The ship landed in the plains on the outskirts of a small wood, it was still dark and they had a long walk ahead of them. Fully armed, the group set off through the woods. It was a long and arduous journey, but the group group pressed on, regardless of their tiredness. They came to a small hill, just outside the woods. Before they had a chance to climb it, Red twitched, suddenly, "I can smell something, there's someone else coming from the woods."

Surely enough, there were loud voices coming from within the dark forest. Cloud whipped his sword off his back and held it in front of him, facing the woods. Cid stood next to him, spear in hand. Red XIII growled menacingly at the oncoming strangers. 3 figures appeared amongst the trees. The three of them leapt forwards into the darkness, ready for combat. There came a thud, and a high-pitched yelp from Cid. Immediately, Cloud froze, there was a huge machine pressing a rotary machine gun against the side of his head. It was too dark for him to pick out any specific features. Red stood rooted to the spot, growling at the silhouette of abnormally shaped figure. The mysterious creature hunched slightly to get a good look at Red. To his surprise, its head dropped to the ground and started moving towards him. Nervous, he stopped growling and moved backwards. eventually, a female voice asked, "What the hell's going on?".

The lady pulled out a torch and shone its beam over the scene. The creature's head turned out to be a small black cat, standing on it's hind legs, wearing brown boots, a red cape and a small crown. Clasped in his tiny, black paw was a pink megaphone, used for commanding the giant mog doll that he rode on. This was had made up the creature's body. The machine turned out to be a huge black man, and the machine gun was in the place of his right hand. There was a small' six-year-old girl wearing a white t-shirt and an orange skirt sat on his shoulder. He lowered his gun and said with a deep, quaking voice, "Shit! What the hell d'you think you're doin', scarin' me like that?"

Cloud was starting to piece the odd situation together. Still frozen he exclaimed,"Barret!" and threw his sword to the ground.

Red XIII stood shivering, staring at the small black cat named Cait Sith as he leapt aboard the short, stumpy head of the animated Mog doll. Eventually the cat said, "I knew you guys'd turn up, sorry if we startled you."

Red XIII gasped for breath, shivering insanely and wheezed insincerely,"No problem."

Cloud threw his arms around Barret and shouted, "Oh my God, it's so good to see you guys again!"

Barret was surprised by this sudden outburst of emotion and pushed Cloud back saying, "Get the hell offa me!"

Cloud then turned to the small girl on Barret's shoulder, who looked quite startled by the unannounced commotion, and said cheerfully,"Hiya Marlene. You've shot up since I last saw you."

She had always acted shy around Cloud, and since she was still recovering from the shock, she just stared blankly, trembling wildly. Cloud smiled at her, peered around for a while and finally said, "Where's Cid?"

The torchlight shifted towards the ground, where Cid lay sprawled across the grass, unconscious. Barret laughed and said,"You sure can pack a punch Tifa."

Tifa. It had been so long since Cloud had heard that name. Too long.

"Tifa?"

"Cloud? Is that you?"

The lady with the torch sone the light directly into Cloud's face, almost blinding him.

"Cloud!"

The torch fell to the floor and in a state of semi-darkness, the woman sprinted towards cloud and embraced him tightly. She cried into his shoulder, "Cloud, I missed you so much."

Cloud placed his arm around her and kissed her black hair. He said quietly, "I missed you too, Tifa."

The group stared at the two of them in the darkness, unsure what they should do. Eventually, Barret said,"Yo! Hate to destroy the moment, but we'd better get goin'."

Tifa picked up Cid and carried him on her back out of guilt. They climbed the grassy knoll and from there, they had a clear view of the Ancient city. The sun was starting to appear on the horizon, casting its red glow across the white ocean of buildings and roads that was the city of the Ancients. The group absorbed the view in awe, it was extremely beautiful, but at the same time, there was an unnerving presence. Great power rested in these ruins. They were nearly there. Cloud picked a flower from the ground, it looked just like the ones Aeris used to sell. He pocketed it and they marched onwards, through the city. They marched silently. Everyone was quite afraid of the ruins. They brought back a lot of painful memories. The sun was high in the sky when they reached the familiar cluster of trees. Beyond them was the lake where Aeris lay. Cid was still unconscious, but he had developed a nice, black eye. It was just as Cloud remembered it, the tranquil grey scenery, the mysterious, white building, The clear blue water. It was all there. There were two extremely familiar figures already stood by the lake. A young girl, about seventeen years old and a strange-looking man, he had long, black hair and his left arm was entirely made of bronze. Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine, the last members of the team. Cloud smiled and shouted to them. Immediately, Vincent pulled out a white pistol and pointed it straight towards him. When he realised that it was Cloud, he spun it around on his finger and placed it in his holster. Yuffie patted Vincent on the shoulder and said,"See Vince, I told you they'd turn up." She held out her palm,"Now pay up!"

