It was black.
     He couldn't see anything.  Not even his enhanced night vision could pierce the inky
darkness that surrounded him.  He could see his own body perfectly, but nothing else.  He felt
weightless, as he drifted through the void.  He tried to run, but couldn't move.  If he was moving,
he never would have known, having no point of reference.  Then he saw something far off on the
horizon.  He ran toward them, but they did not seem to get any closer.  Slowly, more of what he
was running towards came into view.  A pair of green eyes, that sparkled like emeralds, shone
through the endless black.  A china-doll face formed around those eyes, with a cherubic smile. 
Long brown hair flowed around the face, spilling over its shoulders.  A pretty pink dress adorned
her pencil-thin figure.  The picture would have been of perfect beauty, if it had not been for the
ugly brown boots she was wearing.  Jim tried to think clearly for a few moments, but all he
could do was think up static.  A powerful source was interfering with his thought processes.
     He looked at the girl, giving her a "Are you who I think you are?" look.  She nodded her
head.  "Come with me," she said.  She took Jim's hand, and led him out of the void, into a stark-
white room.
     "Are you Aeris?" asked Jim, finally.
     "Yes, I am.  You are not from this world, are you?" she asked.  "Why have you come
here?"
     "I have come to save this planet.  A Sephiroth-clone summoned Meteor.  Again.  And we
have to stop him.  Again."
     "Why have you come for me?" she asked.
     "We need to find the White Materia.  Where is it?"
     "You cannot use it.  Only a Cetra has enough power to use the White Materia."
     "And let me guess.  There are no Cetra left."
     "I'm afraid there are no Cetra left alive."
     "It can't end like this, Aeris.  I won't allow it."
     "I am sorry.  There is nothing I can do."
     "Then you have doomed millions to their deaths.  I came here hoping to seek help, and it
disappoints me to see that I cannot find it.  I'll tell you this much, Aeris.  I'm not leaving until I
get some assistance.  There has to be something.  It can't be totally hopeless."
     Aeris thought for a moment.  "There is one possibility.  I must find my mother, Ifalna. 
Maybe together, we can give someone the power to use the White materia."
     "Where is she?  We must hurry.  We have less than forty-eight hours!"
     "Oh my God. . .then we've no time to lose.  We must find my mother, now!  Hurry, I
know the way!"  she half-yelled, grabbing Jim by the hand and pulling him off in some unknown
direction, right through the wall of the room.  They swam through the Lifestream, the eerie green
glow casting a strange light on the two of them as they sped along, searching for the one person
that could help them.

     Meanwhile, the AVALANCHE team was doing some searching of their own.  Everyone
was searching every museum and private collection on the Planet for the White materia.  Even
Yuffie was helping, telling her assistants in the mayor's office to dump and send out every piece
of materia in the city, and look for one that was white.
     Cloud and Tifa were turning the Forgotten City upside down, looking for the one thing
that would save the Planet.
     "Damn!" yelled Tifa, as she overturned an ancient piece of furniture.  "Where is that
blasted thing?  We've searched everywhere for that stupid materia, and I can't find a thing!"
     "I haven't turned anything up, either," said Cloud.
     Sephiroth was standing in the corner, meditating.  "I know where it is, now."
     "Well, don't hold out on us, where is it?" asked both Cloud and Tifa.
     "In the ancient capital, where else?  That is where she died, and that is where we will
find the White Materia."
     The three of them each looked at each other, blankly.  Then they all dashed out of the
building they were in, and ran for the capital.
     When they got there, they found the stairway was once again opened for them, and they
all rushed down, until they got to the altar.
     "Everyone start looking.  It's gotta be around here somewhere!" yelled Cloud.  He started
to search the main platform, until he looked out into the water.  Then all the repressed memories
he had of that day came back.  He saw the materia fall from Aeris' hair ribbon, bounce off the
steps...
     "And land in the water," he said, finishing his thought out loud.  He bounded down to the
second step, and looked into the crystal blue water.  Then he dove in after their last hope.

     "Mother," said Aeris," I'd like to introduce you to a friend of Cloud's.  This is James
Robinson, from, what did you say the name of your town was?"
     "I'm from Pittsburgh, on a world much different from this one.  That nut, Professor Hojo
brought me here by accident.  Now one of the nutty creations from my world has summoned
Meteor again, and we have to stop him.  We need your help to save the Planet," he said.
     "We will help you as best as we can.  First, someone needs to retrieve the White materia
from the pool in the Forgotten City."
