". . . Reeve?"

He blinks, looking back down at Marlene. He isn't certain how long she's been calling his name, propping her head up on the table with an elbow.

"Where were you?"

"I'm sorry, darling." Reeve pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling softly. The mathematics homework Marlene's tutor had assigned her is scattered all over the kitchen table. "I'm a little distracted today."

"More than a little," Marlene huffs, making him smile as she continues to pout, tapping the end of her pencil repeatedly against the table.

"Meaning?" he prompts her, teasing, eager to hear what she has to say. Barret's daughter has quickly wormed her way into Reeve's heart, sweet and precocious and able to sniff out his moods without having to give her any indication as to how he's feeling.

She blushes, reaching down to pet Cat as he saunters by the table, circling their legs and brushing his tail against their knees.

"Marlene, please sit up at the table." It's not unkind, but Marlene casts him a stormy look. Regardless of how clever she is, she's still a little girl, and she still doesn't like being told what to do by someone who isn't her parent. Regardless of that, she straightens up as she's told. "Say what you mean. It must be important to you."

"You don't visit as much anymore."

For a moment, Reeve is struck dumb. She won't look him in the eyes, instead resting her cheek upon the tabletop and playing with her pencil again. It's hard to explain to her that he's trying to juggle three different lives at the moment.

Lifting her eyes, she asks, "Do you not like us?"

"What? Marlene, it has nothing to do with you or Elmyra. Of course I like you." He smiles at her, very tired. "I'm sorry. I've been very busy lately, but I'll try to be better."

This doesn't seem to make Marlene feel any better at all. "Is Daddy coming home soon?"

Reeve hesitates. He had been lucky enough to warn Elmyra ahead of time so Marlene hadn't been forced to accidentally witness the almost-execution of her father, but he knows there is no avoiding this. "Yes," he says quietly, a lie, "he'll be home soon."

It strikes a chord with him, truthfully. He thinks of Charlotte, wondering where her father has gone when he leaves for weeks, assigning a Turk to take over his role as the patriarch until he returns.

"I have an idea, but I'll understand if you think it terribly boring, of course." Reeve watches her eyes light up, full of mischief and curiosity. "If I take the whole day off tomorrow, perhaps we could . . . well . . . it's a ridiculous idea, really . . . I'm sure you wouldn't want to . . ."

"No, I want to know! You have to tell me now!" Marlene looks very seriously at him, her bottom lip sticking out. "Say what you mean."

His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, and she tries in vain to stifle her smile at his look of incredulity. Holding his hands up in surrender, he concedes defeat. "All right, if you insist." A chuckle escapes him. "I thought maybe the three of us could go to the lake tomorrow. Do you remember me pointing it out to you?"

She nods quickly. "Can we? Can we go, please? Will you ask Elmyra? I've never gone swimming before. Do you know how to swim? Do you think Elmyra does? Will you teach me?"

Reeve holds up a hand to calm her down, laughing to himself still. Marlene seems ready to burst with excitement and more questions. "Only good girls who finish their schoolwork get to go to the lake—"

"You're only saying that because Elmyra yelled at you last time."

It's true. The last time he had come, they had snuck away for ice cream within a few minutes of his arrival after Marlene begged and begged and begged non-stop, only to come face-to-face with a very disappointed Elmyra waiting for them in the kitchen. She had caught him and Marlene red handed, ice cream cones held up to their faces as they walked through the front door.

"I thought I told you no ice cream before you finish your schoolwork," Elmyra had chided Marlene, before scolding Reeve about spoiling the little girl too much, but in his defense, it's not like he has much else to spend his money on.

"Ooh!" Marlene had giggled quietly, waiting until Elmyra headed back upstairs, leaving them to finish their ice cream in the kitchen together. "You're in trouble."

"You tricked me," Reeve had answered with a smile, winking at her as Elmyra called back down the stairs to tell them she could still hear them scheming together.

Marlene pouts again, swinging her legs back and forth and scaring Cat away. "I thought you were going to help me with my work."

"What do you need my help with? You're already smarter than me."

