The Desert Shall Rejoice

by LuckyLadybug

Summary:

Sequel to To Blossom As the Rose. Sephiroth and everyone are back on Gaia after their strange three-year detour. Now they have to deal with bringing down Shinra, Cloud's continuing hatred towards Sephiroth, and the mysterious, manipulative voice he's been hearing in his head.

Notes:

The characters aren’t mine and the story is! This is a sequel to To Blossom As the Rose, a very strange fic that started out as simply an Aerith and Sephiroth fic set in the Old West and somehow became just canon divergent instead of AU through and through. (Sephiroth will explain this in his opening thoughts.) Some canon things happened differently or ended up not happening at all. I’ve wanted to revisit the verse and see what’s happening with the characters and take them through an approximation of the rest of the original game’s events, with one very key difference: Sephiroth is not the antagonist. How will that work? I’ve gone through many ponderings over that problem for months, with nothing sounding right. Finally something clicked and I’m running with it. I believe at this point, Jenova herself will be the Big Bad, but we shall see what happens as this unfolds. I also want to get this Cloud and Seph into a happier place, which they were not at by the end of the original fic.

Chapter 1

Sephiroth sighed to himself as he pulled on a fresh pair of gloves in his room at Elmyra Gainsborough's house. So much had happened in the last several days. Who would have thought that his being transferred to a small Old West town would lead to his forming a friendship with his best friend's girlfriend, the discovery that his friend was still alive, or that he himself had sent everyone to the past on another planet in a desperate attempt to save his friend's life after the boy had nearly died at Nibelheim?

Now their memories were restored and they were all back home, thanks again to him and his mysterious powers. And so much was still going to happen once they figured out what their next move should be. The group could not seem to agree on the right course of action to bring down Shinra, the evil corporation ultimately responsible for all of their ills. Barret and some of his AVALANCHE associates wanted to blow up the mako reactors in Midgar, insisting they were siphoning life from the Planet. Sephiroth had been horrified at that and had just come from what had become a vehement argument against it.

"You can't blow up the reactors," he had insisted. "The greatest damage from that will be to thousands of innocent people in the city!"

Barret had been furious and called Sephiroth several unflattering names, revealing that he did not trust Shinra's former Golden Boy at all. And really, Sephiroth could not blame him for that. Why would Barret trust him?

Why did any of them trust him?

They knew he had lost his mind and burned Nibelheim. And while it was true that seeing Genesis impale Zack had snapped him out of it in utter horror, he still wondered if he was a ticking time bomb and might snap again at any time.

That in addition to the fact that he had been Shinra's most highly celebrated and decorated hero, whether or not he had wanted it and deserved it.

Wanted it, no. Deserved it . . . he wasn't sure.

At least he wasn't alone in his concerns about the reactors. Zack, Aerith, and Tifa had all spoke up, agreeing with him that something so destructive was not a course they should pursue, even in the name of saving the Planet. Barret and Jessie had been angry, and Jessie especially had insisted that the end justified the means when the entire Planet was at stake.

Cloud was still too sick to weigh in either way. Zack hoped that Cloud would feel as he did, but who knew.

"Hey," came Aerith's soft voice, and he looked up to see her standing before him in a lovely white dress with small reddish-pink flowers. Her constant pink bow was still tying up her hair.

"Hello," Sephiroth greeted. "That is . . . you look very lovely," he said as he fumbled over what he wanted to say.

Aerith didn't mind. She smiled and came in, taking his arm. "Why, thank you, General. You look very handsome yourself. Once Zack is ready, we can all go."

Perhaps it was strange in the face of all the serious problems they were debating, but Zack and Sephiroth were still taking Aerith through the portal to the church social in the Old West version of Edge. Sephiroth had promised to take her and he intended to keep that promise, and Aerith had said they needed something fun to clear their heads after such a terrible argument.

Now she said, "And honestly, you were wonderful today. Zack and Tifa and I agree with you completely. We have to find a different way to bring Shinra down. Blowing up the reactors isn't it."

Sephiroth sighed but smiled a bit before sobering. "We need to go after Shinra directly, not to launch an assault that will harm so many others. If Barret and Jessie and the others in AVALANCHE don't agree, then we will simply have to part ways. But I meant it that I will do everything I can to stop them if they insist on pursuing their course of going after the reactors."

"And we're with you all the way," Aerith promised.

