I hope you all like it so far. I'm a bit worried because I haven't played FFXII in quite some time…hope I'm getting everything right! I don't have the best memory. **sweatdrop** Anyways, on to the fic! ^_^

Chapter 1: La Étrangére en Captivité—The Outsider in Captivity

Aeris stared at nothing, her hands clutching at her face. A gentle touch, first on her arm, then on her temple, pacified her. Aeris stared up at Ifalna, trembling. Ifalna smiled benevolently at her, her warm hands reaching up to caress Aeris's face. She placed a loving kiss on her daughter's forehead, and spoke in a soothing, audible tone for the first time.

"Aeris, my sweet…you are safe now. You summoned Holy. You saved the Planet, and you have ascended to your final resting place."

Aeris was silent for a moment, in doubt. Her mind felt strangely empty, and she realized it was because she could no longer hear the wailing of the Planet. Instead, she felt a soft, joyful humming; the Planet was healed. Ifalna nodded slightly at her.

"The Planet's life is returning, all because of you." Ifalna gestured to the area around them. "Its strength returns, and even the dwelling of the Cetra gains more power."

Aeris blinked before murmuring incredulously, "Is this…the Promised Land?"

"Yes," answered Ifalna, beaming, and repeated, "You are safe now." As if to reassure herself, she enfolded Aeris in her arms again.

"Daughter…" choked the Ancient, sounding incredibly close to tears, "It has been so long since I held you last. I know that we were never completely separated, I could reach you telepathically if the need arose, but…that's different than holding you, being by your side, taking care of you…I am sorry. It must have been hard growing up without…and meeting such a fate…" She halted, then continued brokenly. "We will never be separated again, my heart." 

Contentment washed over Aeris and pushed the disturbing images away as she basked in the glow of her mother's love. She hugged Ifalna back fiercely, tears trickling down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't even remember the last time her mother had hugged her, as she had only been a baby at the time of Ifalna's death. They stood together, motionless; to them it was making up for all the time they had been robbed of. Ifalna finally broke their embrace, and clasped one of Aeris's hands in hers.

"Come. The other Cetra are anxious to meet the Planet's savior." Aeris wiped her eyes and fiddled nervously with the material of her dress, but followed nonetheless. They entered a quiet, deserted field. The long strands of grass swayed in the gentle wind, reaching up to tickle Aeris's hands. She smiled a bit and drowned herself in the magnificence of the environment that enveloped her. For the first time in a long, long while, she truly felt…at peace.

"Look, Aeris, your ancestors have arrived." Ifalna's comforting voice broke into her thoughts. Standing before them was a group of Cetra, heads held up proudly, eyes shining distantly with respect.

"Aeris, daughter of Ifalna, last of the Cetra…we welcome you to the Promised Land, and commend you on your bravery and completion of the summoning of Holy." spoke the Cetra in front, a man with short blond hair and gray eyes. "You achieved what all Cetra were born to do, yet could not; through the strength of your prayers, you saved the Planet."

Aeris blushed, and replied modestly, "Thank you, but I did what I had to do. And if it hadn't been for you, all of you, guiding me along the way, I never would have made it." The Cetra all smiled at her, their admiring gazes banishing whatever vestiges of fear and weariness she had left, instead instilling in her a bit of embarrassment. They surrounded her, eager to question her, to show her the Promised Land. In the midst of their respectful inquiries, Aeris recalled something that she never should have forgotten, and whirled around to face her mother.

Green eyes worried and pleading, Aeris grabbed Ifalna's hands. "Mother…what of my friends?" Ifalna drew Aeris from the other Cetra, promising to bring her back after she "cleared her head", and brought her to a secluded area where the pulse of the ever-present Lifestream was the strongest.

"Look, daughter, and you will see what came to pass, during your journey through the Lifestream to the Promised Land," whispered Ifalna, withdrawing to Aeris's side. Fearful of what she would see, Aeris faltered, but in the end the need to know what happened to AVALANCHE won out over her apprehension. With Ifalna's prodding, Aeris peered into the shifting shades of green that made up the winding cycle of souls.

At first, all she could see was the swirling, wispy mass of the Lifestream, and while it was awe-inspiring, it was not what she wanted to see. The Lifestream suddenly dispersed, as though a strong wind parted it, and Aeris watched as the events that took place after her death unfolded before her. She wept as Cloud waded out into the cool water of the lake, his face damp with tears, and released her body to its watery tomb while the rest of AVALANCE stood silently on the shore, in varying states of shock and sorrow. She trembled as Cloud and the others battled Sephiroth, and then faced the full power of Jenova; she nearly retched in disgust of the abomination that was the Crisis from the Sky. And then she smiled with relief as Jenova was killed, once and for all, sacrificing Sephiroth in the process. Aeris, still watching, clasped her hands in front of her chest, feeling her racing heartbeat.

