(Kit Thespian walks in)

Kit Thespian (maniacally): Oh, yes, I'm finally here, in the Final Fantasy VII category. Its plots are mine to twist! Its characters are mine to control! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

(Cloud, Barret, and Sephiroth pop their heads in)

Sephiroth: We're doomed.

Disclaimer: Kit Thespian does not own Final Fantasy VII or the characters therein. And she is not making money off of this.

Author's Note: This fanfic does not coincide with either Advent Children or Dirge of Cerberus in any form or fashion. It only goes by the canon game.

Chapter One- What the...?

It's not an extraordinary thing to be alive one moment, and dead the next. But it is a trifle unusual to be dead one moment, and alive the next. That is the reason why Sephiroth was puzzled when he found himself in a forest near Midgar one morning. Even stranger was the fact that he was dressed in his General garb: cape, sword, and all. He went through many actions to test his humanity and life, including poking himself, hitting himself on the head with one of his hands, and even giving himself a small cut on the palm of his hand with the edge of his sword.

After seeing the blood, there was no mistake. Sephiroth was alive. But "how?" was the question. He got up off the ground and examined his surroundings. He knew that it was the forest near Midgar. First things first, he would have to seek help. He had no money, and nowhere to go. He didn't even know when it was. He trekked towards Midgar.

Unfortunately, he was dismayed to find that Midgar was in ruins with no sign of human life in it whatsoever. Sephiroth reached the ruins and looked around. He knew in his heart that this was caused by Meteor, but he couldn't understand why the rest of the planet still existed.

He found several Gil amidst the ruins of the city, about 500. He looked around at the destruction and sighed. If there was no Midgar, there was probably no Shinra. And if no Shinra, no SOLDIER. The means of making a living through his military prowess was completely gone.

There was one thing that Sephiroth was grateful for. He no longer felt the hold of Jenova on his will and person. Jenova had been destroyed. And for whatever reason the Lifestream saw fit, It had sent Sephiroth back as he had been before this entire business started, without madness. If all else failed, Sephiroth could hunt for game when he needed food. But he also needed a place to stay.

He headed for the next town, Kalm. When he reached the village, he noticed that everyone seemed to be content, with the slight exception of a merchant and a customer at a fish stand nearby, haggling prices with elevated frustration. Hopefully, no one knew what he looked like. Jenova had told him of the clone that had went throughout the land, wreaking havoc and even killing the last of the Ancients (at her orders, of course), and that it was identical to Sephiroth in appearance (most clones are).

And it wasn't as if Sephiroth himself was sinless. After he met Jenova, a madness surged through him that drew him to her and he did her every bidding. and he gave into his own bloodlusts.

So far, so good. No one was pointing fingers at him and screaming in terror. But he was surprised by hearing a tiny voice address him.

"Sir," it said, "are you new here, Sir?"

Sephiroth looked down and it was as little girl with dark brown hair, around the age of four or five. She barely reached above his knees. She was by herself, and gazing up at Sephiroth with fascination. Since he was given this second chance at life, Sephiroth was determined to make this one better. He could start by being nice to this child.

"Yes," he answered, "if you answer a few questions for me, I'll give you a big reward."

"Okay."

"Firstly, what is your name?"

"Marlene."

"This is Kalm, isn't it?"

"Yes, Sir."

"How long has it been since the defeat of Sephiroth?"

Marlene shrugged, "I dunno."

"Do you know who Sephiroth is?"

Why the little girl shook her head in reply, Sephiroth was very worried all of a sudden. What if he were centuries into the future? It most certainly wasn't the past. He stood silent for a moment and Marlene piped up.

"But there was a huge Meteor last year!" she said.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "A Meteor?"

"Uh-huh! It went over Midgar, there was a big, white light, and BOOM! The Meteor was gone!"

