A/N: This is a transitional piece I really felt needed to be included, but didn't fit directly with the story line.

Interlude—Star Journey

It was surreal.

She felt like she'd been caught between awareness and unawareness for a long, long time.

First, she'd felt Minerva weeping sadly. Over what, she wasn't entirely sure. It was a sorrow which transferred to her very strongly, and she felt like she also wanted to cry, but somehow, she wasn't able to. That left her hovering in that state with only her soul to try to release the feelings.

Stars.

Even through that sorrow, she became aware of stars, but they were strange, like they were passing by fast enough for her to notice. And they were all around her, not just above her, like they should have been.

Just then, she also realized it wasn't cold—but hadn't she just been in the far north as the group looked for the facility Eden had been taken to by that Raven?

What?

Right then, she felt Minerva focus on her, becoming aware that she wasn't asleep. Wait, why was she supposed to be asleep?

The mental question produced amusement from Minerva, and resulted in a surprising response: :The journey will be long, Beloved Child, so all of you little children were meant to sleep through it.:

:What journey?: Aeris asked in reply, feeling confused.

A sigh reached her, then the entity replied, :My world, your world, is no more. The damage done to it in those last moments...it could not withstand. The damage shattered the crust.:

:Why? How?: the fifteen-year-old asked in distress.

There was a sensation as though of a head shaking with confusion, not denial. :I do not know. Fire shoved the land apart. That was as much as I saw. Too many, all at once, and so little time to take what few survivors there were. There was no chance to choose, just take all who yet lived. Most of the survivors came out of Midgar or the wilds, as those were not destroyed in that single instant, there was a delay before the death came. Those who needed to be saved have been—they were all very, very lucky to have been in places where the destruction was not immediate. Still, some good people were lost. Many of them.:

:Who would do such a thing?: Aeris asked in horror as she realized what had happened. Or at least the result of it. But fires shattering the crust had to have been explosives. Were there really enough explosives in the world which were powerful enough to completely destroy it? (1)

Again, she had the sensation of Minerva shaking her head in confusion, having no answer.

:My brothers!: she suddenly gasped. When Minerva sent her a blank sense, clearly asking who she meant, Aeris asked, :Tseng and Eden. Um, you know Eden as your Ancient Sentinel, but I don't know about Tseng. He's the Wutain with that stone on his forehead...: she offered, focusing on an image of him to send to Minerva.

:Oh, my,: Minerva seemed to blink as she examined the image of the man. :That must be repaired. Ah, Holy Death, that is his essence. His mother will be proud. Both he and my Ancient Sentinel are safely within the Omega body.:

:Holy Death?: the brown haired girl asked in confusion. Then it occurred to her that she'd never before had such clear communication with Minerva, and asked, :How can I suddenly talk with you so clearly?:

:You shall know why he would be called Holy Death later,: the planetary entity replied, sounding amused. :And you hear me so clearly now because you are directly within the core of my energy.:

:...So...this is like when we visited you in the Northern Crater and where your core was below Banora?:

:Indeed.:

Looking outward again, Aeris found herself seeing the stars passing by again, and realized it was because they were traveling in the Omega body away from their own world. How long had it been? Was there a way to know? She remembered that Minerva had trouble with 'time' the way Cetra and humans perceived it, so it would be extremely difficult to assess, even with Minerva's memory of the journey to that point—there were no actual milestones to count by in a sea of blackness and stars. If everyone was in stasis, they also wouldn't age—probably a good thing, but one less point to use to count passage of time.

So why was she not asleep? Had her body not been put into stasis like everyone else's? An assurance from Minerva told her she was, in fact, just as much physically in stasis as the others.

Did Minerva have any idea where they were going?

With a small tug on her mind, Aeris felt herself pulled to Minerva's awareness, where she could see and sense what the entity was operating on. She could also vaguely sense a secondary presence she associated somehow with a sleeping infant.

The first thing she noticed about what she was being shown was that Minerva was very, very old, and had actually been on two other planets before Gaia. (2) One was destroyed by natural disasters before any sentient races had come to exist, and the other had been run-down and worn-out, to a point where she had no longer been able to maintain it. The children of that world had long since left her behind, and she had just been waiting for it to release her. It had been millions of years since she had arrived on the Planet and begun terra-forming it, a task much more intensive there than on either previous world.

After assessing that, she found the method Minerva had used to choose her direction away from the Planet as it had crumbled. It was three-fold: a path away from both previous worlds, a path towards something familiar, and a new direction. The 'path towards something familiar' produced the remains of the reason for why no Cetra could hold Chaos, the meteors which hadn't been meteors and which had brought other humans there, and an awareness of something fading. While Aeris couldn't fathom 'something fading' from such a distance, she vaguely realized Minerva had chosen to go in the direction the star-ships had come from two thousand years before.

:Why?: she asked the planetary entity. :Won't it have its own entity, making you like Jeh-nova, an interloper?:

:I have no intent to overtake or destroy, and entities such as I are able to choose companionship rather than competition,: Minerva replied. :Those poor children...What they brought to us...What state would their own world be in by this time?:

Aeris thought about the greed and suffering she'd seen in her own world, then asked, :What if they found a better way themselves?:

:Then peace between our peoples should be both possible and welcome,: the entity smiled. :And if things have not gone so well, perhaps we shall be able to assist.:

The half-Cetra couldn't help but snort in amused derision at that. :How can we possibly help them when we couldn't even help ourselves?:

:You underestimate the good done in the last months,: Minerva replied in amusement. :It had been assisting far more than those immediately around you, and many people's eyes were opened to the need for a change. They shall be more receptive to any changes the Prodigal Son of the Star-Travelers would bring about. And while we may also be in a state of learning, that does not negate the experience and knowledge we may bring to a world in a worse state.:

Aeris pondered that for a few moments before realizing there was truth to the statement. Either way, it could turn out well or poorly, but after everything many of the people of the Planet had gone through, there was a better chance it would turn out well. As long as the people who had caused the problem weren't going to come out of stasis with everyone on the Omega.

