A/N: I think this one will be short. So, I'm sorry. But it's just needed.
Reviewers:
Heee, how I love ya'll.
SAW: Hehe. I liked the end too, mainly because I got in trouble for doing that to my little cousin. I thought it'd be fun to get someone else in trouble for it too.
Venksie-Poo: I know. I would've gone into detail…but I didn't feel like it. The idea of them sleeping together was good enough for me that day. That and I really didn't feel like moving it up to 'M'. So I skimped, cause that's what I do. Lol I hope you like this next chapter.
Ichi-desu: I'm sorry I suck a grammar. But I'm happy you liked my Sora forgiving Axel scene. I thought it sucked…I think everything sucks when it comes to my story. And I'm sorry I didn't let you read this through, but I want to get done before Christmas and I remember you telling me you probably wouldn't be able to edit this until the 18th. I'm sorry. Don't flog me! Cries
GhostInTheDark: It figures you would like the spirit Riku thing the best. You're funny like that. I'm glad it wasn't crappy though. I was super afraid of it being gay. Thanks!
Miss Vix: Yeah…I can't just say, "Hey this is what's wrong with them. There you go" I have to have this entire he heard him say something about when he remembered she said this to him type thing going on. So yea. I'm reediting the entire story about two or three months after finish it so it'll be prettier and more cohesive. I love cohesiveness. Because I know it's suck right now. Lol
Steven Kodaly: I know!!!!!! cries some more I suck and grammar and tenses. I can't help it. I'm retarded. Anyway moving on! Believe it or not…There's close to no more angst for Sora…there's closing down the story and getting it ready for renovation but no more 'Ohmigod,' heart wrenching pain angst. Yay? I'm really sorry I'm dumb in grammar. I hope you can over look it. I looked over this chapter super hard. grins cheesily
Padfoot: Hey there! Don't worry about not reviewing. You let me know I'm loved every once and a while that's good enough for me. As long as I get at least three reviews a chapter I'll post…But I must admit, I love getting eight or nine reviews a chapter.
Anyway! Here the chapter!
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"Aerith, sit." Cloud commanded lightly, not looking up from his position of his head in his hands.
"I can't." She replied helplessly, turning to make another round in front of the blank TV. They had been trying to watch it earlier but after the fifty-first pace, they had given up.
They were at the hospital in Traverse Town. Naminé had finally gone in for surgery, after what seemed like eternity. Now all they could do was wait in the uncomfortable waiting room that only came with three couches and a TV. It wasn't so bad, but her parents could barely breathe and it was rubbing off on the rest of the group.
Sora rubbed Leon's arm, half calmingly, half lovingly. "Explain this disease to me again?" He asked quietly, glancing at his little brother who had fallen asleep next to Tifa on the couch to their left, and then looking over to the right where Cloud was sitting and watching his fiancé pace to center of the room.
Leon leaned closer to him, continuing their whispered conversation so no one could hear them. "Basically, her immune system collapsed, and instead of sending out white blood cells to help her body, the body is just trying to work by itself, with the collapsed immune system and all. If left on it's own long enough the body will contract so many viruses and syndromes that the entire body will eventually just start deteriorating." He kissed Sora's temple quickly. "The first signs of the disease are usually a rough, and continuous cough. It's how we knew Naminé had it at first."
"What do they have to do to get her okay again?"
"Basically, they have to shock the pancreas into stimulating more white blood cells. (A/N: I am the queen of bullshit) Once that's done, they'll have to watch her for a few hours see if the white blood cells start attacking the diseases."
"Won't that take weeks to see the effects?" Sora asked.
"No." Leon said. "Once the shock hits the dormant white blood cells, they'll be super charged, basically. The one woman I've seen who had this surgery was never sick again in the ten years she lived after the operation. It'll only take about a day and a half."
"Wow." Sora said quietly. "I hope it works on Namey."
