*****
Kenshin held Kaoru close to him, thanking the gods that he was reunited with his beloved. "Aishiteru, Kaoru..."
"Aishiteru, Kenshin..."
"Oi, lovebirds!" Sano called. "We'd better get going if we want to catch up to the others!"
Cid hooted with laughter at Kenshin and Kaoru's red faces. "Come on you two! Let's get moving!"
Kenshin smiled tenderly at Kaoru. "Better get going..."
"Hai," she smiled back before pressing a kiss on his lips.
He hopped on the Chocobo, stretching his hand out to help her mount the creature. She smiled, ruffling the Chocobo's feathers before climbing on, the large bird releasing a loud "wark!" of pleasure.
"Maa..." Kaoru giggled when it rubbed its beak against her cheek affectionately. She took his hand and stepped on his foot to help her up. "Gomen. Did that hurt?"
"Iie de gozaru..." Kenshin
said, grinning at her. The Chocobo raised its head, as if proud to
bear its riders, and trotted off into the sunset, following the other Chocobos.
"How will we get home?" Yahiko asked groggily. "I want to go back to Tokyo..."
Kaoru sighed. "So do I. I miss everyone."
"Even Megumi?" Yahiko grinned.
She giggled. "Believe it or not, yes, even her."
Aeris smiled. "I think you have a few questions, Kaoru."
"Hai," Kaoru nodded. "Hojo said something about our party having one clone to his son. Who's Hojo's son? And who's the clone?"
"Cloud is the clone."
"Kuraudo-san?!"
Aeris nodded. "Cloud was one of the failed clones to Sephiroth--Hojo's son. He injected Jenova cells into Sephiroth while his mother was pregnant with him. Lucrecia died soon after Sephiroth was born."
"Sou ka..." Kaoru murmured. "It must have been hard..."
"We'll try to get you home by going back to where your world joined with ours," Aeris continued. "All right?"
"Hai."
Kenshin felt the air in front of him, his skin striking the cool wall he felt when they first came. "I think I found it."
"Well, this is it," Aeris said, hugging Kaoru. "You take care, all right?"
"Hai," she nodded as she released the Cetra girl, going to hug Tifa and Yuffie as well.
Kenshin bowed to Cloud. "I wish to thank you for all you've done for us."
"It's nothing, Ken. Glad to be able to help."
Kenshin grinned, thanking every single on of them, Yahiko and Sano not far behind.
"I guess this is goodbye," Cait Sith murmured.
"Aa," Yahiko said. "Sayonara, minna. Arigatou!"
"Ja!" Sano waved.
Goodbyes resounded everywhere as Kenshin wrapped his arm around Kaoru's shoulder. "I sincerely hope we will meet again soon."
The four walked into the distance, a ripple appearing on the horizon. It enveloped them, and soon they disappeared.
Cloud was endlessly waving at the four people who could have been one of his closest friends when a quick kiss touched his cheek. "Huh?" He turned to Aeris who was smiling. He smiled back. "Com'ere you...!"
Aeris squealed when Cloud pulled her towards her before she ended up in a happy kiss. She ignored all the hootings from the AVALANCHE. They ended up clapping anyway.
"I can't say it wasn't a pleasure working with you." Vincent told Sephiroth as they walked far towards a mountain.
"Hmph, so you think this was all a game, Valentine." Sephiroth turned around to Vincent who stopped.
"It's not necessarily one."
"Whatever," Sephiroth shook his head and looked back at the sky behind him.
"You're thinking of visiting the Northern Crater."
"Yes..." Sephiroth returned to Vincent. "After that...I may just be wandering around...looking for answers to open questions."
Vincent patted Sephiroth's shoulder. As if he was a father to a son. "And if you don't have any place to stay, Cloud will be happy to take you with us."
"So, I'm your new ally." Sephiroth wore a small smile. "We'll see to that." He flew away from the ground but not very high for Vincent. "A war is coming. And I intend to fight it."
Vincent nodded with a smile. "And I will be there...old friend." The wind blew as he watched Lucrecia's son fly higher and off to the crater. "There goes your son...Lucrecia..." When the wind died down, he turned around returning to his friends.
Kenshin opened his eyes to find Kaoru asleep against him. He blinked before looking around. Sano and Yahiko were propped against the opposite wall, asleep. Kenshin looked around, seeing the familiar halls of the Kamiya dojo.
He smiled and cuddled himself closer to Kaoru.
They were home.
*****
Jap Terms:
1. Sou ka- I see
2. Sayonara/ Ja - Goodbye / See you soon
Onna: AAAH! The end!!!
Kenshin and Kaoru: *sigh in relief*
Liv: AWRIGHT! We go! We go! *dances the butt-hit with Cloud* Just an advertisement, minna! Maybe you'd like to try Realities Above! :D
Cloud: For all FF7 especially CxA fans: watch out for Liv's new series!
Liv: AWRIGHT! *dances with Cloud*