Hello again! Thanks for the reviews! Sorry about any spelling or grammar errors. I proof-read way too fast and my usual writing program isn't working right so i'm using something different and it doesnt detect errors like im used to. Got lazy with the old program. Anyways! I hope you all are enjoying this! Expect...more Zack in this chapter! Well thanks for reading and reviewing, it helps a lot getting suggestions and just hearing what types of things you like. -Annubis

The Decision Between Life or Death:

A Second Chance

Chapter 3

Cloud sped through the dark and abandoned streets of Edge. Tonight was a silent night, he came across very few creatures on the plains and there had been no phone calls all night. Cloud looked down at his waist as he felt a soft vibrating.

'Must be Tifa calling...I am a little later than I had planned...' Cloud ignored the vibrations of his cell phone as he neared the bar. 'I'll be home in a minute, Tifa.' Cloud shook his head as the phone began vibrating again.

He felt a chill run down his spine. Despite the comfortable silence of the night, Cloud couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Something was wrong but he didn't know what.

"Ahhhaha! Got it!" Tifa slammed her hand over the pile of cards that lay on the table. She hopped in her chair excitedly.

"Ah, jeez. Ya always win. Let's play something else, Tifa." Reno rested his chin in his hand.

"Oh, such a sore loser." Tifa downed the rest of the golden-brown liquid in her glass.

"Ya beat me at poker, kings in the corner, speed, and now slap jack!" Reno shook his head, his red bangs waved back and forth. Tifa caught herself staring at the strands. "Let's play something a little harder."

"Reno, you can't even beat me at slap jack, what makes you think you can win at anything more difficult?" Tifa slurred her words slightly as she poured herself another drink. The man watched the woman sip carefully from her glass.

"Do you have a hump?" Reno chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Tifa raised an eyebrow as she set her glass carefully onto the table.

"You seem to be loading up on the alcohol. Stockpiling for later?" The redhead tapped on the side of the bottle between the two.

"Oh...Sorry. It's been a while since I've drunk this much." Tifa rubbed the bottom of her lower lip with her finger.

"I can tell-" Reno was interrupted by a phone ringing.

"Oh!" Tifa jumped from the loud sound. "The nerve of those people! Calling all day, all night, trying to get orders from Cloud." Tifa stood up slowly as the phone continued it's alarm.

"Are you Cloud's secretary as well?" Reno cocked an eyebrow.

"...No. I suppose I don't have to answer it, do I?" She giggled as she stopped by the staircase. The phone stopped ringing. "Machine got it." Tifa smiled and made her way back to the table to continue her game.

"Who would call this late?" Reno glanced at his watch. "Holy! Tifa! Look what time it is!" the man darted from his chair and snatched up his jacket.

"What time is it?" She looked at the large clock above the bar. "Oh my! The bar was supposed to be closed three hours ago!" The woman stared at Reno in awe.

"Guess we got a little carried away with the games." He laughed nervously as he tugged on his jacket. "Sorry to have stayed so late, I'll be out of your way now." The man turned away from her and headed towards the door.

"Wait!" She reached out but stopped herself. Reno's blue eyes met hers. "Uh...nevermind. I'll see ya tomorrow?" She twirled her hair.

"Tomorrow? Hmm..." Reno put a hand to his chin. "Sorry. I've got the late shift." The man shrugged.

"Oh...okay." The woman smiled. "Well then I guess I'll see ya whenever I see ya next."

"Of course, it won't be long! Can't stay away from this bar too long!" Reno helped Tifa pick up the glasses and bottles on the tables and set them by the sink.

"Why is that?" She tilted her head.

"Tifa! What happens when a fish is taken out of water for too long?" He raised an eyebrow, turning away from her and quickly making his way to the door. Tifa giggled. "Whelp, can't keep the wife waiting." He put a hand in the air.

"What wife?" Tifa put her hands on her hips. Reno stopped abruptly. He turned slowly towards the woman, a hand on his chest.

"Ouch, Tifa...thanks for reminding me." He winked at her before opening the door. A streak of morning light entered the room.

"Bye, Reno." Tifa turned to her dishes. Silence followed for a moment.

"Yo, Strife." Reno's voice called from outside, this alerting Tifa.

