CHAPTER SEVEN

We Will Meet Again

"How's it look?"

Fourteen year old Samantha looked to her left and smirked kindly. "Its fine, mom. You're beautiful."

The blonde woman grinned with a slight blush. "You think so?" She turned to the road and continued driving as the skies got darker outside.

Sam nodded and looked outside the car. "Yeah. All the guys are gonna go nuts."

Mom smiled sweetly as she turned onto the bridge. "Sweetie… I'm sorry about the divorce. I don't want to, but it's for the best."

Sighing, Sam shook her head. "Mom, I'm fine. I understand. And, I don't want to talk about it. Let's just go home.

Mom sighed. "I feel bad about just dropping you home so I can go have fun…"

"Its not often your friends invite you to go have fun, mom, and I can't drink. I'll be fine… write a little, read a little. You know."

With a laugh, mom swept her hair back out of her eyes. "I can get over how mature you are."

Sam laughed.

"Well, some people just grow faster than others. I mean, I think I might be more mature than you."

"Hey, I resent that! I mean, really, when I was –"

"MOM!"

Bright light blinded them, screeches met their ears as the car spun out of control and water pelted the windshield, car horns blaring and the crunch of metal meeting metal –

"SAMAN-!"

Something broke, glass shattered and metal tore asunder, the car tilted, screams and blaring horns and terrible thunder –

"MOM!"

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14 year old Sam opened her eyes. She was in a void. There was nothing, no one, just an open plain of nothingness for as far the eye could see – no living thing in the empty space, not even blackness – just a hollow, lifeless, deathless sense of utter defeat and emptiness.

Groaning, Sam stood. Footsteps broke the silence as she began to stumble, scanning the darkness.

"Anyone there?"

"Mom? Jamie? Anyone?" There was no echo to her voice.

There were no winds. No chill down her spine; no cold, no warmth, no light, no darkness, but Sam could see perfect, if not even better than she normally did. It was an empty world.

"Where am I?" There was an echo behind these words.

(death)

(death)

(death)

Was there nothing, nothing in the world here? What happened to her?

"I can't… remember… where… Mom and I were going home…"

Sam slid gently down to her knees.

Someone was coming. Sam could hear footsteps.

There was no light, but somehow she could see the reflection of silver from afar, coming closer…

"Hello?" Sam asked. The man kept coming.

He had silver hair…

We will meet again my friend,


A hundred years from today


Far away from where we lived


And where we used to play.


We will know each others' eyes


And wonder where we met


Your laugh will sound familiar


Your heart, I won't forget.

We will meet, I'm sure of this,


But let's not wait til then...


Let's take a walk beneath the stars


And share this world again.

- Ron Atchison

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I awoke in a cold sweat.

Not even in the aftermath of my mother's death had I ever had any dreams of her or what happened that day. And, I don't even remember the part about the empty void. That must've been made up by my imagination.

I gagged, trying to get the sick feeling out of my throat. My hair was a mess; I looked to see I was sleeping on the floor. Across the room, Kadaj was collapsed against the kitchen counter, Yazoo was drinking coffee, and Loz was snoring soundly in the other room. I couldn't see Sephiroth or Crystal.

But I could see a new guy.

I remembered Sephiroth taking me to Crystal's apartment, where the four of them were having fun and partying. I joined in but Sephiroth declined and left. I must've fallen asleep at some point.

The new guy looked a lot like me, with sandy auburn hair. His eyes were opposites of mine, light and cheerful, blue eyes full of light. It was my brother, Jamie Wiley.

"Hey, Jamie" I murmured, rubbing my eyes.

Jamie smiled widely and jumped on me, giving me a bone cracking hug.

"SIS! It's great to see you! How've you been? Busy, it looks like, I mean, last I knew you weren't best buddies with anime characters, and now you're all together with –"

"What!" I whispered loudly into his ear.

"Anime? Never heard of it? Okay, so they aren't really anime but they are from FF, so I guess that counts-"

"Jamie, how do you know about them?"

