Chapter 3
Logan awoke to the sound of a fist pounding on his wooden apartment door. Feeling somewhat groggy, he turns over on his bed to glance at the digital clock on his nightstand through nearsighted eyes.
"3:27 in the freakin' mornin'," he groans. "Who the hell is up at three in the freakin' morning?"
The fatigued young man felt around his nightstand with his hand for his glasses and puts them on. With as much effort as he could summon in his sleepy state, he rises out of bed and stumbles towards the pounding door, the sound of which was starting to give him a headache.
He undoes the locks and opens to door to be greeted by the exhausted form of Aya.
"Aya?" Logan exclaims in surprise. "What are you doing here at this time of… day? And where's Tracy?"
"Logan," panted Aya. "I… I… Tracy… Something happened on our journey…"
The words "something happened" along with the sound of his best friend's nickname shook Logan fully awake with concern.
"Where's Tracy?" he demanded seriously.
"I tried to save her, but it was too late," Aya blurts out with emotional pain. She looks up at him with crimson eyes that threatened to rain down tears. "She fell into the Lifestream."
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That afternoon, Lacus, Zenith, Aya, Roxy, Logan, and Nanaki as well as Nova all met at the Seventh Heaven bar. Logan had been worried sick ever since Aya broke the news to him about Trang and nothing anyone could say was able to alleviate his anxieties.
"Don't worry Logan," coaxed Nanaki. "I'm sure Tracy is allright. She's a tough girl when she needs to be."
"Nanaki, didn't you said that someone survived after falling into the Lifestream?" spoke up Zenith, who was busy embracing his troubled girlfriend, Aya.
"Yes, actually, two people survived the mental side effects of the Lifestream and I know both of them," declared the red-furred creature. He strolls up to Logan and looks deep into the young man's eyes. "Those two people were one of my closest friends so I know how you feel, Logan. If my friends were able to survive after falling into the Lifestream, there is no doubt in my mind that Tracy can survive it too."
"I hope so, Nanaki," responded Logan.
"Have a little faith, Logan, and everything will be all right," encouraged Nanaki with an assuring smile.
"So where can we find Tracy?" wonders Lacus.
"The Lifestream leaks onto the surface through various places around the Planet," explained Nanaki. "Since she fell into the one in Mideel, our only option is to find other openings on other parts of the Planet."
"I'm sure that will be easy," retorts Roxy sarcastically. "The only Lifestream springs that we know of are the Mideel and the Northern Crater openings. Who knows what others exist."
"I remember there was one near my hometown, at Wutai," spoke up Aya, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Hmm, I've been to Wutai and I don't recall having seen one there," notes Nanaki. "Then again, it's been a while since I've gone there to visit."
"All right then, Wutai it is," declares Roxy. "Everyone to the Huge Bronco!"
"But what about the bar and the delivery service?" asks Aya.
"Don't worry, I'll stay behind and take care of things," assures Lacus. "I'm too lazy and laidback for this sort of endeavor. Besides, I'm not really that close to Tracy anyhow."
"A friend's a friend, no matter how close or far they are," argues Roxy upsettingly.
"Whatever," exclaims Lacus with a shrug. He turns to head to the Strife Delivery Service's headquarters. "I'll see you guys later."
With that sorted out, Nanaki, Logan, Zenith, Roxy, Nova, and Aya all head out to the dark red-colored Huge Bronco, a gargantuan fusion of the old Highwind and Tiny Bronco. Inside, Nanaki was overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia. The internal structure of the airship was similar to that of the Highwind, except for the addition of two more Chocobo stables, a dining hall, and sleeping quarters. The Operation Room and the control bridge were still in its old location so navigating around the place wasn't too unfamiliar for Nanaki. For Nova, however, this was his very first time in an airship; in fact, it was his first time in a manmade vehicle period and it made the reptilian quite nervous.
Logan sensed the creature's anxiety and lays a hand on its muscular shoulder. "Don't worry, Nova. Just think of yourself as a flying bird."
