Disclaimer: All characters belong to SquareEnix, we just brought them out to play.

Author's Note: This is a Collab fic between Vega Sailor and Writer Chica. For those of you who do not know who Writer Chica is you can find her page in my favorite authors section. Go check it out she has some great AU fics! Also for those of you who have been following my other fic "Eye to Eye" this is what has been distracting me from continuing that. Don't I will be getting back to it soon.

Big thanks to AncientlyBroken for beta reading this fic!

Try Try Again: Prologue

Aerith drifted gracefully through the green mists of the Lifestream, keeping a careful eye on the souls that floated past her. This was going to be harder than she had originally thought.

"It's like finding a needle in a haystack." A voice called out, unknowingly echoing her thoughts, and Aerith looked over at the man next to her, his spiky black hair blowing in the breeze of their journey. "A very big haystack." He reiterated. She couldn't help but smile.

"I know it is Zack. But we've got to find him. This is a second chance, a real second chance, for him."

"It could be he doesn't want to be found." Angeal Hewley, floating behind Zack, cautioned his companions, "It's a lot we're asking of him." The three had been called back from the Promised Land for a very special task given by the Planet, because she had sensed danger in their midst. And even though Sephiroth and Jenova HAD been defeated by Cloud, the Geostigma and the attempted advent had shown Gaia several... gaps in her protective system.

Aerith continued to attempt to 'talk' to some of the souls drifting around to get a location on the elusive former General. It was difficult. The souls weren't like the three searching, they drifted unable to move on because they were waiting for someone, as Angeal had for Zack and Zack had for Aerith, or had done great evil or were simply so muddled in the head they weren't ready. Thus they were free to talk or ignore and continue drifting as they chose when approached.

"Well, it wasn't entirely Seph's fault in the first place." Zack pointed out.

"Exactly! That's part of the reason why the Planet wants to do this." Aerith reminded Angeal and Zack as they sped up just a tad, looking for glimpses of jade cat eyes and wispy silver...

"At the very least he may want to make up for telling the love of his life to go rot," Angeal muttered quietly, remembering the last exchange between Sephiroth and Genesis through Zack's eyes. What fools they had been, they could have helped each other and prevented all this. Instead, driven by madness and pride, they had turned their backs on each other, only discover that alone they were weak.

"Cloud could use an apology, at the very least." Aerith felt the need to add.

"Yeah!" Zack chimed in more cheerfully. "Cloud can have his hero back... kinda."

"We can only hope," Aerith said interlacing her hand with his and giving it a gentle squeeze. Just then Angeal's sharp eyes caught a wisp of silver off to his right.

"There!"

"Where?" Zack peered in the direction Angeal indicated not quite seeing what the older man saw. "Are you sure it's not one of those remnant kids?"

"It's him." Angeal said definitively, making his way towards his friend. "Aerith, how do I pull him out?"

Aerith immediately leaped in, though having had no connection to Sephiroth in life she could actually do very little, "Focus! Grab him like he was falling and just pull!"

With a single nod Angeal floated towards his friend, concentrating as hard as he was able. "Sephiroth... Snowball..." He called out with his mind reaching out his hand as he had done for Zack at the moment of his death.

"C'mon Seph." Zack called out too.

Something stirred.

The former hero and general slowly opened his eyes. He had been dreaming, a dream that kept replaying itself over and over again since the destruction of his physical body and any connections he had to the physical world, whether through Jenova or the blood craving, fanatical half of his own soul. He could always see through their eyes even though he had no control, but their eyes had been shut and now his were open.

He could see familiar faces hovering above him. Smiling at him, welcoming him, not haunting him with accusatory looks, or pleading ones as if to ask why he was not stronger, or happy ones that would smile for a moment then fade into despair. He waited, knowing that this was a trick.

So he continued to wait. Moments passed and the faces stayed the same, their looks of concern were genuine, he decided. It was impossible. It couldn't be….

No, this was real. The hands that reached for him were warm, familiar, ones that had reached for him many times before, during battles, missions and even when nightmares had troubled him in his real life. He wanted that warmth of reality again so terribly it was a pain greater than anything he had ever experienced. So he reached out and took their hands, daring to hope it would bring release.

He suddenly found himself there, things the same as they had been when he was still alive. Same look, same clothes, same people...except one.

"Wakey-Wakey!" Zack suddenly popped into his field of view, startling him, just a little. Before he would have found such an act to be of the greatest annoyance, but now it was a comfort simply by its familiarity.

Sephiroth blinked a few times still a little dazed from his sudden awakening. "Where...? No I know where I am, but how am I here, I mean this spot this moment? Before I was... drifting?"

