(A/N) Of course, I couldn't let this story end just like that; I had to write more. It was so full of angst, I thought I should show a bit more of the happy ending. So here's the epilogue! :D

Important note! There's a new format style: "Speech" Flashbacks

Devil Inside

Epilogue

My throat is dry, my stomach is queasy, and I feel light-headed, making it hard to keep my balance. Nothing I do can stop my heart from beating rapidly and my knees from shaking, or the cold sweat from breaking out on my forehead.

No, I'm not having the nightmares again. I'm getting married.

I shouldn't be this nervous; this isn't that big of a deal. I've been in love with Tifa since we were kids, and I've always been devoted to her. So what's so intimidating about getting up in front of our friends and making it official?

I'll tell you what: having to be the center of attention for all these people. I've always been sort of timid, and apparently, I have stage fright too; really bad stage fright.

So I'm standing at the alter, anxiously waiting for Tifa to show up so we can get this over with. Not that I want to rush through our wedding, mind you, I would just rather get finished with this before I end up passing out or puking all over my shoes.

Taking a deep breath, I try to distract myself by thinking about something else. My eyes scan the room; all our friends are here, and even the Turks and Rufus showed up, but I realize that I don't even know half of the other people here. They must be customers from the bar that know Tifa. I notice that most of them are women, though; I'm sure the guys that come to the bar just to see her weren't very pleased when they heard that she was getting married to me.

I smile to myself at the thought.

It's been several months since my nightmares stopped, and it's early spring now, so the weather is nice. We decided to have the wedding in Aeris's church; after, of course, I asked Aeris if it was alright to bring everyone here. It was a little difficult not being able to ask her face-to-face, but from what I could tell, I think she was thrilled.

Barret, and Cid came out and helped me fix it up a little bit, mainly repairing some of the broken pews and uneven floorboards, though the ceiling remains a natural skylight. It took several long weekends, and it was a miracle that we were able to do it without seriously injuring somebody. All I know about carpentry is what I learned when we made our house in Edge, and I don't think either of them know much more.

It looks really nice now though; I think Tifa got some regulars from the bar to help decorate. Yuffie has been slave-driving everybody during the planning of the whole event too, so I'm sure she had something to do with it. Everything is ornamented with white and yellow, to match the flowers that are natural to the church.

I sigh, shifting my weight to my other foot restlessly. I woke up really early this morning, and I haven't been able to sit still since. Yuffie has been constantly hovering over Tifa, and she wouldn't even let me see her today; something about it being bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. I was already dressed and ready, but I had nothing left to do, so I figured I'd come down to the church to try and relax.

xXxXx

I sit on a pew in the front row, leaning my head back and closing my eyes, trying to calm my nerves. It's completely silent, so I'm startled when I hear a voice at my side.

"Wow. Never thought I'd see you in a tux," the masculine voice teases.

I jerk my head up, startled.

Sitting beside me on the pew, looking much too casual for his own good, is Zack. He's wearing that same carefree grin that I always remember him having; like nothing has changed. Aeris is standing behind him too, with a hand on his shoulder.

"Zack, don't make fun of him," Aeris chides him before looking up at me and smiling sweetly. "You look very nice, Cloud."

I am unable to form coherent words for a moment, because I'm stunned by their presence.

"You okay man?" Zack asks when I don't say anything for a minute.

"Y-yeah… How…?" is all I can manage to choke out, but he understands.

"It's one of the perks of having a girlfriend that's half Cetra," Zack explains with a smirk. Aeris sits down next to him, smiling in agreement with his statement as he slips his arm around her waist. "We showed up before, remember?" he asks, tilting his head to the side.

That's true; they were here the day my Geostigma was cured. I halfway questioned my sanity that day, since I was the only one who saw them. I thought I might have been hallucinating, but I guess not. I can't get over how solid they look though, it's like they're really here. Alive again.

"Yeah, I remember," I answer him finally. "I'm just…surprised. You look so…real." I speak slowly, trying to find the right words.

