Laron sat on the edge of the docks, smiling at the ships that were leaving. What would happen if he left, what if he went back home to his wife? Alika was so beautiful, and he hadn't seen her for many months now. Had she forgotten him already, or did she stand on their balcony and pray to the gods that he would return to her? "If only I could know," he said to himself. "She may even be...." It sickened him to think that he had left her at such a time, but Alika understood, or at least tried to, the relationship between Laron and his sister. "And yet I cannot leave either now," he said to himself. "One may be with my child, the other needs guidance, so which do I aid." He looked up at the tapestry of stars that now hung in the cloudless night sky. If only he could watch over both of them, as the stars did now...

Aeri had been busy in the market, playing her harp which she carried with her now as evening swept over the city. She was tired and came to the docks to get away from the opressiveness of the rest of the city.

Most of the sailors were gone, going to the burly taverns along the waters edge.

She noticed a man sitting quietly and he seemed to be deep in thought. Deciding not to bother him just then, she lit upon a barrel, bringing her knees up to her chin as she just watched him sitting. The breeze around her was light and warm and her eyes shone sky-blue, also thoughtful.

Laron heard a slight breeze and turned around to see the source of it. His eyes went from a soft, almost liquid brown to a harder tone, trying to see what this creature was. "Greetings," he said, "and why are you here on this night? Looking at the moon?" His expression changed to something rather blank and he gave her a slight smile. Alika was dominant in his mind, but he was willing to spend a few minutes distracted from the memory that haunted him. Every night he dreamed of the first night that he had spent with his beautiful wife. She had been a simple peasant girl, and he a rich noble forced to renounce his title and flee his former home, but together, they had been able to work their way to positions of utmost power and happiness through their honesty toward the public and their advisers.

"Something around those lines," she smiled lightly. "I did not mean to disturb you. I apologize. My name is Aeri," Aeri introduced herself. Indeed, she almost felt bad for disrupting his thoughts. He seemed troubled about something. Aeri knew the feeling. Often were her thoughts drifting to what was happening around her, in places she was not at. Mostly because it was her fear that Sephiroth might strike at somewhere else without her knowing it, which was completely possible. She didn't know what she'd do if he destroyed her beloved Cascadia, which was practically her home away from home, which was now far away from here.

As she spoke, she repeated a simple, six note tune on the harp, somewhat absent-mindedly. The tune was haunting, slightly sad, full of memory.