Part 5. A Reason
Disclaimers still apply.
A lot of plot resolved in this one. And I have messed around wildly with FF1 canon, but see, it was pretty vague to begin with... right?
This is what I do on a holiday when I should be sleeping in. I hope you enjoy. One more part to go!
Everyone tried to speak at the same time.
"This is your world?"
"Why are the worlds bleeding into each other?"
"I thought it was over—"
"Why are we still doing this?"
"Is Garland—"
But the Warrior of Light had drawn his sword and pointed it at the Chaos warriors.
"Wait!"
Cecil stepped forward slowly, hands spread and eyes earnest. "Please," he said, "I believe they are not enemies."
The Warrior of Light's face remained as impassive as ever, but Cecil could see the rapid flickers of his eyes. Slowly, eventually, the bright sword lowered. His eyes shut and pinched.
"Forgive me," he said. "I have been travelling for a long time."
"Travelling? Is this not your world?"
The Warrior of Light stared hard at the castle. "It is, and yet it is not. I left a world of darkness, and I returned to a world of light, though decay eats at its foundations." He nodded at Cornelia castle. "I have discovered that here, Garland has won the princess of Cornelia and become its king. In this castle, he has ruled for fifty years."
"Fifty years?" Zidane's mouth dropped open.
"It hasn't been fifty years since the war, has it?" Firion said.
"It has not. Not for me." The Warrior of Light shook his head. "I returned to a Cornelia ruled by Princess Sarah's father, where Garland was a knight of the realm who looked at me strangely, but did not yet remember me. I do not recall the manner in which I was transported to this Cornelia, but perhaps it is the land's future."
"So you were transported away from your home, too?"
The Warrior of Light looked at Luneth, and when he responded, his words were slow and uncertain.
"I cannot say if the place I first saw was my home, as I have no memories prior to being summoned to the land by the crystal of light that appeared in my hand. I do, however, trust that we have been brought here for a reason." He gestured to the area. "I have heard whispers of the king's madness."
"Then Garland is behind all of this?"
"I have not been able to enter the castle to ascertain this. He surrounds himself with skilled guards."
"What are we waiting for, then?" Tidus said, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Let's get in there!"
It took four tries and an arrow through his shoulder (Tidus gritted his teeth and pulled it out, ignoring Jecht's badly camouflaged mother-henning) before Tidus admitted that the direct approach wasn't working out very well and they probably needed another strategy.
"Okay, how about this," he said, "we'll get Firion to fire up a few lines on this side of the castle, while Cloud goes and makes a distraction on the opposite side."
"Why me?" Cloud said sharply.
"You've got the flashiest attacks I've ever seen. I don't know anyone else who can shoot meteorites out of his sword."
"What about—"
"I'm sorry, Cloud," Cecil said, "but Tidus has a point. I will accompany you." Golbez followed immediately, moving a bit too quickly for it to be casual.
And because Sephiroth looked as if he was smothering his snickers and finding it hard going, Cloud shrugged and slung his sword over his shoulder.
"Fine. Don't miss the signal."
"What will the signal be?" Bartz asked.
Cloud looked over his shoulder. "You'll know when you see it."
In fact, Luneth thought, the only way they could have missed the signal was if they were deaf and blind. And buried in a cave miles away and far below the ground. He had thought the sky was falling in at first. There were shrieks and running footsteps above, and once the shouted orders had faded away, Firion was shooting up a flurry of arrows, long wires attached glinting in the sunlight, Squall was yelling "Go, go!" and then he was over the ramparts and crouching down below the stone lining the catwalk, and his heart was hammering into his throat.
When everyone had made it over, the Warrior of Light beckoned with a quick wave.
He didn't know who thought it would be a good idea to try to move a large group of clanking warriors through a crowded castle, but when the first shouts started, and they scattered in every direction with soldiers hard in pursuit, Luneth groaned and bit back the "I told you so".
He dashed along a high-ceilinged corridor and turned a sharp corner before skidding to a stop and sticking out a leg. One of the soldiers chasing him barrelled into his boot and thudded to the ground, his helmet rolling off and presenting an easy target for Luneth's quick, sharp strikes. He ducked under a sweep of another soldier's sword, rolled, and came up running.
