"If Wishes Were To Be"
By Dyne

Chapter Two - Evidence Of a Granted Wish

Cloud Strife was riding to Midgar just to visit Barret; the two men hadn't seen each other in quite a while. Cloud was sick of Nibelheim's restoration for the time being and decided to see his friends.
He was still a good twenty minutes from Midgar and decided to halt his gold chocobo, Cyrus, for a rest. "All right," Cloud said, "We'll take a rest here and go the last few miles in ten minutes."
Cyrus was grateful for the break and replied with a "Wark!"
While Cyrus was getting some water out of the nearby river, Cloud walked a few feet towards the ocean and watched the waves rolling in onto the beach. Cloud envisioned Aeris sitting on the sand, watching the same waves, but his mind reentered reality and the image scattered. Cloud sighed and knew that his wish would be impossible to come true, but he did truly love Aeris. "Ready to go, Cyrus?" he asked. Cyrus complied and Cloud rode the last few miles to the city.
The entire city of Midgar had changed completely since Reeve took over as head of the corporation, and even Mayor Domino was known throughout the sectors. Cloud didn't have to use the key he and his party found in Bone Village, as the door was already open and that made the city seem more open in itself already.
Cloud had a conditioned reflex to enter the Sector Five church anytime he passed, just hoping to see her… but as it had always been for almost a year, it was empty save for the flowers that had lost all reason to live since their caretaker had passed away. Even though Cloud knew that he would see nothing, he sighed and walked the rest of the way to Elmyra's house, leading Cyrus along with him.
Cloud took a deep breath and enjoyed how fresh the air in the city had become since the upper plate had been removed, but even that had its drawbacks since the people who lived up there had to move to the lower sectors. But Reeve never wanted to have the Sector Seven Plate Disaster, as it was known now, happen to other sectors.
A few minutes later Cloud finally reached the house where his life had taken another turn. Barret was waiting for him at the door.
"Yo Cloud!" he shouted, and slapped Cloud on the back enough for him to get knocked over. "How ya' doin', foo'!?"
"Low and slightly to the left," Cloud replied and got up. "Has Mr. T sued you yet for stealing his methods?"
"Who the hell is Mr. T?!"
"I don't know, just something I've got a feeling about."
"You always had crap goin' in on you head."
"Very funny."
"Come in, Marlene's been askin' to see ya."
The two men entered Aeris' former house and, as always, Cloud was immediately filled with memories over the one he loved. Cloud apparently was only thinking of her, but his mind returned from Cloud Nine as Elmyra and Marlene came downstairs.
"Hello, Cloud," Elmyra said. "Welcome back to Midgar."
"Hi Cloud!" Marlene rushed over to him and immediately hugged him.
"Thanks," Cloud said, to answer both of them. "It's good to be here, but unfortunately I can't stay for too long."
"That's too bad," Elmyra said. "But while you're here, have some coffee. You and Barret can catch up on things."
"Catch up?" Barret asked. "We gonna talk about what we wanna do next! We're kinda tired of the whole…" He noticed Marlene. "Uh… business behind dat foo', Sephiroth!"
"Well, do you boys do whatever you'd like," Elmyra said, and turned to Marlene. "Come with me, Marlene."
Marlene finally let go of Cloud. "Yes, Auntie." And they headed back upstairs.

Cloud and Barret talked for much longer than either one expected. They discussed the plans they both held for the future. Cloud said that once Nibelheim was fully restored and repopulated, he would pay a visit to Zack's parents and tell them what had happened to their son. Barret told Cloud about he was going to help Reeve with Midgar some more, and once he could, he would take Marlene to the Gold Saucer. After this Barret made a mistake (in Cloud's opinion). He asked Cloud about Aeris.
"Yo Cloud," he asked, "I gotta ask you. Do you still miss Aeris?"
The question utterly shocked Cloud. "W-well," he lied, "she was completely out of my mind before you brought up the subject."
"You a liar, Cloud," Barret teased. "Da whole time you was here I could see your mind was elsewhere, an' I easily figured out where."
"All right! All right! You caught me!" Cloud sighed, "I still love her, Barret. For some reason I believe that every time I enter the church she'll be there."
"I know how ya feel," Barret said, "I felt the same way after I lost my wife. C'mon, let's go to the church now. After our battle against that bastard, Sephiroth, I've come to believe that wishes do come true, after a while."
"I dunno." Cloud sighed again, "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. But I still feel guilty on how it was my fault!"
"It wasn't your fault! Sephiroth was screwin' with your mind."
"I still don't see it that way! I couldn't help her when she needed me, dammit! I promised to always be with her, I…" Cloud realised what he just said. "Let's go."
The two men quickly walked back through Sector Five and shortly reached the church.
"I told you, Barret," Cloud said, "nothing here."
"Hmm… maybe it's jes not the right time."
"Or maybe this is one wish that can't be granted," Cloud said, mocking Barret. But Cloud then glanced at the flowers. "Wait a minute, do you notice something about the flowers?"
"Yeah," Barret said, staring at the flowers, "They look different."
Little did the two know that Cloud's wish has been granted: the flowers of the Sector Five church were blooming once again, for they knew that their caretaker was alive.