Aeris In Wonderland

Disclaimer: I only own a copy of Final Fantasy 7 and the only wonderland I have, is in my head. I also don't own The Sandman, the Sandman owns us.

A/N:Hello everyone, nice to see you all again. Sorry it's been awhile. Lack of inspiration gets the best of us every once in a while. Thanks to Yusagi for pointing out the format the story was in and the few grammatical errors. The problem is that I don't have M.S. word so I have to use word pad. Unfortunately word pad doesn't have spell check, but I'll try to do the best I can with what I have. Now enough talk, On With the Show! By the way, I added a special bonus. An original poem based on this fic, well sort of.

Obsession (an ode to the Endless)

by Me, Lamica Lee.
not my real name.

Madness;
what I feel when I think about you,
dream about you;
feel what I feel about you.

Desire:
I want you;
I need you;
I want to eat, sleep, and breathe you.

Despair; sorrow at it's ultimate form.

Destiny;
The paths that our lives take,
a cruel joke played upon us by the fates.

You are the one I long for,
the one I dream of.

In dreams I see you,
hold you;
never let go of you.

Time seems to be endless there.

Destruction;
what tears at my sanity,
not letting me think.
combined with madness,
I think I'm on the brink.

On the brink of embracing,
the dark salvation.
Kissing you,
filled with delirium;

As I take your last breath.

Chapter 9: In the Garden of Good and Evil

She watched as his chest rose and fell gently with each breath.

'Is this for real?' Aeris questioned herself.

Aeris watched his almost angelic features. His eyebrows looked perfect, as if they were painted on. His closed eyelashes resembeled fine bristles, dipped in silver paint. His sleeping form, much like his awake one, was a sight to behold.

'How can something so beautiful be so evil? How could he be the one to take my life in the future? Could anything he said be true? Does he really love me?' Aeris' thoughts rambled on.

'I have to get out of here.'

Aeris began to get out of the bed, not knowing that she was being watched.

"Not leaving me already, are you?" Sephiroth asked, grabbing Aeris' arm. Aeris laughed nervously.

"Me? No I was just going to the bathroom, that's all." She said, thinking quickly.

"Oh, alright then." Sephiroth let go of Aeris.

"Hurry back."

Aeris nodded and put the robe on. Knotting it, on the way out the door. Sephiroth put his hands behind his head and sighed happily. He had a big smile on his face as he thought about the moment of passion they had just shared. Then another thought crossed his mind and he quickly got to his feet and searched his clothing for his pocket watch.

"Hmm...the terms of the compact were up over an hour ago. I wonder why he never showed up."

Then he heard the door of the little cottage slam.

'She couldn't have, could she?' Sephiroth thought to himself. He didn't really bother to read Aeris' mind when she had answered him.

'Idiot.'

"Aeris?" Sephiroth called out; no answer.

Sephiroth, in the buff, went to where Aeris was supposedly going. There was no one. Aeris' pack, staff and clothing were gone. He opened the front door to see if he saw her. There was no sign.

"Great, now what?" Sephiroth stared down at himself.

"Guess I better get dressed and find her."

Sephiroth walked back to the bedroom, letting the door slam behind him. Once there he began to dress.

"I sure hope you don't meet the queen," he said as he continued dressing.

Meanwhile...
Aeris felt sort of guilty for just leaving Sephiroth flat like that. She panicked, she felt she had no choice.

"Too late for that now I guess."

She had left in such a hurry, that she still hadn't gotten dressed. She had hastily grabbed all of her belongings as best as she could, clutching them so they wouldn't fall.

"Where would be a good place to put this on?" she asked herself.

Aeris began looking around, still walking, for fear that Sephiroth might get wise and catch up. She realized that the cottage was not in the same place it had been in before she entered it. She came to a clearing in the forest. There, she found that the path split up into four different paths.

"Guess I'd better 'Eenie, meenie, meinie, mo' my way out of this one."

Aeris picked the path to her right. There she came to a large hedge, with a door-like hole through the middle. The hedge was covered with flowers. This looked very inviting, so Aeris decided to go in. Once there, she looked around to make sure no one was around. Upon confirming this, she undid the knot in her robe and began to dress herself.

