Chapter Sixty-Four

There were so many things he wanted to tell her: how strong she was, how good she felt in his arms, how badly he wanted to kiss her.

But none of those things did he want to say in front of her brother, and more importantly, this was Elio's time. She'd waited so long and he'd already taken enough of it from her trying to prove his identity.

He put his mouth right next to her ear, conscious that anything above the quietest whisper would carry to Cloud's ears.

"We'll continue this later," he murmured. "Your baby awaits."

She pulled back when he did and cupped his cheek. The smile she gave him took his breath away. She was beautiful.

"Don't leave," she said.

He inclined his head. "You are a little feral."

"Don't forget it." And with that she turned towards the tank. Aeva monitoring its progress. The water was nearly drained, Elio slowly sinking with it.

"Normally he'd wake as soon as the equipment is removed." Aeva said, "But I will keep him asleep until you're holding him. He should wake in your arms. Do you want to change? You still have blood on your shirt."

Caia glanced down. Ah. So she did. But her skin was clean.

"I'll get it." Sephiroth said. "I cleaned your arms and face already."

"No. You stay. I'll get her a shirt." Tifa said, standing. Beside her Cloud let out a small sigh of relief. "A shirt. Anything else?"

"Make sure it's open on the back." Sephiroth said.

"Yeah. I can't hide my wing at the moment." Caia added her attention on Elio.

"And the bag. It's in the cabinet by the bed." It had everything they needed in it. Tifa gave a nod and left the room.

Caia let Sephiroth handle that, and watched her baby. Aeva giving her instructions on how they needed to unhook him, and how he should snuggle skin-to-skin with his mother. She ordered her father to push the bed to the side of the room, so they could maneuver around the tank easier.

"Almost time." Aeva said, as Tifa arrived with the bag and one of Caia's pajama sets.

"Then you won't have blood anywhere." She said pragmatically as she handed them to her.

Aeva shooed everyone to the other side of the room and pulled a curtain so Caia could change. She'd rather Sephrioth was helping her, but thought Cloud might be at the end of his rope today. She'd push it later, but now just wanted to hold her son.

Tifa had grabbed her favorite set of pjs: blue capris with yellow daisies and a flowy yellow top. The simple color was made elegant by the cut, short sleeves tied behind the neck with a long ribbon and the back was cut-away. The hole just the perfect size for her wing.

She changed quickly, the tank was almost drained.

"Done," she said, when she was covered, and Sephiroth drew open the curtain. Like she knew he would. He needed to be here too.

Aeva handed her a fluffy towel. "Ready?" she asked, and opened the hatch.

The hatch was on the side of the glass about halfway up. Now that the water was below it, nothing drained, but Elio was still floating in several inches of water, his face covered by tubes and the IV on the top of his head.

Caia held her breath, and reached down to pull her baby boy out of the water and wrap him in the fluffy towel, careful not to tug on the tubes. He was so beautiful. His little nose wrinkled, but he slept on. As Caia held him, Aeva removed the IV and mask, casting Sleep as she did so. Finally, he was in her arms, and free of tubes and wires.

He'd lost some of the baby fat, and his hair was longer. His skin was pale, a yellow tinge under his eyes. He needed sunshine and kisses and love. Nearly two months he hadn't been in her arms, yet he'd hardly aged. The mako thankfully slowing the process.

A warm hand under her elbow and Aeva was leading her back to the bed. "Come sit down." she said in that firm, yet gentle way she had. Caia obeyed, never once taking her eyes off her son.

"Caia." Cloud's voice sounded far away. "You need to be the first face he sees. And don't be surprised if he sleeps for a few days."

She knew he was speaking from experience and nodded. She touched a finger to his cheek and he wrinkled his nose again. Perfect, beautiful boy. She knew he was finally safe, in her arms, Sephiroth in the same room. Nothing was going to happen to him. So she tucked her feet under her, snuggling into the reclining bed, and just stared at her baby.

