Sephiroth risked a glance at Aeris's face as they danced. She met his gaze with an encouraging smile, and he did not look away again. She looked beautiful, as always, especially so in this strapless golden dress. The curve of her neck and along her shoulder fascinated him for a moment before he scolded himself and shifted his gaze to the side.
The dancers around them wore smiles on their faces and looked much more at ease than he felt, though he admitted he was considerably more relaxed than when Aeris had first dragged him here. Being with her made him slightly nervous, but now even he was certain he could not hurt her. He only felt slightly ashamed and guilty because he could not be as carefree as she would have liked.
The current song was drawing to a close, he noted, not certain whether he felt relief or disappointment. He felt a strange pleasure at having Aeris so close, at feeling her warmth even through his clothing and his gloved hands. And yet, the contact put him on edge, as it always had. Physical contact had always meant pain, until now, and it was difficult to convince his body that this was any different.
He released her as the music ended, lowering his hand to his side. She held onto his other, and curtsied with an amused smile on her face. "Thank you for this dance," she said politely, then straightened and led him out of the crowd, back to the secluded corner he had occupied before. There, she stopped and let go his hand, though she did not leave.
"Was there something more you wanted?" he asked uncertainly.
She turned to face him, eyes searching. "I... I wanted to apologize. Because I don't know how I feel exactly..."
Sephiroth studied her with mild confusion. How she felt about what, exactly? And how could she be unsure of her own emotions when she understood those of others with such clarity? "What do you mean?"
Her gaze lowered until her lashes hid her eyes. "I mean... how I feel about you."
What was that supposed to mean? Was she finally doubting whether or not she should like him at all? Or perhaps her old fears were returning. Or she did not truly mean what she had said before, about the... He shook his head slightly, frowning. "I don't understand."
Lifting her head with some effort, she met his questioning stare. "Well... You know, don't you? You've known it since the lab, maybe even before then. You know... how much you care about me. But, I'm not so sure, whether you're just a friend, or..."
He could not help but stare at her in amazement. Did she actually mean that she might...? And she knew that he... Well, he supposed it was obvious. He had certainly hinted at it enough without really meaning to. And still, neither of you will actually say it aloud. No, perhaps the words were too hard to say, even if she already knew. The words made it final. They were irretrievable. Once said, they could not be taken back without pain inflicted.
But, what of her feelings? She was in doubt, which mean that... that perhaps someone cared for him? He knew his mother cared, and Katrina, but Aeris's affection went deeper than theirs. But what would it mean if she did...? What happened then? He had no answer to that. He had never imagined himself in such a position, or considered there being someone in her position.
And if she didn't care for him that way? Then nothing changed. Which was fine with him.
Realizing he had been gaping at her for some time, he dropped his gaze and muttered an apology.
She fidgeted. "Sephiroth...?"
He shook his head and looked back at her. "Why you should be apologizing, I don't know. Whether you do or not, it makes little difference to me." He nearly winced at how that sounded and went on. "I mean to say, either way is fine. Take your time in sorting out your emotions. I don't mind. I just find it hard to believe that anyone could..."
She seemed relieved at his response. "You shouldn't be surprised," she told him, "but I guess even friendship is foreign enough to you."
Sephiroth nodded.
"Enough of this deep talk," she declared with an ease that made him aware of how nervous and almost jittery she had seemed before. "I don't know any little trivia about you."
"Trivia?" he wondered.
"Your birthday, your favorite color, that sort of thing. But first let's find someplace to sit down..."
He shook his head. "All the tables are occupied, and I doubt your friends would welcome me at theirs."
"Then I suppose we'll just have to stand," Aeris decided, seeming a little disappointed. "Unless you don't mind sitting on the ground...?"
He shrugged.
"All right then," she said, seating herself on the ground and fussing with her skirt a bit. "Come on, sit down," she invited when she noticed he wasn't moving. "You're too tall."
Sephiroth blinked, then sat down facing her. He recalled her saying that to him many years ago, when she had only been a child, and he wondered if she had remembered that.
"So?" she prompted.
"So what?"
"When is your birthday?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly.
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
Sephiroth sighed and looked absently out at the crowd of people. "No one ever bothered to tell me. I'm scarcely even sure how old I am."
"That's sad," Aeris said softly.
He shook his head slightly. "Anyhow it hardly matters."