Somewhat eased by the young man's words, Nova gave a nod of acknowledgement and decides to join the others on the bridge. He sees Nanaki pass him by and give an unfriendly glare at the humanoid. Irked by the hostile look, Nova continues on his way and stands next to Logan near the door on the bridge.
Up on the bridge, the group was greeted by a short-haired blonde-headed young man name Sigurd. Around the age of thirty or so, Sigurd has a charismatic personality and simply loves machinery; he was the one who helped Logan fix up the Fenrir bike he found as well as designed and helped built the Huge Bronco, named so after his grandfather's personal airplane, the Tiny Bronco. His favorite pastime is rummaging through Sector 8 to find old technologies to fix up anew. Among them was a robotic crown-wearing bipedal cat that still had its artificial intelligence intact and called itself Cait Sith. Renewed through Sigurd's efforts, Cait Sith now helps the young man manage the work crew of the Huge Bronco.
Wearing a dark grey t-shirt and dark green pants tucked into brown boots, Sigurd was busy showing the work crew how to manage the ship's numerous computer controls. The goggles he always wore is a family heirloom that he had discovered while exploring the attic of his Rocket Town home on the Western Continent, supposedly belonging to his deceased grandfather. In remembrance of the old man, Sigurd always stuck a pack of cigarettes under the strap of his goggles even though he doesn't smoke.
"How are things going Sig?" asks Roxy, giving the man a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"Oy! Roxy," exclaims the mechanic, rubbing his shoulder with a gloved hand. "Careful, I need my arm in order to pilot."
"Very funny, Sig," chuckles the female streetfighter.
Cait Sith gives Nanaki a friendly wave before returning to his job of checking the integrity of the computers.
The airship's control bridge was just like the one Nanaki remembered on the Highwind, except for the lack of the indentation in the floor that led down to another section of the computer stations where he always hung out with Vincent.
Vincent, thought Nanaki. What did happen to that man?
The red-furred creature sat deep in thought. He remembers that the man was an experiment of Hojo just like he was. But what made him different from Hojo's other experiments was that he had loss the ability to age, an attribute that would surely have made him immortal. Realizing this, Nanaki's eyes perked up with hope.
He was there at everyone's funerals! thought the red-furred creature in shock. I remember now! Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid, and Yuffie; he was there for everyone when they died and he didn't change a bit in appearance. That would mean… I'm not alone. I'm not alone!
A smile plastered across Nanaki's muzzle as the heavy feeling in his heart lifted. Yes, he would go and investigate the waterfall in the North Corel Area on the Western Continent to see if his transformative friend is still alive. But right now first things first; they needed to see if Tracy had survived the fall into the Lifestream.
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Floating through the Lifestream, Trang's unconscious body sank lower and lower into its knowledge-drenched depths. She opens her eyes weakly and finds herself able to breath through the greenish water-like liquid.
Why am I able to breath? she wonders. The headache she had had gotten worse and so she closes her eyes in pain.
"She looks like she's hurting."
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
"You can try, but I doubt anything can help her while in this state."
"Stop being so pessimistic, Zack!"
"I'm not being pessimistic, Aerith. I'm being real."
The sound of a male and female voice arguing coaxes Trang awake. The young woman found herself floating in an empty white place where none could tell which way was up or down. She closes her eyes to feel a bangle-wearing hand lay upon her forehead. The warmth coming from the hand encourages her to open her eyes again and awaken fully. She looks up to find a gentle female face framed by soft brown bangs looking down at her with emerald eyes.
"Look, she woke up!" exclaims the unknown young woman.
"I think you scared her, Aerith."
Trang turns to the source of the second voice and finds that it belonged to a strapping young man clad in a strange blue uniform with brown belts and gloved hands. His deep bluish black hair was spiked and a single bang fell over his face. He was crossing his arms and had a smile that inferred friendly intentions.
"Oh, stop it Zack," retorts the young woman called Aerith. "You know what she looks like? Kind of reminds me of Tifa."
"Did someone call me?"
