A/N: Ah! Chapter four is finally up!… a week later. (moans) Sorry about that… yet again. I might as well post up a new chapter after a week has past or something. I've been unusually lazy lately… hey, it's summer anyway. (nervous smile) Anyways! I hope you enjoy reading!

Thanks for reviewing! And… no, sorry… tis not Cloud. You got the Hojo part right tho.
Eeep! Sorry if it confused you. The pieces aren't put together yet, but it will soon! I hope this chapter will answer some of your questions.

Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to me… only the idea of the story and blah blah blah etc etc.

Reveal Your True Eyes
Chapter Four

You're My Answer
"Many people… will be very hurt if they see you." -Nanaki

A small child slowly entered the room 'Aeris' was in. She had been worried about her ever since 'Mister Doggy' had left so suddenly. Just the thought of seeing her caretaker depressed started to feel uncomfortable. The girl stood in front of the door, tugging her pink dress. 'Aeris' did not notice the presence of the girl. She started mumbling to herself.

"Why does that creature seem so familiar? Everything he said to me started to click in my head. I… think I did meet him. But… where?" Aeris paused and looked up. "Aeris… I… am Aeris?"

"U-Uhm… Ri?"

Aeris blinked out of her thoughts. She turned to the little girl and smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you trying to tell me something?"

The child shook her head. "No… I was just wondering about the name 'Aeris'. Is… that your real name?"

The woman frowned at that. "I… don't know. I feel that it is but… I don't remember anything…"

"You know what? I don't remember anything either. My name… my whole past… nothing. Do you think… the Lifestream wants us to forget about that?"

'Aeris' remained silent. The Lifestream was the only source of energy to keep the 'other world' alive. She never gave any thought about past memories. Was this something she should worry about now? Was it even necessary?

She shook her head and placed her hands on the child's shoulders. "We shouldn't think of such things now. We should only concentrate on protecting the 'other world'. We don't need to worry ab-"

"But! I'm worried about you! I heard you talk about what Mister Doggy said to you a while ago! That your name was 'Aeris', right? Maybe… you can find out your real past if you go with him. I don't want to see you act this way. You're not the Ri I knew when I came here for the first time."

Aeris smiled as she hugged the girl tightly. She finally released her and stared into her blue eyes. "I thank you… for always looking out for me. You're right. I really do want to know the real me. The real… 'Aeris'."

The little girl smiled big. "I hope you find it!"

"But… what about you? Don't you want to know about your past?"

"…I do… but I don't think I'm ready yet. Maybe… I'll learn the truth from you when you come back."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Nanaki stopped to catch his breath. He quickly looked behind him and sighed in relief. Ever since he left Aeris to find Yuffie, he never stopped to wonder where the heck he was going. Perhaps, he should have asked where those orbs were headed. He growled to himself as he sat on the ground. Rushing wasn't going to get him anywhere.

"What am I going to do? What if… something happened to my friends? I want to help… but… just how long would it take for me to find them…?"

Just then, Nanaki heard something coming towards him. He turned and brought his tail up. 'Aeris' suddenly appeared through the tall trees. She was carrying a small backpack and a bottle of water in one hand. Nanaki calmed down and sighed in relief.

"Heeeyyy!" Aeris called out.

"Aeri- I…I mean… hey," Nanaki responded.

Aeris finally stopped to catch her breath. "Wow… you… you went really far. Not many people… head towards the Lifestream Forest."

"…Lifestream Forest?"

"Yeah. It's said that those who walk through the forest never come out the other end. Some say their souls have been taken away, thus leaving nothing behind."

Nanaki's flamed dimmed at that. "O-Oh. Well, I really want t-"

"I would like to accompany you. You seem… to know a lot about me more than I do. Perhaps, if I travel with you, I will realize my past clearly." Aeris leaned towards Nanaki. "If… that's alright with you...?"

"Of course. But… I must warn you. Many people… will be very hurt if they see you."

"…why? Wouldn't they be… happy to see me?"

"I'm sure they will… but… you… won't remember them… at all."

The girl frowned at that. "Oh. Well, I hope that… I will remember something before I see them. That's why I'm traveling with you."