"Well, I want to know," she insisted, offering him a smile. "I want to be able to say 'happy birthday' to you, maybe buy you something... Didn't Hojo's files say anything about it?"
"He blacked out the dates on the files in the Shinra mansion," he replied, "and I would not trust those anyway. Minerva, however, she might know." He paused thoughtfully, then looked back at her. "What about you?"
"February seventh," Aeris answered, and an expression of amusement came to her face. "Should I count the years that passed while I was dead, do you think? Am I twenty-seven, or still twenty-two?"
He shook his head, suppressing a smirk. "I doubt it happens often enough for there to be a rule, really. I suppose I'm either twenty-five or thirty-five, give or take a few years. However you like it."
"Well, technically I haven't aged, and I like that idea better. That way you're only three years older than me."
"Why should that matter?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I guess it's just one less reason for my mom to hate you."
He raised an eyebrow. "What difference does age make next to all I've done?"
"You don't know my mom," was all she told him.
The music faded away, and the crowd's din fell to a murmur, and eventually people hushed each other into a silence.
Sephiroth exchanged glances with Aeris, but she did not seem to know what was going on. He got to his feet, helping her up with him, and looked over the heads of the crowd towards the Candle's platform, where Nanaki now sat, looking every part the leader. Sephiroth turned to describe this in a low murmur to the Cetra beside him, who, even craning her neck and standing on tiptoe, could not see beyond those in front of her. The thought crossed his mind to lift her up, but he hurriedly dismissed it.
"I am sure most of you have heard vague explanations for the reasons behind this ceremony," Nanaki began, "and I am sure you are all curious. We will finally relight the Candle tonight, but first there is a story I would like to tell.
"It is common knowledge among all of us that it was Sephiroth who called Meteor to this Planet five years ago, and that it was Sephiroth whom I helped to defeat. When he came to our village a week ago, we all felt uneasy, because very few of us knew his reasons, or his origins. Knowing them may set you at ease.
"It began many years ago, when scientists from Shinra discovered the being known to the Cetra as the Crisis from the Sky, and to the rest of us as Jenova. They mistook her for a Cetra, and thus the Jenova Project was born out of a desire to create beings with the powers of the Cetra. And the product of that experiment? Sephiroth.
"It may come as a shock to you that he, too, was a victim. For those of you who came to us from Midgar, or who have suffered losses at his hand, it may be unbelievable. But victim he was, and only one of the many who have suffered because of Professor Hojo. Miera and myself, you should know, are among them.
"Perhaps you felt relief when you found Sephiroth gone from our home so soon after he had come, but in truth Hojo had once again taken him prisoner. He gave himself up in exchange for the safety of our dear friend Aeris. And so it was five days ago that my friends left to put an end to Hojo's cruelty, and it was that same night when they were defeated that the rains smothered our Candle. For those who wondered what disaster it foretold, I believe that was it.
"But Aeris, herself the last of the Cetra, would not let this be. I went with her to Midgar to save our friends, and after a long night, we regrouped outside the city, having lost our weapons but gained a willing ally: Sephiroth. Once we had rested, he came with us to defeat Hojo. It was a hard battle to be sure, with moments of gripping doubt, but we made it through. Hojo is now dead, and none of us will have to suffer at his hand again."
Here Nanaki paused, letting his words sink in and swishing his tail once. "So it is in honor of our victory that we waited until today, when we have all recovered from our wounds, to hold this ceremony and relight the Candle."
He lifted his head and scanned the crowd before him with his one eye. "Bugenhagen once told me that it was tradition for a Cetra to light it when it was necessary. So if Aeris would be so kind..."
Aeris gave a little start and glanced briefly at Sephiroth. "I guess this means I go up there," she whispered to him.
He nodded, motioning for her to go on, and she hurried through the crowd with many a quiet 'excuse me' until at last she reached the Candle's platform. Nanaki brightened upon seeing her and shook his head slightly when she murmured a hurried apology.
Hopping up the steps, Aeris joined Nanaki and looked out over the crowd with a nervous little smile. A few cheers and some clapping greeted her, and once they had quieted down again, she said, "I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. Nanaki didn't tell me."
A few laughs and admonishments directed at Nanaki. Everyone seemed in a lighter mood now that Aeris had arrived, although the Cetra herself still seemed intimidated by the gathering. She glanced down at Nanaki, who said something encouraging in a low voice.
