While Cloud and company went after Hojo I went and downloaded my wedding and reception.   I took the time to download anything that had my name in it.   While that was running I took a look at the transfer orders that Reeve had mentioned.   At the start of the war I was in service to Rufus.   Then three months later I was transferred to espionage near Wutai.   I had been given specific orders to find a back door to destroying the Wutian army.   Tseng was my sergeant and we were training two new recruits for the Turks.   Reno and Rude.
 After the task of downloading files was complete I found a pilot that was willing to take me to the only living person that was assigned to Rufus during the time that I was.   She would know where Rufus’s lover was.
 We all met outside of Midgar.   “OK.   Let’s take a couple of days.   Find your reason to fight.   If you do not come back...I’ll understand.”   This had come from Cloud.   Then everyone went their separate ways.
 “Where are you headed?”   The question had scared the hell out of me.   I thought I was alone.
 “Vincent!   I figured you would head for Nibelheim.”   He shook his ‘no.’
 “I think we are heading for the same place.   Both of us seeking answers to different questions.”
 “She’s a liar Vincent.   I’ll probably kill her.”
 “So, about hell not having broke loose yet?”
 “I think I’m a clone.”
 “Why?”
 “I looked back over the newspaper headings for the war, I was cited along with Tseng and Sephiroth for being a major player in winning that war.   I don’t remember that, in fact I was never transferred away from Rufus, I don’t remember where I was.   I do know that I wasn’t at war.”
 “Well, the cloning part was what I got out of your file.   What about your hosts file?”
 “Erased, all I found was evidence that it at one point did exist.    I think Rufus erased it after I was pulled out of stasis.   We have to find my host, we have to make sure she doesn’t join Sephiroth and Jenova.”
 “Why?”
 “If she does Aeris died in vain.”
 “Do you mind me tagging along?”
 “Nope, the chopper is over there.”
 It took a decent amount of time to reach our destination.   During the flight I read my file.   Vincent was right on the money.   According to that file I was the only successful clone and the real me is married to Rufus.   I also learned that considering the types and amount of medication I was given, I would never recover my memory.   It was a mild heart breaker.   If situations weren’t so dire it would have greatly depressed me.
 I was also struck with the realization that Rufus’s death disturbed me.   Even though he was a dirty bastard, I kind of missed him.   Rufus’s death, along with Heidiegger and Scarletts’ deaths (by Cloud) marked the end of an era.   ShinRa was officially destroyed.   Even though Cloud had spared Reno, Rude and the blonde named Elena.   Those three wouldn’t rebuild, they were mercenaries at heart.
 “Vincent.   What are your plans if we survive?”
 “I’m not sure, probably rebuild the mansion and keep to myself.”
 “You’ve been keeping to yourself for 30 years.”
 “I know.   I prefer it that way.”
 “Why?”   He looked at me and for the first time I really, truly saw the pain in his crimson eyes.   “She hurt you that bad?”   He nodded in agreement.   “I’m sorry Vincent.   For what it’s worth I think she was a fool to hurt you..”   Genuine surprise hit his eyes.   (I still hadn’t seen his face.)   “What?   It seems to me that somewhere under the red cape, you have a heart of gold.”
 “Thank you.   All I can really say about you, from what I’ve seen, is that you are an incredibly unpredictable Turk.”   I smiled.
 “If my memory was intact...”
 “No.   No crutches.   You are the way you are for good reason.   You simply lack that reason.”
 “How profound.   We’re here...jump.”
 We walked into Lucrecia’s cave to find her sitting cross legged on the floor.   Vincent began to speak but she cut him off.   “I already feel bad.   I’m so sorry Vincent.”
 “Who’s child is Sephiroth?”
 “Yours.”
 Vincent had fallen silent long enough for me to begin my tirade.   “You could have mentioned that I was a clone when I was here earlier.”
 “Why?   So you could kill the real you and Sephiroth as well?”
