Aeris Gainsborough walked the streets of the L-1 colony. Many heads turned at the sight of the slender girl in her pink dress, carrying a basket of flowers and a crystal staff. Several people bought flowers from her. Of course, there were others without the same innocent intentions.

" Hi, cookie. How about a date?" One man asked her.

" No." Aeris said, turning around and walking away.

Unfortunately, he followed her. " Are you sure, cookie?"

" I never go out on dates with perfect strangers." Aeris said. //Or with anyone besides Cloud.//

" Then you're in luck. I'm far from perfect." The stranger said. Aeris spun around, leveling her staff at the man, finally out of patience.

" Why don't you ask me again?" Aeris asked, a steely glint in her green eyes.

" Um, no thanks." The man ran away.

" Just as I thought." Aeris sighed. Thankfully, there were no more interruptions of that sort...

Heero Yuy sat typing at his laptop, rubbing his temple as he did so. Even he was not immune to ignoring a headache...particularly when he never got migraines, and never a migraine THIS bad.

" Hello, Heero." A soft voice said. The Perfect Soldier spun around, leveling his gun at the speaker...who turned out to be a petite girl (two inches taller than himself, though) with long reddish-brown hair pulled back into a braid, green eyes, carrying a crystal staff and a basket of flowers.

" Who are you?" he demanded.

" My name is Aeris Gainsborough. I have come a long way to talk to you, Heero Yuy." Aeris said. //Over all the years...//

" Why?" he asked.

" Long story." Aeris said.

Heero kept his gun leveled at her. " Omae o korusu."

" I'm not in the mood to be killed today. I already ALMOST met my death yesterday." Aeris said. " That's ALSO a long story."

Heero looked at her. " Repeat that."

" I said I almost died yesterday." Aeris said. " Long story."

A soft, malicious burst of laughter interrupted her. " Long is right, Ancient bitch." A woman with long, pale gold hair and pale blue eyes materialized. " That whole story spans many, many years and TWO lifetimes."

Aeris spun around, as did Heero. The Cetra girl's eyes narrowed. " Jenova...I should have known you'd come."

" In this lifetime, my name is Dorothy Catalonia. But your guess is right, Aeris Gainsborough...you should have stayed dead!" Dorothy concentrated, transforming into a tall, pale, strangely eerie and strangely beautiful woman with dark angel wings...Jenova, in a form Aeris had never seen (she'd only seen one, though).

" So should you!" Aeris snapped back. " If you hadn't become reincarnated, none of us would have had to be as well!"

" You are right...the Voice of the Planet called all of you back, even Sephiroth, my-"

" Sephiroth wasn't your child!" Aeris yelled. "You used and manipulated him all those years to get what you wanted."

" One of the things that I wanted was your death! I had enough control over him all those years ago so that you died by his hand, but yesterday, whatever you did broke that control!" Jenova screeched.

" I did nothing." Aeris said. " I was prepared to die again."

" I saw the other image you projected to Duo Maxwell, or Sephiroth in his last lifetime! The one of the blond-haired boy, Quatre! His image was over yours!"

" I projected nothing, Jenova. You were in close contact with Duo's mind, and it was his mind that saw Quatre." Aeris said.

Heero watched the two women argue with each other, confusedly.

" Aeris Gainsborough...your Circle will not return! All of them have been reborn into someone of this time period...but, I have another revelation to make to you!" Dorothy laughed. " I am only Jenova Illusion. When I became reborn, I split into two, my other half is Jenova Invisible. Together, we will become Jenova Reality."

" Damn." Aeris cursed.

Dorothy's eyes narrowed. " There is another...I sense another of the Circle's life presence besides yours, bitch." Dorothy's eyes moved to Heero. "Him! The blue-eyed soldier!"

" His name is Heero Yuy, Jenova Illusion." Aeris growled, gripping her staff, preparing to cast a spell.

