Chapter 15

JOURNEY OF DESTINY, JOURNEY OF A HEART

"Now, Highwind, don't let me down ! Go get that  #^*@ bastard !!", Cid pulls a throttle on Highwind control panel and with loud roar, Highwind flies with full speed. Everyone inside Highwind can feel it moves fast. Cid is still tinkering with his Highwind device, making sure his plane works at maximum performance. Sometimes he shouts at his crew, ordering technical things to do.

"Do you think we can chase that creature in time ?", Cloud asks the badass pilot with uncertain tone. With rather harsh tone, Cid responds, "Kid, this Highwind will chase it in @*&^ no time !". He takes a deep inhale on his cigar, a sign that he is very serious now. His fingers are still on some buttons and throttles. Knowing this is not the right time to bother him, Cloud then joins the others at the bridge.

"I hope we can make it", Red XIII comments out. "Yeah, dis is just like old times when we chased Weapon, huh ?", Barret joins in. Everyone, although keeping it inside his or her hearts, must agree with Barret.

"What are we going to do if we meet that #*&^% creature ?", suddenly Cid opens a question while configuring his plane. With bold tone, Cloud replies shortly, "We must tail it". Cid only nods. He agrees with his leader. After all, that big creature will surely do harm to his plane, something he does not like at all. Back to his steering device, he puts concentration on his things again.

The Avalanche now keeps silent while Highwind flies with full speed. Although it is midnight, Cid can still handle his plane as he can see everything in the midday. While the others remain silent and wait for next thing patiently, Vic cannot hide his amazement to realize he is in a special private plane now. He studies at every corner of Highwind interior carefully.

"Everybody ! I spot something on the radar !". After some minutes, Cid's loud voice suddenly echoes around Highwind's every corner. "It must be that @*(!($ thing !". He then reduces Highwind's speed a little. The others now huddle together to see what is in front of them with excited expressions, but they only see night sky from their position.

"Where is it ? I can only see darkness everywhere", Aeris exclaims confusedly, representing others' thoughts. "Be patient, missy. Although your eyes can't see it, my radar won't tell lie. We've spotted that freakin' creature", Cid responds with excited tone. Cloud then adds, "Now we must be careful enough, we can't let it know that we tailed it". Cid nods his head and says, "I know it, kid. I'll stay on this distance. We'll be safe. Trust me".

"Where is it heading actually ?", Cait Sith pops up a question. Before anyone answers his question, Cid already curses with top of his voice. "Holy @&^#% shit !! That darn monster…it turned its course and now…it's heading to us with high speed !!".

"WHATT !!???", the others spit their words in unison, very surprised. "It means we will face that thing in the air !", Cid adds. Locking his jaw, he then operates some buttons and throttles on control board. "We must turn back quickly !", he mutters to himself. A slight worry paints his tone. He knows the monster is very fast, and although Cid is the best on his field, it still takes time to change course of big plane like Highwind. He just prays he has enough time, he just needs more time after all. Imagining how Highwind will be treated like toy makes Cid's spine feels like ice.

As Highwind is in progress to turn its course, suddenly a loud roar comes. Everyone inside Highwind feels they are like frozen on their spots. They know whose roar it is, especially Vic, Aeris, and Cloud. With quick motion, Cloud turns his body and once again, he sees Dark High from main window chases them. With his speed, it will surely reach them in short time. Narrowing his eyes as he realizes bad thing comes, he then shouts at the others with loud voice, "Everyone ! Grab on something ! It will hit us !". With his heart beats wildly, Cloud quickly grabs railing as everyone does. They know something terrible will be happened and everyone waits for it nervously.

