Chapter XXI
Final Reunion
"You realize, if you messed up his spell, I'll have to k-k-kill you . . . " - Cloud
The party gathered around her still form. Yuffie started to sniffle.
"I can't believe this. After all we've been through, she still - "
"Still has a pulse," Vincent said.
"Trust a vampire to notice that at twenty paces," John said.
Vincent glared at him.
John looked away. "Yes, I'm worried about her too."
From the hovering Highwind, a rope ladder uncoiled. Suited men began to descend.
"Now what?" Barret said. "We fight more damn Shinra?"
"Hold your fire!"
It was Reeve, now holding Marlene close to his side but not, to his credit, as a human shield.
"What the - "
"Hello?" The voice came from above. "Captain?"
Cid's head perked up as if he just smelled catnip.
A limber form detached from the ladder and sprung to the ground, Yuffie-style. "Lt. Darian, at your service, sir."
"What's the meaning of this?"
"While you were fighting that, that thing, we took a quick vote among the Highwind crew. The consensus was Heidegger would better serve the company locked in the chocobo stall. Which leaves you, Captain, to take your place on the bridge."
Cid sputtered. The cigarette dangled from his mouth, and fell. "I'm - I'm honored."
"With your permission, sir," Darian said, "I need to feed Heidegger his next ration of greens."
Cid grinned. Darian mounted the ladder.
John looked at the hovering ship. Fingering the charm in his pocket, he gazed at Aeris.
"I have an idea."
Everyone stared at him.
"A little idea. It might work. I'm sure it will work. It has to work."
"What the hell are you babbling about?" Cid said.
"Yuffie, cast Regen on Aeris. I think we can save her."
"Save her?" Barret said. "This one of your Jenova tricks?" Barret wasn't pretty when he was angry.
"Cid, how fast can that Highwind get us to the lost Ancient City?"
"Why, within a couple hours, top speed. Why?"
"Call it a hunch. We need to hurry. And Barret, I can't help what I am, but I assure you, I didn't come all this way with Aeris to watch her die." He shuddered. "Again."
"Save Aeris?" Cloud's mind was a couple tracks behind, perhaps an aftereffect of his Omnislash attack, but at least he was headed the right direction.
"Yes. You ordered us to load her aboard the Highwind."
"Then what's everyone waiting for?" He straightened, coming alive.
"Your orders, sir. You said take her to the Ancient Capital."
"Then let's mosey."
"How do we get her up that ladder?" Tifa asked.
Vincent scooped Aeris into his arms and drifted skyward. Tifa raced up the ladder to steady them on their trip.
Meanwhile, Reeve used grappling hooks to direct the retrieval of Cait Sith. The whole party made it aboard the sleek floating airship in a matter of minutes.
The Highwind consisted of three main decks: a lower one partially exposed to the air, a middle one containing cargo bays, and a glassed in upper deck, the bridge. On this upper deck, Avalanche gathered, except for Cait Sith, whom Reeve had carried to a workshop on the middle deck.
Aeris lay on a fluffed bedroll atop a bench, flush against the side of the ship, a bench John presumed was used for sightseeing, perhaps even a romantic tryst, if one ignored all the nearby bridge personnel. The group huddled around her, except Cid who was cursing and barking orders. At last the Highwind began to move.
Tifa leaned down and cast a healing spell. Aeris' color improved, but it was like pouring water through a sieve. Her body didn't want to hold the Cure. "Hold on dear," Tifa said. "It won't be much longer. She looked at John for confirmation.
Nanaki cast his Cure spell. "Getting her away from the crater should help. I think the Planet's wound is draining her."
"How do you heal the embodiment of Holy?" Yuffie cast another Regen. "And what do we do when our spells run out?"
"I believe I've bought us some time." Vincent set down a dusty box filled with bottles. "Heidegger's collection of ethers. Some turboethers as well."
"And a bottle of bourbon," Barret said. "I think I'll keep this one."
"Pass 'em out," Yuffie said, looking green but determined. "I'm about tapped. Another round and I'll start puking my guts - oh grossness, why did I have to - erk - "
Vincent slid a bucket over to her.
"Hey!" Cid said. "Don't you go messing up my new deck."
