This was all too familiar with her, the feel of the air around her and the soft scent of flowers in the atmosphere, it reminded her so much of home. But that can't be possible…
She was dead…
Wasn't she?
She remembered roaming in the life stream helping Cloud to forgive himself for her and Zack's death. Taking in the three remnants of Sephiroth so after. While Deepground did cause some trouble a year later, but everything in the lifestream was relatively peaceful none the less. She even got to make up for lost time with her first love, Zack Fair. While looking after lost and confused children was time-consuming, she was still happy.
One day, he suddenly vanished from the life stream, that made her anxious. She tried asking the planet a few times before about where her lover could have gone, but its answer to her was always Midgar. She decided to go to the Midgar region at one point and look for him. But as soon as she got close to the city's remains she was forcefully pulled towards it. No amount of power and will that she had could help her break free from the pull. The scenery changed drastically around her, from barren deserts surrounding the city, to the busy streets of Edge, then finally in the Midgar ruins, afterward, everything went black. Along with that came a sharp pain surging through her spiritual body. The pain was too much for her to bare that she fainted.
The next thing she felt was movement; it was as if someone was moving her from one place to another judging from the changes in the air around her. She couldn't open her eyes yet to see who or what it was but for some reason, she felt like she could fully trust whatever it was ushering her around and about. She sometimes felt warm, and in the next minute, she was cold, then warm again. This warmth came with a caring heartbeat and rough breathing, the kind that comes from someone on a long journey to reach somewhere far. They were forcing themselves to reach that impossible goal, that much she could confirm. She wished that she could tell them to stop and rest or to, at the very least, thank them. But her voice betrayed her intentions; she never uttered a single word once since the start of this whole ordeal. The only thing at the moment keeping her from being upset about the situation was the calming and gentle heartbeat of whoever was helping her.
It was by then that she realized something that she had overlooked, she was actually breathing right now. And not only that but physically feeling everything that got within her physical range. That should not be possible with a spiritual body at all. A Spirit can't breathe, nor can it feel anything, not even pain. Yet here she was, breathing, aching, feeling, things she used to do when she was actually alive. She was outright confused and partially scared. She doesn't know what was going on, or why she was feeling all this, it was too much to take in all at once. That's when she heard it, the familiar whispers of the planet assuring her that she needed not to worry about her dilemma.
Gaia responding to her cries had somewhat calmed her anxious nerves. She felt like a child being comforted by its mother, enveloped in their warm embrace. And it continued to calm her, till she felt her carrier's encouraging heartbeat once again. The planet then reassured her that she was in completely good hands. Her long search was finally at its end.
The time she felt her partner spend traveling seemed to have reached its end by the time she spent speaking with the planet; For she felt herself being put down on something wooden like a chair. She felt someone's breath very close to her, then a light contact on her forehead. The person later moved away from her, yet she did not want them to go and leave her; she was afraid enough as it is. That's when her hearing finally kicked in, allowing her to hear her environment for the first time since she gained consciousness.
Her ears quickly picked up on the heavy footsteps echoing around the area. They were obviously somewhere indoors with a big hall at most, and the floors were wooden as evident from the sound of the gentle crack and creek it made when there was a heavy weight moving over it. The footsteps got slightly farther away from her at sometimes but got closer a bit later. She sometimes could make out some of the words that they spoke; the voice was rough, so the person was definitely male. He sounded familiar which made her relax even more than before.
The way he was talking suggested that he was either talking to himself or to someone else. Which was odd seeing as she was sure that the only people in the immediate area were herself and him; unless he was talking to someone on a phone. Or maybe he was directing his speech to her? She wasn't very sure if that was the case though. Then again the person kept saying her name, so he both knew who she was and was talking to her. Such a funny man this person turned out to be, funny and sweet.
The person continued for almost half an hour; later he finally joined her side on the wooden bench. The surface she was on stirred a bit from the extra weight. A gentle warm object patted her head then slipped under her hand, holding it tightly. That warmth, those soft touches, and that heartbeat from before. It was all too familiar to her, but she couldn't place her finger on who it reminded her of.
But whoever it was, she begged them mentally to stay, Just till she could at the very least thank them for all the help that they have given her earlier.
After some time had passed, it felt natural to open her eyes, much easier than before. And she can feel her limbs too, but not her legs for some reason. One of her hands still had that warmth from before and she just noticed that it was heavy. Curiosity took over her; she had to know whom it was now that she could. When her eyes fluttered open slowly, at first, her vision was a tad blurry, and everything was just a big colorful blob in her view momentarily. But with time, her vision cleared, and everything got sharper and more defined. She saw that the scenery around her was of her own sweet old church. The early morning sun was visible and shined in from the open roof. The soft golden rays reflected off the pool of clear water lighting the hall she sat in. The shimmering surface rippled as flower petals danced on it carefully making it look so calm and peaceful in her perspective. Her eyes had glanced around the familiar scene in front of her in awe, admiring the familiar yet beautiful scenery. She soon snapped out of her daydreaming state, remembering the reason why she was forcing herself awake in the first place. Turning her sight of vision to her side, her gaze landed on the large black leather gloved hand which protectively enveloped her own small hand.
Her eyes slowly followed the arm up to its owner's face, widening at the sudden discovery of the person's identity. It was the man she was frantically searched for in the lifestream, Zack Fair. The same man that left on his mission years ago and went missing. And that she later discovered his demise when they met in the life stream. Who recently disappeared from the life stream for an unknown reason.
She found it hard to maintain her tears, she was happy to have found him, and he looked safe and… alive? But how was that possible? And not just him, she too was living and breathing but how? From what he told her and what she knew, the Shinra army killed him, and Sephiroth killed her, and their deaths weren't recent either. The question repeated itself in her mind, and no matter how she twisted and turned the facts and reasons she couldn't find a suitable explanation for it. Being the Cetra that she was, she resorted to asking the planet for the answer. The response she got whoever wasn't what she needed. Instead of the usual whispers she was used to hearing from the planet, she was instead hearing a woman's voice in her head as clear as day.
'Child there's no need for worry. You are in no immediate danger.'
'W-who are you?'
'I am the guardian of Gaia's Lifestream, Minerva. I and here to answer your call.'
'I... hear about you, briefly, from my mother. Lady Minerva, please tell me, how is it that we are alive?'
'You were reborn in a... Unnatural method my dear. And whole it is Taboo, Gaia sees no harm in both of you being resurrected; and thus granted you it's blessing of life.'
'Oh, thank you. We'll be sure to cherish this chance you've allowed us to have.'
'Stay vigilant child, And till we next meet. Fare thy well.'
The man beside her stirred in his sleep interrupting her from responding, her attention now to divert from the entity to him. But he wasn't waking up yet, he was merely fixing his sleeping position. When he did his arms wrapped themselves around her thin figure and pulled her closer to himself, unintentionally of course. She suddenly found that her head now rested on the man's broad, warm chest, it caused her to blush in a bright shade of red. She was also having difficulty breathing not because he was holding her tightly, but because she was feeling a bit embarrassed at this sudden predicament that he put her in accidentally.
Although tempted to move away, when she peeked up at his face she noticed the smiling in his sleeping face, he probably had a nice dream, she believed it would be a shame to wake him up now. She didn't want to admit it, but his warmth was just what she needed at the moment. Besides, it didn't seem like he would be waking up anytime soon either.
So in the end, she gave up to his embrace, feeling the tension in his muscles she assumed that he must have been beyond exhaustion from whatever place he took her from before. But at least he was relaxing now, so maybe she was right about not wake him up after all. Which reminded her of something else she needed to do.
'Thank you for finally coming back to me.'
