A Wing and a Prayer
An original work of FF7 fanfiction by Ry (OzZMaN)
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"Time is not important, only life is important."
--The Fifth Element
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Chapter 5
Slowly, my consciousness returned, along with my blurred vision and an intense headache. My body felt as if it had been set on fire from within, then frozen solid again in the coldest liquid. A sensation one would have to experience in order to fully understand, that is, the effects of the Lifestream on a living being. I was cold, and wet for that matter, which I discovered soon after. I scanned the environment in which I awoke, only to find I had somehow washed up on the banks of the very same lake where I had buried Aeris. The shell house was only a few yards in front of me, a place which will live on in my memory forever, a place all too familiar. But now that Aeris was alive again….
Aeris, where was Aeris?
Oh God, please tell me she made it back with me.
My heart and my mind became overloaded with panic and fear that my love hadn't returned with me somehow, until I saw her lying on the grass several feet behind me. The blood that had drained from my face seemed to return immediately upon seeing the angel for whom I lived my life for. Even the grass upon which her delicate frame lay seemed to have become greener, relishing in the light of life emitting from her perfect form.
I walked over to her and took her still body in my arms.
"Aeris," I whispered softly into her ear. I nuzzled her cheek with my nose until I heard a soft whimper escape her lips, which soon formed a faint smile at my touch. Slowly, her eyes opened and locked with mine.
"Cloud," she said gently. Her hand rose up and caressed my cheek which sent shivers of joy and love flowing throughout my body.
"I'm here, my love. I will never leave your side again. I'll always be here for you, I promise."
My words caused her to blush lightly, but she smiled radiantly nonetheless. Her expression was that of pure mirth, and her face shown brighter than I had ever seen.
"Do you really love me Cloud?" she asked.
"With all my heart and soul. What I feel for you is totally indescribable, Aeris. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. There isn't a doubt in my mind about my feelings for you."
She smiled as I leaned over and kissed her. She caressed the back of my neck and pulled me closer to her. Thank you Planet, I owe you my life for this, I thought.
We ended our embrace and she managed to stand up on visibly shaky legs. I helped her up with the utmost care.
"Let's go home and get out of these wet clothes. I'm chilled to the bone," she stated.
"Yeah, we should do that, but there's a problem. My chocobo went running scared when I saw that light on the way up here along with that loud crash. We don't have a way to get back---"
"What light?" she interrupted.
"You don't know? That's how I was brought to you, Aeris. I actually spoke to the Planet's consciousness at the Forgotten Capital, and that's where I was informed I had permission to bring you back, only if I truly wanted it more than anything else. The light I saw must've been a portal that took me from the southern plains of the northern continent directly to the Forgotten Capital."
As I spoke, I managed to notice the light and color drain out of Aeris' face. Her face wore an expression of fear and uncertainty. But worst of all, I could tell that she knew everything I was saying to her, as if she was expecting it.
"What's wrong, Aeris? Isn't this what you wanted?" I asked worriedly.
"Yes, Cloud, this is what I wanted." She was almost to the point of tears I noticed.
"But it isn't possible. You say you spoke to the consciousness of the Planet, but that is impossible for any single being, human or not, to do. No one can see the Planet's mind, but only hear it in the form of cries and moans. You can only really hear this if you are a Cetra, and even I don't know how to understand it. To understand the Planet's thoughts you must be a full-blooded Cetra with infinite knowledge about Holy and about the Lifestream. What you saw was a vision instilled in you by the will of the Planet. You physically submerged yourself into the Lifestream to retrieve me while you were having this vision, but only didn't realize it."
Looking upon her face as she told me this, I could see her tears now brimming along with her distraught expression. I knew something wasn't right about this, and it was beginning to worry me. Whatever it was, I wasn't about to lose Aeris again; to do so would completely demolish me, both in body and in mind.
"So, what are you saying Aeris? That this is a dream right now, or I somehow had a dream that I spoke to the Planet which told me I could bring you back?"
"No, this isn't a dream right now, Cloud. You didn't dream, it was a vision. A very powerful one, but the problem is…"
She lowered her head and whispered something inaudibly.