Zack cocks an eyebrow for a moment, trying to figure out what I mean, but then he chuckles. "It is pretty cool, huh?" he says enthusiastically. "Aeris can do some pretty amazing things," He turns and kisses her on the cheek, causing her to giggle lightly.

I roll my eyes and instinctively look away from his display of affection. Zack has always been like that though, never afraid to tell people how he feels and let everyone else know it too, so I guess I should be used to it. I stand up to stretch because I still feel jittery and anxious, and soon Zack is standing beside me with Aeris at his side.

"You nervous?" he asks playfully, nudging me in the arm.

I sigh, it must be obvious. "Yeah."

"It will be okay, Cloud," Aeris says, trying to reassure me.

"Yeah, the wedding will probably be boring, but you're going to have fun tonight!" Zack says, slapping me on the back.

It takes me a moment to process what he means, but when I do my face instantly turns crimson with embarrassment. This is not a conversation that I want to have with him right now, especially not while a woman is standing here.

"Zack!" Aeris shouts as she smacks him in the arm for his provocative comment.

"What?" he asks, shrugging his shoulders and feigning innocence. "There's nothing wrong with it, he's getting married," he tells Aeris, trying to justify his remark.

I cover my face with my hand, groaning and feeling the heat radiating from my cheeks. When I uncover my eyes a moment later, I shake my head slowly; knowing that I should have expected that from him. When he and Aeris are done arguing, he turns back to me, still grinning despite getting scolded.

"What I mean is, you're going to be fine," he corrects himself, placing a hand on my shoulder as a sly smirk spreads across his face.

I can't help but smile a little too. He's the same old Zack.

"I still can't believe you're getting married!" Aeris says excitedly and I nod in agreement.

It doesn't quite seem like reality yet, it's just too good to be true.

Without any warning, Zack yanks me closer to him by my shoulder, and pulls me into a tight hug.

"Our little Cloud is all grown up now!" he shouts, pretending to be emotional.

Immediately I start trying to escape his grip, attempting to push myself away from him, but his arms are so tight around my shoulders that I can barely move. I forgot that he's always been bigger than me, and because of his SOLDIER attributes, much stronger. It's a little irritating that he can still overpower me like this, even after how much I've grown since I was that little boy that couldn't get into SOLDIER.

Aeris is giggling while she's watching us, but I'm seriously starting to need some air, because it's kind of hard to breath with my face pressed up against his chest like this.

"Zack," I gasp, still trying to push him off. "Come on… Knock it off!"

He ignores my plea for the moment, and continues to squeeze the breath out of me, knowing full well that I'm going to be pissed at him when I get free. I think Aeris notices that I'm starting to turn a little blue, so she speaks up, saving me.

"Um, Zack, you might want to let him go now," she says with concern, though she's still smiling, presumably at his antics.

Finally, he releases me, leaving me staggering away and gasping for breath.

"Feel better?" he asks. Then he laughs lightheartedly and pats me on the back, grinning despite the vicious glare I'm giving him.

Yup, same old Zack.

My scowl soon fades though, and I find myself smiling even though I'm rapidly trying to breathe. I feel like a teenager again, probably because he still acts like one sometimes.

When I've regained my breath, Aeris speaks up again. "We'd better go," she says regretfully. "Your guests will be arriving soon."

I pull my cell phone out of my back pocket and check the time. Sure enough, she's right. I nod in acknowledgement, deciding not to question how she knows that.

"Can you…?" I don't finish my question, but Zack answers anyway, knowing what I mean.

"We'll be here," he says triumphantly. "I get to be best man, right?" He gives me a curious look, but there's a smile behind it, because he already knows my answer.

Zack is my best friend, well, besides Tifa; but obviously, that's a little different. I wouldn't know who else to choose besides him.

"Of course," I say with a nod. He grins wider, but I turn to Aeris. "I know Tifa would have wanted you to be her maid of honor," I state simply.

"I'd be honored," she replies, her face beaming.

