A Door Between Worlds

He was trying to seduce her. She just didn't know how.

Quistis sat on what was, for the moment, her bed. The only one with her in the dorm room was, naturally, Seifer. He had been trying to convince her that she needed to be in a familiar place in order to jump.

That's what he called it, what she and Rinoa had been doing for the last few weeks.

Jumping

"Well, do you have a better term for it?", he had thrown out, almost teasingly.

Quistis was still in a state of confusion and awe, still trying to process all of the information that she had just received. Her lack of trust in Seifer still had her wondering how much of what he had told them was accurate, and how much, true or not, he was telling her in order to get what he wanted. Because it had always come down to what he wanted. She wished she could believe he had gained a measure of nobility, that his offer to be her knight was about trying to make peace with, and pay for, his past mistakes. But he approached the idea of his being her knight as a forgone conclusion, as though he had already been appointed to the position, and he was just letting her know about the fact. She still wasn't sure what he meant when he said he had 'touched' Pangea, or how he had, for that matter. He had simply said that Aria had allowed him to. Had she also appointed him as Quistis' knight? Or did he think he was Aria's knight, with Quistis simply being the flesh and blood incarnate of her? He seemed to suggest with his actions, and his ease being around her after so long, that it was her he had come back for. But again, she had no choice but to question his motives. It was not beyond Seifer to use a mission, even a mission of world saving importance, to play an angle for himself. At least, it wasn't beyond the old Seifer, which he was trying to convince her was no longer him. But could this leopard really change his spots?

Sitting alone with him in her temporary dorm room wasn't helping her comfort with his being back.

"I can get that it needs to be a place familiar to me, but why do you have to be here?"

If Seifer caught the not-so-subtle insult, he didn't rise to it. "I am the one who knows how it is done. Or, at least, how it begins. A lot of this is going to be new ground for both of us. And don't forget, I am your knight, I have to protect you here while you are gone."

"Seifer...", a pause, "How are you my knight? Did Aria appoint you to be?"

Seifer looked down at her, and she saw that the pain he showed in his face was genuine. Not anger, not rage, not offense, just genuine pain.

"I guess...I just...", he stumble with his thoughts, then looked back at her. "You're right, I shouldn't just assume."

Quistis was again taken off guard. He seemed to be truly genuine in his apology. Yet, in classic Seifer method, he hadn't actually apologized.

"I just know that Aria showed me what she did for a reason. And that reason has to be that I am supposed to help you do this. I guess...I just assumed protecting you along the way was part of the calling. With Edea...", she could see the pain the memory brought him, "With Edea, it wasn't about protecting her, it was about her needing someone to keep all of you guys at bay until she got what she wanted. I don't know how much of what I did was her controlling me, and how much was just me wanting to be the knight. I know you think you do a pretty good job of keeping your crush on Leonheart under wraps, but it was pretty apparent even back then. I just always believed I was the stronger one, so why couldn't I be the knight, why couldn't I be the hero?"

"Is that really how you saw yourself?"

"At first. The more I realized what was at stake, the more it scared me, that I had been a part of this, of her taking over the planet. But I still forced myself to believe she needed me, that I was still her knight. I guess illusions die hard for some."

There was an uncomfortable silence for both of them. Finally Quistis spoke.

"Seifer, I can't do this on my own. If it is as big as you seem to think it is, I am in way over my head. I am going to need everyone on this, and that includes you. I want to believe that you have truly changed, that you are doing this for something greater than yourself. But I have nothing to draw on, Seifer. Every time you ever did anything, it was all about you.", with this, she sighed, "Seifer, the day may yet come when I have to accept that I am a sorceress, and I need a knight to stand at my side. And on that day, it may even be you. But not yet. I don't even know what part I have to play in this."

Quistis watched Seifer, trying to guess what was going through his mind, but he had adopted Squall's ability to keep his face passive. After what seemed like an eternity to her, her looked at her.

"Then I suppose you will have to see for yourself. Close your eyes."

Hesitantly, she did so, still sitting on her bed.

"What were you thinking about when you had these dreams? What were you doing?"

"I don't know. I was asleep."

"What about at the Garden entrance, when you heard the voice. What were you doing right before that?"

"I don't know. I was...praying."

"To who?"

"Selphie had just asked a question I didn't have an answer for and I was asking to be somewhere else."

"To get away from the pain, the embarrassment?"

