Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with FFVII or Squaresoft, the characters, storyline, feelings, plots, emotions, weapons, monsters, ages, swords, flowers, guns, hair, eyes, clothes, etc. Everything read here comes from the brain of a teenage girl.


PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

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Aeris had walked aimlessly around the forest with no understanding of where to go. She was lost for a time, and then she stumbled upon Bone Village. She was about to walk in when she spotted Cloud and the gang. She froze, staring at them from her shadowed figure. She moved further from sight, hoping no one had noticed her.

If she was found out this early before her mission was complete, she probably would never be able to complete it. As much as she longed to go to Cloud, she couldn't. She had a mission to complete, and it did not involve him. Tifa, Cloud and Barrett were all there, walking into the town, looking sullen and very sad. Aeris knew they would take it hard, but she never knew how hard.

Tifa looked as if she had been crying for hours, and Aeris did not know how long it had been since she had died and been brought back. Cloud, who was leading the group, looked just as bad as Tifa and Barrett was lagging behind, letting his gun-arm fall to his side. Aeris bit back a tear as she desperately wanted to scream out to her friends that she was alive and well. But she couldn't, and she didn't. She turned and walked back into the woods, silently deciding that when the coast was clear she would go back into the town.

Aeris walked sullenly around the outskirts of town keeping an eye out for who could see her. It was starting to get dark, and her eyesight was giving in on her. Just as she had decided to give up and go into town in the morning, she stumbled into a clearing and froze.

There Sephiroth lay, on a soft patch of grass, sleeping. She hadn't expected to find him so fast, but she did. Her mind wandered to what the Elders told her to do when she found him, but she found her memory failing. She was in the presence of a murderer, her murderer. How was she supposed to convince him to stop killing?

She stood there for a while before she finally realized how long she was staring. For a mass murderer, he was very attractive. He had features that would woo any woman. But she had to get a hold of herself and focus. She needed to find some way to keep him from killing her in the first few moments of him waking up. As she stood fighting with herself over what she should do, she never even noticed that his breathing had stopped.

Before she knew it, he was on his feet and she was on the ground with his masamune to her neck. This was it. She would surely die. She never had a chance. But something stopped him. Suddenly, the masamune was removed from her neck and she froze. He recognized her, and now he was staring. She felt uncomfortable under his stare, and suddenly a single word slipped from his lips so soft she barely heard him.

"You." he said softly. Aeris stood completely still, afraid that he would kill her if she even breathed. But he recognized her. She forced her beating heart to calm down and she stood tall.

"You are dead…how is it you stand before me?" he asked. Aeris took the opening to make something of it. She took in a deep breath before speaking softly, almost so he thought she was not saying anything.

"I am what was brought back. I have come to you to make you stop. What you are doing needs to be stopped." She said softly.

Sephiroth eyed her evilly now, but she could still see a hint of what looked like fear in his eyes.

"Nonsense. You cannot bring people back from the dead." He said. Aeris smiled softly, and turned away from him.

"You have lost your way. I was sent here to bring you back." She said. Sephiroth glared at her back.

"I know my place in life. My place is here, fighting to take back the Planet for Mother!" he yelled, gripping his sword. She turned to him then, pain evident in her eyes.

"If it were not meant to be, do you think I would be here in front of you right now? Do you think I would be alive? I was dead. You killed me. And yet here I stand for you to see. That is not some easy feat! Do you really think that the Elders would bring me back if it was not your place in life?"

Sephiroth converged on her then, his sword raised. She stood there, unmoving, waiting for him to bring that sword down on her for the second time in 24 hours. Right before it struck her, he stopped.

"Are you not afraid of death?" he asked. Aeris let out a soft sigh.

"I have died once. I am back now to help you. If you kill me again, they will just send me back again."

"I do not need help. I am fine. I WILL summon Meteor, I WILL take back the Planet, and I WILL do it for Mother! There is nothing a ghost can do to stop me!" he yelled. Aeris sighed, and turned her head. He thought she was a ghost. Maybe that would work.

Aeris turned, and walked softly and quickly out of sight, into the shadows. Sephiroth watched her leave, unable to move to stop her. He wondered how it was that she back, and how he lost the sudden ability to move when she tried to walk away. And now she was gone. Maybe she was never there. Maybe it was his guilt at killing another of his own kind. He tried to remove the thought from his mind, but it persisted to be heard.

Sephiroth moved then, determined to find her and see if she was real. But if she really was a ghost, then he would probably never see her again. But he had to try. He had killed another Cetra, one like him. It was his mother's orders, but he knew it was wrong. Were the Gods making him pay now by haunting his life with her presence? What if she had unfinished business and would never leave him alone…..what if she was telling the truth about why she was back…

Nonsense. No one but Mother was capable of telling the truth. All humans lie. They do not know truth. But she is a Cetra. He still couldn't wrap his mind about why he had to kill her. Now he would find out. Sephiroth began marching into the forest, looking for signs of her. It wasn't long before he lost hope, the fact that he would never see her again pulsing through his mind.

Just as he gave up, she appeared behind him. "Looking for me?" she asked. Sephiroth whirled around. She smiled softly, and he stood straight, wiping the surprise from his face.

"Yes. Why are you here?" he asked. Aeris looked at him quizzically.

Hadn't they already established that? "I am here to help you. I have already told you." she said. Sephiroth eyed her suspiciously.