". . . I wonder how Cloud will feel," Sephiroth wondered. "If he recovers, will he join Barret's side simply because I am not on it?"

"Zack doesn't believe that," Aerith said. "And Tifa is on our side. I'd think Cloud would have more loyalty to Tifa than Barret."

"Cid didn't seem to agree with Barret either," Sephiroth remarked.

"And that and Tifa siding against him probably made him madder than anything else, since they're friends," Aerith said. "But it'll be okay. We're all following our consciences. Maybe he'll be more willing to listen to our point of view when he calms down."

Sephiroth sighed. "Barret keeps going on about making the world safer for his daughter," he said. "But doesn't he realize how many children just like Marlene will die if reactors are blown up?"

"I don't know," Aerith said softly. "Maybe . . . he hasn't really stopped to think about it beyond how it will cripple Shinra."

Sephiroth stared out the window at the Kalm night. ". . . I was trained from childhood to be a soldier. I was good at it. I was taught to kill the enemy before they could kill me, and I discovered that some of our enemies had trained children and the elderly likewise."

Aerith gasped at that.

"I killed so many when I was only 12." Sorrow filled Sephiroth's voice. "Most of it seemed to be necessary, but . . . one boy, the last of his people, didn't have to die. He . . . wanted me to kill him so he could join his loved ones." He passed a hand over his eyes. "I didn't want to do it. But . . . finally I did. I . . . didn't want him to feel the immense loneliness I always did."

Aerith hugged him. "Oh Sephiroth. . . ."

"Now that I know what I know now, I would have kept him alive," he said quietly. "I would have kept . . . so many of them alive. In Wutai, I didn't kill unless I absolutely had to.

"I . . . can't stand by and allow Barret to go through with his plans. I won't, no matter what happens because of it." At last he drew an arm around Aerith. Hugging was awkward for him, but he liked it. Loved it, even. Zack had called him touch-starved, and really, it was true.

"It's going to be okay," Aerith promised again. "We won't let the reactors go." Drawing back, she smiled at him and said, "Now, how about we go see what's taking Zack so long to get ready?"

Sephiroth smirked a bit. "If he's trying to be formal, he's probably struggling with his tie again. He always hated those. I can't blame him."

Aerith laughed. "Let's go see!" She tugged on Sephiroth's hand.

Finally, smiling, he went with her.

---

Cloud turned his head to the side, scowling as he listened to the sounds from downstairs in Elmyra's house. It wasn't an argument this time, at least, but apparently Sephiroth and Zack were both taking Aerith to some dance and they were hurrying to finish getting ready. Why, when there was so much they needed to think about doing, were they taking time out for something like that?

"Are you really upset about it? Or jealous, perhaps?"

Cloud jumped a mile in bed. He had just heard a voice in his mind! He knew he wasn't imagining. "What the . . . ?! Who are you?" he demanded. It was a woman's voice, silky and smooth and dark. He didn't like it.

"I am . . . a friend," she purred. "I understand how angry you are with Sephiroth. I am as well."

"Yeah?" Cloud frowned. "He betrayed you too?"

"Oh yes. He was going to help me do something very important, but he suddenly abandoned me when I no longer fit his goals."

". . . That sounds like him," Cloud muttered. Louder he said, "So why are you talking to me in my head?"

"I'm all alone and lonely. This is the only way I can communicate. And it only works with certain people. Certain . . . special people."

"You're saying I'm special because I can hear you?" Cloud didn't really like the sound of this. And yet he kept listening.

"Of course. You and Sephiroth are both special in that way. Unique. But you are better than he is. You are the real hero he stopped being at Nibelheim."

Cloud snorted. "Yeah, right. I got taken and tortured by a mad scientist for three years and my best friend had to rescue me. I'm still getting better from that. Some hero."

"You have the heart of a hero. You've just never been able to prove it before."

"And now you're going to give me the chance or something?" Cloud grunted.

"Join with me and you will indeed have that chance."

Cloud scoffed. "Not interested."

"Even if it would mean protecting everyone from Sephiroth? You know he's dangerous. Nibelheim proves it. And yet everyone is falling under his spell again. Even Tifa cares about him now. She of all people never should have abandoned her knowledge of how dangerous Sephiroth is, and how evil. Don't you want to protect her, as you promised her so long ago?"