"It's not nice to tease, you know," Marlene tells him, scrunching her nose and sticking out her tongue.

"Marlene, put your tongue back in your mouth. That's not very kind."

Both Reeve and Marlene look up to find Elmyra standing in the entrance to the kitchen, looking sternly at the both of them. She opens the refrigerator and hunches over, gathering some things from inside.

While she's unable to see them, Reeve leans close to Marlene. "Ooh," he whispers, "you're in trouble."

Marlene giggles behind her hands.

The refrigerator door shuts, and Elmyra has her eyebrows raised in a very uncompromising way at him. "Don't encourage her."

Thankfully, the Highwind had been able to drop them off close to the reactor, saving them a hike up Mount Corel, but they hadn't been close enough to stop the Huge Materia from being loaded up onto a train.

Overlooking the reactor from a nearby cliff, pressed low to the ground, the three of them look over the situation before doing anything drastic. Barret thinks it's a good idea to approach guns blazing, taking out the guards on either side of the reactor entrance before they even know what's coming. Cid doesn't think it's a terrible idea, but Charlie thinks it might be easier if she just walked up alone and played the part of vice president.

"The minute you walk up there, they're gonna kill you," Barret scoffs, holding his gun-arm out. "Think I can get 'em from here?"

"Wait!" Charlie hisses, placing a hand on his forearm. "Those guards are only doing their jobs! You're just going to walk up and kill them?"

"Don't act like these'll be the first Shinra guards that we've killed." Regardless, Barret moves his arm to appease her. "Sometimes there ain't no other way, Charlie. It's either us or them, and sooner or later, you're gonna have to use that gun of yours."

"You think they'll let you in?" Cid asks her, turning his head to the right. When Charlie looks back at him, she blushes upon noticing how close they are to each other.

"Maybe." She isn't sure herself, but if she can avoid killing anyone, she would prefer to go that route. She also knows that it's very impractical, and it would be much easier to rid themselves of guards. "I could try to sabotage the train, or at least sneak on board."

"You're not gettin' on that train by yourself," Barret snaps at her, but it's out of concern instead of distrust. "No matter what Vincent says, I ain't seen you shoot yet. You're gonna make us all look back if you get on that train and start missin' all your targets."

"I think you're going to be very impressed when you eventually see me shoot, Barret."

"Guess we'll find out soon, huh?"

"It's worth a shot. If we can do this without drawin' any attention to ourselves, then we should. Go on, kiddo," Cid encourages her, pushing himself to his knees. "We'll cover you, just in case."

Charlie makes her way down the cliff, with Barret and Cid trailing a short distance away from her. Her heart is already throbbing at the prospect of what they're going to do. She's about to commit open treason, and while she knows it's all for the greater good, and that it's best to keep Huge Materia and the Ancients' knowledge from being carelessly thrown at Meteor in an act of her brother's desperation, it still doesn't sit very well with her.

As she approaches the reactor, Charlie holds her hands up to show the guards that she's unarmed, despite the engraved side of her gun pressing against the small of her back.

"Put your guns down!" she snaps, when both guards lift their firearms to stop her coming any closer. "Don't you recognize the vice president when you see her?"

She knows she doesn't look like the vice president, surely. Her clothes are dirty and cheap, she isn't wearing any jewelry or makeup, she hasn't washed her hair in two days and it's pulled back into a braid to hide that fact. But she's still a Shinra, and right now, she needs to act like one.

"Madam Vice President . . . !" The guards don't lower their weapons right away, which sets Charlie's heart to fluttering again. They look at each other, and the first one speaks. "I'm sorry, Madam Vice President, but we have orders not to let you through."

"Orders from who?"

"From Director Heidegger and Director Scarlet, ma'am."

Charlie scowls, trying to seem as imposing as possible. The audacity of it all insults her, the idea that these guards might hold Scarlet and Heidegger in higher regard than her. Is this what her life has become? "And what of my brother? What of the president?" she calls out to them. "Does the Shinra name really mean so little these days? What are your names?"

