Chapter 1- ((pleaseeee review! X( ))

I never imagined life would be this way…

"I'm really sorry about dragging you here, Serah. It'll only take a second."Cloud said, walking through the hospital's automatic glass doors.

I followed after my brother, staying close in trail, for everywhere we turned, those injured in the bombing of the mako reactor overflowed into the hallways, obviously not being well taken care of. I grabbed Cloud's hand as we forced our way up to the top level through one of the stairwells.

The top floor was in better conditon then below and wasn't affected by the hectic craziness. We searched the room numbers till we found hers.

The one which belonged to Aerith, Cloud's girlfriend.

She was the only one in the silent room. You would think at least the TV would be on or something, but no. She sat propped up, looking down at the sheets, where her hands lay simply folded. Her brown hair was freshly braided back, allowing her glassy green eyes to stand out from the rest of her face. Her eyes didn't move, nor did her body and her face never changed from the same glazed, emotionless expression.

Most would think she was dead, but I knew better. It could all be explained by one thing alone. Desperation disease, an illness that sends its victim into a comatose state where they rest between life and death, neither awake nor dreaming. But in its own sense, the disease not only affects its victims but those close to them, hence the 'despair' is felt by them.

And I knew Cloud must have been suffering from it.

He slowly walked to her bedside and kissed her on the cheek, his bright blue eyes looking with hope. He slipped a small yellow flower into her closed hands. "These flowers were special to you…Tifa said she would take care of them."He turned to face the window, taking a deep breath and continuing, "'I'll come back to you, even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing you'll be here.'…so don't give up on me while I'm gone. I'd never be able to forgive myself."

And with that, he left the room, his head hanging low enough to hide the tears in his eyes, unable to speak.

How I wished I could help him. To take it all away, to cure Aerith and erase the pain. To make all those days where he'd suffer in silence disappear, not leaving a trace. But it's never that simple and never will be. He'd have to turn to a new page on his own.

Walking out of the room, I took one last glance at her, perfectly still and frozen in time. Tears dripped down my face merely by the sight and I just walked away, leaving her there. There was nothing to be done to help her. Cloud took me around the shoulders and we walked back out through the crowded mess.

"Serah…I'm sorry, but I had to say goodbye to her…I couldn't- I wouldn't...I just can't risk losing her." Cloud muttered. He was barely audible over all those screaming and crying in the hospital.

Though, there was one little girl's voice that stood out. Her distinctive bright, pink hair was shaken in front of her face as she flailed about. Her flowery dress and short stature, along with her crying fit made her seem much younger."Where's my brother? Where's Dominic? I know he's here! Where is he?"It took multiple nurses to restrain her, but she didn't let up. She came running down the hallway, bumping into Cloud's leg."You! You know where my brother is! You're wearing SOLDIER armour! Tell me where he is!"she screamed out, crying uncontrollably.

Cloud just placed a hand on her head, comforting her. Dominic was one of the many enlisted at the time to Mako Reactor 8 when the explosion occurred. He knew what had happened but would he really do that to the poor girl?

"Don't worry about him."He said calmly. She cocked her head to one side childishly and ran further down the hallway. He always had a soft spot for children.

"Cloud, you ready to go?"I said quietly, speaking for the first time all day.

"Yeah."He straddled his Hardy-Daytona motorcycle and revved the engine. I hopped into the sidecar he had recently attached for this trip and stuck tight to my seat, knowing too well that Cloud loved to speed. He skidded out of the front parking lot and down to the main roads leading out of Midgar.

Now the real story begins.