DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.
~ Peaceful Morning, Past Reflections ~
Kain's first thought upon waking is that he must have fallen asleep on the roof. It is not until his mind registers the soft feeling of the mattress under his back and the warm, familiar weight on his chest that he remembers...
Barbariccia is here. For the first time since he escaped from Golbez's control, the wind fiend is in his arms again. It is her scent, of wind and sky, that earlier confused him into thinking he was outside. As a dragoon, Kain has an affinity for high places, and often feels more at home on an airship or a rooftop than on solid ground.
Even though she is undoubtedly a monster as the Elemental Archfiend of Wind, her presence was the one thing that comforted him during his imprisonment in the Tower of Zot. Yes, he had been under the control of Golbez, but when not being actively used, the puppet-strings had loosened and Kain was confined to a small section of the dungeon.
Barbariccia had allied with Golbez of her own free will, and as such was free to come and go as she pleased within his domain. For some reason - a reason which was unfathomable to Kain back then - it pleased her to visit the captive dragoon in his cage. The first few times she came to him, she wore rose-scented perfume and more clothing than usual, and had made some attempt to tame the wild masses of her hair. At the time, he thought she was trying to make herself seem more human in order to make him more accepting of her advances. He has since realized that her intention had actually been to prey on his feelings for Rosa. He never dared to speak that perception aloud, of course.
She was pleasantly surprised when he asked her to come to him as herself, without attempting to decorate herself in the trappings of a humanity she did not possess. She always carried with her a scent of fresh air, which was dampened by the cloying perfume, and it was her own natural scent that brought him comfort.
As he thinks about their past, he closes his arms more firmly around her. She shifts slightly in her sleep but does not wake.
Back then, he'd been a caged bird, longing for the sky and freedom. Once freed, he regained the sky but lost something he'd never realized he would miss. But now she is here with him again, and while the world may be going to hell around them, this is one of the few things that is right in his life.
~end~