** BANGGGGGG ** !!!

As it was predicted before, a loud bang is heard when Dark High finally hits Highwind with its huge body, shaking the plane harshly then it twists and whirls with crazed motion, thrown away from its current position. Almost everyone inside Highwind loses grip and is thrown from the railing as they never predict the collision effect. Some of them are even rolled down on floor and shaken harshly as Highwind spins and shakes viciously, letting the impact of collision. Vocalizations of everyone's pain and shock fills the air inside Highwind, but soon are drowned by loud roar of losing-control engine which pushes its way into ears. Highwind goes more uncontrollable as it twirls more and more. Cloud feels he is thrown from his feet, and he reflexively tries to catch something, but he finds none as he is suddenly thrown again ruthlessly to another side, against the starboard wall. He screams as he feels pain on his back and elbow and jarring pain, still under the control of massive G-force. At a glance he looks at his friends and finds they are not much different than him, thrown everywhere like pieces, yet still trying to get steady hold on themselves against the crazed twist of Highwind. Pain and curses shouting appear from everyone's mouth, indicating the hard struggle they do to overcome this nasty situation. Cloud even feels his head is going to explode when sudden shock on Highwind forces him to let his grip again. His hands involuntarily let go of the railing, and he is thrown again to the floor, ramming Red XIII who is also rolling down on floor.

"Cid !! For &#^%'s sake, do something, ya old man !!", Barret shouts at the main person of Highwind, in middle of wild twist. Just after he shouted, the big man is suddenly thrown down forcefully from his spot.

"We must &@^%$ get away !!". Cid curses on his way to reach Highwind control. He knows he can do it, and he MUST do it. Finally, with his mighty struggle after thrown cruelly several times, he reaches the control and pulls a throttle. Gradually, Highwind becomes controllable and finally goes into steady state after several decreasing twists and spins. When he knows he made it, Cid closes his eyes to swipe his remaining rush and lets out a faint sigh.

"So…how's everyone ?", Cloud asks while letting out a relieved sigh from his mouth. Cid takes a deep breath, a sign that he is trying to calm himself after the hard time. "I don't know", the old pilot replies, rather ignoring Cloud, "but that &@*#^ cursed thing is not chasing us anymore !". Cloud then looks at the rest of the team and finds how they manage their breath after such heart-pacing action. Some of them are trying to stand from the floor, while others are on their way to gather up again.

Seems everyone's okay...he thinks, reassured.

"Phewww…I think we're over now. It's surprising that we're still in pieces here", Aeris exclaims out of blue, she looks pale, but her emerald green eyes clearly depict a relieved look. While the others have experienced this shock before, that was when they were in North Crater, this is the first time for Aeris and Vic. Cloud touches her shoulder gently and looks at her with concerned look. "Are you okay ?", he asks with caring tone. Aeris only nods her head as reply. She manages herself to smile back at him.

"But wait…we've got a problem here", Cid quickly announces another bad news. His face then looks hard and very serious as he studies the status of the plane through his monitor. "What a &@^(*& !!! There is a damage on main engine !! Man ! We must be careful not to meet that thing again, otherwise, we'll be @&^$$ screwed up here !". Cid's words make his friends look at each other. His announcement was definitely a news they do not want to hear right now. "So…?", Red XIII inquiries the next action.

"Don't worry, guys", Cid replies. "It's not like what you think. This Highwind is prepared well. Although we got trouble on the main engine, an emergency engine is already set, but we can't stay like this forever. We've got to repair the damage as soon as possible, meanwhile we have to do something to that @&^)* creature ! Now, where are we going ?". Cid's question makes them to think their next step, now they must consider carefully since they have lost track of their target.

"We tailed it before, so we could predict where it headed", Vincent speaks his thought, giving bright opinion to the others. Red XIII responds to him, "That's quite reasonable, now who can tell where is it ?".

