Part I: Farewell?

The day started out as any other, except for the fact that Aerith was cooking breakfast and NOT destroying anything. Good, Gatoris thought. The day can only go up from here. He had finally made amends with his past, the day was beautiful, and he had finally gotten over his seven-year bout of depression. After breakfast, (which was delicious, and not burnt) Gatoris decided to go for a walk. Aerith couldn’t figure out what was going on. Gatoris was happy for the first time in her memory. What dream did he have? What had her mother shown him?

Gatoris was on a cliff overlooking the sea. It was a breathtaking sight, the waves crashing, the seagulls flying about. A perfect setting, he thought, to say good-bye. He dug into his pockets and produced his wallet, which had somehow followed him into this world. He looked through the photos of girls from his high school senior class. They were all lovely people, but they were not who he was looking for. After digging through twenty pictures, he found it: Angelina’s picture. He remembered what she had wrote on the back by heart, "To Gator, Hope you still stay the same in twenty years, Angie." She had preferred to be called that by her friends. This made Gatoris’ thoughts race back to his past. He began to cry, remembering he was never able to personally tell her that he was hopelessly in love with her. He then took the photo from his wallet, holding it between his hands. He then muttered between the tears, "Farewell, my sweet. Until we meat again in another lifetime." He then closed his eyes. The photo began to change shape. It turned first into a butterfly, then a white rose. Gatoris then took this rose, placed it near the cliff, and proceeded to walk away. About three steps later he turned around, the tears gone, and spoke. "I know this is not the best way to say good-bye to you, but it is the best I can do under these circumstances." As he turned around, he saw Aerith walking to him. She then began to cry, as well. "I never got to properly say farewell to my first love, either. I know how you feel. But why did you choose here?" Gatoris, beginning to well up again, softly spoke. "This is the kind of place she would have liked to go." Gatoris began to cheer up. "Come on now, Aerith. We can’t live in the past forever, can we? We have to move on! Learn to live again!" He then began to think to himself, This makes the second time I’ve had to move on. Is my life doomed to tragedy? Aerith looked up at him and smiled. He then had another thought: If I was cursed, I wouldn’t have ended up here with a woman that is strikingly similar to her in personality. Aerith looked at him with her glistening eyes and whispered something into Gatoris’ ears. "Let’s go home." Gatoris lead the way back to the castle, unaware of what became of the rose. This closed a painful chapter in Gator(is)’s life, making him feel as if he had lifted the world off of his shoulders. He could now live happily, knowing he had said good-bye. Another uneventful, dreamless week passed. Then Gatoris got a phone call from Gohan that marred everything.

Part II: Goku Tonberry: In the Flesh?

* I feel a dialog coming on! *

Gatoris: What is it this time, Gohan? You in love with Tifa this week?

Gohan: No, no, no! It’s worse news than that!

Gatoris: * Shudders * You’re in love with Bulma?

* Gohan gets furious *

Gohan: No, it’s not about love this time, it’s about evil!

Gatoris: Well then, shoot!

Gohan: I’ve seen Hojo!

* Gatoris drops the phone *

Gatoris: What???

Gohan: Yes! He was here last week!

Gatoris: Last week?!? What took you?

Gohan: It took me a week to realize who it was.

* Gatoris slaps his head *

Gohan: For some odd reason, he wanted my dad’s blood.

Gatoris: I thought he HATED needles!

Gohan: He’ll take one for a good cause. He thought Hojo was from the blood bank.

* Gatoris hits his head with the phone *

Gatoris: Gohan, your dad’s about as much as of an ditz as Bulma, if not more.

* Gatoris’ second phone line rings and the answering machine picks it up *

Bulma * Furious *: I am NOT an DITZ!

* Bulma hangs up, the other conversation continues *

Gatoris: Hojo’s probably planning to make some type of creature out of his DNA. Let’s see...* Pondering * It would take him about a week to make said creature, so

* Serious sarcasm * thanks for telling me as soon as you knew, Gohan!

Gohan: Well, I did tell you!

