It was finally over. With the help of his friends, Cloud Strife had defeated Sephiroth and put a stop to Meteor. But at what
cost?

Midgar had been almost utterly destroyed by the energy waves seething from the hated rock. Midgar was perhaps a small price
too pay for the world. Luckily, Reeve had escorted many of the townspeople to safety.

The majority however had not been so fortunate. As Cloud sauntered down the old decrepit streets he had at one time called
home, he glimpsed many of the ravaged bodies that were not removed by the cleanup crew. As he entered what may have
been the Sector 5 slums, he gasped.

That shouldn’t be here, he thought to himself. Nevertheless, it was.

The Sector 5 church seemed on the verge of collapse even before Meteor descended, but yet, it was one of the only buildings
left. Seeing it gave him a pang. A hope filled him, although every string of logic told him that it could not be so.

He opened the door and caught a glimpse of pink. His heart nearly stopped. Then his eyes adjusted and he realized it was just
the field of flowers, a trick of the eye. He knew it could never be…her.

He knelt beside the flowerbed. He ran his hand along some of the broken flowers. A sense of overwhelming guilt came over
him. This was where they had first met.

No, he thought again. The first time we ‘met’ was after we had blown up the Number One reactor. He’d bought a flower
from her, at the time only trying to cover up the fact that he was a terrorist.

He stood, his knees felt weak. Tear droplets spattered on the flowers. All of that was before he had found himself. He was:

“Cloud Strife, a boon to all that trust me, Zack, my parents, even Sephiroth, and…” he paused, then looked up at the altar,
“you, Aeris.”

He turned away from the altar, gathered himself, and exited.

To Chapter 1