Summary: The Presidents and Vice President discuss a certain Disaster SOLDIER, and Ariana is visited by two friendly, familiar ghosts.


President's Office

"One of these days, Ariana will really kill you," Rufus pointed out when the door closed behind Ariana.

"No she won't," Lazard said matter-of-factly, "Considering I'm in the Top 5 of people she respects, I'm pretty sure I'm safe. The Disaster SOLDIER always covets her own, that hasn't changed for the last seventeen years."

This statement seemed to be the last straw for the other Rufus, after seeing and hearing death threats casually thrown around without blinking an eye.

"You let your SOLDIERs speak to you like that?" he asked, watching his younger counterpart meet his eyes without hesitation.

"And risk the alternative?" Rufus raised an eyebrow, "That woman, while she claims to have been the one to destroy the Calamity, is our Calamity. Not just the Calamity's Grandchild, no, but the one who holds its power."

Shinra's one good eye widened, "Then, that means…"

"Ariana Crescent stole JENOVA's power when she and her brother killed the main body seventeen years ago. However, she had also transferred roughly 48% of the Calamity's power to her brother as well, which makes them both the Calamity. I allow her to speak out of turn because it is only through her love of mankind she does not destroy Gaia," Rufus leveled his gaze at Shinra. "As it stands, she is already an unusual case. She could've easily waited for an opportunity to cripple Shinra in the mid 90's from the inside but had decided to take immediate action. I've known her for over fifteen years, and I'm not embarrassed to say that the Disaster Twins got my head out of my own self-importance as Shinra's legitimate heir."

"She and I both know that the only reason she sticks around is due to her twin's attachment to me. The Crescents are unique where they covet those they call their Love at First Sight. Additionally, like it or not, Ariana is one of, if not the most influential forces on this planet. She can converse with Gaia, even if not to the extent of Mrs. Gainsborough, and my world's Sephiroth and Cloud Strife, Genesis, Angeal, and Zack value her opinions greatly."

"Even if we kicked them out, those two can teleport to anywhere on the planet," Lazard snidely threw in, "The Disaster SOLDIER is well known for her plans, let it be brutally murdering an army, or buying groceries. I don't like it, but she's Shinra's best strategist for a reason. Not to mention, all of the children of Sephiroth have some form of insanity."

"Ariana's insanity expresses itself rather blatantly. Regardless, she is harmless to Shinra's higher command, particularly because she had a hand in picking the current Executive Board to fill any…unfortunate vacancies. And as I mentioned, she has a published list of people she respects. There's a post in the Turk's main office." Rufus flipped his coin with a clink of his nail, catching it in hand.

Yeah, she totally had a hand in killing them.

"Not only that, all the Second and Third Class SOLDIERs are either terrified or infatuated with her. Or both. A mass desertion is hardly a desirable outcome." The blonde sighed.

"Getting on her bad side isn't ideal if you want to avoid any of her pranks. I can see ungodly amounts of glitter in my future," Lazard groaned, his head tilting back, "Even though she won't kill me, that woman is petty as hell."

"Brother, remind me when was the last time the Disaster Twins took a break? A substantial vacation, not just a few days of medical leave," Rufus asked, turning to glance at Lazard.

"Before those two got their brains scrambled by the Lifestream? Since medical leave doesn't count, four years ago."

"Neither twin will bother any of us if they're in Costa del Sol."

"The Disaster SOLDIER would hate that. Staying in one place is never her thing. If you're thinking what I'm thinking, go ahead. It was almost concerning how easy it was to rile her up earlier. She usually doesn't dish out the death threats that quickly."

"One of these days, she's going to leave a behemoth head in your bedroom."

"I resign myself to that fate."

"Both of you are crazy," the older Rufus looked between the two.

"Ariana Crescent has been a valuable asset to Shinra for the last nine years, whenever the Turks have been running about dealing with our father's old mistakes, or making sure Shinra's plans and operations are running correctly," Rufus' lips curls into a sneer, reflexively flipping his coin again, "I can assure you that Commander Crescent is a trustworthy, upstanding employee of Shinra. She's insane, but harmless to you and me. Calamity or not, an adult or not, she is still a child who wishes for a family. Luckily, it includes you as well. Only the Planet knows how your Cloud Strife would've fared after attacking her Uncle. That is all I can offer you."

"Face it, that SOLDIER is someone you can't get rid of once she thinks you're interesting," Lazard covered his eyes with a hand, "Anyone caught in her orbit tends to stay there."


The Twin's Apartment

Ariana reappeared in their shared apartment on the upper plate, sighing loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose. She threw herself at the sofa, landing on it with a soft 'oomph'.

