Sephiroth walked through the rubble of the slums, finally at ease with his mind and body. He had won the war for Shinra two years ago. After that, he had constantly been going on missions around the world, cleaning up the rest of the resistance. Clearing areas with high monster activities. Finally, he had returned to Midgar. No... he remembered... Shinra won the war. He just did all the work. That sounded about right. Of course he would be given full credit around the world for slaughtering people. No one would remember the lives he saved. The people were saved because Shinra won the war... they were saved by Shinra.

The slums. The start of Midgar. This was where all the nightmares of Shinra began and ended. Shinra took lower Midgar and turned it into the slums. They took the liberty to build a giant plate on top of the cities, making it a city of eternal darkness. Deep under the plate, the poor residents stayed... Except in certain places, there was no precipitation below the plate. The plate... where everyone would loved to have lived. There was an old saying. No one lives in the slums because they want to. And that was the truth.

"The slums... I hate it. Shinra, I... hate them. Look what they do to their own citizens... It's worse than Wutai in this dark sanctum. They let them die slowly... painfully... with impossible hopes and dreams. The oppressed people of Midgar." Sephiroth glared into the rubble. He was known to be a cold man with no heart. A ruthless killer. But that just wasn't true. He was only doing what he was born to do. Well, perhaps part of it was true... kind of taken out of context though. Sephiroth was a cold man, yet he had a heart. He was a ruthless killer, but only in the time of war. Other than that, he just liked to be alone.

"Sir, are you feeling alright? Come with me, back to the plate. You can't possibly be siding with these freaks. Shinra's Greatest General, siding with the people who are too lazy to help themselves. That looks good!" The high-ranking officer had been with Sephiroth since he was young. Knowing him for so many years, he learned to hate the officer. He was mind controlled by Shinra's lies. No one lived in the slums because they wanted to, nor because they were too lazy. They had no choice when the plate was built right above their homes. No money, no business. Shinra ruined all their lives. None of them mattered, though. Only the upper class was important.

"Silence, Shiro. Your biased and uneducated opinion is not needed. Furthermore, don't ever tell me what to do.... and that is an order. Leave me." Sephiroth continued walking through the deplorable town. Sector Six. It was... a nice place... and yet it was also a place of darkness. The slums... where Shinra's evil truly existed.

"It was only a suggestion. Do what you will, but I'm not going to be on your side if you are arrested for treasonous acts." Shiro nodded at him, and started to walk away.

Sephiroth turned around, his deep green eyes glaring at Shiro. The mako was reacting to his anger. A strange trait; even for a soldier. "Traitor? Ha ha ha! Treason!? Shinra has eternally sinned against my soul, and a move against them would be treason? After I won the war single-handedly for them? Shinra won the war, indeed. You believe every word they spoon feed you. Ha, ha, ha." His hollow laugh echoed into the broken street. "I just did all the killing, right? Heh... Make a snide remark and walk away... If you think I'll let you walk away again, then you are mistaken, my friend. My blade hungers for the blood of corruption, rather than innocense. You'd best walk away silently" The words angered him... treason. To go against corruption was treason? To make a decision to no longer be controlled was treason? No... It would have been liberty if Sephiroth had so desired. Then again, he really had no where to go. No desire to rebel against them. Why?

Shiro did as Sephiroth said... silently. This had been the first time Sephiroth looked so angry at him. The words 'I will kill you' coming from Sephiroth could only mean one thing. Sudden death. There was no coming back once Sephiroth decided to kill you. There no doubt that he was the most dangerous man on the Planet. Fear filled Shiro's heart. Angry too, yet fear clouded it all.

"Desolate town..." His eyes were such a defining feature. His glare gone, Sephiroth looked upon the slums with sorrow filled eyes. They emitted a soft green light now. His eyes were unique from other soldiers, however, in that they became darker with anger. Sephiroth wondered about this often... perhaps he had been injected with more mako than the others?

"Is there no place here that is not touched by their plague of destruction?" Sephiroth looked around, hoping to find something... something not in ruins! For a while, as he looked, he could simply find nothing. However, his eyes slowly caught a glance of colorful decoration. A door that was magnificiently decorated. It had been hard to see behind all the ruins and buildings. He wanted to go there and see what it was... but there was the something that he was missing. Color. Black and white showed that little detail quite clearly. His entire attire... black and white. Could a soldier fit inside such a lively place?

