Chapter One - Last Words

I loved her. I knew it. I felt it in my heart, as it poured through my body like a rushing river of emotions. I could sense it when my lips touched hers, and for that brief moment, we stole a kiss. I had put my hand on her shoulder and ran one hand through her hair as we hit the snow, but then a hand reached down. Grabbed her. Yanked her from me. I felt her warmth falling farther away, and I called out. I looked up, and there they were.

The cold hard eyes of the Turks.

I felt weak, I felt so ashamed. I saw them, putting me in chains, imprisoning me, taking Aeris away, taking her somewhere. I couldn't say a word as they elbowed her and twisted her around so she cried out in alarm. I stood up slowly, could barely reach for my Masamune, and was so angered by the intrusion, I was prepared to yell out, "Kiss my as

"Dammit!"

I shook the pen. The ink had run out.

Aeris walked in from the next room over. "Sephy, mind your mouth around the children."

She walked over and kissed me on the cheek. I returned the kiss quickly, and flung the pen into the garbage. "You know, memoirs can be so frustrating. Especially the chapter about how the Turks took you away from me. Just thinking about it makes me so angry!"

Aeris gently put her hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, dear. It'll be alright. I'll go carve you a new pen."

I sighed and brushed back my long silvery hair. This was me - the real me, not the Sephiroth clone that had caused so much destruction while I was - frozen, shall we say. My head was dizzy, my thoughts clouded, I was tired, so I went to lay down.

Now back on the pillows, I rested there. I closed my eyes, and pictured the scene. That day, five years ago. I had fallen in love with Aeris Gainsborough. She had not died. Simply, she had worked her way back from the Lifestream. That god-forbidden. eh, no big deal. I had become myself again, and worked to renew my life, trying hard to settle differences with those who had been hurt from the corruption with ShinRa and Jenova. I was depressed quite often, and had little friends. I finally moved to the countryside, and built a little shack a few miles between Midgar and Kalm.

Now my life truly wouldn't have started if it hadn't been for the knock at my door that day. As I was writing out letters of response to business associates at Materia Masters Inc., there was a loud thump on my door, the knocker. I stood up, and opened it. Standing at the door was a man with darkglasses on and a blue business suit. I just stared at him with my cold, empty gray eyes. "May I help you?"

The man was Reno. He gave me a smirk, and took a step in, eyeing the place over the top rims of his shades. "Sephiroth, I presume?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am Sir Sephiroth, Holy Knight."

Reno ignored that comment and looked to me again, slipping his shades back into place. He gave me a half-smile. "Sephiroth, do you know the whereabouts of a man named Yuffie Kisaragi?"

"Yuffie is a girl," I snapped at him, annoyed at his expression. He then took a few menacing steps towards me and glared me in the face. I glared back, and distracted by his face I didn't see the barrel of the gun jabbing into my stomach. I fell to my knees, and continued to glare up at him.

"Don't get smart with me, sir," said Reno. He kneeled down and lifted my chin with the side of his hand. "I need to know where all the members of the AVALANCHE resistance are currently located, and post-haste." I could feel his warm breath in my face, and it made me sneeze. My sneeze made him fall back a bit, and I got to my feet, one arm still over my chest.

"Listen, Turk, get out of my house! I don't need filth rats poking around for some tidbits of information. I don't know anything - I was frozen the whole time, remember?" I lifted him up by the collar, then, and he dropped the gun, startled. I kicked the gun across the room and it fired off, the bullet ricocheted off the wall and hit Reno in the back. Before he knew it, he was dead, and I dropped him, surprised.

The door swung open quickly from the kick of a big man named Rude.

"Boss! No!" Rude went to Reno's side and lifted him up, checking for a pulse, and when he found none, he stood up. Without a word he picked up the gun in the corner and barrel whipped me with it, instantly sending me to the floor, unconscious.

When I awoke, it was cold, and it was nightfall. I awoke just in time to hear a tapping at my door.

"Hello?" Came a soft voice.

I sat up slowly, rubbing my throbbing head. My vision was blurry until I blinked a few times, relieving me of the dancing chocobos. I then got to my feet, and felt around for a weapon. Most of my stuff was gone - except for the cot, a small package of cheese and milk, and my clothes.

Those bastards, I muttered, yanking a loose leg from the cot. It served as a fine whacking stick - the edges along the side were fairly sharp as they were carved from bamboo. I inched my way across the room and tiptoed to the door.

More tapping. The voice was even softer now. "Hello?"

Slowly, I put my hand on the doorknob, and closed my hand around it. My fingers tingled, would I be ready for what was behind this door? Wincing, and still exhausted, I nearly slipped on the damp floor, which was almost dry and some was caked in the cracks on the floor. I looked up at the ceiling.

"Hello?"

Then I swung open the door.