* Gatoris hangs up *

* Told ya! *

Gatoris began to ponder where Hojo’s lab would be. Midgar was decimated, so that was out. The only other place that seemed to fit Hojo’s style was the Shinra mansion. Gatoris began to prepare for an excursion to Nibelheim when Aerith busted into the room. "Gatoris," she started, "my mother informed me that I needed training. I’ll have to leave for a week." Gatoris nodded. "If it is needed .... Take some servants for protection on your way there." Aerith looked at him. "That won’t be required. I’ll see you in a week!" Those were the last words out of her mouth before she vanished. Gatoris then heard a knock on the door. He had given the tonberries the day off, so he answered it. The man who stood before him looked exactly like Goku, with two exceptions: he was about six inches smaller and he was wearing silver glasses similar to Gatoris’. "Hello," the figure said in a voice a bit lower than Goku’s, "You Gatoris Tonberry?" Gatoris had a bad feeling about this guy, so he attempted a trick on him. "No, I am Gatoris Gambolputty de von ausfernschplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-smuggle-bugger-burstien-von-knacker-thrasher-kicker-apple-basher- horowitzer-tickleme-gardner-knotted-spellingbee-grandeur-grumbelmeiyer-gutenabend-bitte-ein-bayerner-bratwurst-hundsfut-mittler-aucher von Tonberry III of Nibelheim. And you are?" The trick didn’t work. "I am Goku Tonberry. Master Hojo sent me to kill you." Gatoris silently panicked. "Hojo? I thought he was dead." "You thought wrong, bub. He’s alive and kickin’! He’s got many a project lined up... but Master Hojo needs you!" "Listen, Goku..." Gatoris was getting impatient. "I will help him over my dead body!" Goku smirked. "Thought you’d say that..." He then fired a beam at Gatoris. "Hold it!" Gatoris screamed. "I need to go to the john. Would you wait?" Goku, being one of Hojo’s creations, fell for this. Gatoris grabbed his sword and slipped out the back door. After five minutes, Goku grew impatient. He yelled at Gatoris. "What gives? Do you have diarrhea or what?" He did not see Gatoris behind him, brandishing his sword. "Yo, stupid! I’m here! I can’t believe that trick worked!" Goku became thoroughly enraged at this point. He then proceeded to become super-saijiyan. "You should not have done that, Gatoris. You just signed your death warrant!" Gatoris was unaffected. he began to cast a Tornado spell. It was a bit stronger than he liked, however... It began to destroy the castle. Then it sucked Gatoris and Goku into the center of it. Goku was confused. Gatoris saw an opportunity to end this, so he ran his sword through Goku Tonberry. Goku began to cough up blood. "Man, I suck!" Goku exclaimed. "I deserve this fate..." After hearing this, Gatoris began to heal Goku. "Go, tell Hojo he’ll have to do better than this to get me." He then sent Goku back to Nibelheim. With this, the tornado dissipated, and the castle reappeared in one piece. What an idiot!, Gatoris thought of Goku Tonberry. Definitely one of Hojo’s. Now it was time for Gatoris to rest easy for a day or two. His next challenge would be much harder: he would have to deal with a certain villain.

Part III: Sephiroth: The Return Engagement, and Other Unrelated Crap...

About a day later, there was a knock at the front door. Gatoris began to mumble under his breath about Goku Tonberry. He was in for an utter shock when he opened the door. There was a man, kneeling on one knee and his head bowed. "You must help me, Gatoris..." stated the man. Gatoris could not help but notice two things about this man. First his hair was platinum silver, a color you rarely see. Second was the sword strapped to his back. It was about as long as the person was tall. At once, Gatoris knew who it was. "Sephiroth? Why do you need MY help?" Apparently, Gatoris did not care about the fact that Cloud had supposedly killed the man he was talking to. "You are the only one who can put an end to me and mother..." There he goes again, Gatoris thought, calling Jenova his mother. "First, Jenova is not your mother!" Sephiroth wasn’t paying attention. "Second, why am I the only one who can end you?" Sephiroth began to relate a story about Jenova and the Cetra.

It seems when Jenova first appeared on the planet, there was a Gatoris. He had defended the Cetra from Jenova’s evil as long as he could. He died in the battle, but he was able to cast a spell of imprisonment on the evil being with his last breath. "Now, you have two options for ridding the world of moth... Jenova. You could decapitate me, or You can cast a new spell to imprison her." Gatoris pondered the choices for a moment, then raised his sword. "I have decided..." he muttered. Sephiroth closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow. He was growing impatient with Gatoris, but he heard him saying what sounded like an ancient Cetra prayer. Sephiroth then opened his eyes and watch as Gatoris spared his life. A white beam was emitted from the tip of the sword, and it streaked into the sky.

"There, I have trapped Jenova on the surface of the sun. She will no longer bother anyone..." Gatoris proclaimed. Sephiroth was puzzled. "You let me live? After what I did? Especially to Aerith?" "You were not in control of yourself... Jenova had total control. The true you would not do those acts..." Gatoris had to explain. Sephiroth stood up. He then started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Gatoris yelled at him. "I must find the true me. I have been living as a puppet for Jenova too long. I do not know my real self. I must roam the planet until I find myself..." With that statement, Sephiroth flew away.

