Around the campfire

The fire was crackling as both of adults outstretched their hands towards its warmth, Mera laid her head on Genesis's shoulder, appreciating the quietness of the moment. Night rose on Gaia, and she didn't miss for nothing the lights of Edge.

The stars comforted her better than anything else at this sole moment. For once since an irremediably long time, Mera was calm. Relieved, relaxed. Their meat was cooking on the side and cleaned water was running in their bottles. Every once in a while, they'd stop by her house, under the roaring sun of Costa Del Sol.

They'd talk in the couch of the colourful living room, observing the waves coming back and forth on the deck behind the house. It'd then remind to both friends the time they used to hang out there. All four.

"Do you feel lonely, sometimes?" she asked, curious.

"Hard to say. The SOLDIER hasn't been the kind of duty you'd qualify as very much socializing. Besides Angeal and Sephiroth, I didn't have any friends. "

"And me."

"Yes, but you're not a SOLDIER. Ex-Turk."

And he was right. The costume was just an apparel. One that'd earn the respect of everybody she encountered during their short stops. Months to find him, and now she was safe and sound next to one of the ex First Class SOLDIER himself.

Genesis Rhapsodos. "You never felt lonely either? I mean, you gotta have some guts to find me. A will to get yourself out of some sort of feelings you don't want."

She chuckled.

"My three friends, my best friends left one after another. The longest one I ever had just went nuts and died. Sometimes you're wondering if your entire existence doesn't revolve around death."

"It's my fault it happened. When I wanted to take amends, it was too late."

She cleared her throat.

"Indeed, it was, Gen. But yourself, you weren't well either, so…"

"You're too kind with people. It'll cost you much, one day."

She stopped and lifted her head up, giving a questioning glance to the mako-coloured pupils that fixed with a scolding gaze. Yes, Genesis resented himself for what he's done. Everything he achieved, destroying by the mere illusion of a vengeance and smug that cost more than it should've.

The redhead brushed his hair off, remembering the good times he spent with his friends next to one another. Messing around and taking pleasure in living. He even remembered Sephiroth's soft smile at the sight of all his friends living an existence of emotions. This too, Genesis wrecked it. He wrecked the semblance of happiness that had lurked into the silver-haired man's heart.

"If I hadn't told Angeal, then Sephiroth, nobody would've had known. Sure, it was treason towards the Shinra but at this rate, I don't care."

Mera's lip corners stretched up, she contemplated the guilt in his eyes, mouth half-opened in retaliation and realization of his own mistakes. But Mera didn't bother. She was aware he felt wronged by the possibility of avenging all the ones Hojo and Hollander had wronged.

"Angeal's mother is dead because of me. What I've done. How many lives I took because of what I did, Mera ? How many?"

Mera, the way he pronounced it was gentle, like a caress on a feather. Almost hesitant to pronounce the four letters that composed her name. Genesis Rhapsodos barely ever bothered calling her, perhaps in fault of their lack of interaction outside their group.

"Not enough to not do better, Gen. You've come from far. Nobody's perfect."

"There's a gap between being imperfect and a murderer."

"You aren't one. The side effects of telling the truth, that's what ended people's lives. It had to come out, you just drifted from the right way. You were mad, and Angeal just got you the head outta water. You fixed what you could."

Staying silent for a moment, Genesis reflected on her words, taking consciously one by one. His head was a banging mess, always dashing through the feelings of vengeance, disappointment, failure, inferiority, and sparks of arrogance. But this woman, this fragile little figure that stayed by his side once she found him, that presence. It showed him a flashback of a life he once knew.

That silhouette shoved against his large stature, tightened muscle under his shirt. His coat was covering them both, as the woman snuggled against his torso in search of additional degrees. The redhead wasn't tactile in any sorts, but this reunion… It generated a sentiment he missed for years.

Having a home.

"I got it now."

"Got what?" she whispered.

"Why Angeal liked you."

Mera closed her eyes, concentrating herself on the sound of humming birds and the calm exhales coming right from Genesis pulse. "We were best friends. That'd be sad, he-..."

"No, I mean, liked you."

She got up again, eyebrows wrinkling the smooth skin of her forehead, her pink eyes glowing whilst fire reflected in its shade. Genesis laughed while she blushed slightly, twirling her fingers between one another. "Oh yeah, he did. Took us multiple attempts and too much money away to get him admit that. Honour and all his lectures. You were happy with the one you were with, so he didn't say a thing. Watched in silence and took care of you as a best friend instead.

I respect that. If I were him, I would've kept you all for myself."

"I didn't kn-..."

"He wouldn't let you too. But once he got his eyes on you, damn, it was hard to get him out."

"I miss him."

Genesis sighed. "Me too, we grew up together. Sephiroth and him were my brothers."

Mera closed her eyes, wiping a tear that emerged from the sadness that caught her off guards. Spotting her gesture, Genesis led his hand on her cheeks, calmly. His fingers lurked on her soft skin, attaining the water drops falling on her clothes.

"One day, we'll be with them again," she claimed with a sad smile, her dimples showing off as he nodded.

Both kept it shut, staring at the fire, whose flames were dancing widely around the wood. "Gen?" she called after a couple of minutes.

"Yes?"

"Can you read LOVELESS to me? Please?"

Genesis smiled, grabbing his book and opening it on act one.

"Infinite mystery is the gift of the Goddess…"