Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, the characters, locations and so on and so forth. So don't sue me, okay?

Summary: They all hailed him as a hero. The youngest ever to make it to the post of General and the most brilliant. But who was the man really? From the eyes of those who knew him before the crisis.

A Word From The Author: 16/2/05…I'm glad to say that I'm back to everyone who has missed me. In case you haven't noticed, TIAL has been updated with a new chapter, marking my return to the world of Note: Chapter Five of the Chronicles will be the last, because I want to concentrate fully on TIAL, though I may open the Chronicles again after I finish writing it, if ever. And now for what you came here for, the story. For all you Aeris believers out there.

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Aeris.

When I was young, my mother told me about the Crisis From The Skies. I might have thought it was only a bedtime story, but from an early age I had already known of what I must grow up to do; what the elders have foreseen. It was a cruel fate for me, to know when, where and how I would die for the lives of those who could not care less, but I tried to put it aside and live life to the fullest.

When my mother and I were captured and forced to live in Hojo's laboratory to be examined like common animals, I met a boy. He was a little older than me, but I was lonely in a place populated by adults who looked right through you, so we talked. I think he was lonely too, and sometimes he turned up looking as though he had just cried. The odd thing was, it was almost as though we were encouraged to interact. When Hojo first found us together, he was positively delighted, I think. He kept laughing and rubbing his hands in a manner that sickened me. The incident spoiled our fun, and soon after there was a cool reserve between both of us. He never told me his name, come to think of it. I asked, but he always steered the topic away.

Then Mother was already sick. I could tell from her deathly pallor and her fainting fits. I had more freedom than her, now that I look back it was probably because she was a true Cetra, while I was only a halfblood. She talked me to me as though she was going to die, and I, naïve child that I was, tried to pretend it was just like the games of make-believe we played together in happier times. I don't know why I never told her about the boy. I had other things on my mind…

One day he was walking unaccompanied down the corridor, which was quite unusual, since most of the time he was confined to a cell. He was happy, he told me that finally he knew his mother's name. I was stunned and started to ask more questions, but then Mother returned to her cell. She screamed, looking straight at him. Called him devil spawn. He fled…I never said goodbye to him.

That night, my mother seemed different. Revitalized. She looked so different, full of power, but so translucent it seemed that the energy inside her was just straining to burst out. She hugged me and told me that she would protect me as long as she could, that she loved me. Somehow, I knew that she would be leaving me soon. We cried, mother and daughter combined. I had never loved her so much before. She blasted open the cell doors with the sheer force of her willpower. Alarms flared, lights spun. She held me in her arms, sheltering me as the bullets started flying. To this day I had no idea how she got so far. I huddled in her warm embrace throughout the entire nightmarish journey, and I never got scratched once. She, on the other hand…

So much blood, I wonder how she was still breathing. With her dying strength, she kissed me on the cheek, and I cried over her corpse. I was still asking her to come back when Elmyra, the woman I would come to love as a foster mother, carried me away, speaking in soothing tones.

Years passed. I planted flowers, trying to bring some color to the dreary, gray world that was Midgar, but I never forgot what I had to do. Sometimes I questioned, but the lulling song of the Planet soon swept it away. I could not be selfish, not after my mother's sacrifice…she died for me, so I could die for the world…

Then Zack came into my life. Roguish, funny, laughing Zack, sweeping me off my feet with his flowers and words of love. It was then I came to meet General Sephiroth, his superior. I had seen him on posters before, of course, but seeing him in person…how could I have forgotten? The sad-eyed boy from the underground laboratory, the black-clad demon from the dream that had haunted my sleep since my mother's death. It was him, friend and foe, but looking at him, so different from both, I doubted my senses, my inner intuition. Brilliant, successful, hard-eyed, he was not the little boy I still missed, but he, self-possessed and despite his cruel streak, was in no way the dark angel who would become a killer of innocents.

