8. So... uh... now what?!
Shera was still asleep, and Cid didn't want to wake her. The sun was rising outside the window and their time together was over. Now Cid had to leave for the Northern Crater... for Sephiroth... He got up and silently dressed, not looking at Shera once in fear that he'd chicken out and crawl back under the covers and just hold her close until Cloud and the others cleaned things up, or... until the world ended.
Either way; he'd never forgive himself, and Cid knew that. Now he had even more reason to fight for the planet then before... Shera...
Halting in the door, Cid couldn't help himself and cast a final glance at the sleeping figure. Dear Planet, she was beautiful. Her hair was ruffled, her skin amazingly and so perfectly pale, her eyes still bore traces from the tears she'd shed in the night when he'd held her close and whispered reassurances and Cid's heart ached. He didn't want to leave...
The pilot closed his eyes, turned around and shut the door behind him, refusing to think of how that might have been the last time he'd seen her. No, he'd promised to return to her.
Cid drew a deep breath as he exited his house into the cool morning air, straightening his back as he lit up a cigarette. He had more to loose now then before, but he also felt so much more stronger. Cid smiled weakly as he set course for the Highwind. Yeah... he felt good. Scared shitless, but good!
Cid forced himself to hum a tune as he strolled towards the Highwind, giving Barret a slight wave as he saw him on deck. He wasn't surprised. Cid knew everybody would appear, 'cause everybody had something to fight for. The pilot cut a face, maybe that brat-ninja and Rufus ShinRa would be a no-show. No, ShinRa would appear only to make sure no one could call him a coward!
Cid easily climbed up the rope-ladder to the airship and landed firmly on the deck, placing his hands on his hips. "I guess we're set to go then?"
Everyone gazed at each other, fear thick in the air; but determination even more prominent.
"The Northern Crater it is," Cloud declared calmly, and Cid nodded.
Only when he entered, he found the entire crew of Highwind ready to go. "I told you to go home, you morons!" Cid raged, knowing they'd only get themselves killed in some incredibly stupid way.
"I'm sorry, Captain," the forman said, saluting Cid, "but we want to fight too! We have families and homes to protect as well!"
Cid huffed and puffed, but saw the calmness in his crews' eyes. For once, they seemed like grown, responsible men ready to fight to the end.
"It's our planet too, Captain," a crew-member dared to say, and another nodded, "we're in this together, sir!"
Cid rubbed his neck, reluctant to risk their lives as well as his own, but then realised they'd already reached their decision. "Very well, but you're staying on the ship! No discussion!"
The crew nodded eagerly and ran off in all direction to make ready for departure.
Cloud smiled weakly to Cid, "guess they're not half bad, after all?"
Cid snorted and lit up yet another cigarette, "they're hopeless!" He then exhaled a grey smoke-cloud thoughtfully, "but... they're damn brave; I'll give'em that!"
The pilot then walked over to make the final preparations with the forman, getting ready to fly them into the situation that would either kill them and be the end of everything, or result in Sephiroths death and tomorrow would actually arrive the next day. The great airship roared to life, and Cid walked over to gaze out over the horizon, not surprised to see the sun rising beneath the blood red meteor; almost as if the planet was saluting them herself.
"Don't ya worry, old girl, we'll get'im..." Cid murmured, trying to convince himself, as much as the planet that probably couldn't hear him.
Earlier, Cid Highwind would have laughed so scornfully that nobody would have dared mentioned it again if anyone had suggested that the planet they lived on had a conscious mind; capable of responding and feeling pain, but now Cid wasn't too sure. He'd seen too much. Aeris...
The pilot closed his eyes briefly, knowing she was with them, but still felt so saddened by the loss of the young girl.
Cid wasn't a man who cared easily for others, ask Shera, but Aeris had made such an impression on them all... Blue eyes opened with cold determination; Sephiroth would pay for her death! His life for hers! Cid glanced over to see Yuffy test the sharpness of her weapon and decided to make a final check on the Venus Gospel and go over his Materia, just to have something to do besides staring at the horizon...
By each meter the Highwind sank into the Northern Crater, darkness grew thicker and the scent of fear grew stronger, and Cid unknowingly clutched the Venus Gospel tighter. They were going to live through this! They were going to win! He knew that!
Cid glanced around, and found the others as pale as he probably was, but also knew that they too would never dream of backing out now. It was too late to turn back. "Alright, throw out the ladder, it's too unstable to set her down here!" Cid commanded, and the crew milled around to carry out his orders.
