Lonely, she was so very utterly lonely

For the first time in years, possibly ever. Sephiroth sat on the sands of a beach. For some reason he was perfectly content with simply staring out at the ocean, watching each wave break on the sandy shore. Never before in his life had he ever appreciated the beauty of things, even after spending his entire childhood inside a barren laboratory.

Next to him, a very polite distance away, sat a woman who he had killed. She was sitting with her legs crossed at the ankles and leaning back onto her hands. After their first meeting by the waterfall they had awkwardly made their way to the beach. Now they sat on the soft white sand without saying a single word. It was almost humorous how they had both wanted to talk to someone so badly but now that they had the chance neither of them could say a word.

Why he needed to talk to another person so badly he really couldn't say. Initially he had laughed at the punishment that he had been given. Punished to walk in some hell without ever being able to talk to another person had seemed like a joke to him when his entire childhood had been spent in virtual solitude. But as time had passed he had realized more and more that the solitude that he had been confined to was much more absolute than that he had experienced as a child. As a child he had been in contact with other beings, though not very kind ones, he was still able to talk to them and to learn from them. Even Hojo, thought the man had done nothing but experiment on him Sephiroth had occasionally talked with the man. His childhood had been nothing compared to the punishment.

Suddenly a thought came to him. If his punishment was to be isolated in complete solitude, why was had he come in contact with Aeris? Was this really what he thought it was? He turned slightly to look at Aeris. She was a Cetra, she probably knew.

"Where is this place?"

She turned and looked at him with a slightly puzzled look.

"Don't you know?"

"I thought I knew, but since you are here I guess I was wrong,"

She continued looking out at the ocean, but seemed to pause as if in thought.

"This is the Lifestream, this is the world I created in my mind,"

The world she created in her mind? To say that was confusing was putting it mildly.

"What do you mean, the world you created in your mind?"

Now she turned to look at him. What did she know that he didn't?

"You really don't know where you are do you?"

Of course not. He certainly wasn't going to tell her that though. How was he supposed to know. All he knew was that he had woken up in some cold fiery hell.

"No"

She looked at him for a few seconds then, out of the blue she smiled. He couldn't help but think that she had a very pretty smile.

" Come on lets go for a walk this may take a while to explain to you", she said this as she got to her feet and walked back towards the river.

He couldn't help it as a slight frown crossed his face. Did she think he was some sort of child, that he wouldn't be able to understand. Still, he wanted to know where this place was. So he got back to his feet and walked to catch up to her.

Since he was in better shape than she was and his legs were longer is didn't take long. Once he got to her side she took a deep breath then began explaining.

"Once a spirit dies their spirit joins with the Lifestream. A normal person's spirit is reborn into another living thing. The Cetra are different though. Because they are not of the planet they still die but their spirits can not be reborn. So they all created a Promised Land. The Promised Land is a world created by the minds of the Cetra Elders. Once a Cetra dies their spirit is found as quickly as possible then escorted to the Promised Land where they will dwell with their fellow Cetra for the rest of Eternity."

"Why aren't you there with them. You're a Cetra right?"

Their walk had led them into the forest alongside the river. Aeris bent over and picked a small pink flower from near the river before continuing on. She fiddled with the flower while she talked.

"Yes but I summoned Holy. There is sort of a rule that whoever summons Holy is the one who is destined to be the planets guardian. To make sure that I have no distraction to my duty I was sealed off from the Promised Land and therefore all contact with my fellow Cetra."

That explained why she wasn't with the Cetra but it didn't explain where this was.

"I'm getting to that", she said as though she had read his thoughts.

"When a mind, or spirit, enters the Lifestream it subconsciously creates a world for it to live in, otherwise there would be nothing and your mind can neither comprehend that nor handle it. So most people have their own little world for a little while before they are reborn. The Cetra all created their own world. Since I am not in their world, the Promised Land, my mind created it's own. After a time I learned how to control it and how to change it to my liking.

