Chapter 9

Slipping

Creaking open the heavy door of the church, Aerith was relieved to see her flowers, feeling a sense of peace fall over her like a warm blanket. Zack's presence beside her amplified that calm feeling, putting her at ease.

She all but ran to her flowerbed, kneeling on the broken floor beside them, gently brushing her fingers along the yellow petals. Zack looked on, feeling a warm feeling spread within his heart. Good gods had he missed her. He slowly approached a pew and sat, watching her tend to her flowers in the quiet ambiance of the empty church.

Yellow and white lilies, growing in the middle of a dilapidated church, which itself sat on the outskirts of a slum. Zack mused quietly, watching Aerith's gentle movements in the garden. How did flowers manage to grow here? How did Aerith keep them alive? How on earth did she cultivate the garden at her mother's house so well?

He sat for several minutes, deep in thought, when he saw Aerith approach him and tuck a yellow lily into his left suspender. "Here… for you."

Zack looked down at the lily, and he smiled. Aerith smiled back, gently placing her hands on his chest. "They say that yellow lilies symbolize remembrance and happiness. Lovers used to give them to each other, when they were reunited…"

Grinning, Zack stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her up just enough to look into her eyes. Aerith threw her arms around his neck, smiling down at him, the air seeming just that bit lighter. Zack set her down, still looking into her eyes, still holding her so gently at her waist…the air between them seemed almost electric at that moment.

"Zack…" she held his shoulders, her hands warm even through the thick fabric of his sweater. She was so close to him at that moment, he could feel her breath just barely brushing past his lips. His hands fit so perfectly on her waist. Time was still. He leaned down.

Aerith's face twisted into a grimace and she clenched her eyes shut, her grip tightening on Zack's shoulders then loosening as she fainted, falling forward onto him. It felt like the ground itself was moving.

Zack lost his footing, gripping onto Aerith tightly and leaning to sit back on the pew, holding her tightly as they rode out the quaking. Dust and wood splinters crashed from above them and Zack curled protectively to cover her. He felt large chunks of debris bounce off his back and a cascade of dust and dirt raining down. "I got you, Aerith. It's going to be ok." He wasn't sure if she could even hear him. Maybe he was trying to convince himself. His heart was pounding in his chest, skin damp with nervous sweat.

After several agonizing seconds, the quaking had stopped. Zack opened his eyes, dust suspended in the air and darkening the already dimly-lit church. He coughed. "Aerith?" He gently shook her, but no response. He frowned, gently setting her to lie on the pew as he stood, checking her over for any injuries. No…she's ok. Breathing. Pulse. He heard a rustle in the flowerbed and jumped to attention, turning to face the noise. Dust hung thickly in the air, obscuring the flowerbed from his short distance. He grabbed a broken chunk of wood, holding it defensively in front of him as he approached a shadowy figure in the flowerbed.

It was a person. He looked up at the newly-created second hole in the ceiling, then back down to the figure, and he noticed a shock of spiky blonde hair…and a very familiar looking sword sticking out of the ground several feet away.

Everything hurt, yet he was numb. He felt nothing surrounding him, a vast empty vacuum. Not even shadows lived in this place.

White all around him. White and empty.

Hey… you ok?

He groaned. His eyes wouldn't open.

Back then… you got by with just a couple of scraped knees.

'Back then?'

Never mind. Right now, you need to focus on yourself. You need to get up. Move something.

A tiny wriggle of his hand. Good. Easy does it…slow, and steady.

A warm touch on his shoulder. 'Yeah, yeah. I know, I know.'

"Hello…" A familiar voice, echoing in the distance. Could there be echoes in a vacuum? How did you measure distance across a vast sea of nothing?

'Who are you?'

The whiteness faded, replaced by hot burning flames. A decrepit, cackling voice, was it a woman?

REUNION…

Cloud's eyes snap open.

'Who are you?!'

His head moves. He can move his head. A shock of silver hair, illuminated with the red glow of a town burning to the ground.

"I…am…your…everything."

Green, glowing eyes. Lifeless eyes. Hateful eyes. A town burning to the ground.

Reunion… my children.

That alluring voice…

Cloud saw the images melt down into utter darkness before him, leaving only the voices. He grabbed his head, cringing and groaning in pain. Urging them to stop, trying so desparately to drown out the voices that threatened to consume him.

'Oh Cloud… there is still so much more to be done…'

Hello…hello in there!

Darkness all around him.