{Note: I know you may think that sucked, but I have a plan formulated... 8~)}

Gatoris sat down on his couch and sighed. Damn, this week can’t get any worse, he thought to himself. He then looked up at the clock. That bit with Sephiroth had taken all day. It was 11:00 p.m., much later than Gatoris could usually stand to be up. He crashed on the couch.

He was woke up the next day at about noon, when the servants started to mess around with his stereo. It seems that one of the tonberries had found one of Gatoris’ Metallica CD’s. It’s never pleasant to be woke up to "Fuel". Needless to say, Gatoris was thoroughly upset. There was nothing he could do but get up and gripe at the servants. Gatoris figured this would be a good time to check his e-mail... that is, if he was even hooked up to the Internet in this realm. Luckily, he was. And he had a message. He opened it and was surprised. It seemed that the dead had e-mail.

To: GTonberry @ midbell.com

From: HolyMother @ theplanet.org

Subj: The Basics

Gatoris;

Yes, we do have e-mail here. I had a few things that I didn’t tell you. First off, there was a ... clerical error on that list I told you. Pikachu is open season now. And another thing, if you are wondering about Aerith, she’s fine. We needed to instruct her on a few things. She should be home by tomorrow. Finally, I sent you a program to put on your computer to help out. It contains your guidelines, and a dictionary in the Cetra language. Hope you get along fine!

Ifalna

PS I warned you about Hojo! Watch out for his next creation!

Next creation? Gatoris was about to faint. He decided to look something up in his new dictionary first. The first thing that came to his mind was Aerith’s name. He typed it in, and found the meaning of the name: hope. He was not surprised by that one. He then looked up Ifalna. This one puzzled him a little. In the Cetra language, Ifalna meant ‘Holy Mother’. On a whim, he inputted one last name: Sephiroth. This one came out of the blue: it meant two things. It could mean ‘angel of darkness,’ or it could mean ‘child of the planet.’ Gatoris’ head was still hurting from the servants’ little escapade, so he was incapacitated for the rest of the day. (You would be too, if you had a loud radio blasting inches away from your head.) Gatoris said a short prayer before going to sleep. He prayed that tomorrow would be better than the last few days. Apparently, no one was paying attention...

Part IV: Whither Vegita?

...For when he woke up the next day, there was a knock on the door. Gatoris hoped it was Aerith and that she had forgot the key... or something to that point. But when he opened the door, Gatoris realized that this would be one of those days he should have never got up. There was an android at the door. It looked somewhat like Vegeta, except for it was 5’ 2" tall (shorter than Vegeta!) and it was wearing glasses for some reason. Gatoris got the first word in before the metal saijiyan could speak. "Let me guess: You are Vegeta Tonberry, and your master Hojo wants me..." The reply was a strange one, at least to Gatoris. "Watashi wa Vegita Tonberry desu. (My name is Vegita Tonberry.)" It seemed that Vegita was stuck in his Japanese speech mode. Gatoris tried something to switch the languages. "Wakarimasen. Eigo o hanashimasu ka? (I don’t understand you. You speak English?)" "Yes, I do. I was testing you..." Vegita said in a metallic voice.

"Kuso yaro... (little shit) I’m going to tell you what I told Goku: Over my dead body! So all I got to say to you now is zakkenayo!(Roughly: piss off!)" Gatoris was getting sick of Hojo’s creations.... "Thought so..." Vegita grabbed Gatoris by the neck. "Now, you going to apologize, or do I have to beat it out of you?" Gatoris was unfazed. "Iie, baka yaro! (No, asshole!)" Vegita was not happy. "You shall die for your stubbornness..." At this time, Gatoris saw someone running to the castle. He hoped they’d see this and help him out, so he stalled... "Sumimasen, testudatte kudasai masuka? Dansu ni ikimasen ka? (Excuse me, can you help me? Care to dance?) ...He was reciting the basic phrase he had learned in case he ever went to Japan. This was confusing Vegita. "Make sense, you fool! You are just saying random things that do not go together!" Gatoris’ plan worked. The person he saw had made it in range... He still could not figure out who she was, though. She shouted a phrase that Vegita understood: "Kamehameha!" The blast pierced the android saijiyan in the chest and luckily missed Gatoris altogether. Vegita slumped over, still holding Gatoris in its fists. After the smoke cleared, Gatoris saw who had saved him: It had been Aerith. After this realization, Gatoris’ face turned a bright red. (He had just been saved by the person he was protecting! Wouldn’t you be a little embarrassed?) "You all right? I was worried..." Gatoris did not even acknowledge the question. He put down his sword and walked away. He felt he was no longer needed. Aerith would have tried to cheer him up, but she felt that he would be back in a day or so.

