Another Time, Another Place

Authors Notes- Contains slash, angst, swearing, violence and character death.

Pairings- Sephiroth x Kuja, Cloud x Aeris, Vincent x Tifa, Rufus x Tseng, Reno x Yuffie.

Disclaimers- I own none of the characters mentioned hither.

It took almost an hour to climb the outside wall. It wasn't particularly hard to climb, but the walls were rather high and the wind cut into them and threatened to sweep them from the sides. It was hardest for Red XIII who struggled onward, leaping up the steep sides in great bounds and digging his claws deep into the rock to hold on. Thankfully it wasn't vertical. Once, Yuffie lost her balance and plummeted twenty feet or so with a screech before a quick Stop spell from Cloud held her suspended and screaming in the air. When they finally reached the top there was a moment of silence as they took in the great wound in the Planet's surface. Somewhere, down there, Sephiroth was growing in strength and preparing to summon Meteor. He would soon be at full strength and Cloud knew they needed to watch their backs whilst they carried the Black Materia.

The descent was somewhat easier. It was rocky, but less steep and warmer without the bitter wind to cut through them. Even so, it seemed a terribly long way to go and as night began to fall they were still barely half way down.

"I suppose we should stop and rest for the night," Cloud said reluctantly. "We aren't going to get much further tonight,"

Tifa shook her head and wearily pushed her hair from her eyes. Her long dark ponytail had come loose and strands hung messily over her face. "There's a cave a little further down," she remembered from the last descent. "I suppose we could stay there for the night,"

The cave was barely a scooped out hole in the side of a jagged cliff, but it was perfectly adequate for the night. Even with the shelter from snow, it was still bitterly cold.

"Would a fire be too much to ask for?" Yuffie complained bitterly.


"Not at all, if you don't mind spelling out our exact location to Sephiroth," Reno replied sharply. Yuffie looked hurt.

"He already knows we're in the Crater," She huffed as she went and sat down against the back of the cave.

"No need to make it any easier for him," Cloud replied absently as he lifted his weapon and sat down at the cave entrance. "I'll keep an eye out for him,"

Uneasy silence fell. The sun was setting, a faint blood red lighting the sky even through the clouds and snow. One last night before they found Sephiroth again. Tifa shivered and sat down besides Vincent. They sat in companionable silence and he didn't seem to object when she rested her head against his shoulder. Yuffie winked rather obviously at Tifa and scooted closer to Reno. He didn't seem to object either. It was still perhaps an hour before they began to drift off to sleep. Tifa woke once, when Vincent gently pulled himself free to relieve Red XIII of guarding the entrance at midnight. She didn't feel remotely tired and joined him despite protests. It was strangely beautiful looking out over the valley, even if it had been caused by a devastating power from the skies. The sky had cleared and sparkled with a million points of light. The valley itself was a sharp contrast of white on black, shadows and snow. It was almost silent and they sat peacefully watching over it. This time, Vincent reached out to Tifa first and she lay in his arms quietly. If tomorrow brought death, she didn't think she would care anymore. At least tonight would be happy. The only thing she couldn't bear thinking about was if she died and Vincent blamed himself. The thought of him shut up in a coffin atoning for all time was unbearable. Perhaps he would simply turn the Death Penalty on himself. Tifa shuddered and pushed the morbid thoughts from her mind. Best to not spoil tonight. Rufus took over an hour or so later and she noticed the slight raise of his eyebrow. He didn't say anything though, as Tifa and Vincent rose and returned to the cave quietly.

They were not to spend the night interrupted. Shortly before dawn, Kuja was on guard when he felt the first tremors pulsing through the valley. He stood and stepped outside. Nothing, but a faint rumbling that seemed terribly far away. "Cloud?" He stepped back inside and shook the blonde man. "Something's happening-" He had barely finished when there was a sudden crack and the solid ground they stood on suddenly quivered.

"What's going on?" Cloud sprang upright instantly and reached for his sword. His Mako-enhanced senses could make out the faintly ominous sounds- a bubbling of liquid. The ground suddenly felt very unstable. "Go take a look, I'll wake the others," He ordered Kuja. The mage ran outside. He was barely ten feet away from the cave entrance when the ground suddenly opened up below him and he plunged into a world of pulsing green light.

"£%$^!" Cid sprang awake as there was a grinding sound and the solid cave floor suddenly tilted horribly forward at an angle of perhaps 45 degrees. Loose rocks fell from the ceiling and bounced out the entrance as the others sprang awake and held onto the uneven walls. He caught a faint green glow coming from outside and with a quick jab, drove his javelin into the cave floor to avoid sliding out. Yuffie screamed as she slid horribly sideways, unable to grab anything. "The Lifestream!" Red XIII gasped as he saw the gash that had opened outside the cave. With lightning speed, he lunged after Yuffie and bit deep into her shoulder, his claws scrabbling helplessly on the stone floor as he tried to stop them both from falling out. They had almost reached the edge when he felt a sudden pain and a jerk as his claws caught in a deep crack and they stopped, almost on the brink of falling into the green flow. There was a soft clink as they stopped suddenly and his amber eyes widened as he saw a tiny black ball bounce free of his armlet and roll slowly downward, disappearing into the great gash. Yuffie screamed again as Red XIII's teeth cut through her soft flesh, her weight suspended from his grip. Then she managed to brace herself against the rough ground and relieve some of the weight until Barret reached over and pulled them both to safety. He had just pulled the pair of them back into the cave when the ground suddenly tilted again and there was an ominous crack. Seconds later the whole floor seemed to collapse and there was a sudden crash as tons of rocks fell from the cave entrance and ceiling and landed where Yuffie and Red XIII had been a second later. There was absolute darkness as the green glow disappeared along with all light from the outside world and a rain of small rocks and dust fell from above, pelting them and burying them under a layer of stone. They were trapped!

- - - - - - - -

Kuja floated in the strange pulsing liquid without much fear. He saw faces appear, some friendly and some neutral. All of them seemed curious as they floated over to him and then rushed away. There seemed to be no need to breathe down here and he felt a kind of wonder rather than fear. The knowledge of the Ancients coursed through this, the blood of the Planet. He would go wherever it took him. Strange memories of other lives, other people whose souls ran through here, drifted into his mind. Other memories, combining with his own. Was he Kuja, really? Had he ever been anything but part of this flow of souls? He was overcome by the rush of images and lay quietly as his identity seemed to slip away and he became part of the Lifestream.

Or so he had thought. After some time (it could have been days or just a few hours) had passed, he began to be aware of other feelings breaking through the blissful tranquility. Coldness. Pain returning to his lungs as cool air touched him again and he breathed deeply to relieve it. He began to be aware that he was back in his physical form as sensations came slowly. A touch of fingers against his throat, testing for a pulse. They seemed far away as though he was numbed by some powerful anaesthetic. Now he thought about it, he could feel his pulse himself, slow but sure. Alive? He wasn't in the Lifestream any more. He wanted to see where he was but he couldn't seem to control himself any more. It felt like it had been so long ago, and now although he was back in his body it felt like a machine he had forgotten to work. So complicated, after floating in the Lifestream. He frowned intently and with a great effort, snapped back into himself. His eyes opened as naturally as they had ever done.

"Careful. You've been out for a long time," a voice came. He didn't recognise it and he blinked. Sight came back through the dark fuzz that covered his eyes and he found himself looking at a tall figure. Silver hair fell into the most intense green eyes he had ever seen. Green as the Lifestream itself, and as wondrous and full of knowledge. There was no need to ask who it was that had pulled him from the Lifestream, but he asked anyway.

"....Sephiroth?"