Nodding, she turned back to the crowd. "...I may be considered the last of the Cetra now," she began with a slight falter, "but I hope it won't remain that way. And even more than that, I hope that no one ever has to light this fire again. This past century has been hard on the Planet, with threat after threat looming close, but I think at last all that is behind us. This age is drawing to a close, and a fresh one awaits us."
The crowd applauded again, and Aeris turned to light the pile of wood with a burst of flame. The applause and cheering grew louder as the flames climbed higher and the Cosmo Candle burned brightly once again, its warm glow illuminating the faces of the onlookers.
Aeris bowed her head and descended from the platform, Nanaki at her heels. As she made her way back through the crowd, people stepped aside for her, and at last she reached Sephiroth, wearing an eager smile.
He managed to return it, glancing briefly at Nanaki. "The both of you did well," he said awkwardly, then looked back down at the guardian of Cosmo Canyon. "I am surprised you spoke so much of me."
Nanaki tossed his head. "I thought it time that someone tried to clear your name. You are no longer the man they feared."
Aeris knelt down to scratch him behind the ears. "You sounded like you make speeches every day," she told him.
He shook his head, rubbing his muzzle with his paw in embarrassment. "You are only saying that. Besides, it was for you that they cheered."
"Oh, they were just happy to have the Candle back," she insisted. "You made the better speech."
Nanaki snorted a little and lifted his head to look at Sephiroth. There was a silence between them before the swordsman bowed his head.
"Thank you again," he said. "It seems I owe you for many a thing."
"Think nothing of it," the feline replied. "Yuffie tells me you will fight Jenova. I am sure that battle alone makes up for many wrong deeds, as Jenova is the cause of the Planet's greatest suffering. Should you succeed, and I have no doubt that you will, the Planet will thank you, despite what you have done, and the rest of us will, too."
"I do not expect any praise, but I feel it my duty to destroy her."
Nanaki nodded. "I thought so. Well, I should--"
"Nanaki!" a little girl's voice exclaimed, and Kari squeezed past the last few people in her way. "Come tell us your story again!"
"You go on then," Aeris told Nanaki with a fond smile. "Don't let us keep you from your adoring audience."
He rubbed his face against her hand and then turned to Sephiroth, hesitantly nudging his leg with his muzzle before turning to pad off through the crowd. Kari waved cheerfully at Sephiroth before skipping after them.
Aeris straightened, watching them go with that smile still on her face.
"Neither of you mentioned the battle with Jenova to them," Sephiroth commented.
"Why fill their minds with worry over that?" Aeris asked. "I'm sure we'll win, so there's no need to tell them of the danger in the first place. No need to weigh down their hearts. Let them be ignorant and carefree if they can."
He nodded silently, watching the crowd. A few people watched them curiously, but most paid the pair no mind, busy with their own myriad forms of revelry. Indeed, they did seem ignorant and carefree, blithely caught up in their own lives, this plot involving mad scientists and the Crisis from the Sky all a distant tale, modern legend in the making, a story in which they held no part.
"Why can't we be like them?" Aeris asked him softly.
"Because of what we are," he answered, glancing at her. "The Planet meant us for greater deeds than they, and even these people would have us do great feats to improve their lives. Can't they see that they already have more than we do? And that what they have lost, we cannot give them?"
She turned to him with a smile on her face. "They could never see what they have unless they lost it, and I wouldn't wish that on them. As for us... we can find comfort in their friendship, and healing in each other's, can't we?"
"Aeris," he faltered, "I..."
"Hush," she said, pressing a finger to his lips. "Don't start with that. You should know by now it isn't true." Moving her hand to rest against his face, she reached up to kiss him on the opposite cheek. "And anyway, I'd rather stay with you and die by your hand than live and never see you again."
Sephiroth stared at her in disbelief. "You would rather..." he echoed.
"Yes, I would," she answered. Turning away from him, she gestured at the crowd with a broad sweep of her hand. "You're not like them. You know what it's like to carry the fate of the world on your shoulders. They don't. And no matter how kind they are to me, no matter how much they love me, they can't understand that. It's frustrated me for all my life. No one would even believe me when I said that I could speak to my ancestors, or that I heard the Planet's song.
