Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Final Fantasy, but I wish I did.

Welcome to my second fanfic. My first one being "Tell Me You Love Me" which was a oneshot, and I really appreciated you read it, its only 1,200 words long so it shouldn't take a while to read. This story takes place between Crisis Core and FFVII, so I guess I'm filling the gap. I hope you enjoy this story! I LOVE reviews, so please say something!

"I'm Home Again"

Chapter I: Heaven?

"Get his body in! We need to stop the bleeding!" I heard...

I struggled to open my eyes, but I managed to got them open for a split second to see a yellow chocobo... A talking chocobo? That can't be right. I guess the Promised Land has everything talking. Soon I felt like I was being lifted by three people. Angels?

"Hey!" I heard a demanding voice, "watch his head! Watch his head!"

I felt something hard hit the top of my head. Isn't heaven supposed to not hurt?

"Let's take him to the church in the slums!" Things are starting to sound clearer.

I felt something hard hit my head again and I grunted realizing now that I'm not in heaven.

"Dammit Barret!" I finally recognized the voice, "I told you to watch his head!"

"You need to stop carrying that damn sword around and start helping!" He heard someone say in a deeper voice.

Soon I felt like I was on a bed... It smelled nice... I remember this smell... Flowers... Soon I stopped thinking and drifted off...

"loooooo..." I barely heard.

"Huh?" I said

"elloooooo..." The voice was more clear.

Mom?

"Hellooooo..." Oh... This again...

I slowly opened my eyes, and I saw someone that I definitely remember...

I tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"You're awake!" I heard Aerith say.

"He's awake?"

"Finally! Can we leave now?"

"Shut up, Barret!"

I stood up, but slowly laid back down as I noticed a very horrible pain inside my body. I turned my head to see the chocobo... Wait, that's not right... I squinted my eyes, and I noticed he had a human figure... Cloud... Next to him was a black haired girl who I recognized has Tifa from Nibelheim. Then next to her was a guy with dark skin... and he was really big... Something wasn't right about his arm, but I couldn't see, my vision was still slightly blurred.

I turned my head and looked at Aerith, she wore a pink dress... She smiled at me...

"Welcome back," She said, then tears started rolling down her face.

"Aerith..." I finally said noticing a pain when I would speak.

"Shhhhhhh..." She said putting her hand on my forehead, "Don't talk."

I closed my eyes. Then opened them, my vision became much better so I blinked a few more times then looked around. I was inside the church, and I was laying in Aerith's flowerbed... I sniffed in the great smell then sighed. I turned my head to see Cloud and Tifa and the other guy. I noticed that the man's arm was a gun... A gun!

I screamed quietly, and tried to move, but it hurt... Never would I look at a gun the same way again.

"Zack," Cloud said coming over to me as I was freaking out, "It's okay, it's okay."

"Yeah, man," he saw the dark man coming over, so I tried to move away, "I ain't gonna hurt you."

He spread out his arms, then I saw how the gun was fused with his arm.

I grunted, then looked away closing my eyes.

"Come on Barret, let's just go," he heard Tifa say, "You coming Cloud?"

"No, I'm gonna stay for the night," he replied.

A few seconds later he heard the doors of the church close shut.

I sighed, ignoring any pain in my diaphragm. Then I drifted off to sleep.

"SOLDIER 1st Class Zack..." He heard that familiar voice.

"Angeal..." I said without feeling any pain, "What happened?"

"You were legally dead for a few years, good thing Cloud called his friends to carry your body over to your girlfriend, she basically saved you."

"...Sir," I said realizing that Aerith saved me again.

"Zack, Sephiroth is still alive."

"What!" I thought Cloud killed that bastard, "where is he?"

"I don't know where he is, but he's not in the Lifestream. Zack, I sense something bad is going to happen if you don't stop Sephiroth."

"What do I do?" I asked, he knew how much a threat Sephiroth was.

I heard no answer.

"Angeal?... ANGEAL!" My last call to my mentor hurt and I realized I was awake.

My head was wet from sweat. I looked out the hole in the ceiling and I realized it was still night time. I stood up ignoring any pain. I saw Cloud fast asleep on one of the pews snoring quietly. I realized that Angeal's buster sword was next to him on the ground. I remember giving it to him, and I kinda want it back, but I wasn't gonna ask for it. It would look good with him.

I smiled. Then I heard light breathing next to me, I turned to look who was there and I saw Aerith sleeping next to me quietly. I looked at her, she was really beautiful, I had almost forgotten how amazing she looked, I missed her a lot. I smiled at her sleeping peacefully.

I sat there for minutes admiring her, then he sighed looking around the church, he noticed a large brief case in the corner. He looked back at Aerith. He breathed in her hair, he missed the sweet smell.

"I promise I'll never leave you ever again Aerith," I whispered ignoring the pain.

Soon, her eyes started to close tighter, and she opened her mouth breathing heavily, she started to toss and turn. Then she let out a quiet scream. I looked at her in surprise.

"Aerith?" I whispered, her head kept moving, "Aerith!"

The pain of screaming hurt like hell, but I ignored it.

I started to shake her awake, I kept saying her name in worry. Then, she finally woke up. She was breathing heavily. She started sobbing then hugged me, despite the pain, it felt good to feel her close again.

"Hey, what happened?" I asked her worried.

She hesitated for a second, then said,

"I just had a dream," she bit her lip, "I saw Sephiroth."

"What?" My eyes widened, "Tell me-"

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow," she interrupted, she sighed, "Does it still hurt to talk?"

I shrugged,

"A bit," I said even though it hurt a lot.

"Okay," Aerith smiled, then tears started running down her face then she hugged me, "I missed you so much..."

I hugged her back and started crying myself.

"I promise I'll never leave you ever again..." I said to her.

She looked at me, then pressed her lips to mine...

We kissed for what seemed like an hour. I felt like all of my wounds have been healed and the pain went away.

We pulled away then I saw Aerith smile for the first time in a long time.

"I love you, Aerith," I said without feeling any pain.

My eyes opened in shock as I realized her healing powers worked when we kissed. I smiled.

That night me Aerith fell asleep on my chest, I looked at her with awe and stroked her hair. Then slowly drifted off to sleep. I was finally home again.