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-one
Canti was the first to step back, but Kain didn't want to let her go. His eyes opened to look upon her again, and she seemed incredibly disoriented. She lost her balance and fell back to sitting on the floor suddenly. He bent down to see if she was all right, but she didn't respond to him. He said many things to her, though it was like she didn't hear him. Cid helped her to her feet. But Canti was so emotionally overwhelmed that she wasn't moving at all, so he picked her up into his arms, and strapped her bag of belongings to his arm. Kain watched as his uncle carried her away, and she looked back at him as she was carried away.
I love you. Kain thought, turning to go to his room as he was bid, the warmth of her lips still not faded from his own.
…
Canti didn't register the walk home. Once they were finally back in their tiny two room home, she just promptly went to her room to be alone. She hung up her training clothes, as she knew she would need those soon, and she sat upon her bed. She didn't know how to handle what happened there. It made her think of things that didn't make any sense.
It was a familiar sensation, having been kissed like that. She didn't understand why she would have known that, but then again, she didn't understand why the Jump technique came so naturally to her. It was as if she had another life before this one, and her body held all the memories for it while her mind didn't. The warmth of another's lips on hers, the closeness of the hearts during that one moment of union. Her heart ached. Was that ache for Kain? She could feel things in her body stir. A drive to be close to another body. A craving for the sound of another's heartbeat. After sharing a kiss, she was sure that Kain would have been able to give her those things, but the last thing she wanted to do was speak to him now. She reached over to grab a pillow and hugged around it with both her arms and her legs, shoving her face into it and letting out another burst of tears. She was so confused. What status effect was this? She just started learning white magic, there was so way to cast Esuna or even Basuna at this point. Canti just wanted the feeling to go away, so she could go back to living life. She'd be going back to Garden tomorrow, she would be going back to seeing all her friends regularly and attending classes, and the last thing she wanted to do was face them with all of this on her mind. She wouldn't have been able to face Kain at lunchtime. What if he wanted another kiss? What if she wanted another kiss!? Did she want it? She couldn't stop her mind from racing. Well, it was a nice sensation. It did feel lovely. And she did trust Kain, of course. But if she was doubting his intentions, then she didn't trust him after all. Her mind was lost in all sorts of ideas about this, and they just wouldn't quit! What could she do? Was this the confusion status ailment?
Cid watched her from her doorway, doing all he could to remain silent and not let her know that he was there. No wonder Leviathan wanted to address them about what was going on. Leviathan had all sorts of technology, and he kept tabs on all of the students within his Garden facility. He could read into their dreams and see their most deepest desires, as well as things their body knew but their minds forgot. Perhaps, Cid reasoned to himself, that was the reasons why those placement tests that happened on a child's tenth birthday were so accurate. Leviathan was never wrong. And, seeing how Kain took it upon himself to show Canti his true feelings so bluntly, Cid had no reason to not believe the water deity. He turned away, wondering if he should report this or not, only hearing her wails of emotional confusion grow louder. He wanted to comfort his daughter, but he wasn't sure if she wanted the comfort. If she did want comfort, it probably wouldn't have been from her. It made his stomach roll over how little he could actually help her.
Cid sat down at the Sphere and typed a few things, and after typing slowly, he was typing much more quickly. After a while, Canti's cries had calmed down, and he figured she'd cried herself to sleep. He didn't go to check on her, as he had a few things to sort out for work before he went to bed. Wasn't going to take that long. He decided to leave her be and let her come to him when she was ready.
…
Kain lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling above him. There was a picture of a mighty dragoon from his family's history hanging above him that he had hung up there himself. For as long as he could remember, that one goal of becoming the Grand Dragoon was all he thought about. It was all he wanted. All he strived for. But now, as he imagined Canti curling up in her tiny little bed in that tiny little makeshift house Cid built himself out of defiance to the Highwind family, she was all he thought about. He knew she cried. Canti was a tear machine. And he knew that it was his fault she was crying. He was guilty before, but seeing that look of disconnection after having kissed her, he felt even more guilty. Uncle Cid was right, she was an emotional mess. Kain knew she was. She's always been sensitive. Ever since that first time they were introduced.
He sat up, unable to force himself to sleep. There had to be something he could do. He turned to the desk where he did his homework and pulled out some paper to write on. His handwriting was quite nice for someone who spent most of his time trying to hone his body for his future, in a neat cursive with little loops and curly parts, where most people didn't bother making their handwriting like that. Then again, most people would hop on the Sphere to send those instant messages. But he knew that both people he wanted to talk to right now weren't at the Sphere. Kain then went to his oversized closet, and after pulling out a ladder and climbing to the top of all his clothing for every occasion in the history of ever, pulled out a tiny purple velvet bag with a golden string. He climbed back down, as jumping in here would have gotten everything knocked over and only would have served to infuriate both the maid staff and his mother, and went back to his desk. It was meant to be a gift for Canti upon being accepted by the Wind Crystal, but because it came from the Palamecians, he refused to give it to her. He "kept it on her behalf", he told the Senator. But now he was going to put it to use. Kain slowly opened the bag to reveal a strange looking flute that looked like a moogle. He folded up his letter, then walked over to the window. He played a few notes, and within a few moments, a moogle floated by his window.
"Mognet, kupo!" the moogle said. "Will carry any and all letters anywhere within the barrier to Dagurreo!"
"Please take this to Ming Wu," he said, handing the letter over. "Is it possible to call another today? I will be writing more."
"Kupopo. As long as you have a letter to send, kupo. Do not call Mognet Services without a need for us," the moogle explained. "And do not, I repeat, KUPO, do not, call us about asking for replies! Kupooo!"
