EDEN
1.
Yuffie felt surprisingly restored after just six hours of sleep. Maybe it was thanks to the soundproof environment and the comfortable bunk she had found in her quarter. Her sleep was sound and quiet and by no means nightmarish, as the airship Eden looked quite like the opposite.
After the wake up call, all the officers, scientists and soldier assigned to the extraction mission had converged in the hangar where a further short briefing was held. Cid was there too, watching from the sidelines and interacting with technicians, filling out checklists and berating anyone who was slacking or was in the wrong place doing the wrong thing.
She met Cade there, who suggested her to stick with him in order not to get lost again. Yuffie discreetly flipped him as a reply
"Watch yourself!" Cade admonished her "This is the real thing!"
"Are you nervous?" she asked
"No, but someone else is quite jumpy, I see" he observed, pointing at the bulky figure of the mechanic, who was aggressively waiving his arms while shouting towards a frightened technician
As Cade and Yuffie walked towards him, the technician fled the scene
"Jeez Cid! Calm down! You're going to get yourself a heartache!"
"These jackasses are tougher to deal with than my wife when she's upset!" Cid complained, puffing and wiping out the sweat on his face
"What's anguishing you?" Yuffie tentatively asked
"Nothing, really" Cid told her regaining his composure "But after what we've been told yesterday everyone here is a bit on the edge…"
"Care to join us for an outdoor trip?" Cade jokingly proposed him
"Not today" Cid shook his head
"That's too bad!" Yuffie commented
"Ah, don't be sad" Cid answered "You're going to be fine even without me!"
"Good luck keeping your minions in line, then!" Cade waived his hand as they parted, with Cid resuming grumping and swearing almost instantly
Meanwhile Brad Clawbourne was bossing his subordinates mercilessly
"Everybody!" he shouted, just after the briefing had terminated "Fall in line and get on the airship without tripping over. Double time!"
"It's going to be a long, long day" Cade sighed, hopping on the ramp of the airship, where the stream of grey uniforms was flowing through towards the cargo hull
"That promotion got to his head…" an officer commented
"Shut up!" Cade scolded him "Or you're going to see blood here really soon!"
"Whoops" the soldier shut himself up "Cade! Nice to see you're here too. At least someone is going to cheer us up during the flight!"
"Not today!" Cade sadly replied, discreetly pointing at Brad while queuing up to embark on the ship
"Don't tell me this is going to put you down" Yuffie wondered "I wouldn't last a minute without your play-by-play commentary of the mission"
"You know, I changed my mind. You just gave me a reason to be twice as lively as before" Cade exclaimed
"I should have kept my mouth shut then…" Yuffie sighed
"Don't worry" Cade reassured her "The place we are going does wonders to my sense of humour. Not to mention the boss…" he gloomily told her
Yuffie felt the urge of asking him a question. A question she already knew the answer but, nevertheless, wanted to ask anyway.
"I probably have already asked you" she began "But why are you so spooked about that place?" she asked as the line marched through the airship hatch.. The space it was large enough to host a second compartment above their heads. A voice on the loudspeaker was instructing soldiers to take their place on the second floor, next to the ship's armoury. They made their way to the upper store and took their place on a row of seats installed throughout the entire cargo hull
"I mean" she continued "Maybe it's not charming like Costa del Sol or what but…"
As Cade sat down he answered "You know, some time ago I went to a restaurant in Edge. It was suggested by someone I knew. I ate pretty well that night actually"
Yuffie gave him a confused look
"Anyway" Cade continued, unfazed "The following night I spent it entirely in the bathroom because the food had been like a brick into my bowels. I had fever, I puked, I got chills and dizziness… and so on"
"What's your point?"
"I never got back to that restaurant" Cade opened his arms
"Is that supposed to be related to what I asked you?"
"More than you think" Cade sternly replied
Outside the ship, crewmembers were still shuffling equipment on the tarmac and loading the remaining cargo from the ramp. Suddenly an alarm rang and the ramp began to lift among plumes of vapour.
Apparently that's all that Yuffie could hope to obtain from Cade himself. As the ramp clanked back to its closed position, she began to wonder why on earth she was so attracted by his past history. It was something private and rather sensitive, after all, and it was plain wishful thinking to pretend that he would have opened up so easily and so quickly.
Besides, there was a hidden part of the tale that not even Reeve had dared to disclosed to her.
