Angeal pulled away and looked into Sephiroth's eyes, hoping he hadn't misread the situation. Neither one of them knew the right thing to say, so silence reigned before Sephiroth closed his eyes and leaned in, kissing Angeal again. This one was softer, less needy, but it worked better than words could have.

"How long?" Angeal finally asked as they pulled apart again.

"I don't know. Maybe as long as I've known you. I've been jealous of your student Zackary for some time now. I didn't realize until I saw Genesis with Cloud why that was." Sephiroth admitted.

Angeal's chest tightened a bit. "I didn't know what I wanted until recently either. But you seemed so obsessed with Cloud."

"He reminds me of you to a degree. I'll admit I've never met anyone like him, but that doesn't mean I have feelings for him. It's also rather obvious Cloud and Genesis are perfect for each other." Sephiroth said as softly as he could manage.

"You should probably get going." Angeal said, pulling away a bit. He knew how much the information meant to Sephiroth.

"Come with me?" Sephiroth asked again.

Angeal thought for a moment. Realizing that Zack likely was alright on his own and, after what had just transpired, he really didn't want to leave Sephiroth's company. "Alright."

"Thank you." Sephiroth replied.

They made their way to the meeting point, surprised to find no one.

"Sorry, it's best if I stay hidden." A deep voice said from behind them.

"Vincent, I assume?" Sephiroth said, turning around. He took in Vincent's appearance. It was one thing to be told about the man who housed demons in his body. The one with red eyes and a golden claw. To be faced with it was another.

"Where's Genesis and Cloud?" Angeal asked, looking around.

"Dealing with a personal issue." Vincent said in a voice which said that the matter was closed.

"I suppose that's not important, you're the one I've been instructed to talk to." Sephiroth said, crossing his arms.

"Not disappointed to see us then, are you?" Genesis said as he leapt down from the roof. Cloud silently followed him.

"Never." Angeal said with a smile.

"Aren't you in a good mood?" Genesis said, looking to his friend.

"I suppose I am." He said with a glance to Sephiroth and Genesis just raised an eyebrow.

"I believe you're here for a reason." Vincent said, trying to bring the conversation back on course.

"Yes, Cloud said you could confirm his story and add a bit of your own information." Sephiroth said, turning his attention to Vincent.

Vincent just nodded. "I have retained my memories of the future, though they aren't as extensive as Cloud's. I can confirm that most of what he has said is true."

"I thought you said he wasn't from the future." Sephiroth said, looking to Cloud.

It was Vincent who answered, however. "I am not sure how, but, when the goddess returned Cloud and Genesis to the past, she managed to include Chaos in her spell. I have my memory until the point where we were separated."

"While having someone else to confirm their story is nice, we had already accepted Genesis and Cloud's story. He said there were things you could tell me." Sephiroth said and Genesis noticed how close Angeal stood to the silver haired swordsman.

"I can tell you about your mother." Vincent said with a nod.

"My real mother?" The gunman had succeeded in getting Sephiroth's attention.

"I was her Turk body guard. There is more to tell than what I can convey in this alleyway, but, yes, I knew your mother. And I know where she is now." Vincent said, meeting Sephiroth's eyes.

"She's still alive? Can you take me to her?" Sephiroth said as Angeal placed a hand on the man's back.

"There is a lot more to the story, but, yes, if you wish to, I will take you to her. I can explain the rest on the way. As for being alive. In a way, yes, she tried to commit suicide over what happened, but because of the experiment, she was unable to die. She's sealed away in a cave, encased in mako." Vincent said, looking away a bit. There was so much to tell this man in front of him. So much he deserved to know.

Sephiroth took a step back, it was a bit to take in. "Was she ashamed of me?" Cloud had told him about the horrible things he had done. Maybe his mother had known what he would become.

"No, never, she was ashamed of herself for allowing Hojo to do what he did." Vincent said, shaking his head. Even after Sephiroth had lost his mind, Lucrecia had never been ashamed of her son, only herself.

