Author's Note:
Before you continue onto this story, I'd like for you to take the time to read this short note.
I was in college when I decided to try out writing for the first time. Bored with the typical fan fictions on the internet and unsatisfied with the slim amount of stories featuring Zack/Aerith at the time, I decided to try writing my own. I was not expecting the amount of followers and reviewers that I had! It was amazing! It was a blast writing these stories for you all, and some of you truly loved them. It was inspiring to me. Some of you had even mentioned that I should write my own stories, and then an idea formed. I was getting ready to graduate from college, and I had my grad show coming up. I decided to re-invent some of my own characters and from there, I went on to formulate and plan my own sci-fi/fantasy novel. It's been years since I wrote these fan fictions, and I know there are multiple errors grammatically, etc. that I hope you can overlook as I am now far more knowledgeable on the subject. But I just wanted to let all of my fans and future readers know that I have finally published my own book. It's coupled with illustrations in every chapter and has a special section in the back with character bios, bestiary, weapons, and more! What was originally planned to be developed into a video game was transferred into a novel series for you all to enjoy. I did it because of you. If it weren't for all of your inspiring reviews, I probably never would have gathered the courage to follow my dreams. Thank you, all of you! I hope you can enjoy my own characters as much as you enjoy those interpreted in my fan fictions. Please go to www. ARCrebs .com for more information about my own novel series.
(You'll have to retype the link since the doc reader won't let me put a link in...)
-A. R. Crebs (3/1/14)
Hello all! After about a year I've decided to continue my fanfiction. This is the SEQUEL to "The Decision Between Life or Death". I advise you read the first part before you read this story. Thanks to everyone and their continued support throughout the last story. I've decided to do this piece due to many requests. I did not originally intend to do so but I did leave opportunity open for just in case, minor details that will play a large part of this next story. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing! -Annubis
The Decision Between Life or Death:
A Second Chance
Chapter One
Tifa wiped her hands off on the towel hanging next to the sink behind the bar. She sighed, another day had passed just like any other. It was late and the bar was now in peace compared to what it had been only an hour ago. Her brown eyes scanned the room looking for empty bottles and glasses. Her orbs stopped on a familiar figure hung over the side of one of the corner tables. A small smile crossed her lips as she ventured toward the man.
'Same old, same old.' Tifa sighed again as she tapped the snoring man on the shoulder. He did not stir.
"Yo!" Tifa shouted as she tugged on the white collar of his dress shirt. The man jolted upwards, knocking over his wooden chair. He stumbled in a frenzy, trying not to fall with the tipped over furniture.
"YeeO!" He slurred, alarmed. The man's blue eyes scanned up and down at the blurred woman before him. He placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning in dangerously close to her face. He squint his eyes and stepped back. "Tifa!"
"Reno...I've already closed the place, I think it's time you've gone home." Tifa put her hands on her hips.
"Right. I know! I whuzz on my wheey out." Reno cleared his throat. He chuckled nervously as the dark haired woman narrowed her eyes.
"Sure, Reno." Tifa lifted the man's blue jacket from the tabletop. She handed it to him slowly, a smile crossed her face. "When will you ever learn?"
"Learn?" Reno scratched his head, his eyes darted between the chair and the empty glass on the table. "Eh, never I suppose." He turned his gaze to meet hers again. He bent down to pick up the chair.
"Maybe if I knocked some sense into you?" Tifa tilted her head as a giggle escaped her lips.
"Uh, no! That won't be necessary! I'll set my alarm on my watch next time." Reno held up a hand. His aqua eyes stared at his wristwatch.
"Hmm, usually you're good at telling what time it is." Tifa snatched the empty glass on the table and began walking towards the bar.
"Yeah...Well, anyways, sorry." Reno slid on his jacket. "Same time tomorrow?" His eyebrows raised.
"I'll be expecting you, as always!" Tifa grinned as she washed the glass in the sudsy water of the sink. Reno raised a hand in the air as he walked towards the door.
"Want me to lock it?" he called out. "Or has Strife not come home yet?" He paused.
"...No. I'll get it later." Tifa's eyes dropped to the glass in her hands.
"Alright. Well I'll see ya later, Tifa. Tell Cloud I said 'Yo' when you see him next..." Reno opened the door. The sound of rain roared into the room. "But then again I'd have just as much luck seeing him randomly on the street..." He closed the door after him.
