Cloud took a big breath as he entered the temple. He flinched as he experienced a strange feeling. It was as if something or someone was trying to strangle him. But it faded away very quickly. Maybe too quickly.

Cloud moved further into the temple. He could see six statues on either sides of the hallway, they all looked very strange. It seemed as if someone has recently entered and placed some gems on them. Cloud went closer to one of the stones and touched its red gem. The ground shook a little beneath him then stopped.

"Everything is so different here," he thought as he examined the strange gem.

It radiates with a dim red light and if you looked closely you'll see an object, something moving within it. Cloud hold it up towards the light and to his amazement, he saw an incarnation of Ifrit turning wildly inside.

"Ifrit?" Cloud, "But he looks so different...stronger...much stronger."

The thought stayed with him as he attached the gem back into its original place. The ground shook again. Cloud quickly realized that this was some kind of trap door. If he had carried the gem, the seals that were guarding the entrance that led deep into the temple would remains and he would be stuck here. He rushed to the door, as he thought it was unsealed, and opened it. As soon as he touched the door, again, Cloud had a feeling he was being watched. A mechanical voice suddenly awoken from somewhere.

"Welcome back Epsilon #2!"

"What the hell?" Cloud thought to himself, "Why did it just call me Epsilon #2?"

"You have done well," the voice annoyingly continued, "Earth is now safe. Your mission ends here."

Cloud unexpectedly felt nauseous. It seemed like the whole world was twisting and fading in front of him. His insides were burning and melting. Cloud looked up and saw a floating eye glaring at him.

"It must be doing this," the thought ran through his mind, "I must destroy it."

Cloud gathered all his strength and tried to cast a Bolt2 on the eye. But he was shocked to see that nothing happened.

"What are you doing #2?" the voice commanded, "You're home now. Didn't you know there's an anti-magic shield here? And what was that Bolt2 for? Your mission is accomplished. You will received eternal rest now."

"TO HELL WITH YOUR BULLSHIT!" Cloud exploded with rage.

His back suddenly moved, his cloak was literally torn apart and gave way to two black feather wings.

"The Devil's Curse!" the voice gasped, "You've been infected, #2. But don't worry, your sleep is almost here."

Ignoring the voice, Cloud flapped his wings and flew up to it.

"HYAAAAAH!" Cloud flashed his Ultimate Sword at the eye.

"What...are...you!" the tone was rather scared than surprised as the eye went down, flaming.

************************************

"So this is it," Cloud thought as he faced a huge statue, "this is all there is."

"But that scroll...What did it mean?"

Cloud tried but he couldn't hold back the tears that were now running down his face.

"Aeris, help me!"

At the sound of "Aeris" the statue broke open swiftly into two parts, revealing a secret passage.

"Yes," Cloud hardened his face and entered the trail.

***********************************

"Aeris..." Cloud gasped as he saw what there was inside the room at the end of the hallway.

In front of him laid the girl that he'd long to see. Her beautiful silky hair covered up her face. She had let her hair flat now; it made her look more mature.

Cloud moved closer to touch her body.

"So cold," he thought, "what happened to you Aeris?"

The eyes opened not long after they touched.

Cloud happily whispered to her, "I'm here Aeris, I'm finally here with you. As I promised."

The innocent face looked at him. There was no emotion on that face.

"Wake up, Aeris," he continued, "we'll go home an live the life we've always dreamed of."

"You'll be the lovely wife staying home with the two children we will have."

Cloud felt as though he was going to cry again.

"And you'll be the husband off to hunting and coming back home to me," the girl finished his speech.

"Yes," Cloud's eyes brightened, "you still remember Aeris. Let's get up and go fulfill those dreams."

"Aeris" slowly sit up and looked up him, her face remained expressionless "Why do you call me Aeris?" she asked.

"But aren't you?" Cloud stuttered to find the words, "but you remembered those dreams of us. Please Aeris, don't play around with me. You know how much I love you."

"You must be talking about my predecessor, #4," the girl answered, her eyes still dulled but there was something alive in her voice, "she was sent to Earth a few years ago."

Cloud was speechless.

"She had accomplished her mission to stop the Black Materia from destroying Earth and you were there to give her the eternal rest."

"NO!" Cloud yelled at the girl as he realized what he had just heard, "You're lying! You're all lying. I'm a human, Aeris was human and we loved each other."

"What is love?" the android asked herself, "We weren't programmed to have feelings. Did the human teach you how to feel? How to anger? How to hate? And how to love?"