 “Sephiroth is about to kill us all.   How come he doesn’t know that I was cloned?”
 “I don’t know what happened...but after the war she just vanished.   That is why your memory was completely erased.   You had to replace her.”
 “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”   She opened her mouth to speak when Vincent laid his metal hand on my shoulder.   Very softly he said this.
 “Leave her.   Death would be a release.   Let her live with the sorrow and destruction she was a creator of.”
 Conceding to his point I nodded and we left.   The helicopter pilot circled over when he saw emerge from the waterfall and he dropped a ladder for us to climb.   Then he returned us to the meeting place.
 “Do you remember what Sephiroth was like before Nibelheim?”
 “Yes, he was a close to perfect as anyone could get.   He was a magnificent warrior, solid leader.   A genius in strategic situations, he was trusted by everyone under his command.”
 “I could have read that from the file you have.   What was he like off-duty?”
 “He was wonderful.   You could go to a formal setting or out to the bar for an evening of beer and you had fun with him.   He was easy to get along with, once you got to know him.   He would listen and help as much as he could.   He was the person everybody congregated around.”
 “Was he a good husband?”
 “Yes, for the very little of our marriage that I remember.”
 “You miss him?”
 “The real him, yes.   This Seph is beyond reason or logic.   This Seph is not my husband, he’s a puppet being controlled by Jenova.”
 I took my pistol out, I needed to clean it.   The mystery came back to me, where did I get ‘Anima’?   I closed my eyes (I could clean my gun blindfolded) and as I went through the motions I could picture a man handing it to me.   It was blurry.   Blue hair?   What was he saying to me?
 “Anne?”   I opened my eyes upon hearing my name.
 “Yes?”
 “What did you get from the ShinRa databanks?”
 “Oh!   My wedding and reception.   Hang on, I’ll get it running.”   As I dug through my bag to retrieve my laptop my mind, once again, put the mystery of ‘Anima’ on a backburner.”

 The ballroom had a fresco.   Those fat, annoying angels.   It was, other than that, gorgeous.   It was decorated in subtle hues of light brown and white.   White roses, ribbons and tapestries had been added to the decor.  A stage covered in red velvet was at the end of the red carpet that stretched through the center of the pews.   A man in robes of white and gold centered the stage.   To his left, a tuxedo clad Sephiroth.   The best man was Tseng.   The matron of honor was Emily, a friend I lost to cancer a year later.   Emily’s’ dress was a simple sleeveless, dark blue gown.   She had earrings of sapphire to match her gorgeous sapphire choker.   She held a small bouquet of white roses.   Sephiroths’ tuxedo was white while Tsengs’ tuxedo was the traditional black.
 The wedding dress took them three weeks to make.   It was, of course, white silk.   Off the shoulder with long lace sleeves that had pearls sewn into it.
 The bodice was overlaid with lace and pearls, the long straight skirt was unadorned save for the lace and pearl decoration that ran along the hem.
 It had a detachable train that was mostly delicate lace with thousands of pearls sewn on.   It was an incredibly long train, around twenty feet.
 My hair was pulled up in an elaborate clip that was (in my opinion) a miracle device.   Along with holding up all of my long hair it covered me in a traditional chapel length veil.
 I had a pearl choker with simple pearl earrings.  My shoes were white velvet heels.
 Professional make-up artists and hairstylists came to help me get ready.
 There I stood, looking in the mirror, my veil out of my face.   An auburn haired woman with deep violet eyes looked back at me.   She had small sharp features.   She stood around 5’7” and had a perfect hourglass figure.
 My hairstylist handed me a huge bouquet of white roses wrapped in white silk, and I watched as she covered my face with the long veil.
 I took a deep breath, trying to relax.   This was a highly publicized event.   The General to the ShinRa army marrying the Chief of the Turks.
