, parts of it torn from one too many fights, however, his gunblade was in perfect shape.
“I’ll take care of this”, despite him screaming he seemed entirely calm as he took aim and shot the next one. A scared whine caught Aerith’s attention and forced her to move. Normally the Heartless disappeared if they all challenged them. Yet this time, the shadows simply moved again if a shuriken or bullet met them. With watchful eyes she saw the darkness move and gather all in one place.
The darkness was far more humanoid than she had ever seen it. A pair of bright yellow eyes seemed to look right at her, long ears were gently highlighted with a bright blue colouring. Multiple enemies had merged together to form this being – yet Aerith felt more cornered than ever before.
“This one is different. Stronger”, she told the others. Her voice was trembling with fear.
She knew that she could just turn and run. While the other two had fought valiantly, all she had done was coordinate everything and improvise. But she wouldn’t abandon them. They were all she had left of home. She took a step closer.
The Heartless stared at them for a while, waited as Yuffie and Leon closed the distance to Aerith. So many children appeared in this town from one day to another when yet another world was swallowed. Even more children disappeared from one day to another when they walked too close to the darkness.
“We won’t go down without a fight”, Yuffie screamed, “We won’t!”
That seemed to have been a sign to attack. Without a warning the Heartless shot forward. Leon raised his blade to defend them. Yuffie’s bleeding hands clung to her skirt. Aerith placed her hand on his shoulder.
Please. A light. All we need is a bit more of light.
She once had heard the expression to cut the silence – but only then she saw it. Someone was jumping from above, a bladed spear cutting through darkness itself. The Heartless sank back into the floor and moved as Aerith and her friends toppled to the ground. Her head was ringing with pain when she felt Yuffie cling to her. Even through the white noise she could hear her sniffles. She tried to get up but Leon was too heavy. He didn’t move. Why didn’t he move?
Aerith looked up and recognized the person who had placed himself in front of him. They had scouted him as the perfect target just half-an-hour earlier on his way to the bakery.
“You alright there, kids?”
He did not wait for an answer but charged once more. Aerith couldn’t move but forced herself to watch. The spear did not look heavy, on its side she noticed what looked like…buttons? As the man charged at the darkness once more, a hint of fire followed the blade’s swing.
Was…was he really defending them?
With a frustrated groan he spit to the ground, stomped and knocked his spare against the concrete. This time the flame was brighter and consistent. He held it right towards the darkness,
“Piss off. I won’t let you harm these kids – not tonight and not tomorrow.”
The Heartless scattered, darkness flowing back into the alleyways and corners. When the stranger turned back to her and held out her hand, all Aerith could do was cry and hug the other two. She wanted to go home. But she knew that this would never happen again.
*
They were far too thin and wore clothes that were far too small – and yet three of them were fucking heavy. As he had scared the creature off, the girls had started to cry so hysterically, he did not know what to do. Cid was never good with emotions. Luckily for him, they had passed out soon after. Individually they all were rather light. The boy had surprised him the most, much taller than the girls with eyes of steel, one hand clutched to his sword, the other stretched out to protect them.
While the girls felt cold, he felt warm. Feverish. It was a miracle that he had been able to even stand, let alone fight the Heartless. Cid had thrown him over one shoulder and Aerith and Yuffie over the other. Carrying his spear and the gunblade slowed him down a lot.
The lanterns and his determination seemed to keep the Heartless at bay. Step by step he made his way back to the accessory stop, unlocking the door and placing the three kids on his couch. Even there they seemed to huddle together. A unit that reached out to each other even in points of weakness, like a group of alleycats.
He was shit with kids, didn’t even like them. But those children had fought nail and tooth to protect each other. With a low sigh he reached for a blanket and draped it over them. A hand grabbed his as he tries to pull back.
The youngest one (Yuffie, was it?), stared at him with dark eyes filled with anger. Her tiny hand was covered in dried blood as she tried to sit up,
“Don’t hurt them.”
With a low sigh he knelt down in front of the couch, not pulling away. This would be a long night, Cid felt,
“Would you put a blanket over someone you’d like to hurt, squirt?”
“You put blankets over corpses.”
This child was hardcore.
“Then you better watch who you call fartface if you want this to be a comfort blanket.”
She bared her teeth but let go of him, still keeping her eyes open though as she looked around. Cid gestured her to be quiet, the other two looked so exhausted, he did not want to deal with them waking up too,
“You are at my place, the Accessory Shop in the First District. You’re going to crash here and tomorrow we’ll figure out what to do about the three of you. The boy has a fever, Aerith seems far too thin and you, young lady, have cut yourself in battle. You all were fighting but if that is the condition you do it in, you are downright sloppy. That’s not going to happen on my watch.”
Yuffie leaned a bit more against the boy, surpressing a yawn. She began to relax,
“If you hurt them I’ll make you pay”, she whispered. To his surprise, a small grin made its way to his lip – he felt it only when it was too late,
“If I hurt them, you’re allowed to make me pay. But now close your eyes, squirt.”
Cid Highwind was more than surprised when Yuffie followed his order. With an exhausted sigh he took a step back, watching the group of stray kids resting against each other. Tonight might have been the first anniversary of him coming to Traverse Town – but it was also the first time he had visitors over since he had gotten here.