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 Fifteen

Reanimated

Cid let Canti sit on the couch, and while she had cartoons on the Sphere, she wasn't paying much attention to it. She stared at the screen, but the actions of Twilight Twinkle, the purple chocobo, in her adventures in friendship just weren't registering with her. Canti's expression seemed so far away, as if the things she saw in her nightmares just weren't going to fade away like any normal dream. Cid decided to surprise her to cheer her up, going through all the things in the tiny kitchenette to find the ingredients to make her favorite snack: chocolate crepes. If nothing else, he would get a smile out of that, right? Eventually, she just flopped over. She sat there for a long while in silence. Cid wondered what was worse. Her knowing the truth about the real state of the country, or for her to be tortured with memories of such a frightening nightmare.

Soon, there was a knock on the door, and when Cid looked at his watch, he realized just how late it was in the day. He figured it had to be Canti's friends from school, which is exactly who he found when he opened the front door.

"Can we see Canti?" It wasn't just the teal- and pink-haired girls from this morning. There stood a group of girls and boys, some he knew and some he didn't, all of them with worried looks on their little faces. "Please, Mr. Highwind?"

Cid looked back at the couch, and then back at the group of children. "She isn't contagious, so you are free to visit, but please don't overwhelm her. Canti isn't feeling well… but I'm sure you'll be able to get a smile from her, if nothing else."

"Uncle Cid, what happened?" Kain asked as Cid held the door open for the kids to come inside. "Do I need to inform my father about it?"

"No, no, Kain," Cid said to his nephew, shaking his head a little. "I've reported it all ready to the hospital, they know of her condition since last night. There's nothing to worry about. She should be ready to go back to school in the morning." He went back to the table, putting out the plate of crepes as they had cooled off enough to be eaten.

Canti laid on the couch, underneath her favorite blanket that looked like the night sky covered in stars. Crystal and Hikari both stood there looking down at her, and Minwu stood behind the couch looking at her. Tidus was there to show his best friend's friend some support, and Vivi stuck his head through between Minwu and Tidus's shoulders as he was much shorter than those two. Her expression was still distant. She didn't seem to notice they were there.

Minwu reached down to put his hand on her forehead. "She is not feverish," he said. "But she does seem as if she's lost in her own world. I doubt her eyes are even focused." He gave a sigh, shaking his head. "I've studied a lot, as I am in training to be a white mage, but even I am quite confounded as to what ails her currently. This is not a physical disease or sickness…"

"No, it isn't," Cid said. "Come on, pumpkin, your friends have come to see you." He was desperate to see something in her, as he was convinced that all of this was ultimately his fault for not keeping his mouth shut. "Let's not ignore them."

Kain came around everyone, forcing his way around to reach for Canti's hand. He didn't care that he pushed Crystal completely away to get there, either. "Cousin," he said, gripping her hand, "please… what's wrong?"

"...Kain?" Canti asked in a whisper, turning her head to look at him, blinking a few times. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking after you!" Kain said. "I told you that I'd look after you… tell me what's wrong right now, or I swear I'm gonna-"

"Stop," her voice still hadn't gotten any louder. "Listen to me. I had a nightmare, Kain… and…" She sniffled, a few tears falling from her eyes. "…something like a big, no… huge, terrible… shadow…"

Minwu blinked a few times upon hearing this. "Did it chase you?" he asked. "Cornered you?"

"Yes," Canti said, nodding a little. "Trapped me and… and…"

Minwu put his hand on her head and whispered words in Mysidian. Loud enough for the whole group to hear, but still very quiet. They had no idea what he said, but Canti seemed to understand well enough. It seemed to make her tears stop and made her crack a very tiny smile. "Cosmos will bless you with no dreams of any sort this night, so you may rest," he said gently. "I can see that because of your fear, you are afraid to shut down and rest completely. Don't worry. I do this for the hospital patients all the time when I see them."

"You think you can give me dreams about blitzball?" Tidus asked. "I don't dream enough about it!"

Minwu frowned. "I don't give dreams to anyone, Tidus…" he groaned. "…seriously, one track mind with you."

Vivi held out a flower. "Canti, I hope you feel better soon," he said gently. She took it from him. "A friend of yours at school said you like purple roses, so I got you one."

Canti knew exactly who Vivi was talking about and that made her smile even wider. Even though he wasn't there, the fact that Mateus thought about her while she was at home sick made her happy. She didn't quite know why, but it did make her happy. "Thank you…" she said. "…my friend was right…" She placed it on the table.

"Well now I feel bad I didn't get you anything…" Hikari said, digging into her pockets. She found the envelope Mateus gave her, but she wanted to wait until Cid and everyone else was looking away before passing it to her. "…Vivi, you're really thoughtful."

