A/N: This is the longest chapter I've ever wrote for fanfiction and it took me quite a while to write it. I hope everyone's in character. Oh, and now you'll finally know what's behind those stack of boxes in the Vacant House...
Thanks: SecretAgent99, my beta reader.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy in any way. Wish I did, though.
Don't let the length of this chapter scare you, 'cause I usually write shorter chapters. Now on with the story! Enjoy reading!
~ "Those goddamn kids will be my death someday..." ~
Damn it! It was in the paper again; the short list with names of everyone who was missing this week. He hated to read it, but he had to check if there were any friends or family of his missing. Every week it was the same old song. Every week the residents of Hollow Bastion read that list with bated breath, afraid to encounter familiar names. Afraid of the truth...
The days became darker and darker as more people disappeared. Every day everyone felt like they were closer to death. Every day a handful of people met the dark depths of obscurity. Nobody did anything about it. There was nothing they could do.
Things had changed since those black creatures had showed up. Everyone in Hollow Bastion had lived in fear lately and hell, they had all right to be scared! It was all because of those black creatures that could tear you apart with their sharp claws.
The rumors said that those creatures were commanded by a certain Mali... Mela...ficent... or fecent, or something like that. Cid had never heard of her. Well, whoever that Melaficent may be, she had destroyed lots of families. Nobody had ever seen her or her creatures though. Nobody who had survived their attack, that is. Perhaps the rumors of these creatures were a myth, invented and distributed by the city itself.
Cid read through the list, frowning. M.E. Atkins, R.J. Locke, T.V. Smith, C.D. Steel, M.Y. Watson...
Watson? Now just wait a friggin' minute, wasn't that the young man who lived opposite of him? He came here every day, and asked - no, practically begged - him whether he had some work for him.
"Do I look like I'm fucking old? Like I need some fucking help in my shop?" Cid snapped him off.
Then the young and disappointed man would walk away and Cid just knew he would come again tomorrow, since he did that every day.
The engineer took a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. Poor guy, he wasn't such an asshole. He didn't deserve this. But then again, who did? He would have given him a job, IF he had had any customers who bought something from him.
Their motto was now: "Only watch and then get out." No wonder, the inhabitants had little money to buy food. Why in hell's name would they need any accessories?
Casting a look at his watch, he decided that it had been enough for today. He hadn't sold anything today - damn, what a surprise. He was exhausted, for he had worked on that Gummi Ship for hours. Not that he minded. He loved machines, maybe more than he loved women, for machines were easier to understand than women. He had been working on the ship for months now and the work was finished today, at last! He had to admit that the new airship was a beaut.
At last, he was ready now. Ready to leave this doomed place if those bastards would show up again - and something told him that they would - to destroy everything that was left. Fighting against them was useless, he knew that very well.
Still brooding about those black shadows, he closed his shop and went home.
The sound of yelling people woke him up. He opened his eyes and sat up, wondering what the hell was happening now. This wasn't a time to party. He glanced over to the clock. It was 1:19 am. Yet something seemed to be completely different and out of place that he could not quite put his finger on.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell's with this place and these people!" he mumbled, angrily. Didn't the residents know that some people were trying to sleep at this time?
He stretched and opened his eyes. Slowly, he rose up and walked to the window. The wooden floor felt very cold to the touch.
When he saw what was happening outside he cried, "Holy hell!"
That pretty much summed up the whole situation. Three colors were dominating; black, blue, and shades of purple. It was all black outside, but you couldn't really call it pitch dark. In the light of the lampposts he saw those black monsters for the first time. He grabbed his keys, a flamethrower and his custom-made spear and went outside.
Cid had expected to see screaming people, panicking and running away like maniacs, all in a different direction, not really knowing what they were doing. There was nobody in sight, though. Where was everyone?
He looked around. The streets were as quiet and deserted as five minutes ago. Normally he wouldn't have done much, but times had changed. Drastically.
A high shriek interrupted his thoughts. It came from very close. A door was thrown open right in front of him and a girl of thirteen years ran out of the burning building. She held the hand of a little girl with black hair. At last, signs of life. The two girls were followed by many shadows. Cid did not hesitate and attacked them with his flamethrower.
"Stand back," he said.
He didn't have to say that twice. Once he put on his flamethrower, the creatures were helpless against the fire. He smelled their strong burning smell. Only their ash was left. The wind took care of that.
He turned to the two girls and noticed their shocked expressions. Tears ran down the cheeks of the little girl. Her eyes were as big as saucers and her short black hair stood out everywhere. Her lower lip trembled and she was shivering violently, holding something tightly as if it was a precious treasure. She seemed to be in shock and mentally absent.
