"I will... never be a memory!"

The words flashed in the fragmented consciousness that was Sephiroth, giving him the strength to twist within the purity that surrounded him. His dark touch brushed against the thoughts next to his, memories pounding into his skull. Well, his mind. Sephiroth had left his skull far behind by now. The memories surged through his mind, the tendrils of human-ness that had touched him left with just a little taste of Sephiroth. Whoever it had been lost themselves a little bit more to the Lifestream, and to the influence of Sephiroth.

He would have smiled if he could, but instead happiness washed through the fragments. They were mere pieces of Sephiroth, but they were still a whole. They were still one. And they were intent on getting back to the world that they had left behind, to destroying that which was full of weakness and building something new and beautiful from the ashes. Something that She would be proud of.

Dark thoughts flowed from Sephiroth, twisting through the Lifestream and stretching through the stream of purity until they slammed into something that would never, could never be tainted. The pure essence of Aerith Gainsborough, to be exact. The tendrils retreated swiftly, but not nearly swiftly enough. Her fingers curled around the dark thoughts, and she frowned slightly, sending a soft breath of purity along the tendril. It twisted beneath her touch, recoiling from her, but she didn't let it go until it had lost the darkness. Only then did she allow the tendril to return to the Lifestream.

As it raced away from her, she turned towards her companion. "We need to send him back."

The black haired man's eyes flashed. "No! You saw what happened the first time. He tried to destroy the world again. Only Cloud kept him from 'rebuilding' the world. And Cloud is old now, well on his way to joining us here." He argued fiercely.

She shook her head simply. "Not like before. I want to take his memories away. I want to let him start over once and for all. Give him one true chance to prove that he's not all bed. Maybe then he can let this darkness go. He has potential! He just needs to see it himself." Her voice was soft and urgent, and she leaned forward, her hands brushing the features of her companion.

He still looked unconvinced. "No. You can't guarantee that he'll change, can you? And if he does, how can you say that it will before the better?"

Aerith grinned at him. "Oh, I can guarantee. I'll give him insurance. Cloud had Tifa, didn't he? All Sephiroth needs is someone to come home to." She grabbed his hand, "C'mon, Zack. He deserves a chance. A fair chance. The odds were always stacked against him. And he won't remember anything. He'll just be the Sephiroth that you knew, the Sephiroth that you loved."

Lowering his eyes, Zack took a moment to answer. "I hate seeing him like this. I remember when he was my hero. That's the kind of thing that you don't forget. Even now." He sighed, "You're right, Aerith. You always are."

She curled against him, closing her eyes for a moment before letting her form dissolve. "All right, Zack. You'll see. It'll all be okay in the end." With that, Aerith's awareness went racing through the Lifestream. It took her moments to find the tangled remnants of Sephiroth. The darkness recoiled from her delicate, bright touch, but she surrounded it with her essence, her thoughts finding the darkness in him and twisting around it, cajoling it away from Sephiroth until only what was Sephiroth was left.

It was only the base of Sephiroth, the personality. None of the memories that made him evil. He would be changed by the world that he was sent into, for sure. But Aerith was certain that it would be for the better. So, with a gentle touch and a breath, she sent his essence falling from the Lifestream and tumbling towards the body of a young Turk woman.

For a few perfect seconds, Aerith was pleased. And then the darkness twisted away from her loosened grasp and launched itself from the lifestream, tumbling down, down, down. Aerith could only watch in horror as the darkness coiled inside another young woman, close to the Sephiroth essence. Close enough that it would reach him with ease, tainting him as it had already done before.

There was nothing that she could do. She could only trust that Sephiroth would be stronger this time. Strong enough to resist the darkness. And so Aerith retreated back into the depths of the Lifestream, leaving Sephiroth in peace. She could only hope that in the end, things would work out.

The park sprawled around the little girl and her mother. Her mother was napping, snoring softly as she caught up on her much needed rest in the warm summer sun. Meanwhile, the girl was impatient. She had sat quietly for what felt like an eternity, but it had in reality only been a few minutes. Still, Melody Rhapsodos wasn't a particularly patient girl. She was only six, after all. One could only expect so much patience from the petite brunette. Well, she was mostly a brunette – there was a streak of brilliant, bold blue in her bangs and her hair had distinct blonde highlights. Her eyes were blue, interestingly enough, but two different shades of blue, dark ringing her pupil then a lighter blue on the edge of her iris. She wasn't the most interesting looking of girls, but compared to her mother's simple appearance, Melody looked almost exotic.

The little girl had made a split second decision, however. She was on her feet in an instant, slipping silently away from the dozing form of her mother and racing away into the depths of the park. She paused only to glance over her shoulder once to ensure that her mother hadn't woken up before vanishing beneath the shadows of the willow trees. The leaves brushed against Melody's skin and she giggled happily as she wandered along, her head tilted as she listened for the burbling music of a creek. She found it swiftly, her blue eyes brightening at the wildflowers that grew next to it.