"Tell me the truth!" Cloud drew out his sword, "Tell me what really happened that day! Tell me that Sephiroh killed Aeris."

"No I cannot," the girl answered, her face lacked the fear that he expected, "that ability is only programmed for the Epsilons, I can help you but you must help yourself."

She raised her arms and touched his temples.

Images suddenly raced through his mind at lightning speed. Finally it stopped at the scene where he was meeting Aeris.

"She was so innocent," he thought, "not knowing her death is just moments away."

*********************************

"Aeris, what are you doing here?" the young Cloud asked Aeris.

"The end draws near Cloud," she answered, "it is time!"

"Time for what?" Cloud was confused, "Where IS Sephiroh? I will kill him and we'll live our lives the way it was."

"No Cloud," Aeris refused to look at him, "I'm sorry but it wont happen."

"Now I know what she meant by that"

"Why Aeris? I WILL succeed if that's what you mean."

Aeris smiled weakly, "Yes you certainly will Cloud. You will. But remember, it is not your fault."

"She had said this to me again in the dream that I had, what did it mean? Humph, I'll find out soon."

"What is happening? How come the images suddenly froze?"

"Someone has been messing with your memory #2," he heard the girl's voice, "I'll help you get past the lies and find the truth."

"Do it now #2," Aeris suddenly raised her head to look at him and commanded.

He could still remember how she looked, all that sadness in her eyes, those tears.

"NOOOOOOO!!" Cloud screamed as he realized what was happening.

"White Materia activated," Aeris murmured as the young Cloud pulled his sword out from her heart.

"Come here Cloud," she whispered.

The young Cloud walked to her and held her in his arms. His face was somewhat expressionless, like he was hypnotized.

"I've always loved you Cloud," Aeris whispered to his ears, tears keep rolling from her eyes. She put on a weak smile and said her last words, "I'll always love you."

Aeris touched his forehead and finally let out her last breath.

*********************************

Back in the chamber, the horrified Cloud remained silent. His face was burning with rage. He was furious at himself. He didn't want to believe what had happened but somehow he knew it was true. He knew that he had killed Aeris as commanded. He also knew that Aeris had erased that part of his memory to save him the sufferings.

"Why me?" he murmured to himself, "WHY?"

"Earth and Spira have always been one. We both existed on the same planet, called Gaia but in two different parallel dimensions. Every 10 years, there would be a destruction of both worlds by some mysterious power we haven't been able to discover. Spira is dominated by Sin, while the Black Materia rules Earth. That's why every ten years, we will take a few chosen teenagers from the other world to our own to try to stop the destructions. This time, you Epsilon #2 and Avalon #4 were chosen as the savior of Earth. Avalons are created as vessels to contain the White Materia, the only possible source that is able to destroy the Black Materia."

By now, Cloud has been deep inside his thoughts but the android continued.

"But Avalons cannot activate the Materia themselves, that is why you, Epsilons were created to combine your power to activate it. Of course, in order to activate the Materia that's inside Avalons, you'll have to cut off the main power line. Thus, the Avalons will be destroyed. There have been experiments on Earth to create these vessels and activators themselves but they've all failed."

The android was going to go on when Cloud interrupted it her, "Don't you guys ever think about their feelings?" he shouted at her.

"We, you and me, do not have feelings," she remained calm.

"But how why create something and give it the ability to think then only to destroy it?" Cloud was overwhelmed by his emotions, "I won't let you do this anymore. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!"

Cloud rushed toward the android and before he realized what he had done, Avalon #5 as she called herself was in pieces. Cloud threw his Ultimate Weapon toward the Dark Gem that was on the wall behind her. The Gem exploded and the whole room shook violently.

"WARNING! WARNING! Anti-Magic shield OFF," this was the third mechanical voice Cloud has heard since he entered this temple.

"TO HELL WITH YOU ALL," Cloud gathered all his strength and summoned Knights of The Round. The dark avengers roamed the chamber, destroying everything that they could and went out of the room to destroy others.

"The roof is damaged," Cloud thought, "but it doesn't matter anymore."

Cloud stood there, thinking about all the lies that he'd been through.

"Aeris, wait for me."

He raised his sword .

*************************************

"Come Aeris," the little boy with blond hair giggled as he held the little girl's hand and ran, "I just saw some cute puppies."

"No Cloud," the girl said but still followed him, "you're always up to something."

"Well suit yourself," the boy said, "but do come and watch."

The two of them ran toward the plain, laughed and chattered along the way, as if the whole world didn't matter to them anymore. They were together.

THE END