A/N: Huge thanks to all my reviewers!


Hope

I was in a haze of red. There was pain and confusion, and I was vaguely aware that it was a result of blood loss and drugs being pumped through my body. It made my mind a total fog, and I teetered on the brink of oblivion. There was only the knowledge that something was horribly wrong, and I was terrified because something was happening with my child…

…our child…

…but everything was a blur and I wasn't sure why it was happening or how I had ended up here. I could hardly see anything because I was fighting to keep my eyes open, but everything I could see was gray and white--the flat, plain walls of the Shinra Hospital. People in masks swarmed my vision, their voices babbling words that my brain refused to process. I caught a word here or there, but nothing came together.

"--bleeding profusely--"

"--surgery--"

"--don't know--"

"--baby is--"

"--save her--"

I fought hard, fought to understand, fought because I had to, even though there was agony and blood and terror and I couldn't hold on. I was slipping into blackness, but then his voice, so much clearer than the others, snapped through my haze. "Tifa!"

I was distressed because it was thick with fear, so much fear and panic. I sought him out, locked onto his eyes…his beautiful eyes, right now filled with desperation. "Tifa. Tifa, hold on." His eyes were screaming at me, pleading don't leave me, don't leave me--

My tenuous grip on awareness was sliding away fast. I tried to speak and had a hard time moving my tongue, but I forced the words out, unsure if they even sounded intelligible. "Cloud. Don't…scared…" My eyes were closing, and I felt pressure on my hand. He was squeezing it. Or I was squeezing his. I couldn't really tell. "Cloud…"

His face was the last thing I saw before I lost my hold on consciousness.

--:--

I ached, mostly in my abdomen, and as I slowly became aware, I was hit with a realization that sucked the breath right out of me and made my eyes snap open. Gasping, I reached for my stomach, suddenly feeling horribly, terrifyingly empty.

My baby was gone.

Recollection was swiftly returning. I was still groggy, but I knew now what had happened. I recalled the labor that had started when I was already a week overdue. The stabbing pains that had grown worse and worse, the trip to the hospital, and then the terrible agony that I had somehow known was not just normal labor pain. The hemorrhaging…blood everywhere…the doctor prepping me for emergency surgery, talking about "losing the mother and baby…"

I was alive, but…

There was a chair pulled up to the bed, and he was there, asleep with his head tilted to the side. I stared at him for a long moment, my throat tight with fear, and I was finally able to force one word past my lips. "Cloud."

His eyes snapped open immediately, his gaze locking onto mine, relief filling his face. We stared at each other for a moment, and then he breathed, "Tifa."

"Cloud…the baby?" My voice sounded thick and heavy, and I knew I was still drugged. I touched my stomach, and felt nothing but a surge of pain as my fingers pressed against a fresh wound. A surgical wound.

He opened his mouth, but it was a moment before the words came out. "She's all right."

My insides crumbled with relief, and tears slipped down my cheeks. "She," I breathed in a whisper. I had another daughter. Where was she? What did she look like? What had happened? Once I had started bleeding, everything was a blur.

He nodded, a short, almost numb nod, and I saw the emotions in his eyes, so muddled that I didn't know where to start sorting them out. Fear, relief, panic, elation. He stared at me for the longest moment, and then his head dropped as he leaned forward, his face colliding with my arm. He was trembling, and I reached over with my free hand, holding him as best I could from my prone position. "Hey," I said softly. "I'm here."

He didn't say anything, and I finally asked, "What happened?"

"You--" His voice was so heavy, and I knew from the trouble he was having that it had been catastrophic. "You almost died," he finally said. He lifted his head, meeting my eyes, and I wanted to cry at the look on his face. "Both of you. Once they--once they got her out, she was fine, but--they weren't sure they would be able to save you." He pulled away from me completely, swinging to his feet in one smooth motion.

"I'm all right."

"You--" He shook his head, his gaze drifting toward the floor. "I--" There was something in his voice that was very old and familiar, but which I had not heard in a very long time.

Guilt.

I reached out an arm toward him, which sent a sharp pain through my stomach, and I winced. "Cloud. Come here."

He looked at me, and it was there in his eyes, too. "I--"

"Cloud. Please."

He finally turned and perched on the edge of the bed, staring at his knees.

"This isn't your fault." He just shook his head, and I repeated with emphasis, "This isn't your fault."

