Chapter 17

LOVE OF THE LAST CETRA, LOVE FOR THE LAST CETRA

The pain…it hurts…my nerve…burned…

"Cloud….".

Where am I ?

"Cloud…come on…wake up…please…"

That voice is so real….

"Don't leave me….please…."

Is that her voice ?

Slowly, Cloud opens his eyelids, his motion is very weak and very slow. When he completely opens his eyes, he sees a blurred image of a female figure. As he finally gets the focus of his sight, his eyes meet a worried face of the one he saved before.

"A-Aeris…?", Cloud calls her name with faint voice. Just when he mentioned her name, Aeris cries out of joy. Worried expression that has painted her visage is lifted up all of a sudden upon knowing that Cloud is still alive. Her emerald eyes sparkle nicely.

"Cloud ! You're still alive !", she lets out her joy, now her soft chuckle is heard, reassured. At a moment, Cloud cannot think where he is, or how he is. His mind is very foggy right now, he just cannot think clearly, but he feels every part of his body feels great ache. After all, he is completely alive and conscious, although he does not know how long he will hold his breath.

When Cloud tries to get up from his laying position, he finds his muscles are getting limp, thus he cannot make his move. He falls again, along with his grumbling, but his head now lands on something soft and tender. Cloud looks around him, and finds that he is lying on the ground, with his head is resting on Aeris' thighs. He cannot recognize his surrounding because it is rather dark, but he feels he only looks rock-like structure around them.

"Cloud…are you okay ?". Aeris inquiries his condition. Again, worried tone fills her voice. Biting his lips to hold sudden pain that comes to his body, Cloud tries his best to reply.

"No….". He shakes his head slowly. After taking air into his lungs, he gathers his strength to ask her. "What happened ?".

Aeris does not reply at once, she just studies his feature for a while. "You…saved me from Dark High attack. You used yourself as cover when that energy ball came to me. We hit boulders pile, and they fell to us. You went unconscious after that…luckily, there is some space and air inside these fallen rocks…so, we're still survive…". Aeris' voice trails off at the end. With her answer, Cloud can now start to reconstruct what happened. He recalled he and Vic were jumping at Aeris, tried to shield her from Dark High's incoming attack. At last moment, he finally did it. He grabbed her and realized that it was too late to avoid the energy ball, so he gave his back to confront with the ball. He had prepared the worst, but he never thought the effect was something terrible like this : they collided boulders, made them fall, and now they are completely trapped inside with pain roams his every nerve. The only better thing is, he is not alone. He hopes that Aeris still has Materia or enough energy to perform her Great Gospel.

"So, we're trapped here, huh ?", Cloud concludes current circumstance with rhetorical question. His mind is clearer now, and he must admit he does not like this condition. "With this pain, I just hope Tifa and the others could save us on time or if you could perform Great Gospel…". Cloud suddenly coughs harshly. His lungs feel burned.

"Cloud ! Are you okay ? How do you feel now ?", Aeris asks him with more worried tone. Cloud looks at her face for a moment and replies, "I'm not very fine now….". He pauses for a moment and takes a more detailed look at Aeris. "Gee…Aeris, you're so crumpled…are you okay ?".

Aeris stares at his eyes upon being questioned. For a moment, they just look at each other until Aeris' eyes are brimmed with tears. "Cloud…I'm so sorry….I just brought you trouble and trouble. You risked your life for me…but I can't do anything right now". Aeris speaks with sadness on her tone. "I'm injured too…my energy isn't enough for limit break…I also brought some Materias, but they were lost when we hit these boulders…we can't do anything now…I'm sorry, Cloud…I'm useless…".

The flower girl now closes her eyes, she knows she makes him disappointed. She cannot stand to see his face right now. He must have relied his hope on her, but she just cannot do anything. She is expecting something harsh from him, maybe as his release of anger or disappointment. After all, she just deserves it. She is no longer nice flower girl he used to know in the past. She is absolute troublemaker now. Just a troublemaker, nothing better at all. She has to face it.

Quite contradicting to what she thinks, Aeris suddenly feels a hand caresses her cheek. Surprised yet uncertain, she opens her eyes and looks below at the face whose the head is on her thighs. Cloud is smiling at her, his hand is still on her cheek.

"Don't…cry…", he stutters with weak voice. Aeris can see that he tries hard to smile in middle of his pain. She cannot say anything but to pour down more tears and holds his hand on her cheek tightly. She feels very useless now, but Cloud eases her with his smile.

"I knew you as cheerful flower girl before, where is she now ?", Cloud asks again, still smiling at her. Aeris knows Cloud tries to relieve her, and she wants to do his wish too. She then manages herself to stop crying and pulls her lips upward, forming a smile. A smile only for him, her beloved Cloud. Gently, she swipes his face with care. "How do I look now ?", she asks, still swiping his face. Cloud nods his head as reply. Aeris giggles a little, but her heart is actually flooded with sadness to see Cloud in the most terrible form.