" No...not just Heero Yuy." Jenova smiled cruelly. " Once upon a time, there were two people, a man and a woman, who loved each other very much. But the woman was lost to him when she bore his child-who had been injected with my cells. The woman, Lucrecia, was separated from him, for the man became a biological experiment, in a scientist's quest for knowledge. After the experiment was over, the man was locked in a crypt for many years. Later, three people came to the crypt-including yourself, Aeris-and freed him from his prison. The man could transform into various beasts for his Limit Breaks-for that was what had been done to him. The man met his death attempting to defeat Sephiroth. His name was Vincent Valentine."

Heero listened to what she said, becoming more and more confused.

" And so, the tale stretches forward to this era. There is another young man, with cold blue eyes and dark hair...he is a shadowy one, this boy, whose body had also been used in an experiment. His name is Heero Yuy. They say that karma is what you give is what you get returned. Karma played a part in each of your reincarnations, Aeris. It played a crucial role here. Vincent was a shadow...and so is Yuy here. The two have become one."

" So you've figured it out." Aeris said. " That's why I came here...and I won't let you destroy either of us!" Without thinking, Aeris reached inside herself and used the powers deep within her. Jenova threw a dark spell at the two of them...which bounced off.

" Planet Protector...your Limit Break. " Jenova smiled cruelly again. " That shield won't last long, Aeris."

The shield vanished like it had never been. Heero looked at Aeris. " Is that all?"

" I'm out of practice, Heero." Aeris groaned. " If only I could use Great Gospel."

" What does that do?"

" The same thing except that it lasts longer and heals as well." Aeris said. " And it's going to take a little while before my Limit Meter is back up. I have to get hit first though."

" Then why could you use that Limit?" Heero asked.

" Duo's fault. He tried to kill me yesterday." Aeris said. "Did you listen to what Jenova and I were arguing about?"

" I did...but I don't really understand it." Heero said.

Aeris murmured some words, casting the Bolt2 spell. Jenova laughed as the lightning impacted her.

" Is that all, Ancient?" she laughed. Black lightning crackled from her fingers, impacting both Heero and Aeris...

Aeris winced...and collapsed to the floor.

" Sorry, Heero. I can't fight anymore. My HP is at critical and I'm too tired to use Regen or any of my Limits. It's up to you now Heero."

A shining pistol landed on the floor. " Nani?" Heero said. " What is this?"

Aeris shrugged. " I don't recognize it, other than that is probably your Ultimate weapon. I died before you had it, though."

Heero picked up the weapon...in instants a tall man wearing a cape that covered his face up to just below his eyes stood there...Vincent Valentine. Heero felt the strength of his past self, Vincent's strength flowing through his veins. Suddenly, Vincent transformed into a purple bull, and leaped at Jenova Illusion.

" What? You have mastered one of your Limits already?" Jenova gasped. " Sorry to jet, but who today runs away, lives to fight another day." The Ancient vanished. The purple bull turned back into Vincent, who turned back into Heero.

Aeris sighed, and got up, leaning heavily on the Princess Guard. "Thanks, Heero. You saved both our lives."

"Hn." was all that Heero had to say.

" You haven't changed much." Aeris said. "I'll explain now." And she did...but like with Duo/Sephiroth, she didn't say who she was...

Heero watched her leave with a lot of suspicion. Sure, the battle in his apartment had erased some of his doubts about Aeris, but...

Suddenly, the migraine increased...and a memory came to him...

The door of his crypt opened, and three people stood in front of him. A slender man with spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes carrying an enormous sword, a petite girl with long brown hair fastened at the bottom into a ponytail, leather gloves on her hands, and Aeris...

//A memory.// he thought. //So that's what Jenova Illusion meant...//

Aeris boarded another shuttle-this time, she was going to the L-5 colony...

End of Chapter

Preview of Next Chapter:

Chapter Three: The Way of Honor

Aeris, searching for the next of the circle, the rebellious ninja girl Yuffie Kisaragi, is drawn straight to a colony in conflict-the home colony of the honorable Chinese pilot Wufei Chang. While looking for Yuffie, she learns of Wufei's past-and has suspicions of who Jenova Invisible is.