Summary: Set in between the game and Advent Children, Sephiroth dies at Cloud's hand and wakes up in the life stream to confront Aeris about the real reasons he killed her. One shot drabble possibly will turn into a multi chapter fic
Author Note: I do not own FF VII and if I did Aeris would not have died!! Be aware that this weaves through the main plot of FF VII and adds things to that plot and Sephiroth is OOC as I happen to think he got a crap ending in both Advent Children and FF VII
As Omnislash hit Sephiroth for the final time the world bled out of his vision as the blood bled out of the wounds inflicted by Cloud on his frail human body, beams of light shot through him as he fell into the nothingness that was the life stream…
Sephiroth opened his eyes expecting to see nothing as he was absorbed into the never ending green of the Life stream but instead he was staring at the face of the woman he murdered in order to end his own life and the demons that plagued his existence. He whispered her name in recognition of his sins, "Aeris……"
"It's good to see you Sephiroth we have a lot of things that we need to talk about before I can send you back" she spoke kindly as she floated towards him. He looked closely at her dress to find it torn where he had stabbed his blade through her on that fateful day. Little did Cloud and the others know that he and Aeris had been able to talk to each other through their link to Jenova and the Cetra blood that ran through their veins. If Cloud put his thoughts to it he could summon forth Aeris even now but he was always to preoccupied with Tifa to think that she was still able to comfort him for the stain on his soul. Her death caused him to think of her as nothing but a dead martyr to the cause of ridding the world of Shinra Co.
"Why do I need to go back, I did as you asked Aeris, I let Cloud kill me so that the world could go on just like we planed." The tension in his body betrayed his calm words to her as he floated in space and time not knowing why he had to go back. Everybody hated him for the suffering that he had wrought what possible reason did he have to go back, he did not want to make amends he just wanted to forget that he had been forced to kill the lovely green eyed woman floating in front of him with the serene look on her face.
"I know that you are hurting Sephiroth but Shinra has left a stain on the world and you have to go back one final time to help me fix the Geostigma that has been cause by your parting." Aeris gently ran her hand down his cheek and thought of all the times that she wished that they were different people so that she could justify her irrational love for him. The love she had hidden from the rest of the group by chasing after Cloud when she knew he only wanted Tifa.
"If I do this final thing will I be forgiven by you, Aeris, will we finally be able to have that which we denied ourselves" Sephiroth watched the emotions play across her face and saw the pain shine in her eyes as she thought of a response that would ease his suffering and fill the void in his life that Jenova had made from her corrupting influence.
"There would be nothing that I would wish more than that my love" there she had finally said the words that she had been longing to hear from him and that she had been longing to say before he killed her and activated the white materia as to summon forth Holy and save the planet. Aeris looked at him as his heart swelled with warmth for the pink clad woman in a way that he had never felt before. Why had they denied themselves this feeling, why did he have to do the one most terrible thing, the only thing that Sephiroth ever regretted in his long life was killing her.
Sephiroth reached out and gathered Aeris to him his cheek resting in her soft brown hair and spoke so softly that she barely heard his reply "I love you too, I have always regretted what happened in the Forgotten City but it was the only way…" his words petered out as he started to sob at the memory of the atrocities of what he had done before Cloud had mercilessly ended his life and sent him back to his pink angel.
Aeris tightened her hold on Sephiroth and let him cry out all the grief that he had at letting Jenova have full control of his body and soul, it was soothing to see the human side of Sephiroth and to remember that he had emotions. Aeris flashed back to the first time that she met him back at the church in the Midgar slums.
A man with long silver hair and server black clothes walked through the doors and into her sanctuary. "Can I help you Sir? Are you after flowers they seem to grow well here in this church" Aeris had no idea that the man was about to bind her fate to his and then leave her without a trace to follow the trail of proverbially crumbs that he left her. "You will meet a Soldier 1st Class his name will be Zack later you will also meet a man named Cloud he will remind you of Zack so much that you will follow him to your doom." He turned around and walked out of the church, Aeris wondered what kind of potions the man was taking as she had met Zack the night before and then agreed to a second meeting over dinner.
A few days later he returned to the church just to watch the Cetra flower girl as she tended the flowers with his partner Zack. His thoughts were confused as he felt a stirring of a feeling that was unknown to him, it was a longing to be in Zacks place with his head resting in the Cetra's lap and her hands gently stroking his brow. Zack finally left and he revealed himself to the young woman who was humming a soft tune to the flowers. "What is your name?" The question startled him as he had not announced his presence to her "They told me not to fear you, that you are my destiny and that I should pretend to love Zack for the time being as I will understand you better later" he was disturbed beyond words that the long gone Cetra had figured out his plan so fast "My name is Sephiroth and you are the last of the Cetra we have a destiny to fulfil and in the end you will bring about my death" the flower girl looked up at him in astonishment and thought about what her next question would be to the great general of Shinra Co.
