Final Fantasy Oneshots and Drabbles

A Dance to Remember: FFVII

"So, recap the plan again." Aerith asked, tapping Cloud on the shoulder. "Why are we sneaking into a ball?" Cloud rubbed the shoulders of his tuxedo and sighed, gritting his teeth. "Red told us that there was a Shinra executive in here with vital information, and we need to find them and get it. He's guarding the door with Barret and Cait, and we're sneaking in. We'll need the back up. Especially in these stupid outfits."

Aerith nodded, and went back to scanning the crowd in the beautiful ballroom. She could agree with Cloud on that. The violet dress she was wearing was pretty, but it was a pain to do anything in.

Cloud grumbled beside her, crossing his arms. "I really wish we could've brought our weapons." He mumbled, eyeing the table of food in the corner. Tifa punched him on the other, getting his attention back. "It would bring attention to us. We've got to keep undercover." Cloud muttered something about being hungry as well, and Aerith stifled a giggle.

Someone brushed by her, and she glanced up to see a glint of red and silver in the corner of her eye. When she blinked, it was gone.

"There he is!" Tifa whispered. She looked at Cloud and they nodded at each other. "Aerith, could you-" Aerith gave her a thumbs up. "I'll wait here. Go get em!" She said excitedly, and the duo vanished into the dancing crowd.

Aerith went back to scanning the party, rubbing her arms. She started eyeing the food table herself, wanting something to do while bored. Of course that would mean cutting across the dance floor and she wasn't exactly the best dancer.

"Enjoying the dance?" A strikingly familiar voice cut through the air, slightly louder than the quiet classical music. Aerith felt a chill rush over her, and she glanced up. In the moment she did, she really wished she had her staff on her.

There was a man next to her, dressed in a scarlet tuxedo with a black and gold mask hiding his eyes. He flashed Aerith a smug smile, his long silver hair glinting in the light. "Of course, these sort of functions aren't my thing, but this one was unmissable."

Aerith cursed under her breath. "How did you get in here?" She snapped, curling her fingers into a fist. Sephiroth shrugged languidly. "I have my methods. You of all people should know that." He turned toward her, his red cape flowing with him, and held out a gloved hand. "Care to dance?"

Aerith stifled an angry laugh. "If you even THINK I'd dance with a murderer, you'd be-." Sephiroth pressed a finger over her mouth. "Uh uh, little Cetra. I wouldn't." He knelt down and hissed low in her ear. "I know exactly what you're doing here, about the Shinra employee, everything. You want to keep your precious little mission a secret? Well then, you'd better rethink my offer."

Silence. Aerith was stunned into silence. This is blackmail. The thought was stone-cold in her mind. I could start a fight, but that would bring attention, they'd recognize us and that's game over.

I'm stuck. With a sullen movement, Aerith took Sephiroth's hand, and tried not to slap him when he smirked again. "Good choice." He whispered, wrapping his arm around her, before tugging her out onto the gilded floor.

Aerith hadn't expected a lot of things from being forced to dance with the man who had tried to kill everyone she cared about almost three weeks earlier. Him being a good dancer was not part of that equation, but either way, it gave her an idea. Let's see if my discomfort can get me some information.

"Where did you learn to dance?" She asked, eyeing around for a way out. "I didn't think they taught SOLDIERS that sort of thing." Sephiroth laughed out loud, staring down at her. He was probably enjoying this, and that made Aerith even more ticked. "I'm genuinely offended you think so little of me, my little Cetra. Trust me, I'm more cultured than I look."

Aerith stifled a laugh. "You stabbed a man in the heart." She said incredulously. Sephiroth shrugged again, and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "It was the president of Shinra. Frankly speaking, I'm surprised you haven't thanked me for that yet."

"Thank you? And why would I do that?" Aerith growled coldly. He spun her around in a waltz before giving her a straight answer. "I killed him for many reasons, but my personal favorite one is protecting you."

Silence dissolved over them once more, as Aerith tried to process what she just heard. "I-I'm sorry?" Was what she finally stammered out. Sephiroth smirked again, although this one seemed slightly less cold than before. "I couldn't let one of my species die. We're both Cetra after all." He answered with yet another shrug.

Aerith shook her head. "B-but you're not-" She tried, before feeling a rough gloved hand on her cheek. Sephiroth had stopped dancing, and had wrapped his arms around her. "Come with me, Aerith." He whispered, brushing hair out of her eyes. "Together we could rule the world. You'd want that, wouldn't you?"

Aerith had no idea what to say. Most of her was saying no, but at the same time, a tiny part of her was saying yes. It was tearing her apart and she didn't want to choose.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. A yell echoed across the ballroom, causing the people to stop everything they were doing. "AND HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, YOU SHINRA WEASELS?"

Aerith looked up. "Barret!" She gasped, climbing to her feet. "They've caught us!"

Sephiroth noticed as well, and he visibly stiffened in anger. "Aerith." He growled, getting her attention. "Answer my question."

Aerith shook her head. "I can't." She replied, her voice firm. "I won't." A look like betrayal passed over Sephiroth's face, before it was replaced with rigid certainty. "So be it." Then, he bent down and hissed in her ear. "If I can't have you, no one can. You can count on that."

And then he was gone, the only remnant of him being a couple of black feathers drifting to the ground. Aerith blinked, shook her head, and picked up a feather, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"There you are!" It was Tifa, her face concerned. Cloud was next to her, his arms crossed. "Are you okay?" Aerith nodded, deciding to not tell them about her encounter with Sephiroth. "Come on, let's go help Barret."

The two girls ran off into the crowd, Cloud following behind them. Only he noticed the black feather in Aerith's hand.

*******

*insert Aerith death jokes here*

Did you know that in an earlier draft of FF7, Aerith and Sephiroth were gonna be a couple? I decided to roll with that concept and wrote this.

Anyway, this is the product of listening to Phantom a bit too much. Especially Masquerade and the main overture. Heh. Great musical, go give it a listen. I also threw in the Masque of the Red Death reference from Phantom, that's also a great novella.

Next oneshot is probably gonna be either Dirge of Cerberus or the one Christmas XV oneshot I was planning. Vote, comment or whatever. Have a great day/night everyone!