"Tifa." His eyes found mine again, and he said, "This is my fault. I--"

"Married me? Had sex with me? Got me pregnant? This could have happened to anyone. Sometimes there are complications in childbirth."

His eyes flashed, and he faced me fully. "This happened because of me," he said, a tinge of anger in his voice. "This happened because of who I am and because of what I did pass on to our--to her."

"To our daughter. She has a name," I said quietly. I thought I was beginning to understand what might be going through his mind, and it made my heart ache.

He spoke after a moment, his voice getting more tense and angry with each word. "She has Jenova cells in her, Tifa. As far as the doctors can tell, when you went into labor, it--it did something to her. She had a reaction because of her Jenova cells and it put her in distress and almost killed both of you." His hands were clenched into fists, and I could see him shaking, feel it where his back brushed against my leg. "If I did that to her before she was even born--if I did it to you--"

"Cloud."

He just shook his head. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment, reaching out blindly and gripping his arm. He tensed, and I clenched my fingers around his wrist, not giving him the chance to pull away. Opening my eyes, I asked, "Where are Denzel and Marlene?"

"Downstairs with Barret. They refused to go home."

"Where is Aerith?"

Another moment of silence, and then, "The doctors are watching her. And…Shera's been here. Holding her."

"Cloud…have you even seen her?"

I knew the answer before he even looked at me. No. He hadn't even seen her. Held her, talked to her, touched her…because he was afraid. Afraid and blaming himself.

"How long?" I whispered. "How long have I been here?"

"Two days."

I took a deep breath and immediately wished I hadn't, because it really hurt. "I think it's time to meet our daughter."

--:--

I got a visit from a doctor I vaguely recognized first, checking up on me and asking me some questions, helping me to carefully sit propped against some pillows. When he was finally gone, Shera stepped into the room, holding a bundle of white blankets in her arms. She smiled at me, walking over and slowly lowering the bundle down on my legs.

My breath caught in my throat, and tears sprang to my eyes. A tiny face poked out of the blankets, eyes closed, a shock of dark hair covering her head. It was like looking at a glimpse of perfection.

"She's beautiful," Shera whispered, and gently pressed her hand against mine. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"Thank you. For--" I swallowed. I knew Shera had her hands full with her own kids.

Shera waved a hand. "It's good for Cid to have the kids round the clock sometimes." Her eyes darted from me to Cloud, and she said, "I'll leave you alone for a bit." Smiling again, she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Slowly, I ran my fingers over my daughter's face, studying perfect little features, her tiny hands and fingers. When she shifted in her sleep and yawned, I realized I was crying, silent tears dripping down my face. "Cloud." I turned my face up to his, blinking to clear my vision. He was standing beside the bed, staring down at her as though he had never seen anything quite like her before. He took a step closer, almost involuntarily.

"She--"

I waited.

"She looks just like you."

She was so small, her little chest rising and falling, so wonderfully alive and warm on my legs. I couldn't even begin to express the love I had for her. She was the culmination of all of my hopes, the embodiment of my love for Cloud, and his for me. She was the dream I had never been sure would come true.

"Cloud," I murmured. I gently lifted her off my lap, stunned at how small and fragile she felt in my hands. "Here."

He took a step backward, a look of terror in his eyes. "Tifa…"

"Cloud."

"What if I--"

"You're not going to hurt her."

"I already have."

I met his eyes steadily. "Cloud."

He sighed, but slowly stepped back up to the bed and sat down next to me. Before he could protest further, I carefully set her in his arms. He shot me a wide-eyed look as I let go. He sat perfectly still, as though he was afraid he would break her if he moved, looking so awkward, and the sight was heartbreakingly beautiful to me.

I wasn't sure how long we sat there before he spoke to her, his voice so soft I barely heard it. "I'm sorry." I didn't know whether he was apologizing for her Jenova cells or for not holding her until this moment.

She started to wake up then, wiggling in his arms and peeking open blue eyes. If Cloud hadn't been moving before, he was an absolute stone now, staring at her as her eyes moved around his face.

"Tifa. Take her."

I frowned at him, but he wasn't looking at me.

"Tifa." There was panic filtering into his voice now, and my frown deepened as I carefully took Aerith out of his arms. As soon as she was safely in my grasp, he stood to his feet, not really looking at me.

"I'm scared, too," I whispered.