"They're safe. All my friends are safe," she said to herself, a smile of pure happiness gracing her lips as a burden was lifted from her soul. She watched as the group parted amicably, to go their separate ways.

Barret returned to his little Marlene, and took her out to live by the beaches of Costa del Sol, relaxed and happy that things were finally looking up. Red XIII traveled around a bit before returning to Cosmo Canyon to catch up on his studies and his relationship with his grandfather. Yuffie also wandered the Planet for a while, looking for new materias, but eventually returned to Wutai to help her father govern the people. Vincent wandered the countryside, ever silent, and did whatever he could to erase the stain Hojo had left on the Planet, mainly by killing monsters. Cid returned to Rocket Town in his beloved Highwind and met up with Shera, who (Aeris noted with amusement) he gradually became close to. Reeve, controller of Cait Sith, took over Shinra and immediately set about destroying Mako reactors, preferring to use safer methods of energy. And Tifa and Cloud…

Aeris smiled, her eyes tearing slightly, as she followed their journey: they paid their respects at Nibelhelm, for their parents, at Midgar, for the inhabitants of Sector 7, and at the City of Ancients, for her. They returned to Costa del Sol, to live in Cloud's villa. Silently, knowing they would never hear her anyway, she gave the two her blessings.

As she gazed through the parted Lifestream, she was struck with the realization that none of her friends had forgotten her. In fact, it seemed that no one on the Planet had forgotten her. She blushed as she saw ballads and plays being written about her, and giggled embarrassedly when statues of her, as the Planet's Savior, were erected. Aeris was moved to tears when she saw Cloud and all the rest naming the huge new gardens outside of Midgar 'Aeris Gainsborough Square'.

Thank you…my dear friends. Aeris slid her eyes closed and spoke a little prayer for each in turn, praying for their spirits to find peace and happiness. Hopefully, every one of you will have a longer life than I. She couldn't help the bitterness she felt upon thinking those words.  

Ifalna shook her shoulder. "It is not over yet, child." Startled, Aeris turned her attention back to the gap in the Lifestream. Sephiroth's death replayed before her, and she watched as his spirit was lifted into the Lifestream. And was rejected.

Aeris met Ifalna's wise gaze. "Mother? Sephiroth…he could not enter the Lifestream?"

"No," replied the elder Cetra, "his mind and body were so tainted by Jenova's influence that the Lifestream could not accept him to be reborn." Aeris's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Then…what's happened to him?" She curiously followed Ifalna's outstretched hand to a huge, gnarled oak tree with splaying branches and a vast crown of dark olive leaves. Aeris's heart stopped beating for several seconds, and her blood seemed to freeze ice-cold in her veins. An indescribable fear gripped her, like thousands of sharp black claws digging into her flesh. A tiny, frightened sound left her lips. She stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet in a frantic attempt to escape.

Sephiroth!

Ifalna caught her in her arms and rocked her back and forth, murmuring soft words of comfort, but Aeris's green eyes remained locked on the tree...or rather, who was leaning against it. Sephiroth was slumped against the trunk in a standing position, his eyes closed and his expression neutral. At first glance he appeared dead; almost imperceptibly, his chest rose and fell in a natural breathing rhythm. Binding him to the tree were thick strands of the Lifestream, covering him like a green-tinted, transparent cocoon around his chest, arms, and legs.

Ifalna could feel Aeris shaking, and no wonder; the last time she had seen this man, he had killed her.

"It's alright, Aeris, he's been put into a kind of…hibernation." Aeris swiveled her head to look at her mother. "He can't wake up."

"How…? Why is he here?" Aeris choked. "What happened?" Ifalna settled down across from her, blocking her view of Sephiroth.

"It was quite strange, to say the least," confessed Ifalna, "when the Lifestream would not accept him, Holy itself was called down to see it the matter." She eyed Aeris carefully. "Do you remember anything about the prayer you said for Holy?" The young woman shook her head.

"You prayed for Meteor to be pushed away, for the people of the Planet to be safe again, for the soil to become fertile once more, and for the happiness of your friends, among other things. You…prayed for your death to be quick."

Aeris averted her gaze in shame. "I'm sorry. That was selfish of me, I know, it's just that…I was so scared of dying…" Her voice caught and broke, and she twisted a piece of her brown hair fitfully. Ifalna wept inside for her daughter and the sacrifice she had been forced to make.

She thinks she is selfish to ask for a quick death! Dear child, you knew your destiny as soon as the Planet talked to you for the first time. You knew you would die when you prayed for Holy, and you still did it! You have more courage than I could ever hope to possess.