Okay, now Cloud was both creeped out and . . . he wasn't sure what else. ". . . Sephiroth went nuts," he said. "It's not like he went bad on purpose."

But if he truly believed that, why could he not forgive?

He pushed that thought aside. There was something more important to ask. "How do you even know about the promise?!"

"You told me about it. Don't you remember, Cloud? Don't you remember any of our conversations from before?"

Cloud stiffened. He didn't . . . and yet maybe he did. Had he heard this voice in his head during the torture, during the long hours of being alone in a mako tank? When he hadn't been able to talk with Zack, had he talked with this voice instead?

". . . Maybe," he said at last.

"You also promised to come help me. Do you remember that at all?"

"No," Cloud retorted. "Why would I promise that?"

"Because . . . it's what we both want."

". . . So do you think Sephiroth is going to flip out again or something?" Cloud asked.

"He's already been doing that. Think of all the times his power has gotten away from him. He sent all of us to that other planet. Then he sent us back along with the town you'd been staying in."

"He fixed all of that," Cloud said. "He put up a barrier around the town so Shinra couldn't get at it and then he figured out how to send the town and its people home while leaving us here."

"Are you falling under his spell too?"

A snort. "Of course not! I'm just . . . telling how it was." Cloud frowned. The more he talked with this voice, the more he was starting to realize that maybe he wasn't being fair to Sephiroth. The man was completely tortured about Nibelheim. He'd had a nervous breakdown for those three years and blocked out all memory of that Hellish night.

But . . . he had still burned the town. He had still caused the deaths of so many, including Cloud's mother.

Cloud gripped a handful of quilt. How could he ever forgive that?

". . . What is it you want done?" he said at last.

"Come to me and you will see."

"Come to you? Where are you?" Cloud weakly pushed himself up on the bed. "It's not like I'm doing great at moving right now."

"You will sense me. You will know where to go. You will feel the pull of Reunion."

"Reunion? What . . ."

But Cloud trailed off as Tifa arrived in the doorway. She smiled at him in a melancholy way. "How are you doing?" she asked.

Cloud moved to speak and suddenly realized that the whole time he had been talking with the voice, he hadn't spoken aloud. Now, trying to articulate with Tifa, he could barely get out a few words. "About the same, I guess."

She came further into the room. "It's too bad you don't feel up to going to the church social too," she said. "It might be fun before we have to get serious about beating Shinra."

"I can heal you," came the voice again. "Just tell me you will help me and I will give you the means to come to me."

Cloud tried to ignore it. "I'm . . . not into that," he said to Tifa.

"I know. You never have been," Tifa said. "I just thought maybe you'd be willing to try it now." She smiled slightly.

Cloud reddened. "If you . . . wanted to go, yeah . . . I'd take you."

She smiled more at that.

"So, will you help me, Cloud Strife?"

Again Cloud fought to ignore the voice. "What was all that stuff earlier about . . . reactors?"

Tifa sighed, looking so tired now. "Well, now that we're back home, we need to figure out how we're going to go against Shinra."

"I know," Cloud mumbled.

"Barret and Jessie want to blow up the reactors in Midgar," Tifa said. "They think that will hurt Shinra and also send them a clear message about what we're capable of. Barret hoped Sephiroth and Zack would tell them the best way to get in so they could set the bombs. Instead, they were horrified and refused to help."

Cloud's eyes flickered. "Sephiroth . . . really?"

Tifa nodded. "He insisted so many innocent people would die and it wouldn't really help our fight against Shinra. And . . ." She hesitated. "I agree with him."

Cloud looked away with a grunt, not even sure how to feel. ". . . Sephiroth is . . . a hypocrite. He burned Nibelheim. . . . Lots of innocent people died."

Tifa jerked up at that. "He lost his mind, Cloud," she said, and Cloud knew that was true. "Maybe it's even partially because of that that he's so adamant now."

Cloud sighed. Sephiroth was a good person when sane, just as he had been before. Now he was so much more saddened and weighed down by the memory of all he had done in that burst of temporary insanity. Cloud knew all of that, and yet he still struggled to forgive. But . . . he had defended Sephiroth to the weird voice in his head. Why couldn't he feel that way with others?

"So . . . what're we going to do?" he asked, opting not to talk more about Sephiroth right then.

