"Holy carp!" Shalua exclaimed as Vincent set the summon materia in her hand. "You actually found one! It's huge!"

"I guess technically it is," Vincent shrugged. "That's the Minerva Summon."

"Wait, you mean the goddess?"

"Yes, that's the one," Genesis replied, still a little in awe himself. "She's really very generous. I'm still slightly surprised she allowed us to remove her from her sanctum."

"Got to be boring down there."

"I suppose."

"What do we need to do with it?" Vincent asked.

Shalua eyed the tennis-ball sized stone and the inert body in the mako pod. Dr. Crescent floated peaceful and silent, barely sending up any bubbles as she breathed.

"I'm not sure. How did she implant yours?"

Vincent tried not to cringe. "I'm not sure I'm really the best example to use. She operated on me and placed it directly into my heart. For Genesis, we just kind of shoved Alexander through his chest."

"Well, I guess all we can do is give it a try."

It took the better part of two weeks for Lucrecia to dry out. When he returned to check on her, Vincent found Lucrecia out of the pod and lying in a hospital bed, oxygen mask and various monitors in place.

"How is she?"

"We'll see in a minute." Taking the materia in her hands, Shalua held it to Lucrecia's chest. It sank through the hospital smock into her body and disappeared. Vincent and Shalua waited, breath held. The monitors beeped and whirred softly, none of them displaying any change. One minute. Two. Three.

"I'm so sorry Vi-"

A deep, vacuous inhale made them both jump and turn. Lucrecia had half-risen off the bed, eyes open.

"Lucrecia!" Vincent caught her before she could collapse back onto the pillow. Her eyes, glazed and unseeing, drifted shut as he laid her down. The monitors had picked up their pace, tracking her heart beat and her lungs as they pressed air in and out. Shalua held Lucrecia's limp wrist, checked the various machines.

"I'd say that's a good start. She's already breathing normally and her vitals are steady."

"So there's hope?" Vincent pressed.

Shalua smiled for him. "I think so."

"Do you have any idea when she'll wake up?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. She soaked in mako for a long time. There's no way to calculate for that and a Summon materia. She could wake up tomorrow morning or twenty years from now."

"But she will wake up?"

"You did."

And he was really all they had to go on.

"What are you going to tell Sephiroth?"

Vincent let his eyes travel over Lucrecia's body, the soft rise and fall of her chest, the fitful flutter of her eyelids as she dreamed.

"Nothing yet. It's not worth getting his hopes up. Keep me apprised of her condition. Otherwise, well, let's wait until after the wedding. Hopefully I'll have something better to tell him by then."

"And if you don't?"

"Then I can tell him I tried, and he'll at least have some closure."

"I have one last detail before this meeting is adjourned," Rufus said, reaching across the conference table.

"What's this?" Elfe asked, accepting the envelop. It was small, no larger than a greeting card.

"Early wedding present," Rufus told her. "Open it."

Inside was a slightly cheesy card covered in glitter and embossed with a pair of doves. Elaborately scrolling letters spelled out 'Congratulations'. Elfe dismissed the saccharine poem inside in favor of a folded bit of paper. Sephiroth leaned over her shoulder as she opened it.

"A promotional bulletin?" Brows furrowing, she read the headline. "Mako no more. Green energy a go. Sign up today."

She looked up, quizzical expression on her face. "Rufus, is this what I think it is?"

Rufus grinned. "Yep! We've got the foundations for infrastructure in place. Wind turbines are going up across the Kalm plains, and we're exploring a way to convert the reactors. You know mako vibrates? The motion of it flowing through Gaia is enough to produce a current. We can still use mako power if we need to without actually burning it up."

"Cool!" Elfe smiled and Rufus mirrored her expression.

"I knew you'd like that. Here's something else you'll like. I'm disbanding Shinra."

"Wait, what?" the words were out before Sephiroth could stop them. Everyone in the room was staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the young president. Even Tseng seemed surprised.

"Sir?" he asked.

"I'm officially dissolving Shinra as a corporation," Rufus went on. "No more stocks, no more holdings, no more shares. Everything's gone into a trust for the city. So much will be available each year for whatever needs to be done. I'm guessing most of it will go to housing, clean up, and community services for the foreseeable future. If there's anything left, we can start getting fancy with the green space or public art or whatever."

"What about the board?" Elfe asked.

"Just so it doesn't seem like I'm setting up a shadow company, none of them are getting much of anything except a basic retirement package. They'll be fine, but no one's getting a golden parachute. Silver plate at best. If they're acting heads of things right now, it's because they're currently the best people for the job."

Elfe nodded in agreement. "Can I have that in writing?"

Rufus laughed. "Of course!"