The sky cleared, as the afternoon burnt itself away and the dark of night enveloped the sun's fading light. The crescent moon rose, spreading it's silver fingers outward. A small silver of moonlight reached downward, towards Midgar, finding its way to the slums through a rather large gap in the upper plating. It was a rare but welcome sight in the slums, actual light from above. This sliver made even the unsightly rubble within the church look almost ethereal, as an eerie calm hung over the place.

It had been an hour since Aeris cast her spell and showed the demon a tiny glimpse of his future, and that which was hidden from his past. She had waited for the spell to take effect, and once she was sure he was in the depths of it, she'd planned to leave. However something kept her planted to the spot. A feeling that there was something more that she had to do before they parted for good. Though she mostly attributed it to her morbid curiosity with the man who lay limply on the ground.

Was it a man or a demon that lay there? Before she had spoken with him, she knew. It was so very black and white, but now her mind was fuzzy with hazy gray. He had tried to kill her, no, the it inside him had tried and somehow the real person had gained control. Aeris sighed, her brow knit in confused anxiety. I should leave.

Person or not, the man was dangerous to her and it was best if she left before he woke. Aeris carefully stood up and brushed the dust from her dress. Taking a moment to stretch, Aeris turned around and quietly walked towards the very back of the church. Behind the great altar, now ruined for lack of use, was a hidden room that lead to what Aeris called her "secret exit". She'd used it many times to escape the Turks, and it was where she kept the majority of her planting supplies.

Lifting the tattered curtain that hid the exit, Aeris took one look back at the slumped form sitting in the middle of her church. Closing her eyes, she said one small prayer for him and prepared to leave. Just then, he awoke, sitting up slowly and rubbing his head. Aeris froze in hopes he wouldn't notice she was still there. It worked, the young man looked around in desperation for her. If only he could see a pair of bright green eyes watching him as he'd watched her.

Sephiroth stopped abruptly, holding one hand to his head. His eyes fluttered and he dropped suddenly to the ground, his body seizing with convulsions. Aeris pushed down the urge to panic, clearing her mind as she rushed towards him. She racked her mind quickly for the first aide class she took for he mom's MS.

She pushed his body over as well as she could, until he was on his side. Cradling his head in her lap so that he wouldn't hurt himself on the rubble-strewn floor. Another seizure came shortly after, foamy saliva oozed out of his mouth. Aeris rubbed his back, waiting until the convulsions stopped, checking his vitals to make sure everything was okay. After several minutes, his breathing slowed to its normal steady rhythm and he stirred. She breathed a sigh of relief as he twisted around and looked at her groggily. He tried to get up, but she gently pushed him back down. Pulling out a handkerchief, she wiped the dirt and sweat from his face.

"You have to rest." She said softly, as if talking to a child.

"Where am I?"

"My church....we were talking, remember?"

"Yes." He paused, "You left."

Aeris nodded, "I did but I came right back. Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"I cast a spell, it must have been disagreeable to your system. You had a seizure."

He shook his head, "It had nothing to do with it. I often have seizures. Quite funny actually. I'm supposed to be their perfect soldier and there's so much wrong with me."

He looked up at her with glassy eyes, taking in the angel that hovered above him. Golden brown curls dipping down into view, bouncing giddily with even the smallest moment. It felt like home here, and he wondered how long she'd let him linger. He'd never felt so normal. The fear he saw in her eyes was gone, and she looked down at him as if he was any other person. No awe. No clinical detachment. He wasn't an oddity; he was human in her eyes.

Aeris was quite content to let him lay in her lap. The pity she felt earlier had grown into sympathy. So now, she was faced with quite a cacophonous jumble of thoughts. The man that lay so comfortably in her lap, had tried to kill her and would do so again. There was a dangerous madness sleeping within him, yet at this point in his life it hadn't taken complete hold of him. Aeris could plainly see the surprising amount of humanity within him, which she had completely missed on her first meeting with him. She also saw the demon within devouring it, knowing that one day the person she saw here would be gone.

It was easy to hate and fear that which you don't know. It was easier when he was just an unknown threat, a shadow walking down the street. Now that she saw him and knew the pain he'd been through, it was much harder to hold her fear and hatred next to her heart. He was a man who had been born under unfortunate circumstances and with a lethal flaw in his genetic code.

