#especially when considering aeris being alive. i imagine it would be a bittersweet time for her but i don't want to ramble in the tags so

[rosaguard]

“   everywhere  you  are  is  a  place  i  want  to  go .   ”

a meme from a long time ago.

           the concept of home has always been strange to her. could a home be multiple places, people, and things all at once, each one important in their own unique way? could a home be all the places you’ve been, a small part of yourself always left behind once you leave? was her home still the one she had been born in nearly twenty-three years ago; the one that now sat empty and abandoned? for all the years she spent being ‘free’ of shinra, had the little girl that had spent countless birthdays alone in a windowless cell left that place entirely? ( she hadn’t unfortunately ). could her home still be the house and the memories she shared in sector five with her mom ⏤ even if the former was now buried completely beneath the ruins of the plate?

            ❛ i don’t...really know where to go from here. ’ aeris admits the words in a whisper as she looks upon the church that somehow still stood amidst the ruins of meteor’s wrath. it hadn’t been too long ago that the man beside her had come crashing through its roof and nearly fell on top of her, unknowingly changing the course of both their lives forever. it’s the sound of his voice that pulls her away from thoughts of the past and into the present. everywhere you are is a place i want to go. he’s not looking at her as she turns to glance up at him; mako eyes having shyly drifted down towards his boots while he waits for her to respond and her mind races with questions.

                      what if i have no idea where i want to go?

                                                                 what if i just want to be with you?

                 what if you get tired of me?

                                                              what if you leave me too? 

            almost unconsciously, her hand finds itself latching onto one of his and the action causes him to slowly lift his eyes to meet hers in understanding. a part of her wonders if this is the first time they’re truly seeing each other now that neither one of them were putting on a facade ⏤ intentional or not. cloud wasn’t just the ex-soldier that reminded her of another or the cocky, standoffish stranger with something hidden beneath the surface that she could never quite reach. instead, he was a shy, somewhat awkward, and occasionally dorky man ( aeris would never forget the day she heard him utter the words ‘let’s mosey’ ) who carried hurt she could never possibly understand.

          she wonders what he sees when he looks at her now that her own mask has begun to crack from the weight of her burdens. did he see her as the same flower peddler he had met all those nights before? sarcastic, bold, and a little too curious, a little too pushy, for her own good? or did he now see her as the last ancient chasing a legacy she still wasn’t even sure she wanted to inherent? could he tell that she felt lost and directionless? did he feel the same? aeris didn’t know the answer but she did know that whatever he saw in her now, he didn’t care. he still wanted to be by her side anyway.

         ❛ c’mon on cloud, let’s go. ’ a small smile spread across her face as she started to pull him in the direction the others were in, ignoring his mild complaining as she did so. while she walked hand in hand with cloud, aeris thoughts drifted back to the past once more: speak with the planet and find your promised land. those had been her mother’s words to her as a child, words she still didn’t fully understand even as an adult. aeris didn’t know what the promised land ‘was’ nor was she sure what home meant to her...but she did like the thought of discovering the answers with cloud by her side.