Hey look what I found! This is a short story (or a novel, whatever) about the ending of FFVII. It's great, though not quite true. It's pure fiction, and isn't related to the real ending too much.
I haven't written this, so thanks to Shokoku Phoenix (or something) for this cool thingy.
PS: This is gonna be loooooong.


Dark Phoenix
Another version of the FFVII ending

Prologue

Nearing the end of their journey, Cloud and his friends have just Jenova�s last form near the bottom of the Northern Cave, and are now heading towards Sephiroth...

The Story



The lifeless bulk of their foe lay still now on the cold stone floor. Moments before, this stinking mass of pale blue flesh had been alive and viciously attacking, lashing out with all of what remained of its once glorious powers. Now this former �calamity from the skies� - was nothing more than an old, lacerated carcass. Jenova was finally dead. It had only taken her two thousand years to do it in, though.

�Damn.� The single word shattered the tomb-like silence. Cid Highwind, the characteristically salty and foul-mouthed veteran pilot - lit a new cigarette and bit down hard on its butt as he spoke. �Sure didn�t put up much of a fight for such a big bastard...� Barret Wallace, who had never been very comfortable with such
situations, looked at the stinking dead creature before him with a look of disgust. �So this... thing... killed all tha Cetra and made this damned tomb?� �Yeah, I think so.� Tifa Lockheart looked very small next to the inert carcass. She looked around at her friends. They were all very quiet. Even the usually vocal ones were near mute. Vincent Valentine, Cait Sith, Red XIII, Yuffie Kisaragi and Cloud Strife were staring solemnly at Jenova. Vincent turned angrily away - his hatred for Jenova was visibly strong.

Cloud was kneeling near the head portion of Jenova, his deep blue eyes studying the cold, smooth liquid flesh before him. Tifa knew that Cloud hated Jenova, too. After all, he had her cells within him. It had nearly made him go mad. Tifa blinked her large brown eyes and looked skyward. �There had been so many. Jenova... she... had killed them all...� Tifa knew that although Sephiroth had gone mad and killed her family, her friends and her town... it was Jenova behind Sephiroth's madness. Tifa knew how powerful Jenova�s control had been in Cloud. She had watched in horror as Cloud had come a hair from slaying Aeris... all while under Jenova�s control. Cloud had been injected with Jenova at age sixteen. And it was a comparably small amount that was injected. And even such minute amounts of her cells were so very powerful. Sephiroth... he had been exposed to Jenova�s cells since before he had ever even been born. For so many years... God only knew what else had been done to him... Tifa shuddered at the mere thought. Sephiroth was indeed powerful. Jenova�s power and control powered his human body. She knew that this would be a fight not easily won. But.. she also knew, that if anyone could... it would be this little group. In her mind, killing Sephiroth would be a mercy killing - like euthanizing a sick and uncontrollably vicious animal. He was surely beyond any help. She briefly wondered if his mind still worked... without Jenova... She shook those thoughts from her head.

�Be strong. Don�t think like that. You�ve gotta do this. For your friends, and your family... for your planet. Be strong, Tifa.�

She bit her lip, and winced - and then quickly regained her composure.

Suddenly, Cloud got up. He turned to face his friends - perhaps for the last time. �Let�s mosey.� He was trying to be funny. Again.



Thin green strands of Mako energy flowed from the very bottom of the Northern Cave. The strands went upward, colliding with each other like little emerald fireworks as they went. They were faintly luminescent - reflecting their pale light around on the black volcanic stone archway of the cave. The walls in some places were made of pure obsidian. The black volcanic glass would sparkle when the Mako would shine near it. It was truly a mystical place. Ancient and silent. Beautiful.

Cloud kept the lead, like he normally did, as the little group of rebels proceeded through the narrow passageways of the bizarre cave. All were silent. Cloud�s eyes seethed with hatred. �He was here. This would be it. He will die here today.�, Cloud thought to himself.

Just then - a shadow crossed ahead of them. They all stopped. Was it a Parasite? Nah, it was too large. Perhaps it was one of the trickier and less numerous Master Tonberry enemies? Or was it... him?