"What? What is the problem Aeris?"
"I can't stay here," she said, still looking down.
"What are you talking about? No, I won't believe it. It's impossible, not after what I've been through, Aeris. I can't bear to lose you again. No one is taking you away from me again, I won't—"
"Cloud, you don't understand! By doing this you'll kill everyone, this whole Planet," she shouted, now crying loudly.
Before I could react, she turned and ran. Instinctively I ran after her shouting for her to stop.
"Aeris, wait, don't leave me! I still don't understand!"
I finally caught up to her and wrestled her to the ground as she fought to break free of my hold. I wasn't going to let her go. None of this made sense. Was the Planet lying to me? Why can't she stay here, and what does she mean by not staying 'here'?
"Aeris, please just calm down. It's alright, I'm here." I loosened my grip on her wrists and allowed her to sit up. Her normally brilliant eyes had lost all of their light, and I could tell she was hurting deeply inside from something which I decided not to question at the moment.
"Hold me, Cloud, don't ever let me go," she whispered as she fell into my arms, crying softly. I held her tight, trying to grasp an understanding of what she was telling me. I didn't care at that moment. All I cared about was her, and nothing was going to take her away from me, not then, not ever…….
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After Red had taken off to Cosmo Canyon to monitor the situation with the Lifestream, Tifa had informed Cid, Barret, and Vincent about the condition at hand. Since then, slight tremors had begun to shake the northern continent, originating within the depths of the crater, home of Holy. They were weak at first; only felt by small animals and birds. But they soon intensified, and had spread from the northern continent to all across the Midgar Area, as well as the Gold Saucer. Red's theory of "Life Crisis" which he called it had been proven. Something very odd yet serious had begun to happen to the Planet. There were even many witnesses reporting spontaneous and intense eruptions of Lifestream from totally random places in the ground. Something had to be done….
"Come on, can't you go any faster?" shouted Tifa at the already annoyed golden bird.
The trio had to settle for gold chocobos, for the Highwind was currently being repaired and rebuilt by Cid and his men. They were racing across the northern continent at full speed, headed directly for the Forgotten Capital, where Tifa had a gut instinct of where Cloud would be.
"Slow down, girl, or we're not gonna even make it in one piece," shouted Barret from behind Tifa.
Another tremor rocked the earth beneath the feet of the confused animals, causing them to slow down and look around. Tifa simply rode her chocobo harder upon feeling the sudden quake. She couldn't let Cloud destroy everything they had fought so hard for over one life. Even though it was obvious to Tifa at this point that she would never have Cloud's love, she still cared about him a great deal, and didn't want to see him destroyed, or the Planet for that matter. But Red had feared that Cloud had already succeeded, and that there was nothing to be done to reverse it, except one thing….
Tifa tried not to think of the events to come, but just getting there.
How can the Planet allow this? Is it not going to do anything about Cloud's actions? Surely it knows what is happening to it and why…
Tifa's thoughts were interrupted by another tremor, this one being much more powerful. The three jockeys were thrown from the chocobos as the birds lost their balance and warked loudly in confusion.
"Damn, what the hell was that all about?" shouted an angry Barret.
"Cloud sure has gone overboard this time. I can't believe he would actually go this far, that damned imbecile," remarked Cid, still lying on the grass.
"Come on, get up, we have to get there. You heard Red at Cosmo Canyon, this instability is getting worse every second, and will result in the death of everyone living here within twelve hours if something isn't done!" screamed Tifa.
"Alright, I say we move out then!" shouted Cid as he stood up.
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Somewhere below the surface of the Planet, two gleaming eyes opened. A form soon materialized around the eyes.
"It is time," a soft voice said…..
How is it so far? I became a bit blank on this chapter, if you didn't notice. Anyhow, I hope you're still interested, because the next (final) chapter is going to be good. Trust me, the ending probably isn't what you are expecting, but I've had it planned for some time now. What's going to be the result out of all this, is everyone going to die along with the Planet, or will someone or something intervene? Find out in the final chapter! Email any comments/suggestions/flames to ozzman547@aol.com. Peace.
Signed Ry….