Well, I had that y'all weren't all weird-feeling after that last chappie. I'm sorry if it kinda ruins the whole happy thing, but this story isn't meant to be all happy and stuff anyway, so.

Chapter 8

The sun shone brightly onto my face. I arose from my deep slumber and sat up in my bed. I had forgotten everything. I could think of nothing to fear, but for some reason, I could still feel that strange murky, nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach like something very bad had happened. I looked around groggily to see the back of a woman facing me. She seemed to be buttoning up her blue shirt at the front. She wore with it a knee-length skirt as well.

"Is that you Aeris, darling?" I asked the woman ignorantly.

She didn't answer or even turn to look at me. She just continued to button up her shirt in silence.

"Why don't you come sit with me, doll? Is something wrong." I trailed off, remembering vividly the events of the night before. I could hear her crying in my mind as I hit her beautiful face, time and time again. When my mind came back to reality, I could hear her sobbing quietly again as well. I sat silently, wishing I were dead.

No! I thought to myself, That was just part of my nightmare. that never really happened. It couldn't have.

Aeris continued to cry a little as her shaking hands struggled to do up the shirt. She spoke to me between tears, though she was still turned around. "I've decided that it would be better if I were to stay at the inn, Cloud. That way we'll still be close, but, well."

"Aeris, you must understand," I stuttered, so afraid, "It wasn't. it wasn't me! It was never me! I love you so much, my dear, dear Aeris! I would never hurt you. Please understand, that I am more sorry than any man on this planet has ever, ever been. I apologize that I wasn't good enough to even take control of myself, or help you through the end. I hated every bit of what happened. I wanted to die, Aeris, and I still do. I am sorry! I am so, so."

"Enough," she cut me off sternly, but coolly, "I have to get going if I want to get a room. Take care, Cloud." Without even so much as looking back at me, she started heading for the front door, so I whipped a robe on and ran after her.

"Aeris, please!" I pleaded as I stood behind her, just before she reached the door, "At least look at me when I talk to you!" But she just shook her head "no," and refused to turn her pretty face to look at me.

"I.I can't," she concluded as she opened the door to leave, "I've got to get going. I'll be near if you need me for anything."

"No!" I said, grabbing her arm roughly, turning her around to face me. At that point, I knew that I had lost everything. Sorrow had deeply rooted itself into her pores after what had happened the night before. She had a monstrous black eye and the rest of her face was badly bruised and cut up, like photos you might see of women viciously abused by their husbands. Her neck and arms as well, were bruised badly from the horrific beatings she had received for not giving in. I wanted even more to be dead. I wanted so much to be able to run back into the past and undo it all, save her from her wounds.

"You see?!" she cried out tearfully, "You see why I didn't want you to look at me? You don't deserve to have to look onto something so ugly, Cloud, something so ghastly! You're a good man, and for that I love you. But. I'm afraid that I just can't trust you, as much as I would love to. I'm sorry. And I know that none of this is your fault. I do understand, but I can't. I just can't trust you. I'm sorry."

She gave me a quick soft kiss on my lips before departing. It was a fast, but I could feel her despair through our brief union. She walked out and when she was a few yards away, she looked back at me with an absolutely forlorn expression on her face, her eyes pleading to me. She wanted so much to be with me, and I with her. But it wasn't going to happen. our love was too good a thing to be possible in a world full of sin and anguish.

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

A slow two and a half weeks lived me for the next seventeen days, though I lived no more. I seldom left my home and I when I did, I'd return soon. I spent most of my time drinking my Jamaican Rum or whatever else I could find in the cupboards. It did help. I could spend a few hours almost forgetting how much the world hated me before falling back into dreamful, awful sleep.

I dreamed of raping Aeris, over and over and over again, though I could see no silver strands of hair or black cape like in my past dream. No, I was purely Cloud, a weak man who was indeed just as guilty as Sephiroth was. I had failed the one person I cared enough about to love, the one person who truly meant something to me. And Sephiroth was right. it was ME who hurt Aeris in the end, just like he had said in the first awful dream I had had of him.

