Disclaimer:I don't own Final Fantasy or Squaresoft even though I wished I did, almost as much as I wished that I owned 51 percent of Microsoft or invented post-it notes…….oh well if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Summary: Set 1 year after FFVII:AC. The world is encompassed in battle as Wutai proclaims war using an army ten years in the making, now the only thing that truly stands in their way is Avalanche, but its not enough, and with the planet ready to come apart at the seams, the only man who can help is the greatest general the world has ever known...

Dreams Of Existence

Chapter 3: A Time To Cry

Sarash Dul'Daemaar or The Hall of the Ancients as it was also called, had been the ancestral meeting place of the Cetran council for over fifteen thousand years and yet it always managed to look as if it had never been used, ever. From afar, it resembled a giant conch shell, one that had been polished to a mirror-like finish and had large runes and symbols engraved into every square inch of its surface. The entire structure exuded an aura that was a mix of power, knowledge and age that when coupled with the sheer majesty of the edifice was enough to cause even the most jaded person to stare in awe, and that was only the outside.

The exterior of the building paled in comparison to the interior.

Large murals adorned the walls, depicting various events that had occurred during the course of Cetran history, some of which were, surprisingly, very graphic renditions of war. Large, strategically placed crystalline pillars lit up entire rooms by diffracting the ambient light in the room that was supplied by a single, floating, ball of light. Shallow grooves ran along the floors and walls, twisting fluidly and intertwining with the other to create strange circular symbols and angular designs whose significance were all but lost to the ravages of time. Random colours pulsed rhythmically and flowed through the grooves like blood would through a vein, giving the impression that the entire place was alive. In every room, there were short pedestals that housed various objects and artifacts that would make any modern historian or architect literally explode with joy.

The Council Chamber was by far the most impressive place in the building however. It was a large circular chamber that was about one hundred feet across and was situated in the dead center of the building. It had a high roof onto which was painted a huge mural that showed the planet wrapped in a cocoon of green mist that could only be lifestream. Crystal pillars were placed evenly around the edge of the room and a semicircular dais that was built into the wall stretched almost halfway around the room. On the dais itself, an ornate crescent shaped table that was made to match the shape and curve of the platform stood proudly, and twenty high-backed chairs that were made of pure materia were set evenly around the far side of the table. The grooves in the floor and wall curved towards the center of the room and formed an intricate circular symbol that was situated directly in front of the dais, which was where a person or persons stood when speaking to the council. It supposedly compelled anyone who was within its confines to speak only the truth, but that had left to be seen as no one who had ever faced the council had even entertained the thought of lying for it was believed that to lie to the Council meant eternal banishment and damnation.

All of that would be very impressive to the casual person, but Sephiroth was hardly a casual person, and therefore, really didn't give a flying fuck.

He moved through the halls of Sarash Dul'Daemaar with an efficiency that could only be described as surgical at worst. He strode down the corridors as if he owned them, managing to generate a highly dignified and refined air about himself even though his hands were still bound by the thrice-damned manacles on his wrists. The few people he had encountered had pressed themselves against the walls as he passed, as if trying to sink into them to escape his very presence. From time to time he would pause and study a mural intently for a minute or two, usually the ones that depicted grisly battle scenes, and then move on as if the were not worth the time and energy it took to gaze at them. In reality, he was burning those images into his memory and filing them away for possible use later on, a photographic memory really had its advantages.

As he traversed the seemingly endless halls however, the reality of his situation began to settle in once again and how to plan his approach began gnaw at his mind. An inner conflict developed that had two clearly defined sides. On one side, his logic told him to tread carefully with the council and hang back until he had fathomed their true intentions, while on the other, his emotions all but screamed at him to show everyone what they were truly dealing with, the true man with the soul of fire that lay trapped beneath the ice.

To any observer, he was walking purposefully to the council chamber with not a shred of care or apprehension in his body, but because of Sephiroth's ability to hide his emotions, there was no indication of the heated battle was taking place inside his head….

-----

"Assume your mental armor!" his Logic shouted in his head, "The Cetra want you bold and hotheaded, not cool and collected!"

