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-two

Canti didn't remember falling asleep, but she knew when she woke up it would be time to get ready for school. She put on her uniform, her shoes, and had all of her items needed for class, gave her Papa a hug, and left the house without having anything to say. Breakfast was silent, dressing was silent. She didn't even wait for her friends from across the street to come knock on the door as they were prone to do. No, she just went on her own, with her spear strapped to her back, just wanting to get the day done and over with.

She heard a voice call out her name, though. She looked behind her to see Crystal waving, and Hikari came up to her in a blur. "We checked at your house," she said. "Your dad said you had all ready gone." They waited for Crystal to catch up.

"The leftovers your aunt sent us home with fed us all weekend," Crystal said. "We still have more. Grandpa said their food is some of the best he's ever eaten, even if it isn't fresh. So I just wanted to thank you and your family for sharing."

"You don't have to thank me," Canti said, turning to head towards Garden. "I didn't order the food or give it to you."

"I just wanted to be nice…" Crystal frowned. "You okay?"

"I wonder if she had some family trouble after we left?" Hikari whispered to Crystal.

"So… uhhh, did you learn how to Jump and do all the dragoon things?" Crystal asked. "I bet you can do that one move now that I've seen where the dragoon runs past really fast and drains the strength out of the enemy!"

"...that's called Lancer," Canti said quietly. "And, no, I didn't get much time to study. Too much going on…"

Hikari cocked her head to the side. "…do you wanna talk about it?"

Canti sighed. She did want to have a word with Kain now that she'd calmed down. But as she looked up into the mostly cloudy sky and hoped it would rain a crazy deluge, she didn't really have much to say in the moment. "I don't really understand how or why it happened… I just-" she stopped mid sentence and continued walking. "Kain..."

"Kain?" Crystal and Hikari asked at the same time. "You're having a fight with Kain?!"

"Of all people… that's not what I expected to hear," Crystal said, scratching her hair.

"Oh, no, we're not fighting," Canti said. "Not even!" She blushed as she thought of him. She never expected anyone would want to kiss her, not ever. She was too weird. But as she thought about it, she understood why Kain spoke to her like that when she was lying on his shoulder.

"Then what did he do?" Hikari asked. "Did he hurt you?!"

"Kain's not really all that violent, even if he can get worked up over some things," Canti said defensively. "I actually feel very safe in his presence. Though I don't understand why he did what he did yesterday. I mean, it felt… nice, but… I don't understand any of what it means…"

"That kind of talk…" Hikari shook her head. "I never thought… just wow…"

"The way you say it makes me think Kain kissed you or something," Crystal said.

Canti looked back at both of her classmates. "…he did."

"You're serious!"

"Yes."

"That's not so bad," Hikari said with a shrug. "I've had kisses before."

"You have?!" Crystal seemed mortified that she was the last one of the trio to get a kiss. She figured that she'd have a while because Canti didn't seem like the type to go out of her way seeking that kind of affection. "I didn't expect to hear that this morning."

"It was just one. He wanted to apologize about what he'd said before, but he couldn't get the words out, and… he stopped me from leaving, as I was a crying mess," Canti said. "I… liked it. I didn't understand it, but… I liked it."

"That explains so much, you don't even know," Hikari said. "The way he looks after you and all. I thought he was just being dutiful to family, but that makes it clear. Kain's in love with you."

"He… what?" she asked. "No way! The only way I'd believe that is if he told me himself."

"With a kiss, he kinda just did," Crystal said. "That says it loud and clear."

"Oh, Cosmos…" Canti said as the group came upon the statue of Cosmos in the Garden courtyard. "…I feel so confused about all this mess and I have no idea what to do about it."

Cid was still given time off due to his brother's executive order, and that gave him some time to start doing some research about what had been ailing him. Whatever it was that Canti was going through, he had the utmost faith that she'd figure herself out and he had a feeling that Kain would end up going along with whatever Canti decided. Kain wasn't the type to make his own decisions. It wasn't even his dream to become the Grand Dragoon in the first place, it was always Richard insisting that Kain train for the position, and Kain believed it was his own decision. He sat down on the Sphere in the living room and looked through records he could access with his identity code. He wanted to know more about the missions he'd been on before he retired from being a pilot, as he didn't even remember how long ago the flights happened. Were there any records of the outside stored online, he wondered, flipping through pages on the Warriors of the Water and the Ship-Yards feedsites.

There were a few things that caught his attention, but any time he wanted to know more about the enemy itself or places outside the barrier, he was not given any information at all. The entire library of public information on the feeds was jack shit. When he went through using his own identity code to search for it, it all came up blank. Did that mean there was no records kept online for research purposes?

