First of all thank you for taking the time to look at my work. It's my very first time writing a story. I hope you'll like it, please let me know what you think and constructive criticism is welcome.

Chapter 1: Bittersweet Delusion

"Cloud, before you go...can you promise me something"

"...Sure, anything"

We are sitting atop the water tower, our feet dangling in the air. I turn to look at her. She is looking at the sky, staring at the stars. 'She's very pretty tonight. Well she's always pretty. Did she dress up extra pretty just for me?'

"Promise me...If ever-"

'She has pretty brown eyes. When she looks at you, it feels as if they could decipher your soul. She has pretty long silky hair; I bet if she would let me touch it, it would feel very soft along my fingertips. And a pretty mouth too, her lips look soft and plum. If I ever get to taste her lips, I have a strong feeling they would taste like heaven-'

"...could you do that for me Cloud?"

"Yeah, sure."

She smiles at me and I shyly smile back. She leans in towards me, I get stiff. She ignores it and puts her head on my shoulder. I relaxed and put my arm around her.

"We should probably go, I wouldn't like my father go up to my room and find me missing."

"Yeah...okay"

We are at the ladder, I start climbing down the first steps, then stop. I look up to her.

"When you reach the end of the ladder, I'll help you down. That way you don't have to jump to the ground...So you don't get hurt."

She giggles and nods, I smile back at her and continue my climb down. 'She has a pretty smile. I like her giggles'.

"Ready?"

She looks back at me, then to the ground again. I see that her chest inhales and slowly exhale, preparing herself for the jump. She nods to me.

"...I'm ready"

I steady my feet and raise my arms for her, bracing myself for her fall. She lets go of the ladder, letting gravity take her to the ground, taking her to me. She gives a low shriek as we fall to the ground. Our faces are inches apart from each other, sharing a same look of shock on them. 'Good going dufus, now she will know that you are a wimp. Can't even catch her, you don't deserve her'. Several seconds pass by in silence until she cracks up laughing. I mentally curse myself. 'Great, now she is laughing at me for being weak'.

"This is not funny"

She continues laughing softly while bracing her palms on my chest, attempting to get up. She manages to sit on top of my abdomen, then fixing her dress around her, managing to cover up her modesty. My hands drift from her waist to rest on her knees. She giggles again.

"Yes it is."

She grabs her hair, twisting it and bringing it to one side of her face. I reach out and grab the lock that she misses, bringing it behind her ear. My hand carefully touches the side of her face, tracing her cheek with my fingers. 'Soft'. She gives me a sly smile. I slowly drift my fingers to her lips, tracing them softly, touching them. 'Soft pretty lips, how would they taste?' She leans down looking pensive; her hand reaches out to touch my cheek, caressing it down to my lips. Her eyes then shift to look at my eyes. 'It's now or never. You won't have this moment with her again'. I take a gulp, and she closes her eyes, knowing what's to come. She looks so pretty that night.

'It's true, you won't have this moment again'. You close your eyes and close the small gap with your lips touching hers. 'All you have is this memory'. The kiss is sweet and tender, but you want more. You gain some guts to start this, so continue while it lasts. You take your other hand to grasp the other side of her face, while she strokes your cheek again. You both take a breath, knowing that this time, the kiss will go deeper. Your lips lock again with hers, she gently opens her mouth and you take the plunge to taste her. 'Yes. Only this memory'

She tastes just as you imagine it will be. 'Heaven.' Her sweet, delicious nectar can't compare to all the candies you sample. You angle her face so you could taste more of her. Anticipating you won't ever have this heavenly kiss again. 'You're right. I won't'. You stroke softly inside of her, having your mind memorize her flavor, the way her lips feel against you, the texture of her face, the feel of her on top of you. You commit all this to memory because this moment won't last forever, like you wish it would. 'They never do'. This special night that allowed her to be only yours and you hers. Where the world stop for you and you savor what heaven should feel like. You're holding on to each other, there on the ground near the water tower, in the center of your hometown. It felt that the stars shine brighter that night just for this blissful moment. This moment that converted itself into a sweet memory. 'Yes a memory. A memory that now is your dream.'

You are dreaming of that night, one of the best nights of your wretched life. You dreaming of the girl you left, you're first love. You are dreaming of her, wishing that this dream never ends. 'I don't want it to end'. And just like the moments, dreams don't last long either. And fact they cease to exist. 'Please, don't let this dream end'. Now you are standing with her, looking at her face, caressing it with your hands. She's smiling at you. You feel deep sadness within you, knowing that it just a dream of her and nothing more. You feel like you want to cry, feel like you want to say something to make it real. Do anything for this dream to never end and wishing to continue to convert itself to reality.

'Reality is close by'. I feel it right behind me because sleep is leaving my bed very soon and I would turn any moment and open my eyes to face it. 'I want to keep on dreaming, it's better than reality'. I want to keep looking at her face, her eyes, her nose and her lips. 'She's so beautiful'. I pull her closer to me, cradling her head under my chin. I smell her hair. 'It smells wonderful'. I won't get to smell it again. Sadness consumes me again and it's stronger than before, because I foresee what's coming. I wrap my arms around her tighter, not wanting to let her go, don't want to lose the warmth that she's giving me. 'This is heaven for me'. I feel peace, I feel whole and I feel utterly complete right here with her in my arms. This is my sanctuary and I don't want to leave. 'I don't want to leave her'.

And yet you feel anguish increasing tenfold, causing you to shed tears for this bittersweet delusion. To mourn for her, your first love, the one you left and now leaving again. 'And I don't want too'. You're grieving that it's just a dream and nothing else. And you feel powerless, unable to take control of your body because it's turning around, forcing you to face the light. You feel the dream shifting, you look around it's no longer a starry night, its daylight. You keep enclosing her into your arms, turning the both of you around so your back is facing the light and shielding her from it. It's futile because the light is everywhere, to stimulate your impending departure any moment now and oblige you to let her go. You face down to see that she's still complacent in your arms, unaffected to what the light means. She doesn't notice any difference.

It breaks your heart and you feel its aches. You feel it pumping fast causing your chest to feel hot and burn you. It wakes up your mind from its dream state to comprehend that none of this is real, that she is not real and it's pulling you out into reality. 'Please, no'. The dream is getting lighter, almost white. All you could see now is a shadow of her silhouette. You don't longer feel her warmth because she is disappearing in front of you. Now all you feel is cold and despair because it is just a simple dream and she's no longer with you anymore. 'And what is your reality?'

My reality is that, now I am lying on my back. The bed sheets clothe around my legs, covering me up to my hips. In which my arm is lying across my stomach, the other is resting at my side. I'm facing the window, where the sunlight is shining in on me. I don't longer feel sad or cold, the dream took away those direful emotions along with her. I'm breathing evenly, my heart feels normal. Tears that I thought I shed don't exist in this world, because my face feels dry. I don't want to open my eyes yet because I want to still see the linger of the dream in my mind.

My dream of her, of that night. It's the memory of the last time I spoke to her, the only time I touched her, the only kiss I had of her and the last time I saw her. It is the moment I wanted to last but it didn't. And all I could do is give a farewell to the remnants of that dream, to that night, to her. To the girl I would never forget. 'Why her?' It's because she is the root from my past, the stem of my memories, and the thorn in my heart. She is the rose that blooms beautifully in my dreams. 'And how do I say farewell?' Here, in my reality. I open my eyes while whispering her name.

"...Tifa..."