Sami lay in the bed of Bella-san's cabin, alone, staring at the ceiling and wondering vaguely what he should do. All this Cetra planet channeling was working like a charm…for his soul. Before Jerome showed him everything, he'd been losing badly, no matter how or how hard he tried. But with the lifestream's help, it was no problem being stronger than that other half. He'd already more than compensated for where he'd failed.

There was just one minor problem. It was killing him. It had been killing him in the first place, having this fight with himself that he was losing, and in more than one way. But, now that he was making his comeback, his body was unfortunately even weaker than it was at the start of the whole ordeal. It was much, much weaker, in fact, and he still had a long way to go. He could feel himself dying, and the only reason that it was easier to take was because he wasn't slipping anymore. He supposed that he shouldn't mind dying so much, not if he didn't have to be a part of Jenova anymore.

But he did mind. He didn't want to leave Bella-san, or any of his friends. He feared that he would be alone, in death, even if Jenova were out of the picture. He wondered where people went when they died. He knew, vaguely, what it was, but he wondered what it looked like. He wondered where his victims were, and his parents, and if they were happy. He wondered where 'Neechan was.

And was he going to the same place? Likely not. Wherever he was going, he could only assume that it wasn't the same place as the others, he could only assume that he'd be alone. That was only fair, wasn't it? Gods, how depressing…

So, he had to do something. He had to keep from dying, if not for himself, then for Bella-san whom he'd promised that he would never leave, and right now he was dying at a quick pace. He had to think of something else, he could talk to Bella-san about it. But, while he waited, he thought that he should sleep. He couldn't fight while he was asleep, but it must be worth it to be pushed back a bit in that area, and get some rest where he really needed it. Not to mention that this channeling thing hurt like all hell. Why did everything have to hurt so much? He closed his eyes slowly, consciousness slipping away almost immediately. If he played his cards just right, he might come out of this with every vital chip.

~~~~~

Sami found himself standing in a forest. It was a big forest; that was the first thing he noticed. No matter which way he looked, there didn't seem to be any way out. And it was bright, too. There was no sunlight filtering through the leaves, though…the trees seemed to be illuminated from within somehow.

He looked down, and noticed that there was nothing on the ground except for bland dirt, which was packed into the trail that he was walking on. Walking? Wasn't he standing just a moment ago? There was nothing growing from the dirt, except for the trees themselves, and their roots seemed to create and endless pattern, each root identical to the next.

The path wound in a pattern, too, curving right and then left, and then straight for a few feet. Over and over and over again. Looking around again, he noticed that the trees were all identical, too.

The treetops high above his head left patches scattered geometrically across the forest ceiling, where he could see pieces of the crimson sky above. Even the bark patterns on each of the trees seemed to match, and something sounded wrong. He listened more carefully, but he didn't hear anything outside of his own footsteps and light breathing. Why had he thought something sounded wrong?

He found himself feeling lost. Not just because he didn't know where he was, but because he didn't know where he was going. He didn't know what he was doing here, and he didn't know what he should be doing or where he should be going, or even where he should be. He couldn't really seem to think about those things.

That was it, there was no sound. There were no animals anywhere, and none to be heard. Not a chirp or a chitter or a buzz, anywhere. Everything the forest itself had to offer was completely silent. There was no wind, either, not even a light breeze, and so there was no rustling of leaves. Everything was completely stationary, and completely silent. And everything looked exactly the same. Everything lacked Mother Nature's artistic smear. It was strange, and somehow profound and peaceful.

That was when he saw it. It was something different, out of place. It was on the path ahead of him, yet it seemed miles away. He could make out a vague figure. It looked like a silhouette next to the brightness of the trees, but he thought that it looked human. He seemed to be approaching it more quickly than he was walking.

As he approached, he could make it out more and more clearly. It was distinctly female, and she seemed to have long, chocolate- colored hair. It looked like she was wearing a long skirt, and suddenly he could hear her humming. Her voice rang strangely but clearly through the silent forest, and he was overcome with a feeling of familiarity, both from the tune and from the figure itself.

Who was this person? It was someone he knew; it had to be someone he knew. He was getting closer and closer to her, and he could see that her back was turned to him. Even so, she was becoming more and more familiar. Why couldn't he place her?

When he was several meters away from her, it finally came to him, and he was running the rest of the way. His heart sped up rapidly from disbelief.

'Neechan!

As he approached, now only a few feet away, she turned around with a vague look of surprise, and then he was sure that it was her. That melody had been one she'd learned from their mother, a song that she'd sung to him every night when he was younger. And her eyes. Her big, brown eyes that he'd longed so badly to see again, that he'd been so sure would never lay their gaze upon him again. How could this be?

He threw his arms around her, when he reached her, unable to suppress a laugh of joy. She was shorter than him, now, and that felt strange, but not nearly as strange as the rest of this silent place.

With his arms around her, he felt like a different person. Memories were flooding back to him, of times before he had made his worst mistake, before he had even known just what he was and what his fate was. Happy times, when his biggest worry was whether or not 'Neechan would have the time and money to take him to the movies on any given weekend. When she and that apartment had been all he'd known, before he'd gotten bored with his seemingly perfect and seamless lifestyle. Oh, how she'd made everything so much better than it was. She had been like an angel.

And that's what she was now, an angel. Coming to him, after all this time, or being there for him to come to her. It was like a dream. Even after what he'd done to her.

"Oh, Gods, 'Neechan, it's you! It's really you, I can't believe it! Why are you here, 'Neechan? How are you here? Where are we? What--"

He felt her pull away gently, and he cut off, still grinning like a madman. She must just want to see him. The truth was, he wanted to see her, also. It had been so long… He pulled back, too, letting his hands rest on her shoulders, as he gazed back at her and waited for her to speak…and waited some more.

He could feel his smile fading ever-so-slightly as he noticed that his expression wasn't reflected in hers. Hers was a look of emptiness. Her familiar eyes betrayed nothing, and gave no hint of emotion. She just stared back at him, almost as if she were waiting for his smile to disappear. Before it could be gone completely, though, she was reaching a hand up slowly to push his hands off of her shoulders, shrugging out of his rapidly weakening grasp.

He brought his hands back to him, his smile now completely gone. He didn't know what to say or do. She was just staring at him. And he was staring back.

Finally, as she opened her mouth to speak, he felt another glimmer of hope.

"I'm sorry, sir, you must be mistaken," She spoke, expressionlessly.

"I don't have a brother."

And then, the strange, silent forest was blackness around him; everything in it, including Koura, ceasing to exist in his ever-troubled mind.

His subconscious returned to its regularly-scheduled programming, but with something new echoing throughout its corners.

"I don't have a brother."

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