He opened his eyes, only to be nearly blinded by the bright green that surrounded him. He couldn't feel his body, and wasn't sure if he had ever had one, as he floated through the green.

_Where am I?_ he thought, disoriented, but he knew. He knew exactly where he was._The Lifestream?_

Though it had been a while since he had been here, he felt as though he had never left. The surging life energy of the planet was swirling around him, roaring in his ears, welcoming him back.

[Cloud]

Cloud didn't remember how he came to be here now. It had been many months since the destruction of Meteor, many months since the defeat of Sephiroth. That was the last time he had journeyed through the Lifestream, and felt its power.

[Cloud]

And now, its familiar, oddly soothing caress enveloped him, swallowed him whole, and for the first time in those many months, he felt at peace. It was as though the world he came from, the world he lived in, never existed, and he was glad for it.

[Cloud]

What was that?

Was someone calling his name?

[Cloud]

_Who's there?_ he thought, rather than spoke. _Who's out there, who's calling me?_

[Don't you remember?]

The green intensified, grew brighter, and Cloud had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw that he was standing in a forest. A forest he recognized, but couldn't quite place. That same green light filtered through the trees, giving everything around him an ethereal glow.

As he looked down, Cloud saw that he was wearing his old Soldier uniform again. This made him chuckle, because he knew that this outfit was really stored away in a trunk somewhere. Out of his sight, out of his life, and he was glad it was that way.

[This is the Sleeping Forest, Cloud] came the voice again; soft, gentle, and most of all, familiar. [I've waited to meet you here for so long]

And then he knew.

This was the Sleeping Forest, that which led to the Forgotten City, where _she_ had died.........

.......and the voice was one that his heart had longed to hear, a voice that he had given up hope of ever hearing again.

_Aeris_? he dared.

A gentle wind rushed through the trees of the Sleeping Forest and Cloud's heart stopped. For in the blink of an eye, Aeris Gainsborough now appeared before him. She was sitting on a small rock, one leg crossed over the other. In her hands was a bouquet of small, brightly colored blossoms, like the ones she used to carry.

She was as he last remembered her; clad in a long pink dress with a scarlet topcoat, her chestnut hair tied back with a pink ribbon and cascading down her back in a braid. Her deep blue eyes danced with laughter, perhaps at the expression of abject surprise on his face.

Somehow, Cloud found his voice. "......Aeris....." he breathed.

She was smiling at him, that smile that had stayed with him for the longest of times.

"Yes, Cloud." she said. "It's me." She plucked a flower from her bouquet, one with small, delicate petals, and held it out to him.

Cloud blinked and accepted the flower, still not quite letting himself believe that what was happening was really _happening_.

"How........" he tried to say. "How am I........are you......are we.....?"

"Let me guess: `How can we be here?', right?" she smiled, laying the bouquet down on the rock, and getting to her feet. "Is that really so important?" she asked him, smoothing out the folds of her skirt and then clasping her hands in front of her.

"I guess not." he said. "But I saw Sephiroth kill you......" Aeris put her hands on her hips and fixed that scolding look he knew so well on him. "Hmmph! Don't be so naive, Cloud. You yourself should know that nothing really _dies_ here."

"Um....yeah, I guess so." Cloud said, rather sheepishly. Aeris continued looking at him sternly until she let out a giggle.

"Oh, Cloud, don't take it so seriously!" she laughed. "I swear, one of these days that pointy-haired head of yours is going to pop!"

Cloud couldn't help but chuckle in return. Then Aeris sighed and smiled at him again.

"It's been so long, hasn't it?" she whispered. "So very long........ come here."

She held her hands out to him, and Cloud slowly came forward to take them in his own. As they touched, Cloud felt something well up inside of him and then burst. So many things came rushing back:

....the first time they had met: He was running from the Shinra soldiers after blowing up the Mako Reactor. She was selling flowers innocently on the street.....

.... the second time they had met: After he had fought Air Buster and had fallen for what seemed like forever. As he had woken up in that abbey, hers was the first face he saw, and he found that the angels in the tapestries were no comparison......

.... in Wall Market, she tried to keep herself from laughing hysterically, when he had to play "dress up" in order to save Tifa from Don Corneo.......

.... their "date" on the Golden Saucer, the last moment they had shared together alone. As they had ridden in the cable car, with the lights bright beneath them, the moment seemed to have been frozen forever in time......

.....then, in the Forgotten City, after she had gone off without them, they had found her. She had been kneeling in penitence, summoning Holy, and then.......

.... _and then_......!

.... Sephiroth had come swooping down like the Black Angel of Death, and had ended her life on the point of his blade.

Ever since that moment, it was as though a part of him had died with her. But now that he was here...... that _she_ was here..... he had found what had been missing for too long. And as their hands touched, he knew he was whole again.

The tears came suddenly, as she drew him to her in a tender embrace. Tears of joy, tears of hope long denied, flowed freely down Cloud's cheeks, as he buried his face in her shoulder and began to sob.

Aeris stroked his hair and back gently. "Oh, Cloud...." she whispered in his ear, "I've missed you......I've waited for years, it seems like, to see you again......"

All he could do was weep like a child, holding her as tight as he could, never wanting to let her go again.......

".....but we don't have time for this, right now." she said, as she grasped him by his shoulders and brought him to look her in the eye.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.

"I've come to warn you."

"Warn me? Warn me of what?" Uneasiness began to creep into his words.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, as rain began to fall in the Sleeping Forest. Aeris' face took on a grim expression, and the sky darkened to match her countenance.

"Can't you feel it, Cloud?" she said in a grave tone. "_He_ is coming."

This did nothing to ease Cloud's apprehension. "Who is `he'?" he asked her.

