I teared up reading this. You portrayed their relationship so beautifully. I love the devotion Cloud shows in continuing to visit the church and Aeris, being Aeris, teases and carries on a cheerful 'one-sided' conversation with him. But her seemingly always optimistic behavior is undercut by the sadness she feels throughout the whole time he's there with her-when she talks to him, touches him, takes note of the changes in his appearance, etc.

I like to think that he can "hear" her, basically because of his reply in the end, but it's faint or it comes and goes. Great job! I'm looking forward to more fics from you about these two. )

This was a wonderful refresher from the depressing stories about Cloud nearly being suicidal because she died. Glad to read from her point of view.

-LoRF

I am dumbfounded how this only has TWO reviews. I just cannot grasp what people are thinking to not boost this to have as many reviews as a fic can have. It was so beautiful and so touching. I started to tear up when Cloud said "not yet". It was just so bittersweet and so sad.

It's so heartwarming to see Cloud never forgetting that place(his promised land, the church) even as an older man, and quite honestly, I don't think he ever will forget her or that place, and I think you captured that perfectly. I felt so sad for Cloud in this, not often do we see this side of Cloud's grief or acceptance... it was just very beautiful and I can see this happening in canon writings.

The ending I thought was so beautiful.

****It seemed as if she had entered his life only to say goodbye, and it hurt her to know that he had touched her life in such a way that an eternity in paradise without him had become a punishment unto itself. She certainly didn't feel like she had found her Promised Land, at least not yet. Perhaps she would not be able to find it until all of the pieces had come together? After all, it was Cloud who said that he would meet her there.****

That paragraph sums up Aerith's own pain so perfectly it's almost unbelievable. Fans usually focus on Cloud's pain, on Cloud's grief or loneliness(as they should since Cloud feels a lot of pain) but so very rarely do we see this bittersweet and lonely side of this tragic love through Aerith's eyes.

Everyone always seems to forget that while Aerith is the one gone she still has to remain in the after life without the one she loves... without her soul mate, and even if you're in that place of happiness you're never truly happy until your missing piece(Cloud) is with you again.

It was very refreshing to see a fic where it delved into Aerith's loneliness and grief about being away from Cloud.

Thank you for writing such a beautiful one shot, it was truly an honor to get to read it.

Very sweet and touching. It was lovely to feel the emotions Aerith felt about Cloud even though it had been so long since she had passed. Especially with how they are both waiting until they could finally meet each other again in the Promised Land. Time will tell as they say. And it was a very touching ending to have Cloud respond to her even though I believe he hadn't heard her or was aware of her presence. Very nice :D

hmm the ending was a bit too quick :(

but i liked it anyways, so sad and so sweet at the same time. good job :)