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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
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Chapter 80: When There's a Will
MONDAY
FOUR DAYS PRIOR TO METEORFALL
Aerith sat on the sofa, at her computer and in her pajamas. It was six in the morning, but she could hardly sleep. She was engaged to Cloud. It was something she loved thinking about, and something she loved to whisper to herself. She kept glancing at her engagement ring; now she knew where he had gone while she was taking a nap. It was a beautiful ring; he had done an incredible job.
It really happened, she thought. It was long overdue.
Aerith was searching the internet for possible honeymoon destinations. It was difficult, as they practically lived in one. She had spent her childhood and adolescence in Midgar, so that was off the list. There was Wutai, but her last couple of experiences there were anything but pleasant. Finally, she even thought of Costa del Luna, but she realized that she only wanted Cloud, not an entire group of strangers, to see her naked.
Aerith then began to search for wedding dresses. She quickly found an endless online closet of dresses to choose from. There were ones with long sleeves, ones with short sleeves, ones with straps, and strapless ones. She was strongly leaning towards strapless; she wanted to look as young and as beautiful as possible. She sighed as she realized that she would need to find time to sneak away and try the dress on.
She then searched for honeymoon tee shirts. She found one that read "Wifey." Another read "Honeymoon Vibes." Still another read "I Said Yes!" with a big ring on it. Aerith suddenly got a wicked grin on her face. She typed in "bridal panties." She saw one that read "Same Penis Forever" and another one that she could customize. She typed in "Mrs. Strife." She liked the results, since she had already decided that she would be wearing the bridal tee shirts and "Mrs. Strife" panties around their hotel room; pants would only be for going out or the extremely unlikely event that they had company.
Aerith suddenly began to hear footsteps, causing her to quickly x out of the open pages. She then deleted the history; she wanted everything, aside from the honeymoon location, to be a surprise.
A moment later, Cloud appeared in the parlor.
"Good morning, fiancé!" Aerith happily greeted as she stood up and tiptoed over to him, planting a kiss on his mouth.
"Morning," he groaned; he had just awoken.
She then turned her attention to her ring again.
"You really did an incredible job," she complimented.
Cloud began to smile. And then, just as quickly, the smile abruptly faded.
"Shit," he muttered groggily. "I just realized."
"Everything okay?" she asked out of concern.
He shook his head. He felt stupid for not realizing it earlier.
"We're in so much trouble," he replied.
"Cloud, what's wrong?!" she exclaimed, with an alarmed look on her face.
MEANWHILE...
Barret and Jessie sat alone on the bridge of the Highwind. Both were passing the time, awaiting to hear news of an invasion of the Northern Crater. They constantly checked their cell phones, and soon became aware of Aerith's social media updates.
"I don't believe it," Barret muttered in a neutral tone of voice. "He actually did it. He popped the question. And I didn't even expect them to last."
"Good for him," Jessie sighed sarcastically before slapping her knee. She was certainly less than pleased.
"What's wrong?" he asked, despite being able to figure the answer for himself. It seemed as if she felt the same way about the situation as he did.
"I kind of liked Cloud at first," Jessie replied.
Barret, in surprise, folded his arms. That was not something he had seen coming.
"And when were yo' gonna tell me that?" he laughed.
"I'm not finished!" Jessie insisted. "There was a reason I didn't flirt with him."
"I caught yo' flirtin' with him," he said.
"Okay, not that much," she corrected herself. "But there was a reason for that."
"Tell me," Barret commended, despite already being able to figure that answer out as well.
"Those two belong together," she said. "Cloud and Tifa. Didn't you notice how Tifa changed when we found him at the station?"
He nodded.
"They were best friends growing up," he said. "It seemed right for them to be together all their lives."
"Tifa told me everything," Jessie continued. "How they grew up together. How he help her prove her dad was cheating on her mom. How they made their promise at the well."
"They were the best of friends," he repeated. "And when one's a boy and one's a girl..."
"Do you know why they never got together?" she asked.
Barret cleared his throat. "Here's the damnedest thing. They did."
"They did?!" she exclaimed.
Barret nodded.
"Cloud and Aerith were inseparable since they met, and stayed that way until she faked her death at the Forgotten Capital. After that, Tifa took care of Cloud while he was grieving. It brought up a hella 'lot of childhood memories. Then, his soul got ripped apart by Sephiroth, and she risked herself to put it back together. They admitted they loved each other, and they were together from then on. It almost look as if he was gonna pop the question to her."
"Then why did they break up?" Jessie asked.
"He found out that Aerith was still alive," he replied. "And he went back to her. They were together first."
"And that was the burden of their breaking up?"
"You bet," he answered.
"That's terrible!" Jessie protested. "Just because Aerith had been with him first?"
"Well," Barret replied, "staying with Tifa wouldn't be fair to Aerith. I mean, Aerith didn't do nothin' wrong. I thought Aerith wasn't really lovin' him, but I was proven wrong."
