This is my interpretation and extension of the ending of SquareSoft's
  Final Fantasy VII.  This story evolves closely from the ending FMV sequence
  of the game, so be warned that it contains certain spoilers. Having said
  that, I hope you'll enjoy my first fanfiction.
 
 
 

 
                                           Memory

 
      A rising sun brings warmth across the land as three beasts are racing
  along a valley of rocky terrain.  An unknown beast in red is leading the
  way, followed by two cubs of the same kind.  After running across miles of
  terrain, they climb up a hilly rock formation and arrive at a cliff.  The
  leader of the three beasts halts his advance, waiting for the two little
  cubs to catch up to him.  Soon, all three of them are assembled on the
  cliff, overlooking a fertile land as school of swan flies over them.  The
  two cubs have never seen this scenic view before, as they observe the
  nature with awe, their father, Nanaki, watches with a content heart.
  Remembering a story often told by his father, the elder of the two cubs
  moves closer to Nanaki, and asks, "Father, is that the place where your
  friend saw the destruction of Meteor?"  Nanaki replies with a nod.  The
  other cub speaks, "Dad, but you never tell us story about what happen to
  your friends after the destruction of Meteor, can you tell us now. Huh?"
  Nanaki blinks his eyes, smiles, and replies, "Of course, sons, of
  course.".  He then fixes his eyes toward the reborn Midgar City, as if to
  summon his memories through his gaze of the fertile settlement.  "500
  hundred years ago..." he closes his eyes and continues...
 
 

 
      An intense light blinded everyone on the Highwind.  No one can see
  anything but whiteness for a long moment.  Slowly, the light dims away,
  revealing a dark sky full of stars, and the battered Midgar City.
 
      Sensing the retreat of the intense light, Nanaki opens his eyes,
  "Meteor is gone!" he says in amazement.
 
      The rest of the group opens their eyes to share Nanaki's discovery.
  None of them make further comments, and each of them continues to observe
  the earth beneath them, their faces expressed their amazement.  Moment of
  silence passes unnoticed.
 
      Suddenly, Cloud breaks the silence, "Cid! Let me get off on top of
  Sector 1's plate, now!"
 
      "Are you kidding me?  We can no longer hover, it won't be easy to let
  you get off there.  What do you want to do at Sector 1's plate this time
  of the day anyway?" Cid protests.
 
      Cloud looks at Cid sternly, not saying another word.  Judging by
  Cloud's look, Cid decided that Cloud is determined, shaking his head, he
  says, "Fine! But, like I said, we can no longer hover, so I'll fly low and
  you will have to jump down when I maneuver this baby within several feet
  above the surface. Got it?"
 
      "Got it. I owe you one, Cid!"  Cloud replies, and immediately he
  proceeds toward the side emergency exit door.  Cloud pulls a level to
  loosen up the emergency door and kicks it out of the way.  He looks out,
  pauses, and then turns to face each member on board the Highwind...
 
      "Good luck, buddy."  Cait Sith says as Cloud looks toward him.
 
      Vincent: "See you again, my friend."
 
      Yuffie, feeling extremely airsick at this point, only looks back at
  Cloud helplessly.
 
      Barret replies Cloud with a blank look on his face, as he is again
  confused by Cloud's unexplained and sudden decision.
 
      Nanaki: "Follow your heart, Cloud."
 
      Tifa smiles to suppress her feelings, and nods to Cloud, as if she
  agrees with Cloud.
 
      Cloud acknowledges her gesture, smiles, and once again turns his back
  against his comrades.
 
      "Hey Cloud, after this, I'll land somewhere to the east of Midgar, be
  sure to find us there!"  Cid yells as he pilots the Highwind close to the
  surface of Sector 1's plate.  Without replying, Cloud jumps out of the
  emergency exit door.
 
 

 
      Cloud loses his balance as he lands on a rooftop of a badly damaged
  house.  He rolls off the roof, balances himself in midair, and lands on a
  street in a crouching position.  Cloud stands up and observes his
  surrounding... all that he can find is debris of fallen structures scatters
  everywhere.  He begins to walk around, constantly looking left and right
  to figure out his position on the plate.  The entire place is like an
  abandoned ghost town, no traces living things except Cloud himself is to
  be found.  Cloud remembers that Reeve had ordered everyone on the plate to
  take refuge in the slums.  After awhile, a familiar building appears
  before his eyes, it is the theater where he first met Aeris after his
  first bombing mission with Avalanche.  His heart begins to pound rapidly,
  he feels uncertain and nervous as he looks anxiously toward the theater.
  Suddenly, Cloud notices a familiar figure emerges from the dark alley next
  to the theater.  As the figure slowly reveals itself, Cloud sees a
  familiar face, a well featured, sweet face with a pair of emerald green
  eyes, all belongs to a lady in a pink dress whom he once thought he had
  lost forever.
 
      "Aeris!"  Cloud calls out, his eyes still locked upon Aeris'.
 
      "Cloud!"  Aeris replies, her voice filled with joy.
 
      They run forward and embrace each other with emotions that words could
  not describe...
 
      "Aeris, I thought I will never be able to see you again."  Cloud
  whispers softly at Aeris' ear, his eyes filled with tears of joy.  "There
  are so many things that I wanted to tell you, Aeris.  I feel so guilty for
  not being able to protect you at the altar, I..."
 
      "Don't..." Aeris interrupts softly, resting her head on Cloud's
  shoulder, "Don't blame yourself, Cloud.  You weren't truly yourself back
  then, Sephiroth was manipulating you."
 
      "I promise. I will never let anyone harm you again."  Cloud says with
  determination, still holding Aeris tightly, yet gently, as if he is afraid
  of losing her again, "I love you, Aeris."
 
      Aeris raises her head and looks into Cloud eyes, "I love you too,
  Cloud."
 