Pounding footsteps sounded in front of him, and Luneth's eyes widened at the sight of three more soldiers rushing toward him. He kept running, and when the soldier in front of him raised a sword with a wild yell, he leaped, bounced off the wall beside him, and soared over the soldiers' heads while propelling himself forward with pumping legs. There was a resounding crash behind him, and he let himself smile at his plan's success.
Suddenly, there were more soldiers, flanking him in the corridor. They eyed him warily, approaching with swords at the ready. Luneth watched them grimly. He was faster than them, he was fairly certain. If he could isolate them one at a time in the narrow space...
They charged, and he found himself flipping and ducking with every drop of agility he had. He caught a downward stroke with his sword and surged up, ripping deep into the soldier's arm until he dropped the blade, and then he stabbed downward into the vulnerable space between the soldier's footguard and his armour. The man screamed and toppled over backward, and Luneth spun around to block another hack at his back.
He was pressed up against the wall now, glancing about desperately for a way out, and his eyes widened at what he saw. He disengaged hastily and slid to the floor, and the flashing of a viciously fast blade over his head cast bright patterns on the floor. There was barely any noise but for the splatter of blood. A spray hit him across the nose, and he blinked rapidly at the burn.
Luneth looked up at a wall of black leather and silver hair.
Sephiroth was staring down at him, eyes blazing bright from his battle-high, and Luneth thought that he would probably be able to take on the Soldier if he attacked in such tight quarters, but then Sephiroth turned his head away in clear dismissal.
That stung a bit, but Luneth concentrated on swallowing down the laugh that tried to force its way up his throat. He wondered if that much arrogance weighed the man down when he walked.
Sephiroth jerked his head at him and walked away, leaving Luneth to pull himself up and follow.
Firion found Squall holding off a ring of soldiers with relative ease.
The bangs of the gunblade firing punctuated the clangs of metal on metal, and a soldier staggered backward and collapsed to the ground. When the soldier in Squall's blindspot rushed forward to stab, though, Firion hurled his axe. It slammed into the man's side and carried him a good half metre away before he crumpled.
Pulling a spear in to his hand, Firion spun into the soldiers in a rush of sharp edges, and over the cries and shouts as he focussed his attacks on any weak points he could find, he thought he heard Squall's quiet grunt of acknowledgement. A warm back pressed into his shoulder briefly as Squall recoiled under another blast from his gunblade.
Firion thrust the point of his spear forward, crushing through a soldier's armour, and he wrenched the spear out and to one side to smash it into another soldier's neck.
When Jecht barrelled into the room, trumpeting and gouging grooves into the walls with his massive sword, Firion heard him well before he appeared.
Tidus dashed in, not far behind, and then he was twisting and flipping over their heads, sword glittering and feet kicking out to catch a soldier under the chin. His helmet went flying off, accompanied by the sharp thud of his body hitting the floor.
"Haha!" Tidus yelled over the clatters and the bangs. "Eight!"
"I wouldn't laugh yet, boy!" Jecht shoved Firion backward with a heavily scarred hand and laid into what soldiers were left with crushing blows. "Eleven!"
"Hey! That one was mine!"
Roaring with laughter, Jecht rushed off, and Tidus followed at a dead sprint, his face set in grim determination.
Firion retrieved his axe and wiped the smears away on the dead soldier's clothes before hooking it back onto his belt.
He glanced at Squall's dry expression and chuckled. "Like father, like son," he said.
Squall rolled his eyes in response, and they fell into step, following the sounds of smashing doors and anguished screams trailing in Jecht and Tidus' wake.
Terra skipped backward, dodging the short hails of arrows arcing toward her. She spun, flames enveloping her hand, and several burst into fire and crumbled to ash in the air. A sizzling line sprung from her feet and darted forward, exploding in a wall of fire underneath the pursuing soldiers.
The ones who had barely missed the blast rushed forward, yelling, and there was a bright flash in the corner of her eye.
The Warrior of Light braced himself, catching the downward strikes on his sword and pushing hard. The soldiers' charge stopped with a clang, as if they had hit a wall.
Another group of soldiers were dashing down the corridor from the other way, and Terra clenched her fists, magic glowing.