"..." Tifa was left in silence. 'You're probably right, Reno.' Tifa cleared her throat as she drained the water. She dried her hands once again and clicked off the lights to the bar. Quietly she made her way up the stairs towards Denzel and Marlene's room. She could hear the patter of rain on the windowpane as she entered the room. Lightning flashed, lighting up the two children in their beds. Tifa leaned against the door frame, staring at the two sleeping. After a moment she turned and left the room walking across the hall to where Cloud's room was located. It was still a mess like the last time she had been in there, but then again she couldn't remember if Cloud had even stayed long enough to be able to clean anything. She would do it herself, but she was afraid she'd mess with Cloud's routine. Tifa's attention was brought to the window as a cold breeze flowed through the room. She ran her hands up and down her bare arms as she made her way to the open window. Rain pelted against her hands as she slid it shut.
'I wonder how long that's been open?' She leaned against the glass despite the chill it gave her. Her chocolate eyes stared at the puddles in the streets as the rain splashed against the surface. Her mind was brought back to the past.
'It had rained like this for days when meteor was approaching.' Tifa's memory struck up the events that took place so long ago. 'But it only felt like yesterday...' She remembered journeying across the planet meeting new people and battling new monsters. Her and the others had fought against Shinra numerous times. It started out with AVALANCHE destroying the mako reactor. She had been reunited with Cloud once again, but he wasn't himself. He was someone completely different.
'He was like Zack...' Tifa closed her eyes, trying to remember the other soldier's face. It had been so long since she had seen that face. His dark hair, and brilliant blue eyes, like Clouds. They had looked so different as he was dieing. They weren't brilliant anymore, but a dull purple-gray. Tifa felt herself shiver. She could still remember Aeris' cries of pain as Zack's life passed away in her arms.
'Aeris...she tried so hard to hide her sadness and pain, but when that happened...she let it all out.' Tifa placed a hand against the glass as she looked up into the sky. Aeris had also sacrificed herself to save everyone. It was a series of unfortunate events and it was all Sephiroth's doing.
Sephiroth had been defeated by Cloud after he killed Aeris, but somehow he was able to come back. Kadaj and his brothers had come to complete Sephiroth's mission. They had fought against Tifa and the others and almost had defeated Cloud in the end when Sephiroth came to the world through Kadaj.
'Cloud had defeated him...but Yazoo and Loz had put their final powers together and attacked. I thought Cloud was gone for sure. Thanks to Aeris...he was saved again.' Aeris and Zack had not allowed Cloud to enter the Lifestream just yet. They allowed him to live and showed him that he wasn't alone and that he could live in peace.
"But Cloud won't live in peace." Tifa whispered to the sky. "He still won't forgive himself and he never will. He blames himself for everyone's death and will never let it go." Tifa stepped away from the window. She made her way to Cloud's desk and lifted the photograph that laid in the mess of papers and pens.
"Aeris and Zack saved everyone both times. They'll probably always be there to save us...to save Cloud." Tifa bit her lower lip. "Am I too weak to be of any help?" She lifted the photograph.
After the incident with Kadaj, Cloud had opened himself up quite a bit. He had smiled more often and conversed with everyone. He'd even visit Tifa in the bar occasionally and talk about his day. He would play with the kids, but despite all that he would still leave for days on end without notice. He would disappear to the church that lay in the middle of the destruction caused by meteor. And every time Tifa looked into his eyes, despite his smiles there was still an emptiness behind them.
"If only Aeris hadn't died..." Tifa thought for a second. "Has it really been that long?" Tifa tried to remember. Was it three, four years? Tifa sat in the leather chair in the middle of the room. She spun in a circle a couple of times.
'What I wouldn't give to have Aeris here with me...to have someone to talk to.' Tifa leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. She could hear thunder roaring outside. The storm was getting worse. 'It wasn't fair. Why did they both have to be taken? Why did dad have to be taken?' Tifa looked down at her hands.
"Is it really over? Are the battles really over?" She rubbed her face and sighed deeply. "Can that monster really be gone?" Her memory scanned the tricks Sephiroth had played on her and her friends. He had tricked her, posing as Cloud. He had done the same thing to Aeris but things then had gone way out of hand. Tifa clenched her fists. Thunder blasted outside, ruining her thoughts. She stood up quickly, staring at the moon outside.
'He had nearly destroyed everything. But at least it's over now.' Tifa pulled her hair behind her ear. 'I just wish he hadn't destroyed...Cloud too...'
"He's just like Vincent, always blaming himself for something that he had no control over." Tifa mumbled. Thunder blasted again, this time shaking the windows of the building.
"Tifa!?" A small voice called from across the hall. Tifa turned quickly and made her way into the children's room. Marlene was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes.
"Marlene?" Tifa sat on the edge of the bed.