     "My friends are probably already doing that.  What else do we have to do?"
     "A Cetra must cast the spell."
     "But there are none left.  You two were the last."
     "We can give the power of the Cetra to another for a short time, but--" said Ifalna.
     "But, let me guess.  The person who accepts the power won't live," finished Jim.
     Ifalna and Aeris both looked at him.  "You watch too many movies," said Aeris.  "The
person who accepts our power is in no physical danger at all.  But there is a very good chance
that it will drive you mad."
     "I'm willing to take that chance.  I don't belong on this world.  I was never meant to be
here."
     "Very well.  You must retrieve the White materia.  We will do the rest.  We will channel
our spiritual energy through your body, allowing you to cast Holy."
     "So all I have to do is get a hold of the White materia?  Then you'll do whatever you have
to do?  How will I let you know I'm ready?"
     "We will know. Now you must get the White materia.  It is in the pool in the Forgotten
Captial.  Please hurry!  We will show you the way!" said Aeris, as she led Jim off toward the
Forgotten City.

     Cloud burst from the water, with a small white globe in his hand.  "I got it!  It's right here
in my hand!"  he yelled, climbing up out of the pool.  Tifa cheered.  Sephiroth just stood on the
platform.  "Now how do we use it?" he asked.
     A quake shook the ground, tilting some of the stone platforms, including the one Cloud
was standing on.  He lost his balance and nearly fell back into the drink, when he caught himself
on the edge of the column.  "What was that?" he asked.
     The formerly dark-blue waters now were tinged with green, as a single form rose to the
surface.
     "Oh my God. . .Jim!" yelled Tifa. Cloud jumped back into the water, and, with Tifa's
help, pulled the man out of the pool, onto the main platform.  He began couging up water as
soon as he hit land.
     "Jim, are you all right?" asked Tifa.  "Come on, answer me!"
     Jim groaned, and looked up at Tifa.  He blinked a few times to clear his vision, then
shook his head, violently.  Water went flying in every direction.  "Huh?  Tifa?. . .Is that you?"
     "Yes, it's me.  I'm here."
     "I'm here too," said Yuffie.  "I came as soon as I remembered where that thing was."
     Cid, Vincent, and all the rest soon filed in after her.  Jim looked up at them.  "How did
you all get here?"
     "How the hell do you think?" yelled Cid.  "I got this thing, we call it the HIGHWIND! 
We use it to fly around and @$%#$!"
     "Calm down, you old fart!" yelled Yuffie.  "You're gonna give yourself a heart attack!"
     "Please, don't fight.  Cloud, did you get the White materia?" asked Jim.
     "Yes, I have it here.  But how are we gonna use it?"
     "Give it to me.  I talked with Ifalna and her daughter. . .they are going to channel their
energy through me, so I can cast the spell."
     "You talked to Aeris?" said Cloud.  Tears welled up in his eyes.
     "Yes.  Don't worry, Cloud.  She is happy.  And safe."
     "Here is the materia," said Cloud, as he placed the materia in Jim's hand.
     "Stand back.  I'm not sure what is going to happen," said Jim.  Everyone wisely obeyed,
and took a few steps away.
     The materia began to change from a pearl white to a pale green as it began to work. 
Jim's entire body began to glow a pale green as the spirits of Aeris and Ifalna helped Jim cast the
ultimate Holy magic.
     Outside, Meteor loomed large on the horizon, just an hour from impact.  All over the
planet, the Lifestream burst from the ground, washing every living creature in a bath of warm,
green water.  Some shot up into the upper atmosphere, and crystallized into ice.  Soon, the entire
planet was cased in a giant protective barrier, made from and by the Lifestream.
     "What's going on?" yelled Cloud, as archaic buildings began tumbling all around.  The
entire world was shaking from the force of the Lifestream.
     "I don't know!  Something strange is happening!"
     "This didn't happen the last time Holy was used!" yelled a very upset Cid.
     "Who cares?  It's happening now!  I think it's working!" yelled Yuffie.
     "We've got other problems!  The whole place is coming down!  We have to get out of
here now!" yelled Cloud.  Everyone rushed out of the capital, but when Cloud tried to pick up
Jim to carry him out, he was jolted by a strong electric shock.  "I can't move him!  There's some
kind of barrier around him!" he yelled.
     "Then he'll be fine!  Move it!" yelled Cid, as he hurried out of the Forgotten Capital, with
Cloud on his heels.  As they left the building, the entire structure began to quake on its
foundation, and slowly crumble.  Yuffie watched, with tears in her eyes, helpless to do anything. 
