Mother
She stood like she's been standing there for many years, waiting. Her long, white hair flowed behind her, matching with the white world around us. Her sea green eyes bore into mine. It was like looking into a mirror, though this woman appeared a bit older, her face carved from painful memories. Her white robes seemed to shimmer, though from a sunlight I couldn't see, translucent to reveal a tall, pale body behind it. Bracelets of seashells dangled around her wrist when she lifted a hand to pull loose hair behind her ear.
"Hello Aqua," Mother greeted.
I lost the ability to speak. What are words? How do you make those? My mouth hung open, lost in my real Mother standing just a few feet from me like a Christian representation of an angel.
"Mother?" I asked, sounding more raspy than I intended to. I instantly thought of my adoptive mum back in Iceland, how she took care of me, and I missed her terribly. This woman, I hardly knew her. She saved me, shoving me into another world where I would be safe, supposedly.
My hands curled into fists. I couldn't decide whether to weep or scream, too many emotions shoving their way out at once. Heat manifested in my fists, green energy leaking through my tight curled fingers.
Mother saw this, and she gave hint of a smile through her thin lips.
"I know you were expecting someone else," she began, her voice like a soft echo through this floral void. It came like soft wind, a part of the air tossing the garden surrounding us.
Disappointment wrinkled her face, a hand up her arm, and her green eyes, eyes the same as mine, looked to the flowers.
"I wanted us to meet, at least once. I thought it would be sooner, but…"
I squinted at her.
"But I didn't die like you thought I would," I guessed aloud.
Mother dared herself to look back up and catch my fierce gaze with her wistful one.
"Yes. One of you had to be in the Lifestream. I thought it would be you, but then your friend took the plunge, unfortunately. And now, you're carrying a child. The Planet will do all that it can to keep you alive because of that burden," she explained.
I inhaled sharply, recalling Aerith's downfall, and slammed my hands over the sharp pain in my heart.
"If I had known, I would've gladly done what was wanted," I whispered. A different life, with me dead and Aerith alive. How would such a transition change the fate of this Planet? Maybe Cloud would've never given away the Black Materia and fallen into his coma? Maybe Rufus would've never thought of marriage.
So many possibilities. It was useless thinking of them now with such limited time.
"But there's still Meteor," I muttered, almost losing myself in the idea that there was no point of who went into the Lifestream. Such a spiraling staircase of dark thoughts, descending me further until it was too simple to gain momentum, losing myself until I reached the very bottom unexpectedly.
Mother sighed, another breeze flourishing through the flowers until they waved at us.
"If you had to choose which Planet to keep safe, which would it be?"
Such a powerful question. I gawked at her, searching for a crack of laughter or a sliver of a smile. Surely, she was joking. But Mother had no such hint of one. She cocked her head at me, glowering and green eyes gleaming with moisture. I had this horrible suspicion she had good reason to ask.
"Can we keep them both safe?" I questioned.
Mother lifted a white brow.
"That depends."
She crossed her long, thin arms, more seashells ringing together. Such a nostalgic noise that made my heart thump. Not her voice nor her eyes gave any recall, but those bracelets came to me clear as a crystal bell.
With a long sigh, Mother looked up to the misty white sky, as though she could see all the worlds up there, set as stars behind the fog.
"All Planets die, eventually."
Mother dropped her gaze.
"That's just how it is."
I thought she was going to say more on the matter, but when there was none, I broke the uncomfortable silence with, "Why did you have to send me away?"
Mother's eyes widened.
"What do you mean? You've seen it from the Well of Knowledge. I did it to save you."
My eyes burned, fists tightening until my palms hurt.
"Couldn't you have just sent me somewhere else on this Planet?" I asked, my voice cracking.
Mother laid a hand over her heart. The winds increased, flowers dipping their petal heads low.
"Aqua, all the Planets are connected. They speak to each other. It's all a giant network of spirit energy, branches of it to align everything into place. That is how we Ancients used to travel from Planet to Planet. Did you know we used to be a migrating race, keeping the occupied Planets safe? It wasn't until recently the last of us settled, forgetting most of the knowledge our ancestors lent us. I was one of the few that kept the practice, and knew how to work the network. I chose the other world because I knew it was where you could live a normal life. A life without being hunted and shunned because of magic."
