Note: In response to Tacofoolio's question about how Aeris came back, I feel I must explain myself. Originally I'd written a novelization of the FF7 story in which Aeris comes back at the end. The reason for this was that the Lifestream had brought her back to life in order to act as a guardian or protector of the Planet. The reason why Cloud wasn't surprised to see her in the last chapter was that in the epilogue of the novelization, she briefly shows herself to him. Also Cloud and Aeris had a bit of an affair before she went off to the City of the Ancients.

I would've posted this novelization, but unfortunately the computer that I had the entire thing saved on broke, and so all I have left of this 500 page monster is a typed print-out, which I honestly can't be bothered to type out all over again. I hope that explains your question.

And also a big thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, your comments have been much appreciated. :)

-oOo-

:: VII :: Contentions

They travelled to the Crater, but there was not much to see. The Lifestream had blown the underground caves and tunnels to bits, and the Crater was now, really, no more than a crater in the rocky ground. Cloud got a violent shiver up his spine as he entered the area. There were memories of those cloaked figures, of permeating that single, floating consciousness, of being a part of the mind of the clones of Sephiroth. He wondered how Aeris felt, for he understood that a part of her was Sephiroth, and that Sephiroth's memories of this place would be hers as well. Nevertheless, when he turned to look into her face, he saw no emotion in her cold dark eyes.

Instead of travelling north, they travelled south in order to collect supplies from villages along the way. By the time they arrived at Mideel, several days had passed. The old doctor and nurse were living in the newly built town, still offering their services in the local clinic. The doctor welcomed Cloud and his friends eagerly.

"Ah, Cloud, I see you've taken care of yourself for the past few years."

"Oh yes," Cloud replied pleasantly. "It's kind of a miracle I suppose - from where I started off at least."

"Yes." There was a deeply pensive look on the doctor's face. "I think you and I are going to have to have a chat someday, Cloud."

"What about?" Cloud asked curiously.

"Well, I still can't understand it!" the other replied, frowning in the learned man's bewilderment. "How you survived such severe Mako poisoning is beyond me. It was truly a miracle! But ever since meeting you Cloud, I've been interested in why exactly you're still alive. If you could help me find a cure for Mako poisoning, think of all the lives we could save!"

"That's true." Cloud nodded. "But I think my survival was down to more than just a simple cure."

"Oh?" the doctor looked disappointed. "So what was it?"

"The truth, doctor. It gave me the will to live."

Later, after his long chat with the doctor, Cloud went looking for Aeris, who had, not surprisingly, disappeared. He had wanted to speak to her about many things, and the necessity of getting them out of the way had begun to eat at him. She was, however, nowhere to be found.

Yuffie was loitering in a corner, fanning herself with a palm-tree leaf. Cloud felt marginally sorry for her, though feeling sorry for such an indestructible girl was a hard thing to do. Air-travel always seemed to make her sick, and the young princess had suffered from her journey.

"Hey, Cloud!" She was waving to him now, a cheeky grin on her face. He walked up to her, partly because he had nothing much else to do.

"Hi, Yuffie."

She passed him a questioning look.

"Why so glum? Is there something wrong?"

Cloud had hardly noticed that he had sounded so dismal. The thought worried him.

"I don't know. I was just looking for Aeris, and she's gone."

Yuffie's eyes were wide. "Oh?"

"You haven't seen her have you?"

"Well, I did, about an hour ago, when you were talking to the doctor. She was talking to Vincent."

"Vincent?"

"That's what I said."

Cloud thought about it. So, he instinctively thought, perhaps Vincent is finding something after all. Cloud didn't know why he came up with that conclusion. He didn't particularly like it. Yuffie's voice, however, interrupted his thoughts.

"Do you still love her, Cloud?"

Cloud was shocked. "What?!"

"Well, now that I think about it, you were in-love with Aeris back then, weren't you?"

"Back then, yes."

"Well how about now?"

Cloud shivered. He didn't know how to answer. The situation was too complicated. He thought of Tifa, of the life he had built with her, away from the old, lost past....

"No, I don't. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know."

"She's changed," Yuffie stated simply. "She's not the Aeris any of us used to know."

Cloud stared at her. "You've grown up."

Yuffie's face became petulant again. "No, I haven't."

"Well, you look like you've grown up anyway," Cloud remarked, looking her up and down. Yuffie had the grace to blush.

"I guess I've changed as well. I wish I hadn't."

"We've all changed, Yuffie," he comforted her.

"Well, I guess I kinda like the way I've turned out," she sighed, patting her widened hips as though they were naughty children.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing about myself," Cloud sighed too.