The guards look at each other again, hesitating. Charlie takes another step forward, holding her chin up high, like Tseng taught her. Chin up, shoulders back, spine straight. She is the vice president, and she must believe that Shinra guards would not kill her, but the moment she takes another step, they raise their guns again.

"Madam Vice President, please don't come any closer or we'll be forced to shoot!"

"Excuse me?"

"Please, Miss Shinra," the second guard begs, his voice high. "Don't take another step."

"If you shoot me, you will be gutted by the Turks, do you understand that?"

"We're only following orders, Madam Vice President," the first guard tells her, not unkindly, but firmly. "And I have to ask you again not to come any closer—"

"Charlie, get down!"

At the sound of Barret's voice, Charlie drops to the ground as gunshots ring out around her. Her face presses uncomfortably against the railroad tracks, her hands pressed to her ears as the guards shout and Barret continues to shoot.

Gloved fingers wrap around her upper arm, pulling her to her feet. "You good?" Cid says, pulling her towards the entrance to the reactor, where both guards lie dead on the ground, riddled with bullet wounds, blood pooling beneath them in the dirt.

She looks up into his face, pressing her back against the reactor's steel wall. "I'm sorry—"

"Don't be sorry," Cid replies, with a little smile on his face. "You took a chance. Not all of 'em work out, but now we know."

She nods, trying to ignore the bodies on the ground.

A whistle sounds from within, and she hears the creaking of the train as it gathers speed. A few seconds later, the train emerges, hissing past the three of them. Thankfully, the dead bodies escape a more gruesome disfiguring.

From the other side of the entrance, Barret growls up at the sky before shouting over to them, "We gotta catch that train!"

"Just let me fuckin' handle it, okay?" Cid shouts back at him, hesitating at the entrance to the reactor, his eyes still fixed on the train that's slowly gathering speed, headed back towards North Corel.

Charlie looks inside the reactor, pleased to see that there's one more mode of transportation left to them. "Cid!"

He appears at her side almost instantly, and Barret runs inside recklessly, the both of them following her line of sight to the small train car that's parked right inside, the reactor nearly double the size of the ones in Midgar and far older.

"That'll work," Cid mutters, elbowing her gently in the side and grinning.

Charlie reaches the car first, jumping up onto the small platform and looking around frantically as Cid and Barret look over her shoulders. The control panel is loaded with buttons and levels, and her hands hover above it, unsure of where to begin.

"Okay, I can figure this out. It's just like turning on a helicopter. Or a rocket ship." She sighs heavily, looking for something that seems out of place, something that could be a start button. "I can do this. I can do this."

"Here, let me—"

"No!" Charlie barks at Cid, just as he tries to nudge her out of the way. His eyes widen and he holds his hands up, taking a step back. "I can do this."

Deciding to take another chance, unsure of whether or not it will work, Charlie flips several switches and presses a few buttons, keeping an eye on the gauges, waiting to see if anything is going to happen. After another few seconds, and some grumbling under Barret's breath, Charlie pushes another button and the control panel seems to spring to life, lighting up before her very eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cid grabs onto the side of the train car as it rumbles beneath his feet, sending him stumbling. Without much effort, the car begins to chug and puff down the railroad tracks and out of the reactor, following after the train with the Huge Materia. "All right! Good job, Lottie!"

"You do know how to drive a train, don't you?" Barret asks from behind Charlie, looking slightly more optimistic.

Charlie turns her gaze on Cid, eyes wide. "Don't look at me like that!" Cid replies, holding his hands up in defense. "I dunno how to drive a train!"

"Neither do I!" Charlie scoffs. "I'm not a conductor! I can't drive a train!"

Barret's optimism disappears suddenly. "What'd'you mean you can't drive a train?" he shouts over the blaring of the train's whistle. "It's got your goddamn name on it, Shinra!"

"Just because it has my name on it doesn't mean I know what to do with it!" she shrieks, incredulous. "Believe it or not, learning how to drive a train isn't mandatory when your last name is Shinra!"

"You can pilot a rocket but you can't pilot a train? We gotta make this thing go faster!"

"A train is not the same thing as a rocket!" Swallowing her pride, Charlie looks pleadingly at Cid. "Help me!"

