The Rebirth of a Dragoon
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 Tibby-san and MajoHikari for continued support of this little story.
Notes: You don't like this, don't read it. I'm not writing it for you. Also, name change!
Warnings: Eventually all this stuff on this list: Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, incest, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar
FIC START!
Chapter Thirty
The first thing Cid did the moment he saw his daughter again was give her the tightest hug he'd given her in a very long time. She didn't seem to understand the emotion on his face, but she returned the affection in case there was something she could do to help him feel somewhat better. He held back all the tears, but he wanted to cry for her sake. Cid picked her up into his arms so he could hold her closer to him.
"Papa?" she asked. "I-is something wrong?"
"No, no, pumpkin. Everything's just fine," he said quietly. "So, Kain, are we ready to get to our lesson? We still have a few hours before lunchtime, right?"
"We do," Kain agreed. "I wanted to teach her myself, but I couldn't find her training gear. Where did you put it, Uncle Cid?"
Cid nodded as he put Canti back down on her feet. "I had a feeling you'd want to do that, so I kept it in the carriage, while we were out," he said, shrugging. He handed a bag to her. "Go get changed. If you need help, I'll get Erina for you."
"I can dress myself…" she muttered, heading to a place where she could change alone.
Cid took a moment to signal for Kain to come over to him. "How you doin', kid?" he asked, ruffling his hair.
"Everything's all right, Uncle," Kain reassured him. "I took care of Canti this morning."
"Yeah, I knew you would. You're very protective," Cid said with a nod. "Ever since you met her, you've been like that."
"Is-is something wrong with that?"
There was a long pause and Cid let out a sigh. "No. Not at all. Don't ever think doing what comes natural to you is wrong."
Kain blushed. Did he know?! "B-but, Uncle, I-!" There was no way he could say it out loud, at least for the moment. He tried to hide the fact that he was blushing.
Canti came out of the room in her new training gear. "Okay! I'm ready to learn! Teach me to follow in the steps of the Dragoons!"
"Thank Cosmos," Kain said, shaking off those thoughts easily now that there were things to go and do. Sitting and thinking did nothing but get him lost in thoughts he shouldn't have been thinking in the first place. "You took forever! You say you're not like normal girls, but that was typical of a girl…"
"It was because this material is weird," she retorted. "Papa Cid, what IS this?"
"It's a material that absorbs sweat, made for training your muscles," Cid explained. "When you clean it, all the moisture comes out… I don't really get it. But they'll issue it to you eventually at Garden once you start working on muscle tone instead of just doing reps with your weapons. That's just as important as learning techniques."
"Why don't I ever see you wear this kind of thing?"
"...because I don't care for it. I'd rather train in my normal clothes than that material, and I'll clean it myself," he continued. "All right, you two! Outside! Bring your spears!"
Both cousins gave a nod and shouted, "Yes, sir!"
Outside in the backyard, between the shrubberies and the other bushes, the sun was almost at its peak in the sky. Canti watched both Cid and Kain show how they both held their spears. Her Papa was right-handed, Kain was left-handed. And they both held it very differently. A Jump wouldn't work at all if she couldn't hold the spear properly.
"You're a South-paw," Cid said, pointing at how she was holding her spear. "Try how Kain's doing it."
Kain turned so she could see it. His left hand was actually holding it in the back, and his right hand was up closer to the spear-head. "Now don't hold it super tight," he said. "You need to be able to move fluidly. So have a good grip, but not too tightly."
"Why do you have to move so fluidly?" she asked.
"You're gonna be making an arch with your whole body," Cid answered. "You go straight up, and then you strike with a spear by using all of your weight and focusing it on the tip of the spear when you come down."
"I'll go first!" Kain said. "Watch me closely."
"All right, Kain, you show us how it's done," Cid said with a nod.
Kain took a moment to focus his whole body, and he was up in the air very fast. So fast that it was hard to follow his movement as he was going up. Canti couldn't take her eyes off of him as he started to come back down. He was aiming at a nearby target on a mannequin, and his landing blow was spot on. He let out a long breath as he took out his spear and turned to face her.
"That was great! You have been practicing a lot, haven't you?" Cid laughed.
"I'm going to be the Grand Dragoon," Kain answered. "I have to be worthy."
"Your dad says that all the time. Being worthy about this, that, and everything else," Cid said, sighing. "Kain… you ever thought about what you wanted to do with your life?"
