A/N: This is a late Christmas gift for Sabriel41. She wanted something sweet, and Aeris/Tsengish. So here we go, I hope this is up to par Sabe!

Waiting for You

Two figures, one church. The woman was barely past being a girl. The man's dark eyes cast a mako glow in the half-light, though he looked half past twenty, his eyes told another story. Usually, the woman would kneel in the ground, smiling while she worked on the small, tangled bramble of roses. Usually he would crouch beside her, they would talk.

Today, she seemed as haunted as he was. She left her tools and placed her palms at the alter, looking up at the cross. Once a figure was upon it, but it had been stolen long ago. "Se?" Her voice cracked, seeming so strained from such a young throat.

"Are you feeling alright, Aeris?" The man moved forward, carefully navigating the roses to stand beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Remember when I told you I had dreams about my real mother?" Her green eyes seemed glued to the cross. "I had another one last night." She ducked her head, closing her eyes in an unaccomplished attempt to hold in her tears. "Tseng, I don't want to die!" She spun then, reaching out to him, her small hands wrinkled his deep blue suit, her forehead pressed against his tie. "We aren't going to be her in a year, Se, we aren't and I don't want this!"

Shocked, Tseng staggered at the force of her body against his. His hand left a smudge in the dust on the alter as it reached out to steady them. "What are you talking about Aeris, you know that's just a dream, dreams don't have to be real."

She shook her head against his tie. "ShinRa wants you to take me to them-"

"I told you I won't do that!" Tseng responded harshly, pulling Aeris' chin up. "You know that I'd die first."

"And you will Se, and I can't stop it!" She sobbed. "I haven't even lived yet, I don't want to die for no reason, I don't want to know you died and that I'll never see you again." Desperation was so thick it overpowered her voice. He knew the tone, it hurt to recall what could make a person sound like that. "I-I haven't even felt what it's like to be alive."

They stood there like that, as much as he was a practical man, as much as he didn't WANT to believe her, he did. He didn't know what to do, she wanted a reason that they both were going to die, she wanted some comfort and Tseng didn't quite know how to react about it. He pushed a bang from her face, pressing his forehead against hers. "Shhhh, please Aeris don't cry. You will always see me again, I promise, I'll always be waiting for you."

She closed the gap in-between them, rising onto her tiptoes to kiss him. Her hand found its way behind his head, her green eyes closed. Tseng's own hands moved to her hips on their own accord. They parted, before he could say anything, Aeris spoke. "Show me what it feels like, Se, to be alive; I won't get this chance again."

Desperation had fueled that night, and though he felt the urge to be with another, his soul felt connected to Aeris from that moment on. Tseng had at first reacted in anger, brash and violent, slapping her the last time he was close enough to touch her. He had been close, at the temple of the Ancients, close to sliding around his fate. But he had to confront a creature he was no match for.

They never said goodbye, Aeris thought, at first this made her sad. She hid anguish as she walked up to the alter. Then, Tseng's words echoed in her head, even as death flew down to her. I'll always be waiting for you. The sword didn't hurt as badly as Aeris thought it would. She smiled, realizing in the last moment what she was dying for, she wasn't afraid anymore, why would she be?

Someone was waiting for her on the other side.

fin