Sephiroth didn't know much about flowers, had rarely had a chance to see any as more than something on the side of a road or in the distance as he'd traveled and fought his way across Gaia. He knew, however, that they didn't grow in Midgar.

Even Angeal's collection of plants were all green leafed and struggled to survive in a climate controlled apartment with a state of the art air filtration system. There was something about Midgar, and it's reactors, that really was sucking the life out of the planet. They couldn't argue that in the least, they'd seen the dying out of plant life around each one they'd come across, only now with knowledge of the future did he and Genesis and Angeal recognize the damage being done for exactly what it was.

So, stepping into the church that Genesis led them into, was a pleasant shock as the delicate scent of flowers and greenery reached them. Further in, nestled in between broken boards and the remains of pews and piles of rubble, gold lilies and delicate leaves shimmered in the simulated sunlight from above. It made absolutely no sense, but Genesis had insisted that it was here and that its caretaker could help them.

Neither Angeal nor Genesis had begun to suffer from degradation yet, but they were certain it was only a matter of time. Genesis had lived the longest of the three of them, more than a decade past when Angeal and himself had gone mad and been put down by the young men the three of them had taken it upon themselves to mentor and nurture better this time around.

"Can I help you?" a slightly hesitant voice said from behind them and they all turned to look at the slim young woman standing in the door, a basket of red and pink flowers in her hands.

The girl Genesis had spoken of, Aerith, tightened her grip on the woven handle of her basket and took a step closer. She seemed to steel herself, straightening and stepping past them to stride down the aisle to her flowers and dropped down to sit beside them.

"I… I didn't think you were real, actually," she said after a moment, "are you just going to stand there? The planet said you already know about me. So, come on in."

Sephiroth looked at Genesis and Angeal, then shrugged and did as he was told. He didn't want to think about what Genesis had hinted at, that some horrible version of himself had killed this girl. He wished Genesis hadn't been so candid about all of that, it had given him several nightmares already and he doubted it would stop anytime soon.

They all sat down, just out of reach of the girl - hoping to put her a little more at ease. She looked to be the same age as Zack, settling her basket beside her and pulling out the little blossoms and making tiny bouquets of them tied with little pink ribbons.

Solemnly, Aerith handed each of them a little bundle, "There are called cosmos," she said, "they symbolize order and harmony, beauty, self-reliance, resilience, kindness, and, I think most importantly for you if the planet isn't pulling my leg, infinity"

Sephiroth brought the flowers up to bury his nose in them, breathing in their scent and hiding his expression at the same time. No one but the three of them knew they had traveled back in time, something giving them the opportunity to right their wrongs before they'd come to pass.

"Gaia says you don't have to worry about anything," Aerith said after a moment, holding out her hands toward Genesis and Angeal, "the illness you fear has already been purged from you. She wouldn't have brought you back only to make you suffer again. She loves you, all of you, no matter what happened before or… again? This is all sort of confusing."

Aerith turned to look at Sephiroth, a small and fragile smile on her lips, "and she forgives you. I forgive you, even though it hasn't happened and I know it won't. Just do your best, okay?"

Sephiroth's fingers tightened on his little bundle of flowers, the smell of crushed stems and leaves mingling with the flowers as he lowered his eyes.

"I'm still… I'm sorry," he said.

"Just keep doing what you're doing," Aerith smiled as he looked back up at her, "just keep doing your best."

Later, back in his apartment, he slipped the cosmos one by one in between the pages of a book on botany he'd picked up on the way home.

Resilience

Kindness

Harmony

He didn't know much about them, but he was going to learn. He had the opportunity now, he had time, and he was going to use it to do better.