CHAPTER EIGHT

Memories

With a yawn, I opened my eyes. "Hmm?" I wondered, staring about, looking around me for a sign of whoever had woken me up. When a black feather fell from the sky above me, I knew who it was. My cheeks flushed as I looked up into the tree. Sephiroth was leaning against the trunk, looking out to the sky.

"Good morning." I called up to him.

"I think you mean good afternoon, sleeping beauty." He joked, smirking down at me. I rolled my eyes and stood, patting the trunk of the tree. Slowly, I attempted to climb up into it.

"Hey, Sephiroth!" I called as I took firm hold of a tree branch. He looked down to me. "What would you think if maybe… I don't know…" I wasn't quite sure how to word what I was saying.

"What is it, Samantha?" He wondered as I climbed, pulling my leg up onto a branch.

"Well, I was just wondering, you know. I mean, my brother and I aren't doing so good, and Crystal is barely on her feet. It's not like we have perfect lives here." Sephiroth listened intently as I grunted, shoving myself up onto another branch.

"And, well, we can't hide you guys forever, so I was wondering…" I finally pulled myself up higher, but Sephiroth was still a bit above me. "What if we all went to your world?"

Sephiroth laughed. "We would have to hide there as well."

"Not as much! Everybody thinks your dead! Here, anybody could recognize you and the world would go nuts."

"That could happen on Gaia as well." I huffed at his optimism. I thought it was a wonderful idea. What was to keep us here? McDonalds and Atlanta traffic? No thanks.

"You don't know a single thing about Gaia, Samantha, yet you would leap into, eyes closed, for us?" Sephiroth murmured. I leaned against the tree trunk.

"Well, Crystal and Jamie know a lot. And you guys know a lot. Who knows, maybe I'll catch up eventually." I chuckled. Sephiroth looked down to me. "Besides, I know a little. I mean, Crystal told me all about…" I bit my tongue. I had almost admitted that I knew about meteor, which would mean I knew about Sephiroth's past. I didn't want to chase him off, and usually talking about a man's past would really scare him.

The light reflected against the tree leaves. "You know about meteor. I know." I let go of the unsteady breath I'd held. Sephiroth climbed down the tree until he was at my level. I looked into his eyes, the eyes that understood my soul, and the eyes I drowned in.

"I have to admit…" I began. "I was really scared when I learned about it. Jenova and Hojo and… all of that."

"You have every right to be." Sephiroth murmured his voice soft and mellow. I shook my head.

"I'm not afraid as much, anymore. I don't totally understand any of this, I feel like I'm drowning in confusion, but I don't think I'm really afraid." I gave him a smile. "I'm not going to be miss oh so sweet and naïve and say I'm not afraid because I trust you completely. Though I do trust you a lot. And it's not because I love you… though I…" Sephiroth smirked, and I let that sentence die.

"I don't think I'm afraid because there's no reason to be afraid. No matter what happens… this is so much better than what I had before. No matter what, I will never go back to that, no chance in hell."

I finished my strange monologue and looked deep into the eyes of the angel beside me. Sephiroth seemed to be… in awe. The glow of adoration and admiration seemed to burn into me, and I almost looked away. But then I remembered… these are the eyes of someone who loves you. Don't look away. There's nothing wrong with his loving you.

I did blush a lot though.

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Sephiroth had a hood over his head, hiding his silver hair in his jacket. He and I walked side by side through Atlanta, randomly sauntering from place to place, just talking about whatever we wanted to talk about.

"Come on, just tell me!" I hopped on my feet, begging. Sephiroth laughed at my strange behavior.

"Seeing as I don't understand why in hell you'd wonder about that, I think I'll keep you guessing." I pouted.

"It's just a rhetorical question."

Sephiroth gave me a strange quizzical look. "Oh? So you simply ask any man you meet Boxers or briefs?" I giggled behind my hand.

"Can't forget commando." I added, as he rolled his eyes at me. "What? It's a perfectly honest question."

"I know what your brother wears." Sephiroth joked with a smirk. "Like, pink is so your color!"

I sputtered with laughter. "I didn't know you could do that! That's scary!" Then I thought it over and smacked his arm. "Be nice to my brother."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "What, he doesn't strike you –"

"Ah ah ah!" I warned. Sephiroth huffed and stayed silent.

We took the long way to where we were headed, and ended up passing by city hall. We continued talking, randomly speaking about this or that. I asked him about what Gaia had been like, the good parts of his life there. He told me about different places and memories he had. There was this place called Gold Saucer, which was like an amusement park. It sounded like fun.

