The Secret Garden

Based on: Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. The OCs featured in this fic belong to various friends. Note that while the characters belong to friends, I am the one writing the fic itself. Thank you to my friends for allowing me to borrow your characters. If you wish to appear, please send me a message and we can work something out.

Notes: This is the sequel to Records of Keeper Canti. It's wibby-wobbly, timey-whimy in its execution. I care not. If you care, shut the fuck up and go away. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Warnings: Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar

FIC START!

Chapter Thirteen

Reconstruction

Cid could not leave Canti all night. Even though he knew after about four hours, the process was done, he never had to resort to that to preserve her before. He watched her sleep, worried to death for his daughter. He sat there in that barely lit room, left to his own thoughts. How could he have told her the secrets that kept the country running the way it did? Of course if a child was to know they are raised under careful manipulation under the guise of free choice, he or she would rebel. And rebel hard.

Once Cid thought about it, he never put much thought into how he was tested or placed until Leviathan had brought it up to him about Canti. She had been tested, but in her living situation at the orphanage, there's no way she could grow as she was needed to. Cid heard every word as if it was being spoken right then and there. Leviathan opened Cid's mind to so much involving the world he lived in, all because he needed to be the trusted guardian of a little girl with untold power. No one at the Westside orphanage cared enough to see to her daily needs, as she was difficult and the only communication she really was successful with ended up being nothing but meltdowns. She was always confused, always climbing up to the roof and staring up at the sky. Always looking beyond, even if she had no words to explain what she was thinking about.

But when their eyes met for the first time… Cid knew his destiny. Hiding behind that bush of deep dark blue curls were eyes of a lighter blue. The same color as the sky he spent so much time in during his days as a pilot. He saw the world and further beyond that when he looked into those big, almost always sad sky blue eyes. It was an assignment from the government at first, but the more time he spent with her, the more he grew to honestly love her. He cared about seeing her flourish and grow as he slowly managed to get her to speak, and then taught her to read. He wanted to see her happy. Every time she woke from a nightmare, he was there to cradle her back to sleep, and every time she laughed at all the great things life had to offer, he was there to enjoy it with her. All the good, all the bad, and all the struggle, all the fun. Cid was a father before anything else now, and he was proud of that. Proud of her, proud of himself for coming so far from being that pub regular every night after work that would get drunk and get into fights for reasons too stupid to really go into detail about.

Cid leaned over, unstrapping the device from her head. The last thing he wanted was her to see this thing and figure out what it was, or she'd lose her trust in him. And he figured that was probably the worst part of this whole damn thing. Even if her memory was cleared of it, his was not. He would remember how he made a huge mistake and had to have a day ripped out of her mind. It wasn't fair to her. He told Leviathan nothing of importance would be lost, but Cid had no idea of what happened at school between Canti and her friends. He didn't know if she made a really great new friend and when approached again, she wouldn't remember what happened… he didn't know if the girls Hikari and Crystal had managed to break through her emotional walls and see her for who she really was, and caused Canti to gain some real trust in them… What of her cousin? All that ran through his mind, he wished he could have his memory cleared of the fact that he cleared her memory!

She moaned a little in her sleep. A quiet "…nnnn…"

Cid put his hand on her forehead. She was still very warm. Having a fever was a common side effect of the memory extraction process from what he understood, but the fact that she was feverish made him feel that much worse.

"Shhhh," he whispered. "You're fine, pumpkin. I've got you."

"Pa…pa?" Her eyes were still closed completely, which meant to him that she was still not completely awake.

"Go back to sleep, baby girl," Cid said very softly, removing his hand. "You're safe with me."

"Papa… can we… go home?" she asked.

"We are home, pumpkin," Cid said, sitting next to her on her bed. "You're in your bed right now. We're home. Where else would you be sleeping?"

She just groaned a little before rolling over and letting sleep take her completely again. Canti began to snore loudly, as was typical of her. Cid wondered what she was dreaming about, and wondered if she was having another nightmare like she had the night before. He frowned worriedly. Chronic nightmares on top of everything else? He had no way of looking at that with the equipment he was provided. Leviathan would have to take her to examine her for that.

"I love you, Cantirena," Cid said, bending down to kiss her forehead. "And I will not leave you. Not when you're like this. Not when I… was the one who put you here." He pushed her over just a little, and she instinctively moved to lay her head on his leg. He put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as best he could, though he felt like his comfort was simply not enough. "I am so sorry… so, so sorry." He felt his warm tears slide down his cheeks, not even bothering to wipe them away. "You deserve much better than stupid ol' me."