"Yes, I suppose. But I have done that many times. We all do. Why is this happening now?"

"We will get to that in time. For now, just wish you were somewhere else. Don't just think it, genuinely wish it."

"But how can I..."

What would have come next died on her lips when he took them with his. Quistis had been kissed a few times, mostly against her better judgment, but never like this. It was as though he had focused all of his longing, and all of her loneliness all at once, and poured it into that moment. It wasn't a particularly passionate kiss, and it was amazingly soft. But it carried so much emotion, that for a moment, she couldn't breath.

And then she felt she was surrounded by light, and the sound of rushing wind. When she opened her eyes, she could see him. She was standing beside a lake of some kind, ancient ruins and large trees in the distance. He was looking at her with a look of confusion, as though he had not been expecting to see her. She knew that she should have been surprised, or scared, or even confused herself. But all she felt was a tremendous sense of peace, of calm. Not even knowing why she was doing it, she held up her hand to him, a serene smile on her face. He didn't question, and a look of understanding came over his face. But as he approached, the intensity of his eyes grew, and she saw a darkness in them. She realized as he came closer that his body was changing. A pair of black wings shot out from his back, giving him the appearance of a demonic angel.

Yet still he came, his face calm while his eyes raged.

His body and limbs changed shape, a claw she had not noticed he had melting away as his entire body took on a new form, matching the color of his wings.

Yet still he came, his face unchanged.

Just in that moment when he was about to take her hand, his face contorted into a vicious snarl, his entire head deforming into a match of the rest of his demonic body. He was a terror to behold, as though all that was evil was embodied before her. And he showed pain, this creature. Pain and, she realized a moment later, fear. The fear of death, of the last moments slipping away. This beast was about to cease to be, and it knew it.

And then it was gone, melted into the light. The light became so strong, so bright, that she had to close her eyes to it.

-----

Words failed him.

There was simply no word he had ever encountered, in his knowledge of a multitude of languages, that could come close to capturing what he felt as he looked into the face of this man.

It wasn't pain

It wasn't shock

It wasn't rage

It wasn't fear

It wasn't understanding

It wasn't any of these, yet it was all of them, and more. It was so many answers, and so many questions.

He heard Aerith softly laugh, but couldn't take his gaze away from what was in front of him. He had seen this face a thousand times, but never like this. It was so peaceful, so serene, so...joyful. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning who sees the presant he has been asking for all year. The look of a father, the first time he sees his newborn baby.

The look of a man, never a monster.

He heard Aerith's sweet soprano, "Not what you were expecting, I suppose.", and then a giggle.

Of the two, Sephiroth spoke first.

"Hello Vincent. You are in the Lifestream. But then, you've already guessed that."

With the feeling starting to fade, Vincent looked at Aerith, who without another word, took him into a loving embrace, the way she always greeted her friends. He instinctively wrapped his good arm around her, carefully at first, then much stronger, as the reality of it all set in.

This was Aerith.

He had made it.

For a lingering moment, he held on to her, looking back at Sephiroth. The smile didn't leave his face, the look unchanged.

Aerith finally pulled away, and looked at both, smiling. She seemed content to wait for Vincent to speak.

All he could manage was a feeble, "How?"

Again, a giggle. "Vincent, how I missed you. You know how. The Lifestream. It claimed me, and healed me."

"But him?"

It was Sephiroth who answered. "I have no recollection of what happened, the final fight with Cloud. But she tells me that when I lost, somehow the Lifestream came up and took me, purifying me of the taint of Jenova, and rebuilding my body."

"And he came back here. I've been teaching him how to plant a garden, waiting for you to come."

"How did you know I would come?"

"Oh Vincent, I knew the moment I saw you that you carried Chaos within you. And I knew, because of that, you would be the only one who could bring me back. I learned long ago of the power of resurrection, of rebirth. I knew that the blood of an ancient would be returned to the Lifestream. I admit, his coming here was a surprise, but a welcome one."

"But...HE KILLED YOU!"

Finally it was said. But it didn't seem to bother either one of them.

"No he didn't. Jenova, controlling him, killed me. It lay dormant in him all of those years."

"And when I heard the call, she was awakened within me, and I ceased to be me. I could see everything, but I could influence none of it, a witness to my own destruction. I tried with every fiber of my being to stop myself from that blow, but I had no choice, no control."

"So you see, Vincent, he isn't responsible. He was a slave to her power."