"I don't know," Tifa said. "Barret and Jessie left, hopefully to cool off. Sephiroth and Zack are taking Aerith to the church social. Cid's . . . I don't know. He's just walking around swearing and getting scolded by Elmyra."

Cloud smirked a bit at that.

Elmyra's voice wafted up through the heat vents after a particularly terrible burst of said swearing. "Now see here, Captain Potty Mouth, you go outside if you're going to talk like a sewer! Do you understand me?!"

Cid stammered and stuttered in vain protest.

"Now out you go! I am not having this child pick up your foul habits!"

Cloud had to snark. "Never thought . . . anyone would call him on it."

"Aerith might have," Tifa smirked a bit. "She probably got her spunk from Elmyra."

"Maybe," Cloud said. "Maybe . . . her birth mom too."

"Yeah." Tifa tilted her head. "How do you feel, Cloud? About the reactors, I mean."

Cloud gave a weak shrug. "I don't know if . . . all that stuff the planetologists say is true," he mumbled. "It sounds . . . weird. Crazy. And . . . even if it's true . . . I . . . don't want more people hurt."

Tifa smiled sadly. "Me either. So . . . if things don't work out and AVALANCHE ends up split in two directions, what will you do?" A hesitation. "If that happens . . . Sephiroth will be leading the other faction."

Cloud looked away. "I . . . don't know. Can't think about it . . . right now."

"Okay." Tifa laid a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want me to stay or go?"

"Stay," Cloud said. He liked Tifa being there, and her presence seemed to make the weird voice shut up more . . . at least for now.

He didn't want to hear it.

Tifa smiled. "Even if we don't go to the church social, maybe we can have a nice time here together."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "Maybe so." A hesitation. "Tifa . . . how . . . can you forgive? You know . . . what he did. How? Just knowing he cracked up . . . isn't enough for me. I can't . . . forgive him."

Tifa sighed sadly. "Sometimes I still wonder myself," she admitted. "I used to think he was probably as cold and cruel as Genesis behaved when he confessed to stabbing Zack. But Sephiroth was filled with so many emotions and sadness and grief. He couldn't even handle the heartbreak of knowing Genesis had stabbed Zack and didn't seem to care. And somehow, seeing him driven to a nervous collapse because he loved so much . . . it started to change my feelings. I just couldn't hate him anymore."

". . . And Zack said . . . Mom told Sephiroth to save us. . . ."

"Yeah, that's right," Tifa said with a sad smile.

"So even she . . . forgives him." Tears pricked Cloud's eyes. "I still . . . hate him. Will I . . . ever feel different?"

"I don't know," Tifa said. "I hope so. But . . . you have to want to forgive before you can start to be able to."

Cloud sighed. "I . . . keep thinking I don't want to forgive . . . that I can't. That . . . it would be betraying . . . everyone in Nibelheim if I do. . . . But . . . that isn't true, is it?"

"Your mom wouldn't think so," Tifa said. She hesitated. "And Cloud . . . would it really matter how anyone else felt?"

". . . You wouldn't . . . think so," Cloud mumbled. "They . . . didn't care . . . about me. But . . . it was . . . the only home I had. . . ."

Tifa laid a hand on his shoulder. "Your home now is with all of us," she said softly. "We all care about you, Cloud, unlike almost everyone in Nibelheim did."

Cloud smiled a bit. "I know."

Of course, what Tifa didn't say . . . what she didn't feel she had the right to say . . . was that that meant Sephiroth cared about Cloud too.

And Cloud definitely didn't know how to feel about that.

". . . You know, it's funny," Tifa suddenly said. "No one could get you to talk beyond a word or two for a long time . . . until Sephiroth was brought up. Then you started talking in whole sentences again."

Cloud averted his gaze. "I . . . really hate him."

Tifa gave a sad smile. "I have to be grateful for him getting you to talk, even though he didn't do it directly. And . . . I have to wonder, Cloud . . . do you really hate him as much as you say? Or deep down . . . do you still care?"

"No," Cloud said emphatically. "I don't."

But deep down . . . what he didn't want to say . . . what he wouldn't let himself even think . . . was that he didn't know the answer.

Notes:

There’s a seller on Etsy with FF miniatures, called by funny names. Cid is Captain Potty Mouth. LOL. I had to use that one.

Chapter 2

As it turned out, Zack was indeed fighting with a tie.

“Oh man! I can never get these things to go right!” he groaned. “No wonder Reno never bothers with them!”