"Hey, Sephiroth. What do you think… of Atlanta? Of my home?" Sephiroth looked to the sky, and the clouds.

"It's fine." I shrugged. Guess we weren't going far in that direction.

Part of me wanted to ask about all the mystery, all the things I didn't know. Why do I see this dark void? Have you and I really met before? I knew I wouldn't get any answers, and if history repeats itself, Sephiroth would probably try to distract me with … well… embarrassing activities. Nice activities, but embarrassing.

The sky was a perfect blue that day. It reminded me of my mother's eyes, her eyes that had been soft and caring and warm on the soul. It was like being near stars, being in awe of the beauty of them. Sephiroth was the same in a way, but it was more like staring at the sun; overwhelming.

I turned to look at Sephiroth's eyes.

"Hey, Sephiroth?" I began. He looked down to me. "If we… go to Gaia… would you…" I bit my tongue.

Sephiroth's hand kept me from walking. "What is it?"

"Would you settle down with someone? You know, just… like Cloud did. Settle down."

Sephiroth looked my expression over as the two of us began walking again.

"I suppose. With… the right woman."

I tried to keep from squealing like a crazed fan girl.

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When we arrived at Panera Bread, Sephiroth and I parted ways. I arrived a bit early, and ordered a soda and a sandwich before sitting on by the window on a bar stool. Jamie was not known for being early, but I hoped that he wouldn't be too late. Though the time to sit and think was pleasant.

Oddly enough, I didn't think long before sleep overcame me.

I didn't feel that tired. I just… couldn't stay awake…

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"Turn the radio down please."

Sam continued driving down the road, keeping the radio obnoxiously loud, as she stared out onto the road through thick black sunglasses. A young Jamie sat beside her, looking like a California beach boy, his feet on the dash. He turned to his sister when she ignored him.

"Sis, I can barely hear my walkman, turn it down, please."

Turning left on the street, the city began fading as a country setting became apparent. Jamie stared blankly at his sister, as she continued to pretend she was deaf.

With a huffing sigh, Jamie reached up and made to turn the volume lower.

Sam immediately reacted by elbowing her brother in the crook of his arm as it extended to the radio, a painful move. Her brother howled in pain as Sam turned the volume up even louder than it had been before.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jamie screeched his voice high and offended. Sam didn't respond. Huffing in annoyance, Jamie let it go, slouching against the window.

"You know mom died a year ago, and pissing on the world isn't gonna bring her back."

Sam made no response, no movement, no change in form as she turned into the driveway of their house. Jamie watched her in pained fascination as she put the car in park and turned it off, stepping out onto the gravel. Sighing gravely, he followed after, shutting his door and running across the grass. A friend was running towards him from the house over, waving.

Watching him disappear, Sam ripped the sunglasses from her eyes and tossed them to the gravel. As she listened to them crunch under her boot, she whispered lowly and angrily.

"She may be dead, but last I checked, that was still her favorite song."

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She was standing on the edge of a dark void. Everything was shattered around her, floating in nothingness.

"Of course I'm still here. Where else do I have to go? I don't have anything. I don't have anything anymore."

Darkness shifted in the space as Sam stepped out onto the fragments of void around her, the shattered pieces of life. The emptiness was astounding.

"Yes you can! You can come back!" Sam choked, falling to her knees. "You're all I have."

Sam continued crawling over the fragments, searching for him in the dark.

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"Sam? Hello, earth to sister, Houston, we have a problem, I have fallen asleep in my pastrami on rye…"

Groaning, I sat up and awoke, and with it came the gross realization that my lunch was now littered with hair.

"Lovely" I mumbled. Jamie laughed at my predicament.

"Don't worry, I'll treat you. What do you want?" I glared at my sandwich.

"Anything but this" I joked, pointing down at the offending item. Jamie shook his head and kissed the tope of mine, before running off into the line to order.

I laughed at him, as I cringed and pushed my sandwich away from me. I could but barely remember the outline of my dream, and it added to my fog of confusion. That was twice in one day I'd suddenly fallen asleep and seen… strange things. And it was the third set of strange dreams. Perhaps my dreams were actually memories. Or maybe…I don't know. In all truths, I had no idea.

Jamie returned with food, and I welcomed my brother's loud talkative distraction from my worries.

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"Hey, would you look at that!"

I walked into the apartment to see the four of its occupants glued to the computer screen. Smiling contently, I walked up behind them to see they were watching anime on Youtube, something I'd never really bothered to do. Though, I had heard a lot about it from Crystal, and I knew the show was "Naruto".