Vincent shook his head, "But it WAS him. The evil smile, the endless diatribe of what he would do, where he would go, how it was all unavoidable."

"It wasn't him."

"It was his voice, his hands, his eyes."

"It wasn't his fault anymore than what happened to Lucrecia was yours. You've never understood that, Vincent."

Before he could answer, Sephiroth moved forward. "That is a discussion for another time. Vincent is here to take you back. I see no reason to postpone that."

"To take us back."

Vincent wondered if the continued shocks he was receiving were going to finally kill him.

"Us?"

"Yes, there is no reason for you to leave him here."

"I can think of a few, the first being Cloud. You remember him, right?"

"Cloud will have to learn to accept it. It wasn't his fault. None of this is."

"Somehow I see him taking a different view of the situation."

"Then you will help me convince him."

"Aerith..."

"So you are going to leave Lucrecia's son here? Knowing you have the power to bring him back, the real him?"

For the first time he could ever recall, Vincent was angry at Aerith.

"How dare you?" How can you even bring her into this?"

"You brought her into this, Vincent. You found her research, you found her secret, YOU ARE HERE. Because of her. No, she didn't know it would be to save her son, but it is. Since the day we met, you have been on some twisted mission to pay for her sins. If I can't convince you that they aren't yours to bear, than I ask this. If you couldn't save her, wouldn't any mother choose for you to save their child instead? Don't you owe it to her, if not to yourself, to end this? This is it, a chance to redeem that even you can't deny. And furthermore, he deserves a chance to undo what he did, to save the planet he tried to destroy."

"Save the planet? We already did that. FROM HIM!"

"From Jenova. And the planet is in danger again. By using Lifestream to stop Meteor, we opened a door into a world we can't imagine. And a being of tremendous power wants to enter that door. I can stop it, but I will need all of the help I can get, including his. This is HIS penance."

Vincent wanted to rebel, push away the logic of her words. But he couldn't. She would have wanted this, for him to save her son, more than life itself. And there was no taint of Mako in his eyes, no sign of the demon within. He, of all people, knew what it was to hold in a demon that tried to control. He had come here, not caring if setting Chaos loose would endanger his friends, not even Yuffie. He had been blinded by this mission. It had consumed him. And now he could fulfill it, and all at once, truly and finally redeem himself.

He looked at Sephiroth. "What do you say?"

A look of pain, "I don't want this. But if the planet is in danger, I have no choice. I am not one to be haunted by my sins as you are, Vincent. But nor will I forget my duty, to the planet and to my mother. Aerith is right, her sins are not yours to carry. But if you must, then I will do this to help you find peace."

'That is it then'. So simple a thought. He knew what this would mean, to all of them. But it was for the planet, for Lucrecia, for Aerith.

"So be it."

He took Aerith by the hand, and she took Sephiroth's hand with her other, and they walked toward the entrance to the church. Aerith looked back at her flowers and smiled, then they walked through the door, and into the light, as it swallowed them.

And found themselves in water.

Vincent knew it was the pool she had been left in, the pool he had passed as he entered the stream. They swam for the surface, all of them, thankfully, powerful swimmers.

Vincent's head broke surface first, looking into the eyes of his comrades, all waiting at the edge. As he moved to the edge, Aerith broke the surface, and a gasp could be heard from everyone.

Except Yuffie.

She was looking straight at him, a look of relief on her face, mixed with something else.

As he climbed out of the water, she ran to him, throwing her body against his, and he caught her, his arm wrapping around her waist, holding her aloft.

And she kissed him.

The feel of her lips on his was almost enough to topple him over backwards, but he held on. After the initial shock, he found himself kissing back. This was a kiss of need, of desire.

He became so consumed by it, he almost didn't hear it

The scream

They had seen Sephiroth.

-----

Quistis was back in the dorm room, looking at Seifer. She couldn't decide if she was angry at what he had done. She also wasn't sure she could have done it any other way. But that didn't make it right in her mind. She felt...what? Betrayed? Taken advantage of? She certainly wouldn't have allowed him to kiss her if she had known it was coming. But what if it had been the only way. Would she have let him?

'Not like that', she reasoned to herself. But, admittedly, it was the intensity of the kiss that had caused her to forget what she was doing. How it had caused her to want to be somewhere else, she could only guess at.

"You kissed me!"

Expecting a snide comment of her ability to observe the obvious, she was floored with his calm reply.

"It was the only way."