Cloud did not get the chance to speak to Aeris for the rest of that day, and the next day either, but after a while he became too busy to notice anyway. The next evening a violent tropical storm blew up, preventing the Highwind from taking off. Being cooped up indoors caused Cloud to finally realise that he had not spoken to Aeris at all, who had disappeared once again. Cloud wandered the inn looking for her, and finally found her in the lounge talking with Vincent. The seemingly innocent scene sent an intense shot of jealousy through Cloud, but the feeling was so abrupt and unexpected that he was surprised by it. He had not questioned his feelings for her since he had found her again, but he had begun to do so now. The thought caused him to hesitate in approaching her, but at that moment, she looked up and noticed him standing there, and he felt obliged to walk up to them.

"Hello," Cloud greeted them, sitting down opposite the other two. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"We were just talking about the Lifestream," Aeris informed him, as though she had known that he had needed some reassurance of the innocence of their conversation.

"Yes," Vincent looked at the girl with his deep red eyes. "Aeris and I have much in common."

"I suppose you would," Cloud replied, just a bit sourly. "Pain, suffering, death..."

Aeris looked at him steadily, obviously aware of the cutting quality to his remarks. Cloud felt a little ashamed at that, and realised he was not making the situation any better. He changed the subject.

"Yeah, I remember the Lifestream too. My consciousness, lost inside the river of souls, overcoming my own soul, my mind and body...."

"Yes, I was there remember?" Aeris was smiling softly. "That's how I know about you. About Zack and Tifa and Sephiroth."

Zack, Aeris' first love. It occurred to Cloud that it was because of his similarity to Zack that Aeris had loved him. He was no longer Zack, and she was no longer Aeris. Poles apart now, they could not see each other the way they once had. So why did Cloud feel so envious of the fact that he could not reach her?

The rest of the conversation he spent in silent anger. He hated himself for having changed, and hated her for having allowed herself to change also. He wanted to go back, he wanted her to love him, to see the look in her eyes when she spoke to him, the look of concentrated admiration:- her laughter, smile, sweet, soft voice, her delicate lips and body, her holy joy.

They were gone, they were locked only in his memory, and he wondered why on earth she had chosen to absorb that monster Sephiroth inside herself. By the time he had pulled himself away from the other two, he was infuriated. He'd rather she was dead than the way she was now.

Tifa was amazed to see Cloud storm into their bedroom like a thundercloud later that evening. Throwing himself on to the bed she was lying on, he proceeded to viciously rip off his boots and chuck them, one by one, into the corner.

"Cloud, what's wrong?" Tifa ventured, after she'd given him a little time to work off his rage, putting the book she was reading down.

Cloud did not answer for about half a minute or so.

"I saw Aeris today."

There was an aggressive note to his voice, Tifa noted that readily.

"Did you? How is she? I haven't spoken to her properly since the other night. I've been meaning to."

"How is she?" Cloud was undressing rapidly. "I don't know, I don't know anything about her. What do I know, what did I know?"

"Now Cloud," Tifa said softly. "Tell me what's worrying you."

"Nothing's wrong, Tifa," he retorted sharply. "Let's just let it drop, shall we?"

Tifa shut her mouth and watched him slip into bed beside her, then began again.

"Cloud...why are you so angry?"

"Tifa, can we leave it?"

"No, we can't !" she replied firmly. "Cloud, can't you speak to me seriously about Aeris for once?"

"I don't know what you mean," Cloud returned sulkily. Tifa took in a breath before she spoke.

"Tell me how you feel about her."

To her dismay, Cloud became even more furious.

"Tifa, we've been through this before!"

"Cloud, please! I don't mind how you feel, please just tell me the truth!"

"I've told you truth, I love you, Tifa!"

"But you told me you love her too."

Cloud sighed heavily.

"Maybe I did, but what does it matter now? She's gone, I can't get her back. I can't love her anymore."

Tifa was quiet. She was taken aback by his outburst, she did not even know what to think about it.

"I miss the old Aeris," Cloud told her in low voice.

"So do I," Tifa replied, hoping to comfort him.

"Yes, but you can't imagine how it feels for me,." he sighed, then he looked up. "Tifa, it will pass in time. I think that it must just pass in time."

Tifa felt sorry to see his pain, even though what he had just said had hurt her too. Sitting up, she held his head between her hands and kissed him tenderly. When she pulled back from him, she saw the remorse on his face.

"Oh, Cloud," she told him, her voice wavering. "Can't you see my love for you?"