"Hey" Kadaj grinned and stood when he saw me. I really adored the little guy, though, I always felt little around him. And I wasn't really taller than him, since he was my height.

"Welcome back sister" Kadaj smiled. Loz and Yazoo both waved, and Crystal leapt up and hugged me.

"Hey, girl" I looked around as Crystal hopped back over to the computer.

"So, when do we plan on going back?" I asked, setting my jacket on the sofa.

"Do we have to go back?" Loz joked in a girly voice. I gave him a look.

"As nice as the company here is, I miss my quiet country side." I joked back, plopping onto the couch tiredly.

The four of them behind me began laughing insanely over the video, and though I felt like having a laugh at the time, my body began to doze off. But, just as I almost fell asleep, the door opened.

"Who is it now?" Crystal implored with a huff.

Sephiroth stepped into the room, my brother in tow.

"Look who I found on the way home!" Jamie joked, leaping over the couch and landed right next to me. I giggled at his antics.

"Where do you people come from?" Crystal joked as she stood from her chair and ran into the kitchen.

I watched everyone relax and gather round, slowly ending up in the same area; grabbing their snacks and their drinks, leaning back in their seats and into their sofa cushions. Without even realizing it, we all ended up hanging out together, this strange group of people. Some who shouldn't even be alive, and some who don't always feel like they should be either. We gravitated to each other and even the coldest of us stayed close, joining in the warmth.

It wasn't long before I was leaning shyly against the warmth of Sephiroth's chest, and my friends had the decency not to mention it.

"Umm… umm…"

"A chicken?" I asked, curious. Loz shook his head and continued pantomiming, as everyone thought hard.

"A bird? A plane?" Kadaj asked.

"Planes don't flap their wings." Jamie pointed out.

Loz shook his head. Putting three fingers in the air, we all said "Three words".

"First word" Yazoo muttered.

Loz began choking himself.

"Choke?" I added. Loz nodded.

"Second word" Kadaj happily bounced in his seat. Loz shaped his fingers into the shape of the letter "o".

"O?" Crystal murmured. Then her eyes lit up. "Chocobo! It's a chocobo!"

"Finally!" Loz joked, collapsing into the armchair. Everyone laughed, and Sephiroth's deep laughter vibrated my shoulders. I reveled in the feeling.

"Someone want to tell me what a chocobo is?" I muttered, feeling very left out.

"It's a bird from Gaia. Something from the video game." Crystal explained. I rolled my eyes.

"I still think it's a giant chicken." Every one laughed at me.

Even I had to laugh at me.

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After all these years I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning;

it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.

- Mark Twain

I offered to drive in the morning. It was becoming a problem for me to have nothing to do. Whenever I found myself bored, I would fall asleep and dream these odd things, sometimes not even remembering them. So, I offered to drive everyone back to the house. I wasn't sure how they'd arrived in Atlanta in the first place, but all four of them happily offered to give me company.

We said goodbye to Jamie and Crystal, and headed out to the country side, the dead world of no progress and nasty hicks. Clouds floated above as trees began replacing skyscrapers as the high towering beauties that catch the eye.

Only ten minutes into the drive, I looked to Sephiroth. I looked back to my review mirror, then back at Sephiroth.

"When were you going to tell me we have stowaways?" Sephiroth gave me a tempting, knowing smirk.

"I wondered if you would catch on."

Everyone in the car turned back except for me. I looked back through the mirror.

Slowly and a bit embarrassed at being caught, Jamie and Crystal's heads slowly appeared in the mirror as they sat up in the back.

"Hey guys! Fancy seeing you here!" My brother laughed nervously. I cast him a dirty look. Sephiroth turned back to the front and shook his head with a smirk.

"My house is becoming so crowded." I sighed.

I jumped when I felt Sephiroth's hand move over and squeeze my thigh reassuringly, and I inwardly loved the feeling. I knew that Sephiroth knew, and the only thing keeping him from jumping all over me was the fact the others were in the back. Not the fact I was driving the car; he would gladly sacrifice the metal hunk of junk for the sake of his carnal needs. His needs were becoming… "hotter"… I woke up to him nibbling on my ear.

"It will be over soon" He reassured me. I was surprised, and my eyes went wide. I wasn't sure what he meant.

But I had a feeling it was important.

The light in this place is so bad


Makin' me sick in the head


All the laughter is just makin' me sad


The stars have turned cherry red

-Bob Dylan: Standing in the Doorway