Last Visit

Cloud, roused from his slumber by the roaring of an eighteen wheeler on the road outside of the loft, slipped out of the bed almost noiselessly so as not to wake his slumbering fiancee. He admired her serene form affectionately; his eyes settled on the length of her long, raven mane and the bare, smooth skin of her back.

She was smiling even as she slept and he wondered if she had encountered him in her dreams, the reason for her happiness. He went to the balcony; the twin doors had been thrown open to allow the sweet, summer's breezes to sweep into the loft.

His wife-to-be had picked out sheer, white curtains to hang over the doors and they fluttered airily in the breeze--ghostly, pale arms reaching out to him. He stood outside, barefoot and shirtless, taking in the sights of an early Saturday morning. For once, everything seemed to be at peace.

Cloud abandoned the bedroom and went to the bathroom in preparation for a shower. He stripped off his sweats and turned the 'hot' and 'cold' knobs until the water ran warm over his hand. He drew back the curtain and stepped inside the deep, rounded tub, flipping the shower head on with his finger.

He closed his eyes as the water flowed over his body, soothing his muscles as well as his nerves. He tilted his head back and the water beaded off of his face. He was so lost in the almost sensual feeling of the warm shower that he didn't hear the bathroom door swing open. Nor did he notice the shadowy silhouette of a woman on the opposite side of the shower curtain.

The sound of the curtain's rings against their rail prompted him to open his eyes. His fiancee joined him in the shower, pressing her body against his. She rested her palms on his chest and looked up at him with her burgundy colored eyes.

"Tifa?" he asked, eying her with interest.

He had seen her every day for years, had shared his bed with her many times. His Mako-enhanced eyes had feasted upon her cream-white flesh many times, but strangely something seemed different about her. Her aura, maybe.

"Hello, Cloud."

Her voice. It was light and sweet like a bird chirping. He recognized the tone because he'd heard it before. But not from Tifa.

"What..." he shook his head, "What is going on?"

Her hands. He felt her caress. It was feather light and intimate, but hesitant--as though her fingertips were travelers who had discovered a new and unknown land. The air around them suddenly smelled of flowers.

"I've missed you." Tifa spoke with a different voice. One that Cloud hadn't heard in four years time.

"A--Aerith?" he whispered shakily.

She didn't respond. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him. He closed his eyes and brought his arms up to encircle her within them. He didn't know how or why, but he knew that the woman he held in his embrace was no longer Tifa, but Aerith. He could just feel it in his heart; she evoked that familiar feeling that he had only experience in her presence. A presence that had long ago faded into the lifestream.

He broke away from her now and saw that she no longer was Tifa Lockheart, but Aerith Gainsborough. The long, black hair that he'd been expecting had transformed into lush, auburn rivulets. The emotional dark eyes of Tifa's were now bright, emerald green.

She smiled at him, her hand touching his face. He covered her delicate hand with his.

"But how?" he whispered.

"I don't really know how." she admitted in her own voice, "I just know that this will be the first and last time I will get this chance."

"We." he corrected her, "We will get this chance."

He bent down and captured her candy pink lips with his. The kiss was tender and innocent, apprehensive. They were both afraid that if they were to take things too quickly, the moment might escape them before they were able to build anything meaningful from it.

He felt weak in his knees, drunk off the taste of her. And she tasted like vanilla melting in his mouth. The hot velvet of her tongue moved against his. His fingers became entangled in her hair, feeling like silk even under the flowing water of the shower head.

She broke away from their kiss for an opportunity to gaze at him again. He pressed his palms into the small of her back, kneading the soft muscles at the base of her spine. Her skin was smooth and pale like vanilla ice cream- sensuous, feminine curves from her slim waist, rounding out at her hips, and extending into long, shapely legs.

His rough hands found the soft, innocent planes of her skin and explored her femininity with grace and tenderness. His fingertips recorded every part of her to memory. The fragile bones at her collar and wrists. The arch of her spine. The swell of her breasts, dipping into her slender stomach. She responded to his manual study of her anatomy with soft moans and gentle sighs.

She had begun her own search of his body and her hands moved meticulously and curiously over every line and imperfection of his flesh. He sucked in a quick breath each time he felt her fingernails brush against his most sensitive parts--the flesh below his ear lobe and just south of his navel.

Aerith could sense the need building inside of Cloud as with each sweet stroke of her hands, his breaths grew more pleading and eager. His lips moved slowly from her mouth to the area between her breasts, peppering her skin with hot, hungry kisses as they went. She arched into him, her head falling back and a sigh escaping from her mouth.

She could feel the fever of his own mouth as he bussed his lips across her breasts and took her attentive nipples lightly between his teeth. Her fingers grasped at his hair, tugging on each strand unintentionally. His hands were now between her legs, spreading her thighs apart. Her knees had begun to shake.

Cloud plunged a finger inside of Aerith's waiting and shivering opening and the digit was swallowed in wet, silken heat. He began slowly moving his finger deeper inside and then pulling it back again. His thumb worked in a circular motion around her delicate pearl, massaging her slick juices around her skin. She cried out in response to his actions and he carefully partnered his lone digit with another, penetrating her again.