Shortly afterwards, silence falls upon them. Aeris can only hear Cloud's heavy breath, and it hurts her heart every time he struggles to fill his lungs with air. Suddenly, Cloud's expression changes, he looks in pain for several seconds, making Aeris concerned. When his face turns back to normal again, he then pulls out something from his pocket with trembling hand, still in his lying position, resting on Aeris' thighs. He looks at Aeris' gift on his birthday, pocket watch, resting on his palm.

"I just can't forget the flower girl who gave this on my missed birthday…". Cloud then opens the watch, letting out the music from it. He closes his eyes, listening to the music solemnly. Aeris' hand now moves to his spiky-hair and strokes it lovingly. Cloud's face goes softer while the music is played, concealing the pain that grows heavier inside his nerve.

"You know what, this song…it seems perfectly match with you", Cloud gives his comment in middle of the song, still closing his eyes. Pausing for a moment, he then adds, "This song…it expresses purity…and it reminds me….your pure heart…". (Author : just imagine a background music for this scene, Pure Heart or Aeris' Theme will be match for this romantic scene ^_^). Aeris cannot believe her ears, her cheeks turn into crimson red. She is blushing.

"Cloud…", she calls him, but Cloud does not seem to hear her. He is still enjoying the music, at least he seems so.

You're so nice, Cloud…Aeris continues her words in her mind. She smiles and her soft hand now caresses his cheek. She knows Cloud is hiding his painful expression from her. She knows Cloud does not want to make her worried. She knows Cloud wants to distract her from his pain, yet she knows he is in real pain and there is nothing they can do. They just fall in silence, listening to the music Cloud called it 'pure heart'. It is beautiful music indeed. Aeris just stares at Cloud's expression carefully. She finds a peaceful aura that embraces the face with closed eyes, sometimes it is flickered with painful expression, but only lasts for a second. She never saw him in such expression in the past, and the last thing she remembered was sad yet caring eyes on her when she left the living world on his embrace.

After the music comes to the end, Cloud opens his eyes for a while. "Wait, the second one is nice too". He then closes his eyes again when second song starts. Aeris does not say anything, she just follows what Cloud does, listening to the music, while caressing his cheek. At least, that is all she can do, to show him how she cares a lot about him, and worse, this might be his last moment.

The second song is very melancholic, the violin play really touches the heart. Cloud, still closing his eyes, tries to listen to the music. Eventually, he says, "Isn't it beautiful ?". (Author : FFX – Suteki da ne ^_^). With gentle motion, Aeris swipes Cloud's cold sweat on his forehead.

His sweat is cold…he must be holding his pain…Aeris thinks sadly. "Yes…it's very nice…", she finally replies him with concerned tone. No matter how Cloud conceals his pain, Aeris knows it. As much as she wants to savor this moment with him, she also hopes that the others will rescue them as soon as possible so Cloud can receive better cure. She feels her tears are going to water her eyes again, but she recalls he told her not to cry, so she holds it. If he can hold such pain, then she will hold her tears too. She does not want to make his condition gets worse. She wants to help him, she wants him to stay alive, she wants to see him happy, although it will not be her who would be by his side.

"Do you ever wonder if things could go different than it is now ?", suddenly Cloud speaks up. He eventually coughs, shaking Aeris' thighs, but he then smiles again.

"Cloud…", Aeris calls him with soft voice, "Please…don't talk anymore, you're wounded. Save your breath…". Aeris almost whispers at the end of her words. Cloud lets out a sigh from his mouth. Again, the pain comes to his nerve, but he does not care about it. For a moment, his lung feels full of fire, and makes him coughs again, now fresh blood comes out from his mouth.

"CLOUD !!", Aeris cries out, shocked to see Cloud's wound is getting worse. With his hand, Cloud gives a sign that he is all right, although it is obvious he is not.

"I failed you once", he continues speaking in middle of catching his breath, "You trusted me as bodyguard once, but I failed you…I let Sephiroth killed you, and there was nothing I could do that time…".

"Cloud, please…", Aeris tries to cut him off, but Cloud seems to ignore her. He just keeps on speaking, "I just held your dying body, and cried…but nothing more…nothing more…". Cloud pauses for a moment, recalling that moment. "I felt being the most stupid man in this world, just letting you died, and I kept it as my worst nightmare…but now I'm happy….". Cloud caresses Aeris' cheek again.

Aeris shows a puzzled expression to hear him saying the last sentence. He said he is happy now, but she clearly has no idea why. Cloud smiles at her, and pipes up, "I'm happy now because I saved you…I finally did it, Aeris…I'm your bodyguard, right ? And I'm very glad to see you're still alive…even though it took my life as price…".

"No, Cloud ! Don't say it anymore !", Aeris finally cuts him off, tears are on her eyes again, she cannot hold it anymore. She cannot stand to see Cloud like this. She is just very afraid that he will be gone, leaving her to his Promised Land.

"Cloud…don't say it again…You'll be alive…you'll be…", she continues with trembling voice. Her body is choking uncontrollably. She cries. Both her hands now hold Cloud's cheeks as if she would not let him go. She looks at him with mixed expression, but worried is the dominant one.

