OF A PURE HEART, A FALLEN KNIGHT AND THE ONE – WINGED ANGELS

--------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: ---------------------------------------------------------------------

To the Reader and the Lawyers:

Final Fantasy VII, and all the characters, including Aeris and Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Red, Cid, Cait Sith (Reeve), Ifalna, Professor Gast, Lucrecia, Professor Hojo Frankenstein, Jenova the Mad, Rufus (any anyone I may have inadvertently missed out) are property of Square Enix Co, formerly Squaresoft LLC. Tell me if my disclaimer ain't good enough. I will reward you with a few thousand Chibi - Aeriths dosed to the nines with Hypers, and they shall hug you and squeeze you and kiss you and have a lot of fun with you (you know how… challenging Chibi - Aeriths are from the humour fanfics here).

To other Fanfic Writers (This is more important!) Plagiarism Note:

There are a lot of Aeriseph fanfics around here. I've tried my best to stay as original as possible, but it's a bit hard to write this type of story without treading on someone's toes by accident along the line. Please, if you feel that I may have 'borrowed' some of your concepts or ideas by mistake, notify me immediately. Email a "cease and desist" message to me, point out where I have gone wrong, and I will act immediately to remove or modify the offending section(s).

Thank you very, very much for your understanding and tolerance.

OK, enough of this &@!$^*% already, why don't you read the story!

--------------------------------------- End of Disclaimer: ---------------------------------------

VOULEZ – VOUS?

WARNING: This chapter has been voluntarily rated PG - 13 for a violent scene that may prove disturbing.

How long had he been here? Seconds? Minutes? Days? Months? Years? Decades? Centuries? Millennia? Eons? All he knew now was this lightless, airless, feelingless, soundless, tasteless void. There was not a soul out there for him to vent his anger on, no one to hear his angry cries.

Not only was he suffering from the lack of sensation, which made his punishment seem so unreal, so nightmarish, he was lacking human contact, and this alone made his solitary confinement even more terrible and more maddening.

Now that he was left to himself, the inner demons fed upon his soul, plaguing him with the horrible memories of his mistakes.

He saw himself at Nibelheim again, putting the human town to the torch, laughing himself to tears as he saw those worthless insects writhe in pain as the flames consumed them. Those who did not perish in the conflagration died upon his blade. Every man he had slain he had given as a sacrifice to Jenova.

Papa...? Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he? Sephiroth... SOLDIER... Mako Reactors... Shinra... Everything! I hate them all!

Sephiroth... my family! My hometown! How could you do this to them?

What about MY sadness? My family… my friends... the sadness of having my hometown taken away from me?

Now that he knew better, now that he knew that he had served the pretender instead, all of the people he had slain had come back with a vengeance, tearing his mind apart. He had killed a town full of innocent civilians, people who had done him no wrong except to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had made two powerful enemies on that night just because of his misguided beliefs, the man and the woman who had played a part in his destruction. He had started out on the path of sin, and from there, he had killed, killed and killed, killing what he thought were the infidels who had betrayed the Ancients. He had indulged in wanton and gratuitous destruction, believing it as revenge for the destruction of his race. He had ruined his own life, besmirched his precious soul… all for the sake of that temptress, that false Cetra!

He was now in the Forgotten Capital at nightfall, controlling the clone, the successful experiment marked with the number '1' on his hand. The girl was kneeling on the dais, the exact spot which he had decided would become the sacrificial altar, his best and finest offering to his 'mother'. For her 'sins', the girl would perish on the blade of her lover, that failed experiment, yet so successful as a puppet. But Strife was stronger than he had thought, and the fool had broken free of his control for a moment. The failed SOLDIER was looking so intently at the girl, obviously besotted with affection. He found it amusing and very fitting that he would prove to that wannabe challenger how powerless he actually was. He plunged down slowly, gracefully from the niche he'd been concealed in, giving Strife time to see that his pretty princess was about to die, and he could do nothing about it. The girl succumbed all too easily to the blade, and never had he laughed so hard when he kicked her corpse off the Masamune, when he heard the anguished cries of the foolish young man.