And how I loved Aeris so much. Her memory would grip at my heart everyday, but my hate for Sephiroth would instead rip and claw its long, gruesome nails against it, scratching off the finish. I was too afraid to go visit my darling though. I was certain that she hated me. there was no way she couldn't have! I had done one of the very worst things I could have done to her, and now I'd broken her golden coating of beauty, as I pierced my way through her flesh ruthlessly. My heart screamed no, but my body had not reacted to my thoughts. I had not been bothered by Sephiroth since that fateful night, except for in dreams, but I could still remember every feeling it gave me.

Yes, he came to me in dreams, and not just the ones about raping Aeris. I'd be sitting in that same prison of darkness, where he'd appear and tell me awful things and I'd never be able to defeat him. He would tell me that he loved and lusted for Aeris much more than I ever could and that he could take much better care of her. That's why he had done what he made me do, so he could live his perverted "love" to her through me. He told me that he'd never let us be together, that we could never have a future together since he loved her more and that she loved him. But how a woman could ever love such a beast I never knew.

Never again would it happen. All I needed now was my bottle and I was content. I didn't even care that Sephiroth was alive was somewhere, plotting against the world. I had saved the Planet before; it should've been someone else's turn now. Aeris too, had definitely done enough already. She had died for an ungrateful world that deserved little and I felt for her. Never had I met someone so wonderful, so beautiful, in my life. She was truly something...

After about two and a half weeks of lonely days and sleepless nights, I got a phone call that I would never have expected. It was around nine in the evening and the sun had already set. I picked up the phone and with a groggy, distant voice answered, "Hello?"

"H, hi, Cloud." It was Aeris! I was so relieved to hear from her. I had almost felt that she had disappeared. But though I was glad to hear from her, her voice was nervous and fearful.

"Hey, Aeris!" I replied excitedly, "How have you been?"

"I gotta talk to you, Cloud." Her voice was so quiet now that she was whispering and I could hear her stifling back a sob. Oh, no. I'd done so much wrong.

"Alright," I started, "Well where would you like to."

"Come to the inn, Cloud. I'm in room two hundred and forty-six. You really need to get here as soon possible." She was now speaking quickly and cautiously. Her tone was starting to frighten me.

"Okay, Aeris. I-I'll be there in a few minutes."

"I'll be waiting." She hung up the phone abruptly. It wasn't the usual Aeris that I had just spoken to. Oh, no! This time she was so anxious and frightened about something, though I didn't know just what it was yet. But the news she had to tell me was definitely going to alter the rest of my life.

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

I rushed over to Aeris' room as fast as I could, even though I looked like a piece of crap. I hadn't shaved in days and I was wearing gross old clothes. I was sure that Aeris would've been all dressed up, but when I arrived at her doorstep, I was very surprised.

"Hey," I said warmly to her as she opened the door a crack, just enough to see me.

"Oh, hi, Cloud," she said awkwardly as she opened the door fully. She didn't look so great. In two and a half weeks, she looked as sick as a dog and as thin as a rail. Her white sundress was baggy and loose on her and she had ugly dark circles under her eyes. She still had small remnants of the awful bruises I had left on her face, but the worst part was a long red scar along her cheek. What had I DONE?!

"Oh, Aeris." I sighed worriedly upon seeing her.

"We gotta talk," she said coldly with teary eyes, "Let's go for a walk." She stepped outside of her room and locked the door, looking around to see that no one was watching her.

We walked outside of the inn and I noticed that she was glaring at the stone steps outside my house. Just what was her fascination with them? We continued walking silently in each other's company, but this time our hands remained unlocked and distant. We reached the beach before sitting down on the warm sand. The sun had set and we just watched the waves crash gently against the welcoming shore.

"So." I started, "How have you been, Aeris?" I looked over to the girl sitting next to me, who looked so different and who was but a skeleton of the girl I used to know. She was such a sad sight.

"I've been managing," was her quick answer. She obviously didn't feel comfortable in my company, as she answered my question with the bare response.

"So what did you wanna talk to me about?"

She was quiet for a moment as she just looked longingly at the ocean. She wanted to be free from all that pain, but her mental state was nowhere near satisfactory. I wanted so much to help her as she just stared of into space, yearning for the few, precious, semi-worry-free days we had had together just weeks ago. We had never had worry-free days though. our lives were much too complicated to resemble those of normal people.

I just watched my sweetheart as she ominously gazed off into the oblivion, a silent tear rolling down her cheek. I wiped it off gently, but she moved away.