      "Will you marry me?"  Cloud feels that he finally have the strength to
  speak out what has been hidden on the bottom of his heart.
 
      Pleasantly surprised by Cloud's proposal, Aeris smiles and answers
  shyly, "I will."
 
      The couple stares at each other for a moment, then engage in a long
  kiss...
 
 

 
      "Boys and girls, fasten your seat belt!" Cid yells as he is about to
  land the Highwind on a rough surface.
 
      "There ain't no seat belt on this piece of shit!"  Barret complains.

      Before everyone else has a chance to say a thing, the aircraft touches
  down and begin to shake violently.
 
                                  . . .
 
      The landing was not a smooth one, but nonetheless Cid managed to land
  Highwind in one piece.  "This is what I call a perfect landing!" Cid
  assures himself.
 
      Tifa, Barret, Vincent and the rest of the party get up from the floor.
 
      "Thanks a lot, Cid!"  Yuffie says sarcastically.
 
      Cid replies with a smile, pulls out a cigarette and lights it up.
  Tifa get herself out of Highwind, walks a few paces away from the
  aircraft, and fixes her eyes at the nearly demolished Midgar City.  Her
  eyes well with tears, she is still thinking about Cloud.  She wants to
  cry, yet she feels so content and correct with her decision, instead, she
  smiles.
 
      "Are you alright, girl?" Barret asks as he approaches Tifa from
  behind.
 
      "I... I'm alright." Tifa turns around, "Thanks for asking."
 
      "What the heck do you think he's doing anyway?"  Barret asks with a
  confused look.
 
      "He's looking for someone..." Tifa answers calmly.
 
      "You don't mean he's looking for..." Barret inquires, more confused.
 
      "Aeris."  Tifa closes her eyes, remembering something that Cloud told
  her back in the Northern Crater, "Cloud told me that he can meet her
  there."
 
      The rest of the party had came out of Highwind, and overheard the
  conversation between Tifa and Barret.
 
      "You must really love him to let him go." Nanaki says to Tifa.
 
      "Love is also about sacrifices and forgiveness." Vincent utters.
 
      "Look over there!" Suddenly, Yuffie points her finger into the
  darkness.
 
      Everyone immediately look at the direction where Yuffie is pointing.
  They see Cloud and Aeris, holding each other's hand, are walking toward
  them.  The look of amazement and joy fill everyone's face as they wait for
  their friends to approach them.  Tifa decides to walk ahead to greet the
  loving couple.
 
      "I'm glad to see you again!" Tifa says to Aeris as she approaches
  them.
 
      "Same here, Tifa." Aeris replies with sincerity.
 
      Tifa stops and gives Cloud a hug.  Cloud kisses her forehead in
  return.  Tifa smiles, "Cloud, make sure you don't lose Aeris again."
 
      "You can bet on that, Tifa." Cloud replies with a smile, "Thanks."
 
      Tifa turn toward Aeris, without saying a word, they hug each other.
  "Promise me that you'll take care of Cloud."  Tifa requests.
 
       "I promise." Aeris nods to Tifa.

       "You begin to sound like my mom now, Tifa" Cloud says jokingly.

       The trio breaks into a brief laughter.  They have never been this
  happy together before.  "Let's go meet the rest of our friends. Shall
  we?" Aeris says as she recovers from her laugh.

                                  . . .
 
      "Hi! Nice to see all of you again!" Aeris waives her hand at the gang
  as she comes near them.
 
      "I'm glad that you're back with us again." Nanaki speaks.
 
      "Yeah! Me too!" Both Yuffie and Cait Sith say at once.
 
      Vincent nods in agreement.
 
      "I'm so happy to see you again!" Barret says with joy, but still
  doubting his own eyes, wondering if what he is seeing is indeed true.
 
      "Pardon me for asking." Being a science guy, Cid could not resist
  asking, "How did you come back to life?"
 
      Everyone looks at Cid, then turns their face toward Aeris with
  curiosity.
 
      "It was a gift" Aeris explains, "A gift given to me by the planet
  after the destruction of Meteor."
 
      "A gift indeed." Cid comments, "A gift for all of us..."

      Everyone is silence again, savoring the special moment of being
  with each other together...

      "Let's party!" Yuffie suggests suddenly.

      "Sure!" Everyone agrees.
 
                                  . . .
 
 

 
      "A few days later, Cloud and Aeris got married.  They decided to hold
  their wedding ceremony at the church in Sector 5's slum.  After that, they
  moved to live a quiet life together at Costa Del Sol.  Cid eventually
  married Shera, and worked on a new space project together with his wife.
  Barret moved back to Corel, and invited Elmyra to live with him and Marlene.
  Yuffie went back to Wutai, along with bags of materia that we promised to
  give her.  Cait Sith, no, Reeve became the mayor of Midgar City.  He
  directed a rebuilding plan for Midgar, a plan that did not include the
  rebuilding of Mako Generators.  Several years later, Vincent and Tifa found
  true love in each other, and got married..." Nanaki slowly opens his eyes.
  Darkness has taken over the land; however, a sky full of stars provided
  ample light source for the surrounding to be noticeable.  The two young
  cubs have fallen asleep.  Nanaki sighs, his memory about his friends causes
  him to feel lonely for the moment.  At this point, another creature
  approaches and sits right next to him.  "My dear." the new comer greets
  Nanaki as she rubs her head on Nanaki's neck.  Noticing how peacefully the
  two young cubs are asleep, "Did you just tell a story about your past to
  our kids again?" she asks playfully.  Nanaki simply nods, and smiles at
  her.  He is not alone after all.
 
 

Copyright © 1998, Yen-Yit Chan.

Final Fantasy and SquareSoft are registered trademarks of Square Co., Ltd.