Hi, my name is HollyStar *bows.* Making my first appearence on this site, thank you, thank you. This story is a good sized one, the storyline is pretty decent, and I need some publicity, so I thank whoever reads this. Feedback is always welcome. I guess that's all I have to say...so enjoy!

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Cloud sat in the flower bed just in front of Aeris' tombstone. He rapidly ripped weeds from the ground, trying to make her grave look perfect. He filed notes and letters left from him and her other friends. Perfect. Just like her.

It was late. Actually, it was more early, five o'clock a.m. He usually didn't come this early, but he felt the sudden urge to come and weed. He felt things like that.

"You really miss her, don't you, Cloud?" A female voice called.

Cloud turned around, nobody was there. 'Must've been my imagination...' he thought. And continued to pull out weeds.

"You didn't imagine me." She said, sounding closer. "I'm real...you can't deny me."

"H-Hello?" Cloud yelled, confused.

"You really miss her...it's pretty obvious. You're in love with her."

Cloud glanced around, trying to find the voice...whatever she was. "W-Who are you...? Where are you...?"

"My name is Stellania...but that is not important. Let's get down to business. You seem to have self-control. You seem to be able to control yourself. But I can see...I can see you. I can see the real you. The one that still wants revenge for Aeris' death. You can't hide... I can see the untapped rage inside of you." Stellania explained. "I can give you everything you've ever wanted..." She whispered.

"What...do you mean?" he asked.

"How far are you willing to go to see Aeris alive again? What lines are you willing to cross to see her face once more?" She replied. "All you have to do...is help me..." Cloud felt a shiver down his spine. Was she serious? Could she really bring Aeris back to life? No...it's impossible. It can't be done. It can't!

"Aeris is dead...nobody can change that!"

"You'd think that..."

"Stop messing with my mind!!" he screamed, clutching his head.

"So, do you agree?"

Cloud removed his hands from his head. "I..............................." he began, unsure of his answer. "I.........."

                             By: HollyStar

           Dying Memories

                      Final Fantasy VII

                          

                                      Chapter 1

Tifa was working late that night at the 7th heaven waiting for Cloud to come back. The bar was totally empty exept for her, as she rubbed softly at a beer glass she stared off into space, deep in thought. Millions of millions of thoughts pricked through the back of her mind, what happened to Cloud? Why was he gone this long?

For the first time in about a minute Tifa blinked while her gaze moved about the bar. On the walls there were pictures of her and her friends, RedXIII, Barret, Aeris, Cid, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent and Cloud.

Cloud, Tifa knew where he was but she still always worried when he left for Aeris' grave every night. She was well aware of how he felt about Aeris, he loved her. Even though she was dead he still loved her, and would probably go on loving her and missing her for the rest of his life, the thought made Tifa furious.

Outside rain poured on Midgar where the plate was torn down, lightning crashed and it made Tifa jump whenever a loud boom of thunder was heard. She had never noticed how much it rained, the huge plate hovering over Midgar blocked out all the best things, rain, sun, and the stars. Faint memories of Nibelheim made her remember the stars, the moon, the meteor showers. But all she had now was the bar.

Without warning, Cloud Strife ran quickly into the bar and slammed the door. Tifa's silence was broken with the loud bang of the door. "Tifa...hi." Cloud panted. "I didn't know....you worked....this late."

"I own the place, I gotta stay." Tifa replied searching Cloud's wet clothes. His face and right knee were bloody. Her eyes moved to his as she spoke. "What happened to you?" she asked with a slight quiver in her voice. "Slum drunk attack you again?"

"Nah." Cloud said casually, "I was weeding Aeris' grave." He noticed Tifa's head lower slightly, she never liked it when he talked about Aeris. Her face would light up when she saw Cloud, they would chat, but the conversation soon switched over to Aeris.

"Oh." Tifa said sadly, "I.....see."

The rain died down a little and the thunder stopped. Tifa didn't notice this. She felt a burning in her heart whenever he talked about Aeris and she could not get rid of it. Tifa felt anger inside that she replaced with sadness. She knew it wasn't healthy to keep anger inside like that, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn't just blow up at Cloud for loving Aeris, it was so not Tifa!

