Soon, the red flickering light was all that Cloud could see. It filled his eyes and penetrated his senses. He felt as though he could not tear his eyes from it, even if he wanted to. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and then evaporated immediately. He could feel the heat of the light consume everything, but he was unburned. Around him, the air crackled and sizzled.
"Tifa," he breathed. "Do you feel it? Or is it just me?"
"No," she replied to him, her voice hushed. "I feel it, too. Oh, it feels wonderful, Cloud. What is it? Are we dying?"
"No. It feels like...love." Cloud smiled, grinned, felt his heart beating rapidly in his heart. He decided he would not care if it decided to explode within his chest. He was exhilarated, jubilant, ecstatic, in rhapsody. "It's Aeris' love! I can feel her love!"
"But why do I feel it too?" came Tifa's quiet question.
The green light came to a crescendo, then flashed a brilliant white, brighter than all the stars in the night sky combined, and turned red. It came in from the corners of his eyes, first, then became deeper. The bright red turned to something more primal...it flushed into crimson, then a deep maroon, then a grisly blood red. Flame red.
Dust on the stone floor stirred and rose in the air and whipped around them. Tifa and Cloud felt like they were caught in a maelstrom. Winds and sand and dust and flame raced around them, spiraled as though caught in a furious force. The two remained in the eye of the storm, the relative calm in the center of the chaos, centered around Aeris. Centered around the magicite stone.
Phoenix, Cloud whispered in awe, though he didn't know where the words came from. It is the Phoenix Esper. In the flames' light, he thought he saw ghostly faces that flickered and died away in the flame.
He saw a young with brown-blonde hair, a coronet pulling her hair away from her face, partially covered by a man in dragoon armor wrapping his cape around her. The two smiled at he and Tifa and vanished. He saw another girl in a flowing white sleeveless dress, her strawberry hair pulled back into a bun. She gave them a warm smile and she, too, disappeared. They saw a girl with deep sea-green hair and red ruby earrings, who smiled at them lovingly and vanished. Names came to Cloud in his head, too, and he knew that Tifa knew their names as well. Terra Branford. Reina Tycoon. Rydia the Caller and Kain the Dragoon.
The red light flickered and winked out as abruptly as it came.
Lights danced before him, and he could see Tifa rubbing at her eyes. "What-- what was that?" he asked.
"Tifa, Cloud. What have you done?" came a familiar feminine voice.
Cloud froze still. He was afraid to look up, fearing that what he heard would not be there.
"It's all right, Cloud," came the warm voice once more. "You shouldn't be afraid of me. You know me."
Very slowly, Cloud looked up, and nearly sobbed aloud in joy, in grief!, when he saw Aeris Gainsborough standing before them. Her long pink dress shimmered faintly and her long, thick braid of chestnut locks stirred slightly as she tilted her head and smiled at him with her warm green eyes.
"What are you doing here, Cloud?" Aeris looked down at him with loving but concerned eyes. "Tifa, why are you here too?"
Cloud blinked, and stopped in his tracks. That was not what he expected to hear. "Don't you want to see us?" he asked her. "Don't you want to be among us? Here? Living?"
"That's not it, Cloud," Tifa said, somewhere off to the side. He couldn't pull his eyes away from Aeris, for fear that she just might disappear once again.
Aeris nodded slightly, the smile on her lips never fading. "She understands the truth of it, Cloud. My time here on earth has passed. It was...wonderful while it lasted, when I was with all of you. I miss you all so very much.
"However," she continued, "As treasured as that time was with you, it's finished. I cannot ignore my role in the Life Stream of the world. I'm a part of something so much greater now, Cloud. I'm back with the Ancients. With my kind again."
She leaned down to Cloud, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He shivered involuntarily; it felt ice cold and tingled slightly where she touched his cheek. "I'm home, now," she said softly, before withdrawing her head.
Aeris looked around the room, and walked over so that she now stood before Tifa. She crossed her arms behind her back and smiled at her. "Where are the others now? How are they all doing?"
Tifa looked at Aeris with astonished, wet eyes then threw her arms around her. Where her skin touched Aeris, it felt cold and coursed with a vibrant energy.
"Oh, Aeris," Tifa whispered in her ear, between soft sobs. "I've missed you so. I'm so sorry... so sorry.... I've thought awful things about you, but I never really meant any of...." Her voice cracked in sobs.
Aeris continued smiling in her own knowing way, and patted Tifa on the back in an embrace. The glowing aura around her now surrounded Tifa as well. "Shhh. We're together now. We don't have much time. I forgave you a long time ago."