Cloud�s eyes searched in jerking bird-like motions around the cave. 'There. In the corner.'

A single flutter of long silver hair betrayed his hidden position. He silently stood up, displaying his full six feet of height. Slowly... he turned around to face the intruders. His face held no discernible expression. His unreal aqua-colored eyes showed no emotions, either. Those piercing eyes burned through the darkness as he stepped out towards the group. He knew Jenova was dead. He was now like a bullet train to hell, with no captain at the helm. Powerful and unstoppable like that, and ready to hold back nothing. He slid his seven-foot long sword out from behind him - his Masamune, the holy sword of a warrior - and smiled. He was ready to fight.

�Hello, Cloud.� The cold voice rang out in the silence. He carefully eyed the smaller man with disdain. �Are you ready to die now, or shall we all just wait for Meteor?� He smiled cruelly. Cloud bit his lip as he unsheathed his Ultima Weapon, a sword that appeared to be made of a single, powerful crystal. It sparkled in the half-light. Sephiroth sneered at this new challenge. �What do you expect Cloud? Do you expect to save the Planet from me? HAH!� Cloud never once took his eyes off of Sephiroth as he spoke. �I just want you to... die.�

Sephiroth began laughing insanely. �You have to be joking!!�, he said through his laughter. �Because... I am the son of Jenova!!! I AM IMMORTAL!! I CANNOT DIE!! He began laughing again.

Vincent was unexpectedly overtaken by this announcement - and leapt six feet over Cloud and lunged at Sephiroth. His crimson eyes were full of repressed tears as he snatched for Sephiroth�s throat with his golden claws. He had overwhelmed Sephiroth in the single unguarded moment that he had left open for him. A serious mistake. Sephiroth was knocked onto his back as Vincent slashed blindly at his face. Two slender red ribbons traced themselves across Sephiroth�s smooth face. A deeper, third gash opened up along his lower right jaw to his nose, vaguely exposing some thin pink muscle fibers to the air. Dark venous blood dribbled into his long silver bangs and down his neck, into his black leather coat collar. Sephiroth was horrified by all of this and easily lifted and threw the furious Vincent across the room and into a hard stone wall. Sephiroth then put a single gloved hand up to his near-surgically incised wounds. He then took his hand away and looked. Red blood ran down his fingers. Blood. His blood. He looked at his ragged attacker.

Vincent was screaming through what had to be at least two broken ribs. �You BASTARD!! Your mother was NOT JENOVA!! She was a HUMAN mother!! You bring disgrace to her name, Sephiroth! She loved you! And you never even bothered to learn her name!!� Vincent winced as he placed his hand on his left side. His ribs were surely broken, but even so he had to do what Lucrecia couldn�t. He had to tell him. The truth. Even if it meant by doing so he might lose his own life, Vincent knew that this was the only way to truly repent for his sins against Lucrecia. �Lucrecia, please give me the strength to do this...�

Vincent weakly stood up, and stared at Sephiroth. Cloud and the others were shocked at Vincent�s sudden attack - and stood silently by and watched in horror. Sephiroth cursed in the air as he wiped more blood from his face. �You will die first.�, he growled as he pointed at Vincent.

Vincent�s eyes filled with hot tears as he reached into his cloak, and pulled out a tattered old photograph that he had never showed anyone before. �This.. this was your real mother... and father.. before they died...� Vincent walked over to within arm�s length of Sephiroth and stretched his human right arm out to him, and showed him the picture. �Your mother... Lucrecia... and father... you surely know him...� Sephiroth snatched the picture hatefully from Vincent�s shaking hand and stared hard at it, looking as if he were searching for the punchline to an unfunny joke.

It was a picture of Lucrecia and Professor Hojo, thirty years earlier, in some lab, busy as usual. She was just beginning to show her pregnancy. Her brilliant blue eyes seemed distant and quiet. Her faintly auburn hair hung gently in her face, despite the fact that it was tied back. She was beautiful, dignified woman of maybe twenty-seven. Hojo was typically thin and greasy-lookin, as usual, with his long, stringy black hair, his unbuttoned, opened lab coat and hateful brown eyes that peered out from over his tiny pince-nez glasses. There had been so very few attractive qualities about him... and it had always made Vincent secretly wonder how he had ever managed to catch Lucrecia�s eye.

