Chapter 2:

The Awakening

I waited until that afternoon to check on Sephiroth. I was shocked that he was lying right in my own house. In my own bed, too. Shortly after lunch, I went into my room with a cold, wet cloth. I knelt by the bed and gently wiped his face. Therapon had said he was feverish, so I figured this would help. Shortly after the cloth touched his skin, Sephiroth moaned and began to move. He opened his eyes slowly, revealing them to be bright green.

"Where…?" he moaned.

"Just lie back," I whispered to him soothingly. He smiled a little as I wiped his neck and shoulders. "My name is Michiko. I'll take care of you, Sephiroth."

"How did you know my name?" he asked as his eyes opened a little more. He leered at me suspiciously. I suddenly became very frightened.

"You're a popular figure here. I'll show you," I replied. I left and returned with the game. I flipped open to the page with his picture. "See?"

He took the booklet with shaky hands and looked at his drawn reflection. The pictures do not do Sephiroth justice, if I do say so myself.

"How did I end up here?" he snapped, throwing the book aside.

"I don't know. I saw a grid in the sky that shot a light by my house. You appeared the next moment. A cloud of green bats came after you. I called for you to come here, you tripped on the steps, and you fell unconscious. My servant healed your wounds only seven hours ago."

"No wonder I feel so weak."

"When you feel stronger, you can get up. I'll be sure to have something for you to eat. I imagine you're hungry."

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It was hours before we spoke again. I had just started on my dinner when a creak by my room caused me to turn around. Sephiroth walked towards me slowly. I had to suppress a gasp at his muscles. He had chosen to put on only his pants. I had seen him at the end of the game, but he looked better in person. I smiled at him.

"Please, sit. Therapon, please fix a meal for our guest."

"Yes, ma'am," he bowed. I've told him a million times not to, but he insists. Sephiroth gazed at him with a shocked look.

"He doesn't bite. Please, sit," I repeated. He slid next to me and stared at the table.

"What did you say your name was?" he muttered after a long silence.

"Michiko."

"Michiko," he sighed. He closed his eyes and refused to look at me. "Thank you. You know, for taking me in and feeding me. I was far too weak to fight those monsters."

"Please, thanks are not necessary," I smiled. I laid a hand on his arm. He shivered slightly at the touch. "I did what I felt was right."

"Dinner, sir," Therapon said, putting a plate in front of Sephiroth. He began to eat slowly, almost as if he didn't trust me to not poison the food.

"Your servant," Sephiroth began. "What is he?"

"He's a species called Xenos," I explained. I then told him of how the humans were forced to move from Earth to Jahan. He listened silently. He looked at me for the first time since he first awoke.

"I tried to destroy my planet. I was destroyed, but only temporarily. When Cloud discovered that I was still alive, he began a search for me. I was being chased by bats made from the Lifestream. I also remember that I found a portal. I suspected that it would help me escape, so I leapt in. I was terribly weakened during the journey. My consciousness was nearly gone when I arrived here. All I know is I heard a voice calling me. I followed it, and blacked out. When I woke up, you were wiping my face."

"We need to find out how to get you back. Until then, you can stay here. But please, do not leave the house," I begged. "The government will want to study you if they find you. I can talk to my friend, Anima. She knows a lot about science. Maybe she'll think of something."

"Won't she want to study me?"

"No way. She likes the Final Fantasy games even more than I do. She'd want to keep you safe."

"When can we talk to her?" Sephiroth asked as Therapon cleared our dishes.

"I'll try tomorrow."

"Good. Where am I to sleep?"

"You can stay in our guest room," I said as we rose. He looked me in the eyes, almost as if he were looking for something in them. I wanted to look away. His eyes were so beautiful, they scared me. I found that I couldn't turn away, no matter what.

"Thank you again. I shall go to bed. I need the sleep," he turned to go to the room that Therapon directed his attention to. At the doorway, he stopped. "Good night."

"Sweet dreams," I whispered. I crawled into my bed a few minutes later. I laid there for a long time.

"I can't be falling for him. He's going to leave soon. I can't have feelings for him. I swore I would never love another man. But…" I smiled to myself. "Under that evil shell, I know he's good. I never thought he could be that cute. I can't feel like this. He will never love me. I have to hide these feelings before I get in trouble. Still, it would be nice… to see him…"

I fell asleep to beautiful thoughts of us together.

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"How did you sleep?" I asked him the next morning.

"Fine," Sephiroth returned as he chewed his eggs. I was finished, so I occupied my time with watching him eat. When he finished, he realized that I was what I was doing. "Is something wrong?"

"No, of course not," I replied hurriedly. "I called Anima. She said for us to go over there at ten this morning."

"Both of us?"

"Yes. Which means…" I trailed off as I stood. I dug around in a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors. "We cut your hair."

"NO!" he snapped, covering his head with his arms automatically. I stifled a giggle.

"Sephiroth, we have to disguise you in some way. No one has seen you with short hair. You'll also have to wear sunglasses. Therapon has gone to but you some clothes."

"If it will keep Cloud from recognizing me, should he arrive here, then I will do it," Sephiroth sighed in a defeated tone.

Twenty minutes later, I was standing behind Sephiroth, locks of wet, silver hair piling around me.

"How does it look?" I asked as I held a mirror in front of him. His hair was just below his shoulders. "I made your bangs and hair the same length."