When Caia tossed her soiled clothes aside, Sephiroth had grabbed her phone out of her pocket for just this reason. While Caia held her baby for the first time in months, he snapped picture after picture. Tifa gave him an approving nod, much to her husband's chagrin, and he knew there was hope of reconciliation there. Or, at least, less awkwardness.

Aeva completed a vitals check, on mother and baby, then asked Caia, "Do you want to check him for trackers now, or after I wake him up?"

Caia finally looked up, brow furrowed in frustration. She glanced at Sephiroth before turning back to Aeva. "Now. Let's get this over with."

They only found one tracker, thankfully, and Sephiroth was able to teleport it out without any trouble. They checked him over again, just to be sure, but her baby was finally free.

They dried him and had him snuggled up against his mom's chest, the blanket covering them both, when Aeva cast the counter spell to wake him up.

Caia wasn't sure who cried more, her or Elio, but after several minutes of agony listening to his tears and singing his favorite songs to him, he finally settled, lifting his head and smiling when he saw who held him.

He drank the tiniest bit of milk, then fell back asleep, curled up in her arms and all was right in her world.

"Are you hungry?" Sephiroth's voice pulled her into the present several minutes later.

She looked up and noticed the room for the first time. Cloud still leaned against the wall, keeping a wary eye on Sephiroth who had found a metal chair somewhere and sat with his feet stretched out in front of him. Aeva had plopped in the doctor stool next to him. Tifa had left.

"Starving." She said, realizing it was true. She hadn't given much thought to her stomach with Elio finally in her arms.

"We'll be in Wutai soon. We could order takeout?" Aeva suggested.

Cloud stood. "Yeah. No one feels much like cooking. Sephiroth's buying."

Caia laughed, catching the twinkle in her general's eye. He'd have offered anyway.

"Fine. What do you want? Caia?"

She needed protein, but otherwise didn't care. "The pregnant ladies can decide," she

said, and her eyes went back to her baby. His eyelashes perfect, tiny crescents.

Cloud had already pulled out his phone. "Aeva? Thoughts?"

Aeva stood. "Let's find Tifa. I need to call my husband anyway."

It was so smooth, Cloud hadn't realized she'd done anything, but she looked over her shoulder and winked as the door closed behind her, leaving them alone. Finally.

They locked eyes across the room, not wanting to say anything and bring Cloud running back in here. Caia could understand his reluctance to let Sephiroth out of his sight, but she really wanted time alone with him.

Caia scooted towards the wall as Sephiroth stood and murmured so low it only carried to her ears, "They forgot to leave me a babysitter. I can hardly believe it."

"I'll babysit you, general." She patted the bed next to her. "There's room, if you don't mind a few feathers." She'd have to wrap the wing around him.

He crossed the room in two strides, then he was beside her, arm curling around her shoulders to tuck her into him. Her wing curled around him automatically. Claiming him.

"How could I mind the feathers when they are a part of you?" He murmured against her hair.

She was wrong earlier. Now everything was right in her world. She leaned against him with a sigh and looked down at the bundle in her arms.

"Look how perfect he is. I keep thinking I'll wake up, and he'll still be gone." She rested her head against Sephiroth's shoulder and stroked Elio's cheek. He cooed in his sleep. Melt. "Now can I thank you?"

He pressed a kiss to her hair. Being here, with him, it was better than any dream. "Perhaps I should thank you. I love him like you do."

Yes. He did. She hadn't been the only one afraid they'd never hold him again. Speaking of which…she turned, shifting her hold to offer her heart to the other half of her heart. Sephiroth froze.

"Caia, you heard your brother, he needs to be with you," he said the words calmly, but she could feel his longing.

"You've missed him too." And she placed him in his arms. Sephiroth settled Elio into the crook of his arm, and gazed at him with a soft expression Caia would never forget. If she'd thought him sexy before…her breath caught. Seeing him hold Elio for the first time—where had her phone gone? She needed a picture. How had she forgotten to get pictures? She started to look around.