Giggling joyously, Melody ran up to the flowers, flopping down on the ground immediately, her small fingers grabbing the first of the flowers and beginning to weave flower after flower together. Her lilting voice filled the tiny clearing within moments as she sang a song spun by her favorite brother. "The snow won't stick to the weeping willows, the cold air won't blow open the windows…" She continued to sing, her voice light and clear, "Fall was always left in your eyes, just a fleck of yellow light, like the sunrise, like the twilight…"

And then there was a voice. The other child had appeared as if from nowhere, his bold green eyes fixed upon her, gleaming with curiosity. He had silver hair; that was the first thing that caught Melody's eyes. His hair was gorgeous. It would match her crown that was by now half finished. But even that though faded when he spoke. "What are you singing?" He questioned curiously, walking up to her without a hint of caution.

She blinked, tilting her head to look up at the larger boy. Her fingers stilled as she shrugged. "Dunno." She murmured softly, looking concerned by the thought for a moment. But she shrugged it off with the swiftness of a child and patted the ground next to her, meaning for him to sit down. "My name's Melody!" She chirped happily, a smile on her features.

The boy shrugged and sat down next to her. "Zephyr." He answered her smoothly. He gave off a cold air, Melody noted. It might have discouraged some, but to Melody, it just made her much more determined to make him smile.

"Can I call you Zephy?" She trilled happily, her eyes gleaming at the thought.

He froze for a moment, his eyes squeezing shut as if he were warding off a half-remembered (or forgotten) memory. But that lasted for a few seconds, not long enough for Melody to decide if she had truly imagined it. "Sure." He shrugged easily, his voice carrying little inflection as he flopped back, hitting the ground with a thud.

Melody smiled as she flopped back as well. The daisy crown fell from her fingers and Melody just stretched out. "I'm here with my mommy!" She announced proudly. She waited for a few moments for him to answer her, but when he didn't, she continued to speak, unperturbed. "Are you here with your mommy?" The girl questioned curiously, glancing at him.

Zephyr shrugged. "Yep." The boy responded.

Melody grinned happily, "Do you have any brothers? I have a brother! His name's Ceol! He wrote the song I was singing. Isn't that awesome? He loves to write songs! And I like to sing them. He's the best big brother ever!" Chattering a mile a minute, Melody couldn't have cared less that he wasn't really responding to her. All she needed was someone to pretend that they were listening. She just needed someone to talk to.

But Zephyr answered her anyways. "I don't have any brothers." He said simply, shrugging.

"Awww, why not?" Curiosity evident in her voice, Melody glanced at Zephyr.

He shrugged again. "Dunno." Zephyr responded in a cool tone. "Guess my dad doesn't like kids." It was more than he had said at all this far.

Melody took it as a victory. "Ooh, is your dad, like, a Turk?" Her Uncle was a Turk! And he didn't like kids! So it made sense that no Turks liked kids. Right? Right!

Zephyr took a moment to answer. "Yep. His name's Rude." Perhaps he was showing off just a bit in that moment. But whatever significance that name would have held to an adult was entirely lost on Melody.

"Rude's a weird name!" She giggled happily, grabbing her daisy chain and starting up with it again without a word to Zephyr. She frowned slightly, her eyes narrowing as she struggled to force her fingers to move in just the right pattern.

Silence fell in their little clearing. For a moment, all was peaceful. But it only lasted for a few seconds before fragmenting. There was a crashing in the bushes, and Melody shot up, dropping the daisy chain at the sight of her mother. "Melody Rhapsodos! Don't you ever disappear like that again! Do you hear me young lady?" The fury in the woman's eyes was a sight to behold, and Melody flinched slightly.

"Sorry, Mommy." She muttered softly.

But her mom wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Instead, the woman's eyes focused on Zephyr's form. And she looked like she had seen a ghost. "Sephiroth?" She hissed softly, eyes widening. "No. No." Shaking her head, the woman grabbed Melody's hand in a tight grip and yanked her away from the silver haired boy.

Melody bit back tears, her eyes watering fiercely as she glanced over her shoulder at Zephyr. "Bye Zephy!" Her voice was a tad choked up, and by the time that they left that little clearing, the tears were flowing freely. She didn't want to say goodbye to her new friend!

What Melody didn't see was Zephyr bending down smoothly and grabbing the daisy chain as he slipped out of the clearing. He was gone swiftly, and the final time that she glanced over her shoulder, he had vanished into the trees, taking the silver hair that she had been so entranced by with him as well. That made the tears flow faster as she clung to her mother's arm, but her mother was having none of that. Her mother was intent on getting as far away from the ghost from her past as humanly possible.