Red. Silence before it was followed by a thump. A body slumps down onto the floor and all of a sudden his vision blurs from what he can only guess are tears. He feels his mouth open to yell out the name of the person but nothing comes out. Who is this person and why does he care so much about their death? Why is his heart aching and who is the person who took her life?

"..oud..!"

He winces, his head beginning to thump as he tries to figure out what the hell is happening. As he tries to figure things out he sees a pink ribbon fluttering down in front of him. This piece of fabric seems so familiar and he feels like it has a deep meaning behind it but he is not sure what it could possibly be. 'What is happening, why am I seeing this?' Is all he can think as he slowly reaches for the pink fabric before he notices that his hand- no, his whole body shaking.

"Cl…d!"

'Go away!' His inner voice yells as he tries to calm himself so he can grab and inspect the ribbon. Just as his body is beginning to still he hears the shuffling of fabric which causes him to pause his movements to look up and sees the body of the woman move and turn to face him. As the woman sits up there is blood flowing down her pink dress, an open wound on her chest. Cloud could not believe that she was alive, his body starting to shake yet again when lifeless green eyes stared at him as the woman opened her mouth, seeming to get ready to speak.

"Why did you let me die, Cloud? Weren't you supposed to be my bodyguard and protect me?"
"Aerith, this was never meant to happen, I promise you!"

"Cloud!"

His body jolted awake which ended with his knee hitting the bottom of the table. A low groan of pain escaped from him as his hand snaked down to his knee to try and soothe the pain with gentle rubs but that only seemed to make it worse so he pulled his hand away and instead decided to glare at the one who woke him up.

"Tifa, what makes you think it's okay to scream in someone's ear like that?"

He grumbled, trying to rub away the sleepiness from his eyes before he noticed that they seemed to be wet. Why would they be wet? Was he..

"You were crying and shaking a bit. You were having that dream again and I was getting worried! It looked worse than the other times so I had to wake you up. What happened this time? You know you can talk to me."

The raven haired woman looked at him with worry in her eyes, fearing that if things keep on like this soon he will not be able to get a proper night's sleep. She already knew Cloud had a horrible sleep schedule but when he started getting these dreams about 2 years ago he slowly started staying up more to avoid having to sleep. She cared deeply for the man, having been best friends with him ever since she moved next door to him when they were in middle school. Sure he was weird but she knew that unlike a lot of other people he wouldn't try to use her for their own benefit.

"She.. she was killed. This is the first time I have had this kind of dream, the others were with my look alike spending time with her so why did she die this time..? Tifa, I don't know what this means or why this is happening but it has to mean something right? A premonition of some kind?"

Tifa wasn't used to him talking this much so she was taken aback a little but she knew that he was like this because he really was freaked out about what he saw. The only deaths they have seen are from bad horror movies they have seen during their movie nights so she can't imagine how he must have felt when he saw this girl he has been dreaming about for 2 years die in front of him like that. She reached for his hand and gently squeezed it as if to say that she is here and that he can relax.

"How about we take some deep breaths first? You still seem to be shaken up. You know the drill Goldilocks, breathe in.."

Cloud wanted to frown at the dreaded nickname he had been given since childhood but right now some gentle teasing is what he needed. Doing as she said he took a deep breath in, his shoulders rising as he did so. Once Tifa saw that he took a deep breath in she smiled, slowly letting go of his hand.

"Aaaand, exhale. Let it all out."

"Haaaa…"

He had to do it a few more times to really relax and start to calm down but once he started to feel like himself he looked at Tifa with a grateful smile. They stayed there for a moment, looking at one another before Cloud broke his gaze away from hers to look down at the table where his long forgotten homework was now sitting, still blank. 'Ah, shit. I didn't even get to start my homework before having to go to work. " His phone started to vibrate, alerting Cloud that he had to go to work in an hour. Luckily his workplace was near him and Tifa's house so he didn't need to rush back to his house and change any time soon. Cloud's marks were not incredible but they were enough to not make his mother worry about him so he was content.

"I'm sorry I freaked out like that Teef but I'm okay now so I gotta go."

Simply shoving his belongings into his backpack, not caring about how messy it is since future Cloud will be the one who will have to organize the mess. They were seated on the Lockhart's family dining room table, a stack of textbooks in front of them, though they were all Tifa's since Cloud had forgotten his at his house and didn't see the need to bring his own since they share almost all the same classes. Just as he was about to sling his backpack over his shoulder to head out a flash of the girl with a pink ribbon smiling at him appeared in his mind. Sucking in a breath, he dropped the bag and set a hand on the dining table to stabilize himself as he tried to push away the picture of the girl before he realized something.

"Cloud!"

Tifa immediately stood up to help him sit back down. She noticed how he scrunched his face and immediately knew that this was his concentrating face. 'He has this exact face when he's trying to solve a difficult problem in his homework'. She didn't know what else she could do but wait for him to snap out of his deep state of concentration.

Luckily she did not need to wait long though. A sharp gasp came from Cloud as he looked around the room, as if he was looking for someone.

"Aerith!"
"Who?

Tifa saw the blonde quickly pull out a piece of paper and quickly scribble down a name she had never seen before yet still looked so familiar. After the name was written down he handed the slip of paper to Tifa so she could look at it too and after connecting the dots her eyes widened.

"Wait, is this her name?"