"They are everywhere, those monsters," said the older girl.
"What happened?" Cid demanded.
"I - I'm her babysitter. She was upstairs, sleeping, when I suddenly heard a fairly loud noise... I went to look a - and they were there. They were everywhere! I fled with her down. At that moment her parents came home. One of those shadows attacked them and... she saw how her parents... how those claws..."
She fell silent when her voice broke. The shock was so big, it took her at least fifteen seconds to compose herself.
"The Fuckers," Cid hissed.
Nobody deserved to see their parents die like that.
The girl made an (unapproved?) sound, which Cid did not seem to hear. "We must hurry, we don't have much time. Here, catch. "
He threw his keys to the elder girl, who caught it with her free hand and looked stunned at it. "What-" she began, but Cid interrupted immediately.
There was no time to lose.
"You know where my shop is?"
"Yes, Sir," she replied, nodding.
"The biggest key on this key ring is from the space opposite my shop. I want you to go to that space and take this kid with you. Wait there for me and I'll-"
"I can't! I need to go to my parents and Cloud. He's-"
"No, I'll do that. I know Cloud, he's a big boy. He can take care of himself."
Or that was what he was hoping for.
"Do you promise you'll look for him?"
He looked at her for a moment. How could he ever say no to someone like her?
"Yes, yes, cross my heart. Now go, before more of them show up. It's late and we're all in danger. Remember this: never dwell on one spot. Those black creatures can easily absorb your odor and then they come to get you and I don't think I'll be there to save you this time from this shit."
She nodded.
"Oh, and take this." He handed her his flamethrower. "When those bastards show up, then you know what to do, right?"
She nodded once again. From the weird expression on her face he could tell that she'd rather not use it at all. He hoped she didn't have to.
"Okay. Good luck, Sir. Come on, Yufs."
She took her hand and walked away, in a quick pace. Their footsteps sounded ominous and echoed against the cold paving. Before she turned around the corner, she turned to look at Cid, but Cid was already gone.
The wind began to blow harder. This was worse than dodge ball. It seemed as though the wind wanted to rip his head off. Cid had to hurry. He was almost safe. He felt like something was watching him from behind a sheltered spot. The wind changed direction now. It didn't swing from his side anymore, but from the front.
He quickly turned his head sideways to the right and gasped for breath as he looked straight into those bright yellow eyes. Before he could do anything, the shadow shot forward, digging its claws in the flesh of his upper arm. He started to scream. The pain took his breath.
In the center of the city, something else was going on. Two boys stood motionless back to back, covering each other. One boy had spiky blond hair and a long sword which he held with both hands. The other boy had dark brown shoulder length hair and also a large sword like weapon. They were both still young. The blond one was thirteen and the other one fifteen, maybe sixteen.
They seemed to be waiting for something. Something important. Something that would change their whole life. That something did not disappoint them, for there appeared shadows all around them. Now they held their weapons even tighter. Their knuckles became white.
"Ready?" said the one with blond hair.
"Think we can handle this many?"
"As long as we don't have our hopes up, we can take anything..."
The brunette, who seemed to be the leader, snorted, adding, "...Whatever."
That seemed to be their secret sign to start an attack, because the next moment both of them rushed forward with a loud cry and started to slice through the shadows.
The calculating movements they made were amazing, but also frightening. And for a short while they didn't seem to be children anymore. They obviously knew what they were doing. They looked like experienced soldiers on that battlefield, being trained for years for situations like this. They gave each other backing and the fight didn't last long. They also seemed to keep a sort of game of who could kill the most monsters.
"Ten," muttered the young man with dark hair, brushing his hair from his eyes. He looked at his comrade, curiosity written on his face, waiting for an answer. "Well?"
"Twelve," said the other, somewhat nonchalant.
His facial expression remained unchanged, but you could hear clearly from his voice that he was delighted. At that moment another black creature showed up. The blond-haired guy defeated him when he wanted to dig its claws in the other boy.
Said boy turned. "Thanks, Cloud."
"And that was thirteen. What's wrong, old man? Can't keep up, Squall?" he noted with a smirk.
Squall rolled his eyes, looking a bit annoyed. "Hmph. Heckler," was all he said.
"Says who?"
He ignored that last comment and said, "Come on. We need to rescue the others."
"Okay, but where should we start?" Cloud wondered.
"Hey, I hear something."
"Except for the sounds of those creepy shadows that are destroying buildings and killing innocent people, you mean?"
