Chapter 18: Time for some answers....
Author: Suzaku no miko
Disclaimers: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters...I do own Angela, however...
Miko: Hey everybody! Suzaku no miko here with the next chapter. Wow, thanks to Regrem Erutaerc a point was well made (in a nice and well-mannered way too, thanks! ^_^)! Had it not been for you readers, a whole good part to the story would have been forgotten and I would have never realized it! Again, I thank you with a lot of gratitude! And thanks for the suggestion, I think it'll work just nicely. Now then, let's get on with the story! Please R&R!
'Again, I'm in this total darkness.... And where did everybody go?' Cloud thought to himself.
No matter which direction Cloud turned, there would be nothing but absolute darkness. It was as if nothing else existed....The world...his friends... Possibly the thought that bothered him the most was why he was the only one around.
'As far as I'm concerned, we were all together in the church. Where did everybody go?' this was all Cloud could ask himself as he tried to walk around.
What if this was just some kind of trick and he had to find the answer to some type of riddle? Was it Sephiroth and his mind games again? Or was Cloud really lost and could never get back home? Whatever it was, Cloud wanted answers....
"Cloud, where are you going?" the voice called out to him again.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Cloud demanded.
It was obvious that he was in no mood for guessing games. Not only that, Cloud began to feel uneasy about the whole thing....
"Hee hee.... You're still just as I remember you, Cloud Strife..." the voice giggled.
The voice again...only, more clearer...recognizeable...
"How do you know me? And why don't you show yourself?" Cloud asked again.
"Fine. I've teased you enough. Although, I think you should have recognized my voice already..." the voice replied.
No sooner had the voice finished speaking, Cloud noticed a figure began materialize in front of him. But at the same time, something strange was happening. As the shadow neared him, the young man watched as a very small group of tiny sparkling lights began to appear near the bottom of the shadow. He watched as the lights grew into a very familiar glow. Cloud was then able to see the feet of the shadow!
"Boots?" Cloud wondered aloud.
"Do you remember me yet?" the voice questioned.
The light continued to grow, at the same time revealing more of who the shadow really was. He soon began to see very feminine legs, followed by what seemed to be a dress. A pale pink dress, to be exact.
'Could it be?' Cloud began to realize, his sapphire-blue eyes becoming large.
Soon, Cloud was able to see the rest of the dress as the light continued to become brighter. He began to see long, delicate arms held at either side of the person's curvy figure. A short dark, maroon jacket that covered the top of the dress soon began to appear as the light revealed more of the body. The blonde-haired man then noticed that this person had extremely long chestnut-brown hair tied back into a braid that just made it past her waist.
Cloud could almost feel his breath escape him as he watched the light finally unveil who the mystery-person was. Nearly taken by surprise as a pair of bright emerald-green eyes met his blue ones, Cloud made a quick, short gasp.
"Aeris!"
"It's been a long time, Cloud." the young woman greeted him with a smile.
"It's really you! But you were....Sephiroth...he..." Cloud began to stutter.
He could not believe the vision before him. But well enough, Aeris Gainsborough, the last of the Cetra..... the one who died by Sephiroth's hands... was standing in front of him. But how could this be? Aeris *was* dead... Cloud and his friends watched her die...
"As usual, I see you're overwhelmed and you can't form the questions that are running through your head. How about if I start to explain?" Aeris suggested.
The young woman could tell that Cloud was struggling with himself. Cloud had never wanted to believe that Aeris was dead. But another part of him wanted to let her rest in peace. How he could have both at the same time troubled him greatly. Hopefully, Aeris could set his mind and heart at ease...
"Actually, what I'm about to tell you is kind of complicated. As of now, I'm neither dead nor alive." Aeris began.
"Neither...? But how?" Cloud pressed on further.
"Because of what happened and because of how much I cared for all of you, I could not rest. I felt there was still something that I had to do. I guess the feelings foreshadowed the dire plans of Sephiroth. I also could not return to the planet. I was stuck here spiritually, unable to move. So I waited. I knew this day would come."
"What do you mean?"
"Because of my current state, I was able to obtain information of Sephiroth and his plans. But the effect of the Lifestream and the portals were not entirely part of the plans. I took the opportunity to fix the plan a bit to benefit myself by getting you together with the others that came through the portals to this world. Of course, it wasn't really easy... there were some adjustments I had to make to get as much help as I could..." continued a more serious Aeris.
