My surprise visitor was sickly looking, and very intellectual. Professor Hojo of Shin-ra had come to pay me yet another visit. He's got no scruples, no moral code. What he wants to do, he gets it done. My favourite kind of man. Too bad he just can't seem to tap down human feelings right. 

     "Hello, Amy," he said. Hojo's one of the few men to call me by my real name. Few remember Amy Parker, who killed her pimp and took over his entire business more'n thiry years ago. I know most of the bigshots in the city, including the President of Shin-ra himself. He and I get along very well.

     "Still hankering for a breeding specimen, Otaku?" I asked Hojo archly. Now, that I don't approve. Hojo and I have had this conversation many times, and I remember one heated argument in which I had literally shouted at him, "Procreation isn't some sort of command of 'go forth and multiply', especially with someone like Sephiroth involved."

      "Now, whyever would I do that?" Hojo asked innocently. "I'm here for entertainment purposes only."

      "Whoa! Professor Hojo taking a break from his lab!" I exclaimed jokingly. "I have a few nice girls that probably won't mind your icky fingers."

     "Preferably blond," he put in.

     "Done." I smiled at him. "The usual suite, Otaku?"

     Much later, at a lovely little party I was helping to entertain for Shin-ra execs, I was discussing my new condominium with President Shin-ra, his talk mainly centered on the 'furniture girls' i provided. Shin-ra tends to think that anything can be bought with money, but I happen to realize that most of the stuff I get isn't with money. But then again, I'm a woman. 

     They don't call me Donna Carnali for nothing. Proud mistress of Honeybee Inn, the menus I have are vastly pleasing to those men that drop by my humble establishment. My latest investment, the Zina apartments, have been quite a venture. Businessmen rent them from me, and extra rent is paid for the furniture girls I provide. These girls aren't there just for one purpose, they're like housekeepers, too. If the tenant doesn't want them, they just come back to Honeybee and wait till they get lucky. Shila was one of those lucky ones. Shin-ra set her up as his mistress, and to make her position in his household stronger, she gave birth to Rufus. I still miss her.

     Suddenly, Hojo insinuated himself into the discussion. "Tell me, Amy, just how do you think our best general would react to that suggestion?"

     I burst out laughing. Young General Sephiroth was Shin-ra's ultimate SOLDIER.... closer to a frigging monk than most. I had had a few encounters with him before. He was a good enough person, focused on his work and duty, but frighteningly devoid of a life. At balls which he was obliged to attend, he generally stayed out of everyone's way and ignored the women that tried to coax to dance with them. I sometimes feel sorry for the boy. He was only twenty-four, yet already as serious as a sixty year old coot. 

     Shin-ra seemed to find that idea feasible. "Shin-ra needs more people like him," he declared. "Dedicated to his job and all."

     "That's the problem, President," I cut in dryly. "He's too dedicated to his job to pay any mind to other pleasures of life. Your 'ultimate soldier' lacks hormones, I think. Now there's something you missed out, Hojo!"

     "True, true," the professor acceded. "But I'm sure you can think of something."

     "Let's name a figure, shall we?" 

     "But not one of your experienced girls, Amy, dear," Shin-ra put in. 

     Hojo picked up immediately. "We wouldn't want to scare off the boy, now, would we? Give him a nice, untouched girl."

     I let out a low whistle. "Virgins are hard to find in Midgar, Hojo. You have no idea how goddamn corrupted the entire damned city is. And the virgins are too smart to admit they are, too. It's going to cost you, Shin-ra, if you insist."

     "You're talking to the richest man on the Planet, my dear," Shin-ra said expansively. 

     "Men!" I sighed. Then my eyes narrowed. "I hope you weren't serious."

     Hojo and Shin-ra looked at me. My spirits sank. They'd just given me a mission impossible. "Fine. I'll present you the bill when I find her." And find her myself I would have to. The men I sent out looking for girls had a propensity for 'testing' them. 