So we are in the Lifestream in a world created for our minds for us to live in,"

That all made sense. But he hadn't been reborn, and if it hadn't happened yet it probably wasn't going to happen. He certainly wasn't a Cetra, he had figured that Jenova had only said that to manipulate him and make him her minion. What was it she had said about why the Cetra couldn't be reborn? It was because they weren't from this world. So because he had Jenova in him he would never be reborn and he would never be allowed into the Promised Land. So if Aeris hadn't summoned Holy and been assigned as the planet's guardian he would have been forced to wander the Lifestream alone for the rest of Eternity.

They had stopped in a shaded spot along the side of the river. Aeris was standing a short distance away with her hands folded around the flower looking off into the distance. A few of the sun's rays that broke through the tree's canopy danced across her face.

Why had she summoned Holy? She probably knew about what would happen to her. Sephiroth stood there his arms at his sides watching as the water moved the pebbles at the bottom of the stream. It struck him all at once. She had done it because of him. He had summoned Meteor and the only way to defend the planet was to summon Holy. She was stuck in this place away from her family because of him.

Never in his life had he felt so guilty. Here was this beautiful woman who he had taken almost everything important from. First he had taken her life, he chance at happiness on earth, then he had taken away her Promised Land. That was the worst. He had taken away her eternity, her chance at eternal happiness with her family and fellow Cetra. How could she still stand to look at him, to think about him, to allow him into her world.

He looked up from the stream to find her looking at him in a strange way. He was suddenly so overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Shaking his head he inadvertently took a few steps back. He had to get away.

" I…I have to go"

With that he turned and walked off in a random direction, not caring where he ended up as long as it was away from her. He walked off leaving Aeris to look at his back

***************

After her explanation Aeris had begun thinking about her mother and wondering about how many other family members she had in the Promised Land. She also had begun to wonder about how Cloud and the others were doing. She still thought about him often even after the years she had spent as the planet's guardian. She had finally faced the fact that she would never be able to talk to them again. She had basically given up on the thought that she would ever be able to talk to another being again. But still there was a faint glimmer of hope that some soul would wander into her world and she would be able to talk to them for a just a few seconds. Now it seemed impossible that there was someone her, someone who would probably be around for the rest of eternity.

Of course it was just her luck that this person was Sephiroth. Of course she knew exactly what he had done to her in the past. She had been mulling over all of that on the beach. She looked at him now as he stared into the river at something she couldn't see. His gloved hands hanging at his sides. His hair framing his face and body. Even from the angle she was looking at him from she could see his delicate features and the glowing of his pale green eyes. Aeris couldn't be sure about what kind of person he was internally but it was obvious that externally he was a beautiful one.

It surprised her when he suddenly looked up at her with a look of fear and realization. He looked like he was trying to say something but nothing came out. He said he needed to go then turned and left. Aeris was slightly stunned. She simply watched him go until he was out of site. Why had he left? The expression on his face had been one of guilt, there was no doubt about that.

After walking in the direction he had left in for a while there was still no sign of him. He was in her world that she had created in her mind but she still couldn't find where he was. After walking for a while longer she found herself back at the beach. Immediately she spotted footprints in the sand. There was only one set so they had to be his.

He was sitting in the sand a short distance from the water staring sightlessly at the horizon. The wind was blowing his hair out behind him. Out on the horizon the sun was just beginning to set. Finally Aeris decided to walk up and sit down next to him. She was only a few feet away but he didn't seem to notice her. She decided it would probably be best if she just remained quiet.

After a while he took a deep breath and sighed.

"Why do you let me stay here after all I have done to you?"

Aeris looked over at him while she was thinking about what he had just said. Why? Well she had no reason not to let him. She couldn't hold a grudge against him for all eternity for things he had done in the past. From what she could tell he seemed so be genuinely sorry for what he had done.

"I see no reason why I shouldn't", she said honestly. She really couldn't see why she should hold him to crimes he had done in the past and was remorseful for.

"Could you ever forgive me for what I've done to you."

"Sephiroth—,"

"I didn't know what I was doing, Jenova, she toyed with my mind she made me do things without thinking", he looked like he was quickly becoming hysterical.