"You were part of this?! But what did you do to the Lifestream?" Cloud could not believe what he was hearing.
Aeris then looked to the floor. "Actually, the Lifestream, I guess you could say is poisoned as a result of what Sephiroth and the others have done. They used the link between the Lifestream and the portals to try to travel between the worlds. They were restless souls who wanted revenge. They must have figured that this was a good way of getting what they want in one shot."
"So that's why you brought all these other people together? So what happened that everybody ended up in this world?" Cloud inquired.
"That's also something I adjusted. I realized what was happening and used whatever powers I had so that everyone could end up in one place. This way, I figured, would be easy for the rest of you. But it was quite hard getting a couple of members... You see, Cloud, two people were not even of the living world...."
Elsewhere, a young woman with short brown hair began to stir. She slowly sat up, looking around her. The young summoner, known as Yuna, slowly rubbed her eyes until they focused on a sleeping Tidus next to her. Across from the both of them, she noticed that Auron was sleeping soundly against a wall.
'I still can't believe how everything worked out...' Yuna thought to herself.
*YUNA'S FLASHBACK*
"I still can't believe it's finally over." Lulu sighed.
Two days after the world was saved from Yu Yevon, Yuna and the rest of the group were able to finally rest. However, even during this happy time, the young summoner could not get over the fact that Tidus nor Auron were no longer with them. To think that Auron and Tidus were nothing more than just figures from a dream of the Fayths, was very hard on Yuna. She did her best to smile around her friends...Rikku, Lulu, Kimahri, and Wakka... But they knew better and could tell Yuna was forcing herself to be happy.
"Hey, Yuna. Why don't you get some fresh air?" Rikku suggested.
"Yeah, it'll do ya' good." Wakka smiled.
"Come, we go." Kimahri directed Yuna to the door.
Yuna could understand that her friends were doing their best to help her become happy. Maybe she did need to get out and take a breath of fresh air. Anything would help her now...
The young woman allowed herself to be pulled by her guardian to the front door as she nodded to the rest of the group. "You're all right. I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Ah, take your time. We'll still be here." Wakka chuckled.
And with that, Yuna and Kimahri walked out of the building. The two began their short, silent trek to the beach area. If there was one thing that calmed her, it was the sound of the water. Except, unfortunately for Yuna, the water also reminded her about Tidus....
When they arrived at the shore, Yuna looked out into the water. She slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel as though she would be consumed by the ocean. She could hear nothing but the crashing of the waves against the shore. How she longed for the ocean to swallow her and bring her back to the time when Tidus first kissed her. To feel the warmth of his body once more... To have his strong arms wrap around her as he brought her closer to press his firm lips against hers...
Kimahri remained silent and stood by her side. He watched her sadly, wishing there was something he could do. However, he made no attempt to do anything. Instead, he just watched over her and granted her the chance to do her best in helping herself. Taking a deep breath of air, the tall guardian slowly closed his eyes and breathed out again. When he turned to look at Yuna once more, he found something very odd....
"Gone?" Kimahri questioned.
The beast began to quickly look around, searching for any sign of Yuna. His eyes only left her for a second. How could she move so quickly in such a short time?
"Kimahri! Come quickly!" it was Yuna.
Quickly turning to the source of the cry, Kimahri made his way to a cove by the water, not too far from where they were standing. When he arrived, he made a very shocking revelation...
"It's Tidus and Auron! They're alive! They're really here!" the young summoner exclaimed happily.
Kimahri nodded, also smiling, as he kneeled beside her.
Could dreams really be wishes? And could these wishes be granted? To Yuna, it seemed that way...
*END OF YUNA'S FLASHBACK*
"Was it our love that was able to overcome everything.... and the friendship that we had with everyone? Or was it the will of the Fayths that brought us back together? Whatever the reason, I'm glad that we're all back together again." Yuna whispered to herself.
Back to the place where Cloud and Aeris were, there still a great need for much more explaining...
"What? They were part of a dream? So, how were they able to come to the living world?" Cloud asked.
"For a certain amount of time, I was able to call on the powers of the White Materia. With it, I was able to use the "Reocurrence Spell" and see each of the incidents from each group's worlds. I was then able to help the two known as Tidus and Auron to be reborn. They were also restless souls." Aeris answered.
