To Catch A Dream
Chapter 1:
If Only...
"Aerith," he whispered, gazing at her through the mist of morning that permeated the church.
She turned, flowers in hand, and upon seeing him, smiled. To him, the smile upon her sweet face lit up the room. The small shafts of sunlight streaming through the windows held no meaning to him as he saw her standing there.
"Cloud!" She dropped her flowers and began to run towards him, her boots clattering upon the stone floor.
He held out his arms to greet her as she neared. She held out hers, and just as they were about to touch--
She disappeared. Aerith Gainsborough stood no longer in the church. Something dropped onto the floor, the tiny thud sounding like a gunshot in the silence. Cloud looked down.
A small, green Materia, the one that belonged to Aerith, lay there before him. He picked it up, looking into its shining depths. Aerith's face emerged inside it, only to be replaced by Sephiroth's. His face wore an evil grin, and, shuddering, Cloud threw it away from him.
He looked to see where it landed, having a change of heart, but didn't see, or hear, it come down at all. He heard footsteps behind him, their noise echoing off the walls around him. Someone tapped him on his left shoulder, and he turned, hoping it was Aerith.
It was Tifa.
"What, have you forgotten about me?" She demanded, hands on her hips.
"I-- " Cloud started.
"I'm still here, you know!" And then Tifa kissed him full on the lips. SHE didn't disappear.
He then saw Aerith again, and broke away, staring at the two of them, confused. They were suddenly side-by-side, watching him as he stood there. Barret approached and stood beside him.
"What's the matter, Cloud? Can't you make up you !&$% mind for once?" Barret yelled.
The scent of flowers filled the air, and Cloud felt himself falling. Green light surrounded him as he fell into nothingness.
"Tifa! Aerith!" Cloud cried as he saw their faces above him. And awoke.
"Aerith," he whispered, gathering his blankets about him. "Why did you have to die?"
He looked around the crowded room they were staying in. Red XIII lay curled up in a pile of pillows that was in the corner, snoring loudly. Yuffie lay sprawled across her blankets, which, judging by the tattered state of them and the fact that her 4-point Shuriken was buried into the floor through the blankets, they must have met her in a dream, and lost. Terribly. Tifa lay on the floor on her side near Barret, who HAD started out the night on the other side of the room near Vincent and Red, leaving his blankets behind. Vincent had no blanket, using only his cape, and was propped up by the wall.
Carefully, so he wouldn't wake anyone, Cloud rose and went out of the room. The inn was quiet, and no one was awake, which was to be expected of the early morning. Cloud left the inn, walking down the quiet streets of Midgar, paying no heed to where he was headed.
His steps unwittingly led him to the church. The door was closed, and he hesitated before opening it. No one had been in the place recently, and it showed as he walked across the stone floor; his shoes left prints in the thick layer of dust.
Nothing there had changed. It was the same as it was when Cloud had left it the last time. That is, until a flash of color and movement caught his eye. There, in the middle of the floor, sat a single flower: a closed rose. Cloud approached it stunned; it hadn't been there a moment before.
The petals slowly opened before his amazed eyes. Every one was perfectly formed. Cloud caught his breath as it revealed what rested inside.
A single green Materia.
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Well, how about it? Bit of a cliffhanger, I know. You'll just have to live until I get the next chapter up, which I promise to do soon. I know it was a bit short, but I didn't want too much for the first chapter. I just wanted to see how it was recieved. I'll try to make the next ones longer. Criticism is welcome; I like to hear how I can improve. No flames, but if you must, tone it down a bit. Thanks for reading!
Lysaandi