Sephiroth took a few steps toward the door, yet suddenly stopped. He heard laughter. A gleeful laughter. This... this truly was what he was looking for. But why now? His mind wandered... why did he care? The slums were for those who could not help themselves. Why go here. Why not go back to the plate... "Because I hate the plate," he said aloud with anger.

The laughing stopped. Suddenly, Sephiroth felt guilty. Everywhere he went, everyone except the soldiers were silent. The soldiers felt protected by him. Everyone else feared for their lives. Once again, he had stopped happiness because of his greed.. his want for his own joy. Selfish.

Sephiroth opened the door anyways. He felt drawn to it. The place was so peaceful... It was the sanctuary of light, protecting him from the darkness outside. The place, it was just so different. Different than the slums, different than the plate, different than Wutai. It was just so... peaceful. The best word he could think of. Even placid, perhaps.

As Sephiroth entered the room, he had to step back in shock... there was light here. In the slums, below the plate, there was light. It was dim from the winter season, but it was still.... light. Below the plate. And in the center lay a white coat of snow. Snow... in Midgar. The slums had no precipitation. It was below the plate... so why did this place have it?

"All this beautiful snow! Why do you look so afraid? Hehe. A soldier is afraid of snow." The girl was cute and obviously spoke her mind. She capered merrily around the snow. Truly a happy soul... A happy soul in the slums. Shinra never spoke of them like this. Clearly, Shinra had the people above the plate fooled well... they brainwashed everyone they could. Especially him... somehow, he had won a war for the lying bastards... It was all he knew how to do.

"I... I'm sorry. I've never actually seen snow before. And the slums... was the last place I expected to see it." Sephiroth felt as if he had brought his dark aura to this holy place. She shouldn't bother talking to him. She couldn't have known who he was... a murderer. Just about everyone was too afraid to get near him. Yet she talked to him.

"Well, now you've seen it!" She smirked, her hands folded over her blue dress. Energetic too.

"Yes... I suppose I have. It's pretty...." Sephiroth screamed at himself in his mind. Pretty!? He had been taught to see things for only its use. Nothing else. This place.. was useless. It had no purpose. Snow had no purpose. Who cared what it looked like?

"Yes, it is. It's also fun to play with!" The girl giggled merrilly, looking so problem free. She ran over to the snow and picked some of it up."

"What are you doing? Your hands will freeze." Sephiroth, while not caring about the snow anymore, was still worried for her... he knew how cold snow was. It was only snow because of that. And the next thing he knew, she threw it at him.

...Damn her... He tried to be nice to her, and she threw something at him... she must've figured it out... he was wanted nowhere. Sephiroth sighed, and was thinking about leaving. He was so angry and hurt.

Yet she was laughing... she was laughing. "Aww, don't leave! I was only playing. You know, people throw snowballs at eachother for fun! I didn't mean to hurt you. C'mon!" She ran up to him, rubbing the snow off his black cloak. He pulled back at her touch. She continued to giggle merrily.

"Oh, I see... So, my name's Aeris. You?" Aeris smiled. She really hadn't known... All of a sudden, he really wished she never did. He was a murderer... she'd never befriend him once she knew. But at the same time, deep inside his mind, he couldn't lie to her.

"I am Sephiroth... I-I'm sorry. I should leave now." Sephiroth turned around. His darkness had corrupted this church for long enough

"No, don't go, Sephir... hehe, your name's hard to pronounce! I'm gonna call you Seph. So, um, don't go Seph. I'm just getting to know you. So far, all I know is that your a shy soldier!" Aeris grinned at him. Shy... was that... what he was?

"So, like to read? Your eyes seem worn out. Or maybe you just don't get enough sleep." Aeris smiled again. She had a very pretty smile.

"Yes, I like to read... mostly I read strategy... history... and about great war heroes. That is what I am supposed to read." Sephiroth sighed. Even with Ghast, he was censored.

"Ever read a book about flowers? There are supposed to be thousands of types! And every one of them has a name!"

"No, I've never really read that kind of book. I'd like to someday."