"...Papa…" Canti murmured. "…you're the best papa I could ever have."

"Why would you say that?"

Cid felt her sit up, looking right into his eyes. Those same sky-colored eyes that made Cid believe his destiny lied with the troubled girl no one else wanted shined up at him with a loving gaze. "Papa Cid, you're the best papa in the world for me! Because you actually adopted me… you actually brought me home. No one else… ever cared for me… before you came along."

He sniffled loudly and more tears fell. It was very rare for Canti to see. But she understood having a hurt heart more acutely than most children. She hugged to him tightly, wrapping her arms around his chest. She wished nothing more than to let him know that she loved him no matter what it was that he was going through. It had to have been something powerful, beyond the normal kind of pain, as Cid hardly ever cried. And even if she was to ask, he all ready knew he could not tell her what happened. He had to preserve her innocence for as long as possible. What a world he lived in, he thought, wherein the lack of free will would drive someone insane. He figured it would be better for him to deal with this insanity than his beloved daughter.

Canti was tired, though. And as tightly as she held onto him in the middle of their silence in the darkness, she slowly slipped back to sleep as she leaned against him. She said nothing as her breath became deeper and her mind faded away from her, causing her eyes to close. Cid smiled very gently, watching her try to stay awake for his sake but ultimately being claimed by slumber. Eventually, he felt himself fade similarly. But he couldn't leave her. Who knows what mental state she would be in when she woke up after having her memories processed like that? He fell back against the headboard of her bed, falling into a very deep sleep.

The next morning, Cid heard the alarm in his room even though he fell asleep holding Canti on her bed. He started to rush for it, to turn it off, once he laid her back down. She was still very warm, and in such a deep state of sleep that he did not dare wake her. He clicked the button and turned to the Sphere to make a few calls.

The first call was to the hangar where he worked, to report that his daughter was sick and he would have to miss work for the day. Setzer understood immediately and told him there was nothing to worry about. There wasn't much to miss on a Wednesday anyway.

The second was to the Garden office to report his daughter's absence from class for the day, as Canti had become very feverish over night and he could not expose other children to it. The lady at the office said she would let all those who needed to know know about it and there was nothing more to worry about.

The third was to Leviathan himself. Cid reported on what happened over the night and her current state, and Leviathan said all looked fine. Keep her home and not to worry about anything else on the matter. She would just need to rest for a day, and all would be back to normal. Cid also explained how he was staying home with her to make sure she was safe during the day, and the headmaster agreed that it was a good idea.

After that, there was a knock on the door. Cid wondered if it was going to be the girls that lived close by wanting to walk with Canti to school, and sure enough when he answered the door, that's exactly who he found.

"Good morning, Mr. Highwind," they both said together at the same time.

"Will Canti walk to school with us this morning?" Crystal asked.

"I'm sorry girls, but Canti is dreadfully sick with a fever," Cid said, looking as if he was going to burst into tears again. "I've all ready called Garden. She will not be going today."

"What?!" Hikari gasped. "Has she been to the hospital? Does she need a white mage?! How bad is the fever?!"

"Minwu lives close by, we can get him before first class…" Crystal said loudly. "He goes to the hospital every day to help sick people, he'll know what to do since he's a white mage in training!" She immediately turned around, running off the Highwind family porch as fast as her short little half-dwarven legs could move. "I'm going to go get him right now!"

"I'm faster than you," Hikari said. "I can go get him!"

Cid put up his hands, shaking his head. "Don't you two worry about going to get a white mage. She has been seen to by a professional, and the current orders are for her to stay home and rest until it goes away. There is nothing else that can be done. No medicine or magic will do anything. So just wait. She'll go with you tomorrow. I promise."

"...oh, all right…" both girls groaned. They were sad to hear their friend was sick. They turned to leave and head for school, both much less excited for the day than they were earlier.

Hikari whispered to Crystal the moment the two were out of the earshot of Cid, "I don't care what he says. I'm still going to get Minwu over here after school."

"The moment both Minwu and Kain hear she is sick, they might both try to skip class entirely," Crystal whispered back.

"Minwu might not be so drastic… but Kain?" Hikari thought aloud. "Kain's going to go nuts when he hears about it…"