"Be near me when the sensuous frame
is rack'd with pangs that conquer trust;
and Time, a maniac scattering dust,
and Life, a Fury slinging flame."

—In Memoriam A.H.H.'
Canto 50, second stanza

Chapter 25
A Light Ever Lasting - Part 2

Cid threw his empty bottle aside, then picked up another one from the cooler next to him before getting up, stumbling into the middle of the crowd. "All right, settle down, people," he said, waiting for the others to quiet down before continuing. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, raising his bottle in the air. "I think it's time we proposed a toast."

"To what?" Tifa asked.

"Kicking ass, what else?" Cid replied.

His comment garnered laughter from the rest of the group, but they, too, raised their glasses in turn.

"Here's to kicking ass," Cid said. "May we kick lots more before the end."

Everyone on the beach, Cetra and Avalancher alike, joined Cid in his toast, giving a loud cheer before downing the last of their drinks.

A few hours into the night, the mood and guests alike were more sober, and the celebrations were winding down. The music had stopped, and the Highwind's supplies of food and alcohol were all but depleted. A good number of the Cetra youth lay about the beach, asleep or exhausted. The different Avalanche members, likewise, were close to nodding off, or slowly peeling back to their own rooms.

Cloud sat by the fire, still blazing in the cool night, watching as the embers tossed off by the slow conflagration drifted out towards the sea. Yuffie had left the party a little earlier, heading back to her quarters, claiming she was tired from the day's fight. She bade him good night with a parting kiss, before returning to the airship. He had remained on the beach a little longer, enjoying a moment of idleness after untold days of struggle.

Despite the vestiges of adrenaline still coursing through his veins, he could feel fatigue starting to get the better of him. He got up, heading back to the Highwind. He hadn't gotten much rest lately, and what few hours of sleep he could get would be vital for the days still ahead. He walked past the few revelers who were still awake, climbing the airship's loading ramp, making his way through the cargo bay and into the ship's central hub. Before he could reach his quarters, however, Cid and Vincent came up next to him, drawing him aside.

"Listen..." Cid said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Cloud asked.

"What to do next," Vincent said, crossing his arms and leaning against the bulkhead. "Guerilla tactics and interdiction are all well and good, but we still need a real plan of attack."

"..I'm still working on that," Cloud said.

"Work fast," Cid said. "We ain't got much time."

"He's right," Vincent said. "Who knows what Comus and his emissaries are up to."

"It won't matter for much longer," Cloud said. "We'll take the fight to them soon enough."

"True," Vincent said. "But it's doubtful that they'll just let us walk in through the front door this time."

"How are we doing on preparations?" Cloud asked.

"The ground forces are just about ready," Cid said. "And we've salvaged quite a few vehicles and small arms that we can use. I'll have the latest scout reports the day after tomorrow. We can lay our plans for attack then."

"All right," Cloud replied.

"As for me, I'm gonna hit the hay," Cid said. So saying, the captain wandered off to bed. Cloud and Vincent watched as he left, before resuming their conversation.

"In the meantime, it's best we don't push ourselves too hard. We all have our limits," Vincent said, turning back to Cloud. "Even you," he added, giving him a stern look, before departing.

Cloud remained silent, even though he had half a mind to tell Vincent to mind his own business. Ever since his little stunt in the med-bay, the gunman had been watching him closely, though for signs of what, he wasn't certain. Under normal circumstances, such scrutiny would have irritated him, but what worried him most right now was the possibility that Vincent might be right, after all. Reawakened, the Jenova cells afforded him great power, perhaps even on par with that of their new nemesis... but what was he giving up in return?

Vincent crossed the airship's hub, heading out onto the observation deck on the floor above. As he stepped out onto the deck, he realized he was not alone. At the edge of the observation deck, he could see Tifa leaning over the railings, taking in the view of the city. He walked over, leaning over the railings next to her, and they both looked out over the horizon, neither of them saying anything for a moment.

It was one of those rare nights when the planet's twin moons could be seen suspended together above the forlorn city. Vincent glanced over at Tifa, studying the way her graceful figure was bathed in the cold moonlight as she gazed up at the starlit sky. Not wanting to be caught staring, however, he turned his attention back to the cityscape below.

"It's quite a view," he said.

"Yeah... it is," Tifa replied, casting her gaze downwards. She held a glass of wine in one hand, containing Cid's approximation of the beverage in question. She raised the glass to her lips, sipping the last of its contents before letting it fall to the ground below. They were too high up to hear it crash down on the ground, but they watched as it shattered against the rocks below.

"So much for cleaning up the streets," Vincent remarked.

Tifa gave a half-hearted chuckle in response. "I think we've got bigger problems than a few broken glasses," she said.

"True," Vincent replied.

She gave a slight shiver as the cold wind brushed against her skin. The wistful look on her face told him that something was weighing on her mind. Had been for some time, as far as he could tell, though he did not want to pry or force it out of her. He figured that she would let him know in due time.

