Chapter Eighty-One: Slipping Away
"He's gone…isn't he?" Aralyn was staring up at the ceiling, her face free of expression. She hadn't moved from that position since she had awoken to find herself alone.
Vincent hesitated, but nodded in answer to her question.
The light that had been in her eyes the last few days was dimmed, and she frowned. "Why?" she asked, whispering.
He didn't answer.
Aralyn closed her eyes and became still, as if sleeping. "I knew…it couldn't last."
Vincent was about to leave when she opened her eyes again. "Could you help me up?"
Vincent extended his hands and let her cold fingers wrap around them before he gently pulled her into a sitting position. She put her hands on the side of her head to ward off the dizziness, and closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a few moments. After that, she took his hands again and accepted his help as she slid off the bed to her feet. "He got his cloak?" she asked, suddenly concerned.
"Yes," he replied.
"Did he take some food at least? Or something to keep him warm?"
"Aralyn," Vincent said firmly, attracting her confused gaze. "Sephiroth can take care of himself."
"I know," she answered after a short respite. "I'm being irrational. I'm sorry."
"There is nothing to apologize for," he assured her. "But come and eat, you need your strength."
She did need all the nourishment she could get. The sleepless nights of tending to her husband had left dark circles under her eyes, and she bent over with hunger cramps from time to time, proving that she had not eaten in days. She had lost weight from the combined effects of hunger and stress.
She ate only sparingly, more often thoughtfully drawing her spoon through the soup than actually partaking. Vincent let it go, knowing that her appetite would return with time, when she'd had time to recover from the shock of the past few days.
"Was your room all right?" Aralyn asked.
Vincent paused, taking time to set down his spoon and swallow before he replied. "I was not aware that you and Sephiroth had a child."
Aralyn lowered her eyes. "Yes, that was to be their room."
Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Their?" he asked.
"Twins," she breathed. "A boy and a girl…Aidan and Nadiya…"
He knew by her silent tears that neither was with her today. He didn't ask for further details, seeing how it pained her. "I am truly sorry," Vincent said.
She rose to her feet, entering the room where Vincent had stayed and bringing out a small photo album. She held it out to him. "These were taken just after they were born. It's the only thing I have of them."
Vincent looked at pictures of the boy, who was seemingly healthy in size. His tiny body was clothed entirely in a soft blue and his hair, though thin and wispy, was unmistakably silver. His cheeks were flushed with life, and he looked so very much like his father. The other child, the girl, was terribly small, with lips tinted blue, had two small wings extending from her back. Her hair was also silver, and a tiny pink ribbon bow had been tied into it. The pictures could not hide the cruel wires that ran into her fist. Even so, she was as beautiful as her radiant mother.
Aralyn and Vincent looked at the pictures in silence, viewing images of a budding future that had never been able to blossom. They looked at Zack, who held Aidan, giving the boy bunny ears with his fingers as he grinned widely. In the shot of him and Nadiya, he was noticeably more calm and gentle. There was a shot of Sephiroth and Aralyn slumbering with the two children between them. In another, Nadiya's tiny fingers were wrapped around her father's. In the very last photo, the one preserved with the most care, Sephiroth cradled his entire family in both his arms and his single wing as he kissed his wife.
"They are beautiful," he said.
Aralyn smiled sadly. "They are." She took the album back before she returned to the table. She picked up Vincent's empty bowl and her own, which was still mostly full, and set them in the sink.
Vincent noticed her swoon as she turned on the water, her breathing suddenly heavier as she clutched her head.
"Aralyn!" Vincent called, rushing forward to catch her as she crumpled.
That was the first sign that her life was drawing to its end.