Reaching the Forgotten City was easy, too easy to what they had been expecting. They found some bomb monsters they easily fought off in the Sleeping Forest, and the rest of their way had been shivering quiet and eventless.
"I guess this is it." Aerith says, staring down into the teardrop-silver flat surface of the lake, unperturbed by wind or movement, drenched in a hazy-silver dusk light. No sound could be heard from the shimmering clear shore.
The eerily quietness comes unbidden to their tightening chests. The last time they had all been there, in a flanked line at the water's edge… visions blurring behind hollow stares. Hearts pounding in dragging heaviness, grieving for their loss, her life had been taken.
Cloud glances at Aerith and she returns it with a transfixed apprehension of her own fears that makes his insides vibrate.
Her expression impulses him. "I'm going in." He says, never more sure of anything in his life.
"You don't have to, I can." She replies, green eyes that spill an everlasting, unbounded love for the mercenary, glimmer against the silver light of the lake.
"No." He shakes his head in ultimate resolution. "I have to do it." Only then he can overcome the ghosts of their previous fate.
He takes one step forward, her hand comes wrapping around his wrist.
"Cloud…" Her voice is a mere whisper. "I can feel its pull." She says, her eyes anchor on the lake. "It's there."
"I'll find it." He says, a gentle thumb strokes her cheek in careful reassurance. He presses his lips to her temple. "Be right back."
Tifa wraps her arms around one of Aerith's, she gives her a small smile, a comforting nod as they watch Cloud approach the water.
Cloud takes a deep breath as his eyes fix on the centre of the lake. He goes in. The last time his feet stepped into that water…
He didn't notice the smooth-edged pale stones glowing grizzled under his feet. He didn't notice the velours texture of the water where peaty silver laid naked in the light. He didn't notice the silver sheen of the ripples gliding around his waist as he carried her in his arms, in the moment prior to him letting her go into her final rest. Each step he takes opens the vivid memory of that day. Eyes closed shut forever, chestnut woven hair spreading one last time around her body, pale cold skin he kisses softly under hot tears he lets fall on her motionless face.
He stops on his feet, a sudden pain strikes his head and he reflectively sends a hand to lay on his forehead. A brightness rings in his mind, piercing his ears, and he feels like falling down, feels the water swallowing him whole. And he finds himself sinking and sinking into the abyss of his nightmares.
"You will never save her."
He open his eyes, a blinding green light beacons him back to his senses. In front of him a glowing orb of materia mistily brightens the dark voidness of the bottom of the lake. He stirs his arms to steady his body, the non-gravitational force of the water floats his body up against his will of reaching for the materia.
He extends his hand, stretches his arm as far as he can, fingers flutter forward and one final impulse of his legs lets him wrap his hand tightly around the orb. His head darts up and his body capers backwards, eyes searching for the filtered beams of white light gleaming from the surface, to guide him back.
He thrashes his legs, crawls his arms in upward propulsion, gliding himself towards the light.
"You are unable to save anyone."
A jolt of pain strikes his head again, Cloud is overcome by a paradoxal yearning of inexplicable strength that numbs his body and makes him open his mouth in a panicked gasp for air that lets the water flood into his lungs.
A disorder of desperate bubbles of his breath stream out of his mouth as he struggles to swim up, the heaviness of the water inside him drags him down and his eyes begin to blur the white lights coming from above as he reaches his hand to grasp it. He tastes earth and sulfur in his tongue before his mind starts drifting into a state of smothering unconsciousness. Breathing hurts… moving hurts…
"Come on buddy." Zack's voice, clear and ever encouraging. "It's all in your head. That old nuthead is long gone."
The numbness lulls him into a restful doziness he welcomes to his aching body.
You're here. Zack.
Cloud feels in his chest the warmth his friend has always emanated into his heart. It comforts him, guides him, cradles him into peacefulness.
I failed. I failed you. I failed her.
"You didn't. And you're almost there. Don't give up. It's not real."
Cloud opens his eyes. A hand stretches in front of him and he extends his arm to grasp it, thrusting his body upwards with renewed strength. He sees the lights stirring above as he fights to swim towards the surface, something dark obstructs his vision and a firm strong hand clenches around his wrist. He feels his body being pulled up fast and desperate.
