"Anne?!"

Tifa looked up at Sephiroth as he fell to his knees beside Anne and took her from her arms. Anne let out a soft cough, a puff of smoke leaving her lips.

"…That spell went differently than planned," she rasped and Sephiroth cradled her close to him.

"You idiot, I said to be careful!" he growled.

"And I was. …I just didn't have a lot of opportunities to practice this spell."

She sighed and leaned her head on his chest.

"I failed you…"

"No, no, no you haven't!"

Sephiroth looked around desperately, looking up at Angeal who shook his head and then to Aerith who looked tearful.

"There must be something that must be done!"

"The magic is far too strong and it will be difficult considering that Anne's core might break from our magic," Genesis replied sullenly.

Shadow whined as he nosed Anne with flattened ears. Anne raised a shaky hand to place on his head.

"Sorry, boy," she whispered, "Looks like I'm going to the spirit world sooner than I thought…"

"Anne, don't talk like that!" Tifa barked as she spun on her heel, "You all have such power, can you really not do anything?!"

"Magic isn't that simple," Yuffie flattened her ears as she thumbed one of her rune stones, "Not to mention that phoenix spell is ancient, Anne isn't trained enough to control it."

"It's also quite complex," Angeal grimaced as he knelt by Anne's feet, taking the cloak in his hand that wasn't burnt to a crisp, "It wiped Rosso out but left the Valentine items untouched."

Anne closed her eyes as Sephiroth looked around in despair before nestling his head in her chest.

"Iyasu…suitoru!"

Genesis's eyes widened.

"Sephiroth, no!" he barked as Sephiroth clutched onto Anne tightly.

Anne gasped as she opened her eyes, the burns on her body disappearing quickly and appearing on Sephiroth's body. The servants watched in despair as Sephiroth clung onto Anne until he dropped to the floor.

"Sephiroth, what did you do?!" Anne shrieked as she ran to cradle his head on her bare lap.

Sephiroth snarled as he lay there, limp and weak.

"How the hell were you conscious with this amount of damage?" he rasped as Anne carefully brushed his blackened fur, "…I think some organs are now dust."

"No, no, you don't deserve this!" Anne cried as she flexed her gauntlet, "Helnenn!"

Her magic glowed but failed and she glared at it. She flexed it again, more blood seeping out of her hand.

"Helnenn! Helnenn!"

"Anne, it's no use!" Aerith grabbed her hand as more and more blood began spilling onto the floor, "That spell is designed for the person to lay down their life for another's!"

"But why?!" Anne cried with tearful eyes, "Why me?!"

Sephiroth snorted as he nosed her bare stomach.

"Silly girl," he whispered, "Because it's you."

Anne looked down at him as he closed his eyes submissively.

"In all my worthless life, keeping you alive will be my greatest thing that I'll be proud of."

"You stupid…stupid man!" Anne whined as she leaned her head into his chest "You're a good man! Stop belittling yourself like that! You're a good man, you just can't forget the sins you've committed!"

All the servants stared at her with wide eyes as Anne cradled Sephiroth's head.

"And it's because you want to atone that makes you a good man," she whispered as tears fell onto his snout, "You just can't see for yourself…"

The final bud of the bush opened up into full bloom, showering red dust over the couple. Sephiroth lay there in the rain with Anne as the dust fell onto his body and began shining. Anne opened her eyes when he began moving and jolted backwards as his body began lifting up into the air. Everyone else backed off as his blackened fur slowly turned back into its silver beauty. Suddenly, ribbons of light surrounded Aerith.

"Aerith?!" Zack exclaimed as Aerith looked at them in alarm.

"Zack…I…"

Aerith gasped as with a pop, her coyote ears disappeared into white sparks of light. Her tail disappeared too as she raised her hands to feel her head and stare at her fiancé in surprise.

"They're…I…"

Zack jumped as it began happening to him and the others. Tifa and Cloud watched on in awe as one by one, their individual tails and ears disappeared into light. Genesis nursed the sides of his head, looking towards Angeal who was craning his head to look behind him, rubbing the spot where his tail had been.

"Angeal…"

He raced across the balcony and pounced into his lover's arms.

"Angeal!"

He clung onto him tightly as Angeal hugged back.

"There, there," he whispered, "It's gone, the curse is broken."

A sudden white light encompassed Sephiroth's body. Everyone shielded their eyes as his massive paws shrunk into slim pale hands, his tail shrink back into his body and finally his snout recede into his face to form a perfectly human nose, finishing his revert to his human form. He blinked his eyes open, as if waking from a dream, his semi-nude form hovering momentarily as he was gently placed on his feet. He looked at his body in awe, flexing his hands and turning to face the servants. He opened his mouth before closing it to lick his lips. But before he could say anything, Genesis approached him and backhanded him sharply.

"What did I tell you about leaving things to the last minute?!" he yelled with tears pricking his eyes, "I thought you were going to die, for Gaia's sake! Don't scare us like that!"

Sephiroth nursed his red cheek whilst Zack spun Aerith around in the rain happily behind him.

"…I'll make it up to you," he said and Genesis folded his arms.

"You'd better."

"You're not still hurt anywhere are you?" Angeal asked as he approached next.

"No, I've been completely restored," Sephiroth murmured as he felt his torso up.

"We're human again!" Yuffie cried as she launched herself onto Cid's back.

"Oi, watch it!" Cid barked as he stumbled, "I'm an old man, you need to be careful!"

"Your Majesty!"

Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz burst into the West Wing, their tails and ears gone too. They looked around in awe as Kunsel and Luxiere grinned when they felt their heads and watched the others celebrate. Sephiroth turned to them and smiled softly.