"We shouldn't stay out here too long," Vincent said. "We'll catch our deaths of cold."

"Don't tell me..." Tifa said. "'There's a storm coming'."

Vincent shook his head. "The storm's here," he said. "If we can't see it now, it's because we're caught dead in its centre."

"Yeah..." Tifa replied. "Feels like it's all coming to a head, doesn't it?"

She remained still for a moment, gazing out into the city below, without saying anything else. Despite his reluctance to do so, Vincent decided that now was the time to address her concerns. After tonight, there would be few opportunities for any of them to discuss such matters.

"What's troubling you?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I was thinking about Nibelheim," Tifa said. "About what happened there, seven years ago."

"The fire," Vincent replied.

"What Sephiroth did that day..." Tifa continued, "when he took Cloud's mother... my father... all the other villagers. Cut them down like animals. He butchered them all, and he did it with a smile on his face. And I kept thinking... 'How could someone do something like that?'"

She shook her head, sighing. "But what we've seen here these past few days... it's got me thinking something else. Maybe he was a good man once. What was it about him that changed?"

"I couldn't tell you," Vincent said. "Sephiroth was exceptional. A prodigy. Even so, there was always something about him that was... defective. He paid the price for his gifts, yes, but as for what pushed him over the brink, I'm afraid I couldn't say."

He pushed himself away from the railing, pacing the deck as he spoke. "This conflict... it changes us. Taints us. We did not choose to be a part of it. But our roles are set. The battle lines are drawn. Now, we must play our parts."

"But what if it's not enough?" Tifa replied.

"You're worried that we'll fail?" Vincent asked.

"I'm not afraid of what will happen if we lose," Tifa said. "I'm terrified of what might happen if we win."

Vincent turned to look at her again. Although she said 'we', he could tell that she had one specific person in mind.

"You're afraid the same thing will happen to Cloud," Vincent replied. "That he'll become another Sephiroth. Is that it?"

"Is it Jenova?" Tifa asked. "Or something else? What if he ends up the same way? What if we can't cure him?"

She thought of her childhood friend, and what he had been forcing himself through these past few weeks. He put on his bravest face for everyone else's sake, but she knew the truth. They all did. Whatever it was inside of him that his encounter with Comus had awakened, it was killing him, even as it granted him the strength to overcome their adversary. The only question was which would succumb first.

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers," Vincent said. "This is terra incognita for us all. Perhaps you are right to be worried. But I believe he possesses better judgement than his former hero did. At least, I hope so, for his sake."

Vincent continued to pace the deck as he spoke, looking over at Tifa from time to time. She did not seem comforted by his words in the least. Despite his attempt to assuage her fears, she remained silent, unable or unwilling to look him in the eye.

"It is a bleak shore that we are caught on," Vincent said. "But as long as there is a light to guide him back home.."

"A light?" Tifa asked, still not turning to face him.

Vincent shook his head. A selfish thought crossed his mind, and not for the first time. Perhaps she was still yearning for something more than friendship where Cloud was concerned. Perhaps it had always been so.

"If my presence troubles you.." Vincent said, turning to leave.

"No," Tifa said, catching his arm as he turned away. "Don't go."

She drew him close, and he took her into his arms, enveloping her in the warmth beneath his tattered cloak.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know," Vincent said, drawing her closer. "I would be lying if I said I'm not."

She looked up at him, eyes burning with fresh tears. "Stay with me."

"Always," Vincent said, kissing the top of her head. They remained still for a long moment, exchanging no further words. There was no need. They each knew what the other wanted to say.

Vincent looked down at Tifa, gently brushing his hand against her cheek. There was a rare smile on his features, one that put her at ease, despite all her concerns. He remembered something. One thing that just might make a difference..

"Come with me," he said, leading her back inside the ship. "I want to show you something."

Cloud lay awake in bed, staring up at the metal ceiling of his tiny room. It was getting to be one more night that he could not sleep. He felt fatigued, exhausted, even, yet he remained too restless to find any repose.

As he lay awake in the dark, he couldn't help but think of Vincent's warning. If they were going to take down Comus, he would have to cut loose. That much he knew. There could be no holding back during the final battle. That meant using his newfound abilities in whatever ways the situation demanded, even though he could sense that he was not yet in full control of them. Losing the battle was one thing, but there was something that worried him even more. The thought of losing control altogether.

Putting these thoughts out of his mind for the time being, he returned to his futile attempts to find rest, but sleep would not come to him. After an hour or so, he gave up on sleep entirely and got up, heading back outside.

He paced the shadowed beach illumined by the funeral pyre's flickering light. Every room that he had passed on his way outside seemed to be empty, he noticed. Evidently, his friends were all as restless as he was. Though they were all exhausted from the weeks of training and preparation leading up to the present, none of them could sleep tonight. There was something about this night. They could all sense it. It was the last moment of downtime any of them would find before the end. The calm before the storm. A brief period during which there was just a little too much time for self-reflection and reminiscence. A remembrance of all the sacrifices they'd had to make to get here.

