His voice spoke no words. If she ever wished to understand, one look into his desperately pleading eyes would clarify everything - every question that she had for him. But she needed a few million answers to one question.
Why?
Why did you lure me to the Forbidden City, knowing that I would sacrifice my life, but yet, you still haven't killed me?
Why did you massacre the people of ShinRa, knowing that Rufus would bring an even more powerful wave of injustice and fear?
Why do you blame the world for one man's lies?
At times in her childhood, she would dream about the man that now stood in front of her. No one could be still and intimidating like the Great General. Just like every hopeless teenage girl, she used to fantasize that he would one day be her Prince Charming.
Pathetic, really.
But she got rid of those thoughts long ago. Really. Honestly.
Her prayers were not even started, and they were already disturbed. Summoning Holy would be difficult in the prescence of a legend.
A terrible legend, actually. But what Aeris didn't know was where the Great General of SOLDIER ended, and where Sephiroth began. Because they were not the same person.
The General was a merciless and skilled warrior who could slay an entire town in one night. The General has been infused with Mako, and never shows any emotions.
Sephiroth was a person, no more than she was - destined to feed the planet's Lifestream.
Even with her eyes closed, she could picture the man. Emerald jewels for eyes, staring right at her, unblinking. Wide shoulders and muscular chest showing beneath his trench coat. Graceful silver hair, glistening like the gentle arrows of Artemis.
And what was he thinking?
What a strange sacrifice. A poor girl; a Cetra destined for greatness. She could find the Promised Land, and Mother...
Forget about Mother and the Promised Land and that superficial nonsense for one moment. Those are the things that define SOLDIER. Jenova cells and mako. But underneath the thick layers of artificial life, there is a heart beating, struggling to live. And even without Jenova infesting their bodies mentally and physically, they would still be a complete person. With a purpose.
She hoped her theory was right, anyway. Because if she wanted to save the Planet, there had better be some form of humanity deep down inside of the General that posed before her. And it was the General that she would have to deal with - not Sephiroth.
And they were right. He was a machine, a puppet, a cyborg.
An artificial life form.
But they made him that way. Because he was born a child, with a mother and father, and a heart that began to beat as soon as he took his first breath and opened his eyes. Back then, truth was lie and all was well. But soon other things became more important. Mother and the Lifestream, and finding out who you really are, and who you are supposed to be.
How was that important? Important enough to kill?
"I don't suppose you'll go away if I count to ten and open my eyes, General." She mused, a soft smile carving its way into her face.
He responded with silence, and her statement bounced back to her.
She kept her eyes closed, waiting for an outcome to this charade that they played. A horrible charade. It was childish and apathetic, but she savored each moment - for any could be her last.
"Come walk with me." He commanded with gentle authority, and forced her to stand. She made no signs of resistance. Her destiny was laid out in front of her. A straight path to death.
And she loved it.
The darkened forest was lovely and deep, hiding more secrets than the Cetra's heart. The landscape was useless as of now. Being in the prescence of him was like being in the prescence of a God.
The vengeful and merciless God of Death.
But this God, created by mutated human cells containing a different form of DNA, would be no more than a partner, a friend, or an acquaintance in the Lifestream. Thoughts of death plagued her mind as she walked, and each step grew heavier as she realized that they were going nowhere. No one was talking, and the forest would be endless. And as abruptly as his request to "walk with him", he stopped.
The Cetra turned to her Fate. He was formed perfectly, every inch and masculine curve of his body piercing perfection in its luxiousness.
He was beautiful.
Strange mako-like eyes bringing about a shiver down her spine as he leans close, whispering the most petite of words into her ear... As his arms crawl around her waist, and pull her underneath his muscular body...
She shook her head. These fantasies she had abandoned found their way back to her broken mind. And they would not leave, and could not leave.
They were never really gone - just sleeping.
"Isn't this beautiful?" His words slipped past his thin lips, random, and entrancing.
"Beautiful..." She repeated, letting that pose as her answer.
How could a terrible assassin understand beauty?
Everything was misunderstood. People, nature, power, money.
It mattered not what you had in one lifetime, because all of us, we all have just one. And once you're gone, everything you've worked hard to achieve will be gone as well. To waste a life pursueing the unattainable would be like you lived your life in vain, and every word you have spoken, every gesture you have made... Time will devour them all.
