-- Connection, via femme --
By: Alexander Bryanson - arcimpluse@yahoo.com

Author's note: I've been wanting to do this fic for awhile now, but never did the right moment appear. This isn't exactly a crossover fic, but - I'll leave that for the reader to decide. Oh, and yeah - I liked Aerith better than Tifa. Sue me, eh?

Well, connection - via, femme.

o/~ the East and the West were waging war...
Draco, the West's great hero,
thinks of his love, Maria.
Is she safe? Is she waiting? o/~

o/~ Oh Maria -- Oh Maria
Please, hear my voice!
How I long to be with you! o/~

The battle was won, but not the war. He glanced toward the black haired fighter, who sat nursing Barret's wounds. He saw in his mind the same sight, repeated many times. No, wait, that girl wore a rose robe, not a black tank top... and her hair waved in the wind... Oh! Aerith, I wish you were still here...

He holds her favorite ribbon in his hand.

o/~ The forces of the West fell,
and Maria's castle was taken.
Prince Ralse, of the East,
took her hand by force,
but she never stopped yearning for Draco. o/~

o/~ Oh my hero, so far away now.
Will I ever see your smile?
Love goes away, like night into day.
It's just a fading dream. o/~

She closed her eyes, and saw the blond haired demi-god she knew from so long ago... it seemed like years since he fell into her life. And she had fallen in love with him. She remembered him, just like he was the day she died. Staring into those big blue eyes, and having them drown out the numb pain caused by the one-winged angel's sword. With her last breath, she engraved that face, the beautiful face that she loved. A million visions of him passed by her in the green twilight of the lifestream. She opened her eyes.

o/~ I'm the darkness, you're the stars.
Our love is brighter than the sun.
For eternity, for me there can be,
Only you, my chosen one... o/~

o/~ Must I forget you? Our solemn promise?
Will autumn take the place of spring?
What shall I do? I'm lost without you.
Speak to me once more! o/~

There he was! At first, she thought it was some trick of the lifestream... some vague shade of her imagination projected through the emerald waters. It was him, the man of her dreams! He sank slowly into the depths. She held him up in her hands.

o/~ Come, Maria. Follow my lead. o/~

Then, a shadow emerged over her. Above her, Tifa sank slowly, running, searching for Cloud. The spectre of Aerith cried, though no tears ever came from a ghost. Reluctantly, she gave up her mako-poisioned love to the bartender.

o/~ ...We must part now, my life goes on.
But my heart won't give you up.
Ere I walk away, let me hear you say
I meant as much to you.... o/~

o/~ So gently, you touched my heart.
I will be forever yours.
Come what may, I won't age a day,
I'll wait for you, always... o/~

Cloud was seething. The physical battle was fierce, yes, but the magical battle was beyond comprehension. Materia blazed, comets fell, spirits raged against one another. The one-winged angel, Sephiroth, son of calamity, fought for time as the blood red stone wounded the land. Cloud knew that too few people would escape Midgard. His sword, the Ultima Weapon, blazed white hot as it sliced through the last illusions of Sephiroth. Tifa lay wounded behind him. Barret, on the floor, out of ammo.

" So this is how it ends, my wraith. You twisted shade of Jenova, Cloud... you will never prevent the wounding of the Planet. "

Cloud said nothing. The rage building within him was enough.

" Ahh.. the time has come. Just as the Paladin Cecil once slew his one shadow, I, Sepiroth of the Cetra, shall slay mine. "

The truth appeared to Cloud in that second. The sword moved through him. He achieved an order of mastery that had never been touched before. Sword and magic moved as one, in a technique whose source could not even be imagined. It was the All-Father of swordskill, the Omnislash.

Finally, Cloud spoke one word:

"Aerith"

-- fin

Author's postlude:
Hope this worked - I liked the idea of combining the opera song with the 2nd & 3rd disk of 7... respond with thoughts or *please* compliments? Thanks :-)

Alexander Bryanson - arcimpluse (note: pluse, not pulse) @ yahoo.com