Okay. This idea came when I was reading someone say that because they never said 'I love you', some of the Final Fantasy characters didn't love each other. Cloud and Aerith is my favorite example as to why that doesn't matter. The only time I know of when they actually say 'I love you' in one of the games is in FFX and that's only in the english version. In the Japanese version, Yuna says something that merely is similar to that in meaning. And TIdus never says it back- but it's pretty darn obvious that the feelings are mutual. This point can apply with any of the cannon FF pairings.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts. If I did, I would have made Advent Children have more of a plot. ( I love that movie- but they could have done so many other things)

Oh, and if any of you are looking to get your heart ripped out, go to YouTube and in the search type in - Crisis Core, Englsih subtitles. Look for the one by SpoonyChan- a message at the end of that one will make you laugh.

Wordless

There were no 'I love yous'.

It was as though they always knew. As if they were always meant to be.

They met- and somehow, she wormed her way into his heart. Smiling and bright, she found her way to his closed-off soul. It became such that they felt each other within their own selves- within their very life.

"…But you will lose something dear."

He was half crazy. Voices and whispers pulled at his mind- kill, hurt, destroy –and his memories belonged to another. He was strong, effortless, unbroken. And he was so very alone. He sought revenge, to rid himself of an enemy that could control his body and mind. An enemy however, that could never control his heart.

"…The truth is I am afraid of myself... there is a part of me I don't understand... there's something inside of me, a person who is not really me…"

She was a mystery. Inside of her lay a great and ancient power- a power that was wanted by all great forces in their world- to destroy or to use. She was kind and optimistic, holding a deep pain inside herself. A timeless, ageless pain, with which voices whispered- save us, help us, we die –that only she could hear. She was so alone… so happy, so afraid… She would do whatever it took to save the planet, to save the voices- to save her friends….and him.

"I won't let you do it! The future is not only yours!"

Their journey seemed almost timeless. Not because it was special or powerful- though it was all of that too- but because time seemed to slow. Time seemed to stop existing, made it seem like they would always be journeying, always be fighting, always be together…

Their journey seemed to lead them everywhere. From icy mountains, to beautiful beaches, from one companion to another. Companions that were irreplaceable, irreversible, and sometimes irresponsible. Each had their own sins, their own strengths and weaknesses. And each was loved by them. And each was a part of the other- in a way none could penetrate.

And He reminded her of someone she had liked, what seemed so long ago.

And She was so different, so wonderful, that he could not help but protect her.

"Hey…I'm your bodyguard, right?"

And there were the little things, thrown aside cautiously to be saved for later. The little things that she gave him- a smile, a laugh, a hope- the little things he gave her- a smile, a laugh, a dream- given so endlessly, without thought or reason.

They gave, such heart and soul to the other- neither comprehending, neither realizing.

And She sensed within him a falsehood- living a life that was not his, with the memories of another. She sensed his loneliness, his fear that maybe one day he would lose control- that one day she would be gone, that everyone would be gone because of him, just like everyone else had left – and she wanted to heal his pain. But it was pain such that no magic could cure, pain and fear such that none other than care could repair. So she looked for him to care for, for his memories, and his thoughts and his soul which beated so in time to her heart- and there were no 'I love yous'.

"I want to meet…you."

And he sensed within her a resolve- a wish, a dream to do whatever was needed to save them. To save the planet. A resolve that she would give everything she had ever wanted for herself, all selfishness and desire so that all she cared for would live on. She would give almost anything. But she wouldn't she couldn't, she had to be safe, unharmed- because she couldn't leave him here alone, couldn't leave him to be alone again, - and he wanted to have reassurance. He wanted to know what he was feeling in such pain and bliss, he wanted to know why when he closed his eyes and listened he heard not one heartbeat, but two. He wanted to know that no matter how far away they were, no matter where they went, she would always come back. He wanted to know how he could have not loved her. He wanted to freeze a moment so that he could see her in her light, smiling and with a promise-

"…I'll come back when it's all over."

There were no 'I love yous'.

She kneeled there, hands clasped and heart hoping as it had never hoped before- for one last look, one last glance at him so that she would forever remember his face –that Holy would come and that He would not so that he didn't have to see her this way. But she could feel him come to her, raise the sword above her- to kill, to protect, for he could not fight off what controlled him –and threw it away, looking at her for forgiveness.

She opened her eyes.

To her it was like waking up, and she smiled. She smiled because she knew why she was doing this, knew why she was going to give, knew why she needed to be forgiven instead of him, knew that no matter what happened it was not over- and she smiled knowing that above her lurked abomination, which would bring her to her death.

She could feel the sword pierce her, but it wasn't really there, for all that was there were his eyes. His eyes that stared with hope and fear, turning too soon to horror. She could feel the blood gush up in her mouth as she fell forward and she tried to speak- it's okay, it's alright, nothing can stop us, everything is alright – as her dying senses alerted her to his cry, his eyes and his love.

And there were no 'I love yous'.