"Not until I met Cloud. And even then, how could he ever comprehend it? It's beyond him, and I'm only deluding myself if I think otherwise. It's a capacity that humans have lost over the years, and it saddens me to see them so heedless of these voices. Even Professor Gast, my father, with all his machines and research, could never come close to understanding it."
"But, Aeris," he said, shaking his head, "I don't hear the Planet either. I cannot hear the voices of the Cetra. There is only Jenova, and Minerva, and nothing more."
She studied him for a long moment and then took him by the hand. "Come with me. I want to show you something." She led him through the crowd, away from the celebration, and on up the stairs into the canyon's inner passageways. At last he discerned what she intended, and when she faltered for the switch to open the door, he found it and pressed it for her.
"Have you been in here then?" she asked.
"Briefly," he replied, "and not very far."
Without hesitation, she led him through the door and began her descent into the Gi Cave. Once they reached the bottom, she found his hand in the darkness and led him on through a number of twisting chambers, across lakes of blood, and at last through a crude doorway out into the open air.
This, he realized, was a back entrance to the canyon, probably the reason why it had been closed off and grown infested with shades. The canyon walls rose high on either side, and at the top of the cliff stood a statue of one of Nanaki's kind, pierced with arrows and roaring defiantly.
"That's Nanaki's father, Seto," Aeris said softly. "The Gi tribe came through here many years ago, and Seto alone held them back. He could never return to his family, though; their arrows turned him to stone." She pointed upward at the figure. "See?"
He nodded, sparing the warrior a closer inspection. "But this is not what you wanted me to see," he stated, looking back at her.
She shook her head and moved to sit down on a rocky outcrop. "The voice of the Planet is very strong here. Here, there are no people to drown it out with their noise, and the barrier between living and dead is blurred. Close your eyes and listen. Listen well. Tell me, can't you feel it? Hear it?"
Sighing quietly, he did as he was bidden and closed his eyes. For a time there was silence, and then he began to hear Aeris's soft breathing, feel her attention on him. He shook his head minutely and pulled his attention from her, trying to recall what it felt like in the Lifestream and focusing on that instead.
Yes, he'd been in the Lifestream many a time, hadn't he? Ten years of death had taught him well how to travel it, and he had delved back in a number of times in search of knowledge. He had spoken with the Cetra, even, though they had always been curt and fearful, and at the time he had not understood why. How had he forgotten that?
He found his mind travelling that path again, searching for their words. He thought he heard them on the cusp of his hearing, but then there came a hush, as if none of them dared speak.
It's been some time since you called out to us, a voice said finally. When did you decide that you were a Cetra again?
My daughter told him, another explained, and he recognized the speaker as Aeris's mother.
Did she now? She shouldn't have... He's not.--
But he is. The Planet said so.
Him? I won't stand for it, one of his kind, a Cetra, too? He's dangerous, this one.
He's in love with Aeris, Aeris's mother cut in. Do you think he would hurt her? He's come to us for reassurance, and look what you give him. Do you want him to doubt in himself?
You and your daughter were always too reckless, I say.
And all of you are too deeply rooted in your old fears. He may carry Jenova's cells, but he is not Jenova. If the Planet feels that he will come to its aid, then that should be enough to quell your fears.
Frowning, Sephiroth pushed past these voices, searching for something more, something older and wiser and yet still young in the eyes of the universe... But he stumbled along the way, and could not reach it. He grasped at it, caught only the faint impression of a voice, a song, a crying, and then it was gone, and he could neither fully hear it, nor even come close to comprehending it.
He withdrew from this confusing and sightless maze, opening his eyes to meet Aeris's gaze.
"I told you so," she said with a confident smile.
"I... I can hear the Cetra," he said, not wanting to disappoint her, "but the Planet's voice is beyond me."
Her smile faded slightly, but then she shook her head and got to her feet. "That's better for you, I think. The Planet is often cryptic and confusing, and sometimes it invades my thoughts when it's suffering too much..."
"You can feel its suffering as well then, can't you?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'm used to it, though. I rarely even notice it now." She looked up at him. "I remembered that you told us you travelled the Lifestream. I thought then that it was because of Jenova, but she can't do that, can she?"
Sephiroth shook his head. "I don't think so." Surprisingly, he found Jenova silent.
"We're not exactly opposites then, are we?" she asked with a smile.
He frowned. "Aeris, we may be alike in what we are, and what we have gone through because of it, but many things set us apart. We are both victims, true, but you are also a healer, while I am also a killer. You mend things; I only tear them apart."
