-: Heart Less Love:-
If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us. ~Herman Hesse
Chapter Fifteen: Trailblazer
She stilled her breathing, softly so. The footsteps in the corridor behind her that mocked the thrum of the airship as it rattled and rolled around them, they were familiar to her. She tilted her head, chin towards her left shoulder and tried to peep past the strands of her pale golden brown hair; all she could see were the sneakers, worn and scuffed up, the laces left lax on the right foot. She would know those sneakers anywhere as well as the purposeful footfalls behind their loud arrival and announcement.
"Tifa," she acknowledged, closing her eyes a moment, trying to associate the jumble of feelings and memories that flooded in with that name. Only a moment, or she would be swept away and never return again, and regretfully she opened her green eyes once more, "Lockhart, or Lackheart as Cloud called you a child. Tifa, younger than I am, stronger than I am; Tifa from Nibelheim, who tried to walk the mountain way and Tifa, who after the Nibelheim disaster left the mountain village and was taken to Midgar for care by her tutor, Zangan. Tifa, who met and did know Zack, who had known quietly all along that Cloud had lied, and the same person who also watched helplessly as I tried to save the world... and the woman I love."
"I see," was the strangled reply, "You remember finally."
She spun around, to get a good look at the woman speaking to her, to find there was only an empty doorway to their small quarters. The clothes she had been smoothing out were held in her hands, fingers trembling and as unsure as she surely felt. "I remember too much," she said softly to the empty space where Tifa Lockhart had fled. "It will only hurt more, now, I think. That is part of the price."
It hurt her all the more, for she knew it was true...
It was perhaps a week after the meeting in Cosmo Canyon that their airship was eventually pronounced fit for flight. There had been specialist parts shipped over from Rocket Town on the demand of Cid, barking down the PHS in his gravelly tones at Shera, and poor Shera stammering back that she'd hurry everything he wanted up, immediately, as soon as she could blink!
It was during this time that Aerith had the opportunity to speak with the Doctor Kinsky who had been treating her injuries, and the materia properties of the magic she had been using. She had suggested some unorthodox variations on the themes of magic that the doctor had seemed quite surprised with, and pleased at the ancients intuitive grasp of medicine. Aerith studied what she could with the doctor, often lamenting softly that she had never had the money for a formal education in medicine, a fact that the doctor also vehemently lamented.
Tifa had spent a lot of time skirting in and around her, trying to make up for fallen duties until the bridge burned between them by one stupid and thoughtless argument had been mended with words and love and promises. It was in the last couple of days she had actively been trying to drag Nanaki, or Red as they all fondly called him still, from the Canyon and into the wild outdoors. Red told them all that as much as he would love to go out into the world with them all, his duties kept him there, guarding the Candle against the day they all returned once more.
A million trivial matters filled the waking hours, but at night, laid under the stars as they slept by the comforting light of the candle, eschewing indoor beds, she would be awake still. Aerith's mind, active with the shock and trauma was being filled in, piece by piece. Sometimes, she would cry silently as she recalled events – often those tears were bitter and grief filled, but rarely tears of joy escaped too. Once or twice, she sounded out the name, 'Zack'. Zack, a one time love, a first love, a gentle soul that filled a terror fuelled late adolescence. Tifa, her true love, a strong woman of steel and velvet, of words and promises, of a burning haste and desire. Tifa Lockhart.
She told them all, candidly, on the night before the ship to take them away arrived that her memories were returning, almost all of them, to be met with varied degrees of enthusiasm. Cloud in particular seemed torn between joy and pain. She understood why of course, and through the flicker of the Candle she mouthed at him 'Forgiven, chocobo-head' in gentle jest, and received a pained, loving smile in return.
So it came to be that three days later, she was still holding the shirt in her numb fingers, when Tifa had ran away from her, leaving Aerith by their shared bed. She cursed herself softly, berating her clueless choice of words, and unsurprised at her total lack of tact. It seemed she still had to get a grip on certain aspects of her personality.
The tannoy, an overhead speaker system rigged throughout the airship crackled, "Guys, meeting on deck!" – It was Cid. There followed a pause as she looked down at her shirt, and he tacked on, "Git yer asses in gear, shit, daylight's wastin'!"