Squall lifted his hand to him to be quiet. "Shush... It comes from... there," he concluded after a while, while pointing at that direction, "C'mon!"
They rushed to the direction where the sound came from. Once they arrived at that place, they found a man. They could hardly distinguish him from the dark. He was surrounded by black shadows that were clearly up to no good. The man tried to distance the shadows by using a long stick. It could also be a spear. It was hard to see that in the dark. He shouted insults at all those things. Even Squall and Cloud could hear what he said at this distance.
"Hey, that's the owner of the accessory shop!" Squall cried out.
"How do you know that?"
"Doesn't the swearing say enough?"
Cloud started to smirk. "Oh. Right. My mistake."
With his Gunblade in his hands, he ran up to the man to save him. Cloud immediately followed his example and also interfered in the battle.
"The little bitches. They attacked me and just came out of nowhere and I can't defeat them with my spear," Cid said, hissing.
They fought a long time. For every two creatures that were defeated another five of them seemed to appear instead of them, taking their place.
"This makes no sense. We can't fight like this forever. We gotta go and quick, before they multiply by ten."
Squall looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "What do you mean, go? We can't just leave the residents! We need to see if there are still people who need our help, in the west, near the Bailey," Squall noted.
"I've just checked the west. There was nobody there. Everybody is-" He stopped and swallowed his last word: dead. He changed his mind when he saw Squall's grimace. "Fleeding and that's we would be doing right now too, you know. I have a built Gummi Ship and-" Cid quickly said.
"Rinoa. We must first find Rinoa. I'm not going anywhere without her."
Cid sighed. What the hell was wrong with everyone? He didn't understand why everyone whined about their lover.
"I just told you that I just checked the whole city-"
"Chances are that you didn't look good enough. She must be here somewhere. Where else could she be? I won't leave without Rinoa. Besides, I don't want to go away like a coward when there's something I can do about this shit. We can still fight back-"
"There are too much of them. You're too young to understand-"
"I can handle it and if you don't want to help me, then I'll do it all by myself."
Cid sighed. He started to get a headache because of him. At that moment they nearly got a heart-attack thanks to Cloud, who suddenly screamed, "Sephiroth!"
Squall looked at Cloud and followed his gaze. Another boy had appeared from out of nowhere at the place he was looking at. He had long silver-white hair that reached his waist and icy-blue eyes. His sword was almost twice as long and five times as thin as Cloud's sword. The shadows had suddenly disappeared with the appearance of the young man, almost as if he had scared them.
"Well well. Look who we have here. Surrender to the darkness, you know you want to," he said.
"Never!" Cloud roared in response.
Then he shot forward like a cannon ball. Just before the moment Cloud's sword would make contact with his throat, Sephiroth disappeared and then reappeared again, a few yards further.
"Catch me, if you can, Strife," he challenged Cloud, who let out a frustrated scream and chased immediately after him.
Squall decided to participate in this cat and mouse game and started to run after them too.
"Hey, where are you going? Get back here! It's too dangerous here for you to... oh, never mind already," Cid spoke, sighing. "Those goddamn kids will be my death someday..."
He then started to run after them. That didn't last long, for he had only run a few meters when he ran into something heavy. It struck him full in his stomach, and he flew a few feet in the air. He bounced like a bouncing ball on the ground and came to a rest against a wall.
He groaned in pain. He had scraped his elbows and probably broken his wrist. Preferably he would have remained there, but something in him told him that at this time that was the worst thing you could do, unless you wanted to be found by those monsters.
He got up slowly and looked what object had brought him so much pain. "Holy Fuck!"
Not far from him Squall lay on his back on the floor. He had several scratches on his face, but the worst of all was the cut from his nose to his forehead, where it stopped just below his left eye. Blood gushed from the wound and formed a small puddle around his head. Cid quickly ran to him at the exact same time that he was trying to scribble up.
"How are you?" Squall looked at him with such a fierce look, as if it felt that that look burned Cid alive. "Sorry. Stupid question."
He helped him getting up soon after Squall had picked up his weapon again. "I'm fine."
Yeah. Right, and he was Cloud's mother.
"What's happened?" Cid wanted to know.
"Cloud and Sephiroth suddenly disappeared and then a huge-"
The ground began to shake violently. The few buildings that had somehow managed to stand, were now collapsing too.
"What the hell is that? An earthquake? The Apocalypse? Your stomach? Please tell me it's the last thing."
"That's the monster that gave me this present." He pointed to his wound.
"Now we're really off. Come on." He pulled him to his arm, but Squall resisted. "This is no time for fucking games! Do you wanna die?" Cid barked at him.
