Before Dawn
-
It was really late... hell, it was so late it was getting *early*. Logically, Cid knew that he really ought to be asleep right now... it always helped to be conscious when you were trying to save the world. They were going into the crater in the morning, and it would have been a very good thing if Cid wasn't falling asleep during the fight.
He couldn't sleep, though. He was too keyed up to even think about sleeping. He had spent the entire night Cloud had offered only a short distance away from the Highwind, in deep contemplation.
'I don't need to go find my reason to fight... I found that out in space.'
Standing on the Planet's surface, you felt tiny and insignificant. You felt like there was so much world out there you couldn't possibly see or save it all, like you couldn't make any kind of difference. Seeing the Planet from space, Cid had gained an entirely new perspective on the matter. The memory was so poignant that even now tears came to his eyes as he thought about it.
'Some people talk about this planet bein' a mother... But it's just a kid.'
He could not shake that impression, that deep and heartbreaking epiphany - that the Planet was, for all its vastness and age and power, still only a child... its blood drained by reactors, its flesh scarred from war and from natural calamity, shivering with the illness of Sephiroth and Jenova, crying out into the uncaring night.
'Just a sick, lonely kid, watching its death comin' straight at it.'
He stared up at Meteor, hanging in the sky like the Planet's death sentence.
'Damn...' he thought, feeling uncharacteristically helpless. 'What the fuck are we supposed to do? IF we come outta that crater alive, how much time'll we have to get rid of that thing? HOW can we get rid of that thing?'
Running a hand through his hair, Cid gripped his spear a little tighter.
'Even ramming the rocket into that fuckin' thing didn't stop it...'
But...
'But... how can we just give up? I mean, we gotta at least go down fighting. It's the least we can do for the Planet...'
On an impulse, Cid dropped to one knee and affectionately ran his hand across the grass, a tender, comforting caress. He was now firmly convinced that the Planet was alive, alive and breathing and crying, scared and alone...
"No. You ain't alone, y'hear me? And y'don't have ta be scared either," he said soothingly, his words directed to the earth beneath his feet. "We'll save ya. Don't know how yet, but we'll find a way. Don't you worry 'bout a thing."
He tried to smile reassuringly. "I ain't no Ancient... I don't even know if yer hearing me, and I know I can't hear you... and I can't do nothin' to make you feel better. But we're gonna get Sephiroth tomorrow... you won't have to worry about him anymore. Then we'll get ridda Meteor somehow, and you'll be okay... I promise."
His voice cracked on the last word. Swallowing against the tightness in his throat, he sat down, setting his spear down beside him, staring up at the stars. With a sigh, Cid lay down, closed his eyes and listened. A soft breeze picked up, and the grass stirred in response, rustling ever so faintly. He heard the mournful call of a Kalm Fang somewhere in the distance, answered by several more. He heard insects buzzing. And underneath it all, so faint and slow and so very natural that it was almost unnoticed, he swore he could hear the breath of the Planet. He could almost feel the slow pulse of its heartbeat shivering through the ground.
"Yeah," he said softly, opening his eyes again and sitting back up. "Don't you worry 'bout a damned thing."
The sky was lightening now, the first rays of sun peeking over the horizon. The timid stars fled in the face of that bright light, but Meteor remained stubbornly set above Midgar. With a sudden growl, Cid grabbed his spear and rose sharply to his feet, pointing his spear up at Meteor as if in challenge.
'The Planet's just a kid and that damn thing wants to kill it...' "Fuck that!" Cid screamed into the early morning air. "You ain't gonna hurt the Planet, you hear me, bitch?! I ain't gonna LET ya!"
'We're gonna protect this Planet if it costs us our fuckin' lives,' Cid thought, smiling in furious triumph. "You're gonna be fuckin' DUST by the time we get through with ya! We're gonna WIN!"
Cid brought his spear back down and looked around at the landscape surrounding him. It was all so goddamn beautiful, even this close to the wasted land around Midgar... he thought about the other places he'd seen, the oceans, the forests, the deserts, the mountains... From Icicle to Mideel, he'd seen the Planet in all its many faces and glories, and he was determined to make sure that that beauty wouldn't die with the morning. He was a pilot, a man of the skies... but the sky was a part of the Planet too. They were all part of the Planet.
With a final reverent look at the world around him, Cid turned and headed back towards the Highwind. His reason to fight was all around him, in the air and the earth and everything in between. Live or die, there was his future and the Planet's future. And maybe, just maybe, they'd both survive to enjoy it.
He smiled, feeling more than awake, more than alive, as he strode confidently towards the future.