Jamie gave me a look and moved his head to the side, and I saw Yazoo in the kitchen again. I groaned; my mind must've been really sleepy. "Sorry, I'm kinda out of it."

Jamie grinned and hauled me to my feet. "This is great! My little sis is buddy buddy with the bad boys of Final Fantasy number seven! Oh, I can't wait to see Sephy's cute rear!"

Yazoo spit out his coffee, but I just rolled my eyes.

"Keep your eyes off my boy, bro." Jamie just giggled.

I stumbled sleepily into the kitchen. Yazoo nodded to me with a smile.

"How can you already be awake?" I mumbled.

"Early riser" Yazoo commented, nodding to my brother. Jamie grinned.

"This is my brother, and I have no clue how he got here." I explained.

"Tram" Jamie began. "You see, I was REALLY bored, so I called my bestest friend in the world, my sister, and she wasn't home, but this really mean guy was, but now that I look back that was Kadaj, and I thought –"

"Brace yourself" I warned Yazoo with a grin. "My brother can go on forever."

"- where would my sister be if she isn't home? Atlanta, duh! And who does Sam know in Atlanta?"

"ME!"

All of us jumped, even my brother. All of a sudden, Crystal had come out from under the kitchen sink, pushing herself off of her knees, but of course, the island was right in front of her so she didn't get very far. As she groaned and clutched her head, I bent down to help her.

"What were you doing under the sink?" I chuckled, helping Crystal to her feet.

"Sink?" She asked. Turning around to look behind her, Crystal turned back and gave us an enlightened look. "That's what the scary dark void was!"

The word void sent shivers down my spine as I remembered my dream.

Jamie laughed. "Great, Crystal, you got lost under the sink!"

"No way! Can't get lost if you're not moving." Crystal slurred as she struggled to stand. "Uhnn…"

I shook my head. I was surrounded by a bunch of freaks.

Jamie leaned his head out of the kitchen and a sly smile came over his face as Loz stumbled into the room. "Mr. Sunshine's awake!"

Loz stumbled by me as he came to the fridge. "Who invited rainbow boy?"

"That's my brother" I whispered with a giggle.

Loz laughed and opened the fridge. The kitchen was getting crowded, so I stepped out and walked to the sofa to look at Kadaj. He was sleeping soundly, like a little baby.

"He'll sleep till one if you let him." Yazoo commented. Part of me wanted to wake the boy, but he was so cute while he was asleep. So, I took a picture to amuse myself.

I felt very exhausted, but very refreshed. Behind the haunting images of my dream were the heart-pounding memories of the night before. The laughter and the realizations, along with the feelings I felt when Sephiroth's hands found their way to my skin. Everything in my mind was a collage, from the image of Kadaj sleeping soundly, to the smell of Sephiroth's hair from last night, to the screeching echo of glass and metal from my dream.

It was floating about my consciousness, driving me insane, ripping my thoughts from one to the other. As I floated to the window to look out on the Atlanta sunrise, as the sun began shimmering against the towering city, I let my eyes closed and swept all thoughts away. No thinking, not now. Now, I have a sunrise to see.

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.

Luciano de Crescenzo

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Around noontime, I finished showering and dressing, and stepped out of Crystal's room to see Loz and Yazoo madly drawing on their poor brother's sleeping face. I thought about waiting around to see what the boy did to them when he awoke, but I felt restless. So, I bid everyone a fond farewell and stepped out of the door, only to hear my brother behind me.

"Oi! Sis, I'm coming!" Jamie rushed out of the house after me, slipping on his shoes as quickly as he could. I watched him with a grin.

"A successful architect, running around in old, beat up sneakers?" Jamie chuckled nervously.

"Actually, I'm not as successful as you might have been lead to believe." I gave my brother a look. "Well, it's just, you've always been really successful with your books, so I wanted you to think I was fine on my feet too. I am fine; I'm just… not great."

Incredulously, I gave him a look, before shaking my head and chuckling slightly. "Well, gee, I'm not doing that fucking great either, bro." Jamie rolled his eyes.

"Four hotties living with you and you're not doing great?" He grinned. "I'd say you're doing fine!" I elbowed him but he avoided me.

