This chapter is based heavily on the novel 'On The Way To A Smile'. In fact, some sentences were taken right out of it. But it's almost all my words otherwise. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine….mostly.

Chapter 9 An Enemy Awoken

He had spent so long fighting against the Lifestream, as it tried washing away all that he was. If he had let go he would have become a part of it. It was an unacceptable fate. He was meant to rule the planet. To allow himself to be consumed would be accepting defeat.

He had known that if he tried hard enough, he could keep himself separate from the Lifestream. But he needed a focus, something to keep him tethered to the real world. So he clung tightly to all of his important memories, allowing the unimportant ones to vanish into the spirit energy that circled the planet. Memories like his childhood and the ones he'd once called 'friends'. And then he remembered the most important person. Cloud. Cloud, who had twice sent him into the Lifestream. He was perfect. Sweet, weak, sensual, little Cloud. He, who had already become a part of him. And so he made Cloud the core of himself. And he wanted to let Cloud know that.

"I'm still thinking of you. And I'll show you the proof of that as well."

And then the Lifestream erupted onto the Planet. His core moved in a torrent with the Lifestream as it spread across the land, from city to city to flood the world as it saved it. Whenever its strands touched people he left them with his stigma. He knew that if Cloud noticed the stigma then he would never disappear.

"As long as Cloud remembers me, I can continue to exist. Within the Lifestream, and on the surface. Even if my spirit disseminates, even if its just one fragment of a memory courses around the planet, in the end I can count on Cloud's consciousness to bring me back."

And when life on the surface turned to normal, they had no idea of what was happening around them. A darkness had been born, and he cherished it. It was a darkness born of souls not unlike his, who rejected the planet with their hatred. And he had laughed, in his own way, because he realized this was a darkness he had made. Him, with his anger and his hate, and his pieces of Mother and the insane Hojo. Oh yes, Hojo's mind lived still. Only fragments of it of course, rather like a harmless parasite.

He could have spent all his time feeding and nurturing the darkness, corrupting the Lifestream until all light was extinguished. He traveled around the world, branding more and more people with his stigma. On the surface many no longer had their normal lives, and at his temptation the darker part of their hearts grew even darker.

"I want Cloud to know this is my doing. I want the humans to know this is my doing."

He needed a body. There were things he wanted to say in his own voice. Things he wanted to shatter by his own hand. He decided he could use a piece of Mother to do it. But the fragment that had remained with him was not enough. He needed more. And he knew he could not yet reproduce his body anyway, as he had surrendered the memory of his appearance along with many other inconsequential memories. And so he searched the planet for a solution. And he found it in three young men. They were fragments of his, in some ways. He used Mother's gift to him and spurred them to act. He connected a part of himself directly to the youngest one. When they found Mother the chosen one would take her into himself and he would be reborn.

"As my servants search for Mother, if they ever come across someone who knew me, then from that spirit I can learn of who I once was. And with Mother's further assistance I can become fully real. Even if there's something lacking, it doesn't matter. Cloud will make me complete."

And it worked. He smiled coldly down at Cloud and their blades clashed just as they had before.

"Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away."

He was winning; everything was going the way it was meant to. And then it wasn't. He raged in his heart as he was once more forced to circle the planet. The part of Mother in him was gone, burned away by the light. All that was left was the madness and the darkness her presence had forever burned into his soul. He was weak, and remained that way for some time. He watched for years, his hatred never dimming. He would never join the Lifestream. Never. He felt some sense of satisfaction that, while the darkness was gone, it had left clear and irreparable damage to the Lifestream.

And then, one day, as he watched Cloud mourn him, something strange happened. He felt a sensation. The first one he'd felt since his third death. It was something akin to falling and he lost his ability to 'see'. And then everything was back. He still floated as a spirit. But something was different. The Lifestream was undamaged from the war he had waged upon it, and yet somehow it also looked weaker. He observed the planet and came to a shocking realization. Time had been reversed. Midgar itself stood as testament. He came to the slow conclusion that Cloud had somehow returned and that he, with his core attached forever to Cloud, had followed inevitably.

Immediately he went to the place where Mother was kept. And she was there, completely whole. With a rush of joy he joined himself to her and she welcomed him, taking him in and making him stronger. And through her eyes he stared unblinkingly out at the world. And then those eyes saw him. Hojo. There was a flash of rage and then of pleasure. Yes. Hojo would be most useful in creating him a new body, a better body. One that even Cloud would not be able to defeat. And then, he would finish what he had attempted to do the first time, and would bring Meteor crashing down upon the Planet.

And then, though none of the scientists there noticed, JENOVA smiled, her visage frozen in a look meant to terrify. This was surely the beginning of the end.

Like it? Hate it? Review! Next chapter, back to Cloud's Dinner! I promise!