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Premonitions: Uncut	By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 3901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, and I am not making any money of of this writing.

Chapter List
- 65
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Chapter 66: Dead Woman Walking
Cloud awoke to find himself alone in the bed. The spot where Aerith had been sleeping was now empty. He was used to her getting up before him, but, under the circumstances, he felt concerned for her well-being.
He had no idea where she was. He sat up in bed to see that the bathroom door was wide open, and that the shower was not running. He did not see her outside the open bedroom door, and cloud not hear nor smell anything cooking. One thing was for sure: she was not making breakfast topless again.
The kitchen was, in fact, also empty when he entered it. The stove was switched off, and there was no food on the counter. The table was deserted. It was unusual, as it was quite a lively place with Aerith around.
The dining-room was also empty. They did not eat there anyway, but, at this point, Cloud was seriously beginning to worry. Was she even home? He did not like thinking about the possibility that she had left; it would be a challenge trying to track her down.
Finally, in the next room, he found her. Aerith was pacing around the parlor floor in her tank top and pajama bottoms. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying again, and her hair was a mess.
"Hey," she greeted in a monotone as she noticed him.
"Hey," Cloud greeted back.
Aerith made no attempt to hug nor kiss him.
"Sorry I seem so depressed," she muttered as she made eye contact with him.
"I know what's wrong," Cloud began. "What can I do?"
"Nothing, remember?" she replied. "I'm supposed to be dead." She then resumed pacing.
Cloud sighed. It pained him to see her in such a state. This was certainly not the Aerith he knew.
"I don't believe it," she continued in a broken voice. "I'm supposed to be laying dead at the bottom of a pond."
"Aerith..." Cloud began.
"You can't deny it," she dismissed. She then sat down on the sofa.
Cloud cautiously joined her. He was sorely tempted to put his arm around her and hold her close, but he feared she might snap.
Aerith then noticed a necklace of hers was on the coffee table. Slowly, she picked it up an examined it.
"I certainly shouldn't be wearing this," she muttered. "Maybe I can trade it in for a toe tag."
"That necklace makes you look beautiful," Cloud attempted to reassure her.
"Yeah," Aerith replied sarcastically. "Beautiful as a doornail."
"Just beautiful," he said.
"I shouldn't be here," she sighed. "I shouldn't be sitting on this couch. I shouldn't be living with my boyfriend. I should be decomposing at the the Forgotten Capital."
"But you're not," Cloud pointed out.
She said nothing and began to simply stare off into space.
"You're still here," Cloud continued. "And we're all happy you are."
Aerith continued to sit and stare for a couple of minutes. Finally, she got up.
"Dead woman walking!" she announced.
She then made her way to the bedroom and flopped, face first, onto the bed.
Cloud sat down next to her. He could tell she was crying by the way her head moved. Willing to risk an objection, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You have goosebumps on your arms," he observed, trying in vain to get her mind onto something else.
"How should I keep warm?" asked Aerith in a sarcastic tone of voice as she raised her head, making her tears visible. "A jacket, or a body bag?"
"Aerith..."
"I'm here because of a fluke," she sighed. "A damn fluke!"
Cloud felt heartbroken to see her like this. This was not the upbeat Aerith that he had met in the streets of Midgar. That Aerith was crushed.
And then, he realized that there was something that he needed to tell her. It would be something she could at least relate to.
"So am I," he added.
Aerith looked at him.
"What?" she asked in curiosity.
"I'm also here because of a fluke," he clarified.
Aerith closed her eyes and shook her head. "Sephiroth didn't kill you."
"I wasn't talking about being killed," Cloud said. "I should never have been born."
"Never been born?" she echoed. That was not something she had expected to hear.
"My mom was a big free spirit," he began. "She didn't want any kids. She didn't want to get married, either."
Aerith was silent. She had never asked, nor heard, his complete back story. In fact, she knew virtually nothing about him prior to when he was sixteen.
"Actually," he continued, "she got one of those things. She never married. But she got stuck with me."
Aerith was shocked. "She didn't want you?"
"Not at first," Cloud replied. "She told me how she was hiding someone once, and that a really powerful person came to get them. She basically let him have his way with her in exchange for looking the other way."
"And what happened?" she asked him.
"That's it," he answered. "That's how I was conceived."
Aerith was speechless. She never would have known.
"And that's why I'm here," he said. "If whoever she was hiding had stumbled upon some other house, which was just as easy, I'd never have existed. But, by chance, she picked Claudia Strife's."
"And you're okay with that?" she asked.
"Not really," Cloud replied. "It is what it is. But, for the record, it is true; I did also die once."
"That's right," Aerith said. "I'm sorry. You said you died, too? In the original timeline?"
"We all died," he replied. "Except for Red XIII."
Aerith was about to point out that had not yet happened, but as he was never supposed to have been conceived in the first place, it was a moot point. So she decided to ask him something else.
