Cissnei and Balto had brought their bikes from Gongaga, when they had taken the road out of the village that they now called home. Meeting Felicia, Kunsel and himself just outside the densely jungled area surrounding his childhood home.
"You three can take mine, I'll jump in Balto's sidecar." Cissnei offered. Coming forward with the familiar green vehicle to hand it over to Zax.
"Cheers." He thanked her with a meaningful smile, recalling the circumstances under which she had previously lent him the same bike.
Zax in turn offered the forward position to Kunsel, the more skillful driver between them. Who got busy starting the motor, while Zax swung a leg over the back.
As soon as Felicia and Cissnei were comfy and secured in the side cars, they were sailing down the dirt road, still to damp after a resent shower for dust.
They slowed to a safer pace on reaching the tree line. The path through to the village being deeply shadowed as well as winding, muddy and dotted with fallen trees, roots and large boulders.
For just an instant, Zax closed his eyes to the sparsely dappled light filtering through the canopy overhead, and breathed in the humidity of the Jungle. The wild aromas vividly reminding him of his Auntie pollensalta, taking him on hikes during which she would instruct him in Gongagas various forms of martial arts, and install in him the history of his people and the Gongagan culture.
But maybe 'instruct' was the wrong word. She hard hardly had to explain a thing, so exemplary were her demonstrations, that it had seemed as though he learned through a type of osmosis.
Zax shivered, chilled like he were visiting the glacial north, rather than scorched Gongaga. "Follow the path of the sun." Polle's voice came to him so clearly that when Zax opened his eyes, he had fully expected to see her face. Instead, he was presented with the view of the village surrounded by its steep peeks, coming in to view through the dusk. And the realization that the others were part way through a conversation.
"...Gongaga gets the most rainfall on the planet, especially this time off year." Katana explained for Kunsel and Felicia's sake.
"There used to be a real problem with flooding contaminating well and stream water, as well as drowning imported crops. Right?" Felicia inquired.
"Yes." Cissnei confirmed. "Fortunately we've been able to achieve water filtering with help from the WRO, and the land that the reactor previously made barren has gradually been retaken by flood loving jungle greenery with food value. So although there are still health risks associated with the mako content at root level, there's no longer an annual famine. Gang warfare has been greatly reduced too, now it's mostly a battle against luxury developers, but all their employees are off for december holiday so we won't be running in to many of that type."
"The peeks too, you're not dealing with regular landslides any more?" Kunsel asked.
"No! With savings made on water and food, as well as local power via solar panels, and an increase in the working population. We've been able to also afford to repair the retaining walls that protect the village." Balto returned. "Even when Zax and I were kids those walls were giving way, so it's reassuring for everyone, we haven't had any incidents since."
On arrived in town, some local kids were there to meet Cissnei and Balto. Barefoot or wearing jandals they nevertheless picked themselves up from the side of the road, to chase after the slowing bikes, each of them carrying fine quilts and matts used for bedding in Gongaga.
"Ah yes, we asked the mayor if we could borrow some extra kit for your stay." Balto explained, while they came to a stop so that the children could catch up.
"Here, Mayor Sanoy said we should give these to you!" A girl who looked strikingly like Zax childhood neighbor Lolani had at that age, told them. The other little ones meanwhile occupied themselves foisting bedding on Felicia and Cissnei in the sidecars. Others were taking the opportunity to show off to visitors, pointing out their first tattoo, or twirling poi and singing as well as they could through fits of giggles.
'Sanoy is Gongaga's mayor now!? Good on her." Zax remembered the girl his parents had wanted him to marry. It seemed she had done well for herself, and would be leading the village in to a time of prosperity. Something his pops especially would have dearly wanted for the Fair family to share in. Even so, when Zax glanced in Kunsel's direction, he knew he would do everything over again in a second to be by ees side. No hardship or familial disapproval past or future would change that, not in any lifetime.
Kunsel absently looked Zax's way in that moment, then did a double take asking. "What's that look about?" Nudging him in the ribs.
Zax just nudged em back.
Kunsel shook ees head, and upon giving each child a few gil for their trouble, turned the bike to carry them the rest of the way to Balto Cissnei and Kamea's place.
"Here we are, home sweet home!" Balto at last announced, once they had drawn parallel with a familiar gate.
"You moved in to auntie Polle's old place!?" Zax blurted in shocked surprise.
"Yes, I mentioned as much on our way here." Balto's tone colored with long suffering.
Just then Kamea leaned out of the door, and using Gongaga sign language that Zax semi understood, gestured. "The guest room's ready, please come in."
"Coming!" Balto called back.
"You alright?" Kunsel asked Zax in hushed confidence. "I know your aunt's important to you."
"Yeah...yes, I'm ok. I guess I just zoned out when the cuz mentioned where they were living, and wasn't expecting it." Zax told em truthfully. "Sides, I think auntie would be glad." That thought cheered him, and the thought of Kunsel's family recipe lifted his spirits further. "I'm keen on that flat bread, so let's get in and get cooking!"
Cissnei and Felicia both had been watching them with some concern from the front door, but seemed reassured by Zax return to his previous mood, so carried on inside also.