They crack the surface, breaking free of the lake's suffocating embrace. He takes a long painful gasp for air, coughs the water back out while he lets his body be drawn back into land. Barret pulls him out of the water, places one arm around his shoulders while his holds him around his waist.
"Close one there spike." Barret says, letting him sit down on the margin once they're out of the water's reach. "What happened?"
"Cloud!" Soft delicate hands hold his face up, lift his gaze to meet hers. She kisses his face eagerly but carefully, his cheeks, his chin, his nose and lastly his mouth. He doesn't tell her it's still hard to breathe. He'll endure anything, everything, to feel her lips on his skin. He lets himself fall down on the mushy soil under him, his chest heaving uncontrollably trying to even back into normal breathing. "I'm so sorry, I should have gone myself. I'm so sorry." She pleads, fingertips trace the line of his cheekbone, a hand plants softly over his chest, to feel the thrumming of his aching heart, struggling to maintain a stable rhythm.
"I have it." He says, blue eyes flicker as he lifts the hand holding Holy. He uncurls his fingers and lets the small, powerful materia fall to her cupped hands. It's not glowing green anymore, but it emanates a soft pale white light the second its surface touches Aerith's skin, as if it knew it was back where it belonged.
He doesn't tell her he heard Sephiroth's voice in the water, he's sure it was nothing but a remaining echo of his presence, buried deep inside his consciousness, breaking free from the depths of his fears, trying to shackle him.
It's over now. He thinks. He beat it, with Zack's help. As if a weight had been lifted off his chest, he sits back up drawing strength from the look of her green eyes as she is reunited with the materia of her heritage. She presses her hands close to her chest, letting Holy's light sooth her into a nourishing warmth.
"It's ready." Aerith says, tears well up in her eyes, tears of longing, tears of wistfulness, tears of connectedness to the world, the planet, the people. "It's waiting for me to set it free." Her face softens as she closes her eyes and kneels back, next to Cloud.
"What, here?" She hears him ask, senses him shifting close to her. She nods slowly, smiles. His wet lips press to her forehead and he draws a few steps back as she hears the others approach her, feels their movement circling her, near. Their energies give her strength.
"There's no time to waste." She says quietly.
And as she whispers for Holy to ressurge, the world shuts around her, sound muffles in her ears, darkness dwells in her mind.
A wave of affection, attachment… love, engulfs her every sense. She feels weightless, devoid of any agitation. The pulse of the planet streams softly into her veins, a warmth, a gentle fulfilling warmth brittles into her blood, rushing lightly at first, breaching stronger the longer she steadies its stream.
Through her trance, she sees the glimmering green of the planet's souls weave into her own soul, becoming one, becoming many, every one of theirs gently, soothingly speaking in quiet sighs, gleeful sighs that they're finally reuniting with their eternal life.
The Planet communes with her, it throbs in her bones, unyielding and vibrant, her strength rattles her hands, the weight of the Planet's voice vibrates through her skin, it echoes across her mind words of unconditional gratefulness.
Aerith opens her eyes, her hands part, holding Holy in suspension close to her chest. She feels life returning, blooming in gleams of every color. Holy spins in front of her, vibrates and eddies a light current of air around her fingers as if it was water streaming in a current.
Time flows in continuous thrums of a heart she feels pumping, fluxing with every feeling, every breath, ancient and wide, of every soul strained away from the Lifestream. Its soft green light swirls into its glimmering spiraling twines, gathering them to its current. It runs through her, connects with the Planet, blends into the earth beneath her, finally becoming whole.
She doesn't know how long it's been… but the light gradually fades into the Planet's core. And Aerith takes Holy back into her hands, it's light dimming softly, she closes her eyes, breathes evenly.
The wound has been mended. The Lifestream reestablished, replenished, filled.
Aerith opens her eyes to Cloud standing in front of her.
Just as she slumps forward, he catches her in his arms.
"It's done." Aerith whispers weakly and before she has time to hear Cloud speaking, her eyes flutter shut and she falls asleep of exhaustion.
Cloud sits next to the bed, elbows on his knees, hands entwined holding his forehead. His foot taps on the floor in a nervous tick. She has been sleeping for three consecutive days. Three consecutive days he hasn't eaten much, drunk much or said much.