"No!" His emotions screamed as they scrabbled wildly for a foothold in his mind, "They're expecting you to be a block of ice, give them a violent flame instead! You've been holding us back for far too long!"

"Releasing your emotions will only bring pain, remember how Hojo used them against you?"

"If you had only released your emotions back then, you would have been rid of Hojo years ago!" his emotion raged.

"To what end, getting locked away forever in the bowels of the Shinra building as a 'dangerous but useful' sample?" his logic countered.

"They could have been easily destroyed if it came to that!"

Sephiroth felt more and more as if he was a spectator who was watching two men arguing about him, rather than a man who was only weighing the pros and cons of a situation to himself. THAT was an uncomfortable feeling.

"Yes, destruction, that is the ONLY viable course of action when emotions govern anything!"

"And hiding and crying like a abused cur solved all our problems didn't it!"

"At least it didn't create any additional ones that would have had dangerous and irreparable repercussions later on down the road!"

"Repercussions, what negative repercussions could have possibly occurred if Shinra had been destroyed?"

"The sheer number of lives that would have been lost, coupled with the destruction of the most powerful corporation in the world that, believe it or not, was the heart of Midgar, would probably have sparked a civil war."

That last remark was met with a rebellious silence that marked the imminent death of the metal battle and his logical side wasted no time driving the final nail into his emotional side's already well-made coffin.

"Remember what happened when you let your emotions run rampant in Nibleheim?"

That settled it.

-----

Sephiroth shoved his emotions into their 'special' place in his head, slammed the door and threw away the key; Logic would have preened itself if it were a physical being and not a mental construct.

Outwardly, all that had visibly changed was that Sephiroth's demeanor had suddenly switched from cold to arctic, while internally his euphoria faded away as logic clawed its way to the front of his mind.

Sephiroth had regained his former mindset with a vengeance, but with a slight modification. The Cetra had tried to screw with him, that fact now meant that he got to screw with them, with interest. There could be no mistake, he would still give them hell, he had promised himself that, but not the torrid fury it was famed for, no, he would give them an new kind of hell, the frigid rage of hell….frozen over.

-----

The Council Chamber was humming with the subdued whispers of the Council members who were preparing for the most difficult task ever presented to them, persuading the Son of Crisis to help the very things he loathed the most in the world, Humans. The mere fact that Sephiroth's meeting had caused so much commotion spoke volumes for the amount of underlying fear and nervousness that hung in the air like thick, acrid smoke.

Aeris stood in a very inconspicuous spot on the dais, chewing her lips because she had run out of fingernails to chew instead. Worry and fear coursed through her body as she waited with bated breath on the impending arrival of Sephiroth. Every second that passed felt like a weight on her body until she wasn't exactly sure how she was remaining on her feet. He was supposed to be in the chamber nearly fifteen minutes ago and yet he was not there and no word had reached them of any delay or deviation from the plan.

The plan…..the plan had been to take him through the city and show him how the people viewed him and hope that guilt, some guilt would worm its way into his mind and make him a bit more…..receptive to suggestion. That was the plan.

Aeris could have told them that that wouldn't work, and if anything, would make the proceedings even more difficult, but they adamantly refused to listen to her advice, saying that she was young and not experienced in the ways of the world. That may be, but she was more experienced than any of them in ways of Sephiroth's mind and she knew that they would not like what greeted them when the doors opened.

The council however, could not be said to be entirely stupid though, and had a few tricks up their sleeve that were designed to shake Sephiroth up should he prove too stubborn to deal with….or so they hoped.

Aeris felt and heard a loud 'THRUM' in her mind as the planet reaffirmed her of its presence at the proceedings. Some of the tension flowed out of her shoulders as the planet wrapped her in a warm cocoon of comfort and assurance that could leave a Zolom in a good mood.

"You are here, Mother Gaia?" Aeris pulsed to the planet.

"Yes my child, I am here to preside over this meeting because I have a sinking feeling that if I don't, the coming disaster will have no chance of being diverted." The planet pulsed in return.

