Sorry if I haven't been doing any author's notes lately. I don't know if you guys like them but uh here's one. Oh, and thank you to those who reviewed, keep them coming! And feel free to criticize constructively.

Chapter 4

I woke up, finding myself lying on the ground, my vision blurred when I opened my eyes. But I did recognize one familiar and beautiful thing that made me happy for a split second, and that was my Aeris. She sat calmly as she dabbed at my forehead with a hot cloth, showing her nurturing side. But that joy of mine was whisked away quickly when I remembered why I was lying on the floor in the first place and what I had done.

"Oh, no, Aeris!" I exclaimed as I quickly sat up, startling her, "It. it wasn't me."

She looked at me for a minute, her thoughts hidden by her quizzical expression. That's when I noticed just what I had done to her. The poor thing's pretty new nightgown now had splotches of blood on it from where she had hit the bed. Her face and neck were also bruised. I felt terrible. absolutely terrible.

"I know that it wasn't you, Cloud," she said quietly, "I hold nothing against you for what happened. But I'm alright and so are you. that's all that really matters, right?"

"No, Aeris. I, I feel terrible about it. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't even stop myself from letting Sephiroth take over. It's my fault. it is all my fault. I'll get you a room at the hotel, take you back to Midgar, whatever you want! Just, please understand." I hung my head; I was afraid to look at her.

She lifted my chin up with a soft touch to see my eyes. I saw her smile gently at me, even through the ugly purple bruise that I had left on her otherwise flawless face. How could she be so calm about this? I didn't understand how she could hold no anger against me for what I had done, for being so weak.

"It's not your fault," she consoled thoughtfully after a brief silence, "If you're afraid that it will happen again, we'll get in touch with the others. I'm sure Red will know the answer to our problems, right?"

I nodded. "Aeris... I got a question though. What was Sephiroth, or I, saying about a bond and all that?"

"Bond?" she asked, before completing her answer, "The Bond is, well. This might come as a little of a surprise, Cloud. But, uh, The Bond is one of the reasons I'm back alive and everything."

"I don't follow."

She sighed and sat on the bed, trying to think of a good way to explain what she had to say next. "You see, Cloud, it seems that we, you and I, shared something before I was killed. That something is referred to as The Bond. Because of this bond being strong enough, things became possible for us. For example, The Bond is what helped you defeat Sephiroth in the end. The Bond strengthens you and helps you when in need. There are bonds between every human being to every other, but most are weak. If both spirits are strong enough, they can do so much, even when far, far away from one another. "

"So why was Sephiroth talking about it?"

"Because. because The Bond is also the reason that I am alive again. It was so strong that it helped the Planet to reverse the laws of life and catapult me back into this world. But there's more." After that she looked a little more somber. I listened carefully.

"Sephiroth is strong, Cloud. And I now know for sure that he's back. And if you ask me, I think that he is definitely gaining power. He retained some power when he was in the Lifestream, though it wasn't useable at that point. But I think that what you said earlier, about him somehow creeping out of the Lifestream, was probably right. But if The Bond breaks, he will become very powerful again; it won't be too difficult. That's why. that's why we'll have to make an effort to keep The Bond going strong."

I let the words sink in a little before speaking again. "Well, what can we do to keep The Bond strong?"

"I. I'm actually not quite sure. All I know right now is that we should keep a good rapport between us and keep nurturing our, uh. friendship. But we can ask Red about it tomorrow, k? I know it's a lot to digest, Cloud, but it's very important. Sephiroth is going to be trying to break The Bond as best he can, since it's the only thing stopping him from getting back all his power. But don't worry too much, Cloud. We'll settle things in the morning."

"I sure hope so."

~~~~~**********~~~~~

That night I had another strange dream, though I can't remember it very well. I was in the Ancient Forest again, trying to see my way through the infinite puffs of mist, as I searched endlessly for something. I searched for what seemed like hours before I finally stopped, after seeing a woman's form curled up under a big old oak tree. She looked asleep but on after a closer look I discovered that she had her eyes wide-awake. The girl first looked very thin and fearful, but as I advanced I saw that the girl was actually Aeris, covered in Mako, just as I had found her in the Northern Crater.

I walked over to the deranged, catatonic version of the girl I loved and started touching her in immoral ways. She hardly flinched as I did what I did, and as I advanced further into the game, becoming even more ruthless with the poor girl in her disadvantaged state. After a while of that, I started laughing in a strange manor, like a maniac, like the man I hated.

I continued my perverse actions with that insane laugh when I noticed that tears were forming in Aeris' unemotional and detached looking eyes. She didn't blink once, but rather accepted every terrible thing I did to her without a word, though she continued to shed numerous tears. Finally, when my laugh had become unbearably loud and detestable, I could finally seethe hideous trademark silver strands of hair coming from my own head. My hair was suddenly long, my body more tall and thin. Then lastly, I recognized a black cape flowing down from my back and that's when I knew I had become a monster.

I had become that monster, the one I despised with everything in me. It was creeping its way into my life, only to try to destroy and distort my sanity. I wouldn't let it happen.

But as I thought these things, I came to realize Aeris' sudden wordless screams as I pushed my self against and into her, destroying her purity.

How could someone do these things? How could a rat of a human hurt her so much? I hated Sephiroth. I didn't care that this was just a dream, it was still atrocious, even though those terrible cackles continued right till the end. And when the end came I heard the first words of the whole dream.

"You'll never win."

"You've made her hate you."

"You can't do anything right."

"You're nothing."

~~~~~**********~~~~~

When I awoke from my disorienting dream world the next morning, I heard only the sound of quiet prayer. I looked over to see Aeris praying intently, knelt against the bed. The early morning sunlight cascaded into the room, perfectly to boast her beauty to the world.

So without her noticing I arose from my bed and walked over to where she knelt, locked in devoted prayer. I stood behind her as I closed my eyes and listened quietly to the beauty of her eloquent words. But if you ever asked me, I would never be able to repeat what she had said, for the language was not that of humans, but rather a godly one. But somehow I still knew it was eloquent. perfectly beautiful in its sense and because of the sentiment she put into it, almost decipherable.

She slowly arose from her quiet hum after a few minutes. She turned around and let out a quick scream when she was startled to see me right there. Right after, she took a deep breath.

"Oh!" she sighed with relief, "It's only you, Cloud! Sorry. I was just surprised!"

"It's okay," I told her calmly, glad to know that she wasn't the same half-being of my dream, "Don't worry. E-everything's fine."

My breathing suddenly became heavier as Aeris still looked at me curiously, trying to understand my thoughts. But before she could, I did something even I didn't except. I swept her up into my arms and pressed my lips against hers, careful not to hurt her as I had in that terrible dream. She kissed me back quite willingly and flung her arms around my neck just after I had snuck mine around her waist. If I didn't know better, I would've said that she had expected me to do just what I did and was maybe thinking of doing the same thing herself.

But this was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. there were no tears involved, though I could feel the emotion she poured into her every movement.

It was a moment that was meant to be. It was a moment that I would never forget.

~~~~~**********~~~~~

Yeah. I really hope you didn't think that chappie was corny. I sure did! Anyway, I'll try to update and stuff soon. especially if you keep up the reviews!! ^_^