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	Wings of Love

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	7/4/01

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	A Sephiroth X Aeris Fanfic

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	When Death Is Not Peace Enough

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	Dr. Sarah Dallas was not having a good day. She tapped her foot impatiently on 
the floor often, wanting nothing more than to smash her cousin brother's face into a wall. 
Her baleful glare on the monitors before her, occasionally her eyes flickered to her 
companions who were nervously waiting for her decision. 

	"Why do you really want Sephiroth back, anyway?" Vincent asked her. 

	She turned to regard the man she considered a friend. Of course, true friends did 
not leave one lying in a basement coffin for decades, but she had her reasons. She'd been angry 
and devastated at Lucrecia's death and although she laid most of the blame on her cousin, 
she did feel a bit of hostility towards Vincent for his little slip-ups as Lucrecia's lover. 

	"Angeles is the one who wants him back. He deserves to know his father." 

	"What about Aeris?"

	Dr. Dallas shrugged helplessly. "I wish I knew what to do about her... to bring her 
back. It's partly my fault Sephiroth went insane in the first place." Dr. Dallas winced, then 
her face became grim. "Hojo will pay in blood."

	"Can I help?" Vincent asked, a dark smile curling up one side of his lips. He held up
Death Penalty.

	Dr. Dallas took note of his golden claw. "Of course, Valentine." 

	A harsh curse erupted from Angeles, shocking even Cid. "Whoa," the pilot said in awe.

	"What the hell is that?" Angeles demanded as Hojo came towards him with a huge needle.

	"Why, it's just a needle. First, we'll-"

	"First, you take it, and you stick it up your ass!! There're a lot of things I can 
take, but a goddamn frigging huge cursed needle is NOT ONE OF THEM!!" 

	Hojo tsked and carried on, extracting some blood from the boy. He went off to do 
something, leaving Angeles to curse - very loudly - on the examination table. The blood sample 
was emptied into a tube, as the scientist held it up to study the blood. Gradually, however,
 the red liquid slowly began to change.... a blackish stain from within at first, then gradually
spreading until the entire tube reflected black which strangely enough, glowed blue. 

	"How interesting," Hojo murmured. "The sample refuses to accept more Jenova cells. I 
wonder whether it's the presence of Cetra cells which reject the Jenova cells... most 
interesting indeed...."

	"What the hell are you talking about?" Angeles demanded tiredly. "What's all these
references to Jenova and Cetra? Who are they?"

	Hojo grinned. "You'll find out soon enough, boy." He walked over to a huge incubator.
"Now watch as science triumphs!" 

	Cloud suddenly jumped up and grabbed his sword. "Is he already starting to bring back
Sephiroth?" he asked, his voice tense and cutting. He had spent such a long time tracking down 
that man and killing him, he really didn't feel like doing it again. Silently, he prayed to the
gods that things would turn out fine. He *really* wanted a break.

	"Apparently so," Dr. Dallas replied calmly. 

	"What interest does Hojo have in resurrecting Sephiroth?" Red asked curiously.

	"Remember Sephiroth is Hojo's son. See the familial traits? Brilliance, madness-prone,
absolutely dedicated to their work... all that bullshit."

	"Don't suppose YOU're prone to becoming insane?" Tifa cut in with a tiny grin on her
face. 

	"But I AM insane, Tifa," Dr. Dallas said with a slight smile. "It's just a different
kind of insanity."

	"Glad to hear it."
	
	"The kind of insanity which drives you to scr-" Vincent began.

	"SHUT UP VALENTINE!!!" 

	==========================

	Angeles watched with anticipation as the figure in the incubator began to form, 
slowly at first, then the features became more and more clear. He swallowed back his tears 
of joy when he could finally make out the features of his father, delicate, almost beautiful. 
Vaguely, he hoped he would become as handsome as that someday. Just a while longer... just a 
short while longer and once more, his father's green eyes would open. Then Angeles would just 
simply break free of these bonds and awaken him. 