Silence continued in the bar, unable to speak for fear of bursting into rage, Tifa said nothing. After awhile she started to smile. "I'm gonna go home now." Tifa said cheerily "It's......6:30 a.m." she glanced at her watch.

"Uh....Yeah, I'm goin' too." Cloud replied. "It is pretty.....early."

"Heh heh....heh...." Tifa muttered behind her breath. She walked over slowly to the door waving 'bye' to Cloud and smiling but when he turned away she ran.

Tifa bolted down the wet streets of Midgar, by now the rain had stopped and the streets were once again crowded with people. The sun arose through where the plate used to be while birds flew over the city. She continued running noticing none of this.

Tifa entered Sector 6 and dashed into the park, slowing down to catch her bearings and her breath. Tifa turned her head left and right until she spotted it; Aeris' grave.

Tifa walked up to Aeris' memorial. She searched it up and down seeing flowers and notes left on her tombstone. It took her a minute before she dicided to sit down on the flower bed.

"Hello, Aeris" Tifa said emotionlessly, "Sorry I never come to see you..... it's been SO long." She stared at all the things left for her. But one paticular letter caught her interest. "Aeris, ol' buddy, ol' pal. You don't mind if I read this note, do you? No? Great! She picked it up and started reading silently to herself.

Aeris,

I miss you so. I wish you were here,

so many things have happened, the Shinra were rebuilt,

and Tifa owns the 7th heaven. It's so amazing. Wherever you are

remember, I will always love you.

-Cloud

"He truly believes that Aeris can read this" A tear fell on the page smearing a small bit of ink on it. She immediatly wiped away the one rolling down her cheek. Tifa took a minute before she set it down again. She knew that Cloud loved Aeris, but now it was set in stone, it said so right in front of her. "Remember, I will always love you" Tifa sobbed. She felt like she had just swallowed a sword, piercing her heart on the way down. On the end of the note there was still space to write, conveniently placed beside it was a green fountain pen. Of course what Tifa did was rip off the piece of note and left a note of her own.

Aeris,

I know you can't hear me, or see me. But

still, even in death you've managed to keep the upper hand

on me. My home, destroyed, my family, killed, my friends, gone.

Now you've taken Cloud from me. How ever do you do it? My love has

sadly vanished leaving me with nothing. You've broken me down, Aeris.

You've beaten me. So all I now have are unfufilled dreams,

and forever dying memories.

                                       Chapter 2

Tifa sat in the flower bed, staring at the tombstone in front of her. Unable to process the events that happened mere moments ago, she did nothing. Just sat there, staring at the grave. Lost in thought.

She looked at her letter, then back at the tombstone. It was now seven o'clock and the sun was rising over the mountains. The sky was perfectly blue, with no sight of any clouds. Exept one.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled crumpling her letter to Aeris in her hand, "W-What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.

"I'm here to see-" he stopped, relizing he shouldn't mention 'her'. "I'm just..."

"It's okay, Cloud. I don't care that you're here to see Aeris...again. That's what I came here to do." she said, tighteneing her grip on her letter in hope that Cloud wouldn't see it.

Cloud sat down beside Tifa on the flower bed. The iron-gray tombstone seemed to draw both their attentions, they said nothing, they did nothing, until he spoke.

"Do you ever wonder...where she went?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the grave.

"I did...I mean, I used to. When she first..." she replied, trying not to use the word 'died', "I-I'm sure she went to a better place."

"I thought that too. But now I have this strange feeling...I can't explain it. It's like...like she didn't." Cloud lowered his head, still not looking in Tifa's direction. "Like she didn't go to a better place...Or like she's being tormented by something..."

Tifa could almost make out tear drops in his eyes. She'd never seen him cry, not in the ten years that she'd known him. She'd assumed that he did cry once in his adult life, but she never saw him. He managed to keep in his tears, but barely. She could tell.

"Cloud..."

"And it's like, there's nothing I could do to help her." he said, sounding like he could break into tears at any second, "Is she safe, or is she in danger? I don't know, I never knew, I never will know. That's what bothers me. The fact that it's impossible."