After that, they settled into a semi-comfortable silence. Roxas slept the entire time, seeming comfortable in the fact that his best friend, as he would announce to the world, would be fine. Aerith continued to pace, and Cloud just held his head.
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"Mr. Strife? Ms. Gainsborough-Leonhart?"
Aerith jumped to her feet the moment she saw the doctor enter the room. "How is she?"
"Calm down." The doctor said kindly. "At first, I will admit, we were very afraid that it might not work. Her white blood cells were very slow to respond to the volt, but after an hour her immune system was kicking at everything that had built up."
Aerith clutched her chest with one hand, and Cloud's shoulder with the other. "That's wonderful." She breathed. She was smiling; all the while tears of pure joy pouring down her cheeks. Cloud stood and picked her up, hugging her tightly, and twirling her around.
"That's great news!" Cloud yelled, firmly waking Roxas from his nap.
"You're lucky you brought her in when you did. Another month or two and her immune system would have been so dead and infested with viruses she may have just died while eating breakfast. Some of the diseases were so complex I don't even think they've all been categorized. I'm very impressed with her will to survive, because I know very well that I couldn't have." The doctor continued. "But now she's fine. She's even bordering perfect." The doctor joked.
"Can-Can we see her?" Aerith said around her tears. "Is she awake?"
"Yeah, but only one at a time, she's still rather out of it." He said waving for one of them to follow him.
Aerith turned to Cloud. "You go first. She'll want to see you."
"Are you sure?" Cloud asked, wiping away her tears.
"Yeah." Aerith said in an assuring voice.
He nodded. "Okay. I'll come get you when I'm done."
He left, following the doctor out of their sight. That left Aerith with the rest of them, her sniffling the only noise in the room until Roxas so intelligently asked, "What's going on?"
Everyone could only laugh at Roxas' more than apparent blonde moment.
Aerith wiped tears of mirth away from her lashes. "Oh Roxas. Roxas come here. Come sit with me." She said, opening her arms wide for him to join her. Roxas smiled and hopped off of the couch, to go sit next to his 'adopted aunt' as he had grown fond of calling her.
Sora sat with Leon on their claimed couch, rubbing his back soothing since he had slumped against the little brunette when the news was announced. Sora kissed his hair, telling him that everything was okay, and that his family was completely safe.
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"How is she?" Sora asked, as Cloud and Aerith traded spots.
He had come in with his head down, his blond locks looking a little down. He kissed his fiancé gently on the cheek, watching her as she practically ran down the hall to the elevator that would take her to Naminé's room.
When Sora asked the question he was nearly shocked, not used to Sora being so eager to know about his daughter. But he supposed since his brother had gotten closer to Naminé, that he would have too. Thinking of Roxas, he looked over to the child, and saw him no longer by the unusually silent Tifa, but now on his own, close to where Aerith had sat
He looked around the room, trying to find a way to answer the question without getting attacked with pity, and scrutinizing every aspect. It was too plain; he silently came to the conclusion. The white walls were too bright; the tile floor was too clean, and the couches too hard. It was a decision he had made within seconds of entering but he really began to notice it after his visit with his daughter, when she told him she hated the beds. Now he only wanted to take her home and have her rest on her own bed.
He sighed and sat next to Roxas, and gave the kid a noogie to end all. Roxas didn't really do anything; he only pushed his hand away and tried to flatten his, much like his brother's, gravity resistant hair. Sora held his hands out absently, and Cloud chuckled inwardly as Roxas got up without thought and ran to sit with his brother and Leon.
Cloud finally roused up the gumption to answer, sighing heavily as he stretched and leaned back on the too hard couch. "She wanted to talk to her mom." He said, more than a little confused. Naminé had always known her mother was dead; she had died before Naminé had really ever had enough presence of mind for memory. Cloud wanted to blame the drugs they had injected into her blood system, but she was completely fine except for that one slip up.
