A/N: And thus we come to the conclusion of the first arc. This chapter, I think, is more humorous than the last two—especially considering the ending of the previous. Song used for this chapter: Worry About You by Ivy. Why? All will be revealed shortly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I do, however, own this plot, Saan, Jerry, Ronnie, another character mentioned in this chapter, and I am really hungry right now x.x. Oh, and my grandmother's going to have open heart surgery in about 2 hours.

Edited on 4 November 2010 for errors and goofs. And boy were there a lot of them. Ronnie failed epically on this chapter.

I felt as if I was floating…but it wasn't really floating. More like…more like I was suspended in the air and all time was frozen around me.

Snapping my eyes open, I let them dart around the room. Only I wasn't in a room. I wasn't anywhere. Everywhere around me was dark. Black. I sighed, the noise deafening in the silence.

"Great. I'm dead."

As if this realization sparked something within the ethereal plane, color erupted all around me. The area I was facing became the night sky and, whatever was below me, started to glow with a green light. I was also, quite unexpectedly, dropped to the newly-formed ground.

I gasped when I felt gravity suddenly overtake me, squeaked, and then hit the ground with a breathless, 'Oof!' I could tell from the impact that I wasn't wearing my suit.

"Ow…" I groaned.

Well, that hadn't made much sense. I was dead. I shouldn't have felt pain if I was dead. Unless I was in Hell… Sitting up, I looked around and couldn't find a trace of brimstone or hellfire anywhere. So, I wasn't in Hell. Then why had the ground hurt? Looking down below my legs, I realized I wasn't actually on the ground, per se. It seemed as if I were actually sitting on a giant glass plate and beneath me ran the Lifestream—or what I assumed to be the Lifestream, as I had never seen it before.

None of what was going on made much sense to me. But, I concluded that, just maybe, it shouldn't have made much sense. It was the afterlife, after all. And as I was admiring the pretty colors that floated in the stream below me and the way the stars twinkled in the night sky…the gravity of all that had took place before finally hit me.

My eyes widened.

"Oh, no… I'm dead!" I grabbed my head and stared at the ground, "I can't be dead! I left Ronnie at home for a week and didn't call him because I left my fucking phone at home—" here I paused to briefly wonder if it was ok to swear in the afterlife, "—and I wasn't even supposed to come on this stupid mission so he probably had no idea where the hell I am and—" I gasped, "—Jerry! What about Jerry? I was supposed to make sure he got out all right. And Cloud and Zack! What will happen to them?"

I didn't understand what had gotten me into my situation at first, but then I remembered the screeching noise and the pain. My features contorted with anger. An anger that wasn't as intense as it was back in the Reactor, but it was still…angry.

"And her. She's responsible for this mess," I stood up and started to look around. "And she's with Sephiroth! I have to find him and get that bitch away from him."

I paused, blinked, and digested what I had just said. If I were to find Sephiroth, either I would have to be alive, or he would have to be dead. Could someone even find another person in the afterlife on Gaia? How did the afterlife even fucking work?

I let a high-pitched growl resonate in my throat as I realized the hopelessness of it all. I had thrown reason out the window when Jenova got inside my head, forgetting about my friends and what might happen to them, just to jump into a glowing pit of Mako to try and save Sephiroth. Or at least, that's what I had believed at the time. I was starting to doubt myself—wondering if it wasn't all a plan of Jenova's from the get-go. The more I thought about the alien creature, the more I hated it.

I tried to recall my suit. Maybe if I could get it on, the ringing in my head could act like an alien-detector or something. However, the suit never came. Snapping my head down to my right forearm, my mouth opened in disbelief. I brought the limb up to my face to stare at the armlet—or lack thereof.

I snapped, "Oh, sure, you wait until after I'm dead to come off my arm! What kind of piece of shit are you!"

Now that's not very nice to say about something that saved your life more than once.

The strange, new voice was masculine and, yet, wasn't deep. More than a little creeped out that said voice was behind her, I spun around. My eyes widened as they locked with glowing, yellow ones.

"Oh, now I know I'm dead."

The eyes belonged to Anubis. Not the suit I had worn for over a year, but the actual deity himself. He was completely black, save for his yellow eyes, and was adorned with the usual Egyptian attire…which was to say he wasn't wearing much of anything. In fact, the only thing he was wearing was one of those long skirt-tie things that I really didn't know the name of and, frankly, I didn't care. Anubis had a man's body from the neck down—sans the dog-like claws—and anything that covered down yonder was very welcomed by me. The last thing I wanted to see in the afterlife was a god's junk. That would have made our conversation more than a little awkward…for me, anyway. Anubis probably didn't give a damn.

He was missing the usual headdress seen on Egyptian deities and, instead, had long, flowing hair that stopped just beneath his shoulder blades. The human half of him seemed to get a good work out every now and again. I mused that Anubis probably didn't want his figure going to waste as he did nothing but embalm and weigh things on his scales, and so he made frequent stops at the local spirit gym.

In his hand he carried a staff. I knew the staff held some importance in regards to Egyptian mythology, but I couldn't remember the darn thing's name. On his head sat two very jackal-like ears, bigger than a dog's, and his snout was smaller in comparison to other canines'. I pondered if the reason why his voice was so light was because jackals themselves had high-pitched cries. Kind of like coyotes but not as elegant. Though, I wasn't going to tell Anubis that… That would have been rude.