Out of thin air, Trang sees a young woman with dark black hair emerge from the white emptiness of the space she is floating in.
"Hey Tifa," greeted the young man called Zack. "Long time no see."
"Hi Zack," the young woman called Tifa greets back. "Have either of you guys seen Cloud?"
"Knowing him, he's probably sulking around somewhere," retorts Zack jokingly.
"Zack!" chastises Aerith angrily.
"I'm just kidding," assures Zack with a grin. "What, so Tifa gets to call him messed up in the head but I can't poke fun at him once in a while?"
"I can hear you guys, you know."
A spiked blonde-haired young man emerges next to Tifa with a sullen look on his face.
"There you are," exclaims Tifa playfully.
Soon, more unfamiliar faces appear: a young ninja-like girl whose face reminded Trang of her friend Aya; a blonde-haired man who looks oddly similar to Sigurd; and a burlesque dark-skinned man with a gun for an arm with a look on his face that could strike fear in anyone.
"It's a reunion of friends!" squeals Aerith happily.
"Ugh, don't remind me of reunions," groans Cloud unhappily, still remembering the one he was unfortunate enough to be a part of.
"What I wouldn't give for another smoke," vociferates Cid gloomily.
"You'd probably stink up the joint with your smoking, old man," retorts Yuffie cheerfully.
Barret said not a word to add to the conversations. He had left Marlene all alone in the plane of the living, a fact that Dyne was most upset about but accepted seeing that it was something that it cannot be helped.
"Um, sorry to break up the festivities, but I think we're forgetting someone," Zack speaks up, indicating the confused Trang.
"Oh, right," exclaims Aerith embarrassingly.
"Who are you people?" asks Trang. "And where am I?"
Everyone introduces themselves accordingly before Aerith finally explains the situation to the young woman.
"This is a plane of the Lifestream where minds convene after death," she tells Trang. "It gets noisy as you can see, but you get used to it after a while."
"Am I… dead?" asks Trang nervously.
"No, you're not; don't worry," assures Tifa. "You're just floating around in the Lifestream, that's all. It's kind of hard for people to actually die in the Lifestream. What makes it dangerous is what it could do to your mind."
"My mind?" repeated Trang.
"Yeah," affirms Tifa. "The Lifestream is filled with knowledge from every soul that had died. If you remain too long in it, your mind starts absorbing all of the information."
"In other words," added Cloud, remembering his experiences. "Excessive knowledge can poison your mind and drive you crazy and comatose."
"Then, how do I get out of here?" asks Trang worriedly.
"The Lifestream works like a real stream," explains Aerith. "The hole that you fell into is far away from where you are now so it's impossible to escape the Lifestream using that. The only thing you can hope for now is that the Lifestream will push you back out onto the surface through another hole."
"So what happens if that never happens?" wonders Trang.
There was a round of silence before the girl called Yuffie finally spoke up. "You don't wanna know."
Sensing the girl's anxiety, Aerith began kneeling down and praying to the Planet for an answer.
Planet, I need your help to get this girl out of the Lifestream.
You have the power to lead her out of danger.
How do I do that?
I shall return you to the surface. You may take one other soul to help you on your journey.
Feeling unsure, Aerith stands back up and looks around at her friends before her. Who am I going to take?
Her heart wanted desperately to take Cloud, but she knew it wouldn't be right since he had already lived his life to the fullest. The same with Barret, Tifa, Cid, and Yuffie. That only left one person whose life was also taken before time did.
The young woman faces the others with a meek smile. "The Planet has given me permission to temporarily return to the living so I can help this girl escape the Lifestream. In addition, it has also given me the choice of choosing one person to accompany me."
Everyone acknowledged her decision without her even saying it. Cloud, as well as everyone, was disheartened not to be able to return to the plane of the living with Aerith so that they would be able to do all the things they had wanted to do with her. But, he was happy to see that his two dear friends would be able to have a second chance at life after fate had ended theirs so early.
With a nod from Zack, Aerith and him disappear from sight along with Trang.
Be careful, young one. An old evil still exists in the world.