"Sephiroth---,"

"I..I wasn't using my head, I….I don't know what I was doing"

"Sephiroth! I forgive you! I realize you weren't in complete control of yourself. I can forgive you for what you did. I don't want to hold you to your past deeds"

He looked so relieved that Aeris couldn't help but smile. It seemed like it was infectious because even the corners of Sephiroth's lips curled ever so slightly into a smile.

For a long time afterwards they both just sat in the sand watching the sun that never seemed to set as it sat just on the edge of the horizon. Eventually the sky began to darken and the stars started to appear in the velvet sky. The moon rose over the ocean and cast a silver glow on everything it touched.

As Aeris sat on the beach watching the stars and the moon slowly traverse the sky a feeling of joyfulness slowly crept into her heart. For the first time in what seemed life forever she was happy. There was finally someone she could be with, to talk to and to things with. Even though Sephiroth wouldn't have been her first choice he was certainly better than nobody. As she looked at the waves Aeris realized that she had never gone swimming.

Knowing she was about to make a complete fool of herself but feeling as thought she had to do something or her heart would burst, she walked over to in front of Sephiroth she stood in front of him until he looked up at her. He just looked at her and blinked, when he did that she realized how much his eyes really glowed in the dark.

"Lets go swimming!"

"What?"

Smiling she said it again, "Lets go swimming. I've never done it before and I need someone to teach me. You're the only one here so you have to teach me"

He looked torn between what he wanted to do, so Aeris decided for him. She bent down and grabbed his hand. He looked slightly nervous but didn't jerk away from her touch. Grasping his hand with both hands she took a step back and threw all her weight back trying to get him to his feet. It didn't work but he still got to his feet. Aeris turned and dragged him to the edge of the water.

"Hmmm. Well we don't need these" , She said as she kicked off her brown boots.

Sephiroth looked down at his own boots and frowned. Slowly he took them off then looked up at Aeris. She was already almost knee deep in the water. She turned and smiled at him.

"Come on! The water's great!"

Not wanting to get his cloak wet he took that off too, leaving him in only his black pants. Feeling very uncomfortable he stepped into the water after her. He eventually made it to were she was. The water was waist deep on her but only about mid-thigh on him, only now did he realize how much smaller she was than him.

"Any tips on swimming?" she asked cheerfully as she began to head deeper into the water.

After thinking for a moment Sephiroth realized he didn't really have any good advice about swimming.

"Don't panic just stay calm and you should be able to figure it out", he couldn't help but feel stupid as he stood there in waist deep water in only his pants. What did it matter. Aeris was the only other person here and she was with him making more of a fool of herself than her was. Taking a deep breath he followed behind her.

Aeris was a smart woman and caught on quickly and began to do a modified breast- stroke into deeper water before turning around and stopping next to him in shallower water.

"That was fun. I've never done this before. The water was never clean enough in Midgar and once I left I never had a chance to. She swam a little closer to Sephiroth before stopping and looking at him.

"Come on swim a little it's fun"

She couldn't help but laugh a little at his expression. He looked so out of place. As she looked at him she couldn't help but stare. He was so handsome. Without his shirt on she could see his body. Every muscle was perfectly formed. He wasn't big and bulky, he was just perfectly built. She didn't realize she was staring until he reached out and touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Feeling very glad that is was dark out Aeris blushed furiously

"Oh yes, I'm fine"

A short while longer they headed in from the water and back onto the beach. They found a spot on a smooth rock to dry off on. The rock though, was just big enough for both of them and they had to sit next to each other so close that they were almost touching. Weather this was an act of her subconscious or just a coincidence Aeris wasn't quite sure, but she wasn't about to protest. For the first time since she had arrived in this place Aeris was tired. She didn't notice as she leaned her head on Sephiroth's shoulder and slowly drifted off to sleep. Sephiroth feeling uncomfortable but feeling like he should wrapped his arm around her waist. Soon he realized he too was a little tired. He drifted off to sleep with the sound of the waves.