Disclaimer: Final Fantasy Seven is the property of Square Enix. Support the game now. I hereby disavow any attempt to claim or profit anything in the venue of this series.
30 Seconds
He was sinking into the place where she waited, her wish to see him, be with him, thrummed through his veins as easily as his heart pulsed in his chest. His breath caught when he first glimpsed her eyes in the swirling mists of the Lifestream.
She was so close...
"Aerith," he called her name, desperate for her to hear his voice in the miasma of voices. "Aerith..."
She smiled, a soft and gentle ray of light in the madness of the place. Long had he been tormented in the darkness of Jenova's legacy and the Planet's whispers. Yet, in that one instant it was all worth it.
Then for a brief second he felt absolute peace. A welcome beyond any words that buoyed his soul. Her magic, her essence of self, spiraled around him. Warming him and gentling the grief caused by her abrupt departure from his life. Stolen away in moments just as his mother, Nibelheim, and Zack had been...
"Aerith." He whispered.
A pause.
His heart pounded.
Once.
Twice.
Three times more and then the world of misty life energy was gone, replaced by a warm palm against his cheek. Champagne colored eyes flickered behind thick dark lashes as Cloud Strife froze in the heat of that warmth.
"Cloud, are you alright?" the woman beside him asked. Her breath came in steady patterns as he scanned her face. She slowly filtered into the place where the gentle warmth had been.
Tifa, he remembered. This is Tifa...
There at the apex of reality and dreams he found himself starring into the eyes of living flesh. Moments ago, he knew, he would have gladly sunk into that place with the woman beyond his reach. He'd have left behind this woman who loved so selflessly.
She brought me back. He thought, unable to be angry or to voice the bitter regret that sank like a rock in his stomach. Because the truth was... The truth is I still love her more then any other.
Tifa.
Aerith.
He was lost, he knew, somewhere deep in the dark places of his soul. Tifa knew where those places were and fearlessly sought them out. She battled the darkness and tried to guide him back into the light.
I love them both. He could only have one. I'm not sure why. Aerith was part of something else. Tifa had always claimed his heart.
What would Zack have done?
Vincent? What would he do?
Mother, I wish you were still here.
"Cloud, it's okay." She stated. "Just take a moment to breathe. The others can wait a little while longer."
Did she mean she would wait? Why? Why would she wait...
"I'll be fine." he choked out, grasping his arms around her waist and burying his blonde head of spikes into Tifa's abdomen.
There on the sandy shores of what had once been Healin Lodge, the man known as Cloud Strife struggled through...