Tifa forced herself to pull away from her. Tears streamed down her face, as she sniffled and looked at her shimmering friend. "You... have?"
Aeris nodded. "Yes. How could I not? You're my friend, Tifa."
Tifa smiled, and wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "Thank you," she mouthed, but her voice was nowhere to be found.
Aeris nodded. "Now please, tell me about the others."
It came out in a rush then. Tifa and Cloud alternated telling her the stories and the adventures they've had after defeating Sephiroth finally....
Cid was upstairs, keeping watch. He was as foul-mouthed as ever, but he had a fierce determination in his eyes now. Having finally reached the upper limits of the atmosphere, he was now convinced that it was possible for people to Ilive/I in space. Aeris giggled at that one, as did Tifa....
Barret now lived in Midgar, with Aeris' adopted mother, and his daughter. He was content being a construction worker, rebuilding Midgar from its roots up. Cloud told Aeris how he now tended a garden in the little church where Cloud had first met her, so that his daughter would always have a little patch of the green earth for herself....
Yuffie was now a very much-wanted criminal in five major cities, with a bounty of 1 million Gil in each of them on her head. Supposedly, someone had been robbing all the materia shops of their high-end stones.... And with all that materia on her, it was increasingly becoming impossible to stop the crazed ninja girl....
Red XIII now roamed the prairie lands as chief of his tribe, protecting his home for all of his people, most of all his two young cubs. They were vivacious pups who loved to pounce and snarl and bite, although it was quite comical to watch them….
Cait Sith was now an attraction in the Golden Saucer Amusement house. He handed balloons out to the little boys and girls, and sometimes stunned the crowds with its ability to talk and its acrobatics. Aeris told them that she would have liked to see that one just once, and that she was happy for him.....
Vincent was now a bounty hunter, chasing after a certain crazed ninja girl. Finally having accepted the fate of his departed wife, he now strode with new purpose to catch the infamous cat burglar. He traveled from city to city, on her trail, accompanied by a young blonde assistant who always looked at him with sparkling hopeful eyes whenever he called out her name....
When they finished telling Aeris all that had happened, she was smiling, nodding to herself. "How splendid," she said, when she opened her eyes again. "Life... what a splendid thing it is."
She turned her back on Cloud and Tifa, and took a few steps away from them. With each step, she seemed to float a little bit higher off the ground. She turned and faced them once more, and Cloud wondered how she was able to hover from the ground.
"Tifa," he breathed. "Do you feel it? Or is it just me?"
"No," she replied to him, her voice hushed. "I feel it, too. Oh, it feels wonderful, Cloud. What is it? Are we dying?"
"No. It feels like...love." Cloud smiled, grinned, felt his heart beating rapidly in his heart. He decided he would not care if it decided to explode within his chest. He was exhilarated, jubilant, ecstatic, in rhapsody. "It's Aeris' love! I can feel her love!"
"But why do I feel it too?" came Tifa's quiet question.
The green light came to a crescendo, then flashed a brilliant white, brighter than all the stars in the night sky combined, and turned red. It came in from the corners of his eyes, first, then became deeper. The bright red turned to something more primal...it flushed into crimson, then a deep maroon, then a grisly blood red. Flame red.
Dust on the stone floor stirred and rose in the air and whipped around them. Tifa and Cloud felt like they were caught in a maelstrom. Winds and sand and dust and flame raced around them, spiraled as though caught in a furious force. The two remained in the eye of the storm, the relative calm in the center of the chaos, centered around Aeris. Centered around the magicite stone.
Phoenix, Cloud whispered in awe, though he didn't know where the words came from. It is the Phoenix Esper. In the flames' light, he thought he saw ghostly faces that flickered and died away in the flame.
He saw a young with brown-blonde hair, a coronet pulling her hair away from her face, partially covered by a man in dragoon armor wrapping his cape around her. The two smiled at he and Tifa and vanished. He saw another girl in a flowing white sleeveless dress, her strawberry hair pulled back into a bun. She gave them a warm smile and she, too, disappeared. They saw a girl with deep sea-green hair and red ruby earrings, who smiled at them lovingly and vanished. Names came to Cloud in his head, too, and he knew that Tifa knew their names as well. Terra Branford. Reina Tycoon. Rydia the Caller and Kain the Dragoon.
The red light flickered and winked out as abruptly as it came.
Lights danced before him, and he could see Tifa rubbing at her eyes. "What-- what was that?" he asked.
"Tifa, Cloud. What have you done?" came a familiar feminine voice.
