Mmm, love this pairing. Anyway, I was going for poignant while writing this.

The poem excerpts featured at the beginning and the end are from "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe. (Which is apparently public domain, so yeah.)

Warnings: Yuri, TifaxAerith, AU, a certain amount of angst, mentioned but certainly not detailed lesbian sex.

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love —
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

The Most Important Thing

We were so young when he first met weren't we? I was thinking about it the other night, and we were young, only 6, 7 for you. We met in school, do you remember, on the playground in first grade.

I remember, I fell off the monkey bars and scraped my knee, and I started to cry. My cousin Cloud tried to comfort me but I kept crying, until I saw you. You kneeled in front of me and smiled, and your smile was so pretty and so startling I thought you had to be an angel and my sobs silenced.

"Don't cry," you said to me. "Here, I found this flower. You can have it if you want." Then you held out a pretty white flower for me to take. Shyly I smiled back and took the flower.

"Thank you," I said. "My name's Tifa."

And you smiled again and said the third most important thing I ever heard. "My name's Aerith."

That's what you said to me.

From then on we were best friends. We did all the things best friends did, played together, had sleepovers, told each other secrets.

You had a crush on Zack in 5th grade, you told me. Do you remember him? I suppose you must. He was friends with Cloud and a year older than us, and when he smiled all the girls would giggle.

You gave him a flower and he gave you a kiss on the cheek. I never told you how mad I got when that happened, did I? Before that I had been the only one who got given one of your flowers, and I liked that. It made me feel special. When I saw you give him that flower I went home and cried into my pillow all night long.

But then Zack moved away a few months later and you cried, and I felt bad for feeling that jealous. I let you lay your head on my lap and tried to get you to stop crying but you wouldn't.

The next day you still looked sad, so I found a flower and gave it to you, then kissed you on the cheek and told you not to cry, and you smiled your angel smile and everything was better.

But as years went by things changed. My feelings for you got stronger, and often I would think about that day when I kissed your cheek, and how it made you smile, and how much I wanted to make you smile.

So one day in 10th grade I kissed you and told you I loved you.

But you didn't smile, do you remember? You pushed me away and your beautiful green eyes were full of fear.

You didn't say anything to me and ran away, and I started to cry.

I hated myself then Aerith. I don't think I ever told you that. But I never hated you. I could never hate you.

I couldn't bring myself to leave my house for about a week, but staying in my house made me cry too. I had a picture of us on my nightstand, and I'd cry when I saw it.

I thought you hated me.

My father told me you called me once, but I wouldn't take the call. I didn't want to hear it you see, I didn't want to hear how you hated me.

But then you visited me. You knocked softly on my door and called "Tifa?' with that soft voice of yours.

I don't remember what I yelled at you through the door, but I remember you opened the door and had a painfully sad look on your face and I wanted to cry again, but I didn't want you to see me cry.

You walked over to my bed (which I was still in at noon) and sat down on the edge and didn't say anything.

After the silence dragged on for what felt like years, and then I spoke to you.

"I'm sorry," I said. You looked at me shocked.

Then you started to cry.

You told me not apologize, then you apologized. You told me that you had just been startled and scared.

"You hate me." I muttered.

You looked at me with a strange look on your face. Then you said "I don't hate you Tifa. I love you."

Then you kissed me.

That was the best day of my life Aerith.

So we became a couple, and did things couples did, we held hands, we hugged, we kissed.

I had never been happier. I remember everything about those days, and I like to think you do to.

I remember our first date, when you brought me a flower, a tulip, my favorite. I remember when we went to our first dance together, Valentines Day Dance, and you were nervous because people were looking at us funny, but I told you not to worry, and you smiled and kissed me. I remember the night when we first made love.

What happened Aerith?

We were together so long, almost two years I realize, but it felt like longer.

I can't remember what tore us apart in the end. We started arguing, not like we normally did, slight bickering that is to be expected of couples, but really arguing. We grew distant Aerith. Your mother didn't approve, maybe that was it, or maybe it just got to be too much. Do you remember?

Then we broke.

Is it foolish to say I never saw it coming? Perhaps, but I truly didn't. I admit, I thought we would stay together forever.

I didn't cry when it happened, I couldn't. That was the worst day of my life.

"Tifa," you said. "We just can't be together anymore." That was it, no drama, no explanation, that was it.

That was the second most important thing I ever heard.

Only the second Aerith. Because I still love you. Even if I never see you again, we can never be together, even if you forget all about me, I will remember, and I will love you.

And I will remember what you said to me.

You said "I love you."

And that is the most important thing.

The End.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we —
Of many far wiser than we —
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

This was sad for me to write. But sometimes couples just end up not being together. That doesn't make the love go away though.

Please review but do not flame. I would love constructive critism however.