They didn't notice any fast growth changes in the planet after Holy had been cast. At least, not visible ones or that he has heard of. Which fed his worry. What if it wasn't Holy? What if all of it had been futile?
The only thing new is the rain. It started falling the same night Aerith had summoned Holy. Cloud was still carrying Aerith in his arms running for the Highwind when he felt the first drops descending from the sky. It must be related, has to be related.
It rains. Continuously, the whole night, the whole day, unendingly, incessantly. The Autumn sky had turned neon-blue, the clouds a vibrant silver, letting the gleaming-drops turn into streams, washing the land, seeping into the soil, draining it of its heavy crimson dust, as if the earth is bleeding.
The next morning Cloud watches as her chest heaves softly up and down. He eases his mind into thinking summoning Holy had drawn a great amount of energy from her and that's the only explanation he has for her endless sleep. She needs to regain her energy. He doubts his own thoughts, afraid they're camouflaging the reality. It aches not being able to hear her voice, see the lively green of her eyes. He wishes he could do something, anything but there's nothing he can think of. Except being there next to her, waiting for her to wake up.
She mumbles a sound, her head moves, eyes flutter. Cloud straightens up on his chair, reaches for her hand, squeezes lightly.
"Aerith." Her name. It laces in his blood. She turns her head towards him, smiles warmly at the sight of him. "Hey…" he leans in, presses his forehead to hers, breathes her in. Relief washes over and he can finally breathe.
"Love." It's the first thing she says, he stiffens. "I love you." She says quietly. His muscles tense while his hands shake under hers. Three simple words he hasn't heard since he was a kid. His life has never met the feeling, not in the amount and meaning it has coming from her. "Thought I wasn't going to wake up here." She continues. "And I never told you that before." He pulls back to meet her eyes, they're pooled with tears, filled with the emotion she has just charged him with in the heart.
Then her eyes widen and she suddenly sits up, motionlessly listening to the sound of the drumming rain outside, tapping softly against the window pane, clapping onto the roof above them. She jolts up from the bed, reaches for the first piece of clothing she finds, one of Cloud's hooded sweaters she puts on over her dress and hurriedly slipping on her boots, she barges out of the door. And Cloud is left on his chair, staring dumbfounded at the door she had left open.
He finds her outside at the patio under the complex' stairs. Palms towards the sky, face lifted upwards, letting the rain fall on her skin, drenching her hair, her clothes. She smiles happily. His lips part as he stares. He had known it for a long time now, couldn't bring himself to tell her, out of courage, out of the right words. The way she smiles, the way she looks at him, everything in her, everything about her.
She runs towards him, wraps her arms around his waist, tightens her grip and buries her face in his chest.
"It's happening." She says under a muffled smile. "It worked."
"Aerith." He calls. She looks up, eyes wide, full of life. He breathes in, sharply breathes in, why does it leave him powerless, why is it so hard? It shouldn't be. "I love you."
Just like the mellow notes of a piano, the words weave into her heart, in tune with the gentle trickling light drops of the rain.
The loud roaring sound of an engine rummages through the street, it startles Aerith away from him. Interrupts the intimate moment. A long line of tractor-trailers advances through the street, all moving towards the outside of Edge.
"They're Rufus'." Cloud informs her. "He's been carrying plantations of trees outside to the greenhouses. The same ones he showed us, he said he has been able to sow more, they're growing faster, but still not fast enough." Cloud's eyes flicker to each truck that passes by. "Everything is the same."
"It's not." She tells him. "I can feel the earth moving from beneath. It's stirring. The Lifestream is stronger. It shouldn't be much longer now."
"Then you did it."
"We did it." She says, her cheeks are still blushing from his previous confession? He wonders.
"Hey, look who's up!" Barret approaches them, holding an umbrella, shielding Marlene from the rain.
"Aerith!" The little girl runs towards her to give her a tight hug Aerith returns warmly.
"You got us a little worried there." Barret laughs.
"I wasn't worried." Marlene smiles. "I knew you were okay."
"Hate to be the bearer of not so pleasant news, but Tseng needs help at the greenhouses." Their friend informs. "The monsters are crazy again. They're dashing at the workers."
Cloud hesitates a moment, looks at Aerith. "I'll go." He says at last.
"Cloud." Aerith calls. "I have to go to the church." She says. "It's important."
