Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Final Fantasy VII or anything else for that matter.

DISTANT THOUGH WE ARE

Aeris,

It's been about five years since we've spoken. I don't know if it was because you didn't wish to speak to me anymore, or if it was Yuffie, or if you just wanted to sever all ties from what happened with the four of us. If one of these is the explanation…I don't blame you.

California was one big mess. I know that. Sometimes I think to myself, "Where would I be if none of it ever happened…?" But what's the use in wondering? It may have fucked up my life considerably, but it made me get the big picture, as well.

We were just a bunch of kids with little dreams. We all just happened to live in the same area and go to the same newly built high school. None of us knew each other. But we lived so close that it was almost inevitable that we got closer, reeled each other in…fell helplessly in love, and got helplessly hurt.

Remember sophomore year? I remember seeing you and Yuffie sitting on top of your desks in Mrs. Triton's Biology class, blowing bubbles through your lips. Gum wasn't allowed. You didn't look like much of a bad girl in your little pink ensembles and that gorgeous chestnut hair.

Not to say that I admired you right away though, because that would be exaggerating. I thought you were some stereotypical snob, whereas I was sure that I would hold strong to a reputation of strong and silent, never telling my secrets to anyone.

Funny how wrong I was.

It took about a week for me to get a knock on my door. I never would have guessed it was the pretty girl from my Biology class with a grin on her face. Your first to me were somewhere around the lines of "Hi! I saw you walking home from school and you live next to me and we're in the same Biology class. I'm Aeris. Want to study?"

I liked you from the start. I was quiet, my dad treated me like shit, and I needed a friend, quite desperately; as much as I still hate to admit that. I let you into my bedroom. I remember sitting there, nervous out of my mind, as you walked around, toying with the scrolls on my wall, the clothes hung haphazardly in my closet. And you would keep chattering all the while, something like, "So have you lived here long? You're not like everybody else. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

You came over everyday after that. I remember wondering why you bothered. At school you would introduce me to all your friends, saying, "This is Vincent! He's really cool and he'll be hanging out with us now!"

I didn't mind you making that decision for me. I only wondered if I would live up to what you made me seem.

About two months into our friendship, you came to my house giggling one day. I knew something had changed, although I hadn't the slightest clue as to what. And thus I was introduced to Cloud, your new boyfriend that you had failed to mention to me. I was excited for you, despite slight jealousy.

You didn't know he would build and then destroy every relationship he was in. You didn't know what he would do to Yuffie, or the fight that would rip the four of us apart, and you certainly didn't know that your heart would never quite have the strength to let him go.

But you didn't last with him the first time, did you? No, I don't think so. Sophomore homecoming, you came to me in tears. He had told you he was tired of you, didn't want to see you anymore. You were all dressed up in that silk blue dress that I accidentally kept stepping on.

So I danced with you for the last dance of the night. I didn't envy Cloud anymore. He and I were friends, but there was always that envy there. He always seemed to get what he wanted. I sat to the side and always watched. I didn't know what I wanted to begin with.

With you against me, crying into the hair you always begged me never to cut…I think I knew what I wanted. Or something like it. I also knew it was something I could never have.

You and Cloud loved each other. Sometimes, no matter how young you are, you fall in love, and hard. And sometimes it never quite lets you go. There will be a part of you that will always love Cloud, as I'm sure you still do. I knew I could never do anything to take that away from you.

There was only that one moment at sophomore homecoming, that last dance, that I ever thought I had a chance with you, at least for a year or so.

And Yuffie took Cloud right from under your nose that year, didn't she? It tore you apart, but you would never let him see that. You never let Yuffie see it, either. You cried so many times when you thought I wasn't looking. I never left your side. I never said anything insulting to either of them, as much as it hurt me to see you hurt.

Then came what happened with Cloud and Yuffie. Everything went horribly downhill from there. It hurts me to even think of it.

The last day I saw you, you had just gotten word that Yuffie and I were moving to California. There were bruises still on my face from his fist, and an ache in my side from where you had pulled me away. You hardly met my eyes, just threw yourself against my chest. You told me to "Please write."

It's taken me five years, but here is your letter.

I can imagine that you are wondering why now, of all times. I suppose there are a lot of reasons that I didn't write; I don't think I had the strength to hear about you, and think about what could have been. I was afraid Cloud might read it, and take it the wrong way, which he could well do with this letter. I was afraid that I would ruin my so-called perfect life with Yuffie if I wrote to you and had to remember all that happened. But honestly, I'm glad I'm doing this.

Yuffie left me this morning. She is going back home, to California. I'm not going after her. I don't know if you will see her, and if you do, I wish you well. I hope that the years have not changed your friendship that was so abruptly forced to end. If you see her, let her know that I love her, and I hope that our baby is well.

I don't think that I will come back to California. And if I do, it won't be to find Yuffie and bring her back. It's past that; I don't have a right to do anything to her anymore.

If I come back, it will be for you. There were so many things I wanted to say for those three years, so many things that I was too afraid to say. When I sat there, listening to you chatter politely and tell me your secrets… I wanted to tell you mine. I wanted you to be the only one to know.

But more than that, I want to tie up all those loose ends. I want to know what really happened, and why. But if you want me to stay out of your life, then tell me so. It will not hurt me. I cannot possibly be any more hurt than I am at this moment in my life.

I would come back for you. You tell me if I should.

-Vincent

A/N: Thank you to all who have reviewed! Your support is what helps me keep writing. Next chapter should be up soon enough.

-Mel