Arieth actually asked him about the reincarnation. He was the one she talked it through with, being right next to her since the time that she had died.

It was frighteningly simple, in an extraordinary complicated kind of way. Arieth, using her cetra powers, would take each and every soul that had a harmful amount of Jenova cells in their blood stream. That, of course, didn't include the Second Class and below SOLDIERs, or any of the Turks as they were only enhanced with Mako. And while the special Mako Hojo used had a little bit of Jenova's genes, it was just enough to cause the Mako to attach itself to the person, instead of just killing them slowly. It just didn't cause enough of an reaction with the Lifestream to justify stealing dozens, probably close to hundreds, of souls out of the fuel of the world here, in this dimension.

So she would locate the souls causing a dark blip on the Lifestream, which unfortunately included the only two alive First Class SOLDIERs, Spike and Genesis, and push them through a portal into a new dimension. This shift would, of course, change some of their powers that are just too ingrained into their souls for it to ever be left out. First, and most importantly, it takes away most of Jenova's influence, leaving only the bare minimum required for the soul. Unfortunately, in Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal, the three of them need a certain amount in their souls to function correctly, as they were born with Jenova in their blood and their souls had grown to adapt to the dark presence. Cloud and anyone else that happens to go, however, would have a smaller amount needed and so would get extra powers some other way that aligns with the rules for the new world.

As for himself, neither had an idea how much Jenova's cells he needed in his soul, as he had both gotten years of the special Mako as a proper ranked SOLDIER and then an actual amount, however small, of the cells when he made it to first class. Then the four years of experiments and... well, there's a reason it wasn't sticking with Hojo, but it doesn't change the fact that the cells were there, in spades, and weren't leaving anytime soon.

"Do you really think this could work?" He had asked, looking away from the bright light in the distance to his girlfriend. She smiled and clenched her fists, looking determined, and he had to admit she looked beautiful like that.

"Of course it will!" She had said. "I talked it over with the other Cetras and they are willing to help. And once Jenova's gone the Lifestream can heal and be whole again. Humans will have its own problems, they always will, but the others are more ok with all of us leaving if Jenova leaves too."

He nodded glancing at the portal again. It was very... inviting to say the least. He knew, on some level, that it was the Jenova cells within him, reacting the exact way Arieth had explained to him before she had set it up, but that didn't really change how inviting he was, nor did it change his irresistible curiosity about what was on the other side.

But then he suddenly registered what Arieth had said, snapping him out of what ever trance he had fallen in as he looked back at his girlfriend. He had walked halfway to the portal without even realizing it, he noted, before making eye contact with Arieth.

"What do you mean, all of us?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing. Arieth giggled and he could only assume he was making his confused puppy face, but he didn't have time for that now. The quick break of the trance was about to be over and he already wanted to look back at the white. But he forced himself to look at his girlfriend's eyes.

"Silly Sally," she said, looking more amused than she had a right to be in this situation. "Do you think I was going to let my boyfriend leave me behind once again?" She paused for a second but not nearly long enough for Zack to get a word in edge wise. "Oh don't forget to give them their gifts!"

He opened his mouth to respond to that, however short it had to be as the white light was getting more and more compelling, when suddenly the white light turned blinding. He cried out in shock and covered his eyes from the shine, only just making out the voice of his girlfriend.

"Don't do anything stupid until I can find you this time Zack!"

xXx

And then, suddenly, the light went out, replaced with a much softer, colorful lights from a stick that a lady was holding out to him. He frowned, slightly confused and dazed from the dramatic shift, and reached from the stick, curious to how it worked.

And then he saw how small and chubby his hands and arms were. Oh yeah, reincarnation. He was a baby.

"Frank," the woman called, causing him to look up again from his new, small hand. "Come look at Neville."

Neville? His new name was Neville? That was new. And it sounded almost like a lame name, but also one that would fit in well with a name like Arieth, or Cloud, or Sephiroth, or Angeal, or Genisis, or-

Ok so he was the only one with a normal name apparently. He supposed that, that would mean he was the one with a weird name not everyone else, but the VP was named Rufus, which was pretty normal right? So-

His thoughts were cut off as a man walked into the room and Zack- Neville he guessed now- was surprised that he had managed to forget that the two adults were something he was trying to think about.

Shit, being a baby with an adult mind would be hard.

xXx

The woman was his new mother, Alice, and the man was his new father, Frank. They were nice, but the thought of replacing his, Zack's, parents was almost too much. It was bad enough that he hadn't gone and seen them through most of his career in Midgard, but then he had to stay away from them an extra 4 years while he was in the lab and then on the run. And then he had died. His parents didn't even know that he had died a full four years after they were told.

So, long story short, he felt too guilty over his first parents to replace them with new ones. But, he figured that it shouldn't be much of a problem. He would just be raised by them, and eventually he would grow to see them as his new parents before anyone was the wiser that something was wrong.

Only, he never got the chance. They had more or less died, when he was one. It would have been kinder if they had died, instead of being tortured into insanity with little hope of recovery. But either way, that had left him with his Grandmother Augusta, and his Uncle Algie.