Sephiroth stood back, horrified. �I was the one who took the picture.�, said Vincent. Sephiroth�s eyes darted down to the picture and then back to the curious red eyes of this this confusing man. Then he smiled hatefully, as if he had caught Vincent in some sort of big lie. �But these are human parents. I am not human. I am immortal.� �You are no more human than I am, Sephiroth.�, Vincent said, while fighting back his tears. �HAH! You are but half-human! Look at yourself! Look at your arm, your eyes!! Do you not think that I have not seen you change into the various beasts and monsters that you are?!�

Vincent bowed his head quietly. �Your father... Hojo... has done these things to me. And similar things to you. And to Cloud. And to countless others, some of whom went entirely mad. And to many others who have died as a result of these things.. They are victims.. we are.. you are.. one..� Sephiroth said nothing as Vincent continued. �I may look like a monster. But I was fully human once. Your father may have taken my human body, but he did not take my human heart and soul. That is why I am here, telling you these things. To prove this to myself. That I am still human on the inside. And even if you choose to kill me now, I know that I have done the right thing by telling you the truth. And... I will die with honor. Lucrecia... will be proud of me.�
Vincent blinked his big crimson eyes and looked up. His red eyes didn�t look so inhuman and sad anymore. Tears rolled down his pale cheeks and soaked into his cloak. He closed his eyes and smiled.

Sephiroth was confused and afraid. His emerald eyes began to look misty for the first time. His right hand then lifted high, holding the gleaming Masamune in the reflected light from the Mako streams. He bit his lip and raised the holy sword higher, above Vincent�s head.

Vincent still did not move. Sephiroth�s bitter anger had reached a fever pitch... Now poised to kill the strange man before him, Sephiroth searched for the hatred that it takes to blindly kill someone. He paused. �This man has done me no wrong. IF... he DID know my mother and father.. before they died.. IF this WAS her.. then - I might not learn of her.. my mother.. if I kill him. But.. IF... If not, then I will have disgraced Jenova and myself. I might lose the right to own the Planet! But, what... what if he is right? If I am truly human like he says that I am, then by killing him I will lose all hope of ever learning the truth about myself.. I could lose my very soul. Where is the advantage in gaining the Planet and losing your soul? I don�t know what to do� I� I�

�I.....� He threw his sword down.

Sephiroth�s eyes began to fill for the first time in almost thirty years. Almost thirty years of repressed bitter pain and hatred had finally begun to surface. He then began to shake and cry uncontrollably as he lost his well trained sense of composure. He fell to his knees and began to sob noisily.

�I.....�

He placed the picture on the ground beside him. Vincent knelt down before him. He was the only one who was unafraid of him. He put his hand gently on Sephiroth�s big left shoulder. Instinctively, Sephiroth shied away and jumped slightly. Human touch was terrifying to him. Vincent sniffed, and then began to cry with Sephiroth. �Your mother.. would be proud of you... � Vincent smiled. Sephiroth half-laughed. "She would be proud of me? I am a failure - I have never.. I can never do any good.. I am worthless...�

Tifa, who by then, was getting tearful, walked up and knelt down beside the two tearful men and looked at the wet-eyed, crumpled Sephiroth. �You are doing good now.�, she says through tears. He looked at her. �You of all people have every reason to hate me.� Tifa looked at him with her big, sweet eyes. �I don�t hate anybody. I can learn to forgive. That�s what makes me human,� she sniffed. Sephiroth looked ashamed of himself, and covered his face with his coat collar. �Don�t hide, Sephiroth.... I forgive you... �, Tifa smiles. Sephiroth uncovers his face and looks timidly at the two smiling faces around him. His cold, dead eyes seemed to sparkle with newfound life. He smiled softly, especially at Tifa... who was smiling back through her tears. He couldn�t figure out why she had just forgiven him. Tifa turned around to face her old friends. �Everyone come here and speak with Sephiroth... the �real� Sephiroth.� He looked up at the approaching members of AVALANCHE. They were all his enemies just moments before. �What... what are they to me now?�, Sephiroth wondered to himself as he stood up, along with Tifa, who both then began to help up the wounded Vincent. Cid was the first one up to greet him.

