Summary: For three people, the time has come. Their part in the fight ends now, but others will take up the torch and fight for the Planet in their stead. In their final moments, they find their peace.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. 'Nuff said.

Queen's Quornor: More soliloquies! I've been going back and forth on whether I should write these or not for some time now, and was leaning towards 'no' until recently. My grandfather passed away the week before last, and I got to thinking about what goes through peoples' minds in the last minutes of their current lives. That line of thinking led me back to this trio, and what they might have been thinking right before the Plate fell. So, here they are. It's not easy writing in a choppier voice than I usually do, but then again, I usually don't write from the POV of people watching their lives bleed away. I hope it proves sufficient.

Jesse

This is it.

I'm not going to make it out of this pillar. None of us are. Wedge probably died when he hit the ground, and Biggs couldn't last much longer. I'm certainly not going anywhere. Even if Cloud and the others stop Shinra from bringing down this section of the Plate, I'll bleed out long before they can get to me.

Cloud....

I'm so happy I was able to see him one last time. He's only been with us for a couple of days, but I do like him. It would be nice if I could have a few years, to see if I could start a relationship with him. He acts really cold and aloof, but he isn't really like that. I just know there's a soft side to him. It would have been nice to get to know him better.

He's so handsome. What girl wouldn't like to look at him? I'd actually call him a full-fledged heart-throb. He's certainly the hunk of my dreams. I'm pretty sure he's Tifa's, too. She says they're just friends, but I've seen the way she looks at him. I heard that comment he made to her this morning, after he woke up. Maybe it's not much now, but it'll grow. I think Barret's seen it, too. It was more than money that made him so angry yesterday.

Tifa's so good with Cloud. I really messed things up when I made his ID. I tried to make it special, hoping he'd notice and maybe look at me the way he looked at Tifa this morning. Biggs and Wedge never looked at me like that. I wanted Cloud to, though.

It's so cold... Why didn't I dress warmer? I hear gunshots from higher up the stairs. Barret's up there, with Tifa and Cloud. I wish Cloud wore a jacket or something. That way he could have covered me with it and I'd be warm and he'd be here with me sort of...

Whoa... Vertigo...

Maybe I'll close my eyes for a bit... Just rest...

They'll save the sector. Cloud will do it. He can do anything.

Tifa will take care of him. Good care. She really loves him, I know. And he loves her too. Just needs...to admit it. Maybe it's better this way. I wouldn't be able to leave them alone otherwise. I like him too much for that. Tifa will look after Cloud. She's the woman for him.

I never told him... I...

Just gotta rest...for a minute...

See you back at the base... Cloud...