Aeris sighed as she looked down at him, noticing for the first time that his eyes hadn't left her face. He kept his gaze on her, it was intense but she sensed gentleness behind it. She could feel butterflies turning in her stomach as she gazed back down at him. Noticing not for the first time, that he was very good looking. He had fine, sculptured features, like that of any the great master's statues housed in Shinra's museum of fine art. His white hair seeming to glow like liquid silver in the pale moonlight and Aeris pushed down her desire to run her hand through it. Though she knew if she did, that it'd be very soft. A slight blush surfaced on her cheeks, as her eyes moved from his hair to his lips. Her blush deepened as she wondered what it'd be like to kiss him. She felt her pulse rise, her breathing becoming more hurried as the length of their silent exchange extended. Aeris fidgeted, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the feelings she was having but unable to deny her obvious attraction to him.

"I-I...I should go..." She stammered, looking away nervously.

He noticed her discomfiture, and slowly sat up, his eyes still trained on her face. He watched her visibly relax, though he mourned her warmth, he didn't wish to make her more uncomfortable than she already was. But he also didn't want her to leave, not yet.

"No, don't....I....What was that spell you cast? I've never seen anything like it."

Aeris smiled, no one had ever asked her how her magic worked and she was all too pleased to explain. Not noticing his delay tactic, forgetting her previous feelings of embarrassment. "The spell itself is much similar to most time based spells, like Stop or Haste...modified with a gravity spell to create a hole into the space/time continuum. Once the hole is open, it's just a matter of pulling in the targeted matter into the vortex, finding their own timeline and pinpointing an series of events, past or present, they'd like to view."

Sephiroth blinked blankly at her explanation. Materia theory was an interesting subject, and one he had studied with aplomb. He considered himself quite an authority on the subject. Materia was unalterable, you couldn't change it, merely make it more powerful. You could combine different materia together and get different effects; he understood that part of it. However using magic like that in such a massive manipulation of time and space was unthinkable. He sat up and looked at her closely as if she'd spoken to him in a foreign tongue.

"Come again?" He asked, cocking his head to one side, punctuating his confusion.

Aeris laughed, forgetting that not everyone was quite as adept as she, even the great Sephiroth. "Time is like a vast river and we're all like boats on this river. Now, all beings on this earth can only go forward, because they don't know how to manipulate their oars the right way. My spell allowed me to guide your oars, so that they could move in whatever direction you pleased."

"You guided me? So, does that mean you saw what I did?"

She nodded slightly, uncomfortable that they were switching back to more personal issues.

"Everything?"

"Yes." She replied quietly, looking down at her fingers with interest.

"So you saw the last vision then. The one where....I kill you? Is that the future?"

Aeris became numb and instead of an audible answer, she only shook her head yes. Gods, she didn't want to talk about his, especially with him.

"Why do I do it?"

"I don't know." She answered quietly.

"Is there a way to stop it?"

"No...I told you before. It's too late."

"How do you know that?"

Aeris could feel his stare on her, expecting more of an answer. What right did he have to pull it from her? What did it matter to him? She was the one who was going to die. Barely keeping herself civil, she replied bluntly, "Because I just do."

"That's not good enough. How do you know?" He insisted, becoming a bit irritated with her. "Because if there is a way to change this...."

"Believe me, if there was, I would have found a way already. This path is unalterable. I know, because this isn't the first time I've seen that vision. It's been with me since I was young. I think this is something that has to happen, at least that's what the planet has lead me to believe."

"So the planet shows you one vision and you just accept it? That's utter bullshit."

She sighed as it became harder to keep her patience with him. Talking about this made her want to scream. Exasperated, she snapped, "Yes, I do...because she is the mother of all of us. Even you. Without her, we have no home...This planet is dying. Everyday I hear its screams, I feel its pain. I'm the only one who's noticed and the only one who cares, because of what I am. The planet's last shepherd."

"I don't understand...."

Aeris smiled sadly, "No one does. Humans have always been deaf to her. So I'm the only one she has to turn to."

"How does my killing you help the planet? If you're the last Cetra, I'd think the planet would want to bloody well keep you around."

"True. But..." She paused to collect her thoughts, "For thousands of years, the planet's been waiting for a miracle. Very soon the stars will align, and the time will finally be right. Once that time comes, the planet can be healed." ." Her emotions overwhelmed her, and she had to stop again. Taking a deep breath, Aeris faced reality. Telling the General as much of the truth as she could, "But for such a gift, there is always a price. The laws of the universe demand that if a life is given, another must be taken away, everything must balance. So a sacrifice must be made."