"Angeal, do you have any vacation time?" Sephiroth said, looking at the man.

"You didn't even have to ask." Angeal said.

"I would offer to come too, but we have something else we desperately need to take care of. It will probably be best if you two are gone when it happens, anyway." Genesis said, though at this point he was pretty sure of what was going on as a grin spread on his face. Cloud was quiet however.

"It's alright." Sephiroth said before looking to Vincent. "I can probably arrange to leave by tomorrow evening."

"I'll be ready. Meet me here by 9 and pack light. Where we're going is not easy to access." Vincent said with a nod.

"I always travel light." Sephiroth said before glancing at Angeal.

"That shouldn't be a problem." Angeal acknowledged. Part of him wanted to asked what Genesis had planned, but figured that he was better off not knowing.

"We should go, your friend's been watching us, but I imagine his partner will show up soon." Vincent said, glancing up to the far left.

"Reno." Cloud called, walking down the alley to where Vincent had pointed out the Turk's presence.

The red head, in a bit of shock, revealed himself.

"How the heck did ya know I was there? Creepy demon powers?" Reno said, crossing his arms and glancing at Vincent.

"I am a former Turk." Vincent acknowledged. In all fairness, Reno hadn't been that bad at hiding.

"No such thing." Reno said, looking at the man.

"Ask Veld about his old partner sometime. You might change you tune." Vincent said, staring the man in the eye.

Reno grabbed his head as another fractured memory assaulted him.

"Yo man, can you believe it? That's freaking Valentine, Tseng said that the dude was legend. Not the good kind either." Reno said, talking with his partner Rude.

Rude just stayed his normally silent self. Reno was about to continue with the blonde, who he'd been seeing, appeared.

"You'd think he'd be on our side, 'Once a Turk, always a Turk' in all." She said, crossing her arms.

Tseng just shook his head. "The oath is released once you die."

"That guy's obviously not dead." Reno said, pointing in the direction the man had gone.

"Take a look at his eyes and tell me that again." Tseng said before walking away.

When he became aware of his surroundings again, Genesis was helping him stand as the others looked at him with concern.

"Has this been happening often?" Cloud asked Reno.

"Only every fucking day. More so when you fancy time travelers are around." Reno cursed.

"Something's wrong." Cloud said, concern in his voice.

"No fucking shit, captain obvious." Reno snapped.

"How do we find out what? We didn't exactly get detail instructions. What if she screwed something up?" Genesis said, looking to Cloud.

"She did say it was difficult." Cloud said. The others were completely lost.

"We could ask the ancient. Well, at least ask her to ask the planet." Genesis pointed out.

"Aerith doesn't even know how to use her powers yet." Cloud replied.

"Not that I know what the chick Tseng has an eye on has to do with any of this, but something would be nice before I fucking snap." Reno said, cutting into their conversation.

"We have to try." Genesis said, as much for the Reno he used to know as for the one standing before him.

"I suppose, if I word it simply enough, she might be able to help." Cloud acknowledged.

"Gaia fucking glorious. Why couldn't you have thought of this a month ago?" Reno snapped, glaring at Cloud.

"I didn't know it was this bad." Cloud acknowledged. He didn't envy anyone with a broken mind.

"We should go." Vincent said, hearing footsteps approaching.

"Go, I'll stall Rude." Reno said, not willing to piss of the people that were actually trying to help him.

In a moment, the group dispersed. Reno straightened himself up, willing himself to pretend that nothing was wrong, again.

"So how are we going to get into Deepground?" Cloud asked as they sat in Genesis's living room.

"I told you to leave them to me. Trust me, alright?" Genesis said, looking at his lover.

"Genesis." Cloud said with a sigh. There weren't many things Genesis refused to share over the years. When he did lock up, it was because he was planning to do something Cloud would disapprove of.

