It's the End of the World
I screamed, even when nothing but cackling bubbles escaped my outstretched lips. Through awful tasting water, I ascended further, continuing to howl in grief, and broke the surface. But even as I was given the life that was crummy air, I still choked, exhaling more screams as my hands crashed down through the polluted water.
"No!" I echoed, my voice an expansive ring across the water until it shivered in fear and cowered away, taking garbage with it.
A wall of dark ocean circled me as my body grew hot, skin covered in green flames.
Aerith is dead.
My hair fluttered high over my scalp, teeth clenched.
Cloud is dead.
I buried my murderous eyes into my hands, and cried, more green flames bursting from my scorched skin as loose flares, dissolving into the air.
How? Did Sephiroth kill them both? What happened to the others? Have I come back to only stay locked in my lonely world? Was this a mistake?
The more I inhaled, the more difficult it was to breathe, as though flames licked along the edges of my lungs. My hands dropped from my face, revealing to the world narrowed glowing eyes. Fingers wandered down to my belly, imagining a growing child in there.
Cloud is dead.
Those three terrible words kept shouting in my head, banging into me as I screamed and screamed to each attack of such awful truth. Voices grabbed for my ears, begging me to calm down, or else I could lose control. I covered my ears, sick of them all. Sick of being told what to do.
Cloud is dead.
I closed my eyes and squeezed, stopping the tears after another wail, and became thirsty for revenge. It didn't matter who I floated up to, displayed as an unstoppable, fierce creature glowing green, and took the first poor soul's collar into my hand, ready to shove a lightning storm into his mouth.
It was just a stranger, someone on a littered beach, who happened to be there at the wrong time when I charged. I was blinded, not seeing skin nor eyes, but just a moving object, thinking of only killing anything in my way. Rumbles of thunder vibrated over our heads, my ears too coated with voices to hear the man's pleas. But I wasn't me anymore, I was just on instinct, the power taken over. Sand flared away like a dust storm around my floating feet. One hand up in the air, I was prepared to strike down the air to summon a monstrous storm, lightning devouring the poor beach town, not thinking, not seeing. Not anything.
Aqua!
I halted, glowing eyes stuck to nothing while my prey sobbed uncontrollably. That familiar voice. Aerith?
She laid a pause button to my murderous attempt, leaving me blinking cluelessly, until I felt eyes on me. Slowly, as though I knew where to turn my head, I blinked into large brown eyes, a little girl with chestnut hair in a ponytail. She appeared familiar as I studied her watery eyes, squeezing a whistle in between her clasped hands.
Priscilla?
I blinked again, and pulled my gaze to the poor man I was holding by his throat, his legs kicking in the air.
What was I doing?
I gasped, dropping him. My own two hands opened up before my eyes, those green flames swirling across my palms. These hands were about to kill an innocent man. Traces of memory pulled me all the way back to Sector 7, how I blew it to flames, killing innocent people. How I claimed to never do such a thing again. Soon, my vision blurred, my glowing hands nothing but blobs.
More whispers slithered through my ears, burning behind my eyes as tears mixed in remnants of seawater down my face.
You're the last Ancient. Destroy all that threatens our home, and give life to our race.
I heard it over and over again, voices of the Planet trying to make me into a killing machine. To be a monster.
My knees weakened, shaky hands back to my eyes to cover them up, and I knelt in the sand, my powers swirling away. Hair fell back over my back, the heat vanishing, leaving me naked and cold on a shadowy beach, feeling more human.
Witnesses stared, many taken to the beach to get a closer look at the upset naked woman, whispers floating around.
Were they all afraid of me now? What I was capable of?
I've lost two people I loved. Cloud. Aerith. This wasn't supposed to happen. You were both supposed to stay with me. It was supposed to be the three of us.
"It was supposed to be the three of us!" I screamed, and pounded my fists into the sand, head bowed as my hair coiled until a silver mess, collecting grains of sand in its strands.
I stayed like that, trembling and whimpering, until a small hand touched my back, and I sucked in a shaky breath. Alarmed, I turned my head sharply, almost startling Priscilla back two steps, her sunflower dress wrinkled. She bit her lower lip when our eyes locked, cheeks saturated in tears. When I said nothing, did nothing, she stepped closer, and again, laid a gentle hand on my back. Priscilla's eyes blinked down at me, her little form shaking for being afraid of me, but she braved through it, bless her enormous heart, and she even tried to smile.
"It's okay. I felt the same way when my Mommy died," she tried.
