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I suppose now would be a good time for a disclaimer. I don't own any of the characters in this story. Talk to Squaresoft if you want to buy them or something, not me. In fact the only part of this story which I can legitimately claim as my own is the story itself. A Dream and a Memory, and all events that take place in its entirety belong to me…just not the people in it.
Yah…so I think that covered it. Now watch, I probably forgot to mention something that Squaresoft technically owns and they'll end up suing me anyway. If that happens, expect a new FF7 based story titled, "Cloud Strife made me poor…" in the not too distant future. Let's hope it never happens.
On that wonderful note, on with the show! Chapter 10!
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"But I thought we destroyed Jenova…back in the Final Dungeon we destroyed her right?" I heard Tifa ask on our way back to Aerieth's house. I was equally dumbfounded. I myself had delivered the final blow to Jenova, with Cid and Yuffie at my side at the time. Between repeated castings of Lightning 3, Ultima, various summon spells, and a few stabs and slashes, we had literally turned Jenova into a pile of dust. But there was always that one part that, "…we didn't destroy in time." I said aloud. Tifa and Red XIII looked up confused at me. "Oh sorry. Uh…I was just thinking out loud. Remember…wait…neither of you two were there. Crap. OK. Here's what happened. After Cid, Yuffie and I killed Jenova, we made quick work of her body to make sure she wouldn't come back. But just as we were about to fry her very last tentacle, the floor fell out beneath us, plummeting us into the white materia." "Then Jenova must have gathered enough energy into the last remaining tentacle to regenerate a new body for herself," Red XIII concluded. Tifa looked a little frightened. "So, you're saying that the Jenova I saw in my dream is an actual new Jenova?" "Yes." Red XIII said. Tifa lowered her head.
We made it back to Aerieth's house, just as the sun finally lifted its bright head into the sky. Barrett was snoring…we could hear it from all the way outside. "How do you sleep with that?" I asked Tifa, trying to lighten the mood. She didn't answer. She didn't even look up to acknowledge that I had said anything. She must have been really lost in her own thoughts right then.
Red XIII paused outside the door. "Tifa, go get Barrett for me. I want to talk to him." I opened the door for Tifa and started to follow her in. "Wait, Cloud. I want to talk to you alone for a minute." "…Ok…" Tifa looked a little puzzled, but she went upstairs, and I shut the front door behind me. Red XIII looked up. "There's a part of the dreams which I didn't tell you the interpretation of." "Oh? What's that?" I asked. "It's the significance of the red materia as opposed to the white materia. You know, the one part that is common in all of our dreams." "Oh yah," I said. "We didn't even talk about that did we?" "No," he said, "and part of the reason…well…first of all it wasn't clear to me right away. In all honesty I'm still not exactly sure what it means, but the main reason I said nothing is because, though this concerns Tifa, it really doesn't have much to do with her as it does you." I looked at him skeptically. "Go on…" "Well," he said, "I gave it a lot thought on our walk home, and here's what believe the interpretation of the red materia is.
"In all of our dreams the white materia is replaced by a red one. My first thought was that each materia represented something different, and that threw me for a little while. However, I noticed that in all our dreams the white materia was not just replaced by a red one, rather it transformed into it. I believe this to mean that they are one materia—one in the same." "OK…what's your point?" I asked. "Cloud, have you forgotten what the white materia does?" Red XIII said critically. "No, of course not. It was a shield that if called upon early enough would effectively block the black materia. However, if cast too late, its power would reverse and aid the black materia's power, as we saw with Midgar." "And, as we all saw," Red XIII interrupted, "the white materia is the single strongest materia of all for that very purpose. But Cloud, something you probably don't know, is if the white materia is powerful enough to conquer the black materia, which is the embodiment of death, then the white materia must also therefore be able to conquer death itself, because the white materia is the embodiment of life." "And that's how Jenova is resurrecting Sephiroth: by using the white materia." I said, "I get that now. But how does this concern me more then Tifa?" Red XIII paused a moment. "The more powerful the materia, the more focus and concentration is needed to be able to cast it. You know this. In order to be able to cast Knights of the Round, you have to focus all of your feelings into channeling and summoning its power, correct?" "Yah…duh" I said. "Well, the black and white materia are both several times stronger then the Knights of the Rounds materia" Red XIII continued. "So what, I ask you, does it take to call upon these materia in order to use their power?" I felt really stupid right then…like I was a five year old being quizzed by the village wise man. "Uh…a lot of concentration?" "Well, yes that," Red XIII said, "but more then concentration, you need power, Cloud." "I still don't get what you're saying, Red XIII" I interrupted. "And I still don't understand how this concerns me any more then Tifa." "Because Cloud," he said, "in order to use the white materia you need sheer will, mental energy, and power. And if Jenova is powerful enough to use the white materia to bring Sephiroth back, then you, who have already proven yourself stronger then her three times already, should also be able to call upon it's power…to perhaps bring back an old friend."
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
"Why the HELL didn't you ever mention this before?" I yelled. Red XIII lowered his voice in the attempt to remind me to remain quiet. He whispered, "Because Cloud, as you saw, when the white materia was finally summoned, the white materia ended up pretty much destroying the Final Dungeon, meaning that any path once leading to the life stream would also now be destroyed, or at the very least too dangerous to attempt to navigate down to. Besides, like I said earlier, it is better to let the dead die, rather then dwell on their life." He paused in thought. He then said, "At least that's what I used to think. But now…given the circumstances of her death, why shouldn't we try and bring her back? I mean…it's not like she ever asked to die anyway…"
Despite the foreboding danger that now came with the prospect of re-entering the final dungeon and having to fight Jenova again, I felt exhilarated. If what Red XIII says is true, then maybe, if I'm strong enough, maybe I too could use the white materia to bring back Aerieth…just maybe…and if I could bring her back…
I smiled.
Inside the house, Tifa had not yet awoken Barrett. Instead she had listened to the whole conversation by pressing her ear to the upstairs window. By the end of the conversation she was on her knees. She knew what was going through Clouds mind right then. In between uncontrollable sobs, she said to herself, "No….no….I've lost him…again…to her…but this time…for the last time…"