"But a cry came through to her. It wasn't the sound of her cry. If it was then she would have felt the blood gushing up through her throat and the fury that forced its way out from the depths of her soul—it was the sound of Cloud's heart breaking. It was the cry of his heart that could never be healed of the grief he felt towards Aerith's death, the blame towards himself, and the hatred he had toward Sephiroth…"

He stood there, gazing at her. She was away from his now, because her heart and soul were flying elsewhere, trying to do something that he could only guess at. But this couldn't be the end, it couldn't be time for her to leave him alone and broken- but the beauty became ugly, his wish was to rip, to tear, to kill her – and he raised his sword high above his head, to slay the abominable girl…

The cries of his friends awakened him. The sword fell glittering, deadly, horrible, to the floor. He felt as though he was a monster. To have almost killed her, to have allowed himself to lose control… But she opened her eyes. She saw him, knowing what he had nearly done and holding no blame. She smiled.

She smiled, eyes sparkling with hope and reason. She smiled as he stared at her, the moment too perfect, too easy to shatter. She smiled as the madman descended. And she smiled as the sword impaled her.

She smiled at her death.

But it wasn't real, it couldn't be real- the blood that came from her lips wasn't real, the light didn't leave her eyes, and she would be okay –but she fell into his arms. No amount of shaking could bring her back, and he was alone, she had left him and it was his fault alone that she would no longer be there, his fault that she wouldn't breathe again, that a smile was etched upon her face-

"Aerith is gone. Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry… or get angry. What about us… what are WE supposed to do? What about my pain? My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning."

Her hair cascaded around her in a way life had not allowed. Her eyes were closed and away, leaving only the smile that he was close to hating- the smile that had taken her away, the smile that had accepted her death, her sacrifice – a smile that he loved because it was his piece of her.

So he took as long as he could in burying her in the water. He took as long as he could in letting her go- even though it couldn't be over, couldn't end like this –staring at her as she lay on the surface of the lifestream pool, wanting to say anything so that she would know that he believed in her, that he believed in her smile and her memory which he could never forget, believed in the promise of her return…

But there were no 'I love yous'.

As he watched her sink into the lifestream- away from him, taking with her everything that mattered, everything he had hoped for –he let himself feel. When he returned, he could not go back to what was before- for she had been there before and now there was no point in going back –he had not saved her, and he didn't deserve anything good.

Somehow they fought against the madman and won. Somehow he was able to pull through and use his pain to take revenge upon her murderer.

"I think I'm beginning to understand. An answer from the planet… The Promised Land… I think I can meet her there."

Years passed. Danger came once again, as it always did to them- danger came to those who were forever caught in that wave of fate, the wave that would always keep them fighting. Some wanted to bring Sephiroth back, to hurt other.

And still, he heard her voice.

Still, the line of dreams and reality was blurred as she appeared before him, touching his, speaking to him as no others could see. He was broken now, as he had never been before. And she wept for his sadness and hurt, the life that he was not living.

He wanted to always love, she wanted him to live. Somehow he could do both- he had to, for either sake. So she came to him, smiled and showed him that it was not over, for forever inside she waited for him. For eternity, and even longer, until their own true reunion came.

"You see? Everything's…alright."

So there were no 'I love yous'.

The flowers were like them. Bright when together, growing, and so easily crushed. And the tide turned, mixing and pushing the destinies of all that were a part of the planet. And in their ruin they stood. There was much to do, much to save, so much death and cries- and they cried with them, cried with those who suffered on the inside because they didn't dare release their own pain –for there was so much sadness, that sometimes it seemed as though they could not go somewhere without fear and crying and death.

"-Sadness was the price to see it end..."

So they had the flowers.

The next time they met, so much had changed. The planet was gone, along with many of their friends, their world was many, with opened doors and fates in the hands of a young boy-

And He was consumed by his darkness. He had never stopped searching, would never stop looking.

And She was alive.

He was searching for his light. The light, the smile whish he had never lost, the only thing that kept him going on to each day. The light that was such that he could not grasp it- just out of his reach it taunted him as he chased it from one world to the next...

She was looking for information. To save the worlds that she suddenly found herself a part of, to find the friends she had lost and to stay where she could be found. Sometimes she would simply wait in a place, look off into the distance, and clasp her hands as if reliving a far-off memory. No one asked her what she was doing- because they all knew.

She was waiting for him.

"No matter how far away you are..."

And they met again.

They rushed at each other- hardly daring, barely believing that perhaps this was their chance, this was their hope and reunion and moment-

And there were no 'I love yous'.

There were no words. She smiled again- and He remembered how easily she had been gone- how quickly she had left and wanted to take her into his arms and hold her so that she wouldn't fade away again –but they just stared at each other. And he found himself fighting a smile that like her, would condemn him.

Because he had to leave again.

"Listen, even if I go far away, I'll come back."

Because the darkness was never gone. And His hatred had come back, his hatred and want for revenge would make him leave so that maybe this time- just maybe –he might be free of his darkness. His search was never over- even when the object of his hatred had taken everything, even when it seemed as though he couldn't go another day for the pain and sadness, couldn't leave because he was afraid that he might never come back –

There couldn't be any 'I love yous.'

"No matter how far away you are... once you find your light... I'm sure it will lead you back here again."

And so, he journeyed.

He found his hatred and his light, and used both to find within himself the 'self' that had always been hidden there. The darkness. And, the light. He drove that hatred back, and when all had finished and the brightness was fading he knew- he would return.

And so, she sat, waiting. Waiting where Cloud had last fought, waiting for him to come back, as she knew he would. Slowly, she looked up and the sky. And somewhere, she knew that he was look at them too.

When he returned, there would be no 'I love yous.'

It was as though they always knew. As if they were always meant to be.

There were no 'I love yous'.

There didn't need to be.

"Let's go, Cloud..."