"Looks fine," he muttered sadly. Therapon walked in.

"Now, put on these clothes and we can leave."

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We walked into Anima's home a while later. She was busy working at her computer as usual. Her boyfriend, Luben, answered the door.

"Miss Michiko! What a pleasure!" he cried. Luben had long bluish hair that he gelled in different styles every day. Today, he sported a long ponytail that needed no tie. He had a single bang that was always gelled to the front. He usually wore black slacks and a blue tee shirt, but now he only wore a pair of black sweatpants. He had two tiger tattoos on his chest, each one a mirror image of the other. I think they're one reason Anima fell for him. She was always talking about how cool they were. "Anima's in her study. This way."

When we entered, Anima continued to sit, reading over seemingly important information on her large screen. Final Fantasy statues were adorning the shelves. Sephiroth became most interested in one of him. I noted several statues of her favorite character, Seymour, from number ten. That's the other reason I think she likes Luben so much. He looks a lot like Seymour. For some reason, she seems to have a thing for villains. I snuck up behind her and hissed in her ear evilly.

"Hello, Anima…"

"Hey, Michiko. So where is…" she trailed off when she saw Sephiroth. She went into a frenzy when she realized what I did. "You cut his hair! YOU CUT HIS FREAKIN' HAIR! You cut his hair! How could you?"

"It was to disguise him. We're not the only Final Fantasy freaks, you know."

"Good idea, I guess. Here, let me take a look at you," she ordered as she dragged him to a chair. I watched as she yanked off his glasses and looked him over. Anima had long brown hair that she always kept in a braid, ponytail, or tied back with a hair glove. Her brown eyes were like chocolate, but they were often shielded by her glasses. She and Luben made an unusual match. She barely came to his shoulders, and he was about six feet and she was just over five. They shared the same views about slaves as me, and sold theirs when they moved in together. The only thing stopping me from selling Therapon is the fact that I have lived alone so long. After her inspection, Anima turned to me. "Definitely Sephiroth. Now, tell me exactly how you got here and the events right before."

We told her once more what he was doing here. When we finished, Anima sat deep in thought. After a while, she went back to her computer and fed the information into it, plus more that I guess she concluded from our information. A long page of information popped up a few seconds later.

"What you found was a dimensional portal. When somebody creates a new storyline for a book, movie, game, or anything in general, a new dimension is formed that follows that storyline and any connected to it afterwards. It seems that what Sephiroth found was a portal into our dimension and this was the planet it landed on."

"So, where is it in this world?" Sephiroth asked impatiently.

"It should appear right where you arrived," Anima answered simply. My first thought was, No, he can't leave this soon. Her next statement eased my thoughts. "Unfortunately, you won't be able to open it for at least a month."

"Why?" I asked. She sighed.

"What you found is called an Ananta. It's a portal that shows up once every few months. Actually, for all you know, you could have been stuck in there several days. Our month for the portal just came, but your world's portal could have opened weeks, maybe months ago. Anyone that goes inside stays there until another portal opens."

"I guess your stuck here for awhile then, huh?" Luben pointed out.

"Yes. But that means I am safe here, right?" Sephiroth expressed hopefully. "Cloud can not come after me if the portal is not open."

"True, but there are multiple portals that can show up on a world," Anima explained as she continued to read. "For all we know, Cloud could've found another one on your world and arrived elsewhere on this one. All we can do is wait and see if he finds you."

"Great," I sighed. Sank into a chair next to Sephiroth. "If he does come after you, I'll help fight. I'm rather proficient with a bow and arrow. If he comes, I'll help chase him away."

"Why would you want to help me?" Sephiroth looked at me oddly. "I am evil. You know that."

"Well," I began, trying to find a good excuse.

"I you're ever going to return to your world, you need to stay alive," Luben finished.

"Exactly," I agreed. I was thankful that Luben intervened. I didn't want to admit why I wanted to help him. I couldn't bring myself to say the three words that could change me forever. Not yet.

"If he shows up, give us a shout and we'll show up. We can both wield swords very well," Anima added.

"Thank you. Your help is appreciated," I smiled. I turned to Luben. "Can you run any scans to find out if he has come here?"

"I can certainly try," he agreed. Luben was a whiz when it came to scanning the world. "I need his blood type and any identifying marks."

"His blood type is AB," Sephiroth said. "I remember that I gave him a scar that reached from the left side of his chest to his right hip when he defeated me the first time."

"Hon, let me get at the computer."

"Sure," Anima stood and leaned thoughtfully against the wall.

"It may be a few hours. This planet is smaller than Earth, but not by much," Luben told us as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "I'll call you if I find anything."

"Sounds good. Sephiroth, I think we should be going now," I looked at him and he nodded in reply.

"It was a pleasure meeting you sir," Anima grinned. "I promise that your secret is safe with me."

"I'll talk to you soon," I said. The two of us walked out of the house to return to my home.

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Yes, I cut his hair. Anima is based on one of my friends that I know loves Final Fantasy, NOT the Aeon in FFX. I want to comment on the grid to help visualize: The grid in the sky that Sephiroth pops out of is the one from Kingdom Hearts. Also, to the person that is Anima, please don't shoot me for giving you a boyfriend. At least he resembles Seymour… For those of you that don't know, a hair glove is something that motorcyclists tie their hair back with. It has some sort of hook in it to keep hair in place.

NINJA MAGE