Final Fantasy Oneshots and Drabbles

A Flower to Forget: FFVII

It started simply enough. When Aerith awoke, she found a white acacia petal next to her head. "Where did you come from?" She whispered, stroking the little plant with her thumb. There was the tiniest bit of blood on it, which she ignored.

"Aerith?" It was Cloud, kneeling down next to her. "You okay?" She nodded and pocketed the strange plant. "I'm fine. Shouldn't you be resting after the fight with those Shinra grunts last night?" He grumbled, and crossed his arms. "Just because I fought in a tuxedo doesn't mean I need to rest."

Aerith laughed a little, trying to hide the thoughts running through her head. "Well, I was in a dress, Mister. Stop complaining." She punched him on the arm before he could respond. "Go check on Tifa. I healed her shoulder but it could still be hurt. Not to mention, she was fighting in a dress as well."

Cloud grumbled good-naturedly, and walked away, leaving Aerith to her thoughts, which were all about the ball, and the man she had danced with. Sephiroth. She pondered, feeling something scratchy in her throat. What did he want with me?

The man had only been cruel, heartless, and cold to everyone around her, but to her, he was almost the opposite. It was genuinely confusing her, and she didn't know what to think. Aerith coughed suddenly, the scratching feeling in her throat overwhelming her, and when she removed her hand, a new petal had appeared.

A zinnia? The bright pink petal glimmered in the morning light, and she placed it next to the acacia. There must be a reason for this. Aerith shook her head, and pocketed the flowers. She'd figure this out later.

After all, she was a florist. Floriography was basically her job.

***

As the group traveled, and throughout the next few weeks, the petals continued to appear, soon escalating from petals to full blown flowers. At first it was only the acacias, the zinnias strangely absent, but soon gardenias joined the strange bouquet.

Soon, it got to the point where the flowers began to hurt her, and Aerith knew she had to do something. She had the group stop at a library in a town, and found a book on florigraphy.

That came to now, where Aerith flipped through the small book, looking for answers, but found only two words: "secret love." How odd. She thought to herself, drumming her fingers on the ground of the camp.

"Hey, Aerith." It was Tifa, the other woman sitting down cross-legged next to her. 'Whatcha doing?" Aerith put the book down and smiled playfully. "My old job." She replied. "Well, more like some light reading on my old job."

Tifa glanced at the book's cover. "The language of flowers, huh?" She questioned. "That sounds interesting." Aerith smiled and nodded, but she was wondering if she should tell Tifa about the flowers.

In the end, she did. "Hey, Tifa?" Aerith asked, her spunky attitude gone. "Can I tell you something? If I tell you this, you can't tell anyone. Not Barret, not Red, and especially not Cloud." Tifa blinked, shocked with the demands but she nodded., grabbing Aerith's arm in comfort. "Of course. You can tell me anything, Aerith."

Aerith took a deep breath, and started. "Remember the ball a few weeks ago? When you and Cloud left to find that Shinra employee, I...danced with Sephiroth." Tifa tried to hold back a gasp, but it didn't work. "Wait, but how? How was he there?" She whispered, trying to keep her voice down.

The only other member in the camp was Cait, and he didn't seem to be listening, so Tifa turned back to Aerith with a stricken look on her face. "How?" She whispered again.

Aerith shook her head, and felt the familiar scratchy feeling in her throat. "I don't know. He vanished when the soldiers arrived. And we haven't seen him since." Tifa nodded, still looking horrified. "I can see why you didn't want Cloud to know." She whispered. Aerith bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

"There's more." She murmured. "Lately, I've been vomiting up and seeing these, well-" She pulled out the flowers she had collected over the past few weeks. "These flowers. Acacia and gardenias specifically. The zinnia was a one time thing."

Almost as if it was on cue, Aerith coughed, and a blood stained zinnia appeared in her hand. "Okay, a two time thing." She muttered, placing the flower beside the others. Tifa's face was white. "Aerith, you should've told me sooner."

Aerith shook her head and smiled. "I'm fine, Tifa. I promise. I'm a florist, remember? These flowers are nothing serious." Tifa looked worried, but she nodded slowly. "If it worsens, tell me immediately. Alright?"

Aerith grabbed her hand with a grin. "Got it."

***

The flowers got worse.

So much worse.

As Aerith walked into the abandoned Cetra city, she felt the flowers rip into her throat. It hurt to speak, and it hurt to move. She could see thorny outlines appear on her arms and she hacked, another acacia flower caked in blood falling to the ground. "Not now." She whispered, pocketing the strange plant. "This can't happen now."

After a while, Aerith found the place she was looking for, and knelt down, beginning to pray. She had to summon Holy. it was the only way to defeat Sephiroth.

Sephiroth... Aerith coughed again, a zinnia falling to the ground. She grabbed the bloody flower and tore it to shreds, feeling unnatural anger rip through her. "I can't do what I need to do thanks to these flowers!" She shouted, as another acacia fell from her mouth.

"I cannot do what I need to do thanks to these flowers." A cold, familiar voice repeated around her, and Aerith turned around, reaching for her staff. Something grabbed her arm before she did, causing her to jump.

Sephiroth. His sleeves were completely gone, the thorn outlines dark against hi sskin. As Aerith watched, he coughed, a dark purple flower falling to the ground. "...Wolfsbane?"

"For what I must do." He whispered in her ear. She felt something on her chest, a sharp point.

Aerith felt something rip through her chest, and looked down to see acaia flowers spilling from it. The world was fading away.

"I apologize."

Everything went black.

***

Happy new year! Have some flower symbolism to start your year off right.

I wrote this because I wanted to write a sequel to the masquerade, I wanted to do something hanahaki, and Aerith was just the perfect candidate for it. She is a florist after all.

Thanks for the traction on this book, it's been crazy. You guys rock.

Vote, comment, etc. Have a wonderful day, and hopefully a good start to your 2021! :)