Hey there people! After all those years of playing Final Fantasy 4 this idea came into my mind. I loved The After Years but some things in my opinion should be different. This story will not be related to The After Years and will instead have a completely different story. I will be shifting between different perspectives to keep it interesting. Also, kudos if you know where the inspiration for the last scene came from! Enjoy!
Note: This has first been published by me on Archive of Our Own under the name Highwind.
"What?!" I nearly screamed, not believing what I had just heard. This could not be happening! I had sworn that I would give my life for him, but the one time he actually needed my help I was not there.
"Rydia! Where are you going?" one of the the villagers called, quickly running up to me, making me stop.
"I'm going to Baron." I stated matter-of-factly, before continuing to head towards the Mist Cave at high speed. How could this have happened? I couldn't believe that someone had done this something like this. Who could possibly want the king dead?
"Many could want the king dead." a new voice said, making me freeze in my steps. Looking up I could see that I had already reached the cave entrance but I was not alone. Leaning against the entrance was a heavily armored soldier, though striking familiar. Since when could he read minds? Or was I simply that obvious? "
"I never thought I would see you again." I greeted him softly, before throwing my arms around him and hugging him. As much as I could hate him, for killing my mother and burning our village, for betraying us two times, I could not hate him for that anymore. There was only one thing that truly made it impossible for me to ever forgive him completely. He hurt Cecil so much, I simply couldn't standing seeing Cecil like that.
"I hadn't planned on returning quite so soon," Kain started, returning the hug before letting go of me, "But as soon as I got word of what happened I couldn't simply stay hidden away. And, knowing that the news had probably reached Mist I decided to see if I could find you on your way to Baron."
"Well, I won't deny you the company." I responded smiling, unable to not. Even back on the moon, we managed to stay happy and positive and not getting crushed under the pressure of failure and what would happen.
I was rather surprised that the trip went so well, usually one or two monsters still decide to try their luck but this time not a single one bothered. Maybe Kain's presence scared away them even more.
"Do you know what happened?" I asked, spotting the castle in the distance.
"Probably not more than everyone else. An assassin managed to get into the throne room but Cecil managed to kill him before it was he who got killed." Kain stated, not knowing more than anyone else. This was maybe the time to tell him, definitely better than any other time.
"You know, I still haven't forgiven you." I said, Kain stopping in his tracks before looking at me.
"I can under-"
"No. I have forgiven you for killing my mother and destroying my home, it was an accident. I have forgiven you for betraying us, you could not control it. But the one thing I have not forgiven you for is all the hurt you inflicted on Cecil. I remember clearly his expression when he met you in Fabul, happy to see you alive. But the moment you lifted your spear against him I saw how crushed he was. Then, it was only worse in the Sealed Cave. He was utterly destroyed as you attacked him and took the last Dark Crystal. He had thought everything was fine, but it wasn't. I could feel his sorrow, but I never dared to talk to him about it back then." I nearly ranted, Kain wearing a shocked expression.
"I never knew that you felt like this," Kain admitted before smiling, "But does Cecil know you care that much about him? I know he thinks of you as a little sister, but do you feel the same?"
"What are you talking about?" I quickly tried to avoid saying more than necessary. It didn't matter what I felt, especially not so long Cecil was together with Rosa.
"You care awfully much for him, more than one would expect. Tell me, what exactly do you feel for him?" Kain inquired, continuing to walk. Sadly, the castle was still quite far away.
"I feel the same as he does, he's like a big brother to me." I declared, hoping Kain wouldn't ask anymore. Couldn't he understand that his was none of his business?
"So, what has changed in Baron?" Kain asked, understanding that I would not talk more about the subject, probably having seen that there were two additional towers besides the two old ones.
"Quite a lot actually, they have expanded the castle," I answered, pointing out the two towers, "Hey, how about we ride two chocobos to the castle? It would save us a lot of time."
"Sounds good to me." Kain said, quickly changing direction towards the chocobo forest. Entering the forest, we quickly managed to mount two chocobos and cut the travel time by more than half. Closing the distance to the castle at a fast pace, it wasn't long until we stood outside the gates, two guard standing above us.