Eventually, Yuffie reprimanded herself for treating someone's past as a toy with which satisfy her nosiness. Still, she could feel that after the chat she had last night with Reeve, her attitude towards Cade had changed a bit. She felt like she was more keen to bear his antics. Too bad that it could not work both way.
As the hull had been closed, Brad Clawbourne walked in the midst of the officer
"Gentlemen" he erupted "Our task is to provide a safe environment to everyone involved in the retrieval of the Mako in the Northern Crater. We'll work on a pretty tight schedule up north so get some rest now, while you can!"
"Yes Sir!" a thunderous answer erupted. Cade and Yuffie replied deadpan instead
"It's a very important assignment" Brad roared again "I expect nothing but the best from you. Our ETA is 6 hours from take off. See you on the ground!"
As Brad made its way back to his own division, a voice in the PA instructed everyone to fasten their seatbelts and to stand down on the seat throughout the entire take off procedure until the ship had reached its cruising altitude. The engines revved up and the airframe began to gently shake as the Eden slowly lifted from the surface and began ascending towards the sky over Edge.
"In case we should die" Cade suddenly said, almost shouting to make his voice be heard over the ruckus "let me tell you that you look pretty good in the WRO uniform"
"Seriously?" Yuffie slightly blushed at the comment. She did not expect anything like that coming from him "Well, thank you. But why we should die?"
"Oh, never mind" he replied "It's just for good luck"
"So you didn't really mean that?"
"At all, I mean…" Cade got a hold of the noise mufflers hanging on the seat by a hook "I did really mean that"
"Oh" Yuffie exclaimed "In that case, you don't look bad either"
"Well, thank you kindly"
The hull trembled even more as the ship pitched upwards. The roar of the engines increased even more as the crew applied full thrust
"I never really thanked you for saving me back in Wutai" Yuffie suddenly admitted "Maybe those guards were actually quite keen on making me disappear"
"About time" Cade laughed
"You shouldn't be such an asshole, though" Yuffie continued "I remind you we are supposed to work together"
"I see" Cade replied "Then I apologize if I had messed up things so far. I will consider quitting my habit of teasing you"
Yuffie felt a sense of relief. It was good to see that the relationship was veering towards more positive vibes
"But you'll have to let me joke every now and then" Cade requested "It's my only way to relieve tension"
"I reckon I will" Yuffie agreed
As the Eden levelled, the engines ceased roaring. The ship had reached its cruising altitude
"Ship is now in cruising mode" a voice spoke from the cockpit through the loudspeakers "Passengers are allowed to un-fast and stand up"
As the announcement was made, the officers in the hull stood up, stretching out and letting out cries of relief
"I think I'm going for a walk" Cade mused as he stood up himself
"Go for it" Yuffie lazily chimed, as she witnessed Cade going towards a huddle of officers and starting to lively discuss with them. Some of the WRO members were voicing their wish that Cade could have traded places with major Clawbourne. Despite still being the relative of a high brass, it was clear that Cade could enjoy much more popularity.
Yuffie was about to sink in her seat again when a friendly voice shook her up from behind
"Hey! You'd better stand up or you won't feel your leg anymore!"
Yuffie turned towards the voice. It was Kayla
"Kayla!" she exclaimed "I was wondering when you'd show up!"
Kayla laughed "I'm not quite used to travelling on airships. I was still recovering from the take off"
"I feel for you" Yuffie said "I used to suffer from a mild form of motion sickness. But I slowly overcame it"
"I even took some pills" Kayla shook her head "But I think they kicked in too late"
"At least the cruise is smooth" Yuffie observed
Kayla nodded "What about Cade?" she asked
Yuffie scanned the hull to look for him. He was standing next to a mixed group of soldiers and officers. They seemed to be enjoying what Cade was recounting them.
"… and basically all I had to do was pull that damn rope until it snapped!" Yuffie could hear him tell
His audience burst into laughter. Yuffie waved at him the moment their eyes met
"Well, got to leave you for now" he told his followers "Be sure to check and re-check your equipment while you can!"
"Yes Sir!" the men replied at unison
"I see you two girls just met…" he commented as he approached the two girls
"Sounds like you were busy" Yuffie guessed
"Just checking the latest specifications with the boys" he said "The last moment of joy before the private briefing with Monster Clawbourne"
"That's your name for him?" Kayla chuckled
"Our name!" Cade corrected her
"Why I haven't heard that before?"
