Promise
Final Fantasy VII
By: Bahamuts AngelVII
A/N: Italicized Thinking.
Hmmm, well, let's get some more reviews! And I'm really sorry for the long wait... I've been grounded from the computer, haha. But yeah, I want to get one hundred reviews! So keep reviewing people!
Chapter 12
Silence drifted over the group like a heavy fog. Tifa gazed at Aeris, tears welling up in her eyes. This time was different for all of them. This time, they knew she was going to die. They also knew that the reason why she was suffering again was because they had brought her back to life. In a way, the reason why she had all this pain was because of them. It was technically their fault. Tifa felt nauseous with guilt and sadness.
"Ten minutes." Cloud's voice brought the rest of the group back. They had all been lost in their own minds for the past moments.
"Um…" Everyone turned their eyes to Aeris and listened closely. "Everyone… I want to tell you all what I should've said before… … I love you all so much. I want to thank each and every one of you for what you did for me… Every time I always seemed to get myself into so much trouble, and I'm so sorry for always bringing problems to our group… But… I want to you all to know that you all have helped me become a better person. You all make my life worth living. These past few weeks, you've all made my life feel so peaceful and finally complete… Something my childhood never had and something I've always wanted…
"I love all of you so much, you have no idea. Over our journey, you've all given me something worthwhile in my life… I… I'm going to miss every single one of you…" Tears started to roll down Aeris' cheeks, "Thank you so much for going through so much trouble to bring me back… I never should've run away in the first place…
"Cid, thank you so much for helping us out so much during our journey with the Highwind and the Tiny Bronco… I'm going to miss you and your temperament so much," Aeris let out a soft laugh, which Cid replied to with a small smile. "Yuffie, Vincent, you two are such characters. Yuffie I love your outgoing personality and how incredibly blunt you are. You bring a good perspective to life when you're not stealing materia. And Vincent, you're so quiet and smart and strong… I'll miss you both.
"Barrett, thank you so much for always being by my side and helping me out… Red, Reeve, you two are so brave. I love both of you so much… I love all of you." Aeris patted Red on the head and smiled brightly at all of her friends.
"Tifa… You're my best friend. You've always been here for me and Cloud ever since the beginning and I have to say I'm jealous of your spirit… I'm going to miss you so much…" Aeris reached for Tifa and pulled her into a tight hug. Tifa buried her head in Aeris' hair and let the tears soak into it. She kissed Aeris on the cheek and retreated to the other bed. She looked up and her eyes met Cloud's, who quickly looked away.
"Cloud, I—" Aeris began to cough, and she grasped at her neck and fell forward.
Cloud quickly sat down beside her on the bed and wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her. "It's okay, you don't have to talk." He whispered throatily in her ear. "We understand." His friends nodded weakly. He couldn't look them in the eyes. Cloud leaned Aeris back on the bed and leaned over her.
Aeris feebly reached out with a pale hand and held Cloud's face. She was trembling all over and Cloud could feel her body temperature dropping. He hung his head in sadness and felt the tears drip from his eyes onto her cheeks, where her own tears mixed with them. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Aeris' kind eyes gazing back at him.
"Aeris… I'm so sorry; I was supposed to be your bodyguard… Now look at what I've done…" He murmured softly, trying hard to choke back his tears.
"Cloud, don't say that…"
Tifa stared at Cloud. The tears that trickled down her cheek weren't for herself; they were for Cloud. It was for his pain, his suffering that he had to endure not once but twice. The loss of his only love made Tifa hurt too. She couldn't bear to see Cloud like this. He didn't deserve it.
Tifa could feel Yuffie watching her. She turned around, and Yuffie gave her a sad smile. Yuffie knew Tifa was torn apart right now, and she wanted to comfort her. But Tifa sent her back a telepathic message saying that these last ten minutes were to be focused on Aeris.
But there was only one minute.
"Cloud…" Aeris began, "I love you… And this time we had was so special, never look back with regret… you'll see… You'll see it was all worth it…"
"Aeris!" Aeris' hand fell to her side and her breathing became shallow and quick. She looked in pain. Cloud leaned over her.
"No, no, no, no… No… Aeris… I love you!" He said in desperation. He grasped for her hands and she held on tightly to his. She groaned in pain and she felt beads of sweat trickle down her forehead. Tears clouded her vision.
"Cloud… Cloud, I… I…" There was a note of panic in her voice. I love you, Cloud! I love you and I've always needed you by my side… She wanted to scream. But she couldn't. She couldn't finish her sentence. Her bright green eyes grew dim and cold. Cloud could feel her hand go limp. He slowly lowered himself onto her body.
"Rest well, my love." Cloud whispered to her empty frame. "I'll miss you." He stood up and took a seat at the end of her bed.
The eight friends all looked at Aeris' now lifeless body. An innocent peace stole over them as they gazed at the last Cetra. Yuffie lowered her head onto Vincent's shoulder and cried. Cid shook his head slowly and lit a cigarette with a trembling hand and looked out the window. Tifa and Cloud were the only two people who didn't stop staring at Aeris.
Finally, Cloud spoke. "We… We should bury her."
"I'll dig a hole in the back." Red commented, before slinking out of the room. Tifa noticed he brushed away a tear with his paw. The other friends followed Red's path to help him dig a grave, while Tifa stayed behind.
