Why?
That one simple word had consumed her entire world.
"Why am I still awake?" the young girl, named Aerith asked to nobody in particular.
She always thought once she died, she would fall into a deep slumber of some sort ,but there was no such luck for the young Cetra.
For the first time in what seemed like a decade she slowly tried to open her eyes. To her they felt like two lead weights, but she tried her best to lift them.
She thought she would awake to find herself floating in the glorious green liquid that was the Lifestream but instead, to her confusion, she found herself lying on a stone floor.
The young girl slowly lifted her head head up and brushed back the locks of her normally chesnut hair that refused to stay in place, as she surveyed the area around her.
Everything around her was just a huge swirl of colours of blues, pinks and greens before her eyes finally came into focus. She gasped loudly as she realised where she was.
Aerith wasn't just anywhere, on just any stone floor, she was on the floor of the alter in the Forgotten City!
She tried to stand up but her attempt was in vain as she fell and hit her back off the side of the alter.
"What am I doing here?!" She asked herself in confusion.
Was I dreaming? Did Sephiroth really kill me or did I just dream it?" She asked herself with hope in her heart.
But her hope was quickly shattered as she searched her hair for her White Materia and found out it was gone. She looked down upon her clothes to find a small hole in them, but it was big enough for a small stick to go through or a thin blade.
She closed her eyes and forced her tears away.
Aerith slowly pushed herself up from her uncomfortable position and using the rails around the alter she managed to balance herself on her feet. It felt like she hadn't used her legs in years.
She cautiously stepped away from the rails trying to regain the ability to walk.
The young Cetra moved towards the skipping stones that lead to the city that once belonged to her ancestors.
She jumped down onto the first stone and clumsily made her way towards the city.
When she reached the ground, she began moving forwards until something caught her eye, she whirled around and stared at the glass walls at her reflection, which made the young girl freeze in shock.
She gazed upon her form. Her face was drained of all colour, and was now a ghostly white. Her normily gleaming auburn hair, was hanging limply by her sides as a distasteful, mucky brown, and her glamorous emerald eyes were now a dull and lifeless green, no longer burning with their righteous flame.
Aerith would have collapsed to her knees and wracked her brain for an answer as to why she was in such a dreadful condition, but she knew the answer, she closed her eyes, as a few tears managed to escape from her eyes, but she forced the rest back.
She turned away from the huge mirror and continued forward up the stone steps, and then further onwards up the crystal staircase that lead to the surface, she emerged within a familiar spiral shaped house.
The girl gazed around the house, it was full of holes and decay after it's abandonment several years ago.She shook her head and sighed deeply to herself.
The beautiful brunette walked out of the shell house, to find herself staring at a large pool of glistening water.
A small gust of wind found it's way into the center of the large forest, causing ripples to form in the water. Aerith noticed them as she walked over to the bank. She fell back hitting the wall of the house, as intended, and slid down to the ground.
Her gaze returned to the water as she dipped her hand in it. It was ice cold but she never felt it, nor would she ever feel it.
Sighing to herself she withdrew her hand from the frosty liquid. She pulled her knees close to her chest and let her tears silently slip down her face. For hours she sat there, her muffled cries coming out from the mouth that was buried in her knees, until she heard faint sounds coming from the forest.
She lifted her head up and tilted it slightly towards the direction of the exit. Her sobbing ceased as she became more intent on learning the source of these sounds, as they narrowed closer to her.
As they moved towards her, she began to become more aware of what the sounds were. They were footsteps, and as they continued to advance, she realised that there were more than one set.
Aerith kept her eyes focused on the forest exit, waiting to see who would emerge from it.That's when she saw them, her friends.
All of them were there Yuffie, Red, Cait Sith, Vincent,Cid, Barrett, Tifa and last but definitely not least, out of the opening came Cloud. In his right hand he held a bouquet of flowers that she recognised from the church in the slums of Midgar, he got them before the city was destroyed.
