Aeris watched the three figures disappear up the mountainside, not knowing quite what to feel. She owed her freedom to Sephiroth and that silver-haired girl, Minerva, whose decision to set her free would surely earn her severe punishment.
Those three, they were all prisoners in some way or another, though what was holding Talya, she did not know, and what could have the power to hold Minerva in check, she had no idea. She could not hate them for taking Sephiroth away. She could not be angry at Sephiroth for refusing to listen to her.
She could, however, feel guilty, because her carelessness had resulted in this mess.
When they were out of sight, Elena slumped to the ground, shaking her head in disbelief. "Gods," she muttered, "just like that, the great Sephiroth..."
Aeris sagged against Vincent. "He should have listened," she murmured, trying to voice her inner turmoil. "She wouldn't have killed me. She was uneasy... she..."
"It's all right," Vincent interrupted softly.
Aeris shook her head and turned to bury her face in his chest, feeling tears at her eyes and not wanting anyone to see. "I should have gone, not him. Who knows what Hojo's going to do to him...?"
The ex-Turk shifted uncertainly and said nothing.
"Funny," she went on as the thought occurred to her, "how I would trade in my life for the freedom of my killer..." She frowned. "But... I guess that was a different Sephiroth, wasn't it?"
"We will find him again," Vincent assured her, cautiously putting his good arm around her and holding her close.
Aeris held onto him more tightly, feeling a flood of worry, of shock, of some kind of betrayal. He had brought her back to life, and now she had brought an end to his freedom, just when he might have started using it for himself. What kind of gratitude was that?
She sighed heavily and forced herself to draw back from Vincent. "Well," she said, quickly wiping away tears she did not recall shedding. She looked around the place with a sense of a forgotten purpose, and her eyes landed on the waterfall. Of course; she had come because of Lucrecia.
"I guess I should do what I came to do," Aeris said slowly. And apologize, she added mentally, for what happened to Sephiroth.
"You mean... bring back Lucrecia?" Vincent asked, almost hopefully.
She nodded, managing a slight smile, and headed for the cave. Elena got to her feet and followed, and Vincent trailed after.
Once back inside the crystalline cave, Aeris returned to Lucrecia's body and knelt down beside it. Lucrecia, she called into the Lifestream.
Aeris, came the response soon enough, I'm glad you're all right.
I'm sorry. Sephiroth... he's...
I know, and you shouldn't apologize. It was his decision to make, and I'm certain you'll find a way to free him.
Aeris nodded. I won't leave him with Hojo.
You'll seek help from your friends, won't you? It took all of them to defeat Sephiroth; if Minerva is at all similar...
The Cetra faltered. I know, but... how many of them would be willing to help Sephiroth, of all people? Cloud certainly wouldn't, and without his support, the others wouldn't follow.
You have more power to convince them than you think, Lucrecia told her. Besides, they don't have to view it in the same light. To us, yes, this is about freeing Sephiroth. To them, though... it will be about killing Hojo for good... They will have to agree that Sephiroth in his possession is a dangerous thing.
Aeris was surprised to hear something like regret in her words. It hurts you to speak of killing him, doesn't it?
Yes, a little. But, I know he isn't the same man he once was. He's lost himself. Perhaps its best he returns to the Lifestream; it would cleanse him.
"Aeris?" came Elena's voice.
The Cetra looked up. "Yes?"
"Oh, um, are you... casting the spell yet?"
She shook her head. "No. Just talking first, about Sephiroth and how to rescue him." She hesitated. "I doubt you'd want to help, Elena, after what--"
"No," Elena interrupted, "I'll go. I've gotta kick Talya's ass for what she did to me. And... even though he..." She faltered and started over. "Sephiroth was going to try reviving Tseng, and I guess he wanted to help a lot of other people, so it's only right I try to help him out, right?"
Aeris smiled gratefully. "Thanks. That makes at least three of us, I suppose."
"If you go through with this, you will be in no condition to fight," Vincent stated.
Her smile faded and she looked down. "I guess that's true."