No wind. No voices. Nothing but the silence that followed as I marveled at the child's bravery. Here I was, someone she vaguely knew, a passer, close to choking her father and destroying her battered home. And she gave me love.
I was supposed to destroy that?
New tears followed as I slowly lifted my head back up, sitting on my knees, and kept staring at little Priscilla like she was precisely what this world needed.
She rubbed at her eyes with her bare arm, sniffling, and then, she opened her skinny arms out.
"I think you need a hug, crazy lady."
I flashed a wide closed smile before hugging her, startling the others standing around us. Priscilla was so small. I remembered being that small as I smelled grease and sea salt from her.
"Thank you," I whispered.
She gladly replied by hugging me back. After a few seconds, she mumbled, "Where's my future husband, Cloud? Is he with you?"
I stiffened in her little arms, my eyes scorched, but I tried to smile as I shook my head across her little shoulder.
"No. He's not here," I replied. I reeled back, my hair falling over my breasts, and wiped at any remaining tears before footsteps came shuffling towards us.
"Gram gram! She's back! Cloud's friend is back!" Priscilla sang, jumping up and down with her arms out, reminding me of Yuffie.
A familiar old squat of a woman appeared, and I recognized her thick bug-eye glasses.
She squinted her little eyes behind those thick lenses, eying me, and a small smile crept up on her square face.
"Ah yes. I remember. When we met the first time, we had no idea you were close to the President, though, maybe it was best that way. Indeed, you are alive. This gives us hope."
"Hope to be killed?" Priscilla's tall father grumbled, glaring at me while a bright red mark laid across his hard neck. His mother glared up at him.
"You're alive, aren't you?! Stop whining," she rattled at him, a short finger jabbed at his rib. With weak legs, I struggled to stand up, and wrapped my arms around myself to conceal most of me, and looked over my shoulder.
A large shadow loomed over us and the beach, darkening part of the already, gloomy water with its filth and litter tossed in the waves.
So, I was brought to Junon?
I couldn't see the sky, thanks to the airfield standing over us. There was nothing but traces of a pink tint in the grey and green polluted haze of Mako.
Someone laid something soft over my shoulders, and I twirled around, startling Priscilla's father just after he lent me his mother's yellow sweater. He seemed taken aback by my surprised reaction and cleared his throat.
"After what your friend did to save my daughter's life, and giving us that Chocobo, I can't stay mad, I guess. Besides, it's good that you're alive. There's hope for us all," he explained, cheeks red.
"You all thought I was dead?" I pecked, slipping my arms into the baggy sweater. It held out like a short dress, a temporary solution until I was to find real clothes.
Priscilla grabbed at my hand and pulled me along as she began to skitter across the sand.
"Come on! Let's go to gram gram's house! We can get you clothes there, and tell you everything!" She cheered, and kicked at an empty tin of cat food across the tall grass.
"Uh, okay," I gawked, still perplexed at everyone's hospitality. A familiar yellow creature emerged from the tall beach grass, and I stopped short, lifting big eyes to an old Chocobo friend. She stretched her long neck and cocked her yellow feathery head at me, and did a little squeal before taking my hair into her beak.
"Butters!" I laughed, remembering her hair-eating habit. I petted her soft head, until I decided just to rub my face into it, smelling the familiar herbs, now mixed with smells of sand and fish.
My arms curled around her neck, sinking my sticky cheeks into her feathery chest as I gushed, "I never thought I'd see you again."
"I've been taking good care of her. And she really likes clams, well, when you wash em real good!" Priscilla exclaimed, her giant eyes glowing up at the Chocobo I gave to her a long time ago. How long has it been? How much time has passed since I left this world and came back? I was stuck in thought, mindlessly letting Butters chew at the ends of my gross hair, when Priscilla yanked me again, and I was pulled away from my thoughts.
"Let's go! We need to clean your smelly butt," she exclaimed, and my cheeks flushed at her choice of words.
I entered the familiar loft home with three beds, a living room space and kitchen. I stood in the middle of it all, remembering the creaky floors and cheap rugs. How strange of a feeling it was to be back here, the first time, barely starting on the journey after Sephiroth. I couldn't stop gazing at those beds, when I shivered. Memories of waking from a terrible nightmare approached, how I awoke, trapped in a panic state. But Cloud was there, soothing me back to tranquility with his soft words, his tender eyes and holding my hand with his. It was the first time feeling his bare hand, the touch a bursting start to the flame that began to grow between us.
