I was surrounded by warm blue light; the light of the World, the light of Life. I heard the voices sweep past me, whispering the dreams they had wished for in life. For the very first time, I knew what true peace was.

His presence nearby stirred me from my trance. A short while later, I recognised the others who had come with him. I almost smiled.

/Time,\ I thought. I opened my eyes and saw him stand before me, gazing at me with those serious eyes of his; eyes that reminded me of another. This time, I allowed the smile to show. I saw him open his mouth, as if to say something, only to break off as he glanced upward. His eyes widened in alarm, and I knew that there was no turning back now.

/Holy, hear my prayer...\

And then Cloud pushed me out of the way.

I landed quite heavily on the stone floor with my breath knocked out of me. Blinking my eyes to clear my suddenly blurred vision, I became aware of a voice that cried out. No, not cried. It screamed. I knew whose it was immediately.

Before me stood Sephiroth with Masamune gripped tightly in his hands as he pulled the blade free from Cloud.

Numbness.

/It's not supposed to be like this!\

Sephiroth turned to me, and smiled slowly; his infuriatingly knowing smile. His eyes seemed to glitter with childish glee as he observed me.

I couldn't move.

Tifa was crying out Cloud's name as she practically flew to the podium. She fell beside his poor, dead body with tears streaming down her face. I could only take in the scene quietly; shaking my head as if I could undo it all by denying its reality.

"Foolish!" Sephiroth laughed. "Did he think he could have stopped me with this stupid act?" He shook his head in mirth and turned to me again. "How little these animals know."

Anger rose at his words. It was this anger that allowed me to break free from my shock. I carefully got to my feet, wishing all the while that I didn't shake so much. "They're not animals, Sephiroth," I told him, trying hard to keep my voice from trembling.

"They're not like us, Aeris," he replied, surprisingly gentle. "They deserve to die."

"Sephiroth!" Cid roared as he brandished his lance. "You think you can get away with this? You bastard!"

Sephiroth looked genuinely amused at Cid's words. "Do you seriously think you can stop me? No." He laughed again. "Thanks to this fool's blind heroics," he gestured at Cloud, "your fates are all sealed." He closed his eyes and floated upwards. "This world and all its useless inhabitants will be burnt in the Meteor flame, and Holy will cleanse it of all taint. The Ancients will inherit the newborn world..."

"Shut up!" Tifa shouted at him as she gently lowered Cloud's body to the ground. She stood up stiffly, anger and hatred seemingly flowing from her very being. "Your plans don't mean a damn thing! You killed him, and, by Holy, you will pay!"

"'By Holy'...,"Sephiroth repeated. "How appropriate, Miss Lockhart. But you will never stop me. Because..." He smiled again and flew upwards, faster and faster until we lost sight of him altogether.

And then Jenova fell from the sky to take his place before us.

*****

We gathered around his cold remains, each of us silent. One by one, they stepped forward to say their farewells to the man who led us down this path. One after another, they said their piece, then left. Tifa stood as still as stone through it all, never once taking her eyes off of him. Her silence was the most painful of all to bear.

"Tifa," I whispered.

She turned to me, and looked at me with a stranger's gaze. She said nothing with her voice, but told me all with her eyes. She wanted revenge; she wanted Sephiroth's death, she wanted Jenova's death, she wanted my death... Most of all, she wanted Cloud back.

I couldn't face her accusing stare, and so I turned away and let her be. The numbness had returned and denial was all I had for me.

/It wasn't supposed to be like this!\
 
 

They carried him up the stairs, and took him to the clear, bottomless pool that lay in the midst of the abandoned village. Barret and Cid had solemnly lowered him into the water before stepping back to allow the elements to claim him. Red had howled a haunting wolf-song as Cloud sank out of sight, Yuffie had stood solemnly whilst gripping her shuriken with a death-grip. Vincent remained as unreadable as always, yet he had paused a moment in silence in front of Tifa and I before he made his way from there.

"You gonna be all right, kid?" Barret rumbled to Tifa.

She nodded, tears still falling, but her face was fiercely held in an expressionless mask. Barret had about as much luck talking to her as I had before, so he meekly took her word for it.

"What about you?" he asked me.

I blinked, suprised that he would even think of my welfare. I could only look at him dumbly. It bothered him, for some reason.

He put a heavy hand on my shoulder and squeezed, reassuringly. Leaning in closer, he whispered, "It ain't your fault, Aeris."

I couldn't contain my shuddering then, and the tears flowed freely once more. Even while Barret stammered an apology for making me cry, I shook his hand from me, and ran away. I wanted to be far from this place where my ancestors had lived and died. I didn't care where I would end up, only knowing where I wasn't supposed to be.