"I told you, I will not leave this pl-"
How stubborn and annoying as hell could a boy get?
"Now you take a good listen, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once! If you don't come with me, those bastards will kill you. If you get killed by those punks, I'll drag you back from hell and kill you again! You really want to piss off those shadows, then why not try stayin' alive! That's what this war's all about! If you live, everybody behind you lives. If you die, I'll die, Rinoa will die and everyone else will die with us! You got that? Now come with me. You can save kicking their asses for later!"
Squall finally seemed to realize that maybe it was better to listen to Cid for once, even though he didn't know him so well. Hallelujah!
They ran away from the vibrations. Cid went first and he tried not to look at all the blood they saw on their way. There was blood everywhere. So much blood...
He became rather dizzy and lightheaded from the look of it. He tried not to sniff the smell of death, blood and destruction. His could feel his stomach rising, but he forced it down.
Squall stayed on his trail, which was pretty amazing, as you would expect that he would fall down since he had lost so much blood. Cid held him with his good arm, the one that wasn't broken (yet), to make sure that he was following him. The poor boy. His respect for him had increased significantly. He was a hardy spirit.
Several times they ran past burning buildings, or buildings where rocks came down, right toward them. They dodged them all. Sometimes it was a close one.
They reached the garage unscathed, which also could be called a small miracle. Suddenly he felt how Squall resisted again and did no longer move. In fact, Cid was pulled with him to the ground. Now what? Did the boy change his mind, or something?
He swallowed a few curses, and turned to look at him, while grumbling.
Oh. This was a different thing. Squall was laying on his back on the ground, again. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be unconscious. Cid looked at the garage, or rather the remains of it, because there was only one wall standing upright.
The elder girl with the long braid came out of the Gummi Ship.
"You! You're right in time. Help me to get him in the Ship," he barked at her.
She nodded and grabbed Squall's feet. "My name is Aerith Gainsborough, by the way."
"Now that's very nice for you. At three we lift him up, yes? One... two... three!"
Cid took his waist with his right arm and lifted him up. If he didn't get rheumatism because of him, then he would eat his shoes.
With much effort and a little help from Aerith, they finally managed to lift him inside the Ship. Aerith closed the door of the Gummi Ship behind her, after she and Cid had placed the wounded one down on a chair.
"Hey, I know him. That's Squallie!" cried the little girl with black hair.
So she could talk. That was something new.
"Congratulations. Now sit your ass down in that fucking chair and hold still! I have to concentrate."
"Aye Aye, Captain! Aerith, did you hear that? He said the f-word!"
Cid tried not to swear again. These people were giving him the nerves!
"Keep a towel against the big wound, eh... Aeris, or whatever your name is. It's in one of the wooden cabinets over there," he said, while pointing at those cabinets.
Aerith got up. "It's Aerith, Mr. Highwind."
"Yeah, yeah. Fine."
Cid turned and focused on his own work. He had to get this machine into the air. Now he thought about it, he became increasingly uncertain whether he would succeed or not. A defeated sigh escaped his lips. He turned the key in the key contact and pressed a few random buttons. The vehicle began to shake. Now the Ship was in motion.
He taxied it down the road and tried to make more speed. "Fasten your belts, hold tight and do a quick prayer!"
"Aye Aye, Captain!" said the little girl again.
There was some excitement in her voice. Cid held his breath. If this thing did not work...
He'd rather not think about it. He focused back on the road.
"C'mon, baby. Don't let me down now."
The long straight road was not so long as he had first thought. Oh no, they wouldn't make it!
No, don't do this to me. Please. They're still children...
When the road stopped, they fell down, into the black nothingness. The Ship fell several meters down, but miraculously it rose again. Cid was more than relieved. He started to breathe again. This was really a close one. He turned. Aerith and Yuffie both looked quite pale.
"I don't feel well. I think I'm gonna be sick!" Yuffie shrieked.
"I warn you: don't you dare to besmirch my ship with your vomit!"
Said ship suddenly started to shake violently. It seemed like it was stuck in some strong current and was pulled with it.
"What the-"
A shadow fell across the windshield. The shadow of the monster he and Squall had run away from, just a few minutes ago. In the 33 years of his life, he had never seen such a thing. This shadow was enormous. His eyes looked like two lights, surrounded by darkness. In terms of hair he looked like Medusa; the shadows on his head, his "hair", moved slowly in the wind, jumbled together like snakes.
With his arms, he tried to grab the Gummi Ship from the air. And he managed to do that. Now he tried to put the ship in his mouth, which resembled a big black hole. The gap was getting closer and closer. Yuffie and Aerith started to scream.