"Hey, hey, don't worry 'bout it," Cid announces, putting his hands on his hips and giving them both a cocky little smile that's diluted by a certain amount of fear. "I got this! I can figure it out!" He looks back towards the controls, grabbing hold of two large levers experimentally. "If I just . . . do this . . ."

He pushes one and pulls the other, and the train jerks as it picks up speed a little. Charlie pokes her head around the side, looking for a sign of the Huge Materia. "I see it! I see the train!" she shouts over her shoulder, the other train speeding along on the tracks parallel to them. "Just a little bit faster!"

"Okay, hold on tight!"

With an enormous amount of effort that leaves Cid grunting each time he shifts the levers, the train car continues to gather speed, swaying precariously upon the tracks. Charlie keeps her eye on the other train, keeping a steady pace as they quickly approach it. "Just a little bit further!" she urges him. "We're almost there!"

"Fuck, my arms are burnin'—"

"You're doing a great job!" Charlie says, turning to face him and smiling reassuringly. "I know you're strong enough. Just a little longer, okay?"

Her compliment works, just as she hoped it would. It takes him a minute to register what she's said, but then he clears his throat, moving the levers even faster. Cid cocks an eyebrow, and in a lower, rougher, and far more charming voice, he asks, "You think I'm strong, huh?"

"Hey! Hey! Quit flirting!" Barret roars over the rushing of the wind in their faces. "We ain't got time for that now! We're comin' up on the train!"

"Okay, okay! We're gonna have to just jump!" Cid says, as their train car catches up to the caboose of the train with the Huge Materia. Charlie casts him a horrified look. "Barret, you're up, big boy!"

Barret's feet have already left the ground by the time he tells them, "Ain't gotta tell me twice!"

Charlie, reluctant, hesitates at the edge of the car. The gap between the two trains is far wider than anything she's ever jumped before, and if she comes up short, she's going to plunge all the way down Mount Corel and to her death. "Why don't you go first? I'll be right behind you," she says quickly to Cid, who pulls away from the levers and picks his weapon back up.

"No can do, baby. A captain always goes down with his ship. Or at least doesn't leave anyone behind."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dunno. What's that thing Barret says?"

"About getting off a train?"

"No, not that. But that'll work, too."

Cid wraps his arm tight around her waist, and without a second thought, leaps from the side of the train car. Charlie holds onto him, looking down at the bottom of the mountain, many many many many many miles below her. They soar across the gap, landing hard and loud upon the roof of the caboose, their little train car moving down the tracks of its own accord now with no one left to control it.

"Oh," she says breathlessly, his arm lingering around her waist, her hand splayed over his racing heart. "My hero."

"Glad y'all could make it," Barret tells them, as Charlie stands up straight on shaky legs and puts some distance between herself and Cid. "Now let's go! We gotta stop this train!"

Cid gives Charlie a curt nod, and the three of them begin to race across the tops of the cars, keeping to the middle and hunching over to keep the wind from blowing them right off. To their right is the cliffside, dangerously close to the side of the train, with their other side is nothing but open air, a steep drop-off that would kill all three of them if they fell.

There's a lone conductor at the very front of the train, dressed in the recognizable blue of the Shinra army. He doesn't hear them approaching over all the noise, but once Cid and Charlie jump down from atop the previous car, the man startles and looks over his shoulder, hands still on the levers.

"Wh—you guys? Miss Shinra?"

"That's right!" Cid says, holding the point of his spear to the back of the conductor's neck. "Now stop the goddamn train and hand over the Huge Materia!"

The conductor moves quickly, reaching for the rifle that leans against the front of the car, but Cid is quicker, digging the tip of his blade into the base of the man's neck and throwing him off the side of the train, sending him tumbling down the side of the mountain.

Charlie is horrified, but she knows that it had to be done. In fact, Cid seems rather proud of himself, his chest swelling. "Cid, you just killed the one person who knows how to drive the train!"

