very good description of cloud's grief. lovely!

It was interesting and depressing.

Pain and angsting, perfect! Not overwrought, not dragged out, just a glimpse at how a sharp grief took over Cloud's life for a while. Lovely!

Oh man... heartbreaking!

Your characterization of Aeris is perfect, even though it might only exist in the haunting recesses of Cloud's mind. I love it!

The only criticism I have is that some of your metaphors are a bit... inaccessible. What I mean is that you know very specifically what you mean by "A slip of a flowergirl," but as an audience I don't have a very clear idea of what that represents (other than a dress-like undergarment).

On the other hand, some of your other metaphors are brilliant:

"a hard little knot of despair in his chest"

"like so much dead weight and so many sharp edges."

These are great. These are things that everyone can relate to. I guess all you have to do is keep that in mind when you write, and you should be fine.

All in all, though, wonderful fic. As always, I hope to hear more from you, and eventually I'll get off my but and write some stuff, too :).

Keep up the good work!

snif... this is just... so sweet!