Chapter 36. December 20, εуλ0007

The sky began to paint desert shades of red, the reflections of the sparkling red rocks that built the walls of Cosmo Canyon, the town that lay buried in the walls and the gullies in the near distance. Red XIII could smell the wind's greeting. The scent of home, of feeling as much as place – the odor he had dearly missed in the sterile environment of Shinra, in his unwilling time under Hojo's care.

Part of him wanted to race ahead, imagined himself eating up the ground with long-loping strides back to the place he knew and loved. Cosmo Canyon -where his race swore to protect those who wanted nothing more than to continue their study of the Planet, unmolested in those sacred surroundings.

Part of him wanted to lag behind.

This strange, impatient group of humans… for a while, they had been merely companions along the way, travelers that happened to be going in the same direction. But now, their roads on the brink of parting ways, he realized he had formed an attachment to his small pack - even considering them as friends - and he found himself less eager to separate.

Aerith, in particular. He had always wished to meet a Cetra, despairing of ever doing so as he learned of their numbers dwindling into nonexistence. The race most finely attuned to the Planet, the young woman's sensitivity far exceeding his grandfather's own. Her barest touch had opened his third eye to a world of possibilities – knowledge he had previously only imagined, revealed to him in the span of a moment.

Yet for all Aerith's connection to their world, she seemed so frail in her Cetra skin, so lost about her place in the grander picture. No one to guide her, to tell her the story of her own people – give her the knowledge she needed to greet her destiny, whatever the Planet wanted for this last of their Chosen.

Perhaps he could return her a favor of sorts; here, the inhabitants could help lead her to a deeper understanding. His eyes flicked to the horizon by instinct, noting the first peek of his grandfather's familiar observatory. No stewards of the Planet here, mere students – observing, learning, recording for future generations the benefit of their endeavors, for however long their Planet might live. Red worried it might not be that long. Bugenhagen had said as much – despair leaching through the screams of the Planet that echoed through the canyon and to the observatory's peak.

The gate appeared, and he could wait no longer, the man at the entrance gasping in surprise. "Nanaki?!" He bowed, deep and reverent. "The stars had given us the hope you might be home soon. Please, Bugenhagen will want to see you." He looked beyond. "And these, who are your companions?"

"Nanaki?" Cloud asked, surprised. "Who is that?"

The man looked affronted. "NANAKI is Nanaki."

Nanaki tilted his head towards the rest. "Friends, if you please. They have come with me. I think perhaps they would be interested in the Study of Planet Life as well." The gatekeeper stood aside, and Nanaki led them forward.

Cosmo Canyon rose above them, emerging from the rock itself, structures blending in harmony up the side of the cliff. They entered into a town square of sorts, centered around a blazing fire on a slightly upraised dais. "The Cosmo Candle," Nanaki noted. "A holy flame protecting this canyon."

Yuffie glanced over. "Do you, like, roast chickens over that or what?"

Nanaki looked affronted. "I'm a vegetarian."

He turned away, leading the party onward and up the stairs to the higher platforms of his home.

Red – Nanaki, she was going to have to get used to that, of course he had a real name – rode the platform elevator along with the party and his grandfather, the disc stopping at a place he had clearly been before. Above, a dome enclosed them, not unlike the Cosmos Theater back in the Shinra building – the one that had left that horrid scene of destruction at the end. Idly, Tifa wondered how something of this technology could be seen out here – did Shinra have some hand in its workings, or perhaps Shinra got the idea from them? Then again, she supposed it didn't matter.

Perhaps it was because they were now so far from Shinra, or maybe she was just more prepared what to expect. But as the lights dimmed and the floor seemed to vanish beneath her, she was fascinated rather than afraid. Surrounding visions made her feel as if she was standing in empty air - or, more accurately, empty space, as an imagined representation of the universe burst into focus; suddenly self-conscious, she was lashed with an awareness of how small she really was in the grand scheme of things.

A sweep of stars bloomed across her vision. Stars. She hadn't seen them for five long years in Midgar, not truly, barring the occasional glimpse between sections of plate. Now that she had left Midgar, she found herself night after night awed at the open sky, the brush of the galaxy a sweet taste of reminiscence for a town and a home now lost.

A shooting star dashed by; Tifa gasped, flooded with the memories of a night at the water tower, a promise under the stars. Very deliberately, she did not look at Cloud, instead to Aerith, batting playfully at a holographic planet and its moons drifting past her face.