Eventually, he came upon a criminal website that mentioned the barrier and clicked on that. He found pictures of people dressed in clothing he never had seen before. But that skin-tone reminded him of one of his daughter's friends, though he couldn't remember the kid's name. He read about a family that tried to break through the barrier. They didn't make it and were taken for sentencing to Leviathan, but there was no more information given about them. The picture was dated about five years ago. He wondered about that family and where they were. He searched for more information, and the only thing he could find was that the family name was Wu. Now where had he heard that before?

He went back on a person search, looking up people with the last name Wu. And there was only one still alive, which had the picture of the boy that his daughter was friends with! He thought they looked familiar. The boy was young, still in Garden, but also training in his off time at the hospital to further his training as a white mage. There was no information given about his parents or personal history.

"Ming Wu, huh?" Cid asked, staring at the information page. "Your family has been erased for trying to cross the barrier… I wonder why you're still alive if the rest of your family is gone."

He stared at it, trying to think more about his time beyond the barrier. Leviathan said that's where Canti was from. That she'd been rescued after the enemy took her family, and she'd been brought here to be safe. He wondered about who rescued her. Who brought her here? They had to be one to cross the barrier and bring her back through, right? Was it one of the pilots?

Did he rescue her? No, that didn't make any sense at all, because he would remember that! He would have remembered if he saved an orphan from being destroyed by the enemy. He would have remembered all of that mission, but he didn't. Cid shook his head. It was all so confusing. What more was missing? Was there a connection between… the Wu family and Canti's rescue, somehow?

As he got more lost in thought, the Sphere rang loudly to signal that this number was being called. He almost fell over from the initial shock of the sound of the ringer breaking the silence of the house, except for when he was typing in keywords or passcodes. Cid clicked to accept the call.

"Hello, this is Cid."

"Just the man I wanted to speak with," the voice on the other end wasn't one he recognized. "Papa Cid, right? That's what she calls you?"

"Who is this?!" Cid asked. "And what do you know about my daughter?!"

"Forgive me. I'm the head of the Westside Orphanage. My name is Borghen," the voice said quietly. "I've been privy of a lot of your daughter's information as for a while she was my responsibility, and I would like to see how she's holding up after living outside of the orphanage as it's been a little over a year now. If there's anything wrong with her, we can easily take her back and find her a new family."

"No, sir. We don't have any problems at all. The Highwind family just threw her a party this last weekend to celebrate her very being a part of the family," Cid said. "I love her dearly and I couldn't bear to be without her in my life."

"I am so very happy to hear that. Not many of the orphans within Dagurreo settle so well, and I was concerned as she was a bit of a… misunderstood child, shall we say?" Borghen said. Man, his voice was creepy. It was hard for Cid to imagine that man running an orphanage and taking care of children. "It gives the rest of the children here hope that they will merge into a forever family one day when they hear of it, too."

"...well I'm glad to be of service," Cid said, ready to hang up.

"One more thing," Borghen said. "Do you mind if I check up on her while she's at Garden, to make sure she's as happy as you are?"

"If you aren't interrupting her classes, I don't see why not…" he said, shrugging. What more could he have said to the guy?

"Fantastic. Thank you. Have a great day, Papa Cid."

"Yeah, bye." Cid hung up the call. What a weird guy. He didn't remember the manager of the orphanage sounding like that, but how much time did he really sit there and listen to what he had to say back then, anyway? When he was adopting Canti, he was there with Leviathan.

Classes went by rather fast. Canti didn't have a single problem doing any of the practice reps with her weapon in Combat Basics, and transcribing spells didn't bother her in Magical Mastery. She smiled as lunch started, as she brought a whole box of leftovers so she wouldn't have to wait in line. She sat under her favorite tree, as usual, and waited for all her friends to join her, as she knew they would.

As she ate on her leftover pasta and stared at the wrapped leftover cake, she heard the swish noise made by everyone who ever used the Jump technique. She knew who it was, and it made her heart skip a beat.

"Canti?" it was the first time she'd heard his voice since they'd shared that kiss.

"Yes, Kain?" she asked quietly, taking another bite.

"...I don't know… what to say to you right now," he confessed. "After what happened, and-"

"I didn't hate it," she said. "It felt… nice… and… warm…"

"Yes, it did… it was… one of the greatest feelings I've ever experienced…"

"Kain…"

"Yes?"

"I don't understand why," she said, shaking her head. "Why you decided the best way to get your feelings across was with a kiss."

Kain stepped closer. "May I sit with you?" he asked.

