Second Best

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You will never be strong enough, You will never be good enough, You were never conceived in love, You will not rise above

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Bright white light enveloped the planet as Holy and the life stream mixed together and conquered Meteor. The smaller planet slowed its descent and landed in the city of Midgar with a thunderous crash. The light rapidly faded and then all was still.

Bright green eyes closed sadly as the light dimmed all around her. The last flower in the continent resided in her pale hand, the light purple petals curled slightly, and one was slightly singed from the earlier destruction. But it was still alive.

The girl sighed and reopened her eyes, gazing out from her spot in the now grass-less land of the plains where the city of Kalm had once stood. Everything was gone now. Everything that wasn't pure, at least, which meant that her earlier assumption that everything was gone was pretty close to the truth. The grass had been burned to ash by the hot light of Holy, giving the ground a sandy texture.

Heavy footsteps neared the girl, but she didn't bother to turn around; she already knew who it was.

"Aeris…they didn't…he didn't…yeah…"

The man collapsed down beside her sending sand flying over her pale pink jacket. She absently brushed it away, still not turning her eyes away from the scene of the burning Midgar.

"I looked, but the airship was totalled, no one could've survived-"

"They're fine."

"What? How? Aeris I checked the whole ship they weren't-"

"There. I know. They abandoned ship, but they're still alive; I can feel it. Can't you? You claim to be a Cetra after all…"

The man said nothing; instead he adjusted his leather coat, and pulled out his sword. It had once been his pride and joy; the sword that had slain a thousand men…but now the blade had snapped in half; Holy had deemed it unworthy of life. He discarded the worthless steel, and it landed with a thud in the sand ten metres away.

"Did they all survive?"

"…Yes."

"Why? You travelled with them; you should know some of their intentions were less than pure-"

"And your decisions? The actions that you took destroyed many lives, you are guilty of everything they are and more. Yet, here you are sitting beside me, having been granted life. Can you justify your own existence?"

"…No."

"Then who are you to say they shouldn't live?"

The male flicked a few strands of silver hair behind his shoulder and stared off into the burning city. His eyes were narrowed in thought, and he turned to girl who had once again closed her eyes, allowing the gently breeze to guide her thoughts.

"Aeris? You died, didn't you? How are you here?"

"The life Stream and Holy mixed, all life was given a chance, if their hearts were pure survival was granted, if not…suffice to say the population has greatly decreased. Some that had lost their lives once again walk on the planet."

The male shook his head, not really understanding the deep philosophical meaning of all this crap. Aeris seemed to understand it, so he assumed that all would work out. The blonde girl turned to Sephiroth with a perplexed glaze over her eyes; she studied his face for a few moments before speaking.

"Why are you here? I would have thought you'd have been destroyed. I knew that Tifa and her friends would survive, but I wasn't sure about Cloud. He always seemed to be keeping secrets, and he seemed to be involved too much with Shinra to be pure. Anyone involved with Shinra is gone."

"I don't care about Shinra. Maybe that's why I'm here. Cloud went against Shinra, so maybe that's why he was spared. I don't know and to put it simply I don't care."

A heavy silence fell over the two, broken only by the sounds of Midgar burning and crumbling; the plate was falling and crashing into the slums below. The sounds of metal twisting and crunching destroyed the calm mood.

"What are you going to do now? I suppose you'll go find your boyfriend and that dog-thing."

"I suppose. Sephiroth? This is supposed to be a kind of paradise, right? This 'new world' will be made up of the nicest, purest people. No offence, but where do you fit in?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened as he turned to the now smiling blonde girl. He tried to tell if she was joking or not, but found her impossible to read.

"If you're asking what I'm going to do, I don't know. Jenova has been destroyed, I presume. So, really, I have no purpose anymore."

"You could stay with us." Sephiroth snapped his gaze back to Aeris; the Cetra had spoken so softly he hadn't been sure if she had spoken at all or if it had been the wind. She turned to look at him once again, this time speaking louder. "You could stay with us, if you wanted to."

"I'm sure Cloud would love that."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

The fire was beginning to burn out on Midgar. The plate had completely collapsed and was smothering out the flames below.

"My garden is gone."

"Your what?"

"Garden. I used to grow flowers in a derelict church and then sell them on the street. I grew all kinds of flowers there, they were so pretty…that was where I first met Cloud."

"Did he grow flowers too?"

"No, course not! He fell through the roof, onto my flower patch. He squashed a few marigolds but otherwise they were fine. I miss them."

"You miss the flowers?"

"Yes…I miss everything. I wonder if my mother is alive. She never did anything wrong. Perhaps one day I'll meet with her again."

"You can always get another flower patch if you wanted. You could probably have your own city full of them."

Aeris smiled, her eyelashes were becoming damp at the though of Sector 6, she really did miss that place. Her eyes drifted to the smoking mass of mangled metal and brick that had once been Midgar, and a tear slid down her cheek.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's just…Midgar is gone now, Cloud could be on the other side of the planet for all I know and I have no way of getting there…I'm going to be alone aren't I?"

"I'm here."

This didn't have the desired effect; Aeris began to cry even harder. Through her tears she tried to assure the silver haired man that it wasn't that she didn't want him here, she just needed to know Cloud was alive. Sephiroth stiffly moved a leather-clad arm around the small female, not really knowing how to comfort someone. Usually he was the cause of tears, and therefore had no experience in stopping them.

Aeris flung herself into his lap and cried into his chest. Sephiroth tensed and just sat perfectly still. This lasted for a few minutes and it didn't seem Aeris was going to get up anytime soon. He awkwardly tried to rub her back, and attempted a few soothing-sounding words. It seemed to work as her sobs turned to hiccups and she drew away from the taller man.

"I'm sorry; I just want to know that he's alive."

"You care for him a lot." Aeris nodded, suddenly finding the sand immensely interesting. "Do you…do you…?" Aeris looked up at him, her blonde bangs falling into her eyes. Sephiroth took a deep breath.

"It's not important. You know, we're not going to find him if we just sit here forever more. He has to be somewhere, right?" Aeris smiled brightly, and her eyes lit up. She jumped to her feet and began spinning round, trying to decide on a direction to start off in. She turned back to Sephiroth, looking happier than he had ever seen her and pointed to the east.

"This way, I'm sure of it!" She grabbed the man's hand and dragged him with her.

Sephiroth felt his heart sink; the only time Aeris was truly happy was going to be in the presence of Cloud. When they found the blonde what would happen? Would Aeris forget about her offer that Sephiroth could stay with them? Would she even want him around anymore?

No matter what happened, it seemed that he was always going to be second best.

Owari

Please review.

Big thanks to my beta-reader Sariah, -hugs-

-Completed: 29th August 2004

-Dagger