Bartz rushed into the soldiers, ducking low and hacking at uncovered knees, and they toppled over in a flailing heap. He leaped back, parrying a blow from a limping soldier who had rolled away from the impact in time, and slashed hard, leaving a gaping gash over the man's chest. Another soldier struck at him, and he caught the blade on his, twisting his wrist to push it up and out, and he headbutted the man hard in the nose. It crunched satisfyingly.
Towering shards of ice smashed down into the soldiers on both sides, and icy winds whipped at Terra's hair as she held her hands out, directing her attack, until they lay still on the ground.
Footsteps approached her steadily, and she whipped around, lightning crackling around her hands.
Exdeath stopped and looked at her placidly, making no move for his sword. Uncertainly, Terra let the magic dissipate.
A crash and a thud, and there was an unconscious soldier sliding down the wall across from the bend in the corridor. Zidane dashed around the turn, tail whipping madly to keep his balance as he pivoted. He paused, seeing the crumpled soldiers, straightened up and smiled.
"Guess that's the last of them!" he said, knives twirling in his hands. "Me and Kuja—" He frowned and peered back the way he came. "Hey, Kuja! Any slower?"
Kuja came into view, pushing back his hair with an irritated expression. "What? You left me with four of them surrounding me, and I had to bring the ceiling down to crush them all."
"I knew you could take them," Zidane said, biting back a grin, and Kuja bared his teeth, magic crackling in his raised hand.
A wall caved in with a billowing cloud of dust, and there was a thud and a grunt as a body rammed into the opposite wall.
"The hell, kid? You call that a kick?" Jecht stepped away from the dent his impact had made in the stone, rolling a shoulder ominously. "This is a kick!"
Tidus leaped and twisted over Jecht's leg, bringing his Caladbolg down hard towards Jecht's head and shuddering to a stop when Jecht blocked with his sword.
Firion climbed through the hole in the wall, brushing off splinters and rock dust from his hands absently. Behind him, Squall stepped into the corridor and sighed.
"They're still going at it?"
Down the hall, Luneth gasped and flattened himself against the wall as a fireball whizzed by until Sephiroth batted it away with a gloved hand. It burst against a high, narrow window and sent slivers of rock showering down.
Kuja didn't notice, more magic fire jumping from his fingers, aiming for Zidane's tail. The boy laughed like a maniac, dancing around the fallen soldiers.
"Enough."
Tidus jolted and fell awkwardly in mid-leap, and he eyed the Warrior of Light guiltily. He didn't look angry, but he never looked angry. That made it worse, somehow.
Terra healed a slash on his wrist, and Tidus beamed down at her gratefully.
She laughed. "It's always your group that has the reckless ones," she said.
Firion made a noise of protest.
"We should go," said the Warrior of Light. "There may be other guards, and we should find the others."
"Sorry, Light," said Terra.
The Warrior of Light shook his head, and a smile ghosted over his face.
"Cloud and Cecil have probably made it into the castle," Bartz said, nodding. "They could be anywhere."
"He is down on a lower level," Sephiroth said. He gazed back patiently when the others stared at him.
"Who? Cloud?" Tidus said incredulously. "Do you have some kind of homing radar?"
"What's a radar?" Zidane said.
Sephiroth lifted a sharp eyebrow, but did not respond otherwise.
Cloud, Cecil, and Golbez were standing at the bottom of a spiralling staircase when they found them.
"Hey, Cloud!" Zidane shouted, hopping down over the railing. He blanched at the red liberally coating Cloud's skin and clothing. "Are you alright?"
Luneth had reached out, healing magic lighting up his hands, before Cloud gently pushed them down and shrugged.
"I'm fine," he said. "It's not mine."
Goosebumps prickled over his neck when he met Sephiroth's dark, focussed eyes, and Cloud turned his head away quickly.
"Where to next?" he said.
The Warrior of Light pointed to the door next to Golbez. "The king's quarters should be located through that door, but be wary; he stations his generals close to him."
Cloud nodded, hefting the Buster. He stood in front of the heavy doors and glanced around. The other warriors looked back at him, their faces set and ready. Tidus's grip tightened on the Caladbolg as he vibrated with energy. Luneth furrowed his brows under the forehead protector of a ninja, glittering swords crossed in front of his chest. The Warrior of Light nodded at him, blue eyes fierce and bright. He caught sight of Exdeath, lingering back behind the others and watching almost passively, and he frowned.