Bugenhagen droned on, his voice sonorous and hypnotic as he explained mako, spirit energy, the Lifestream – The Lifestream. A vague concept accompanying Tifa as she grew up, something of story and myth – a subtle comfort to her after her mother died. It had never truly hit her that there might be truth behind those legends, and now to discover it existed in such a tangible way – The river of souls, encircling the Planet; she couldn't help but picture a warm fuzzy blanket encircling the earth, nestling over her, and a soft sense of peace settled into her soul.

Aerith just gazed, her mind lost in the distance, entranced. She breathed the knowledge in, a story known somewhere deep within her bones and blood, watching the globe spin before her in tandem with her own heart beating.

Watching the images unfurl before her, visceral sensations of beauty and perfection, able to feel as well as see the flow of spirit drifting over the Planet's surface – and the vaguest spark burst into flame, finally, some sense of how she belonged to it all. The Lifestream – it made her realize, on a fundamental level, she was never alone; and that gave her a comfort that had been eluding her. But knowledge was only one part of the picture; how did it translate into action? So many questions still. What was she meant to do? What did Shinra have to do with it all?

As the presentation closed, it was as if Bugenhagen's wisdom met her Cetra thoughts. "If you want to know more, you should talk to the other elders," he suggested, grabbing her eyes with his own. She nodded; dimly, she heard Barret ask a question, remarkably subdued as they all retained their amazement and awe, but she was already wondering who else she would meet here as the elevator returned them to the floor below.

Cloud mulled, uncertain what to think of what he'd just seen. Yuffie and Cait had already careened out of the room; Red just calmly lolled in the corner of Bugenhagen's home, before they separated into another room for privacy. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Tifa and Aerith, both calmed from the near-hysteria Gongaga had induced. They chatted quietly, briefly, before they separated their own ways, descending the steps into the hollows of Cosmo's dwellings.

Barret scratched his head; Cloud realized the man had been miraculously quiet through the entire presentation, barring the communal explanations of awe and wonder. Barret cleared his throat. "Hey, Cloud. Did I tell you that AVALANCHE got its start here?"

"No," Cloud answered quite truthfully.

He'd been sure Barret was going to expound further, but the other man only stroked his beard, pensive. "Well," he finally said, "since we're here… I think I oughta take a hint from Aerith and ask around myself." With that, he ambled off, leaving Cloud alone to his own thoughts.

The Cosmo Candle. Yuffie had announced that's where they were all going to meet. Head craned upwards, he decided to savor these last moments of solitude; grabbing to the ladder against the wall, he climbed to the very top, hoping the air of the canyon might sooth his muddled mind.

A full panorama of the canyon below awaited him; the sky was still blue, but just beginning to hint that there would be a night ahead. Beyond, he realized with a start, he could almost see to where his hometown once had been; strangely, that seemed in the figurative as well as literal distance. At least for this moment.

He sighed, realizing he indeed felt freer, not knowing if it was something within him, or perhaps the energy of the place itself – it seemed to hum with vibration, and he felt strangely attuned. The same as when they had heard the screams of the Planet earlier. He realized how rare it was for him to truly feel anything, leaving him to cherish every bit of emotion and sensation he could.

Every minute, every moment matters…

…but indecision held him back.

Why did it have to be so difficult? Why did it seem like everything came at the cost of something else? His heart felt split between inspiration and lifeline, wishing somehow every feeling he was entitled to experience could somehow be preserved under glass. He considered his split responsibilities – mercenary, bodyguard, hero - the women under his care. Finding himself craving the grand passion of love, a small voice told him he didn't know what to do with the one he had always had.

Priorities. Planning. That, he could handle. Sephiroth. That was his goal, wasn't it? The rest didn't matter. He flinched; Tifa was right, he was starting to sound like Barret. He'd thought AVALANCHE was none of his concern… but when were things ever one or the other?

The sword suddenly felt heavy and dull, and for a brief, mad, moment he considered flinging it into the valley below.

But he stopped himself, reminding himself he wasn't ready to be done with that weapon yet.

He wondered if he would ever have that luxury.

Barret trudged thoughtfully through the halls, contemplating what Elder Bugah had told him. Gast. A scientist from Shinra. But then he left, for reasons uncertain – what had happened to him afterward? What had caused him to abandon Shinra? If he could be found, would he perhaps have been the one to join AVALANCHE too?

