Chapter 10: Calmlands

Author's Note: Hey guys! I've gotten reviews, pleads, and death threats to finish this story, so here's the next chapter! A friend of mine downloaded Advent Children and I saw it and it is…. AMAZING. I can't wait for the NA release! Well here's chapter 10! Thank you guys so much!

Cloud crumbled to the ground. Aeris caught his head just in time before he smacked it on the pavement. She knelt down to him and placed her hand on his forehead. "Sweet Cloud…" She whispered.

……………………………………………………………………………………

White.

Cloud could feel the burning light through his closed eyes. He opened them, and was engulfed in a brilliant white light. Where was he? Every which way he looked, he saw nothing but white. And then, a figure started walking toward him.

No, not walking…

Gliding.

He looked down at his feet as well, and though he felt solid ground beneath him, he could not see it, but he didn't feel scared, or nervous.

This place, wherever it was, made him feel safe, secure, peaceful. And this figure… his hand didn't automatically reach for the sword he knew was no longer on his back. He felt at ease. Like he stepped into a warm bubble bath. He liked this feeling.

The figure was Aeris. Well, she looked a lot like Aeris, anyway, but this woman was different. She was older, and Cloud knew she was full of wisdom.

"Are you Cloud?" She asked with a smile, her green eyes blazing into his.

Though she smiled, Cloud felt that this was more like an accusation instead of a question. He nodded.

"We meet at last." She said with another smile. "I am Ifalna."

Cloud stared at her, one question poking at him above the rest. "Am I dead?"

She didn't answer, but glided away from him toward what looked like a window. From where he stood, he could see what looked like Midgar below. He hurried after her, and found that he was gliding too. It was an extroadinarily pleasant feeling, like his feet were being massaged.

"Are you happy here?" She asked.

"So I am dead." Cloud concluded. But, again, that didn't worry him. It was a "ho-hum" feeling. This place definitely had its perks.

"You still have a choice." Ifalna told him, "But not long to decide. This is the point where the others have changed their troubled ways, or have chosen to forget them. And as you are among the troubled as well, your choice is to return to the world you know, or to remain here, calm and peaceful."

"I'm not… troubled…" Cloud mumbled.

Ifalna shook her head, "Were you not contemplating taking your own life?"

"That was only to meet…" He stopped short, and Ifalna smiled with a nod.

"You don't understand. Before I met Aeris, I was…" But even as he said this, it felt like it was so long ago.

"I know what you were before, after, and during your time with my daughter." She waved her hand to the window. "Look, and then decide."

Cloud glided over to the window, and peered down. He saw his body, with Aeris kneeling over him. And seeing her there, in the rain, he knew he could never pick this paradise over Aeris. His time with Aeris was paradise. From the moment he met her, she was all he ever knew, all he wanted to know. "I want to go back." He said immediately.

Ifalna smiled. "My daughter chose you over this too. You shall be sent back, then, and you'll be happy together."

"Thank you." Cloud said.

And slowly, the light begin to dim…