Disclaimer- Dissidia and all its characters belong to Square Enix
I don't know what came over me when I asked him to spar with me out of the blue, but he didn't question me and followed me without saying a word. He wasn't taking the fight seriously, his normal movements were way quicker than he was moving now. But that's probably because I wasn't concentrating wholly on this fight either. Before I knew it, he was in front of me, the tip of his sword centimeters away from my neck.
"So," he stepped back and lowered his sword, "what wrong?"
"What makes you think something's bothering me?"
He shrugged. "You don't seem like your normal quiet Cloud self. Well, you are being quiet, you just look kinda dazed though."
He leaned on his sword and looked at me while I stood still, not saying a word. True, there had been something I've been wondering for a while now, but I never thought we'd have this conversation with him initiating it. "I heard you were a guardian back in your world."
"Yeah, I was."
"You had to go on a journey and protect someone the whole way."
"That's what guardians do, they make sure their summoner is safe through their pilgrimage."
"So you were successful in keeping her safe then?"
He almost lost his grip on his sword and tripped a little. "How did you know it was a girl?"
"Just guessing. Answer the question."
He straightened himself up. "We did keep her safe all the way, so even she could see that she saved Spira."
"She wasn't supposed to see it?"
"If we followed all the laws and rules, no, she wouldn't have. But somehow we managed." He smiled.
I felt a heavy lump form in my throat. "So you were successful then…"
He looked puzzled. "Were you guarding someone too?" I couldn't speak, so I just nodded. "Didn't you manage to save your world? So, that means you didn't fail, right?"
"Just because we saved the world, doesn't mean I saved her." I don't know why I kept talking, but I didn't stop. I told him everything about Aerith, how I was supposed to protect her from Shinra, how we found out about her being the last Ancient, and how her sacrifice led to the salvation of the world.
After listening to everything I said, he just stood there, soaking everything in. "Even though you say all that, I don't think you failed her."
Something inside me snapped, and I grabbed his collar. "I was right in front of her when she died! I could've saved her!"
He didn't seem phased at all and kept a calm face. "Was she angry when she died?"
"What?"
"You said you were in front of her. Did you see her face?"
My grip loosened. Even after failing her, she wasn't upset with me. "No, she, she was smiling, until the end."
He put a hand on my shoulder. "That's one thing I don't understand about girls. Once they put their mind to protecting something they really care about, they don't care what happens to them, as long as their loved ones are safe."
I let go of his collar and turned around, hanging my head. "It's not fair that she had to give herself up to save us though."
"As long as you saved your world, I don't think she'll be too upset with you."
"You managed to save your girl though."
"I did save her, but that doesn't mean she didn't lose anyone. Someone else took her place, kinda."
I turned to look at him again, and this time he looked away from me. "What do you mean?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Nevermind that." He put both hands on his hips. "Anyway, going back to you, if you still feel bad and sorry and if you still think you failed your girl, you can make it up to her."
What in the world was he thinking of. "How?"
"When we finish this war, and when you go back to your world, go back and protect the people and things she loved. There must've been something special to her, right?"
An old church, filled with flowers, probably getting messy without someone to care for it. "Yeah, there is."
He gave me a small punch to my arm. "Take good care of it, so that you never forget her. If you forget about everything she's done, I think that's when you really fail her." He started walking back to camp. "Don't let it bother you too much now. We still have a fight to finish, so we can protect Cosmos. So that peace can come to all our worlds, the worlds that our loved ones care about."
I nodded, and wondered when he started to think like an adult, not like a carefree adolescent he was. After talking with him, I found out that he has a strong sense of duty.
He would go through hell to protect the people and things he cares about.
