Everyone has a story of their lives. From old folks who take any chance to whip out their wallets to show you their faded pictures of their kids to young children who love to tell you about their new crayons. Everyone has a story to tell. Some are interesting, some boring. Some are like a fairy tale. Some are joyous and blooming.

And some are sad.

Some are more exciting than most, which would bring you to my life. I don't know where my story of my life would belong. I could say it's sad. I could say it's been quite an adventure. I don't know what I would call my life. It's all a jumble of memories…of battles…of battle scars…I don't know where my life's story would belong either. In a child's book? No. In an adult novel? I don't think so.

All I know is that whenever I flip the pages of my story, I feel like I want to cry. Every little word, every memory I have of what happened to change my life forever…it just takes over my tear ducts. Somehow. Magically. It just makes those tears want to flow out of my Mako-blue eyes, to flow down those cheeks of mine. And I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to cry.

No, that's wrong. That's not true. I don't not like to cry. I loathe crying. I hate the thought of it. Crying…why cry? If you can do something about your problem, just do it, I used to say, and if you can't, why sit around moaning about it?

That's when my morals were changed.

When I was a little kid, just a wee tyke with messy short blond hair, my mom used to read me a lot of stories. You know the type--the brave guy in shining armor saves the beautiful princess in the tower. Yeah, that type. The fairy-tale, "always have a happy ending" stories. I remember looking up at mom and saying, "Mommy, their lives are so happy. Why is that?"

I remember that vague look in her eyes. "Cloud, in fairy tales…there are always happy endings."

How stupid. If they were going to write stories, they should at least write them realistically. There are no such things as happy endings. Prince Charming should have gotten killed in battle or something before getting back to his princess. Snow White should have died from eating that poisonous apple. Why is it that everyone in a fairy tale gets a second chance to do everything right--and then everything turns out okay in the end?

There are no happy endings.

God, how I wish I were in a fairy tale. I could be the guy in the shining armor…the stupid guy who usually did the wrong things in life. But the guy who was the hero, the guy everyone wanted to be like, the guy everyone admired. The guy who, in the end, always came out unscratched. Why couldn't I be him?

But no, I had to be the guy with the battle scars. The guy who watched blood drip down the end of his sword and know that he caused it. The guy who watched his friends…people more than friends…die in front of his eyes…and not do anything about it. That doesn't happen in fairy tales.

I think I’m cursed. Up until I met Aeris, my whole view on the world had been pessimistic. Just the way I am now. Everything was like a big black hole for me…the search for Sephiroth, the battles with Jenova…they were a distraction in the dank hole that was my life. I knew it, and I somewhat enjoyed the distraction from my bleak life, the life I had lived for 21 years.

I literally fell into Aeris's life. Now that I think about it, my entrance into her life must have been quite a shock to her. I can imagine her, tending to her flowers in the floorboards of the church, when suddenly I come crashing through the ceiling, landing with a thump right on top of her flowers. Geez. Can I be any more subtle? I'm surprised she didn't run right out of the church, screaming at the top of her lungs about bodies falling from the sky.

But that just isn't like Aeris. Thinking about it, now, 3 years later, I realize just how different Aeris was. I should have seen it before…I think I did see it before.

3 years…has it really been that long? Everyone has changed…so much. Everyone but me. I'm still the same. The same Cloud Strife that crashed through the church. I'm supposed to have changed with the rest of my friends. Why didn't I change? Why am I still…alone?

Every single one of my friends has somebody else. It didn't take long for Cid to finally see that Shera was more than just a co-worker, and soon wedding bells were ringing for my old friend. Barret and Elmyra realized there were sparks between them on the fourth of July two years ago, when their hands touched, reaching for the same cup of punch. Even Yuffie and Vincent have realized there is a little more than friendship between them lately. Only Reeve, Nanaki and Tifa and I remain single.

I know inside that Tifa feels something more than friendship for me. I don't feel the same way for her. Barret keeps telling me that I should be one lucky man to have such a beautiful woman in love with me, but I just don't see it. Everyone thinks that Tifa and I should get together…but after all these years with Tifa, I still see nothing more of her than just my friend…my best friend. Can't a guy and a girl have a platonic relationship without romance involved? If I wanted romance with Tifa, I would have said and done something by now…I wouldn't have looked away when she looks at me…giving me those looks over dinner sometimes.