'So that's why he's been coming here so often...because he was worried about Aeris...' Tifa thought, slightly relieved. "...Cloud...maybe I can help. You know how everybody moved away after Sephiroth was defeated and we were the only ones out of our group that stayed here? W-Well...We have no idea what's happening to Barret and Marlene, right? They might be in horrible, life-threatening danger over in Corel. But, I don't worry, because I know that Barret can take care of himself, and if he ever needed me then I would be there in two seconds flat. Maybe it's somewhat like that. You have to trust Aeris to take care of herself,

until she needs you. Then you can be her knight in shining armor, and come to her rescue. But, for now...you just have to trust her to contact you if she needs you." For the first time in the conversation, Cloud looked over at her. "...You know, Cloud. Aeris was my friend too. I did feel sad when she...you know."

"Of course." He replied, "Everybody was sad...but it was different for me."

Tifa's heart jumped, and was forced to swallow her feelings, she had to know, "H-How different?" she asked, hoping for a different answer than she thought it would be.

"I always thought I had more of a responsibility to protect her than anybody else. I was the closest one to her when she died, I was the one she trusted, I was...her bodyguard." He answered with a slight laugh.

What? Why didn't he bring up the fact that he was in love with her? It was true. He knew it, Tifa knew it, Aeris knew it, the whole group knew it. But he didn't mention it. That made Tifa suspicious.

"She loved you, you know." Tifa said, still trying for the answer that she didn't want hear, kind of strange, really. That it didn't matter, her feelings didn't really matter. She wanted the truth.

"I know she did." Cloud replied.

It had gone far enough, Tifa wasn't going to play mind games with Cloud, she needed an answer, "But you love her, right?" Tifa asked, finally. "I mean, if you didn't love her, you wouldn't be going through all of this, right?"

"...." Was Cloud's reply. He once again lowered his head, he didn't know what to say, pretty much because he didn't know the answer, "I....I don't know. I don't know how to feel." he said.

Tifa couldn't believe it. Why wouldn't Cloud just say it? Why couldn't he just let it out? Why wouldn't he say he loved her? What was so hard? She didn't understand, and decided to change the subject.

"...where do you think Aeris went?" she asked.

"Prison."

"What?"

"Prison." Cloud repeated. "The Prison of the Dead."

"How do you know that?"

He thought for a moment, like he didn't quite know what to say. "...I sense it." Cloud said. "I sense it. I don't know how...I just have this feeling, you know?" Cloud glanced at Tifa, and back at the ground as he spoke. "She's being tortured there."

"Tortured?"

"Tortured." He said. "...tortured for her sin."

                                   Chapter 3

Tifa walked calmly through the long, dark hallway, not noticing the people around her.

Shreiks and screams were heard, Tifa ignored them, she kept her eyes forward. Not turning her head, not daring to look.

They were being tortured, without a doubt.

They shreiked as she walked past them. Some held their heads, screaming for it to stop, screaming for mercy. Others merely screamed to drown out the voices it their head. Whatever that was happening to them, it was happening from the inside.

Where was she?

"Prison."

"What?"

"Prison. The Prison of the dead."

The Prison of the dead? Was that where she was?

"Yes..." Tifa heard a familiar voice over her shoulder. She turned quickly, only to see her.

Aeris.

"Tifa...I thought you might show up..." she said, straining her voice to speak. Aeris' green eyes were hidden behind thick, black eyelashes and her skin was completely white. Not pale, white. She wore a black, baggy dress that covered her feet. The roots of her hair....they were black. Aeris was turning into a goth...

Tifa searched Aeris, "Aeris...What's happened to you...?"

"She's being tortured there."

"Tortured?"

"Tortured...tortured for her sin."

Tortured? Tortured for what? What sin? What sin did Aeris ever have? It didn't make sense. "...sin?" Tifa asked.

"Sin." Aeris repeated. "Tifa...do you know why your here?".

"No...I don't" Tifa replied, not talking her eyes off Aeris.

Aeris giggled.

"Aeris...What is your sin?" She asked calmly, ignoring her giggling.