Leon glanced at his from his resting place, muck like Cloud's; he was sprawled out just the same. Cloud shook his head, as if to tell Leon it was fine. "I told her that she had gone away quite a long time ago." He cleared. "She said she knew that her mother was gone. She still wanted to see "mommy"!" He said his voice, raising an octave or two to imitate his daughter's young voice.
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"Mommy is coming now. You don't have to stay with me anymore." Naminé said the male nurse, Lyeric (1), who had been keeping her company. He smiled at her ashen face; the drugs had yet to fully wear off (A/N: From my experience faces tend to get pasty when they are heavily drugged, or coming of being heavily drugged.), and then left the room, standing at the door until he could see the brunette coming down the hall from the elevator.
Aerith stepped into the room, smiling her big smile. "Hey, Mina." She breathed relieved, using her favorite nickname for her child.
Naminé smiled back. "Hi, mommy."
Aerith halted immediately, not knowing what to do. Naminé had always known that Aerith wasn't her actual mother. It was why Naminé had never called her mother or a pet name thereof. She sighed, feeling pain thump in her heart, feeling somehow she would never be good enough to be the young girl's mother. Shaking her head, she smiled again at the young blonde. "How are you feeling?" She asked, setting next to the hospital bed, and stroking Naminé's pale hand.
"The same." She answered honestly. "But the doctor said it would take a day or two to feel the effects."
Aerith nodded. "Has everyone been nice to you?"
She nodded as best she could in her rapidly growing exhausted state. "The man who was with me gave me some chocolate."
"That was nice of him." Aerith smiled.
"He said it was for being so brave." She reached over, moving a few of the wires that were in her veins with her, and she grabbed the candy bar. "Keep it." She said. "I'll eat it when I get out of here."
Aerith took it; still feeling the waves of tears over come her. "That'll be real soon, huh, baby?"
Naminé nodded. Her head kept nodding off, as her eyes kept drooping. Aerith smiled and kissed her forehead. She stood making ready to leave. "I'll be back in just a little bit." She told her.
She shook her head 'no'. "Wait, just a second." She mumbled sleepily. "I know why you won't marry daddy yet." She said, and Aerith sat back down, entranced by her sudden admission. "I know you thought that if you did, and something happened to me, that he would push you away. I know you were afraid that he would blame you." She held her hand open for Aerith to grab. "I know you didn't want me to feel like I wasn't there." She took a deep breath. "But I'm better now. The doctor said I was going to be all better. And since he said that…" She paused, forcing herself to open her eyes. "Since I was better, I wanted to ask if you would marry daddy now."
Aerith sat in her chair, shocked speechless. She clasped the small hand in hers, not daring to meet the bright blue-violet eyes above.
"Please, mommy."
Aerith snapped her head up to Naminé, searching her face as she realized that Naminé had been calling her mommy, not mistaking her for a ghost. Naminé smiled at her, and Aerith felt joy course through her veins as she nodded. "Yeah, baby." She said quietly, a small smiled gracing her features.
She smiled. "Good." She said. "I want to wear blue." She looked around the blindingly white room. "I'm tired of white."
Aerith laughed, and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, honey. Whatever you like."
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Tifa stood up quietly. She had barely said anything the entire time they had all been sitting there. While Roxas was asleep next to her she hadn't moved at all, and since then she had only been up to walk around the room. Cloud had noticed, but was too ecstatic (even if it was only on the inside) to question her. Leon had noticed, but he really didn't want to bring it up in a hospital. Of course, Sora had noticed. Working with Tifa for so long had given him sensors to her moods and emotions.
They all watched as she left the small family waiting room. But, whereas the other two were wrapped up or just too polite, Sora had no sense of this when it came to Tifa. And he followed her out, making sure that Roxas wasn't going to wake up again when he stood. Once he was sure that Roxas was practically dead to the world, resting against Leon, he followed his friend out.
"What's up?" He asked once he had closed the door firmly behind him.
