FINAL FANTASY VII

~ADVENT CHILDREN~

|United With Destiny|

"I will... never be a memory." - were Sephiroth's last words as he wrapped himself in his black wing.

Cloud watched amazed how the image of his old enemy faded away and where Sephiroth should have been, high in the air, there was a young man with shoulder-length silver hair. He fell on the ground, groaning as he tried to stand up. His hands were feeble, his green-blue eyes were lifeless and tired, hidden behind the short hair strands that were supposed to hide that weakness. There were some small, almost hard-to-spot cuts on his cheeks.

'Kadaj...'Cloud said to himself.

The union had been broken - the union Cloud had been dying to watch... The grieved young man before him was no longer Sephiroth... He was still holding his beautiful SOUBA - a sword with a long, thin blade and sky-blue handle. He got up and made two steps forward. He knew he had lost the battle. He knew he was about to die. However, the hate he felt for Cloud filled him up with a last wave of strength. Kadaj frowned at his enemy and (even though he felt unbalanced and weak) leaped again into combat. Better said, tried to. He was about to land a strike on Cloud just when he felt his breath stopped all of a sudden. He immediately put the other hand on his chest and fell once again to the ground. This time, a strong arm caught him, preventing him from getting hurt. Kadaj settled himself so that the arm would encircle his waist, as to support him. When he looked up he saw his once rival, who now had helped him. Kadaj couldn't help but smile slightly as he felt his body stabbed, stug and burning at the same time. Most of pain was coming from his heart... his pure, restless heart which was not fulfilled yet... He winced and held his eyes shut tight, but the pain wouldn't stop.

"Brother..." Kadaj whispered to Cloud and his lips remained parted a little.

Cloud didn't say anything, but looked at him gloomily... dully. What was Kadaj for him but an enemy?

Just as the silver-haired boy was about to speak, a small drop of water fell on his dusty right cheek. At first, he thought his 'brother' had been trying to hold back his tears and now one of them got away, but instead, the water drop was immediately followed by another one and even more others. They were falling too fast. They could not be tears. Kadaj raised his eyes and saw the petty drops of rain washing down on the two of them. The sky was still dark... and so was his soul...

"Kadaj?" - a female beautiful voice called him.

"Wha...?" - the boy couldn't finish his sentence for he recognized the woman that had summon him.

It was her. The one he had been looking for all that time! His dream. His desire. Finally he found her!

"You don't have to hang on any longer..." she told him in her still unchanged, soft voice.

"...M-Mother? Is that...?" Kadaj asked, gasping and panting with his last forces.

Aerith, the only person who had loved him, had died a long time ago. But Kadaj couldn't accept it and spent the rest of his life searching for her - even though he knew, at the beginning, that what he was trying to do was impossible. In time, he began completely consumed by this obsession, being unable to admit that his mother wasn't with him anymore...

All this time, Cloud didn't take his eyes off the dying boy who was tormenting, struggling to stay alive.

'Does that mean I can die in peace now? I found you, mother. The rest, I do not care about it.'

"Everyone's waiting. If you're ready..."

Kadaj's brothers - Yazoo and Loz had died too. He was left alone, as the youngest son. As Aerith spoke, Kadaj's eyelids parted and when his eyes were wide open, Cloud saw they were green, teary. There was no shade of blue left within their luster. His hand could feel that the boy's cheeks were moist. Kadaj lay silent, quivering madly, trying to swallow the hard lumps in his throat since he heard his beloved mother's voice. He was wincing, panting silently and blinking quickly - for the uncountable, small tears in his eyes were sour and salty. Rain mixed with his tears, washing them away, although they kept springing from his green orbs.

'If I'm ready? Can I join you? Can I come where you and my brothers are...?'

Cloud's strong arm was still holding his fragile body. The sky illuminated suddenly, rays of sunlight spreading away at the same time as the rain. That was the moment - the moment Kadaj would be released from his torment.

'I would like to see you again... No matter if it's on Earth or on The Primised Land...' he thought.

"Yes!" - was his last word.

His arm stretched out as one more tear drained down on his wasted cheek. Cloud stayed silent, unable to stop Kadaj's hand from reaching higher. He did not want to witness the boy suffer anymore. He knew that was his only escape from a world that he could not survive on his own. Kadaj's face didn't seem to be grieving now. He gasped as he tried to catch the welcoming hand that would soar him into the sky. Even though he could not see it, he made a last effort and winced, closing his eyes, his heartbeat stopping as he did so. He was now half risen off the ground and Cloud's arm wasn't supporting him anymore. The traces of his recent tears could be seen no more, for he was slowly turned into nothing but green rays of light and small, white glimmers. He was now on his way to Aerith, willing to meet her on The Promised Land. The light covered Cloud as well, and he quickly got up from where he had previously supported Kadaj on his right arm. He was not mourning the boy, but neither did he like his end. Remembering that Kadaj had died smiling, accepting his destiny, he was content. The silent rain washed the blood oozing from his battle wounds. He looked at the bright sky where Kadaj was now...

"Well, I guess the battle is over."

And suddenly, there was no more hate, anger and pain in the city of Midgar.