Richard D. Lawson wrote:

Either to die the death or to abjure
Forever the society of men.
Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires;
Know of your youth, examine well your blood....

Thrice-blessed they that master so their blood,
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage;
But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd,
Than that which withering on the virgin thorn
Grows, lives and dies in single blessedness.

-excerpts from "A Midsummer's Night Dream"
-by William Shakespeare

        I myself am a Shakespeare Fanatic, and I've read all of your Ranma
stories.  Simply love the poetry you associate with your stories.        Ahem.
        If I might be so bold, this was a great look at Aeris's own thoughts and
perspectives.  In my opinion (which may not be shared by others), Aeris knew
from the beginning that she would die, and that her fate was inevitable.
        I suppose this presumption was brought about by things the Characters
said AFTER her death, as well as her actions before her death... as if she was
working Towards something important and possibly devastating, but could not deny
those happy few moments near the end.
        She seemed to embrace life to the fullest, and Cloud pointed that out.
She was always talking about the future, perhaps to encourage others, but I
always figured she was being a bit overly cheerful.. as if she knew her fate
beforehand.
        Anyways, I would like to present you with a thought of my own,
Lawson-Sama, that I found intriguing and very much Possible.
        If you think about it, Sephiroth might not have been trying to destroy
the world, he might have been trying to save it from destruction.
        The way I figure it was this.... Sephiroth was immersed in MAKO energy,
you see his body encased in Materia at the North Crater, therefore I figure he
fell into the lifestream and was carried to the North Crater by it's flow.
        Now, the Lifestream is incredibly wise, the culmination of many
thousands of years of life being recycled, reborn, and returning to it.
        Sephiroth, in my own opinion, might have very well known how much the
world cried out in pain.  Perhaps, even, he was a little like Aeris, seeing a
course of action that MUST be done, the only course that could bring about
change and healing.
        Sephiroth's portrayal of destructiveness was very aptly put, and never
have I seen a more convincing villain, someone you can truly hate and despise.
Not even on Television.
        Yet, if you think about it, SEPHIROTH knew everything that happened
BEFORE it happened, he knew about Aeris's death <And planned for it> he knew
about Cloud and the rest being in Shinra Corp. When he freed Jenova and
Slaughtered the President.  *I feel he did, just from the circumstances*
        He knew about Cloud's past AFTER he had been "Killed" the first time
around.  He also knew exactly what to do to get those people to follow him, and
somehow knew without a DOUBT that the black materia would come to him, that
someone <Possibly he knew it was Shinra> would betray it to him.
    <By that I mean that if it was not for Reeve swiping the Keystone, Sephiroth
would never have gotten into the Temple.>
        He knew about Tifa's past <Taunted her in the North Cave about it,
before Cloud snapped>.
        He seemed to know ALL of these things, so why not that he would be
defeated???  My point is that perhaps Sephiroth knew, just as Aeris, what was
required to heal the planet, and acted out the part of the cruel, uncaring
villain to make those events come to pass.
        Without Cloud's rage and revenge, Meteor would have killed them all.
Without the Death of Aeris, the planet would not have been healed and saved.
<Take a close look at that ending, I can SWEAR that the planet is returning to
life as the lifestream comes to save the day.>
        So, I pose this.
        Was Sephiroth Truly a Villain?? Or perhaps just a tool of the planet,
like Aeris, that had a destiny that he had to fulfill?

p.s. ever notice that Sephiroth's LIFE FORCE in the end is red, and then the
swirl of the lifestream surrounds cloud with both red and green, then enters
him, but only Green comes out?? *GRIN GRIN*


--
Sincerely....
Shimitsu Kaoru.
Lost "Dragon-Boy"
of Shimitsu-Ryuu.
Prince of Chaos.
"What makes a curse is simply the view, a blessing to some is a curse unto you,
But acceptance can conquer that fear you hold high, through acceptance comes
peace..... are you willing to try?"
   -Quote from Kaoru Shimitsu.
My Homepage at!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/4534