Sephiroth stood in front of the full-length mirror and put the tiara on his head, then twirled around modeling it, enjoying the way his dress flared up, showing off his legs.
Cloud came home for lunch after a few easy morning deliveries, and was disappointed but not surprised when Tifa wasn't in the kitchen, just finishing up his meal. She wasn't the best cook ever, but over the last few months her culinary skills seemed to have totally disappeared, if she even bothered cooking at all. He went upstairs when he heard a noise, and found Tifa in their bedroom, singing "You Are So Beautiful To Me" to her reflection.
Sephiroth heard Cloud clear his throat, and spun around to face him, smiling. "Hey handsome. I didn't hear you come in. Is the taxi here yet? I would have you give me a ride to the first elimination round for the Miss Midgar pageant, but riding on Fenrir just totally ruins my hair and I can't have that today of all days. Besides…" Here Sephiroth smiled coquettishly at Cloud and fluttered his eyelashes. "I'd like it best if you'd just ride me, but we can't get married until I win the Miss Gaia crown. I won't lose my eligibility, you understand, right? It doesn't mean I don't love you."
"I was hoping we could have lunch together." Cloud said when a horn honked outside.
"Oh, that must be the taxi. I'm sorry I forgot lunch, I should be home in time for dinner though." Sephiroth looked in the mirror once more, carefully removing the tiara so as not to muss up his hair, and kissed Cloud quickly on the cheek before he hurried outside and got in the taxi.
Cloud gave a heavy sigh. He missed Tifa so much, not just her physical presence, but the woman he fell in love with…ever since that day she hit her head at the bar, she had started slowly changing into someone completely narcissistic and shallow. Cloud wanted to marry a caring and dependable woman, not a beauty queen. What went wrong?
Sephiroth's essence floated through the Lifestream, trying to escape the memory of Cloud taunting him that he himself was nothing but a fading memory. He had loved the blond warrior for so long, but Cloud had betrayed him at Nibelheim, and started to make it up to him by giving him the black materia, but then he betrayed Sephiroth again. Fueled by rage of his heartbreak, he had tried to destroy everything Cloud held dear when he possessed Kadaj's body, but he couldn't bring himself to actually kill Cloud, and here he was, back in the Lifestream all alone.
"We have more in common than you think." A female voice suddenly spoke, and Sephiroth found himself on a grassy knoll overlooking the ocean.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"We're more alike than you want to admit." Aerith told him, materializing next to him. "I like this place."
"What do you want?" Sephiroth's face turned stony as he recognized the Ancient that Cloud had been so hung up on, so that Sephiroth had been forced to kill her himself. "And what could we possibly have in common?"
"We both lost out on Cloud…but I still have Zack. You don't have anyone. I think you deserve another chance with him." Aerith explained.
"How?" Sephiroth spat the word at her, though he felt his heart leap up with hope.
"Take my hand." Aerith held hers out to him. Sephiroth glared at her, but she had no reason to lie about this, so he reluctantly held her hand, then all of a sudden he was going at unbelievably high speeds over the surface of the planet until his spirit was drawn into a building and collided with the first body it found.
"It's going to be another busy day." Tifa told Cloud as she was doing her usual quick inventory before opening the bar.
"Need me to pick up anything?" he asked her. He was so happy that she had accepted his proposal. They still hadn't picked a wedding date, but that didn't bother him at all.
"No, I think we'll be fi…" Tifa's skin suddenly started crawling and she felt extremely dizzy, falling down and hitting her head on the edge of the counter.
"Tifa! Are you all right?" Cloud knelt beside her and felt for a pulse and was glad to find no blood on her head.
Sephiroth opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Cloud looking so concerned, hovering over him. "I…I feel strange." he admitted, wondering why his body felt so different.