Gazing around at the others, Cid numbly watched their pale faces, wondering which ones would walk out this alive. It was so very possible that the ones that he was now gazing at would die. Hell, it was equally possible that he himself would kick the bucket!
Still they calmly felt the rocks beneath their feet as they made their way into the crater.
Absently lighting up a cigarette, Cid listened with half an ear to Cloud telling who was taking what direction as they'd reached a crossroad, and barely reacted to his name being linked up with Red and Barret. The monsters were so much stronger here! Cid already felt his shoulder painfully sore after a dragon had set it's fangs in it, but he knew Red and Barret were skilled fighters and felt a weak sense of relief of knowing his back was at least covered; now he only had to worry if he could cover theirs...
The others said their 'good luck's and 'be careful's and soon Cid lead the other two into a dark and narrow tunnel, trying to ignore the claustrophobic feeling tightening in his chest. Cid Highwind needed the wide open sky over his head, not moist, dark mountain. The usually so talkative Barret was eerily quiet, and Red's claws against the ground were the only sound as they made their progress...
Monster upon monster appeared, and Cid put the finishing touch on a dragon that had ambushed them, panting heavily as he watched the beast fall to the ground with a thundering thud.
"This better not keep up or I dunnow how this final fight thing's gonna work out..." Barret admitted as he wiped the sweat off his brow,
and Cid leaned heavily on the Venus Gospel as he let Red throw an ether over him, "there's nothing to know; we're gonna kick Sephiroths lilly ass!"
The pilot felt his shoulder starting to throb again, silently praying it wasn't infected as dragon bites usually got.
"We'd better get going, " Cid then muttered, and continued into the dark tunnel, "we don't want Cloud and the others to start without us do we?"
Red had an expression reminding of a smile as he glanced up at Cid, "you seem more determined to win this fight then ever, Cid, any particular reason?"
Shera.
Cid cleared his throat, glancing drily down at the giant cat, "no. Jes'eager to get home, that's all."
Barret chuckled, "ya seemed damn cheerful commin' outta yer house this mornin'!" The huge man gave Cid a light shove, "and ya seem thoughtful all the time!"
The pilot glared irritated at them as he regained his balance, "can't a man take a little time to think about things without getting hassled'bout it?!"
Cid corrected his jacked with tense movements, well aware of the grins exchanged between Barret and Red behind his back.
It's strange what kind of thoughts that goes through your head when you're about to die... Cid had felt Sephiroths attack tear up his left side, and was now light-headed from the heavy blood loss that he tried to hold back in vain by clutching the gashing wound. He supported himself heavily on the Venus Gospel, cursing himself to get a grip! Only his feet wouldn't obey him!
The pilot had gotten in several good hits on the monster known as Sephiroth and had clearly been a threat to receive such attention that Sephiroths attack went only on him. At least Cid had given Cloud a window of opportunity as the monster turned it's back on him to deal with the pilot, but a twinge of despair shot through him. He couldn't die just yet!
His vision was starting to blur as he managed to gaze over, and Cid saw Tifa rush over to help Cloud, while Barret seemed to struggle with injuries of his own. Yuffie still hadn't gotten up from the attack Sephiroth had blasted towards the young girl and Cid had sworn that he'd make him pay for that!
The pilot tried to get up, but insane pain shot through him and he sank down on his knee again. Dammit... Cid had used his final ether and the restore materia was dark and useless without it. Just as he was about to try and get up again a voice cut through the haze;
"can you make it over to Barret...?" Rufus ShinRa.
Cid had almost forgotten about him. He managed to focus and glance over at Barret, who appeared to be in trouble as well. Blood was pumping from a bad cut in his thigh, and the pilot recognized it as arterial spray; knowing it was no time to loose.
Cid nodded and pulled himself up by using the Venus Gospel, but let Rufus support him as they moved over to Barret.
"Alright," Rufus mumbled, letting Cid support himself and pulled forward his Restore Materia, "Cure3-All!"
The glow of magic surrounded them, and Cid gritted his teeth to keep from groaning as the wound burned while closing. His shoulder had obviously gotten infected from the dragon-bite and threw in a little extra pain as well. But at least did the pain wash away the numbness and shook him back to reality as he heard Red howl with pain.
"Come on," Rufus urged, "we gotta help them!"
Cid forced himself to straighten, "so what'cha waiting for?"
He jerked Barret to his feet and quickly followed the young ShinRa, who loaded his shotgun as he ran. Rufus halted abruptly and yelled for Tifa and Cloud to get out of the way and sent of a shot. Bullets hammered into Sephiroth, who screamed in fury and threw a Comet2 that barely missed, sending Rufus slamming to the ground, but only opened for an attack from Cid.