While Kamea got Kunsel acquainted with the new kitchen, and Balto took the acquired bedding to the guest room. Zax and Felicia set the table. Cissnei discreetly hid a device of some kind, that had been left out in the overflowing miscellaneous draw, then collecting the place mats she too came to help prepare the table.
"Do you think you'll visit your folks while you're here?" Cisnnei asked of him without dulling the edges of the thing with preamble.
Zax considered it. At one time he had asked her favor in looking after his parents, to make sure they weren't caught in the crossfire between ShinRa company and himself. Having expressed no opinion of her own, Zax wondered if Cissnei felt a visit might go well or adversely.
He noted how Felecia pointedly kept her eyes on laying the cutlery. They had both been handed the lot of a shoddy father in their life, but unlike himself she had very recently lost that father, and been left with nothing but mixed feelings and further trauma to have to sort through. He wondered what advice she might give, but didn't want to corner her on a painful topic.
He realized he had been thumbing the scar crossing his jaw, so quickly dropped his hand, returned to the task of setting out place mats and other tableware. He had had his reasons for avoiding his childhood house where and when he felt he could, now that he was hear it was extra tempting to lay low. But the truth was he had been planning to visit, he had to see his mother for sure.
"Mmm! The food smells amazing." Balto exclaimed on return from the guest room, presumably he had finished arranging the guest bedding. He took up a seat to Cissnei's side.
Next Kamea carrying a platter heaving with the Ravens herby flatbread, arrived from the kitchen to sit at her other side.
When at last Kunsel appeared with a second platter, containing toppings and a selection of chilled cordials, ee joined Zax and felicia on the tables opposite side. "We made a lot, so there'll be some to have with the new year's meal too."
"Oh, good call!" Zax said appreciatively.
"You can visit any time." Cissnei added by way of a jest.
"Speaking of visiting, we should pay our respects at the point while we're here." Zax suggested.
"The point?" Felicia wondered.
"I remember you telling me about the point…" Kunsel recalled. "It's a peak here in Gongaga where certain rituals are carried out, right?"
"Yup, Auntie Polle used to go every new year, we should all meet up at the point on new years night." Balto made the decision.
Kamea then lifted his glass, and with his other hand signed. "Bula!" a local word that translated literally as 'life', but in the context acted as the equivalent of 'cheers'.
Life and the appreciation of it was a sentiment they could all get behind, In unison they each lifted their own glass and repeating the gesture with their free hand cheered. "Bula!"
The sky was on fire, meteor igniting the atmosphere, it's heat and rawer unbearable. Ee felt as if ees skin was being charred away, ees bones cracking like kindling, innards boiling. Around em Kalm was burning to the ground, the dead lay in tangles, the air crowded out by hot smoke.
Figures moved silhouetted in the smog by flames, ee knew them somehow. Veld, Fuhito, Hojo, Morgan. Ee reached for ees sword, but ees hands were slippery with blood. Blood blurred ees vision, the rushing of blood impaired ees hearing too, or was that sound the ringing that remained after a bombs explosion turned everything to white hot agony?
Cutting through the torture, a single voice reached em.
"K, Kunsel. C'mon buddy!" Zax's desperate voice a course whisper.
Then Kunsel caught sight of him, shrouded in a universe of shadow and star light, oblivion? But he wasn't safe. The explosion, or meteor, or geostigma or any number of horrors were on their way. Ee had to make sure Zax was safe!
Pitching forward off of the layered mats that made up ees bed, Kunsel knocked him to the ground and threw ees arms around Zax, shielding him from...what?
Gently, Zax draped his own arms about ees shoulders and held em close.
Soaked with sweat and puffing, ee listened for Zax's steady breathing while ee waited for ees heart rate to slow, and the echoing detonation from ees nightmare to fade out of ees head.
When ee had regained composer enough. Ee brushed away the tear tracks still damp on ees face, noticing with a chill how the black materias glow reflected off the heel of ees palm, despite it's being eclipsed by an eye patch. When the materias glow had faded at last, ee drew back so as to tug Zax upright again.
Not yet ready to address what had just occurred, ee casting about to see if ee had woken Felicia, but didn't find her in the room. "Where's Felicia?"
Zax twisted to look over his shoulder, on finding the third bed empty he turned back and shook his head at a lose. "She probably got up for some air or a drink. But K, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine now." Ee said automatically. It wasn't a lie, nor was it the truth entirely ee realized, rather it was something in between. But ee would be fine for the time being like ee had said, so making to get up. "I should check on Felicia." Ee decided.
For as long as ee had known her, and as close as they were, circumstances meant they hadn't actually spent much time together. However one memory of a young Felicia almost drowning at sea, after a nightmare had terrified her in to jumping off an AVALANCHE boat, surfaced vividly in ees mind. Maybe in response to ees own nightmare.
Ee didn't get far however, instead Zax cought ees hand holding em in place. "I'll go check on her, I was thinking I wanted to get to know her better since she's like a sibling to you, and she seems like a cool person... So come back to bed?"