Hello there. I have decided to flesh out my very first fanfiction story. This story is very dear to me and I truly hope I have only enhanced the enjoyment for the reader. I also wanted to take a moment to thank all those who took time to read the original and to those that took time to review or favorite this story. It means more to me than I can say. Feedback is still wanted and appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or FFVII. Those games belong to Square Enix.


Blurry. That is how the dream always begins; like a water painting that has been left in the rain, all the images become distorted. As the blurriness begins to fade away an image begins to come into view. A person in black with their back to her. A few moments later, the area around this person begins to clear up completely, and she can see the image in its entirety.

It's him.

He is looking at a building, and though she can't see his face, she knows his eyes are on the flowers she planted around the building. He's waiting; for what? She silently prays that he is waiting for her. Then he begins to turn around, but the sun is so bright that she can't see his face. She waits, holding her breath, as his face is about to come through the blinding light...

Aerith jolts awake. She let's out a large sigh, and says "Always the same".

For the past few months, she has had this dream, and every time, more and more details are revealed. Each night, the dream's intensity increases, and every time she is closer to him. But lately, the dream has been exactly the same, right up to the point of not being able to see his face through the light. She has mixed emotions each night when she goes to bed; those of comfort and elation, and those of sadness and dread.

Aerith observes the time. Pretty soon, Yuffie will be charging into the room making sure Aerith is up and ready. There is work to do and the restoration waits for no one. She knows that Yuffie may get on some people's nerves, but her constant energy and smile are a pillar of strength for Aerith. A few minutes later, as Aerith walks into the meeting room, she can see the surprise on Yuffie's face that she has arrived so early. It seems that Aerith has broken the routine for both of them this morning. She smiles at all of her friends in the room; Yuffie, Cid, and Leon. These were the people Aerith had been through so many changes with and she was always grateful for the comradery.

"Well I'll be damned, no cheerleader this morning eh?"

"Good morning to you too Cid" Aerith replies playfully.

Cid, the typical 'tough guy with a tender heart'. The teasing from him is nothing new, it is actually a daily occurrence. It almost seems that Cid gave her the starting time that he did just to be able to 'rag' her every morning. The new schedule that Cid gave to everyone for the restoration is as follows: Cid takes on fixing machines and doing other maintenance projects. Aerith takes on painting, gardening, and any other tasks that help the now debunk Hallow Bastion become the restored Radiant Garden, Yuffie and Leon take on the computers, liaison work between worlds, and any other jobs that come up. At the end of the day, the group always tries to have at least a 30 to 45 minute meeting to discuss particulars of the day, and other matters. That is how most days operate unless there are extenuating circumstances. They only take one day off a week for leisure and fun. This is Aerith's life now and she is grateful for it, but unanswered questions haunt her.

After breakfast and a quick run through of the schedule of the day the group disperces into their own work. Aerith goes to grab some paint from one of the closets. While it's quiet her mind wanders to...the time before.

The time before? That was the only way for Aerith to describe it. She wasn't sure if she was even supposed to remember that time, since it seemed that not many others did. Here in this place, they had a background, a past together. She had grown up with many of them, and they all were waiting for the others to make their way back. Only Leon seemed to have a possible inkling that something wasn't right about their memories. Maybe it was due to the fact he was tied to the same feelings of yearning she experiences; the need to be reunited with someone. Yet she had never been able to start that conversation with him. She had resolved herself to do the 'wait and see' approach when it came to that subject with Leon. But even though they had never spoken about it, his actions and reactions have kept her from thinking she was insane. Though that was a relief for Aerith it didn't mean they didn't haunt her.

Those off memories;t she kept to herself; and they continuously ate at her. One of her deepest desires was for her friends to truly understand what she was seeing or remembering; to be able to have them look at these memories through her eyes. Unfortunately, she is still searching for a way to accomplish this.

Aerith made her way back towards the meeting room, carrying her two buckets of paint.

She remembers being in a place she could not describe, except by the way it made her feel. There were many other people there, many which seemed connected to him. However, almost none of those people were here with her now in this reality. In this place of her memories, she was at peace and she was able to watch over the planet, and all of those that she loved. She was literally connected to that planet...to her promised land.

There were so many times during her work in Radiant Garden that her mind would start to wander, and she would remember what seemed to be specific situations involving him. For instance in one memory she was standing near a busy intersection, selling flowers, and then... he would appear and buy a flower from her...or did he? The confusing thing was that every time she thought about that said situation, the outcome would switch. This made the memory even more exasperating.

The next memory however is much more distinct. "I was tending the flowers in the church" she says to herself, and then a loud CRASH brought him down right on top of the flowers. "After introductions, I asked him a question...why did I ask him a question? What was the...oh yes, I was being hunted and I wanted protection. So I asked him to be my bodyguard so I could get home." This memory always brought a smile to Aerith's face. Thinking back to her situation, she had known there was no way she could pay him, so she had thought to herself, catch him off guard by saying your payment to him will be one date (secretly hoping he wouldn't refuse). He had accepted.

Her happy trip to another time suddenly became something else when another memory started to invade the one she was thinking of at the moment. She internally tried to push it away but it was no use. That memory was surfacing now, and when that happens, it always makes her collapse. This memory is very different from the other ones; scattered and harsh. With a white flash, the first part of the memory appears and she is on her knees praying; there is light all around her. Another flash and the second part comes through; she looks up and looks right at him. He has come for her and her prayer for Holy, the materia that will help the planet, has been answered. And she knows with every fiber of her being that everything is going to be okay. But then with vigor, as the final image of the memory appears, her body reacts, as if the incident was occurring at this very moment. As she begins to black out she remembers what happened.

"Ahh!" Aerith screams out loud. The pain in her stomach is excruciating and she only has a brief second to look down and see the sword sticking through her before all goes dark.