His answer came in the form of Aerith's soft voice, "You were. But we had something important to talk to you about." When the jade cat eyes snapped to her, Aerith offered him a genial smile and a cheerful, "Hello Sephiroth!" He was amazed she had come, after all it was his face that had killed her and ended the Cetra forever...

"Yeah souls tend to do that until they've got everything sorted out in their heads and they're at peace with themselves. Unfortunately we didn't have time to wait that long." Zack informed the former as the group gathered a little closer together. "The Planet needs your help, Sephiroth and wants to help you in the process."

This got bitter laugh from the man in question. "I? I am the one that led it to near destruction."

"Gaia knows that... what you discovered in the reactor after loosing Angeal and Genesis, your roots to your humanity, finally pushed you over the edge after decades of being too close, and Jenova took advantage of that, of you." Aerith rejoined gently. They had known going in that it would be a difficult task to convince him to do this. To go back.

"I should have been stronger...", a statement, he had expected more of himself.

"The same could be said of me and… Genesis." Sephiroth couldn't help the relieved smile, or the twinge of guilt directed at Angeal. Yet he was grateful that at least one soul understood.

"She's a part of your genes, Seph, in your very blood." Zack reminded the General, "Her call was bound to catch up to you sooner or later."

"Your father's blood protected you for a long time,"Aerith spoke up, wanting that fact acknowledged, "Long enough to become... well, Sephiroth. To meet a soul-mate." Because Sephiroth's true father was beyond a doubt, human at the time of conception, that part of him had indeed quieted Jenova. One of the reason's why Hojo had made sure to pump his creation full of more Jenova's cells, no doubt.

"My father... my real father…. I don't even know him. No one here has clear memories of him and my head was already too full..."

"Well if you go back you'll get to meet him face to face!" Zack told him, which immediately earned the ex-SOLDIER silencing looks from the other two. Sephiroth and his father were to find out in their own time. Not used as a bribe. Thankfully, Sephiroth fixed on the more relevant part.

"Go... back?"

"Yes!" Aerith clapped her hands excitedly. "You see, just like Jenova couldn't destroy your human half without destroying her half, Gaia couldn't take away the part of you that was linked to Jenova. So, when you died in the reactor the planet split your soul in two, sending the other half and Jenova's essence away to protect... you and herself."

"Unfortunately though," Angeal continued more solemnly, "it also meant Jenova's essence and the psycho side of you were loose in the Lifestream."

"Hence Geostigma, and the attempted Advent." Zack explained.

It was a little bit before Sephiroth spoke, allowing this new information to sink in, murmuring more to himself then the others, "And that's how even though I was here, I could still see through his eyes, but not control..." then he shook his head, "But if I am split from him and her, what is my connection to all of this? I'm dead, I have no more influence than any of the other souls, he had all of the power."

"But you had all of the brains, notice without you there he was defeated by the same attack. Twice." Angeal pointed out, Aerith and Zack nodded in agreement.

"And as long as you're a soul like us, you WON'T be able to do anything." Zack said.

"If that is so then what was the point of awakening me?" Sephiroth asked them, and Angeal answered.

"When the other you was brought back through your remnant, the essence of Jenova in the Lifestream went with him."

"Allowing me to cure the Geostigma." Aerith stated simply.

"But now that he is dead, Jenova's essence has returned to the Lifestream." Sephiroth could see it clearly now.

"Right, which means it's only a matter of time till another attempt for world destruction. Except Seph, the Planet has one last trick up her sleeve." Zack said with his trademark grin. Gaia, as any loving mother must do, gave up much of her power in order to let her children grow and live on the physical plane... but in the Lifestream, her power was supreme.

"When you were alive, just like the other you during the Advent, you were a container for that essence of Jenova. And simply ejecting the bad side of you wouldn't work because Cloud would just have to kill him and we'd be right back where we stared." Aerith said.

"With your permission, Gaia wants to send both of you back, in your body." Angeal finally concluded.

Sephiroth stood there stoically, dumbfounded at this development, as a mixture of emotions ran through his head. Suddenly he let out a bitter laugh, "How ironic... My biological mother used me for her experiment and left me in the hands of a madman. My genetic donor mother used me to free herself from prison and to reap vengeance and bring about the end of the world. And now mother Planet wants to use me as a living prison for her enemy. So that I will once again live a life tormented by voices in my head. Fighting a constant never ending battle to keep my own identity." This little speech made Aerith wince and Angeal and Zack adopt rather uncomfortable looks... because on the surface Sephiroth was absolutely right.