Aeris looked up at Tifa through her long, light-brown hair that draped over her grinning face. "You know..." she said slowly, "And if you don't..." she continued, "...Then Cloud will." Her smile grew as she saw Tifa's __expression change at the sound of 'Cloud.'

"I sense it. I don't know how...I just have this feeling, you know?"

".............Why are you the only sane person here?" Tifa asked, realizing the constant screeches of the people around her.

Aeris thought for a moment, "...because I'm different." She saw Tifa roll her eyes, but it didn't bother her. "...It gets into your head, and under your skin. For many people, it's claims their sanity. Basically what it does is bring back any painful memory that you've had on earth."

Aeris replied, "The reason Cloud can sense these things is because he thinks he has feelings for me, and he will never feel right until he finds out the truth...so watch him. Emotions can drive a man to do things that he would normally never even think of, don't let his emotions get him to do something stupid. I would hate to see him or you get hurt because of a lie."

"A lie...?" Tifa asked, "W-What's that supposed to mean?"

Everything around Tifa began to blur. she could barely make out Aeris' nervous __expression.

"It's my turn." Aeris said nervously. "Tifa...the world was supposed to have ended that day, it was the way that it was meant to be. I stalled Sephiroth so he couldn't call on the meteor then, giving you enough time to find him and destroy him. It started with me. My ultimate sin is standing against fate. So know this Tifa, death is the price of sin."

Everything went black.

                                               ***

Tifa lifted her head from the mohogany bar counter. She sleepily rubbed at her eyes, and raked the disheveled, chocolate brown hair out of her face. Outside, the rain poured down on Midgar, and lighning crashed. The power had went out, while she had been sleeping...she had been sleeping...but it couldn't have been just a dream. It was all so real! Aeris, the prison, The crys of pain everywhere...was she going crazy...?

Tifa stood up and stretched her arms back, good thing there was no customers. She noticed a small, jagged piece of paper with some illegible writing scrolled on it. She picked it up, it looked like Cloud's writing.

She held it inches from her face, squinting at the messy black writing. Suddenly, her eyes widened, her hands began to shake, and she walked quickly towards the door.

The paper slowly floated to the floor.

                                       Chapter 4

The rain pelted down on the drenched streets of Sector 1, and lightning streaked across the night sky, illuminating it, and returning to the clouds from which it came. It struck the power lines, and dropped to the ground, it was pitch black.

Continuous splashes were heard on a nearby street, somebody was sprinting down the streets. It was a young girl, no older than sixteen, her long, wet, plantinum blonde hair disheveled as she ran and her pink clothes stuck to her body. She was running away from something, or someone. Suddenly, she stumbled and fell with a splash. From the ground, she backed away from a dark man.

"What do you want from me!?" she whimpered, not stopping her futile escape plan to back away from the stranger until he got tired and stopped chasing her. She stared, trembling, at his drooping, darkened face.

The man continued to walk towards her. "You will tell me where she went..." he said, keeping his head lowered, "...Tell me where she went..."

"W-Who...?"

He took a few steps forward, intimidating the girl. "...Tell me where she went..." he repeated, in an eerily soft voice. "ANSWER ME!!"

"I don't know!" she shreiked, "Please, just let let me go!"

The man began to laugh. "...If you don't know..." he said, "...Then you will be used for other purposes..." he continued.

"What're you-"

He put his open hand on her forehead, she just stared. Confused. Afraid. Unable to comprehend. Then, her head dropped, her once azure blue eyes became glazed and lifeless, and her entire body became limp.

The man looked down on her lifeless body coldly. "Get up Stellania."

The girl's head raised, her dishevled blonde hair draping over her pale face and her stiff knees cracked as she stood. Stellania sighed. "It's about time." she said, pulling her hair from her face. She began inspecting her body. "Cloud...you couldn't find something less...less... bright?"

"Don't complain. The only colour to you that's less bright is black." Cloud replied. "And besides, I found you a body, didn't I?"

"Oh, shut up, you did this on purpose! You know I hate bright colours." She looked down at her pink-clad upper-body in disgust. "When will she be complete?" Stellania asked, trying not to complain continuously about the pink clothes and blonde hair.

