Listening - Here Without You by 3 Doors Down (Pretend it's about a guy)
www (dot) youtube (dot) com (slash) watch?v=wJAIZn7E3VA
Set about a week after Seph and Zack get taken to the Lifestream. The Aeris in this chapter is the "Living Aeris", closer to the one from the original game, not the split Aeris'.
R&R please, one of my oneshots is about to get more reviews than this story. Sad since there are about 4,000 extra hits to this story and a month online. I posted said oneshot this morning! D:
Memories 1
1st Viewpoint
"We're sorry son, they never arrived at Junon. We're out looking for them, but remember, this is the General and the Lieutenant General we're talking about here. They can handle just about anything." I nod weakly at the First Class. I understand why he thinks that, but I can feel it. They aren't here anymore. They're gone and I can sense it. They've left Gaia and left me here all alone. I drag myself back to the bedroom and bury myself into the black, silk sheets. The scents of Sephiroth and Zack rise up to comfort me. Tears roll down my cheeks. I'm all alone again. I sob into the pillow and scream. The planet must hate me. That's the only thing possible, why else would it try so hard to give me pain? Soon everyone will be crying and mourning the General and Lieutenant General, but here I will lie, alone and mourning my lovers.
The official funeral is today. They have finally given up their useless search for something they just won't find. I dress myself in a nice suit and put on a solemn face. Not that it's hard; I haven't smiled since they left. Two empty coffins will be carried out and buried on the ShinRa grounds. Zack's parents are here, mourning their child. Sephiroth only has me to represent family. We will be the first three to pay our respects, dropping flowers at the empty graves. A ShinRa flag, emblazoned with our oh-so-noble logo, will be thrown over each coffin in respect for their service. Heidegger will be the first to speak, throwing out tons of PR bullshit. Oh how they miss their beloved General who will be impossible to replace, never mentioning their ten applicants waiting greedily for the position. Oh how they miss their beloved Lieutenant General and Second in Command who will be impossible to replace, never mentioning how his replacement was chosen only three days after he went missing.
Then Zack's parents will tell some little story of their beloved son. Earning some dabbed eyes and sniffles. Then Hojo will be pushed onto stage, as Sephiroth's closest relative, and made to say something mildly human in that cold, clipped, scientific tone he loves to use. Then he will be ushered off stage to save the show and I will be forced on for the "aw factor" and I will be made to succinctly tell how I miss my beloved best friends, not boyfriends as that is bad for PR, and how I was so amazed that men of such stature even glanced at me. I am the tool to convey how caring ShinRa SOLDIERs are. After all, they saved a lowly cadet and played the hero so well. Finally the President will come on and somehow turn the funeral into a rally to recruit more SOLDIERs and to pay more for the already highway robbery priced electricity. And sadly, the gullible human race will do just that. There will be a tidal wave of new applicants to SOLDIER, and surreptitiously the price of mako energy will rise and people won't pay any mind to it.
I'm so sick of everything. I hate the world without Zack and Sephiroth to make my sun shine. So that is why I am not going to the funeral. I'm an expendable tool anyway. I walk all over the plate, dead to the world. And so it's not shocking that, in the hustle and bustle of Midgar, I am elbowed and trip over the side of the plate. And as the wind rushes passed me, and the ground gets closer, I just smile and let it happen. Why not just let go? I have lost my reason for living in this world, so I should just join my lovers. After all they are the only things that make me capable to face the day. To stand on my own.
It's not shocking that it hurts terribly as I crash through the roof of some building of the slums. My body jerks as it slams into the strangely soft ground. Despite the softness, I can still feel several ribs snap and break. Blood rushes up my throat and I cough, expelling my life fluid onto my lips and neck. My eyes glaze over as my blood stains the earth beneath me. I am amazed that numbness sets in so quickly; I figured dying would hurt more. "Poor thing!" I try to find the source of the voice, but I can't move my head or eyes anymore. I see something pink and brown enter my line of vision, but my eyes don't focus. A pale shape hovers over me, and suddenly the color green envelops me and makes the numbness fade. Pain greets me like an old friend, crushing me in its embrace.
As I wake several hours later, having passed out from the pain, my eyes focus on the woman above me. She is holding me in her lap and singing a song in some ancient tongue. She spots my opens eyes and smiles the smile of a mother. Loving and understanding. I relax in her hold, letting her comfort me and rid me of my sorrows. "Don't be afraid Cloud, you're stronger than this. I know you can survive. Pour your pain into ShinRa, turn it into ambition. Zack and Sephiroth love you dearly; they will be looking over you. Don't fear my love, you will see them again." I smile softly at her, absorbing her words carefully. Flashes of a different time, a different life color my vision. Soft words of love and devotion fill my ears. A name surrounds me and understanding fills me. I know this woman and I know what I must do. ShinRa must die, and it's all up to me now. I must stand once again, for everyone I failed the first time. I must not give up like this. "I will Aeris. I won't let you down twice."