Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters, nor am I gaining any kind of profit by writing and/or posting this story.
Warnings: I suspect all the characters will be kind of OOC, sorry.
Author's Notes: Updates will be very, very sporadic, I apologize in advance.


Seemingly without a care he leaned back against the tree. He sighed softly as he looked around him. This was his favorite spot, his hiding place. He could come here and lay back, and for a while he didn't have to pretend. A familiar presence sat down beside him and he had to stop himself from leaning against the newcomer.

"Hey Zack, long time no see." Cloud chuckled softly.

He didn't dare to look in Zack's direction; he knew the man would disappear if he did that. Out of the corner of his eye Cloud saw Zack roll his eyes though, but with a smile on his greenish face. The Lifestream did that to people; they always had a faint green glow from within. Aerith was the only one who didn't have that little problem, for she was a Cetra. It had been a long time since the last time Cloud had seen her, he wondered if she had forgotten about him.

"Cloud! No heart warming welcome for me? I'm hurt."

He couldn't stop himself, even though he knew better then to look at appearances from the Lifestream directly, he had to see her. And there she was, grinning like she always used to do, her brown hair dancing with the soft breeze. He couldn't speak, there were no words to express what he felt right now. It had been almost five months since the last time he had seen her, he'd missed her, so much. But he had to ask, had to know.

"Aerith? What? I thought… why are you here?!" Cloud instinctively reached for her, but she stepped aside, not willing to hurt him like that, again.

"We need to talk Cloud." She kneeled down beside him and let one of her ghostly hands hover above his. If he closed his eyes he could pretend she was actually holding it.

"What's wrong, Aerith? He's not… there isn't… not again, right?" Cloud bit his lip softly, even after all these years, when he was with Aerith and Zack, he felt like a little kid again. It was like he was barely fourteen again, and trying out for SOLDIER.

"No, he's not. It's nothing with the Planet, Cloud. It's something else, which worries me very much."

"What's wrong, Aerith? I'll do… please? What's wrong?" He sat up and edged closer to her. He let his own hands curl around hers, as if he was holding them.

"Relax Spike, seriously. With your freaky uptight behavior you'd even put Seph to shame."

"Oh shut up Zack, leave the kid alone! He's only a little bit fucked in the head, no big deal."

"Fucked in the head? That's puttin' it lightly, Aerith, dear. He's gone insane, I mean, he's talking with us, and we're dead babe. Very, very dead."

"Zack! Behave for once! You shouldn't listen to him, Cloud, you're not insane…"

Aerith glared at Zack for a moment before she poked her tongue out and Zack grinned widely. Without much ado he got up and walked straight through Cloud so he could kiss her. She giggled softly and Cloud couldn't bear it. He closed his eyes and for a moment he could see them again, in Aerith's church. The first time Zack had taken him down into the slums to meet his girl. He'd been nervous as hell and her reaction hadn't helped at all. The moment he entered she smacked him upside the head; according to her she only did it to make him feel comfortable. He'd felt her 'friendly' smack for three days.

"Now tell me guys, what's wrong? What do you need me to do?" Cloud opened his eyes and stared at Aerith expectantly, Zack had vanished; only some rough outlines remained.

Aerith sat up a little straighter against Zack's chest while he wrapped his arms around her a little tighter. Even though it hurt his heart, Cloud was glad to see that they had at least settled things and that they'd finally gotten together.

"The problem, Cloud, it's that… well… You're unhappy aren't you? We want to help you, but we're not sure how to."

She shot him an apologetic glance as he glared at her. This wasn't the first time this had been topic of discussion. It was part of the reason she hadn't showed herself for so long, she had been unable to face him, knowing what she forced him to go through every day. But there was also a different reason for her disappearance, one she was now very eager to discuss with Cloud, if he was willing to listen.

"I'm not unhappy, Aerith. I'm just… I don't belong here anymore. After the Remnants, there is no reason for me to stay here, but you're keeping me here Aerith…"

"What about your friends, Spike? Don't they matter to you?"