"Soon, you'll have to be patient." Cloud replied, trying not to burst out laughing seeing Stellania look so perky. "Don't forget about our deal."

"Of course I won't! When this is all over you'll get her back, alive and well. Don't worry."

                                           ***

'Okay, okay, This isn't true...it was just a crazy dream...I'm just checking...but if he's really gone after Aeris then this is the logical place that he would be.' Tifa thought, stepping through the entrance to the City of the Ancients. It made sense, if Aeris died here, this is one of the place that he would be.

Tifa had gotten a ride on the highwind. Cid... well...you couldn't exactly say he did it willingly. He swore a couple of times and complained about how it was wasting his time, but eventually he caved in and gave Tifa a ride over to Bone village. And of course, from there she went through the Sleeping Forest (at least I think it's called the Sleeping Forest, I haven't played the game in a while) and from there to The City of the Ancients.

The City of the Ancients hadn't changed much at all. It still looked bony and hopeless and like all of the life had been sucked out of it. The houses, huts, and shrines were still there and were still intact. Other than a few cracks on the sides, it was exactly the same.

She slowly walked about the city. She walked straight. Straight to where Cloud and Aeris probably are. Tifa had come there believing that. Believing that Cloud would be there and be safe. And that they would go back to the bar and everything would go back to normal...That's what she believed. Was it true? Probably not.

Her pace quickened, anticipation in every step. She came to the lifestream, outside of the shrine where Aeris died. No sign of Cloud, nor Aeris. She continued walking. Into the house, up the ladder, down the stairs.

There it was. The shrine. The one place Tifa thought and hoped that she would never see again. Too many memories. Horrible ones. Memories of Sephiroth's sword piercing through Aeris stomach....

'Don't think about that! Find Cloud!' she thought.

Tifa hopped over the stepping stones, each one bringing her closer to where Aeris and Cloud may be. Are they safe? Are they in danger? Who knows. Tifa didn't.

The last stepping stone. The final, only thing stopping her from her destination. Keeping her head down, she stepped onto the stone. Now the only thing left to step on was the shrine's platform. Her head still lowered, she stepped onto the platform. She slowly raised her head.

Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped, her left eye began to twitch. "Oh...." she whispered. "...My god...." She bolted up the three stairs leading on to the main platform. "THERE'S ABSOLOUTLY NOTHING HERE!!" she screamed angrily.

What!? All that time wasted! All that time she could've thought about her plan more accurately! But she didn't. She couldn't take an hour or so out of her precious time to think out her plan more thoroughly. She just went to the most obvious place to find nothing! No Cloud! "Tifa...don't be so hard on yourself..." A voice said behind her.

Tifa spun around only to see- "Aeris? Weren't you in that prison?" Tifa asked, confused. 'Okay...this is for real.'

"Yes...I was...but now they're using my body for other purposes..." Aeris replied, nodding once as she said 'Yes'. "You see...my body no longer sleeps here." She sent a hard look over at Tifa that sent chills down her spine. "Neither does my soul..." she said coldly. "My transformation is almost complete, you know."

"Aeris, where's Cloud!? Is he alright!?"

"Cloud is in Midgar. That's all I can tell you." Aeris said slowly. "But if you want my advice..." she began. "...I suggest you don't go anywhere near that place. I don't want you to get dragged into this like Cloud and I did..." she continued.

Tifa heard footsteps on the stepping stones. She looked up to see Cid akwardly trying to make his way along the stepping stones by skipping two at a time. Tifa giggled slightly, not forgetting the seriousness of everything else happening around her. He finally got to the platform.

"Hey, Tifa. Who were you talking to?" He asked, panting.

Tifa looked over at where Aeris was standing, she was gone. "I was talking to...to... nobody."

Cid looked suspicious. "...Okay...if you say so..." he said. "So, where are we going next?"

Tifa thought for a moment. Should she go back to Midgar? Or should she stay somewhere else until she heard from Cloud? Midgar was her home...then again Aeris said it was dangerous. 'Maybe I shoud stay...Cloud can take care of himself...right? Oh...who am I kidding?' "We're going to...we're g-going to...." she stuttered. "We're going to Midgar."