He didn't answer for a moment, and then finally said, "It's hard enough with Denzel and Marlene." He gazed down at her again. "I already want to kill anyone who thinks of hurting her."

"Which is exactly how you feel about Marlene and Denzel."

"Yes."

I smiled. "Then I think everything will be just fine. They've turned out pretty well, don't you think?"

"I didn't almost kill them."

"You didn't almost kill Aerith. Or me," I said firmly. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. For what could have happened."

He let out a long, slow breath.

"Please," I whispered. "Don't do this to yourself. Don't. We've been through this before. And…don't you think that she was worth it? Look at her. Look. She's us, Cloud; she's beautiful and she's ours, and I would do it all over again."

He shot me a wide-eyed look and said, "I don't ever want to do this again."

Of course, we hadn't meant to get pregnant the first time, and I knew that the possibility of going through this again had to be scaring him.

"That's not what I meant. I meant I would do it all over again for her." I smiled down at her. "Besides," I added. "Three is a good number."

He gazed at me, and for a moment, I wondered if he was going to walk out of the room. To my relief, he instead chose to sit back down on the edge of the bed. Tentatively, he reached out a finger and touched Aerith's hand. She curved her fingers around his finger, and he eventually said, "Yes."

I raised my eyebrows at him, and he clarified, "Yes, I think she was worth it." A pause, and then, "I still don't want to do this ever again. I don't think I could--" He shook his head. "I can't lose you."

I took his free hand and squeezed it. I didn't have a chance to answer, because the door suddenly burst open, and Marlene was running across the room. Denzel was right behind her, with Barret bringing up the rear.

"Tifa!" Marlene carefully put her arms around me, her cheek pressed against mine. "Are you all right? Really? The doctor said you were awake. We've been so scared."

I wrapped one arm tightly around her, the other cradling Aerith, and looked up at Denzel, whose solemn eyes met mine for a moment before he moved in for a hug, too. I felt him sigh into my hair, and though he didn't speak, tension drained out of his shoulders. "I'm fine," I murmured. "We're all okay."

"I called Yuffie. She and Nanaki are closing the bar and coming over."

Yuffie and Nanaki had been in charge of the bar? Or had it been Nanaki trying to manage the bar and Yuffie?

Barret stood nearby, his arms crossed, and he nodded at me. "Knew you wouldn't go without a fight," he told me.

I smiled at him and held onto all three of my children for a long moment, until first Denzel and then Marlene pulled away. "Can I hold her?" Marlene whispered, her eyes fixed on the baby.

I willingly handed Aerith over to her delighted sister and leaned back on the pillows with a sigh. My body was hurt and exhaustion was seeping through my bones, but I was utterly content to be here, with my family.

My eyes met Cloud's as he continued to stand next to the bed. I probed him with my eyes, and he averted his gaze for a moment, watching Marlene fuss over Aerith. Finally, he looked back at me and smiled.

I knew that there was still going to be fear and anxiety, but I also knew that there was hope and the promise of life, of the life we had built together with our children. Life was never easy; no one ever knew what was going to happen from day to day. But it was worth living, and I was going to live it to the fullest for as much time as I was given.

I smiled as Marlene leaned into Cloud's side, Aerith still cradled in her arms. He hesitated, looking down at the two little girls for a long moment, and finally just wrapped his arms around both of them.

They were still standing like that when the door opened again and Yuffie came bounding in. "Tifa? Are you awake? Red! She's awake! Vincent and Cid will be by later, Tifa, and boy, does Cid owe me!"

"Why does he owe you?" Denzel asked her.

"I won the bet on when the baby would be born. He was sure she'd be early, but I knew that Tifa's patient with everything, so why not being pregnant? Ooooh, she looks just like you, Tifa! Here, I want to hold her!"

Yuffie had been spinning in circles as she talked, and I wondered if she would be able to keep her balance while holding my baby. Cloud apparently had some concerns, because he half-stepped in front of Marlene and said, "It's--"

He was cut off when Aerith opened her mouth in a long, piercing wail. Yuffie immediately held up her hands and took a step back. "Never mind. I'll hold her when she's happy."

"Here, Tifa." Marlene carefully lifted the now-screaming, wriggling baby back into my arms.

I gazed down into her shrieking face, then around at my family and friends, and I couldn't help but smile. "Welcome to life, Aerith."