Missing, Presumed Dead
DISCLAIMER: This is not mine.
I like this pairing, and I don't see why there aren't more of them. Anyway, on with the show…
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She stood on the deck of the airship, wind blowing through her hair, causing the brown wisps to flutter and fall in the breeze. Her thoughts drifted back, to Midgar, minutes before the plate fell, watching as her friends, comrades, were shot down brutally by the MP's of the Shinra corporation. She had seen the man she loved go down with a bullet in his shoulder, she had felt the pain herself as two rounds creased her side. And she had gazed in horror as the only person she could ever confide in had been blown clean off the side of the tower to his death.
But somehow they had survived, the stairway falling with them still on it, bleeding from their wounds. It had fallen over them, providing them with shelter from the falling plate. And, somehow, the Shinra rescue teams sent down to find them had done so, dragging them from the wreckage and saving their lives, obviously unaware of their identities. So they had lived, when so many more had died, when those who had never been aware of the danger that had approached had been crushed by thousands of tonnes of falling rock and metal. All because of them. All because a bunch of rag-tag punks from the slums had decided to take down the mighty Shinra Incorporated. It was as much their fault as much as it was Shinra's for causing all those deaths.
And then, Meteor. They had, of course, followed the journey of Tifa and Barret with fervour, watching the news programs for any signs of their progress. For weeks they had waited, only leaving Midgar at the last moment for Junon as Meteor came cashing down. And from then on, they could only wait for the new heroes of the planet to make their way to Junon.
They came, eventually. Paraded through the streets like ancient rulers, kings and queens. It took them a long time to find out where Tifa and her friend were staying, but eventually they managed to track them down and reunite the original AVALANCE once more.
The looks on Tifa and Barret's faces had been unbelievable, a mixture of shock, disbelief and joy. They were smothered in hugs, bombarded with questions and forced to talk for hours on end. They had been introduced to the friend of their friends and made friends with them almost at once. She had begun to talk to the young girl, and had ended up being regaled with tale after tale of how she had stolen materia of all shapes and sizes from people in all walks of life and Dan happened to get into a swearing watch with the blonde pilot. The pilot, Cid, had eventually won, but only by fitting over twenty swearwords into a coherent sentence. It was quite a feat.
So that had led to them being invited onto the airship that had ferried the heroes around on their quest. And that, in turn had led to her standing where she was, wishing that Michael Wedge were still alive, that they had never been the cause for the deaths of so many innocents, both in the bombings of the reactors and as the reason the sector seven plate fell. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she failed to hear him approach from behind her. She did, however, feel his hands on her shoulders, and his breath warm against her ear as spoke to her.
"How you doing?"
"Fine."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"…You're lying, Jess."
"Leave it Dan, please."
"No. Not when you're crying."
"I'm not." That was a lie, she could feel the hot tears pouring down her cheeks.
He turned her around to face him and wiped them away with his thumbs. "You," he said, "are a terrible liar Jess. Now, tell me, please."
"I was wondering if it could have been different, if we could have stopped the plate from falling, if Michael could still be alive if we hadn't gone so out of our depths."
"Jess," he interrupted her, "we weren't out of our league, we were just unlucky. Anyway, Mickey's probably enjoying himself wherever he is now. Unlimited food, that kind of thing." He let out a small laugh. "Anyway, what counts is that we're alive, we're together and we are with friends. Don't dwell on the past, you can't change it, no matter how much you want, nor how hard you try."
"I know." She sighed and wrapped her arms around him. She laid her head against his chest and he placed his arms around her shoulders, lightly brushing his lips over her hair.
"Love you." She murmured, griping him tighter as a cool breeze cut through her like a knife.
"You can't help it." Typical reply from him.
"If I wanted to I could."
"Could not."
"Could to."
"Whatever." Another typical reply, only used when he was losing.
"Admitting defeat already?"
"Never."
"Really?" she was smirking at him.
"Yeah. I'm planning my next move."
"And that is?" she looked up at him, her eyes locking with his.
"This." He dipped his head, his lips brushing hers lightly, ever so lightly, that it would seem as if the kiss were merely a ghost, fleeting, non-existent. She opened her eyes afterwards to see that he had stolen her smirk and was wearing it proudly in victory.
"You lose," he whispered.
"Not bloody likely," she replied, levering herself up onto her toes and kissing him deeply. When they broke apart, they spent a few moments looking at each other, before he spoke;
"I think we'll call that one a draw, don't you think?"
"I can live with that," she replied, smiling at him. "I love you, Dan, more than anything."
"Same here ."
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I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I had to write this. It's not my fault it turned out so sappy, hones guv. If you read it and enjoyed it review, please. Same goes if you hated it, or indeed, anything in-between.