Cloud paced in front of the sofa in the living room of the ex-Remnant's dwelling, trying to make sense of the potpourri that had become his mind. He had to prioritize; getting Sephiroth to wake up, interrogating the three conscious silver haired men, and replacing Yuffie's now useless materia were at the top of his list. The oldest man had been running a fever of 106 degrees, a tempurature that meant certain death for normal humans. Cures were having no effect at all, and Cloud was forced to resort to a Cetra spell Aerith had taught him in case of emergencies. It involved harnessing the very essence of a materia orb and transfusing it within a body. The downfalls were two; first, the materia becomes completely unusable, and second, if done incorrectly, the spell could backfire and kill the caster. With those risks in mind, Cloud had ventured to cast the spell anyway, and Sephiroth was now stable.

But it would still be a pain in the ass to explain to Yuffie.

He decided he'd think about a reasonable explination that didn't involve the actual sequence of events after he'd taken care of everything else.

The ex-Remnants were sitting on the sofa, Loz and Yazoo on the ends with Kadaj between them. They followed Cloud's pacing figure with their eyes. Loz was concerned about Sephiroth's well-being. Yazoo was waiting for Cloud to stop burning a hole in the carpet with his pacing. Kadaj was just plain clueless, and was waiting there for someone to explain to him what the hell was going on.

Cloud eventually stopped, and turned to face the three men on the sofa. "You," He began, pointing to Loz, "are going to tell me how you know Genesis. You," He pointed at Kadaj, "are going to tell me everything you remember from your time in the Lifestream. And you," He pointed at Yazoo, "are going to tell me what's up with him." He gestured to the door to Sephiroth's bedroom. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Um...yes sir?" Loz answered, raising his eyebrow at Cloud's drill seargent voice.

"Wait, wait," Kadaj interrupted, crossing his arms, "why should we tell you anything?"

"Because if it wasn't for me, Loz would still be sick, you'd still be unconscious, and Sephiroth would still be dying of an elevated tempurature." The blonde growled out.

Kadaj shook his head defiantly. "And what happens if we tell you something you don't want to hear? What will you do then?"

Cloud was silent for several moments. "...I'll do what I have to do to protect Gaia."

"So you would kill us." Kadaj stated rather than asked.

Cloud opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it, and simply nodded solemnly.

Beside him, Loz and Yazoo looked down. They both understood their actions, and also understood that they didn't deserve to be forgiven, but did that mean they deserved to die? It hadn't been them. It had never been them. It had been their genes. It had been Jenova.

The entire time, they had just been Jenova's marionettes. Vessels for her will.

But now that their strings had been cut, they didn't know what to do. They were reborn into a world that hated them, all because of their genes. All because of Jenova.

Cloud crossed his arms. "What becomes of you will be for me to decide, after I know the whole story. Now, which of you is willing to tell me that story?"

Loz sighed. "That redhead guy, Genesis. I met him in the Lifestream. We all met people in the Lifestream. There were three guys and a girl, but I only talked with him. He made it sound like he really didn't want to be there. Said something about getting a gift from the goddess in return for his help."

"That's Genesis, alright." Cloud said, rolling his eyes. "Start from the beginning for me."

"Um...one minute I'm an essence in the Lifestream, and the next, I'm in some gigantic chapel looking place."

Loz looked around, his eyes instantly resting on the large marble statue that stood in the front of the room. He approached it. A gold plate identified the statue as the goddess, Gaia.

"Beautiful, is she not?" A voice asked. Loz turned and met eyes with a man dressed in red. The man sighed and turned away from him. "Such a shame. She's given her gift to such lowly creatures..." He sighed again. "Perhaps she'll give me her gift if I assist her."

"Uh, who are you and where am I?" Loz asked.

The man turned to him again. "You may call me Genesis. As for where you are..." He chuckled. "You are in the Goddess' domain, her temple of divinity."

Loz blinked, confused.

Genesis rolled his eyes. "The Goddess has given you another chance, along with her grace, and you don't even know her? Pathetic."

Loz hmphed at him. "Will you explain to me what's going on here?"

The redhead looked to the ceiling. "No time for explanations." He walked to the silver haired man, handing him a book and pushing him towards the temple's exit. "Anyone who knew me knows that book. It'll be all the proof you need." Loz nodded absentmindedly. Genesis opened the door, and a white light blinded him. The next thing Loz knew, he was falling into oblivion. Genesis' voice flitted through his mind.

'Hidden in act three lies the grace of Gaia's destiny'

"And then I woke up back in my body." He concluded.

Cloud blinked and went to get the LOVELESS book. He flipped to the third act.

Out fluttered a note.

Cloud picked it up and opened it, recognizing Genesis' cursive handwriting.

Poor Cloud, such a big role Gaia has given you. You have my blessing, my friend. Be patient with this one. His Goddess-given power will reverse the damage to the ashes of the world.

Ashes...Why did that sound familiar?

And then it hit him.