 It was a long winded ceremony and after the vows and exchange of rings ( I knew Seph wouldn’t wear his) we walked arm in arm down the aisle.   While they cleared the pews from the ballroom we endured the annoying ‘hug the bride and groom line’.   We had so many pictures taken of us I thought I’d see spots for the rest of my life.

 Vincent gently shook my shoulder.   “Are you all right?”
 “Hm?”
 “You’re crying.”
 “It’s gone.   Everything I have ever had is gone.   I used to be a well respected person.   I was married to a hero.   I dined with Presidents and Kings.   I lived in beautiful homes, drove the nicest cars.   Now, I’m a fugitive to a dead corporation that’s married to the psycho that’s trying to destroy the world.”
 “You still have your health.   Hell, you could go on to have a life that is respectable.”
 “Or, I could end up a martyr.   No, thanks.   I’d rather watch from my apartment in Junon.”
 “What about the fact that you are a clone?   Don’t you want to find the other you?”
 “No.   I don’t care.   What about you Vincent?   Why are you going, especially now that you know he’s yours?”
 “He has to be stopped.   If you came, perhaps we could reach him.”
 “I already tried.   Jenova is to far into him.”
 “So?   You throw in the towel?   You must have blown a fuse over Rufus.”
 “You don’t understand...”
 “I do understand.   Your life of champagne and caviar is gone.   Your life of being the boss is gone.   So now you want to cop out with this bullshit.   You should be happy about your lack of memory.   I have a perfect memory, believe me it sucks.”
 “I’m trying to put my life back together.”
 “Oh, really?   Try moving on.”
 “I need to find out certain things.   Like me being around for 200 years?   My summons, where did I get that?”
 “I don’t know about your summons, but maybe the real you was locked up for 200 years.   It’s a unique puzzle.   If you let Sephiroth kill everyone, how will you know?”
 “I’ll be dead.   I won’t care.”
 “Why do you question your summons?”
 “In a dream I saw a man with blue hair give it to me.   His face was blurry, but the hair I remember.”
 “Blue hair?”   I nodded yes.
 “I’ll make my final decision in the morning.   Good night.”
 “Yep.   I’ll stay out here.”
 “Why?   There’s enough room for us in the tent.”
 “Privacy reasons.”
 “Your privacy or mine?”
 “Yours.”
 “Don’t worry about it.   Remember I was a Turk as well.   It’s not like they have separate locker rooms for men and women.”
 “All right.   Good-night.”
 
 After I got into the sleeping bag I fell asleep instantly.
 The man with blue hair was talking to me.   “Here.   Take this.”   He handed me ‘Anima’.   “It’s going to be hard to find her much less beat her.   The High King is talking about reincarnating him.   So, we’ll see where he lands.   Be careful, Anne.   She has absorbed most of his power.   You must send her.”
 “Everything went blank.   I couldn’t see anything, there was nothing to see.
 Then suddenly I was locked in a battle with her.   It was a stalemate.   My vision blurred.   My eyes kept going in and out of focus.   Slowly, in a surreal manner my eyes focused so I could see the maze that surrounded me.   At first I began walking through it, I encountered several dead ends.   After a few more dead ends I encountered black curtains.   Tentatively, I opened them.   I saw two of me.   One was sleeping peacefully on a hospital bed.   The other was in a large tank.   I stared, this place was vaguely familiar.   While I was trying to remember where this place was the version of me that was sleeping rose.   After muttering something I couldn’t hear she stood and walked out of the room.   I noticed a medallion that she was wearing, it was hanging off a platinum chain.   It was the symbol for infinity wrapped around a lions head.   The lion had a sapphire jewel for its’ eye and it’s head was platinum while the symbol was gold.   I stood in stunned silence and stared at the large tank...I was in that tank.
 I opened my eyes with a jolt.   Vincent was looking at me.   I rolled over and began searching my mind.   Where was the real me?   What if I don’t possess the power the real me does?   What if Jenova is trying to call the real me out?   What if Meteor is just a bluff?   What was going to happen to me?

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