"You okay?"
That polite, warm hearted voice spoke out to me. A voice so sweet. Opening my eyes, the darkness faded away. I was lying in the middle of a patch of fragrant yellow flowers. There she was, knelt next to me in the church. Her church. Sparkling emerald eyes looked down at me with such concern.
"This is a church in the Sector 5 slums. You suddenly fell on top of me. You really gave me quite a scare." Aeris said as she began to stand up. I wish I would have apologized for startling her, ruining her flowers, and creating a huge hole in the roof, but instead I just looked up at her dumbfounded.
"…..I came crashing down?"
"The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."
"Flower bed…. Is this yours?" I asked hesitantly as I stood up and brushed the debris from my clothes. "Sorry about that." I wish I would have apologized more sincerely. Why didn't I? Those flowers meant so much to Aeris. That church meant so much to her. I should have said I was sorry like I really meant it.
"That's all right. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar. But for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here." She began cheerfully ramble as she knelt down next to the flower bed to tend to the flowers I had just ruined. "I love it here."
I remember looking at her and thinking how beautiful she was and how much I envied her politeness and optimism. I had just destroyed her flowers, the flowers she sold to make gil, yet she was still so happy.
"…. So, we meet again." She spoke softly, still tending to her flowers. "Don't you remember me?"
"Yeah, I remember…." My voice was clumsy, as if I wasn't sure of myself. "You were selling flowers."
"Oh, I'm so happy!" She exclaimed, glancing up at me for a second. "Thanks for buying my flowers."
She continued to tend to her flowers and there was an awkward silence. I should have said something, anything.
"Say, do you have any materia?"
"Yes, some." I was baffled. That was such an odd question. Most people had materia. I remember questioning her intelligence. "Nowadays you can find materia anywhere."
"But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing." She giggled, always so upbeat and cheerful.
"… good for nothing? You probably just don't know how to use it." I replied, but I shouldn't have said that. I thought she was just some pretty, idiotic flower girl. I was wrong. Dead wrong.
"No, I do…. It just doesn't do anything." She replied, so very confident and sure of herself. I remember that I didn't believe her. She looked towards the sky before she spoke, "I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's… Say, I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again, right?"
"Got nothing to talk about." I replied. I was so stupid. I had other things on my mind, like finding my companions – I didn't have time to stand around talking to some flower girl. I wish I would have told her I would love to talk to her.
"… oh, I see." She said, looking up at me sad and disappointed. "Ahhh, I wonder whose fault that is. It takes a lot to grow them, you know. Poor flowers." She continued to check her flowers, while I just stood there silent. "Just a little longer. Oh!" She looked up at me. "Now that you mention it…. We don't know each other's names, do we? My name is Aeris. I'm Aeris, the flower girl. Nice to meet you."
"The name's Cloud. Me….? I do a little bit of everything."
Aeris begins to say something in reply, but her voice is fading. She is still talking, I am standing there listening. The memory seems different. Altered. The memory is beginning to degrade into something lifeless, the color fades. I feel this emotional intensity infusing deep inside my chest. My eye lids feel heavier. The only thing I can do is close my eyes and begin to weep as my memories of her begun to wither. I would lose my sanity if they completely disappeared – but hadn't I already lost my loose grasp on reality?
"We were meant to be together. I love you." I whisper into the dark, silent void.
A/N: Reviews are always welcome! I'd seriously like to know what you think, even if you hate my story. Constructive criticism!