"Good to see you still alive," he nodded.

He looked around, smiling wider until it faltered slightly.

"Where's Anne?"

The servants paused in their celebrations to look around. Cloud flinched inwardly as all eyes went to him and he glanced over in the direction where Tifa was hugging her little sister. Sephiroth made his way over, tilting his head and smiling down at the Lockharts.

"Anne."

Tifa looked up at him before pulling Vincent's cloak around Anne's body more. Anne stood up straight, holding the cloak still and looking up at Sephiroth.

"Your Majesty," she mumbled as she did a little curtsey.

Sephiroth chuckled as he cupped her cheek.

"Relax," he purred as Anne's gaze remained on the floor, "It's still me, Sephiroth."

His eyes softened as Anne shifted on the spot. He tilted her face up and leaned in towards her lips. He was knocked back when Anne wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly.

"Don't…scare me like that," she mumbled as he took a moment to process the situation before hugging her back, "I was really worried."

Shadow crooned when he sat by Anne's heels as Sephiroth kissed her head.

"Your fault, you daft little thing," he chuckled.

Anne pulled back and gave him a firm glare.

"It got me results," she said and Sephiroth snorted, cupping her cheek as he stared down into her eyes.

"Right, I think we all earned a good night's rest!" Aerith clapped her hands and Anne broke away from Sephiroth's hold to pick up Shadow who was whining for attention, "I'll prepare a room for Tifa."

"Tifa can just sleep in Anne's room because she can sleep with me," Sephiroth said and Tifa looked at him sharply.

"Not when you're a human," Genesis coughed and Sephiroth glared at him, "Give the lady some space, she was at the edge of death."

"So was I."

"Oh, you'll always find a way to survive, you're too stubborn," Genesis scoffed as he linked arms with Anne, ignoring Shadow's growl, "It's past your bedtime too, little monster."

Shadow hissed and Anne patted his back whilst she was marched out of the West Wing.

"Actually, I would like to be with Anne," Tifa said as she followed after Genesis, "See you in the morning, Cloud!"

"Sure," Cloud murmured as he skulked out, Yuffie and Zack prancing around him eagerly.

Luxiere and Kunsel followed the brothers out as Cid cracked his neck.

"Don't think you'll be comfortable in here as a human," he commented and Angeal nodded.

"I'll prepare a room for you inside then, Your Majesty?"

Sephiroth was silent for a moment and nodded. Angeal nudged his shoulder.

"You'll have plenty of time to catch up tomorrow," he reassured him before leading him out, "In the meantime, you both need your rest."

"Angeal…"

Angeal paused to look up at Sephiroth who looked dejected.

"I want to be in the same corridor as her. I miss her aura."

Angeal cocked an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Just don't try to sneak in like last time, her sister looked like she was going to murder you," he said and Sephiroth frowned, "You had very heavy footsteps as a giant fox and Luxiere saw you sneak into her room that night."

Sephiroth's cheeks were dusted a light pink as he followed Angeal through the castle.

Sephiroth neatened himself before a mirror, rolling his shoulders awkwardly as he got used to the fact he was wearing clothes after so long. He waggled his fingers before him, thinking that it was a dream that he was a human again. He smiled. He had a special little Wiccan to thank for that. He stepped away from the mirror and left his bedroom to walk across the corridor. He knocked briskly on Anne's bedroom door.

"Come in!" was the muffled answer.

Sephiroth took in a deep breath as he opened the door and stepped in. His smile faltered as he saw Anne bustling back and forth between a trunk and around her room, a muffin wedged into her mouth.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" Anne exclaimed as she took the muffin away and swallowed her mouthful.

"Sephiroth, you can still call me Sephiroth," the king insisted as Shadow flitted back and forth, dropping things into the trunk on the bed, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I like to prepare early for journeys," Anne said as she placed the muffin down on the vanity and went to the wardrobe, "Especially since there's so much out there to explore."

She turned to him and smiled.

"Tifa finally approved of me going out there to travel," she said brightly, "I'd better take some of the dresses Aerith made for me…"

"You're leaving? So soon?" Sephiroth said, disheartened.

"Well you've probably got a lot of duties to sort out, now that the curse is gone," Anne said as she picked out two dresses and went to the trunk to fold them and put them in, "I don't want to get in the way."

"You can stay, for a bit longer," Sephiroth said as he walked up to her.

"It's fine," Anne smiled, "I'll be sure to visit though! You are my big brother after all, right?"

Sephiroth looked down at her and grabbed her hands before they could grab anything else to put in the trunk.

"Anne, just stay still for a moment."

Anne blinked as he sat down on the bed and pulled her down to sit next to him.

"Why the rush? You can stay a couple of days, you still need to recover."

"I was planning to just go back home and sort my other stuff out," Anne shrugged, "Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask. Would it be possible to borrow some of your books from the library?"

"Anne, could you stop thinking of travelling for just a minute and listen to me?"

Anne looked up at him quietly as he stared down at her, finding the right words.

"I would like you to stay, you won't get in the way of anything."

"But I don't really want to burden you."

"You won't!"

"Why do you want me to stay?"

Sephiroth exhaled sharply as he looked up at the ceiling for a moment. He nodded before taking in a deep breath and looking down at the Wiccan.

"I love you, Anne," he said and Anne tensed "I wish to marry you."

Anne was silent. She stared at Sephiroth with wide eyes as he stared back longingly. She broke the eye contact to look away.

"I…I…"

Sephiroth tilted his head with a pleading gaze as she pulled her hands away.

"Anne, I…"

"Excuse me."

Sephiroth watched as she dashed out of the room, Shadow at her heels. He felt his heart break.