Rebirth of a Holy Dragoon

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. OCs belong to various friends. I think you know the drill by now.

Notes:

Warnings: You don't remember the list of warnings I gave before? Fine. Here. Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar, shitty storytelling.

FIC START!

Chapter Fifty-nine

When Kain opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in what looked to be a hospital room. He looked around, noticing the very faint lights around the room. There was a small vase of flowers sitting on his nightstand close to the bed. He didn't see anyone else. He certainly didn't remember coming here.

Soon the door opened and Minwu walked in holding a clipboard. "The heir still lives," he said, picking a pen out of his pocket. "Amazingly."

"H-how did I get here?" Kain asked.

"What? You don't remember running off with Canti in hopes of hunting down the man who murdered your father, getting caught, and damn near dying at the hands of the hired mercenaries?" Minwu asked. "I didn't take you for the type to have memory loss."

"No, I remember all that, but..." Kain's mind was a total blur. "...getting here."

"The Warriors of the Water brought both you and your cousin to us," Minwu said.

"Is... Is Canti all right?!"

"As good as she could be after going through such an endeavor." Minwu took a seat, writing a few things on his clipboard. "What in Cosmos' name were you thinking?! You put her in danger, even though the order was given that you were to be her personal guard!"

"I was. She was the one that decided to find the man that killed my father. I told her to leave it to Uncle Cid and the Warriors, but she couldn't do that. She just... Ran off. If I didn't go with her, then... She very well could have died," Kain said, taking in a deep breath. He looked back at the flowers, wondering who could have sent them. "Still can't believe that... He's gone."

"Thank the Goddess that you two are still alive."

"I do."

A nurse stuck her head into the room. "You said to notify you when the other patient under your watch wakes," she said calmly.

"Thank you," Minwu said, bowing his head to her. The nurse left. "I'm going to check on your cousin, now. I hope she's as cognitive as you are. She suffered some blows to the head."

"I'll come with you!" Kain said, staring to throw off all the hospital bed covers.

"You will stay in bed or I'll cast Hold on you," Minwu said sternly. "Until you've been formally released, you aren't leaving this room."

"Then release me!"

"I can't. I'm only a white mage trainee. And my training's been taking a back seat to looking after you two, thanks to orders from Leviathan himself. Thank you for that." He left Kain's room quickly, eager to see how Canti was recovering.

Kain reached to see the card with the flowers. They'd been sent by Crystal. He didn't expect that at all, considering he'd never made much of his relationship with her. He smiled slightly, wondering how life would proceed now that his father was gone. It was hard to believe it, no matter how much he thought about it. He'd seen it. Richard Highwind's body desecrated on a cross made of spears that ran through him, blood covering his armor and dripping onto the ground below, made into a monument. It was hard to get that image out of his head. He had no idea who'd committed such an atrocity to the Grand Dragoon, but now he felt an immense weight on his shoulders. He'd been training to receive the title, and he always wanted to finally have it, but not like this. Tears burned in his eyes. Life didn't make much sense without his father there to show him the way.

...

Minwu walked into the room Canti was resting in, ready to write down any and all observations. He noticed that she was staring straight at him with a vacant look on her face. "Canti?" he called her, walking closer. "Are you... All right?"

She muttered under her breath something he couldn't quite make out.

"Do you recognize me?" he asked, coming to her side. Her eyes met with his. They were mostly unfocused, as if she couldn't exactly see what was in front of her. "Canti?"

"Minwu," she said, but her eyes were wandering off from him. "I know that voice. Always calming..."

"C-Can you see me?" he asked.

"Not with the light turned off," she grunted. "Turn it on. I'd love to see something that isn't a nightmare."

The light was faint, but it was still on. He made the light a little brighter. "Is that better?" he asked.

"Somewhat," she answered. "But my eyes, they're all... Fuzzy."

Minwu shook his head, his fluffy black hair tossing around as it moved. "I knew you'd been hit in your head, but..." he let out a sigh. "...I didn't realize it'd be this bad."

"What? What happened?" Canti asked. "Minwu, what's wrong with me? Why can't I see you?!" She began to shake, and he just went up to her, taking her hands in his and whispering in his native tongue. It felt like an eternity since she heard words in Mysidian. She held on tight to his hands. "What's wrong with me?"

"I don't know how to tell you this delicately," he said very gently. "I do not want you to be scared. We're going to take care of you to the best of our ability."

"I'm not scared, Minwu. You're here."

"And Kain is right across the hall."

"Is he?"

"Yes. He is also in recovery, but he is not as injured as you are." He reached to push her messy curly hair out of her face. "It looks like you've lost your eyesight. Based on what you've told me, I don't believe you are completely blind, which means we can do something about it."

She didn't know how to handle that information. Canti shook her head, trying to wipe her eyes over and over again. The more she did it, the more hopelessness overwhelmed her. "How can I... Go through school... Or even hold a weapon... If I can't even see!?"

"I know this is hard to take, but there are procedures we can do to try to fix that," Minwu said, trying to reassure her. He took her hands into his again to calm her down, but she wasn't having any of that. "But I need you to calm down before we can even begin to think about that."

"I'll be relying on the help of others forever! Just to get around, let alone do all the things I need to do," she said angrily. "I'm pretty damn sure they don't make Mysidian texts in braille!"

"Cosmos damn it," Minwu grunted, waving his hand to cast a sleeping spell on her. "Why am I overseeing both of the Highwind cases?!" He laid her back down as kindly as he could before writing on his clipboard.

"Goddess damned dragoons, am I right?"

He turned his head to look over at the door. "I'm sorry, but Cantirena is not ready to accept visitors. Please kindly about-face, forward-march right out of here."

"I wouldn't be allowed in here under normal circumstances. I had to make sure that she's all right. No one in my family will be allowed within a hundred feet of Canti once-"

"Once the trials are finished, yes, I'm well aware," Minwu said, turning to face the visitor at the door. "They'd be entirely justified in that decision."

"Tell me how she is, and I'll leave."

"And then you'll get the hell out."

"Yes. Absolutely."

Minwu sighed. "Canti seems to have lost her vision to a degree due to an injury your father inflicted on her when she tried to confront him about killing her uncle... We're going to do all we can to save it, so she isn't going to go blind, but if nothing is done quickly-"

"I'll pay for whatever she needs."

"If the Highwind family found out about that, they'd throw it back in your face and probably skewer me with one of their many spears..."

"Considering how close you are to two of the remaining members of the Highwind family, you're going to be safe from any and all accusations regarding anything."

"Mateus. Get out."

"I'm not the same sort of person my father is."

"I don't care."