He had already figured that much out.
-You have been reborn because you are needed-Needed? For what? And why?
-To rid this Planet of Jenova, once and for all-How am I to do that? I'm not the General of legend anymore; I'm just a human.
-Yes. You were held in the lifestream upon your death, and every trace of Jenova has been stripped from you. You were reborn human, more human than most others. The Planet made sure of it-I don't understand.
-You are not required to. What matters is that you have been reborn in such a manner that you are now the anathema of Jenova-What?
-Her taint was taken from you, and you were cleansed. The aftermath of this cleansing has made you such that you are a poison to her. You are the one thing immune to her on all the earth. You are needed for that reason-Realization dawned on him. The Planet knew that there would be another Jenova?
Silence. And then: -Yes. Not another Jenova, but more pieces of her. You have no capacity for understanding what type of creature she truly is. Upon her arrival many centuries ago, she caused a grievous hurt to the Planet. She is a monstrosity in every meaning of the word. The Cetra could not destroy her all at once; by separating her body and confining the pieces they were able to weaken it. Even the Jenova that manipulated you was not the entire thing. The most vital piece of Jenova has yet to gain freedom, but the time is almost near-The most vital piece?
-The Voice of Jenova was what used you and controlled you, and made you collect some of the Limbs, and the Heart. What you saw today was a Limb. The most vital piece of Jenova is the Mind. It was confined with special care, so that it could not communicate with any of the other pieces. But it is stirring, and its prison has weakened, and soon it will be free. And with the Mind free ... there will be only one thing it cannot manipulate. And that thing is you-I cannot do this ... He felt utterly helpless, utterly lost.
-You must, and you will. You will not be alone. There is one more thing the Planet and the Cetra can do-What?
-I will show you-And she did.
-----Something hit him across the face. Hard. His eyes flew open to focus, startled, on the alarmed countenance of Cloud.
"What the hell just happened?" Cloud demanded, gripping him by the front of his coat and hauling him upright. Sephiroth shook his head, bewildered. The last thing he remembered was reaching out and touching the body of the girl, and the white light swallowing him. He looked at the body in question, to find that it was almost completely translucent with traces of shimmer and veins of silver weaving throughout it. It was now much like any precious stone."Answer me!" Cloud snarled, shaking him. "What happened just now?"
"I ... there were voices," Sephiroth faltered, struggling to recall what had in fact happened; it seemed so faint, now. But one thing stood out in vivid clarity. "I remember who I am ..."Cloud dropped him and stood. He was at once wary, and angered. "Congratulations," he said sardonically, "And welcome back. What I want to know is what happened when you touched her."
"I told you - I heard voices. The ones from my nightmare." He frowned, struggling to retain the details that faded more and more by the second. He pointed at the crystallized form of Aeris. "She was there - she's the one that haunts me at night. She told me ...""Told you what?" Cloud shouted in exasperation. "What did Aeris tell you?"
Sephiroth was silent, recalling. Finally he said, "She told me why I'm back.""And why are you?"
"Because the only one truly immune to Jenova," Sephiroth said quietly, "is someone who has been under her taint, and cleansed."Cloud stared at him in disbelief. "You're telling me," he said slowly, "That you're alive because you're needed to defeat Jenova?"
"I don't know," he shook his head. "I'm back - was sent back - by the Planet, by the Cetra. Not because I am forgiven," he added bitterly; for that fact was all to clear, "But because I have died, and been reborn, I have been thoroughly cleansed of anything Jenova. I am human, now. More human than most. More human," he said, looking up, "than you.""And this makes you immune to Jenova?"
Sephiroth nodded. "Completely immune. That's what she - Aeris - told me. But it's more than that. I am an anethema to Jenova.""What?"
Sephiroth sighed, and tried to sort what he had been told in images and feelings into words. "I cannot be infected by her again, and I am poison to her.""Great." Cloud muttered. "The Planet makes the man who tried to kill it a savior."
"I am no savior," Sephiroth said, standing, "And I did not want this. But it seems I have no choice. For if I refuse ..."Cloud looked at him sharply. "If you refuse, what happens? What happens then?"
"I return to my private hell for all eternity." He replied grimly. "And I will not go back there. Not willingly.""And Jenova? How has she returned?"
Sephiroth explained what he had been told. Cloud sighed tiredly, his face drawn. "The Planet does not need this. Not again."He turned to look at the body lying before them. "And Aeris? Why has she not returned as well?"
"I don't know." Sephiroth lied. He did know, she had revealed it to him. But he could not tell Cloud, could not explain to him the complexities of why death was to be her eternity."I wish," Cloud said softly and to himself, "that I could have seen her, one last time."
"We must take her body. We cannot leave it here. "The other man did not answer. He took a deep breath. "Cloud ... she told me - Aeris told me what has happened to her body. She was meant to die, Cloud, and she was meant to be laid to rest in that pool." Cloud looked at him then, waiting. "It was her sacrifice, not only to summon Holy against the Meteor, but for when something like this were to happen. The Planet knew, and the Cetra knew, that Jenova would arise again. And so her body remained in that sacred pool, until now. When I touched the water, it triggered an effect ... Cloud, her body has become Materia. Her body is now the core of Holy."Both of their eyes went to where she lay. As incredulous as it sounded, as they gazed upon her and the transformation that had been wrought, they knew it to be the the truth.
"What," Cloud asked then, "are we to do with her?""That I don't know. She made it very clear that when the Mind of Jenova frees itself, when it is confronted, her body - Holy - must be there."
Cloud said nothing. Sephiroth fell into silence, his thoughts roiling. All of this was too much, too soon. On top of it all, he had remembered himself, remembered who he was. He remembered the days in SOLDIER, remembered murdering Aeris, remembered it all. He remembered merging his own form with Jenova's, remembered the final cataclysmic battle in the bowels of the Crater between Cloud and himself. He looked at Cloud and felt prejudices from long ago rise to the fore, and he angrily wrestled them down. Whatever he had done, whoever he had been, he had been cleansed, and reborn.The One Winged Angel was forever gone. In his place was a man, just a man.
And he was afraid.