I love you.
My knees weakened, until a sudden nausea crept up my esophagus. I smacked a hand over my lips, afraid to puke on the floor, and hurried to the sink to vomit.
Oh Gods, I forgot I was pregnant for just a minute there. It comes and goes, the knowing of it before you physically show. That could explain why Junon smelt worst to me now than it did then. I thought perhaps it's pollution got worst, but then I remembered, pregnancy made smells more unbearable.
I rinsed my mouth and lips at the sink, slurping water hungrily. When I turned off the faucet, and spun around, Priscilla's grandmother handed me a wash cloth.
"Oh dear, you poor thing," she fretted softly. "I'm afraid no one should be swimming in that ocean. It tends to make us sick."
She took my hand and pulled me across her home, luring me into the bathroom just as Priscilla skipped out of it.
"Please, take a shower to wipe all that gunk off. Priscilla left you some clothes she's picked out for you. Please, make yourself at home while I fix us some breakfast."
It was morning then.
I let the hot water spray down on me as I feel into deep thought, wondering what I needed to do.
Please take care of everyone for me. Watch over Tifa.
Cloud's words echoed in my head, and I saw his ghost put a warm hand over my shoulder, standing behind me like the guardian angel that he was. Silly me, I looked over my wet shoulder, and of course, saw nothing but green tile and a cartoony shower curtain of fish.
I sighed, watching the steam leak off me like little white ghosts, and I curled a fist against the tile under the shower nozzle, followed by my forehead.
I won't let Cloud's request fall to nothing. Aerith's sacrifice shall not be wasted. I won't let either of their deaths be for nothing.
I clenched my teeth hard, and my fist tightened until knuckles cracked.
Cloud's words hinted that Tifa and the others were still alive. I needed to find them and figure out what's going on.
After a long, hot shower, I used a part of my borrowed towel and rubbed across the foggy mirror. The young woman, with wet, silver hair sticking to her moist skin, tried to smile. But her green eyes barely lit up, almost all of her spirit gone.
I had to try. Even if I didn't know what the hell I was doing, I still had to keep trying. Try to live. Live for this world's future.
I put a hand to my small belly.
For my baby's future.
A flicker of a smile came and went, and I dropped my tired eyes to what Priscilla picked out for me.
I exhaled a long sigh.
I walked out, drying my hair with a towel, while wearing a too big of soft cotton sunflower dress that matched Priscilla's, and wondered if her gram gram made it. There was the thrill to see how she would react to seeing it on me, and probably exclaim that we looked like sisters, but her big eyes were filled with worry when she noticed me.
"Good, you're done. Come and watch this. Rufus is on the news!" Priscilla cried, her hand clutching to the remote to turn up the volume. Her ponytail bobbed up and down when she sat back on the couch and glued her eyes to the bulky, television set. I guess they didn't have flat screens invented yet. Walking in front of the couch, I stared at Rufus speaking over a podium, flags of his name draped in the background.
"...but first, the execution to begin," he was saying, but I missed most of it.
The World's President remained crisp and neat in his white suit, leaving the false image that he was an angel. His white blond hair had been combed and gelled back, cold blue eyes to the camera with a clear complexion glowing in front of a blurry sun. Behind the flaps of his flags, the Airship sat behind him, and a hazy red sky. He was broadcasting this from the airfield just over my head.
It was a tickling feeling to be seeing him again, to be back in this world again, everything coming in all at once after how much I longed to return. But what did I return to.
Cloud, what did you leave for me to clean up?
Rufus glared at the camera, as though glaring at us, but with a fighting spirit, vengeance, and he laid his hands calmly over the podium. Long, pale fingers curled along its edge, as though gripping it would smother some of his anger.
Headlines scrolled under his name along the bottom of the screen, "Execution Day."
I held my breath.
"We have, in Shinra's possession, all members of the AVALANCHE group from Midgar. The ones who kidnapped my fiancée, the ones who blew up our reactors in Midgar. And now they've killed the love of my life, and brought chaos to our home. Should we just let them lay to rot in the prison cells for their crimes?" Rufus banged his fist on the podium, and there were shouts from the audience and soldiers of Shinra, all of them screaming, "No!"
Rufus smiled, a smile that had many ideas.
"Then let today be the day to start a new chapter for justice! We shall exterminate them through…" Rufus ducked his head, holding a pause as all of us waited with suspense. He reeled us in with curiosity on purpose, everyone practically leaning in close until his face blurred and pixelated.