Her dress was dry, but it looked really dirty. She had checked her pack to see if she had remembered to pack her extra outfit, but to no avail. The dusty dress had to do. She didn't have any extra hair ribbons either. Sephiroth made off with the only one she had.

"Man I'm so unprepared for these kinda things. Mom was right " She had remembered a time when her mother had poked fun at that fact when she had first begun her flower selling business.

'Do you have your basket?'

'Yes mother,'

'What about an extra shawl, in case it gets cold?'

'Yes mother, I have everything I need.'

When Aeris had gotten home that evening, she had looked kinda upset.

'What's wrong hun?'

'I forgot a few things, that could've spared me a headache today.'

'You'd forget your pretty little head if it weren't attached to you, sweetheart.' her mother laughed.

Her mother was right on that one. Aeris had finished getting herself fixed up. Her hair flowed freely down her back in perfect waves. She took very good care of her hair, so having it frazzled made her very edgy. Thank goodness she had a chance to wash it out at Sephiroth's cottage. Aeris sighed, her heart feeling heavy with sadness.

"Snap out of it Aeris, it cannot be."

Then Aeris heard a loud crash, startling her to a jump. She quickly turned around. This time, her guardstaff ready in her hand.

"Uh...um s-sorry we didn't mean to watch." said a strangely familiar looking Five of spades. He was big and husky, kinda like Barrett. He was also holding a paint brush, the bristles covered in dripping red paint.

"Hold on ya son-ova-bitch, you're splashing red paint all over me!" snapped a Two of spades. His language reminded her of Cid. Come to think of it, he looked exactly like Cid.

"How could he not, when you both were staring at the naked girl instead of painting the roses red!" Came a third voice from behind the rose bush.

"How would you know Seven, unless you were doing the same?" said the Two of spades.

Aeris turned red. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, she could not sort out at the moment. Even more irritating, was that the Seven of Spades resembled Reno.

"Oh great, now you got red paint on her!" said the Two of spades pointing at her with his brush.

"Enough! I looked around and didn't see any of you, how is it that you were watching me and didn't say anything?" Aeris was both embarrassed and furious.

"Well, you see, what had happened was..." began the Five.

"We were painting the roses red and we came to this bush..." continued the Seven.

"Yeah, which bush did you come to?" asked the Two.

"Like you're one to talk, Two!" snapped the Seven back at him.

"Y-yeah wasn't you the one who practically dropped the ciggarette in yer mouth, just 'cuz yer jaw dropped." stated the Barrett-like Five.

"I was yawning! You're the ones who creamed your spades at the sight of her!"

"That's it!" said the Seven, dropping his paint brush. He got into a fighting pose. "Put 'em up!"

"Uh guys?" said the Five nervously tapping the Two of spades.

"What is it you big lummox, can't you see we real men are about to fight?"

"The Queen is heading this way!"

"Shit!" cursed the Two and Seven.

The three cards immediately threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Aeris looked round, eager to see whom Sephiroth had appointed Queen in this world.

First came ten soldiers carrying clubs; these were all shaped sort of like the three that were flat on their faces. They were rectangular and flat, with their hands and feet at the corners: next were ten more; only these were ornamented with diamonds. Following them were children, ten of them, hearts. Then she spotted him.

"So this is where you ran off to? Was it that bad, or was I that good?"

Before Aeris could answer, the Knave of Hearts cut in.

"Oy! Why don't you chicken wusses get out o' the way? Queen's comin' through!"

"Seifer, make yourself useful. Do your job like a good little boy."

"Don't get cocky now, bunny boy! I can whup you, ya know!"

"Would you like to put that to the test, boy?" glared Sephiroth. The Knave of Hearts, apparently named Seifer, gave a low growl.

"Bloody chicken wuss." mumbled the Knave under his breath.

"Presenting, Lord Kefka and Lady Jenova; the King and Queen of Hearts."

The name Jenova rang a bell in Aeris' head. She'd remember Hojo ranting and raving about Jenova; the planet had deemed her 'The crisis from the sky'. Could it have been the same Jenova?

"Who is this?" Asked the Queen severely. She had said it to the Knave of Hearts, who only smiled and bowed in reply.

She had silver hair, much like Sephiroth's. A big puffy red dress, like the kind you would see worn in fairytales. At the top of her silver hair, sat a tiny platinum colored crown; encrusted in diamonds and rubies.