"You should get out the lab every now and then…" Cade commented
"I would" Kayla said "But I would feel too lonely out there"
Yuffie threw Cade a sly look
"Attention all officers" the voice rang again "All officers assigned to security duties are summoned at the crew chief quarters for final briefing!"
"Another one?" Cade complained
"Saved by the bell" Yuffie whispered
"Sorry" Cade shrugged "Got to go!"
"Not withholding you" Kayla told him
"Watch out, he's going to bite" Yuffie laughed
"Don't worry, I'm vaccinated against rabies. You are luck enough to have been re-commissioned as a Warrant Officer, instead!" Cade echoed as he proceeded along towards the crew chief enclosure
Yuffie watched Kayla smiling and following him with the eyes
"That's quite unfair by Reeve" Kayla told her
"You mean the commission as a Warrant Officer instead of a higher rank?"
"Well, you were chief of the Intelligence Division…" Kayla noted
"Oh, that's just fine with me" Yuffie shrugged "Reeve thought that not having to meddle with other officers could have meant more freedom of action for me…"
Kayla silently nodded
"Kayla?" the ninja asked
"Yes?"
"Look, you don't need to answer me" Yuffie explained "But there's a question I really need to ask…"
"Seems important…" Kayla mused
"Well" Yuffie said, blushing "It is a silly question, but I don't want to seem… intrusive?"
Kayla grew a puzzled look
"Go on, don't worry" she smiled "I'll try my best to satisfy your curiosity"
Yuffie caught a breath
"Is there something between you and Cade?" she finally asked
Kayla smiled "Well, I thought you'd asked something worst" she replied blissfully, only to grow a bit more serious as she started to explain "Anyway… yes and no"
"What does it mean?" Yuffie enquired
"We had a brief stint with each other" Kayla continued "It started like six months ago. Cade and I had been deployed on a couple of assignments together and then we decided it would have been a good idea to hang out together after work"
"Was it a good idea, then?"
"Well, I guess so" Kayla paused for a moment "Look, Yuffie, Cade is quite hard to understand at times, but if you knew the whole history you would probably understand why he is like he is…"
"You mean about his parents?"
"How do you know?" Kayla asked, surprised
"Reeve thought it would have been a good idea to sketch me out the picture"
Kayla bowed her head "I suppose you know the other half of the story as well, right?"
Yuffie grew even more curious "What other half?"
"He didn't tell you?"
Yuffie shook her head
"Then I'm not going to be one to do that. I'm sorry!"
"What does it mean?" the ninja protested
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing" Kayla replied "Sorry but I think that that's just too personal to be given away…"
Yuffie stood in silence for a while. She was starting to probe into uncharted territory. How many other backdrop story did Cade have inside him? She began to feel quite uneasy about the secrets behind that guy
"Anyway" Yuffie continued "Why it didn't worked out between you two?"
"Maybe it's the fact that we share the workplace" Kayla guessed "Cade never really told me but I can somehow guess it. And to him, the WRO is something more than a workplace"
Yuffie nodded "The old adage about not having job-related affairs"
"I guess it is like that" Kayla said "Once this will be all over I hope everyone will have time to catch up. Me included"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm not going to be in the WRO forever"
Yuffie nodded again. Apparently what stood between these two was just the fact that the world was going through destruction endless times. Kind of unfair, to be honest. But again, it was their own decision to be in the frontline when the world itself called for help. It was just a matter of staying alive until things got a bit more quieter.
Those last word sent shivers down her spine
"And what about you?" Kayla asked "Is there a pretender to the hand of the princess of Wutai?"
"Oh, please don't" Yuffie sighed "My father is all over the matter. It's driving me nuts!"
"It must not be very easy for you" Kayla told her "I mean, you are young and lively. I can imagine that a life being quarantined inside a palace doesn't really suit you…"
"That's exactly how it feels" Yuffie replied
"Don't worry" Kayla assured her "Someday you will be able to get the best of both worlds"
"I hope so" Yuffie sighed "And what about you? Are you planning to do anything after this?"
"I was hoping to be able to be more engaged in environment preservation. Things such as raising an artificial biosphere"
"A what?"
"A biosphere. An artificial environment containing plants and animals ecologically related to each other. It is crucial to the survival of organisms nearing extinction"
"Sounds great" Yuffie commented "That's your field of application, right?"