"Torpedoes... Fire!" Cid yelled.
A deafening bang drowned the screams of the timid girls, who were abruptly silent. The monster seemed to let go of the ship and the ship was thrown into the air.
"Hallelujah, Baby! Take that, fucker!" Cid hooted with delight, "Is it after us now?"
"I'm not looking," Yuffie cried. She put her hands over her eyes.
"You had built torpedoes?" Aerith asked incredulously.
"Of course. It was a small effort, but very useful, as you can see," he reported, very proudly.
"You could say that, yes... By the way, where is Cloud?"
Cid's heart skipped a beat. He had totally forgotten about Spiky.
He cleared his throat. "Uh... you see... the truth is... um... well... I have no idea where he is right now. I met him in the company of Squall, but then that Sephiroth had to appear. He started to chase after him and disappeared along with that demon. That's all I know... sorry."
He started to feel guilty and ashamed.
Aerith sighed and smiled sadly. "It's okay. At least I know now that he is safe. No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again. It's just a matter of time."
Wow, she definitely didn't sound like a thirteen year old girl. She sounded more mature. It was kinda scary in some sort of way.
"I want you to know that I didn't dislike him. Gotta admit he was a strange dude. Just when you thought he was cool, he'd go and do some damn fool thing. And when you thought he was smart, he'd show just how stupid he was. Everything about him from his movements to his speech were kinda odd. "
"That's because Cloud's a royal pain in the ass, if you ask me. Like always," Yuffie noted.
Aerith laughed. "Cloud is Cloud," was her opinion.
"With other words, that's what you like about him, right?" Yuffie said teasingly.
Aerith blushed slightly, saying nothing. That was the last thing that was said. Everyone was silent, absorbed in their own thoughts.
Cid picked up a pack of cigarettes and lit another one. "I always thought this planet was so huge. But lookin' at it from space, I realized it's so small. We're just Floatin' in the dark... kinda makes you feel powerless. On top of that it's got Sephiroth and that Maleficent lady along with her shadows festerin' inside it like a sickness. That's why I say this planet's still a kid. A little kid, sick and trembling in the middle of this huge universe. Someone's gotta protect it. Ya follow me? That someone is us. Mark my words: there will be a day when we will bring this planet, our home world, back to life, 'cause this story is not over yet," he said thoughtfully.
"Cid's right. That reminds me of a story that a nice old lady had told me years ago," Aerith mused.
This seemed to get the younger girl's attention. "Oh, will you tell me the story, pretty pretty please?"
Aerith smiled. "Sure, Yufs... I think it started with... Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it selfishly. They became jealous and wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we used to live in. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. So there is still hope and we must never give up hope. Everything will be okay. It has to," Aerith said, firmly.
"I like happy-ending stories!" Yuffie cried, clapping in her hands.
Hope? At this moment hope seemed to be for dreamers, and for people without brains. Or for people who had a brain, but didn't use them. The word "desperation" did better fit here. Despair... and darkness. Darkness that swallowed everything. Even worlds.
"Uh, Mr. Highwind?" Aerith asked softly.
"Hmm," he grumbled.
From her voice he could hear clearly that something unpleasant would follow for him now. And he was right about it.
"Could you unlight your cigarette?"
"Why should I?" he asked brusquely.
"Because it's unhealthy... Not only for you, but also for me and Yuffie. It can kill you."
"Certainly not! For your information, this is my life and my Ship. So I do what I want. Get used to it. Understand?"
There was silence behind him. Deafening silence. Oddly enough, Cid didn't dare to turn. Not after his outburst. He was afraid of what he might see, crying children. Maybe he was too hard for them. After all, they were still kids. Unbelievable! Since when was he so afraid of children? He ground his teeth in frustration.
"So... where are we going to?" Aerith asked after a while, breaking the cold and unpleasant silence, which Cid was grateful for.
Oh. He hadn't even thought of that; his main goal had been to escape from those fuckers. Cid paused.
"Mister Cid?"
"It's just Cid for you."
What the hell was he supposed to answer her? He didn't even know himself.
"Did you have a plan?"
To be quite honest, no.
"Uh... you can choose. One, we land on the Moon or two, we enjoy flying aimlessly through space, just as long until we meet a random encounter, or some other planet with oxygen. "
"I'll go for option two!" Yuffie cried.
Unfortunately for him, Aerith was much more critical. "And how long exactly do you think you can persist this? We aren't accomplished and experienced astronauts, if you haven't noticed yet. I suppose you don't happen to have a few tons of oxygen with you," Aerith bit at him.
