I leaned back against a steeple of the ShinRa mansion and sighed. "It's been a long time, you guys."
Reno snorted. "No kidding." His voice was soft as he stared at the red blaze all along the horizon.
"Well," Cloud said wryly, "we've certainly had a good run." Muffled laughter. Aeris smiled and curled her tail against him. She had become a gorgeous cat. Her parents had returned to the Lifestream many years ago, but her sister still guarded the Canyon and she still stayed with Cloud.
"Ragnarok..." Vincent murmured, and we lapsed into silence again.
The world was ending.
One of the doomsday predictions had finally come true. Not a demigod, not a Sephiroth, not anything we could stop.
We had really lived until the end of the world.
Now our family gathered on the roof of the ShinRa mansion to watch the final sunset. When the sun dropped below the horizon, our time was over at last. Whether or not the world would be reborn was impossible to predict. And if it was reborn, would we be reborn with it, or would we live on?
We were in Nibelheim because it was Cloud's childhood home. Vincent and I had no homes, Reno's Midgar had lain in ruins for centuries uncounted, and Aeris would follow Cloud anywhere. Her idol had not been me for long- she had matured and grown devoted to Cloud above all else, to where she left the protection of the Canyon to her sister.
I'll come back to you! Don't worry, the Lifestream always continues!
Aeris was my hope for the way this day would end.
I sighed as the last rays of light crept over the horizon and slowly vanished. "Well. See you in the next lifetime, Aeris, Reno, Cloud...Kesali."
Vincent whipped around and stared at me. I smiled and after a moment he seemed to let it go and turned back to nightfall. It was Vincent that spoke the last words for us all.
"On into this brave new world..."
Reno snorted. "This 'brave new world' better have booze and women."
Well, Reno's words don't really count.
