Tears of the LifeStream

Part 1: Aeris' HomeComing

By: Raven-Chan

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Aeris opened her eyes, and squinted as the light flooded in, feeling like needles. She couldn't remember where she was, or how she had gotten there. Her last memory was of Cloud kneeling in front of her with his sword after Sephiroth had tried to use him to do the killing. Then Sephiroth's shadow had blocked out the light, a searing pain ran through her back as his sword went through her, and then the light that now burned her eyes.

Am I dead? she wondered. Was she in the LifeStream?

She tried to fully open her eyes. It felt as if she was a newborn, her eyes new to the light. She felt an extra sense suddenly hit her, the sense of feeling, and felt a slimey substance on her skin. She looked down with her new eyes, now ajusted to the light, and saw that she was naked. The slime was cold against her bare skin. She blushed with shame. Two women walked over to her. They were wearing lab coats, thick plastic gloves, and protection on their mouth. One wore spectacles with golden rims. She stood about five and a half feet tall, with blonde hair. The other was about the same in height, with black hair.

"Hello," the blonde said to Aeris as she approched,"I'm Dr. Bangor, and this is Dr. Underwood." Dr. Bangor motioned at the women walking with her, and Dr. Underwood nodded.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"There's a few people outside who can explain that better than I can," Dr. Bangor said happily, " Come on, lets get you washed up and dressed."

They took her imto a room joined to the one she was in. The slime she had felt on her had been in a large tank, which she had also come out of. The rooms were comprised mostly of sterilized, stainless steel. Their were tools and little instruments on racks and thrown across cabinets. There were also two computers, one of which was hooked to her tank. Now that she had a good look at her tank, she saw one word that sent chills down her already cold body. Shin-Ra.

All of these things frightened her. She had no idea who these people were, or where she was, but she had a feeling she would know very soon.

They took her to a small compartment were there was a shower. They turned it on for her, and left the stall, shutting the door behind them. The warm water felt good as it washed the slime away from the front of her body. She turned to let the water hit the back side of body. It tickled as it hit and ran down the small of her back.

As she showered, she looked at the ceiling and wondered what was happening. Her mind kept wandering back to the tank, and the slime that had covered her body. Two questions circled in her mind, over and over, one after the other. What was she doing here, and had she died? She doubted it for more than one reason.

One reason was that it was so unlikely. She doubted she could have made it her before she bleed to death. Another was where she was. Shinra Co. HeadQuarters.

She finished washing herself quickly, and dried with a large, thick towel. She wrapped it around herself before walking out of the shower stall, not wanting to expose herself to more shame.

As she walked out of the stall, she noticed that the door to another room had been opened. She walked into the room, curious as to why it was now open.

She walked in slowly, not so much some finding her snooping around as she was of finding something that might cause her trouble.

What she found wasn't trouble. As she walked into the room, she saw that there were lockers lining three of the walls. There were two steel benchs bolt to the floor. There was also a chair. It was sitting in front of an opened locker, and carefully draped over it, so not to wrinkle it, was a very familiar dress. It was a beautiful pink dress, and a jacket that was a shade of darker pink. In the left breast pocket of the jacket, there was a beautiful pink rose. she smelled it, and knew that it was from her very garden. There was no hole in the dress, no blood stain. It obviously wasn't original, but it was a close match to favorite dress.

She dropped the towel and quickly put on the dress. She found a pair of leather boots, which were strikingly similar to her old pair, under the chair, and put them on.

She walked out of the room, feeling better after having washed away that slime and putting on familiar clothes, humming a tune that always came to mind while she tended to her garden. She picked the rose from her pocket, sniffing that beautiful smell again. She looked up from the flower to see the two scientists, sitting at a counter with all the little tools and instruments, drinking coffee. They had taken off their lab coats and the small mouth protectors, and it struck her as funny, seeing the doctors in normal clothing, drinking coffee in such a sanitary lab. She glanced over at her tank, and saw that the doctors had obviously cleaned it.

"Well," Dr. Bangor said, putting down her coffee and standing up,"Let's not keep your friends waiting."

The to doctors escorted Aeris through door and into a sort of waiting room, and the first person she saw was Cloud. His blonde hair still spikey, wearing his favorite clothing,without his Buster Sword on his back, and the first thought that rushed through her mind was friendship. He began to walk toward her, and she ran the remaining five steps for him, and through herself into his arms. She hugged him, and he hugged back, and she felt like she was home again. They released their embrace, and she realized that Barret was there too, and so was Tifa and Yuffie, Cid, Vincent, and even Reeve in person instead of Cait Sith, and Red XIII. They were all here to welcome her home.

"Hi, everybody!" She said, and they all replied in turn, and they all hugged her, and she even bent down on her knees to hug Red and Marlene.

She stood and turned to Cloud. "I've got a lot of questions to ask."

"We thought you would," Cloud said,"I think we got all the answers."

So they walked outside, and got on the Highwind, and went to take Aeris home.

This is the end of part one of Tears of the LifeStream. Final Fantasy 7 is copyright SquareSoft Tears of the LifeStream copyright Raven-Chan.