The sun had completed its decent below the vista when at last I reached the stone stairway that rose to the entrance high atop the pyramid. The climb, though grueling, took little time; or, rather, my mind was elsewhere, and I did not remember climbing for an extended period of time. The wind blew softly at the top of the Temple, whispering to my ear the secrets of the Ancients, telling me their forgotten story, and caressing my skin. Fall was overthrowing Summer as the season's king, and the scents of autumn wrapped their tendrils into the breeze, a welcome aroma. The stars broke free of their daytime prisons and illuminated the night with their soft, diamond-like glow.
A cold draft emanated from the door-less entry in front me. Darkness seemed to poor from it, cut only by a faint luminescence whose origin came somewhere from deep inside the Temple. The closer I move to the gaping mouth, the colder and darker the night became. Ignoring the cold and dark, I traveled on, down the sloping passage that led into the depths of the Temple of Ancients.
-*-*-
The condition of the chamber was no different presently than it had been when he had last been there. The altar lay behind the wall, in the secret room they had discovered a year ago. Water ran around it, and out into the sea, it, of all things, the most unchanged of memory of all. I scanned the chamber, and came across the spot on the altar where she had knelt. Though the blood was gone, a stain had remained, a reminder of the murder that had occurred there.
Then, suddenly, I was back--back to the day when Aeris had died. The horror flooded my body, vines of fear taking control of my conscience, stifling my breath and paralyzing my limbs. Sephiroth stalked up behind her, silent as a snake. He flashed me a devilish grin, a smile so completely evil it was burned into my memory. Tifa screamed, but it was too late. Aeris continued her prayer, oblivious to the monster and his murderous intentions. He drew his sword, the legendary six-foot Masamune, and held it high above her back. Anger burned away the self-restraining fear, flowing through my veins like lava. My legs moved instantaneously, exploding with built-up anticipation.
Sephiroth lunged forward, plunging the sword into her back. Aeris sucked a short, high-pitched breath into her lungs. She buckled, her body jolting in surprise. The sword emerged from her chest, crimson with blood, shimmering sickly with red sheen. Aeris slumped forward, her life drained. She slid down the sword's length, thumping into the ground with a dull thud, a pool of blood to match the sword creeping from beneath her. I watched from outside my body, watched as it ran to Sephiroth. He turned to me, and removed his sword from Aeris' lifeless body, and instantly he was above me. I looked up to him, the dark angel with the silver hair and glacier cold eyes. Once, he had befriended me. A long time ago, he had been my only console. He had been my hero, a man who I had thought was perfect. As he laughed at me with cruelty, I looked into his eyes; the man they had once belonged too had fled. Only a crazed maniac hungry for destruction and death presided in the cold wastelands of blue-green of his eyes.
His smile widened as I finally managed to release a scream, a pain-rimmed echo in the dead silence of the chamber. He floated above me, far beyond my reach. I watched as he floated up--up and up, and finally dissolved into the very air around him. I whipped around and my eyes focused on Aeris. SHE was an angel. No, she had been an angel. I was overwhelmed by the grief that washed over me. It smothered me, a pillow of emotions suffocating me, preventing me from breathing. She lay crumpled in her bloodstained clothes, with no movement or sound issuing from her body. I knelt beside her, rolled her over. Her light, playful green eyes were empty, deficient of life. Already she was cold, the Masamune draining every bit of warmth she had contained.
I was standing on the altar now, kneeling as I had when she died. Oh I missed her...My heart had been deformed that day, changed by the ruthlessness of reality. I had known her only a few days, and I had loved her more than I loved anything else I could imagine. I still loved her. I loved her playful, mischievous smile. I loved her beautiful, dancing eyes. I loved the way her hair had curled at the ends, and reminded me of strands of gold. I loved how warm she had been, how caring and laid-back and optimistic and curious and naïve and intelligent and giving and playful and helping and beautiful. I had loved her dimples, and her soft hair. I had loved her eyes, and even her big nose. I loved everything about her.
I slumped to the ground and cried on the altar today, on the anniversary of her death, just as I had a year ago, today. I could feel her presence--she was there. Somewhere from within the Lifestream, she was reaching out to me, touching my sub-conscience. I felt her happiness and fell in love with it all over again.
Exhaustion set in. Slowly, I began to ebb away, drifting into the world of dreams. Aeris...I thought, where are you now? Do you still think of me, as I do of you? Do you still love me? Will you wait for me...? Someday...I received no answers. I stopped fighting to stay awake, and the gods of sleep cast their spells upon me.