Sliding under the deadly magic, Cid jammed his Venus Gospel into the creature, and grinned satisfied at the pained scream. "Didn't like that, huh?! Too %#$& bad!" He got in a couple more hits before he was thrown away, but saw Barret and Cloud launching their attack and was soon followed by the others.
Getting up, Cid coughed painfully before he trotted back. Sephiroth had to do better then that if he intended to clip the wings of Cid Highwind! He was tired beyond belief and ached in places he didn't know, while he'd almost lost the sensation in the places he did know!
Still, Cid would not lie down and die before he'd sent Sephiroth off first! For Aeris, for Shera, for the planet and every life Sephiroth had ever poisoned! As the monster was slowly forced backwards, Cid picked up his PHS and mumbled a few words into it, before he called out for everyone to back off.
"Alright," Cid lit up a cigarette at lightning speed, eyeing the wounded Sephiroth carefully as he confirmed the order into the PHS; "alright, Highwind! Attack!"
The others managed to send him a couple of confused glances, not knowing of the little surprise Cid and Shera had spent days installing.
The new rocket system should be able to manoeuvrer the deadly missiles straight towards their mortal enemy despite the narrow tunnels! No sooner had Sephiroth roared in his wounded fury did the first rocket fly over their head and ram into the monster. The first explosion wasn't even finished before a second missile hit, then a third, and a forth and for a while they came too close for them to be able to count. Cid had taken no chances!
The loud explosions and raging fires made the group back away a few steps, but Cid watched the inferno closely. He'd seem too much to take it for granted that anything would work against Sephiroth, but his shoulders sank slightly with relief as the smoke cleared slightly after the final rocket and Sephiroth sank slowly towards the ground with a shriek.
Nobody said a word as the monster was torn to pieces and howled in agonized pain. It was over. The final battle was over. It had cost them dearly, even the life of a friend, but it was finally over.
Too beat up and deadly tired to celebrate it was still clear; they'd won. Suddenly Cloud took a step forward; "Holy should work now..."
His voice echoed in the silence, then everything began shaking.
"Shii-iit! Back to the Highwind!" Cid declared and made a run for it.
"Come on!" Barret declared and followed the pilot.
Cid screamed in the PHS for the crew to get ready and start her up, "be ready to haul ass! Something tells me this place isn't gonna be here much longer!"
Shera had woken up alone, but wasn't surprised. Saying goodbye would have been even more horrible... Dear Planet, she could still feel him near. Still taste his kisses. The feeling of her tears on his skin. Tears that once again flooded her eyes as she gazed out the window. Shera absolutely refused to wonder what she would do if he died. That was a possibility that did not exist. He could not die. Cid had promised to return to her, and he always held his promises!
She drew a sobbing breath as her eyes moved up to Meteor, and a heart-felt hate against Sephiroth seethed through her. Shera never thought it was possible to hate someone as much as she hated Sephiroth right now. And helplessness tore at her. All she could do was wait. Wait and pray.
Shera wrapped her arms around herself and returned to Cid's bed and crawled under the sheets again, drawing in the scent of him.
The strangest part was how in the middle of all this worrying, Shera knew Sephiroth would meed his demise this day. She had no doubt that Cid and the others would win. But victory always came with a price. You never got anything for free, and victory usually came with the highest price of them all. What would be the cost of them saving the world?
Closing her eyes, Shera inhaled the weak scent of his cool aftershave and swallowed back the tears again. There was no use in crying. Whatever would happen, would happen. There was still nothing she could do but wait... Wait until it killed her.
Shera curled up and remembered that first days she'd seen him. She'd fallen in love with him the second she saw him, and would be until her heart stopped beating. Cid Highwind was no easy man to be around, but it was worth it! Dear Planet, it was worth it! They who did not understand had never seen him smile, had never felt him caress their face or heard him laugh. They had never shared his triumph, and never truly gazed into those blue eyes.
Those amazingly blue eyes.
Shera heard a low thundering and she knew the battle was over. The ground started to shake, and fear jabbed through Shera. She closed her eyes hard and clutched his pillow hard, refusing to look out the window. She didn't want to see. Didn't want to know! Shera wanted to stay like this until Cid walked into the room and told her what had happened himself! The room lit up with a green light as the Lifestream passed the window and Shera shut her eyes tighter.
- Come home to me, Cid! You promised! You promised, dammit!