                                     Chapter 5

 

Aeris opened her eyes. She had been sleeping. Who knows how she can sleep, she's dead. Her green eyes were the only thing left of actual Aeris. Her blood-red lips and full, black eyelashes were highlighted by the whiteness of her skin. The only thing left of her light brown hair were the tiny splashes of light beneath black. The baggy black dress that she was wearing hung on the ground where she sat.

Stellania. The blonde, incorrectly dressed goth stood over Aeris, glaring at her with an icy stare. "Did you tell her, Cetra?" Her menacing blue eyes inspecting Aeris' transformed body. She grinned evilly as she looked, as if she was pleased by the way she had morphed a human into her own personal being.

"...I told her to stay far away from this place." Aeris said, defiantly raising her head to Stellania. Cloud, on the other side of the building, sat. Head drooping, blue Mako eyes glazed. Bewitched.

Stellania began to laugh. "I figured you wouldn't." She said through her laughter. "...But Cetra. What do you suppose the chances are that she won't come by to rescue you? Or Cloud?"

"Tifa won't go down that easily." Aeris warned. "Luring her here will be the worst thing that ever happened to you!"

Stellania slapped Aeris across the mouth, and bent over her gothic body. "If you think that any means of physical strength can defeat me, then you are sadly mistaken my prisoner." Stellania threatened. "Because the second your friend opens that door, she'll be setting a time bomb and in a matter of moments her and Cloud will be blown  into oblivion."

"Stellania, what do you have against the world? What did it ever take from you!?"Aeris asked.

"The world has taken everything from me!!" Stellania screamed. "It killed my family and it destroyed my home! It turned me into a gothic hell-raiser! And years after I died it sent me to the Underworld, forced to hold the sinners in my prison! I didn't ask for this! The world screwed me over so now I'm screwing over the world. It's finally my time for revenge! The world and everything on it will get what's coming to them...as soon as my vessel is complete...."

She looked over at Aeris.

***

Tifa walked through the doors of the 7th Heaven. She had searched Midgar up and down for Cloud and Aeris, with no luck. She had search everywhere. Every store, every street, every alley. Giving up, she had came back to the bar unsatisfied. Sadly, she walked over to the stools and sat down. "Maybe I am going crazy. Maybe this whole thing was a big hallucination. Maybe everything that has led me here now was all fake. Like that dream about the prison...or Aeris coming to the shrine...or that note that Cloud left..." Tifa said, absentmindedly searching for the note on the floor. "Wait....a note from Cloud...I'm looking for Cloud...he left a note..." It took her a minute before she sprung on the jagged little piece of paper. Tifa examined it closely.

Dear Tifa,

I have waited far too long to see her again.

But now...with the help of...a friend I finally can.

And when I do I will take her to the place she adores the most.

-Cloud

 

"The place she adores the most..." Tifa whispered. The place she adores the most? Tifa stuffed the note inside her back pocket and headed for the door.

                                              ***

"Your friends have the honour of becoming my lackeys..." She looked in the direction of Cloud the zombie. "...And you Cetra...you can't find many people like you. You fitted all of my needs, even so much that I had to fetch your body from the lifestream."

"Where's the honour in becoming a mind-slave?"

"Your friend will be coming soon..." Stellania said, ignoring Aeris' question. She confidently flipped her platinum blonde hair. "Cetra, there's nothing you can do about it."

                                            ***

Tifa sprinted. Not ran. Sprinted. As fast as she could. Cloud, and Aeris were in danger. There was no possible way for Tifa to know that, but she did. She knew that something was wrong when she heard Aeris talk. She panted as she raced. Then she arrived, there, standing outside of Aeris' church.

"Cloud....!...Aeris!!" Tifa ranted, pounding on the barracaded door. "Open the door!" she pleaded, sounding like she was desperate. 'Oh, Come on! That's not the Tifa that defeated Sephiroth!' "Open this door or I'll break it down!!" she threatened.

The door didn't budge.

"I-I mean it!"

Nothing.