"Suppose I fail again?" The former general posed in the face of the silence, "What if my soul is not split free this time? I could be assimilated into that monster forever..."

"There's a great difference between then and now." Angeal reminded him.

"This time, you won't be enduring this alone." Aerith added.

"And you'll know what and where the enemy is." Angeal said, eyes boring into Sephiroth, then very gently. "Are you really completely at peace here?"

"There isn't anything, or anyone, you don't have regrets about?" Zack prodded. And Sephiroth thought about it.

He remembered always wanting to ask his mother why she had left him to Hojo, his desire to meet his real father, not in battle, but sane man to sane man. These were more questions than regrets. Then there was Cloud. Poor boy had once viewed him as a hero, and that dream had been shattered in the worst way possible. And then he pictured sapphire eyes and fiery auburn hair. How many times had he wished to hold him in his arms just once more? Genesis. If he had a chance...

As if sensing his thoughts, Aerith spoke gently, "They're waiting for you."

"Especially your Songbird." Angeal said with a small smile.

Sephiroth only closed his eyes sadly. "If I were sure I would have him back as we once were, I would go back without a second thought, even while harboring the monsters. But he'll want no part of me now. And I think I might break if I ever saw hatred in those eyes toward me, even if … even if I was the one to blame."

"Seph, Genesis always loved you, he still does." Angeal returned, prompting Zack and Aerith to be silent and allow Angeal to handle this.

"I told him…," Sephiroth looked away. Ashamed to even look at his friend, his brother in the eye."He needed my help and I walked away. My last words to him were a rebuke."

"I know..." Angeal said softly, putting a hand on Sephiroth's shoulder. He had watched it all from the Lifestream, and he had to admit even though he no longer had a physical body he had felt his blood turn cold at the things Sephiroth and Genesis had said to one another that final day. But then neither of them were in their right minds either. "But I also know you didn't mean it."

"I did mean it," Sephiroth said darkly after a short pause. "I wanted to hurt him. For being weak, for walking away."

"Do you still mean it?" Angeal asked.

"No..." Sephiroth said in earnest. "I know now how sick he really was, how sick I was. If only... If you had been there to soften the blow..." Here the fallen warrior managed a slight smile, "Play peace maker like you used to."

Angeal swallowed hard. "I saw it from here. I wanted so badly to do just that but I just.. it wasn't possible."

When they fell silent Zack jumped in, knowing if left to brood, Sephiroth would definitely refuse. "Think about it, Seph. ShinRa, Hojo... they're gone. Dead or powerless now, you'd be free."

"Free..." The pale face brightened a little, but then logic kicked back in, "But how would I live? I know nothing beyond ShinRa, and I am the world's worst enemy."

"That's not something we can help you with, you have to do it on your own." Angeal's voice had a tinge of regret to it. But Gaia had been very clear about it. For this to work, Sephiroth had to forge his own decisions, to trust himself.

"And for all it's evils, you did get a world class education with ShinRa." Zack encouraged.

"And if you fall under Cloud's protection, who's going to question the hero who saved the world?" Aerith posed to the group.

"Twice!" Zack threw in for good measure.

Angeal hummed his agreement, "And if the hero can forgive his enemy, perhaps the civilians can too."

"Not saying it'll be easy, or pleasant at first." Zack cautioned, remembering the struggle of adjusting to things after loosing four years during the time between his escape and death, "But if anyone can do it Seph…"

"Everything you've ever wanted, dreamed of Snowball. It's right at your fingertips." Angeal said. He could not, WOULD not let his friend waste this chance! Who else on Gaia got it? A chance to redo your life?

Sephiroth, for his part, closed his eyes, visions of Genesis echoing through the corridors of his mind. Just a chance to have his love in his arms once more. His heart leapt with cautious hope. He opened his eyes to eager but nervous expressions.

"Alright, I accept." It was met with Aerith's gentle smile, and Zack's whoop of delight, as well as Angeal's nod of approval, "though I think convincing Cloud to protect me may be an insurmountable task, I was never particularly good at … asking for help."

"Leave that to me and Zack." Aerith said with determination.

"We'll butter him up good," Zack grinned and nudged Aerith who couldn't help but giggle in return, before he looked pointedly over at Sephiroth. "When you find him Seph, be sincere. That's something Cloud'll trust and stay his hand more then any pretty words."

Sephiroth only smirked back. "Zack... When have you known me to be anything but brutally honest?"

Zack grinned impishly, but held his tongue.

"I never thought I would say this but you may puppy glomp me if you like."

"Seriously?" Zack gasped, shocked. He'd tried many many times to give Sephiroth one of his famous glomps, but Sephiroth always refused or, when Zack had resorted to sneakiness, thwarted the attempts. But now...