"It is probably best you stay as far from Hojo as possible," he added.
She nodded in reluctant agreement. "Let's just hope the others are willing to lend a hand. The two of you won't be able to do it on your own."
"Cloud will help if you ask it of him," Vincent said quietly.
"I know." She paused and looked back to Lucrecia. "Well, I ought to try my luck here so we can head back."
"We'll be quiet," the ex-Turk said with a pointed look at Elena.
"Right," the blond agreed.
Aeris smiled and then closed her eyes, taking up Lucrecia's hand again.
You're certain about this? Lucrecia asked.
Yes. I want to bring you back. Vincent needs you.
...then I thank you.
With those words, consciousness faded from Lucrecia's soul, allowing Aeris to embrace and guide it as Sephiroth had done for her. It was disorienting to be so completely responsible for another soul. Lucrecia's memories lay just under the surface, at Aeris's fingertips, and it was hard not to see them, to experience them as Lucrecia had.
She could feel those final moments, lying on the inn's bed, powerless to move, barely retaining the strength to breathe. Her eyes were fixed on the door, wanting it to open but not expecting it to. Regret filled her in place of air, so that she nearly felt that she was choking on it.
Vincent, why aren't you coming back? I wanted to tell you...
Aeris managed to pull herself away from that moment and shut her mind to the foreign memories that came to her so freely. She guided Lucrecia's soul back to her body and set to work with the binding spell, feeling her way through it blindly, recalling only a vague sense of how Sephiroth's weaves had felt upon her. It was hard to remember anything from that strange experience, but she sensed that she was managing.
Energy was pouring out of her like water over a cliff, all going to the patching and reviving of Lucrecia, and just when she thought that she had finished, that energy failed her and her thoughts went with it.
The room beyond did not surprise him. Like the rest of this place, it appeared sterile and almost featureless. The walls were the same matte silver, the floor the same almost-white, both devoid of any decoration. There was a bed in the room, simple, functional, with white sheets and a rough beige blanket atop them. A nearby stool was the only other piece of furniture. The room had no windows, no vents, nothing to mar its ceilings save a few panels of florescent lighting, and only this one door, open and waiting.
Sephiroth glanced at Minerva, who stood silently just to one side of it. She was certainly a mystery. He still did not really know who or what she was; she had called Talya 'mother,' but did that really mean anything? And how was she connected with him? Why was she, too, working for Hojo?
She nodded towards the room, feigning impatience though it was obvious she did not care what he did.
He took a step across the threshold, but then turned back to her. There was no one to hear them, no one to chide them for conversing, so he might as well say what he wanted.
"Thank you for letting Aeris go."
She shifted and looked off down the hall with a frown. "We said we would. I do not like going back on my word. Besides, Hojo will only send us after her, and now you cannot protect her."
"What control could he possibly have over you?"
Minerva looked back at him, but her blue-green eyes gave away nothing. "I should go. Talya will start to wonder."
"...will I be seeing you again?"
She shook her head to indicate that she did not know. "My room is next to yours," she told him, making a slight gesture, "so we will speak again at least."
Sephiroth nodded and turned into the room. The door closed behind him and a soft click followed. He stood motionless by the door for a long moment, listening for footsteps and hearing none. At length he sighed and sat down on the bed, staring at his feet. There was nothing for him to do here but think and rest, and he was not tired in the least.
Perhaps, he thought, he should have listened to Aeris. It seemed she had been right about Minerva after all. Could it really have been so simple as snatching her from Minerva's grasp? But no, the girl had now cut off his connection to the Masamune and his other skills; in this isolated state, he was no match for her. Had he tried to fight her there by the lake, she would have beaten him, and then taking the both of them back to Hojo would not have been a breach of contract.
Aeris had been right that Minerva would not kill her, but she had nevertheless underestimated the girl, or overestimated Sephiroth.
He wondered if they would simply leave him here. If Aeris had been taken, then the rescue would have come swiftly without hesitation. But who would care that he had been captured? Vincent, he knew, would attempt something, but he acted on Lucrecia's behalf, not for Sephiroth directly.