AVALANCHE. He had thought things were so certain, so black and white. Destroy the reactors, save the Planet – revenge or justice, let someone else sort it all out. Had he made a mistake? Telling himself it was for the ones they lost – for Marlene – was that just an excuse? Tifa's uncertainty was infecting him; Cloud's indifference made him jealous with its lack of pretense. And since Corel… he'd started wondering if it was nothing more than anger at himself for ever believing in Shinra.

He wondered if Aerith had any answers. To any of that.

At the other end of the hallway, a flash of pink appeared, and he spotted that very woman coming towards him, even more lost in thought than he was. As if outof habit, she reached up to her hair, patting that pink bow.

She was one of them, now, this new group surrounding him. His heart panged as he thought of the ones lost, once again thinking of his little girl, he grateful she was safe and sound with Aerith's mom. He hadn't forgotten the potent look Elmyra had given him as she spoke the words, Aerith isn't my daughter, not my real one, the undertones transmitting her understanding how love made of more than mere blood.

In contrast to her vibrant demeanor earlier, the Cetra's – Aerith's, he stubbornly reminded himself, ashamed to have thought of her so callously – face seemed to have fallen, and Barret couldn't understand why. What could have happened in the hour or so since he had last seen her, that could have prompted such a substantial shift in attitude?

"I was talking to Elder Hargo," she told him, nothing but that cursory explanation.

A long pause followed. Barret sensed she didn't want to say more; he had to respect her wishes. "Well," he began, placing one hand behind his head, considering how to defuse the awkward situation. "That presentation was really something, wasn't it? I never really thought… Mako really is ruining all of this, isn't it?" He gestured to the worn, striped rocks around the warren of tunnels where they stood. "I mean, it really IS draining the Planet – I didn't know how literal it was." None of his planetology books had said it straight out, only hints and unproven theories. "I kind of had an idea of how it works… but until now…" He looked straight at her. "The Planet is supposed to be for your people, and we're killing it."

"It's not just me – us," Aerith told him. "Cetra are not… whole different beings, you know? Just those who learned to use what was already inside them. Hone it, refine it. But it's not like we're not human." She glanced above, towards the observatory and Red. "I guess you could say we just have it easier than most, when it comes to communicating with the Planet. But anyone can hear it. Even you, Barret."

He thought about that – and the more he mulled it over, the more he thought she might be right. He'd been speaking metaphorically when he'd ranted at Cloud in the reactor – can't you hear the Planet crying out in pain? – but maybe… just maybe… a couple times he could've sworn… "You really think the Planet wants to talk to ME?"

Aerith looked right at him, bearing the kindness he most fondly associated from her. "If you're willing to listen." But she was looking fidgety as well; Barret wondered if he'd headed into uncomfortable territory.

"Well," he finally said, "I guess I'll meet you at the Cosmo Candle?" He took a couple steps away, then turned once more. "Try not to think too hard, you hear me? You're not alone. We're all here with you."

Aerith nodded, truly grateful, but equally relieved when Barret left her alone once again. She hurt with her need for omission. She wondered how much she could really afford to show Barret, even after he had proven himself with Marlene's care – Cloud, Tifa, any of them.

She needed to talk to someone, get this out before it burst. Her first thought was for Tifa; and wandering along, as if her thoughts had summoned the woman, Tifa rounded the corner minutes later.

"I was just coming to find you," Tifa told her. "We're all down at the Candle." Seeing Aerith's wide-eyed surprise, she continued, "Are you okay? Do you want to… talk for a while, first?" She reached out a hand, inviting.

It was with guilt that Aerith recalled how Tifa had tried to comfort her outside Gongaga, even before Junon, and she had nothing but deflected it's nothing, don't worry, you don't need to be thinking of me so much, I'm fine really until an unconvinced Tifa had left her with a touch on the shoulder and okay, but I'm here if you change your mind.

Just as with Barret, she wondered once again, if she could afford to reveal her heart that way; she'd done that once, and was still suffering from the whiplash, had already experienced consequences so dear. But her reluctance to share was hurting Tifa, who wouldn't be happy until she could be sure the others around her were as well.

And that was the fine line that would endlessly separate them, she supposed. Tifa's interests were… a little closer to the heart. She had the luxury of fussing over the little things, who was sad, who was angry. Who was warm and who hadn't eaten enough. The little things that made up a life.