Nanaki nodded his head. "Okay. Just be prepared for anything."

At that, the two began their long journey towards the Lifestream Forest. Although Nanaki felt a little worried about Aeris traveling with him, he felt safe with her. It was like… old times. He smiled and lifted his head.

"So," he started, "I might as well reintroduce myself…"

"Ugh, shit! Don't tell me we havetah choose a path?"

Reno tapped his nightstick against the wall of the cave. He grunted at the thought of choosing a path. He knew he should have dragged Elena with them. But no! He was being too nice to her, saying that it wasn't necessary for her to come along.

Reno handed Rude his nightstick. "Hit me as hard as you can."

Rude stared at the stick then to the three paths. "Reno, if we must search for that… whatever, we should each split up, and pick a path that looks suspicious."

The Turks perked his redhead up. "Yeah… that's a better idea!" He swiped his nightstick away and pointed to the middle path. "I'll take that path, and… you take the one that looks more suspicious."

The other Turks sighed. "But, what about the first path?"

"…what about it?"

"Well, that looks suspicious as well."

"What the hell are you trying to say? Want me to split you into two?"

Rude sighed. "I'm surprised Elena wasn't giving us a hard time to come…"

Reno grunted. "Whatever!" '…even though she would be of help right now…'

The two remained silent. Reno pulled his lip and nudged Rude's arm. "So uh… then… you know… call her."

Rude smiled nervously and took out his cellphone. "Yes, sir."

A large shadow cast against the white walls of a room. It revealed a rather awkward figure of an old scientist with messy hair. The figure brought up a glowing bottle of liquid and poured it onto its experiment. The experiment growled and kicked its limbs around. After a few minutes, it finally calmed down and began panting. The scientist grinned and turned away.

Soon after, another scientist appeared. It's shadow cast a figure that was not much taller than the first scientist. It rested his hand against the wall and sighed.

"And… explain to me again… where you found this… thing, Hojo?"

Hojo turned around and smirked. "I told you. It just appeared in this room. Just in time, might I add. I've been rather bored," he frowned at the look of his colleague. "You should be fired up just as much as I am, Professor Gast."

Gast narrowed his eyes. "I still feel very uncomfortable whenever I'm around you. I rather die again than to work with you… again. I will never forget what you did before…"

"Tch. That's all in the past now. You can't do anything about it. And besides, they're residing inside this Lifestream… so, you can search for your 'dearly beloveds' and go back to those lovey-dovey days."

Gast bowed his head and growled. "No… they won't remember me anyway. They… probably lost their memories."

"Hey, help me with this thing, will ya?"

The two scientists lifted the creature and placed it inside a big test tube. Steam escaped from underneath as the door closed. Hojo ran his finger around the tube as he walked around.

"Ah… this will be my greatest experiment," he sighed.

"…what is it?"

"For some reason… this creature looks exactly like my Number Thirteen. I wonder… if he… gave bir-"

"But," Gast purposely interrupted, "didn't you say that 'Thirteen' was the only species to live? It's not possible to find another one of its kind."

Hojo placed his hands behind his back. "I never said it was impossible. That's why… I'm going to experiment with this creature right here."

"And what? What are you planning?"

The scientist slammed his hands against the test tube. An evil laugh escaped from his mouth. "Several new souls have just entered this world. If you noticed, they're much different from the others. They must be stronger than the rest of these suckers. This gives me a chance to test out my new experiment."

The test tube began to fill up with green liquid. The creature inside began to float towards the center as the liquid reached its maximum height. The scientists turned and exited out from the room.

Meanwhile, inside the test tube, Yuffie's eyes slowly opened. She turned her head, but couldn't make out where she was exactly. Her teeth gritted as the flame on her tail grew bigger.

'Hojo… just wait til I dig my fangs into your good-for-nothing flesh!'

A/N: End of chapter four! (stretches face) You're probably wondering, "Heeyyy… what about the rest of the gang?" Ph34r not! I'm gonna fin-a-lee stick some of AVALANCHE in the next chapter so… yeah. Uh… so! Hope you enjoyed reading and please tell me how you thought of it!