And Zack spoke of his general in such glowing terms, and seeing the spark of mutual friendship on both sides, I doubted. If a man could inspire a virtue like friendship in a frank, honest soul like Zack's, how could he become the demon in my vision?

I don't think he remembered me. When he looked at me, there was no recognition. I was not surprised, I hardly remembered him myself. And from what I recalled from my childhood, with him covered with bruises and tears, his own past was something he was not in a hurry to recall on a regular basis. His pain was still there, I was certain, hidden behind the mask he presented to the rest of the world, forged of the agony he had gone through. I was sure he could be redeemed, that there was good in him. How could I forget the times we had told each other our deepest secrets, two lonely children empathizing with each other long ago. And he sheltered me from Hojo; I often accompanied the two as Zack's date, but he always kept his lips sealed. He hated Hojo; it was almost frightening to see the way his eyes burned when speaking of him. So in a way, he still remembered…how many scars were there, concealed by his shiny medals and parade uniform? I suppose I did it for a selfish reason too; so I would not have to die.

The mission at Nibelheim changed things forever. Zack was worried about it, though he tried to joke it off. He never returned, and I thought he had left me. But what concerned me was Sephiroth's disappearance too. Who wouldn't worry about the vanishing of someone fated to kill you? The thought that he was somewhere out there, stalking his prey…ShinRa tried to hush it up, but the whispers spread…people were starting to wonder.

When Cloud came, I knew I would never return to Midgar when I agreed to travel with him. But that was the way it should be. I traveled with AVALANCHE, fought monsters, made friends with them, but my happiness was poisoned with the knowledge of my impending death. After leaving the Forgotten Temple. I traveled on my own to the City of the Ancients. I could sense Jenova's taint in the air; she was, of course, the ancient enemy of my ancestors. By this, I knew…

That he was waiting for me.

It was time. The city of my people, to become my final resting place. I had come to terms with my passing. It would herald a new age for the children of the Planet, and for it I would be welcomed in honor and pride into the Promised Land, as a savior, a martyr. I knew Cloud would see to it I was remembered. I could feel my mother's pride and love blessing me, the sweet gratitude and remorse of the Planet as its eternal song twined around me. The best gift a Cetra halfblood like me to attain. I knelt down and began to pray, feeling my soul entwining with that of Holy. I gave myself freely, and looking up, saw that I had received a greater gift, to have my friends be present at my death.

Don't mourn for me…I'm coming home!

I smiled, and then Sephiroth landed behind me, the Masamune burying itself through my stomach. By then I was already so deep into the sentience of Holy that I barely felt any pain at all. Myriad images flashed though my mind: Mother singing me to sleep, of the grief Elmyra would feel, Zack, AVALANCHE, but most of all the soulful, sorrowful eyes of the boy who comforted me even as I soothed him.

I forgive you, I thought to my murderer, my old friend, and my soul sprang free from my collapsing shell.

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Author's Ending Note: I hope you liked the Aeris characterization, along with the other more AU parts in which I invented Aeris' friendship with Sephiroth when they were kids, I mean, I figured it was quite likely, and other authors had done it too! So it went in. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, everyone, and stay tuned for the final installment of the Chronicles.

T. Axile signing off

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Thanks to:

Cosmo Memory, for being the first to review the chapter when I thought no one would, and your support.

KokoroHikaru: Rufus! The close up of him just before he died made me really feel for him, like he was kind of angry and determined at the same time, maybe you feel differently? And yeah, I've seen Zack (huggles)

Evil Mina: Glad to hear I've succeeded in the creepy department. The last chapter only made me hate Hojo more than ever…(whacks Hojo over the head with a hit iron) take that, you nasty little rat-faced bigot!

Daryl Falchion: Well, I hope this chapter has lived up to your expectations like the others. Personally, I feel that the beginning of the chapter doesn't quite give Aeris justice, but I don't know how to change it…what d'ya think?

lunafrak: Thanks for reviewing all three chaps at one go. Can I join in the Hojo torture?

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