Disclaimer: I don't Final Fantasy VII and its characters.
This is a oneshot. Aeris was saved from her supposed death in the Forgotten city and was able to join until the end. This was set after the final battle with Sephiroth while the northern crater was collapsing. I imagined this while it was all happening in slow motion, it's best if you do the same.
Cloud watched as the lifestream surrounded him after the demise of Sephiroth, he slowly looked up to see a hand reaching out to him, he held up his hand up to grasp it but the scenery instantly changed for him see Aeris and Tifa reaching down for him while screaming his name. He hurriedly jump towards the two and reached for the hand of his choice, a decision he didn't know that will change his life forever. He looked up to see Aeris while she was struggling to pull him up, he moved his gaze towards Tifa for him to momentarily see a flicker of sadness before she helped Aeris pull him up.
When they were finally all settled, the Cetra reached up to him and hugged him with all her might while he hugged her back, never wanting to let go while the brunette watched the scene with a sad smile on her face. Cloud looked up at Tifa before replacing her sad smile with a genuine smile, the smile she only flashed for him, he nodded in response before pulling away from Aeris. He looked around to see where they could go to escape when the rocks where Aeris was standing up suddenly collapsed causing her to fall.
"AERIS!" Cloud shouted on the top of his lungs, and it was then that it all happened.
Tifa looked at him momentarily with a sad look before diving forward to reach out for Aeris who was holding her hand up, hoping someone could catch her and save her. And someone did. The martial artist was able to grasp the ancient's hand and threw her back to the blonde ex-SOLDIER, who had succesfully caught her and held her firmly, but his hold to the Cetra instantly went limp as he watched the scene in front of him.
He watched it all in slow motion as Tifa started falling as she reached out the same hand that she had saved Aeris' life with.
"Cloud?" He didn't look up, he couldn't, he was too weak but he knows that voice anywhere. "Cloud? Is that really you?" He finally looked up groggily to see the full view of his lost childhood friend, more beautiful than ever, looking at him with a mixture of shock and concern.
"Tifa...? Is that... you?" He asked while he took sharp breaths. The brunette held her hand to her mouth.
"Cloud... Oh Cloud..." She kneeled down to his height and cupped his cheek with tears in her eyes. "Come on... Let's get you home okay?"
Her hair tie was already let loose causing her long locks to surround her like angel wings as she fell even further down.
"Cloud, please don't leave. We really need your help." Tifa begged him when he was already going out the door of the old seventh heaven in the Midgar slums.
"I'm not interested anymore and Barret is really pissing me off. I can't stand being anywhere near him anymore so I'm going." He said in a cold voice, his back turned to her.
"But Cloud, what about the planet? It's slowly dying if we don't do something about Shinra. Don't you care about that?" She still begged him because she knows that when he walked out through that door, she will never see him again.
"I don't care about your cause, or the planet, or anything for that matter." He said firmly, still not facing her while she looked down sadly.
"...What about our promise? Did you already forgot that?"
He stared at her face in shock in time to see her sad, crying face as she descend downward away from him.
There was a knock on the door while he was looking out the window of the Ghost hotel, he slowly went towards it and swung it open to see Tifa standing there with a smile on her face.
"Cloud, Hi."
"Uhhh. Hi." He scratched the back of his head that made the brunette giggle.
"Hey umm.. Are you busy?" She asked quietly. He could see her blush that made him stare at her in amusement.
"Not really, why? Is something wrong?" He asked. He smirked slightly at how cute she looked as she blushed even more.
"No, no nothing's wrong. I just..." She trailed off. "Umm.. I just wanted to asked you if you wanted to go out wit-"
"Oh! There you are Cloud!" Aeris interrupted Tifa while she ran towards the two. TIfa looked down in embarrasment, hoping that the Cetra hadn't heard her.
"Aeris? Yeah, what's up?" Cloud asked as he shifted his attention to the ancient.
"Come on, have you forgotten? We have a date!" Aeris clung to his arm and started dragging him away before he could even protest. Cloud looked back at Tifa while he was being dragged in the hallway to see that she hadn't move from her spot, her head still down.
Her face slowly changed into a sad smile as her hair slowly covered her face completely, but not before she could mouth the three words that she wanted to tell him for so long. Cloud sobbed as he understood what she had said.
Then he finally lost sight of her.
"TIFA!" He had never screamed so much in his life.
"Take our fortune before you go Cait, are we a perfect match?" Aeris asked cheerily while she clung unto the blonde's arm. Cloud noticed that Tifa looked away at that moment.
"The future is bright for you and Cloud!" The mechanical cat said happily, unaware of the heart that was shattering in the corner of the room. Cloud turned to look at Tifa again before she turned her back on them, but he could have sworn that he saw a heartrenching pained expression before she could even do so.
"TIFA! NO!" He looked downwards with wild eyes while he sobbed, hoping to still see the brunette clinging unto something so he could go and grab her, but there was nothing.
"NO!" Aeris started screaming on top of her lungs.
"Aeris! No!" Tifa started running towards the Cetra while she kneeled and prayed at the altar. She pulled her away from the blade that could have ended the flower girl's life. Cloud dashed towards them and held Aeris close to him as the martial artist smiled sadly, knowing that she had saved the love of her life's only happiness. And for her, that was enough.
"TIFA! WHY?!" The Cetra kept screaming but Cloud didn't even notice her, his eyes were glued to spot below where he had last seen his childhood friend. The friend who was always there, the friend who had sacrificed a lot for him, the friend who took care of him.
Who had loved him.
"Ya know spikey, Tifa never left your side when you were goin' all loony in that freakin' wheelchair." Barret said calmly while the blonde sneered at him. The bigger man chuckled.
"I know." Cloud said remembering how Tifa unjumbled his memories in the lifestream. "I know." He said again quietly. Barret's face softened.
"Better take care of her man, I've never seen a woman with more devotion than she is. I know ya care about her a lot." Barret said as he patted the blond's back before standing up. Cloud looked up at him then turned his gaze to his childhood friend who was happily chatting with Yuffie and Vincent, she met his gaze and she waved a him with a beautiful smile on her face. He gave her a small but genuine smile and nodded his head to acknowledge her. Then he remembered Barret's words.
I do care for her, more that you think.
"No..." He whispered with his eyes wide, he still didn't want to believe that she was not there anymore. "No... Tifa..." Then he started sobbing again, and he couldn't hold back anymore. He was on his knees while he held himself up with his elbows, He closed his eyes tightly, his tears stinging his eyes and there was no stopping them anymore.
If only he has let her know that he cared for her, he had paid too much attention to Aeris and being her bodyguard that he neglected her, making her feel that she wasn't there, that he didn't care. That he didn't love her back.
It was too late, for she will never know what he really felt. She will never know that he was just being a coward for not telling her that he loves her, that she meant the world to him.
That she was his everything.
He collapsed in the ground and started shaking violently, his cries was echoing in the crater and fully heard by his comrades who were also voicing their anguish at the loss of their dear friend.
"I love you so much..." He whispered into the air as he felt a sleepel spell being cast to him, he slowly closed his eyes but before he could, he felt a familiar warmth and heard a voice that he was longing to hear at that very moment.
I'm sorry... I love you too... so much...