"Let's try Ancient City". Suddenly a female voice answers. Everyone now looks at the voice direction, Aeris. With calm tone, she continues, "When I and Vic met him at first time, I had impression that Dark Ancients kept a deep hatred to Cetra…and Cloud, do you remember what he said when Dark High appeared from Mideel lake ? He said he, and with that creature needed to destroy Cetra's source. Since it happened, I started to think where that Cetra source is, until I finally find out something related to my past…when I was alive once…". Aeris pauses for a moment to fill her lungs with new air. She continues her explanation with more serious tone, "Remember that I was told to pray at Ancient City ? I didn't know why must I pray there, but I was left without option, so I just did it. Then, I recall when I prayed for Holy…I remember now that I felt a strange, unseen energy there…I couldn't see it, but I felt it. Maybe that's why I was told to pray there, to unleash the energy wrapped it, so Holy could come, and that energy…maybe it is what Serras is looking for !".

"So you're trying to say that Ancient Capital is Cetra's power source ?", Red XIII tries to conclude her words. Aeris turns her face to Red and nods her head. The intelligent beast then sits and closes his eyes for a while. "That's possible", he finally concludes his thought. Suddenly, Cid adds, "It could be damn right ! After I read our position, we were on the way toward Ancient City when we chased that f(-@$$ creature ! No, it can't be wrong ! I agree with Aeris ! However we can't reach there as soon as possible since we're relying on emergency engine now".

"So be it ! We're heading to Ancient City again !", Cloud concludes their next destination. He then spreads his look to his comrades, waiting for any comment, but no one seems to have doubt on Aeris since everyone nods their heads as agreement.

………………..

Cloud is watching the night sky from Highwind deck while enjoying the night ride on Highwind. His mind is wandering away, abandoning the night that engulfs Highwind on their way to Ancient City.

He folds his arms when he reaches the word 'Ancient', triggering a name of the Cetra flower girl in his brain. Slowly, he pulls out Aeris' gift from his pocket and opens it. For a while, his mind is focused on the pocket watch and beautiful music comes from it. His face goes softer, he recalls how he went very uneasy this morning when he found her letter, waving him a farewell. He felt the world was stopped to round again, as if he would lose her again. Eventually, Cloud picks up his Ultima sword necklace, Tifa's gift, and places it on his right palm, next to Aeris' pocket watch on his left palm. His eyes go back and forth between those two mementos. It's not only his eyes which roll left and right, he must admit his heart does too. From something that he buries deeply inside his heart, now it gradually shows up to the surface, a feeling that he keeps since their first adventure. However, as much as he wants to suppress it, that strange feeling still resides in his heart.

"You must be thinking about those girls". A cold voice appears from behind, and then a figure shows up, approaching him. Cloud quickly puts the watch to his pocket and puts again his necklace. "I hate to say this, but you're very sharp with your words, Vincent", Cloud blurts out.

"I already told you about them, it won't be easy for you even you're engaged now", Vincent responds calmly, yet still in cold tone. "Still like to stand here, huh ? You really never changed", he opens another conversation,  "Never mind it. Cloud, I have something to discuss with you, it's about…her new friend…".

Cloud narrows his eyes to hear what Vincent is going to talk about. "Why ?", he asks Vincent with curiosity paints his tone .

"He's so mysterious…he's hiding something…he really wants to hide it from everyone", Vincent replies. Not waiting for Cloud's response, he continues, "Aeris said he was Cetra too, but if I recall what Aeris told about Incarnation Day, I started to doubt Vic as Cetra. This might sounds superstitious, but if Incarnation Day was right, it means Aeris is the last Cetra, while there is Vic, who tells himself a Cetra too…". Vincent stops for a while and looks at Cloud with meaningful yet cold look. With his head, Cloud tells Vincent to continue. "You must think about this, Cloud, we didn't know about this matter before until Vic came, and then it started until we're here now…This is weird…too many coincidences here…". His cold tone trails off at the end. Cloud turns his face to the night sky and finally gives comment, "Yeah, I agree with you too, but as long as he means no harm to us, let's just do things normally". Vincent nods and says, "Whatever, but be careful. Like I said, too many coincidences here".

