7th Heaven
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Final Fantasy 7. I'm just using them for my own amusement.
Ancient, Cetra, Sole Survivor, that's what everyone calls you, rarely do people even learn your name. It's a shame, because I think Aeris is such a pretty name.
It's been a week since Cloud took us all to Costa del Sol for a vacation, Sephiroth was defeated, and Aeris was returned to us, it surprised us all, I guess Holy decided the world couldn't be without the Cetra. Now we could finally get on with our lives, and I could have my love back.
Being here is all well and good. I love the villa that Cloud bought, but it's been a solid week of sun and sand. I want a break. So I decide to take Aeris to the Golden Saucer for some well needed alone time. "Hey, where're you two going?" Our blonde leader asks, poking me in the ribs playfully. "The Golden Saucer, we need a little break from the sand monkeys." I smile at him; he nods and ruffles my hair. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He smiles wildly and shoves me a little. "Don't worry; we'll behave, as much as we can." Aeris smiles at Cloud as we turn to go, as we leave, I hear him laugh as he bounds back for the beach, some things never change.
It was a perfect afternoon, it was just us amongst the hustle and bustle of the busy amusement park, there were plenty of people around, but it felt like it was just the two of us.
"I missed you so much, Aeris." I whisper in my flower girls ear as we snuggle on the gondola. "I missed you too; the Promised Land was so lonely without you." She looks up at me and intertwines our fingers, kissing the back of my hand. "Everyday seemed like it dragged on forever, I didn't know what to do without you here." I say with a heavy sigh, Aeris tightens her grip on my hand, and reaches up to stroke my cheek. "I felt no passage of time, it was just one long drawn out hell. But that's all behind us, I'm here now, and I'm not leaving you ever again." She says kissing me gently. And I'm never letting you go.
We decided to stay in the Ghost Square that night; it was there that we realized our feelings for each other. Mr. Hangman remembered us, and he was more than glad to give us a room for free, the same room we shared that night. The last night we shared before my love was so brutally taken away from me.
Mr. Hangman decides that he wants to reminisce about old times and ask me how everyone is so I tell Aeris to just go ahead and wait for me. After talking with him for a good 15 minutes I go up to the room and I see her standing there by the window, looking out over the creepy terrain. I walk up behind her and snake my arms around her waist and pull her close. "Remember that night?" Aeris relaxes against me and starts rubbing my arm. "Yes, I do, it was the best night of my life." I kiss her neck and she turns around to face me. She kisses me gently, wrapping her arms around my neck; I stroke her hair and lead her over to the bed.
The next morning I wake up; wrapped in Aeris' arms. This is the happiest I've felt in a long time. I roll over to face my healer and kiss her gently. "Morning beautiful." I smile widely and stroke her hair. "Morning gorgeous." After staring into my eyes for some time, she pulls me closer and snuggles into my bare chest. I hold her close and rub her back. This is the peace I've been missing.
Later on after we dress we decide to hop aboard a buggy and go off to Cosmo Canyon, our favorite place to relax. At the Cosmo Candle we snuggle by the strong powerful flame. Barret loved this place because he said it stood for everything Avalanche stood for, a fiery burning strength that could warm the hearts of everyone. Just like Aeris.
"So, did you take care of Cloud while I was gone?" Aeris asks me, I was waiting for this question. Cloud meant something to the both of us; after all he'd protected us with everything he had. "Of course. He was very torn up about it, even though he didn't care to show it." She smiles into the fire. "That sure does sound like him, he never wanted to show just how much he was hurting." "Even if his whole world was falling apart."
After Aeris died, all of our worlds came crashing down. Even Vincent took it hard. She touched everyone's life, even if they didn't know her for very long. The day Sephiroth was defeated; we all went to Shell Village, to the spot where Cloud placed her, in the lake before The Lost Capital. Everyone just started crying, then we heard a voice, a soft comforting voice, like an angels. We all looked around to see where the voice was coming from, and that's when we saw Aeris, descending the stairs from the Capital. She wasn't a dream, she wasn't an apparition, she was real.