Cloud leaned in and cast his Cure.
Aeris fluttered her eyes and moaned.
"Aeris!" Cloud looked more alive than any time John remembered. Tifa, beside him, squeezed Aeris' hand and smiled.
"Cloud? Tifa?"
"Aeris, hold on," he said. "I promise. I swear, I won't let you die this time."
Aeris smiled weakly. "Where, where am I?"
"Why, you're on my Highwind," Cid said. "Best little baby ever to take the skies."
"The Highwind." Her head turned toward the window.
"Here." Barret propped her up so she could see the mountains and snow fields slide by below.
"It's lovely."
"We're gonna fix you up real good. Just hang in there." Barret cast a Cure.
"Cloud." Aeris turned to him, a flicker of life in her eyes. "The Highwind. Just as you promised."
Her head began to droop so Vincent jumped in with his Cure.
"Cloud, Tifa, in case I don't make it . . ."
"Don't say that!" Yuffie said what was on everyone's lips.
Aeris smiled. "I know, but just in case, I wanted to tell you."
"What?" Tifa said.
"You two make a cute couple."
Tifa blushed. Cloud cleared his throat.
"I've been trying to tell them ever since I met them," John said. "But will they listen? No."
"And you, John." Aeris turned to him. "I want to thank you, for the second chance." She closed her eyes and went limp, the smile fading from her face. John felt powerless. He willed Aeris to live. Brute force seemed to work for Barret.
"Hey Captain," the big guy said, after throwing another Cure, "Can't you make this crate go faster?"
"Maybe I should drive?" John said.
"No!" Aeris instantly reawakened, her face flushed. Then she smiled. "Sorry, John, but I do want to live."
"No offense taken. Just stay alive."
She nodded and fell back asleep.
John felt something big and furry nudge against him. He looked down to see Nanaki. John resisted the urge to scratch the red lion behind its ears.
"Care to indulge me?" the beast said. "What is your plan to save Aeris?"
Everyone turned to him. John pulled out the chain containing Nestor's materia amulet. "I suppose you could call this a plan." And he told them.
They were down to the last three ethers when the Highwind finally hovered to a stop over the shell house, the house by the lake where Aeris - the other Aeris - had been laid to rest.
During the trip, Cid had directed the Highwind's crew to cobble together a stretcher and a rope winch system, and it was in this contraption Aeris rode to the surface. Avalanche, including a now functional (if misshapen) Cait Sith, scrambled down the rope ladder with her.
Cloud and Barret splashed into the water on the dubious quest to retrieve the other Aeris. Tifa refused to watch. The living Aeris' face was serene, though her breathing was labored. John stayed out of the way, crossing his fingers and praying.
"This is the craziest damn plan I've ever heard of," Cid said. "But I hope to hell it works."
Cloud and Barret returned, holding the other form in pink. Everyone's head was bowed.
"Not a mark on her." Cloud's voice was choked. Yuffie grabbed John and held him, trembling. Nanaki cleared his throat.
"Looks like that amplified Cure spell did preserve her body. Good thinking, John."
"Sometimes luck has its place." John reached out and smoothed the wet Aeris' hair. He picked out a flopping minnow and tossed it back into the water. "I believe we should do this on the altar where she was praying. It's where the separation occurred."
"Let's mosey then." Cloud, dead Aeris in arms, marched toward the shell house with purpose. Cid and Tifa hurried after him, carrying the stretcher. Everyone else followed.
Soon the group huddled around the two Cetra twins, who lay side by side staring up through the broken clear ceiling. The glow from beyond gave the twins an angelic aura.
"I wish we could cover that hole," Tifa said. "I can still see Sephiroth - "
"Try to relax," Nanaki said. "Sephiroth is dead. He won't ever come back."
Still, she shuddered. She walked over to the living Aeris and knelt by her side.
"T-Tifa?"
"Yes dear?"
"I was th-thinking. Our clothes. Will they interfere with - " She coughed, trying again to speak. Tifa held up her hand to silence her, and looked at John.
"She's right, I think," he said. "She may be a manifestation of Holy, but these clothes are not. Now the worst that may happen could be the creation of three-legged underwear, but - "
Cid swore. Others looked embarrassed.
