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It was cold, the labs always were. Perfectly sterile with all the little tools laid out for the scientists to pick and prod at Aerith and her mother. These dreams didn't come as often as they used to when they first escaped the Shinra building, but they were still troubling.
The dreams took a usual path. Aerith is picked apart by scientists, relives her mother's death, and reexperiences her isolation from others when she was younger. It's never pleasant, but she manages, never telling Elmyra about them. This time however, they took a different turn. Aerith dreamt of the future. Of her companions, Cloud, Barret, Tifa…oh Tifa. Aerith dreams of living a peaceful life with her new partner, in a cute little cottage in a forest that looks all too familiar. Being able to wake up in Tifa's arms was a dream Aerith hoped to live out before her inevitable meeting with the Lifestream.
The cottage fades away and melds into a city of glass and water. Aerith has seen visions of this place before, although they were brief. She's never been here, but she knows it's important. She jumps across the pillars to make her way to the altar and feels a tingling sensation in her stomach. It's been getting increasingly harder to accept her fate when the vision first came to her as time went on.
Aerith's legs moved on their own, making their way up the stairs before they gave out and she dropped to her knees, hands clasped in the familiar prayer.
It broke Aerith's heart seeing none of her friends here for her, but as soon as she felt that thought, guilt immediately washed over it. Aerith felt selfish to want to be surrounded by her closest friends before death, knowing how badly such an event would affect them all, let alone being there to witness it. But how much better would it be for her only comfort to be a sword in her gut and the stench of Jenova attacking her senses? Aerith didn't know the answer.
She waited, glancing up towards the ceiling, waiting for the speck of black and silver to make its descent to end the last of the Cetra bloodline. Her world was enveloped in a never ending darkness.
Aerith stared out into the void. Green eyes stared back.
Drenched in sweat, Aerith shot up out of her bed. Panting heavily, she looked around her room, trying to remember what she's done today in an attempt to ground herself. She invited Tifa over to stay at her place. She's in her pajamas, not her usual red and pink attire. Her bow and her mother's special materia are sitting snugly on her braid, nothing fell out. The tingling in her gut was persistent but she's unharmed. There's no sword, no Jenova, no silver or black, and her girlfriend was sleeping soundly in the other room. Aerith hadn't realized she'd been crying.
Taking a few slower, shakier breaths, Aerith got off of her bed and made her way to the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face in an attempt to calm down, ignoring how puffy her eyes were. Making her way back to her room, she peeled off the sweat covered pajamas and put on a fresh set, checking herself front to back to make sure there really was no stab wound. The tingling continued anyway.
Aerith wanted to go see Tifa, to spill everything about her visions, the future, what was going to happen with them and the planet, even if it was in a state of sobs and whimpers. If she was going to tell anyone about her knowledge, it'd be her girlfriend.
Aerith raised a shaky hand, about to knock on Tifa's door before pulling back and chastising herself. This is wrong, why would you go out and bother her like this? Especially in the middle of the night when you both should be sleeping. It can wait till morning, Tifa already helps you with enough as is, why add one more thing on her plate?
Pushing her thoughts down, Aerith tries again before pulling away a second time. She'd hate you for this, always running to her when your problems flare up at the drop of a hat. Don't you worry that this'll be the last straw and she'll leave you for it?
Aerith felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, she could wake up Tifa now and possibly deal with her being upset at being both woken up and having to deal with Aerith's problems again. On the other hand, Aerith could go to sleep now and prolong her negative feelings into the morning where Tifa will inevitably notice something's up.
Grabbing a dry, fuzzy blanket and sucking in a deep breath, Aerith gave Tifa's door a soft knock. When that didn't get her any response, she cracked it open.
Tifa wasn't the heaviest sleeper so she stirred a bit as Aerith made her way over to her bed, waking up as Aerith knelt down and slowly let her hand travel up and down Tifa's arm. It's a soothing gesture, meant to wake her up without any panic.
Tifa slowly blinked her eyes open as she began to wake up, knowing the familiar touch of Aerith, letting her wake up easily.
"Hey, Aerith, what's—are you alright? What happened?" Tifa looked up and noticed Aerith shaking, clutching onto her blanket with tears in eyes, being shown from the faint light of the outside hallway.