Tifa didn't actually think that she was going to have to break down the door. She wasn't prepared! She readied herself, she hadn't had to do something like that for a while. 'Okay...on three. One....Two............Three.' Tifa's shoulder hit the door hard, it swung open reavealing to her Cloud the zombie, Aeris the goth and Stellania, the prison keeping spirit with blonde hair and a grudge against the world.

"Oh my...What the hell's going on here!?!" Tifa yelled. "Cloud...!? Aeris...!? ...And...who are you?" she asked, glancing at each of them as she said their name.

"....I...." she began. "....Am your murderer." Stellania replied with an evil grin. The door slammed behind Tifa. "You have ten minutes before this church explodes." She declared. Suddenly, Stellania's body crumpled to the floor, totally lifeless.

Tearing her eyes from Stellania's previous body, Aeris moved her eyes toward Tifa. "Tifa, get Cloud and get outta here! The transformation is almost complete, then she'll be after my body!" she instructed.

"Aeris, what's going on!? You owe me an explanation!" Tifa yelled.

"Your right....you should know." Aeris began. "That's Stellania. She keeps the Prison of the Dead. And the prison isn't really a place where souls do time for their sins. She gathers up the sinners, and tortures them. The ones that still have their sanity get their body fished out of the lifestream so they can become mind-slaves. She only has complete control over the dead. She wants your strength, she wanted me to lure you here so she could kill you and...you'd become a part of her army. But knowing that she probably couldn't rely on me, she came to Cloud. Told him that if he went with her, he would see me alive again. However, she bewitched him, knowing that if you thought Cloud was in danger then you'd come."

"Why did you lead me here if you knew that Stellania was going to blow this place up?!"

"I didn't lead you here, Stellania did! She has complete control over me inside the prison walls. For now...she didn't want to possess me until I was....finished."

"...Aeris..." Tifa began. "...What are you becoming...?"

"........I'm..........I'm....." she said weakly. Aeris clutched her head, closed her eyes and weakly fell to her knees. "I'm..............I...am.........." She opened her eyes confidently. No longer green, but red. Red. Pure red. She stood, her hair completly black. "I am Stellania." she announced. "And me and my vessel are leaving." she turned her back to Tifa but seconds later she turned around again. "No Stellania! If you're gonna blow up my church then you're going down with it!!" Aeris screamed. Tifa had never seen her tough side. "Tifa, the only way to un-zombie Cloud is to weaken Stellania!" She said quickly.

Didn't need to tell Tifa twice, she punched Stellania in the nose, hard. Hard enough that she fell to the ground, clutching her nose in pain. Gloves or no gloves, Tifa still had the best right hook.

Cloud suddenly snapped back to reality. He stood up, the back of his spikey blonde hair flat at the back from being against the wall. "...Stellania..." was the first word out of his mouth.

Stellania, with her hand still on her nose, sat up. "I am no longer in need of your services." She said, her voice muffled from behind her hand. "But thank you, you really helped me. I'll see you in hell..." Her hand trembled as blood seeped through it and onto the floor.

"We had a deal!"

"You should've learned by now, Cloud. You never make a deal with the bad guy." Stellania replied, before Aeris cut in. "Cloud... do remember when you helped me escape from the Turks?" Aeris asked. "It's the only way out, go! There's only five more minutes!"

"The roof...?" he whispered, just loud enough for Tifa to hear. "No, Aeris! I can't leave you here! You have to come with us!"

"Cloud, I can't do that...I'm sorry. It was my time along time ago...my being alive right now is not my fate. Don't stand against fate, it can only hurt you!!" Aeris yelled in reply. "Now, go!" She commanded.

Tifa grabbed Cloud's arm and ran for the back door. Cloud, still skeptical about leaving Aeris, ran as well. Even if he had put up a fight to be Aeris' knight in shining armor, Tifa would've dragged him along anyways.

They came to two flights of stairs, Tifa pulled Cloud up them stepping on every other step. As they came to a gap in the path, Tifa leapt over it, letting go of Cloud's arm. Cloud obeyed and jumped over as well, if he hadn't, Tifa would''ve done it for him. Another flight of stairs. Tifa pulled herself up three at a time, while Cloud skipped none. The ceiling, the beams that held it up. It lead to the hole in the roof...the only way out...