Cloud took command. "No time for modesty. Tifa? Yuffie?" He snapped his fingers. The two sprung into action. John tried his best to look just at Aeris' face. She smiled weakly at him; he could tell she was laughing inside. John shook his head and rubbed his temples.
When the two were done, Vincent lay his cape over the twins.
"I don't think I've seen you without that on," John said. "Don't you feel naked without it?"
Vincent gave him a look. John checked his materia. He placed the yellow one next to the blue Magic Turbo. He considered, and popped out the Comet and slipped it into his pocket.
"Anything else you need?" Cloud asked.
"Wish me luck?"
"I can do better than that." He picked out a pink materia orb and handed it to John. "Luck Plus materia. If nothing else, it will improve your poker game."
John inserted the materia into his armlet. "Couldn't hurt. Turboether, anyone?"
Someone pressed a dusty bottle into his hand. Popping the cork, he took a deep swig. He choked as liquid fire burned its way through his insides.
"B-Barret, this, this is not, ack - "
"Sorry. Sorry man." Barret had the sense to look contrite. John shook his head and sputtered, hand pressed to his chest.
"That. Was. Awful."
"Here man." Barret handed him another, smaller bottle.
John looked at it carefully. Pulled off the lid and smelled it. Glancing down, he saw the cape twitching. Aeris was laughing. And her laughter was contagious; one by one the others picked up and began to snicker.
"You realize," Cloud said, unable to keep a straight face, "If you messed up John's spell, I'll have to k-k-kill you . . . " He bent over and held his stomach.
"Right." John drained the new bottle. "Disgusting. Why can't they make these in grape?"
Unable to delay any longer, he pressed his fingers to his materia, bowed his head, fixed his gaze on Aeris' face, and began to hum. He swayed a bit, until strong hands steadied him. Tifa. He could smell her herbal shampoo.
Everyone grew solemn. Straining as if giving birth to a boulder, John concentrated on Aeris, a living, breathing, laughing, dancing Aeris. Finally, it seemed hours later, he felt his materia warm and vibrate. A yellow glow, suffused with streaks of blue, billowed in swirls around him.
"Meld."
The glow flowed over the two bodies before him. Brighter and brighter, sparks of blue amidst the sea of yellow stung his eyes. Tifa held fast, her grip reassuring in its strength, as he dug deep to find energy reserves he never knew existed. A scream burst unbidden from his lips. Beyond them, from the waters around the gazebo, a white wind swirled in, burning his eyes like an acid fog. The burning light flamed against his skin, burrowed through his muscles and ate into his bones.
John was in agony, but there was no turning back. He began to feel thankful for the swig of Barret's bourbon. He pushed, willing, no, demanding, the Planet give Aeris her life force back.
Streaks of glowing green penetrated the whiteness like cool whispers. He continued to push. He could no longer see Aeris, but he was vaguely aware of his surroundings. Tifa's firm grip. The rough stone beneath his feet.
"What the hell?" Cid said.
"Lifestream." Nanaki's voice was full of wonder.
"How come we didn't get all these special effects when Nestor did this?"
"He was not trying to handle pure Holy. For a while it appeared the Planet was rejecting the Jenova. But now, watch."
The colors continued to swirl, though reduced in intensity. John could smell ozone, or maybe a fresh summer rain. Still, Tifa held fast. His energy spent, he felt his body slump. The armlet clanged to the ground. The Comet materia slipped from his pocket, bouncing only once before eager hands scooped it up. John could feel the flutter of Yuffie's delight. Beyond that, nothing. Blankness.
Sorry. Sorry, Aeris. I tried. I really did.
It was over. He could feel Aeris lying below him, very still, very cold . . . his own spirit beginning to leak away, perhaps the strain of the spell shorting out the synapses in his brain. He slumped forward, his body sprawling like a limp squid over the lifeless form beneath him. I'm sorry, he thought. I tried. I thought I could help. I thought I could save you. Now I can't even save myself. His mind began to drift in the white fog . . .
No!
What was left of his consciousness, his stubbornness, or perhaps that of Aeris -
Don't give up!