"I'll go buy you a whole dragon made of purple flowers if it would help you recover!" Kain said loudly. "I have gil, hold still, I'll-"

"Damn, Kain…" Cid said. "Calm down. Don't be jealous that another friend thought of something and you didn't. Tomorrow, everything will be all right. Life will go back to normal. There's nothing to get all upset about. Really."

Crystal seemed a bit annoyed that Kain had pushed her out of the way. "I don't wanna overstay my welcome, but I have homework to do…" She smiled at Canti. "Tomorrow, you're walking to school with us, okay?"

"Sure," Canti said. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Of course!" Crystal left, and soon Tidus and Vivi filed out behind her, giving waves and well-wishes as they went along.

Kain looked between Minwu and Hikari, both of whom were concentrated on Canti, but also were thinking of two very different things. He wanted to cradle her in his lap and comfort her in every way possible, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he just bent down and kissed her forehead. "Father and I have agreed to having a sparring match this evening. I hate to leave you, cousin, but I have to go."

"That's fine. You know… we should spar sometime, too…" Canti giggled at that. "I am still learning, but I know there's so much you could teach me. I'm excited for it."

"I couldn't raise a spear at you…"

"…you will if I'm kicking your butt."

"Good to know I can cheer you up, cousin," Kain groaned as both Hikari and Minwu started laughing loudly. He turned around to leave.

When Cid was looking at something else, Hikari slipped the envelope under Canti's blanket quickly. She bent down to whisper, "Mateus wished he could see you. He sends you this."

She moved her hand underneath the blanket, grasping to the envelope. She nodded once she had it, placing it into the pocket of her pajamas so Cid would not notice it if she happened to move. "I'm glad all of you stopped by," Canti said. "I feel so much better than I did before you got here!"

Minwu bowed his head to her respectfully. "That is what these sorts of visits are for."

"Aren't you needed at the hospital?" Hikari asked.

"Yes, but I sent word through Mognet that I would be late this evening, as I would be going on a housecall," he said.

"No one's used Mognet for years," Cid said from the table. He had begun eating one of the crepes himself. "I thought everyone was required to use the Sphere for all communication."

"The moogles are a part of the integrated system at the hospital," Minwu said. He was beginning to leave, too. "They deliver all of the notices between departments, because having to stop everything just to check the Sphere just isn't enough when things get incredibly busy over there, especially in the Emergency Response Unit." He put his hands together and gave Canti another blessing in his mother tongue before picking up his bag and heading over to the door. "And with that, I must be off. Do tell me how you feel in the morning, Canti. If I have spare time tonight, I will go and research more about this shadow you spoke of. I do believe I know what it is, but I can't say for certain. Rest well."

Hikari was the only visitor left, and honestly, she didn't want to leave. Something about this situation made her think of something else. Something she felt before. Her heart ached with a deep, dark sadness, heavier than the usual sort of sadness. "Canti," she said quietly.

"What's wrong, Hikari?" Canti asked, pulling herself up so she was sitting. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"You have to promise me," she said. "That you aren't going to vanish or anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Canti asked.

"I don't like losing my friends, and… seeing you here, while you were looking so distant… something in me just…" Hikari looked down at the floor. She got the strangest feeling, like she had seen something like this before, and it only made her ache. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I do know that I can't let anything happen to you."

"You and everyone else, seems like," Canti said. "We just met a few days ago, and-"

"I feel like I've known you longer than that. Maybe it was just a dream, maybe it was a previous life, I have no idea, but… I've known you longer than just a few days, Canti! I wouldn't feel this strongly if… if…"

"No, Hikari. We grew up in two different orphanages."

Hikari stood up and grabbed her bag, beginning to leave. She didn't want to become a blubbery mess at someone else's home. She wiped her face and said her good nights and goodbyes, leaving the Highwind duo to sort things out between themselves.

Canti was eager to read the letter Mateus had sent for her, but Cid just put the plate of crepes on the little table in front of the Sphere and gave her a wink. "Well, here you go. You seem cheered up enough at the moment, but… I made a few for you."

"Papa Cid!" she exclaimed, yanking one and whorfing it down in three seconds flat. She was so overjoyed to see them that she forgot to savor the first one. It had been far too long since he made something like that for her, and boy, did it bring the usual happy smile to her face that he longed to see. She got it all over the top of her pajamas when the chocolate came splorching out of the opposite end, but she was laughing either way.

"That's why I made them," he said.

"Why, because you wanted me to make a mess of myself?"

"No, I just needed to hear you laugh." Cid confessed. "Just because life isn't the same without your laughter…"

Canti scampered off to her room, putting the envelope in the basket that hung on the wall over her bed, and gathering up a new set of pajamas to change into. She went ahead to shower for the next day. There was just so much to do tomorrow.