After awhile of sitting in front of the fire, Elder Hargo came to sit across from us. He was smiling widely, his old worn face glowing. "It's good to see you ladies again. Especially you Aeris, we heard what happened. I had a feeling you'd be joining us again. The planet always grants the wishes of the people that protect it." Cosmo Canyon was also a place we frequented on our journeys and we grew very close to its inhabitants, the elders even took care of us after we returned from the Northern Crater.
Not soon after the Elder went back to his house Cloud called us up on the PHS. "Where are you two? We're about to head over to Midgar, there's someone we need to visit." We both knew who he was talking about, Aeris' mother. "We're in Cosmo Canyon, do you want us to meet you in Costa del Sol, or will you actually pick us up?" Cloud chuckles, "We'll come and get you this time."
After Aeris died Cloud and I spent a lot of time at her house, being there was like being closer to her. But this time is different, she's with us.
We go to Sector 5, where her house is located. It's still the same as it was when we first visited it, and now that the threat of the Meteor is gone, her mother and Marlene are back.
We bring Barret along with us so he can see his daughter and sure enough the second we hit the door, out she comes yelling "Papa!" and diving into his arms. "Hey Marlene, how are you?" I ask the little girl as she snuggles her father. "I'm pretty good. I heard you saved the world!" Cloud nods "We sure did, and look who is back to join us." Aeris steps forward and Marlene squeals with delight. "Flower lady! You're back alive!" She smiles and gives the child a big hug. "I missed you." The little girl hugs back. "I missed you too." Just then Elmyra comes to the door and audibly gasps. "It can't be. Is it really you, Aeris?" Barret decides that the four of us need to be left alone and quietly takes Marlene back to the Highwind for a little tour. Aeris steps forward and hugs her mother. "Yes, it's me, Holy allowed me to come back." Elmyra begins crying, and Cloud starts looking a little uncomfortable and he starts scuffing his foot on a small patch of grass that's futilely trying to grow in the barren land. After a few minutes Elmyra finally brings herself together and invites us in.
"So that large bolt of light was Holy?" Elmyra asks as she makes tea for us. Cloud nods. "Yeah, it finally kicked in after we defeated Sephiroth; it wasn't a moment too soon." Then I recount what happened when we found you alive in the Lost Capital. Needless to say Elmyra was thoroughly surprised at this. "So Holy revived you, Aeris?" She nods. "Yes, I'm still kind of surprised myself, but I'm too glad to question it." Her mother grabs her hand from across the table. "Reeve came with the bad news, at first I didn't believe him, but I knew he couldn't be lying by the look on his face." Aeris hangs her head. "I'm so sorry I ran off like that, I should've said something." Cloud puts a comforting arm around her and grins his goofy lopsided grin and says. "You helped us Aeris, without you we would've never been able to save the planet." She looks at me and I trace the line of her jaw. "I'm so happy you're back, but I'm even happier about how you helped us." Aeris lets out a small laugh and hugs me close. "I did it to protect you, and everyone else."
That night Elmyra invited everyone stay. It was quite cramped in the small house with all of those people, so everyone crammed into the living/dining room, and got as comfortable as possible. Everyone except Red, he was in the garden outside, staring vacantly at the stars. Ever since Buganhagen died, he'd been very distant, sometimes staring out at the night sky for hours looking for some kind of answer. He never did talk to any of us when he got like this. Just as I was about to see if I could get him back inside to cheer him up, Aeris comes up beside me at the door and nods as she continues walking toward the young warrior.
"What's the matter Red?" She asks calmly sitting beside him. He shakes his shaggy head. "It's nothing…" The flower seller smiles and stares out at the stars. "You miss him don't you? Buganhagen." Red nods. "Very much so, even though I knew he would die eventually, I mean, he was very old, I just never thought how I would be able to go on without him, you know? And…." Aeris reaches out and begins to pet Red on the nose. "And what?" The lion like creature lies down and rests his head in Aeris' lap. "And it's been scary, how many people close to me will die? First father, then you, then grandfather. It's almost been too hard." She smiles gently. "Don't worry; I promise you, you won't lose anymore people in your life." "I hope your right." In the end she's always right.