     "I knew you'd be amenable to the demands of your job, good Donna," Hojo said slyly. 

    "I hate you."

     Midgar during the day is a busy, bustling place. I was walking about Wallmarket, wondering just how on the entire Planet was I going to find a virgin in the entire place. Under a damp rock somewhere, perhaps? I scrutinized the girls hanging about. Most of them were hookers themselves, looking for an easy way to earn cash. I began lamenting mentally how easy it had been to look for virgins earlier when Honeybee first stormed the undercity.

     Maybe Sector Six would yield a better harvest than this disappointing area. I could tell choice virgin ass from unsavoury ones, naturally. It's my job. I found myself wandering to the old, abandoned church there. I was filled with nostalgia when I first sighted it. I'd met my first lover there.... those days were so sweet until he was killed by goddanm Butch because he couldn't pay for me. 

     Whoa.... what had become to the place? I noted the flowerbeds as I entered, admiring the lovely roses and exotic orchids as I entered. I looked around. Who had grown these while I hadn't been looking? My eyes filled with tears when I spotted the spot where Duran and I had spent time talking and laughing.... there was now a gorgeous patch of violets... our favourite flower. 

     "Can I help you?" a girl's voice asked nervously.

     I didn't reply for a while, still remembering my first lover.... my first and only love. How many times had we pretended to get married in this church? Slowly, I turned. 

     She was really a tiny thing! I first thought to myself. I scrutinized her carefully. Barely sixteen, I concluded. No wonder she was still so short... she still had growing to do. But there definitely wasn't much growing left for her to do, for sure. I wasn't sure whether to categorize her as a girl or a young woman. There was a maturity in her eyes that girls her age didn't usually have unless they had grown up with religious parents. She would grow only to top five feet by a couple of inches at most. 

     But she was magnificent to behold. Her eyes were large and luminous, dewy green. She had delicate features framed by brown hair, with two small braids curling down the sides of her neck. Her body hadn't filled out entirely yet, perhaps, but it was just nice. She wore pink, something which I generally frown on, since it was the colour of dimwits, yet she looked perfect with the dress that was topped by a red vest. I saw two ends of a pink ribbon peeking from the sides of her head. 

     I'd found her. 

     "Did you grow all this?" I asked her, indicating the flowers all over the place. She'd done a great job.

     She nodded, smiling. She looked very girlish and sweet like that, her eyes lighting up. Now, bringing her into Honeybee Inn would be like throwing meat to hungry lions. Not even an eunuch could resist that smile! Not even....

     I wanted to laugh out loud. In the place where I'd found love would I find the girl that would be my greatest triumph yet! I smiled back at her, liking the friendly look in her eyes. 

     "You have a really wonderful green thumb," I told her. I touched a violet delicately. "Never would I have thought anyone could cultivate these beauties in the slums."

     "Why did you come here?"

     "This was the place where I fell in love," I answered, smiling fondly at the memory. Duran had been the perfect man, honourable, loving, honest, handsome.... The sweet thoughts were instantly replaced by the sight of blood spilling in the church, utter blasphemy. Duran had been butchered in front of my eyes. "And the place where I lost love."

     Tears came to the girl's eyes. "How horrible," she whispered, looking at me in such a sympathetic way, I wondered for one moment whether she really knew what had happened in this place. "I'm sorry."

     "Don't be. Because things turned out good at the end." Butch had been killed, and I now made a killing, fleecing men of their money through their lust. 

      I studied the girl again. "What is your name?" 

     Suddenly, her eyes took on a guarded look. 

     "My name is Donna," I offered as a peace treaty. "Donna Parker." The name Donna Carnali was well-known. 

     She relaxed. "Aeris Gainsborough." Obviously, she was quite trusting.... naive, perhaps.... hopefully not too naive. I preferred my girls to choose their line of work willingly. 

     "You grew these flowers, Aeris?"

     "And then I sell them."