She wanted to talk to Tifa, she really did; but suddenly realized Cloud was the one she really needed to speak to. Cloud, another searcher, looking for who he was; in this, a kindred spirit. Distant in so many ways, but in this moment he might well be the one who understood her the most.

And with that uncanny sixth sense of hers, Tifa seemed to understand Aerith's need to hide her emotions; as the two women fell into step, she talked about frivolous matters, about Nanaki, about the shops and the pub, maybe they should go have a drink later? "That's not a bad idea," Aerith half-answered, but it was to the Cosmo Candle that Aerith finally allowed Tifa to lead her.

She'd worry about it all… later.

The sun was finally setting, crashed down from its zenith, lighting the red rocks of the canyon in flashes of firelight.

Aerith breathed.

At the Cosmo Candle, Red – Nanaki – had told her that these rocks were energy centers, vortexes, that changed you as you stood near them. Scientists had studied them, he said, and claimed it was a high iron content, responsible for magnetism that gave it the color and presumably its effects.

Aerith could have told them it was much more than that, something more fundamentally a part of the Planet itself. Spirit energy, Bugenhagen had called it. She felt it here more strongly than any place since the church.

Between that and the machine… today had been perhaps more than she was prepared to see. Beyond the reach of her skills and senses, the touch of Cosmo Canyon was sharpening into clarity the true meaning of her heritage. Glimmers of her destiny – and it left her feeling terribly, terribly alone.

Tifa had first come up with her, leaving only when she became convinced there was nothing she could do for Aerith; the silence wore them both down. For all her gratitude, Aerith was relieved to be left to her own self-pity.

It matched the way she felt inside. She and the Planet both.

The screams of the Planet had been audible to all, but she the only one to hear its own sort of cryptic language – its hopes and dreams and underneath it all, running deep, a terror of Sephiroth that was also its vain desperate hope.

The Planet wanted to die.

Raped and murdered by humankind, its lifeblood being dredged to empty – it was old, tired, ready to give up. To reach a place of eternal rest, its own Promised Land – but then there would be no more, the inverse of creation – a single point of no return. The Cetra were the only ones who could bridge that gap and convince it otherwise, teach humankind what it needed to know and understand – but it was far, far too much for one person; no matter how much time she was given, it would never be enough.

The Ancients had a journey long and harsh; the Promised Land was their resting place, Elder Hargo had told her; the words weighing heavily. A land of supreme joy and happiness. How could those two definitions be the same? She couldn't help but feel a morbid draw – it was not if she was eager for death, but she was beginning to wonder if it was the only true freedom she would ever know.

Knowledge, she wanted, but now wished she could take back. It was a complicated relationship she had to freedom – somehow, it had never left her feeling free, if freedom meant losing the intricate web of connections that tied all life together. Always the last Cetra – never just Aerith. That was how Shinra saw her, and she couldn't help but think sometimes her friends did too. Zack was able to take her away for a little while, but –

She wiped away the tears.

Zack, did you find your freedom in the end?

Cloud… he had a long journey ahead as well. A direction he wasn't ready to know about and a destiny for which he needed a guide. Broken, and sharpened into duality; parts of him she could see most clearly, but it drew her to him in a way she wished she could simply brush away.

If only feelings were that simple.

She could sense him drawing near, feeling relief, even a tingle of anticipation that she couldn't deny was part physical, her body humming despite her wishes.

"Are you doing okay?" she heard his soft, even voice.

She didn't reply, only turning halfway as his boots crunched the cliff's gravel towards her, but at first he didn't return her eyes. Instead, he stared at the valley beyond, the same way she had been looking just before. Aerith allowed the silence to embrace her closely, as the sun finally dimmed its orange goodbye for the evening; the rocks turned blue under the glow of a limited moon.

Together, watching, waiting. Searching.

"Thank you… for coming," she finally told him.

He DID look at her then, eyes gently lit, near-tender. "Tifa felt you needed some company."

"She was just here," Aerith said. "She didn't say anything."

"She seemed to think I would be better right now." He shrugged, the Buster Sword shifting with the movement – for a heartbeat her breath caught at the movement of his muscles, the raw SOLDIER power rippling under his skin. "I have no idea why."

Aerith knew. Cloud looked to someone for trust, and Tifa was keeping secrets. She wished she could care for Cloud, find that scared little boy she saw within – but she knew, darkest fantasies notwithstanding, that she'd never make him happy. For Cloud's own sake, she'd gladly step back. That didn't stop the little devil in her shoulder whispering stealthy thoughts in her ear.

