Disclaimer - Final Fantasy VII and its characters are copyright Square-enix.
Chapter I: Because You Didn't Die
Cloud's eyes snapped open.
There was noise all around him as though a thousand people were murmuring at once. He got out of the bed he had been resting in and moved to stand near the small window at the corner of the strange houses the Cetra had used hundreds of years before. Above the murmuring was her soft voice, calling out to the city with words long since forgotten. Cloud couldn't understand them, but he knew for certain that Aerith was there, in the city.
Sephiroth was there too. Cloud could feel his presence, hovering. He was waiting. But what was he waiting for? Cloud didn't want to provoke anything; he wanted to keep Aerith safe, and the only way to guarantee that was to keep both Sephiroth and himself away from her. He had already tried to hurt her once; he had even given the black materia to Sephiroth. He couldn't let a failure like that happen again. Yet, at the same time, if he kept away from her…Sephiroth might attack her and she would have no protection at all.
Cloud was torn. He wanted to follow her as much as he wanted to stay away from her. He was a danger to her, but she was in danger herself.
It was Barret who decided him. Cloud heard Barret's heavy footsteps fall, and then Tifa's lighter ones moments later. His friends were up; they were done resting. It was time. Cloud looked out the window, into the moonlight. Through the window, the large dome of the City rose, glimmering a pearl white in the moon's light. "I feel it," Cloud said quietly to his companions, not looking back at them.
"What is it?" Barret's voice was full of sleep.
"Aerith is here…" Cloud hesitated but forced himself to continue. "And so is Sephiroth."
"Wh—what! Sephiroth?!" Barret exclaimed.
"How do you know, Cloud?" Tifa asked, cutting through Barret's following torrent of curses.
"…it's not an excuse. I feel it in my soul," Cloud murmured, mostly to himself.
"Then we better get offa our lazy asses!" Barret decided authoritatively.
Cloud nodded, glad that he had his friends with him. They would keep Aerith safe and he would make certain nothing happened to her. Or to himself. "…right. Let's hurry and find Aerith."
They found their way through the crystal labyrinth, past the center stair that had been protected by its solitary watery guardian. The stairs, a blue transparent crystal, spiraled downward into the heart of the city itself—buried deep underground like a great treasure. Cloud and the rest arrived at the bottom of the stairs to walk through a small gazebo entrance. The sides of the walls were open; Cloud looked through the open air and saw her.
She knelt on the altar at the center of the city, far away from where Cloud stood. She seemed so small, so delicate, kneeling on the altar's crystal floor. But she was as beautiful as she had always been. Her head was bent against her folded hands; she could not see him. He turned to his companions and motioned for them to follow him.
They descended the second flight of stairs and moved toward the tall stepping stones that suspended the crystal altar over the water. Cloud hopped onto the first one; Barret moved to follow, but Cloud stopped him. He felt he must be alone with her; whatever she was doing, it was sacred, something that couldn't be shared with too many people. Yet he knew that she would welcome him, and so he did not keep himself away. He moved from stone to stone quietly, his feet barely making a sound against the smooth surfaces.
He reached the altar. As he moved toward her, he felt an inescapable urge to draw his sword. Horrified, he watched as his body drew his sword and moved him forward, closer, closer to her. He raised his sword high above his head, above her bowed head and swung downward—
"Cloud!!" Tifa shouted at the same time that Barret cried out, "Stop it!"
Cloud shook his head to clear it. "Ugh…what are you making me do?" he croaked as he tossed his sword aside. It clattered against the glass floor.
She looked up at last. Her green eyes sparkled as she recognized him. He couldn't look away from her. Her lips curved into a gentle smile; whatever she had been doing, it seemed she was fulfilling it.
Movement sounded above. Cloud's head whipped up to catch a black speck falling rapidly toward them. Crying out, Cloud dove forward, grabbing Aerith in his arms and pulling her to the side just as Sephiroth's sword stabbed into the spot where Aerith had been only moments before. Cloud rolled, covering Aerith with his body, as Sephiroth jerked his sword out of the ground.
Sephiroth, his eyes narrowed, moved toward Cloud. Cloud stood, holding his arm out to shield Aerith. Aerith's fingers gripped the folds of his shirt as she stood as well, keeping close to his back. "Sephiroth! What are you trying to do?"
"Cloud!" Tifa's voice rang out; in his peripheral he saw her and Barret coming toward them over the steppingstones.