Communicating with the planet was not exactly what you would define as 'speaking' but rather 'thinking'. Also you did not think in words, but rather in pulses of 'raw' thought that were neither predominantly visual or auditory, but a very subtle and complex mix of the two. That was apparently why humans could no longer commune with the planet. They had lost the ability to produce raw thought and as such could neither hear nor speak to the planet.

Aeris's eyes widened as the planet's statement registered in her head.

"The coming disaster?" Aeris asked in stark disbelief, "I though that the purpose of this hearing was to determine the fate of Sephiroth's soul!"

The planet remained silent for a few seconds before responding.

"Do you mean to tell me child that you were not informed?" The planet pulsed slowly.

Aeris shook her head inwardly and outwardly in bewilderment.

"Informed of what, Mother Gaia?" Aeris asked, "All I was told to do was to ensure that Sephiroth agreed to attend a meeting with the council willingly and then I was let in on the 'plan' to soften him up for the council, but that was it."

The planet went silent again for a while and Aeris suddenly gained the impression that it had ended their conversation.

"Mother Gaia, Are you still there?" She asked.

No response

Once again she ventured, "Mother Gaia, if I have done something to ang-", She was cut off as a hand landed on her shoulder.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she spun around to meet the green gaze that was so similar to hers.

"Mother!" She sighed, "Why didn't you just call me instead of scaring me half to death?"

Ilfana smiled and gave Aeris a gentle tap on the cheek,

"I did call you daughter," she said, "Twice"

Aeris flushed with embarrassment as her mother let off a stream of her soft, tinkling laughter that her father had so loved.

"I was speaking to Mother Gaia, that was why I did no hear you calling me." Aeris said, the blood still flooding her cheeks.

"I know," said Ilfana indicating over her left shoulder, "She is having a…word…with the council."

Aeris followed her outstretched finger to the Council members who were now standing ramrod straight and were as white as sheets.

"What's happening?" Aeris asked.

"Gaia is admonishing them because they all but excluded you from the proceedings when she had made it clear to all of them that you were to be in charge." Ilfana replied.

"Why, what, me in CHARGE? " Aeris gasped.

"Don't be surprised," Ilfana said, "You have been around Sephiroth the longest and as such would have been the best person to plan a strategy to ensure that he at least listens to what we have to say and give it some thought."

"What is so important that I had to be left out of the loop?" Aeris asked

"You were never supposed to be left out of the loop Aeris" Ilfana said, "but most of the Council members felt that you were just a little girl and ignored you completely"

Aeris bristled visibly at that statement and clenched her fists till it hurt.

"THAT'S UTTER CRAP" Aeris screeched, and then more quietly as more than a few eyes turned in their direction, "I died to save Mother Gaia and that is how they all see me? How many of them willingly died to save the entire planet, giving up their life, friendships and even…..love!"

Ilfana stepped forward and held Aeris silently as she broke down in her arms, sobbing violently. She stroked her hair and whispered words of comfort in a way that only mothers could. Minutes passed in this fashion until Aeris slowly collected herself and stood under her own power.

Sniffling slightly, Aeris asked, "Mother, why do you know all of this, you're not on the Council?"

"The planet told me a short while ago," Ilfana replied, "She also said that I should tell you everything that she told me."

Aeris stood in shock at the words that tumbled from her mother's mouth. Disbelief permeated her entire being but as her mother continued, was slowly being replaced by a raw fear, the kind of fear that crushes your heart as if it were a tiny insect.

Aeris was silent for a long time after her mother had finished speaking and then she asked the single question that was on a lot of minds.

"Why the hell can't we ever get a break?"

As if on cue the large double doors slammed open with a resounding 'BANG' and a wind that felt like a thousand frozen knives slashing at their flesh swept through the room, causing silence to descend on the room so suddenly that it seemed as if the wind had frozen the very sounds themselves. The walking glacier known as Sephiroth entered the room, minus his guards of course, and a feeling of even greater dread slammed into Aeris.

She could almost see the icebergs that now enveloped Sephiroth's heart and wondered absently at what could have possibly happened between the previous afternoon and now that could have caused such a drastic change to occur.

The cold silence was broken as her mother turned to her and said a single word.

"Ditto."

Aeris could have cried….again.