Tifa let out a breathy laugh. "Nothing." She said quickly. "Nothing at all. Why?"
Sora smiled. "You're a terrible liar." He said going to stand by Tifa.
She scrunched her nose. "You suddenly sound like my mother." She whined.
"That's nice." He said flippantly. "What going on? Is it something to do with the restaurant?"
Tifa grimaced. "I'll tell you about it later. Just let me alone for a moment or two."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." She nodded vigorously. He waited around for a moment or two, somehow sensing that she really didn't want him to go. "The king called me last week." She started slowly. She looked up at him, with nervous eyes. "He liked my diner…a lot. He was very impressed with the food even…"
Sora frowned, feeling butterflies in his stomach. "But?"
"No, but. He wants me to do the reception dinner for his daughters' weddings." She smiled happily, even though her eyes were still very nervous.
Sora didn't buy it. "That what's the problem?"
Tifa looked down at her hands. "He also said that he wants me to move to the kingdom and be his chef." She said. "He loved my food so much…He's willing to pay me double what I'm getting here."
Sora felt his stomach plummet. 'Oh no. No more Tifa.' He smiled regardless. "But that's great!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah. It is, but I'm not sure I'm ready to leave when things are just starting to look so good for everyone." She gasped. "I'd be like the bearer of bad news. Yeah you're lives are finally coming together, I'm leaving now." A few tears spilled down her cheeks. "I don't want to go, I don't want to leave all of this. Everyone here's practically become my family."
Sora sighed, and put his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "Tifa…are you leaving and never coming back?"
"No." She croaked. "I can still come back for Christmas, and a few birthdays. I'd have a month in summer off."
"Would you have to close the restaurant in town down?"
"NO! I asked him that and he told me that it would be like having a chain." She smiled.
"Would you never call?"
"I'd call as often as possible." She told him eagerly.
He smiled kindly. "Then why are you even worrying?"
She almost answered, her mouth opened as if she was going to rattle off every problem with going away. But instead she smiled. "Thanks for that." She nodded, wiping her eyes. "I really needed that."
Sora smiled and nodded; happy he could help someone again. "No problem" he said. "Come on." He instructed heading back for the room.
Just then, Tifa grabbed his arm. "If I did go…when I do go," She amended. "Can I leave the restaurant to you and Leon?" She asked quietly, gazing into Sora's eyes for all she was worth. "I don't trust anyone else as much as I honestly trust the two of you."
Sora thought for a moment, thinking of all the pros and cons of the situation he would be getting himself into. Then he nodded. "I'm sure we could handle that."
They both went into the room, Sora returning to his original seat next to Roxas and Leon, and Tifa returned to her couch. Only moments later Aerith ran in screaming something about being called 'mommy' and a marriage. Everyone didn't know what to say to the ecstatic brunette, except Cloud, who nodded and smiled, confusedly, yet still somewhat contentedly.
Everyone was completely happy.
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A/N: I told you it would be short-ish, but it was needed. Not only because I needed to get Naminé unsick, but also because I didn't want Tifa leaving to be a complete 'Woah, buddy!' Anyway this was the last real chapter. The next chapter will be and epilogue. It will be considerably longer than this because there's a lot to do in my little epilogue.
Anyway.
I'm going to name my little boy Lyeric…when I have a boy…hell, just when I have children. It's pronounced, "Lie-rick" I love it. Mmmm. It's happy
I finally did get a beta, but she said she probably wouldn't be able to edit this until the 18th of December, which would be fine, but the idea of me getting this story all dome before Christmas is orgasmic. So, ichi-desu, I'm sorry I couldn't wait, but the thought of getting this done before the year was out was just too good. Any way I went over this one super hard and if there are any mistakes, it's because I'm an English retard. I have completed step number one; I admitted it.
Anywho, I hope you liked despite the nasty shortness. And I hope to hear from you all in my reviews.
InnocentGuilt