"What I want to do?" Kain asked. "I want to become the Grand Dragoon. What else is there in life?"
"...being happy," Canti said. "Sure, we've all got a destiny, but what use is it if you aren't happy while doing it?"
"We're here to teach Canti how to Jump! Not talk about me!" Kain said forcefully. "Uncle, are you going to show how you do it now, or what?"
Cid nodded, taking up his Venus Gospel into his right hand. "All right. Canti. First thing you have to do before you can jump is control your breathing. Feel the power of the wind flowing through you and let that lift you up off the ground. Keep your body able to move in any direction, and be very aware of the air around you." He bent his legs underneath his center and pushed up with them as hard as he could. He was up in the air higher and quicker than Kain. Once he reached his peak, he pulled his spear closer to him. He came in at an angle towards the target, showing all his years of training in this technique. It caused the mannequin to split apart upon landing the blow.
"Whoa!" both cousins exclaimed.
"I'm not even the best at it," Cid said, turning back around. "I don't expect you to hit a target on your first jump."
"Canti's the clumsiest dragoon in history," Kain said, only for Cid to whack him on the back of the head. "Ow! Uncle!"
"You know how sensitive Canti is," Cid said, looking at her. "Don't want to break her confidence before she even tries."
"...sorry, cousin…"
Canti held her Garden-issue spear in the way Kain demonstrated. It felt all familiar. She'd held a spear like this before. She'd felt the wind this way before, too. But, that was impossible. "Kain's right. I am clumsy. I'm going to have to work harder than most because this is so delicate," she said, trying to focus her body on the task at hand. "I felt this way when I picked the spear on the first day of classes…"
"Felt what way?" Kain asked.
"Like… I've done this before," she answered. "I've held a spear before. I've… I know the wind. I've ridden it before, somehow."
"You mean like when I carried you, right?" Kain asked.
"No. When you carried me, I wasn't scared at all because I know I've done it before," Canti said honestly. "I've felt it before I met you."
Cid thought back to what Leviathan told him just earlier. About how she'd been rescued, and the enemy that threatened their lives took her birth parents. Hearing that she was familiar to the feeling of using the Dragoon's Jump made him wonder. Were her parents Dragoons? Was she rescued at her young age by a dragoon? "Maybe… you did feel it," he said. "You don't remember your life before the orphanage, so it's very possible that… you knew dragoons before. That you'd have felt the jump. It's a feeling that is unmistakable. You know if you've felt that sensation before."
"You really think it's possible?" she asked excitedly.
"I do," Cid nodded. "So, are you gonna try, then?"
She looked up at him, then at her cousin, and then spread her legs a bit. "Yes!" she gave a shout, feeling the energy from the Wind Crystal swirling about her innards. Canti bent her knees, noticing the energy was starting to expand from her center, and as she lifted off the ground it carried her up further. Being suspended in the air without anyone holding her was the most freeing feeling she could remember experiencing. It was exhilarating! She'd done this before. Her body remembered exactly how to do it, even if her mind did not. She ended with her spear straight into the target, landing flawlessly.
"Whoa!" Cid exclaimed. "For your first time, that was… that was fantastic!"
Kain blinked in confusion. How could she have been better at doing this technique at her first try when he'd been spending days upon days training after school so he could be worthy of accepting the position of Grand Dragoon?! He stared at her as she turned around and flicked her braids back the way she always did. "You did very well," he said, trying not to sound jealous or more smitten as he commented. "Impressive."
"No wonder the Wind Crystal took a shining to you!" Cid said, ruffling her hair.
"It's the most amazing feeling, being up in the air like that…" Canti said. "…there's nothing else like it. I'm sure it needs more work. There's no way I'm as good at it as you two are."
"No need to be so humble," Cid laughed. "We totally need to show your Uncle Richard. He won't believe it until he sees it!" He picked her up and put her on his shoulders to carry her back inside. Cid reveled in the fact that Richard would be bent out of shape over it, but he didn't make mention of that aloud.
Kain just watched them before following very slowly. At this rate, his cousin would be Grand Dragoon before he was! How could she take that away from him, when it was the one thing he'd been working for his whole life?! He didn't think that she meant to stand in his way, but that title was always given to the Highwind that was the most worthy of the title… and if that's where she was starting, there was no way he could inherit it! He looked around before he heard his name being called from closer to the manor itself. Oh, he hadn't been this annoyed in a very long time…
Inside the manor, Cid was bragging on Canti's first jump to both Erina and Richard. On and on he went about how flawlessly she handled it, and she just stood there, blushing about what she believed was over-praise. Cid was proud, but she wanted him to tone it down before she turned completely red.