She lifted her head to see Cloud in the doorway. He stared at Reno cautiously before making eye contact with the woman. Tifa gave him a smile which the blond did not return.

'What's he thinking?' She clenched her fists.

"Reno..." Cloud nodded to the Turk before closing the door behind him.

"How was work?" Tifa sighed. Small talk had commenced. She wondered how long it would last before Cloud decided to go to bed and leave in the morning for more work, possibly disappearing for days.

"How'd she do it? How in the hell did she do it?" Sephiroth laughed to himself as he looked over the pool of water at the living. He watched in anger, knowing that Aeris was no longer a part of the Lifestream but a part of life itself. She was living on the face of the planet, enjoying every minute of it.

"Looks like I'll just have to figure out how you did this and kill you all over again!" Sephiroth slapped the rim of the well. The small green orbs of the Lifestream fluttered away as the dark man fell into a fit of laughter.

Sephiroth stared at the pool for the remainder of the day watching life pass by the hour. He growled and snarled at the thoughts of the green eyed woman and how much he would make her life a living hell when he found her. As the sun set once again signaling the approaching night, Sephiroth turned away from the pool in aggravation.

'I'll just have to ask around...get some clues, wreak some havoc.'

Cloud's footsteps echoed loudly against the wooden floors of the abandoned church. The boards creaked under his weight. The man stared at the pool of water before him. Over the past couple of years he had slowly patched around the pool, adding soil to the edges. Small spouts of vegetation popped from the new ground. The mako eyed man leaned over a certain sprout where a flower bud began to grow.

'Iris...one of her favorites.' Cloud ran a finger down the green stem. A corner of his mouth lifted.

The man tended to the flowers, adding once more soil and seeds. He did not plan on filling the entire pool with flowers, but surrounding it to create a beautiful, garden of life.

After spending a few hours sitting by the pool of water in the small blades of grass and buds, Cloud made his way to a single pew. It was now in the late hours of night, he had to get some sleep before he continued his work the next day. The man laid on the pew, covering himself with his thick blanket. Fall was quickly bringing in the cold weather and Cloud had very little to keep warm.

'I need to bring a heater in here.' he thought about the possibility of making a fire but the idea was quickly thrown out when an image of the burning church came into mind. The last thing he wanted was to also be the cause of annihilating the last standing evidence of Aeris' existence.

Cloud closed his eyes. He hoped he could dream about her again tonight, just to hold her once more.

Tifa woke up to the sound of Marlene and Denzel fighting. She sat up slowly, groaning. The covers slid down her body as she got up.

'Do they ever stop fighting? I remember when they would get along so well...' She yawned loudly as she made her way to the bickering children's room.

"Will you two stop it?" Tifa leaned against the door frame.

"Marlene started it." Denzel pointed.

"Denzel was being mean!" Marlene held onto her teddy bear.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Stop!" Tifa rubbed her forehead. "I don't care what happened, okay? Just stop fighting and get ready for school..." She sighed as she turned to leave.

"Tifa?" Marlene's voice called out.

"Hmm?" Tifa looked back at her.

"Is Cloud taking us to school again today?" The girl's eyes lit up. Tifa turned her head towards Cloud's room. The door was open and Cloud was nowhere in sight.

"I don't think so, Marlene." Tifa said quietly.

"I told you!" Denzel folded his arms. "Cloud doesn't love us!"

"He does too!" Marlene shrieked as tears stained her cheeks. The girl ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"Denzel!" Tifa growled. "You get your ass dressed, go downstairs and apologize to Marlene!"

"But-" Denzel was cut off again.

"I am sick and tired of all this fighting! It's nonsense! The BOTH of you knock it off!" Tifa turned around walking out of the room. Her arms were raised in the air as she shouted. She knew Marlene had heard everything as well. Tifa threw on some clothes and headed down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Marlene ran after her as Tifa grabbed her keys. Denzel flew down the stairs, his clothes already on.

"I'm going out. You two can walk yourselves to school." The woman looked at the clock. "You've got five minutes to be out the door to make it on time. If I find out either one of you didn't go to class..." Tifa raised a fist.

"Come on Marlene...get dressed." Denzel tugged on the small girl's hand and quickly led her up the stairs. Denzel knew when Tifa was mad, and this morning, she was pissed!

"Don't be late!" Tifa called out as she ran out the door.