"I'm serious, Cloud, I have a plan." Genesis insisted.

"Then share it with me." Cloud was clearly annoyed.

Genesis turned away for a moment. "Nero once confessed that they'd been looking for a way to 'bring me in' for years before it happened. They were more aware of what had been done to me than I was. If I throw them a hook, they may just reel me in."

Cloud just looked at Genesis for a moment. "Ok, so what's the issue?"

Genesis sighed before looking back to Cloud. "I will probably be out of contact for a few weeks, a month at the most. It will take me some time to gain their trust. Even more to get them to agree to our plan."

"And I suppose you want me to sit around and just chill? And, if I remember last time correctly, and I'll admit I may not be, Shinra basically fell apart." Cloud wanted to throttle Genesis.

"No, that's part of what I need you to take care of. I need you to cover for me. No one can know I'm gone. You also need to deal with Reno and Aerith." Genesis explained.

"How am I suppose to hide the fact that you're missing?" Cloud couldn't believe he was going along with this.

"I've gotten rather ill. Something I picked up while we were on the other continent. I didn't do well in the cold. Or an injury on the mission. You'll come up with a good answer, I'm sure." Genesis explained, thought Cloud got the impression that he really wouldn't have to come up with anything.

"And what about Hollander? Surely he won't let that fly. Not without seeing you." Cloud retorted.

"Hollander can throw his little fit. By the time he gets pissed off to actually do something about it, he'll hopefully be dead." Genesis snorted.

"This plan has so much potential to go south." Cloud pointed out.

"If it goes south, then we do things your way. Kill them and run." Genesis shrugged. "At least, this way we try."

That seemed to placate Cloud a bit. "I'll tear the entire building apart if I have to."

"That's my Cloud." Genesis said, leaning over and placing a kiss on Cloud's lips.

"One of these days, I'm going to figure out how you talk me into these things." Cloud said with a sigh.

Genesis just laughed before pulling Cloud into another kiss.

Cloud was pissed. Genesis hadn't mentioned that 'a hook' involved him going out and taking on a nest of Midgar Zoloms so he could get himself admitted to the medical unit. It was what Deepground was supposed to be, after all.

Come up with a story, Genesis was the one who had come up with a story and Cloud was going to kill him.

The worst part is that he hadn't even known that Genesis had gone. Zack of all people had come rushing up to the apartment to get Cloud, telling him how Genesis had been injured and was currently in the medical wards and no one could see him.

He had managed to shatter the glass he'd been holding. Luckily, Zack had just assumed that he was worried about his mentor.

Cloud hoped Vincent was having better luck with Sephiroth and Angeal. They were currently out of contact. Which meant they were likely deep in the mountain range.

It didn't matter, he still had a job to do. So slowly, he made his way down to the slums. Cloud had made sure to pick a day when Zack was on a mission out of Midgar. He didn't want to explain how he knew Aerith.

He glanced around a bit, noticing a female Turk. She was probably reporting his presence, but that was fine. They wouldn't be able to hear anything and they wouldn't say anything until he was gone. While he missed Aerith deeply, he didn't intend to build a real friendship with her. At least not until Zack introduced her as his girlfriend.

Cloud slipped into the church, closing the door behind him, he half expected Aerith to be bent over, caring for her flowers, but, at the moment, he couldn't see her. He strode down the aisle, running his hand across the pews. There were many memories buried here and in his mind's eye he could see it as it was in his future. The flowers, the water and the Buster Sword sitting in it's shrine.

"I think you're more connected to this place than I am." He heard a small voice saying off to the side.

Cloud looked over at her. She was standing there, holding a basket in her arms, white sundress with pink and blue flowers, and a dirty pair of sandals. "I could never be more connected to this place than you." He finally said, a bit of reverence in his voice.

She just smiled at him and walked over to the bed of flowers before sitting down to tend to them. Cloud followed, silently starting to pull weeds with practiced ease. Before long, Aerith looked at him again.