	{You are excited with this turn of events} his grandmother spoke into his mind.
	
	[My fondest wish has come true]

	{We can see. Soon, you will be ready. Just another task and you'll be told what to do.}

	[What about my mother? How can I bring her back?]

	{Your mother gave herself up as a sacrifice to bring Holy. To bring her back, you need
 to bargain with the Planet. You must be patient, child. The Planet has great need of you, and
 if you rush brashly, you will be a part of the Lifestream. You cannot do your duty within it. 
That would rip the fabric of the Planet's essence itself}

	[Yes. I know. How long more?]

	{Patience, child. Very soon.}

	"THIS IS IT!!" Hojo howled. "The pinnacle of my glory!! Now... to bring back JENOVA 
HERSELF!!" With that, he quickly turned to exit the room, leaving Sephiroth to continue 
forming in the incubator. Angeles looked the soul of patience until at last, it was complete. 

	Without much difficulty, he snapped his bonds. Unfortunately, Hojo came in at that 
moment.
	
	"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING??" the professor roared. 

	"Letting my father go," Angeles replied calmly.

	"Not yet!" Hojo howled, waving a tentacle. 

	A monster suddenly crashed into the room. Then two more. Then three more, until 
the boy was totally surrounded by monsters. 

	"That's our cue!" Cloud shouted, running out followed by his team. "Which way, Sarah??"

	Sarah led the way, her leather boots barely making a sound on the floor. It was not 
smooth sailing there.... monsters seemed to pop out of nowhere to deter them. Cloud, however
 easily hacked his way through them, so intent on getting into the main laboratory, his moves 
were reflex. 

	Tifa was done incapatitating a monster when she was struck from behind. She cried out, 
but was caught by Dr. Dallas, who quickly cast a healing spell on her before sending a powerful
 fire attack at the monster that attacked Tifa. "You okay?" Dr. Dallas asked.

	"Yeah. Thanks."

	"No problem. We women gotta stick together."

	Angeles looked at the monsters with a bemused look on his face, unsure of what to do. 
On one hand, using the easy way, magic, could damage the incubator in the room, while on the 
other hand, he didn't have a weapon. He gave the room a swift glance before his green eyes 
settled on a weapon lying on a table nearby.

	Masamune.

	With a slight grin, he nimbly leapt over a clumsy monster and grabbed the huge, 
six-feet-long sword. It was certainly very heavy, but Angeles didn't care. The sword should 
know him. It seemed to hum in recognition of the boy that held its hilt. 

	"Yes," Angeles murmured. "It's me."

	He frowned in puzzlement at the strange sensation emanating from the sword, but only 
for a moment before remembering that it had been crafted by Jenova's kind. It was a deadly 
weapon, but sentient, all the same. Angeles understood it. It was being pulled by two masters : 
Jenova had a hold on it since millennia, yet it wished to belong to someone else... it wished 
to be back in the hands of the Mighty Sephiroth. It hadn't had this dilemma before.... 
Sephiroth himself had been in the hands of Jenova, which made the sword's loyalties easier 
to define. But not this time. The boy which held it was Sephiroth's son, and Jenova did NOT, 
could not, have this boy.

	"One day you will be free," Angeles promised. "But for now, attend to me!" 

	The sword sang joyously and Angeles lifted it, leaping at a monster, the sword aiming 
for its throat. He slashed down, managing to take out an eye even as he swung in mid-air to 
deliver a hard kick. Masamune sliced off a few tentacles even as Angeles held it up to strike 
again, this time aiming for the soft belly of the monster.

	He swung around again. Deep inside, he could hear the sword telling him that he was 
not a fighter.... he was a dancer. He laughed delightedly at the thought. True, he would 
never cut the powerful figure his father had carved, with cold, calculated thrusts and parries. 
He was not his father. He was a unique child produced from a mechanical womb, and he had a 
style of his own. He 'danced' again, running up the back of a monster before sideways for 
better balance and shoving masamune down into its skull, as thick as it was. Angeles was 
briefly surprised at how powerful the sword was. 