"But wait a minute, you just finished telling me that they were part of a dream."
"Yes, but then the Fayths were going to allow them to be in the world of the living. They saw that even characters of a dream can have sincere feelings. The Fayths witnessed how much love Tidus and Yuna shared not only for each other, but for their friends as well. But the plans of Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kuja, and Seymour disrupted the whole process. Like me, they then became immobilized and could not move between the dream world and the living world. I knew this was going to be a hard task on everyone so I helped it along with the power I had at the time."
"So then what?"
"I want to continue helping all of you. I want to help stop Sephiroth and the others once and for all. But first, I need you to get the White Materia and bring it back to me. It was only for a certain time when I could use the materia but bringing it here to me, where my spirit resides, a lot more could be done. Will you do it, Cloud?"
Giving the young man a pleading look, Aeris clasped her hands over one another. She had the same sweet look that Cloud could never resist. And now with everything that was going on and her being so close, he could not stop now...
"Yes. I will." Cloud replied, without giving it a second thought.
"Thank you. It's still in the City of the Ancients. Please find it and bring it back to me." Aeris made a sigh of relief.
Nodding in understanding his mission, Cloud smiled. Aeris looked back at him, also smiling. But soon, everything, including Aeris began to slowly disappear. Cloud looked around him until he saw nothing but complete darkness...
Cloud then tried to open his eyes. "Wha...? I'm back in the church. Was that really just a dream? Hmm... I don't think so."
As quietly as he could, Cloud rose from the floor and began to make his way out of the church. Taking one quick glance back at the group that was still sleeping soundly, he smiled. Taking a breath, he gathered the courage and turned to walk out of the door.
Much time later, the sun began to shine through the cracked windows and shined on the sleeping faces of the group still in the church. Everyone soon began to wake up, yawning as they stretched. Until there was a sudden gasp...
"What's wrong, Tifa?" Angela noticed the young woman's shocked expression.
Tifa just held her hands over her mouth as she looked at the spot where Cloud once lay. "Where's Cloud?!"
To be continued......
Author: Suzaku no miko
Disclaimers: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters...I do own Angela, however...
Miko: Hey everybody! Suzaku no miko here with the next chapter. Wow, thanks to Regrem Erutaerc a point was well made (in a nice and well-mannered way too, thanks! ^_^)! Had it not been for you readers, a whole good part to the story would have been forgotten and I would have never realized it! Again, I thank you with a lot of gratitude! And thanks for the suggestion, I think it'll work just nicely. Now then, let's get on with the story! Please R&R!
'Again, I'm in this total darkness.... And where did everybody go?' Cloud thought to himself.
No matter which direction Cloud turned, there would be nothing but absolute darkness. It was as if nothing else existed....The world...his friends... Possibly the thought that bothered him the most was why he was the only one around.
'As far as I'm concerned, we were all together in the church. Where did everybody go?' this was all Cloud could ask himself as he tried to walk around.
What if this was just some kind of trick and he had to find the answer to some type of riddle? Was it Sephiroth and his mind games again? Or was Cloud really lost and could never get back home? Whatever it was, Cloud wanted answers....
"Cloud, where are you going?" the voice called out to him again.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Cloud demanded.
It was obvious that he was in no mood for guessing games. Not only that, Cloud began to feel uneasy about the whole thing....
"Hee hee.... You're still just as I remember you, Cloud Strife..." the voice giggled.
The voice again...only, more clearer...recognizeable...
"How do you know me? And why don't you show yourself?" Cloud asked again.
"Fine. I've teased you enough. Although, I think you should have recognized my voice already..." the voice replied.
No sooner had the voice finished speaking, Cloud noticed a figure began materialize in front of him. But at the same time, something strange was happening. As the shadow neared him, the young man watched as a very small group of tiny sparkling lights began to appear near the bottom of the shadow. He watched as the lights grew into a very familiar glow. Cloud was then able to see the feet of the shadow!
"Boots?" Cloud wondered aloud.
"Do you remember me yet?" the voice questioned.
The light continued to grow, at the same time revealing more of who the shadow really was. He soon began to see very feminine legs, followed by what seemed to be a dress. A pale pink dress, to be exact.