They all walked around the bank, staring at the the water mournfully. Aerith looked towards Tifa, she could clearly see that she was trying in vain to hold back her tears, as were the others.
"Are they crying for me?" The young Cetra thought to herself in confusion.
But Aerith was torn from her train of thought by Cloud's sorrowful voice, "Well Aerith, we did it, we saved the planet from Sephiroth, but without you here it's a hollow victory. Without your help we wouldn't even be alive right now. Thank you Aerith, for everything."
The ex-soldier stepped forward into the freezing water, and stopped near the center. He placed the bouquet, in front of him and dropped it. The flowers sunk almost immediately due to the weight of the stones Cloud placed there earlier.
They all watched in greif as the small bouquet sunk to the bottom of the water.
Once it had disappeared from sight, Cloud exited the pool and was greeted by a tight hug by Tifa, who was crying waterfalls into his black shirt.
Barrett pulled Tifa away from him with his only hand and the three, along with their other friends, started towards the exit.
Aerith had been crying ever since Cloud had first spoke. Her tears ceased once she realised her body had been engulfed in a bright light and apparently the others had also noticed this, and had sheilded their eyes from the bright glow.
Once the light had died down, the group of warriors stared to where it had once been and in it's place was the ghostly form of Aerith.
"A-Aerith?" Cloud asked her in astonishment.
Aerith gasped loudly. He could see her?! She wasn't supposed to be seen, after all she was just a ghost. But she was visible. Then it hit her. This is why she was still here, because she regretted not saying goodbye to her friends, well now's her chance.
Her expression quickly changed to that of relief and happiness, "Yes Cloud, it's me."
She took a few steps towards them and began speaking once again,"I just wanted to say goodbye to you all, you've been such great friends to me, I couldn't rest until I told you."
She turned her attention towards Cloud, as she continued walking towards him. She stopped inches away from him and stared deep into his glowing, blue eyes.
"Cloud, I..I just w-wanted to let you know that I..I love you," She said to him nervously, her cheeks slightly rosy.
Cloud noticed this and smiled sweetly at her. He extended her hand out towards her, but once she tried to grab it, hers just phased right through as she remembered that she was still just a spirit. She turned her back to him and began crying again.
Cloud could see her pain. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, and whispered softly in her ear, "I love you too." Aerith smiled at him and placed her hands over his.
They stayed that way for some time before Aerith broke their hold. She took a few steps forward and turned around to her startled audience, "It's time for me to go now. Thank you all for everything, especially you Cloud. Now I can finally rest, farewell my friends, until we meet again."
Aerith hadn't stopped smiling since her and Cloud's loving embrace. She suddenly clasped her hands together as two majestic pearly white wings appeared upon her back, much to the amazement of the small crowd that had gathered there. She took one last look at her friends, the spark in her beautiful emerald eyes returning.
Aerith gave them a final wave goodbye as her wings began to flap furiously behind her. She lifted up into the air and flew towards the opening in the forest roof, but before she got there her body became engulfed in light once again. The others watched in astonishment as the light slowly began to fade, revealing that Aerith was gone.
After what seemed like hours each of them left leaving their leader alone with his thoughts.
Cloud barely noticed the absence of the rest of the group. He was still staring at the opening in the forest roof were his love had vanished.
He smiled to himself and murmured, "Farewell Aerith, until we meet again."
He took his eyes away fom the forest roof and stared at the large pool of water, were the last Cetra's body lay. He sighed to himself and walked away allowing Aerith the rest she so rightfully deserved, though what he failed to realise was that if he had stayed just a few seconds longer he would have noticed a single pearl white feather land at his feet, as the wind echoed Aerith's words,
"Until we meet again..."
Ok there's some confusion in the bit were Cloud hugs Aerith but he doesn't really hug her he just puts his arms around her like Tidus and Yuna in FFX. Sorry if I didn't explain that too well.