"The gas chamber!" He declared, a fist high in the air. Shouts of applause crashed through the weak speakers of the television set, while my pulse increased, bringing an uneasy heat to spread throughout my body. I couldn't look away, frozen as I stood in the middle of the living room, mouth left hanging open. Video images displayed all to the world, my friends held prisoners in cells like animals.
Bile crept up my throat.
In black and white, I saw Vincent, sitting in his cell, his head ducked into his arms to hide his face. The next clip showed Red, curled into a little ball in the far corner, alone and with his little flame to his tail almost out. Barret walked back and forth in his little prison hold, a large bandage to his gun arm where his gun should be. He looked straight up at the camera with fire in his eyes, and began to shout, but there was no sound. He was probably cursing every awful word in the cursing dictionary.
There was Yuffie, sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped around her legs as she cried silently to herself.
Cid smoked, and he glared at the camera a couple of times before flicking a cigarette up to it, and then giving all of us the middle finger. The last film shot was of Tifa in her filthy fighting clothes, Shinra infantrymen all around her, rough hands dragging her out of her prison hold.
"After being unconscious for eight days, our first contestant has finally woken up, and straight for death. We are preparing for our first execution as we speak," Rufus informed, and his smile widened.
"Do not fear, everyone. Once we get rid of these scum, I have plans to stop all of this, to protect this city, and eventually, our Planet. Thanks to my wonderful team, I will make sure to keep us all safe. Thank you."
Despite his true nature, I could easily see why the public adored Rufus. He easily wins them over with his smile and confident voice, how he tries to include them into his plan as though they all collaborated and got a vote.
By the time Rufus stepped off the stage, I covered my open mouth with my hand, trembling. Reporters swarmed in, bombarding him with questions.
Even when Priscilla turned off the TV, I stood frozen, appalled at what the world has come to.
"Rufus has everyone," I whispered to myself, my thoughts shifting around quietly.
I had to think quickly. Tifa was going to be shoved into a gas chamber, and all the world was going to watch as she chokes and pukes up her insides while being tied down to a chair.
I couldn't let that happen. Cloud told me to watch over her.
"Is it really your friends' fault?" Priscilla asked. I peered down at her large, puzzled eyes, and shook my head.
I thought she meant was it their fault for my death, but I will soon discover it was more than that.
"No. It's not their fault. They don't deserve this kind of treatment," I insisted, a plan already starting to compose.
"You need to go to him," her grandmother told me, already ahead of my plan.
I turned to her standing behind the kitchen counter, her eyes dropped into her wrinkled hands clutching to her filly skirt.
"Even if it is their fault, we shouldn't do this, not when it may be the last of our days left here on the Planet. Can't we just thrive together with the one thing we all have in common? We're all going to die soon."
I found her words very dramatic, unsure if she was referring to the Planet's expiration date or not.
Her smile shifted across the room to me, and added, "Go, and save your friends. Tend to the President's cold heart." I tried my hardest not to roll my eyes at that last bit. Rufus has no heart.
"Thank you both for your help," I told them, slipping on borrowed sandals. I walked towards the door, and gave one last look at Priscilla, her body stiff on the couch.
"Where's Cloud? Really, really," she asked me in a whiny voice before I were to leave.
My hand gripped the door knob tight, unable to turn it as I froze. My eyes fell, memories falling back to Cloud somewhere in the Lifestream.
"He's safe," I lied, trying to smile at her.
But children have a way of knowing, no matter how much an adult tries to reassure them. It could be my broken smile or the hint of pain in my voice, or even just a sixth sense, their innocent minds able to detect it without all the filters adults collect over the years.
Her brown eyes grew, and suddenly, she looked away, her lower lip trembling.
I felt guilty leaving her like that, and dashed back across the living room to give her one last hug. Pricilla began to sob into my shoulder as I rubbed down her small back. Her grandmother hovered nearby, ready to take over, but I stayed a moment, and whispered, "It's okay. He's in a better place."
"With the pink dress lady and mommy?"
I pulled back, amazed that Priscilla, somehow, knew Aerith was dead. But how?
"How do you know that?" I asked, leaving my arms just over her shoulders. Priscilla's face smudged with tears, and she rubbed a hand to smooth it all away.
She sniffed as she whimpered, "She came to visit me before we found you on the beach. She told me to take care of you."
I processed her words, goosebumps tickling all over my skin, while trying to picture how Aerith came to visit little Priscilla.