Vincent groaned and handed her a 500 gil note. She pocketed it and said,"Don't you ever learn." She held out his pistol and said, you'll be wanting this back too. She giggled mischievously as he snatched it from her. He laughed sarcastically and said grumpily,"Would you stop doing that?!"

Cloud smiled and said,"It sure is good to see you guys, but now that we're here, in this place... well, it brings back a lot of painful memories."

He walked into the water until his feet were submerged. Behind him, the group were silent. A tear splashed into the water at his feet. He whispered to himself,"Aeris, come back."

He removed the flower from his pocket and held it in the palm of his hand. He gave it a gentle blow and watched as it soared slowly towards the centre of the lake and landed silently on the water's surface. He hung his head and cried to himself.

"Come back."

There was complete silence. He raised his head and looked at the flower. Something strange was happening. The flower was hovering inches above the water, as if floating on the wind. There was silence. The flower hovered slowly back towards Cloud. He watched it intently as it floated over his shoulder, past the fixated group and into the hands of a female figure who had appeared amongst the trees. The girl was silhouetted against a blinding, angelic light shining out from behind her. She sniffed the flower and then placed it in her hair. The light dispersed, revealing a beautiful, young girl with long, brown hair in a long, pink dress with brown boots. she faced the group, smiling. "No. That's impossible." Cloud's eyes locked with her's. He could not believe it."Aeris?"

The girl walked slowly towards Cloud. Everyone was stunned. The girl stopped, inches from Cloud who stared into her eyes and whispered softly,"Hello."

Cloud stammered uncontrollably, he was completely overcome with so many emotions. Eventually he managed to utter,"Aeris. But... but how?"

Aeris spoke in a calm gentle voice,"It's good to see you all again."

There was a wide smile across her lips. Cloud stayed rooted to the spot. The others walked into the water and stood next to him, staring in disbelief, inspecting Aeris, unsure as to whether she was real or not. She stepped forwards and touched Cloud's face with her warm, gentle fingers and chuckled,"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Vincent stepped forwards, splashing underfoot and stared at Aeris, confused,"How? How're you...alive?"

Aeris looked towards Cloud and said,"Cloud, do you remember at Mideel when you fell into the Lifestream?"

"Yes. How'd you know about that?"

"Because I was there. You see, the Lifestream is a gathering of all the spirits of the Ancients. Being an Ancient myself, My spirit went there when I died. Since I was the last Ancient, and the one who possessed the Holy materia, they combined their power and revived me, so that I could lead them in the attack on Meteor."

Marlene leapt off Barret's shoulder and threw herself around Aeris' waist shouting,"Flower lady! I missed you flower lady."

Aeris put her hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her.

Barret smiled at Aeris and said,"Well, I gotta say, this is a fine day for reunions."

A painfully familiar voice called from the trees,"It certainly is."

Cloud spun around and saw A leather-clad man with long, grey hair and a sheathed sword on his belt leaning against a tree. He couldn't believe it.

"Sephiroth?!"

Somehow, he had returned. Despite their epic battle in the Northern Crater, he had returned. Vincent whipped out his pistol and fired a single shot at his head. The bullet froze in the air, just short of Sephiroth's face. He glanced at the lone bullet and it fell to the ground. Red yelled,"Doesn't anyone stay dead around here?!"

Cloud clutched the handle of his sword and charged towards him, roaring with anger. Sephiroth straightened up and unsheathed his sword. Cloud swung his sword down upon Sephiroth who blocked the swipe. Cloud continued to hack and slash at Sephiroth but it was all in vain, he was too fast and blocked every blow. However, Sephiroth made no attempts to strike Cloud. Cloud continued the onslaught with incredible speed until he embedded Sephiroth's sword into the ground and swiped at his face. Blood poured from the gash across his cheek. There was complete silence as he stared at Cloud angrily for a second, breathing heavily. Surprisingly, he then let go of his sword and stood up straight. The two of them gasped for breath, staring each other in the eye. Cloud said confused,"What are you doing here? Why aren't you attacking?"