"You'll have to demonstrate," Richard said to Canti. "I am eager to see it."
"Don't!" Kain said suddenly, catching everyone else's attention.
"Why not, son?" Richard asked. "We should give praise where it is due, and if it's that great an execution, then Cantirena deserves all the praise."
"Father, I…" he didn't know how to say it without coming across as an awful person. Someone greedy for power and willing to step all over his beloved cousin's deserved praise. Kain didn't want to take away from her. That Jump was absolutely impressive. He knew it. But that's what frightened him! "…I believe that now is not the time. She should refine before she goes up for an inspection."
"…an inspection? She just learned how to do the technique and no one goes up for inspection unless they're enter in the Warriors of the Water. But you know that." Erina said, shaking her head. "What really is the matter, Kain?"
He bit his lip. "I just want Canti to be at her very best before you see her jump… she should practice and really get it down before showing it off to anyone. We saw it because we were teaching her."
Canti looked at Kain and she could tell by that look in his eyes that something was wrong. "…Kain?" she asked quietly.
"If you want to be a showoff, then be a showoff. But don't come crying when the greatest of all the dragoons isn't impressed with it…" Kain said, crossing his arms.
She felt her eyes burn with tears. "You yourself said it was impressive…" she said, turning away from the rest of the family and running off while covering her face. Canti wailed as she ran, and everyone could hear her even as she kept running through other rooms.
"KAIN!?" both Richard and Cid yelled at him, even though their tones were very different.
"What on Gaia has gotten into you!?" Erina demanded loudly.
Kain looked down at the intricately decorated tiles beneath his feet. He didn't want to make her cry. That was the last thing he wanted. But he was so afraid that his father would decide to have her take his place that he couldn't help but be jealous of her talent.
"School's in the morning," Cid said, turning away. "I think it's time we head home."
"I'll prepare the chocobo carriage for you?" Kain suggested, his voice barely audible.
"No… I think we'll go on our own," Cid grunted. "Last thing we need is someone pulling some more two-faced antics on her." He walked on after his daughter, wondering what could have driven Kain to act that way.
Richard and Erina were both sorely disappointed in their son's behavior. He was sent to his room, forbidden to engage in anything from fun stuff to even training, and was not to come within either of their sights until he headed to school tomorrow. Kain was wracked with guilt. He should have let the family see her show off the family technique. She had every right to show whoever she wanted to show, and she wasn't even being a showoff. Cid was bloating her up more than she was.
As he headed up to his room, he crossed paths with Cid again. That glare was too sharp. Kain couldn't stand it. He'd really messed up this time.
"C'mon, pumpkin," Cid said.
Canti came, but her expression was one of such devastation… "All right, Papa."
Kain stared at her, and she stopped to look at him for a few minutes. There were a million things he could have said, but nothing would come out. Canti waited for him to say something, anything, and the longer she waited for him to say something, the sadder her blue hues became. He had grown to adore her, and breaking her heart might have made it impossible for him to ever have a chance to being more than just cousins. He wondered if she could see how guilty he felt, if she could see just how badly he wanted to make it up to her. He didn't want her to leave. There was still so much to do together.
When she took a step to walk past him, Kain decided he couldn't just let her leave like this. He reached to grab her hand, stopping her from going any further.
"Canti…" he whispered.
She took a deep breath, as it was clear she was holding back many more tears.
"Forgive me," he whispered again.
She sniffled.
"One tear shed over me is one too many," Kain's voice hadn't changed. "I've hurt you, and you may never see me the same way again. I-"
Canti pulled on her hand gently as if to signal that she wanted him to let go, but he wouldn't. She couldn't find the words to speak to him right now. Her heart ached, as she thought her cousin was completely different than how he acted.
"I can't let you go without telling you something important," he continued, keeping that quiet tone. "I… I…"
She took her hand away from him by sheer force, a few tears streaming down her face. Kain stared at her again, finally letting his heart lead instead of just stammering over it like an idiot. Instead of reaching for her hand, he reached for her face, pulling it to his.
Kain kissed Canti!