Aerith, you turned into my guardian angel. I'm now blessed with two.
I gave Priscilla a strong stare, and made a small smile.
"And you did. You both took great care of me. Thank you for that."
We embraced for one last time. When I rose, I gave gram gram a hug as she gobbled, "Please be careful, my dear."
I left the warm home and stepped out into a hazy morning, the smells of bacon grease and Mako creeping in my nostrils. It hit me hard, and I bent over, ready to hurl again, but I closed my eyes tight, fighting it. Bile crept up, but as I covered my nose, my stomach began to settle again, and I tried to breathe through my mouth. I carried on.
The little one street town was quiet.
It felt different from before. Something new was in the air, a heavy weight I couldn't define. I could feel it fluttering over the empty main street as I walked over its potholes and cracks. I looked up to the heavy plate, knowing very well there was a city airport looming above, casting a forever shadow to the place. But there was something else too, something that spooked me. I hugged myself, and gazed out through the two rows of homes to watch the ocean flush in more debris from the city above. I couldn't see the sky, only its edge along the grey horizon, a red haze to it like a sunset, but there was no sun sinking into the water's edge.
My step quickened, hurrying down the road and straight to the elevators where, I knew, it would take me up to the Airfield, and straight to Rufus. Two Shinra infantrymen guarded the metal doors, and I stood before them as they eyed me oddly.
My hair dried, appearing loosely curled down my back as I put my hands on my hips, wearing nothing but a thin strap, sunflower dress with its skirt almost to the ground. "My name is Aqua, and I'm alive. Please take me to see Rufus," I demanded of the Shinra men.
Their mouths fell open under their helms.
"No way," one of them said.
The other scratched under his chin as he muttered, "It looks like her."
"Any proof?" one of them challenged.
I clenched my teeth.
Green whirls of magic flurried off my arms, lifting my hair and borrowed sunflower dress up to my thighs.
"Care to find out?" I threatened darkly, glaring at the two Shinra men like they were just an obstacle in my way. They both recoiled back, rifles held up to their faces.
"Okay, okay, the Ancient! We believe you!" One of them shrieked.
The elevator hummed loudly, gears working to lift me and one Shinra escort to the city. No windows, no posters, nothing but metal walls to make me feel like I was inside a rocket ship, and I waited impatiently, every second only bringing Tifa closer to her death.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Warm air burst in as I stepped out, and almost bumped into a crowd. I gasped, eyes lifting over their heads to a distant stage across the airfield. Under a pink sky, I could still see cameras flashing in the distance, Scarlet at the podium. But where was Rufus?
I had to get in front of the camera. I had to make him know I was here. If he knew I was alive, then perhaps, he will let my friends go.
You want it public? Fine, then let's keep it public.
I ran along the edge of the standing crowd, bumping into Shinra troops guarding the borders. Six of them aimed their guns, but my escort put his hand up.
"Wait! It's Lady Aqua! She's alive!"
"Yeah, right! Don't play dumb with us!" One of the guards grumbled.
I didn't have time for this nonsense.
My teeth clenched, muscles tensing as I gathered energy into my body, silently praying, and glowed green.
"I need to get through!" I cried as I lifted my hand, used to having the bracer there. But without it, I still managed to use only enough magic to encase all six men into little icebergs, only their heads free. I ran, leaving them shouting and struggling.
I rammed my way through the outer edge of the crowd desperately, pushing back arms and pulling at shoulders to make way. Many grumbled, some gasped at my silver hair, and whispers emerged through the audience.
It was like battling your way through a thick forest as fast as you could, dodging branches of arms, squeezing between trunks of bodies, and leaving behind disgruntled viewers. My heart raced. My skin perspired, sweat tickling my back.
I felt so little, wedging my way through, but I had to try. After the last layer of people, I almost fell over the steps leading up to the temporary stage.
Soldiers aimed their guns as I ran up the small stairs, and dove, hands first, to the microphone, bumping straight into Scarlet.
"Rufus!" I screamed, my voice too high-pitched, and the microphone wined.
Many gasps bloomed from the crowed as I pretended not to notice the camera and thousands of people standing in front of me.
"You!" Scarlet hissed in my ear. I felt her hand squeeze at my arm, nails digging into my skin sneakily from the audience, and I winced, but ignored her.
My face was hot as I took deep breaths. In between gulps of air, I exclaimed, "I'm alive! Please let my friends go. Please-"
I paused when I felt the dread high above our heads, above the city. I didn't notice it at first, so head strong on getting to the stage, not realizing it was glaring down at my back.
