A/N: Ah! I'm sorry this came out so late! I've been going here to there… I recently celebrated my bro's graduation and there were parties nonstop. (stretches) Anyways, since I haven't been able to type up any stories, I might have lost my 'touch' in some parts of this story. So… you can blame me if you see something wrong. (dodges knives)

Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter. (thumbs up)

Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to moi! Only the idea of this story.. and.. uh… the idea for the Lifestream thingy belongs to my Silent Wind story so.. yeah. (scratches head)

Reveal Your True Eyes
Chapter Three

Close Yet So Far Away
"Ah… the outside world. I wish… I could see it again." -Aeris

Sephiroth grinned as his long sword brushed passed the lifeless bodies. His plan to send all his annoying foes straight to the Lifestream was a success. The world was in his hands now… for annihilation. Though, he couldn't help but wonder how the Lifestream actually accepted the new souls. He shook that thought out. The only thing that mattered was that he was free to do as he pleases.

He stared back down at the bodies of Nanaki and Yuffie. A frown appeared on his face.

'I wonder why they didn't put up such a fight,' Sephiroth thought to himself. 'The others showed signs of worry and fear. But… not these two.' He looked away, staring at the bright green ceiling. '…something tells me that… they're going to make it out…'

Sephiroth growled at himself for thinking such things. But, it was true. He felt that there was a way for an escape. He grinned and turned away. If that were to happen, he would be prepared for it.

As he made his way through the cave, footsteps were heard coming towards him. He narrowed his eyes. As he placed his hand above his Masamune, a figure appeared through the darkness. Another figure also appeared behind the first. The first figure stepped forward, revealing Reno of the Turks.

"Just what I need," Sephiroth sighed. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"Our stuffed toy led us here for your information."

"……oh… that annoying creature with the oversized Moogle."

Reno pointed his nightstick to Sephiroth. "I know that those… AVALANCHE guys are here too."

Sephiroth turned away. "They left a while ago."

"Shyeah right."

"Reno," Rude stepped up to his friend. "We're only here to retrieve-"

Reno brushed Rude away from his side. "Yeah, yeah. And, we've also picked up some strong forces in there. I know it's not any of our business… but-"

Sephiroth stepped towards Reno and stared down at him. "It's none of your business. Go inside if you please. You'll find nothing…" At that, he exited out of the cave.

Reno sighed and scratched his head. He didn't think that passing Sephiroth would be so easy. Even though he could tell that something was going to happen. He gestured to his friend to continue searching in the cave.

"Reno," Rude finally said. "We're not here to look for our tracking device, are we?"

"That piece of junk? Tch. I'm here for something else."

"Like?"

Reno rubbed his hands together. "I heard that there was something valuable was left in here… I wanna know what!"

Rude rolled his eyes and turned away. "You're too greedy."

"That guy from before… disturbed something with great power. You felt it too, right?"

His friend nodded. "Yes… but… what exactly is in there? Is it to stop… whatever that was disturbed?"

"…one way to find out."

They both headed deep inside the dark cave. Unknown to what dangers lie ahead of them.

"Hey, hey! Is it awake?"

"Try poking it!"

"Ew, no! What if it wakes up and eats me?"

Nanaki's eye fluttered open at that. The first thing he saw were a group of kids staring right at him. He gasped and sat up, making everyone jump in surprise.

"It's awake!" a boy exclaimed to his friends.

"Hey, hey! Are you… one of them?" a girl asked, tugging the newcomer's tail.

Nanaki flinched, realizing that he was no longer a human. That was a bit strange. He couldn't remember what had happened before. Only, he was with Yuffie… and Sephiroth.

He jumped up at the mention of Sephiroth. "AH! W-WHERE'S SEPHIROTH?"

The kids tilted their heads. "Sefer…wha?"

"…where… am I?"

"You're in our house! You came out of the sky and you appeared right there!"

Nanaki blinked. "…I don't seem to understand. I thought I was… inside a cave…?"

"This is the Lifestream,"

Everyone turned their heads at the voice. Big smiles appeared on their faces as a figure dressed in pink entered the little house. The kids ran towards the figure and crowded around it.

"Ri, Ri! Look what just appeared!"

Nanaki stood up with wide eyes. He couldn't believe who was standing right in front of him. Someone he hadn't seen in a long time…

"…A-Aeris?"