Cid blinks at her, as if just now realizing this. "Oh, fuck—"

"We don't have time for this!" Barret is still above them, holding onto the top of the train and looking down at Charlie and Cid, lying flat on his stomach as the wind causes his eyes to well up with tears. "If we don't stop this train, we're gonna crash right into North Corel!"

"I fuckin' know already!" Cid snaps back at him, hands hovering over the levers again. "Everyone just . . . shut up and lemme think!" Unable to see ahead of her, Charlie braces herself, waiting for Cid to slow them down. "If I did . . . well, if we used . . . levers . . . accelerate . . . if I just do the opposite of what I did before, it'll slow us down, right?"

"What are you asking me for?" Charlie screams, feeling sick to her stomach. The train is gaining a dangerous amount of speed, taking a slight turn on the tracks and threatening to throw them all out to splatter upon the hard ground. "Just do it!"

With another grunt, Cid pushes both levers up and then pulls them both down. The train car jerks, but instead of slowing down, they only move faster. From on high, she can hear Barret yelling himself hoarse. "What are you doing!"

"Fuck! Just hang on, I got this! I got this! This time, I'll—" Cid does the same thing, which results in another increase in speed.

Charlie grabs hold of his arm, tearing him away from the levers. "Cid, stop it! You're making it worse!"

"Charlie, please just shut up unless you've got a better idea—"

"Cid, just stop!"

"Goddamnit, Lottie, I can do this! Just—" Cid pulls both levers down again, ignoring her hands tugging at his sleeve—"trust me!"

"Shit, shit, shit!" Barret grips the car tighter with his hand, putting his head down as if afraid to watch what's going to happen next.

"Everyone hold onto somethin'! I think we're gonna crash!"

Charlie looks around desperately, choosing to wrap her arms around Cid's middle and bury her face into his chest. He tenses at first, but soon relaxes in her grip, draping an arm around her shoulders and holding her tight, his other hand wrapped around a lever, his knuckles white.

The train rounds another corner, hissing black smog into the open sky. Charlie lifts her eyes to see North Corel coming into view, recognizable by the banner that's draped across the end of the tracks. They're moving so quickly that they'll surely destroy the entire town, but they're getting closer and closer, and perhaps it's only an illusion, but the train seems to be slowing down the closer they approach . . .

Until the train stops completely, just before the junkyard village of North Corel. With her fingers tangled in Cid's jacket, Charlie looks around in complete disbelief.

"Holy shit," Cid breathes, releasing the lever with his free hand and holding it to his heart. "I need a fucking cigarette."

"I think I'm going to throw up," she groans, her stomach twisting as adrenaline continues to pump through her veins. "Or faint."

Barret doesn't say anything, but his expression says enough. He breathes heavily, lying limp atop the car, looking as if they've just saved the world from Meteor's impending destruction.

Cid looks down at her, grinning crookedly. He deserves that arrogant little smile on his face right now. "Told you I got it. You should have a little faith in me, honey."

Charlie can't help but smile, breathless. Her heart is still pounding, and her stomach is clenching painfully after the most frightening experience of her life. "I'll never doubt you again, I swear," she answers hoarsely, pulling away from him as several villagers approach the side of the train car.

"Is everyone okay here?" An elderly woman with a deeply lined face holds her hands out for Charlie to take, helping her down off the side. As Charlie struggles to keep her balance on legs that feel boneless, the woman suddenly gasps. "Miss Shinra! You're—but you are—aren't you—? Did you—did you stop that train?"

Charlie opens and closes her mouth, hearing a clang! that can only be Barret jumping down from the roof of the car. "Well, he did, actually," she explains, pointing at Cid, who blushes furiously at all the eyes that fix upon him.

"She helped," Cid elaborates quickly, stepping up to her side and slipping his arm around her.

Barret jumps down from the train, nodding up at Charlie. "She's with us."

"Shinra was going to destroy our lives again," one man tells them, hanging his head low and giving it a shake. "It might be full of junk, but this is our home, and it's the only home we've got. Ain't that right, Barret?"

"That's right!" Barret says triumphantly, pointing his gun at one of the train cars and unloading until the lock falls off and he's able to open the door. "Born and raised in the coal mines! Now matter how tough it gets—" He disappears for a moment within the car, but his voice echoes outside of it—"our hearts burn bright red like coal!"