As he watched the bonfire raging in the dusk, he thought he could perceive the faces of fallen friends in its eerie light, faint apparitions flitting before his eyes in the flame, the same figures that had been with him throughout the haunted night.

He turned away from the fire, heading inside the old palace, ascending one flight of steps after another. Though he did not know where he was headed, he felt an urge to climb further and further up. To find the highest ground that he could. As he climbed the stairs, however, a flash of blinding pain shot through his body. He clutched his arm, leaning against the wall for support, struggling to breathe as he waited for the seizure to pass. His vision became blurry, and something caught in his throat. More blood and bile, rising to the surface. He held his hand up to his mouth, forcing the surge back down, then focused on his breathing again.

These episodes were becoming more frequent, though they were not as paralyzing as the initial one. A few minutes later, having recovered from his convulsions, he steadied himself, continuing his ascent, stepping out into the cool night air as he reached the apex of the ruined palace.

As he walked out onto the palace's roof, he realized that he was not the only one who had decided to visit this place tonight. Yuffie sat at the far end of the rooftop, her legs swinging over its edge as she looked out over the sweeping vista before them.

"Hey," she said as he approached, without turning to face him.

"Hey," Cloud replied, sitting down next to her. "Didn't expect to find you up here."

"I was about to say the same thing," Yuffie said, looking over at him. "Can't sleep?"

Cloud shook his head, looking out at the horizon. "So... what brings you out here, your highness?" he asked, turning back to his companion.

"I always head for high ground when there's something on my mind," Yuffie explained. "Call it a force of habit. When I was little, I used to climb up the Da Chao all the time, even though it was forbidden. Hell, probably because it was forbidden."

She shook her head, giving a slight chuckle as she looked down onto the ground below. "My father would scold me for hours on end when he found out. Gave me endless lectures about how it was inappropriate behaviour for royalty, and how it was against tradition, and so on. He always felt the need to go by tradition, no matter what."

"And you didn't," Cloud said.

"Why do you think I ran away from home?" Yuffie replied, shrugging. She drew her knees up underneath her chin, shivering ever so slightly in the chill of the night. "After the war... after seeing what Wutai was becoming... I simply packed my things one night and left. Crossed the ocean while stowed away on a cargo ship. Was sea-sick nearly the whole trip. After that, I lived out in the woods for a while, getting by with what little I could steal from total strangers.."

She trailed off, looking up at Cloud again. "And then I met you."

"It all seems like a long time ago," Cloud said.

"Yeah... it does," Yuffie replied.

Although it had only been two years since their first encounter, it had been a tumultuous period in both their lives. Even so, those days seemed almost carefree compared to what they now faced.

"Listen..." Yuffie said. "If we don't make it.."

"We'll make it, I pr-"

She held her hand up, stopping Cloud mid-sentence. She didn't want false reassurances. Right now, all she wanted was the truth. She knew that their chances of survival, let alone success, were slim. Waiting for them on the other side were horrors such as none of them had faced before. An empire of the undead, commanded by the husk of a long-dead tyrant whose form was kept animated and in forced march only by the impetus of its living death, Jenova. And who knew what else they might find once they crossed the final threshold?

"Please, Cloud, I'm not looking for comfort," she said. "I just wanted you to know... if we don't make it..."

She paused, taking his hand before continuing. "Despite everything we've been through, the days we've spent together... they've been the best time of my life. All these moments we've shared, I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Cloud said nothing, but drew her closer to him. She leaned against him, sitting in his lap, feeling perfectly at ease for once in her life as they looked out over the city together.

"So... what do you think our chances are?" she asked, breaking the silence once more. "Do you really think we can win this?"

"Well... we've made it this far," Cloud said.

"Top of the world, huh?" Yuffie replied, looking up at him.

"You've got to admit, it's a hell of a view," Cloud said.

Yuffie smiled. "That it is," she replied, turning to him again, leaning in closer. They shared a kiss there and then, the longest of any they had shared since admitting their feelings for one another.

"We should probably get some sleep," Cloud said, as they broke off.

"I don't think I can sleep tonight," Yuffie said.

"Yeah... I don't think any of us can," Cloud said, getting up. "So, your highness... would you care to take a walk?"

"I'd love to take a walk," Yuffie said, letting him pull her up to her feet.

A mischievous smile crossed Cloud's features. "What do you say I do the walking for both of us?" he said, sweeping her up off her feet, carrying her in his arms as he headed back down the stairs.

"Hey, put me down!" Yuffie said, giggling.

"Not until you say the magic word," Cloud replied.

"Put me down now, you big jerk!" she shouted, hitting his arm in a soft, playful manner. She pouted, but could only sustain her look of disapproval for a brief moment before she started giggling once more.

"Nope," Cloud replied, grinning. "Try again."

She struggled against his hold, though not in any serious manner, her laughter echoing throughout the empty palace as he carried her back outside.