"This is your home, your flowers as much as they are mine. How can that be when I've never seen you before? The planet is practically singing for you. Are you like me?" Aerith broke the silence, looking at the strange man she'd only seen once before.

Cloud looked at her in surprise for a moment. "No, I'm not like you. No one is like you." Cloud shook his head. "I'm not a Cetra."

"But you know about them?" She said with a bit of hope in her eyes.

"Yes," Cloud admitted and knew then that he would tell this girl everything. He could never keep secrets from Aerith. Besides, the more she knew, the better chance she had of helping Reno.

Aerith for her part just grinned and hugged him. Hesitantly, he hugged her back.

"If you're not a Cetra, then who are you?" She questioned.

"I am a lot of things. I'll tell you what you want to know. But I'm going to be up front with you. I have a friend and he's hurt. We think the planet can help him, but we need someone who can speak to Gaia on his behalf." Cloud explained gently.

Aerith just nodded with a look of concentration on her face. "The planet likes you, getting her to help you shouldn't be too hard."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Cloud said with a bit of relief in his voice.

"You still haven't told me who you are. I don't even have your name. I'm Aerith, by the way." She said with a small smile.

Cloud bit back the 'I know' before offering his own name. "Cloud Strife."

Aerith took a start for a moment. "Do you know a Zack Fair?"

Cloud just smiled and nodded. "Yes, he is my mentor's best friend's student."

Aerith seemed to scoot a bit closer to him. "He seems like a good person, but I know you are thanks to the planet. What do you think of him?"

Cloud just grinned. "You would probably never meet a nicer, kinder or more loyal person if you tried."

Aerith thought for a moment, then grinned. "I thought so, it's nice to know for sure, though. I thought he mentioned a Cloud, I didn't think it was common name. So, Cloud, do you know why the planet likes you so much?"

"It's a long story. One I will tell you all of, but the short version is that I'm her guardian. At least I was. I didn't think Gaia would recognize me." Cloud admitted.

"How could she not know you?" Aerith said with a start.

"Because the events that led to me falling into her service haven't happened yet. And hopefully, they never will."Cloud explained.

"Your heart serves her, that's all she needs. But I'll admit am curious, are you going for the whole mysterious type? I'll warn you, I've already promised to go on a date with Zack." She said with a bit of a laugh.

"I can assure you that my heart is already taken." Cloud said as she pulled another smile out of him.

"Then why are you being so cryptic?" She asked, running her right hand over the blooming flowers.

Cloud's face fell a bit. "Where I'm from. What I've seen, it isn't pleasant. If I have my way, you'll never have to know."

"You're from the future then? You're protecting me?" Aerith said, blinking at Cloud.

Cloud wanted to ask how she knew, but the girl was smart and he hadn't been hiding the truth well. "Yes, on both accounts. Though you do seem to be a bit more comfortable with your powers than what I last remember."

"Hmm, so you did know me in the future." She said with a wink. "I won't ask how I die, I promise." She giggled and Cloud about choked on his breath.

Aerith had thought it a harmless joke, but Cloud looked so distressed, she was certain now that she really didn't want to know what had happened to her.

"I'm sorry." She finally said as his coughing stopped.

"It's ok." Cloud said weakly.

"What about your friend?" Aerith asked, hoping to change gears.

Cloud sighed and closed his eyes. "His name is Reno. In the future, he died moments before we were sent back in time. We as in Genesis and myself. It was just supposed to be us sent back, but somehow Reno remembers things from the future. It's hurting him and we don't know how to stop it."

"I'll see what I can find out." Aerith said with a bit of determination.

Cloud relaxed a bit with her words. "Thank you."

"I should be thanking you." She replied, hugging him again. "And thank you for telling me about Zack. I don't think you would have said that if we hadn't been together in the future."