Epilog;
It had been late that evening when the door had finally opened. Shera stared wide-eyed at the man in the door-way, just waiting for him to speak. Waiting for the bad news. Absently rinsing her tea cup in the sink, Shera stared at the running water as she remembered hearing her own frantic heartbeats. She'd been so afraid, and his serious expression made tears well up in her eyes. Something had gone wrong!
Slowly walking over to sit heavily beside her, Cid then removed his flight-goggles and drew his hands through his blonde hair and told her the price of victory. Sephiroth was gone. The planet was safe. They were heros, and two of them would never see the sky without Meteor again.
Shera's heart ached, both with the pain full feeling of loss and with empathy for Cid's pain. That night, Shera merely held him close, and Cid let her.
For once did the great pilot allow himself to be comforted. He was relived and happy at defeating Sephiroth and Meteor, but the fight had taken it's toll on him and the loss of their friends left him depressed.
Shera was helpless as she watched him wander from the Highwind to the Tiny Bronco, lost in his thoughts. She knew he blamed himself.
The others had mainly returned to their lives, and so it would seem they had too. Cid didn't yell at her as much, but his distance hurt a lot more!
Shera realised eventually that she just had to settle for how things were. She would never push him, and merely considered herself lucky to have experienced what she had with him. Shera would love him until the day she died, and would never leave.
Days had gone by, and their lives had fallen into a sleepy routine. That was why she was surprised the evening Cid asked her to join him when he was finishing up on some repairs on the Highwind.
Changing into her working suit, tied her hair into a tight pony tail and pushed her glasses up on her nose, Shera obediently climbed up the ladder to the great airship. Once up on deck, she glanced around and frowned puzzled at the lack of crew. "Cid?" Shera slowly walked down the stairs, uneasy at the silence. Something was wrong...
"Cid, are you here?" She tried again, a little louder, as she set course for the control room. "Where is everyone...?"
Her question died as the doors opened and she took one step into the control room. Dozens of candles were lit, and shadows danced over the walls as stars high up in the heaven shone in from the big window. Shera forgot how to breathe. Merely stared.
"Too much, huh?" A voice suddenly said beside her, and Cid nervously walked over, "I told him it was too much!"
He had no shred of dignity left after he'd been forced to turn to Cloud for some... er, advice on how to romance a woman. Cid Highwind had never had to turn to romance ever before! His friendships with ladies usually came from him being drunk, or him yelling at them. He wasn't too sure what they found... nice.
Shera drew a sobbing breath, "no, Cid... it's beautiful!"
Cid shifted awkwardly, endlessly relived, "bah, took me long enough to light them!" He then cleared his throat, insanely nervous, "listen... Shera... I want to..."
The pilot rubbed his neck, and Shera glanced over at him as her heart began to thunder madly. "Yes, Cid?"
The carefully planned speach fell straight out of his head and Cid did what he always did when things went wrong and he panicked; he winged it! Grasping the little box in his pocket, he abruptly held it out to her, "marry me, why don't ya?"
Holding his breath as Shera's eyes widened and she took the box with trembling hands. Opening it, she gazed down at what had to be the worlds most beautiful ring. He wanted to marry her. Cid Highwind asked her to marry him. The Captain wanted her as his wife. The man of her dreams were proposing to her!
And said person was now staring at her, "well?! %#$£ answer then!"
Laughing out loud as tears began to run down her cheeks, Shera rushed over to him and hugged him with all her might, "yes, Cid! Yes, yes, yes!"
Choking with surprise at the attack and trembling with relief, Cid managed to pry himself loose to do the official act of placing the ring on her finger, then smiled slightly to her, "thought I had forgotten, didn't you?"
Shera was trembling beyond her control with happiness, "n-no, I didn't think you'd forgotten it... But we all say things we don't m-mean when we're in dangerous situations..."
She quickly stole a kiss, then waved her hand so he could see the ring, "it's amazing! Thank you!"
Cid lead her over to the blanket that had been laid out by the big window, and they sat down to gaze up at the stars in the black night. Surrounded by candle light, they were mesmerized at the beauty of the universe, safe from Meteor and Sephiroth and with a future beckoning them with promises of happiness. Cid glanced over at the woman by his side, studying her face as the candle light played over her skin and her eyes twinkled with stars. "I love you," he stated softly, and Shera met his warm gaze with eyes equally soft as she leaned in for an achingly tender kiss,
"and I've always loved you, Cid Highwind."
The end...
And what about Vincent, you ask? His fate will be revealed in the next fic; Unforgivable Sinner! (comming to a site near you!)
R & R, people!
A huge thank you to Wolfwood11 for praise and guidance! This one is for you!