Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all its associated characters, locations, etc… are property of Square Enix.
Author's Note: And so we finally come to the end of my story. Thank you so much for reading and supporting me in this endeavour – I only hope my tale was good enough to merit all the waiting I made you all endure. Finally we can cross something off the to-do list. I think I'll include a Who's-Who list of reincarnations, but right now that will have to wait.
Anyways, I hope you like the ending. I'll let you decide for yourself whether it's a happy one or not; whether there's any true victor. Enjoy!
Peace's End
By tfa1
Epilogue: The Last Laugh
Vincent Valentine had seen better days. Not only was Cloud dead and Lucy hospitalized, but Smith the cat had been found murdered only hours after ROCKSLIDE's return to the Western Continent. The bishop suspected it was Zephyr's doing – the man had disappeared right after they arrived and was now missing. The bishop could only have imagined what was going through the man's head when he committed such an atrocity.
But nothing could be done about it now, and Vincent had other things to worry about. He had come to the Western Continent for one reason only, and all the Wutaian soldiers asking for guidance from the legendary hero didn't seem to understand that. Although the bishop had been on the Continent for hours, only now did he find the time to do what he'd come to do.
The battle-ravaged buildings of Rocket Town had been converted into temporary hospitals to care for Wutai's wounded, including the woman Vincent had promised to protect: Lucy Moon. He hesitantly approached the run-down building where she was supposed to be staying. Although he desperately wanted to enter, Vincent wasn't sure he'd be able to cope with what he found there. He knew destiny's cruel wiles all too well.
Captain Sid Highflier was by his side, having been the only member of ROCKSLIDE not busy dealing with family, needy soldiers, or search parties. Even though the gruff man did his best to calm the anxious bishop, such a feat could not be accomplished, and even through the pale man's stern expression Sid could see the faintest twitches of a fearful tremble.
Together they walked into what had once been a common room for Imperial soldiers, now a recuperating area for wounded warriors on both sides. Now that the Empire was gone, its servitors were more than willing to defect to Wutai's side, including the now-articulate Donna Corn. Apparently the kick to her face had jump-started her deteriorating brain, and now the ex-Imperial general spoke with a refined English accent. Mercifully, the woman, who was now confined to a cot collapsing underneath her weight, was sleeping.
Vincent and Sid silently crept to the back rooms. One of them was occupied by Minister Goh, whose on-the-fly leadership during the surprise Imperial attack had been instrumental in saving Wutaian lives. Vincent would have to thank him later, especially because he'd been leading the search party that found Lucy. Popular opinion held that she'd been kidnapped by retreating Imperial forces after being shot, but then they defected against the Empire and left her for dead while they scrambled away. At least, that was the rumour.
The two men approached Lucy's room and cautiously opened the door. They stepped inside and found that Lucy wasn't there. Only a neatly-made bed, and the female nurse who'd tidied it, remained. Vincent feared the worst.
Before the bishop could work up the willpower to ask what had happened to Lucy, Captain Highflier had begun interrogating the nurse. "Hey!" cried he. "What the #&$ happened to my friend?"
The nurse was as startled to see them as they were to find Lucy missing. "Oh!" she exclaimed, leaping a foot into the air, "I didn't, uh, see you there! Sorry about that." She began fumbling with a stack of papers on the bedside table.
Sid repeated himself. "What the #&$ happened to my friend?"
"Oh, uh… you, uh, might want to sit down." No one did. "It's a shame what happened to her really… We did everything we could, but, uh… Well, long story short – when she took the bullet for that little girl, it, uh, shattered her spine and, well… not to mention the infection…"
Bishop Valentine's life flashed before his eyes. For the second time in his life he'd let someone down – someone he'd promised to defend. "She's… dead?"
"Dead!? Oh, uh, dear me no! She's paralysed from the waist down – never going to walk again, that one. Like I said, it's a shame. She's, uh, due back any minute with the doctor; wheelchair and all. You should, uh, probably sit down 'cause they could still be a while."
