She awoke to her familiar surroundings. Waking up wasn't the truest of terms for it, being dead and all. But she liked to think she slept rather than slip off into bouts of forgetting darkness. It wasn't that she minded forgetting some of this endless limbo, it was the fact that she was in such a place instead of somewhere lost in the Lifestream or as she expected, the Promised Land. But could she really complain? She had expected to die, yes, but the terms of her death really weren't set in stone. The Planet simply told her she needed to die, not that she had been promised anything, land or otherwise. Emerald green eyes scanned the seemingly lifeless expanse of smoky movements and undistinguished forms. She had come to understand that these were people coming to and from the planet, simply souls gone to be returned or recycled depending on what part of the "life" they were on.

I wonder why I'm stuck here

Aeris Gainsborough had no answer of course, she wouldn't be here if she did. She'd figure out a way to either pass on or make her time here more exciting. All she could for now was wander until she grew tired of the soft murmurs of Gaea and the abyss around her and decided to sleep.

Something felt off when she came to the next time. Not bad, simply...changed. When Aeris sat up, she was startled by a person sitting next to her. The young woman couldn't have been older than 20, her bright white hair butchered short and gelled forward. She wore a loose grey tank top underneath a dark tan bomber jacket that was much too large for her. Her khaki shorts came about mid thigh, not meeting her knee high black boots. As Aeris studied the strange girl, she turned and in turn studied Aeris. The flower girl noticed the pink leather collar with a simple bone shaped tag that said "Pixie", along with the startling gaze of one ice blue and one bright green eye. "Pixie" grinned a perfect smile and raised her hands at Aeris, rotating them slightly in the air.

"Oooooooohhhhooooooo. I'm a gooooooooohhhhst. Run for your life!"

Aeris could only stare at the stranger with confusion and a tad bit of worry.

" Oh come on, you can't really be afraid..." the woman's soft low-key voice giggled.

"Oh, n-no. I'm just surprised to see another person here."

"You mean that you can see and has a form."

"Yeah." Aeris said shortly.

"Well. I'm here because of the same reasons you are." The woman stood, putting her pink nailed hands on her knees. Aeris became interested instantly. She stood and joined the white haired stranger as they began to walk.

" What do you mean? Where are we exactly. What's your name.? How'd you get here too?" Aeris fired question after question, getting a few out before the woman put up a single finger. She smiled as she turned on her heels to face the flower girl.

" If you gave me a chance to say a word, you would have had those answers a while ago. We're here because we are unsettled, we have something somewhere keeping our souls conflicted and thus, unable to join the Lifestream. It could be a variety of reasons, most of the time it's due to people not being in peace with their death."

" I knew I was going to die, it wasn't a surprise or anything." Aeris's brow scrunched together.

" I knew I was going to die too, the few seconds before that car hit me gave me a chance to come to the fact I was a goner . But sometimes it's other earthly things, an unrequited love, hate towards another, way too many things to really try and figure it out. You're lucky if you know what got you stuck here. Though it never helps if you do, unless you can overcome your feelings."

Aeris walked in thought for a moment before turning back to her companion.

" Did you ever figure out your conflict?"

"Not to the 'T', at least I never thought so. I figure it's got to do with my boyfriend"

"How do you figure?" Aeris tilted her head.

" Well, besides the fact he's the one I was running from when the car hit me, he had taken a few good bats at me with a golf club beforehand."

Aeris stopped walking and stared in surprise. How could she tell someone that with a smile?

" Oh, don't worry, I've come to terms with the fact I dated a complete dick-bag for 4 years." she grinned as Aeris blushed at the swear. " By the way, I'm Pixie." the woman held out a hand.

"A-Aeris, I saw the tag, but I..." the flower girl stammered, taking the hand in a shake.

" It's a pet name, I don't deserve much better now anymore, so that's what I go by." at this, Pixie's smile became slightly faded. The scene didn't last long as her smile once more returned in full swing. "But enough of me, what about you?"

"Well...I died, obviously..." Aeris began reluctantly.

" Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. We have forever and a half to talk."

" No, I need to tell someone. I was killed, by General Sephiroth. Like I said, I knew I was going to die, and that's what was needed to save the planet."

"Wait, Sephiroth...the planet...Oh my gosh! " Pixie jumped up and laughed." I know who you are now!"

"Wait, what?"

" I watched the whole thing, it was so awesome, you guys saving the planet like that." the woman laced her fingers up with Aeris's and danced a bit. " Coooooool"

"Hold on! what do mean 'watched'? How do you know me and my friends?" Aeris freed her hands and took a step back, giving Pixie an incredulous look.

"Oh! You don't know do you!" Pixie's excitement doubled as she grabbed Aeris's hand once more. The flower girl suddenly got a rush of air seemingly throughout her body as Pixie's face blurred and the wind was knocked out of her. She managed to stay on her feet and straightened to see a vast forest of trees, their bare limbs stretching into a sky full to the brim with bright stars and visible galaxies. The only light was from the celestial beings, but their proximity was enough to endow the trees with a pale white glow.

" Welcome to the Time forest." Pixie waved a hand towards the grove.

" It's beautiful, but why did you bring me here?"

" You asked how I 'watched' your adventure, and here it is. I'm not sure of the reason behind this place, and even more so whether or not spirits are supposed to find it. But each of those trees is a person, or rather, their lifetimes. See how they stretch into the sky? The longer the branches, the longer the life. See here?"

Pixie went to one knee and showed the flower girl a small sapling.

" This person was just born. We can't tap into their lifetime until later on, it's sort of a rule I guess. I've only been here by myself before and I haven't seen anyone else, so I just kinda have to figure out stuff on my own. I found out that you can take a look into people's lives via these trees."

Aeris took a moment to examine the sapling before looking back up to her companion.

" And you watched us through someone's tree?"

" Yup, I was getting bored and decided to find someone really interesting. I ended up with...Yuffie Kisagari, I think her name was, and of course she led me to your group."

Aeris had to laugh a little bit.

" Well, if you wanted interesting, you sure got it." The flower girl laughed again when she remembered the fights that would break out between the ninja and Barret, or on occasion, Cid. Of course by remembering them, she missed them. She wondered where everyone was and how they were doing.

I wonder how long I've been dead.

"Whatcha thinking about Aeris?" Pixie's dual eyes broke her concentration.

"Just how much I miss my friends, that's all. I left them so heartbroken. I know each of them would have been hurt so bad because of my death. I wonder what they are up to."

" If they are even alive still."

Pixie's words caused Aeris to look from the tree she had been absentmindedly staring at. Her eyes darkened with the prospect of never seeing her friends, despite the option right in front of her.

" But hey..." the white haired girl began. " Who knows how long you've been dead."

Aeris was far from comforted by her words, but she could see that Pixie was trying her best. Would it hurt to take a look? How would she even begin to find out where anyone's tree was? Who would she choose. She wondered about all her friends... Cloud and Tifa, Cid and Shera, Barret and Marlene, Nananki and his family at Cosmo Canyon, Yuffie and Wutai...a smile played across her face as she thought of the perfect person. He had always been cold to everyone. She had only gotten the chance to get to talk to him when mending wounds and those late nights she couldn't sleep. He wasn't rude, she could have always counted on him if the situation came about, but he was private.

" Got anybody in mind?" Pixie asked.

" Yes."