Chapter Fifty-Nine: Faramir
Aralyn hadn't been sure what Sephiroth had meant by, "Away from Shinra," when she had inquired about where they would live. She assumed that after the marriage they would simply room together so they could both work, but Sephiroth had smiled mischievously and refused to say any more.
Zack was driving the vehicle so that Sephiroth could concentrate more on his bride. She sat on his lap, her dress taking up the two unoccupied seats that were next to them.
"Hey, Seph, keep a cap on the mushy!" Zack complained, not for the first time. It was only half playful. Aralyn turned up to find that he had bent down to kiss her and this had triggered Zack's complaint. Sephiroth frowned, unhappy to be interrupted, but Aralyn wiped the frown off his face as she reached up and kissed him.
"Not you too…" Zack groaned.
Maybe she was imagining things, but she thought that Sephiroth elongated the kiss a little longer than usual. Zack didn't care for too much longer because a car had cut him off and ignited his very vocally oriented road rage.
Aralyn and Sephiroth found that it was hard to be romantic with Zack spewing insults and ramming on the horn. Thankfully, this ended ten miles later when the offending car took a turn off the highway.
"Yeah, you better get outta here!" Zack bellowed at the retreating vehicle. Calming a bit and relaxing in his seat, he then addressed Sephiroth. "So where are we headed again?"
"You are the worst chauffeur in the world, Zack."
"You get what you pay for!"
"I did pay you," Sephiroth interjected. "With an invitation."
"Whatever. Mind if I dull the sappy by turning on a little music?" He didn't wait for a consent, and hit the switch. A slow, melodic love song first greeted them, sung by a very gentle-voiced female. Sephiroth held Aralyn closer, brushing her cheek, becoming more romantic with the music just to spite Zack. Grimacing, Zack changed the channel to be met each time with either a love song or a very romantic instrumental. The one time he did manage to find a fast-beat song, the lyrics had been very romantic.
"Why must everything be perfect for you two?" Zack groaned. He banged his head on the horn in time with his repeated phrase. "Why? Why?"
Aralyn's head was buried in Sephiroth's chest, her shoulders shaking with hidden laughs.
"That's the turn!" Sephiroth said urgently as a large, yellow road sign proclaimed the exit. Zack watched it go by, staring at it as if dazed.
"Zack!" Sephiroth shouted, reaching forward as if to both seize the wheel and strangle the driver.
Finally, the lights in Zack's head went on and he promptly preformed a sharp u-turn while somehow managing to stay in the same lane. After they could see again after the whiplash, they came face to face with the headlights of a semi-truck. Aralyn screamed and clutched her husband, but Zack veered sharply to the right, driving over the grassy shoulder that separated their lane from the exit.
After their speed had regulated, which was several minutes, Sephiroth stated, very calmly, "Zack, I am going to kill you."
Zack laughed nervously. "Oh, look, Seph! There's a nice cop with its lights on…oh wait…crap!"
Zack was oddly silent after his long discussion with the highway patrol officer. The ticket, demanding a sizeable portion of his monthly pay, sat on the dashboard. Zack frowned and glared at it as if it were a loathsome monster.
"Here?" Zack finally inquired after pulling aside at the entrance to a thick forest.
"We can't drive any further, there's no trail," was Sephiroth's reply.
"All right then, get outta my car."
Sephiroth scooted Aralyn off his lap and then exited first, reaching back to help her out. Aralyn looked around. They were at the base of a mountain range, the foothills rolling before her and gentling the line of the horizon. Beyond the peaks themselves, Aralyn thought she could see the glimmer of the ocean.
"Our home?" she asked, breathless at the sight of the marvelous scenery.
"Not here," Sephiroth clarified. "A little ways off. I thought you might like a house but if you like this better…"
Aralyn shook her head and followed his lead.
The forest was thick, but they weren't in it for more than an hour. Sephiroth skillfully navigated, seeming to know the way very well. Aralyn held his hand and stayed at his side while Zack followed, both glad for the guidance through the natural maze. Once they broke through the trees, Sephiroth called them to a stop.
"Aralyn shouldn't be hiking in that," Zack said, gesturing to her long gown.
Aralyn disagreed. The only alternative was being carried, and she didn't want to be a burden. Besides, she was proud of how well she had kept the hem from the dirt below.
"We won't have to hike every day," Sephiroth promised. "Most days," he continued, whispering in her ear, "I can fly you here." He smiled at her, seeing how much that enthralled her. "But I'd rather not fly with Zack, if you know what I mean."
Aralyn laughed, unable to suppress the comical image from entering her mind, complete with sounds of Zack squealing "Wheeeeeeee!" Zack looked up, his cheeks full of water from the canteen, confused, but seeming to know that they were laughing at his expense.
They began the hike again; Sephiroth and Aralyn hand in hand with Zack loitering behind. As the sun began to set, Sephiroth covered her eyes and scooped her up. "Soon," he promised her. "We'll be home."
She was almost lulled to sleep by his smooth strides, but he gently jostled her awake. "Look," he said at last.
He lifted his hand from her eyes and set her on her feet. They stood on the top of one of the taller foothills, the proud mountains running behind her. She had been right about the ocean; it stretched out before her in an endless blue expanse, sparkling with the fading rays of the sun. The sky was painted with lavender and pink against the dark night sky. Aralyn stood unable to speak for several moments, swept away by the beauty surrounding her.
"There," Sephiroth said, pointing eastward. He was directing her gaze to a home. She couldn't see much from this distance, but she loved it at her first glance.
"Faramir," she said, taking Sephiroth's hand again. "That's what we'll call this place."
He smiled and pulled her in closer to him. "Faramir it is."
It was a new home, a new beginning of their life together. Though the sun was setting, it was the dawn of their lives.