Cid Highwind, who'd been standing in the doorway, spoke then

Cid Highwind, who'd been standing in the doorway, spoke then. "Lemme do it." He looked at them. "We're bein' attacked. Some damned colony of space monsters is mad as hell at us, and is comin' down to try and wipe us out." Reno's mind did something it had never done before. It entirely blanked out. "Eh??" Cloud took over. "Yes, we're being attacked. We don't know why, or by who, but we do know that the things are coming from space…and they're estimated to arrive...in three days."

Reno saw Elena lurch backward behind him, saw Rude catch her and right her again. "W-w-what??" She spluttered. "Maybe we'd better elaborate," Cloud said. "…" Agreed Rude. Reno just nodded. Cloud sighed. "About a month ago, the scientists at this observatory spotted some steadily moving specks in the distance. He didn't think much of it at the time, assuming it was simply some space debris. Last week, the things became more visible. They are quite living, traveling in cubical objects, and are ugly as hell, too. With our new technology, we were able to view the large guns and weaponry carried within their transports." He dropped his eyes, and Cid muttered, "This ain't gonna be pretty."

Reno continued to stare at his former enemies for a long time before speaking. "And…you say…3 days?" Barret turned then, and grunted in acknowledgment, and Cloud spoke again. "All the people here have come to seek a place where they'll be safe if these…creatures attack. But I'm not even sure this place is safe. Our only hope is to blast them before they blast us." Elena looked incredulous. "S-space creatures arriving in th-th-three days…and we're gonna…fight them?" "Crazy as it may seem, yes." There was a long silence.

"…We're fighting," commented Rude suddenly. Reno stared at him, and then nodded slowly. "Yeah…we are." Even Elena was nodding now. "Let's kick some spacey ass," she said, but there wasn't any energy in the comment, and though everyone tried to laugh, it was a hollow sound, like the earlier sudden emptiness in Reno's mind. "Flaming shit," he muttered. "I'm not going down without a fight."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The next day passed at a snail's pace. Elena found herself spending most of the day walking up and down the beach, watching the waves crash against the shore, and listening to the sounds inside seashells. A dolphin reared up in the waves, splashing water all around it. Oddly enough, Elena thought it was the most beautiful beach she'd ever been on.

She knew what that thought was clearly enough. She knew she was thinking how she might never see a beach again, or a forest, or even a sunrise. I've only thought this way once before, she realized. When Meteor was still a threat. It was chaos then. Everyone knew…that they were going to die. She slumped backwards in the sand and closed her eyes. We defeated it then…can't we defeat it now? Maybe it's not a big solitary rock. Maybe it's harder this time. But…we have to try.

She rose then, and walked into the surf, letting the tiny foamy waves wash over her bare feet. She remembered when she was a little girl, and her father had taken her to a beach by their home. She'd been scared of the waves then, and the hot sand. She remembered her father laughing at her fear, and picking her up to give her a pretty pink shell he'd found. She'd been laughing then, in her father's arms…

Like she'd been laughing when she was on a different beach, only last year, with Reno and Rude. She was so much older of course…daddy had passed away peacefully a few years before. They were celebrating her birthday…and Reno had knocked her into the water and splashed at her, and they had all gotten wet and sandy and exhausted…and happy, that day. Was it really only last year?

Looking up into the sun, Elena put her hands in her pockets and smiled sadly. "Hi dad," she said, cocking her head to one side and squinting. He'd always told her to be courageous. "Never be afraid of anything, Elena," he'd told her once. "You never need to fear anything. You can take on the world, if you want to, my dear. You can do anything." She felt a tear drop onto her cheek, watched it as it fell and melded with the salty waves. "I'm not afraid, daddy. I'm not afraid."

Sinking to her knees in the water, she whispered, "But really, daddy, isn't it all right to be afraid…sometimes?"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

When she joined Rude and Reno again later that day, they didn't ask where she'd been. Reno knew they were all having trouble coping. He almost wished he'd never known about the threat from space, so that he and his friends could have had their last 3 days in peace and maybe a bit of happiness. Not like we didn't need some purpose in our lives, he thought. Not that we really were what most people would call happy.

But looking back on it, Reno realized that they had been happy. They'd had very little money, very little substance to their lives…but they'd never been happier. It took a sudden realization of mortality to see it, he thought bitterly. For the last three years, he thought, we've had enough to eat…well, almost always. We've had each other's company, and we've had the good times that it's all brought us. Sure, we've had the bad times too, but so does everyone. Are we really gonna lose it all now? Just as we realize what we've got?

Shaking his head fiercely, he stood up abruptly from where he was sitting outside the observatory, startling Rude and Elena out of their own chairs. "Rude, Elena, put something decent on. We're going out to dinner tonight."