"You didn't used to be a killer," she said, "and you aren't a killer now. You saved Katrina's life, you saved Kari's life, you returned my life to me, and who knows how many you saved by ridding the world of Hojo? And yet you did all of these things without any guidance from me."
"What are you getting at?"
The Cetra stepped closer and laid a hand against his chest. "You're a healer, too. Tell me you don't have any desire to help anyone, and I'll tell you that's a lie."
He looked down at her, down at her perfect face and her hair cascading down her back and her beautiful green eyes. "I want to help you, Aeris," he murmured finally.
"Oh?" she queried in surprise.
"You suffer, too," he told her. "You try not to show it, but I can't be the only one who notices." He sighed and dropped his gaze. "Only, I am not like you. I don't know how to comfort you, nor do I understand your pain."
She lifted his chin with a finger, a smile on her lips and its rueful joy touching her eyes. "I hurt because those around me hurt, because I can't be with Cloud, because there are things still on this Planet with evil in their hearts, and I can't change them. There are some souls who are beyond my power, and it grieves me that they are. Hojo was beyond me, because I hated him, too. And that hatred was a pain in my heart. Surely these are things you can understand."
He nodded slightly, gently taking her hand from his face. "Perhaps I can... But that does not make me a healer."
"Understanding is half-way there," she told him. "Seeing beyond the hurt and pulling them out of it--that's the rest of it. And the harder part for you, because I know you were never optimistic."
Sephiroth shook his head. "I was taught to be logical and, if anything, pessimistic. One does not win a war through optimism."
"...one does so by being cold and calculating?" she wondered with a raised eyebrow.
He said nothing.
"You may still have a few enemies now, but you don't have to shut everyone out. You're not protecting them or yourself by doing so."
"How am I protecting anyone by being close to them?"
"You're close to me; would you let yourself hurt me? Would you let anyone hurt me?"
"No..." he answered with a frown.
She smiled. "And don't worry about my heart. I'd rather have you close by than see you suffering alone. Anyway, you understand me, and that's a greater comfort than I've ever had."
He nodded slowly, and that seemed enough for her.
"Well," she decided, "maybe we should get back to the party before someone misses us."
"They did not seem to notice us before," he pointed out.
"True," she conceded, "but all the same, this isn't exactly a place we should be at any time. We ought to at least get out and close the door. If you want to stay away from the crowd, we'll find someplace else, how's that?"
"Actually, I would not mind going back," Sephiroth confessed. "I rather liked the music."
Aeris seemed surprised. "Oh?"
"I suppose it runs in the family. Minerva can sing, and I believe my mother played the piano."
She nodded thoughtfully. "How exactly... does Minerva relate to you? Do you know?"
"No. But I have come to think of her as my sister."
Another nod. "So what's your musical talent, then?" she asked playfully.
"I really don't have one," he said with a shake of his head. "There was a piano in the Shinra mansion, and as a child I taught myself a little, but it hardly amounted to much."
She leaned forward, peering up into his face with a hopeful little smile. "There's a little piano in Bugenhagen's old study," she said. "I don't know if it's in tune, but maybe..."
He met her gaze, knowing what she wanted but not sure if he could consent. At last he said, "I don't know how much I can remember, but I will try if you wish."
"Well, then let's get out of here."
They walked together back through the Gi Cave, their pace swift though hardly from fear. Whatever creatures lived here--if that was the word for it--Sephiroth could kill them with ease, and he sensed that Aeris felt safe with him. It was a startling and pleasing sensation, her trust in him.
Eventually they reached the exit and shut the door again behind them. From there Aeris took the lead, taking him into the observatory and showing him into a room on the right, where one of Bugenhagen's machines sat idle, a dim display of the sun and the planets hanging in the ceiling.
"I suppose these machines are why they have the windmills," Sephiroth remarked.
"Yes, I think so," the Cetra replied.
Her light touch on his arm guided his attention to the small piano. For lack of a bench, they took a chair from the other room, and Sephiroth sat down upon it, lifting the dusty cover from the keys. He pressed one cautiously, testing the sound. It seemed loud to him in the silence, and he nearly flinched in spite of himself.
"It sounds fine," Aeris assured him softly, leaning on the back of the chair.
