3 weeks later...
Luke and John were at the entrance of Icicle Inn.
"John, are you sure we shouldn't tell anyone about what we saw up there in the mountains?"
"How many fuckin' times do I have to tell you?! Don't worry about it! It was just one measily looking monster."
"But I thought those people killed all of them... And that weird steam that was coming out of that huge hole..."
"Well if it gets worse I'll do something about it. But right now, just go home and don't worry about a thing," John said with a little hint of confidence. "Oh... alright..." Luke said while he passed through the entrance. "Whew... 'finally got rid of him," John said in relief. He looked back toward Great Glaciar. He and Luke were just about to climb a mountain. Before they started they noticed unusual steam coming out of the crater up north. But they both decided to ignore it and head up the snowy mountain. Just as they were getting started an unfriendly looking creature jumped in their path. John remembered its ugly looking red eyes and its evil intended glare staring right at them. Its sharp claws dug easily in the snow as it approached the both of them. There was no time to think. John and Luke knew they had to run quickly and so they did. They ran as fast as they could. John looked back and his horror went up a notch when he saw the creature vigorously coming in closer with all four of its paws. "Hurry we have to run faster!" John said. They sprinted toward the gates of Icicle Inn and they finally made it. They locked it up and were safe and sound. They looked back and saw that the hideous monster was no longer in sight.
"Thinking about that gives me the chills. Why am I getting all paranoid just because Luke pushed the panic button? I shouldn't think about it anymore." Just as he was walking back toward Icicle Inn the creature leaped out of nowhere and jumped at him, piercing its claws under his skin. Blood was filling in his vision, and that was the last thing he saw before everthing went black.
Kalm
"I'm sure everyone will happy to see you," Cloud said as he and Aeris
were walking up the doorstep. Cloud and Aeris were living together at Gongoga, a
quiet small place where they wouldn't be bothered much. It's already been a
while since Aeris came back, and Cloud figured everyone oughta see her of
course, so they took a trip to Kalm, which where everyone else was.
Cid heard the doorbell ring and automatically knew who it was. He opened the door and greeted his friends. "Hey everyone they're finally here!!" Cid yelled out in his usual blaring behavior. "Who's here?!" Yuffie asked in a clueless state. "Heh... why don't you look for yourself." As Cloud and Aeris walked in so did Tifa. Although Tifa didn't say anything she smiled just to be polite.
Everyone else came in and huddled to where Cloud and Aeris were. Tifa was still standing there, being unoticed from the others.
After everyone's small celebration had quieted down, Cait Sith asked Aeris a question that everyone else was obviously dieing to know the answer to. "So Aeris, how'd you come back from the lifestream? I thought you wouldn't come back for sure!!" Cait Sith was jumpng up and down, impatiently waiting for an answer.
"I... I... I don't really know... I as in a dream-state in the lifestream and I when I woke up I was in a hospital in Mideel and... Cloud was there." Everyone stayed silent for a while. "That doesn't help explain the situation one bit," Barret said.
"But that's all she can remember. And by the way, we shouldn't care about that anymore, we should be more than glad that she's with us again," Red XIII said. The team started crowding around Aeris again and asking her questions. At the same time Cloud peeked toward the corner of the room where Tifa was. He left the small crowd and went up to her.
"Aren't you going to say anything to Aeris?" he asked.
"Maybe later... She seems to be busy right now anyway..." She tried to avoid looking directly at Cloud. Instead she focused her sight on the rest of her friends.
"So... how is everyone else doing?"
"They're fine."
Cloud regarded of Tifa's oblivious behavior.
"Is there something wrong?"
"I'm alright." Her eyes were still weren't fixed toward him, and he knew that she was ignoring him. "There is something wrong... And... why are you ignoring me?" She finally turned her head away and looked at him. "I'm sorry... I guess I'm just tired..." Wow... that's the best excuse I could make up...
"Are things okay with you and Aeris?" She quickly tried to change the subject, just so that she could at least keep up a conversation with him. Since he and Aeris moved with each other she barely got to see him. And yet he was actually talking to her and all she could was to be oblivious and give out two word answers to him.
"Yeah... things aren't bad with me and Aeris..."
"Are you really happy with her?"
"Of course I am."
"Do you love her?"
This time it was Tifa who was shooting out the questions. She didn't really know why she asked him that last question though. It just automatically came out and she felt foolish for asking him such a forward question. He looked at the ground and didn't say anything. How she regretted for asking that.
"Well... it doesn't matter if you love her not. Just be sure that you're happy being around her, because you deserve to be happy." She didn't bother to check Cloud's reaction to what she said. She didn't want to be rude, but she knew that there was nothing else for her and Cloud to talk about. Not after she asked him that question. She turned away and walked back to her room, leaving Cloud in an expressionless state.
It was a couple of hours later and Cloud and Aeris were in the guestroom.
"Everyone hasn't changed one bit," Aeris said with a small smile.
"Yeah..."
Cloud was still thinking about what Tifa said. Did she really mean it? And why was she so concerned about him being happy with Aeris? And more importantly, the question that she asked him. It was so sudden. And the funny thing was that he couldn't answer it, not even to himself. Sure he and Aeris were together as a couple, but... did he really love her?
"Are we leaving tomorrow? Because I think I want to stay a little longer. The guys are so nice, and it seems like I have't seen them in years..." Aeris said. "Sure," Cloud replied answering her question. Aeris turned around and smiled at him.
"What's making you so happy to smile about?" Cloud asked with a smirk.
"I don't know, I guess I just can't keep my eyes off you," Aeris said with a small giggle.
"Ditto."
When she heard that she couldn't help but smile even wider. How lucky she felt to have such a great man with her and return her feelings the ways he did. She leaned toward him and touched his lips with hers. Cloud responded in kind. After a few blissful moments of kissing Cloud pulled back and looked at her emerald green eyes. The eyes that he was looking directly at when she awoke in Mideel. How he thought they were beautiful. Cloud started picturing what it would be like if fate hadn't joined them together again. He would still be grieving over her and how she was taken away from him. And now... it was like someone had finally answered his questions of sorrow and actually gave him what he thought was missing. Aeris. The more he looked in her eyes the more he realized he wanted to be with her. Yes... he did love her.
"Marry me."
Cloud had said it with seriousness and Aeris' eyes grew wider. Those two words pinched her heart and she couldn't believe what she was feeling. Again, her smile got wider, only this time it was as wide as it could get.
"O-o-of course I will Cloud..." Tears of glee rolled down her cheeks, and Cloud tenderly kissed them away as he brought himself up to her for another kiss. Their kiss got deeper as he slid his arms around her waist and tried to bring her to him as much as he can, as if they were one. He pushed her lightly on the pillow. They continued their passionate moment, and the lights in the guestroom went out.
Somewhere in The Crater...
She opened her wicked red glowing eyes and took a look around on what was
around her. The production of the weapons and the destruction of Sephiroth had
left the place in turmoil. It was her first time being awake as long as she can
remember. Other than that, one thing had penetrated into her mine. Revenge.
author's notes: not a lot happened in this chapter. why? i don't know. again, reviews are always welcome. as long as they're not flames. -.-;; and please think twice if you're going to write something like, "make it cloudxaeris!" or "make it cloudxtifa!". i'm the one who will decide that. ^_^ and just because this chapter had a lot of cloudxaeris doesn't mean tifa is out of the picture. because she IS the main character in this story. i'm not exactly saying that she will be with cloud, i'm just saying the fic's mostly focused on her. ^^