There might of been a chance that he could have loved them like family, and maybe he did, a little, for his Gran. But his uncle had a drinking problem and wanted him dead from the start.

Now the thing that must be known, is that Zack never could act like a child. Sephiroth and Genesis, who had never spent much time acting like children, still matched themselves with the other children around them, to not draw much attention. It never really mattered with them, as Harry's family thought him unnatural anyways, and the Weasleys just accepted that this was how Ron was, as he still regularly acted immature around his siblings anyway. Neville, however, was often alone in the manor with only his Gran and the house elves and had no children to check his behavior with.

So Neville was considered a genius, already reading the library books by the time he was 3, and understanding concepts that took most people years. In truth, it was just Zack being an adult, but it still made Angie worried.

If the boy was a genius now, what would he be like when he got his magic? So by the time he was walking around, Neville had been having "accidents". Falling down the stairs, messing with sharp objects, dropping books on top of himself. His Gran was convinced he was the worst clutz, and became over protective of him.

And that destroyed any plan he had of trying to train.

xXx

When he was six, he realized what Arieth meant about the gifts. His Gran had no idea where the two little charm came from, but apparently they were his parents and she felt he was old enough to have them.

So she gave him a small charm bracelet, with two very familiar swords as charms. The Rapier, and the Buster sword, as small charms, about as long as his Gran's grown hand.

That couldn't be a coincidence. He smiled, taking the bracelet and making sure to keep it safe in a box under his bed.

Now he just needed to find Genesis and Angeal, to give them their gifts.

xXx

When he was seven, his uncle took a step up in trying to kill him.

He had not shown any magic, no matter how smart he seemed for a child, and his uncle had become over confidant in his attempts, not caring if his Gran saw as he could just say that he was trying to force out his magic. The fact that his Gran took that as an excuse was a blow to him, as he had come to love her as a grandmother, but he just decided to ignore it.

She wasn't his actual grandmother after all.

xXx

He was eight when his uncle had held him outside the third story window by his feet.

He had been able to dodged him before this, using the SOLDIER reflexes that he had been sure to keep up, if nothing else, but his uncle had been able to sneak up on him this time. And no matter what his memories said, he wasn't strong enough to kick off an adult as an eight year old.

So right now, being held over his death (again), all he could do was look at his uncle pleadingly, as struggling would only cause him to be dropped quicker.

"Goodbye you little brat." His uncle said, completely ignoring the pleasing look Neville had. He loosened his grip, before completely dropping dropping him as his Gran yelled his name in horror.

Neville screamed, trying to twist his body into a landing position, even if that wouldn't stopped the impact from killing him. He was a completely human right year old, of course it would kill him.

But he wasn't ready to die again! He hadn't met any of the others yet! He hadn't given Genesis and Angeal their presents yet! He hadn't even met Arieth again! He couldn't die!

He hit the ground.

xXx

And then he had bounced. He had bounced to the pond, a few feet away. His Gran had run out and to him, while he was getting out of the water dazed. She had hugged him, and cried relieved. He moved to hug her back before realizing that she was relieved that he had magic.

He wasn't sure how that made him feel.

He just really, really wanted to meet the others.

xXx

He had met Angeal almost immediately into the ride to Hogwarts.

At first he hadn't been sure that the bushy haired girl was his teacher, but the way that she had stared at him, as if she had known him, and the fact that the Buster Sword Charm that he had on the bracelet he had hidden under his sleeve had suddenly warmed.

And then she was even nice enough to help him find his toad, even though it was completely obvious that he had wanted to lose that toad on purpose and yep, this was Angeal.

xXx

The Rapier Charm warmed as a angry red headed boy joined him and Hermione in the boat, along with the black haired boy that he recognized as Harry Potter.

Looking at the red head, Neville thought he was making a face that he could clearly imagine on the other red head.

But it bothersome that Hermione and him had gotten off on such the wrong foot. Angeal and Genesis was supposed to be best friends.

xXx

First day of Transfiguration, he watched the Professor turn her desk into a pig then back. He crinkled his nose, even as she explained that they wouldn't be doing that until their later years.

This reminded him way to much of Hojo and he already hated this class.

xXx

There was a three headed dog in the third corridor.

"I'm going to the third corridor." He said quietly to Hermione, close to curfew. Hermione froze in her writing and looked at him slowly, as if he had said something crazy. Which, well, he had but that changed nothing.

"What." She said flatly, setting down her quill. "You will not."

He smiled, happy to hear the Teacher voice come out. He constantly wondered if Hermione and Ron remembered, and it was times like this that he was almost sure they did.

(He also had to wonder if Harry was someone, be it Seph or Cloud, with how he always seemed to be trolling them. But neither man seemed like the type to act like that?)

But back to the topic at hand.

"I will too." He said, acting like the 11 year old he was. He stood up. "I'll tell you what happens!"

She gaped at him, before scowling and standing up as well. "I am not leaving you to go there alone!"

Neville smiled and started to leave. That was what he was hoping she would say.

xXx

I'm not happy with this chapter. But I had rewrote it like three times, so I decided just to live with it. Tell me what you think, and what I could approve. And I hope so much that I got Zack in character. He was hard to write.

Back to the actual story next chapter!