That brought a smile to her lips, Cid would never change his chain smoking, cuss-filled ways. In something of this aspect of his personality, she felt relief, a mild jab of it; whatever happened, Cid would be Cid. With a jerk of her hand, she threw the shirt atop the pile of washing – it wasn't going anywhere after all and Cid had a tendency to get severely grumpy now that the fire incident had led him to ban smoking aboard his vessel – and began making her way to the deck.
A couple of stair flights on, and she came to the area of ladders and spacious cargo area before the deck, replete with a comfortable lounge and she paused, staring intently at the porthole where Yuffie would have taken up residence, as she always had. This definitely didn't feel right, a ship without a motion-sickness afflicted ninja – like sailing into a storm at sea with a woman aboard...
Aerith shook her head; there would be time for recriminations later – and continued on to the deck, where apart from the consoles and steering column, avidly manned, their small group were gathering by the holographic map of the world. She forced her arms to her sides and to not grip her skirt as she came along gingerly to join the group. "Am I the last one to the party?" she whispered softly.
Cloud quirked a smile for her, "I suppose that's one way to put it."
"We were just deciding the best way to land at Mideel." Tifa avoided her gaze a little – there was no sensation of hurt or panic, just a mild confusion and maybe apprehension. Aerith tilted her head to see – after all, she hadn't even actually seen Mideel for herself. It looked like a small village with a good medical community built around diseases, and a large pool of calm mako down the beach where it was cordoned off by strict patrols. "We don't want to get in next to such a large volume of mako, it would interfere with engine function should we need to be off in a hurry."
Cid nodded, grinding his teeth on the cigarette he perpetually chomped on. "Right girlie, its why we're gonna land here, it's got more forest to crash through," he stabbed north of the clinic village, "but it's more accessible. It was made for tiny flight carriers, not my kind of baby."
Vincent coughed, adding dryly, "A ship with junk in her trunk."
"Don't say shit like junk, Vampire," Cid growled, glaring at him sidelong, "or I'll throw you off and see if you can go bat and fly."
Aerith interjected quietly, "Don't be silly, everyone knows that vampires sparkle in the sunlight."
There was a general round of laughter at even that preposterous idea, sparkling, right. Or even vampires for that matter! Tifa shook her head and cleared her throat, cheeks coloured from laughing, "Oh my, but yes, north it'll have to be."
"Don't make it a too-long journey though," Cloud said, poking at the map with a finger glad in material- he was back in his dark working leather gloves and trousers, the high necked purple jumper that zipped at the front and shoulder pauldron. "I'm not meaning to make any issues about delicate constitutions, but we have recovering people and not to mention, I wouldn't mind keeping the ship within running distance. I'm sure Cid would agree to those conditions."
"Good idea Spike," the captain grinned around a puff of smoke that Tifa hastily wafted her hand through, trying to dissipate it before it got close to Aerith. "So it looks like we're pretty much all set. It's been a while since we were last in Mideel. I'm hoping they recall us all saving the Planet and shit, rather than destroying the town after some giant ass Weapon got himself in a tizzy looking for Cloud here."
"Really Cloud," Tifa grinned, lowering her wafting hand, "You attract trouble even when in a drooling coma!"
"I did not drool!"
"You were in a coma," her grin grew even more sly and fun-poking, "How would you know?"
"I'm a man!" He huffed, "Men don't drool!"
"And I don't sparkle," Vincent dotted in there dryly. "Only on weekends."
Mideel is an isolated town built out of a ruin we created years ago in the struggle to save the Planet from immediate death. Before that, Mideel had been home to a booming specialised materia and weaponry business, not to mention the only known breeding area for great chocobo steeds and the rare albino throwback. Mideel's natural effusion of mako from beneath the crust of the Planet had allowed materia to form naturally, in powerful, condensed chunks of ore. It boasted the only known supply of the powerful 'four type terrain' materia, as well as impressive medical schools.
To this day, Mideel is built very close next door to Clinic, the true medical hub of the world. Mideel is the town where people live and work regular lives, Clinic not only teaches new doctors to be professional within that field, but brags worldwide of superlative facilities, surgery clinics without par and of course, the famed Intensive Care and Mental Hospital. Both of these latter two are of interest to us.
It was in the former that Cloud was placed years ago, after Mako Poisoning had pretty much rendered him a vegetable with a spiky hairdo. It was so severe at first that he couldn't even move, drifting between sleep and 'awake'. I say it with quote marks because his eyes were open; or as my father said, the lights were on but nobody was at home.