"But now, Tifa lost him forever," she sighed.
"Whaddya mean?"
"What do I mean?!" snapped Jessie. "Cloud proposed to Aerith! They're getting married! Tifa's lost him! If you ask me, that's totally fucked up!"
Barret remained calm.
"Did they get married?" he asked.
Jessie shook her head.
"No, they got engaged."
"Did they exchange rings?"
"I'm guessing he just gave her an engagement ring," she replied.
"Did they exchange vows?" Barret continued.
Jessie shook her head again. "I doubt they even set a date yet."
"Then Tifa didn't lose dick," he confidentially said. "He could still come around."
She twiddled her fingers.
"You saw him with both women, right?"
Barret nodded.
"Who's better for him?" Jessie asked. "Tifa, or Aerith?
"Tifa," he replied. "By a mile. He told Aerith he was in a test tube for five years, and she cuddled him to his chest."
"That's sweet," she said. "But you said Aerith."
"I know," Barret said. "Guess what Tifa did when he told her the same thing?"
"What?"
"She got him a present for every birthday he had spent in there."
"Did you say anything to him?" she asked.
"It's not my place," Barret answered. "He's gotta come to it on his own. I can't force 'im."
"Maybe Tifa will change his mind," Jessie suggested.
"We haven't got Tifa," he said.
"No, but we may," she said hopefully.
"I will say something if they decide to get married on that altar where she faked her death," Barret said. "That would be creepy."
She lowered her head.
"What's eatin' ya?" he asked.
"I was lust looking at pictures of that altar," Jessie replied.
"And?"
"It doesn't look like anyone ever got married there," she said.
"Whaddya mean?"
"It looks like it was more for...sacrifices."
Barret ran his hand over his beard.
"Come to think of it...when Aerith was prayin' on the altar...Cloud tried to kill 'er."
"What?!" exclaimed Jessie.
"He pulled his sword out and aimed it at 'er," Barret continued. "I thought it was Sephiroth controlling him. But now...maybe it was some thin' else. Somethin' supernatural."
Just then, both Barret and Jessie felt their phones buzz simultaneously. Jessie took a look at hers.
"It's Cloud," she said. "He says to meet for something important on the bridge of the Highwind in one hour."
"This is it," he suggested. "He's going to announce that we're goin' to the Northern Crater."
"Well," Jessie said, "we obviously don't have far to go for the meeting."
"No shit," he said.
"Oh, and Barret?" asked Jessie.
"Yeah?"
"Who's Sephiroth?"
AN HOUR LATER...
Cloud, Aerith, Barret, Jessie, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Vincent stood on the bridge of the Highwind.
"Everyone," Cloud began, "We can't invade the Northern Crater. This still isn't a done deal yet!"
"What now?" demanded Vincent, impatiently. "This has been going on longer than quite a few of us can handle!"
Cloud nodded and decided to spell it out.
"Remember how I told you that more and more of my memories of the original timeline were slowly coming back?"
"How could we forget?" Vincent replied. "Often too late."
"I remember now," Cloud continued, ignoring the insult. "In the original timeline, we didn't just stroll into his foyer."
"Who said we did?" asked Barret.
"You all remember what's covering the Northern Crater, right?" asked Cloud.
The seven of them were silent for a few moments.
"Oh yeah," Barret finally said. "That barrier. Way up there. We've got to get around it, don't we?"
"How did we get past the barrier in the original timeline?" asked Yuffie.
Cloud gave everyone a concerned look.
"It was destroyed," he replied in a grim tone of voice. "By the cannon. In the original timeline, where Junon wasn't destroyed, it was moved to Midgar. But in this timeline, the cannon was destroyed."
There was a terrible silence as they all realized that an event pivotal in saving the world had been erased from history.
"OH NO!" cried Yuffie at the top of her lungs. "WE'RE DOOMED!"
"Hey-hey!" reprimanded Cloud. "Nobody turn off you brain yet! We always figure something out! Now let's think. It was the force from the cannon that removed the barrier. So how can we replicate such a force?"
Everyone momentarily looked at the ceiling. An alternative would certainly be needed.
"An explosion!" Barret suggested.
"So we'll drop bombs on it?" Jessie, who had never seen the barrier, asked.
Cloud shook his head.
"Bombs are too small," he said. "They wouldn't even make a dent in it."
"We might have to sacrifice the Highwind," Vincent suggested.
"I can tell you the cannon produced an explosion five times as powerful as the Highwind," Cait Sith said. "I doubt it would work."
"So we need something that could produce an explosion as powerful as the cannon," Yuffie observed.
"But the only other thing that could do that...the only airship bigger than the Highwind would be the Urchin," Aerith said. "And we destroyed the Urchin."
Everyone was silent. To most of them, it seemed like a hopeless situation.
Fortunately, one of them knew better.