-
-
It was really late... hell, it was so late it was getting *early*. Logically, Cid knew that he really ought to be asleep right now... it always helped to be conscious when you were trying to save the world. They were going into the crater in the morning, and it would have been a very good thing if Cid wasn't falling asleep during the fight.
He couldn't sleep, though. He was too keyed up to even think about sleeping. He had spent the entire night Cloud had offered only a short distance away from the Highwind, in deep contemplation.
'I don't need to go find my reason to fight... I found that out in space.'
Standing on the Planet's surface, you felt tiny and insignificant. You felt like there was so much world out there you couldn't possibly see or save it all, like you couldn't make any kind of difference. Seeing the Planet from space, Cid had gained an entirely new perspective on the matter. The memory was so poignant that even now tears came to his eyes as he thought about it.
'Some people talk about this planet bein' a mother... But it's just a kid.'
He could not shake that impression, that deep and heartbreaking epiphany - that the Planet was, for all its vastness and age and power, still only a child... its blood drained by reactors, its flesh scarred from war and from natural calamity, shivering with the illness of Sephiroth and Jenova, crying out into the uncaring night.
'Just a sick, lonely kid, watching its death comin' straight at it.'
He stared up at Meteor, hanging in the sky like the Planet's death sentence.
'Damn...' he thought, feeling uncharacteristically helpless. 'What the fuck are we supposed to do? IF we come outta that crater alive, how much time'll we have to get rid of that thing? HOW can we get rid of that thing?'
Running a hand through his hair, Cid gripped his spear a little tighter.
'Even ramming the rocket into that fuckin' thing didn't stop it...'
But...
'But... how can we just give up? I mean, we gotta at least go down fighting. It's the least we can do for the Planet...'
On an impulse, Cid dropped to one knee and affectionately ran his hand across the grass, a tender, comforting caress. He was now firmly convinced that the Planet was alive, alive and breathing and crying, scared and alone...
"No. You ain't alone, y'hear me? And y'don't have ta be scared either," he said soothingly, his words directed to the earth beneath his feet. "We'll save ya. Don't know how yet, but we'll find a way. Don't you worry 'bout a thing."
He tried to smile reassuringly. "I ain't no Ancient... I don't even know if yer hearing me, and I know I can't hear you... and I can't do nothin' to make you feel better. But we're gonna get Sephiroth tomorrow... you won't have to worry about him anymore. Then we'll get ridda Meteor somehow, and you'll be okay... I promise."
His voice cracked on the last word. Swallowing against the tightness in his throat, he sat down, setting his spear down beside him, staring up at the stars. With a sigh, Cid lay down, closed his eyes and listened. A soft breeze picked up, and the grass stirred in response, rustling ever so faintly. He heard the mournful call of a Kalm Fang somewhere in the distance, answered by several more. He heard insects buzzing. And underneath it all, so faint and slow and so very natural that it was almost unnoticed, he swore he could hear the breath of the Planet. He could almost feel the slow pulse of its heartbeat shivering through the ground.
"Yeah," he said softly, opening his eyes again and sitting back up. "Don't you worry 'bout a damned thing."
The sky was lightening now, the first rays of sun peeking over the horizon. The timid stars fled in the face of that bright light, but Meteor remained stubbornly set above Midgar. With a sudden growl, Cid grabbed his spear and rose sharply to his feet, pointing his spear up at Meteor as if in challenge.
'The Planet's just a kid and that damn thing wants to kill it...' "Fuck that!" Cid screamed into the early morning air. "You ain't gonna hurt the Planet, you hear me, bitch?! I ain't gonna LET ya!"
'We're gonna protect this Planet if it costs us our fuckin' lives,' Cid thought, smiling in furious triumph. "You're gonna be fuckin' DUST by the time we get through with ya! We're gonna WIN!"
Cid brought his spear back down and looked around at the landscape surrounding him. It was all so goddamn beautiful, even this close to the wasted land around Midgar... he thought about the other places he'd seen, the oceans, the forests, the deserts, the mountains... From Icicle to Mideel, he'd seen the Planet in all its many faces and glories, and he was determined to make sure that that beauty wouldn't die with the morning. He was a pilot, a man of the skies... but the sky was a part of the Planet too. They were all part of the Planet.
With a final reverent look at the world around him, Cid turned and headed back towards the Highwind. His reason to fight was all around him, in the air and the earth and everything in between. Live or die, there was his future and the Planet's future. And maybe, just maybe, they'd both survive to enjoy it.
He smiled, feeling more than awake, more than alive, as he strode confidently towards the future.
-