"Identify yourselves!" one of the guards shouted, closely looking at me and Kain. Most guards had started to recognize in my green attire and rather short green hair. I guess I still hadn't met all of the guards in the castle. Now I could just hope they would let Kain inside.
"I'm Rydia of Mist!" I called, the guards instantly reacting to it.
"Forgive us Lady Rydia, we will let you inside immediately!" the guard called back, giving a signal to some other guards to open the gates. Entering the castle, majestic as always, two guards greeted us.
"Lady Rydia, should we announce that you are here?" the left guard asked, I nodding in response before he most likely quickly headed to wherever Cecil was right now.
"I hope they will welcome me back with open arms." Kain confessed, getting my attention.
"Of course they will. They have mentioned it multiple times that they would give anything for you to come back." I informed him smiling, Kain nodding before smiling as well.
"Your Majesty, your visitors have arrived." the guard from earlier announced, Cecil turning around while I shot forward.
"Rydia!" Cecil called, not knowing what hit him as my arms wrapped around him.
"I missed you." I managed to get out into his armored shoulder, his arms around me and holding me close.
"I missed you too, little sister." Cecil whispered into my ear, making me shiver. As he was about to let me go, I whimpered a little which made him keep his arms around me longer. Eventually I couldn't keep his arms around me but a short moment later I was hugged by Rosa. Enjoying the embrace, I managed to escape Rosa's bear hug and somehow got Kain to understand that he could step closer. Somehow neither Cecil or Rosa had noticed Kain standing at the entrance to the throne room. I could see him hesitating, taking small steps but before Kain could even take another step Cecil took the initiative and hugged Kain.
"Welcome back Kain." Cecil greeted his best friend, releasing Kain before looking him into the eyes. As soon as Cecil had let go, Kain fell to his knees to my surprise, and Cecil's and Rosa's most likely.
"Your Majesty, it is an honor to be back and I hope will be allowed to serve you." Kain spoke, his head bowed, anticipating Cecil's answer.
"Very well, I will allow you to serve me. But under two conditions. First of, you will call me Cecil and everything will be as it once was," Cecil began, Kain staring at him like he had gone mad," Second I declare you Captain of the Red Wings."
"Cecil..." Kain tried, but to no avail. I watched as Rosa this time stepped forward and embraced him.
"Kain, why can't you simply accept that we have forgiven you? We welcome you with open arms, and we want more than anything that you return and stay here with us." Rosa stopped him with kind words, letting go of Kain.
"Thank you Rosa. Thank you Cecil. I will never be able to repay you but I will not disappoint you as Captain of the Red Wings." Kain finally accepted their invitation. Finally they were reunited.
"Now, before I officially welcome you back and declare you as Captain of the Red Wings I challenge you to duel in front of everyone who wants to watch at the courtyard." Cecil said, catching everyone off-guard.
"So be it."
I still had the picture of Rydia in Cecil's arms in my mind. The way she tried to stay there longer, the way it felt like she content with being where she was. But, she had made it clear that she only felt the same as Cecil. Cecil was her big brother. I really wanted her to be happy, but at the same time I couldn't hope for Rosa to be unhappy. And as soon as I was done here I would start investigating the attempted murder on Cecil.
"Are you ready?" Cecil asked, stopping my train of thought. He had lifted his sword and his shield, and had taken a defensive stance.
"As ready as I can be." I responded, lifting my spear and pointing it at him. Seeing as that he would probably not be the one to strike first I had to do it. I knew that striking first against a strong opponent more often than not could be a mistake. But Cecil didn't leave me much of a choice if this should be a battle. Dashing forward, I turned a little to my left to add more behind my strike, before making an upward strike which Cecil parried. Quickly, I brought my spear down and went for a stabbing motion right on his chest. Jumping backwards, I barely avoided Cecil's strike.
"It has been too long since I have done this." Cecil admitted, not hesitating to dash forward to attempt an offensive of his own. Quickly came a downward strike, which I parried with my lance but what I didn't see was his roundhouse kick. Getting kicked, I lost balance and was unable to dodge Cecil's second strike coming from the opposite direction of his kick. Trying to regain some balance, I got no time before his shield bashed into my shoulder and forced me onto the ground. Spotting an opening, I slid on the ground and swept Cecil of his feet, my spear crashing down on his ribs which sent him sliding over the ground.