He turned to the door, slashed once, hard, with the Buster Sword, and he kicked the sheared pieces in.
They'd been waiting, he realized quickly, moving aside and allowing the others to enter and form a rough front with him. Then, there was a general in silver armour snarling in his face and slashing down at his chest, and Cloud moved.
Luneth danced aside as a Quake split the floor under his feet. One of Garland's generals sneered at him, almost skeletal under the black armour, and he swung his massive sword like a bludgeon. Luneth leaped over the swing, catching hold of the man's should to propel himself up and strike hard and fast at the general's face. The man brought back his arm to swat at Luneth, and he skidded back under the weight of Golbez's strike, sparks flying up into the air.
Luneth fell back, seeing Terra float up, magic buoying her and crackling down her arms. She whispered something, and her face set in determination. Fireballs blasted forward, curving around Golbez and sticking fast to the general.
The man glanced down and around, fury and fear battling for dominance on his face, and Golbez took the opportunity to run his sword straight through the general's ribcage. He pulled back and watched while the general shuddered, screamed, and vanished in an inferno that burned up quickly enough to leave blurred afterimages.
Cecil raised a hand to shield his eyes on the other side of the room, and then he quickly jumped back, raising his sword to block the wicked curved blade the general in red armour wielded. She leaned in close, laughing breathily as she stared into his face, and raised a hand with fire dripping down its length like bright water. He recoiled, pulling back and slashing down her arm, where the Dark Sword turned the fire black.
Blood ran down her arm, and she paused. She licked at her fingertips, eyeing the black fire, and turned gleaming eyes to him again.
"Interesting..." she said.
The black flames burned higher, and Cecil's eyes widened.
Squall was on her in an instant, pushing her back with flashing strikes and echoing gunfire. The general laughed again, blocking a slash and countering wildly, her sword heavy enough to chip the pillars behind her. A flicker, and Kuja was rearing behind her, Holy blazing in his hand. She whirled around, sword coming up, and she jerked.
Firion's axe struck her again coming back, knocking her off balance, and then Squall's glowing blade hacked down her side, triggering an explosion of magic under her feet, and Holy rained down on her.
Zidane ignored the explosions rocking the room, and he rocketed forward, one knife reaching under the blue-armoured general's sword and slapping it out of balance, and the other knife coming forward and scoring a jagged line through the man's breastplate. He used the momentum to push himself up, landed briefly on the man's raised arm, and somersaulted back to avoid the crashing tide of water that surged up in front of him.
The Warrior of Light darted under him, breaking through the water spell with a quick thrust of his shield. He stabbed at the general's arm, piercing the heavy armour and nicking the skin under before the man pulled back and dodged the rest of the attack. He moved surprisingly quickly for such an enormous man, Zidane thought.
Then the general jolted, armour crunching and crushing down under the force of Jecht's slash.
"There ya go!" Jecht crowed, lifting a foot and kicking the general hard enough to smash him headfirst in to the wall.
The man turned, the blood running down his face darkening his face more than his expression, and he reached down, magic started to gather in his hands despite the one hanging limply by his side.
Zidane saw the flashes in the corner of his eye and ducked as molten bright swords burst into the air and hovered, pointing toward Garland's general.
"Light!" the Warrior of Light cried, swinging his sword sharply to drive the glowing blades straight through the general and pinning him to the wall behind him.
Cloud moved back slowly, twisting and blocking to avoid the last general's two-bladed style. She bared her sharp teeth at him, white hair flying over silver armour, and she spun both swords and chopped downward at him. He caught the blow on the flat on the Buster, twisted it off and slashed up into the gap in her attacks he'd created. She leaned back and tilted her head up, the tip of the Buster Sword missing her chin by a hairsbreadth.
She whipped around, parrying and throwing off Sephiroth's rapid attacks with enough vicious force to strike sparks off their blades.
The general stepped back, her swords a bright blur in her hands, and a torrent of spinning wind dug into the ground and bore down on Cloud.
Cloud spun the glowing Buster in his hand and waited. Then, he swung forward hard and fast, and the cyclone from his attack barrelled into the general's, counterspinning and destabilizing the funnel. It wobbled, and the merged whirlwinds blew apart into a blast of wind that knocked both Cloud and the general off their feet.