"I wouldn't ever tell you to go away," Canti said, taking another bite. She'd finished the pasta and it was time to get started on that piece of cake. She nearly ripped that open as it was just a small piece of excitement to help her get through the day. Mateus had gotten her such a nice cake. She wondered if she could ever have something like that again as she took her first bite of it.

He sat down next to her, not wanting to invade her personal space, but to just be next to her. "The reason I did it? Because I-"

"It's the Highwind cousins sharing a lovely lunch under my favorite tree," Mateus' voice said from above them. He'd been sitting in the branches this whole time? Uh oh. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I interrupting you?"

"Get out of here," Kain said angrily. "I'd like to have a word with my cousin!"

"I have the impression that you'd like to have more with her," he said, climbing down the tree. "I had a feeling if I waited here, Canti would show… and that meant you would, too."

"How many times do I have to tell you to leave us alone?" Kain asked, watching Mateus walk around them. "Just because you were at the ceremony doesn't mean-"

"Doesn't mean what?" Mateus asked. He sat in front of them, grinning. "Don't worry. You can tell her whatever was on your mind. I won't share any of it. Just like I won't share what happened at camp last summer with anyone, either."

"...you dare bring that up here?!" Kain asked, even more pissed off than he had been. "I'll skewer you right now-"

"Kain," Canti said. "If you do that, you'd get more than just Uncle Richard grounding you. Killing a man lands you in prison. If you go to prison, I wouldn't be able to have you near me."

"Canti…" he decided just to concentrate on her then. Maybe she just couldn't say it directly because they were being watched or in a public place, but he took that as confirmation that she had feelings the way he did. "…you're right! In prison, I cannot become the Grand Dragoon or be close to you."

"Come on…" Mateus said. "...you know you love me, Kain."

"I could never care anything about you."

"After what we did together at camp? You'll never forget me as long as you live."

Canti took another bite of the cake. "Mateus, you're getting annoying. I really wanted to hear what Kain has to say. I've been wondering why he did what he did all day," she said, glaring at him. "Please go away. We can talk later, okay?"

"...very well," Mateus said, picking himself off the grass and walking away. "I'll see you in Chorus."

"...you sure will," she grunted, turning back to Kain. "Now. Please tell me what was going through your mind. I was crying all afternoon because you… what you did didn't make any sense at all!"

I did it because I love you.

She looked at him curiously. "Well? Are you going to say anything?"

"Wait, you didn't hear me?" Kain asked. "Oh, I must not have said it out loud…" he pushed the bangs back from his face and looked into her eyes. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to upset you. Canti, I love you. I didn't understand it at first. You were a family member that I saw needed to be protected, so I went with that. But the more time I spent with you, the more I grew to love you. I've always wanted you to be near me, I long for you when you aren't."

Canti nodded. "Oh, Kain… I love you, too."

"You do?!"

"Will you kiss me again?"

"Every moment I can for the rest of my life, yes, I will!"

The two shared another kiss, and another, and another. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled his whole body close. How he wanted more of her, more of her warmth, of her touch, of everything to do with her! She had accepted his love and, what's more, reciprocated everything! What a glorious day! He didn't care who saw them showing their passion, he didn't care who would stop them, because the moment they were together again, there would be more. There would be more for the rest of their lives…

"Hey! Kain!"

A voice called him from his thoughts. Warm water was pouring down on him. Kain was naked. When he regained awareness of where he was, Kain found himself in a shower stall. He wiped his face and yet more water poured onto him from above.

"Dude, you've been in there for like ten minutes! Are you coming out or what?!" It was Tidus. Kain realized he'd just finished with Combat Basics and was there to clean the sweat off his body, but all he'd done since he got into the water was start daydreaming. "You're gonna get your ass roasted if you're tardy to Monsterology."

"You're right," Kain said, immediately turning the water off. "I'm sorry. I lost myself in a daydream." He wrapped himself with a towel around his waist and headed out of the stall.

"...that doesn't sound very much like you," Tidus said. "You all right?"

"Yes, I am perfectly fine," he said, heading over to his locker to dry off and dress himself. The more he thought about it, there was no way Canti would just be so willing to accept his affection the way he dreamed about it. And what's more, he knew that others would certainly do what they could to butt in on whatever they were doing. Could be Mateus, could be Minwu, could have been one of her two girlfriends she was always with. They wouldn't leave them be with a simple shooing. But he would go see her for lunch and see how she was doing. He didn't want her to be confused after what happened yesterday. He hoped that she read his letter and that she was willing to accept his affection, though. He couldn't help but hope for it.