"So cold.... .I am always by your side."

    Always.

    Zutto. (Always).

    Undyingly.

     Hikkirinashi ni. (Incessantly).

    To the end of time.

    Eien ni. (Eternally).

    Beyond death.

    Itsumo. (Always).

    Everlastingly.

    Itsu made mo. (Forever).

   Beyond the life of this planet....

    Tengoku, tenshi. (Heaven, angel.)

    Beyond any life you can create...

   Cloud's words swam in his head. "I want all of you to find that something within yourselves. If you don't find it, then that's okay too. You can't fight without a reason, right? So, I won't hold it against you if you don't come back."

    Find that something....there is only one thing that matters to me in the entire world. That who wishes to destroy all life, only to become it. It all went wrong, Sephiroth. The experiment was out of control. But you were never that. You were a person. And you still are, no matter what it seems to anyone else.

    Cloud says I can't fight without a reason. I need to know *why* I must kill you, Sephiroth. Why I must send you to heaven with all the other angels. I promised never to hurt you. Even if the planet is in danger...I don't know if I can return and fight with the others. I don't know if I can help them. But something is wrong. Something is terribly, terribly wrong. If I can't fix it then....

    Vincent Valentine heaved a sigh as he left the Highwind with an unclear destination.

    Everything he ever knew was dead....

    Or dying.

    Lucretia had run off, hiding from her sins.

    The mansion in Nibelheim held nothing for him but more nightmares.

    And Sephiroth....

    Gods...where we went wrong. You were so gentle once, my winged angel. I haven't forgotten. And I wonder....what is it you really want? You're so confused... I only want to help you....

    I will seek out my reason. I will seek out my will. You are the only thing that matters. You are my life....and thus, you are the only one who can take it from me.

    No one saw him venture into the crater. He was alone, with only the death penalty as a weapon.

    You want me to kill him, don't you Lucretia? You who once told me to never harm a hair on his beautiful head... You've taken it all back now. You want him dead. Everyone wants him dead.

    Everyone but me.

    I am just as confused as he is.

    The former Turk ventured deeper and deeper, being swallowed whole by the dying planet, hungry for life. Sephiroth....my angel...where are you? Come to me.... Kill and me and make me a part of you if that is what you truly desire. I am already part of you. It will make no difference. Let me speak with you, if only for a few moments. I just want to understand.... I mean you no harm.... I never have... Not unless you give me a reason to...

    There was a swirl of air and mist, and Vincent backed up, shielding his face from whatever was coming.

    The familiar figure appeared before him. He looked up, Jenova fused eyes reflecting in the pale lighting. The Turk stood as still as a statue, crimson eyes widening slightly in surprise, shocked that he actually came. That after all these years, after twenty-two long years, here we was, looking at the real Sephiroth once again.

    Sephiroth was silent a moment, his eyes were narrowed, a look he had never used on Vincent before in his life. "Vincent."

    Vincent stood his ground, relaxing his eyes and locking his with the other man's. "Sephiroth..."

    The younger man looked him up and down. "This is what has become of you." A look of almost sadness crossed his angry eyes for an instant. "Hojo."

    "I submitted for you. All for you." Vincent remained where he was and he spoke evenly, keeping all emotion from his voice.
"But Sephiroth, it matters not. Hojo is dead."

    "Hmn." Came the reply. "You?"

    "...Yes. I helped."

    "I always knew that it would be you," the younger of the two said.

    Vincent hesitated for a long moment. Then he took a small step forward and spoke the words, "it is not too late to stop this."

    The green eyes flashed, and it was truly frightening the way Sephiroth set his jaw and clenched his fists. "Don't think I will spare your life if you come any closer."

    The former Turk stopped right where he was. "Kill me. Kill me if that's what you want."

    Sephiroth made no reply.

    "That isn't what you want, is it, Sephiroth?"

    The other man looked away and remained silent.

    "You don't really know what you want. Do you?"

    The eyes flashed dangerously again, and he slammed his fist against the rock wall so hard fragments of the planet fell from the ceiling. "I *KNOW* what I want! I am the chosen one! I am to inherit the planet and all who dwell upon it! I shall become all that is the beginning and end! Just as I was born to be!"

    It broke his heart to say, "You and I know you were an experiment. An experiment. You were supposed to be strong. You were never supposed to be this. You were never supposed--"

    "To know?" Sephiroth snarled, crossing his arms. "You never told me, Vincent. And I trusted you. You acted as if I was just like everyone else."

    "I couldn't tell you," Vincent replied, raising his voice for the first time in a long, long time. Crimson eyes narrowed. I was only protecting you. I was always protecting you."

    "Your excuses mean nothing to me." He sounded more hurt than angry.

    Vincent was not about to turn back now. He felt the tears burning in his eyes as he exclaimed, "You mean *everything* to me. You always have. Please....Sephiroth...don't do this. Remember? Remember how I told you to always stay gentle?" He stopped himself. Stopped himself so he wouldn't cry...

    The electric green eyes diverted away from the other man's, It was as though he couldn't stand to see Vincent upset. "It was a different world for me then. I changed my goals."

   "It is a different world now," said Vincent. "You have made it so."

    "There is no one to stop me," he replied. Pausing for a moment he spoke again in a softer, more gentle tone. "Will you try and stop me, Vincent?"

    He spoke the truth. "I do not know."