Sephiroth had to smirk at that. “I highly doubt a tie is actually necessary,” he remarked. “Especially considering we’re going to step through a portal into the Old West days.”

Aerith nodded. “You might even be overdressed!” she said.

Zack’s eyes lit up. “Really? Alright!” He plopped the tie back on the bed. “Your mom said the tie belonged to her husband, but if I don’t have to wear it now, great!”

Aerith regarded him in amusement. “You might want to wear it some time in the future, though,” she said playfully, tugging on his collar.

“Yeah? When?” Zack asked.

“To the wedding, of course!” Aerith said with a wink.

“Oh! Of course!” Zack grinned.

Sephiroth chuckled, amused as well.

“Come to think of it, is Seph gonna need to wear a shirt for that?” Zack suddenly realized.

“Hmm.” Aerith pretended to think. “That’s certainly what would be normally done. But maybe we’ll end up bending tradition on that, since you’re already planning to bend it by having two best men!”

“Then maybe we can skip the tie too?!” Zack said hopefully.

“Maybe!” Aerith linked arms with both men. “So, I’d say we’re more than ready to go.”

“. . . Hey, are we gonna be able to take the pick-up truck?!” Zack suddenly realized as they walked. “Maybe Barret and Jessie took it when they stormed off!”

“I think they left in Jessie’s vehicle,” Sephiroth said. “However, if we need to, I do have an alternate means of transportation for us.”

Aerith smiled. “Your wing?”

Sephiroth nodded. “I could get us to the portal fairly swiftly by flight.”

“Great! Sounds fun!” Zack grinned.

“And I’m glad you’re realizing that even though you got it in a horrible way, a wing can be a blessing,” Aerith said, still smiling.

“I’ve started to feel differently about it ever since I was able to save Zack and Cloud because of it,” Sephiroth said.

“Yeah! That was amazing!” Zack said, hugging Seph close.

Sephiroth returned it with a smile.

As they stepped outside, the old pick-up truck that Zack and Cloud had escaped the lab in was still parked in the driveway. The three went over, all climbing into the cab. Sephiroth drove them towards the portal in the area just outside Midgar. Upon approaching the spot, he parked behind a rock so they’d be better concealed and stepped out.

Zack hopped down too, and then waited in case Aerith needed help as well. She smiled, carefully stepping off the high step in front of the door and easing herself to the ground while keeping her skirt high enough so as not to be tripped on in the attempt.

“Alright,” she said when she was safely between the two men, “let’s go find the party!”

“I can hear the music!” Zack said. “The portal’s over this way.”

“. . . I wonder if Shinra caught sight of the town before I was able to send it back,” Sephiroth remarked.

“Somebody probably did,” Zack said. “And it’s not like they’d say anything about it if they did; they’d keep it all hush-hush.”

“That’s Shinra for you,” Aerith remarked.

Sephiroth looked to her in some surprise. “Are you familiar with the company?”

“Who isn’t?” Aerith said lightly, and Sephiroth was immediately sure there was more to it than that. But he wouldn’t push here. This was supposed to be a happy, relaxing time.

Soon they arrived at the portal and walked through to the Old West town on the other side. It was a strange shift, going from a wilderness to a bustling town—even though said bustling town was in the 1870s.

“Home sweet home,” Aerith remarked.

Sephiroth tilted his head. “Do you consider Edge more your home than our world now?” he wondered.

Aerith pondered. “It’s funny,” she mused. “I have all the memories of life on Gaia now, but I still remember all the times on this planet too. It makes me wonder how many of the memories really are false!”

“Curious,” Sephiroth said.

“I never got my memories altered,” Zack remarked, “so this place sure isn’t home to me. But I’m grateful to it. Let’s go say Hi to everyone!”

Aerith led the way to the church. The sounds of happy music and laughter grew louder as they approached, and as they came upon the site of the gathering, some of the people looked up to see who was arriving.

“Hello!” Marshal Dan Corbin immediately went over with a smile. “I’m glad you made it.”

“So are we,” Aerith smiled. Sephiroth had gone through the portal before to make sure everyone was okay and to let them know everyone else was okay as well. He had mentioned then that some of them would still be coming.

“Come in, dance, get something to eat!” Dan said. “Oh, and there’s somebody here who says he knows you.”

“Yeah, who?” Zack blinked.