I threw my fists down, tears falling.
"You mean a normal life of hearing voices and constantly being told that I was crazy?!" I screamed.
Tears landed on the tops of my bare feet.
Mother half closed her eyes to hide the shame inside them.
"I know," she sighed, dropping her head. "I tried to reach you, to explain it all to you, but you couldn't hear me. You were unable to hear anything for a very long time."
I sniffed, more tears and snot leaking.
"It's because of the medications I had to take. Until I came back to this world, I was subdued under all the medicines they gave me," I whimpered. The appointments, the judgmental looks, the arguments between mum and physicians. The bitter talks between mum and pa, the side effects of the meds.
"That's why I helped answer your friend's prayer. She wanted a companion, and I wanted you to come back home," Mother clarified, her glistering eyes back to mine.
I sniffed, pushing away the last of my tears.
"Did I make the right choice, deciding to conceive a child?" I asked, curious as to what was involved with the Planet's plan.
Mother's smile grew.
"It was unexpected. I think that's what your friend wanted."
I forced a smile, though it felt poor.
"It was. I hope she's proud," I whispered.
"Aqua, I really came here because I wanted to give you a warning."
Her unexpected strained voice pulled me to look back up at her. When she got my attention, her lips pressed firmly together.
"The Huge Materia. They shouldn't exist. Destroy them while you can."
I sniffed, steadily reading Mother's eyes. I was still stuck on the notion that I looked just like her, distracted. Blinking, I focused, recalling her gloomy words.
"But they are safe now," I protested.
She shook her head, her hand squeezing my arm. It felt warm but stiff.
"There's no such thing. As long as they exist, there's a chance they will be used for the wrong reasons, like opening up the portal to other worlds," Mother warned.
"Only Ancients should have that power," she added.
I thought of Shinra getting their hands on the Huge Materia, spreading their filthy hands into other worlds and using the portal for means of escape, only to implant more places with their dirty seeds.
Just like Jenova.
"How do we destroy them?" I pondered. Was there a magic hammer? Some kind of relic to destroy such powerful stones?
Mother's face grew grim.
"You could try absorbing their power, or using a strong weapon, though it won't be easy."
The white hazy world began to clear. Sunlight leaked through, casting a glow over her face and hair, turning her into gold. She sighed, displeased with the light. Her hand fell as she said, "I must go."
I wasn't ready for her to leave, already reaching when she retreated a few steps backwards.
"Keep your friends together. Only then, you can save both worlds," she warned.
My friends.
I smiled to myself, picturing each of their faces.
Yuffie with her face flushed of alcohol. Cid smoking his cigarettes. Red nuzzling his nose over his paw. Tifa throwing a punch. Vincent smirking behind his revolver.
Reeve's blushing grin as he stammers. Barret grinning while holding his gun arm, ready to throw bullets. Cloud blushing and quickly looking away. Aerith smiling like she held the heavens on her face.
It's too bad my friends were slowly drifting apart.
"Will I see you again?" I asked.
Mother nodded as she stepped back.
"You will. I'll wait for you in the Promise Land."
With that, she turned around, her long, silver hair flowing behind her like a veil. She stepped away, fading into the fog.
I reached, suddenly blurting, "What's the Promise Land?"
My voice echoed, cutting through Mother's ghostly form until she faded. There was nothing but me and the flowers.
I strayed for a while, sitting on my heels and touching the flowers with my fingers, waiting in case Aerith were to show up. I ruminated on Mother's words for a long time, especially about the advice to keep my friends together.
It felt like they were slowly drifting apart, one by one. First Aerith. Then Vincent. Now Tifa.
I rubbed my forehead over my knees, sighing while holding back tears.
I could feel it, the lingering sense that more of them will fall back to their place, to be with their loved ones and cling to the last few days before the world were to end. In case we fail.
Maybe they will find their fighting spirit and return?
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