Cid extended a friendly gloved hand to Sephiroth as he smiled. �Ain�t never thought I�d live ta see the day when this�d happen. Shake?� Sephiroth shook Cid�s hand and half-smiled. �Ehhhh... you ain�t all that bad once ya get past all that hair....�, Cid smiled jokingly at Sephiroth, who looked quite foolish trying to supress his laughter. Barret was next. Sephiroth extended his hand for Barret to shake, but he simply looked down at his black-gloved hand. Barret then looked up at Sephiroth - and gave him a powerful bear-hug. �REAL men hug!�, he laughed boisterously, as he continued to nearly squeeze the life out of the still-teary Sephiroth. �Shinra screwed you over too, so�s we�s in the same boat! But at least you got ta kill one of �em, heh-heh!�. Barret shot Sephiroth a sly smile. Sephiroth looked funny, and said, �I feel sorry about that... now...� �Don�t! Not about killin� Shinra. HE deserved it. He killed so many more than you. He never even felt bad �bout it. He was truly evil.� Barret paused, smiled and then patted Sephiroth on the shoulder. �Hang in there, Seph.�

�Hojo did stuff to me, too.�, said Red XIII. This surprised Sephiroth. �I... I�m glad that now we can be friends.�, said Red, who smiled up at him. �Now, about...� Yuffie pushed Red viciously out of the way and came to within inches of Sephiroth�s nose and began screaming. �Now, about Wutai, you stupid bastard!�, she demanded, her eyes filling up with tears. �Wutai is a dump because of you and your soldiers!!!� �I... was just following orders. I�m sorry... � Yuffie froze. Sorry? Did she just hear him say that he was �sorry�?! Yuffie reached back and slapped him in the face, hard. Sephiroth stood still as he recovered. �I... guess I deserved that.� Yuffie stood there and rubbed her hand, still shocked that he had not attacked her. �I... guess� I deserved that.� Yuffie stood there and rubbed her hand, still shocked that he had not attacked her. �I... guess.. I can forgive you.. now..�, mumbled Yuffie. Sephiroth rubbed his face and watched silently as Yuffie walked away and Cait Sith walked up. �Uhhh... Hi. It�s good ta hear ya is actin� like civilized folk now.�, he said as he nervously shook Sephiroth�s hand and walked quickly away.

Sephiroth saw that Cloud was still staring hatefully at him from the room�s entranceway. Sephiroth then hung his head in shame, but somehow managed to find the power to lift it once more to face Cloud. Tifa patted Sephiroth on his back for encouragement. He began to walk quietly towards Cloud. �Come with me, please�, he says weakly. Cloud grudgingly follows him out of the room with his friends.

They both walked in silence up to a quiet ledge made of shiny black stone. Sephiroth looked up at the opening in the roof of the cave. Shimmering streams of warm polar sunlight poured down into the dark crevasse, lighting it from the top like the altar of an ancient Gothic cathedral. Sephiroth stood on the end of one of the black spire-like projections that filled the cave, and closed his eyes. He began drawing in the holy power of the sunlight and letting it warm his tear-stained face. His heart hadn�t ached so badly before in his entire life. But the sun somehow seemed to help to soothe his newfound pain. His long, silver hair floated about him and wrapped itself like soft angels� feathers around his slender face. He was drawing up the strengt to apologize to the young man who�s life he had nearly destroyed. He exhaled softly, creating a misty cloud of steam in the icy air.