     I frowned mentally. If she was well acquainted with the slums, sooner or later she would find out why I was here. Then I decided to take a little gamble. "Selling flowers in the slums? Do you really get a profit?"

     "Enough to put food on the table."

     Just then I noticed how faded her pink dress really was. I had some gil in my pocket. "Your flowers are very beautiful, my dear. I'm sure I could find a place where it'd be more appreciated." And I could, if I really wanted to. Flowers grown here would definitely be cheaper than flowers bought from out of town. The women of middle-class houses would go crazy over these beauties. I spoke with her for a while, until she glaced out the window and gasped. 

     "What is it, Aeris?"

     "I have to go," she said nervously, her eyes darting about, looking for a place to escape. 

     I frowned and glanced out the window myself. Ah.... the Turks. Wild Reno, silent Rude, and serious Tseng. "Why are you afraid of them, Aeris? They won't disturb you unless...." my line of thought trailed off. No wonder she was scared. For whatever reason, the Turks were after her. I smiled inwardly. "Wait here," I told her, going to the door of the church. "Tseng! Reno!" I exclaimed, as if surprised to see them there. "And, of course, dear Rude. What are you doing here?"

     "Miss Carnali?" Tseng looked shocked. "What are you doing here?"

     "Making a bulk purhcase on some flowers. And you?"

     "Turk business," Reno replied on the dot. 

     "Really," I drawled. "Reno, you should tidy yourself up. You look like you just had a randy time. What would President Shin-ra think?"

     "Buying flowers?" Tseng asked skeptically. 

     "For most part."

     "What, really, is your business here?"

     "Your goddamn president sent me on a mission impossible. Looking for a virgin in Midgar! Hah! What a laugh!"

     Tseng actually growled and took out his gun. "You whore..."

     I whipped out a gun of my own and shot his out of his hand. "Get the hell out of here, Turk."

     His eyes narrowed, then he signalled to the others and withdrew. After a few steps, he stopped and turned. "Donna!"

     I raised an eyebrow in inquiry. 

     "Don't you dare hurt her," he said warningly. 

     I laughed at his concern. Who was he to tell me that? But I was glad they'd gone. I wondred why they were after Aeris, and would have continued wondering if her voice hadn't broken into my thoughts. 

     "Carnali?" 

    I winced inwardly at the fear and shock in her voice. "Yes."

     I turned and she took a step away from me. "You lied to me?"

     "I didn't want to frighten you off, girl." I never made excuses. "But what you heard was true. I am Donna Carnali, mistress of Honeybee Inn."

     She took a few more steps backwards. "And you're still talking to me because...?"

     "I want to buy flowers from you?" I smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm not going to force you into prostitution or anything like that, Aeris, dear. I've got more than enough girls on my hands."

     She seemed to relax and I nearly tried patting myself on the back. The next few exchanges were guarded, but soon, I was walking back to Honeybee Inn with a smirk on my face. 

     The next few days were spent visiting the old church, having delightful little discussions on horticulture with Aeris. I almost felt sorry for trying to insulate myself into her confidence for such a dishonourable intention, but decided that business was business. She did occassionally ask me about my business.

     "The expenses are only part of the price. Half of the entire price goes to the girl, while the remaining comes to me," I explained to her one day while we were pottering over a little jasmine. 

     "Half of the price goes to the girl?" she asked in disbelief.

     "Of course. It would hardly seem fair otherwise, would it?" I laughed at her surprise. "I was once a prostitute too, Aeris. I know how much a girl should earn and what she wants. It keeps them motivated and satisfied. Of course, some of them got so rich they left to live somewhere else. Strippers make the most money, though. They dance naked onstage and the drunks toss their savings at them."

    "Strippers? Aren't they...."

     "What's wrong, dear? So long as you're enthusiastic, the men don't care. They love you because they can't have you. It's a really horrible way of fleecing men, because they ought to get their due, but it's very profitable."