Aeris… this can't be real!

Aeris is gone. Aeris will no longer laugh, cry... or get angry."

What about my pain? My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!

What about us… what are WE supposed to do?

By that one act of senseless cruelty, he had committed yet another mortal sin. He had killed the last true Cetra with his thoughtless actions. The Cetra were the guardians of the Planet, peaceful people who wanted only to let this world flourish, the ones who had saved all existence from his 'mother', and he had caused the light they had carried throughout the ages to die out. The Planet would be so much poorer without the presence of the Ancients. Before he had killed the girl, he had seen her crystal hair ornament come to life, glowing a faint green. Had he known that she was the chosen one who held the power of the Planet, he could have reversed his blade in mid – stroke, and he would have averted this foul murder. But no, his love for his 'mother' had made him go on, made him wade deeper and deeper into the mire of sin and into damnation. And again he had ruined the life of the poor young man, tearing away his lover, turning him into a monster full of fear and anger and hatred, bent on nothing save revenge… the perfect puppet… like himself…

Are you trying to tell me that you have feelings too?

Stop acting as if you were sad. There's no need to act as if you were angry, either. Because you are…

You are just a puppet. You have no heart. You cannot feel any pain.

A puppet made up of vibrant Jenova cells, her knowledge, and the power of the Mako. That is your reality.

Yes. He was a puppet. He was no more than a soulless golem controlled by Jenova the same way he had controlled all his clones and the one called Strife. Like Strife, he had been weak – minded, and Jenova had simply pushed him over the edge, controlling all of his actions, forcing him to deny himself, suppress his true feelings and destroy everything he had ever held dear. This was his sin. How terribly ironic. How very stupid… so damned stupid indeed.

He sighed. He would have to live forever with those memories, tortured for all eternity by the guilt of the many injustices he had perpetrated. This was his punishment, and even in his most depraved and sadistic state of mind, he could think of no other chastisement worthy enough for one of his ilk. He hoped that he would go mad eventually and forget about everything he'd done, but that was impossible. Those memories would come up to the fore again and again, and the regrets and wishful thinking would not be able to redeem him. There was nothing else that he could do now that he was in the abyss. Absolutely nothing.

"Sephiroth?"

He jerked his head around, looking here, there and everywhere, but there was no sign of the person who had spoken.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he barked. Perhaps the Planet, on a perverted whim, had sent a monster to keep him company, killing him with sour nothings for the rest of his existence here.

"Sephiroth." The voice was firm and calm, but irresistibly sweet and haunting.

"Show yourself! Don't hide from me!" How could he fight a tormentor he could not see?

"I am Lucrecia. Do not be worried. I am here… to rescue you."

"Rescue me… how? Why are you doing this? Why?"

There was a pause, and when the invisible speaker continued, her voice was slow, sad and choking. "Because I am… your mother."

"What…? My… mother?"

"How?"

"Why?"

"Really?"

"Prove it! I don't believe you!"

He was now in the dim, sterile tiled enclosure of an operating theatre. Two surgeons were standing over a figure sprawled on the table, performing a Caesarian section. He knew the two doctors well despite their masks and gowns; one was a man with a kindly face, lined with concern for the woman whose child he was helping to deliver. The other man's eyes were slightly unfocused, his pupils dilated, and he knew that if he could strip away the surgical mask hiding his face, he would see his features contorted into a smirk of triumph.

"We're almost done, Lucrecia. Just a moment more," Gast clasped the woman's hand tightly, not caring if he was breaching the aseptic techniques he'd been taught as a first – year medical student.

The placenta was cut at last, and the two doctors lifted the baby boy up and out of what was left of his inner sanctum, the once sacrosanct place of refuge that had been so cruelly violated by those needles that had held the green glowing fluid.

The boy wailed suddenly, and he would not be crying for the last time either. He was born on a Wednesday, and his life would be filled with woe. Hojo could not help but laugh out loud, a noise that bore no mirth or warmth at all. Gast glared at the scientist and took the baby from his hands, showing him to the exhausted woman whose labours were at last over.