Aeris' didn't answer, her eyes wide with desperation. The thunder rolled and crashed. The rain fell faster, becoming a torrent. Cloud almost didn't notice the downpour, focused wholly on the growing look of dread on Aeris' face.

"Aeris, _who_ is coming?!" he said again.

She pointed to the sky.

"_Him_."

Thunder crashed louder than ever, and this time they had to shield their eyes as the lightning flashed again.

Bringing his arm away from his face, Cloud looked up to the sky. Instead of fading, the light hung there in the black sky, still glowing brightly. Even so, this light was not any he had seen before. No, it was rather as though darkness radiated from the core of what seemed to be a coruscating vortex of black energy. Anti-light.

Out of that anti-light, a figure began to descend. He was tall, dressed all in black that stood out even in the dark power that radiated around him. And as he drew closer, Cloud could make out a head of long, immaculate, white hair.

SEPHIROTH.

Cloud's eyes widened in shock, as Sephiroth came to rest with his black boots hovering a mere inch above the rain-sodden forest floor. Unfortunately, _he_ was also as Cloud last remembered him: Arms crossed in a gesture of superiority, long black coat hiding a body with a deceptively lean build. His mouth was set in a dispassionate line which seemed cut into the rock that was his face.

But the one thing that remained burned into Cloud's memory were the cold, calculating eyes of Sephiroth. Colored ice-blue, those eyes hid a terrible madness that most saw only as subdued boredom.

"No....." Cloud uttered, shaking his head in denial. "No, it can't be. I destroyed you."

Sephiroth snorted, contempt twisting his face into an elaborate sneer. "_You_ destroy _me_? Don't make me laugh. Besides......."

Sephiroth turned and glared menacingly at Aeris, who took a step back

".....you should listen more closely to her, boy. Nothing really _dies_ here."

Then, Sephiroth brought forth his Masamune, the fabled six-foot long blade that only he could wield. He began to approach her.

"_NO!_" Cloud yelled, brandishing his own sword, never bothering to wonder where it had come from. Sephiroth turned to face him, bloodlust evident in those cold eyes.

"Cloud, no!" Aeris cried. "Don't fight him. Not here, not now!"

"Don't lie to the boy." Sephiroth laughed. "He can't defeat me, not now, not ever. He has no power here."

"It is _you_ who are lying, monster." Aeris shot back. "He _can_ defeat you. The time has simply not come yet. And do not make any illusions as to your own `power'. It is but a dying ember, here in the Lifestream."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth said, face contorting with half-crazed rage. "Then know this: even a ember can lead to an inferno!"

With that, Sephiroth laughed madly, raised the Masamune to the sky, and the Lifestream converged upon the three of them. Although instead of green, the light that engulfed them was as dark and as terrible as that which had surrounded Sephiroth.

When his vision cleared again, Cloud saw that he was back in the Forgotten City, in the Crystal Temple. Aeris was kneeling a few feet away from him, as she had been when she had tried to summon Holy. But it was different this time: Sephiroth now stood above her, sword raised in an executioner's fashion. He was preparing to bring it down on her head.

Cloud tried to move, to attack, to scream, to do _anything_, but he found he couldn't move an inch. He had no control over his body, the same way as it had been the first time he was here. The horrible realization dawned on him that Sephiroth was sadistically re-enacting that moment, that terrible moment, from all those months ago, when he had destroyed a part of his life. And once again, he was powerless to do anything about it.

_Not again_ Cloud cried inwardly. _Please. Not again_

From her position on the floor, Aeris looked at Cloud with extreme desperation. Apparently, she was unable to move, either.

"I'm sorry, Cloud...." she said. "He's become too powerful. I had hoped I could get to you in time."

"Aeris......" Cloud whispered in a choked voice.

She gave him a sad smile. "Don't worry about me. I'm already dead, remember?"

"_Enough!_" Sephiroth roared. "This ends here and now!"

But as soon as he tried to bring the Masamune down, white energy crackled around him. The madman bellowed in pain, himself now paralyzed.

"Cloud," Aeris continued, determination in both her eyes and words. "I'm using all of my power to stop him right now. But I don't have much time, so you must listen to me."

All Cloud could do was nod, helpless.

Aeris' voice grew stronger. "Sephiroth has learned to manipulate parts of the Lifestream to his will. He's going to try and return to the Real World, and if -when- he does, he will be far too powerful to defeat."

With an inhuman howl, Sephiroth broke the barrier that held him.

"You must come back through the Lifestream. You must come back, and stop him. You are the only one who can, Cloud. He knows it, and he fears it. He fears _you_."

"Sephiroth fears NO ONE!!" he shouted as he brought the Masamune back up........

Aeris' eyes locked with Cloud in a final plea. [You must defeat him, my love, or there will be enough weeping to last an eternity]

Sephiroth brought the Masamune _down_, and all Cloud could do was scream.......

"_NOOOOO_!!"

Cloud jerked upright in his bed, the cry still issuing from his throat.

His breath came in ragged gasps as he began to realize he was awake. Lying back against the headboard, he clasped his trembling hands to his face and tried to calm himself.

_Was it all just a dream?_ he thought feverishly. _Or a nightmare?_

Then, he noticed the small pink flower that had somehow found its way onto his night table.

_Or, perhaps, something more?_

He picked it up, gently, as if it was made out of dreamstuff itself and would disappear at any moment. He caressed its soft petals, inhaled its soothing perfume, and _knew_.

It had been no dream, no fantasy; it had been a warning, a cry for help in earnest, made by the only one who could.

"Aeris......" he whispered.

Suddenly, the flower began to disintegrate. It shriveled up, turned black, and then finally crumbled to dust in his hands.

Cloud clenched his hand into a fist, and now trembling with rage and newfound determination.

"_Sephiroth_......" he swore, speaking the name as if it were a curse.

His adventures were not over, not just yet.