"Aeris…", Cloud calls her, his hand is wiping tear on her cheek. "Do you ever think that I have another reason for being happy right now ?", he asks. Without waiting for Aeris' answer, he adds, "I'm happy because I'm with you now….at the end of my life….Funny, isn't it ? Once I held you when you died, now you cared about me when I'm dying…Life is just kindda double-faced coin, huh ?". Cloud coughs softly, then continues, "So, this is my reward for letting you died in the past…I'll gladly face it, as long as you're here…and alive…".

Aeris' tears are dropping on Cloud's face. Her body is choking harshly. She cannot do anything now. "Don't cry…Aeris…please…I just want to…let this time alone…with you….". Cloud gazes at emerald green eyes above him warmly. Aeris looks at Cloud with disbelief look. She never thinks he will say it. She slowly nods, and with much effort, she forces herself to stop crying. It is very hard to do, but she gradually does it.

Cloud and Aeris now look at each other, without letting any words come from their mouths. Aeris can see his caring Mako-blue eyes stare directly into her eyes, a look that she always dreamed since the past. There, beneath those blue eyes, she can see reflections of their past. A past that changed her life, and his, as well. Started from his fall on Midgar's church, the rescue for her from Shinra HQ, dangerous monsters they ever met, and the date they ever had, until her life ended. She also sees a flaming hope of life beneath those Mako-blue eyes, which now very slowly, yet surely, fades out.

The couple now just looks at each other while remains silent. However, they actually talk to each other with their eyes intimately. There were too many things left to say, and even words are not sufficed to express them. More precisely, they do not need even a word. They just let their hearts hug each other through their eyes, something she wants since she fell in love with him, a forbidden but unforgettable love through the time and miracle that encompasses life and death. Life could be simpler than that, but not for them.

Aeris and Cloud do not know what happens outside, they do not care about it, yet they cannot do anything about it. All that they want is to savor this moment, and they both know this may be their last chance to get together. Every ticking sound from Cloud's pocket watch fills the air between them two, accompanying the moment within this couple, as well as reducing the time they have, like a candle melts to its end.

Cloud stares deeply into Aeris' eyes, as he does not want to lose details of her feature if he ever leaves her. Aeris, at the other side, stares at Cloud with deep sadness reflected from her eyes. Slowly, with irregular motion, her fingers play around on Cloud's face, sending every pulse of her care, her love to him, especially in this last moment. She wants to tell him how much she loves him, how she always keeps him in her heart, ignites it on, and makes her life meaningful. Although he has been engaged to Tifa, she still keeps her hope, secretly.

Hope.

Life.

Love.

With hope, one can find a life, and within life, there is love. Aeris' finger now moves to Cloud's lip, touching it very gently, while gazing at his eyes deeper. Eventually, Cloud grabs Aeris' hand. His hand is cold, but beneath it, Aeris can feel warm touch of his heart to her. He looks at Aeris meaningfully, trying to figure out what secret resides beyond those beautiful emerald green eyes. No matter how hard he tries, he can only find deep sadness beneath them. Cloud raises his hand and touches Aeris' hair, slowly it crawls up and reaches her chin gently. Aeris removes her finger from Cloud's lip and now holds his hand which is on her chin. She moves Cloud's hand and presses it on her soft cheek.

Cloud smiles. To Aeris' eyes, his smile is very comforting, he does not show a sign of pain anymore. Slowly, Cloud's lips are trembling as he is going to say something.

"I want to meet you too….".

His voice is so weak that Aeris hardly heard it, but she can understand what he said. However, she feels something cold is crawling on her spine when she notices the flaming life beneath her beloved Mako-blue eyes slowly fades out, until it finally disappears completely from her sight. The light has gone. Her light. Forever. Meanwhile, ticking sound of the pocket watch is still accompanying her, now all alone.

……………….

"You're…Cloud….?", Tifa's mouth is opened in disbelief to see the person in front of her. Physically, the man in front of her is still Vic, but Tifa felt a lightning hit her mind to recognize some features on him that resembles to her fiancée. His hair is rather spiky, and it is in blonde, just like Cloud's. His visage is just like Cloud's too, but there is something softer that paints Vic's visage, and it comes from his eyes. Tifa is growing more amazed when she looks closely into his eyes. With his circle-shaped sunglass is taken off and so are his contact lens, it is now revealed that Vic's eye color is green, as green as emerald. This realization triggers something on Tifa's brain tip. She feels dejavu. Finally she becomes very sure that she can find the same eyes if she stares at her best friend's, and also her love-rival's eyes too.

"I'm not Cloud…", Vic finally responds. He steps closer to Tifa. "I'm Vic, and my last name is Strife".

AUTHOR'S POST-CHAPTER NOTE :

I'm glad that I finally reach this chapter. I really wanted to write an angst for this chapter, depicting Aeris and Cloud's togetherness, but in sad context. I put effort on writing this chapter, hope this serves you well ^_^

Now, can you tell who Vic really is ? C'mon, you can answer it ! AnimeBunny, don't get disappointed with your first try that Vic was really Zack ! No, that's not it ^_^. I already told you there'll be a lot of surprises here ! Teeheehee….More about it, find it on next chapter !

Okay, any good and bad reviews are still highly appreciated ! Tata for now !