:Can you sense who was a person who caused harm and one who didn't?: she asked suddenly. When Minerva asked with a feeling why it mattered, she explained, :If the same people who were causing so much harm are released with all the average and good people, won't that just create all the same problems again?:

After a thoughtful pause, the entity agreed, :I am able to seek out their essences to determine that, and now that there is a proper purification array, resolve the issue, either to remove them entirely or give them another chance. There is one who is within the Omega who my Earthen Champion had intended to eliminate due to his greed. That judgment shall need to be fulfilled. Others—may yet have a chance for salvation. Hmm...perhaps a grand purifying would be best for all of my little children...:

Feeling the energies of said purification flow around her was a strange sensation, but it was somehow comforting. It was like a gentle cleansing of all tension, stress, worry—it eased, and it healed, and it made small changes to make things easier for them. For a long time, she just basked in the sensation, until she opened her eyes again and sought out what was beyond the Omega.

Still just stars.

She had no idea how long it had been, but if she was honest with herself, time actually had no meaning in her current state. Even though she kept trying to apply it, there was no real reason to—since everything was just in a holding state exactly the way it was, there was nothing to actively assess, either. Sleep also didn't seem to be a factor for her apparently very energetic soul, so she mostly just let her mind wander, seeking out the essences of those also on the Omega to see who she could find. It didn't take much to find people she knew—Felicia, Eden, Genesis, Tseng, others—and from them, she could check on others. A few times, she came across a blank space, showing where someone had once been, but then had since been cleansed.

Then she thought to look for Dark Nation, and found no trace of the Blood Taste. Worriedly, she looked for Nanaki and Deneh—and found them with many others of their kind (What?)—then checked for Libby, Stray Hope, and Cait Sith, holding her breath against tears. After all, they were robots, not people, so would they have been taken?

And then her spirit-form jaw fell open in shock.

When Minerva sent her a questioning feeling, she asked, :How were you able to take the robots, but not Dark Nation?:

A blank came back from Minerva before she replied, :I took all those of sentience and free will I could reach. What robots do you mean?:

:Like Cait Sith, and Libby! How were you able to take those robots with you?:

Again, there was a blank from Minerva as she asked, :Those are objects created by human hands?: A pause followed, then she replied, :They are as sentient as you, Beloved Child. They are, to me, living beings, little children of my world.:

:Whoa...I have got to tell Reeve he found a way to create life without sex or birth from a woman's body...: Aeris said with reverence.

At Minerva's amusement, Aeris promptly ignored her and instead amused herself by pretending she was petting and cuddling the furry collection of robots. As sad as it was that Dark Nation hadn't been able to go with them—Rufus would be hurt to find that out—at least he'd still have Stray Hope.

Some time later, she finished coddling them, then kept going on her search of those in the Omega body. When she finished, she closed her eyes to rest for awhile, then felt something change and opened them again. Looking around showed her they were slowing down, and the reason why was because they were rapidly approaching a planet with a sun nearby—most likely their intended destination. At agreement from Minerva, she watched curiously as the Omega slowed and turned to drop into the planet's atmosphere feet-first. It was an atmosphere writhing with dark, angry clouds, leaving her with a foreboding sense.

It became rather warm, a sensation she felt because it transmitted through her physical body, and she was rather thankful their current stasis wasn't due to cold, otherwise it would have been broken. There was an almost-aura of fiery heat surrounding the Omega body, but it didn't hurt—not Minerva, and not anything safely inside the Omega body. It looked like they were going to land over open ocean, and she wondered if that meant their landing would create a tidal wave and destroy a lot.

Before she could ponder where they would land, she blinked as a brilliant, golden light shot upwards—and diverted from its path to flow over the Omega. There was a sensation of worry from Minerva as she 'caught' the energy, and Aeris suddenly felt something like another mind, another entity, close to her, though it seemed like a child to Minerva's middle-aged woman.

What had that been?

She had no further time to ponder it as the Omega hit the water, displacing it as it descended to the ocean floor—then shoved upward suddenly as many, many brilliant, white-green lights spread out over the area. The black, roiling clouds began dissipating.

For the first time in who knew how long, Aeris felt her mind rest and fall into the darkness of sleep.

Notes:

(1) Keep in mind that Gaia is a very small planet which already couldn't even have sustained itself without Minerva. In this circumstance, causing it too much damage, all over the land-space and all at once, could feasibly tear it apart. After all, if everyone missed the tells, the President wired EVERY town and village Eden's been to so they would blow up within seconds of one another, and a bunch besides that. Shinra was a little less successful in Wutai, mostly because they were still mostly loyal to Godo, not him, and money isn't a huge factor for Wutains—but that doesn't exclude Wutai from this destruction. This very, very small planet couldn't hold up against that.

(2) Obviously, this part of Minerva's history is made-up, but I thought it would suit how she presents herself.