The big white light could only have been Holy, the power that the Ancient girl had been trying to summon. A year...It had only been a year. Sephiroth's situation was even worse than if he had been resurrected five hundred years after his defeat. In five hundred years he would have been forgotten and he could have lived comfortably without fear. But for all he knew, Cloud Strife and his friends were still alive.

Really, Sephiroth had little to be afraid of. Though he was no longer a one-winged demi-god, he was still a force to be reckoned with. But the truth of the matter was he had lost he taste and thirst for blood. The thought of it made him feel sick to the stomach now.

And now, there was the little girl Marlene to be taken care of. She had waited patiently for the reward promised her. Sephiroth reached into his pouch, pulled out 10 Gil, and put it in the little girl's hands. Marlene gasped with delight and began to hop around.

"I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm rich! Yippee!" She grabbed Sephiroth's cape and said, "You're a nice man. Thank you. Let's get some candy!"

Sephiroth gulped. He was very hungry, but he had never eaten a piece of candy in his life. He was never allowed to when he was young, and he never cared to when he was older. But he allowed himself to be led by the little girl (who held onto his finger) to the candy shop nearby. When he walked in, the candy store owner took one look at Sephiroth and his eyes widened.

"That's a pretty big sword you got there, Mister..." he said. But Marlene interrupted.

"Mister Border," she said, putting the 10 Gil on the counter, "may I have two bags of gumdrops, please?"

"Of course, little Marlene," the storeowner smiled as he took the money. He eyed Sephiroth warily, of course, but asked no more questions. When Marlene went to Sephiroth led him out the door by the finger, Sephiroth shrugged at Mr. Border and the storeowner laughed, understanding the situation. Marlene had once been a shy, little thing, but since the destruction of Meteor she had blossomed quite a bit.

When they were outside, Marlene handed Sephiroth one of the bags of gumdrops.

"One for you and one for me..." she said. She immediately opened her bag and bit into one of the candies. Sephiroth also opened his bag, albeit with a little less enthusiasm, and popped one of the sweets into his mouth.

It was sweet, all right. So sweet it made his teeth hurt. He paused for a moment and thought about his situation. He was back from the dead, in the town Kalm, making friends with a little girl named Marlene, and eating candy for the first time in his life. Somehow, for some insane reason, this scenario was preferable to taking over the world and becoming a god. It was a lot quieter.

Marlene grabbed his finger once more and pulled him towards one of the houses. It was good-sized house, probably one of the bigger ones in Kalm.

"I wanna show you my treehouse!" Marlene exclaimed.

"Are your parents home?" Sephiroth asked. He wondered how well he would be received, a stranger being dragged home to this little girl's place.

But Marlene answered, "My Papa isn't home. My aunt and uncle aren't home either. My Auntie Yuffie is home, but she's taking a nap."

Sephiroth immediately got the impression that Marlene really wasn't supposed to be outside by herself, and that she had snuck out once her "Auntie" was asleep. They went around to the backyard to where Marlene's treehouse was. The treehouse was a little bigger than Sephiroth thought it was going to be. He wouldn't be able to stand up in it, but he could at least sit down and stretch his legs. There was a wooden ladder that led up to the door. The rungs were very close together, making it awkward for Sephiroth, but manageable.

The door to the treehouse was about fifteen feet above the ground. Sephiroth let the little girl climb up first. She said as she crawled into the house, "We can eat our candy in here. Nobody'll see us."

There was a tiny cot in the corner, and a few toys strewn about. Once Sephiroth was able to squeeze himself into the door, Marlene shut it and opened the windows. Then they started to eat their candy. Marlene, with her mouth full of gumdrops, asked, "Whath yo nam?"

"...I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand that."

Marlene swallowed the candy and said, "What's your name?"

Sephiroth knew that he couldn't tell her his real name, for it would prove most disastrous if little Marlene started going around telling people that her friend's name was Sephiroth. But the name that popped out of his mouth made him wonder later on, what on earth was I thinking?

"...Mr. Roth."

The answer was, he wasn't thinking.