She Will Be Loved
by TamLin
Aerith…
A bell went off in my head when she said her name. Aerith…
"I have to go to Midgar, Cloud…
What do you mean' final letter'?!…
Aerith…wait for me…"
A – memory? Something I'd heard? Or… thought? I couldn't remember. Couldn't – Aerith. Someone had loved her…
She was talking but I couldn't pay attention. Someone… someone had loved her… I knew it. I had – heard…?
No.
I didn't understand but that thought brought automatic panic. That – strange, horrible gut clenching… uncertainty. That – aloneness. The feeling of utter failure. I pushed it aside in immediate denial. No.
Who would I have heard it from? No one. I was just imagining that her name sounded familiar. That I'd known she was in Midgar. No. It wasn't that someone had loved her. It was that someone should love her. Would love her.
I would love her.
Tifa…
The ache rose in my chest. Familiar. As familiar as – more familiar than anything else. The – want. The never have. Tifa…
I wanted –
No. No, I couldn't. I was a SOLDIER. First Class. Cocky, cheerful, self-assured. That man would love Aerith. He wouldn't need –
need… I needed...
Tifa.
I shook my head at the way it ached. My head. My – heart. My hand found the edge of the Buster Sword.
SOLDIER. First Class. My sword. My place. Who I was now. I was –
I was living the life that should have been lived.
Aerith. Aerith must be loved. Someone needed to answer the letters I knew she would write. Someone needed to come to Midgar because she wanted to spend more time with them. I didn't – I didn't know how I knew it but – someone should have come to Midgar for her. Someone…
I would come. I had come. I would love her. I would live the life that should have been lived. That needed to be lived.
The light haired girl in front of me smiled and I smiled back. Solidifying my decision. I would love her. I would make things right again.
But when the soldiers came for her, I let their blood weep for me and it whispered a dark haired girl's name.