"Idiot!" said queen Jenova, tossing her head impatiently. She then turned her attention to Aeris and continued.

"What is your name, child?" Jenova began encircling her

"My name's Aeris." she replied, nervously.

"Aeris? That sounds strangely familiar." she then glanced at Sephiroth.

"Isn't that the name of that silly little Cetra, that you are infatuated with; son?"

'Son?' Aeris felt a bit confused.

"Mother, this is she. I'm not infatuated, it's more than that."

"What, an obsession?" snapped the queen angrily.

"No, Mother. I love her."

This made The King of Hearts, who up until now had remained silent, laugh. It was an eerie laugh, like the ones you would hear in a horror movie.

"Why do you love, knowing that she will die?" King Kefka walked over to Sephiroth

"Why do you build, when you know it will be destroyed?"

"Kefka that is enough!" Sephiroth growled.

"Now is that any way to address your King... your God?" replied the King, an evil grin on his face.

Sephiroth grew ire. 'How I wish I could have Masamune in my hand right now. I'd cut off his stupid grin and feed it to the three headed beast in Hell.'

One of the terms of the compact he had made with the dream king was that he was not to harm any of the creatures in this world, no matter what. The dream king had explained that these were dreamers of different lands and could not allow to have anyone in their sleep die, because of him .

"Bloody compact."

"Quit picking on my boy, Kefka. He can't help himself, he is a man after all. I only hope that you satisfied your urges and do away with her at once. You know how much of a danger she is to us."

"Mother, please. I grow tire of all this. Leave me be. Do not tell me how to feel!"

Sephiroth had never snapped at his mother like that, but he felt that she had asked for it. He loved Aeris, whether she liked the idea or not.

Then something caught Jenova's eyes.

"WHAT IS THIS?" she shouted.

The three cards from before, quivered from where they lay.

"How should I know, I was minding my own business. Apparently, they were minding it too." Aeris bravely replied.

This made the Queen turn crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild hell-house, screamed.

"Off with her head! Off with ..."

"Nonsense!" said Aeris very loudly and decidedly, the Queen went silent.

King Kefka put his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Pay no mind to her, Jenova dear. She is a foolish child who will have her tongue cut out soon enough." He glanced at Sephiroth, who in turn growled and clenched his gloved fist.

The Queen angrily turned away from him.

"Seifer, turn them over!"

The Knave of Hearts walked over to the three cards laying on the floor.

"Oy! You three chicken wusses, git up now!" he kicked their heads.

The three quickly got to their feet, rubbing their kicked skulls. They began bowing profusely. Kind of like the tourists that come from Wutai to visit Midgar.

"Quit doing that!" screamed the Queen.

"Flattery won't save your hides. What have you been doing here?"

The three cards gulped loudly. They then glanced at each other.

"Well, your Majesty," said Two, in a humbler tone than Aeris had seen. He got on one knee as he spoke.

"We were trying..."

"I see!" said the Queen who had been examining the roses.

"Off with their heads!"

The soldiers with the clubs moved to grab the three to be executed, as the Queen walked away. The Seven, Five, and Two began to run. The guards chased after them. Aeris began to feel sorry for them; even if they were a bunch of peeping Tom's. She ran off to help them escape, passing the running guards.

Aeris caught up to them and found them trying to camoflauge themselves, in order to hide.

"I feel bad for you guys, so quick, get over here." she motioned for them to go to her.

"Our gooses are cooked, Miss. We wouldn't want to get you involved any further." responded the Two.

"Nonsense, now get over here before you end up not being able to enjoy the earlier sights."

Aeris put the three cards in her pocket. Then, the soldiers passed by.

"I think they went this way." said one of them.

"We'd better find them or else it's off with our heads!" said another.

"Who says she has to know?"

Then, they were gone. Aeris took the three cards, out of her pocket.

"That you very much Miss Aeris." said the Five.

"You're welcome, now go, before they see you."

The cards bowed to her and were on their way. Aeris began to walk, when an all too familiar voice spoke.

"You didn't answer my question, love. Why did you leave?"

Sephiroth had wrapped his arms around Aeris; appearing from behind her. Aeris turned red. She desired him once more, but couldn't explain why. She was also confused with what the King, Queen, and him were discussing earlier.