"How do I fit into it? Why me?"

"I don't know. The planet only shows me what it feels I need to know. It can't allow me to know too much of my own future. It's against the laws of nature."

"So that's it then. I'm damned for all eternity for reasons I'll never understand." he snorted, "Forever on a need to know basis. Fucking great."

Sephiroth gazed at Aeris, a bitter smile on his young face. She returned the smile, and without warning, she lifted her hand up and placed it gently on his cheek. She couldn't give him understanding; at least she could give him purpose. He felt a warmth flowing from her fingers, as she awakened a part of him that had slept for ages. Beating back the walls of black sickness temporarily, connecting him with a power he'd never even known existed but suddenly he could feel it. A warm chorus of voices, that at first sounded angelically blissful but gradually the song became a mourning wail. The planet aching and moaning, as its energy was being drained, bleeding from a hundred different wounds all over the world. At each wound, a reactor sat above it. The planet needed to heal itself and it had called upon its last shepherd for help. From this buzzing in the back of his mind he understood what her role was to be, as what his role was. Why fate had place them at this crossroads, because of what had to be. A single tear slid down his cheek, and he looked down at Aeris with complete understanding.

This is the work we have to do. Our purpose, our reason for being here. She whispered to him through their tenuous mental link, before letting her hand slip back into her lap.

Looking deeply into her eyes, with silent communication they knew the next time they'd met, things would be different. The next time he saw her, he probably wouldn't even remember who she was. The sleeping madness in his brain would empty him of his humanity, and his memory that he'd been anything other than a monster. She would be forced to face this thing, and give her life to save the planet. One would be sainted, the other damned for all eternity. History painting a pair of black and white caricatures of who they were, leaving the plain fact that at the core, both Sephiroth and Aeris were human. Fate was cruel indeed. That it'd let them know this, and still force them to face what lay in their future.

He watched her face, aware of the frightful choice she had to make. He was lucky. There was no choice he had to make. His malady had been put upon him, a curse he was born to bear. He'd go insane, no matter what happened. She had to make a conscious choice to stop him, and soldier up the bravery to face her own mortality. He'd never been able to say that he loved another person. The women he'd been with were boring fan girls, who he'd bedded to sate his urges. This girl, she was special. If things had been different, perhaps she could have made him happy. If they were normal humans. The strange effect of being around her, made him feel alive. Brave fearless girl, I owe you more than you know. Thank you for letting me feel like I was real.

With great gentleness, he titled her head up so that he could see her face one last time before he forgot its symmetry. She was lost in thought and the suddenness of his touch startled her. She jumped a little, her cheeks turning scarlet as his attention. His hand left her chin, he trailed upwards, burying it her thick mane. He pulled her closer. Her mind was reluctant, but her body willing. Allowing him to close the gap between them, following her body's desire. Aeris bit her lip, looking up at Sephiroth uncertainly. He smiled boyishly, stroking her hair, wordlessly telling her it was alright to give into the moment. Their eyes meet, and they both moved in closer. His lips gently touching hers in a soft farewell kiss.

Pulling away, he whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry."

A simple apology for the terrible choice she had to make and what hell he'd put her through to get there. Aeris stared at him in astonishment and was unable to move from sheer shock. It was her first kiss. He smiled and stood up, exiting the church without so much as a look back. His darkened form fading into shattered moonlight.

Author's Note-- IT LIVES! IT LIIIIIIIIIIIVES! Sorry so long in updating. I've been battling a rather squishy and irritable monster called writer's block. This chapter isn't much. Quite short but I came to me and I give it to you. Do hope you enjoy. Yes, some of the crap in here probably isn't canon but then those who read my stuff know I'm not a canon whore. And yes, despite my initial reluctance, this has become a semi-AeriSeph. I've discussed my doubt about this particular pairing before, or maybe I haven't. Either way, I don't generally approve, yet something compelled me to write this. I think there's at least a little something there, but whatever it is...it should never end well. Theirs is a love that was not meant to be. I've already written the end of this, well, okay at least most of it. Thought don't worry, we have a while before that happens. I might even decide to visit some other familiar faces from FF7. winks Of course, I'm not going to tell you who, because I'm evil and I want you to be surprised. Hopefully my writer's block is broken and I'll be able to write more soon.

Much love and thanks to all of you-- Noa. -

PS--I retooled this a little, just in case you read it earlier.