"This place is different than the other buildings. It's very special. It has light, and precipitation. Why is that? Do these flowers you speak of grow here?" Sephiroth had indeed wondered this since the very beginning. He had to know why this place was so special.

"Yes... well, you see. This is a church! It's a holy place! It's the most peaceful place in Midgar... And in the Spring, there are flowers! They say you can't grow flowers in Midgar..."

"A floating city above us... there is no day or night... except here." Sephiroth hated the Plate more than ever. There should be more places like this. More churches... everywhere. Yet everything he was thinking right now was going against Shinra's teachings. Yet he was forgetting, he hated Shinra anyways.

"Yep... the flowers have no trouble growing here. One day, I might sell them. They are pretty hard to come by. I bet people will love them." Aeris giggled merrily. They talked and talked for ages it seemed.

"That would be nice. I'd like to buy one... someday." Sephiroth felt extremely uncomfortable saying that. This 'church' seemed to make him want to do it though. It made him feel different.

"Come back during the summer then. I'll give you one for free, since I like you." Aeris giggled again. She constantly laughed. Sephiroth was growing on that laughter though. He'd never felt this way before.

Because your not supposed to feel that way, SOLDIER.

"I would like that... alot." Sephiroth couldn't bring himself to smile, but he nodded at her. "Thank you."

"Anytime. Hehe! The flowers smell wonderful. I can't wait to give them to you. Seph, promise me you'll come back, eh?" Aeris looked into his eyes, asking so kindly. Aeris noticed his eyes... had a deeper shade of mako than most.

"I will if you still want to see me again. Most people tend to be... afraid of me. Why aren't you?" Sephiroth felt stupid asking this. Now she might go home and ask about Sephiroth. Then she'd find out, alright.

"Would you like me to run away in fear?" Aeris grinned with a hint of sarcasm. "There's nothing scary about soldiers. I do have to go home now, though. Mom's waiting. I've been here too long already. Perhaps I can see you tomorrow...?"

"No... I'm sorry. I'm off on more missions tomorrow. Perhaps, someday... I will see you again." Sephiroth nodded in hope.

"Well, heh, I don't plan on moving anytime soon. Sooo, I guess I'll see you later then. By--e!" Aeris waved goodbye, and skipped home. Gone. He wouldn't see her for a while. Sephiroth had not lied when he said that he would be gone for a very long time.

For about ten more minutes, he lingered in this place. It was so peaceful. He just rested and thought about Aeris. She was the second person who ever showed care towards him. And now he had to leave her. The only other person was Ghast. And Ghast had to leave him...

Why am I parted with everyone I ever get close to!?

And there Sephiroth was... left with the demented Hojo. When Ghast left, Hojo was promoted to head of the science department. Full time. There was no one else to appoint. At least no one who could compare to Ghast. But Hojo was almost insane... anyone would've been better, as far as he was concerned. Yet that didn't really matter. His opinion didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that he killed for Shinra.

Finally, he left the church. He wanted to come back soon... but he knew this was only a one day visit back to Midgar. Now it was time to go back around the world. First, he would go back to Wutai, and show that Shinra was still around. It was not that they were rebelling, but Shinra needed to keep Wutai in check.

Then, after his post there, he would travel across the sea to the western continent. There, he would start advanced training with new soldier candidates. Finally, he would travel to Nibelheim. There was an increasingly alarming monster growth rate there. Shinra didn't seem to care that much, however. It could be prolonged for many months before it got too bad. Shinra had its priorities set for itself, and not others. It didn't matter how many people died until he fixed it.

"Shiro... I thought you were going back alone." Sephiroth grimaced. He did not want a lecture or to even see him right now. He was deep in thought.

"You've been gone for nearly two hours. I've been sent to retrieve you and nothing more. Return to the plate. There has been an incident in Wutai and you are to give them a reason to make sure it doesn't happen again. Shinra is sending you out earlier than expected." Shiro turned around, knowing Sephiroth would follow. The order had come from a higher authority. He didn't dare disobey.

"...." Sephiroth just walked slowly through the rubble. To the train. To the plate. He didn't want to say anything. Not a word...

Would things always be this way? Would he ever be free? Why did he always do everything that Shinra told him? Wasn't he strong enough to rebel? But... why would he want to? Why did he care? He didn't.