But standing there on the stage, I was finally able to face it, and I did so with terror.
My eyes lifted as my mouth fell open, and then my head followed, craning up more and more until I gripped the podium, afraid to fall over.
Even when Scarlet screamed, "You can't just take over my speech, you little brat!" I couldn't hear her. My ears were ringing as blood rushed into them, my heart beating so fast, I began to hyperventilate.
No.
I've never seen anything like it, like a small second sun up in the sky, a glowing ball of red and black floated there.
The Planet's ticking time bomb.
I shivered, possibly looking pale in front of the camera.
Sephiroth summoned Meteor.
A cold gust of wind slipped through my trembling body.
It all made sense now.
I thought you were gone for good. I lost it.
I ducked my head, hair falling over the podium.
Cloud, what the hell happened?
Fighting back tears, I quickly learned this public execution wasn't just about my life. It was to put blame on the world's upcoming doom. What a better way to leave a last impression to the end of the world. Executing those to blame to give a quick, false justice to the people all caught up in this mess.
My stomach pulsed, as though my tiny child was waking me up, reminding that I was still on camera. I was still in front of thousands of wide eyes, gawking up at me, guns to my head, and Scarlet's nails leaving a mark on my skin.
I took in a long inhale and exhale, steadying myself before I were to collapse.
It was quick to assume, what's the point? What's the point of anything anymore? What's the point of saving anyone's life if we were all going to die soon anyway?
Another deep breath, I shook my head to myself.
No. I can't think like that. It's so easy to, it's scary.
My head lifted, and I took a glance at the wide camera lens in front of my face before averting my eyes away.
"Please, Rufus. I know you want to put the blame on my friends, but, please. I'm asking you..."
I stepped beside the podium, peeling from Scarlet's hold, and got on my hands and knees on the stage.
"Please, I'm begging of you. Please let them go. I can help us stop meteor. I can save us. So, please!" I screamed. The camera man aimed, showing those sitting at home and glued to their televisions, a groveling woman, falling so low, her pride gone.
"Please," I exhaled, shaking.
"Enough of this! Men, seize this imposter! Aqua is clearly dead-"
"No!"
All heads turned. I lifted mine and stared pass the podium. Walking up the steps, Rufus laid his blue eyes on me with both careful consideration and thrill. He put a hand up, halting his Shinra troops from taking charge. Isaac was right behind him, when he stammered back two steps.
"Aqua!" He gasped, and our eyes locked over Rufus's shoulder.
Isaac was alive.
There was a flicker of something warm in my cold body when I rose, almost reaching for him, so glad to see a face I've missed so much.
I was speechless, even as, unexpectedly, Rufus swung his arms around me and pulled me into his pressed suit as though this was something we've done before. My breath held, unable to do anything except swallow while my arms stayed frozen at my side, Rufus's body like pressing against a wall.
"I was so worried. I thought you've died," he announced, obviously putting on a show to excite our audience. We were suddenly a play, displaying a dramatic scene, and there were so many "awwwws" in the crowd, people mourning and gushing with hope that they so longed for.
It was better than demanding death of my friends. Awkwardly, I lifted my arms and laid shaky hands to the back of his white blazer, afraid to wrinkle it.
I'm standing before the jaws of the beast.
Rufus shoved me back to look down at my face, his eyes unreadable, perhaps slightly warm, or maybe scheming. One of his hands took to my cheek, and I tried very hard not to slap it away.
"Stay with me, help me save this Planet of ours, and I'll be happy to let your friends go," he announced, his voice just inches from the microphone. Silently, I nodded, settled on the thinking for later, when he pulled my face to his. Like instinct, I turned in time, and he kissed my cheek instead, leaving me to swallow back bile. There was a flash of dissatisfaction in Rufus's eyes when he tossed me a hidden glare, but it vanished quickly, eyelids fallen, when he pressed me to him again.
"I'm just so glad you're safe," he whispered.
The people cheered. There was hope for the Planet. The last Ancient alive. Rufus's industrial world and my earthen one will blend to put a stop to the threat that is Meteor. Together, with our love, we'll save the world.
That must be what was going through all the public's heads as applause, whistles, and cheers crashed across the airfield. I laid my chin over Rufus's shoulder, spotting Isaac's dreadful uneasy stare, and a Meteor hovering beside him like a small, floating red ball by his head.
Together, the two glared right at me.
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