"I got scared." Aeris replied, sadly staring at the ground.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, not exactly, it's just..." Aeris blushed profusely.

"Aeris," Sephiroth turned her around. Then, he held her chin up to face him. "Was this your first time?"

The tears that welled up in Aeris' eyes, more than confirmed the answer to his question.

"I-I don't know what came over me, I'm not that kind of girl." Aeris said, as tears slid down her cheek.

Sephiroth held her close to his chest, resting his lips on her head. He could feel the pounding of her heart. It raced like a wild animal's, when it knew it was about to be killed.

"I know."

Sephiroth felt his own heart, beat like a drum. Sephiroth lifted her face to his own, then gently kissed her on the lips. Aeris felt as if she would melt into his arms. It was like an electrical force, that surged through their bodies. Making them feel like one with each other. But all too quick was the moment, as they were interrupted by an unnerving screech.

"Son! Bring your little tramp and come play croquet!"

"Please forgive Mother. Sometimes, I think she's the one who is mental."

"Don't worry, I think I can relate." Aeris said.

Sephiroth grabbed Aeris' hand and walked in the direction of the Queen's croquet-ground.

"Do you know how to play croquet, Aeris?"

"I think so."

"Don't worry, the Queen never loses. It's a law." Sephiroth chuckled.

"TO YOUR PLACES!" Jenova shouted in a voice of thunder.

People began running around in all directions, tumbling up against each other; however, they quickly settled down, and the game began.

Aeris remembered what the croquet grounds looked like in the upper plate of Midgar. This was unlike any she's ever seen. It wasn't flat, but, had ridges and furrows; the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes, and the soldiers had to double themselves up and stand on their hands and feet, to make arches. Kind of like when you bend a card in half, but not completely. She was handed one of the flamingoes.

"I don't see how this is going to work." Aeris muttered to herself.

She looked around for Sephiroth. He had let go of her hand when all the commotion began. There was no sight of him. Aeris sighed.

" I wonder where you ran off to now?" Aeris had said to herself.

Aeris looked at the flamingo. 'This is ridiculous, how the heck am I supposed to use this thing?'

Aeris looked around to see if anyone had a problem with their flamingo. No one did.

'Well how hard can it be?'

Aeris tried to straighten out the flamingo. The flamingo struggled and tried to get away. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and began looking at Aeris. Aeris laughed nervously. She then gave the flamingo an icy stare. The flamingo froze.

Aeris had succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm with its legs hanging down. But generally, just as she had got its neck straightened out, and was about to hit the hedgehog, it would twist around to look up at her face. Aeris got very annoyed and yanked the flamingo back in place. She was going to swing again, when she realized that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away.

"Oh don't you start too!" Aeris angrily mumbled to the hedgehog.

Meanwhile...
Sephiroth had walked away when all the commotion about croquet began. He was not up to dealing with a smelly flamingo. He figured Aeris would be alright so he decided to part from her for a moment. He wanted to know why everything continued this far.

"Lord Shaper of dreams, I summon thee..."

In an instant Sephiroth stood in front of the castle. There, staring down at him, were the wyvern, gryphon, and hippogriff

"Good day. Is the Lord Shaper in?" Sephiroth asked them.

"The Lord Shaper is unavailable at this time," answered the wyvern.

"That's odd. Would you happen to know when he will be back?""He expected that you would show up, so he left us with a message for you."

The gryphon nudged a scroll forward. Sephiroth took the scroll and unfurled it. The scroll read:

My sincerest apologies for not being able to see you at this time.
A situation that requires my immediate attention has occured.
When the matter is resolved, I shall go and seek you to
end the compact. Consider yourself fortunate, were it not for my
sister, your time would have ended here. Good day to you Sir.
Lord Morpheus

"Thank you." Sephiroth said to the three.

He was about to walk away, when he heard something from behind him. Sephiroth turned around to see what it was. The Dream king's castle had dissapeared and Sephiroth realized that he was now standing in a very large garden.

"Where am I?" Sephiroth asked himself.

Sephiroth looked at his surroundings. There were many paths that seemed to go on forever, pillars made of stone, bridges over riverless mounds, and seven statues; all looking over twenty feet tall. One of them resembled the Dream Lord.

