Disclaimer: Nobuo Uematsu is the sole owner of the Final Fantasy property, and ol' Bill Shakespeare is the owner of the couple of lines I borrowed from him. Well, Willy is dead, so his great-great-great-grandchildren probably own it now. Either way, both are richer than me, or else I wouldn't have time to write fanfiction.
Catastrophe
Cid and Vincent had never considered themselves to be alike in any fashion. They may have been the oldest members of the former Avalanche group, but that was where their similarities ended. Cid was boisterous while Vincent was taciturn; Cid enjoyed loud parties and laughing while Vincent preferred solitude. They seemed, at least to one another, as different as night and day.
But as they stood together underneath the black ominous umbrellas that protected them from the unpleasant downpour, they both felt uncomfortable. Without looking at each other, they both cleared their throats and straightened the ties they were both so unaccustomed to wearing. Most of his dearest friends had never seen Cid in a suit and tie; in fact, the last time he wore one was to his parents' funeral at the age of twelve.
Now he was forty-seven, and he was attending the funeral of a good friend.
Cid felt uncomfortable looking at all of the rest of his comrades, who were also seeking protection from the inclement weather underneath black umbrellas. Tifa was crying silently while Cloud played the "strong silent type" with his arm around her shoulder. Yuffie managed to make it, although she was drenched, shivering and taking refuge under Reno's umbrella. Reeve and the other Turks made it to the most macabre of reunions, while Red couldn't leave his village and had sent his condolences.
Everyone seemed sobered by this event, yet some were just different, ultimately altered by time. Cid was clean-shaven for the first time in perhaps a month, while Vincent's hair was cut short enough to see his face. Tifa, although grief-stricken, showed the body structure of one that had been pregnant for only a short time. It was barely noticeable, but anyone who knew Tifa knew there was something different about her appearance. Cloud's hair was slicked back, no longer spiky and unruly as it was. Reeve had begun wearing glasses and Yuffie had actually managed to squeeze herself into a dress to come to grieve their friend.
Out of all the rest, Marlene was the one who was most changed by time. Ten years had blossomed her into a young woman, and her female features were becoming more defined with each passing day. In a year or so, Marlene would have men vying for her affections. But looking as she did now, standing in the torrential downpour, no one could think of her as a woman ready to find a husband.
Today, she had lost a father...and her boyfriend.
She stood drenched, her long brown hair matted down to her shoulders and back, the black dress clinging to her in some spots and dripping in others. The rain trickled down her face so often that it wasn't determinable whether or not she was crying. Her body shook violently, as if she were in a rage. Her arm was in a sling as well as a cast, and it was apparent that Marlene felt the cast could be replaced at a later time. Her beautiful face was scarred with lacerations all over it, but those were wounds that time would heal.
They stood silent as the priest spoke from his holy book, then walked off to find solace in the church nearby. For the longest series of moments, they remained in their silence, not quite sure how to make sense of what had happened. Marlene was the only one to walk up between the caskets, then turned to face the crowd of onlookers. She placed one hand on each of the caskets, both covered in flowered arrangements, the rain running off of the high-quality lacquered boxes.
Cid supposed that she felt as if she were to blame; in a horrific car accident that had taken more than just Barret and Denzel's lives, she had been the only one to survive with minor injuries. It had been storming outside, worse than most days in the autumns here. An animal had jumped out in front of the car in front of theirs, and a pileup had ensued. From what Vincent had told him when he informed him of the news, he had found out from both Tifa and Cloud that Denzel's body was burned to a point at which he could barely be identified. Barret had died of the same cause, but not as severely. Marlene had been the only one small enough to squeeze through the crushed car window, her arm snapped in four places. Apparently Marlene had a piece of broken glass wedged in her foot as large as Cid's hand, which was ground almost down into the bone before she had managed to slice up her hands crawling across broken glass on the pavement. By the time she had gotten a safe distance away from the car, it had exploded into a mortally devastating inferno and there had been no way for her to prevent it.
Tifa had told him at the viewing (which were both closed casket) that she hadn't said much in the past week than to discuss funeral arrangements and describe the accident to the police officers. Cloud and Tifa had rushed from their home in Nibelheim to Barret's home in South Corel and had been there for the entire week to help Marlene. Tifa confided to Cid that she felt useless; any time she had brought Marlene dinner the girl would roll over on her bed and barely even glanced at anything. She hadn't spoken to anyone in quite a few days and spent most of her nights staring at the ceiling, as if she were in a coma. Cloud even seemed concerned, which was out of character for him...perhaps it was the revelation that he would soon be a father and had begun to feel actual concern for Marlene's mental health. He had told Vincent that he didn't figure Marlene had slept any in the past week either.