"So, Lucrecia… what name will you give this beautiful baby boy?"

"Safer Sephiroth," she replied immediately with a smile.

"So… you are my real mother?"

"Yes… I am. That is why I am here to release you from this prison. You have suffered so much, and in vain. The Planet has given you a second chance. Come with me, quickly."

A shimmering vortex appeared above him, a brilliant white light nestled at the very end of this astral gateway. Wasn't it the same path through which that Cetra girl had disappeared, leaving him alone in the blackness? He didn't deserve to go to the Promised Land, but why was he being asked to enter it now? He didn't know what was happening now, he didn't know what was right or wrong any more, but anything else was far preferable to being stuck forever in this unceasing limbo. He willed himself upwards as quickly as possible, relieved to leave the Lifestream behind for good.

Sephiroth found himself in a fragrant field of flowers. His beleaguered senses rejoiced at once, embracing this new environment like a long – lost friend, taking in the fresh, warm air of this Elysian Field, reveling in the music of the wind, taking comfort in the fact that he was actually standing on firm ground. He was alone in this strange garden… with a wispy, mousy – looking woman with goofy glasses and a lab coat, staring at him with undisguised and unbridled longing. She launched herself immediately at him, hugging him with all her strength, feeling his white hair, caressing his face gently, planting kisses everywhere. He did not know what to do about her. He thought that she had wasn't in her right mind, but he didn't want to offend his benefactress, not especially after she'd delivered him from his eternal prison. He still couldn't believe that this was happening, that someone had actually bothered about him, someone had actually saved him…

"You are… my mother."

Lucrecia sobbed, unable to reply. She pulled off her glasses, wiping her eyes on her son's strong and broad shoulder, clasping him even more tightly, afraid that he would disappear again into oblivion if she were to let go of him.

"Sephiroth… my son, if only I had been there for you… none of this would have happened… forgive me…"

"I don't even know what's going on. I did not live until today. Someone tell me who I am!" All his life he had been given lies and false hopes to cling onto, and he was still unsure that this woman who was professing her maternal love for him would abandon him the very next moment.

Lucrecia sniffed. Where could she begin? How would she be able to tell him the truth about his life, the details of which could become an acclaimed tragedy to be taught to future generations of literature students? But still, for his sake, she had to try. He needed to know about his past.

"Sephiroth… Professor Gast and Hojo found Jenova buried under the earth… they thought she was a Cetra. They wanted to see what would happen to a person infused with her genes, whether he would become a Cetra too.

"You were this person, Sephiroth. At that time Hojo wanted me to have a child, and it was later that I learned that he had wanted a baby for his trials, that he wanted to inject the Jenova cells into you. Every day until you came into the world you received a Jenova infusion, even though I knew this was wrong, even though I wanted to run and hide from it all… I wasn't brave enough to do it.

"When you were born at last, I was so overjoyed that you were safe and healthy. But Hojo took you away from me, and I wasn't able to take care of you after that. I could only watch from afar as they poisoned and corrupted your mind. I could only cry when I saw Jenova controlling you, making you go mad…

"Sephiroth, I want you to know this: Jenova is not your mother. She is not a Cetra either. You are not a monster, you are a human being, my flesh and blood. She has been using you all along to carry out her selfish plans. Don't blame yourself. It is not your fault that you became an evil man. I am to blame for this. That is my sin. Forgive me, Sephiroth… you should be angry with me. You have every right to be so. But no matter what you think of me, I am beside myself with joy to see you one more time."

The black – cloaked man sat on the grassy ground, staring at those lovely flowers, fighting back tears as all his worst fears were confirmed by Lucrecia's account. So he had really been a puppet after all. He had been merely one more of Hojo's horrible experiments. That false Tarquin had slept with Lucrecia, raped her simply to get another test subject for one of his pet projects. Never had he ever felt so completely devastated, so terribly demoralised, so utterly without hope. He was like a drowning man trapped in a lake, swirling in the whirlpool, unable to even control his slightest movements.

