Here we go again, everyone. Enjoy the show.

Icaras666: Thou'rt technically incorrect. Aerith is now the official name. In Electronic Gaming Magazine Monthly's February 2004 issue, someone asked them to correct the "typo" of calling Aeris Aerith. EGM contacted Square for confirmation that ever since Kingdom Hearts, "Aerith" has been the official name. It's pronounced the same anyway.

VV Lover: Hehe, not sure about other couples than Clorith. (Yuffentine's probable, though! ) And also, THANKJ00! I officially love that word Aerith-ism now D

KatoriTsubasa: Again, Yuffentine is probable, not sure about rest. Still, THANKJ00!

Disclaimer: All characters and settings etc. in this piece of writing are property of Square Enix.

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Chapter 3: Remembrance

They walked. Hand-in-hand through the forest north of Bone Village. Away from their memories. Away from Cloud's nightmares. Away together. The glistening trees shook lightly in the breeze. They saw the outline of Bone Village in the distance. "Nearly there." Cloud said. Aerith nodded. They continued over the almost frozen ground. It was always cold around Bone Village. Cloud hadn't noticed, but Aerith was shivering. He put his arm around her, and with a thought, a spot on his arm began to glow red as he channelled some heat into her. However, after this, he didn't remove his arm. She smiled at him. She smiled a lot. Cloud couldn't help but be enthused by her endless energy. They reached Bone Village.

It was the same. A small mining village, over a treasure trove of all sorts of things underground. The men would unearth something almost every day. However, he and Aerith now had a problem. How would they get out of here? There was no transportation across the water, and they didn't have access to an airship… or did they? "Cloud, do you have a phone on you?" Aerith asked him. He nodded, suddenly getting what Aerith was saying. He dialled in a number quickly. "Cid? It's Cloud. I'm at Bone Village. ASAP, please."

Cid arrived. He noticed Cloud quickly, Cloud standing out with his very large sword and all. "Hey, who's that g-" Cid stopped mid-thought. It kept repeating itself and stopped at the same place in his head. He landed as soon as possible.

"Hello again, Cid." Aerith said. "Aerith!" He responded loudly, jumping out of the Sierra. "How did you-?" He began to ask, before being interrupted by Aerith. "Cloud!" she replied joyfully, looking up at him. "Cloud. You're a real hero, you know that?" Cid said to him as they moved towards the massive airship that had landed on the water. "How are you, Cid?" Aerith inquired with interest. "Life's good. Shera and I have two kids now. We even named one after you." Aerith laughed. She was happy to know that her old friends hadn't forgotten her. She had, after all, been watching over them during the fights with Sephiroth and Kadaj. "Where we goin', Cloud?" Cid shouted from the cockpit. "Midgar." Came the response. "Yee-haw!" yodelled Cid as the Sierra shot into the air and flew straight to Midgar.

On the way, Cloud and Aerith lay next to each other in an embrace. ((Still no sex! Haeron))

Upon arrival, Cid saw the two youths lying with each other, asleep. He smiled and walked away, setting up the Sierra's forcefield so that only he and those he programmed into it could pass through. His own invention which he had been very proud of.

The couple awoke to silence. The outskirts of Midgar. Cloud woke the still somewhat sleepy Aerith. "Let's go to the ch-" Before Aerith put a finger over his lips. "Yes." Came the response. The two left the Sierra and headed for the church. They stopped outside the doors, just as a sign of reverence. "Let's go, Cloud." Aerith said gently. Cloud pushed open the doors. They stepped inside. The flowers were in full bloom. They always were. The pews were dusty, but still in good condition. They walked to the flowers, still hand-in-hand. They didn't even seem to notice they were holding each other's hand. They just did it for security, to know there was the other there.

Aerith went over and sat in the flowerbed, removing herself from Cloud's hand. She lay down and took a deep breath, and exhaled contentedly. "It's good, being back here… with you." Cloud looked at her smiling face, moving over to kneel next to her. "I…feel… the same way." He replied almost silently. The couple held each other's gaze for an eternity. Each was lost in the other's eyes. They began to drift closer, Aerith being lifted by their embrace, Cloud bringing her closer with his arms. Their faces were almost touching now. They could feel each other's breath on their faces. Aerith closed her eyes. Their lips touched. Seconds, minutes, hours… time was non-existent in their world. All there was was the other. Cloud's eyes were closed too, now. They were lost. Lost in each other's lips.

The kiss ended, and the two blurry-eyed youths looked at each other tenderly. "I…" Aerith began, "I love you." She mouthed, squeezing Cloud as hard as she could. "I... love you, Aerith." He mouthed back at his lover, stroking her beautiful light brown curls. Her lips were dry, as were his. They stared at each other with gratitude in their eyes. Gratitude for having someone to rely on. To draw strength from. To love. They didn't sleep, just lay in each other's arms for at least an hour. The flowers seemed to light up around them with a white glow. Holy was shining on Aerith's hair. It was linked to her, dull at times of sadness, brilliant when she was happy. It now sat as an ornament on the top of one of her curls falling across her red denim jacket.

Aerith's breathing became slow and steady. She was sleeping soundly, a smile on her face. He couldn't possibly move. The moment was too perfect. Too perfect to be disturbed by anything. "Thank you, Aerith." Came his mumbled words.

The moment stayed, until it was indeed disturbed by a small girl no older than eight years old stepping through the church's doors. "CLOUD!" came Marlene's overjoyed cry.

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And that's my favourite chapter so far. Enjoy, R&R. Thanks for reading, folks.