"Loz, hold out your hand." Cloud said, digging in his messenger bag. Loz raised an eyebrow and did as he was told. Cloud pulled out a drawstring bag. Opening it, he poured its' contents into Loz's awaiting palm.

The ashes of the silver lillies.

Almost instantly, the ashes weaved together to form four perfect silver flowers.

Loz blinked. "...Wow." Kadaj and Yazoo stared at the flowers, eyes wide.

"I've seen those before. I saw them in the Lifestream." Yazoo said, taking one of the flowers.

Cloud put away the now empty bag and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who did you meet?"

"Well..."

Yazoo silently wandered the garden he'd found himself lost in. It was like a maze made of rose bushes and hedges, and he couldn't get out of it for his life. Just as he was about to climb a hedge and cheat his way out of the seemingly endless maze, he heard humming.

Deciding that he didn't have a better lead at the moment, Yazoo decided to follow it. Louder and louder the humming got, closer and closer Yazoo got to who or whatever was making it.

He followed it to a culdesac of rose bushes, all bearing blue roses. In the center of the circle was a patch of radiant silver lillies, and sitting indian style in the middle of them was a black haired man. He was facing Yazoo, but his eyes were closed, almost as if he was meditating.

"I was wondering when you'd be arriving, Yazoo," The man took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. He opened his eyes and smiled softly. "You look so much like him."

"Look like who? Where am I? Who are you?" Yazoo asked, retaining his calm and collected demeanor.

The man kept his own demeanor perfectly calm as well. "I am Angeal. Angeal Hewley. You're in the Garden of the Heavens. And you look like Sephiroth, of course." Angeal smirked. "You look like your father as well."

"My...father...?"

Angeal nodded. "Poor child. You've been misled all your life. All living things have a father and a mother, and I assure you, your mother was human, as are you."

"Human...?"

He nodded again. "Human. Humans are weak creatures. Jenova took advantage of those weaknesses and used you and your brothers to do her bidding. But you won't have to worry about that anymore. The Goddess has marked you as her own, and has given you her grace."

"But...what does it mean to have a mother and a father? What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to get grace from a goddess?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "There's too much I don't understand."

"One day, you will understand everything. But today is not that day. Come here, I have something to give you before you leave." Yazoo reluctantly walked forward. Angeal handed him a small black box. "The charm on that earring will show that you've met me. Show it to any who doubt you."

The floor began to crumble below them.

"It appears this is where you leave my company. Live well, Child of Gaia."

Yazoo fell through the ground and plummeted into the dark abyss that waited below.

"And that was it." Yazoo finished. He dug the box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside of it was a silver earring. Dangling from the short chain was a very small replica of Angeal's buster sword. Yazoo put in the earring and gave Cloud the box.

There was a note written on the bottom of it in Angeal's neat print.

I'm glad to see that you've grown up to be a fine young man, Cloud. This one won't need too much guidance. You and him have quite a bit in common, actually. Bypass his defenses and he will be a good friend. The grace of the Goddess has given him not only a view of people's hearts, but an affinity for emotions as well.

"Emotions, eh?" He looked at Yazoo. "Yazoo, what am I feeling right now?"

"Paranoid," He answered automatically. His eyes widened, and he covered his mouth.

"How is Loz feeling?"

"Amazed."

"And Kadaj?"

"Like he wants to bite your head off."

"...Understandable." The blonde turned to the youngest of the three. "Your turn."

"..." Kadaj crossed his arms and pouted, but grudgingly recalled his tale.

Kadaj raised an eyebrow as he looked around the forest he'd somehow appeared in. Everywhere he looked, trees of different shapes and sizes and colors obstructed his view. There was only one way he could go, so he walked in the direction that the trees were leading him in.

The path went on for what seemed like forever, before finally coming to an end at a large cherry blossom tree. It was blooming, and an unseen wind blew loose petals around him. Kadaj walked to the tree. He rested his hands and forehead on the thick bark and sighed.

"Isn't it pretty?" A voice said. Kadaj looked from side to side, raising an eyebrow when he didn't see anyone. "Up here!" Kadaj looked up and blinked when he saw a bright face smiling down at him from a branch. "Hiya!"

"Um...Hi?"

The black haired teenager smiled and jumped down from the branch. "You must be Kadaj."

"Yes I am. Now who, prey tell, are you?"

"Lieutenant Zackary Fair, SOLDIER first class. But you can just call me Zack. Nice to meetcha!" He said cheerily.

Kadaj just nodded, not sure how to handle someone with such a...perky personality. "So...Zack...Where are we?"

"The Forest of the Ancients." He said with a shrug, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Every tree represents a god or goddess, and this one here," He gestured to the cherry blossom tree, "is the one for Gaia herself."

"Ah." He replied smartly. "Why were you sitting in it?"

"Waitin' for you to come my way!"

"...Why?"

"Because!" Zack smiled widely. "You're going back to Gaia."

Kadaj blinked. "I am? Why?"