"Oh, sure they do. There's just one problem, they're all dead." He couldn't help, not really. The pain and fear just caught up with him sometimes, that's why he went here. But it often left him bitter and sarcastic and more hurtful then he intended. "I'm sorry, Zack."

"It is okay, Spike. You know it is. But what about Tifa, hmm? And Barrett, Marlene, Denzel, Yuffie, Cid, Reeve, Reno, Rude, Elena, Rufus, Nanaki and Vincent? They're not dead, and they're your friends."

"They're not Zack, really. Come on, I'm a SOLDIER remember? We don't make friends with Turks, not even with the good kind. And Rufus? Don't make me laugh; he's the new president ShinRa for crying out loud. Barrett has never been my friend and Tifa is just a girl who wants me to love her because I'm a fucking hero, hooray for me." Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes. If he'd been solid, Zack would have smacked him on the head.

"What about the rest, Spike? There're still plenty of people whom you do like. You ain't gonna miss 'em when you join us?"

"Zack! Seriously, for someone who doesn't do anything but stalking me all day, you don't know a lot about me anymore! There's only one person I'd miss, but he'd be the last to blame me for leaving… he, doesn't want to stay anymore either…"

"And that guy would be who exactly."

Cloud laughed softly and laid back down on the grass, the tree was actually starting to hurt his back. Aerith and Zack were looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to reveal who this mystery guy was so they could kick his ass. Cloud wasn't ready for the Lifestream yet, at least, they didn't think so.

"That guy, Zack, is his father. The only person, living or dead, who understands what I mean when I say I'm sick and tired of waiting for an end."

"His… father? Sephiroth's… father? As in, Valentine, Sephiroth's father?"

"I didn't know he had another one… Of course Valentine! Why? You hate him too? He's not a Turk you know, not anymore at least. After the Remnants, we talked, a lot. About Sephiroth mostly, and the Planet. He didn't want to talk about her, you know… Sephiroth's mom. So we didn't…"

"Valentine; who would have guessed? I didn't know you guys were such close friends…" Zack shrugged but Cloud could tell, by the sound of Zack's voice alone, that it was bothering him.

"You didn't know, Zack, because we're not. We just, talked, about things that happened and how things were supposed to go. It's easier to talk to him then to you, because he understands me better with those thoughts then you do. You're far too optimistic Zack, I'm not like that. I was, maybe, one day, but I'm not, not anymore. I don't understand how you can just shrug it of that you're dead. That you can forgive me, for practically killing you myself…"

Cloud sighed softly. This wasn't working, this conversation was not going the way he'd planned it, at all. He came here; to lie back, talk with Zack about the boring life in and outside of the Lifestream before leaving again to go kill some monsters or go back home, to Tifa. If the latter had been the case, he would have staid as long as possible. How many times had he already turned her down? Better yet, how long would it take before she'd finally understand and just, leave him alone?

"Spike! How many times do I have to say this?! It wasn't your fault that I died!"

"If you'd just left me behind and escaped alone nothing would have happened to you Zack, don't even try to deny it. Instead, you dragged my sorry ass along and endangered yourself! If it weren't for me Zack, you could have been married to Aerith now, you two could have had kids, but you don't, because I killed you!"

"I would have died anyhow Cloud, you know I would have! If I hadn't taken you along with me, there still would have been too many troopers for me to defeat. What difference would it have made for the outcome, if you hadn't been there? At least now, there's still someone alive who remembers me, who lives for me. Don't you see? You're not just living your own life Cloud, you're living mine too."

"Well I don't want it so take it back! Take it back Zack, please. If it weren't… if you hadn't… Without your life Zack, I would have died a long, long time ago. Probably by Hojo's hands back in the ShinRa mansion. I could actually be with you now, you know? Instead of arguing with you about whether or not I should be happy with what I've got."