Could this be another clever charade by a creature such as Jenova to snare him? But he was useless to anyone now. He was nothing now but a piece of meat like that dead Cetra girl that lay decomposing in the lake, a weak – willed body without a mind to go with it. Who would want to save him? That woman was speaking to him so slowly, so patiently, so pleasantly. Jenova was an alien lifeform, and would never show such tenderness to him. Lucrecia was a human being, and he felt fortunate that she was able to express such deep feelings, such strong love for him. His own instincts had never proved wrong, and he knew in his aching heart that every word of what she had been saying was true, that she was indeed his long – lost mother. And even if she wasn't… he didn't care now. She was offering her love to him, and she wasn't asking for anything in return… not like Jenova… just like the gentlewoman… She was his mother.

"I am sorry… Mother… there was nothing you could have possibly done… I was not strong enough to survive."

Lucrecia felt encouraged by those words, pleased that her son had taken her words so calmly, so without prejudice. She decided to continue.

"The Planet spoke to me, Sephiroth. She said that you had been unfairly treated all your life, and that you were deserving of a second chance. You will be sent back into the world, and there you can atone for your sins."

He had been given a second chance at life, though he could think of any number of other people who were more deserving of it. But what could he do? Repent? Do good? Redeem himself? All of this sounded so promising, but it was easier said than done. He did not know himself, and because of this he was a dangerous man. He had flipped out so easily, so completely, and if another crisis were to come by to test his most basic beliefs, tearing away the thin toothpicks that supported his life, who knows what would happen to him, or worse still, what would happen to those around him?

"What… return to the mortal world…? This is too good to be true, Mother, but I am so very afraid that I will fall back into my old ways again. I am so very weak – minded, and I fear that I will only expose myself to sin again if I were to return. I do not want to let you down."

She smiled kindly. "You do not need to worry, my dearest son, for you will not be alone. The Planet has decided to send one to protect you and console you on this journey. She will be your guardian angel."

And from behind approached a one – winged angel. It was the girl in the pink dress and red jacket, the girl with the long brown braided hair, the girl who wore the cupid's bow, the girl with the huge green eyes, the very same girl whom he had murdered on that fateful night in the Forgotten Capital.

"… Gainsborough!" He spat the name like a curse.

Whatever lucidity or calmness that his mother's presence had gifted him vanished instantly, exposing his anger again. The buffers that had kept him sane were only as thin as that of a bubble, and would burst with the slightest provocation.

He spun around to face his mother, jabbing an accusing finger at the young Cetra, his face reddening as the veins expanded, his pupils narrowing to slits, his thick brows meeting each other in a fierce wedge of defiance.

"You cannot be serious, Mother! You cannot ask that… monster to accompany me! She hates me! She is my worst enemy! She destroyed my life! She wants to avenge her death!"

It seemed that the Planet had thought of an even more fitting punishment for him now. He would be forced to be reborn, and that creature called Gainsborough would become his ball and chain, free to enact her airheaded brand of revenge on him. No doubt that petty little thing must be giggling to herself, savouring every minute of this ironic reversal of roles. Who was the master now? Who would be the puppet now?

Lucrecia shook her head, and her voice remained firm and gentle. "No, my child.

You do not know it, but she was the one who saved you from a far worse fate. If not for her efforts, the Planet would have been destroyed, and there would truly be no hope for you now. She bears no hatred towards you, my dear. She has chosen freely… to help you."

"You don't understand, Mother! She is a liar! She is an insane woman! She's agreed to help you only because she wants a chance to make me suffer once you're no longer around to protect me! She'll join up with Strife and Lockheart and the others to make my life a living hell! Please, Mother! Not her! Anyone but her!"

"Be calm, and listen to me, Sephiroth. Aeris has selflessly agreed to aid you on this quest. She is putting everything aside to return with you. Please, go with her. She is a sweet and gentle girl. She is your only hope for redemption."