	On to other matters. He quickly disposed of yet another two monsters, barely aware 
that Avalanche had entered the laboratory. More monsters seemed to be entering every moment, 
but it was of no matter. He sent a powerful blast of energy at one, swinging his sword arm at 
another one, simultaneously casting an ice spell to his left and a fire spell to his right. 

	"The boy's good," Dr. Dallas observed. She, Vincent, Tifa and Cloud had run to the 
incubator which held Sephiroth's inert body. Cloud looked at the buttons and simply pressed 
one. 
	
	The incubator opened, the greenish liquid within it gushed out. Cloud and Vincent 
helped Sephiroth up as the latter coughed to clear his lungs, breathing in air for the first 
time in months. The glowing green eyes opened. Cloud was afraid of those green eyes. They'd 
given him nightmares before. But these green eyes were distinctly different.... they were 
filled with a sense of purpose.... a purpose which was not insane. The green jewels sparkled 
as they focused, mainly on the boy in the middle of the room fighting with the sword almost 
twice as long as he was tall. 

	Love clouded those green eyes. "An.... geles...." he whispered.

	As if he heard, Angeles swung around, his face alight with a beautiful smile. Tifa 
was painfully reminded of Aeris. Angeles turned to the remaining monsters, standing rigidly, 
suddenly slamming a fist into a straightened palm. His quiet voice could be heard chanting 
some arcane words.... words which Dr. Dallas was sure she had heard before, but she couldn't 
figure out where. The room began to fill with light until everyone was blinded.

	Everyone cringed at the sound of a huge explosion, shielding themselves. But they 
didn't FEEL anything at all, so they opened their eyes warily. Angeles stood in the middle 
of the room, looking around with a smile of satisfaction on his face. The monsters were dead. 
Every single one of them. Cid whistled in admiration.

	"That's some kid you got there," he observed to Sephiroth, who was staggering to his 
feet. The silver-haired man did not reply. 

	"Father!" Angeles shouted, running towards Sephiroth with his arms wide. 

	"Angeles," Sephiroth said softly, holding out his arms. Angeles launched himself at the 
tall man, who lifted him up into the air above his head without any difficulty. "Angeles, my 
son!" He held the boy to him tightly, as if he never wanted to let him go. Angeles was grinning 
as Sephiroth kissed his temple, crystal clear tears streaming down both their faces from two 
pairs of green eyes. 

	Dr. Dallas smiled gently, while Tifa took a deep breath, wondering what she should 
feel. This was the man who had killed her father, burnt down her hometown.... and nealy 
killed her as well. But she forced herself to question it again. Was this the man who had 
cut down hundreds of people.... this man who was holding his son close as if there was 
no tomorrow? She dreaded the answer. She felt an obligation to hate him, but she well 
knew she shouldn't, if not for herself, then for the boy which was a part of Aeris... 
her friend.
 
	"Together again," Red said quietly. "I can only imagine their joy...."

	"Hell..." Barret mused. "I understand it."

	"Where's Hojo?" Vincent asked, looking around. He took out Death Penalty, loading it 
again. His eyes had taken on a predatory look. Dr. Dallas also turned around, her blue-green
 eyes narrowing.

	"You're right, Valentine. Where is that worthless cousin of mine?" 

	"Why don't we all go look for him?" Cloud suggested, holding up his Ultima Weapon. 
Everyone glanced back at Sephiroth, who had put Angeles down and had taken the huge sword 
from the boy's hands. "We can resolve our differences later," Cloud added.

	"That would be a wise choice," Sephiroth replied calmly. 

	"We need someone to babysit the boy, though," Cid said.

	Angeles cringed in response. 