Cloud sputtered for a moment at her words. He hadn't meant to imply... but she was right. No one would be cruel enough to encourage a romance doomed to failure. "Just treat him well."

"I will, I promise." Aerith said, pulling back from the hug. "Don't be a stranger. This place is your home, I can feel it. The doors are always open to you."

Cloud stood, feeling lighter than he had for a while. "Thank you again. But I should be going. I'm going to have the Turks in a tizzy as it is."

Aerith just laughed a bit. "Don't let Tseng bother you, he's a bit of softy at heart. But maybe you already know that."

"I don't know everything." Cloud said with a nod, before turning to leave.

Aerith watched him go as her thoughts turned back to the raven haired SOLDIER who had come crashing into her life, wondering when she could see him again.

A few more days passed and Cloud discovered that Genesis had been officially discharged. Cloud still hadn't seen him or been able to call him. At the moment, it was a good sign. He had to assume that Genesis's plan was working. It still didn't mean he liked it.

The high he had been on after meeting with Aerith had started to crash, until Zack came rushing to him one day, gushing about his new girlfriend. It seemed that, since Angeal and Sephiroth were still gone, Cloud substituted as Zack's closest friend. He wasn't complaining, but he was sure that Zack had several other friends closer to him. It could be however that those friends had gotten sick of him and Cloud was someone new and untainted. It didn't hurt that Cloud didn't seem to actually mind Zack going on and on about the cute flower girl from the slums with the prettiest hair and brightest eyes.

Now however, he was crashing again.

Cloud had just received a call from Angeal, after the man tried unsuccessfully to contact Genesis. They were currently in Costa del Sol. Apparently, the meeting with Sephiroth's mother had gone well. She was still in crystal stasis, but she had responded to both Sephiroth and Vincent. Sephiroth had left at least happy to have met her and vowing to find away to wake her properly. Vincent had explained that he had tried and failed, but it didn't stop Sephiroth's determination. Cloud supposed that this was a good thing. Waking his real mother was one more reason for him not to go crazy and attempt to destroy the world.

"He did what?" Angeal cried from the other end of the PHS.

"Trust me, you heard me right the first time." Cloud snapped. "I'm going to kill him when I see him again."

"He could have been killed!" Angeal's voice was loud and Cloud thought he could hear Sephiroth's voice in the background.

"Not likely, but it was still extremely stupid. And now I have to fend off Hollander on my own. The man's already sent two summons for Genesis today." Cloud said, a bit annoyed. It was how he had found out that his lover had been officially released.

"We'll be back soon, but Lazard is already flipping out that we were out of communications for so long. At least now I know why." Angeal wasn't sure what emotion he was supposed to be feeling at the moment.

"I've been sent out a bit by myself. But Lazard doesn't want to send me out of the city for anything on my own. Zack's currently in Kalm." Cloud explained.

"Alright, let me know if anything changes." Angeal replied.

"I will, talk to you later." Cloud said, ending the conversation.

As he went to put his phone up, it buzzed in his hand again. It was an unknown number, but if Genesis was trying to contact him, it would be.

Quickly he answered it."Cloud speaking."

"Hello Cloud." Aerith's voice came through the phone.

"How'd you get my number?" Cloud asked, confused.

He just heard a bit of giggle. "I suppose it pays to spend your life around the Turks. Though I don't know how you expect me to help you since I didn't have a way to contact you."

"I thought I would come visit you in a few weeks." Cloud admitted.

"Well, I know what happened to you friend. And I think I can help him. I didn't think you'd want him to wait a few more weeks if he didn't have to." Aerith replied.

"No, I don't. Thank you, Aerith. What do we need to do?" Cloud started to pace the room, ready to move.

"I'll be down at the church in 2 hours. Bring your friend and I'll explain the rest there." Aerith said sweetly.

"I'll be there." Cloud said and they ended the conversation.

Cloud cursed. How the hell was he supposed to find Reno now?"

And Genesis is in hot water now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review-DHT