When the Light Returned, Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer – I own nothing except the story idea, don't sue please.

As she walks from the cool, almost obsessively clean bedroom and to the hallway, Aerith feels lighter and more excited than ever. No longer must she fixate on the fact that, in the past few days, she had a horrible ordeal and almost caused one of her good friends to kill himself. No longer must she agonize over which man to choose and which man to let down. Her choice is right, she believes in that choice, and finally she feels like herself again.

Thinking back a little to the events of the past days, she realized how differently from normal she acted. When she saw Cloud, something in her suddenly snapped, a band of happiness that she never thought would be whole again was renewed. Something about Cloud's return both exalted her, and terrified her. Her subconscious somehow got the idea that Leon would ruin everything, would push Cloud away and make her lonely and unhappy again. So she did the only thing she could think of – she completely withdrew from Leon. Maybe, if she ignored him, it would be like he didn't exist, and her and Cloud could remain happy and blissfully unaware of Leon's torment.

However, things didn't really turn out the way she planned – by pushing Leon away she tried to protect her and Cloud's relationship, but it backfired on her, and she almost lost everything. Not only did she almost lose her dear friend to suicide, but she almost lost Cloud as well. A little shiver went through her as she thought of both scenarios. They were simply implausible. If she lost either of them, she would not be able to cope.

But things had not become so drastic, thankfully, so she forced her mind off the depressing content and turned it instead towards the long talk that she and Leon had just finished. As she trotted down the corridors to her bedroom, a real smile tugged at her lips.

FLASHBACK

"Leon, I'm so sorry…" Aerith turned away, already sobbing again. This part was the hardest. Telling Cloud was so easy, so very easy, because it brightened her world to see his eyes change from dull to vibrantly happy in the span of a second. Hearing his joyful laugh as he picked her up easily and swung her in circles before holding her close delighted her. She knew, however, that this meeting could not possibly go as well as that one, and to top it off, she had absolutely no idea how Leon would react. She averted her blurred gaze as tears streamed down her cheeks, expecting nothing and preparing for the worst.

She was not prepared for the silence that greeted her and the hand that lightly rested on her shoulder, however. A few moments passed, Leon's hand reassuringly squeezed her shoulder as he used to when she was upset about something before Cloud returned, and she looked up to see his eyes glimmering with unshed tears. The outburst that she was expecting did not happen. And how could he be reassuring her…?

"Aerith…please stop crying…please." His soft, shaking, pleading voice penetrated her thoughts, and she looked up to his strong form, the eyes so sad but the mouth so firmly set. "Can I just…just talk to you for a while? About everything?"

Aerith sniffled, rubbed her eyes for a moment like a child, and allowed her breathing to calm. Then she took a few hesitant steps into his room. "It's the least I could do for you, Leon…"

END FLASHBACK

And talk they did. Leon, for once, did not hold back his questions and his reactions to those questions. There were tears shed from both of them, a few angry shouts from Leon while he roughly knuckled away the water running down his face, and outbursts from both of them. He asked her if she had ever loved him, and she answered that truthfully, yes, she did, but Cloud was always in the back of her mind. It wouldn't be fair to either of you, she insisted, if I stayed with you but only thought of Cloud. He asked about her history with Cloud on their world. She said honestly, it never really got off the ground, because she was killed before anything could happen. But she had always loved the man, almost from the moment she had first laid eyes on him in the Midgar Sector 7 slums. He asked her why she had said his name in the library instead of Cloud's, and she frankly replied that she didn't know for sure why, but she figured her guilt at pushing Leon away had manifested itself into saying his name instead of Cloud's.

After Leon had finished asking his questions, he started to talk to her about everything. He truly loved Aerith, and he figured that he always would, even after this terrible ordeal. Even after saying all this, however, he also knew when to give up. He had invested his time, energy, and even his own munny to get Aerith to love him, and feelings that strong couldn't just go away, even if they're not reciprocated the way he wants them to be; but he knew he no longer had any chance to make her love him back. Yes, it hurt, badly, he muttered, tears sliding down his cheeks and into his lap, as his clenched hands trembled hard; but there just wasn't anything left for him to do. After days of extreme depression and angst, he had finally realized that Aerith was someone else's, and he had to live with that fact. And, well, it was possible; after all, he had suffered much worse than a broken heart…

They had embraced at this point, both sobbing and unable to speak for several moments, both filled with regret over their separate mistakes that they had made over the past year. Leon tearfully and sincerely mumbled that he hoped she would be happy with Cloud, or else "I'll kick his ass…" and Aerith smiled a bit through the wet haze, knowing his words to be all too true. Aerith whispered that she was still his friend, she still loved him dearly, and she would always be there for him.

As their moods slowly brightened and Leon was able to slightly cock his head and give her a tearful version of his old smile, Aerith knew that, finally, light had come into the tunnel, and that things were really going to be all right. After another long, tight embrace and a heartfelt kiss to Leon's cheek, Aerith realized that it would be ok for her to leave Leon now. Now they had aired all of their problems, fears, and emotions enough to be able to, at last, turn their eyes from the past to the future. In that hour of talking, they had accomplished more than they did throughout their entire year of restoring Hollow Bastion. And it felt so good, so right, to finally know that things between her and Leon were going to be ok.

She turned her eyes to Cloud, anxiously sitting on her bed and awaiting her return, and as she saw his eyes light up at her presence, she suddenly let out a crystal-clear giggle and ran to his warm, waiting embrace.

Finally, she could see everything…

The future was bright.

To be continued

Author's Notes: Look, I did it again. I guess when I really want to do something and am very motivated about it, I can finish it very quickly. Again, the next chapter is finished and will be up tomorrow…no excuses. I'm ending this thing in two chapters, and therefore two days. Hope you guys are liking how it is turning out. I know I am. I feel that this is actually a realistic outcome of what could happen. I was so afraid that I had written myself into a corner, and that I wouldn't really be able to realistically predict what the characters would do once Aerith chose Cloud. Maybe that's why I never wrote any chapters – I was scared that I couldn't fix it. But…I think it actually worked. I hope you agree.

And, as a side note, I really had no idea that I was degrading Aerith until I read Ghost in the Mirror's review. When I looked back over the chapters, I really had made her into a very dislikeable person. So my aim for this chapter was to explain her actions. She's really not that way all the time...she really is a nice girl. I hope this helps clear some things up.

Again, next chapter will be up tomorrow. Until then, PP