Into the Lifestream

by Her Pretty Smile

Synopsis: Their lives are coming to their ends, and Nanaki is just an unexpected, melancholic visitor from afar. — hints of Cloti, Yuffentine, and others.

Warning: Unbeta-ed; may contain mistakes or any of the sort.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Square Enix rightfully owns it. I can't wait for the FFVII remake. It's very exciting. Thank you so much, Square Enix!

Authoress' Note: This was attracting cobwebs in my computer as well. I can't believe I wrote this long ago, but I did. If the real thing happened in the movie, I would bawl so, so hard.


Final Fantasy VII: Into the Lifestream


···

It all happened slowly. Gradually. Nanaki had never really expected it, but it seemed that he had no choice in the matter.

Barret was the first to die. When Nanaki visited him in Corel, which was rebuilt years ago into the town it once was, the large, hot-headed man he once knew was now long gone. Not completely, of course, since there was still that familiar, fiery aura Barret harboured in the old days, back when they were AVALANCHE.

Marlene was by his side, crying as she clutched her father's weak, big hand. Cloud and the others were also there, and Nanaki had to pause for a while to look at their appearances. It had been some time since he last saw them since they were, of course, understandably very busy with their lives and didn't really have time for get-togethers.

All of them, except for Vincent, had aged considerably. It was, however, amazing that they still looked younger for their age, as if they weren't ten years older and as if only five years had passed instead. Yuffie was now a young woman whose eyes held more depth than what she had before, and both Cloud and Tifa still had those clear, smooth complexions, their hair not even greying the slightest bit. Cid and Reeve, on the other hand, were definitely on the road towards old age. Only Nanaki and Vincent hadn't changed.

"How long has this been happening?" Cloud asked Marlene quietly. The young teenager had moved in with her father a few years ago, wanting to be with him as much as possible.

"T—Two years," she sobbed, watching Barret's unnaturally grey face. "I—I'm sorry, Cloud… Tifa… Everyone… D—Daddy didn't w—want me to tell you. He—He said it's only a secret between us. But then he collapsed this morning and I didn't know what to do, and—and—"

"Calm down, Marlene," Tifa said softly, placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder and gripping it reassuringly. "We're not blaming you for it. It's all right."

"Dang it," Yuffie said harshly under her breath. She was sitting on Barret's right side, her tears flowing down her face freely. "You old coot! Why didn't you tell us?! Do you really think we wouldn't be sad when you—you—" She couldn't finish her sentence and just resorted to sobbing instead, hiding her face on the covers of the bed and gripping Barret's arm tightly, as if needing the warmth from his skin to keep her going. The older man just continued to lie there on his bed almost peacefully, almost motionlessly.

"# %$& this!" Cid muttered. He was pacing slightly, and Nanaki could see that worry lines were framing his face and seemed to be deepening every minute.

Vincent walked towards Barret and placed his fingers against the man's wrist. "…His pulse is very weak. He's… going to be gone soon. I'm sorry," he said stonily, but there was something in his voice that sounded controlled, as if he was keeping himself from being emotional. "We should say our final words to him now."

Marlene's eyes went wide in shock. "What? No! No, that can't be! I—It can't be his time yet. He—He promised to take me to the mines someday! He promised that he would be there for me when I get married! He p—promised me s—so many things… N—No… NO!"

"Marlene!" Tifa cried out, embracing the hysterical girl into her chest. "Ssh… It's okay… Everything is going to be okay…" she said softly. "Barret wouldn't want you to be so sad, right? These things… they just happen. It can't be helped. All we can do…" Her eyes rested on her friends, whose expressions were somber and anguished, and there were undoubtedly some who remembered old, painful memories. "…is accept it and move on."

"Oh, Tifa," Marlene cried, trembling heavily. "I can't lose him. I can't."

"I know." Tifa's expression was pained. "I know, Marlene."

After a few minutes of tension, someone finally spoke up.

"…He was a great man," Cid said, his voice strained. "Hey. If you can hear me… Just know that you've been a great friend… to all of us."

"It was a pleasure to know you," Vincent added quietly, and did not say any more.

"Thank you for being with us," Tifa said, giving a gentle, sad smile as her eyes brought about more tears.

"We're gonna be fine," Yuffie said, managing a helpless grin. "Denzel will make Marlene very happy. I'm sure of it. He's running late, so you—you'd b—better still be here when he arrives, all right?"

"Your achievements will be remembered," Nanaki spoke up quietly. "You as well will be remembered, in all of our hearts."

"I have never met a more honourable man in my life," Reeve said calmly, though his voice broke slightly.

It was Cloud's turn. Slowly, he sat in an empty chair beside Barret, and he gave a small, almost imperceptible smile.

"Thanks," he said softly. "For being there. For supporting all of us with your strength. You will always be our friend. And don't worry about us. We can take care of ourselves."

Marlene pulled away from Tifa's arms and faced her father with a red, crying face.

"Goodbye, Daddy…"

Vincent, who was checking Barret's pulse all the while, stilled.

"…He's… gone," he announced.

It was like a dam broke at that very moment. Marlene, Yuffie, and Tifa cried, Vincent stepped away and bowed his head, Cid muttered more curses with his voice breaking everytime, Reeve excused himself outside, Cloud buried his face in his hands, and Nanaki heard the door slam open.

"Marlene!" Denzel panted heavily. "I'm here — Oh Gaia…" His outburst was interrupted when he saw his soon-to-be-wife mourning over the loss of her father. In quick steps, he was hugging her tightly, crying along with her.

One week later, Nanaki attended the funeral, but he still couldn't shake off the feeling of loss and emptiness inside him.

Pain was truly a force to be reckoned with.


Next chapter will be... more grief. Ulp.