His anger washed over anew as his fate was so cruelly pronounced. He had fallen from the frying pan into the fire. Now he was being told that he could only be redeemed if he obeyed the instructions of that half – pint waif, that ditzy, disingenuous freak with the outsized doll – like eyes? After what he had done to her? After he'd ruined her love and her life with relish? It wasn't possible! No one would be so gracious as to take those insults lying down! That Cetra would definitely torture him! He didn't want to suffer that kind of embarrassment again! After a lifetime of being made to act as a marionette with no will or whim, he didn't want to be controlled by someone else!

"No! I can't believe this! I will not be her slave! I will not serve one such as her! No! I will never agree to this! I will never do this again! Never again! No!"

His fragile, wounded soul could not take the pressure any more. For almost all of his childhood and his adult life he had been bullied and tortured instead of being nurtured, thrown brickbats and put down when he had needed praise and encouragement. All purpose in his life had been stripped away, all his beliefs fallen apart when he learned the truth about Jenova. He had been shamed beyond all imagining when those upstarts had challenged him and won, when that wimp had defeated him with powers he could not possibly match. And now he would be forced to surrender every last shred of dignity he possessed, and follow his most feared enemy, who would show him no mercy! All his negative energies, built up for thirty long years, pushed beyond bursting point by the final blows of recent events, screamed out for release, and he vented his rage on the first available person he could blame for his own sad fate.

He pounced upon the flower girl, teeth bared, his nails digging into her creamy skin. He let out an ululating, guttural animal cry as he punched and kicked and bit and scratched the young maiden with all his pent – up strength. He had commanded Strife to attack her once, wanting him to feel humiliation at its worst, wanting him to know that he was his slave, unable to protect the Black Materia, unable even to protect his dear Gainsborough. Like a predator that had tasted blood, he was not content with torturing his enemy just one time, and he had seen to it that Strife was lowered to the status of a cowering animal when he'd killed the girl at the water altar. And now, he was the animal, but he wouldn't surrender without a fight! Strife had done his job well; when he had finished abusing his girlfriend, he had left her with a broken nose, some missing teeth and a fractured rib. But he would certainly do better than that failed clone of himself. He would maul her, rip her limb from limb, run roughshod over her! He would teach her a hard lesson in the ways of humility, what it meant to be humiliated and brutalised! He would make her feel his pain, his suffering!

"Sephiroth, stop this! She has done you no wrong!" Lucrecia yelled, and he found his mother's hands on his shoulders, trying to pull him away, trying to keep him from fighting his adversary.

"Mother, please do not interfere with this," he snapped coldly, "I will have my revenge on Gainsborough today. If you choose to come between me, I will have no choice but to take you on!"

But Lucrecia still tried to restrain him, and his anger mounted. With a sudden burst of strength, he shook off his mother's gentle grip, throwing her several feet behind him, leaving her sprawling on the grass.

He yanked those silly – looking bangs, dragging her forward, hoping to pull the lustrous hair she did not deserve to have from the roots. Those cheeks were so fair and rosy, concealing the monster that lay within. He slapped her, and he slapped her again and again, wanting to wipe that childish grin off her face forever, wanting to kill that imp that was trying to control him. Those round, pale green eyes of hers resembled the glow of the White Materia, the cowardly weapon that had destroyed his dreams. He didn't want to see any more of it! He stabbed both his hands at those eyes, hoping to dig them out, hoping that he wouldn't see the memories of his defeat shining in them anymore!

But despite all the punishments he could visit upon her, she was still whole. She bore neither bruises nor cuts, and her beauty was not marred at all, not a hair out of place. She had accepted his beating without comment or protest, and she had made no move to resist. She had not as much as raised up a hand to ward off his attacks. She had taken it… like a man. If she had been someone else, she would have earned his grudging respect by now, but she was his enemy! If he could not defeat her, he would at least drag her to the ground with him! She would know shame!

"… Are you feeling better now?" she asked at last in her sickening soprano voice. Worse still, those eyes were still intact, and they were looking at him with nothing but pity… the kind of sympathy one feels towards a diseased and dying puppy on the streets…

The Ancient merely bowed her head, hands clasped in front of her, getting ready for the next round of blows. It seemed that she had not learned her lesson yet. If she wanted him to continue to punish her, he would gladly oblige!