"Tifa said you were deep in thought." Aerith's hand succumbed to temptation, brushing his, just the touch against invisible hairs enough to give her electric shocks. His own hand grabbed hers roughly, tight; like an affectionate friend. He never asked what she'd been thinking about; it was a question she wasn't sure how to answer. She'd certainly been thinking more thoughts than she wanted to relate, but underneath the one.

"I never realized how alone I really was," she told him.

His eyes, so blue. She'd though SOLDIER eyes meant the sky. Now that she'd seen pale powder blue of the sky in full, she knew better; it was a vibrant blue of love and life, matching the softer glow of her own green ones. Mako, made of Lifestream, coursing within. How could they use that to breed SOLDIERS, those who fought and took life away?

No, not that. Protectors. She had to believe that.

She wished he could help as much as he wanted to. She longed futilely she could allow even more. But there were things she couldn't afford to pretend. "No, Cloud. I know you mean well, but… you…" - she paused, deliberate - "none of you… are a Cetra. There's just… well… things that separate us." This, after she'd said the exact opposite to Barret. "There's no one else who can do what I can."

He dropped her hand as if stung. Why can't I help? he wondered, frustrated; had he overstepped a boundary? Am I failing at this too? He stood for a moment, poised, anticipating, but the silence deepened oppressively as the night set in. There was something undone, misunderstood between them, an uncrossable border.

She was drifting away from him, leaving him helpless, clueless; until, with no better option, he awkwardly turned to depart. I said I'd come for her… and now I'm walking away.

Trudging to the bottom of the hill, he found the Cosmo Candle burning as brightly as before – more so in the dark of night – but Tifa still remained. "Nanaki's going to stay with us," she gave him by way of greeting.

He helped himself to the spot right next to her, relieved she didn't scoot away. The heat warmed him, the night's cool at his back, but with the cliffs sheltering them from the winds. "I talked to her… but I wasn't much help, either." Tifa nodded, acknowledging the effort; at least THAT was something. "Why are you still out here?"

"It's late," Tifa replied. "Everyone else left to get some sleep."

"No, I mean why are YOU still out here?" he replied. He wondered if he could convince her to speak now, though he'd already tried in Junon. To say the things he knew she hid. "What are you thinking about?"

"Bonfires," she told him. "Don't they… kind of remind you of things?" He nodded, but seemed unsure where she was leading.

The things it reminded her of – screams, death, pain. But things he remembered… she'd wanted to ask him ever since Kalm, when she finally understood WHY he'd thought it was five years, leaving her a tangled mess she had no idea how to deal with. She'd been trying to stand back and observe, figure it out from afar, and she'd gotten no further than at the start.

She turned carefully, wondering if now was her chance. "You know… there are things I wanted to talk to you about…"

He was suddenly tense, wary. "Yeah… there's things I wanted to talk to you about too." He leaned in, and she couldn't help but feel the charge that sparked between their closeness, as he looked deep into her eyes, the temptation to fall in making her squirm uncomfortably.

"What you were telling us… at Kalm… about five years ago…" The words stopped in her gut. What if SHE was the one who was wrong? Or what if she was right, and it was nothing but false memories and the string of a promise that tied him to her now? "No… I can't… something terrible might happen…" and even as she said it, she wondered – was she worried something terrible would happen to HIM or to HER.

Was she just scared to lose him?

It didn't elude her that she might anyway.

Sometimes he felt so far away… She saw him turning to Aerith, looking for someone to trust him; and it made her feel all the more that she was betraying him with her nagging doubts… but it never was the time… she was never ready to let her heart out completely.

Timing is everything…

Her mouth slammed shut; he'd leaned in closer to hear, and now he could feel disappointment creep into his eyes. He wasn't sure if he should reach out and touch her; he was gripped with a desire to wrap her in his arms like he had in Aerith's garden that night, cling to her, his one rock in a storm.

"You really are… you?" she asked, and it was like she cracked the shell of his exterior; he had no idea how to answer her without revealing his own weaknesses and fears. He couldn't risk their warm bond, the tie that helped sustain him.

It's hard sometimes when someone knows you.

Tifa… I need you… tell me I'm real.

"Tifa," he urged, but her silence was complete.

She turned away, breaking the invisible contact between them; murmuring apologies and goodbye, goodnight, hustling herself to her feet, leaving Cloud alone with the fire as she slipped away into the darkness.