"I have come to miss the familiarity of it, a memory of better days." Zack didn't need to be told twice, and promptly tackle-hugged the man, absolutely gleeful, while Aerith and Angeal smiled, touched by the scene. The small hug back was just a Dumb-apple right on top!

Aerith allowed them a minute to let go of each other, quickly brushing away a tear, "Zack and I should get ready for Cloud, " a finger raised and pointed at Zack, "You, prepare to puppy-pout him like you've never puppy-pouted anyone before."

"I think it will take all of Zack's puppy power's of persuasion for this occasion," Angeal said dryly.

"I'll do my best," Zack put on a confident grin.

"So how do we go about this?" Sephiroth asked.

"Leave Cloud to us," Aerith said firmly. "In the meantime you need to find that other half of you so Gaia can fuse you together. When you find him don't go near him just keep tabs until Gaia has things ready, right now the Lifestream is working on a new physical body for you replicating exactly how it was before you were lost at Nibelheim."

Sephiroth nodded looking determined. "I will do so."

Aerith's gentle sunshine smile returned. "I'm sorry I never got to meet you, before. Zack always spoke highly of you." She reached out and gave Sephiroth's hand a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry even though you'll be by yourself, you won't be alone. We'll be watching out for you."

Sephiroth offered a small smile back. "I am also sorry we did not meet prior to this. Zack always spoke very highly of you too. On behalf of my darker self I apologize for your death, I hope it was not too painful."

There was a flicker of sadness that crossed Aerith's face, though her smile never faltered, "Thank you, but it's not necessary. And don't worry, it didn't hurt, it was so fast and my back was to... him."

"At least Masamune gave you that mercy. The last shred of me, my death blows were always swift." Sephiroth said soberly...

"Yeah, I knew there was something definitely wrong with you when your first strike didn't kill me back there," Zack said with a cheeky grin hoping to break up the somber mood that had suddenly settled over them.

"Puppy..." Angeal said, tone slightly scolding, but that just made Aerith laugh helplessly and Sephiroth smile in fond remembrance, thus making Zack successful.

"I shall miss this when I am alive again."

"Don't worry, Cloud and his crew are a pretty colorful bunch, once you gel with them there will be plenty of smiles." Zack grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. "And like she said, we'll be watchin' ya from up here, so do good my friend!"

Suddenly strands of green began to swirl around Zack and Aerith.

"Time to get things rollin'" Zack said as he looked down at his slowly fading form. "Good luck Sephiroth!"

"Nice meeting you," Aerith blew him a kiss. And with that they faded into the Lifestream, leaving Angeal and Sephiroth to say their own final words.

"It was good to see you again Snowball," Angeal said with a gentle smile, but couldn't hold his gaze for too long, looking away he sighed heavily. "I am sorry things turned out this way."

"Who would have pictured this tragedy all those years ago..." Sephiroth heaved a remorseful sigh of his own. "Maybe I shouldn't have let Genesis go on that last mission to Wutai..., who would have thought one decision could affect everything so greatly."

"Perhaps..."Angeal said looking back at his friend. "Or maybe it would've only delayed things a little. Strange to think... one selfish decision on our mothers' part, then one misbegotten choice on ours..." He shook his head the look of regret leaving his face with it. "Well, let the past rest. I trust you and Songbird to make the best of the future. Because if you don't," He wagged his finger at Sephiroth as if he were talking to a 16 year old Zack, " dead or not, I will come back and give you two such a smacking and 'pride and dreams' speech..."

Sephiroth smiled softly at the familiar gesture. "I shall take comfort knowing you are watching over me."

With that Angeal squared his shoulders putting on his battle ready face, hoping to trigger Sephiroth's old SOLDIER instincts for diving right into the unknown without fear. Sephiroth responded in kind by straightening up looking once more like the noble general he had once been to so many.

"Walk with pride, speak with honor and never forget..." He said putting his hands on Sephiroth's shoulders, touching Sephiroth's forehead with his own in an ancient gesture of farewell. His form began to fade, just as Zack and Aerith had done.

"Forget?" Sephiroth looked at him questioningly.

"Your dreams." Angeal finished with a smile, as he faded into small strands of green life.

Chica's Chatter: Hey all! Will Aerith and Zack be successful? Will Zack's puppy powers be enough to lull Cloud into taking on this 'mission' with his (former) archnemesis? Tune in for next time!

Vega's Ventings: So excited! oor Cloud though he always gets picked to do things he really doesn't want to do.

Chica's Chatter: Yeah he and Sephiroth kind of have that common.