"Father, what's wrong?"

Nanaki looked down at his eldest, the little cub raising bleary, sleepy eyes at his giant of a father. Nanaki huffed once, discarding the question, and was glad to see that Seto knew better than to insist.

"Go wake up your sister," he whispered, his voice a deep throaty growl. Seto understood then that the matter was serious, as his father had used that voice he reserved to only the utmost solemn situations.

Nanaki watched his son go, moving closer to his mother where his little sister was curled up in sleep. He knew that his wife would feign to remain in slumber, as if he was ghosting their children away on a secret errand. But she knew where they were going. She would worry; that was to be expected, but she understood the importance he gave their journey.

As he saw Seto finally nudge his young sister Kaena awake, hearing her soft complaints, he vaguely wondered how this had all come about.

He'd found surviving members of his race. Those that did not know of Cosmo Canyon, that lived in the wild, but who respected and protected the planet nonetheless. He'd found his place there, his love, his family. His children, Seto and Kaena, both named in honor of those who had freely given their life for that which they loved. His haven, their haven.

But now they needed to see at which price that peace had been attained.

Kaena followed her brother and looked up at him with those shiny eyes, silent, solemn. She was the youngest, yet she had wisdom that Seto had not, a deeper understanding that seemed a betrayal to what should have been youthful innocence. She did not ask, sensing her father's mood and understanding the need for reverence. Nanaki was not surprised.

His heart swelled with pride at the sight of those two cubs. Seto might not be the wisest, but he had a fierceness in him that would serve him well, instincts. He loved them both, and considered them his gift from the planet for his help and undying devotion.

They ran a long time. Days, probably, but it didn't matter. The air was a rush in their ears and the earth a bare whisper under their flying paws. They ran behind him, always behind, as if they understood that this was maybe more for him than for them, and they never asked where they were going.

And then suddenly the tang of mako was in the air, soft and gentle, singing with the materia in his mane, making the orbs glow in soft reds and greens and purples.

Nanaki ran, climbed, long and powerful legs easily bringing him to his aim as he reached the peek of the mountainous cliff overshadowing the valley below. It smelled of greenery, nature. Not metal, not men. Those smells had been washed long ago when the last of humans had been chased from this hostile land, when he'd become the last member of his group to testify of what had happened.

His children soon joined him as he stood, head raised in the wind, letting it whip his aging, scarred face, letting it blow his bushy mane out of his eyes. Seto stood at his right, Kaena at his left, and they looked down at the wonder stretching before them.

Midgar's ugliness had been swallowed by everything that was beautiful in nature.

"Is that..?" Seto did not finish his sentence.

Nanaki took in a deep breath and released it in a cavernous, powerful roar that ripped the air.

Kaena was the first to join him, and Seto took only a moment before adding his voice to the cries in the glory of that which had conquered what had been said to be the one power on the planet. Nanaki was glad that they were here and understood what this broken city represented. Was glad for his species' longevity which had allowed him to show them.

But he was also crying his grief. In those ruins, buried by plants, were the tombstones of some of his old friends. All over the planet, their bodies rested, at peace in the soil that had meant so much for them. Nanaki cried for them, because he was the last who could. It was cruel, how he was always the last. Last of his race, until he learned he wasn't. Last of his group, last to go.

He did not stop until his throat was too soar to produce another such powerful sound. By then Seto and Kaena had stopped, watching him and the ruins alternatively, eyes filled with respect and solemnity. Nanaki looked down at them, his children, his future, and he smiled.

I will be there, he thought for the old Avalanche members, ignoring if they could hear him and not caring.

Forgive me if I am a little long.

Nanaki called his children's names, bringing life back in his eyes, and raced them down the cliff and beyond.