"Eh... no."
"Then what are we doing here? Waiting to die?"
Ai. Unfortunately, that smart-ass was right. That meant only one thing, they had only delayed their most painful death for a few hours. Dammit, now they were still not freed from this shit!
"You got a better idea, then? 'Cause if you do, please, share!"
Aerith said nothing. That effectively shut her mouth... for a while.
So now they floated around for hours in the infinite universe. Squall had turned to consciousness again. The bleeding from his wound had stopped. He hadn't said a word yet.
"This flight is sooo Boooring! Cid..."
Oh no, there we go again. Dear god. Please don't do this to me, he thought annoyed.
"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?" he barked at the seven year old girl.
Yuffie was not impressed by the big and mean man.
She shrugged her shoulders at it. "Dunno... something? You could stand on your head or something? Oh, come on. I know you're all dying' to talk to a babe like me!"
He grunted something unintelligible in reply. Yuffie reminded him why he didn't want to have any children. They were annoying as hell. The older they got, the more annoying they would become, so there was no good side at it at all.
Aerith took the hint and immediately wanted to distract Yuffie with some story, when Yuffie asked, "Cid, where is this button for?"
"No, don't touch that but-"
Suddenly the ship began to shake violently again.
Yuffie was thrown back in her chair again. She laughed and said, "Did you hear that Aerith? Cid said butt!"
"What did you do now? I told you, don't touch that button! Ugh, some child you are!" Cid cried out, offended.
He lifted his hands to heaven. Then they heard a loud bang. The trembling was stronger and before anyone of them knew what exactly was going on, they fell with a dizzying speed in a downward spiral. This was bad. Very bad.
"Cid, what are you doing?" Aerith squealed, who was, just like the rest, pressed in her chair.
"I didn't do nothing! One of the engines is inoperative. And I've lost control of the wheel. Damn!"
Just a little too late it occurred to him that he had made a mistake, saying that out loud.
"This's gonna be a big splash. Hold on to your drawers, and don't piss in' em! You got your way, pus? Well you finally got some excitement in your life."
Whether they would survive this crash landing, was yet another chapter of the story.
"Hey, this isn't my fault! I'm not a crappy driver," she defended.
"Yuffie!" Aerith warned.
"Say what again?" Cid shouted menacingly.
They saw one or another planet, coming closer and closer. It consisted mainly of yellow pin buttons; light. In Cid's eyes yellow was good. Yellow meant safety. Yellow meant light. And light was good. Light was safe. Safe was good. Perhaps there was still hope, if they would survive this fall that is. He really had no idea why he thought this at the time that they would crash on the ground. Maybe his brains had made short circuit.
He turned. The last thing he saw was that Yuffie was holding Aerith dearly, just like a frightened child did when they sought protection by their mother. Squall had his eyes squeezed shut, his mouth was like a thin line. Then there followed a loud bang. The entire Gummi Ship was shaking after it. Then it was quiet. Dead Silence, again. For but a moment. Cid was the one this time who broke the deafening silence.
"So. That was... quite interesting, wasn't it?" He turned. Squall had his eyes still squeezed shut. "Everything okay here?"
Yuffie was still holding Aerith. Both nodded at the same time.
"That's good to hear."
Six pairs of eyes looked now at Squall, who seemed to sleep.
"Is he... dead?" Yuffie asked anxiously.
She let out a scream when Squall opened one eye and stared straight at her with his steel blue eyes. Then she started to giggle. Squall opened now both eyes, rolled them and then closed them again, grimacing because of the pain. He was obviously annoyed with Yuffie. Cid was sure that he wasn't the first one.
"I think that's a no," Cid said, grinning, "you still alive, Sergeant?"
Squall frowned and nodded briefly, eyes still closed.
"I think he's sick," Aerith remarked.
"No, really?" Cid asked sarcastically.
Cid now looked for any damage to his beloved ship. There was a dent in the floor and the walls and all glasses were broken. The ground was strewn with glass. No way to believe that they had fallen from such heights and also survived the fall. That Gummi Ship really was harder than steel. And that was a good thing.
They had crashed on a planet with enough oxygen. Through the windshield, which was now gone, Cid saw a large set of heavy oak double-doors. What would be beyond those doors? Another civilization? Aliens? Peaceful people? Refugees?
"So, are we ready to explore the outside world?" Cid asked.
Aerith wasn't so sure about that action, but they couldn't stay on this ship forever, right? Besides, they had to find some help for Squall.