Time was running out...Stellania, standing at the entrace to the back. "Mortals..." she said, blood running from her nose, panting, almost unable to speak. "Escape....try to escape if you want to...but never forget..." Stellania dissapeared. She's a spirit, she can do things humans never thought possible.

Anticipation in every second they waited for her to reappear. They didn't dare move, even though their minds cried out for them to go, for them to run...for them to get away, they stood frozen.

Suddenly, Stellania rematerialized on the beams at the top of the church, beside Cloud. "You'll never silence me..." she whispered. Stellania raised her hand to the ceiling, the hole in the roof completely recovered.

"No!!" Tifa shreiked, running toward the place where the hole was previously. She banged on it, she kicked it, she body-slammed it, anything to get it open.

"Sealed by magic, mortal." Stellania gloated. "As long as my power is strong, you two are stuck in here."

The words seemed to echo in her mind.

"As long as my power is strong, you two are stuck in here."

"Tifa, the only way to un-zombie Cloud is to weaken Stellania!"

'Weaken Stellania...' Tifa thought.

As if on cue, Tifa walked innocently back to Stellania, who hadn't moved since she'd been up there. Cloud had moved to a different beam, afraid that he might be consumed by the temptation to grab Stellania's hand and escape (her originally being Aeris). Tifa continued to walk forward until she was right beside Stellania. She socked her in her already bleeding nose. Stellania fell off the beam and onto the floor of the church, without a scream, without a word. Like she expected it to happen.

The hole in the roof reappeared, and without hesitation, the two climbed themselves out of the church, and onto the roof. Quickly, they slid off the roof and onto some metal junk thrown carelessly on the side of the road. Seconds until the explosion, they jumped onto the street.

Getting only inches from the church, it exploded. The flames quickly spread. It started in the front but quickly moved to the back. Stellania/ Aeris was still inside. Tifa and Cloud just sat there, paralyzed. Watching in awe as they saw everything that Aeris lived for consumed by fire.

 

                                             Epilogue

Tifa stood at the counter of the bar as she absentmindedly served alcohol to reagular customers. The bar was packed. But Tifa didn't notice, too much had happened in the last few days for her to think about much of anything exept that. It had started with a note, and ended with flames.

Cloud hadn't said anything about the whole experience since it happened, nor did Tifa. They didn't understand it all. Or maybe they did, but they didn't want to. Aeris was Tifa's friend.

To Cloud? Who knows what she meant to him. Either way they both cared about her, and they both liked to think that she went to a better place. The realization that she didn't overwhelmed them. They didn't talk about it.

Tifa stared off into space, not even noticing the woman sitting at the counter, looking at her.

"Hey." The woman said, making Tifa jump. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"...Oh....no...nothing's wrong." she replied. "How about you?"

"I'm alright." the woman answered, pulling her brown hair behind her ear. "Did you hear about that big fire in that church down by Sector 5?"

Tifa looked up. "Yeah...Yeah, I did."

"Supposed to have been huge! Nothing left there but ashes. They found a body in there, too. Obviously didn't survive, their skin was totally incinerated." She continued.

"Really? Nothing left?" Tifa asked, her heart racing. She didn't really want to hear of Aeris' skin being burnt off, but she asked her to continue. She needed more answers then that.

"Nothing." she replied calmly. "Probably a suicide."

"Yeah...yeah that's probably it." Tifa agreed. "A suicide." she whispered.

"I didn't catch your name."

"Tifa." Tifa said. "And yours?"

Cloud came out from the back room. He had been back there for several hours, mending his spikes at the back where he had been sitting against the wall. It had regained it's chocobo-like form completely. He shot a puzzled look over at the woman that Tifa was talking with. The woman glanced at Cloud and an expression of panic crossed her face. She stood up and left.

Cloud moved closer to Tifa. "Who was that?" he asked.

It suddenly hit Tifa. She looked at Cloud worriedly, and then at the door where the woman had just been. Tifa knew exactly who that was...