'Damn it, Cloud! I'm sick of all this. The fighting, the tears, the loneliness!' Tifa jumped into the car and revved the engine. 'I'm not doing this by myself anymore! I'm gonna make you talk to me, no matter what! You've better have good excuse for leaving us and it better not be because you feel bad for Aeris' death!' The woman sped off in the distance. She knew where to look first.

Cloud woke up to the sound of banging. His eyes opened quickly.

'What's this sound? Is it raining? Thunder? Did I just hear something about a lunch break?' He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He felt the ache in his joints from sitting on the hard wooden bench all night long. The banging continued it sounded like...

"Hammering?" Cloud looked up at the roof. There were a group of men on top of the church, hammering and laying boards. 'What the hell!?'

Cloud stood up quickly. There were people all over the roof patching up the holes and mildew. The sound was ungodly in the silent church. Light flooded into the building. The front doors were both open; a soft breeze invaded the room. He heard a soft giggle come from his right side. Cloud felt his heart stop. His body felt like ice all over.

"Ya know, if you're going to be staying in my church so much I would at least expect you to fix the holes in my roof." A soft angelic voice came from the garden area. Slowly, Cloud turned his gaze to the source. "Especially since one of the was caused by you!"

'A dream...it's gotta be. Maybe... I'm hallucinating. I've died...anything to say I'm not crazy!' Cloud felt his heart squeeze at the sight before him.

"Oh my!" The woman before him giggled softly, covering her lips with the backside of her hand. She wore golden bracelets that clanged with each move she made. Her hands led to behind her back where they clasped together. "You act like you've seen a ghost!" she giggled again as she leaned forward, looking over the man.

"Aer..." Cloud stumbled backwards. His blond spikes flopped as he struggled to keep his footing. His mouth gaped open, his eyes were wide in shock. Cloud could feel his heart pounding, for the first time in years he did not know what to do. He froze.

"What was that?" The girl slowly walked to the man. Her hair was tied back in a braid. She had a pink, long sleeved top that sat on the sides of her shoulders, exposing her collarbone. She had a black ribbon tied around her neck. Around her waist was a tan belt that held a white skirt. It was decorated with red flower print and hung just below the knees. She wore brown, leather boots.

"Aeris..." Cloud whispered.

"Hmm..." The woman tapped her chin with a finger. "Correct!" She giggled.

"Am I dead?" Cloud stammered. His eyes were burning and could not keep still. They ventured over her entire body.

"Of course not!" The woman laughed. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just alive again." She walked past him.

"Alive?" Cloud turned to her quickly. He followed the woman. "You can't be alive! How!? HOW is that possible!?" Cloud began to panic. The woman looked at him, her expression was full of worry.

"Cloud...I don't know." She grabbed a hold of his hand, trying to calm his nerves.

"You don't know!? You can't just wake up from the dead!" He stumbled backwards again, leaning against the side of a pew. It was silent for a minute.

"I did." The woman leaned forward, she enjoyed teasing him, but wondered if he would ever believe her. The church was quiet. The hammering had stopped. Cloud's thoughts were a million a second. He wondered about the hammering crew. Where had they gone? Who was this before him? Was it really Aeris? Could he trust this woman? What if it was a trick? What if it was Sephiroth and he had somehow managed to come back...

"I, I don't know..." Cloud clenched the sides of his head. His eyes squeezed shut trying to make sense of everything.

"Cloud! Calm down!" The woman grabbed his shoulders, holding the man still. He opened his eyes slowly, meeting the woman's gaze. She had bright green eyes. They sparkled when she talked. They held a warm kindness behind them. It was the look Aeris always gave him. Her voice was soft and cheerful. The woman was playful and teased him, like Aeris had done when she was still alive.

"Aeris?" Cloud asked slowly.

"Cloud..." The woman smiled, tears stung her eyes. She had never been so happy to see his face. "I'm back." She smiled.

The woman was pulled into a tight embrace. She was squeezed by two muscular arms, Cloud's arms. She could feel the warmth emanating from his chest, could feel his heart pounding. Aeris smiled as she held onto him as well, never wanting to let go.

"I could never forgive myself, Aeris. I had wished, hoped, prayed every night that there was some way I could fix things. Some way to bring you back..." Cloud's voice shook.

