Waiting
By Katie
Disclaimer: Aeris and her world belong to Squaresoft.
~*~*~*~
I've been waiting to die since the day I was born.
Or so it feels, at least. I've never been truly happy in this world; I smile, I laugh, but inside I yearn for the Promised Land. It drives me, just as it has driven all of the Cetra throughout time. The Promise Land: a land of happiness, of peace, of true unity with the Planet. A chance to be one with the thing I hold most dear. My connection with the Planet is weak and distorted, as if hidden behind a veil. It speaks in my mind, but not in my heart. I am still an island, a piece of Its soul trapped within this house of clay.
And I am alone.
Perhaps I would not be so eager to die, if I were not the last of my race. Perhaps, if others like me still walked the earth, I could have found a modicum of happiness in this life, trapped in this gilded cage.
But there are none like me. I am the last of my kind, and when I die, the Cetra will die too. A tragedy, perhaps, but I can't bring myself to care. My only concern is with the Planet, saving Its precious life, and returning to Its warm embrace. The slums of Midgar are so cold, and its poison has spread across the world. Even nature, which should be warm and alive, has been tainted by it. I shiver wherever I go, and dream of where I belong.
That's why I joined Cloud on his madcap quest; to set myself free. I've always known that it was my duty to pray for Holy, and I've prayed for that day to come. I never could have made it to the Temple of the Ancients on my own. And here we are, so very close. It's time for me to go off on my own, to fulfill my part of this mission. The desire for the Promised Land wells up in me, so strongly I nearly double over in pain. My heart feels like it's going to explode.
Sephiroth, I'll be waiting.