In spite of it, she started to run back in, when Cloud stopped her.
     "You can't go in there!  You'll be crushed!" he yelled.
     "So will he if someone doesn't do something! I'm going in!" she snapped back.  All the
while, Cid was sneaking up on the unaware Yuffie.  He held up his spear, and cast Sleep on her. 
She started to yell again, when the spell quickly took effect, knocking Yuffie out.  They dragged
her a safe distance away, as the building tumbled to the ground in a pile of rubble.
     The group was still running, and the earth was still shaking when they got to the
Highwind.  The canyon walls threatened to collapse on top of the giant airship.
     "Everybody in!  Now!" commanded Cid, as everyone crammed into the Highwind.  Cid
ran to the cockpit and fired up the engines, which reached operating speed in record time.  The
Highwind II left the ground with a jolt, as the walls of the canyon finally gave way, and fell in on
themselves.
     Cid hovered the Highwind just over where the canyon used to be, and left the cockpit. 
"I'm gonna go catch a smoke," he said.  He walked out on the balcony, and pulled out a pack of
Marlboros he had got while on Earth.  He opened the foil and pulled out a cigarette.  He looked
at it, then the pack.  He tossed them both off the balcony, down to the planet below.
     "It's about time you quit," said a pleasant female voice from behind him.
     "What are you doing out here, Yuffie?  Shouldn't you be on the engine room floor,
barfing your damn guts out?"
     "Not right now.  I feel sick....but not to my stomach," said the ninja, as she looked down
to the floor.
     Cid turned around, to look at Yuffie.  Her normal smart-ass smirk and the glitter in her
eyes were gone.  Her smile, replaced with a more sullen expression, and her eyes were
bloodshot.  Her stride had also lost its cocky strut, and all the vibrancy had left from her body,
replaced with depression.
     "What's wrong, kid?  You upset?" asked the ever-observant Cid.
     Yuffie just glared at him.  "I don't want to talk about it.  Not with you, anyway.  You
wouldn't understand."
     "You'd be surprised what I understand, kid.  It's about that Robinson kid, isn't it?"
     Yuffie just looked at him, and that was all she needed to do.
     "Listen, kid.  Some things just weren't meant to happen.  Looks like this was one of 'em."
     Yuffie started to cry.  "Aww, geez.  That came out all wrong, kid.  Look, I'm sorry 'bout
that, kid.  It's just that--well, I never was very good at this sentimental crap.  The thing is, kid, the
only woman I ever really wanted was Shera, and everything worked out fine for us.  You need to
talk to someone like Cloud.  He might be able to help ya."
     "I don't want to talk to him.  It might make him remember Aeris again, and I don't want
him to go nuts anymore."
     "You shouldn't have to--what the hell?!" said a very surprised Cid, as he saw Meteor
through the ice barrier erected by the Lifestream loom so close, it looked like he could reach out
and touch it.  "We better haul ass, now, before that thing hits!"  They both dashed inside the
cockpit, and the Highwind streaked off toward the western horizon, headed for Wutai.  
     Meteor impacted against the ice wall, sending a huge quake throughout the entire planet. 
Buildings everywhere collapsed, and hundreds of people were trapped or killed in the rubble. 
Even Neomidgar, with all its earthquake protection, suffered heavy damage.    The Highwind
stalled out when the shockwave hit the craft, sending it plummeting toward the planet surface. 
Cid battled with the controls, trying everything he could think of to get the ship upright again.
     "Shit!  Not again!  I'm not gonna lose her again!  Shit!" he yelled.
     "Cid, we've gotta bail out!" yelled Tifa.  "We'll die for sure if we don't!"
     Cid grumbled in agreement.  "Everyone into the cockpit, now!  We bail out in 10
seconds!"
     Just as young Aeris and Shera ran into the cockpit, the door snapped shut behind them,
and the entire cockpit separated from the Highwind's main fuselage.  The cockpit/escape pod
hovered in midair for a few moments before settling down softly in the fields a few kilometers
outside of Rocket Town.  The Highwind crashed to the ground in a fiery explosion a kilometer
away, sending a pillar of thick, black smoke skyward.  As the ice shield began to buckle under
the strain, it cracked, and darkened, blocking out the sunlight.  All fell silent, as the world was
plunged into darkness..

Tell me what you think!  Email me at jrebholz@usa.net