	"Oh, seriously, Cid, do you really think the boy is going to get hurt?" Tifa asked 
laughingly. "Let's just go!"

	Dr. Dallas was already striding out of the room. Soon, everyone found themselves in 
an underground cavern, looking down at a network of computers where several people had 
obviously at one time used. Hojo was in the middle of the room, frantically preparing an 
incubator. Cloud blanched at seeing Jenova's body encased within it. 

	"Shit."

	Everyone agreed with Cid.

	But Angeles had a different idea. He suddenly rushed from Sephiroth's side, snatched
 Cloud's sword and ran down. 

	"Angeles!" Dr. Dallas called sharply. "WAHT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING???"

	Hojo, however, was laughing madly. "Yes, come on, boy! Meet your beloved grandmother!!"

	Angeles ran up the raised platform to the huge incubator where Hojo was standing at the 
main controls, laughing, his tentacles waving about. At seeing how close the boy was, Hojo's 
eyes narrowed, a tentacle slithering to catch teh boy up. Angeles nimbly avoided his tentacles
 until he was standing directly in front of the mad professor.

	"You wanted to know the power of a Cetra-Jenova hybrid?" 

	Hojo grinned. "And what can a ten-year-old do?"

	Angeles held out a hand before him in his enemy's face. "This is the Cetra Light," 
he whispered as his palm began to shine with a strange sort of energy. Hojo could perhaps 
see something in the light in the boy's hand, because his eyes widened first in shock, 
surprise, then fear and horror. 

	A moment later, Hojo was screaming, yet unable to look away. His howls were terrible 
to hear, and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. 

	Only the tormented man could hear the boy at that point, as loud as his cries were. 
"Feel the power you have abused over the years. Feel the pain you have inflicted. Feel the 
fear. You have caused suffering, Professor. This is your punishment as the Planet commands."

	"Shit, I'm not damn well watching this," Cid gasped. "He's not really *boiling*, 
is he?"

	Cloud quickly shielded Tifa from the grotesque sight. Hojo's sockets seemed to be 
boiling over with a white liquid, then red, then green, as if first his eyes boiled, then 
his blood gushed out followed by whatever foul bile could be found in his body. Dr. Dallas 
apparently couldn't take it, either. She started retching in a corner. Angeles continued to
 hold his stance, his eyes closed and his face tranquil. He seemed utterly unconcerned with
the madman's fate. 

	Sephiroth did not really understand what he was watching, but he understood it was 
a talent of his son's. He wasn't overly emotional at seeing the scientist slowly melt down 
to nothing but a boiling mess of bile and blood on the floor. Angeles opened his eyes and 
looked a bit apologetically at the bloody pool on the floor before turning his attention 
to the body of the alien in the incubator. Jenova seemed to recognize him, suddenly coming 
out of her prison.

	"It isn't time yet, and you know it," Angeles said quite unperturbedly to the creature. 
"If you kill me now, you'll never be able to reach your goal. You've got to fight me fairly. 
We both know that."

	Jenova hissed, her mind probing at the boy's. Then in a flash of light, she disappeared.

	"What the hell was that?" Barret demanded.

	"It's one of those Cetra things, I bet," Dr. Dallas said wearily, still looking sick. 

	"Do you need help?" Vincent asked sympathetically. 

	"We need to clear this place of monsters. I'm not sure-"

	"We don't have to. They're all already gone," Angeles said as he walked back to them,
 handing the Ultima Weapon to Cloud. "Thanks for letting me use your sword."

	"I didn't have much of a choice, did I," Cloud grumbled a little, disgruntled. 

	"No, you didn't," Angeles agreed. He then smiled brightly at them. "I'm hungry," he 
announced cheerily to them. "Is there anything I can eat?"

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	All characters (except for Dr. Sarah Dallas) are copyright of Squaresoft Inc. This is 
just a fanfic for heaven's sake! 

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