She sat, staring up at him, and realized how hurt he looked. He had known it would infuriate her, but he had done it nonetheless. And the thought entered her mind that it was just possible that he had done it for a higher purpose.

"I'm not going to lie to you and say I didn't want to, because I have wanted to do it for as long as I can remember. But that's not why I did it. And it worked, didn't it? You've been gone for almost twenty minutes."

Quistis took a deep breath. He had a point, she would concede that much. It had worked.

"But what did it accomplish?"

"That depends on him, I suppose. It got him there, now he has to bring her back."

"I still don't understand why. Who is she?"

"She is their worlds equivalent of a sorceress. They call them ancients. And she was the last. Like you, she is a conduit for Aria."

"But if she is a sorceress, how can she be in two people in two different worlds simultaneously?"

"Because she's not a sorceress, per say."

"WHAT!"

Seifer sighed, "I had to fudge that part a bit. She isn't a sorceress in the conventional sense of the word. I guess she's more like a Guardian Force, an essence that dwells within you that can be called upon when needed. But instead of you calling on her, she calls you. She is more powerful than any of the other sorcerers or sorceresses. She is the one that gave them the power to find Pangea, to travel across worlds. In a way, she IS Pangea."

"But why now? Why me?"

"Because she found you to be the only one in this world who she could find a place within. Rinoa hasn't been jumping, it's all been her, through you. Somehow it took this sorcerer this long to realize there was a crack in the door to this other world, and that's why he started whispering to you. He started this."

"You said they were...Intimate."

A nervous laugh, "A figure of speech, and really the only way I can explain it. In order to make use of her power, they have to bond with her, on a much more powerful level than she does with you. They become one with her, their thoughts and hers intertwined. That's how she knows his heart, his motives so well. She literally knows him as well as he knows himself."

"Seifer...I need a moment to...I need some time."

"At your command, my lady"

"Seifer."

"Hey, just because I'm not your knight doesn't mean you're not my lady. One way or another, I am protecting you, instructor, whether you like it or not."

"I do...appreciate it. Thank you."

With that, Seifer left, leaving Quistis to think.

For the space of less than two seconds.

"Hey Quis, what were you two doing in here? Anything I might want to clean up after?"

Quistis wondered how Selphie did it, if it was some kind of internal radar that made her timing so horrible. No matter how hard he tried, Irvine couldn't make a dancer out of her. She couldn't get the rhythm, the timing. It was a curse.

"No, Selphie, and you can come in now."

Selphie entered the room, a bright smile on her face.

"That's good. I was afraid I would have to kick his ass. Not that I don't want you to get some, just not some of his."

Quistis bit down the need to defend him. He had kissed her, after all, motives notwithstanding.

"So...how are you feeling? That's a pretty heavy load he dropped on you. My brain still hurts. And Rinoa is still freaked out about it."

"That bad?"

"She's been crying for a while now. Squall is pissed. He thinks Seifer made most of it up."

"He didn't"

"You say that like you know. This is Seifer we're talking about. All he has to do to give away that he is lying is to start talking."

"He's trying, Selphie. Whatever his motives are, he is trying."

"I think he made his motives quite clear, 'my lady'. I don't recall hearing you ask for a knight, and he's not just applying for the job, he thinks it's already his."

"I'm not...never mind. I'll deal with Seifer, I always have. He'll tip his hand one way or the other at some point."

"If you say so."

Selphie started getting dressed, though Quistis had no idea what for. A date with Irvine, most likely.

"Are you going out?"

"Yea, there's this party that me and Irvine are going to. You know, there is this cute guy we know..."

When Selphie looked over at Quistis, one look was all she needed.

"Never mind.'"

-----

Vincent didn't want the kiss to end, because he knew what came next. But slowly, after parting lips with Yuffie, he let her down on her feet.

It was then she realized something was wrong.

"Vincent, it's..."

Before Vincent could acknowledge, he heard an unmistakable shout, and all hell broke loose.

"BAHAMUT!"

Vincent didn't know how Cloud managed to summon without his sword, but knew it was a moot point as he saw him disappear, to be replaced by the flying guardian.

Then they all heard another shout.

"GREAT GOSPEL!"

Aerith and Sephiroth were both bathed in light, and rendered immune to the attack that Bahamut unleashed a moment later. The other party members were not so fortunate, and had to dive for cover.