“That red-haired fella at the punch bowl,” Dan said with a nod in that direction.

They all turned to look with a surprised start. Reno was there, sipping the punch and watching all of them with an eagle eye.

“I don’t understand,” Aerith said in surprise. “Didn’t he get sent back with us?!”

“He sure did,” Dan said. “He came back through to check the portal out.”

Zack was stunned. “But . . . Angeal said only certain people could find it, and that if anybody had bad intentions, they wouldn’t be able to get through!”

“Then either a mistake was made when it was created or it isn’t a bad thing for Reno to be here,” Sephiroth remarked. “Let’s go talk to him.”

Aerith seemed oddly tense as she went over with them. She could scarcely believe it would be a good thing for the Turks to know of the portal.

Feeling her tensing, Sephiroth tightened his arm protectively around her shoulders.

Reno just smiled casually as they approached. “Hey,” he greeted. “This is a nice little set-up you’ve got here, passing back and forth between two worlds.”

“What are you going to do with this information?” Sephiroth asked.

“Well . . . Shinra’s pretty interested in this town,” Reno drawled. “They were all set to come check it out, but it disappeared just like that! So I’ve been poking around since then and I found that portal hanging in thin air.”

“And you’re planning to go back and tell them about it?” Sephiroth frowned.

“That’s what I’m supposed to do,” Reno agreed. “But . . . I’m not.”

Zack blinked. “Why not?”

“Consider it a little favor from the Turks to you guys,” Reno smiled easily. “Tseng said this place wouldn’t really be any use to Shinra, so we should just keep quiet about it.”

“Yeah? Great,” Zack said. “You know, it really means a lot to me that you guys tried to help me and Cloud.”

“Not that we were actually able to do anything, but you’re safe, at least,” Reno said.

“And better off than they’d be with Shinra again,” Sephiroth added. “They had better stay safe.”

“Hey, Shinra won’t hear anything from me,” Reno said. “Or from Rude or Tseng either.”

Sephiroth nodded. “I’m grateful you tried to help them. And this had also better be the truth about leaving this town alone. It’s decades in the past. It would be of no use to Shinra, just as Tseng said.”

“Yeah, I can’t see how they could do anything here,” Reno said. He set the empty cup down. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“Why not hang around and dance for a while or something?” Zack offered.

“Thanks, but I’d just as soon get back to the modern world,” Reno said. “This place is too vintage for me.” He gave a casual wave. “I’ll see you guys around.” And he sauntered off.

They watched until he was out the door into the night air. Then Aerith relaxed, slightly. “Well, that was interesting,” she said brightly. Perhaps too brightly. “Let’s dance and then eat.”

“Sounds great to me!” Zack said.

Most of the dances were square dances and other energetic dances that enabled both Zack and Sephiroth to dance with Aerith at the same time. Zack was a natural at the dance moves, while Sephiroth took a bit to get used to them. But he was very nimble and a fast learner and soon was moving as swiftly as Zack.

By the time everyone had worked up an appetite and was settling at a table, Zack was still full of pep. “I’ll get food for us!” he chirped, and hurried off to the buffet line.

Sephiroth had to fondly chuckle. “Ah, Zack. He is still very much the same, even after everything.”

“That’s nice, you know?” Aerith smiled. “A lot of people wouldn’t be able to do the same.”

“Yes. Like Cloud.” Sephiroth sighed heavily.

Aerith touched his arm. “Cloud will be okay,” she said. “Let’s think about happy things tonight.”

Sephiroth briefly tried to ponder that before saying, “I am . . . not always good at that.”

“Well . . . Zack makes both of us happy, so we can think about him,” Aerith suggested.

Sephiroth watched Zack in the buffet line, trying to hold still and looking eager for the food. “. . . When Zack’s mentor Angeal disappeared, I decided to finish Zack’s training myself. It was difficult at first, more because Zack didn’t want someone else than because he was hard to train.”

“He’d idolized you so much, though,” Aerith said.

“And yet when I pointed out the truth of Angeal leaving, Zack was highly upset and refused to believe it,” Sephiroth said. “He considered that I was the one doing the betraying instead of Angeal.”

“I remember how frustrated his letters were,” Aerith said. “But then they changed. How did you wind up so close?”