"It's alright." she whispered, antsy at my touch.

"Aeris, what's wrong?" I asked caringly, "Is it something other than the whole.. you know.?"

She nodded her head as more tears came spilling from her eyes. Her face soon became red and she quietly started sobbing. She leant her head against my shoulder then and showed no more reluctance to being near me. I kissed the top of her head and she sighed sadly as she continued to cry.

"Sweetie." I told her lovingly, "I love you so much. You mean everything to me, doll."

"Thank you, Cloud. I. I'm glad to hear that. I really, really needed to."

"It's okay, baby. It's okay."

She brought her head up to look me in the eyes. "I don't wanna say anything to scare you, Cloud, but I gotta ask you something."

"Anything," I told her with a smile.

"Well," she started, now very obviously nervous, "Would you ever think about getting married and having a family one day?"

"With you? Definitely! I love you, Aeris, I would, without a doubt, wanna spend the rest of my life with you."

She smiled sweetly, her nervous frown almost disappearing. But she soon got back to what she had to say and she became somber again. "Well, I. I really have to tell you something, Cloud."

I looked at her curiously, with worry too. How deep the lines in her face were, and how dark the circles beneath her eyes. how depressing it was to look at her! "Cloud. well, you know what happened that night a couple weeks ago, of course. And well, I'm kinda late and stuff."

I was getting nervous now, too. very nervous. "Oh.ok. Continue."

"And so I went to the drugstore and bought a home pregnancy test, and I." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"What happened, Aeris?" I questioned frightfully, hoping that there was some silly, funny twist ending that we'd both laugh at for hours.

"And, well, I. I tested positive, Cloud. You and I are gonna be parents." She looked up at me, her eyes filled with newly blossomed tears. She watched me questioningly, waiting for my response. So I just gathered her up in my arms carefully and started kissing her head lightly like I had before. I felt awful for her. so very awful.

"I am so sorry, Aeris." I whispered to her and she let her tears leak out once more, "I am so, so sorry. Will you forgive me?" She released herself from my hold and looked at me.

"But of course! Oh, Cloud! I don't blame you for anything. I'm just so scared. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I can't be a mother. not yet anyway."

Her eyes were still so glassy and covered by a thick layer of her tears. I looked down into her those little emeralds, though I just couldn't find myself getting enraptured by them this time; there was so much despair, so much loss.

"I love you, Aeris," I told her in a serious voice, "You know that by now. You do. And I love our unborn baby very much. I'm not afraid, nor should you be. It'll be a beautiful blessing and you'll have nothing to worry about." She sniffed a tear back and smiled beautifully again. Though I had been a little bit afraid a few minutes ago, I had nothing to fear now. We had made something together, something fantastic. This child was going to be wonderful, a true godsend, and Aeris was going to be a wonderful mother. I was so happy. even though the way the child was conceived was awful, it was going to turn out well in the end.

"You know," Aeris started again, now only crying from joy, "My mother always used to use that old saying, 'Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.' And you know, even if it is sappy-sounding, it's very true and I think we're going to be very happy. You. you will stay with me, right?"

"Oh, of course!" I exclaimed, "I wouldn't leave you and our baby for the world." She almost looked like she'd forgotten now, forgotten the pain I'd left on her. But I could still see that long ugly scar on her cheek that reminded her and me of what had happened and the lost look in her eyes, of something that would never be returned.

We now had something to look forward to. I smiled down at her again and tilted my head sideways to land my lips against hers. She let me kiss her passionately, my mouth and body desiring hers more and more. I was surprised that she would let me get near her and that she wasn't afraid of being hurt again. She just let me did as I would this time and responded very little, though before she would have normally replied physically whole- heartedly. I suppose I could have done much more that night than just kiss her, but I didn't want to. I would have felt as though I were taking advantage of her fragile state, mentally and physically. How beautiful a creature she was. Though still so breakable and somewhat sick, her true core beauty shone through her now frail outer appearance. She pushed her small, dainty hands against my chest, but not in a way to tell me to get off. It was just in a way that said, "Go on. I need you."

But then a horrifying thought came to my mind. I came to a sick realization of a possibility that wouldn't be too far from reality. And I soon grew afraid. very afraid. I drew back from our kiss and Aeris looked at me with curiosity.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" she asked me.