"Hi, Cloud, Vincent, you two are getting closer…". A cheerful voice comes from behind. Quickly Cloud and Vincent spin their body and their eyes meet Aeris' figure is standing in front of him, smiling at them. "Oh, hi, Aeris…", Cloud greets her groggily while scratching his head to hide his feeling, meanwhile Vincent just says nothing but to move away from Cloud. "You two, enjoy your time…", he waves them goodbye words and walks toward inside. At a moment, Cloud wants to protest him, and Aeris is about to hold Vincent too, but Vincent is already moving his legs, leaving Cloud and Aeris together.

Now there are only Cloud and Aeris on the deck. Aeris stands next to Cloud and watches the night sky silently along with night wind plays her honey brown hair. Cloud just does the same thing as she does. However, they only keep silent to each other, having no idea after everything happened between them, especially after those uneasy things.

Aeris hangs her head down for a while, but remains silent. She does not know what to do or what to say. Last time she was standing with him in this same place was when they were about to fight Sephiroth for the second time (Author : pls read Lasting For An Eternity). She recalls she was very happy to be with him at that time because she hadn't known what happened between Cloud and Tifa. Now, everything is different, very different. One side she feels a guilty feeling toward Tifa, her best friend, while at other side she is happy to have her moment with him again.

"I'm glad you're safe…", Cloud finally starts to open conversation, while not letting his eyes go from starry night. A clear nervous tone on his voice signs how he feels right now. After he spoke, silence fills the air between them two again, but this time is different for Aeris. She keeps quiet because she never has thought Cloud will say such comforting words. Her heart feels much better to know that he did not ignore her after all. Maybe it is a small thing, but it is enough to ease her heart because Cloud really meant his words, and it makes her smile to the sky.

"I thought I'd never see you again when I found your letter…", Cloud continues with low voice. He lifts up his head, still gazing to the sky. He does not have any idea why he said the last words, but he just cannot hold it from his heart. Somehow he wants to tell her. The reason, he does not really know. Heart matter is definitely not his area. 

Aeris, upon knowing Cloud's words, cannot believe what she heard at first, but soon she finds it is real. She smiles again to greet the gentle night wind on her visage and hair, wrapping her heart with sudden joy. With her eye tip, she takes a peek at the ex-SOLDIER, noticing that he still stares at the sky solemnly.

"Aeris…?", Cloud inquiries her with concerned voice since she does not response him at all. He turns his face to her and finds beautiful emerald green eyes stare at him, with rosy lips form an upward curve on her face. Aeris puts her finger on Cloud's lip and says, "Hush, Cloud…I'm all right…". Her voice is so soft, so comforting, making Cloud unable to say anything. Cloud's Mako-blue eyes stare at her blushing with puzzled look.

Aeris' smile goes broader, she then whispers, "I also thought I'd never meet you again….". Cloud leans his face to listen her words because he cannot hear it clearly. "What did you say ?", he asks. Aeris giggles a little and pushes him away with gentle motion and replies, "Nothing…". Cloud only shrugs his shoulder, but knowing she finally smiles makes him feel comfortable. "Whatever", he says, and then turns back to the night sky.

Aeris lifts her face to meet the sky again. She smiles again, not only on her face, but also inside her heart. She knows she cannot have him since he will be marrying her best friend. Sure it is still something that hurts her heart, but knowing this might be her last chance to have her moment with him, she wants to savor this moment. They do not talk a lot, but it is enough for her, as she knows he still cares about her although she does not know what his reason is. Still, she cannot bear to let him go.

Meanwhile, inside Highwind, unnoticed by the others, a shadow of male figure leans on the wall, watching the couple on the deck.

So they still love each other…no…he still loves her…..With the conclusion, the figure fixes his sunglass position and leaves his spot.

AUTHOR'S POST-CHAPTER NOTE :

Heh…finally Cloud can treat Aeris nicely since their last meeting ! But could he ? ^_^. And what about Vic who keeps eye on them ? In next chapter, I'll open Vic's cover.

Gee…this fanfic is the longest one I've ever written. I hope I still could serve you better, mainly CloRis/CloTif fans out there ! ^_^

Still, any R&R would be appreciated.