Would Aeris care? She had, after all, said that she wanted them to be friends again...
A knock on the door disturbed his thoughts, and he sat up as Talya entered, the door sliding shut behind her. She grinned uncertainly, as though bracing herself for something. "Hi," she greeted.
Sephiroth looked away without responding. He had nothing to say to her.
"Sorry about all this. No hard feelings, right?"
He shrugged. How could she even think something like that?
"I know you hate me," she sighed, sitting down on the stool in front of him, "especially for telling Minerva not to let Aeris go. But she didn't listen, so the Ancient's safe and sound after all. You don't have to worry about her." She paused, waiting for a reply and getting none. "The least you could do is say something."
He cast her a sidelong glance. "Don't tell me not to worry," he said sharply. "Hojo will want her, too, and you'll go soon enough."
"There'll be somebody to stop us, won't there?"
"Do you really think that Vincent alone can protect her?"
"No, I guess not," she admitted reluctantly.
A moment of silence fell between them.
"So who is her father?"
"Huh?"
"Minerva. She called you her mother. I thought perhaps you would know."
Talya shook her head. "Nah, Hojo never bothered to tell me."
Sephiroth regarded her critically. "All right," he said at length.
"For once you believe me!" she exclaimed, relief in her voice. "How come you can always tell when I'm lying?"
The swordsman nearly grinned in spite of himself. "If I told you, then I wouldn't be able to lie to you, now would I?"
"I dunno. It might be kinda nice if neither of us could lie to each other."
"You know that isn't going to happen," he stated.
"I know."
Another pause.
"How is Minerva... how is she cutting me off from my abilities?"
"You're asking the wrong person," Talya replied with a shake of her head. "All I know is she's gotta maintain the spell 24/7."
"Won't she tire of it?" he wondered.
"I don't think it's really that complicated. Anyway, I'm not sure I've ever seen her sleep."
Sephiroth frowned thoughtfully. He supposed he had only grown tired after reviving Aeris. Such a feat had taken a great deal of energy out of him. He was not even certain he had quite recovered yet.
"So," he said at length, "did you come here for a reason, or did you just want to talk 'like old times'?"
She ran a hand through her hair. "I only came to apologize. I don't like what Hojo has me doing, but there's not much I can do to fight it as long as Min's... well. Never mind that." She offered him a grin. "I'm all for escape attempts, though, so try your best, okay?"
He could only shake his head in bemusement.
Her face fell. "All right, well... I'd better go report and all that crap." She got to her feet and went to the door. "I'll visit when I can. You work on that escape plan while I'm gone." She left, and the door closed and locked behind her.
The swordsman laid back and stared up at the ceiling. Escape plan? he wondered. He supposed he could not let Hojo go through with his plans. Perhaps Sephiroth deserved this sort of punishment, but Hojo did not have the right to inflict it.
But you're his son. You're his creation, so of course you must go along with it. If his last major experiment produced you, just think how powerful the next product will be. Perhaps it will have the strength to ascend to godhood. Succeed where you failed.
Sephiroth sat bolt upright. Get out of my head. You're no part of me.
Of course I am. I am a part of you as surely as you are Hojo's son.
That's a lie! It must be!
Don't you believe Vincent? He would know best, wouldn't he? And certainly he had no motivation to lie.
He shook his head slowly. Perhaps Vincent is wrong. Hojo could have chosen the father. It would have made more sense to...
He might as well have let Vincent have her, the voice disagreed. Besides, you know what an egotistical bastard he is. He may well have fathered Minerva, too.
Sephiroth shuddered at the thought of it. That's sick.
Isn't it? But he's your father for certain. It makes you want to throw up, doesn't it? You want to rip him out of you? But you cannot deny your heritage.
Even if he is my... I'm not like him. Aeris thinks so. She said... she said I had a good soul.
The Cetra girl is wrong. Don't listen to her.
What? he asked in startlement.