"Oh." I said thoughtfully, "Aeris. what are we gonna do if. well how are you gonna trust me around the baby, cause well. you know."

She too got a frightened look over her face and grew quiet. "I don't know, Cloud. but can we not find Sephiroth and get things over with for once and for all? I mean. it can't be so hard, right? Anything will be possible and you know that we can make it work!"

"Yeah," I breathed, glad that one of us still had a little hope left, "I better get you back to the inn now."

"Alright. But why don't we walk around a little while, huh?" I took her hand in mine and helped her stand. We walked slowly out away from the beach and back into town. Our steps were leisurely, but we were happy to be together again, for a little while anyway. She was going to have my baby and I'd never heard happier news before in my life! I was so happy. so very happy.

"I hope you've been keeping the villa clean," she mentioned as we walked up the ornate stone staircase towards it.

"Heh." I said, scratching my head. We sat down on the ledge near my home for a minute to relax.

"So what are you gonna do about the whole Sephiroth issue?" she asked me.

"I'm not quite sure." I admitted, "But there must be some way to find out where he is and everything right now. Someone must have seen him around, or will."

"But you never know. What if he, like, cut his hair to look different and stuff so no one would recognize him? But of course, there will be some way for you to defeat him. There's gotta be!"

"For sure. I'll do whatever I can to protect you and our baby, Aeris. And I know that that sounds like a lie, because I've said that I'd protect you before, but this time. but I will find him."

"You promise me, Cloud?" she asked with a hopeful expression over her tired, sleepless face.

"I do. I'll do everything I can for you." She leant her head on my shoulder and we gazed up into the starry night sky. Thousands of stars blinked mischievously down at us, signaling the coming danger. what did they mean? I wish now that I had picked up on their message, coming from so many miles away.

"Well, I better get back to the hotel now," she said as she stood and straightened herself up, "They don't like me coming in too late."

I stood up as well right next to her and looked down again into her beautiful face, now beaten in with hatred. "Alright, Aeris. But you take care of yourself, ok? I'm gonna get Sephiroth soon and I'll take good care of you and our baby." I looked again deeply into her face, but she didn't answer me. She just watched me, the same frantic fear from two and a half weeks ago still somewhat visible in her eyes. "You're gonna be a wonderful mother, Aeris."

"Thank you."

I leant in to kiss her soft, now pale lips and she just stood there. I hoped that I still had her love, but I really wasn't sure anymore. We bid our goodbyes, and from my villa's entrance, I watched her walk back to the inn. She was so weak now, so frail. I had taken something vital away from her, and she had no life left in her.

We stood in silence for a minute, just letting the cool, tropical breeze blow from our hair. I didn't think of sad things at that point. All I could think about was our baby now and nothing else. There was a light at the end of the tunnel for us now, or so I thought. But, oh, how I wish I could've seen what terrible things the future had in store.

"How you do wish, my dear Cloud," came a sinister voice from above my head. I looked up and there, standing right on my house's roof was the awful man that I so much hated.

"SEPHIROTH!" my deep voice yelled through the silent town. But I couldn't do anything; he was too far.

"Ha, ha!" he cackled wickedly, "Try as you might, you cannot get me!" he made an evil grin, that suggested evil intent. "You have a beautiful woman, you know."

"You leave Aeris outta this," I screamed, "She's done nothing wrong and she doesn't deserve to be treated this way but such an ugly snake as you!"

"Snake, eh? Hah, hah! I can assure you that she will be mine very soon and she will do everything I please for me. And she will never ever have your awful child."

Now he was really pissing me off. "You don't dare talk about our baby like that! Now why don't you get down here and fight like a man, if you think you're so good!"

"My, my! There's no reason to be angry. And don't take everything for granted, boy. You're going to have to start working a little harder nowadays."

"What the hell are you saying?!" I yelled, "Quit playing games!"

He spun his cape around himself and laughed maliciously once more. "I best be on my way, though. Take care of her. while she's around!" And with that, he disappeared into the dark night sky, farther away from my grasp. How I loathed him. that sly disgusting serpent.

I vowed that I would protect Aeris. I vowed that she would never get hurt again. I vowed that I wouldn't let him have his way, but oh, how wrong I was.