     She stared at me for a while, wide-eyed. I smiled and continued re-potting the small plant. "But I wouldn't suggest you jump into it, though. Some of my girls have died of venereal diseases, because they refused to let me pay for it and they didn't have enough money. Goes to show how little trust some girls have for me."

     "You're better than they say you are."

     "I hope so. Because I want to keep on living."

     Soon enough, however, our line of conversation on my business turned to the Zina Apartments and the impossible task (or was it?) that President Shin-ra had set for me.

     "A furniture girl?" Aeris asked inquisitively. "Like a housekeeper?"

     "And nearly everything rolled into one. One of my girls got lucky. The man who rented her fell in love with her and married her." I had cried at the wedding. Love stories and miracles do come true. "He tells you what he wants, and you follow the rules he sets. Some of the men have really weird requests. I have one girl who was really puzzled when her renter asked her to nag him. Puzzled me too."

     Aeris giggled. "That's not really true, is it?"

    "'Fraid it is."

     "What if he doesn't want a furniture girl, just the apartment?"

     "Then the girl comes back to the Inn and sees if she can strike lucky." I held up a little sprout. "Do you think this should go onto the ground or the pot?"

     I knew I had struck the jackpot when Aeris came to me one day and told me of her financial despair. Her mother was sick, she said. She needed money very quickly. "I was thinking you could tide me over until I can pay you back," she ended quietly. "I... I was thinking of the Zina job..."

    Whoopie, go Donna, I thought to myself. "That's easily arranged, dear heart. When do you want to start working?"

     Later, I phoned President Shin-ra, telling him that the new apartment was ready, complete with furniture girl. His young general could move in by next week. Then I called Hojo to tell him. I did tell him of my fears concerning Sephiroth's generally well-known celibacy. "I'm expecting him to send her back the next day, you know," I said to Hojo.

     "First, you tell me you've found the perfect girl for him, next you tell me he's going to reject her. Make up your mind, Donna," Hojo laughingly said. "I trust your judgement, my friend."

     I will admit I fretted the first day. Then the next. And the next. Why hasn't he sent her back? I wondered. Why hasn't she sent me word?

     I liked Aeris, so I asked Shin-ra for a Turk to find out what was going on in the apartement. Just my luck that the Turk sent to assist me was Reno. I was chagrined, but had to make do. The next day, the fourth day, I was beginning to entertain the insane thought that maybe Sephiroth had killed my favourite flower girl when Reno came in with a huge grin on his face. 

     "Is the larder stocked?" he asked me as we drank tea.

     "Replenished every week or so. Why?" I replied.

     He put a small stack of photos on the table. "Check these out, Miss Carnali. I come by Honeybee once in a while, but I don't get a goood a show as this."

     My eyes widened. "Reno, I told you to find out whether she was okay! Not to take pictures!!" I exclaimed at viewing the photos of Sephiroth and Aeris having hot, steamy sex. She actually managed what scores of my more experienced girls couldn't!! 

     "Come on, Miss Carnali. If I told you she was all right without bringing proof, do you really think you would have believed me?" 

     Come to think of it, he was right. I hastily stole he negatives from him while one of my girls was entertaining him as his reward. Then I called Shin-ra. When he realized it was me on the line, he straightaway said, "What is going on in that apartment? My general hasn't entered in four days!!"

     "I would think so," I told him a little tiredly. "Your Turk just gave me some pictures of the goings-on."

     He had a good laugh, then had the line passed to Hojo. "Forget it," I said flatly, hanging up. 

     Aeris came into my office with a sweet smile on her face. I took one look at her and decided not to ask what she'd been up to. "Well?" I asked her. 

     "Well what?" she asked innocently. 

     "Well what?" I echoed. "You don't send me word for two entire weeks of how you are, only to finally emerge just to stock up the frigging larder."

     "You want to know what happened?" she asked, this time cheekily. 

     "No!" I shot back. 

     She told me anyway, ending with, "So I now have enough money to pay you back for my mother's treatment, and I'd like to thank you, because I decided to stay on in the job."