"God damn it, Spike."

Zack carefully slipped away from Aerith and wrapped his arms around Cloud, almost touching him but not quite, Cloud leaned into his embrace with his eyes closed. At that moment, Zack wanted nothing more then to actually be able to hug his blond friend. He had known the kid was suffering, he wasn't blind, but he hadn't thought he was still beating himself up over that.

"That's why we're here, Cloud," Aerith's sweet voice cut through the silence, "there's something we need to discuss with you. You have to know your options. You've got three choices, and it's up to you, which one you pick. Firstly, you can tell me to go away and leave you alone and just let you live your life. In other words, not a thing will change. Secondly, you can join us, in the Lifestream. I think your favorite would be number three; as a Cetra I have the power to make changes in the time flow, no mayor changes like, deleting Sephiroth from all existence, but, I can send someone back in time, if they want to that is."

Cloud's eyes snapped open and he just stared at her, he couldn't believe it. Join the Lifestream? Go back in time? It sounded so insane but at the same time, so very, very tempting. To just go back, do it all over. He could stop Angeal from getting killed so Zack wouldn't ever have to be sad. He could kill Hojo before he was even born, so Sephiroth wouldn't grow up as a lab rat. He could, do so many things; stop so many bad things from happening that way. All he had to do, was just, go back. Let Aerith work her magic and everything would be okay, eventually.

"You're actually asking me this? I could, stop everyone from hurting, you gotta send me back Aerith!"

"Cloud, no! It doesn't work that way! Let me explain a bit okay. It's complicated, why do you think I haven't been around for nearly five months? I had to do some research.

First of all, I won't be able to send you back to far, I can put you back somewhere along in your own lifespan. I can't however, make you be reborn completely; the furthest back I can go is a month before you leave Nibelheim to join SOLDIER. It should give you some time to; awaken an old friend of ours.

Second of all, things will be exactly like how they were back then. You will still have your memories of this life, but, you won't know me. Well, you'd know me and everyone else, but no one else will recognize you. Maybe I will, but I'm not really sure…

Last; you will have to change the future! If you don't… things won't take a turn for the best. I won't actually be sending you back in time, think of it as, a different dimension. It's the same world with the same people and the same ideas, but! Sephiroth wins in that world, and it's actually a damned place. Everyone is dead on that planet at this moment. If you go back a couple of years, like you will be doing, it's the same as it was here. If you can't stop Sephiroth from going to Nibelheim, everyone will die."

"So you're basically telling me that, if I fail, I'll be dead? Don't tell me you actually think that'll stop me from saying yes. But, how will you do it, Aerith? How are you going to send me back in time and space and all that crap? You're not, risking yourself, are you?"

Aerith smiled and cocked her head to the side. She was laughing at him inside her mind and telling him not to be so stupid. She didn't dare to say it out loud though, knowing she would hurt his feeling that way.

"Some of your friends are willing to help me safe you. All seven off us will send you back with the power of the Lifestream to support you."

"Seven of you? Friends? Who, are you talking about Aerith? In the Lifestream, only mako enchanted creatures have willpower, right? I don't have five more mako enchanted friends whom died…"

"You don't? They'll be hurt if they knew you said that." Aerith giggled softly and Zack, who'd left Cloud to join her, laughed too.

"You have a week Cloud, make your decision, we'll wait for the answer…"

"See you soon Spike." Zack winked at him before he took Aerith's hand, getting ready to leave.

"No! Wait! What'll happen here if I leave?! Will it be like I never existed?!"

"No Cloud, silly, this world wouldn't become the other world just because you left. For those you leave behind, it'll be, like you killed yourself, Cloud."

"Now, we really gotta go Spike. Meet us, in a week, there where you shoved my sword in the ground, think you'll still be able to find it?"

"Always…"

With that, Zack and Aerith left; slowly returned to the Lifestream to wait for Cloud's decision, and preparing, for the worst.