He drew back his fist, gathering all his strength behind it for a knockout blow that would send that stupid Cetra kid flying to the other end of eternity. But another smooth and gentle hand rested on his shoulder. Was it his mother again? He did not want to refuse her request, but he did not want to go with Gainsborough either!

"Please do not hurt her, Sephy."

He had allowed only two people on this world to address him with this diminutive.

"Auntie Ifalna?" he asked incredulously, and he found himself staring into his foster mother's beautiful face, warm with compassion, her deep emerald eyes, glowing with love, her long chestnut hair, bouncy with life. She had been his guardian for only a short while, but those eight years he had spent with Professor Gast and his wife had been the happiest in his life…

"Sephy… how I hate to see you like this… Why are you still so lonely, so fearful? Ever since we parted, you have suffered so much, but now, you have a chance to ease your sadness, if you will only allow yourself to take that step forward. Listen to your mother, Sephy. You cannot live alone, and you will certainly need a companion to help you survive. You do not need to worry about Aeris, as she has forgiven you already. Accept her help, for she is sincere, and cares about you too!"

"Auntie… why are you siding her too? Don't you see? She's obviously putting on an act! She's not really forgiven me, she's just waiting for her chance to make me pay for what I've done to her! I don't want to be controlled by anyone again, least of all her!"

He prepared to redouble his attacks on the girl, but Ifalna was faster than him.

"Tell me, Sephy, is this the way you would treat your little sister? The friend you always wanted so badly, to play with you and keep you company?"

He straightened, his fist unclenching unconsciously, his hand falling limply to his side, his anger momentarily forgotten.

"What…? She is your… daughter?"

"Yes… Aeris is the sister you never had a chance to meet. And for that… I apologise."

Ifalna stepped forward, standing beside her daughter. Sephiroth was horrified at the resemblance. They looked… exactly alike, but in a way… they seemed so different somehow. His stepmother's face was flawless, her beauty restored in the Promised Land, but her features were always firm and composed, perpetually wise and serious. Her brows were furrowed with a lifetime of worrying about others, and her eyes were deep, dark and understanding, having known happiness and sorrow, love and loss. Aeris, however, appeared the exact opposite of her mother. Her cheeks were soft and glowing, and the corners of her small lips seemed to curve upwards a little, used to a lifetime of smiles and happiness. Her eyes, those very same eyes that he had tried to gouge out a moment ago, were bright and sparkling with vivacity, like bubbly champagne. Aeris had suffered much too, but she was still very young, and even death had done little to dampen her free – spirited nature.

He sank to the ground again, his anger spent at last, dissipating slowly in the manner of a deflating balloon, the guilty feelings threatening to make him depressed again. He was no better than those horrible boys who had bullied him during his youth. Now… he had bullied his little sister, losing forever the friendship of the very person he had secretly promised to protect, to make sure she didn't suffer the same hardships he'd been forced to endure. If that was not enough, he had even killed her. So this was the way the fates had made sport of him. It was bad enough that he'd screwed himself up completely, but worse still that he had destroyed everything that meant so much to those who had mattered to him, those whom he had considered his friends, his relatives, his comrades. His life had passed him by, filled with grim humour and sickening parodies. He could not deny the truth any longer, and the walls came tumbling down at last. He buried his head in his hands, not wanting anyone to see him in this moment of weakness, not wanting them to see the tears that were making their way free from his broken heart, the grief fighting its way out of his tattered soul.

Lucrecia did not speak, but she wrapped her arms around him, weeping with him, sharing this moment of sorrow and regret with him. That small gesture was so important, so valuable to Sephiroth now, and he turned and clung onto his mother, letting his feelings go, letting the tears wash away everything.