"Understood," Kain said with a nod. "Please make sure that reaches Ming Wu."
"Not a problem, kupo," the moogle fluttered away, flapping his bat-like wings to carry him away. Even if they were a little chubby in their centers, the moogles still flew much faster than he thought they would. Kain watched him until he was gone entirely. This was a nice device to have. He was going to have to get one of these for his own before he gave the flute to its rightful owner. Even though the young dragoon in training had no idea where to get a Moogle Flute. Sure, he was a part of one of the richest and most prestigious families in all of the country, but before this was placed in his hands, he'd never seen something to connect people to the moogles like that. He knew they used it at the hospital, but he didn't know there was one that civilians could use.
Kain sat back down at his desk and wrote out another letter. This one, much longer, much more heartfelt, while the last one he wrote was simply him needing to ask someone on the outside how to handle his current feelings. This one was expressing his current feelings. He didn't stutter while he was writing. His words flowed, honest, pure, loving words. All the things he wanted to tell her, but was so afraid of her hearing. Of her rejecting. Kain loved Cantirena and he wanted to make sure she knew of it, because he couldn't handle it if she decided to be with someone else. It would rip his heart asunder. He forced Minwu into agreeing to marry his cousin, but he wasn't going to have that anymore. He knew, or perhaps, he didn't quite feel it, but something in him somewhere knew, that if he didn't make his heart perfectly clear to her, that he would lose her. Kain didn't understand how he knew that, but that was the last thing he wanted.
…
Minwu yawned as he sat down to take a break. Working all this time at the hospital was always stressful, but he felt as if it was worth the payoff. There simply were never enough white mages or chemists around to look after all who came in hurt or under status effects! Not enough people studied these things. He was about to read a bit of his book when a moogle appeared in front of him.
"Oh, am I needed again in the Emergency Unit?" he asked.
"One letter from Ming Wu. Thank you for using the Mognet Mail System!" The letter dropped into his lap and the moogle floated away.
"...what?" Minwu shook his head, looking at the letter. He'd never gotten a personal letter from Mognet before, so he didn't know what to make of it. He wouldn't know what to make of it until he read it, so he did.
Minwu, it read, I kissed Cantirena.
That handwriting was unmistakably Kain's. And he… kissed his cousin?! What happened with the Highwind family within the last day that their relationship went to that point all ready?! There was no way they'd accept that love. The family was too prestigious in the eyes of the rest of the country that it would ruin their reputation, and that was the whole reason why Kain wanted Minwu himself to marry her. Minwu had no intentions of marrying her, but for Kain to have those sorts of intentions, well, it wouldn't bode well for him. He didn't want to read the rest after that, because Minwu had the sneaking suspicion that Kain had done something monumentally stupid, and he was going to agonizing over it for the next eternity. And, on the other side of that, Canti would be agonizing over it to Minwu, too, when her cousin wouldn't be around. Minwu sighed, continuing to read it anyway.
The truth is, I said something that made her cry. I wanted to ask her forgiveness, but she was going to leave before I could even get it out. So, I decided to be up front about it, Kain's letter continued. I couldn't let her leave without knowing exactly how I feel about her, because if I didn't, there would be a chance that she would never speak to me again.
Minwu shook his head, mentally noting that was still a possibility because of how forward he was. Weren't they too young to think about this sort of thing? Minwu and his classmate were only eleven! Thoughts of romance weren't supposed to be a thing until at least a few years down the line when the body starts prepping for the creation of children. Had Kain's puberty started? With all this going on, it seemed to have started far too early, and Canti probably is crying in confusion, because she doesn't understand emotions in the slightest. Especially when these feelings are from someone in the family, to boot.
And now, because I made her cry, I'm grounded to my room… I can't get it out of my head that I've probably wrecked her, and all I want to do is prove to her that I want to do everything I can to make it up to her. I love her dearly. I want to protect her from all harms, but how can I do that if I am the harm?
How much longer did this letter go? Minwu flipped through the pages. There was a lot here. He sighed, putting the letter in his pocket. He wasn't going to let this get in the way of taking a peaceful break when he knew that tomorrow on their way to Garden, Kain would just jump over to him and make a big deal out of it in person. Minwu didn't hate him or anyone else in the Highwind family, but he was so worn out from them after all the ceremony nonsense the day before that he'd had just about enough. He'd rather be on his feet all night taking care of the terminally ill than deal with one more person with the last name Highwind right now. He shoved the letter in his pocket, because he knew he'd finish reading it once his shift was over and he'd made it home.
"Why am I their family counselor?" he asked hopelessly. "Shouldn't they get a real white mage with real experience for that?"
…
Canti rolled over. It seemed as if she'd cried herself to sleep, but she was awake again. She looked at the poster on one wall of her room, and then rolled over to the other side to stare out the window. It wasn't even mid afternoon, but she didn't feel like getting out of bed to literally anything. This weekend had been much too long for her taste. Too much happened, and now both her mind and her nerves were in so many knots she couldn't really make much of it. She stared out at the sky until something blocked her way. She went over to the window to open it, and the thing that was blocking her view stuck its head inside.
"Kupo! Letter for Cantirena Highwind! Thank you for using the Mognet Mail system, kupo!" it said, placing the letter on the windowsill, and then it flew away just as quickly as it got here.
"I thought all messages were done through the Sphere," she said, curious as to why she'd have been given a letter. "Why would I get a paper letter?" She picked it up and stared at it for a bit before putting it on her nightstand. Canti didn't even want to read it right now, as her thoughts of Kain were all over the place, and she wasn't sure what to do about them. "…Kain…" she whispered, wanting to talk to him again.