She just hoped that this was the case. Maybe, when she dies, her friends would forgive her for her childish fantasies, the ones that they would never know about. Maybe, when she dies, they'll forget the fact that she did, indeed, exchange words and actions with the General - their enemy.
She could be a heroine or a whore. It made no difference, because she was already dead.
"Tell me what you're thinking." His words were curt and short, yet they were all that needed to be said.
"About dying," She half-lied.
A twisted, crooked smile formed on his lips. "Death isn't as terrifying as they think."
They.
"That would be different if you were the victim," She challenged, her eyes avoiding him.
He snarled, but let her comment go at that.
Because he knew that it was true.
And what a strange girl she was - to stand her ground and stare Death down until it blinked. Until HE blinked. She was petite, weak, and vulnerable.
But she was as courageous as he was; she knew that her short life would end here, and still travel to this dreaded place where no one important would bear witness to her own demise.
No one important.
"Tell me, Aeris. We're alike, aren't we? So why are we fighting on opposite sides?" That was the longest sentence he's spoken in a long time. And only to her - to this flower girl from the Slums, who barely deserved it.
"Because you're on the side of darkness and I'm on the side of..."
What was she on the side of?
He turned curiously to her. "The side of...?" He marked his sentence with a chuckle. "I suppose, if I met you before Cloud did, you would be on my side."
And as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that it was true. Because she, a starry-eyed girl of a young age, had always admired him from afar.
"Maybe."
And that was that.
Aeris turned to examine his sheathed sword. How painful it would be to be slayed with that...
But the word "fear" did not come to mind. Maybe dying for the good of the Planet would make her SOMEONE.
Not a Cetra. Not a flower girl. Not a whore.
Aeris Gainsborough.
"What made you so cruel?" Her voice came out broken, cracked. Like she was about to cry.
"What made you so kind?" He laughed, and she was surprised at the sound. Human and natural. It was as if they were friends, talking about something other than their own tangled Fates.
And that meant that neither expected an answer to their questions. They had only asked it to hear themselves think, and let each other know what they're thinking.
He was right - the forest WAS beautiful. More beautiful than anything she had ever seen. The trees tangled at the very top, forming a natural canopy.
What a perfect place for a wedding... I do... And he slips that ring onto her finger...
Aeris sighed. There would be no abandoning these thoughts, and she was sure because if she was in the prescence of the man who these fantasies were about, and he would be the one to end her life, then...
Was it love or lust?
Or maybe a childhood crush she never really got over.
"Do you love him?" His question came suddenly.
Why do you care?
"Mm... Cloud?" A pause. A suspenseful silence, even for Aeris herself. "No."
That simple word brought an unreadable, amused smile to his lips that lightened his beautiful features.
"I better go. It's getting late." Aeris spoke softly, as if afraid to wake Sephiroth and herself from this magical trance-like state within the forest.
He said nothing. And his expression said nothing. He wore the same smile as before, a Noh mask. Staring off into space, his eyes were no longer piercing and burning... But soft and tender.
"Goodbye." She turned and began to walk away, careful not to step on the stray bushes and flowers.
"Remember how I said that we were alike... But on different sides?"
She stopped.
"You live off of love while I live off of hate. Two different sides."
She smiled, her bangs hiding her eyes as she turned around.
He stood tall, his black wing outstretched.
"I need both wings to fly. I need you to succeed." He extended his hand, as if he was inviting her.
And a million thoughts ran through her head.
She'd take his hand, and they would kiss. Then he would fly them off to somewhere... Anywhere but here. And then there would be a beautiful ending to their tragic fairy tale. Too dark to be called a fairy tale, actually...
Aeris did not bother to push these thoughts aside as she stared at him wonderously.
This is where the General ended, and Sephiroth began.
This is where the rumors are proven wrong.
This is where Aeris could change her life.
But this, her childhood idol - why should she abandon him? She pondered on that for a long while.
Because I'd be lying if I said that we were alike, and could create a happy ending.
Our lives are not meant to happy. That is why everything that happened happened.
The last words she would speak to him would be the most painful.
"I'm sorry, Sephiroth."
And with that, she walked away, half-regretting her words. But somehow, it felt right.
Cloud and AVALANCHE would bear witness to her heroic death. But they would not understand that she had a chance to change everything. And Sephiroth slayed the girl, half of him hating her for the rejection, and the other half crying for her. So she, indeed, was different.
Because she was someone.
She was worth the effort to kill, and she was worth the tears that followed.