"Back pocket." Sephiroth said, lifting his hip so she could reach it. She was tempted to linger, and judging by the look he gave her, he knew what she'd resisted. Then he went back to gazing at Elio and Caia snapped a few pictures, delighted to see there were already many of her holding Elio.

"Thank you," she said, setting the phone down and taking Elio again. She wanted to let Sephiroth hold him longer, but she couldn't bear to have him out of her arms another moment.

They settled back into each other, as if they'd been together years and not just a few minutes. Caia had eyes only for her baby, but he didn't mind. Occasionally she'd stroke his thigh, savoring his closeness, and he thought it might be the most perfect moment of his life.

"He won't grow up in a lab." Caia whispered several minutes later. Sephiroth wasn't sure how Aeva had managed to keep everyone out of the med-bay so they could have this time, but he was grateful.

"No." Sephiroth agreed, the word laden with unspoken things. He'd never have to speak them to Caia, she already understood all of it. Had lived it in his memories. "No, he won't. His mother fought for him." Something he'd never had.

Caia turned again so she could look up at his face. Her wing tightened around him. Comforting him. Claiming him. He liked being claimed. The hand on his thigh squeezed, blue eyes he'd follow anywhere, locking with his.

"And a father who never gave up," she said softly.

His heart leapt in his chest, Gray's words still ringing in his ears, his father…makes him more valuable than her. "I—" The words caught in his throat. He tried again. "I don't believe she was telling us the truth." And yet, why would she lie?

A gentle hand on his cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear before returning. So warm. Rough with hours of swordwork. He wanted those hands over his entire body.

"It doesn't matter. No matter what a pathology report says, Elio is your son. You loved him before he was born, you named him, and you fought for him when he was gone."

Damn she was sexy. Fierce. Feral. His. He mirrored her pose and leaned close, their breaths mingling, Elio safe in Caia's arms between them. He stayed there for a moment. Savoring the reality. Savoring that she was really here, and not just a dream.

"Kiss me." Caia ordered when he stayed still, and with a smile, he did, showing her without words exactly what she meant to him.

They broke apart when Elio stirred in his mother's arms. She patted him and cooed and tucked him closer to her naked chest until he settled once more. Out in the hallway, a door opened and they heard snippets of conversation.

So that was how Aeva had bought them time, she'd gotten everyone talking about where to go next. With a jolt, the ship docked in Wutai. A door opened again. Their time was almost over.

"You'd think," Caia said, snuggling back into his body. "That they'd ask me where I want to go instead of just deciding for me."

"You should never ask a question for which you aren't prepared to hear the answer." And he had no doubt Cloud was terrified of what Caia would say.

Soft laughter from the woman in his arms. Hers. He was hers. And he very much wanted to know this answer. Then again, it didn't make much of a difference. He would go where she went. His heart. His son.

"Caia. Where do you want to go?"

She looked up at him, her heart in her eyes, her lips swollen from his kiss, and his gut clenched.

"Home."

THE END

Author Notes:

Thank you everyone who read and enjoyed this! Your likes and comments have been food for my writer's soul. I don't have any more full novels planned for Caia, Sephiroth and Elio, but there may be a few short stories in the future. I need to take a break to work on another project, then I may come back to it.

I loved writing this story, and these characters, so much. Final Fantasy 7's story has captivated my heart for many years. I fell in love with Sephiroth during Crisis Core and this story has been bouncing around in my head for a while. Four years ago, it became so loud I couldn't take it anymore, and I put pen to paper. I'm pretty happy with the final product.

For those of you interested, here are some fun tidbits about the story as I was writing it:

*In my mind, Modeoheim was always destroyed by a virus, even before COVID threw all our lives out of whack. Perhaps current events helped me write a more accurate scene?

*The inspiration for Azuma Kai (the composer) came to me while listening to Sheherazade by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov one of my all time favorite pieces of music. I'm listening to it right now, as I finish up these notes. I know silencing musicians is common in oppressive regimes, but it still hurt my heart to write the scene where he pleads for his life.

*I hand write the first draft and type the second. Each draft took me 18 months. Then edits, edits, edits!

Thank you for reading!