His eyes darted toward his sword. He cursed himself for throwing it away. Aerith's staff was nowhere to be found either. He did not move from where he stood in front of Aerith; he would protect her to the end if he had to. He owed her that much.
Sephiroth smiled coldly. "So. A little rebellion I see. Very well." Sephiroth raised his sword over his head. "I'll kill you both here. Although it's slightly inconvenient."
Sephiroth's sword came slicing down; Cloud did not move. Behind him, Aerith shouted, "Cloud!"
The sword bit through skin. But it wasn't Cloud's skin.
Tifa, her fingers gripping Cloud's buster sword that he'd cast aside, cried out as Sephiroth's sword cut through her back. Grimacing, she thrust the hilt of his sword into his hands. "Take it, Cloud," she gasped. Her knees buckled and she collapsed against the ground.
Aerith rushed out to catch her and pull her away as Cloud and Sephiroth faced each other down. By this point, Barret had joined Cloud and his gun was pointed toward Sephiroth.
"Sephiroth! What were you trying to do to Aerith? Answer me!"
Sephiroth lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "It didn't work. All that is left is to go north now. The Promised Land awaits me over the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the Planet. As will all of you, when you have returned to me."
"You're not going anywhere, Sephiroth," Cloud snarled.
Sephiroth smiled suddenly and lowered his sword. "Cloud, there's no need to act as though you're angry. Because, Cloud, you are…"
Before Cloud could step forward, Sephiroth floated into the air. As he vanished, Jenova descended. Cloud and Barret fought Jenova while Aerith worked to take care of Tifa's wound while periodically casting healing spells on Cloud and Barret. They quickly defeated Jenova; she was no match for their combined powers.
As she vanished, Jenova whispered, "Because you are…a puppet."
"I'm…a puppet?" Cloud asked, bewildered.
"Cloud! I can't help her! We have to get her out of here," Aerith's voice cut through his confusion.
He turned and nodded. "Barret, take Tifa out of here. Get her to a doctor as quickly as possible. Aerith and I will finish up here, and then we'll come find you."
"Awright," Barret replied. He swooped Tifa up into his arms and hopped over the stones, departing as quickly as he could for the surface.
When they were certain Barret was well on his way to getting Tifa proper care, Cloud and Aerith turned toward each other. Aerith beamed up at him radiantly; a sheepish smile was tricked out of him. He was so relieved that she was safe.
"You came for me. Even though I told you not to," she said.
"I'm your bodyguard. How could I not?"
"You saved me. I knew you would. I wasn't afraid because I knew you would be there." She clasped her hands behind her back and looked up into his eyes. "Thank you. Cloud."
He laughed, rubbing his head nervously. "Well, I owed you one."
She laughed. "Now I owe you. Let's see…" She turned her back toward him and tapped her finger against her cheek, pondering. "What can I give you…"
He couldn't take his eyes off of her back. She was alive. Sephiroth hadn't hurt her. He hadn't hurt her.
"I know!" She hit the palm of her hand with her fist and whirled toward him. Clasping her hands behind her back again, she leaned to the side, her eyes crinkling in the laughter he had come to treasure more than anything. "How about another date?"
"Is that all you have to offer?" he asked with a snort. "I'm starting to feel cheated here."
"How about a flower then?"
They both smiled at each other. Everything would be all right. She was alive, he was alive. No matter what, they would be fine. They would track down Sephiroth together.
Aerith's face suddenly became serious. "Cloud. I don't know if my prayer reached the Planet."
"What were you doing?"
"I had to summon Holy. But when you pulled me away from Sephiroth, the materia fell from my hair."
"What materia? What are you talking about?" He frowned, confused.
"Remember that useless materia my mother gave me? When I came here, they told me that it was the white materia, the only materia powerful enough to stop Meteor—Holy." She clasped her hands in front of her and glanced down at the water below them. "But it fell from my hair when Sephiroth attacked. I don't know if my prayer reached the Planet or not."
Instinctively, Cloud reached out and caught her elbow in his hand. "Aerith. Sephiroth hasn't summoned Meteor yet. We can still stop him, with or without Holy."
Aerith bit her lip. "But what if we can't? What if we need Holy?"
"Let's cross that bridge when we get there. What do you say?" Cloud released his grip on her arm.
She nodded, coming to some decision in her mind. "I can always come back later." She smiled up at him and then reached for his hand.
He blinked in surprise as her fingers laced through his. She tugged him forward, and he followed, as he always had. As he always would.
"Let's go, bodyguard!"