Aerith is no longer alive. Her presence is fleeting — pinpricks over skin, a glance just barely within Cloud's periphery, a feeling that's more like a memory. The simple truth is that she has been with him for every step that came after her end. She tries not to crowd him. He doesn't need a voice pulling him to a place he cannot follow, not yet, not when their world still needs a champion.
So, she gives him space. She watches but she doesn't reach for him. After all, she can only spare little moments, she is a whisper in so many places except for two. Dreamwalking, in which she visits for a gentle catch-up, where she's easily thrown out because a sleeping mind is unpredictable. And within the space between life and death, where she's strongest, and where her influence can reshape the world: the Lifestream.
When Cloud suddenly plunges into that vast inbetween, it isn't only his soul that Aerith reaches. In his future, The Lifestream bursts from the crust of the earth and claims him bodily. He is asleep for a journey that takes him against the flow of time.
He needs a purpose. He doesn't say it, but she knows. He still wants to live. Maybe this time... he can find true peace? Even if it means he will be forever changed. Even if he sacrifices part of himself, so that others can live out their story with a little more hope.
Aerith isn't a cruel guardian. She leaves the most obvious shout for him to find. I'M HERE. That golden bloom is unmistakable. Mustering what strength that remains, she delivers her last shout, one that arrives in the form of a ghostly whisper. "Go on." She encourages. Her footfalls leave no trail but she continues to follow him like a shadow.
Elsewhere, Aerith is very much alive. She is carrying out her normal routine — until there's a stir in her flowers. "Huh?" She tilts her head and tries to listen. Eyes wide she suddenly drops to her knees with her ear practically pressing into the soil. What began as a series of too many whispers to decipher threads into one united voice. Hundreds of tones weaving together like the Lifestream's currents. Find safety with the weapon. Usually, she visits the church later. She was going to help out at Fifth Cafe. Instead she finds herself running past with non-stop apologies spilling from her lips, and when she's no longer on the narrow streets she breaks into a full pelt sprint to reach the Church.
She crashes into the heavy doors before shoving them open, panting and a little shaken. "... Hello?!" She calls, despite the feeling that she's the only soul there. Doubling over after another long stretch of silence, still catching her breath, she cracks, breaking out into hesitant laughter at herself. Geez. She spent her whole life outrunning being labelled the weird kid and look at her... chasing after flower whispers...