Staring into the flames… visions of Nibelheim burning flickered within. Nibelheim. That was where all the answers were, somehow. He wondered what they would find amongst those ashes; he wondered if it was something he was ready to find. He'd completely lost track of time when he finally rose, removing himself to their rooms at the inn.

Barret was sound asleep, snoring like a Motorball when he got there; he flopped down on to the remaining bed, so emotionally if not physically drained that he was certain sleep would not be long away.

He was restive, disturbed. The beds of the inn were simple, but they were clean and comfortable, so as much as he wished otherwise, he knew he could not blame them for his lack of sleep. Not like he didn't have other things to blame, the experiences of the day regurgitated by his brain, over and over again. But most of all… he wished he could shake the feeling of a pair of eyes.

Those last few days in Midgar had been a flurry of activity, lots of activity and very little sleep, but in the wake of their departure, as adrenaline waned and the days seem to lighten into something passing into normalcy – he'd found himself coming down from the high of adventure and left even more vacant than before, craving the feeling all over again.

Emotional was difficult; physical was what he understood. Desperate for distraction, he let his mind drift as he reached down to wrap his hand around his cock, giving it a few firm strokes to start as images popped into his mind, his arousal rapidly increasing.

His blood rose to a boil, as he let ideas of sound and sensation travel downward to his lower half. Lazy languorous curves, catching his eye as she moved and shifted. He'd pictured her increasingly since they'd left Midgar, but tonight, urgency drove him more than ever before. Shivers of near-touch coursing through his veins. He settled into a slow, steady pace, enjoying the climb, imagining his sword-hardened calluses as softer skin, slender fingers. Pink glossy lips, wrapping around his head – and he groaned involuntarily, momentarily forgetting how near the others were – Barret just inches away, the wall between him and the women painfully thin.

He dreamed of stripping off clothes to finally reveal her in the nakedness he could only imagine. Pulling her long silky hair out of its restraint, splaying a fan on the ground… no better yet, she above him leaning forward, the ends whisking across his chest and his nipples, as he stared up at her face contorted in concentration, she working herself up and down, over and over, chasing her own satisfaction. Helping guide her with his hands balanced on the slopes of her hips – he drove the fantasy mercilessly on, here in that space where he could have anything he wanted, free of the confines of ordinary life.

His phantom hands reached up to grab scoops of yielding breasts, wondering what her nipples would look like taut and desiring; what they would feel like under his fingertips as he gently flicked them, giving them a friendly pinch and hearing her cry out, body clenching in response, her strong muscles squeezing his dick like a vise –

Bucking up he broke, the sharp peak spiking and crashing down as he spilled into his hand underneath the covers; it dripped off to harden into sticky residue, and he wondered if the hotel staff would notice.

Maybe. Suddenly, he was too tired even to care, drained of days and storm and stress and things he could not figure out tonight. Flipping to his side, even Barret's rumbling thunder became a distant memory as he sank gratefully into deep sleep.

"You sure he's coming?" Barret asked, looking upwards from the gates.

"We all heard him," Tifa insisted firmly. "We're waiting."

Sure enough, minutes later, Nanaki came galloping towards them. "Wait for me!" he called down before him.

Tifa was the first to exclaim pleasure, followed shortly by Aerith. "We're so glad to have you," she told him. "But I thought you wanted to get home so badly. What happened to change your mind?"

Nanaki hung his head, feeling shy and bashful. "Well... Grandfather made me realize I had to grow up a little. Take on more responsibilities." His head swiveled to scan the group. "Unless I am not welcome in your company?" They rushed all over themselves to assure him no, absolutely, they were thrilled to have him along – Yuffie even threw her arms around his neck, he deciding to tolerate reluctantly this treatment like a pet.

Cloud only gave a calm nod to him, as if of equals; a fact Nanaki appreciated coming from this strange young man. He wasn't alone; the other inhabitants had been able to sense something different from him as well. Not something that could simply be explained by Cloud being SOLDIER – Nanaki had caught the scent of those warriors, a stark sterile scent, astringent, pure but empty – and Cloud did not bear quite the same.

Nanaki resolved to interact further, his job to observe and learn, and bring those lessons back home. He wondered what mysteries might lie ahead on this unknown journey.

Author's Note: The redness of Cosmo Canyon always reminds me of Sedona, Arizona. The energy-vortex stuff is what Sedona is known for.