"Finally this is working out, it looked like both of us were out of form." I stated, Cecil nodding in agreement. I sent a quick glance over at the spectators, Rydia and Rosa obviously standing at the front. I had no doubt that Rydia cheered on Cecil and not me, but she would never admit it. Rosa probably cheered on both of us, wanting neither of us to lose. Deciding that the ground we were on was not enough, I crouched and put all my power into the jump. As fast as I got into the air, as fast I was descending upon Cecil. Parrying my downward strike, I quickly found myself sliding on the ground on all four with no breathing room before Cecil's shield came crashing down upon my hands, trying to get me to drop it. Instead of letting that happen, I lifted up my arm to take the hit. That would leave a big bruise, but it kept me from losing this duel. Still holding my lance, I tried to get in a hit but Cecil simply took a step back to avoid it. Wasting no time in standing up, Cecil and I circled each other, dashing forward the moment we spotted an opening. Well, it seemed like we had both forgotten to cover ourselves. My spear was at his throat, but the same could be said about his sword.
"This is rather interesting." Cecil joked, not removing his sword. I glanced at Rydia again, and her expression was not the same as when Cecil had been winning.
"Should we call this a tie?" I wondered, keeping my spear in its place.
"It seems like the only option." Cecil admitted, dropping his sword slowly, I mirroring his movements.
"That was amazing!" Rydia exclaimed, hugging Cecil from behind who nearly fell from the added weight catching him by surprise.
"Hey, what about me?" I asked, looking disappointed at Rydia.
"Did I ever say that I would cheer for you?" Rydia countered, sticking her tongue out while resting her head on Cecil's shoulder. I could practically feel Rosa how tense was but nonetheless she hid it.
"That was an impressive display, I'm surprised you managed to do so well after such a long time," Rosa said, hugging me lightly before hugging Cecil, Rydia having let go of him, "But how about having lunch now? You must be hungry since you I guess you haven't eaten anything you departed from Mist."
Trying to sit next to Cecil was harder than I had expected, especially with Kain pulling me away and forcing me to sit down next to him. Why didn't he let me sit next to Cecil? Maybe it would have disrespectful to not let the queen sit next to the king, but still. I wanted to sit next to Cecil!
"So Kain, how have you been those last years?" Cecil asked interested, Kain in deep thought at the question.
"Well, I mostly travelled between the different mountain ranges, taking down any monster I found. I tried to find the light on Mt. Ordeal like you did but there was nothing there for me." Kain told us. He had been travelling between the mountains all these years?
"So Rydia, is Edge still trying to woo you?" Rosa inquired, making me remember something I had tried to forget since I got to Baron.
"Yes, he still hasn't given up. Why can't he understand that I'm not interested?" I responded, sounding more annoyed that I intended. As soon as those words left my mouth, I could see Cecil's expression darken a little.
"Maybe I should talk to him." Cecil offered, there being no doubt what he had in mind.
"You don't need to do that," I assured him, hoping he wouldn't, "I'll make sure that he understands this time."
"Well, you might get your chance soon. Edge is coming over to help with the investigation." Rosa added, I nearly choking on my drink.
"Ah yes, the assassin. I actually managed to keep him alive and I'm inclined to believe he's a ninja." Cecil continued, not having noticed my reaction. I should give that assassin a piece of my mind!
"Have you interrogated him yet?" Kain wondered, Cecil shaking his head. Why were they still waiting? Maybe Cecil would let me help? Most likely not, he wouldn't even allow me to be there when it happens.
"Edge will help me, he probably has some interesting ways of getting the answer out of him." Cecil responded.
"Your Majesty, the Falcon is approaching as you speak!" a soldier announced, looking out of breath as if he had run all the way from the walls.
"Well than, let them dock and guide Edge to the throne room. His men are free to do what they want." Cecil ordered , the soldier hurrying away, Kain and Rosa following leaving us alone again.
"Cecil-"
"Come here, I didn't get to hug you enough." Cecil said. Had I heard that? Hoping so, I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around Cecil while he did the same.
"I really wish I could come here more often, but Mist needs me and I can't just leave them." I said, hugging Cecil even tighter.