"Tifa? Where's Cloud?" The young girl pulled the covers around her.
"He, he's not here." Tifa frowned.
"He's not outside in the storm is he? Tifa, why won't he come home?" Marlene's voice whined.
"Because...we're not important to him." Another voice called from the bed next to the girls.
"Denzel!" Tifa stared at him in disbelief. The two children were growing up fast, they were starting to notice things about Cloud and Tifa and it often led to uncomfortable conversations.
"It's true! If he thought of us as a real family, maybe he'd care more." The boy sat up in the bed. Thunder roared again. Tifa brought her attention to the world outside the window.
"Denzel. Don't say things like that. Cloud cares. He cares much more than you think." Tifa stood up and made her way to Denzel's bed. "Why do you think he fights? He fought so you wouldn't be sick anymore. He fought along Vincent's side to keep us safe. He even fought to save the planet."
"I know he keeps fighting, but what does he do now that the fighting is over?" The boy threw the bedsheets off of his body. He flung his legs over the bedside and scooted to sit next to Tifa. "He's fought and kept everyone safe...but he's not here to enjoy the freedom of it." The boy clenched his fists bunching up the cloth of his pajama pants. Tifa ran a hand through Denzel's hair.
"Does Cloud not love us?" Marlene whispered. She gave Denzel a worried look.
"Stop it you two. He loves you both very much! He loves all of his friends and all of the other children too." The woman threw her hands in the air.
"Why does he blame himself?" Denzel crawled back under the covers.
"I..." Tifa averted her eyes from Denzel's piercing gaze. 'Damn it, he's doing it again. He's prying to see what I feel about all this. Who'd he learn this from anyway?'
"But what about you?" Marlene interrupted.
"What?" Tifa turned to the girl. She still wore Aeris' pink bow in her hair.
"You said he loves us but what about you?" Marlene asked innocently. Tifa looked back and forth between the two children, wondering if the conversation could get any worse.
"...You two need to get to bed! You have school in the morning!" Tifa stammered out. She smiled when she heard groans from the two children. Tifa made her way to the door as Marlene and Denzel covered themselves up and lay back in their beds.
'...He loves another...' Tifa thought to herself as she began to close the door.
"Tifa?" Denzel called out again. Tifa paused, looking over her shoulder at the boy. "He loves you too." He pushed his head against the pillow.
"Of course." Tifa whispered before shutting the door.
'Those two never stop with those questions. They always find a way to bring him up.' Tifa shook her head. She took a step forward and slipped. Her hand fumbled for the door handle before she could fall.
"What?" She looked down to see water on the floor. "When...?" Her gaze followed the wet footprints that led across the floor towards the closed door of Cloud's room.
'When did he get here?'
She watched in horror as Sephiroth's sword repeatedly struck through Zack's chest. She could hear the sickening sound as it passed through his body.
'No...stop it!' Aeris held her hands over her ears. She watched the struggle continue as Zack tugged on Sephiroth's Masamune. He pulled it from the silver-haired man's grasp and struck him with his own blade. Sephiroth fell over the ledge to the walkway below. Zack stumbled slightly, his black spikes of hair bounced as he hit the ground behind him.
'No, not again! I don't want to see it again!' Aeris tugged at her hair. She watched the scene, unable to do anything herself. Cloud approached the dieing man and soon the rest followed, including Aeris herself.
'Heal him! Don't just sit there and watch him die!' Aeris watched herself as she clung desperately to Zack's body. The clanging of the falling metal ring was deafening to her ears, along with her wails of pain. Zack lay in his own blood, lifeless. He wasn't Zack anymore. He was another victim of Sephiroth's hatred and insanity. Aeris continued to watch as the scene unfolded.
'I ran away. I ran away to summon Holy.' Aeris recalled as she watched herself run away from Cloud and the others. The group had to find another way out of the crater due to the walkway crumbling behind her. Sephiroth was following her and the place was falling apart. Aeris watched as the ground around Zack's body crumbled and he fell into the Lifestream.
'He's one with the Lifestream now. He's dead.' Aeris choked. The scene changed. She could see herself above the altar in the center of the City of the Ancients. She was praying for holy as Sephiroth's blade pierced her body, her blood mixing with Zack's on the blade. She slumped forward as her materia fell into the waters below.
'At least I was able to finish the prayer...but it wasn't enough. Zack and I had to call on the Lifestream to save the planet.' Aeris watched Cloud in a maddened frenzy annihilate Jenova, sending her back to her prison in the crater, and then Sephiroth.