Her fingernails were ragged across his muscular back and her teeth sank into his shoulder. He winced a little, but found the pain to be quite stimulating. He settled his mouth over hers again, swallowing her moans and cries with his kisses. He had increased the rhythm of his penetrations now and she was bucking her hips against his knuckles, tightening her grip on his strong shoulders.

Cloud didn't stop until he heard Aerith's raspy cry of ecstasy accompanied by the sudden burst of wetness rushing past his fingers, pushing them out of her. She hunched over him, shuddering and sighing breathlessly, waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal again. He held her steady, nuzzling his face in her neck.

He gasped when he felt her small hands on his erection, wrapping tightly around his impressive width. She stroked him in long, slow, torturous movements, rubbing her thumb over the tip of his member each time she passed it. A low, throaty groan escaped from his mouth and he stifled it by attaching his teeth to her neck softly. Her pace increased and she rhythmically tightened and loosened her grip, calling him to full stiffness.

When he climaxed, he growled like an animal; his erection jerked in Aerith's hand, his seed spilling onto the bathtub's floor. She offered him a shy smile and a soft blush was visible at her cheeks. Her lips were swollen and bruised from his kisses, but she still craved more. He wrapped her arms around him, pulled him close to her and whispered in his ear.

"Take me now, Cloud, before it's too late."

Cloud did more than oblige to her request. He seized an opportunity that he had longed for while she lived and had regretted not taking a hold of after she'd passed. He turned her around by her shoulders so that her back was facing him. She shivered while his lips left a soft trail of kisses from the nape of her neck to the middle of her back.

She felt his fingertips digging into her hips as he grabbed hold of her there and pulled her to him, spearing her with his erection; his arousal was still impressive, though no longer at full peak. They moved together, their bodies flowing in a sweet harmony as one. Their unity was complete, their curiosities fulfilled.

She cried out as his hips ground against her from behind. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back with one hand while the other slithered up from her hip to her left breast. She felt like he had imagined she would. Even better. She was still tight, unlike his fiancee, and incredibly hot. She fit snugly around him and it drove him wild. Even more wild than the fact that her walls were tightening and loosening around him with each movement they made.

She felt him release his grasp on her hair and gasped when his hands seized her tiny waist with surprising and animal-like force. He pulled her back harder and faster; their bodies crashed against each other. She felt another orgasm slam into her with such a force that it caused her knees to buckle.

Cloud held her shivering body steady, relishing the feel of her release and the gentle squeeze of her inner muscles around him. It was enough to send him over the edge and he spilled his second seed inside of her, groaning deeply into her ear.

When they'd regained their composure as well as their breath, Aerith turned to face him. She gazed at him fondly, tilting her head girlishly to the side. He smiled and sifted her hair through his fingers.

"I should've told you that I loved you." he said suddenly.

"I knew. I felt the same way." She whispered, "I'll love you forever."

He pulled her to him, crushing her against his heaving chest. "Why couldn't we have ended up this way?"

"Oh, Cloud." Aerith sighed, "I know that there are so many things we wanted to experience together... But it wasn't meant to be."

"But it's so unfair." he argued.

She paused. "I know. But you've found someone special to share the rest of your life with. Don't take that for granted, hm?"

He took a step back so he could look at her once more. "I'll never take anything for granted again." was his soft reply.

"I know." Aerith said with Tifa's voice. She was already fading.

"Aerith..." the name escaped his lips once more before he closed his eyes and opened them again; the vision of her had already melted away, revealing once again his fiancee.

Tifa looked as though she had no idea what had just taken place. She just smiled up at her husband-to-be and snaked her arms around his waist.

"I love you, Cloud." she murmured.

"Love you, too, Tifa."

He embraced her tightly, squeezing his eyes shut to try and hold back tears. Strangely, he didn't feel as though he had just betrayed his fiancee. No, he'd had a once in a lifetime experience with a once in a lifetime love and now he would have to let her go and move on, focus on the living.

No one wold ever replace Aerith, he realized, but Tifa offered him a new life and a new love with her and he wouldn't take her for granted. He loved her. Things were going to be different now, he could feel it. For the first time in years he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Aerith wept. Tears of sorrow, tears of joy. While she would never get the chance to live with her love, he would get a chance to live with his and she was happy for him. She was fading away slowly; her grip on this world was loosening. He was letting go and therefore, she could as well. She could return to the lifestream now and take her place among the other souls that had lost their lives. It was her destiny. This was their destiny.

"Goodbye, Cloud." she whispered once before leaving.

And the bright light swallowed her up once again. Forever.

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A/N: Okay, so this little oneshot was inspired by one of my favorite books The Lovely Bones. If you haven't read it, do it! It's a really great read that offers an interesting perspective of the afterlife.

Anyway, hope you liked it D

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A/N (08.10.08): Edited. Enjoy :)