"I also wish that you could come and visit us more often, but I would never stop you from helping Mist, little sister," Cecil responded, giving me one last tight hug before letting me go, "Come, Edge is probably waiting. I hope you will at least try to not doing anything wrong if he approaches you again. If it goes too far; I'll step in. Alright?"
"Alright."
"Hey Rydia!" Edge greeted me, a flower in his hand which he hid behind his back. Did he still think he could surprise me with that? The first few times I was surprised, now it was more of an annoyance than anything else.
"Hey Edge." I greeted back, hoping I didn't sound annoyed. We were still friends, but eventually I had to make him stop with his advances.
"This is for you." Edge said, as usual handing me the flower which I took smiling.
"Thanks Edge." I thanked him, before he turned his attention to the others.
"Edge, it's good to see you again." Cecil greeted him, before Kain and Rosa did the same.
"Is that really you Kain? The mountains seem to have worked wonders on you." Edge noted, something I hadn't though about. Being in Kain's presence felt different, lighter.
"Aware as always I see. Are your blades still as sharp?" Kain countered, a smug smile on his face as he spoke those words. Edge said nothing, only chuckling.
"I like to think they are. Now, I heard you captured the assassin and that he possibly is a ninja." Edge changed topic, already getting to the matter at hand.
"Yes, but he refuses to talk. Seeing that you're a ninja as well we thought you maybe could get some information out of him." Cecil informed him, Edge agreeing immediately. A second later and they were gone, Kain following Cecil like he was his shadow. This left me alone with Rosa, something I was happy about but also feared. I had always gotten along well with Rosa, but the moment I started to understand what I felt for Cecil jealousy clouded my thoughts in her presence. Why couldn't Cecil see what I felt for him? How could he still only see me as a little sister? But at the same time I couldn't come to feel any anger towards Rosa. I had been seven years old the first time I met Cecil and the second time I had grown up while still being a child in their mind. At the same time Cecil liked Rosa from the beginning, so who was I to get between them?
"Rydia."
"Huh?" I looked up, not noticing that Rosa was already leaving and now staring at me. How embarrassing to not have noticed!
"How about we go to the gardens and talk a little?"
"You call yourself a ninja? You're no ninja!" Edge shouted at the ninja, chained at a wall while trying to not say anything.
"I'm a free man, and do I what think is right." the ninja said, staring at the ground.
"By trying to assassinate the king of Baron?" Kain asked, holding his spear in his hand while I stood there thinking. What reason could he have to kill me? Was he alone? If not, who did he work with? Did someone order him to do this?
"Tell us, who are you working for?!" Edge continued the interrogation, punching the ninja in the face before waiting for an answer. Was I just imagining things or did everything turn red?
"You let anger control you. Embrace it and you will find your answers."
"What?!" Edge exclaimed, everyone of us trying to find the source of the voice.
"There's no doubt, it's him!" Kain shouted, already having taken a battle stance preparing for a fight.
"Rubicante!" I called, sword drawn and ready to battle.
"Come, heroes of the crystals! I await you above!"
"Summoner!" a booming voice called, familiar but still not recognizable to me
"Who's there?!" I called back before flames spun in front of me and Rosa and we had to jump back to not get engulfed by them.
"It's an honor to meet you again, especially under different circumstances." Rubicante greeted us, bowing a little before staring at us again.
"What do you want?" Rosa asked, ready to chant a spell the instant Rubicante made a move.
"I'm here to offer my services to the summoner," Rubicante responded. He wanted me to be able to summon him? "Also, I still have some things to settle with your dear ninja."
"Rubicante!" I heard Cecil's voice behind us, quickly standing covering us together with Edge and Kain.
"If you want to call me summoner you will have to defeat me once again. You have managed to do it twice, but this time will be different!" Rubicante stated, opening his cloak, taking a battle stance and waiting.
"Honorable as always I see. Let us fight!" Cecil responded, Rubicante lifting his hand slightly.
"Let me restore your powers!" Rubicante said, infusing us with power. I could feel every ounce of tiredness gone, like I had rested the entire day, "Come, let us find out if you still possess the same strength when I first met you! Face me at full strength!"