When he jumps back out of the train car, he's holding something in his hand, something huge. It seems to glow, as red as the coal he was talking about.

"You all must be so tired," the old woman says, smiling sweetly at Charlie. "Why don't you get some rest? I'll show you to the inn. It's the least we can do for you after stopping that train."

Charlie looks up at Cid, at their leader, hoping for a short break. Cid smiles down at her and agrees. "Okay. I guess we could spare a few hours to rest. Lead the way, ma'am."

The inn is just a shack with a few mismatched beds, but it's there that Cid decides to call the others to tell them the good news, hoping there's good news on the receiving end, as well.

It's Cait Sith that answers.

"Hey, everyone okay?"

"Everyone's good on our end. You?"

"Doin' great, real great. We got great news—we got the Huge Materia," Cid tells him as the three of them huddle around the phone in his hand. "How're things goin' over there?"

"Real good. Turns out, we were only protectin' the condor and its egg from Shinra. One of the guys here took the Huge Materia outta the reactor ages ago, so it's safe with us now."

"That's great." Cid looks up and smiles at Charlie. "We're gonna catch some z's here and we can be on our way in a few hours."

"Actually, I guess they're doin' somethin' special to honor the condor's hatched egg, so we're in no rush to leave here. But listen," Cait Sith continues quickly, "there's one more reactor we'll have to reach. It's the underwater reactor in Junon, but they haven't moved the Huge Materia there yet. It's still in transit, and should be there by tomorrow afternoon. It's too risky to intercept it. They've added security after we screwed with their plans with the materia here and at Corel."

"Okay, keep an ear out," Cid nods, looking around at Charlie and Barret as if waiting for them to add something else. "We'll stay here tonight, have the crew pick us up in the mornin', and we'll head for Mideel to see the kids until you get word on the Huge Materia."

"You got it."

Cid ends the call and sighs heavily, flopping backwards onto one of the beds without bothering to kick his shoes off. "Time for a nap, I think."

Charlie smiles down at him, blushing when she catches Barret watching her.

With Meteor glowing brighter than any moon he's ever seen, the people of North Corel gather underneath its glow that night, seated around a bonfire with makeshift and homemade instruments, singing folk songs that Barret knows the words to and enjoying each other's company in what may be their last days.

Charlie sits on the other side of the fire, surrounded by children who touch the ends of her hair and curl up in her lap and take up all of her attention. There's a small smile on her face, and she's patient and kind to the children.

Cid can't say he's ever really seen Charlie interact with kids before. He's always hated little brats, always asking questions and tugging on sleeves and interrupting things that shouldn't be interrupted. But she seems to adore them, doting on them and braiding the girls' hair, allowing others to run small and sticky fingers through her own hair.

He drinks deep from the cup he was provided, filled with bitter beer that had been found during their search of the train. It's disgusting, but it's strong, and if he drinks too much, he's going to be passed out drunk right here within five minutes.

It's already bolstered his courage (something he could have used more of a few hours ago), and he's primed to do something stupid tonight.

Despite their near death experience today, and with Meteor hanging over their heads, Cid feels fucking amazing.

Charlie lifts her eyes to look across the fire at Cid. As soon as their eyes meet, she smiles, but it's short-lived, fading away as quickly as it came on. She looks back down at the children, speaking quietly, too quiet to be heard over the tapping and drumming and strumming and singing, and then she stands up and walks away.

Cid's eyes follow her the entire way. She makes for the train, fading away into the darkness until the only thing he can see of her is her hair, silver in the white moonlight, and then she's gone to him for good. Briefly (he knows it's paranoid), he worries that she's gone to him forever, just like he thought she would be when he left Junon, leaving Charlie behind with her maniac brother.

Barret sits down loudly beside him, sighing and looking around. "Talk to your girl yet?"

"She ain't my girl." He pulls a cigarette out of his almost-empty soft pack, putting it to his lips and flicking his lighter. "Don't make any fuckin' assumptions, yeah? You'll piss her off, and sound like a goddamn fool while doin' it."