When he was finally able to sit upright in a wheelchair, I stared for painful hours into his glassy and unseeing eyes. Losing Cloud at this stage was unthinkable. My heart was a raw mass of pain from losing Aerith, would life be so cruel to snatch this last remnant of my existence away too? We'd never been close friends, we'd never actually been much of anything if I'm speaking the truth – but Cloud was from Nibelheim, a Nibelheim that remembered the fire and pain and the bitter blood on trembling lips and fingers. Cloud was that link to a stained past – it hurt. It hurt so much that I couldn't bear it, not alone. So I stayed here with him, and I waited and when the ground gave away, despite my best efforts, I sank into the gooey liquid that was the Lifestream.
I left the world to those who cared and sank deeper and deeper into the loving caresses of what I imagined was Aerith, listened to the deafening voices and in the quiet of Cloud's mind, pieced back together the puzzle that Aerith had started. She had the edges and some of the picture; it was left to me to finish it and to see the whole picture. I wasn't guaranteed to like what I saw, but in the middle of noise and people, far in the distance, there was Cloud, there was a reality, there was everything I'd dug through dross for the past year or more.
I can't say I like Mideel, it has a lot of mixed memories for me. I can't say either that we'll even have a friendly reception here, but it's a necessary evil I suppose. The world is turning again on a dangerous axis, and like tracing the steps of some insane disaster, we all return again, to the scene of a crime.
This time, we have Aerith, so, maybe our luck will be better?
And maybe this time we won't destroy the whole village.
"...she told me she studied here," Aerith trilled.
Tifa looked up from where she watching her feet go, one in front of the other, to peek at Aerith's excited face, piqued with rose over the cheeks. Cid nodded, lighting up a cigarette. Or at least, she gave him credit for trying, as the Ancient just as calmly slapped it from his hand without so much as breaking stride or verbal stream. She somehow even ignored the scowl directed her way, intensified as Cid checked his packet of smokes and discovered that had been his last.
"Who did, sorry?"
Aerith tutted and smiled, "Dr Kinsky. She said the techniques she was most interested in developing were for infectious diseases, but there were all kinds of applications used at the Clinic. I'd really love a chance to get in and see their work. I was so enthusiastic about that I even have a letter of recommendation written for me, by the Doctor!"
"You know," Cid said, throwing his pack at a garbage bin and missing, so it bounced off the rim, "Leaving her at the clinic wouldn't be a bad idea. She's a walking target in the open."
"I don't like the idea – pick that up! – but he is right," the ancient agreed, watching the surly captain as he plodded to the cardboard packet and picked it up, then tossed it overhead, directly down into the trashcan so hard that it rattled. "That's better."
The town that had sprung up around Clinic wasn't particularly large or bustling, but there was a quiet hum of activity; from the students who paused on corners to chat together to the shops airing out their goods and those shopkeepers coming to the doors to look about. There was a visitors parking area that was half filled already with vehicles of varying sizes, shapes and colours. Of course, the Highwind couldn't make it all the way out here, so their buggy had been parked into one of the smaller slots available by the entrance, a tight squeeze that had further impressed upon Tifa the driving skills of their pilot.
They had broken into two teams rather than one larger one. Cloud and Vincent opted to go looking in Mideel with one of the other available buggy cars – whilst they had come to Clinic. A glance at Aerith's face, absorbed with thoughts of what she might uncover here was enough to convince Tifa that there was more to Aerith returning to here than simply following in the footsteps of a doctor. As they trudged along again in near silence for minutes that seemed to stretch thin, paper thin even, Tifa's eyes wandered down to her own shoes.
It felt as though she was trying to hold back tears.
Lockhart. Lackhart. It was a cruel nickname from her childhood that she had thrown at her when they all thought she hadn't heard them. It was some time after her mother's death and her father's initial seclusion, then eventually withdrawal from the world entirely; she had decided her heart was a painful thing to wear openly if all that would happen was pain and suffering, if all that life had to offer was an endless parade of grief and disappointment. That was when she locked it up tightly inside herself, built a wall so high around it and tossed away the key. That was when no one else could hurt her any longer.
In the shadows, when she was done playing with her friends, they whispered callously, thinking she didn't hear them, "Lackhart, Ice Queen!" She pretended she never heard them; it was easier to stop the tears that way. So they all continued to play the little game, that she was actually pretty good at lying. She pretended to herself that her father loved her, that his continued silence and disinterest was merely him waiting.