“It wasn’t really one thing, but a series of smaller incidents,” Sephiroth explained. “Over time, Zack gradually began to accept that Angeal had indeed left him behind and I was the one who had stayed. We saved each other’s lives during missions and grew to love each other very much. I felt closer to Zack, somehow, that I had with Angeal and Genesis, even though I still loved them very much as well. And finally Zack felt the same about me.”

“I’m glad,” Aerith said. “You’re such a warm, kind person. More people should realize that.”

“Genesis never saw it,” Sephiroth said. “Zack didn’t at first, but finally he did.” He sounded awed about that.

“Zack is a very thoughtful person,” Aerith said. “I’m afraid I can’t say the same for Genesis.”

“I wish I could say he was different before, but he wasn’t,” Sephiroth said. “He was always the impulsive sort and didn’t seem to understand my feelings.” He sighed. “But I don’t want to speak ill of him after he gave everything to save Zack and Cloud.”

“Mm.” Aerith nodded. “You’re right. We’ll always owe him a lot for that.”

“I still wonder if I’ll ever see him again,” Sephiroth said.

Aerith really felt it was better if he didn’t, but she said, “Surely he’ll come to you and let you see he’s alright, at least.”

“Perhaps,” Sephiroth said. “And I wonder about Angeal as well. Zack believes he’s alive, but is he? For him to have the power to bring back Genesis, he must have learned how to manipulate the Lifestream to do what he wants, even to call back spirits from it.”

“Was Genesis even in the Lifestream, since our worlds were merged at the time?” Aerith mused. “It’s hard to say. To me it sounds more like Angeal might be . . . well, an angel.”

Sephiroth grunted. “This world has such teachings. It even seems to have an interested God. But can the same be said for our own world?”

Aerith pondered. “My birth mom told me that they used to teach about God and Heaven and Hell on our world,” she said. “Then Shinra took over and started teaching all their atheistic views.”

“And now we have those planetologists bringing in yet another viewpoint,” Sephiroth remarked. “The Lifestream is definitely real, but is it what they say? When I die, I don’t want to merge with every other being who ever lived on the Planet. I still want to be myself.”

Aerith smiled, laying her hand on his. “I want you to be yourself too. And really, I think you will be.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” Sephiroth mused. “If the planetologists are possibly right, then the way this world’s afterlife operates feels twisted, wrong. And I would question why any god would allow it.”

Aerith pondered. “My birth mom also talked about things the planetologists believe in,” she said. “She acted like returning to the Lifestream was a beautiful, natural thing and that everybody helps the planet by nurturing it in the Lifestream.”

“That’s how she felt,” Sephiroth pointed out. “But how do you feel?”

Aerith stared off at the opposite wall as she thoughtfully considered the question. “. . . It broke my heart when, after seeing my birth mom for a few days after she died, she said she had to return to the Lifestream and suddenly she wasn’t there anymore,” she confessed. “She didn’t want to go; it was like she was being pulled against her will.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I think. But I want to believe I’ll still see her again someday.”

“Only if she’s dissipated into the Lifestream, how will that ever be possible?” Sephiroth wondered.

“I don’t know,” Aerith admitted. She tilted her head. “It’s not such a comforting teaching after all, is it?”

Sephiroth shook his head. “Not at all.”

Aerith gave a small smile-smirk. “It looks like we’re both pretty bad at sticking with happy subjects.”

“I apologize,” Sephiroth said in chagrin. “I shouldn’t have furthered it. It was . . . an interesting discussion. I don’t normally get to engage in philosophical and religious topics.”

Aerith thought about it for a moment. “You know, I like it too,” she mused. “You brought up a lot of good points. It feels like there has to be another answer somehow. Maybe someday someone will find it. Maybe even me.”

“Perhaps,” Sephiroth said. “But why you, specifically?”

Before Aerith could answer—if she even would have—Zack bounded back over to them with two full plates. A smiling Kate Corbin was following with a third.

“Hi there,” she greeted. “I met Zack at the buffet table and decided to help him out bringing your food. He was going to try to balance one of the plates on his head and that just wouldn’t do.”

Sephiroth regarded Zack in amusement. “He might have succeeded at that, but thank you.”

Zack grinned, setting down the two plates he was holding for Aerith and Sephiroth. “This is a really nice place!” he proclaimed.

“It is,” Aerith smiled. “Hello, Kate. It’s good to see you again.”

“The town never stops talking,” Kate remarked. “There’s never been this much excitement here.”