He simply nodded, a large smile appearing on his face which made Tifa's face flush a little. She had not seen a smile that big since she told him that she would not be moving anymore since her father found a better position right in their hometown. Shaking her head to try and calm herself down, she looked back at the slip of paper and handed it back to him, trying to think of what their next plan of action should be.

"Not to be a downer Cloud but just because she is a girl that appeared in your dreams doesn't mean that she is real and actually someone who lives in the real world here with us. What if she is just a girl from your fantasies? I mean, you yourself said you have never seen this girl in person before, she just appeared one night in your dreams! So.. so don't try to go look for her! She may not even exist and you'll just get hurt."

Cloud knew that Tifa was making a good point, this girl with the usually lively green eyes may not even exist and he was crazy to think that he could go out looking for her. The name he scribbled down may not even be a real name. Who names their child Aerith Gainsborough anyways? Yeah, this name must be just something his mind made up after having those dreams for years. Admitting defeat, he let out a tired sigh and nodded, crumpling up the paper and shoving it in his back pocket before hearing his phone vibrate again. It was almost time for work and he was still at Tifa's , still not changed into his work uniform.

"You're right. Let's just put this whole thing behind us and move ahead. I gotta go change and head to work, I'll meet you at the end of the block after I finish changing into my uniform.."

"Right.."

And with that Cloud retrieved his belongings and head out the door, leaving Tifa alone in her dining room, staring at the door that he walked out of before she let out an annoyed groan, ruffling her hair in frustration after she realized how she let her emotions control her when confronting Cloud about the girl.

'Why did I have to say all of that? Now he seems more upset than usual. Ugh, Tifa! Why did you let your jealousy run amok! So what if he tried to look for this imaginary girl? He would have found out she isn't real on his own sooner or later but now he won't even try and will constantly think about her which will only lead to even more sleepless nights!'

"This was the right decision for Cloud. He knows this too, which is why he didn't argue."

She tried to assure herself that this was the best thing for Cloud. It was the most logical answer after all. Deciding to also put this behind her she turned away from the door to head upstairs to her room and change into something a little warmer since it was beginning to get chilly out. After changing into some jeans and a simple long sleeved shirt, she slipped on some worn out boots she's had for a while before heading out to meet Cloud at their meeting spot.

Even though all she had to do was change out of her clothes into something warmer she still somehow got there later than Cloud. Usually she was the one who got there first and Cloud showed how surprised he was to see her arrive last by raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"About time you got here. I was about to leave you."

Obviously he would never do that but he couldn't help but mess with the girl. He wasn't as clueless as people made him out to be, he knew that Tifa felt bad about what she said before and he wanted her to know that she had nothing to feel bad about since she was right. There was no point in chasing a dream no matter how much he wanted to.

"You would never do that to your best friend Cloud. If you did, I'd leave you and you'd have no friends left."

She teased back which made him let out a low chuckle before he turned to begin walking to his job with Tifa at his side. As the two made their way to his workplace he recalled something his boss had told him the day before that he forgot to tell Tifa. A new worker would be coming in today and apparently she was new to the area so he asked the crew to be welcoming and all go out to have a drink after work if they were able to. Just when he was about to turn to Tifa and invite her he heard something that caused his body to freeze.

"Aerith, you sure you don't need me to walk you home afterwards? This area can be dangerous at night."

A giggle that made his body shiver from how familiar yet new it was escaped from the mouth of a girl who had her brown hair cascading down her back. Cloud could only look at her with what he could only think was a dumbfounded look as her back was facing him, instead her attention focused on the man in front of her. He was a head taller than Cloud, hair black and spiked crazily as it ran down his neck before it was covered by a scarf that seemed to be crocheted by hand.

"You worry too much Zack! Ever since I've come here you've been by my side constantly and even though I do care for you a girl needs to breathe a bit! I'll be fine and if it really is that dangerous I'll ask a coworker to walk me home. I'm not a little girl."

Even though he didn't know the girl he knew that she said this with a playful tone, not meaning anything bad when she pushed him away and gently slapped his cheek. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to see her face. What he did next is something that he would never do. There were times where Cloud was spontaneous and because he was like that he had Tifa. She would calm him down and logically explain to him why what he would be doing was dumb but he didn't want to be stopped, he had to see her face.

He grabbed the girls' wrist and gently pulled her his way. The girl was obviously surprised since she turned to face him with her eyes going wide in surprise. The green looked so familiar. Unlike the ones he dreamt of today, these looked so full of life and mischief. He'd seen these eyes many times before and he had so much he wanted to ask her but he didn't. Why? Well, he was caught off-guard by the look of sadness that flashed in her eyes before he was pushed away from her by the guy she called Zack.

"Aerith, this is exactly why I walk you everywhere! Guys will literally grab you out of nowhere, it's dangerous!"

"Zack! It's okay, I'm alright! Clo- I mean, he doesn't look like he could hurt a fly. Lets.. let's just go inside so I can get my uniform."

She gave Cloud and Tifa an awkward smile as she walked past them and inside the store with Zack in tow, shooting a glare at Cloud as he closed the door behind them. The two were silent for different reasons. Tifa because she couldn't believe what just happened and how this must be affecting Cloud. Cloud because he was trying to figure out why she looked at him with such a sad look. And why did it seem like she recognized him?