He laid his fingers across the keys with more confidence and began to play, remembering that one sad melody, that faint recollection of piano music echoing mournfully through the mansion that must surely have been only a dream. He glossed over the parts he could not remember, threading them together with hurriedly conceived bridges, but at last he came to the end of the memory and had to let the notes fall away.
Aeris was silent for a long moment, and he shifted uncomfortably. Had he made some glaring mistake somewhere? Did she not like it?
"That was beautiful," she whispered finally. "Where did you learn it from?"
"An echo of a memory," he replied, shaking his head.
"Hm," she murmured. She wrapped her arms loosely about him from behind, and he glanced back at her, only to turn away again at finding her face so close. "Before we go back to the party, I want to thank you for everything tonight, Sephiroth."
"What have I done?" he asked in confusion.
"Well, let's see," she said with laughter like music in her voice. "You danced with me for far longer than you ever agreed to, you've kept me company since, even followed me into that awful Gi Cave, and just now you played for me despite your insecurities. I think that merits a thank you."
"You don't owe me any praise, after all you've done for me," he said. "I will forever be trying to repay you."
She straightened and moved so he could see her smile. "Your company alone is reward enough," she assured him. "Now come on, let's go back down."
The night wore on, many more drinks were ordered, and even Minerva began to feel at ease among these people. People who, perhaps, she could come to call friends. Elena talked the most out of any of them, arguing loudly and frequently with Reno, and Reeve did his best as a peacemaker between them. Rude spoke even less than Minerva, though Reno always made an effort to include her in the conversation whereas everyone generally left their bald friend alone.
By now Elena had declared Reno too drunk to hold an intelligent conversation, and so she had turned to Reeve, and the two of them were talking with Rude adding a word or two every now and then. Reno, meanwhile, was working on yet another mug of beer. Minerva had stopped trying to keep count and now had her eyes absently on the dancers.
"Minerva," Reno slurred suddenly, grinning and leaning over to take one of her hands. "Will you marry me?"
Her gaze snapped back to him in surprise, and then, smiling faintly, she took both his hands in hers and said gently, "Reno, perhaps you should try that question another day, with another girl--when you are sober."
"Nah," he said, his grin broadening. "You're the only girl for me. You know that, right?"
Shaking her head, Minerva reached over to take his mug away from him. It was nearly empty, but she felt quite certain that he needed to stop drinking before he did anything more foolish than ask her to marry him.
"Hey!" he protested, trying to snatch it back and nearly falling into her.
"You'll have no more beer tonight," she said firmly. "It has done you enough harm."
"Minerva," Elena said, with some awe underlying her joking tone, "I think you're the best thing that ever happened to him."
The girl blinked and looked over at her questioningly.
The blond smiled. "That is, of course, if you're willing to put up with him."
"He has been kind to me," Minerva faltered.
Elena nodded. "Then maybe it is different this time, like he said."
"Hey, Min," Reno interrupted. "C'n I jus' finish that mug? Please?"
"No."
"Please?" he begged, moving closer. "I'll do whatever you wan'..."
"What I want is for you to stop drinking," she said.
With a sigh, he lay his head down on the table, watching her sideways. "Aight, no more drinkin'."
Elena raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed. "Yep, I think he's serious about this one. He never gives up his beer this easy."
"What do you mean exactly?" Minerva wondered.
"He really likes you. Take good care of him."
"So you actually do care about him?" she asked, a bit surprised.
The blond shrugged a little. "I dunno. He's like a little brother or something. An annoying little brother, but you've gotta love him anyway, I guess."
"He said much the same of you," the girl said with some amusement.
"With emphasis on the annoying part, right?"
Minerva nodded.
Elena shook her head and laughed. "Always nice to know I'm loved."
"I am sure he cares."
"Yeah, he probably does. He'd never admit it, though."
She did not reply.
"Hey, I'm tired of sitting around. D'you think you could get out on the dance floor again?"
"I suppose," Minerva answered hesitantly.
"Well, I mean, Reeve's not much of a dancer--no offense, Reeve--"
"None taken," he replied over his shoulder. "I quite agree with you."
"--and not in a million years could I get Rude out there." She lowered her voice confidentially to explain, "He's really shy around girls." She lifted her voice again, concluding, "Anyway, can you do the guy's part?"
The girl shrugged. "I could."
"All right!" Elena exclaimed, hopping to her feet. "Let's go then."