Aerith couldn't get a word out before collapsing on the side of Tifa's bed, the sheets and covers muffling her sobs. Tifa immediately sprung into action, lifting Aerith from the floor and bringing her onto her bed in a tight hug, giving Aerith time to let her emotions out. Tifa rubbed circles into Aerith's back, which unfortunately had Aerith crying even harder than she already was. Tifa moved her hand from her back and placed it on Aerith's upper arm, rubbing there instead, while keeping her other arm wrapped around her waist.
It took 15 minutes for Aerith's crying to start dissipating into hitches of breath and quiet sniffing. Tifa was there for her the whole way as her breathing evened out.
After another 5 minutes, Tifa asked again, "What happened, Aerith?"
A couple moments pass before she responds. "Y'know how I used to have those dreams about the Shinra labs?"
"Yeah, did the usual happen again?"
"Well yeah but...there was more this time around. It started out pretty nicely actually," Aerith gave Tifa a smile, "We both owned a little cottage in a really beautiful forest. I can't remember how it looked since I woke up but it felt like everything I ever wanted."
Tifa giggled, "Away from the boys I'd assume?"
"Not completely far away but something like that."
Aerith felt lighter already, feeling a little stupid that she worried Tifa so much without having gotten to the main stressor of her dream.
"What happened after that?" Tifa asked.
Tifa could feel the tense of Aerith's body pressed against her and knew it really hadn't been good. She's seen Aerith in distress, but this was on a whole other level of what she's seen up to this point.
"It all went away in the blink of an eye. I was at this really familiar place, a water and glass sort of city. I've seen it briefly before in other dreams but never thought anything about it until then. My legs grew minds of their own and guided me to this altar thing. They gave out and no one was around, I was so scared." Aerith's voice began to waver again. "There was black and silver when I looked up and suddenly everything went dark, and all I saw were these creepy green eyes looking at me until I woke up."
Aerith started crying again, as Tifa tensed up from the familiar mention of silver, black, and green. She moved a hand towards Aerith's face, wiping away the fresh tears. She paused before taking a small breath and spoke.
"I've already lost so much to him. I'm not gonna let him take you away too. I know it was just a dream but I want you to know I promise that, Aerith."
Aerith smiled weakly at Tifa's statement. She knows she means well but knows Tifa can't bend destiny to stop Aerith's fate. Maybe Tifa wouldn't be able to save her, but as long as she saw her in her final moments, Aerith would feel at peace with herself.
Tifa spoke up again. "You're still tense. Is there something else on your mind or is the dream still leaving you shaken up?"
"I...I was feeling a bit like, y'know...I was feeling a bit afraid? To come wake you up in the middle of the night like this. I thought you would've been upset or mad about it."
"Aerith, c'mon, don't be silly. Why do you think I'd be mad that you were reaching out?"
"Because I do it so often, Tifa! It's been such a long time since I left Shinra and I'm still letting it affect me to this day. I feel so bad talking about it because I feel I should be over it by now and I'm still not." Aerith turns her back to Tifa. "I don't want to be a burden to you with my problems," she whispers.
"Aerith…" Tifa wraps both arms around her. "First of all, you're not, and will never be a burden to me. I don't care how many times I'll have to say it again, you're not a burden to me, or to anyone else in your life. Whenever you need anything, you can talk to me or anyone else in our group. We're here for you and we love you, I promise."
Many emotions flooded Aerith's head. Relief and safety, but also guilt and shame when such reassurance from Tifa came without hesitation. Tifa does love and care about Aerith, and she feels like an idiot for being able to convince herself otherwise.
"I know opening up is hard, it's scary and makes you extremely vulnerable, but I'd rather us have nights like this rather than you trying to tackle it alone. Please don't be afraid of talking to me."
Gaia, it was practically impossible for Aerith to say anything. Her throat felt dry and tight, her eyes were burning with new tears that Tifa wiped away, and she was beginning to sweat again.
She laid back and rested her head on Tifa's chest and choked out an, "I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing you have to be sorry for, you're alright," Tifa replied, rubbing a hand on her shoulder.
Moments passed in silence.
"Thank you for listening to me tonight."
"Thank you for waking me up so I could."
Aerith curled in towards her partner. "I love you, Tifa."
Tifa pressed a soft kiss on Aerith's head. "I love you too."
Despite dawn rapidly approaching, both women slept in that morning, safe in each other's embrace.