She struggled to stand, and Tidus yelled, diving forward. The Caladbolg smacked into both the general's swords and bore them to the ground, while at the same time, Sephiroth lunged forward, swinging the Masamune up and around in a blindingly fast slash.
She stood still for a moment, a look of surprise on her face, and then she fell backward, her head wobbling and sliding cleanly from her neck.
Cloud picked himself off of the ground, breathing heavily as his lungs recovered from the blast.
There was a small, wooden door set into the wall at the back of the room, and he reached out, pushing until the flimsy latch on the inside gave and clattered to the floor.
The warriors walked into the king's chamber.
There was a huge, low bed occupying the majority of the room, and on it, a still, frail body lay. Long white hair hung off the side of the bed, and Cloud could tell it was true white, not the thin grey of old age.
The warriors fanned out, surrounding the bed on all sides.
"Is he dead?" Bartz whispered, after a while.
Eyes cracked open, and in the slit between the paper-thin eyelids, Cloud could see clear, sky blue.
"So," said the hoarse, cracked voice, "you've made it past the Four Fiends."
"The what?" Tidus said, tilting his head to one side. The generals hadn't looked anything like the fiends he was used to.
The king laughed. "They were Chaos's minions once, but they were loyal to me. They chose—" His voice broke off into harsh coughs, and the king's body shook on the bed.
"Garland," said Terra. She pressed her hands to her mouth and looked down at the wasted form, conflicting emotions flickering through her eyes.
"Are you causing this breach between our worlds?" The Warrior of Light stared down at Garland oddly, as if he saw something familiar that he could not quite place.
Garland scoffed. "I am dying. How could I be responsible for a breach between worlds?"
"I have information—"
"They think me mad," Garland said, as if he hadn't heard the Warrior of Light. "They shut me away in here and they do not listen. Because I warned them. They do not listen, but I warn them."
"Of what do you warn?"
Garland fixed the Warrior of Light with sharp blue eyes, and the veil of dementia raised. "How strange it is that such simple decisions can lead to such different fates?" he said, a dry smile on his face. "You and I were once the same person, but when I walked down the path of Chaos, you were brought into my world from one parallel, in which I had chosen the path of the unambitious. You were brought here to stop me."
The slack, utterly stricken look on the Warrior of Light's face was new, Tidus thought.
"It is true," Garland said, stare strong and unblinking. "The crystals thought the only one who could stop Chaos was one who could have become Chaos himself." He settled back onto the bed with a sigh, oblivious to the stunned silence around him. "In this timeline, you stopped Chaos and his Four Fiends before I tasted the fruit of corruption. You saved me as well as the world of light, and when I became ruler of Cornelia, I thought myself firm, but just. Over time, I regained my memories of a time that did not exist, and when it happened this time, I recognized it. I took his Fiends for myself." Garland laughed long and harshly, the wild light back in his eyes. "I warned them."
The Warrior of Light swallowed hard, as if his mouth and throat were paper dry. "Warned them of what?" he asked again, and his voice was hard and edged.
Garland turned to look at him, and his eyes were wide and blue in the low light. "He came here. He could not stand the thought of dying and decaying like me, and so he came here and he is trying to start it all again. The endless war." He wrenched, suddenly, and his mouth slowly filled with blood, so that when he smiled, his teeth were black and red. "Chaos," he whispered.
Tidus stared at the blue sword impaled through Garland's chest, and he followed the line of it up a blue-armoured arm to a blue-armoured helm.
Then all hell broke loose.
Tidus clutched the Caladbolg in his hands, and he backed away with the other warriors, facing an impassive Exdeath who still stood over Garland's murdered body.
Zidane was shouting on his other side, while Bartz raged and demanded an answer.
"Who are you working for?" Luneth cried out, his voice high and brittle.
"Hmph," Exdeath said, jerking his sword free of the bed. "The Void beckons, and Chaos has promised me that this will be the true end. He sent me to follow you, to rid the world of the scum who, like short-sighted little insects, scurry to further their own ends as soon as their God does not command their every move. You have exterminated those that stand in Chaos' way, and now, once I destroy you, the cycle will be complete."