Minerva got up more slowly, and Reno lifted his head in confusion as she did. She bent down to speak to him. "I am going to dance with Elena. You stay here, and don't order any more drinks." With this last statement, she glanced at Rude and Reeve, trusting that they would enforce that if Reno would not.
"Kay," the redhead replied easily, and he watched her as she went out with Elena to dance.
Cloud and Tifa left the party earlier than some, though nevertheless at a late hour, and returned to their room at the inn. Tifa sat down on their bed, but Cloud remained standing, not sure he could sleep just yet; he had a lot on his mind.
What had Aeris gotten herself into? he wondered. In love with Sephiroth? Part of it, he admitted, was a pain that she had chosen Cloud's rival over him, but he still worried that the swordsman might snap again. He hoped that with Aeris doing whatever it was she did, she would be able to keep him sane.
He couldn't understand what she saw in him, and though everyone else seemed able to give him a second chance, Cloud wasn't sure he could bring himself to see Sephiroth as a changed man. He would try his best not to intervene--who knew? Maybe Nanaki was right and Aeris could actually find happiness with such a man--but it was hard not to view the swordsman's every action with suspicion. Sephiroth had taken everything from him: his hometown, his family, and now Aeris for the second time.
"My pensive husband," Tifa remarked from where she sat on the bed.
Not everything, he corrected as he turned to face her. Thank the gods he still had Tifa. Without her...
"What are you thinking about, hmm?"
He shrugged.
Her expression sobered, and she tilted her head. "All right, so it's something deep. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I was just trying to figure out how I'm supposed to deal with Sephiroth," he told her, walking over to sit down beside her, his gaze on his feet. "He's taken practically everything from me--I almost lost you to him once. But Aeris cares a lot about him, so I can't go on hating him, can I?"
Tifa smiled in commiseration. "I know. It's even harder for you than for me. But I think the only way to stop hating or fearing a person is to get to know them... and it's hard even to try that when there's so much enmity between you."
"Getting over Aeris was the first thing I had to do," he said slowly. "And probably the hardest."
She blinked and stared at him in silence. He knew she wanted him to go on.
"I can't protect her anymore," he sighed. "I can't even talk to her. She's as nice as she always was, but she keeps her distance. I think maybe she feels like she's hurting me, but her being distant has helped. I realized tonight that... I don't know her anymore. She's a stranger to me, and I can't love a stranger."
Cloud lifted his head to look at his wife. "But you, Tifa, I've always known you. I've spent my entire life falling in love with you and not realizing it, but now I can finally say it: I love you, Tifa."
She threw her arms around him, tears of joy in her eyes. "Oh, Cloud, I love you, too."
He returned the embrace and laid his head against hers. "Sorry I've been such a terrible husband, pining after another woman when I had you all along."
"It's all right, Cloud," she said, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "I think you really fell in love with her for a while. She was what you needed then: someone to open you up. I was too afraid that you didn't love me, but she was so direct. She wouldn't let you remain so cold and unfeeling. I'm grateful to her... I just hope she really has found what she needs in Sephiroth."
"Me, too."
"Are we still going to fight Jenova?" Tifa asked him. "After all, you only wanted to protect Aeris, but she has Sephiroth to defend her."
Cloud frowned. "Until Jenova is dead, she can still influence him. I'm going."
She twisted to search his gaze. "But you have her cells in you, too."
He met her gaze. "And that's just another reason to go."
Nodding, she leaned back against him. "You want to prove that you're strong enough to defy her, too."
"...you don't have to come along, Tifa," he said softly. "You don't have to fight anymore."
"Wherever you go, I go. That's how it's always been, isn't it?"
Author's Notes
Originally the Cloud/Tifa scene didn't occur until several chapters later. By that point I had become more of a Cloud/Tifa-shipper. All my fics before this, aside from some Vincent-centric ones, had been Cloud/Aeris. (And no, you will never see any of them. They're horrid. Trust me on this one.) Mostly this was because I liked Aeris best when I first played the game, and thus made Cloud act as though he liked her. I don't think it helped that I disliked Tifa back then, entirely because she was my brother's favorite girl, and his only reason was that she was hot. Yyyeahh... Those opinions have long since changed. I still find Aeris more interesting to write, but I really like Tifa now, and I certainly think she and Cloud belong together. Hence this scene.