'Could it be?' Cloud began to realize, his sapphire-blue eyes becoming large.
Soon, Cloud was able to see the rest of the dress as the light continued to become brighter. He began to see long, delicate arms held at either side of the person's curvy figure. A short dark, maroon jacket that covered the top of the dress soon began to appear as the light revealed more of the body. The blonde-haired man then noticed that this person had extremely long chestnut-brown hair tied back into a braid that just made it past her waist.
Cloud could almost feel his breath escape him as he watched the light finally unveil who the mystery-person was. Nearly taken by surprise as a pair of bright emerald-green eyes met his blue ones, Cloud made a quick, short gasp.
"Aeris!"
"It's been a long time, Cloud." the young woman greeted him with a smile.
"It's really you! But you were....Sephiroth...he..." Cloud began to stutter.
He could not believe the vision before him. But well enough, Aeris Gainsborough, the last of the Cetra..... the one who died by Sephiroth's hands... was standing in front of him. But how could this be? Aeris *was* dead... Cloud and his friends watched her die...
"As usual, I see you're overwhelmed and you can't form the questions that are running through your head. How about if I start to explain?" Aeris suggested.
The young woman could tell that Cloud was struggling with himself. Cloud had never wanted to believe that Aeris was dead. But another part of him wanted to let her rest in peace. How he could have both at the same time troubled him greatly. Hopefully, Aeris could set his mind and heart at ease...
"Actually, what I'm about to tell you is kind of complicated. As of now, I'm neither dead nor alive." Aeris began.
"Neither...? But how?" Cloud pressed on further.
"Because of what happened and because of how much I cared for all of you, I could not rest. I felt there was still something that I had to do. I guess the feelings foreshadowed the dire plans of Sephiroth. I also could not return to the planet. I was stuck here spiritually, unable to move. So I waited. I knew this day would come."
"What do you mean?"
"Because of my current state, I was able to obtain information of Sephiroth and his plans. But the effect of the Lifestream and the portals were not entirely part of the plans. I took the opportunity to fix the plan a bit to benefit myself by getting you together with the others that came through the portals to this world. Of course, it wasn't really easy... there were some adjustments I had to make to get as much help as I could..." continued a more serious Aeris.
"You were part of this?! But what did you do to the Lifestream?" Cloud could not believe what he was hearing.
Aeris then looked to the floor. "Actually, the Lifestream, I guess you could say is poisoned as a result of what Sephiroth and the others have done. They used the link between the Lifestream and the portals to try to travel between the worlds. They were restless souls who wanted revenge. They must have figured that this was a good way of getting what they want in one shot."
"So that's why you brought all these other people together? So what happened that everybody ended up in this world?" Cloud inquired.
"That's also something I adjusted. I realized what was happening and used whatever powers I had so that everyone could end up in one place. This way, I figured, would be easy for the rest of you. But it was quite hard getting a couple of members... You see, Cloud, two people were not even of the living world...."
Elsewhere, a young woman with short brown hair began to stir. She slowly sat up, looking around her. The young summoner, known as Yuna, slowly rubbed her eyes until they focused on a sleeping Tidus next to her. Across from the both of them, she noticed that Auron was sleeping soundly against a wall.
'I still can't believe how everything worked out...' Yuna thought to herself.
*YUNA'S FLASHBACK*
"I still can't believe it's finally over." Lulu sighed.
Two days after the world was saved from Yu Yevon, Yuna and the rest of the group were able to finally rest. However, even during this happy time, the young summoner could not get over the fact that Tidus nor Auron were no longer with them. To think that Auron and Tidus were nothing more than just figures from a dream of the Fayths, was very hard on Yuna. She did her best to smile around her friends...Rikku, Lulu, Kimahri, and Wakka... But they knew better and could tell Yuna was forcing herself to be happy.
"Hey, Yuna. Why don't you get some fresh air?" Rikku suggested.
"Yeah, it'll do ya' good." Wakka smiled.
"Come, we go." Kimahri directed Yuna to the door.
Yuna could understand that her friends were doing their best to help her become happy. Maybe she did need to get out and take a breath of fresh air. Anything would help her now...
The young woman allowed herself to be pulled by her guardian to the front door as she nodded to the rest of the group. "You're all right. I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Ah, take your time. We'll still be here." Wakka chuckled.
