Aeris walked slowly down the marble steps of one of the Ancient City’s oldest houses. She looked upwards, and saw that there was a piece of materia there. By force of habit, she almost went to pick it up, but decided not to. Cloud would get it when he came. If he came…

Aeris sniffed, then decided not to be so glum. He’d come, right? He’d come, and be glad that she was there. Right?

<Right! > Aeris decided. <He likes me, I’m sure of it! After all, he did agree to be my bodyguard. And for a date. That can’t be bad, can it? >

Aeris continued to walk down the spiralling stairs, closing her eyes every once in a while when the sun glimmered off the shiny stone.

"Finally here…" she breathed, taking in the sight of the stepping stones, the coral house, the altar, where she would pray. And where Cloud would find her, and tell her how much he loved her.

She slowly padded across to the stepping stones leading to the altar, looking at the coral house. It was beautiful… Aeris carefully hopped across, peeking at the lake below, and seeing her reflection in the crystally water.

She knelt down on the cold stone, clasping her hands together and closing her eyes. She prayed, whispering silent words to the Ancients, begging them to take pity on the people of the planet, begging them to bring forth Holy, and to save everyone. The children, the elderly, the adults, the cats, the dogs… and Cloud. They had to save Cloud. And herself, so that they could be together.

Aeris almost opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps; longed to glance at her watch to see how long she had been praying for. But she couldn’t do it. For some unexplainable reason, Aeris kept her eyes closed, wishing that the footsteps were Cloud.

She heard people talking, and then they stopped. Someone hopped over the stepping stones towards the place where she was kneeling. She heard a swish of metal: that familiar sound of someone drawing a sword…

Aeris finally opened her eyes, wondering what was happening. She saw Cloud stood above her, his sword held high. He was going to kill her.

<He’s going to kill me…> Aeris thought, in shock. Cloud’s sword swayed, and Aeris hoped that it was Sephiroth, controlling Cloud’s mind, and that he was saying to himself that he couldn’t do it, he loved her…

Suddenly, the swaying stopped. Cloud lifted the sword high, until it was exactly even with her head. <He really is going to kill me…> she thought, panicking.

But even though the tears welled up at the back of her eyes, Aeris smiled. Her last attempt to save herself. She hoped against hope that he would see her smiling face, and stop.

But the sword fell a few centimetres. Aeris’ heart dropped. Then she heard a voice.

"Cloud, what are you doing?!" Tifa yelled, her eyes wide.

Cloud stopped.

He dropped the sword.

Aeris breathed a sigh of relief.

And then she realised.

Cloud hadn’t stopped for her. He’d stopped for Tifa. The sound of Tifa’s voice had been the only thing to stop him from smashing her head with a lump of sharpened metal.

And she wanted to cry.

But Aeris smiled.

Cloud might have stopped because he had heard his childhood friend. Not because he loved her, right? Right?

Not right.

He loved Tifa; it was plain to see. The moment Aeris had met him, she could tell. But she’d been wishing against fate that it hadn’t been true.

She’d been wrong all along.

There was no point in living if she was going to be reminded that he loved someone else every waking moment.

Wrong.

Every moment. Sights and thoughts and sounds of him with Tifa would haunt her dreams.

And she couldn’t stop it.

She might as well die.

Where had she heard that voice before?

There was a quiet swishing as a cape flapped in the breeze.

And a little screech of metal as a long sword was unsheathed.

Then an evil grin spread into her mind.

Aeris realised who it was.

But she didn’t do anything: she couldn’t. Why bother? It would stop the pain.

Sephiroth flew down from the sky, Masamune in hand. He fell towards Aeris’ unprotected back, and lowered the sword that had killed so many people already.

And he slid it through Aeris’ back like butter.

She died silently, in not much pain, except from the pain in her heart.

And Cloud felt guilty, guilty that he hadn’t been nicer to the flower girl from the slums.