"Why must I go back?" Sephiroth asked when he finally composed himself after accepting the love of the only person he regretted killing. "Because your brothers will revive you and Cloud will kill you once more and forget his demons, this is the only way that I can provide the cure for the Geostigma as I need a reason to cry. With you here my tears will never reach Midgar and the children will die" she spoke with conviction of someone who would not be turned from the chosen path it reminded him of the time when he told her that he could not find a way to save her life…
Sephiroth met her in the Ancient forest before she emerged into the Forgotten City of her ancestors. "I have been waiting for you to come here I knew you would. Do you still have the materia that your mother left you when she died Aeris" she nodded in response to the question and wondered whether he knew the significance of the white materia and the fact that if she was required to call holy then it would mean her life. "It's the only way Aeris, I have searched Jenova's unwitting mind for another answer for Meteor and this is the only thing that she is afraid of. She wants me to kill you here before you can pray for holy…" his sentence was never finished as he grasped his head in pain and collapsed onto his knees.
Aeris rushed over to him to try and ease his pain but he surged away from her before she could even lay a fingertip on his body "Don't touch me, I can't feel your kindness knowing that I have to murder you to save this god damn planet and leave all the glory of it to Cloud cause he will track me down and kill me if you have done your job right" Sephiroth looked into her beautiful green orbs as tears formed in them at the thought that he might feel remorse from having to be the person to plunge the blade through her heart and snuff the life out of her eyes.
"Is there no other way…" she started to sob "I …have…made…him…think…he loves me…just like you asked and it hurts so bad when I look into his eyes when all I want is to be lost in your eyes and held in your arms" Sephiroth looked at the tiny girl in pink who arms were wrapped around her slim body, whose eyes held the pain of one weighed down by the world and the effort it took to save it from Jenova the calamity from the sky.
"If you must kill me do it swiftly and painlessly I beg you if you have ever felt for me then kill me fast as I pray for holy" he looked stunned as she easily accepted her fate. "I will do what I can but Jenova may have different plans, but I will fight her for this then we will be together in the end, will you wait for me in the life stream so we can return together and live the life we were denied?" she met his eyes fearlessly and nodded to him. He got up of the forest floor and walked down the avenue that would take him to the Forgotten City and began his mental battle with Jenova.
Aeris looked up at Sephiroth and saw her own feelings reflected in his cerulean eyes, "You will come back to me forever after this, I have talked to some of the other Cetras and they have granted me this wish for the sacrifice that we both made." The corners of his mouth twitched at the thought of his flower girl standing and actually demanding something for her sacrifice rather than gracefully accepting that he was to suffer more pain for mistakes that he could not prevent, just as he had suffered at the hands of Hojo and Jenova, should he just let himself be a pawn for everyone else again if in the end it meant that he would win the young flower girl's heart despite all the stains on his soul.
"I will go and snarl at Cloud, I will be the evil maniac that he believes me to be and then when he has cut me to pieces again I will return to you and we will finally be together to continue our story and atone for our wrongs" Sephiroth stated this as he gently pushed her away from his body as he felt the calling from his Jenova enhanced sibling as he was pulled away from Aeris by the life stream she grabbed his hand and held onto it as if trying to save him from the pain he would inevitably feel at then hands of her supposed lover. "Come back to me, come home to me Sephiroth, to a place where we will feel no pain and fate cannot chain us to a loveless life". He raised his brilliant blue eyes to her innocent green orbs and replied "I will always be home in your heart and we will wander through the next life as we could not in this one Aeris, wait for me for I will come back to you no matter what!"
His hand was ripped from hers as Kadaj merged with the remains of Jenova and called him forth. Sephiroth was tired of fighting Cloud but put on his best scowl as he appeared on the lonesome tower in Midgar, Masamume gleaming in his hand and a pink ribbon tied under his cloak to his bicep to remind him of the young flower girl that gave the ultimate sacrifice so that he could live a sin free life.
Aeris started to cry as his hand was ripped from hers in the lifestream, her tears rained down on Midgar to pool with the lifestream that flowed underneath her church and kept her flowers alive even when she was not there to tend them again. Her tears mingled with the life stream and provided the cure to the Geostigma that had plagued the population. It reminded her of her Great Gospel spell that healed all hurts and confusions of the mind, she could feel Cloud as it healed him and then she could feel Sephiroth's pain as Cloud unleashed his new Omnislash on his still frail mind, she felt Kadaj start to fade and went to collect both him and her love.
Sephiroth waited for her in the darkness of the lifestream, wondering what would happen to them after she returned from reassuring Cloud that everything would be fine. He did know one thing for sure and that was that when she was with him again he would not hesitate to kiss her with all the longing that he had pent up inside of him from the years of fighting Jenova to try and give her an honourable death. Zack appeared beside him he looked different not as strained as he used to be before the disaster of the reactor tour that created both himself and Cloud's pain. "Aeris will be back soon and then the two of you will be given the chance to live as you wish. Aeris will go back to her body, but you will be graced with the anonymity of a new identity, one that only Aeris will be aware of. Use this second chance wisely and make her happy like I could not." Sephiroth looked at Zack completely stunned that after all this time the young Soldier had forgiven him of all the sins that he committed in the name of Jenova and granted him not only the woman both of them loved but the chance to give her a real life.
The life stream pulsed once…twice and then everything was plunged into darkness. Sephiroth woke up feeling cold and stiff, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. The platform was as he remembered it, he was deep underground in the Forgotten City of the Cetra. His first thought was of Aeris, Zack had said that she would return to her body but Cloud had buried her in the lake that surrounded the building. Surging to his feet he ran up the stairs towards the lake towards the light and the beginning of a new life and era of peace with the one person who had the grace and courage to grant him forgiveness.