And with that, Yuna and Kimahri walked out of the building. The two began their short, silent trek to the beach area. If there was one thing that calmed her, it was the sound of the water. Except, unfortunately for Yuna, the water also reminded her about Tidus....
When they arrived at the shore, Yuna looked out into the water. She slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel as though she would be consumed by the ocean. She could hear nothing but the crashing of the waves against the shore. How she longed for the ocean to swallow her and bring her back to the time when Tidus first kissed her. To feel the warmth of his body once more... To have his strong arms wrap around her as he brought her closer to press his firm lips against hers...
Kimahri remained silent and stood by her side. He watched her sadly, wishing there was something he could do. However, he made no attempt to do anything. Instead, he just watched over her and granted her the chance to do her best in helping herself. Taking a deep breath of air, the tall guardian slowly closed his eyes and breathed out again. When he turned to look at Yuna once more, he found something very odd....
"Gone?" Kimahri questioned.
The beast began to quickly look around, searching for any sign of Yuna. His eyes only left her for a second. How could she move so quickly in such a short time?
"Kimahri! Come quickly!" it was Yuna.
Quickly turning to the source of the cry, Kimahri made his way to a cove by the water, not too far from where they were standing. When he arrived, he made a very shocking revelation...
"It's Tidus and Auron! They're alive! They're really here!" the young summoner exclaimed happily.
Kimahri nodded, also smiling, as he kneeled beside her.
Could dreams really be wishes? And could these wishes be granted? To Yuna, it seemed that way...
*END OF YUNA'S FLASHBACK*
"Was it our love that was able to overcome everything.... and the friendship that we had with everyone? Or was it the will of the Fayths that brought us back together? Whatever the reason, I'm glad that we're all back together again." Yuna whispered to herself.
Back to the place where Cloud and Aeris were, there still a great need for much more explaining...
"What? They were part of a dream? So, how were they able to come to the living world?" Cloud asked.
"For a certain amount of time, I was able to call on the powers of the White Materia. With it, I was able to use the "Reocurrence Spell" and see each of the incidents from each group's worlds. I was then able to help the two known as Tidus and Auron to be reborn. They were also restless souls." Aeris answered.
"But wait a minute, you just finished telling me that they were part of a dream."
"Yes, but then the Fayths were going to allow them to be in the world of the living. They saw that even characters of a dream can have sincere feelings. The Fayths witnessed how much love Tidus and Yuna shared not only for each other, but for their friends as well. But the plans of Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kuja, and Seymour disrupted the whole process. Like me, they then became immobilized and could not move between the dream world and the living world. I knew this was going to be a hard task on everyone so I helped it along with the power I had at the time."
"So then what?"
"I want to continue helping all of you. I want to help stop Sephiroth and the others once and for all. But first, I need you to get the White Materia and bring it back to me. It was only for a certain time when I could use the materia but bringing it here to me, where my spirit resides, a lot more could be done. Will you do it, Cloud?"
Giving the young man a pleading look, Aeris clasped her hands over one another. She had the same sweet look that Cloud could never resist. And now with everything that was going on and her being so close, he could not stop now...
"Yes. I will." Cloud replied, without giving it a second thought.
"Thank you. It's still in the City of the Ancients. Please find it and bring it back to me." Aeris made a sigh of relief.
Nodding in understanding his mission, Cloud smiled. Aeris looked back at him, also smiling. But soon, everything, including Aeris began to slowly disappear. Cloud looked around him until he saw nothing but complete darkness...
Cloud then tried to open his eyes. "Wha...? I'm back in the church. Was that really just a dream? Hmm... I don't think so."
As quietly as he could, Cloud rose from the floor and began to make his way out of the church. Taking one quick glance back at the group that was still sleeping soundly, he smiled. Taking a breath, he gathered the courage and turned to walk out of the door.
Much time later, the sun began to shine through the cracked windows and shined on the sleeping faces of the group still in the church. Everyone soon began to wake up, yawning as they stretched. Until there was a sudden gasp...
"What's wrong, Tifa?" Angela noticed the young woman's shocked expression.
Tifa just held her hands over her mouth as she looked at the spot where Cloud once lay. "Where's Cloud?!"
To be continued......
