.'After all, half the answer is the question itself' Introspection on our 3 leading ladies.
Disclaimer- I own nothing. Not even the Internet.
Phase one- For His Acceptance
Enter CombatantZero
Stage set- Misery and its company
Ninja's are masters of illusion; princesses are good at faking it. Then why, oh, why are you crying. He never meant to say it and you never meant to cry, accept it, get over it and go...do...something. Maybe, possibly he'll see you the way he was meant to.
So steal from your friends
Lose your dignity
Keep running
One day he'll lose his patience
One day he'll realise just why you aren't really worth it
And you'll fall on rocks
But hey, at least your father will accept you.
Phase one- For His Love
Enter- CombatantThree
Stage set- Suffocating, over powering, sickly sweet
'You're beautiful' Yes, thank you for the nonsense. Too bad love is blind, stupid and probably hates you anyway. Yes, every time you move people stare at you. Yes, your bar is frequented with handsome suitors and rich men with too much time on their hands and yes, you do have a large chest. 'Thank you for being obvious'
But you see that man over there
Yes, that one, in the corner
Yes that one!
He sees you as a person beyond that.
One day he might see you as a person that he could happy with
Right now, it's all you can do to keep smiling, wave and hold the dam together.
Because one day it'll be your turn
Till then you better wash those glasses.
Phase one- For His Forgiveness
Enter CombatantTen
Stage set- Turn yourself inside out for the cause
Fact one of Many- you have always and probably will always love Zack Fair. The end, no questions asked
Fact two of Many- you're a Cetra. Great sacrifice is practically in the job description.
Fact three of Many- You're not sure how you feel about death, the lifestream or any of it.
Conclusion- there is none.
There's also no point, but watching the people here-
Here, now, with you.
You feel drawn to them, different with scars of all shapes and sizes, cutting and bleeding and wanting. Somehow you became a part of the tangle of confusion and memories and wants and feelings and you started questioning. What's beyond that corner, if I take a chance, take a risk what will happen. You got involved.
Suddenly, it made sense.
This sacrifice right here right now may make it worth it.
Keep going, the end you want is around the corner.
Phase two- For Her Country
Enter CombatantZero
Stage set- The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes
So you lied.
Good god, you're a ninja.
You don't get very far in this career if you don't.
They're all still mad and you don't care, you have the Materia and that's all that matters
Hey! Where are you-
Isn't it?
W-Wait! Don't-
Leave you behind?
Why shouldn't they?
Phase one- For Her Peace of Mind
Enter CombatantThree
Stage set- Falling away with you
You don't like it but you keep going anyway.
You don't wanna fall into his madness, but there's something so very...inviting... about his brand of insanity and you stay where you are hoping if you wait long enough the other one will come back.
That little boy you knew as a child
Hey Cloud, Tifa here-
He's not coming back
Phase one- For Her Piece of Heaven
Enter CombatantTen
Stage set- Solemnity, Synergy
Shlick
Death is quick, life is hard.
Phase one- For Your Life
Enter CombatantZero
Stage set- Defying Gravity
You get air sick.
You also get sick of life.
It's like this giant roller coaster you can't control and sometimes you feel it inside you. It makes you feel weird, bad, like you're not worth it.
And that hurts you more than anything.
There are times when you figure you aren't worth it. Those are the days when you sit by Aerith's pool and play with the flowers. Those are the days you spend out on someone's stolen motorbike. Those are the days you spend piss drunk and spinning around in your underwear even when you know all it does is make you look stupid.
Those are the days better left forgotten.
You spent so long trying to keep it up, keep running, keep going that you forgot that life can actually stay still even if it is only for a few seconds. You wake up one day and find yourself in a cycle of self hatred and mortification and when you sit down for breakfast you think-
You think maybe love will change this
{it hasn't}
Maybe friendship
{you'd have to be a friend first}
What are you fighting?
{you know this one}
Who are you running from?
{guess again, little ninja}
You're your only combatant
{the world exists to thwart you}
Well then...
{well what?}
It's just you isn't it?
{and...}
Who's stopping you?
And in the end, those three words probably saved her life.
Phase one- For Yourself
Enter CombatantThree
Stage set- Butterflies and Hurricanes
It's not like you can change this.
He's still broken, you're still waiting and the world doesn't want to let go of its heroes yet.
Spin kick, It's not like he cares.
Drop roll, And no matter how hard you try his shoes were always 3 sizes too big for you.
Groin block, So what do you do?
Jump kick, Who are you fighting?
Combination, What are you fighting?
You stop and stretch a little more. Then you lie down, what would Aerith do? You know its stupid to endlessly compare yourself to a dead person but you've got no options left. Aerith is what he needs. Aerith is what he wants. Who cares if she's dead it's your job to be what he needs.
Is it?
Is it really?
You jump up and in a matter of seconds you run and jump and kick your way across the church.
Roundhouse, Who said it had to be you?
Split, When did it become your duty to do this?
Punch, Did you ever want this to be your whole life?
Punch, Just waiting and waiting. When is he gonna come back, will he be okay?
Punch, Who made this decision for you?
Punch, You did.
Punch, Punch When?
Punch, Punch, Punch You don't know.
Your hair gets caught on a piece of rock. You spin and turn and yet you can't get away, it tangles and tears and in the end you simply grab the switch knife from your back pocket and hack and hack till it's all gone.
You punch harder.
You don't have to be this.
Harder
It's okay not to be her.
Harder
You're not the combatant
Harder
It's okay not to change for him
Harder
It's okay to be yourself
And the wall crumbles
Suddenly light is covering her and some part of herself she believed was dead rouses itself. Her hair is much shorter now and it feels like she was carrying the weight of the dead in it.
It's not the fourth wall, but it'll do.
Phase one- For Your Hope
Enter CombatantTen
Stage set- Q&A
Some questions will never be answered.
Like Yuffie's need to accept Shelke
Like Tifa's need to be like you.
Like Clouds need to hate himself and Vincent's to repent for something he never did
Like their psychopathic need to break each other and rebuild what was never really broken.
You watch them every day since you died. You can see they miss you and you can't for the life –or death- of you figure out why. They look at you through rose glasses and it annoys the hell out of you.
So you watch closer, you breathe in every moment of their lives.
You watched when Yuffie broke down
You watched when Tifa finally gave up on Cloud –and his subsequent realisation that he was very much in love with her.
You watched Cid die
You watched Vincent overcome his fears
You watched Reno give up alcohol
You watched so much and every time you ended up crying hysterically.
They were all so alive and brilliant and they wanted to be dead? Like you? You don't get it.
There is nothing redeeming about being dead.
You sit there and ponder.
Sometimes Yuffie sit on rooftops and asks you questions.
It used to be, how do I become more like you or how did you do it
But it seems she no longer cares about that, instead asking, what's it like up there and if Zack isn't nice to me I'll kill him
Tifa's always been more introspective her questions were always more what's the meaning of all this and how do I keep Cloud here than how do I cook the perfect roast dinner
But one day, at the exact sometime, on 2 different sides of the planet they ask the same question.
'Is there something you want answered, Aerith?'
Is there a question you want answered?
She never thought about it.
'Maybe,'
But...
'Probably not.'
After all, half the answer is the question itself.
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TEH END
Would you believe I got this from a comprehension task?