-----

The blade sank into the man's heart with the sickening sound of metal scraping over bone and rending flesh. The man's mouth was opened in a silent scream as blood slowly began to leak from its corners and drip quietly to the ground, staining the grass crimson. His black eyes bored into hers with painful accusation. "TRAITOR" they seemed to cry out, "You're a disgrace to your father's name!"

The man grunted in pain as the blade was violently wrenched from his chest, he staggered for a second before collapsing to the ground. As the light in his eyes died, so did a part of the woman who had killed him. She cleaned her blade on his pants and sheathed it slowly while offering a silent prayer for the man's soul. Kneeling beside him, she reached for his face and closed the eyes that stared at her with betrayal, even in death. Standing up, she surveyed the carnage around her.

Hundred of people were dead, men and women from both sides, battle did not differentiatemen from women, whoever held a weapon, died with the weapon. The battle was over, they had won, but it was a victory that left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. They had defeated every opponent on the battlefield, but had suffered a seventy-five percent loss, at least. The fact that they had outnumbered their enemy three to one was not helping matters at all, who would have thought that a routine patrol would lead to this.

She suddenly felt a presence behind her and a hand landed heavily on her shoulder. Springing into action, she grabbed the hand, twisted it violently and spun around, sweeping the person of their feet at the same time.

The person fell with a strangled cry and cried out "Stop Major, please!"

She froze as the voice registered in her mind, her blade stopping centimeters from the man's throat, and breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the man's face.

"Lieutenant Martin, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that, especially when I'm in battle?"

The man stuttered unintelligibly and she sighed as she stood slowly, helping him up as she did. The man managed a hasty apology and hurried away, probably to change his pants.

"Major Kisaragi!" came a cry from behind her, "Are you alright, I was sure that that last man had you there for a second!"

Yuffie turned to see her Captain looking at her with humor dancing in his mako enhanced eyes.

"You sure sent Martin packing, I wonder if he has anymore clean underwear?"

"Leave it up to you to find the humor in this situation Alan." She retorted, gesturing around the bloody battlefield.

"There's no point dwelling on those who have already passed on, we honor their sacrifice and worry about the ones that are still alive."

Yuffie burst out laughing.

"Maybe you should be Major instead of me Alan!" She said in-between her chuckles.

"I wouldn't dream of it Major, you know the men wouldn't follow me like they do you!" He replied similarly.

The humor of the moment slowly faded however when they saw the dead and the injured being moved and taken care of.

"It hurts, doesn't it Major?" Alan suddenly said.

Yuffie looked at him out of the corner of her eye questioningly.

"Fighting your own people I mean." he continued.

Yuffie frowned darkly and in a cold voice replied, "No, not anymore, it used to, but war changes people."

She was lying and they both knew it Alan thankfully did not press the subject, he knew better than push her when she was in such a foul mood.

Alan muttered something quietly to himself, so quietly that even she couldn't hear it and abruptly bowed to her and left to go supervise the body cleanup.

Yuffie suddenly felt awful for treating Alan so badly, after all, he was one of the most important members of her unit, and her friend. He was soldier first class, those were rare nowadays, as many had been killed during the whole meteor incident, quite a few by Avalanche themselves. In the war, all men who used to be soldiers were given command positions according to their previous soldier rank, ranging from Lieutenant to Major and in truth, the only reason why Captain Alan was not Major Alan was because Yuffie was in the same squad as him. He had way more experience than her when it came to war after all, he was a Soldier who was part of Sephiroth's own troops during the Wutai War.

Yuffie shook herself from her thoughts and glanced at the body of the man that she had just killed and muttered angrily, "I really have changed."

Gone was the girl with the innocent brown eyes and the ridiculously large smile who would rob you blind before you could blink. In her place was a woman with hard green eyes, yes, green Mako eyes. Her hair was the same length that it had always been, she had always had to cut it regularly, it was a habit now, you didn't want to give the enemy something to grab, did you? The only difference with her hair was that it was now streaked with silver, yes, silver, not platinum like Sephiroth's, but silver nonetheless.