"Why was I brought here?"

Before Sephiroth could say any more, a voice from behind him spoke.

"You are in my garden,"

Sephiroth, startled, instinctively reached for his swordless side.

'Damn forgot about that.'

"I have brought you here because I wish to speak with you."

He was dressed in a brown druid-like robe, his eyes were hidden under the hood of the robe. He had a thick chain, that wrapped itself loosely around his body; at the end of the chain was a large brown book. There was also a shackle attatched to his hand at the other end of the chain.

"And you are?"

"I am Destiny of the Endless"

Sephiroth was at a loss for words.

"Somehow you have managed to change your fate yet again, Sephiroth."

"What do you mean?"

"Before you were born, your mother was to cut you out of her womb herself. You were never meant to be here. I know what there was, what there is, and what's to come. You were not supposed to live."

This caused a puzzled look on Sephiroths face.

"Your life was altered by Dr. Hojo, causing you to resist the poisons your mother took, thinking she would be saving you from a life of suffering. Death before you had a chance to live, that was your fate."

"You lie...Jenova is my mother."

"I see things as they are."

Sephiroth was again at a loss for words. But that still didn't explain why he was brought here.

"How...how can this be?"

"As the events happen, the conflicting destinies will merge into a whole. As they take place, the conflicting destinies will exist no more."

"But this doesn't make any sense, why have you brought me here?" Sephiroth was getting rather annoyed with the run around.

"Her death will be felt across worlds and days as a storm; and, as it plays its course, conflicting realities will fall and shatter across time and existance."

Destiny paused for a moment.

"All this is destined to happen. Events that never did happen and now never shall, will cast their conclusions and occurrences out into the worlds."

It was in that moment that Sephiroth understood. Destiny was talking about the love Sephiroth felt for Aeris. They were never meant to be, Sephiroth knew that. He didn't care. No one, not even Jenova, could tell him how to feel. Sephiroth was about to ask him another question, but Destiny was gone. There was no footprint to reveal which direction he had went.

"Great, now how do I get out of here?"

Sephiroth surveyed his surroundings. He walked towards a path that led to a hedge. He could see that up ahead, was the Queen's croquet-ground.

Back at Wonderland...
The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs. The Queen was in a furious passion, and went stamping about, screaming at the top of her head. She shouted "Off with his head!" or "Off with her head!" about once every minute.

Aeris was very annoyed with this game. No one had any rules, it wasn't very fair, and the bloody hedgehog and flamingo were conspiring against her. She hadn't been able to hit it not even once. It was complete and utter anarchy. Which is ironic considering that they had a queen.

Aeris was thinking of an escape plan. She began to look around to make sure no one was watching her. No one was. They were all too busy running around like chickens with their heads cut off; no pun intended. She ran back to where she had first entered. Once she was sure she was out of sight, she let the flamingo go.

"No hard feelings," she told it.

The flamingo gratefully nodded its head and flew away. Aeris began walking through the maze of hedges, only she didn't realize it was a maze until she came to many dead ends.

"Great now I'll never find a way out." she said continuing her way through the maze.

Aeris came across a small fountain in the maze. The fountain looked like a mermaid playing a harp. It was a rather odd, but nonetheless, beautiful statue. The mermaid had a pair of wings sticking out of the sides of her head. The water poured out from under her, making it seem as if she was sitting on top of it.

Aeris saw that it had a stone edge, just perfect for sitting. Aeris was tired from all the running around; she was also very thirsty. She sat down and peered into the water at her reflection. The water looked clean and clear. There was no foul odor emanating from it, so Aeris decided to have a drink. Before she did, she wondered where Sephiroth had wandered off to.

"I hope he comes back soon, he's the only thing that makes sense in this place."

With that, she leaned in to cup a bit of water in her hand, and sipped the refreshing cool water.

A/N: Finally! This chapter took me forever and a half to write. I had been typing this chapter on and off ; distractions and circumstances are such a pain. Well I hope you all found it to be worth the wait. Let me know what you think. Feel free to email me if you'd like. It's in my profile. Well until next time. Lamica

p.s. The mermaid statue is actually a statue of Final Fantasy VIII guardian force Siren. Buh-bye.