"What makes you think you can trust Chaos? He ordered you to help kill your allies! He's trying to restart the cycles, and once that happens, there will never be an end!" Bartz shouted, and he leapt at Exdeath with the Brave Blade extended in a rushing thrust.
Exdeath slashed, and Bartz managed to catch the blow on his sword, but the swing continued, and he felt his feet lift off the floor.
Shielding his head, Bartz smashed through the shutters over the large window facing out toward the castle grounds, and he dropped down out of sight.
"Bartz!" Luneth glared at Exdeath. Not again. Never again.
Magic burst from his hand, and streamers of Flare rushed toward Exdeath. The armoured giant deflected the spells with heavy swings of his sword, turned, and leaped out the window.
Luneth dashed over and peered down past the demolished window frame. He breathed a sigh of relief. Bartz was spread-eagled on the sloping roof top below, clinging with his fingers and looking up at him.
"Bartz!" he shouted.
Bartz shook his head. "Don't worry about me! Exdeath! Don't let him get away!"
Nodding, Luneth hopped up on to the window sill, and he jumped, skidding down the roof next to Bartz in an avalanche of sliding tiles. Bartz let go and slid down the roof after him, dropping to the ground and rolling. Bartz pulled him to his feet, and they both began the chase.
A moment later, Zidane shot by them, bounding along the ground in great leaps.
Cloud passed in a black blur of speed.
When they caught up, Cloud had already engaged Exdeath. They exchanged crushing blows, heavy slashes thundering into each other's blades or rocking the ground. Zidane whirled over Exdeath's head, his two-bladed weapon flashing and burst of fireballs spraying.
Bartz saw Zidane's energy blast slam into the side of Exdeath's head, disorienting him and shoving him into the path of Cloud's strikes, and Cloud switched smoothly into his Cross Slash, his heavy sword surrounded by a corona of orange light. The attack sent Exdeath's sword flying, flipping end over end, and Bartz shouted in triumph, lunging forward when Exdeath turned to watch his sword hurtle away for a fraction of a second, and he pierced Exdeath's armour. The Brave Blade sunk in to the hilt.
Exdeath sagged, and he crumpled to the ground. Bartz let him roll off and onto his back. He fell back, gasping for breath, and his heart hammered in his ears.
A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed, and Bartz looked up into Luneth's dusty face.
"Thanks," Bartz said.
He took the offered hand.
The forest was dark around them.
Tidus looked out ahead into the clearing, where crumbling stone walls supported heavy doors to a bleached white building hunched over the soft green of the grass underfoot.
It looked innocuous enough, but inside, the Chaos Shrine waited, deathly calm and menacing.
"What are we waiting for?" he said impatiently. "Let's go in."
"Wait."
The Warrior of Light glanced at him, and lowered his hand and his head. "Today," he began, haltingly, "today I discovered that I am one who could have become Chaos. That is why I am here now. I must stop Chaos, because I am him, and I am responsible for him."
"There's no way you could have ever become Chaos!" Tidus objected. "You're the most fundamentally good person I know!"
The Warrior of Light looked at him, and there was a tiny, wry twist to his mouth. "And yet you know how I adhere to the choices I make without fail."
Tidus opened his mouth, and he closed it again, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Well... There is that..."
The Warrior of Light shook his head. "It may have been so in another place, but that is not the me that exists here, and I will be here to stop this." He looked around at the warriors in turn. "That is my reason, but that is not enough for you. I want you to find your reasons. I will not drag you into my battle."
He closed his eyes and raised a hand, and then there was a glow on his fingers, and shimmering portholes appeared behind each of them. "Go home. See your world, your loved ones again. If you find a reason to fight, return here tomorrow morning, and I will be waiting here. If you choose not to fight this fight, I accept your decision with complete respect." He looked at them in turn, eyes hard. "I will not take those with me who do not have a reason in this struggle."
In the quiet, Zidane said hesitantly, "How did you do that? Open the gateways?"
"I suspect it is a power of Chaos that I am pulling from him. Go. I will keep the portals open until a few moments after dawn."
For a moment, Zidane looked as if he would protest again, but he stopped, bit his lip, and nodded. He walked into the portal behind him, showing a surf-beaten cliff on which face a dwelling was set into the stone. After a moment, Kuja smirked, and he followed.