"It's okay Cloud. I never blamed you. There was nothing you could do. I tried to make you realize that." Aeris sniffled. "I guess I had to come back, just to make you realize that things were okay."

Cloud pulled away from the woman. He stared at her face letting everything sink in. He memorized her features. She was exactly as he remembered.

"Aeris..." Cloud whispered. "You're really here!"

"Yeah, Cloud. I'm really here." Aeris gave him a warm smile.

"Please..." Cloud pulled the woman into his arms again, smiling. "If this is a dream, I never want to wake up."

Tifa pulled up to the side of the church. She looked out her window at the men climbing down from the roof.

'What's going on?' Tifa opened the door to her car slowly. She walked by the group of man who sat on some metal beams and rubble left from the destruction of Midgar. They had lunch pails and were talking happily to each other. Her eyes led to the roof where many holes were covered with new boards and shingles.

"Is Cloud fixing the church?" Tifa looked around curiously. She made her way to the front of the church. The two front doors were open, Tifa stopped dead in her tracks.

"Cloud?" Tifa whispered. Her voice was gone. She couldn't believe her eyes.

Cloud stood in the middle of the church with a woman. He was holding onto that woman tightly as if he never wanted to let go. Tifa stared at Cloud's hands. They were clenched, holding onto the cloth of the woman's shirt. His arms were wrapped around her as he rested his head on hers. Tifa couldn't see the woman's face. It was turned to the side. To make it even worse, Cloud was smiling. It wasn't just an upward turn of a corner lip, but a full fledged grin! Every tooth was showing as he smiled and talked to the woman. Tifa felt her heart sink lower than it ever had sunk before.

'So this is what it's all about? Cloud isn't mourning for Aeris anymore! He's moved on and found a new woman!' Tifa placed a hand on her chest as she ran to her car. 'He's probably fixing this church for that woman to live in...to live in with him!' Tifa felt the tears run down her face.

"Hey, are you alright!?" One of the crewmen called out.

"Fine!" Tifa slammed the door and sped away from the church, vowing to never go there again. "I'm locking the door tonight. Cloud can just stay there in his perfect church with his perfect woman!" Tifa wiped at the tears on her face.

"Okay, so here's how it works!" Zack was surrounded by thousands of green orbs. "The one who is labeled 'it' has to run around and chase all of those who are not 'it'." He moved his hands as he talked staring wide eyed at the green orbs.

After a long practice, Zack decided he wanted to play a game. Sadly, Aeris was nowhere in sight. He couldn't find her anywhere.

'She must be really angry with me...' Zack thought a moment before continuing explaining to the spirit orbs the objective of the game. After he couldn't find Aeris, Zack called out to all the orbs declaring it 'fun time'.

"Okay? Then you have to tag someone. Whoever is tagged is the next person 'it'." The dark haired man looked over the floating orbs.

'Man...I wonder if any of them know what I'm talkin' about? It's hard to tell when there aren't facial expressions!' Zack sighed.

"But be sure when you tag someone you say...Hey!" All the green orbs took off, flying away from Zack as fast as possible and out of sight. "I wasn't finished yet!" he waved his hands in the air and took a step forward, preparing to run after them, but something prevented him from moving.

'The hell!?' Zack felt something tight around his throat.

"Tag...you're it." A cool voice whispered in Zack's ear. He felt the tightness on his throat loosen. A few strands of silver hair fell over his shoulder as an arm appeared around his neck. It was adorned with black gloves and silver bangles. Zack felt himself being lifted from the ground. He kicked his feet wildly.

'Sephiroth!?' Zack felt chills run down his spine as laughter filled his senses.

"Still playing games, Zack?" the voice asked.

"S, Sephi..roth..." Zack choked.

"Correct!" he dropped the young man onto the ground. Zack rolled to his feet quickly, glaring at the intruder. He thought quickly, trying to create a sword from his mind. "Not gonna work, I'm afraid." Sephiroth chuckled as he pulled his Masamune from its sheath. The silver haired man pointed the weapon at Zack.

"What the hell do you want?" Zack growled.

"Ah...straight to the point, no more games I suppose." Sephiroth lowered his blade. He walked around the blue-eyed man slowly. "I was just going to ask you if you knew where your girl was..."