But she said none of that to Aeris. Instead, she continued blandly, "You also prayed for the soul of Sephiroth. Why, the other Cetra and I still do not know. Surely you realized he would be the one to take your life?"

Aeris was silent, thinking. She raised her head again. "Yes and no, Mother. I knew it would be his form that would strike me down, but not his mind. It was Jenova, of that I'm sure. She manipulated him into doing a great many horrible deeds. To her, I was an obstacle. I don't think he would have killed me had he been in his right mind."

Ifalna's expression was unreadable, but Aeris got the distinct feeling she was uncomfortable. "You have…forgiven him, then?"

Aeris bit her lip, then glanced past her mother to Sephiroth's slumbering form. "I…I think I would eventually like to, but…I cannot. He did kill me, under Jenova's control of course, but every person has some measure of control over their actions. I didn't ask him to be saved because I forgave him…I prayed for his soul because I pitied him. He was tortured and deceived from the beginning. I guess I believed he deserved a second chance, even though he led a vicious life."

Ifalna stood, patting Aeris's shoulder. "Daughter, you are a far better person than I."

"Wait! How did he come to be here, in the Promised Land? He is not a Cetra…is he?" Aeris frowned. Ifalna shook her head 'no' and spoke.

"After your prayer was answered, and Holy was summoned, Sephiroth was brought here by Holy. It was going to obliterate him, but your prayer stopped it. Holy cleansed his mind of whatever final grips Jenova held on him, and restored his sanity. However, because of his Jenova cells, which cannot be erased short of killing him, the Lifestream still was not able to admit him. Thus, he has remained here, in an eternal sleep." Ifalna explained, her hands clenched tightly together. "The other Cetra and I were quite surprised to see your murderer admitted to the Promised Land, through your prayer no less."

To that, Aeris said nothing. She merely cast another sad look to Sephiroth.

"Aeris, you must leave him be. Even though Holy removed Jenova from his mind, he is still a dangerous, unstable man. Please…do not come to this grove anymore." Ifalna pleaded. "I don't want you getting hurt again, I couldn't bear it..."

Smiling softly and displaying the gentle nature that had endeared her to AVALANCE, Aeris embraced her mother. "Don't worry, Mother. I won't come here anymore. I wouldn't want to cause you any pain, especially since we're together again." Happy tears sprang to Ifalna's eyes.

"Come, Aeris, let's forget our sadness for a while. I'll show you all the Promised Land has to offer." She set off, nearly dragging Aeris behind her in her haste. Ifalna proudly displayed the magical sights of the Cetra's home: the many different species of flora and fauna that now existed only here; the crystal-clear tumbling waterfalls and fields of wildflowers; and a sprawling, breathtaking city that was a replica of the City of Ancients, as it must have looked when it was in its prime, before succumbing to time and war. Everything gleamed with beauty and radiated peace and life.

The Cetra she met were polite and respectful, but as the day wore on, she realized they were withdrawn from her. Cold. Conversations between friends died when she passed; it seemed as though a constant hush hung about her. But Aeris shook it off, pretended not to see, and turned to Ifalna with the image of the Great City etched firmly in her mind. The scent of flowers danced on the wind, intoxicating, bringing a smile to Aeris's lips.

Ifalna touched her hand. "What do you think?" 

"It's…it's…" Aeris couldn't speak for the lump that had lodged itself in her throat. What do I say? What does she want to hear? "Mother, it's like a dream…I'm seeing everything that you're showing me, but it's not registering in my brain. After all this time, and everything that's happened, it's like…"

"Shhhh…I know. I felt the same way when I saw the Great City for the first time," hushed Ifalna, stroking Aeris's hair, "it's such a wondrous feeling. The feeling that you'll finally be accepted, and that you won't have to run or be in fear anymore…the feeling that you are home."    

 Aeris nodded wordlessly, not wanting to tell Ifalna that her heart did not feel this way. She had seen the way the other Cetra had viewed her, with skepticism, like she was an outsider; the humans on the Planet had looked at her the same way. Perhaps she was.

I am, after all, only half-Cetra. They are pure. Maybe it is the human side of me that makes me weak…that makes me an outcast from both worlds. No matter what anyone says, I will always have the sense that I am different. No one on the Planet or the Promised Land could understand. But I cannot ask that of them anyway. It is my burden to bear. It was when I was alive, and it is when I have passed on.

Green eyes turned misty as their owner mulled over her troubling thoughts, however did not voice them. They were drawn to the two golden gates in the far distance she had first viewed when waking up in the Promised Land. For a moment they lost their shine and turned dark and menacing…prison gates. The gates of Shinra. Aeris shook her head fiercely.

I am not a captive!! I'm just overwhelmed. That's all.

Still, she couldn't bring herself to look at the gates again.