Geez…

I don't think I've ever loved anyone until…well…I know this sounds stupid…and maybe sort of wrong…but until I met Aeris. It wasn't love at first sight, even though I did think she was some sort of angel when I first opened my eyes. It wasn't just her looks I fell in love with, either. They were just the icing on the cake. Aeris was…so special. She didn't hide her feelings from me, and I clumsily tried my best to return them, although I didn't do a great job about it.

One night…after Sephiroth somehow manipulated my own body, pulling strings on my arms like a marionette, I handed him the Black Materia. Stupid, stupid me…After beating myself up about it, even though Aeris and the others reassured me there was nothing I could do from being controlled, I headed to the nearest inn. Everyone went to rest up, to practice fighting moves, or to go to the attached restaurant to get dinner.

I remember sitting in a high-backed wooden chair, across the table from my friends, picking at my food. There was meager conversation, as my friends tried to keep it light and airy, to bring my mind off of my mistake, but I could only relive the incident over and over again. Finally I could stand no more and stalked to my room.

Hours passed and I just watched out of the window…I don't know what I was even looking at…I just remember staring at the same star out there, and thinking to myself what an idiot I was. I must have been an idiot to let our enemy take the most precious thing we had gone such a long way to achieve.

When I could no longer take being cooped up in the same room, I made sure that all of my friends were in their rooms, asleep. Sighing, I had looked out of the window and noticed a light rain beginning to fall. No thunder and lightening had appeared; it was just a dusting of droplets. Happy with the change in the weather, I pulled on my dark blue jacket and made sure my sword was still with me. I walked down the long hallways, my brow furrowed, still reliving the moment stupidly.

It was later than I had thought. The only people in the lobby were some bored looking hotel workers and a lonely janitor sweeping up some dust from a potted plant. I strode past them without a nod, too worked up to say or do anything beyond my control. Pushing open the door, I strode outside, shivering in the change of air. The light rain felt nice on my hair and head…almost like a refreshing shower. I hugged my jacket to my body, just standing there. For a moment I felt total, utter devastation, as if my stomach were dropping out of my body. I wanted to cry…

"Cloud?"

A soft voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned to the right and saw Aeris laying on the wet grass, looking up dreamily at the stars above our heads. The rain was lightly hitting her on the forehead, but she didn't seem to care.

"Hi," I said a bit nervously. I didn't really want her to see me in this condition. But I walked over to her anyway and sat down beside her in the grass, not even minding the moisture on my clothes. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," She lazily answered, not really answering. After a long pause, she adjusted her arms behind her head. "Aren't the stars beautiful? Look…you can see all the constellations…"

"But it's raining," I protested, not bothering to look above us. After all, weren't dark clothes blocking the view from the usually sparkling stars that I saw every night? Even though I had been looking at a star in my bedroom I was sure that the storm clouds had moved in and covered them like a hand over a child's eyes.

"Look at them," She said in a whispery, dreamy voice again. Her eyes didn't seem to move from the skies, so to satisfy her, I lay down on the grass beside her and looked above me, through the light pattering of rain up at the sky. She was right…the sky above us was dark and crystalline…and I could still very well see the stars twinkling like cat's eyes in the dark.

I was stunned. "How…" I said, but Aeris sat up, her eyes shining.

"Shhh," She said, smiling at me.

I looked at her and she looked back at me. For a few seconds we said nothing. I don't remember exactly what was exchanged in our thoughts when we looked at each other, but all I remember thinking was 'I never want this to end.'

An incredibly sad look swept over her face and she looked away from me. I remember that she looked up at the skies one more time. She shook her head and her damp braid swung with the movement. She had such beautiful hair…light brown streaked with blond hair, and her bangs curved around her face. Aeris was one of those people who obviously didn't know how beautiful she was.

"There is so much I want to say to you right now, Cloud," Aeris said, tucking her knees to her chest. Her pink dress swung lightly from her knees. She put her chin on her knees, still not meeting my eyes.

I wondered what she was talking about.

"You're going to wonder why…To leave all this…" Aeris swept a hand out at the heavens and the gorgeous stars. The rain kissed her face and I smiled, though I still had no earthly idea what the world she was talking about. Aeris sometimes didn't make sense until you thought about it later. She was a lot like reading Shakespeare.

We sat there for maybe ten minutes, looking up at the stars. Aeris was really quiet. I thought she went to sleep. But after a little while she spoke up and quietly asked me if I would do her a favor.

Wanting to please her, I said yes.

"Will you…dance with me, Cloud?"