Valentine and Highflier didn't have to wait long. As soon as the nurse finished her sentence, the doctor and his patient appeared in the doorway. Lucy was pale and restricted to a wheelchair, but she looked otherwise fine. Upon seeing Vincent Valentine a smile crossed her face that was wider than any the bishop could remember ever having seen.
"Bishop Valentine!" she exclaimed joyously. "I knew you'd make it back!"
Vincent found himself at a loss for words as his brain when numb from a surge of glee, and eventually decided to simply nod while grinning awkwardly. The expression on Sid's face told Vincent that he looked more creepy than happy, but he was sure Lucy would understand. Seeing Vincent Valentine with any sort of smile was a privileged moment, and soon everyone in the room was laughing at his expense.
Apparently their guffawing woke up Donna Corn, and sharing in their joy she broke out into song. Her booming voice sent vibrations throughout the entire house, and with a chuckle Sid yelled through her jubilant chorus. "I guess it's really over! The fat lady is #&$ singing!"
"Over?" Vincent giggled. "It's never over…"
- - -
Jenova, the Calamity from the Skies, stared from the Northern Crater at the spot where Meteor had hung only a day before. 700 years of meticulous planning had gone up in flames. Even now she couldn't believe what had happened; her scheme had seemed foolproof. With Cloud on her side Jenova knew she couldn't fail, but there had always been a part of him that resisted her – fighting to the very end.
That is why she had known that getting rid of Cloud was of paramount importance, because even in his despairing state Cloud would never have let her carry out her schemes. But it wasn't as easy as merely killing him. Not only would she have had to still contend with Vincent Valentine and his posse, but the Strife boy was like a cockroach. He wouldn't stay dead. The man had fallen off a cliff, gotten stabbed through the abdomen, and suffered Mako poisoning only to return each time and foil Jenova's plan. She had needed to get rid of Cloud without killing him, and so Jenova concocted a plot to send him on the ultimate fool's errand, straight into the Sun. But again she had underestimated him. Somehow, some way, he'd found himself again. The heroic piece of Cloud that Jenova could never completely kill was revived at the last second, in time to thwart her once again. But it was a hollow victory for her enemies. Cloud was dead. Sephiroth was reborn. Jenova had had the last laugh.
So then… why did she feel so unhappy? Why could she not form a smile on her demented face? Could it have been because of Cloud? Through the psychic link they had shared she had received his final words to her, but that's all they were: words.
Harmless.
She recalled his message as clearly as if it had been engraved on the rubble beneath her:
/ Like a puppet in a show, so too did I serve your plot. I became a slave; a slave to the despair you spread to me; a slave like Sephiroth before me. I served your purpose, performed your plot, and let you control my life. You always stayed above the stage, where no one could see you, and made me do all the work. But now my strings are cut, and you are too far away to have any real power. This show is mine now; I will take this plot where I want to and shove it where it belongs. I am in control now. I have done the work and carved my own path through destiny. It was me!
/ But you… you are still playing your role the same as you did on day 1. Destiny controls you as it no longer controls me. That is how I know you will lose; it is the destiny of evil to lose. Jenova, you'll never change, and neither will your destiny. Rest assured, my dear; I will be reborn. Try and try as you might, I will return one day, and thwart your next plan as I have thwarted so many. You are bound to fail at everything you do because I will never, ever, ever let up, and I know that frightens you.
/ Wait, what am I saying? Are you trying to convince me you have feelings too? Ha hah ha! Stop acting as if you were afraid. There's no need to act as though you're angry, either. Because, Jenova, you are… /
The Calamity from the Skies dragged her hollow soul into her hollow cave and lay there, listening as the words of the past echoed in her present. And as she did so, Jenova could have sworn that she heard the cackles of crazy Cloud, resonating from the shadows…
/ … Because, you are… destiny's puppet. /
THE END
(finally)