�I know that you hate me. There is nothing that I can do to change that. I deserve your hate, but I wish that for your own sake, that you would not hate me.� Sephiroth began to remove his shiny black leather gloves, finger by finger. �Once, a long time ago, I was a human child. A child that nobody wanted. Because I was special. Different than the others. I learned to hate those who weren�t different. When Jenova first began to try to control me.. she told me lies. Attractive lies, that fed off of my hatred for those who weren�t different. She told me that I was something different, yes, but that I was something super-human. Better than humans. Yes. She promised me that I could rule them all one day, the humans.. and then I would get all of the attention and love that I had so desperately wanted.. if only I believed her lies, became her slave... she finally took over my body that night in Nibelheim. I could no longer think or breathe on my own from then on. Jenova was strong, she made me her puppet. I had made the biggest mistake of all, letting her nearly destroy me. But I was not the only one who she would try todestroy. She took countless others.. guiding my hands and slaying them with my sword. It was me inside, who had let her take me over, it was my body destroying them all. It was not in my heart to kill. I had never meant it that way.. But.. in the end, it had been my hate that had let this happen. This is why I ask that you not hate me.. to save yourself from my fate. I am sure that in the end, you will only hurt yourself and everyone around you if you continue to hold hatred in your heart.� Sephiroth paused and looked down at his ungloved hands. They were slender, beautiful human hands. He looked up at Cloud, who was still watching him with wary eyes. � I am truly a human, Cloud. And I am sorry. A human man... who is sorry and who makes mistakes just like you. I just tend to make bigger mistakes than most men. I cannot change these sins now, but I dare not even now ask for your forgiveness... since I do not deserve it. I just wanted you to let go of your hate... and to know.. that I am truly sorry.� He looks down as a single tear traces its way down his face. �I am sorry.. Cloud..�

�My town, my mother, my dreams, my friends... Zack and Aeris.. you killed them all... and then you even tried to kill me. Part of me will always want to hate you. But...� Cloud looked tearful and turned away. �Vincent was right. We are all victims of what Hojo did to us. Jenova never would have been able to possess you if he had not have injected you with her cells. You are just now getting free of her control. But I still mostly blame you. Hearing you say that you are truly sorry helps, but the pain is still there. It will always be there. I might forgive you, in time.....� Cloud sniffed and blinked back tears. �But as for now, I can�t forgive you just yet. But I can say that now I don�t hate you.... anymore.� Cloud looked at Sephiroth who seemed amazed that Cloud would say such things to him. �Maybe.. Just maybe.. in time... we might even become... friends.�, smiled Cloud. Sephiroth smiled really big this time. Cloud did too. �Thank you for that, Cloud. � He extended his bare hand towards Cloud. Cloud then removed his left hand glove and grasped Sephiroth�s outstretched hand. And shook it.

They walked back into the room where all of AVALANCHE was. Everyone could tell from the smiles on the two soldiers� faces that they had reached a peace. Sephiroth stood tall and picked up his sword and put it away. �I would be honored to be your friend, Cloud. And all of you. If you will have me as your friend, I would be most honored.�, he smiled. Everyone agreed in a simultaneous �Yeah!� - except for Red XIII.

�What�s wrong, Red?�, asked Tifa. �You don't want to have Sephiroth as a friend?� �No, no, it�s not that... It�s just that he did not let me finish. I was interrupted.� �Well dammit, now no one's interruptin' you... so GO ON!!�, blared an enthusiastic Cid.

�It is fine that Sephiroth is no longer an enemy... but what about Meteor? And the Planet?�, asked Red.

Everyone looked at Sephiroth. �I have been thinking of that all this time while we have been talking here.�, he said, looking around. "I think I may have found the solution." He reached into his coat and produced the glittering Black Materia. If I destroy it, Meteor stops, and returns to wherever it came from. No one will ever be able to use it again. Ever. It�s just a matter of destroying it...� Barret looked around. �Well! Let�s git to it then! Let�s destroy it!� Sephiroth looked sadly at him. �It�s... it�s not that easy. Only the one who used it can destroy it.� �That�s you then.�, says Tifa, who was slightly confused. �Yes, but... I have to give it back to the Ancients. It�s the only way..� �How the hell can you give it back if all the ancients are�.� Cid stopped as he figured it out. �Oh shit....�

�In the Lifestream. My spirit has to give it back to one of their spirits. That is when they will destroy the Black Materia and stop Meteor.� All were silent. �I... can help to make up for my sins. I must stop this, since I was the one who started all of this. You can follow me if you wish.�

Sephiroth led them all down to the base of the Northern Cave, where the black cave floor dipped into a great outpouring of green Mako energy. Lifestream - the river of spirit energy, gathered there by the Planet to heal the wound made by Jenova almost two-thousand years ago, when the cave was created. �Here it is. They are all here... the Cetra. They have all come here, because they can feel my intentions..�, says a solemn Sephiroth. �Are you sure that this is how it has to be?�, asked Cloud, who caught himself getting upset over Sephiroth�s actions. �Yes. I have to.. to save you all. My friends, my Planet... all of it.� He looks up and closes his eyes. �Time is running out. Meteor is very close now... you will all have to leave here very soon because this cave will collapse when Meteor comes too close... and my time is nearing too. I... have to do this now.� Just as the words left Sephiroth�s lips, a massive rumble shook the cave. Huge black granite stones began to fall around them as the top rim of the crater began to collapse.

One by one, all of the little group quickly offered a handshake, a �good-bye� or a tearful hug as they passed Sephiroth for the last time. Tifa and Barret began to cry simultaneously as they said good-bye and started to run up the narrow walkway to the rim of the crater. Cloud walked up to Sephiroth, his typical cockiness nearly gone now. His eyes were watering heavily.

�Sephiroth... we are friends now. And... for what it�s worth... I.... forgive you.� �Thank you, Cloud..� says a tearful Sephiroth, who gave his new friend a handshake - and a hug. �I will see you again, someday, Cloud.�
After the others had gone, Vincent finally approached Sephiroth. He stared out over the Mako with his love's son. His eyes begin to fill as he cracks a smile. �She.. is here.� Vincent patted Sephiroth on the shoulder, and then hugged him. �Lucrecia.. is proud of you. I feel it... � Sephiroth blinks back some tears, and swallows away the lump in his throat. A new, yet somehow familiar feeling brushed by him very quickly.�I can... too....�, he said, tearfully.

�My time is now. Go, please. Don�t stay any longer.�

Vincent nodded silently and began to limp upwards towards the crater�s rim.

The rumbling was getting stronger as large stones begin to rain harder down around Sephiroth. He bowed his head silently and prayed for his friends' safety, as he walked into the green Lifestream.

It was warm and thick. It seeped around his black leather pants and into his boots. His skin began to tingle and burn. It hurt him, yet he went further out into it.

The rocks above fell harder, and the rumbling got stronger. He bit his lip from the weird, numbing pain. Without Jenova�s powers, he wouldn�t be able to survive this amount of pure Mako exposure. But no matter. His survival and comfort was not what he came down here for. Suddenly, the rock that he had been standing on slipped out from beneath his feet - plunging him into the thick, suffocating Mako. It burnt his eyes as he sank deeper into the energy. The Mako began to paralyze him, slowly. He hurt badly now. But he can�t - no wait.. he won�t fight it. He must save his friends and the Planet.

A six-ton slab of black rock crashed down from the ceiling like a misguided building - and fell into the Mako. It sank quickly - and pinned Sephiroth between its huge bulk and the wall of the pit. He could no longer breathe.

At first, Sephiroth's body panicked.. it spastically shook and convulsed in response to the bone-crushing compression. He felt as if he must breathe now.. or explode... He then uncontrollably inhaled a large amount of Mako. He slowly stopped shaking. His loose silver hair floated around him like the wings on a fallen angel. His body was nearly still. He felt better now. The pain was fading. He closed his crystalline green eyes and breathed his last.

Suddenly, he felt compelled to open them again. A new, soft warmth enveloped his tired, aching body, and had taken away his pains. �The pain is gone. Why should I keep my eyes closed?� He opened his eyes.... and saw an awesome white light. He was not afraid of the light.. It seemed to take away all of his hurt and heartaches. A familiar face came out of the light. She looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen her. He knew her name. Aeris.

