Three Little Words
It's strange, how three little words can effect a person so much. If I was being honest, I never ever thought I would hear those life-changing words from anyone. Not from my childhood friend, Tifa, not from the hyperactive Yuffie and there was absolutely no way that I would ever hear them from Aeris the flower girl from the slums.
However, I will admit that I had often thought about what it would be like for me to hear somebody whisper those three little words or even shout them across a crowded village to let everyone know they were directed at me. Either way, I knew in my mind that I would never hear them so I just pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.
I was Cloud after all, and those over exaggerated three little words would never effect me, even if, by some random chance, somebody said them to me.
I was wrong.
When I heard Tifa say them, as I lay in bed after the disastrous trip to the Temple of the Ancients, I wanted nothing more than to tell her to shut up. I wanted to scream and shout at her, part of me even wanted to slap some sense in to her. But I did not, thank God.
Things only got worse later on.
Yuffie entered the room, after Tifa had left and she said the words too. Her voice was sad and low and I could tell that way that her words were honest and it scared the hell out of me. However, like Tifa, I didn't hit the girl before me and, instead I just drew the covers over my head, blocking her out while I shouted 'no' repeatedly, trying to stop the tears of frustration from pouring down my cheeks. She got the hint and left, after a moment of raising her voice in an effort to get me to listen.
Part of me expected to see Aeris walk in through the door.
However, it was Barret.
He sighed when he took in the state of me and harshly ripped the covers off my body. I shuddered from the cold and turned so my back was facing them. No! I wasn't going to hear those words again! I could not hear them again.
But Barret grabbed my shoulder and forced me onto my back, giving me no choice but to look at him. Yuffie and Tifa stood behind him, tears running from their broken expressions. My eyes began to burn, my fingers tingled and I knew then that I couldn't deny those three little words anymore. Not after Barret took a deep breath and repeated them to me in a low, almost comforting manner.
"Aeris is gone,"