Groans and cuss words, the latter mostly from Cid and Barret, broke the stillness after Cloud reappeared. He held a look of utter stunned amazement, looking at both Aerith and Sephiroth.

Not realizing they were both still immune, or simply not caring through her shock, Tifa was the next to shout.

"BOLT 3!"

The sky darkened for a moment, and a tremendous thunder bolt shot down on them. When the smoke and light settled, Sephiroth was holding his arm aloft, standing in front of Aerith, having taken most of the blow. His face was grimacing in pain. Vincent knew that not many could survive a direct blow like that without any armor or materia spell to protect them. But Sepheroth had been a SOLDIER, after all.

"CURE 3"

And just like that, Sephiroth and Aerith were washed over by the curing spell, and Sepheroth's face settled back into the calm it had shown before.

"Cloud"

Cloud's eyes didn't move, and he gave no evidence that he had heard. His hands went for the sword that wasn't there, then clenched into fists.

"Cloud, I can explain"

In any other moment, Aerith would have had his complete and undivided attention. But he didn't seem to hear her.

Sephiroth could smell the tension.

"Hello Cloud. It's been a while."

"Not long enough."

"CLOUD!"

Finally he turned to Aerith.

She walked up and gave him a hug, but he remained stiff, unsure what to do. After a moment. he softened and hugged her back. The he looked up at Sephiroth again, and his eyes went wide.

He pushed Aerith aside and moved between her and Sepheroth, his stance defensive.i
"He won't hurt me, Cloud"

"HE KILLED YOU!"

"NO, HE DIDN'T"

Everyone was surprised at hearing her shout.

Aerith smiled, "Sorry. I just went down this road with Vincent. Cloud, he didn't kill me. And if you'll give me two minutes, I can explain."

"Don't say it, Aerith. Whatever lies he's told you are just that."

"He didn't kill me, Jenova did. Jenova was controlling him the whole time from when she awakened in Nibelheim."

With the name of her town, Tifa took a sharp breath.

"He destroyed my town! HE KILLED MY FATHER!"

"I mourn your father, Tifa."

"DON'T YOU DARE!", and she launched herself at him. Right before making contact, she was stopped in mid air, the familiar sound of the STOP materia humming in the air.

What stunned everyone was that it was Cid who held the materia.

"Let the woman talk, Tifa. I think she's earn'd that much."

Tifa, set back on the ground, stood looking at Sephiroth, the rage barely held at bay in her eyes.

"Vincent", from Yuffie, "What the bloody hell is going on?"

"It is as Aerith says, he was a puppet of Jenova. He could no more control his actions than Cloud could when he was under her control."

Cloud cringed at the reference.

"But everything he did? Everyone he killed? Do we just sweep it all away?"

"No, Yuffie."

The sound of Sephiroth's voice silenced everyone

"I will have to make peace with all that my hand has caused. We cannot punish Hojo, he is gone. We cannot punish Jenova, she is gone as well. I know what hatred waits me, wherever I go, But it must be, for the sake of the planet."

Barret spoke for the first time. "What chu sayin bout the planet?"

"It is again in danger."

Aerith took a deep breath, and continued. "When I sent the Lifestream to stop meteor, it set in motion another calamity, one far worse. It will take time to explain."

"How much time do we have?"

'Leave it to Cloud to understand a threat to the planet.'

"Long enough."

Sephiroth looked at Cloud. "What ever time we have, in order to fight this, I will have to make peace with all of you. I cannot return what has been taken, nor undo the past. But I am truly sorry for it, for all of it. I mourn all who have died, Tifa. You must believe that. Many of them I knew as well."

A single tear rolled down Tifa's face. She closed her eyes for a moment, then she opened them, looking from Sepheroth to Cloud.

"We have to go, Cloud.", Aerith said.

"I'm not going anywhere with him, and neither are you. You may be willing to buy the act, but I know him far to well. I knew him long before Jenova reared her ugly head. He was SOLDIER, he knew how to do what he was ordered to do for Shinra. Why don't you ask Yuffie just how kind and forgiving he was to Wutai."

"That was war, Cloud."

"Exactly, the only thing he ever knew how to make. You can't blame that on Jenova, or Hojo."

"Cloud", this time it was Vincent.

"Don't, Vincent. I realize what this is to you, some kind of bloody crusade for Lucrecia. Bring back her son so he can do it all over again. I can't allow that, I won't."

