A/N: I hope everyone realizes that I was asked to do this. I know I have done this before in Songfic mode, so forgive me for being repetitious, but... eyes friend whose name will not be spoken as I said, I was asked.

Chapter 1

Goodbye

The willowy girl - nay, woman - standing in the doorway of the cottage seemed to be rife with indecision. Behind her the night was reveling in its completeness, the small village full of shadows and darkness. The occasional chirp of a cricket was all that broke the silence.

At the moment, she was pondering a matter, a matter than had flitted in and out of her mind since...since a long time ago, when she had first left the cesspool of corruption that was Midgar. The Planet's cries had gone softer the further she went, and a relief streaked with guilt had came over her that she no longer had to endure the screams of agony in the night, or in the morning, that she never had to reassure her foster-mother that she was alright, and that the reason why she sometimes was a bit weak was not, in fact, because she was sick.

At the thought of Elmyra, an ache stirred in her heart. She wondered how the kind, gentle woman who had acted as her mother, guardian and more for over fifteen years was doing. She would probably be sad, if she knew what Aeris was going to do. But Aeris had to. It was required of her. The Planet had saved her and her mother's lives many times before that final goodbye at the Sector 5 Train Station. She owed a debt to the Planet. She should be grateful. Abruptly she turned around.

And yet, a sharp pain, a quick stab of indefinable emotion lanced through her as she made a movement to leave the small house. Sighing, she paced back in and demurely sat herself onto a wooden chair next to a simple bed. The mattress was covered with a linen sheet, the white cloth sinking slightly under the slender shape of a blond man. The frame of the bed was carved with some local pattern. The man was not tall, nor short - rather, he was somewhere in-between. But you never noticed that height when he was awake. He was just...so full of life. Aeris' eyes took in his face. The features were sharp and clearly defined, and they somehow seemed to convey a mix of strength and delicacy that was undoubtedly masculine. High, fine cheekbones gave the relaxed face a aristocratic look, and long eyelashes drew attention to his arched eyebrows. Creamy, pale skin that never tanned gave him a...pure look. Silky blond spikes framed his face like a halo. He was beautiful.

"Why?" she murmured sadly, reaching forward and brushing a spike away from his face. She giggled softly when it sprung back almost instantly. His hair was apparently as stubborn as the man himself.

But her flash of good humour didn't last long. Her chest constricted as she thought of all the things they would have done...perhaps they would been bound in the holy ties of matrimony?

Now she would never have that chance. A burst of resentment filtered through her.

He had been so much. Her protector, her friend... she had slowly fell in love with him, from the first day she'd met him. The resemblance to Zack was uncanny, but there was something else, something so untouched and fragile and...incredible...

There was so much of him that other people didn't see.

"Aeris..?" a soft mumbling broke through her thoughts. Her heart pounded as she realized what the consequences were if he awoke. She wouldn't be able to resist. She had to leave. "I'm sorry. Don't go..." Sleepy blue eyes appeared in the darkness, a faint glow lighting Cloud's face. Aeris was tugged in by those incredibly crystalline, magnificent eyes like a man pulled towards a siren by her song. It was a coaxing sort of hypnoticism, she thought dazedly. Like a rabbit held by a snake. But this was so much stronger.

"Can you stay here? Please? I'm so sorry..." the melodic cadence of Cloud's voice caught her, and she was held fast by the pleading behind the words, the innocence that she so wished he would show more often. He was sometimes like a child, so full of innocence and beauty. She had no choice but to nod her head, sighing as she once again gave in.

Leaning forward, she lightly touched her lips to his forehead, and whispered, "It's all right, I forgive you. I'll stay here. Go to sleep now." She felt Cloud smile happily, and he sighed contentedly, closing his eyes. The light disappeared, and the night was once again pitch dark, two souls together for the short time they could be.

And in her heart, she thought, 'I'll leave tomorrow.'