"Quite like that" the scientist replied "I come from a family of farmers from the outskirts of Kalm Somehow I got a scholarship for the Modeoheim Life Science University and I graduated in molecular biology. But deep inside my heart I'm still a girl who could throw away the microscope and simply stare at birds and flowers. It may sound childish but…"
"At all!" Yuffie enthusiastically replied "It's nice to find someone with the green thumb every now and then!"
"Glad you like that!" Kayla laughed
After a brief moment of silence Yuffie spoke again
"You know, Wutai itself could use a bit of a fix up in that sense…"
"You think so?"
"After the conflict with Shinra years ago" Yuffie explained "our country has been left quite in disarray. Materia shortages have wrecked the environment. Farmers are luck to be able to barely feed on what they can dig up from the ground…"
"I thought Wutai was one of the last green heavens of Gaia" Kayla replied in disbelief
"Not for long I'm afraid" Yuffie continued "If only I could convince my father to be more… incisive I could turn that place upside-down for good!"
"I admire your resolve" Kayla commented
"Thanks" Yuffie chuckled "As you can tell me and my father are not really on the same wavelength when it comes to certain issues…"
"Don't worry, you'll be able to have your point be proven" Kayla assured her
"In that case, why don't you start from there with your project?"
"You mean… from your own island?"
Yuffie nodded
"Well, thanks" Kayla said with utmost gratitude "I will seriously consider your offer!"
Yuffie smiled "And maybe" she added "Someone else will give you a hand…"
Kayla smiled in response "Don't worry. I think I'm ahead on that part of the project…"
"You mean that…"
"I do" Kayla said, smiling
"Well" Yuffie erupted from her seat "Let's save the world. And fast, then!"
Cade breathed out in relief as he finally left the room where the additional briefing, with Bran Clawbourne as host, had just ended. The relief was partly due to the fact that the briefing itself had sounded more like a propaganda show rather than the transmission of valuable information.
Partly, it was due to the fact that he actually felt sick.
He dismissed his worries about his health quite quickly. Maybe he was just a bit overstressed. Nothing that a couple of hours of sleep could not fix.
As he quickly paced back to his seat he realize that the symptoms were growing worse: he started sweating again and his head felt heavier. He had to stop walking otherwise he would have ungraciously fallen to the ground, much to the scorn of everyone witnessing that pitiful scene.
He eventually managed to reach his destination, unharmed. There the two girls were just as he had left them, still chatting and talking as two merry wives sitting in a tea room.
That scene managed to pull him a muffled laughter, enough for the girls to notice his presence
"Hey, nice to have you back!" Yuffie greeted "How was the briefing with Monster?"
"Who?" Cade dumbly asked, as his head and limbs were becoming alarmingly numb
"Brad" Kayla explained, puzzled by Cade's obliviousness to the reference "Are you alright?" she asked then
"You're the eye in the sky, eh?" Cade asked, laughing. Yuffie stood up upon than scene as well, as Cade's face turned pale in a matter of second. His manners were alarming as well. She could swear the man had gone boozing instead of listening to his superior
"Did you get a hold of some alcohol, while away?" Yuffie questioned him, as Cade slumbered on his seat, closing his eyes
"Alcohol? Did someone say alcohol?" he opened his eyes lazily
"Damn Cade! You look horrible" Kayla reached for his forehead, sensing his temperature. Apparently, he skin was cool, although damped with sweat
"Seriously, you look trashed!" Yuffie commented
"I must have eaten some bogus food yesterday… now if you excuse me…" he replied, as he turned on his chair trying to fall asleep
"I don't like this" Kayla said, sounding worried "Have you seen a doctor while you were in Edge, by the way?" she asked, as a bell rang in her head
"Yep… it's all fine and good…" Cade whispered
"Well, alright…" Kayla rolled her eyes "At least take this!" she added as she reached for her pocket. The hand reappeared holding a small pill. She gently placed between Cade's lips
"Come on!" she gently invited him "Swallow it down!"
Cade gulped as the pill went down his throat. After a few seconds he was sneezing peacefully.
Yuffie shook her head in disbelief
"He doesn't deserve you…" she commented
"He's a bit of a moron" Kayla told her "but I love him!"
Both girls laughed.
2.
Cade fell asleep under a thick blanket of heat.
Somewhere in his mind hope was chasing the idea that that sickness was just a bout of influenza.
He perfectly knew that it wasn't like that.