"Are you prepared to fight all three of us?", Vincent asked, almost a whisper, nodding his head toward Aerith and Sephiroth. "You have already seen that she believes him, as do I. This is no longer about Lucrecia, it's about the planet. It is Aerith's duty as an ancient to protect it, with you or not."

Aerith's face took on a look of pain. "Don't make me choose, Cloud. You may have known him once, and I admit that not everything he did was influenced. But he knows what he has to do now, what I have to do, and he has sworn he will help me do it. Whether Meteor was his sin or not, he is willing to atone for it, with his life if need be. Can you say the same? You told me your fight was for the planet. Was that the truth, or was it just a vendetta against him?"

Cloud stood, looking at Vincent, then back at Aerith. His face was as hard as stone, and the hatred in his eyes was unmistakable. But they also held shame from Aerith's last question, one he couldn't answer. Finally, he looked into Aerith's pleading eyes.

"If I see so much as a twinkle in his eye..."

"You'll do what, Cloud? Run a sword through him? Defy my wishes and risk the sake of the planet?"

Whatever answer Cloud had, he bit down before it came.

"Besides, you still owe me a trip on an airship, right?"

Aerith's smile finally broke him, and he heaved a tired sigh, and an equally tried smile came over his face.

"So I do."

With one more glare at Sephiroth, Cloud took Aerith's hand and led her toward the Highwind. Tifa watched them leave, her face still hard.

"He hasn't forgotten you, Tifa. It would do you well to hear the way he described you to us in SOLDIER."

Tifa turned to Sephiroth.

"Don't make me fry you again. I'm not as beholden to Aerith's wishes as he is. And I don't buy that you are here to save anything."

Vincent sighed, "Tifa"

"Don't. You brought him back. I might just fry you to.", and with that, she headed for the airship.

"Well", Cid chipped in, "That could have gone better"

"Indeed", from Nanaki

Barret just looked pissed, same as always. "Let's go, y'all"

He headed off, with Cid and Nanaki soon to follow.

Vincent looked down at Yuffie, and realized she had been holding his hand the entire time.

"Yuffie..."

"I was scared, Vincent. You took so long, I thought you were gone. I'm not gonna apologize for the kiss, so don't ask me to."

"I had no intention of doing so. What happened when I left? What happened to Chaos?"

"He's gone, Vincent. It was a one time trip."

"What?"

"We watched him. He was mad, and afraid. Right when you touched...her hand, you turned into him, and he looked like he was dying. Then he melted into the light, one last shriek, and he was gone. He's really gone, Vincent."

Vincent looked down on her, not knowing what to say. Chaos had been a part of his punishment, a reminder of his sins. Could he allow himself to believe that Aerith was right? That his sins were washed away?

He looked over at the stone.

The stain was gone.

As they both headed for the airship, Sephiroth was left alone. He suspected Vincent and Yuffie hadn't even realized he was still there. He looked across the distance to where Highwind was docked, wondering if Cloud would leave him behind, despite Aerith's wishes. He wouldn't think Cloud would risk her anger so soon after her return from the grave, but he couldn't discount Cloud's sense of her betrayal. Because that was what it was, he knew. Cloud thinking she had chosen Sephiroth over him. What a mess this was going to be. And he had no Idea how he would retrieve Masamune.

With a final look at the city, hoping things would improve after they left it, and the memory of what happened here, behind, he slowly made his way on the path the others had taken.

-----

I debated with myself, and other helpful sources, just how angsty to make Sephiroth's return to the living. Obviously Cloud and Tifa have numerous personal reasons to hate him, but this has to be weighed against Cloud's obsessive love (in my eyes, at least) for Aerith, and Tifa's for him. The Sepheroth to come is going to reflect my own perception of who he would be without the taint of Jenova more than his personality in the game before his going to Nibelheim. I always felt he and Vincent had a more refined air to them in the game, but their talking like English nobility seems to turn people off for some reason. I'm already pressing it by doing a lot of the swearing in my native tongue, which the FF7 cast obviously didn't speak. I'm just not big on inserting fuck and shit into the dialogue simply for the sake of doing it. I don't use the words in regular conversation, so why should they.?

On another note, yes, I realize this is ADULTfanfiction.net, and I will be getting to that. But I am big on the idea of making love, not mindless sex for no purpose but to please the reader. And yes, there will be character death at some point. Several in fact. And more than who you think, I will tell you that much. I'm not setting this up for any sequels.