"Did we fall in love?" Aerith asked.
"It was kind of ambiguous," Cloud replied. "We flirted, but we certainly didn't kiss."
"We never had sex either, did we?" Aerith continued. "You never saw my vagina?"
Cloud shook his head. "No and no."
"Bummer!" Aerith replied, smiling slightly.
"But I like this timeline better," he said.
"Me, too," she agreed. "And I really can't wait until this is all done."
Cloud gently rubbed her back.
"You know," she said, "for a dead chick, I do think of the future a lot."
"Listen," Cloud continued. "Yes, we all died in the future. But it doesn't bother me the least. You know why?"
"Tell me," she requested.
"Because history was changed. The old timeline is gone, as if it never happened. There's lots of people who died in the original timeline who didn't die in this one, and lots of people who died in this timeline who didn't die in the original. You're anything but alone."
Aerith turned to look her love in the eyes.
"Cloud," she said, "I think you're here for a purpose. I know you feel like you were conceived by accident, but you still belong here."
"I think you're here for a purpose, too," Cloud said. "You belong here. Maybe the planet or a higher power decided that your death was a mistake. Who knows?"
Aerith took his hand.
"I thought you didn't believe in that," she said.
"I've learned a lot in my travels," Cloud said. "And I think I've learned humility."
Aerith smiled before pulling him in for a kiss. She then hugged him tightly.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked.
"You made me feel better," she whispered before kissing him on the cheek.
"Want me to make you breakfast?" he asked.
Aerith shook her head. "That's my job. Right now, I just want you to hold me."
Moments later, she fell asleep.
THAT NIGHT...
The two of them awoke in each other's arms at around eleven. They decided to spend the day at the boardwalk, shopping for novelties and playing carnival games.
It had allowed the day to pass swiftly. Now, they were in their pajamas once again. It was a few minutes after midnight, and they were getting ready for bed.
"What now?" Aerith asked.
"We still have Ultima Weapon to deal with," Cloud pointed out. "Once it's out of the way, you'll be able to travel again."
"Will you be okay on your own?" she asked.
"I'll be fine," he assured her.
"You're one incredible boyfriend," Aerith complimented. "I wouldn't be feeling better without you."
"Would you feel even better if I held you?" he suggested as he climbed into bed.
"I want to hold you this time," she said, as she climbed in on her side and clicked off the light.
Cloud turned his back toward Aerith. He soon felt a pair of loving, female arms wrap around him. He then closed his eyes.
"One more thing," Aerith said.
"What's that?" asked Cloud.
"You said I was actually attacked by an avatar made of Jenova cells that Sephiroth was controlling? It wasn't Sephiroth himself?"
"That's right," Cloud replied. "Sort of. It was and it wasn't Sephiroth at the same time. We found his real body much later."
"What happened to it?" she asked.
"The avatar?" he answered. "We destroyed it near the North Pole."
"Good," Aerith said. She then became quiet.
"Anything else on your mind?" Cloud asked.
"You don't think there are any more of these...avatars lurking around the world, do you?"
"I sure hope not," he replied. "I think one did enough damage, as far as I'm concerned."
He had not considered that possibility until she asked. It would make sense; if Sephiroth was having the same premonitions that he was having, it would be a whole different game.
Chances were that he had a plan B.
MEANWHILE...
Sephiroth stepped onto the beach. The cold air greeted his wet body unpleasantly. Looking around, he could see little but a few coniferous trees with snow covering the tops of them.
He was back, and nothing else mattered. He attempted to look for the crater with the barrier that protected his real body, but, as it was dark outside, it was virtually impossible to see.
His will had taken scattered Sephiroth cells and assembled them, resulting in what had just made the trip from Round Island, through the ocean, to here.
His premonitions still came from time to time. He could see it; Cloud had destroyed him. He could also feel that his subsequent efforts to return to the world of the living would fail. He would have to play it differently this time.
"Whoa!" shouted a voice.
Sephiroth turned in surprise.
A man, appearing to be in his fifties, was seated on a snowmobile.
Sephiroth was less than in the mood to greet anyone, so he attempted to ignore him.
"What are you doing out this late?" the man inquired.
Seohiroth decided not to dignify the intruder with a response.
"Excuse me, I asked you a question," the man pressed.
"It does not concern you," Sephiroth replied.
"Wait a minute," the man continued. "You're all wet! You had to have come from the ocean! You could get hypothermia!"
"I assure you," Sephiroth insisted, "I'm fine."
"It doesn't look like it!" the man yelled. "You could freeze to death on a night like this!"
Sephiroth reach back to draw his sword, believing that there was only one way to teach this man the meaning of "no."
But then, he stopped himself. He realized that the man might have what he was looking for. If he did not, he could kill him then.
"I'll come along," said Sephiroth in agreement.
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