Chapter Three

Aerith. Aerith was dead. Then how could…what the hell happened?

Tifa paced the meadow, trampling flowers unnoticed under her brown shoes. The pink dress swished with each movement and she fought the urge to tear it off since it appeared to be the only garment she had; Aerith had never worn anything else when Tifa had seen her alive.

Her eyes once again took in what surrounded her and she couldn't help feeling small and suffocated by all of the white. The floral fragrance didn't help any, either. Before panic could ensue, she sat down among the various shades of white and yellow and was reminded of some place. A place that belonged to her…not her, Aerith.

Her church. These flowers she had seen trampled and flying about her church when that brute with a bad hair cut clad in all leather came in and surprised Tifa with Marlene.

Tifa shook her head to clear the images that ran through her head with these thoughts that rang clearly in Aerith's voice. The church? I haven't been there in months, how could I get surprised there…and with Marlene?

It didn't make any sense. Tifa had stayed away from the church, figuring that Cloud was there and did not want company seeing as he never bothered to stop by the bar or even call her back.

A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as a feeling of overwhelming loss overcame her and she fought the urge to cry. Crying doesn't solve anything. Wiping away what little tears had been allowed to escape, Tifa stood when her gaze was caught at…was that movement?

Yes, across the way a lone figure made its way towards her. She balled her hands into fists at her side, not having the slightest idea what she would find in this bizarre place.

Her body relaxed when she saw it was just a wolf. A wolf was something normal; she could handle a wolf. Carefully, she walked over to the animal and stopped a few feet away, judging if it was going to attack her or not. Instead of snarling at her, it walked up to her outstretched hand and sniffed before proceeding to nuzzle it against its ears.

Enjoying the contact with something in this empty place, Tifa continued to pet the wolf's ears and nape of its neck while she looked out at what she had to deal with. White was all to be seen.

She looked down at the wolf and was caught off guard by seeing it looking at her through very blue eyes that looked like they held more than animal intelligence. With a sigh, she asked halfheartedly, "What is going on?"

The last thing she expected was a response. First there was a lick of the hand and the next thing she saw was Zack, bending over to kiss her hand in his human form.

"Zack! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Tifa held a hand to her chest and cringed at the shrill words thrown his way from such a sweet voice.

"Sorry to startle you, Tifa."

She waved him off and crossed her hands over her chest, not wanting to look upset but not being able to hide it. She had had enough for one day.

"I was wondering the same thing."

"What?"

He looked at her calmly before answering. "What happened, of course."

Tifa let out a sad sound and turned back to him, hoping against hope that he would have the answers. Clearly, he did not.

"I don't know, I just don't know." To her surprise, it came out as more of a sob than actual words. What was with her fragile emotions? Tifa hadn't cried since…since Cloud left, and now she was weeping at the drop of a hat?

Before she realized there really were tears flowing freely down her cheeks, Zack was holding her in a comforting hug. He stroked her back and said calming things that didn't register, but just the sound of his voice was all Tifa needed.

"There there, Aerith…I mean, Tifa."

When the water works finally ceased, she pulled back to look at the man she had spent so little time with when he was alive and felt a weight of regret pull her down. His hedgehog black hair was still spiked and his uniform was in place, just as she remembered. She was so grateful to have a friendly face that she didn't let go of him for a while.

"Thanks, Zack."

"No problem, Tifa. Now, can you tell me what happened?"

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Now what do I do?

Marlene was pulling on her hand to show her something and Aerith had no choice but to tend to what the little girl wanted. She didn't remember Marlene much in her own life but saw her through Tifa's eyes and understood how much this little girl meant to her. If it wasn't for Marlene and the little boy who's bed she was now standing in front of, Tifa would not be able to make it through each day nearly as well.

But where was Cloud?

A tug at her hand once again pulled her from her thoughts back to Denzel's room where the boy lay sick in bed, a wash cloth sliding off of his forehead. Aerith went to catch it before it fell and saw that it covered a bad looking bruise. As if with a will of its own, her hand reached out to smooth his bangs aside and was greeted with a pain as hot as fire burning her mind and she pulled back, flinching.

What was that? Why did it hurt her mental voice so?

"Cloud?" The little boy's voice asked in hushed tones, his eyes never opening to see her standing above him.

Cloud…he should be here, but he's not. He's probably off somewhere, looking for…

Just as she felt something coming to her, it pulled back. The thought was in Tifa's voice, laced with resentment and anger she didn't want but couldn't hide. Aerith had a nagging feeling that she was somehow tied into all of this and more than anything she wanted to talk to Tifa, to tell her she didn't mean to interfere with everything.

"Tifa, what do we do?" Marlene's voice filled with worry caught her off guard but she looked into the little girl's deep brown eyes, searching for the right answer.

"I don't know, honey."

Marlene's face fell but soon lit up again; it seemed she had an idea and Aerith listened eagerly.

"We should go find Cloud."

Ah, childhood wisdom…now why hadn't I thought of that?

Soon Tifa's voice was in there, following Marlene's plan with uncertainty-we don't need to bother him if he's not even willing to help. By now, though, he should have found or at least realized what he was looking for.

But maybe it was time, Aerith reasoned, taking Marlene's hand while sifting through Tifa voicing her thoughts in her head as she had been thinking before. Cloud is my last hope…he should be able to figure out what happened. He'll fix it, as always.

Aerith kept her thoughts positive, focusing on Marlene and where the little girl was leading her.

A/N: Longest chapter yet and so here is where I stop posting for the day. Please review, I love any and all justified feedback-no anger for no legitimate reason please because it's just rude and hurts my feelings.