Chapter 3: Breathe

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns it, and MAN, do they need to work on their plot lines!

Recap: Kadaj just stopped breathing, despite Destiny's efforts to Heal him.

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"No…" Destiny whispered, stricken. Hesitantly, she reached out and nudged Kadaj's cold body. "Breathe," she murmured. He didn't move. Destiny nudged his body again, this time a little harder. "Breathe," she pleaded. He remained immobile. By now, tears were welling up in Destiny's eyes. Suddenly, Destiny raised her fist into the air. "BREATHE, DAMN YOU!" She screamed, bringing her fist pounding down on Kadaj's chest. "BREATHE!"

The moment that her fist connected with Kadaj's chest, a spasm racked her body. With a jolt, the very life force that kept Destiny's heart pumping raced from her body into Kadaj's. A horrible, pain-filled scream was wrenched from her as she felt her life forsaking her body in favor of Kadaj's.

Another sudden spasm jerked Destiny's body away from Kadaj's. Falling to the ground, Destiny gazed dazedly up at the sky. Darkness was probing at the sides of her vision and she could feel her consciousness ebbing away. She had been through so much in one day. Too much. She was mentally and physically exhausted. Shutting her eyes with a sigh, Destiny let the darkness take her. Before the darkness overpowered her completely, however, she had time for one last distinct thought.

I failed. Because of my incompetence, Kadaj is dead.

And then she drifted off.

Silence reigned for a while as all eleven bystanders was lost in his or her own thoughts about what they had just witnessed. It was Yazoo that broke out of his daze first. Slowly, he approached his brother. Staring down at Kadaj's fallen body with eyes deadened by grief, he silently paid his respects and turned away. He froze, however, when a soft noise reached his ears.

B-bmp.

B-bmp.

B-bmp.

Heartbeats. Coming from… Kadaj? Yazoo whirled back around and studied Kadaj more closely. It was true! Kadaj's chest was rising and falling steadily – if a little slowly.

Yazoo's eyes widened and he turned his attention on the unconscious girl beside his brother. What was she? How had she been able to do such a thing?

Whispered voices behind him alerted Yazoo to the fact that Kadaj's condition was not unknown to their enemies. In Kadaj's weakened state, he would be easy prey for them. Instantly, Yazoo took charge of the situation. Telling Loz to pick up Kadaj, Yazoo paused before scooping up Destiny in his own arms.

Her power may help us win this fight.

Without hesitating, both he and Loz leapt off the building. Landing lightly, they mounted their bikes, held onto their cargo tightly, and sped off. Behind them, they left nine very confused ex-Soldiers.

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Destiny woke up with a splitting headache. She was sore and achy all over, but was otherwise unharmed. Groaning, she blinked open her eyes. She found herself in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar place. Needless to say, it was – for lack of a better word – an unfamiliar situation. She didn't like it.

Shooting up into a sitting position, she whimpered as the pressure within her temples increased tenfold. Her vision blurred and she fell back onto the pillow.

When her head cleared again, Destiny carefully pushed herself up. Studying her surroundings as best she could (the only light in the room came from the moon, through a single window), she noticed another bed in the room. Squinting in the faint light, Destiny received a shock when she realized that the bed was occupied. Tense, she silently slid the covers off her protesting body and crept over to the other bed.

At first, it was too dark for Destiny to tell who her companion was. Suddenly, a stray beam of moonlight fell across the person's familiar face. Destiny's breath caught in her throat. Kadaj. Eyes wide and face pale, she stared down at the man she could not save.

Who… could do this to me? She wondered vaguely. Who could be so cruel as to put the face of my failure in the same room as me?

Destiny's weary muscles faltered suddenly. Knees buckling, she pitched forward onto the same bed as the object of her misery, only just managing to catch herself before she landed on him. Opening her eyes – which she had shut out of reflex – Destiny found her face only inches away from Kadaj's. Her surprise and fear were short-lived, however, for something about his face relaxed her. Was it his peaceful countenance? Was it the way that slight smile lingered on his face? Unconsciously, Destiny's hand reached out to touch his pale cheek. Upon contact, though, she immediately flinched back, as if she had been burned.

His skin… is warm?

Destiny stared at him for a moment, then scrambled to check his pulse. Sure enough, there it was! Slow, steady, and strong.

Releasing her bated breath, Destiny sat back, dazed. He was alive. She had done it after all.

There was something wet on her face. Destiny touched her damp cheeks. Tears. When had she begun crying? But as Destiny soon realized, it was far easier to begin crying than to stop.

I've always considered myself 'tough'. I've suffered broken bones, sword wounds, and claw marks silently, without a single tear shed. I've seen men and demons alike murdered by their own hand or the hand of another without batting an eye. I've watched families and friends grieve over lost loved ones. I pitied them, but not once did I ever bow my own head and weep with them. And yet, here I am, weeping out of relief – relief! – that a man I do not know is not dead,' Destiny thought wryly as another tear slipped down her cheek.

Perhaps… perhaps it has been too long since I last loosened up enough to cry. Perhaps the tears I shed now are not only for Kadaj, but for all those other times when I should have wept, but was unable to. Perhaps I am even crying for my previous inability to cry.

And so, Destiny wept. Tears fell thick and fast as she remembered all the awful things in life that she had seen and heard… and done. Eventually, her mind ran out of bad memories or feelings and the crying eased. Destiny had just cried seventeen years worth of tears in no more than two hours. Exhausted, she sank onto Kadaj's bed. The moment her head touched the pillow, waves of soothing, dreamless sleep washed over her. She welcomed them with open arms.

Yazoo chose that moment to walk into the room. When his eyes fell on the sleeping couple, he froze in shock. Destiny had somehow managed to find her way over to Kadaj's bed, on which they were both currently unconscious.

They made an interesting sight. Destiny's head was lying half on the pillow, half on Kadaj's shoulder. She lay on her stomach, while Kadaj lay on his back. Destiny's hand was flopped lazily on Kadaj's chest. And she was half on top of him.

Slowly, Yazoo turned and walked out of the room. He definitely did NOT want to be there when Kadaj woke up. Yazoo was never quite sure how Kadaj would react to anything, but if the reaction turned out to be violent rage, Yazoo knew it was safest to be far away. Preferably in another country.

And so Yazoo left the couple just the way they were… which is the way Kadaj found himself when he woke up the next morning.

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Fluffy'sMate17