To his surprise, Barret tilts his head back and laughs. "I ain't makin' any assumptions. I'm only callin' it like I see it." When Cid doesn't laugh with him, his face takes on a more serious expression. "She ain't been herself since wakin' up from her beauty sleep. Go talk to her."

"If you're so concerned, then why don't you talk to her?" Cid retorts coldly, unsure why it bothers him so much. Maybe it's the realization that she'll never be his girl, and the fact that he's known it all this time.

"'Cause she likes you. She don't like me, and she ain't gonna want to hear any advice from me, either."

"Yeah, well . . ." Cid scoffs, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "Some days, I don't think she likes me, either."

Barret shakes his head, getting back to his feet. Cid doesn't like the disappointed way he looks down upon him. "That girl just committed treason against her father's company and her brother, all 'cause you told her to."

"The fuck do you care 'bout Shinra?"

"I don't. I don't give a fuck about Shinra. I think they're all a bunch of greedy assholes." He shrugs, finishing his drink and smacking his lips. "But Charlie's all right. She's better than Cait Sith, anyway."

Cid finds her sitting on the edge of the caboose's roof, crying softly into her hands with her knees drawn up to her chest. He can still hear the faint music in the background, the raucous and drunken singing. She doesn't notice that he's crept up on her, but she hears him when he begins to climb the ladder up to join her.

"Oh." She quickly wipes her eyes and turns her face away from him as he walks up to her. "I'm sorry."

"You okay?" he asks, sitting down beside her, close enough to have their shoulders touching. She doesn't pull away from him. "Been a long few days, hasn't it?"

Charlie is quiet for a moment, looking up at the sky. It's hard to admire the stars when Meteor is so bright, turning the night sky orange and red, like a permanent sunset. "Why does it hurt so much?"

"Why does what hurt?"

She gives him a weak, exasperated little smile. "I know that my father's company has done horrible things, and I know now that my brother is . . ." Charlie shakes her head.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. What is he supposed to say to that? He's never been good at talking to her kindly about the company, and he still doesn't know what to say.

"But the company took care of me, and kept me safe. My name—my father's name—presented opportunities to me, and gave me a platform to speak. It gave me a voice. It gave me a career. It gave me a fiancé who loved me very much, and a family that loved me when my own father chose to mistreat my brother and I."

Cid puts a hand on her back as she buries her face in her hands again.

"I was the vice president. After years of it being an unattainable dream . . . wishful thinking on behalf of my brother . . . and it happened. Oh, Gods . . ." she moans. "I turned my back on the company that gave me everything."

She sure as hell doesn't look like the vice president now. "What can I do?"

Charlie looks up at him, teary-eyed, speaking very softly. "I just need you to tell me that it all hasn't been for nothing."

That's easy. "I don't think it's all been for nothin'."

The corners of her lips tick upwards, but it's a sad smile. "Why are you so good to me?"

Cid flushes, looking down into his lap and fidgeting uncomfortably. "C'mon, Lottie. You know why." He forces himself to look into her face, just to see her reaction. "I ain't ever been soft with anyone like I am with you."

Charlie blushes, to his surprise, and looks away from him. He can't help but imagine she's looking for a quick escape, an easy way to sneak away from him now that the words are out in the open. He wishes he never said them.

"Cid," she says, looking up at Meteor.

"What?" he asks, after a silence that seems a little too long.

"I'm sorry about the launch." She's very serious. "I never should have given you that order."

In the face of a giant Meteor headed straight for the planet, Cid finds her previous actions very insignificant. For so long, the consequences of that failed launch have haunted him, have turned him into someone resentful and bitter and unable to move on, but now . . . it seems fucking stupid to dwell on something from nearly five years ago.

The rocket launch won't mean a fucking thing if he's dead.

Either she knows damn well what she's doing by apologizing right here and right now, or she's genuinely sorry and wants me to know it because she thinks we're gonna die.

A few months ago, he would have believed her to be lying. He would have believed Charlie to be using his humiliating confession to coax forgiveness from him, catching him at his most vulnerable.