The woman laid there for a few moments, before her uniform felt like it was restraining her breath. Unzipping her coat, she moved so she could shrug it off, peeling her gloves off her hands and tossing them to the side.

Her weapons materia were extracted out of her arm, settling them in their box. Tossing her boots off towards the door, Ariana settled cross legged on the sofa, her head bowed, and her bangs covering her eyes.

She let her wings manifest, the appendages wrapping around her like a cat's tail around her body. The feathers tickle her nose, and she pets them, soft ends sticking to her sweaty hands.

Using Fade made all of them white, but it would turn back into black after a few weeks. Even now, instead of pure white, there is a slight grey tinge to them.

Ariana let her breath even out, her eyes closing while her wing shifts so she's not laying on it.

The woman lost herself in her mind, reaching out to the Lifestream.


Ariana recognized the feeling of projecting into the limbo-like land again, this time appearing in a replica of Aerith's Church.

All around her, she could hear the chirping of birds in her ears before a familiar voice called out to her.

"Are you the one my counterpart calls Ariana?"

The woman turned to see a younger version of Aerith, and an even younger version of Zack.

"Aerith? Zack? Why…why are you here? You're not dead?" Ariana inclined her head, puzzled.

This Aerith laughed, doubling over slightly, while Zack flashed an amused grin.

The silver haired woman just blinked, waiting out Aerith's laughing fit, the shorter woman wheezing slightly.

"We're not your version of us, silly," Aerith seemed to recollect herself, a friendly smile on her face, "We're from…Alpha-1, I think you called our timeline?"

"I…see," Ariana faltered, her gaze shifting from one to the other, "Why are you talking to me?"

"Wow, you really do take after Angeal!" Zack interrupted, moving closer so they were barely a foot apart from each other, "The hair's all Sephiroth, though, but I can also see that Genesis is in there too."

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess," Ariana quoted, almost breathlessly.

"Huh, and you recite Loveless too!" the black haired man pointed out, a joyful smile on his face, "Man, it was also weird to see a way taller Cloud too. Pretty sick!"

"Yes, I've noticed that your Cloud is distressingly vertically challenged," Ariana commented dryly, "I'm guessing that it has something to do with Hojo?"

A grimace showed on both spirit's faces, telling her everything she needed to know.

"Four years in a mako tank," Zack says softly, the light in his eyes dimming a little, "When he was sixteen."

Ariana's eyes narrowed, a growl coming to her throat.

"Sixteen?" she breathed, "He was only SIXTEEN!? That sorry sack of shit, I wish I could kill Hojo again!"

"Heeeyy, whoa, no need to get that upset!" Zack looks panicked, looking over to the other woman, "Aerith, help me calm her down!"

"You walked into that one, Zack, I can't help you," the half-Cetra says in a flat tone.

Ariana recognized herself spiraling, taking a deep breath to forcefully calm herself down. It wouldn't do to let her insanity reflect negatively on their first impression.

"I'm…I'm okay," she said, finally, shaking her head to get nonexistent fluff out of her ears, "My apologies. I must be more tired than I thought."

"Hah, don't be sorry. I can tell you care about your version of Spikey very much," Zack smiles at her, seemingly happy that the woman cares so much.

"Even so," Ariana rubbed at her eyes, "This is a terrible first impression of me. I'm sorry, every time I think about what transpired in your world sends me into a rage."

"You even talk a little like Sephiroth. So formal," the man laughed lightly, "At least you don't call me Zachary."

"It took Father five years to call you Zack," Ariana says hollowly, "I suppose…with the history in your world…"

"That's old history, Ariana," Aerith looks sympathetic, watching the emotions flicker on the silver haired woman's face, "It doesn't matter. What's done is done."

Unbidden tears start forming at the corners of the SOLDIER's eyes, before they spill over, and she's rubbing at them, a futile attempt to clear her blurring vision.

In the Lifestream, it's impossible to lie or deceive, and these tears are truthful as the sky was blue.

"Uh oh, she's crying now, how do I make her stop!?" Zack is panicking once more, "It really is okay, though! Well, not for us, but for everyone else!"

Aerith raised a hand to her forehead, head shaking with exasperation.

"You're so young, Zack…" Ariana sighed, starting to sniffle, "It just makes me so sad that you're never getting older, not like my Zack."

"The Lifestream isn't so bad," Zack reaches out to pat the crying woman on the head and is surprised when Ariana goes in for a tight hug. "Oof!"

"I, I'll treat your Cloud right, so you don't have to worry about him," the woman sniffled into Zack's turtleneck, "I'll make sure the Sephiroth of your world won't hurt him, I swear it."

"Hey. Don't sweat it, if anything, you're doing a pretty good job already," Zack said lightly, feeling the woman attached to him squeeze tighter.