Luneth took Terra's hand and squeezed gently before stepping away toward his portal.
"Tch." Squall slung his gunblade onto one shoulder, and he stepped through the gate behind him.
Cloud nodded to the Warrior of Light, and he walked toward the shimmering darkness, speckled with pinpricks of light like stars or flickers of Lifestream. On the other side, he lifted his face into the wind.
"What is so funny?" Sephiroth asked, behind him.
He shrugged. "The situation reminds me of another, similar one."
Sephiroth did not pry.
He raised a hand. "I'm gonna go to Seventh Heaven, see how Tifa and the others are doing. You go do what you need to, and I'll meet you back here in the morning, alright?"
"Right," Sephiroth said.
Cloud he could feel the eyes on his back as he walked away.
The wild roses were blooming, blanketing the field at Firion's feet. He inhaled deeply, the scent heady and tangible in the air.
He smiled, and he walked forward, toward the figures waving and calling his name.
Luneth walked into Kazus first. It was closest, and he needed to pick up some more cloth for bandages, as well as a few more potions.
He was barely five steps into the village when something heavy swung into his helmet, clanging loudly and jarring his skull.
"Ow!" he said, glaring at Refia. "What did you do that for?"
"What did I do? What about you? Your clothes are torn again, and you've got about a million scrapes on your arms! How did you manage to do that since the last time I saw you? Are you actually trying to kill yourself?"
"Refia, you probably shouldn't have been smacking him with a hammer if you didn't want him to get hurt."
Luneth turned grateful eyes to Arc. The shy boy from his village had grown quite a lot over the past year, and he stood, leaning his weight casually on one leg and resting yet another heavy book against his shoulder.
"He deserved it!"
"I am sure that Luneth is trying his best." Ingus stood on Arc's other side, arms crossed, and a hint of a smile on his face.
"He'd better, if he knows what's good for him."
Luneth rolled his eyes and let his friends' bickering wash over him.
"Cecil!"
Rosa laughed, rushing toward him, and he opened his arms to fold her under his chin.
"Are you okay? Did you solve the problem? Do you need to leave again?"
He laughed and hugged her tighter. "I will tell you everything, but it's a long story."
"Then it'll have to wait until after dinner!" Rosa pulled on his arm, tugging him into Baron Castle. As they walked, soldiers and servants paused and nodded respectfully. Cecil smiled and inclined his head in acknowledgement.
"My lord," said a deep voice behind him.
Cecil looked blankly at his friend until Kain rolled his eyes and relented.
"Cecil," he corrected.
Cecil smiled. "My friend, it's good to see you."
"If you want to keep seeing me, I suggest you do not leave for extended periods of time again. Rosa has near taken my head off in her worry."
"I'm sorry. I'll try not to generate any more life or sanity threatening situations for you."
Kain chuckled. "Then you had better start by handling the one that's happening now." He jerked a thumb back towards the castle gates. "Golbez is out there."
Cecil's smile grew. "Let him in."
"Ouch! Ouch!" Bartz protested, wrapping his arms around his head to shield himself from Boko's assault. "I said I was sorry, didn't I?"
Lenna was sitting beside him, arms crossed. "Well, what do you expect after running off on another adventure and leaving poor Boko behind?"
"Buck up, man. He missed you." Faris landed a stinging slap on Bartz's shoulder.
Krile was laughing too hard to get her words out, but Bartz thought he could make out the words "He says he's not nearly done yet" amongst the splutters.
Bartz groaned, flung his arms around Boko's neck, and plastered his face into the warm feathers.
No sympathy for the weary.
It was dark outside, but the night was warm.
Terra closed her eyes and breathed in the earthy scent of home.
The magic was much weaker here, but she could feel a tiny core of it, deep inside her. She wondered if it had come with her from the other world, and if it would fade over time. She didn't know if she was glad about that or not. It was warm and strong, terrifying still in its intensity. But...
Luneth had seen it, and he had not shrunk away. He told her they would become strong together.
Terra thought about what it meant, having something that she wanted to protect.
"Terra?"
A door opened, light spilling out onto the street, outlining a slim figure in the door.
Terra smiled, and she stepped into the light.
Cloud paused in the door, halfway into his house.
There was a light on in the kitchen.
