Author's Note:
Reno: Woo! Same day, and another chapter!
Reeve: I know! Tyramir is truly amazing!
Reno: We're only saying this because he's controlling us!
Reeve: Indeed!
Reno: I hate all this enthusiasm!
Reeve: Me too!
Reno: I feel like a puppet with Tyramir's hand up my -- !
Reeve: This is a PG-13 story!
Reno: Oh yeah!
Reeve: Tyramir doesn't own the rights to Final Fantasy!
Chapter Two
Aftermath
Slowly, ever so slowly, the sun peeked upon the horizon, bathing green hills in warm light. Just a few days ago, these hills had been dead, barren of life, but now they flourished with newfound vitality, a new energy to them that hadn'y existed since before the days of Shinra. This morning promised a new life, a new beginning. From here on in, this was a new era, one where man could look at his previous mistakes and never make them again.
Aeris smiled to herself as she watched the sun come up. It was a nice thought. Maybe entirely unfounded, but nice all the same. She really hoped that everything would be all right. But somewhere inside of her was the gnawing fear that it wouldn't.
The smile remained on her face, though. She had more than she could hope for. A new chance at life, despite her sacrifice to save the Planet. Odd how things had worked out. But in the end, Cloud had remained her faithful bodyguard until the end, ensuring that she could keep her second chance.
A brush of sadness touched her at that. The memory of Sephiroth, newly reborn alongside her, fighting Jenova, and falling in battle came to her. The white-haired warrior would never truly be equalled, only rivalled. Sacrificing himself for the world, he wouldn't get the same chance at life that she had. All he would ever have was a life ruined by Jenova, and when he finally atoned for that, he paid for it with his life.
"I think he prefered it this way."
Aeris whirled about at the voice, surprised that someone had snuck up on her so completely, disguising their presence so much that not even her Cetra intuition had warned her of an alien presence. From out of the shadows of one of the outer houses of Kalm stepped the form of the caped Vincent Valentine. His red eyes gleamed brightly in the darkness, absorbing the light and making their own.
"Pardon?" she asked, bewildered at his appearance.
"Sephiroth. Cid. Take your pick. I think he prefered it this way. Which one were you thinking of?" His voice was so quiet, yet it carried the distance between them so she could hear it clearly. She shivered. Out of all of her companions, Vincent was the only one that she was really distant from, and for good reason. Cold and aloof, she had never felt the need to bond with him like she had with the rest of Avalanche.
"Sephiroth," she answered, feeling guilty for it. Everyone else was in mourning for Cid, the pilot who had given his life to kill Shin Bahamut, the summoned monster that not even a Weapon could defeat. Had, in fact, given his life to kill the very monster that was so intent on destroying her while she had been trapped in the shell of Obsidian Weapon. Instead, she was mourning for the very man who had killed her.
Vincent nodded, as if her response were the most natural thing in the world.
"Where's everyone else?" Aeris asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
The former Turk frowned, answering, "Still hung over from the party last night."
"You didn't drink with them?" she asked. "They're your comrades. Shouldn't you have celebrated with them?"
"They're yours as well, and yet here you are."
Her smile almost faded, and she was determined to hold onto it. But he had a point. Then she noticed his bearing, the way he looked at the horizon. "You're leaving, aren't you?"
His eyes met hers immediately, scrutinizing her. She almost felt like she was being disected with his gaze, examined, weighed, and judged. "Yes. We're done here. I need to mourn as well, and I don't feel comfortable to do so with the group. It doesn't feel right."
"We are your friends. We should mourn Cid together."
A smile touched his lips. "Cid was my friend, but he is not the only one I will miss. Just as you have your own private thoughts of Sephiroth, I have my own private thoughts as well." He began to move, walking towards the sunrise with a brisk stride.
"Lucrecia." The word came from her lips before she could stop it. She may not have known Vincent that well, but everyone in Avalanche knew of his private love, his obsession for a woman who did not return his feelings.
The former Turk stopped in mid-stride, then turned to look at her once more. A solemn look gazed down on her. "Yes. I mourn for Lucrecia, the woman who was responsible for most of my pain, and the suffering of so many others. I will go apart from you, and remember the woman who tried to kill me."
"We're--"
He cut her off short. "No. No, it would not be right. I will come back to you one day, but for now, I must remain apart. If I am needed, I will be at Lucrecia's waterfall. But keep that to yourself until I am actually needed."
Aeris nodded, and she felt a part of her go out to him. He may be cold and unfeeling on the outside, but she knew now that deep down, on the inside, he cared more than the rest of Avalanche combined. He just didn't want anyone else to see it. She bowed her head, and stated, "Until we meet again, Mr. Valentine."
"Until we meet again, Ms. Gainsborough."
She watched him go, then turned back to face Kalm, and called out, "You can come out now, Nanaki."
A snort issued forth, followed soon after by Red XIII. "An interesting exchange. Why did you let him go?"
"He needs to be alone. While I'm certain that he values us, I'm just as certain that he needs to face this alone. At least, from his perspective, he needs to face this by himself. I think he feels that we might resent him for feeling the loss of one of our enemies."
The cat-like creature nodded. "An understandable sentiment, but not the one I was referring to."
"Pardon?"
"He smelled wounded. He doesn't go to tend to injuries of the heart. He leaves to tend to wounds of the body, inflicted by Lucrecia. There is much that is feline in that one, and like most felines, he goes to find a place where he either heals, or dies."
"What?" Aeris asked, bewildered. "We have to stop him, get him some real attention. We--"
"Can do nothing now. He's gone. His scent is already fading from the wind. There is as much unnaturalness to him as there is feline. I couldn't even hope to track him."
"But, he's just..." she turned, hoping to point out Vincent on the plains, where anyone from miles away should be able to see him. But he was already gone. Disappeared, as if into the very earth itself.
"A remarkable human, Vincent is," Red XIII said.
Aeris nodded numbly, her voice filled with worry. "Yes. Remarkable." She wasn't sure what else to say. She only hoped that the next time she saw Vincent that he would still be alive.