'I've never seen him like that. It's almost frightening.' Aeris felt her heart sink. Tifa was standing over her dead body, crying. 'I hurt Tifa too. I hurt them all.' She watched as Cloud cried over her body as he made the painful journey up the glass stairs towards the blue waters that would become her grave. She watched the pained expression Cloud had as he let her go. His apologies rang out clearly in her ears. He would never forgive himself.
'He has to forgive himself. It was my fault. I ran away...I was the selfish one.' She watched her body sink in the blue depths and hit the sand at the bottom. The dirt stirred as her body sank through the thin layer and into the green liquid beneath the surface, the Lifestream.
"Oh!" Aeris woke up with a start. She had been dreaming.
'I wonder what it means?' She thought to herself as she slowly stood in the middle of her manifested garden. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her pink dress and raised her arms in the air, stretching. If it was one thing, being dead sure could get boring. She rarely slept but when she did she always had the same dream. Aeris looked around at the flowers around her. There wasn't a soul in sight.
"Zack?" Aeris called out. There was no answer.
'He's been ignoring me a lot lately...' Aeris felt a fit of anger approaching.
"Zack!?" She looked up at the blank sky above her. 'All he ever does is swing that sword around. What's he got to fight for? He's already dead...' Aeris put her hands on her hips and huffed.
"ZACK!" She screamed loudly. She was irritated by the way he had been very short with her lately as well.
"What?" The dark haired man appeared next to her side in the flower patch. He was shirtless and covered in sweat. He gave her a sheepish grin. Aeris stared at him, not amused at all.
"Zack...why do you train so much?" The woman raised an eyebrow at him.
"To be prepared." He said quickly and turned away from her, swinging his sword.
"For WHAT!?" She screeched. Zack gave her an exasperated sigh and a roll of his eyes.
"For any dangers that may arise. You never complained before!" Zack stabbed the artificial ground and leaned on his sword.
"What dangers!?" Aeris threw her arms in the air. She rarely got this angry but she had had enough. "Zack, we're already dead!" Aeris groaned. He turned from her again, her words had obviously hurt him.
"I know that, Aeris. But I was dead before and came back, right?" He looked at her with hopeful eyes.
"Zack...that was all because of Hojo..." The green eyed woman rolled her eyes. She was getting sick of the pointless fights they were having.
"Well how about Sephiroth? He keeps finding a way back! What if he arises again on the planet? Cloud won't be able to handle him by himself forever!" Zack glared at the flowers at his feet.
"Zack...you've got to let go. You-" Aeris placed a hand on him.
"Let go? Let go!?" Zack brushed her hand away. "Aeris! What about you!? All you ever do is sit by that pool, watching them for days straight!"
"To protect them! Zack, this is all we can do! We can sit here and watch! We can't physically help them like you want to. We can only call on the Lifestream when needed." Aeris tore her gaze away from his. He didn't like what she had said.
"I'll find a way, Aeris. And when I do, I'll be prepared..." Zack lifted his sword. He gave her a cocky smile before disappearing from view.
"Oooh! ZACK!" She stomped her foot and threw her arms to her sides. "Fine!" She yelled as her manifested flower garden faded into darkness. Aeris stomped her way over to the pool in the center of the Lifestream. She dropped to her knees and leaned over the side, her hand falling into the water. Aeris stared at her reflection over the view of the planet in the pool.
'What if he's right? What if there is a way to go back?' She stared at the green eyes looking back up at her. She scoffed. 'How is that possible? How can we come back? And why us and not anyone else? It's ridiculous, really. Zack's just bored here in this world. I don't blame him...' Aeris let out a long sigh.
"I do miss being alive..." She tossed her hand into the water again, watching the liquid ripple.
A new image appeared, one of Sephiroth after his death. He too had fallen into the waters and sank through the sandy surface to the Lifestream below. Aeris green eyes followed the flow of the Lifestream. She felt her heart stop.
"Oh my!" She covered her mouth. Her eyes darted around the marble floored room looking for a sign of any soul. "That's it..." She whispered.
"I get it now!" She screamed and giggled to herself while skipping around the pool of water.
Well that's it for chapter one. Thanks again for reading. This chapter was mostly a recap of events and a way to explain the time line. I was thinking of writing the sequel over Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus, but i felt it'd be too much like what i did with the first story. So i decided that since the way i wrote the first story, Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus could have still taken place the way it actually did, that i could just write what was gonna be the trilogy. This one will be pretty much original. Not sure on the length. I'm just writing as i go, like i did the last story so whatever happens, happens! Thanks again and keep checking in for new chapters! -Annubis.