The next morning I wake up not only with Aeris snuggled into my chest, but with Red wedged rather uncomfortably at our feet. "Aeris." I whisper in her ear. "It's morning, and Red is snoring." Indeed the large Cosmo Canyon warrior was snoring rather obnoxiously due to the fact that his nose was pressed against my ankle.
My Cetran princess moved slightly in reaction to my words, but didn't wake up. "Jeeze, you've always been hard to wake up." I lean down and kiss her gently on the lips, to see if I can rouse some life in her. "Mmmmm, good morning Tifa." Her eyes finally open, and as she tries to stretch, her legs hit something large and furry. "Is Red down there?" She dares to ask the obvious. "Yeah, I don't know when he came in, but when I woke up, there he was."
Red has always slept with Aeris when he got a little lonely, and now that she's back he's slept with us a few times when he deemed the situation appropriate. But this time it was slightly comical, because we were already tight on space on the small twin sized bed and he was laying the best he could at our feet with his back legs drooping slightly off one side of the bed and his front legs curled around my feet, with his nose in my ankle.
"Do you think we should wake him?" Aeris asks and I nod. "Yes, because he has a slight strangle hold on my feet, and they're asleep." Aeris laughs, sits up and strokes him on the head. "Red, it's time to wake up, you're killing us here." His feet twitch a little bit, but still no response. "He sleeps heavier than you." I laugh; Aeris sticks her tongue out at me, and goes back to waking up the large creature. "Red, please, wake up." She tries again, slightly shaking him. "Mmmm, is that you Aeris?" We both laugh. "Yes, it's me, and you're cutting the circulation off in Tifa's feet." He stretches as best he can and slides backwards off of the bed. "Really? I'm sorry. I didn't want to sleep down there with everyone else; it was too crowded." I laugh as I stand up to stretch out my cramped muscles. "And this is any better?" He sheepishly looks off to the side, as he so often does when he gets caught at something. "You're right, I just wanted to sleep with you two, and by the time I came in you guys were dead asleep, and I didn't have the heart to wake you, so I just got up there." Aeris bends down and pets our furry companion. "You know Red; sometimes you are too strange for words."
Back downstairs, mostly everyone was still sleeping, Yuffie and Cait Sith where sitting at the table drinking tea, and eating breakfast. Elmyra warmly wished us good morning, and served us tea and some food. "I'm sure the others will be up soon, with all of this moving around and cooking." Yuffie laughs. "Don't count on it, these guys can sleep through anything." Cait Sith groggily messes with his crown and yawns widely. "I would still be sleeping if I hadn't've wound up half on Yuffie somehow." "Yeah, I woke up and he was all over me." The materia hunter gave Cait a little pat on the head and goes back to her food. "Or you could've been us and woke up with Red in the bed with you." Aeris says and Red sheepishly looks off to the side. "I got lonely" I give him a pat on the head. "No need to keep explaining, we just find it funny that you'd rather sleep in a small bed with us than more comfortably with the others.
A few hours later everyone was up and lively, and Cloud announced that we should get ready to leave. "Please tell me we're not going back to Costa del Sol." Vincent says idly playing with Cid's hair from their sitting spot on the floor. "Well, I did kind of want to go back…" Cid smacks the floor angrily in Clouds general direction. "C'mon man, we spent a solid week there; I'm tired of all that sun and sand!" Everyone else seemed to agree. "Please Cloud, let's go somewhere else." Red said finishing the rest of his food. "Fine, since everyone but me is clearly sick of being there, where do you want to go?" All of us thought hard, and it was Aeris to be the first to speak up. "I would like to go to Nibelheim." Everyone kind of looked at her, but they all nodded in agreement, and Cloud spoke up. "Sounds good to me, save for Yuffie and Aeris, we'll all be in the general vicinity of our home towns. Any objections?" Everyone nods in agreement, and within a few hours everyone was ready to go.
AN: There should be a chapter two coming up in the near future, so keep watching and bear with me, it takes me quite a long time to actually get an idea that I will stick with for more than two seconds. And also if I have made any mistakes in anything, please tell me, I may know FF7 inside and out, but everyone makes mistakes. Please R & R. Much thanks.