They sat there like that for many moments, crying softly until their grief was completely expended, until they could shed no more tears. And when they got up at last, the two Cetra came forward. Ifalna was smiling, glad that Sephiroth was finally able to have a shoulder to cry on, someone to help him tide over this torrid time. The flower girl's eyes were glazed and misty. Sephiroth was not a monster. He was no murderer. He was no villain either. He was just another human being like any of them. Sephiroth was capable of feelings, and now she knew for certain that he was not beyond redemption. She had to help him, but…

Ifalna looked straight into his now calm eyes, green with life and humanity, glowing with Mako and Jenova cells. He had been exposed to the best and worst of both worlds, and for better or worse, he would learn how to live with it. There was no more anger in those eyes now. There was no more sadness in them now. Now that he could think for himself, it was time for him to decide who he was.

"Sephy… a second chance is waiting for you, begging you to seize it. The world is waiting for you. My daughter is ready to journey with you. The question, Sephy, is… do you want to?"

Sephiroth looked long and hard at Ifalna. She was the gentlewoman who had looked after him when he was young. She was ever a voice of reason to soothe the savage beast within him. He would have to make her proud. His gaze turned to Lucrecia, the woman who had given him life. Even though he did not know her at all, she had never given up on loving him, and her motherly love had delivered his soul from Hades. He had to live on for her sake. He stared at the young Cetra. If not for an unfortunate turn of events, they might have been living happily together as brother and sister. He was still pretty certain that she could not forgive everything that had happened in the past, and it would be difficult to trust her, let alone accept her, but he had to try, for he wanted to make his mother and his guardian happy.

Finally, he lowered his head and looked inward. His life had been comprised of nothing save one disaster after another, punctuated with missed opportunities and sorrowful episodes. But now, he knew himself better, and he would never commit the same mistakes again. And this time, he knew that someone would be out there to love him. It would be a shame if he were to leave his life hanging like that, letting it be known forever as a tragedy… It was time to be the master of his own scene. It was time to rewrite his own story.

He owed himself another chance.

"I do," he finally replied.

A/N: Poor poor Sephy. Like I have said earlier on, I will torment him until he understands my pain, my sadness at the flower girl's death, and finally decides to make it up with her=). He is a bit mad, at any rate, experiencing some wild mood swings, being erratic and unreasonable at times, don't forget that he was unfortunate enough to have a crazed psychotic for a dad, and a demented author with a grudge against him to give him a personality =). Tell me what you think of him, at any rate.

Don't choke on your lunch over the eye - gouging scene. It happens often enough in football matches (and sometimes soccer games), but it may be a bit gross to some people. My apologies if it's the prime example of grossness.

Anyway, "Voulez - vous" in French means "Do you want to?" Another successful theft of an ABBA song title!

To my Reviewers: Keep 'em coming!!!

To Starling94 and CrowT R0bot: Thanks for being my faithful readers! I'll try my best to keep my standards high and update as regularly as I can. Kyahahaha!

To Starfall4790: Now, is this fic cooler? Give me your comments!

To Dclick: FF7 is one of the most complex games I've ever known… and the darkest and saddest game I've ever played… a true Squaresoft masterpiece. There are so many open - ended questions that are never resolved, such as what the Promised Land is. Some say it's like a paradise or heaven exclusive to the Ancients, while in the Gold Saucer, Aeris tells Cloud that you have to search for it till you've got there, implying that it can be found when you're still alive. And of course (sorry if I've mentioned it before), there's the final FMV with Aeris in the Lifestream, which implies that the Lifestream's the Promised Land itself. And of course, what happens after that famous scene when Cloud reaches for Aeris, and realises that there is a way to find her? Will Cloud take this lying down and marry Tifa, or will he find a way to resurrect her, or will he wait until he is old and grey and join her in death, or will he just take the short and easy path by falling on his sword? But then, he is not a Cetra, and how can he enter the Promised Land then? I wish I could corner Tetsuya Nomura and get some answers out of him. He's a genius, but if only he could have provided more closure to the game…

For me, I prefer humour and romance fics, if you want to see another story (actually, the first trendsetter) of Aeris as Sephy's guardian, check out "The Good Deeds of Sephiroth" by Yokai Hansha. It is especially good if you are not particularly averse to Cloud - bashing.

Thanks again for the reviews!