Gatoris walked around for a while, pondering what just happened. If she can do that, why do they need me? After a long day of walking, Gatoris settled down in a cave south of Rocket Town and went to sleep.

Part V: Trials of Love

Gatoris began to have the oddest dream... he was back in the cemetery, but something was different about him... He looked into a conveniently placed mirror and saw what was strange. He was Garrett Mackenzie again. But why? Was this a sign? He immediately rushed where Angelina’s headstone was... there was a faint date on it: October 3, 1999. No, Garrett thought.... not her too... He fell to his knees and cried. Why? Why is my life cursed? Garrett was about to lose all sanity. He then heard a familiar voice behind him. "It’s all right...." The voice made him cry harder. "Great, now you are dead too, Angie?" "Partially..." she tried to explain. "There’s no partially to it! Either you are alive or you are dead..." Gatoris could not bear to turn and face her. "Yes there is! A part of me died that day..." Angelina began to relate her story. She had become so depressed from the loss of Jason and Garrett, she had tried to kill herself. She had it all planned: she would go to Garrett’s grave and slice her wrists... Luckily for her, some of her friends were waiting to stop her. She still did it anyway. She nearly bled to death on the ride to the hospital. "While I was in the hospital, I heard a voice... I thought it was it was yours. it told me to keep living... Part of me stayed with you... and consequently ended up here." Garrett was still crying. "Why? I was telling you to live! Why did part of you not listen?" "The part that stayed was the part of me that loved... you, Garrett." Garrett was floored by the comment. "I was ashamed to tell you this... I was afraid that Jason would find out and do what he eventually did anyway..." "If you loved me, you should have kept living..." Gatoris was now sounding angry. "If you loved me, you would have honored me by letting go..." "No, that part of me had to be with you..." Angelina was now crying. "I would not have been able to go on in any way if I hadn’t. I saw you today..." Garrett was puzzled. he had not seen her, to his knowledge. "Of course you didn’t recognize me... You thought I was just Aerith." Garrett thought back: he had noticed a change in Aerith. When she saved him, her eyes were baby blue... not her normal aquamarine color. "Now you got it! Aerith let me join into her body... just so I could be with you..." Garrett was now more distraught than ever. ".. and I just left you there... I am worthless. What did you ever see in me?" Angelina stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself in Aerith’s body. She held Garrett’s cheek, and touched his scar. (It somehow was there...) "The fact you’d go through this for me..." Garrett was unable to speak, so he just hugged Angelina. Suddenly, Ifalna came from nowhere. "You have been given a second chance at love, wakarimasu ka? (Understand?)... Take it! This may be your last chance..." was all she said before disappearing as fast as she had entered. Garrett finally found the courage to talk. "I... I... love you, Angelina Bradford..." Angelina was crying with Garrett. "I love you too, Garrett Mackenzie... or should I call you Gatoris Tonberry?" "No, call me what you want..." Garrett wished this dream would last forever.

Alas, He had to wake up. But when he did, he was surprised by Aerith. She had found him before he went to sleep, and had been there with him all night. "I figured you would have had that dream before I came back..." "You mean it’s true? That Angelina..." Before Gatoris could finish, she blinked, and her aquamarine eyes turned blue. Gatoris was a loss for words, so he sat down next to her, and began to kiss her. "I do not deserve a friend like you..." Aerith surprised the hell out of him with her next comment: "Do you think that you deserve a wife like me?" Gatoris was taken aback. "Wha? You mean... you want to... spend the rest of your life with loser like me?" (Apparently, he was thinking as Garrett.) Suddenly, Angelina’s voice came out of Aerith. "I wouldn’t have it any other way..." Gatoris would have cried, but he had ran out of tears. "All I care about is if you are happy, Angie..." "... That’s how I want it." "All right, I need to do something before we marry, though." Gatoris explained. "I have to invite the person who set this up, which means..." Aerith came back through. "You would do that for me?" "Yeah, and I owe her one for choosing me to look after her daughter..." "It was not her choice alone... She had help form someone you knew..." Gatoris drew a blank. Who could Aerith be referring to? "You’ll need to see her anyway. She will help you raise my mother." Gatoris was getting extremely confused. Who the hell did he know that had that type of power when he was Garrett? "No need to rack your brain, honey. Here’s her address." Aerith handed him a slip of paper that said one thing: Junon Inn, Room 17. Gatoris looked at his watch. It was exactly high noon. He could make Junon by nightfall. "You want that I walk you home, Aerith?" Gatoris said, being considerate of her. "No need. I learned to teleport like you do. I still prefer walking..." Aerith was pondering. "You sure? We may not have a moment like this for a long time..." Love had taken over Gatoris. He wanted to be with Aerith, no matter what happened. Unfortunately for him, there was internal turmoil. Garrett, it seemed, did not WANT to be with Angelina..., at least not like this. Gatoris took note, in case this caused an inner conflict later on. As Aerith exited the cave, Gatoris picked her up and began to carry her. Aerith was a bit confused. "I am just making sure you don’t twist an ankle or anything..." Gatoris had a semi-vacant look in his eyes. He walked the whole distance back to his castle, carrying her in his arms. When they got there, it was almost midnight, too late to head to Junon.