The raven haired teen tapped his chin. "That's a good question. But all I can tell ya is that the Goddess knows when someone is acting on a will that isn't their own."

The silver haired teen stared at Zack blankly, showing his obvious confusion.

Zack chuckled. "Here, i got somethin' for you." He took the chain around his neck off and put it over Kadaj's head. He grinned. "There! Now if anyone doesn't believe you when you get back, just tell 'em you're cool with a hero." Zack winked at Kadaj and snapped his fingers. The tree branches twisted, embracing the silver haired teen in dark eternity.

"Next thing I knew, I was here." Kadaj said. He pulled the chain off of his neck and handed it to Cloud. The chain was metal, and had Zack's dogtags on it. Two of the tags had Zack's basic information. Name, age, height, weight, and class. The third had emoticons on it, Zack's way of signing his work.

Hey there, Cloud! :D You miss me there in the world of the living? Cuz I miss you to death! Haha, puns. :3 This guy's psycho, but he's the good kind of psycho. Y'know, my kind of psycho. XD Just keep him outta trouble, and he'll grow up fine. -^^- Looks like the Goddess has taken to him, too. She gave him the ability to purify stuff. :)

Cloud raised an eyebrow. Going into the kitchen, he dissolved some salt in warm water and gave it to Kadaj. "Take the salt out of this."

Kadaj gave Cloud an "are you insane?" look, but attempted it anyway. Holding his hand over the glass, he focused on his palm, and was shocked to see the salt crystalize on his hand. The water was clear again. Kadaj returned the salt to its' bag and drank the water.

Cloud looked at the three silver haired men. Loz was adjusting Yazoo's earring, while Yazoo read Genesis' LOVELESS book, and Kadaj was trying to scrub the salt residue off of his hands.

All in all, they all looked like a normal group of brothers.

Cloud nodded, more to himself than to the three men, and silently walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" It was Yazoo who had called him.

Cloud stopped, but didn't turn to look at him. "My work here is done. You three are healthy, and Sephiroth is recovering. I don't see a reason to stay."

Loz raised an eyebrow. "Don't you wanna hear what Sephiroth has to say when he wakes up?"

Cloud turned his head too look over his shoulder. "I don't need to. It's obvious that the Goddess trusts you four. Who am I to go against her judgement?"

The blonde continued towards the door. The three silver haired men didn't try to stop him.

"Leaving without even saluting your superior officer, Strife? My my, what are Shaw and Adams and the Director teaching you all these days?"

For the second time that day, Cloud froze. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He couldn't even breathe.

All Cloud could do was shut his eyes and hope that he was dreaming.

~Meanwhile~

Tifa sighed as she polished and put away another glass. "Cloud was just making a delivery to Kalm. Shouldn't he be back by now?"

Reno took a drink of his beer and nodded. "Kalm ain't that far away. A few hours there and back, at most."

Yuffie gasped. "What if something happened to him? What if he was ambushed on the street or attacked by wild monsters?" She said, openly voicing her worried speculations, regardless of how rediculous they seemed. "He coulda been jumped by big scary truckers and had his brains screwed out and left in an alley to die!"

"Yuffie!" Everyone in the room scolded together.

Yuffie just scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. "Y'know, it could happen!"

"In your twisted fantasies, maybe, ya psycho little brat." Cid scolded with a roll of his eyes. Yuffie hmphed at him, but kept his mouth shut. The room fell silent as Cloud's friends began making speculations of their own.

"Perhaps..." Vincent ventured, "I should go find him."

"If you go, then so will I," Tifa said, finishing the last of the glasses and hanging up her apron.

"Hey! Me too! I wanna see what he's up to, too!" Yuffie proclaimed loudly.

Vincent shook his head. "You have to tend to the bar, Tifa," He turned to adress Yuffie. "And you're too noisy."

Both girls pouted, but said nothing. They knew he was right. The room fell silent again.

"Then I'll tag along." Reno said, waving his hand lazily as he tipped his seat backwards.

"But you-"

"But what? I'm just as much his friend as you are, Vinny baby." The redhead smirked. "And I got absolutely nothin' better to do."

Vincent stared Reno down. He knew better than to trust a Turk. On the other hand, he himself had been one, and he knew how difficult it could be to keep a tough act going. Maybe the redhead was just showing a soft spot for the chocobo blonde?

He grunted. "Fine. But so help me, if you try anything, I'll smite you where you stand."

Reno grinned. "Yezzir, Mr. Vincent, sir." He said, giving the raven haired man a two fingered salute before walking out the door of the bar with Vincent on his heels.

.o.O.o.

A/N- hola! lol i have another chappie! the lack of reviews on the last chappie made me sad...but i did get two more now! yay! :D

cmsully- lol i just did! ;3

Ryder Bellamiren- Agh, Zack eyes! my one weakness! *tries to look away* cant...fight it...too...cute...OKAY, OKAY! I'LL WRITE MORE! *pout* Remember, you're forcing this on me, and I'm not doing it because i enjoy it, no sir, not at all! XD