When Cid managed to open those extremely heavy doors, he saw that he had come to a very cozy place. The lights were burning everywhere and the atmosphere was warm and snug.
In some way he felt right at home. The town was similar to a Victorian-age town in terms of design and layout. There was a restaurant with lighting candles to the left of the town entrance. There were people at the table who ate and drank something, while they chatted and watched the beautiful night sky. A girl of about Aerith's age stood against a wall and looked curiously at Cid. She had blond hair and dark eyes. The cute dress she wore was green-white.
Once he was sure she could do him no harm, he walked slowly toward her, as he tried to think of what he should say.
"Good evening, Sir. My name is Melody. How can I help you?" she asked kindly.
Her smile made Cid feel more comfortable. "Uh, good evening, Melody. Please forgive me, but uh... where are we exactly?"
He hoped that she wouldn't suddenly start to laugh, or think that he was just joking around... Or worse: think that he was some mental patient who had escaped.
"Oh, so you are a refugee?" she asked earnestly.
"Yes."
She nodded understandingly, as if she could feel his pain. "Welcome to Traverse Town. Here you will hardly be troubled by the Heartless."
"Heartless? Is that what those shadows are being called?"
"Yes. This whole town is full of refugees. I'm a refugee myself. Survivors of the worlds lost to the Heartless take shelter here. Traverse Town is serving as a home to those whose worlds have been destroyed by the Heartless."
"So it is quite possible that I'll meet acquaintances here?"
He thought of Cloud. He could have been stranded here too...
The girl did not answer immediately, but seemed to consider how she could tell him the truth. "The chances are not so big, but it is possible, yes," she finally said, while smiling. "Now, if you want to follow me, I'll take you to the hotel. Once we have found a suitable place for you where you can live, you may revoke it. Shall we?"
The girl did not wait for an answer, but already turned around and walked away, assuming that Cid would immediately follow. She had clearly done this more than once. He wondered where she had come from and when... and who she had lost.
"Wait, I have three passengers with me. One is wounded, so I think he needs help."
"Oh!"
She turned and beckoned to someone. A group of three men came to her. They greeted her and Cid with a nod.
"Hi, guys. This man needs help. There is a wounded outside the entrance and some more refugees. Can you help them out?"
The guys nodded at the same time and walked to the door. Cid followed immediately. Then everything went very quickly. They didn't go to the hotel, though. Apparently the girl had already found a suitable place for them. They proceeded to the Third District. The Third District was a plaza also overrun with Heartless, but it was the smallest of the three main districts. They could withdraw in the Vacant House. Well, they could have better called it the "Small House," because it wasn't that big.
There was not much in the house. In the room there was only one table with some chairs, cabinets, a stack of boxes and a bed. Behind the stack of boxes there was another door, which led to a small kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom.
The young lady felt that they probably wouldn't be in the mood for cooking, so she had brought some food from the restaurant. Cid thanked her, but she waved it away like it was nothing.
Cid had already noticed that the inhabitants of this town were very helpful to strangers, probably because they knew how it felt to lose their world and their loved ones. Here it was different from Hollow Bastion. Even the buildings here looked homier than they were at home. Home... He missed it already.
Melody had brought a few pots with green sludge in it with her. She said it was potion. Once Cid took a sip of it, the pain and swelling of his wrist reduced. Within seconds, the fracture healed even completely. Melody grabbed Squall by his chin.
Squall tried to pull his head away, but Melody held him tight. "Hold still, please. That's easier for me," she said.
Squall did as she asked him, even if it was with reluctance. He stared fiercely at her, but Melody didn't seem to care. She dropped some potion on the wound. Once the potion made contact with his skin, the skin began to grow together. There was now only a scar left on his forehead.
"Oh my. That must have really hurt. I think the wound was too deep. Therefore it's not completely healed," she said softly.
Squall looked at her. He touched his forehead with his hand. When he felt the scar, his eyes opened wide with disbelief. A cry, followed by a curse escaped his lips.
"Sorry. I wish I could do more for you," Melody said regrettably. She gave him and the others a potion bottle. "Drink this and you will feel better. Really. You can also drop it on your wound. If you need help with something, anything, do not hesitate to ask me for help, okay?" she said.
"Sure and thanks," Cid said, smiling.
Once she had left, Yuffie said, while grinning at Squall, "I think she has a crush on you."
Squall blushed slightly and was sending daggers to Yuffie, but he said nothing. Yuffie quickly went to Aerith and sat on her lap to look for protection against Squall.
"Let's make the best of it, now we are here," Aerith said.
