[ Aerith scoffs, expression clearly unimpressed as she stares icily back at their foe. ]

Cloud can handle you. I'm sure of it. [ He may stumble along the way, but his attachments to others - and his strength of will - will center him again. ]

You really could have made a difference for the Planet, you know. If you hadn't given in.

[ Not to say that his experience has been...anything close to pleasant, or easy, but he'd been a hero in spite of it. Sephiroth had been the name of an admired figure, after all. What might the world have been like if he'd never learned the truth of his origins...or if he'd known, but hadn't succumbed to his hatred? ]