I sat down hard in the chair ignoring the metal above me. I reached into my inner pocket and pulled out my kit. Tools of the trade, tools of a pneumonic carrier. I slid in a mouthpiece, handing off the rest of the kit to the Wizard. It was a harsh plastic thing melded to fit my teeth. It was always good to have something to bite down on when that first rush of data hit your head. It was like an exploding hammer cracking across your skull. Harsh but at the same time full of color and light, almost beautiful.
"You watch her, I got the door" Tin Man said to Lion pulling out his long gleaming shotgun.
Tin Man was leaning hard against the door his cyber body far heavier then any others in the room. He was calmly loading shells into his gun, a serene look on his face. Lion was standing beside Dorothy, keeping her breathing passage open as she coughed more blue liquid from her lips. My hand clenched around the arm of my chair, my teeth gritting against the plastic in my mouth.
All of this was for her. Her and the million other peoples that had Azure Plague.
I found myself looking up into the Wizards sparkling eyes as she slid the helmet down over my head. The metal covered my eyes blocking out the image of Dorothy lying on the table. I could hear gunshots, and sparks in the background. The televisions and the broadcasting equipment were starting up. Soon the contents of my brain would be spread over every airwave in the world.
"Rinoa, I love you" I heard Lion call, and the sound of another gunshot. Tin Man cursing, the door scraping against the door.
The Wizard opened the panel on the side of my neck revealing my datajack. It was tiny thing linked directly to the cyberwear in my brain. A hole right through my head, the metal moving slightly as I swallowed hard.
The Cyber Emerald was placed in my hands. The cool metallic surface seems to writhe and move against my skin. I had held it before, but never in its full form. It seemed so alive, so in tune with the knowledge it contained inside. It was almost as if it wanted to give it to us.
"Squall" it was Rinoa's voice. Different changed, hurting in pain. I couldn't see it but I got the feeling she had been shot. I could hear Lion weeping.
The Cyber Emerald was open, the wires being controlled by someone. Most likely the wizard, I could imagine her tiny fingers working over the facets, and the metal connectors. Plugging them into my neck, connecting them to the broadcasting system. My brain was tingling with the sensation of the small pulse running through the Cyber Emerald.
It seemed to whisper to me, wanting me to use the information. Wanting me to save them all.
"Ready?" the Wizard, asked softly. I nodded curtly inside the metal headgear.
The Wizard hit me then, my brain suddenly flashing to life. All I could see was color and light and darkness. All of it surrounding me, eating me alive. I saw DNA strands and coding. I saw chemicals and cure.
It was all there in my head. It was pain, and it was life for so many.
There was too much information.
Glittering pinks and blue, strands of color and light stabbing my eyes. Strands of data linking like a glistening spider web. Compiling, forming. The cure. My teeth were digging into the plastic my tongue cleaved hard to the room of my mouth.
Too much sound.
My hands gripping on the metal chair. The only link to that world. The cold harsh metal digging into my skin. One thing holding me back from Oblivion.
Too much noise screaming through my head.
Then in a flash all I know was white. White pure white like an angel's wing. Her wings surrounding me, pulling me away from all the noise and all the light. Carrying me away to a warm place, my mother's arms.
The cold wet grass on my tiny feet. Running through the meadow. The sky crystal blue matching the sea. Seeing as far as I could across the horizon, the two melting together to make one.
My mother holding me, singing to me softly. Telling me stories at night, keeping the nightmares away.
Mother dying,
Orphanage.
Other children.
A little blond girl.
A beautiful blond woman in my arms. Loving me, needing me.
Dying.
Blue liquid clouding her lung, her eyes. Her life. Our live together. Only one way out. Had to do it for her.
My love.
Quistis.
A shudder ran deep through my body, starting at the depth of my soul. It made me shake all over, making my teeth clatter. I could hear voices, muffled and just beyond my grasp.
Someone was touching my face, running his or her fingers through my hair. My eyes opened slowly, and I blinked them against the warm white light over my head. It was a hospital light, round and glowing imbedded in the white ceiling overhead.
"He's awake" someone called. Voice, I had a voice. It dawned on me like a stupid realization. One of those things that haunt you till you suddenly wake up and remember it at 3am.
"Quistis" I croaked my voice sore from under use. I blinked my eyes some more trying to clear my cloudy vision. I moved my hand, my fingers twitching slightly. I brought it to my face rubbing against my eyes.
When I opened my eyes she was there again looking down at me. The light behind her head illuminated her blond hair like a halo crowning her head.
I loved her.
"Seifer?" she said softly, touching my cheek. I blinked again trying to get grasp of reality. Then it hit me.
I remembered.
It was all there swimming around inside my head. The plastic was gone, the datajack removed from my neck. It was bandaged and still a bit sore. My head was pounding slightly, but I couldn't help but smile at her.
I stared up into her crystal blue eyes. They were no longer clouded by the Azure plague. She was cured, the cure had worked. I had saved millions of lives.
Her eyes entranced me. They reminded me of the ocean in my childhood memories. They reminded me of the first time I looked into them and realized I was in love.
"I love you" I whispered.
"Oh Seifer" she said tears springing in her beautiful blue eyes that I loved so mush. She leaned forward and kissed me, her passion for love and life sweeping me up. I touched her hair and kissed her back, the world seeming to fall in place around me.
This was where I belonged. I remembered her telling me so long ago, that home was where ever we were together. So long ago when we first left SeeD. Now, I was finally at home.
Here with my love.
I opened my eyes and grinned up at her happily. She was so beautiful looking down at me with those joyful tears rolling down her face. I loved her so much, and I think a part of me knew it all along.
"There's no place like home," I said softly bringing her down to kiss me again.
I have to thank for this fic being finished it Jacks. She was my insperation for the whole thing.
Much thanks to everyone else who has read this, and kept reading it for all this time.
This will be the only AU I ever do, so I hope that you all enjoyed it.