Tifa stared at the ground, the tears overflowing and dripping onto her thighs. She watched, detached as they soaked onto her skirt. She didn't deserve to die. Cloud loves her and he's been hurt so much already. I should've been the one to die, if any. Oh, Cloud… Please don't do anything rash… I know you'll miss her, but don't forget we all care too… Oh, I'll miss her so much. Tifa glanced up at Cloud. But Cloud was still staring at Aeris. He couldn't meet Tifa's eyes…
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Yuffie ran in and nodded to Cloud to show that they were finished. He thanked her and she left. Cloud slowly reached over and picked Aeris up, her head hanging back over his arm and her cold legs dangling over his other. He trailed out of the room. Tifa followed suit.
As Cloud walked into the backyard, a cool breeze washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head back. He opened his eyes and stared at the starry sky. Everything was all wrong. He couldn't focus. Aeris should be here beside me. She shouldn't have died. He descended the dirt stair case that Red had carved out for him. He couldn't do it. It was the Forgotten City all over again. His friends all lined up solemnly beside the giant, rectangular hole in the ground.
"Aeris…" Cloud lay her body down gently. With one last kiss on her lips, he turned around. He slowly walked out of the hole. His mouth was trembling and his hands were shaking. He could feel Tifa's eyes on him, silently urging him to turn and talk to her. But he didn't. He couldn't.
Later
In the middle of the night, Cloud slipped out of his room. He softly padded down the staircase, only one thought in his mind. Aeris… She visited him in his dreams. After the funeral, he had retreated to his room and had fallen asleep, his face dirty with tear stains. Then he had been haunted by their memories together.
"What rank were you?" Aeris was atop the toy at the playground in the slums. Cloud was sitting beside her.
"Rank?"
"You know, in SOLDIER."
"Oh, I was… First Class."
"Just the same as him."
"The same as who?"
"My first boyfriend."
"You were… serious?"
"No. But I liked him for a while."
"I probably knew him. What was his name?"
"It doesn't really matter." It was Zack, Cloud told his dream. It was Zack.
---
"I learned a lot. The elders taught me many things. About the Cetra... And the Promised Land... I'm... alone... I'm all alone now..." Aeris murmured to Cloud while they sat around the bonfire in Cosmo Canyon.
"But I'm... we're here for you, right?"
"I know. I know, but... I am the only... Cetra." I wanted to say 'I'm here for you'. But I couldn't.
As Cloud stepped out of the glass backdoor, he was already focused on what he had come out for. The fresh dirt from Aeris' burial was soft under his feet. They sunk in when he stepped. Cloud stood for a moment before curling up and breathing in the earthy scent of the ground. He wanted to just lay there for the rest of eternity with Aeris. He could do it.
"I love you. I know, I know… I haven't said it enough. Aeris, are you listening? I love you." He listened to the earth. She was speaking to him. He let his eyes close and he felt finally warm and at peace.
Meanwhile
"Oh, Tifa…" Yuffie reached out and grabbed Tifa's foot. Tifa didn't pull away but instead let Yuffie give her a foot massage.
"I feel so bad."
"Why?"
"She said to me, 'Don't think I haven't noticed'."
"Noticed…"
"That I love Cloud!"
"We all know."
"But not him."
"True…"
"I just… She said I have to take care of him…"
"Well, duh."
"Duh?"
"Of course you have to take care of him… You are his best friend…"
"But he doesn't act like it!"
"You know he loves you anyway… You're the only person he's opened up to."
"Yeah, well…"
"Aeris knows what she's talking about."
"But she said her and Cloud weren't meant to be."
"Then they weren't."
"But…"
"No buts! You know Aeris knows what she's talking about."
"…"
"Trust me…"
"I do… It's just, well, how can everyone not think they were meant for each other? Aeris and Cloud, Cloud and Aeris. They're meant to be with each other."
"Well, maybe you and Cloud were meant for each other." Yuffie said a little matter-of-factly. Tifa pulled her feet away slowly.
"If we were meant to be you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now, huh?"
"Fate works in strange ways…"
"We're not talking about fate. We're talking about cold hard love."
"Love is only hard if you make it that way."
"Aeris needn't have died."
"I know."
"We didn't have to…"
"I know."
"But…"
"He loves her."
"I know Cloud loves her… It's hard to watch, because she's done absolutely nothing wrong, and even though I love Aeris with all my heart, it still hurts me even more to see that my best friend is in love with him. But he loves her too and I have no right to try and get between something that doesn't have anything to do with me."
"There isn't anything to get between anymore… He has to move on eventually."
"Don't be so rash, Yuffie. You know it's not that easy…"
"Yeah, well, people have to move on. Life goes on, yada yada…"
"Hm…"
"I'll miss her, though."
"Me too."
Later
Cloud awoke some time later, when he could see a faint glow of the sun over the horizon. He glanced at his cell phone. 3:49… He wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up. But he couldn't. What had she always told him? Be strong, Cloud… Don't be like this. Isn't it enough that I love you and that you love me? Cloud shook his head on the ground. It will never, ever, be enough… He closed his eyes and let more tears soak into the soft earth below him. Suddenly he remembered something Aeris had said. There's another who you need to care for. Who? Cloud's eyes flew open and he looked up at the mansion. His eyes focused in on his dear friend's window. Moments later she opened the curtains and looked down at him. He looked up at her. So that's who… Cloud smiled.
A/N: Review! Come on people! It's not the end yet...