We actually decided not to have any of our friends in our wedding, mainly because Yuffie was the only one willing to do it. All of the guys were already upset about having to dress up, and they weren't too keen on the idea of having to stand up in front of an audience as well. I don't blame them one bit. Shera did agree to play the piano for us, but she's the only one actually not in the audience.

I'm sure Tifa will be happy when she sees Zack and Aeris standing there, though. That is, if she sees them.

Aeris must have seen the unsure look cross my face, because she tries to reassure me. "Don't worry," she says with a smile. "We'll be there."

xXxXx

And they are.

Both Zack and Aeris are standing at my left, her hand in his, smiling brightly. I feel a little better knowing that they're here, but my stomach is still in knots.

"You alright, Spiky?" I hear Barret ask from the pew a few yards in front of me. "You look a little pale."

I sigh, looking down at the floor. "I'm fine," I lie.

"You're not getting cold feet, are you?" Yuffie asks in an almost accusing way.

"No, Yuffie," I assure her, sounding a little more sarcastic than I should have.

"Good," Yuffie says, frowning. "Because I'm not about to let you run out on Tifa, she's waited a long time for this day to come," she declares with authority, crossing her arms in the process.

And she thinks I haven't? I laugh inwardly, but decide to keep that one to myself. There's no way I would try to run away today, no matter how nervous I am. And no, the fact that my feet are glued to the floor because of my nerves has nothing to do with it.

I look over to the side of the room where my friends are all seated, slightly amused by the sight of all of them. It's a strange thing, seeing all of them dressed up like this. Reeve is the only one who looks comfortable, probably because he's used to being professional and having to wear suits; working for ShinRa all these years. I never thought I'd see the day when Yuffie put on a dress, but she actually did it. She must really care about Tifa.

I'm distracted for a moment with these thoughts, and then the music starts playing from the piano in the front of the church, and my stomach just about drops to the floor. The doors at the front of the church swing open suddenly, and Tifa steps in slowly.

My heart stops at the sight of her; I've never seen anything so beautiful. Her gown is white, long and flowing, accentuating her figure perfectly. She's holding a bouquet of the yellow and white flowers from the church, and her face is covered by translucent veil, draped over her dark hair that has been made into loose curls that fall around her shoulders.

Tifa glances up at me from behind the veil, eyes wide and a delicate blush coloring her cheeks. A bright smile spreads across her face when she meets my eyes, and in that moment, all of my doubts; all of my fears and anxiousness, completely melt away.

My life has finally fallen completely into place, and I can't wait to start living it.

The End

(A/N) Alas, one year after it began, the story is really finished now. I do, however, have a ton of ideas swimming around in my head that could be used for a sequel. :3 I'm not sure if I'll get around to writing it, just because I've never been married, so I don't know how well I'd do writing about a married couple… I might eventually go for it though. Check out my profile if you want to know what I'm up to. ;P

I hope the flashback format/transition here wasn't too confusing; I've never done that before. O.o Sorry about the flashback being so long too, but I was having so much fun writing Zack into it that I couldn't bring myself to make it shorter. XD

Thank you to everybody that has reviewed this story:

AmazonTurk, BlueSparx, Bluishorbs, Ch0k-naT, crazedshinobivampiress, DemonLoulou, Destiny's Daughter, DJxscribbles, DrakeGirl-San, elebelly, Hipathya, keywordparamore, kitsunepowaa, Lonely Dreamer, LovingCloudStrife777, macalaniaprincess, misanthropic angel, mutt4.0, Nanticoke, Niquie, NRGburst, PoutingCutie, shibara1310, Soniax, Sousukes-Girl, The Sacred Heart 2, Twin A 07, Vulcan Halps, Yuan Edwards, andYumi Reitenshi. Especially to those who have faithfully reviewed all of the chapters, you guys seriously rock! And thanks to anyone who has faved this, or will review/fave in the future! :D Also, a special thank you to DrakeGirl-San, because she actually drew some fanart from this! (see my profile for the link) I love it! -hugs-

I appreciate the faves, I really do, but I'd much rather have a nice review. Please, take the time to let me know what you think; it makes all the hard work worth while. :3

-punkiemonkie