The others were silent. That silence lingered in the room until they went to sleep.
That night, all of them had nightmares. Cid didn't dare to sleep anymore. He had lost friends, family, everything. It was all his fault. He felt so guilty when he thought about all the mistakes he had made in one night.
He should've tried to help more people when he had had the chance to. He should've gone to the Gummi Ship earlier, before the Heartless were so rampant in the streets. He should've started to build the Gummi Ship earlier, so he could have escaped earlier. He should've shot that fucker, Ansem, who had done this to his own people. Some king that is... or was.
There were a lot of things Cid thinks he should've done different. But now it was too late. It didn't matter anymore. Now he should worry about how he had to feed four people, including himself.
The next day Cid woke up quite early. Not only did he want to explore the town, he also searched for a place where he could start a shop, which was the only thing he was good at, save for flying.
Traverse Town was a calm town. The town featured a sky of eternal night, where stars could be seen clearly. The people seemed not to mind the perpetual night, but it had confused him first, thinking that he'd been mistaken until he had asked someone about it. Apparently they were all used to it. Cid wondered if he would ever see the sun again.
While he was wondering all this, he saw that a star disappeared. Huh? And when he focused on the sky, he saw that then another one disappeared, and another one. They kept disappearing. Just like that. That wasn't normal, was it? Something was terribly wrong here.
The town was divided into three major districts along with several minor locations such as alleyways and caves. He noticed that it was also a great place to shop. He was quite sure that the girls would love that. The First District was the most peaceful of the three, without the presence of Heartless. The First District was also where most survivors of the destroyed worlds could be found. There was an Item shop, run by three talking ducks, named Huey, Dewey and Louie. They had lots of potions in stock.
Moogles also took residence here, where they successfully run a Synthesis workshop, on the top floor of an empty building, directly across from the world's entrance. Cid asked them if he could hire the space downstairs, so he could start his own accessory shop. The moogles said it was no problem. So now there was a lot of work for him to do now. He wasn't complaining. At least this took his mind off of everything that had happened last night.
When he took a short break, he strolled through the Second District. Notable locations were the Gizmo Shop, with its raised platforms, and the Dalmatian's House, where Pongo and Perdita, two cute Dalmatians, had settled due to the destruction of their world. He was now at the Alleyway.
He wondered what would happen if the power would go or if all the watches suddenly didn't work. Would these people still know what time it was? And whether it was day or night?
And then the mailbox, that was standing close to the door leading into the Third District. What on earth did they need a mailbox for? Their world was destroyed anyway so to whom could they send a post card? These people were really strange.
From the Alleyway, he went through the drainage grate opposite the crates.
"Secret Waterway." It was written sloppy on a sign with yellow paint. It was quite a surprise to find Squall there. So the "Secret Waterway" was no longer a secret. Squall was busy with training with his Gun blade. Cid waited until Squall had noticed him. That didn't last long.
Squall immediately stopped his training and looked expectantly at Cid, raising his eyebrows. "How long have you been standing here?" he asked, when Cid didn't start a conversation.
"Long enough to wonder why you're training like a madman," said Cid. He tried not to sound curious, but he failed miserably.
"For when there'll come another invasion of Heartless. This time I'm ready. I will not make the same mistakes that I made last time."
"-Squall"
"DON'T call me Squall. I don't want to hear that name anymore. Not until I'm worthy of that name again. I don't want to be reminded of what a coward I was."
Cid raised his eyebrows. "Oh, and how should I call you now? Bruno?"
Squall thought about it for a moment. His gaze slowly slid to his revolver and then to his Griever. He then seemed to have made a decision.
"Call me... Leon."
"Leon Leonhart?"
He tried not to burst out laughter. Give him a break! It sounded weird, not to say ridiculous.
"No... Just Leon."
He seemed more determined than ever. Well, it was his life. If he wanted to change his name, then so be it. He was old enough to make such decisions by himself. He probably wouldn't listen to him, anyway, as stubborn as he was.
"Okay, just Leon. Let's go. I'm starving. Moreover, I bet that the two ladies are worried."
Leon nodded briefly and followed him. They headed toward the Small house. The mandatory paternity would be very hard, since he had no experience with children. Fortunately they listened to him. He didn't count Yuffie; she was an exception. He just knew that these years would become very hard, but they would survive... or so he hoped.
A/N: Thanks for reading! =) I hope you've enjoyed it. And sorry for the sudden ending. ^_^
Reviews are welcome, by the way. Let me know what theme you want to see back in the next chapters, as long as it's still T-rated. :P
Next chapter: Leon makes plans about their future.