On a night of fire that reached as high as the stars, when she lay bleeding on the toes of mako reactor, she realised her father had loved her. She realised that some dreams, some feelings, whilst buried deeper than an eye or word could pierce to; they persisted and grew, they remained strong. Weeping, as that oblivion took hold, grief and anger seeded themselves in cracks of the wall about her heart.
Aerith's hand touching her elbow was the motion which made her pause in her steps. They were walking up the gentle slope towards the psychiatric ward of Clinic; it overlooked the shallow valley, the low dense trees and the sparkling vast reaches of the ocean, sometimes blue and sometimes as green as the Cetra's eyes. By the shoreline, where the larger city hub of Mideel was, loosely connected to Clinic by a spattering of houses and a railcar system, was a chunk of the cliff which had given way into the ground and the sea, a soft greenish echo vibrating more strongly from the water that pooled there.
Aerith spoke again in that way that suggested she was half remembering, half seeing something. The distant and unreadable expression on the beautiful face made Tifa's insides knot up with fear; this new and strange power made her heart tense with anxiety.
"And so it was the water brought back the lives of two people from one painful memory. Five years, no, it was seven. Seven years of holding his breath, seven years of her pained hatred. The stars, they went out one by one as the knight rescued her from the fire, but left her soul burning." Aerith's smile grew a little sad, turning her head to listen to the wind, and then adding, "But she is well now, I will keep her so." And quieter still, assuming that Tifa wouldn't hear, "No matter the cost."
"Aerith?" Tifa asked in concern, and those huge green eyes snapped back to reality, a quick sweet smile covering up the lost one almost instantly, "Are you alright?"
"Oh yes, I was just remembering, the lifestream, you can see many things when you're in it, I saw so much." She tilted her head, chin grazing her shoulder, "But we're almost there. Then you guys can leave me in safety in a single place, right?"
Cid stomped on the ground and added as a low growl intended for Tifa only, "We gotta find a goddamn shop selling smokes or I ain't guaranteeing her safety!"
Tifa gave him a long measured look, and then nodded for him to wait as she escorted the Ancient the last stretch of the curving path to the ward entrance which swished open on command of their presence under the sensor. Aerith turned to go inside but Tifa reached out quickly and snagged one of her hands, blanching slightly at the smell of 'hospital' that wafted out; it smelled of fresh linen, iodine and bleach, it smelled like recovery, long and painful and was a scent that made the scar along her chest tingle.
"Wait," she said quietly, "just a moment please."
"What is it?"
"I wanted to ask, you're getting your memories back aren't you?"
Aerith nodded, face speculative, "Well, yeah, but isn't this what we wanted?"
"No, I agree, we do, I just... who... are you talking to?" Tifa caught the sudden guilty, surprised flash in her lover's eyes, and pressed on a little harder, "I mean, I've seen you a few times now, 'talking to the wind' as if someone is there. I've seen so much crazy stuff, and I don't think you are the crazy-cat-lady type, so... please tell me what it is?"
Aerith was quiet, fingers twisting around the fighters more calloused digits, weaving in and out until she finally settled her grip once more and stared up intently at Tifa. "You promise not to think me completely insane?"
"I would never think that."
"...what if I said, that Time as a concept is something that doesn't exist within the Cetra faith? Or rather, that the ability to exist in any given space or time was capable of those who had discovered the Promised Land?"
Tifa frowned, "When we discussed the Promised Land before, it was always the idea of a place filled with Mako energy."
"Exactly," Aerith flushed in a little excitement, "but I think the interpretation is wrong. Cetra were supposed to migrate from planet to planet, to help shepherd and evolve the planet and the eco-system. But the concept of the Promised Land is not only a place filled with happiness but with a power than has been twisted beyond what it originally was. The Promised Land was the Land filled with those who come before and those who would come after. A place filled with memories of those who had lived and joined with the Planet, and that was the Promised Land, where the soul goes after death. The Promised Land co-exists with the Lifestream, which is the river of mako, the power driving the Planet. When it was said, everyone had a different Promised Land – well, you don't want to share your afterlife with someone you hate right? That's why they're all different, but they all brush shoulders with each other.
"But within the Promised Land, Time has no meaning. Years in the Living world, may pass as days there, or vice versa. So, if I told you, that one of my Ancestors was speaking to me, would you believe me insane?" Aerith peeked a look up.