Cloud froze still. He was afraid to look up, fearing that what he heard would not be there.
"It's all right, Cloud," came the warm voice once more. "You shouldn't be afraid of me. You know me."
Very slowly, Cloud looked up, and nearly sobbed aloud in joy, in grief!, when he saw Aeris Gainsborough standing before them. Her long pink dress shimmered faintly and her long, thick braid of chestnut locks stirred slightly as she tilted her head and smiled at him with her warm green eyes.
"What are you doing here, Cloud?" Aeris looked down at him with loving but concerned eyes. "Tifa, why are you here too?"
Cloud blinked, and stopped in his tracks. That was not what he expected to hear. "Don't you want to see us?" he asked her. "Don't you want to be among us? Here? Living?"
"That's not it, Cloud," Tifa said, somewhere off to the side. He couldn't pull his eyes away from Aeris, for fear that she just might disappear once again.
Aeris nodded slightly, the smile on her lips never fading. "She understands the truth of it, Cloud. My time here on earth has passed. It was...wonderful while it lasted, when I was with all of you. I miss you all so very much.
"However," she continued, "As treasured as that time was with you, it's finished. I cannot ignore my role in the Life Stream of the world. I'm a part of something so much greater now, Cloud. I'm back with the Ancients. With my kind again."
She leaned down to Cloud, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He shivered involuntarily; it felt ice cold and tingled slightly where she touched his cheek. "I'm home, now," she said softly, before withdrawing her head.
Aeris looked around the room, and walked over so that she now stood before Tifa. She crossed her arms behind her back and smiled at her. "Where are the others now? How are they all doing?"
Tifa looked at Aeris with astonished, wet eyes then threw her arms around her. Where her skin touched Aeris, it felt cold and coursed with a vibrant energy.
"Oh, Aeris," Tifa whispered in her ear, between soft sobs. "I've missed you so. I'm so sorry... so sorry.... I've thought awful things about you, but I never really meant any of...." Her voice cracked in sobs.
Aeris continued smiling in her own knowing way, and patted Tifa on the back in an embrace. The glowing aura around her now surrounded Tifa as well. "Shhh. We're together now. We don't have much time. I forgave you a long time ago."
Tifa forced herself to pull away from her. Tears streamed down her face, as she sniffled and looked at her shimmering friend. "You... have?"
Aeris nodded. "Yes. How could I not? You're my friend, Tifa."
Tifa smiled, and wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "Thank you," she mouthed, but her voice was nowhere to be found.
Aeris nodded. "Now please, tell me about the others."
It came out in a rush then. Tifa and Cloud alternated telling her the stories and the adventures they've had after defeating Sephiroth finally....
Cid was upstairs, keeping watch. He was as foul-mouthed as ever, but he had a fierce determination in his eyes now. Having finally reached the upper limits of the atmosphere, he was now convinced that it was possible for people to Ilive/I in space. Aeris giggled at that one, as did Tifa....
Barret now lived in Midgar, with Aeris' adopted mother, and his daughter. He was content being a construction worker, rebuilding Midgar from its roots up. Cloud told Aeris how he now tended a garden in the little church where Cloud had first met her, so that his daughter would always have a little patch of the green earth for herself....
Yuffie was now a very much-wanted criminal in five major cities, with a bounty of 1 million Gil in each of them on her head. Supposedly, someone had been robbing all the materia shops of their high-end stones.... And with all that materia on her, it was increasingly becoming impossible to stop the crazed ninja girl....
Red XIII now roamed the prairie lands as chief of his tribe, protecting his home for all of his people, most of all his two young cubs. They were vivacious pups who loved to pounce and snarl and bite, although it was quite comical to watch them….
Cait Sith was now an attraction in the Golden Saucer Amusement house. He handed balloons out to the little boys and girls, and sometimes stunned the crowds with its ability to talk and its acrobatics. Aeris told them that she would have liked to see that one just once, and that she was happy for him.....
Vincent was now a bounty hunter, chasing after a certain crazed ninja girl. Finally having accepted the fate of his departed wife, he now strode with new purpose to catch the infamous cat burglar. He traveled from city to city, on her trail, accompanied by a young blonde assistant who always looked at him with sparkling hopeful eyes whenever he called out her name....
When they finished telling Aeris all that had happened, she was smiling, nodding to herself. "How splendid," she said, when she opened her eyes again. "Life... what a splendid thing it is."
She turned her back on Cloud and Tifa, and took a few steps away from them. With each step, she seemed to float a little bit higher off the ground. She turned and faced them once more, and Cloud wondered how she was able to hover from the ground.