Three Queens

Sink into your Mother's arms,

the womb that gave you birth.

The blast created by Loz and Yazoo had knocked him out. He thought for good, but then he heard a soft voice calling to him, and a soft embrace wrapping around him.

"Mom?" he asked.

-

Aeris had been his confidant. No other among his party could possibly be so understanding... of course, he couldn't tell even her about the ordeal with Zack. But everything... everything else, she knew.

Let her take your secrets back and lay them in the earth.

Let her take you in her arms,

let her take you home.

It had been because of that, mostly, that he had felt the pain of her leaving him... but she had always been able to call him back from the edge of death himself in other battles of the past that had turned bad on him for the last moment... and she'd done it yet again.

-

Let her take you home.

Leave to her the gifts she gave of flesh, and breath, and bone.

Once more she'd saved his life, he realized, as his eyes opened in the church, feeling the wetness of the water, the heat of the sun. But even through all that... he had never really... loved her.

His eyes caught sight of his companions massed on the shore... one in particular.

Love... he had Tifa for that.

Sink into your Lover's arms,

the womb that made you whole.

He thought of that one night as he held her... her skin cool and soft against his own. He'd always been searching for a purpose his entire life. Perhaps not that, even. He thought it had been that, but truly... not a purpose, but a place. He'd just wanted someone to love, and to love him back...

Let her waters slake the thirst you carry in your soul.

Tifa gave him that.

Let her take you in her arms,

let her take you home.

And she had certainly made a place for him as well, in her heart, and in her home.

Let her take you home.

And the things they'd been through together... sadness, joy, hard times, good times, battle, peace... and so many plans they'd come up with together, daring and wild or even the occasional one that was logical.

Leave to her the dreams you made of honor, steel, and stone.

One thing terrified Cloud to this day. Not Sephiroth, and not death... but insanity. One such that he had experienced after falling into the lifestream and washing ashore in Mideel. Trapped in his own mind, unable to escape the horrors that lay there with him... the guilt and fear of failing Aeris.

Sink into your Mother's arms...

And all the time Tifa was there with him. He loved her, and silently thanked her so much for that, knowing she couldn't hear, knowing she didn't need the thanks, and would just as soon stay by his side all that time getting no recognition whatsoever.

Sink into your Lover's arms...

But in truth... beyond all that, overcoming his grief, and being cared for by Tifa, it was someone else who had pulled him out of the rut he'd gotten stuck into, created by fear and doubt after that horrible experience.

Sink into your Sister's arms...

That was Yuffie.

...the womb you need not know.

She was like the annoying little sister he never wanted... but still loved so much. In a different, familial sort of way. She always, somehow, managed to cheer him up.

Let her fires consume the frame of what you were before.

Let her take you in her arms,

let her take you home.

"Chin up, Cloudy." she'd say with a grin, "Just because your name is depressing, 'Cloud Strife' doesn't mean you have to be. You're getting like Vincent."

The gunman scowled at that as they walked by him in the hallways of the Highwind. Though he soon disappeared into another room. Cloud laughed, and Yuffie grinned.

"That's the spirit!" she said triumphantly, and spun around, and left him, trouncing along toward her room, singing 'You are my Sunshine' in between short bouts of seasickness where she stopped, held her mouth for a moment, then continued on with the lyrics, but in a slightly different key than before.

Let her take you home.

Leave to her the mysteries of Maiden, Mother, Crone.

She was the nurturing type of person Cloud could see growing old and having tons of little children and grandchildren, sitting by the fire and telling them stories of her... rather wild youth. Or, if not that, then he'd be telling the stories, as 'Uncle Cloud' or some other ridiculous nickname. Embarrassing things that Yuffie wouldn't dare to reveal herself.

He imagined that of the three, Yuffie had the best title, and dearest place in his heart.

Sink into your Mother's arms...

Sink into your Lover's arms...

Sink into your Sister's arms...

---

Author's Ending Note Thingy: Not quite what I thought it would be... but still good... I think. Not enough description here... songfics have that problem with me, I just focus on facts and explaining the relevance of the lyrics, and leave out everything pretty and interesting. Ah... oh well.