    "That is because you know what I am doing is best. It is best for the planet." Again his voice grew softer as he added, "and it is best for me."

    "iie," Vincent said simply, a firm edge to his voice. "No, Sephiroth. I do not know because I do not know if I can harm you."

    "You cannot."

    "Cloud is going to come."

    "Let him. Let him try. I will destroy them all."

    "Will you destroy me?" He almost did not want to ask.

    There was a long hesitation. "............yes."

    "Am I wasting my breath? Am I here for no reason?" Vincent asked.

    Sephiroth said, "This is my only choice now. There is no other life for me."

    "It isn't too late," the former Turk insisted, clenching his fist in frustration. I wish I could shake some sense into you, but you won't let me get close.... "It is never too late. Let Holy go. Let us live, and you and have your life back, my angel."

    Sephiroth's eyes again narrowed as the old endearment reached his ears. "I will have a new life. A life where I will rule as god and NO ONE can hurt me." He snapped his words.

    "I love you," Vincent blurted out, venturing a step nearer. "I love you, Sephiroth."

    Again the silver haired man looked away. "Stop it. Stop it, Vincent."

    "No. I will not. I love you more than anything. More than this planet. And if I thought it would make you happy I would gladly let you destroy everything." A single tear escaped his eye, dancing on his pale skin. "But it will *not* make you, happy, angel. Nothing will. You are too far gone. And I think you know it."

    "I KNOW NOTHING OF THE KIND!" Sephiroth snarled. He drew the masamune and held it to the other man's throat. "You should not have come."

    Vincent swallowed as he felt droplets of blood slide down his neck. Despite the position he was in he remained eerily calm. "I love you, Sephiroth. For eternity and beyond, remember? Go ahead. Kill me. I will see you in the next world. I will become a part of you. Whatever fate may become of you, I will be waiting. Just as I promised."

    Sephiroth's eyes twitched, and the masamune trembled in his hands. Eyes narrowing further he finally pulled back, throwing the weapon aside. "WEAK!" he roared, a hand to his face. Drawing it away, he maintained his glare as he said, "I *hate* you, Vincent." But his voice was shaking.

    The former Turk maintained his cool exterior. "They why not kill me?"

    Sephiroth growled, but made no coherent reply.

    Vincent hesitated before he posed his next question. "Can you still feel, Sephiroth? Can you feel what you once did for me, my angel? I think beneath this exterior, your heart still beats as it did in the past..." Taking another tiny step he whispered, "do you remember?"

    "I know not what you speak of."

    "I know not why you hide it."

    "Leave me be," he snapped. "I do not need you to torment me. I have a battle to prepare for. The final battle. The death of the planet is eminent."

    "I need to know."

    "You came here to search for something. What is it, Vincent? Have you found it?"

    Vincent's crimson eyes narrowed dangerously and he pulled out the death penalty in an unwavering grip. "I think so."

    The other man did not move. At first he seemed shocked. "I thought you said you wouldn't try to stop me, Vincent."

    "We promise many things in this life," Vincent growled, eyes flashing. "Perhaps, Sephiroth, my promises are just as false as your own."

    A look of hurt washed over Sephiroth's face for a moment. Then his expression changed dramatically as he mirrored Vincent's glare, stepping right up again the barrel of the gun. "Go ahead then. Take your bitterness and kill me, old man. Go ahead and try. I am not scared of you."

    The former Turk searched deep within the younger man's eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and Vincent could see right into Sephiroth's spirit then. He looked hard putting the pieces together for himself as he came to realize the true Sephiroth. He was a man who had not changed as much as he seemed.

    He wants to die.... He wants to be put out of his misery... He doesn't want to live on this planet anymore... That is why... That is why he has come this far... The older man's hand shook as his eyes widened. A sweaty finger slid off the trigger and he dropped the weapon, letting it clatter to the rock floor by his feet.

    For a moment in time that seemed endless they stared at one another, eye to eye.

    "Angel..." Vincent breathed, tears brimming in his eyes. "Oh, angel..."

    Sephiroth swallowed. "Vincent, I...."

    Slowly, and with great care, Vincent reached out with his one remaining hand and whispered over Sephiroth's skin with human fingers. Fingers that knew that skin as if it was his own. Fingers that had waited years to come in contact with the cold, sterile surface of this milky white skin again. A small sigh escaped his lips as he allowed his hand more contact. Sephiroth was frozen still as Vincent's hand nuzzled his face. And it seemed as though everything was normal again, and everything was as it should be.

    But the man with the long silver hair cascading over broad, bare shoulders stepped back, and his eyes, which had just seem in relax hardened again two fold. "You are a fool. You should have shot me."

    Vincent did not speak.

    "You FOOL!" he cried, as if he were choking back tears. There were none clouding that electric glare. "A fool, Vincent Valentine."

    Vincent still said not a word.

    "The past is gone," said Sephiroth, a stern but regretful edge to his voice. "Let it go. What was then is then. This now. There is no future for you but as part of me. Go now. Go live out the rest of your days in misery as I have." Then, just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone.

    The former Turk left the crater behind him. He was going back. Back to the Highwind to help Cloud. I said I would protect you, my angel. And I will. I will give you what you *really* wish for. It is the last thing I can do for you. I will keep my promises, just as you keep yours.

    Sephiroth, omao korosu.
 

                                                                                            ~Owari~