     "You what?"

     "I decided to stay on for the extended contract you told me about. Seph wants me to stay on, too."

    Seph? Oh, right, Sephiroth. "Well, that's nice to hear."

     She beamed at me. "Oh, and can you do me a favour?" she asked nervously.

     "Anything. I like it when one of my girls get ahead."

     "Could you help me take care of my mother? I mean, I wouldn't want her to be lonely all the time..."

     I smiled at her softly. "Anything." 

      She grinned at me. "Thank you so much!" And she ran out. 

     And the newspapers were filled with earfuls in the gossip columns the next day. Hojo paid me a visit. "Where did you find that girl??" he demanded. 

     "In the slums. Why?"

     He looked thoughtful, then his eyes had an evil spark in them. "Nothing. Just wondering. She's a lovely creature, isn't she?" he said, admiring a picture in the paper of Sephiroth and Aeris sharing a kiss in a public garden. "How well they go with each other." He had a nasty look on his face which I didn't like, but I decided not to question it. I have more sense than that!

  Six Years later...

    "Relax," I told her. "He's coming, okay? You've tolerated six years without him. What's six minutes more?"

     Aeris fidgeted. The welcoming ceremony had to wait until the ship docked. Yet she continued to shuffle restlessly, her green eyes anxious. She'd been patiently waiting for him to come home since receiving his last letter about two months ago. It was actually kind of amusing to watch her, but irritating as well. 

     Then he appeared, walking down the red carpet. Shin-ra was at the front of the platform to greet the Great General, Rufus close by. Aeris and I had to wait behind, but as soon as the dear girl saw Sephiroth, she wasn't going to wait anymore. I wanted to grin in relief at seeing him alive, but my gladness that Aeris would be taken off my hands was quickly replaced by shock when she ran out, down the red carpet, shouting his name and holding her arms out to him in joy. 

     "Oh no," I groaned to myself. Sephiroth was no better. He just stopped when he saw her, stood there and let her throw her arms about him, embracing her back. "Oh no." The entire crowd fell silent, just watching Sephiroth and Aeris have a very emotional reunion. They embraced. They kissed. They whispered to each other. They totally ignored the crowd! He lifted her up and swung her around. They kissed again. And they whispered again. 

     Oh gods, how melodramatic! 

     Deciding they had enough kisses for the time being, they finally got back on track and Sephiroth got back onto the program, approaching Shin-ra with a sort of arrogant smirk on his face. "The campaign in Wutai was successful," he declared. 

     Shni-ra nodded gravely. "We can tell. The reports speak extensively of your leadership and genius tactician skills. And who is this, may I ask?"

     Sephiroth put his arm about Aeris' waist, something to be expected, I suppose, and smiled down at her. "My fiancee, Aeris."

     Now that was a shocker. I could feel my jaw going slack. Photographers flashed their cameras, everyone crowded in to see the great general's fiancee and I felt like fainting. 

     Yes, my dears. Love stories do come true. 

     I was about to enter one of my other, newer establishments one fine evening when I heard someone from behind me. "Hello, Amy."

     I turned. "Hello, Otaku," I greeted Hojo. "How have things been? Lab's been lonely since you lost your prized specimen? Ah, well. You might be getting new specimens to play with soon enough."

     He smiled nastily. "Yes, Donna. You have my infinite thanks. I'd been after the girl for a long time, you know. And now, one of my plans have come out just fine even without my needing to work on it!"

     I frowned. "What's so special about Aeris?" I asked. 

     Hojo laughed harshly. "She's not totally human, you know."

     "Oh yeah? Just how different is she?"

     "That's what I'm trying to find out, and I will, right after their honeymoon. I'm also curious what her heritage combined with Sephiroth's abilities will produce."

     "I.... see."

     "So, that's why i'm very grateful to you, Donna, dear."

     My eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the world went black. 

    Shit.