The next day, Gatoris got up early. He had a promise to keep. Aerith was not up yet, so he left a note and kissed her on the forehead. Gatoris wanted to get this over with, so he teleported to Junon, right in front of the inn. He went up to room 17, and knocked on the door. A woman spoke up. "Gatoris... I know what you want..." Gatoris was speechless. How did she know? "But, I need you to do one thing to prove that you are worthy. You must bring me Sephiroth!" Gatoris was confused. Why Sephiroth? "I have an ability to give him, but he is difficult to find..." Gatoris, desperate to get this done, went to find Sephiroth. The woman pondered if he would succeed in his quest.

Gatoris had an idea where Sephiroth might go to cleanse his soul: back to the crater. On the walk down, he saw a lot of discarded knives left by the tonberries that had guarded Sephiroth as their master. Other than that, the journey to the center of the planet was uneventful, to say the least. When he got there, Gatoris realized he had been correct. Sephiroth was sitting in the middle of a pool of the Lifestream. He seemed to not be aware of anything... perhaps he was exploring his inner self? Gatoris waited for a few hours, then suddenly Sephiroth stood up. "Gatoris. I thank you... you let me find my human side." Gatoris stated something. "You realize that statement can REALLY be taken out of context..." Sephiroth ignored the correction. "What brings you to me?" "A woman told me that she had an ability to give you.." Gatoris spoke. "Oh, you mean Jupiter. Yeah, she told me before I saw you the other day. So, she ready for me?" Any other time, Gatoris would have known who Sephiroth was talking about, but Garrett’s mind was thinking only of Angelina at that point. "I guess. I have a favor I need to ask her to do, but she said that she would only do it if I brought you to her..." "So, you two going to go through with it then?" This remark made Gatoris think. Why must Ifalna tell EVERYONE what he thinks? "Yeah. Did Ifalna tell you what else happened?" Sephiroth was toweling off the Lifestream. "Yes. I thought Garrett would be happy, but I sense he is displeased..." Garrett chose this time to make his presence known. "You damn right I am not happy! I love Angie and all, but I am not thrilled with the idea she tried to kill herself to be with me! She had a boyfriend, for God’s sake!" Sephiroth blinked. His usually green eyes had become a dull brown... just like Jason’s. "Chill out, Garrett! You were the better man, so she was trying to show you..." Garrett was about to explode. "How, Jason? By killing herself? By shutting the rest of the world off form her beauty forever? That is the LAST thing I wanted for her! And by the way, nice going, baka..." "She loved you so much... she wanted to be with you, even when she was with me..." Jason was trying to comfort him. Garrett was crying. "No, you idiot! She TOLD me that she loved you more than me... that she would rather be with you!" Jason was in just a foul of a mood as Garrett. "No, she was afraid to admit it, but she loved you as much as me... if not more. She stayed with me, because she did not want to break both our hearts. She knew what would have happened if she tried to leave me for you..." "Baka yaro! She loved you, then you killed yourself! She would have forgiven you, no matter what you had done!" Garrett was crying a puddle into the Lifestream. Jason ignored him. "She loved you more than I can even tell you... Ara, how she loved you. I just went with her to make her happy..." Garrett was still unhappy. "..nice job, onore..." Jason made one more plea to Garrett to believe him. "Do you see her ring anywhere in my possession? Anything dear to us followed us in this dimension, so I should have it if she truly loved me more..." Garrett remembered how he found his wallet with her picture, then looked at Jason. He looked in his pockets, and he had no ring. "Dame! You have told me enough..." Garrett had stopped being hostile toward Jason. "...still I am not happy that she tried something like that." Sephiroth returned to prominence. "Listen, we could argue this all day, and we’ll never get anywhere... Let’s just go to Jupiter’s Apartment..." Gatoris returned as well, and he was crying. "Daijoubu, we need to get going and get it over with..." Both men left the crater and returned to the Junon Inn. Jupiter opened the door, and it finally dawned on Gatoris who it was...