"Aeris!?" Zack felt himself freeze. 'I couldn't find her earlier. Oh no!'

"What'd you do to her!?" Zack darted for the man. Sephiroth rose his blade again.

"Stop..." he only warned.

"Where is she?" Zack snarled.

"Oh, so you don't know?" the man chuckled. "Come, I have something very interesting to show you." Sephiroth turned from Zack, leading him away from his play area. Zack felt his heart pounding in his chest, worried for the well being of Aeris.

"You didn't do anything to her did you?" Zack followed closely behind.

"Of course not? And who knows if I'd even be able to..." Sephiroth shrugged. "I almost found out...that mouth of hers could've cost her her life...again." The man smirked.

"You better leave her alone!" Zack clenched his fists.

"Hmm...well if I leave her alone then who would be there to watch over her?" the evil man glanced back at the ex-soldier. "You've been awfully busy lately..." Sephiroth's words made Zack's heart skip a beat. Was it possible for Aeris to be harmed?

"What's happened?" Zack looked up at the man.

"Patience...I'll show you." Sephiroth chuckled. "You're going to love it." The two entered the marble room and walked slowly to the well in the center. Sephiroth looked into the water, a smile crossed his face. He thought a moment, stirring the water inside. When the image appeared he had wanted he waved for the other man to join his side.

"What's this got to do with Aeris?" Zack walked to the pool and looked in.

"Oh, my boy, it has everything to do with her."

"What!" Zack leaned forward, his hands gripped the sides of the well. "H-how!?"

"That's what I want to know..." Sephiroth watched the scene unfold.

Aeris was in her church. Cloud was next to her, embracing her tightly. A smile crossed both of their faces. Zack felt his heart stutter to a halt. Aeris was alive, and the thing that made his heart stop was the fact that she was clinging onto Cloud and they both were so happy.

"Aeris..." Zack whispered into the pool of water.

"You see? Look what she does. You risk your life for her, die for her and how does she repay you? By finding a way back and not telling you. She went back to that puppet." Sephiroth was enjoying the pained looks Zack gave to his every word. "You see, she and I had a talk right before she did this and she seemed very confused, talking of love and things of the sort." Sephiroth rambled.

"Love?" Zack's face was inches from the water's surface. "LOVE!?" He gaped at the water.

"Didn't know which to love. You, the puppet,...me!" Sephiroth threw his arms into the air. "She's crazy, disrespectful, and she left you here to rot by yourself."

"You?" Zack looked at him in disbelief.

"Straight from her mouth, I tell you." Sephiroth chuckled again. His hand rested on his chest as he held his other in the air. "Really she is a crazy girl!"

"Get the hell out of here!" Zack shoved the tall man. Sephiroth glared at Zack's actions. "Leave us alone! Get out of this Lifestream and go back to the hell you came from!" his black hair hung over his eyes as she shouted at the monster in front of him.

'He tells lies. It's all he's ever done...' Zack clenched his fists. His eyes were glowing with hate.

"Hell!?" Sephiroth snatched the man's wrist, pulling them face to face. "Boy, I am hell! You will figure out how she did this and you will tell me. If not, I'll kill you myself but first I'll give her the most painful death you could ever imagine and I'll make you witness the destruction of this world including it's Lifestream! You think I came from hell, you're wrong! Hell came from me!" the crazed man shoved Zack, sending him across the room and into one of the stone pillars. In a second the man was gone, leaving Zack by himself in the marble room.

"Bas...tard..." Zack coughed as he slowly lifted himself from the ground. He waited a moment before slowly making his way to the pool that Aeris would always sit by.

'She's really gone...she really did leave me here...' Zack stared at the image of Aeris and Cloud. 'But...was it because I ignored her so much?' His vision blurred as tears stung his eyes.

"I didn't mean to make you angry..." Zack whispered to the pool of water. "Please don't tell me you did this to hurt me." He clung onto the sides of the well, his gaze never leaving the image. He closed his eyes.

'How'd she do it? How did she figure this out?' he leaned forward, the image zooming in on her smiling face.

"Aeris." Zack's voice echoed in the silence of the Lifestream.

Okay going to end it here for now. Thanks for reading! This chapter was originally going to be placed in the last...but as you can see it was way too much too join together. I'll update asap! Please be patient! -Annubis