“No, I imagine being pulled from one world to another is a rare experience,” Sephiroth deadpanned as he started to eat.

Zack sat down between them and Kate gave the third plate to him. “Everybody’s been asking lots of questions!” he said. “That’s what was taking so long.”

“Oh? I thought it was probably taking you that long to pick what food to bring,” Aerith smiled.

“That was easy! I brought some of everything!” Zack said.

Sephiroth smirked. He had thought so.

Looking to Kate, he asked, “Is Captain Harper here?”

“He said he might be late,” Kate said. “He’s still trying to figure out what he’s going to say about everything in his report. It makes it weirder that on the one hand we still remember everything, but on the other hand we know that isn’t the way things are supposed to be. People who don’t know the whole story are even more confused.”

“That would be pretty confusing,” Aerith agreed with a sage nod.

Kate looked to Aerith. “Is your mother coming, Aerith? She was always a staple at our socials.”

Aerith smiled a bit wistfully. “She wasn’t sure,” she said. “Now that we’re all back home, there’s . . . a lot to set in order.” Which was a vast understatement now that AVALANCHE was in her home. Everyone had to tread cautiously to avoid detection by Shinra.

“I can imagine,” Kate remarked. “Well, we’re plenty happy to get to see you and your friends.” She smiled at Sephiroth and Zack. “But I hope Elmyra won’t be a stranger now. You let her know everyone still thinks highly of her.”

“I will,” Aerith promised.
****
Tifa looked up in a bit of surprise when Elmyra suddenly appeared at the doorway to Cloud’s room, her brow furrowed in concern. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“In all the commotion, I forgot about the casserole I was going to send to the church social with Aerith and the men,” Elmyra sighed.

“Oh.” Tifa frowned. “You weren’t planning to go yourself?”

“I thought I would at first, but then in all the commotion with Barret and that girl, it didn’t seem like a good idea,” Elmyra said.

Cloud looked over too. “Why don’t you go . . . with Tifa?” he suggested. “She . . . wanted to go.”

“I wanted to go with you, Cloud,” Tifa said. She didn’t really care about it much otherwise, not when much of the town had been prejudiced against her. Elmyra herself had seemed lukewarm about Tifa until her memories had returned.

“It’s alright,” Elmyra said. “We can eat the casserole ourselves and it’ll be just as good.”

Tifa sighed to herself. “Yeah, but you made it for them. I’d take you, Mrs. Gainsborough, but Cloud really shouldn’t be left alone. . . .”

“Or with Captain ‘I’m Sleeping When I’m Not Swearing Up a Storm,’” Elmyra remarked with a roll of her eyes. “That’s just as good as being alone. No, don’t worry about it, Miss Lockhart. I don’t want to leave that man roaming around my house if I’m not here.”

“. . . Did Aerith and the others know about the casserole?” Tifa asked.

“I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t sure I’d have time to put it together,” Elmyra admitted. “That was stupid of me.”

Tifa took her phone, frowning at it. “I guess now that our worlds are separate again, I wouldn’t be able to call them about it,” she said.

Cloud shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt . . . to try.”

Tifa nodded. “You’re right. Okay, here goes.” She dialed the number Zack was using on a borrowed phone, fully sure it would go to voicemail.

Instead, after a couple of rings, he picked up. “Hey, this is Zack!”

Tifa blinked in surprise. “Hi, Zack,” she greeted. “Are you . . . at the social?” It seemed a silly question, for how could he be?

“Sure am!” Zack chirped.

“Oh.” Tifa stared at the phone in disbelief. How was there still a signal over there?

“So what’s up?” Zack asked.

“Um, well, Elmyra told us she’d made a casserole and then forgot to have you take it,” Tifa said. “I wondered if there was still any way to get it there.”

“No problem!” Zack said immediately. “I’ll come pick it up! Seph and Aerith can stay here. It should just take a few minutes!”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Tifa said.

“Yeah, it’s fine!” Zack insisted. “How’s Cloud?”

Tifa glanced to him. “He’s not too bad,” she said. “We’ve been talking.”

“Great! Tell him I’ll be by to say Hi soon!” And Zack hung up.

“. . . Well, that was strange,” Tifa said after a moment of silence. “I wonder how the call connected.”

Cloud shrugged. “Phone signals . . . go through portals?”

“I guess so,” Tifa said.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Blossomverse