"Whatever Jamie. You know what, you wanna hang out with me, you gotta be nice, okay?" Jamie shrugged with his mischievous grin.

"So, we're we going?" I shrugged.

"I dunno. I actually wanted some quiet, alone time, to think, you know?" I joked, giving my brother a hard time. We both knew he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"All right, I get it, I get it, and I'm not wanted." I laughed at him.

"Well, why don't you meet me for lunch, at Panera's? I've got work to do anyway." I nodded to my brother as he began backing off.

"See you at twelve, Jamie!" I called, but he just waved as he disappeared into the crowd.

I sighed and shook my head at him. Looking up at the tall buildings surrounding me, I began walking as I thought, Hell, Atlanta just always seems to keep you on your toes…

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I was thinking a lot. All sorts of thoughts, things I hadn't thought of in years, things I didn't think I'd ever think of again. The way the world sounded in my dream, that night when the car flew from the bridge. The sound the angel's wings made. The heart monitor slowly dying as my father's hand let mine go. My brother and I, parting ways; my brother, quietly running down the long pathway from the house to the street, and me, standing on the porch just watching my life disappear.

Only three years after all of that, and I had become a zombie. I wanted to disappear. But no one can disappear. No matter how much you feign deafness and invisibility, no matter how much you withdraw from society, you will see a face in the mirror, no matter how dead that face may look. There will always be skin on your bones, until the day you die. And when you die… who knows where you disappear to.

I thought about how Sephiroth died. I wondered where he disappeared to, before Zack brought him back. And I wondered where Zack was now, hiding just out of reach, drifting in that realm of nothing I saw in my dream.

Every corner I turned on my walk, every time I turned and came to see a street filled with cars on the other side, the sound of all the footsteps around me became rain, and the angry horns honking became panicked sounds, and the sound of doors opening and closing became the squelching of metal against metal.

I had to hold my head and sit down on a bench by the side of the road.

You will never disappear from yourself. But others may not see you. You can become as invisible as the wind, making only sound, no shadow, or reflection in the eyes of others. They won't look down on you long enough to notice you exist.

Cloud and I had a lot in common. Other than the fact we both knew a strange group of silver haired men, we also knew what it was to disappear. We both had people die, and leave, and fade away.

I'm not alone

But am I?

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The grass was soft, green, and smooth, and the scent tickled my nose as I collapsed beneath a tall willow with a sigh. Willow branches tickled my nose as the wind blew them back and forth. Sighing, I closed my eyes. It wasn't long before I was asleep.

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I was at that place again. The empty place where no light or dark existed and death kept echoing through my ears.

(dream)

(dream)

(dream)

I groaned and held my head, bending down. I didn't think it would be of any use, but I tried to call someone.

"Anyone there?"

No one answered me. I began walking, my footsteps making the only noise in the void.

There was this feeling inside me, this … knowing. As if I'd been here before. Déjà vu, I suppose, though I chuckled to remember my mother always said Vuja de.

The void was so strange. There was absolutely no light, but I felt myself coming across something, or someone, and when I came to them, it was as if I was tripping over their existence, falling to my knees as I tumbled into some other reality.

I was still in the void. But I could see someone else standing in the void too. He was looking to the ground, almost as if he was looking over an edge. To my surprise, hints and little bits of his thoughts floated through my mind.

…wonder where I am…

… was that really him…

…this feels so real…

At first, I had trouble figuring out who was standing before me. The voice seemed oddly familiar, but I had to get very close to him to see his crazy, spiky yellow hair.

"Hello." I whispered.

Slowly, he turned, not surprised in the least, but seemingly in a daze. Cloud turned to me, and when he saw me was then surprised.

"Who are you?" He murmured. I suppose he thought I would be Aerith. She seems to visit his dreams often. Well, if this isn't just a dream of mine. It felt so real, I couldn't comprehend it just being a dream.

"My name is Samantha Wiley." I murmured, sitting on the ground. Cloud looked down at me in curiosity. He sat, then, and whispered his name.