He blinked at Sephiroth, and the Soldier watched him calmly. There was a glass of water sitting on the table, at the place where Cloud sat.
"What are you doing here?" he said finally.
Sephiroth half-shrugged, a habit Cloud was certain he must have picked up from Zack. "Where else would I go?" He stood, gathering his gloves and sword. "If you would like me to leave—"
"No," Cloud said. "It's alright. Stay."
He picked up the water and drained it in two gulps. He rinsed out the glass and set it on the drying rack, and he headed back into the hall. Glancing back at Sephiroth, he met and held mako-green eyes, open and bright, and he walked up the stairs to his room above.
After a moment, he heard Sephiroth follow.
Squall traced his fingertips along Rinoa's arm, wrapped over his chest.
It was almost uncomfortably hot under the covers, and he thought about pulling off his shirt, but that would involve moving Rinoa and hoping she didn't wake.
He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the fans whirring in Balamb Garden's vents.
In the morning, he would face the cold possibility of never coming back.
In the night, he would lie still and let the heat wash over him.
"Daaaagger," Zidane said, dangling a bright red quill in front of her nose.
Garnet looked up and gasped, snatching the pen from his hand.
"Zidane, it's beautiful! Where did you get it?"
"Er..."
Garnet gave him a stern look, and he thought he would get a lecture again, but then she sighed and shook her head.
"Never mind. I'm just happy you're back."
There was a resounding crash out in the hall, and Zidane glanced at Garnet, his eyebrows dragging up to his hairline.
"It's probably Steiner. Beatrix is angry at him again, and he's moping around, walking into walls when he forgets which direction he was supposed to go."
Zidane grinned. "Mood swings, huh?"
"Shh, don't let her hear you say that."
There was a long wail, and Vivi ran into the room, arms outstretched. He ran into Zidane, wrapping his arms around Zidane's waist. "I don't want to!" he said.
Zidane scowled at Kuja. "What are you doing to him?"
Kuja sighed and crossed his arms, disgruntled. "I only wanted to do something about that ratty old hat. I fail to see why you louts are utterly set against any improvements."
Zidane sighed and rolled his eyes.
Tidus surfaced, taking in a deep breath and shaking back his hair.
"Okay, that was good!" he said, grinning at the Besaid kids who'd come running full tilt at him with a blitzball in hand and clamouring for a lesson. "But remember, don't use your ankle. Throw all your weight into your whole leg, and—"
A resounding whistle echoed over the water, which glittered in the lamp light.
"Ah, sorry," Tidus said. "I have to go."
One of the kids gave him a sly look, and he hauled the boy into a head lock, making him giggle and squirm.
Jecht was waiting at the edge of the beach with a smirk that wouldn't look out of place on a shark's face.
"So you think yer a trainer these days, huh?"
Tidus waved his hand dismissively at his father. "Hah. I'm the star player! Of course they want lessons."
"Well, imagine that. This team ain't wanting to win any more games or something?"
Tidus glared and considered punching in that smug face, but then Yuna was standing between them, hands on her hips.
"Are you two coming to eat or not? Lulu is making dinner especially for us, and if I have to eat her food, so will you."
"You mean 'choke it down'," Tidus muttered.
Judging by the suddenly innocent look on Jecht's face and Yuna's horrified expression, Lulu was standing behind him. Tidus plastered on a grin and turned around.
"Hey, Lulu! Is that dinner? It smells great!"
She looked entirely unimpressed, and Tidus cringed.
The portal was hazy in the glow of early dawn.
Terra took a deep breath, and she stepped forward. The window into another world tingled gently as she passed through, as if tiny raindrops had landed on her skin.
She opened her eyes, and she looked around.
She was the last one back, it seemed.
Squall nodded to her sharply, and Cloud almost smiled, Sephiroth standing at his back, looking around disinterestedly. Zidane and Bartz waved at her cheerfully before resuming playing a card game, and Kuja peered down at Bartz's cards. Firion smiled warmly, and Tidus grinned and stretched, lacing his hands behind his neck, while Jecht raised a large hand. Cecil looked up from sharpening his sword, and Golbez leaned against a tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest. The Warrior of Light looked at her steadily, his eyes bright in the new sunlight.
And there was Luneth, smiling widely and coming forward, raising his hands to take hers.
TBC