It had begun to turn silver a few weeks after she had recovered from the poison. She could still see look of horror on Cloud's face as he held up a single silver strand of her hair. That hadn't been the only change within the last year however, She had filled out abnormally fast and her body looked older than her twenty years, Vincent had told her that it was the Jenova cells that had accelerated her growth so that she would hit her prime earlier. Apparently she would retain this appearance for a long time, after all, Sephiroth looked as if he was only twenty-one, and he was over thirty! Her face still loked as it used to though, if you skipped the eyes.

Her physical abilities had also improved to the point where she could almost best Cloud in a fight, she was not as strong as him, but she was much faster and her eyesight and hearing were unbelievable also, she could see clearly for miles and hear a pin drop hundreds of feet away. Down to her sense of smell and taste had improved to the point where she could smell the blood on a man who had killed days before and almost taste it. That was not necessarily a good thing however, when in the midst of a bloody battle, sometimes she wondered how Vincent and Cloud coped with it. The most frightening thing however was when the scientists told her that the cells had not finished developing yet and that she would become stronger in time, did that mean that she would be stronger than Cloud? If so, how was it possible that Cloud beat Sephiroth if his cells could make her so strong?

Her head hurt just thinking about it.

She had also changed her fighting style, she was a ninja and using only one weapon in battle was a huge disadvantage, well, unless you were like Sephiroth or something. She still used her Conformer as her main weapon, but now she also used two kodachi that were sheathed on her back at each shoulder, she had normal shuriken sheathed in a holster that was strapped to of her thighs, a knife in each boot, a Katana that was sheathed at her side, a wrist-blade on her left hand and a gauntlet with a small buckler attached to it on her right hand……and those were only the visible weapons. She had other hidden weapons on her person, like small knives and extra shuriken, but where those were kept was her little secret. Yes, she had become a walking armory. Normally a person wouldn't dare enter combat with so many weapons due to their combined weight and the fact that they could be cumbersome, but her Jenova enhanced abilities took care of that easily.

She looked down at herself and sighed, yes she had changed, she was now walking death. Fingering the edge of her black skintight HAEAM bodysuit that she wore under her clothes, which still consisted of her brown shorts and floral shirt with her jacket, which were now also made of HAEAM. Fighting back a groan of derision at the fact that she was forced to wear the bodysuit, which, she admitted grudgingly hade saved her from serious harm quite a few times, she turned her attention once again to the body of the dead ninja that she had just killed and stared at it for a few moments.

"I didn't betray you or my father," she whispered to herself, "You all betrayed him by following that bastard Ryoshi, for that, I'll never forgive you. I won't rest until I bathe in his blood and dance among his ashes, then, maybe I'll forgive you!"

A loud 'CRACK" was heard as the man's body suddenly became airborne after receiving a ferocious kick from Yuffie and landed on a pile of dead bodies almost five hundred feet away. Soldiers spun around and regarded Yuffie silently for a few seconds before quietly returning to their work as if nothing had happened. Yuffie clenched her fists so tightly that they bled and stormed off alone in a random direction that would lead her away from the battle and everything.

"I'll never forgive them" she said

She felt like crying, but it was as if the Mako in her eyes made the tears evaporate before they reached them. Truly, how does one cry when there are simply no tears left? The wind that gently rustled her clothes, her only companion at the moment, would not tell her. She looked to the darkening sky, her eyes bright with tears that could not, would not be shed.

"This truly is a time to cry" She said to herself sadly, "but I can't..."

The wind moaned sorrowfully as it passed between the trees and branches and seemed to say, "Don't worry then...I'll cry for you instead."

And for the first time in nearly a year, she wept.

-----

Well there we go, another reasonably long chapter, sorry for the cliffhanger with Sephiroth, but dramatic effect is necessary (MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA). Please read and review, please, REVIEW! Thanks once again for those who reviewed (you know who you are) and please give me some feedback, positive or negative, they both help.

Anyway, I hope you guys are satisfied with this chapter as it took me four days to write it (at work) and I tried to be more descriptive and not rush scenes. I find that my previous chapters felt rushed towards the end, and I'm sure that after posting this a reading again it for like the tenth time, I will feel as if I rushed this one too. I hope my writing is improving as I progress or all is lost...

Until next time, ciao.