Sephiroth breathed heavily and placed a hand over his wound,"I didn't come here to fight you, I came to thank you"

"What?!"

"Let me explain, when you attacked me in the Northern Crater and I disappeared, I wasn't dead. I simply teleported out of there to avoid any more attacks. I knew I had failed. Your attack had weakened me, and over time, I became weaker and weaker. Knowing that I could never be so powerful again, I regained my sanity. The reason I was so evil in the past was because I had tasted power, and wanted more. I no longer have that unquenchable thirst for power. I am a normal man again. I owe it all to you, Cloud. I wish to join your team."

Barret stepped up and thrust his gun into Sephiroth's chest and growled,"And just what makes you think we're gonna trust you?"

Sephiroth calmly pushed the gun aside and said,"The fact that you're still alive."

They couldn't deny it, he made a good point. Though he was much weaker than he once was, he was still extremely powerful, as proved by the way he had stopped Vincent's bullet. If he wanted to kill them, they would be dead by now.

"Don't you remember all the good times we had in SOLDIER? We were like brothers."

There was silence whilst Cloud thought. Eventually, he sighed and said,"Alright, but if you cross us..."

cloud and swung his sword at Sephiroth, stopping inches from his neck. "Understood?"

Sephiroth chuckled and then replied,"Understood."

Cloud handed him his sword. He sheathed it, then smiled at Cloud and said,"You haven't changed at all."

Barret smacked a nearby tree and yelled,"This is Bullshit! That guy'll kill us all!"

"No, Barret."Aeris stepped forwards and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can sense good in him, he is no threat to us." She walked up to Sephiroth and stared him in the eye, smiling and said,"Welcome aboard."

Sephiroth knelt, bowing his head solemnly and said,"Aeris, I'm... so... so sorry for..."

Aeris crouched and spoke quietly to him,"I think it would be best to put the past behind us, too many memories."

Sephiroth raised his head, he was crying. Aeris hugged him, much to the surprise of Sephiroth, and indeed, everyone else and said,"Sephiroth, come on. We're the only surviving Ancients, we have to look after each other now. We can't dwell on the past."

She let go of him and stared into his watery eyes, smiling. He spoke quietly and shakily,"Thank you."

Yuffie, who was now seated on the ground, leapt up and yelled,"I know, we should celebrate, now that we're all back together. Let's go to the Gold Saucer!"

Red smiled looked towards Cid on Tifa's back and said,"We can go on Cid's ship, although we can't go anywhere until he wakes up."

Tifa walked into the water untile it came up to the top of her legs, then opened her arms, dropping Cid into the icy water. He flailed his arms and legs wildly before surfacing, gasping for breath on all fours, sopping wet. He stared blankly at the group, who were now all laughing at him, trying to make sense of the situation. He stood up, trying to keep his dignity and said,"Hey guys. Good to see you again."

Barret chuckled,"It's about time you woke up."

Cid touched his black eye and winced with pain. He inhaled sharply and asked,"What happened to me?"

Cloud walked up to him, laughing and said,"Tifa happened to you."

"Oh. So she was the one that attacked us?"

"That's right, she sure can pack a punch."

Sephiroth chuckled,"I would know."

Cid suddenly noticed Sephiroth's presence. He leapt backwards, confused, eventually he uttered,"What the hell?!"

Tifa patted him on the shoulder and said,"He's switched sides, he's one of us now. Aeris can even sense the good in him. Sorry about the eye by the way."

Now all logic had escaped him,"Aeris?"

"Oh yeah, Aeris is back as well, revived by the lifestream."

Cid looked over at Aeris, who waved at him. It felt like a weird dream,"So I've been unconscious for about an hour and I've missed the team being reunited, Aeris returning and Sephiroth joining us?"

Yuffie chuckled and said,"And we've decided to go to the Gold Saucer on your ship."

Cid put his head in his hands and murmured,"Oh man, this is going to take some getting used to."