He knew it because the moment he closed his eyes something strange happened: he was seeing white instead of black.
He knew it because the moment he drifted out of consciousness the word of a certain doctor in a certain medical facility in the midst of a certain desert flowed through his mind.
Mako poisoning effects can be different from person to person. I may say, albeit with all necessary caution, that Mako is behind your astounding recovery, and maybe even behind the fact that a worm usually one metre long was as big as a hover-bus…
Cade was suffering from Mako poisoning. And it was taking a turn for the worst.
'What I'm going to do now? Reeve is going to scold me for good…' he thought 'Well, maybe after this trip I'd better check in for real!"
As he pondered about the issue he slowly realized that the sense of canning heat was quickly disappearing, being replaced by a nipping cold. The white landscape before him was taking the form of a vast field, all covered in white snow. Guts of wind were slapping snowflakes on his bare face. He took a look at himself and he realized he was still wearing the WRO uniform. He looked ahead of him again.
The cold was beginning to bite his skin again. How could he feel pain if that was just a dream?
'Because this is a dream. Isn't it?' he wondered
He stepped forward. The soil cracked under the weight of his feet. He proceeded forward, bowing against the wind.
As he kept walking, a shadow of a building appeared in the distance. In just a few metres the construction turned more discernible.
Cade was caught by a wave of panic. He recognized that building.
And as soon as it recognized it, he wanted to turn away. Instead an invisible force dragged him to what it looked like a small country house. Some details were amiss, but it was by no doubt exactly what Cade thought it was.
The porch, the detaching drainage along the roof, the white painting on the wall, the brown shingles on the roof. The more he saw it the more he wanted to turn back. He could swear that tears were forming in his eyes as panic gripped him even more.
Instead he calmly walked on the porch. At least that offered him some protection from the wind. The cold was seeping inside him now, reaching his bones and his heart.
He walked up to the door and cautiously pushed it. The swivels squeaked as it slowly swung open.
Inside the house was empty. No furniture, no carpentry, nothing at all.
Except for two bodies lying on their side on the floor.
With a calm and a composure that would have been completely out of place in those circumstances, Cade stepped up next to them. He knelt next to the one on his right.
If he could, he would have cried out his lungs.
It was Kayla. She looked like she was sleeping. Something told him the stark reality was different.
She was dead.
Cade dropped on his knees. His face was motionless. A river of salty water was making its way through the frost on his cheek.
"Don't cry. Please!" a female voice sounded behind him. It was almost begging.
Cade wiped away the tear and turned towards the voice. A girl was standing in the room. A young girl with brown hair held together in a long braid. Cade knew who that girl was. His heart shrank upon that apparition
"Why shouldn't I cry?" he uttered. Although one could tell otherwise looking at him, Cade was grieving as he had never done before in his entire life
"Because I don't like to see you cry. Or sad…" the girl was nearly weeping. She stepped forward and knelt right beside him, throwing her arms slowly around him
Cade rested his head upon hers
"I love you" he murmured
"I knew it all along" the girl replied, caressing his back "And I love you. I always will…" The warmth of her body and of her words relieved Cade from the pain of that experience
"I'm sorry it had to be like that…" Cade muttered again, painful remembrances piling up inside him
"It was not your fault" the girl kissed him on the cheek "But please, Cade, move on…" she begged him again
"I'm trying…!" Cade was at the point of crying again. That whole thing was too much for him to bear and he would have snapped eventually
"I know, but you have to keep carrying on" the girl told him "I'll be watching you, and I'm here beside you. But I'm not there anymore. Not like you would wish, at least…"
"What does it mean?" Cade asked, pointing at Kayla
The girl stared right into his eyes "This is what happens when stubbornness and pride make you blind. Things start slipping from your hands and you realize that when it's too late…" the girl began weeping tears again "And I don't want that to happen because…"
"Because…?"
The girl did not replied. She simply stood up and walked around towards the second body, upon which strangely enough Cade had not really paid much attention up to that point.
The girl knelt again. The second body was just as tall as Kayla's one but it was on the opposite side, and the hood of the grey attire covered the head.
She gently pushed the body as it laid on the back so that Cade could see its face. The hood slipped, revealing a mass of short, black hair held together by a black headband with a white rose upon it.
Cade screamed. Or passed away. Or cried, in a fit of hysteria. He couldn't tell.
He woke up, eventually. Simply opening his eyes.