The deity remained where he stood a few feet away from me. He didn't blink; he didn't move; he didn't even breathe! Then again, being a god probably meant one didn't have to. He did, however, speak.

No. You are on the borders of the Lifestream. In terms that you can understand, you are in limbo. Between life and death. You have not died yet.

"Oh," I nodded my head before shaking it. "That makes a whole helluva lot of difference. And exactly why am I in Limbo? Is it because I killed some clones and now I have to repent or something?"

Heaven and Hell do not exist in this world; only in your mind.

"Right. And do you exist, Anubis? Or are you just in my mind, too?"

Anubis didn't reply. Instead, his canine lips parted to reveal a set of stunning, white teeth. The image itself was creepy as hell, but I figured he was trying to smile. And since he was smiling, I was probably right…on some level.

I sighed and rubbed my eyebrows, "This is getting confusing. Since you're a figment of my imagination—"

I stopped when I saw Anubis' eyes sparkle as the smile remained. I frowned.

"You're not a figment of my imagination?"

His grin turned into a small smile.

I shook my head, "Then what are you?"

One could compare me to the Summons of this world. I am not the god you think I am, and I am not merely a 'figment' of your imagination. For now, I merely am.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Once again, the afterlife…Limbo…wherever the hell I was, made no sense. Though, since I wasn't dead, that did explain why I felt pain upon colliding with the see-through ground Anubis and I were standing on.

"Look," I said, holding up my hand, "I'm not even going to try and understand what you said; I just need you to get me out of here. Since you said I'm not dead yet, I'd like to be alive again."

Why?

I blinked in shock, "Because…? I have things I gotta do; people I gotta take care of. Granted, I wasn't thinking about them when I jumped into the giant Mako pit of Death, but I don't think I was in my right mind when I did that." I frowned and looked down, "I'd like to help Sephiroth, I really would, but…he's just one person and I'm not even sure I can help him. But, Ronnie, Jerry, Cloud, and Zack…I know they're still alive, and I know I can help them." I chuckled dryly, "As Sephiroth said, I know it sounds cold, but I don't have time to look for him. I have to get back."

Why?

I snapped my head back up to look at the not-quite-deity. What did he mean 'why'? Hadn't I just told him why I needed to be alive instead of dead? Anubis must have caught my look of confusion for he reworded his question.

Why should I help you?

I frowned. I wanted to shoot back with, 'Because I said so!' but I knew that wasn't what Anubis wanted to hear. What did he want to hear? I didn't know. How could I know? I wasn't omnipotent. I cupped my chin with my forefinger and thumb as I thought.

Anubis wasn't a god in this world. He wasn't a figment of my imagination either. He was like a Summon. Sort of. He simply was. Well, what did Summons do? To my knowledge, one called forth a creature of terrible power and decimated his/her foes with it. Summons listened to their owners.

I frowned. Anubis wasn't doing a very good job of listening, then. My hand slowly lowered from my chin as I thought that maybe Anubis wasn't so much of a Summon, but a Djinn. Maybe he was like the character from Kingdom Hospital.

"Heh." I looked at him, "You do me a solid, I do you a solid. That's how it works?"

Anubis grinned again, and this time, he started to walk towards me. His movements were slow and deliberate. He was in no hurry to get anywhere.

Something like that. Yes.

I watched him approach, a little on guard, "And what exactly do you want me to do for you, Anubis? As long as it's not anything that'll hurt me or my friends, I'll try my best to do whatever it is you want."

Anubis' grin remained on his face as he finally reached me. He was extremely tall, his ears making him even taller than Sephiroth.

I want you to correct your mistake. However, I must caution you. If you do not, I will be forced to correct it for you. I do not take failure lightly.

I frowned, "And my mistake would be?"

Anubis' grin became a small smile again.

You already know.

Without warning, the jackal-headed man snatched my right forearm, pulling it up from my side roughly. I was spooked by his sudden movements, wondering what he was trying to do as his clawed hand tightened around my arm.

The green glow from the Lifestream intensified, causing me to squint. Suddenly, the undulating light was shooting up towards us. I cried out, pulling against Anubis' grip—the creature's hand never loosened its hold. I watched in fear as the green tendrils started to snake their way over my legs and work their way up my body. It felt as if they were burning me.

Panicking, I snapped my face up to stare into Anubis' glowing, yellow eyes. He merely stared back, small smile still on his lips, as the Lifestream wrapped around my arms. When it touched his hand, a small wisp of red joined the green.

His eyes were the last things I saw before the green light enveloped me completely, silencing the scream that never made it past my throat.

To Be Continued in:

To Gaia, From Earth: Hello Again

A/N: And this is where I sit back and smirk as I imagine all your reactions to this giant cliffhanger. Worry About You is the name of the theme song for Kingdom Hospital which has a giant anteater named Antubis—who is, in fact, Anubis. Kudos to those who caught that. If you haven't seen that series, I recommend it. It was done by Stephen King.

And here is your gift: http:/ www. youtube. com/ watch?v=zI-sLeg17pE (Edit: Those who read the edited version of Chapter 1 know what this is.)

Remove the spaces, as usual. The ending theme is supposed to be the perspective of Saan to Sephiroth. Have fun~!

Edit: And cut! –collapses- Haaate reading Film Studies. 39 pages should not take me almost three hours.