"Cloud Strife."

I nodded in understanding.

"So… do you know where we are?" He asked. "This feels too real to be a dream."

I shrugged. "I've been here before, I think… a long time ago. But I don't know where we are."

"You were here in a dream?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm."

We were both very silent. I must say, sitting there with him was very soothing. He had a calming presence, as if his strength and morale shimmered in the air wherever he went. I could see why Cloud had been the hero of the game – he wasn't exactly an idol or some perfect Superman. He wasn't even Batman, and I sure hope he's not Wonder Woman. Unless Cloud has a secret he's not telling us.

But like I was saying, he really was this heroic soul, but not because… oh, how do I say this?

It's like… like…

Ah! Now I know!

It's like he's your dad.

You know? When you were a kid, didn't you think your dad was the greatest? Maybe you still do, or maybe your dad was an asshole. Well, Cloud was what you'd want your dad to be. Dad is your hero as a kid, big and strong and protective and funny, and sometimes funny looking.

But while he's your hero, he's not really… a hero. He's not even very heroic, actually, and you don't always love him cause sometimes he sends you to the corner and he makes you eat your vegetables and maybe he scares all the hot guys away. But that's because he loves you. And maybe dad is moody and strange. But that's because he's human. He's your hero, he'll always fight for you and love you, and he'll never let you down, not if he can help it.

So, Cloud is like a father. That was the sense I got, from sitting next to him. You know, Crystal told me that Cloud only ever smiles around kids. That supports my theory!

But as I sat next to him thinking about that, I realized that Cloud was my brother… well, if Kadaj and the others considered me their sister, I guess I'm Cloud's sister too. He just didn't know. I didn't feel like telling him then.

"So… why are you here?" I asked, leaning back. Cloud looked to me.

"What do you mean?"

I smiled.

"Last time I saw this place was when I was dreaming about a day in my past. I think it was part of that day, a part I don't remember. What I'm trying to say is, is that I came here once in my past, after something really… big happened. I'm here again, because a lot of big things have happened. I was just wondering if something big has happened to you."

Cloud examined my expression. He was very deep, I could tell, and very cold, but not icy, just… reserved. Maybe a little cold. Not artic cold though, not like Sephiroth. Well… I blushed. He's not been very artic cold recently.

Cloud didn't answer for a moment. I wondered if he ever would or maybe it was too hard to answer.

"I've been thinking a lot." Cloud murmured. I nodded, listening silently. "A lot of strange things have been happening." I smirked, thinking that that was an understatement.

"An old friend of mine has a friend who has recently been having these… attacks. Screaming and going unconscious for days. When she awoke, she'd tell us about these dreams, seeing memories, but not remembering them. It was as if she was dreaming of someone else's life."

"We've only known the woman for about two years or so, but we all care for her. We approached these… people we knew, who had many resources. But only days after taking her into their care, she disappeared."

I blinked. "… Disappeared?" Cloud nodded.

We sat silently again. I felt confusion drift over me.

Why was all this happening to me now? I didn't understand. I couldn't understand. But, here I was, sitting next to a fictional video game character in this empty void teetering on the edge of dreams and death.

"What about you?"

I decided to be concise. "My mom died the first time I came here. And recently, these strange… angels have come into my care, and I have to take care of them. But everything is changing and I seem to be the only one in the dark…" I curled my knees up and rested my chin on them.

A light began rising in front of us. I wondered if it was the sunrise. Maybe, in this strange world, it was the sun setting.

"So, what do we do now…?" I wondered aloud, cradling my knees. Cloud sighed, adjusting to look at the sunrise.

"I don't know." He admitted.

Smiling, I reached my hand out and clutched his hand. He jumped slightly, but I just smiled. I knew now what the light was; it wasn't the sun, it was the two of us, waking up.

"Maybe, for now" I told him as everything began to disappear. "We should just wake up."

Samantha? Samantha, wake up…

I woke up.

On the day we left, we burned down the family home and all the familiar things inside.

Because some memories... aren't meant to leave traces.

- Alphonse Elric (Full-Metal Alchemist)