But now, he thinks her completely genuine. She's done things he's never expected from her—braved long journeys on foot with little resources, used her status to see to her friends' needs before her own, actively worked alongside new friends to thwart her father's company.

"You don't have to forgive me," she adds, shrugging her shoulders shyly at him. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

"I've been waitin' a long time to hear you say that, y'know?" he says, like a complete jackass.

"It might surprise you, but I'm capable of feeling penitence."

"Well . . . it doesn't feel as good as I thought it would, if it makes you feel any better."

"I have to tell you something else." Charlie bites down on her bottom lip. "Rufus was the one who sabotaged the launch. He ordered Avalanche to steal the oxygen tank."

Cid stills, his entire body tensing, muscles clenched painfully tight. She looks so fucking guilty. "And you've known that for how long?" he asks, trying to keep his anger in check.

"The day we were brought back to Junon, Rufus told me," she confesses, and there's something fearful about her, like she's afraid he's going to hit her. "I swear to you."

His heart is beating fast. It makes him dizzy. "And what'd you say to him?"

"Nothing," she answers flatly, "I spit in his face." Charlie moves her face closer to his, so they're mere inches away. "It was like this. And I spit in his face."

The casual way she says it, almost proud of herself, douses the fiery rage that burns inside him.

The image of Charlie spitting right in the president's arrogant little face is enough to push him forward, to kiss her so hard that it nearly knocks her over. Cid catches her, bringing a hand up to the back of her head, her lips parting to breathe hope and love and life into him.

Her hands are soft against his face, long fingers on his cheeks and thumbs against his chin, cradling his face like he's fragile, like he's worth touching, like he should be handled with care.

Why shouldn't he kiss her? They'll all be dead in a few days. Why shouldn't he spend these days allowing himself selfish indulgences?

So caught up in his own goddamn personal conflicts, he pulls away from her, absolutely fucking humiliated. This isn't what he came out here to do. He only came to make sure she was okay. He only came to get Barret off his fucking case.

The quiet laughter that escapes her is breathless, and with the world coming to a stop in a few days, every free second not spent kissing her seems a second wasted.

They shift awkwardly to better face each other, legs bent at uncomfortable angles against the hard roof, and her hands slip carefully underneath his jacket, coming to rest on his shoulders. There's a sense of urgency to everything she does, whether it be kissing him or moving her hands across his upper body, and then—

And then she pulls away, mouth and hands, breathing hard and fast, cheeks pink.

For a moment, Cid's anger gets the better of him, but he's not angry at her, he's angry at himself for falling for this bullshit again, for getting so caught up in a fucking dream.

But once Charlie smiles shyly again, that anger is gone, and she takes hold of his right hand to pull off his glove. He blushes when her thumb swipes across his palm. "Sorry," he mutters, wiping his clammy palm on the front of his jacket.

Her smile never falters, and she gives her head a shake, taking his hand back the moment it's offered to her. Charlie puts his hand to her face, skin against skin, nuzzling into his palm and closing her eyes.

Feeling bold, far bolder than he has any right to feel, Cid takes his other glove off and pulls her to her feet, standing underneath the stars and Meteor and the moon, two shadows on the top of a Shinra train.

"What are you doing?" she asks, looking down at their hands, fingers twined together.

He flushes head to toe, shrugging his shoulders instead of answering. Keeping one of her hands in his, trapped over his heart, he moves her right hand to his shoulder, his left hand resting on her waist.

"I thought you didn't dance, Captain," she teases softly, cheeks pink. "Don't you have a reputation to maintain?"

Cid smiles down at her. "Yeah, so don't go tellin' nobody. I'll deny it."

Charlie moves closer, resting her head against his shoulder, his cheek pressed against her forehead. That's enough to spurn him further, wrapping his arm around her waist and burying his face in her hair, feeling the light pressure of her palm against the nape of his neck.

He can't say how long they stand there, hardly moving, holding each other instead of dancing properly, but when they return to the center of North Corel, Barret makes a jab about their prolonged absence, to which both Cid and Charlie reply: "Mind your own business."