Aerith's Death

The trees had bark of palest white
That gleamed within the moon's fair light
They towered on beyond my sight
And lit the dark and starless night

My eyes were red, my throat was dry
I swallowed down an anguished cry
My destination was nearby
Beyond the black and hollow sky

Within my arms I held a flower
Whose blood had chilled within the hour
Without her kind and gentle power
My world was broken, empty, sour

Blood pooled from her soft white skin
And flowed from where the sword had been
The scarlet steeped my soul in sin
And crushed my heart and mind within

Though agony had left me blind
The lake was there for me to find
My fate was brutally unkind:
I had to leave her there behind

No words could ease my trampled heart
Her death had torn my world apart
The end had come before the start
It seemed she came just to depart

Her laughter and her joyful grace
The smile always on her face
Had vanished now without a trace
All stolen by death's cold embrace

I wondered in despairing pain
If she had sacrificed in vain
Her eyes like emerald champagne
Were shut in prayer when she was slain

What was it she had tried to do?
What plan had she been clinging to?
Was hope what she'd hoped to renew
Before the blade had ran her through?

I tightly cradled her small frame
Within my mind I spoke her name
My body shook with violent shame
I knew with guilt I was to blame

Into the moonlit lake I stepped
Within my arms my angel slept
I trembled and in silence wept
This fate was too cruel to accept

I wanted this to be a dream
A nightmare or a villain's scheme
But since I could not wake or scream
I carried her into the stream

The water lapped against my waist
I looked at her as my heart raced
She could not ever be replaced
I let her die; I was disgraced

I had to leave her here alone
The bravest girl I'd ever known
The one for whom my love had grown
Although it was not ever shown

She was still lovely to behold
Despite her body turning cold
I longed to voice my love untold
Of passion I'd tried to withhold

With tenderness I stroked her face
Each feature was my own to trace
But once I left this solemn place
She would be lost from my embrace

I knew at last the time had come
And so my arms both weak and numb
Released the girl from Midgar's slum
Whose loss I could not overcome

She sunk into the basin clear
My hope, my light, the one so dear
I watched my true love disappear
Beneath the water's crystal leer

When she had vanished from my view
I felt my whole heart crack in two
My eyes were stricken, glassy, blue
I ached and burned with pain anew

The world was a failing device
That suffered trapped in mankind's vice
And she had gladly paid the price
With her most selfless sacrifice
Her gift rekindled our frail hope
Put victory within our scope
But with her death I could not cope
And spiraled on a downward slope

I lost the one I had lived for
But I would go and fight this war
And in my heart that day I swore
That in death we would meet once more.