"Aren't you angry with the human's for taking the land from our Ancestors? Why are you here to stop me? Why don't you help me? It would be much easier with the two of us helping to take back the planet for Mother." he said, choosing his words carefully as if he were afraid he was going to scare her away. Aeris watched him incredulously.

He thinks he is an Ancient on a mission for Jenova, his mother. But surely she was not his mother. She couldn't be. How could something that ugly produce someone so attractive? He watched her with his glowing green Mako eyes and suddenly she felt a pang of doubt. He was so sure that this was his path. Was it even possible to deviate him from it? Whether it was or not, she had to try.

"Sephiroth. How do you think that destroying the Planet is getting it back from the humans? You will kill all humans, but also any other Ancients that may be hidden. And, if destroyed, what will there be for Mother? How is this the right path for you?" she asked, moving closer to her, feeling suddenly oddly protective. Sephiroth watched her, unsure of how to respond.

Finally, after a moment, he spoke softly. "I…I don't know. All I know is that I must do this for my Mother. She has asked it of me, and I will follow through." he said. Then it was Aeris' turn to be silent, unsure of what to say. She turned then, and stepped away from him.

"What if I told you….what if I told you that Jenova…she is not your birth mother." she said, recollecting on information she had overhead when she was imprisoned in Hojo's lab. She heard him talking to himself about a wife, a son… She suddenly felt a hateful glare into the back of her head. She turned, looking at him with only truth in her eyes, no deception at all. Sephiroth glared at her before speaking again.

"I would say that you are lying. I would tell you to leave before I kill you myself. I will not put up with such lies. I have seen it for myself! I have read it for myself!! That I am the result of an experiment gone wrong! I am not human. I only have Jenova. She had been there to guide me since I found my way. I have not doubted her and she has not done me wrong yet. I will continue to give her my allegiance until she asks me to do otherwise. And you would do well not to lie to me if you value your life." he said, watching her with pure anger and hatred in his eyes. Aeris did not falter as he spoke, stunned by the effect Jenova's words had on him.

But what she didn't know was the mental battle he was having with Jenova at the same instant.

"Son! What are you doing? Why are you not letting me into your mind?"

"Mother, I am confronting something now, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave for a little while."

"What are you confronting? Who is it? Why are you not letting me in? Sephiroth, do not make me use drastic measures."

"Mother, please. I will explain it all to you if you leave now and let me concentrate." The whole conversation had been in his mind, Aeris completely unaware. She watched him though, as if she knew, but he knew there was no way that could be true.

"Sephiroth. You are not the result of an experiment. You have a human mother….and a father….though I know you will be unhappy to know of who the father is after all he has already put you through…" she said. Sephiroth glared at her, as if now he had made up his mind. She drew his sword then, and marched up to her.

"This is your last chance. Tell me you are lying. If you stick with the lies you are trying to feed me, then you shall die right now. It is your choice." he said. Aeris watched him softly, an emotion filling her eyes he did not recognize.

"Sephiroth, I swear to you that my words are not that of lies." She said, and closed her eyes to await her death. When moments passed and it did not come, she opened her eyes and saw Sephiroth pacing in front of her, his expression unreadable. After a few moments, she spoke softly.

"Would you like to hear the truth about yourself?" she asked. He stopped pacing and stared at her, but did not make a move or say a word. She was going to wait for him to speak now; she could say nothing more to convince him.

"I will hear your words, and then I will decide if they are lies or if they hold some truth. So for now, you may speak." He said in a cold tone, leaving Aeris to wonder how far she would get before he killed her. She shifted her weight, and looked into his glowing green eyes; sure she had his attention when she began.

"Sephiroth, I will be honest with you. I do not know much, but I do know a little. This is what I know. But prepare yourself, for it will be hard to accept but true nonetheless." She said. Sephiroth stamped his foot impatiently.

"Go on." He said in a threatening way. Aeris didn't move, and watched him closely, trying to understand the feelings that must be rushing through his head. Then, she closed her eyes and sighed, and when she opened them again, she met his gaze with a renewed look, one of determination.

He was caught off guard by her sudden change of stature, by hid his surprise easily as he had done multiple times before. He just waited patiently for her to speak.

"Sephiroth, Jenova is not your mother. She is a Project. The Jenova Project. She could have never had a son. You are human, Sephiroth. You have a biological mother and father. You were born human, but your sick father….he…" Aeris faltered then, and watched him closely for any reaction. He was very good at keeping his emotions hidden, for Aeris could detect nothing.

Sephiroth stood, staring into her eyes, trying to process the information and determine if she were lying. All of his instincts were yelling at him to kill her, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do it. He had already done it once, why should he have to again? Besides. He read it. In all those papers in Nibelheim.

She was lying. How dare she come here and tell him, the last Ancient on the Planet, that he was wrong and he should stop doing his destiny. He was the son of the Jenova Project, brought to life to be a weapon. He had a mission, and he would never deviate from it. How dare she come here and tell him that he was human. No human would have his strength. She was lying, and she had to be stopped. Her lying will cease.

He drew his sword then, letting his anger at her incompetence and her lies show through his face. Aeris froze then, realized he just convinced himself she was a liar. She stood there, unable to hide the fear that was evident on her face. Here she was. She was going to have to go back and explain to the Elders that she had failed. She would have to explain it to her mother…

Sephiroth began walking briskly over to her, raising his sword up high. As he reached her, he began to bring the sword down upon her when she cried out,"I know who your mother and father are!!!"

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Note from the Author: I know that this chapter is a bit longer than the rest, but it's ok. Thanks for reading!!