They watched Marlene expectantly, waiting for her to make a speech, or perhaps collapse where she stood. She nearly looked dead herself, emaciated, pale, and shaking violently. Her face twisted into this horrible configuration, her eyes squinting shut. Her hands clutched the sides of each casket tightly enough to turn her knuckles white as she dropped to her knees, letting out a heart-breaking sob that shattered the silence like a scream. She raised her face up to the storming sky above.
"I defy you, stars!" she screamed, her body shuddering violently as she sobbed loudly, each sound snapping something deep inside of Cid. It was oddly reminiscent of when he lost his own parents many years ago. No one knew what to say, and no one bothered to say anything, except for Cid.
"Marlene, I-"
She raised her head to look at him, her eyes as sick as the deepest type of grief as the connected with his.
"Be not so long to speak, I long to die!" she screeched at him, the only thing holding her body upright being her hands clutching to her two loved ones. Cid heard Vincent call his name from behind him, and he knew what Vincent was trying to warn him of. He saw the cemetary personnel advancing toward the burial site, ready to put Barret and Denzel into the ground. He advanced toward Marlene while Tifa stood up in an attempt to step in. Cloud halted that right away in an uncharacteristically protective move, whispering in her ear. She nodded and sat back down. Later on Cid would find out that she was experiencing a very risky pregnancy, which made her inability to take charge make more sense to him. Cid knelt down next to Marlene.
"Come on, you have to let go...it's time to say goodbye." he said quietly, his usually harsh voice smoothing at the edges in order to calm her down.
Looking up at him, she shook her head. "I can't," she whined, sniffing and sobbing, but quieter now.
"The men are here to lower the caskets into the ground, girlie. We've gotta step back and let them do their jobs." He reached for her hand, gently peeling it off of the side of Barret's casket.
"No," she cried, shaking her head, giving him quite a bit of struggle, but Marlene eventually submitted and collapsed into a heap on the ground, her hands making impressions into the muddy earth. Cid sighed and stuck one of his arms underneath hers, wrapping it around her back to lift her up. He could feel her ribs sticking out of her skin, feel her heart racing wildly. With little effort he lifted her from the ground, backing away from the casket.
She didn't fight him, but instead shuddered against his warmth, as if it felt vile to feel anything resembling normalcy again. She reached out both of her arms to the only family she had ever known as their caskets were slowly lowered into the earth. Her sobs begun to even out, her pathetic whimpers echoing into the muscles of Cid's chest. His other hand held her head against his chest, smoothing her hair. Everyone watched their two friends being lowered into the earth, no one daring to say anything or make any sudden movement. It was as if the entire space around them was made of glass and to say or do anything would shatter the delicate balance it maintained.
The world around them mimicked the ominous feeling of death; autumn had set in and the leaves were all lying scattered across the earth. Empty trees loomed over them, appearing as skeletons that stood upright and swayed in the cold breeze. The sun refused to shine on this day.
"I don't want to be alone," Marlene finally said, and everyone's eyes turned to her. As if watching a soap opera on television, the rest of the group—even Vincent—turned their attention to Cid, eagerly awaiting his reply to this fragile spirit that was falling apart right in front of him.
"You aren't, Marlene...you aren't. You have me, and Vincent...you have all of us here to take care of you until you feel better, okay?" He cast a look to the rest of the group, who hadn't said one comforting word the entire time. "Right, everyone?"
Whoever didn't say "yes" had nodded, which met Cid's approval and he was quite surprised that he had ended up the reluctant leader in this situation. Everyone had been surrounded by the shroud of death nearly their entire lives, but the only one able to step outside of the grieving process and do what needed to be done was Cid.
He had to nearly drag Marlene away from the burial site, her body leaning heavily against his as if all of her strength was gone. Vincent followed shortly behind him; as Cid had been his ride to this event, and the rest of the group were soon after. They all progressed slowly, their feet moving slowly, everyone hesitant to say goodbye. Eventually, however, they all reached the black cars which only added to the feeling of emptiness they all felt. Marlene watched the cemetery and headstones pass by from the car window until finally the last glimpse of her father and boyfriend had faded from their sight.
She had to move on alone, but had no idea how.