The request was so strange I couldn't believe it. I almost had to ask her to repeat her question. I didn't know why she was asking me to dance with her, out here, in the rain…that was so absurd! But now she was looking at me, her eyes meeting mine, pleading with me, begging. So I silently nodded and we both stood up, not minding the wet grass clinging to our clothes.

Aeris had wrapped her arms around me and I put my arms awkwardly around her waist. She smiled and we both began to sway to invisible music out there, in the rain. I had never danced with a girl like this before…in my whole life. It was a new experience. The rain created a curtain around us, and we could hear crickets chirping and frogs croaking nearby, all creating a symphony for our dance. I had to admit, it was romantic…

She put her head on my shoulder and relaxed, closing her eyes, trusting me to lead, to sway with the music we couldn’t hear. It was at that moment that I realized Aeris…was so much more…She made me see the sky in hues of pink and red instead of the dull gray, she made me see life for it's true beauty. She was…something good for me. As my mother used to say, she was the woman who I knew…I knew I would probably end up spending my life with.

How I knew this all in a matter of minutes, I don't know. All I know is that I had been dancing with her, and she…changed my entire manner, my whole outlook on life around. She turned my thoughts upside and shook my world, turning it inside out. Everything negative I had saw about everybody was now an interesting trait about them. Everything horrible that had happened was now just the beginning of something sure to be wonderful.

We swayed out there for a long time, not talking, not whispering, just holding each other close and swaying in the rain.

Suddenly Aeris whispered something to me, her eyes closed. I had to strain my ears to hear.

"I don't want to leave…"

Her eyes flew open then, and I didn't know what she was talking about. I was soon swimming in a sea of green, her eyes, sucking me in with their love and beauty. I wanted to kiss her, to tell her how I felt, and I knew somehow that she felt the same way about me.

I had only read about these feelings in books or saw them on the movie screens, but to feel them happening to me was a wonderful, blissful experience. I felt joyously happy. I wanted to scream to the world, to do more dancing in the rain. I felt like that prince in the fairy tale…

"Let's go inside now, Cloud," Aeris said, and I could see she was on the verge of tears. She extracted her arms from mine and literally ran inside. Even through the rain I could see the large tear slipping down one side of her cheek. She disappeared through the wooden door of the inn and I found myself wondering what in the world had gone wrong.

I stood outside there, for a moment. Maybe she didn't know how I felt about her. I had to tell her in the morning. Yes, that was it. I would tell her in the morning and she would know just how much I…cared about her. I knew she would return the feelings.

So I slipped into bed and fell asleep. That night I had the strangest dream of Aeris in the Sleeping Forest. She said a lot of things…I…vaguely recall them now. Dreams are hard to remember even the day after, and it has been 3 years. All I recall is her stately standing there, an incredibly heartbroken look on her face. Then she said something I will never forget.

"Let me handle Sephiroth…"

Fool. I was a fool not to come after her sooner. I failed in playing my knight in shining armor role. I was a failure. I had failed Aeris and soon would fail my friends as well.

In the morning, I woke up, combed my hair, changed my clothes, and strode to Aeris's room. I knocked once. No answer. Figuring she was asleep, I knocked again, louder. When she didn't answer, I called her name softly to the door. Finally, just to be sure, I tried to the doorknob. To my surprise, it was open.

I walked inside and found her bed made. I looked around and saw her clothes, her belongings, her staff…all gone.

For a moment I stood there, as I had stood outside in the rain, staring at the wooden wall across the room from me, wanting to cry, as usual, but not finding the right strength to let go and have the tears slip down my face. I don't want to feel that. My heart inside me was screaming, my body was breathing heavily, my mind thinking so many different thoughts at once that I almost physically fainted.

Everything wonderful that I had seen the night before quickly fell back into their usual way of thinking, my dark, black hole of life. My beautiful way of seeing the world turned ugly, twisted, gray again. I felt like I was blind, without Aeris. How could….how could this be? I remember thinking.

As I sank to my knees, in total, utter, hurt shock, I had realized that I had known this was going to happen all along.

Like I said, there are no happy endings.

THE END

Author's Note: Did you find this story confusing? Annoying? Not as touching as the others? Sorry. I was just thinking about the night that Aeris left, and I realized that I wanted to add more to her feelings on how she didn't want to leave. I also wanted to write a story from Cloud's point of view. I didn't have any of those, and I wanted to see exactly what he was thinking J . I hope you liked it, even though it was a little…strange.