She doesn't know you. She doesn't want to believe that you're really as cruel as you are. That is why she said those things to you.
She wouldn't...
How can you be so sure?
Sephiroth faltered, not wanting to believe this voice but unable to offer up any proof. I...
Don't let her convince you. Don't let her wrap you around her little finger and get you to do whatever she wants. I've seen what she has had her friends do in the past. She gets herself into so much trouble, and then expects them to get her out of it. Her false kindness is not worth that.
But, it's... She's not...
It would be best if you simply forgot her.
I don't...
You barely even know her, you can't deny that. Certainly she seems kind on the outside, but you have no idea what lurks behind that. I've seen her kind before; you do not want to get yourself entangled with her.
Sephiroth shut his eyes against this voice with its unwelcome logic. Please, leave me alone...
Evening had fallen, and the muffled din of conversation made its way down the hall from the bar. Within this room, however, all were silent. Aeris slept on in one of the beds; she had fainted upon completing her task and not yet regained consciousness. For a time, this had worried Vincent, but now any concern for her had left his mind.
Lucrecia had finally woken, and he could not tear his gaze away from her. He could hardly believe what had happened, but it could not be a dream, because his dreams were never anything more than torturous memories.
"It's been a long time," she said tiredly.
"And yet you're just as beautiful as you always were," he replied softly.
She smiled and managed to sit up a little. She patted the mattress beside her. "Come sit down," she invited. He did as he was bidden, and she studied his face more closely. "You, on the other hand, have changed your appearance quite a bit. Darker, I must say. You're still handsome, of course, but I think I liked the old look better."
"This suits me better now," he said, indicating his claw.
"That wouldn't stand out so much if you dressed normally," she said.
He shrugged slightly, and a short silence followed. It had been so long, and they had left so many things unsaid that neither knew quite where to begin.
"You know," Lucrecia began thoughtfully, "I've always wondered... Why did you apologize when first we met?"
"I'm not sure," he replied, calling the memory to mind. "'Sorry for existing'? 'Sorry for being who I am'? 'Sorry for everything that is going to happen to you because of me'?"
She reached out to touch his hand. "But I'm glad I met you, Vincent."
"...why?" he had to ask.
She smiled ruefully. Was she sad that he did not know the reason? "Because you've always loved me," she offered in answer, but it did not stop there. "Because you listen. Because you've never questioned my beliefs. Because you're always so kind to me. Because you don't blame me for anything. Because you'd give up everything just to make me happy. Because I love you."
He faltered, searching her eyes. "I... don't understand it. Kind? I always thought I was too cold, too cruel, too bloodstained to be worth falling in love with."
"On the contrary, I've always found you fascinating. Whatever happened to you to make you close up like that? How is it that you have the strength to bear such a scar? Why did you open up to me and no one else?"
Vincent shook his head. "I still... find it hard to believe."
"You didn't used to question it so," she said sadly. "Surely you didn't think I was lying each time we kissed. Don't you remember what those days were like?"
"Of course I remember," he said, "but I can't reconcile that with... Why did you choose Hojo?"
Lucrecia sighed. "I suppose that's the real question. You know, Aeris wasn't far off."
At this, he blinked a little. Had she been watching him from the Lifestream, like some guardian angel? If so, what else had she seen?
"I had feelings for the both of you," she went on, "so when you asked me... I wasn't sure what to tell you. I know now, I should have said yes, but I let my mind try to force logic upon a matter that had nothing to do with logic. Why marry a Turk, I thought, when you can marry a fellow scientist who will understand your ideas and work on them alongside you?"
She lowered her gaze, shaking her head. "It was stupid of me. Can you ever forgive me, Vincent?"
He stared at her. "Forgive you?" he managed. "You never did anything wrong."
A soft laugh escaped her, and she looked up at him. "Isn't it funny, how we each tell the other the same thing? Let's just forgive each other and let it be over with. There's no moving on until we do."
"Then I forgive you, though I fail to see your error..." He hesitated. "Do you... can you... forgive me?"