"The words you said before you cast Fade was true, Ariana," Aerith approached slowly, "The world had failed him."

"Uh, I love hugs and all, and I know I'm dead, but this is getting uncomfortable," Zack fidgeted stiffly, and almost automatically, Ariana let go.

"Your world is ridiculous," the woman was finally able to get her snot off her face, reddened green cat eyes looking over to the blue eyed man, "Your Cloud is short, there's two children looked after by AVALANCHE, Shinra fucking imploded, Father went off the rails insane, and your Rufus is older! I think that's the weirdest part, actually."

"Wait, hold on, that's what's weird for you?!" The man seemed caught off guard by the declaration.

"Well duh. It's bad enough my brother has a crush on our Rufus, but I'd put my foot down of he was five years older than Ari," Ariana answered, still dabbing at her eyes, before she was able to flash a watery smile, "I'd kick Rufus in the balls."

Zack blanched.

"What? I might've murdered people in the war, but my brother's an idiot when he can't tell that Rufus and Tseng want him to make a triad with them. Even if he is a pretentious brat that makes others think he's not petty," Ariana grumbled, "But enough about my brother's lack of love life, we were talking about god complex Sephiroth."

"Uh, right."

"Humanity had failed Sephiroth," Aerith prodded along the conversation, "He wasn't always a monster."

"Monsters aren't born, they're made," Ariana said knowingly, "Comparing the Sephiroth I know as my Father, and the other Sephiroth you knew as the Calamity's Silver Son, it is like day and night."

Zack sighed, his eyes slipping close, "Yeah, you can say that."

"Since my Gaia struck a deal with yours, I've been watching you all," Aerith told Ariana, "I think I can see where our histories had diverged, with many fixed points thrown into disarray. Not only that, the Whispers of Arbitration were defeated in our world, it made a ripple effect in all parts of the timeline, possibly creating this timestream."

And Aerith continued to tell Ariana how their timelines diverged, Zack throwing in a few tidbits that he knew.

"In our world, the attempt to use gene splicing in Project ANGEL had failed completely," the Cetra descendant finished, "Both you and your twin brother were not meant to be, but somehow, the experiment worked."

"Not that she's saying you were a mistake," Zack interrupted, before Ariana could get offended, "But…you guys threw off pretty much the whole timeline. The fixed points that were supposed to be there…they were broken, twisted, and torn away."

"I see," Ariana sighed, "But…our births made things better, right? Even though I am Gaia's human WEAPON, and the Calamity, I don't regret a thing."

Aerith nodded in understanding, "Please…Ariana Selah Crescent, help my world's Sephiroth learn what it's like to live again. The Lifestream has already rejected him thrice, there will be no fourth resurrection. The next time he dies attempting to become a god, he will be barred from joining the souls in the Lifestream and will wander the world as a ghost for the rest of time."

"I told him that he's under my protection," the silver haired woman said to them both, "I accepted him as part of my family."

"And that's the first step," Zack said, "So many people had hurt and used him. There was little wonder that he succumbed to JENOVA's will so easily. The Seph that went crazy isn't him."

"I'll take care of your world's people, Zack. Aerith," promised Ariana, "It's the least I can do. Just please…keep watching over us."

"You'll do great," Aerith put a hand on the taller woman's shoulder, "I know you'll do your best."

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return. To become the dew that quenches the land, to spare the sands, the seas, the skies, I offer thee this silent sacrifice."

The silver and red haired woman gave them a lopsided smile, and woke up.


Ariana opened her eyes, finding herself laying down on the sofa, wings still resting over her body. She let them disappear, her nose twitching to suppress a sneeze.

Raising a hand to her head, she took out her phone to check the time, and it turned out that it was only nearing 1600.

Projecting into the Lifestream muddled the passage of time, more often than not going faster than reality.

She got up, pushing aside her SOLDIER uniform, and took off her ever present stomach guard.

Darting into her bedroom, Ariana pulled out her casual clothes, swapping basically everything out.

Instead of her regulation overalls, she wore a pair of black jeans, and instead of a short sleeved turtleneck, had a powder blue t-shirt with a mahogany brown leather jacket half zipped up over her top.

The woman then put on a pair of wrist length gloves, tightening the strap that stopped them from sliding down.

She checked her PHS once again to affirm that no one has tried calling her while she was under her trance, just a text from her dad to see the next time they can visit a stage production of Loveless.

Through the years, Ariana quoted the play less and less since she could just talk to Genesis about the new prints and comment on the recurring productions that are acted on Loveless Avenue. In her heart, she was still fond of it, humming the musical numbers that popped up with every new interpretation, following along the storyline.

The woman rolled her shoulders, hearing her spine click after laying down for so long.

'Huh. I wonder what Ari's doing.'