What had Nanaki said? Lifestream? How can someone die in something called the Lifestream?
He gathered his wits, reaching out to scoop his leaking thoughts back from the white haze. He had to do this. What would Aeris think if he died drooling all over her?
Focus, John. You know your life lacks focus, but use it now. Hey, even if you don't save yourself, at least save Aeris. You can do it. You know you can.
He pulled himself together, gathered his hopes and dreams, looked straight into Aeris' dead green eyes and pushed.
Pop. Now he was back. The lights, the colors, all natural. Perhaps a bit bright. He blinked.
"Aeris!" Cloud said. John felt Tifa's grip on him again, lifting him up. Yuffie ran into view, reaching down to the form, the one form, wrapped in Vincent's cloak, and gave her a bear hug.
"Easy." Barret said. "Don't crush her like a beer can."
"Hello everyone," Aeris raised her bare arms. "It's so good to be in one piece. Oh, John. You're hurt."
John, with energy he didn't feel, glanced down at his spattered shirt. "Just . . . coughing up a little blood. No biggie." Then his world fizzed out.
"John?"
He opened his eyes. He saw Ifalna, dressed in her same red dress, standing in a field of grass and flowers. A warm breeze blew across John's face; he realized he hadn't felt this warm in weeks.
"Am I dead?"
"No. Don't argue. I should know."
"Then - "
"I didn't think you would pull it off. But you did. Not only helped stop Sephiroth and the Crisis from the Sky, but outsmarted the Planet as well. Perhaps there is still hope for the world."
John tried to think of something clever to say. His thoughts eluded him.
"Wow."
"And to think. Help would come from - "
"A Jenova?"
Ifalna nodded. "One thing I never learned while I was alive. A sense of irony. If only . . . well, that's water over the falls."
"Why am I here? Not that it isn't lovely."
"I need your help. To finish what I tried to do so long ago. To help my people."
"The Cetra? Are there any left?"
"So many mistakes. So much death. Greed. Revenge. It's - I'm sorry. You will leave soon. Will you help us?"
"Of course." Why stop now? He was on a roll.
"Thank you. The Planet is suffering. Not just because of the Mako reactors, but also from the loss of its Cetra. If we are gone . . . "
She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.
"Wow."
The scene faded from view, to be replaced by the familiar inside of a shell house. Aeris, Yuffie and Vincent peered down at him.
"Wow," John said again.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Vincent said.
A strange phrase, coming from a vampire.
"Cool. You're awake." Yuffie nearly did a cartwheel. "I'll bet you're starved."
"I, could use a bite. Stay back, Vinnie."
"Tifa is a wonderful cook," Aeris said. "So is Barret, if you can believe that. The biggest problem is keeping them from fighting in the kitchen.
Yuffie said, "I still say he looks dorky with those egg beaters in his gun arm."
Cloud sidled into view.
"Congratulations. And thanks."
John smiled, but said nothing. Wonderful smells of cooking drifted up from below.
Cloud looked at Aeris. "I can't believe it's over. Sephiroth gone, and Aeris back. Unbelievable."
John must have said something - or thought really loud, because Cloud grew serious and stared down at him.
"It's not over yet, is it?"
John shrugged. He had a feeling, that's all. Not even a true vision. Something else. Something else could have awakened when he performed his spell on Aeris. Could it be? Oh, stop it, John. Why can't you declare victory and go home?
He shook his head. "Is it ever? Come on. Let's eat. I'm starved."
Final note: Characters from Final Fantasy 7 are owned by Square-Enix. Other characters are mine. (Names of new limit breaks taken from the tabletop RPG Tunnels and Trolls. Yes, they sound corny-just be glad I didn't use "Slush Yuck."). If this story seems dated, I wrote it before Advent Children or any of the spin-off games came out. Originally published on the "rpgclassics" site . . . but they stopped publishing fan fiction back in 2008 or so. :(
I took a great deal of inspiration from Frank Verderosa and his once famous FF7 series, and his idea of the Jenova as a space-faring species, but I did not use any of his settings or characters. (I did mimic his quirk of placing a quote at the top of each chapter, though!)
If you made it this far, thank you for reading!