She smiled. "Of course, Vincent, I forgive you, though I'm certain you did nothing at all."
"It... feels good to hear that," he confessed quietly.
"I'm glad," she said. "With that behind us, we can move on."
"How?" he wondered, shaking his head.
"Can't we pick up where we left off?" she asked, though by her voice she knew they couldn't.
"Too much has changed, since then."
"We still love each other. Isn't that what matters?"
Vincent did not know how to reply. He stared down at her slender hand atop his.
"If I had said yes... what would we have done? Haven't you ever wondered?"
He hesitated. "I used to think about it. Before I asked, I mean. I suppose I was uncertain whether or not I ought even to ask. I wanted to think it through beforehand."
"And what did you think it would be like?" she prompted, watching him with interest.
"...I always thought, that we would not go back to Midgar, although did not see how that could work unless I quit Shinra, and Turks cannot quit. Still, I did not want to go back."
Lucrecia nodded thoughtfully. "We wouldn't have to worry about that now."
"I suppose not. But..."
"Go on," she interrupted. "What would we do after leaving Shinra?"
"I had not thought that you would leave," he continued quietly. "You liked your work, and if we stayed in Nibelheim, there was the lab there. Even after Gast and Hojo had gone, I thought, you could still work from there. I'd find other work in town, something less bloody. We'd... buy a house of our own; the mansion always seemed too big for us..."
She had closed her eyes and there was a smile on her face. "It's not hard to imagine," she said. "It sounds lovely."
Vincent shook his head. "It was nothing more than a fantasy."
"It doesn't have to be," she said, reaching to twine her fingers with his. "Aeris has given us a second chance. Perhaps I wouldn't be working for Shinra, but we could still go back to Nibelheim. We could start a family of our own. I could actually have the chance to be a mother, as I wanted to be to Sephiroth."
"But, I--"
"Hush," Lucrecia said gently. "You'd do fine with children, and besides, it amuses me greatly to imagine you as the father of six."
"Six?" he echoed in shock.
"Why not? And Sephiroth could visit every now and then..."
He shook his head slowly. "But Sephiroth is..."
"I'm sure you'll be able to free him."
Vincent frowned. "Cloud will not want to help. Neither will the others. They care nothing about Sephiroth."
"They will help if you and Aeris ask it of them."
"You mean, if Aeris asks. My words won't sway them."
Lucrecia regarded him knowingly. "You might be surprised. Friends will do a lot of things for one another."
"I only knew them for a few weeks," he stated. "I would not call them friends."
"Friendships can spring up quickly," she persisted. "Maybe you won't call them friends, but I'm sure many of them think otherwise. You mean something to them, and I'm sure you care about them, too."
"Lucrecia, we were as strangers. You know I can keep my distance."
She hesitated, her face falling a little. "Then what about now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what about Aeris? You can't say she means nothing to you."
Vincent looked away with a frown. "Yes, I suppose I do care about her."
"She got through to you, didn't she? You listened."
"She reminds me of you, a little," he admitted, still not meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Lucrecia told him. She sounded as though she were smiling. "In fact, it's almost flattering. But, I thought you were going to stop apologizing."
He looked back at her and found that a smile had come to his face. "Sorry," he said.
She laughed and shook her head. "Whatever am I going to do with you, Vincent?"
"Whatever you want, I suppose," he decided. "But you should go back to sleep now; you still look tired."
"You're right," she agreed, slowly laying back and closing her eyes. "There were just some things that needed saying before you leave..."
Vincent fell silent, noticing that already she was drifting off again. He remained at her side, her hand in his, watching her sleep. He felt... content, he realized with some surprise. For the first time in gods knew how long, he felt content.
Author's Notes
Reviving Lucrecia initially took nearly eleven pages because she insisted on talking to Vincent beforehand, and there were a number of other scenes from both their pasts which introduced several other minor characters... In short, it was a mess. Now it's only a tenth as long, and I pulled out all the really important things Lucrecia and Vincent said to each other and added them to the scene where she wakes briefly.