Yes; perhaps he could see it, but he did not tell her so. As he bent forwards and kissed her again, she thought of how she'd always love him, whatever happened and wherever he was. It had, in fact, always been that way. She clasped him to her, and from somewhere deep within her, no, deep within the heart of the Universe, something told her that they would not stop, that this would continue, that it was meant to be. Half-shocked, she wondered if Cloud too had heard that wonderful, reassuring call.

One look into his eyes told her that he had, and they lay back together, somehow fulfilling the prophecy of that unknown call. Tifa closed her eyes and waited, and when at last his hands smoothed over the warm contours of her body she shuddered with the knowledge that it was all coming into itself at last.

The world was made up of soft malleability, and where once this would have been an act of commonplace proportions, it was now sole and beautiful, a lost moment in never-ending time. It was always just this way, every time it happened, but each time it felt different, inspired, better than the time before. And when at last, his eager body melted into her welcoming one, they believed for once that no other event would be as magnificent and fulfilling as this one.

Cloud had awoken, and he felt surprised at the weakness of his own body. Again his mind gave way to anger, for he felt that in some way making love to Tifa had denied his feelings for Aerith. He had to purge his mind of the joy, ecstasy, raw pleasure - call it what you will - of the night before before he could get out of bed. Tifa, fast asleep beside him, did not awaken when he gently pulled her off him, did not notice him silently leave the room, and quietly shut the door behind him.

The rain had lessened by the afternoon, and Cid had made up his mind that it was time to set of in the Highwind again. The doctor and his nurse bid them farewell, and watched as the glorious airship rose into the air and overhead. The others looked down on the waving figures below, the figures that became progressively tinier with height. At last, they disappeared all together.

Due to the hostile conditions, much of their time was spent under deck. Cloud was depressed; so was Tifa, and no one liked to talk about it. Things had been going so well not a week before, and the atmosphere was one of listless gloominess. Aerith looked uncomfortable most of the time, and eventually shut herself in her room for hours on end. There was, overall, the distinct feeling that everything was breaking up.

"I need a cigarette," Cid complained one evening when he, Barret, Reeve, Red, Vincent and Yuffie were sitting in the operation room by themselves.

"I'll tell you what I need," Yuffie interrupted darkly. "Something to steal! I'm getting withdrawal symptoms!"

"You would." Cid scowled at her. "I tell you, Yuffie, you ought to sort your life out, otherwise your addiction to this stealin' business will get way out of hand."

"What, like your cigarettes?" Yuffie retorted acidly.

"Hey, I'm a married man, I got principles, you understand what I'm sayin'?" Cid was working himself into a rage now. "You ought to find yourself a man, that'll settle down."

"Shame the same can't be said about you, eh, Cid," Yuffie returned tartly. Cid was about to answer hotly when Barret cut in.

"Hey, hey, break it up you two!" They stopped and he took in a deep breath. "Look, we're all on edge, it's nothin'! Just break it up."

There was silence for a moment, then Cid spoke again.

"You know why everyone's stressed? It's that Aeris. She shouldn't have come back."

"I feel the same," Reeve agreed tensely. "Something's wrong. She's not the same."

"Of course she isn't," Red broke in. "Who knows what she went through? Who could understand the gravity of her feelings towards her life now?"

"Pain, suffering," Vincent cut in. "Like myself, utter pain and suffering. She is alone in the world, fighting only herself. Even I cannot comprehend it."

"Yes, but that's not just it!" Cid intervened. "She's breakin' up Cloud and Tifa! Can't she see that?"

"Perhaps she has," Barret said slowly. "Perhaps that's why she's locked herself in her room for so long." he sighed "I feel sorry for her. Such a cheerful young girl, who destroyed her life for the Planet. Now when I look at her - she's no more than a cold lump of stone. It's like her heart's gone."

"I remember when she used to stroke my nose, and how much I used hate it," Red murmured sadly. "Now I wish she'd do it again."

"Hey," Yuffie continued. "Do you remember how she always used to laugh and smile, no matter what? Even when Cloud used to offend her? I always used to admire her so much for being able to do that."

"Yes - but those days are gone," Reeve finished. "We're all gone. What's the use anymore? This journey has been nothing more than an unrealistic attempt to recapture the way it was. We've all lost the things that had brought us together."

"But what brought us together?" Yuffie asked.

After a brief silence, Vincent answered, but it was still no more than a question in itself.

"Fate?"

All they could do was shrug.

Next: Cloud catches a glimpse of his past, and perhaps that of his future…