"Can it wait 'till I get back?" Cloud asks, she has just woken up, there will be miles separating them.
"It can't." She shakes her head. "It really can't." Her voice seems wary, it trembles the slightest and he notices.
"Hey, I can take Aerith." Barret says. "The others will meet you at the greenhouses."
Cloud's eyes flit from Barret to Aerith, he's not fond of the idea, but her eager smile undoes him, tugs at every string of his heart, he finally nods.
"Are you fit to go?" He asks uncertainly.
"I'll eat something at the bar first." She nods reassuringly.
Cloud waits a couple of seconds, brain processing thoughts. If it's important to her, who is he to stop her? "Meet you later." He says. She lifts on her toes, quickly, fingers brushing around his damp neck and her lips are on his, warm against the rain.
"I'm taking your sweater with me. It smells of you." She winks, her eyelashes are sprinkled with tiny raindrops, tiny diamonds that twinkle in the light. The urgency from before seems to have dissipated under the steam of the rain hitting earth.
Every stone within the church drips of pearly drops of rain. They fall on the ruins in gentle tinkling putts, clear and swollen, soddening and softening the bed of earth in its heart, which glistens in a glassy haze of droplets hanging on its surface like fallen moon dust.
Marlene crouches down next to Aerith, her impermeable coat a beaming yellow color against the sullen grey of the church.
"What can I do?" The girl asks.
"We'll, I've been able to extract some seeds from the flowers. So I guess we can start by planting these." She gives her a handful of tiny seeds Marlene takes in her cupped small hands. "The earth is in perfect moist. So I'll dig the holes and you place the seeds in okay?"
Marlene nods, eagerly proud of being able to help.
Aerith dips her hand into the damp warm earth, fingers carving a small hole. The earth welcomes her touch, it knows her skin and Aerith feels it palpitating. Instinctively, the Cetra smiles.
"We don't have enough to fill the space, but it's a start." Aerith says lightheartedly, her head tilting.
"Hey, you sure you're feeling alright?" Barret asks as he sits down in one of the few standing pews. "You were out cold and you must'n have regained your strength yet."
"I'm alright." Aerith nods, draws another hole Marlene replenishes with a few tiny seeds. "From what you told me, I've slept for three days straight right? I've regained all the strength I could have."
"Guess you have a point there." Barret scratches his chin, shrugs.
"Barret." Aerith calls, turning slightly over her shoulder to look at him. "I haven't thanked you for helping the planet the way you did. Before, in Avalanche. If it weren't for your cause… maybe things would have ran a little differently."
"Ah don't mention it." Barret flaps his only hand. "Someone had to do something about it." But his expression turns serious quickly. "I can't help sometimes wondering though… if it weren't for me starting all of it, you wouldn't have…"
"I'm sure if it weren't for you, we would all have been in serious trouble." Aerith laughs. "In a way, you brought us all together, don't you think?"
"Yeah… I guess so." He smiles widely. "You know… after all of this, I'm going to continue with the cause."
"What do you mean?" Aerith asks.
"When things settle down and the planet begins to rebalance, I'm going to search for alternate energy sources, we're leaving the Lifestream out of human's reach." Barret looks to the side, eyes set on the horizon beyond the ruins. "We have to be better, this new world has to be better."
"That's… that's very thoughtful of you Barret." Aerith smiles, eyes softening in adoration for her friend.
"Just make sure you ask me to be your bestman at your wedding in time huh? Kinda feel like a Cupid now." He laughs.
Aerith stops on her task, her body freezes. Wedding? It's the first time the word ever crosses her mind. Would Cloud want to? Would she be allowed to? She already has given him all of her, all she is, her heart is his. But the idea of celebrating it with Cloud… suddenly… it shines on her like a lone beam of sunshine leaking straight into her chest.
"Sorry I didn't mean to imply on anything…" Barret's voice snaps her out of her thoughts, nervously watching as she had turned unexpectedly silent.
"Not at all. You know… that wouldn't be such a bad idea." Aerith smiles though her eyes settle on the distance in hollow thoughtfulness, if only she had confirmation that she was going to stay.
Notes:
Hi!! Thank you for reading!! Hope you liked this chapter. We're getting close, though there's still a lot going to happen!
AnriMia: Thank you so much!! Your words are so sweet I'm so glad!! :D