�Welcome home, Sephiroth!�, she announced, cheerfully. Sephiroth was stunned. �Aeris.. but.. I killed...� Aeris cut him off mid-sentence. �All of that doesn�t matter here.� She took the Black Materia out of his hand. �This. This... thing... has caused so much trouble!!� And with that, Aeris held the Black Materia out in front of her... where it was absorbed by a blinding light. �No more.�, she said, smiling. �Meteor will turn around now. You were just in time.� Sephiroth looked around. �My friends...� �Made it out alive and well. Your prayer worked.�, she said, as cheerfully as ever.

Sephiroth looked at his new surroundings. �Where... am I? Did I die?� Aeris looked at him and quietly said, � This is the Lifestream, but you already knew that. And yes, you did die... but.. why don�t you have a look at yourself first?�

Sephiroth looked at his body, which looked surprisingly the same as before, but with no scratches cuts, or scars. His clothes, however, were white, flowing robes made out of something that looked a lot like silk, but much softer. He felt his face, where Vincent had scratched it... those cuts too were gone. He then heard Aeris giggle and looked up.

Aeris was gone, but another woman was standing in front of him... with faintly auburn hair that hung in her face.. and with brilliant blue eyes... He quickly recognized her. �Sephiroth... my.. son..�, she said as she walked towards him. �Mother..� His eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around him. �Mother.. I...� �Shhh.. son...�, Lucrecia shushed him quietly and smiled gently. She was crying, too. �You have done a very brave thing today. I am very proud of you, son...� He sniffled quietly in his mother�s long, soft hair. �I love you, mother. I never want to leave you again..� She brushed aside a single strand of his silver bangs from his face and kissed his cheek. �I love you, son.� Sephiroth smiled softly and cried. This was truly all that he had ever wanted out of life. He was home.


Epilogue


(Back in the cockpit of the Highwind.)

Everyone was quiet. Even Cid and Barret. Sephiroth was truly gone... but it had been a bittersweet departure. Tifa, Barret and even Yuffie was still sniffling. �I... I... never even got to say that I was sorry.. for slapping him in the face..�, sobbed Yuffie. Tifa patted Yuffie on the arm. �It�ll be fine, ev'ryone. I�m sure of it..�, said Barret,
sniffling.

Cloud stormed out of the cockpit and angrily ran up to the top deck.

When he got there, he started to sniff and cry. �You had to go and make me feel sorry for you, before you went and did that!� Then he felt bad. Sephiroth had saved them. But he had only saved them from himself for bringing Meteor. But it had cost him his life.

Cloud bit his lip and looked up into the sky. It was nighttime - clear, starry and crisp - beautiful. �I guess I�m sorry now, Sephiroth. I guess I just kinda wish that you were here with us.� He turned. It was kind of chilly out, and he wanted to go back in where it was warm. Vincent met him at the door .�I�ll take over from here, Cloud.�, he said, quietly. �Go and get some sleep." Cloud nodded silently and walked away.

Vincent walked the wooden planks of the deck and stood near the rails, and looked up as he touched the bandages that wrapped his four broken left ribs. A smile swept across his face. �You are both here, aren�t you. I can�t see you, but you are both here. And you can hear me. � He heard something behind him and turned around - half expecting to see both Sephiroth and Lucrecia standing behind him... but there was nothing.

He frowned. He had been so sure that he had heard something. �Maybe.... he didn�t make it in...� He stopped himself from thinking these thoughts. He turned away from the rail and headed towards the door.

There, he saw it. In the middle of the wooden floor, in front of the door, was a sword sticking up. but it was not just any sword. It was Sephiroth�s Masamune, his holy sword. Vincent ran to it. There was a note tied to its hilt.

He untied the note and read it. Penned in beautiful, handwritten letters were these words �

'To all of my friends - Thank you.

Thank you for believing in me, for being my friends when I needed friends the most,

and for helping me to find my heart, my mother - and myself.

I will never forget you -

Sephiroth

PS - Lucrecia is very proud of you, Vincent.'

Pretty good, I will be honest, the original version was a wee bit better.

I guess... haven't finished the game myself, so I can't say anything for myself.