10/12/05

Cloud stood at the edge of the lake, Tifa clutching to his arm. The two of them stood there peering down into the swirling darkness that seemed to dip down into a bottomless pit. Then, slowly he broke away from Tifa's grasp and stepped out into the water. He held out a single rose and dropped it to its death. It floated for a while, then finally succumbed to the rushing waves, which ate away at it until it was pulled under.

"It's a rose from the chapel. I know who much you liked them. It's for you." Cloud whispered, pausing to say his routine prayers. Then he added, "Take care of Cetra for me.", before reuniting with Tifa.

Tifa turned to leave, butpaused when she saw Cloud stop to say one last goodbye. The water seems...strange today. I've never seen it this way before,Cloud thought staring at the tides. Suddenly, the water began spinning. At first it was small, but it rapidly grew. Cloud gasped, then impulsively, turned and ran.

"Tifa!" Cloud blurted out, realizing that he had left her behind. He turned to go back for her, but it looked as if she was fading.

He ran back to her and grabbed her hand. She was still solid, but he could now tell that she was fading, and quickly. Blue flames started to flicker at her fingertips and started to work its way up her arms, demolishing what was left of her as it moved along. She looked down at her shoes, then looked back up and gave Cloud a look of worry.

"Cloud..." she called out in fear.

Cloud couldn't do anything. There was nothing he could do to stop the flames from disintegrating his childhood friend. He stood there horrified, never tearing his eyes away from the fire.

The flame was flickering wildly, now moving up her neck. He couldn't bear to see his friend vanish right before him. He ran away. What am I doing? I'm running away...just like a child, he fought his conscience, but he was losing. No, I'm not a child. It's not my problem; there was nothing I could do! Humph! Casting the blame on others. You really are a child! No! I'm not! I'm not a child! See, your acting just like a child. Shut up! Leave me alone!

Cloud continued to run, his legs now feeling weak. His conscience finally got the best of him. He toppled to the ground, panting for air. He could feel a prickling sensation at his feet. He rose his head with the last of his might to find that he, too, had caught on fire. He felt just as helpless trying to save himself as he did Tifa. He closed his eyes as the flames started to eat away at his remaining fragments.

When he opened them again, he was staring down at something hard. He lifted his head, and adjusted his eyes to the light. He then took another look at the object. It looked sort of like a...desk.

"Sleeping in class again, Mr. Strife?" A voice spoke.

Startled, Cloud jerked his head up. An elderly man stood before him, holding a piece of neon yellow chalk. A girl turned around and giggled. Wait a minute! That's Aeris!, Cloud thought. His mind sparked with many questions. Is Aeris alive again? How did she get revived? Why does she look so young? Theperson's, who most likely wassome sort of a teacher,footsteps tore him away from his thoughts as he walked up to the chalkboard and began writing.

"Need a piece of paper?" The girl beside him asked, tapping on his shoulder.

"T-T-Tifa?" Cloud stuttered, thankful to finally reunite with her again.

"Duh! We've been friends since we were little. What's up with you today?"

Cloud grabbed the piece of paper, but did not start his notes. Instead, he asked more questions to this young version of Tifa.

"How did we get here? And where are we."

"We walked, silly! We're at school. At least I am. You must've been somewhere else in your daydreaming to be so forgetful!"

"What about the flames! We were swallowed by the flames?"

"Huh? Flames? What are you talking about?"

The girl that looked like Aeris turned around and chuckled again.

"You three! You're supposed to be writing this down!" The teacher scolded.

Tifa blushed and started to write furiously. Cloud got to work, too, but after stopping to make sense of his conversation. The girl that looked like Aeris stared at Cloud, then turned around and hunched over her paper. I don't get this at all. It's best not to say anything else for a while, Cloud decided, as he finished his notes.