Tifa looked down, her brown eyes softening and smiled a touch, "Oh, is that all it was?"
"You're... okay with this?"
"Well as long as he isn't inciting you to mad acts of bravery and insanity, then no. What does this Ancestor of yours have to say for himself anyway?"
"He tells me about my memories, about my past, about how the future is still changing," Her face looked a bit pained, "About how I have duties to fulfil."
"Is he a direct ancestor?"
Aerith shook her head, "No, he's the brother of my Ancestor, K'listo, who was a Priestess. His name is Arkilles, he married Jenova and they had two children." She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them with tears shimmering in them, "He feels so much sadness," the ancient breathed.
Tifa impulsively embraced her, making low, soothing noises in her throat but staring, dry eyed at a wall and hoping she didn't tremble even as her hands gripped around the fragile ancient tightly. "So, is he helping you to see what you never saw before?"
"I don't know, he says that it is part of becoming a Priestess in the Faith. He says I will see with more than my own eyes, and that hearts will open for me, I don't really know... the world, I see it through new eyes, there are a million new colours. When I hear voices, I hear echoes and silences in words that used to be without a song buried deep in their meanings. When I breathe in, I breathe in life, and breathe out death... how can I explain it to you?"
"You don't have to, you don't... you know, you should go rest, I'm sure this has been trying for you," Tifa pulled back and nodded, "And we'll get a move on with our investigations here. So you don't have to worry."
Aerith nodded and took a few steps inside the Ward, then turned and looked back, "Tifa, I love you."
Tifa stared at her for a long moment, pale golden brown hair and vulnerable green eyes, clothes that were untouched by dirt, cream and pink skirt with a light cotton shirt of lace pink, the signature ribbon tying her hair back from falling into her face along with her heavy bangs and twists. The ancient's hand was raised a little to her chest, and it was all the fighter could do to dredge up a smile, "I love you too. I'll come back, when it's all over."
Aerith nodded again and walked further in. Tifa stood a moment longer, contemplating running after her, then turned and began making her way back down towards where Cid waited for her. The grizzled pilot looked worse for wear, nicotine withdrawal was clearly wearing hard on him, and his piercing blue eyes snapped to hers.
"Well?" he barked.
"She'll stay put, for now. We should get a move on," Tifa pushed past him and down the path, "and get you some cigarettes before you kill everything in sight."
"And if we find Yuffie?"
Tifa frowned, looking at the dirt path rather than the scenery, "I don't know."
"You gonna let them face off, cause that went super well last time."
"Sarcasm helps here, really it does." She scowled harder, "I get the feeling that it won't be here though."
"No?"
"I think we might find something else here... but it's always been about Midgar." Tifa came to a rest by the junction of the railcar system that ploughed through the main street, her eyes lingering on the shops signs, then she turned to him, finding him watching her already, "What?"
"Midgar huh?"
"Yeah, here, go get your smokes," she thrust a ten-gil note at him, "And don't be all day about it."
The sooner this is over, the better.
Cloud morosely watched the icy bead of condensation slide down the outside of his beer bottle, and gave a loud huff, partially flopping limp in his steel chair. He and Vincent had taken a break after a day of gathering information at a cute little sidewalk cafe – his feet burned and his throat burned twice as badly. Vincent, in an effort to be obtuse no doubt, had ordered himself a tall latte, a drink completely at odds with the late afternoon sun that was burning a steady tank into Cloud's exposed skin.
"Waaaaaugh," Cloud exhorted, "Today was so tiring. I got no details of anyone fitting her description!"
"You also complained a lot," the quiet ex-turk noted, taking a polite sip of his hot drink after tugging the bullet hole riddled scarf down from his neck to do so. Cloud was again struck with a bizarre pang of envy – it was surely not right for a man to be that handsome. He felt positively plain sitting on the street next to elegantly dressed and immaculate Vincent. Even the golden claw, religious scarf and the glowing red eyes didn't detract from the overall effect, they enhanced it if anything.
Cloud felt one step from pouting, so turned his attention to the palm-pad of information, drawing his finger over the touch screen idly, "Maybe. But we did hear how the weather starting changing massively, and of course the weather reports flooding in from Midgar have been less than encouraging."
"Electrical storms," Vincent murmured, "A discharge of high intensity mako is likely to blame."