"Not the other one," Cait Sith pointed out.
"What other one?" Aerith asked. "There was only one..." And then, it hit her. "We destroyed the one from the future. You mean the one in the present day, don't you?"
"You got it," Cait Sith said.
Cloud began to laugh.
"I can't believe none of us considered that before!"
It was Yuffie who asked the inevitable question.
"Well, where is it?"
Cait Sith cleared his throat.
"Costa del Sol," he said.
"Costa del Sol?!" Aerith exclaimed. "We've been living over the Urchin the whole time?"
"Not exactly," Cait Sith corrected. "It's resting deep in the ocean offshore. I'll show you the way right now if you need me to."
"Yes, please," Cloud replied enthusiastically. "We sure as hell need you to!"
"Good," said Cait Sith. "I can take you to it right now if you want. We can have the barrier gone by this afternoon." He took a breath. "But, in regards to the Urchin, I need to ask something."
"Shoot," said Cloud.
"Who's going to fly it?"
"Cid!" everyone shouted in unison.
AN HOUR LATER...
"So let me get this straight," Cid began. "We just destroy the barrier with the Urchin? We just fly it into the barrier, it destroys the barrier, we go into the Northern Crater, destroy Sephiroth, and it's done?"
"You got it," Cloud said. "We're on the home stretch. Do we have your word?"
"Of course you do," Cid replied.
"Thank you," Aerith said.
"My word is 'no,'" Cid continued.
"Really?" Aerith sighed.
"Really," Cid insisted. "You just asked me to go on a suicide run. I know you can't just fly it into the barrier; you'll need to blow it up. I may be an asshole, but I'm not stupid."
Cloud and Aerith were seated at the table across from Cid in the latter's Rocket Town home. In the background, Shera could be seen making tea.
"You'll be fine," Aerith insisted. "The Urchin has both an auto-pilot and a self-destruct sequence."
Cid raised his eyebrows.
"How would you know that?" he asked.
"I was there, remember?" Aerith replied.
"True," Cid agreed. "But the thing is, I've kind of built a life since I've been gone."
"You have?" asked Cloud.
"Don't be a smartass," Cid warned. "Even the nastiest people need lives. Shera and I are together now."
"That's great!" Aerith exclaimed. "I knew you two liked each other!"
Shera turned from the counter, and briefly threw Aerith an embarrassed smile.
"And therein lies a lot of the problem," Cid announced. "Not next Sunday, but the following Sunday is a day I'd really like to live to."
"Is that your birthday?" Cloud suggested. He then realized that Cid was glancing at Shera's butt.
"Nope," Cid replied. "It's Shera's. She'll be eighteen. And it's kind of a pain when all we can do is kiss. Seventeen gets you twenty, remember?"
"TMI," Aerith muttered as she folded her arms.
"Well," said Cid, "that's a big reason. I'm lucky someone like her likes and old fart like me."
"How old are you, anyway?" Aerith asked.
"Thirty-two," Cid replied. "That means that when I was fifteen, Shera was only one. If it bothers you, I'm sorry, but if we're both adults, no questions asked by the law."
"Does it bother you?" Aerith asked. "I'm a year and a half older than Cloud, but I couldn't care less. He means everything to me. Who cares if I could've babysat him at one point?"
"It doesn't bother me," Cid replied. "Except the fact that I can go to jail for-"
"Does it bother her?" Aerith interrupted.
"No," Shera answered for him. "Cid, listen," she commanded. "This is to save the world. I need the world, too, you know."
"Here's the deal," Aerith finally began. "If we don't destroy the barrier, we won't get rid of Sephiroth. And if we don't get rid of Sephiroth, Meteor will fall. And if Meteor falls, Shera won't live for her eighteenth birthday. And that means you two will never..."
Cid sighed, and placed his hand on his forehead.
"Fuck it," he grunted. "You win. But under one circumstance."
"Tell me," Aerith commanded.
"You'll need to come with me," Cid announced. "Just so I can be sure of how everything works."
"No problem," Aerith agreed as Cloud's eyebrows raised uncomfortably. "It is to save the world, isn't it?"
"A harmless little girl like you can activate a self-destruct sequence?" Cid asked. "I'm impressed."
"I've gotten a little smarter," Aerith said. "I've learned to work a ship's computer, and, more importantly, keep boys like you out of my pants."
"God, I liked her better before she died!" Cid shouted as he got up and stormed out of the room.
"You gave him hope," Shera said. "Trust me, he appreciates it."
Aerith turned to Cloud and smiled.
"We've got everyone but Tifa and Red XIII," she said. "Let's get them next."
Cloud did not return the smile.
"You sure you'll be okay going there?" he asked.
"Of course," Aerith replied. "After all, only one of us actually died up there."
Cloud sighed, knowing he could not change her mind.
"True to that," he said. "True to that."
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Premonitions: Uncut