She didn't respond to that. She just stood still and continued staring at the creature before her. A smile formed on her face as she leaned down.

"I'm sorry, have we met?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Everything didn't make sense for Nanaki. He thought it over and over and finally remembered what had happened before. He was inside a cave with everyone. They separated… then he met Sephiroth. Sephiroth used some kind of magic that sent him to… what they say the 'Lifestream'. That's what through Nanaki off. There was no possible way he could be inside the Lifestream. Unless if he was…

"Excuse me?"

Nanaki blinked out from his thoughts and looked at 'Aeris'. "Y-Yes?"

"What did you call me before?"

"Oh… Aeris."

"Aeris…" she cupped her hand on her chin and looked up. "That… sounds so familiar…"

The lion-like creature frowned. 'You… don't remember me, do you?' he asked to himself. 'It's only been a couple of months...' He sighed and finally asked out loud, "Uhm… is this really the Lifestream?"

'Aeris' nodded and turned towards the window. "Yes. Those who passed away is sent here."

"But… I don't belong here! I'm not-!"

The girl shook her head. "No… we belong here. I was the same when I arrived here for the first time. It took me awhile to get used to. Anyone who lives in the Lifestream… help the world stay alive. The feeling is wonderful."

Nanaki shook his tail around. "No… you don't understand! Someone sent me here! I don't belong here!"

"…that's impossible. No one has the power to send you here."

"There's someone with incredible power that wants to continue his evil ways to destroy the world!"

Aeris lifted her eyebrows. "…what world?"

"The whole world!… uh… outside of this world!… Lifestream… uh…"

She giggled at his attempt to explain. Nanaki blushed and rubbed his ear.

"Don't worry, I was just messing with you."

Nanaki smiled. '… Aeris.'

"Ah… the outside world. I wish… I could see it again." She turned to the lion-like creature. "But… I cannot believe that you are not… well, you know. How can you prove it to me?"

'…Aeris…'

"Riiiii!"

The two turned towards a little girl that had skipped inside. She jumped up to Aeris' arms and tugged her it.

"Are you done talking to mister doggy yet?"

Nanaki's ears twitched at that.

Aeris giggled. "No, not yet. Have you been listening to our conversation?"

The girl grinned nervously. "I couldn't help it!"

"You've been eavesdropping, and that's not good."

"…ears-a-wha?"

Nanaki smiled and turned to Aeris. "So, what have you been doing here?"

"Ever since I first arrived here, I've been taking care of these children. You see, they're not ready to send their powers away to the Lifestream, to help the world stay alive. I have to protect them until the time is right."

"…what do you mean?"

"Some of these children just arrived here. They are unknown to what kind of powers the Lifestream holds for them. Once they're settled here, the Lifestream will extract their powers to send to the 'other world'. In other words, we are the source that keeps the Lifestream and the other world alive."

Nanaki nodded. "I see. I didn't really think that… you know… this sort of thing was actually inside the Lifestream. I thought it worked differently."

Aeris tilted her head. "…"

The little girl tugged Aeris' arm once again. "Ri! When mister doggy came here, there were bright balls coming out from the sky. They looked different from the others. And they were heading to the different parts of the world!"

"Huh? How were they different?"

"Well… when there are new people coming, the balls are usually a blue-green color, right? But these were totally green."

"…I wonder…"

Nanaki's head perked up at that. "Those were my friends!" 'Yuffie!' "Tell me, where did they go!"

The girl pointed in different directions. "There, here, and there!"

"Now, now. Let's not get overboard here." Aeris patted the girls' head. "Are you sure? You're always known to tell bad lies."

"Hey, Ri… where did mister doggy go to?"

The woman looked up. She gasped and immediately ran towards the front door. When she arrived there, the door had opened and there was no sign of him. She leaned against the wall and clasped her hands together.

'…red… his fur was red… like…'

"…where am I?"

"Don't worry about that."

"…w-who are you? You sound familiar."

"Hm. You are not like Number Thirteen. You are… different."

"…!"

A/N: End of chapter three! Uh… take a really reeeaaalllyyy big guess who was talking to who in the last part. It seemed a little pointless… but… I had to stick it in there. My lil idea for next chapter. I gave yoouuuuz a clue. (thumbs up) Anyways! I hope you liked and please tell me how you thought of it!