"Where there's mako, there's usually a calamity from the skies," Cloud said, not really to anyone in particular. "Yuffie... it seems odd that it'd be the outsider..."
"A powerful clan, you weren't part of Shinra for the Wutai insurgency. Or perhaps war would be a closer term," Vincent's eyes focused on him and Cloud shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Those red eyes had a habit of making his hair attempt to crawl off his body in one smooth bid for freedom. "Wutai was a proud and powerful nation before Shinra broke it over it's corporate knee. There'll be many explanations you'll hear or have heard but the truth was Wutai was a major power in harnessing and using Mako in crystallised form, or Materia if you will. It was said they possessed great skill in seeking out Materia in the earth and shaping it, in calling forth powers of intensity that no other nation could.
"Yuffie is Wutai, and not just any Wutai, of her Clan she is a Ninja and the next heir to the seat of power for the village. It's likely that the way the structure is in the Western country right now, that they have organised both feudal and ninja into the same category, meaning that Godo is both 'daimyo' and 'jonin' which essentially means feudal lord and 'upper man', the highest rank attainable for ninja. From what I've seen of Yuffie, she is likely a 'teisatsu' or maybe 'kancho' – a scout or a spy classed Ninja. But when Godo passes on, Yuffie will become daimyo. Now it's also true that the power to shape and sense materia is something split between Jenova, the sensing, and Cetra, the shaping. That they'd want to marry this powerful ability into the main family comes as no... what are you laughing about?"
Cloud couldn't help it, his sides felt like they were on fire from holding it in. He laughed til he cried and picked up his bottle for a long swig of the bitter brew, "That's the most I've ever heard you say," he wheezed, "and when you do talk, you want to be a goddamn history teacher!"
"...I merely trying to educate you," he muttered.
"On what, how t'bore people to death. I think I had three heart attacks just listening to you," Cid spouted from behind Cloud suddenly, alarming him and tipping out of the seat he was already balanced precariously in. He got a fantastic view of Cid's all purpose army boots from the floor angle. "You sure are the life of the party, Vamp." The pilot snatched up a free chair and dumped himself into it.
Tifa's hand came down to help him to his feet, a hand Cloud gratefully accepted. "Thanks Teef, any news?"
"She's not here, but a merchant out of Kalm said there's been a lot of news reports from monsters roaming about the Midgar area, they've increased patrols around that region."
"Midgar," Cloud said softly.
"We can probably get back to Edge in a day or so, if we push, then stock up. I guess Yuffie'll be somewhere in there," Tifa sighed and sat down, releasing Cloud's arm.
"Where though?"
"I think Aerith will have that answer for us."
Tifa's face pinched up, then she sighed, "Aerith told me she's hearing voices." She glanced about at the expressions that sprang to the faces of the men, and rolled her eyes, "Not like that. It's spirits from the past, speaking to her from the Lifestream. She's changing, everything about her is evolving and I'm left watching again. I don't know if I can keep up..."
"...has she said anything to you?"
Tifa shook her head, "Only that she 'sees' and 'feels' the world differently, and it's impossible to explain to me. I don't know if her powers as a Cetra are finally beginning to take shape, but it's almost crazy to watch. Maybe it wasn't just the Cetra that the parts of Jenova are worried about, maybe it's just Aerith."
Cloud put his beer down; Cid was already ordering a pitcher of the darkest tarry beer he could find on the menu from a waiter who looked as tired as Cloud's feet felt. "You think she's got some kind of new power?"
"She said, she can see clearly," Tifa stared at Cloud, "She knew my nickname. I've never told her that. Did you?"
"Nickn- oh..." Cloud flushed in embarrassment, "No I never! God, Tifa I'm sorry, it was so long ago and we were kids and well..."
"No, it's fine. I deserved that. I was just a kid too, pretending I was all grown up. I wasn't at all." She smiled, and then let out a long, world weary sigh. "She knows things she shouldn't. It's as if her memory has come back in piercing clarity, but with it, she has the memories of the entire Lifestream. It's a dangerous thing... there are memories that should be forgotten, locked away..."
"...there are always memories like that. So," Cid looked back and grinned, pulling out a new cigarette with much enthusiasm, "Back to Midgar eh? Let's start planning, kids. We got a war to finish."
...but the war is never over, only the battle.
This time, I won't fight it alone.
Stay with me, until the bitter end.
Stay.