Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Cetra Reunion ❯ Memory Arise! ( Chapter 2 )

The red-white flame of the Cosmo Candle burnt high and proud as those who had saved the world sat around and talked of all they had endured throughout their adventure. Yuffie sat to the right of Nanaki, absently scratching behind his ear as she looked off into the starlit sky with a blank expression on her face.

Cid sat to Nanaki's right with a cup of tea in hand, swearing his head off when someone would exaggerate their part of the story.

Opposite them sat Tifa and Cloud, snuggled up against each other, Cloud with his strong arms around her waist. Tifa's eyes sparkled whenever Cloud moved his hands that were circled around her. She laughed and joined in the conversation as once again Cloud spoke of how he thought he had first met Sephiroth, and how he found out Sephiroth was evil. The new found love between Cloud and Tifa had not shocked any of the others, as they had seemed to be bought even closer together after the death of Aeris.

Barret and Caitsith sat together, speaking of their differences back when they were in their seperate factions of AVALANCHE and ShinRa. They spoke over a game of dice which Caitsith happened to have on him, from the journey.

Vincent sat off to the side, alone in the shadows, regarding everyone with his red eyes. Below his upturned collar a small flicker of a smile appeared on his lips because he had finally found them, those he could call 'friends'.

Tifa leaned back into Cloud's comforting grasp. "What are we going to do now?"

"Well there is always the condo in Costa Del Sol" he replied, breathing in her scent as he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"It is good to finally be done with it all..." Tifa said, sighing.

"But..Aeris..." Cloud began, losing his voice as he remembered the sweet flower girl he had come to know so well.

At the mention of her name, everyone went quiet and the mood turned from one of merry to one of sadness. A somber tone fell over all of them as they remembered the memories they had shared with their dear Aeris. The only sound piercing the silence was the crackling of the Cosmo Candle, as it burnt on, warding away the darkness of the night.

"Aeris" Barret began in reverie "I still can't help but say that it is all my fault, if it wasn't for Marlene being in trouble..."

"But that was in Midgar! Way before we knew Sephiroth even existed!" Tifa yelled. "It is not your fault, if anyones it is JENOVAs!"

Everyone seemed to nod and mutter their agreements as Barret sat in a musing silence, considering the point Tifa had just made. He was soon broken from his thought as from off to the east, above them came the low buzzing sound of an aircraft.

"What's that?" Yuffie excalimed, jumping up from her seated position to gaze off into the darkness in the direction of the sound.

"Cid, where is the Highwind?" Cloud asked, stading and bringing Tifa up with him.

Cid looked around and pointed down off the ridge. "Down there! #^%&! I don't know of any other aircrafts that survived Meteor!"

Yuffie peered off still and then suddenly gasped. "Guys! It's the Tiny Bronco!"

Cid jumped up at this, gripping Yuffie's shoulders tightly. "Are you sure? Where!?"

"Over there!" she replied, pointing to the pink and blue small plane that was slowly growing larger as it came right for them.

"It's coming right for us!" Caitsith yelled.

Everyone scrambled away from the candle, and sought shelter as the Tiny Bronco approached at a fast speed, flying over head and then veering around to come back. As it flew over the candle, Cid could see that the man controlling it had busted up the controls, and the aircraft flew straight towards one of the large wooden windmills that gave power to the people of Cosmo Canyon.

"Everybody, Run!" Cid shouted as the plane slammed into the tower, causing it to splinter into a million pieces which rained down around them. They all hid in small alcoves, under cliff ledges or in doorways as the tower fell, scattering all that it was built of, over the plateu of the canyon. It hit the ground with a large crash, sending vibrations throughout the ground and dust billowed up to shroud the scene.

Tifa coughed behind her hand, hiding under a ledge with Cloud as she peered through the smoke, trying to discover what had happened. And then, as the smoke cleared she seen it. An old man in a white, dusty and torn labcoat, carrying a girl in her arms. The girl wore a pink jacket with iron bound sleeves over a long lighter pink dress. Both were torn, and in desperate need of repair. The woman's skin was pale and looked clammy, and even from where Tifa stood, she could smell the stench. The man collapsed to the ground, onto his knees, dropping his burden from his hands. He was cut up pretty badly, and had suffered some injuries from the crash. Already Tifa could hear Cid swearing his face off as he surveyed the damage done to his plane, which he had thought was destroyed.

Tifa moved towards the man and his burden, slowly, approaching cautiously. When she finally reached them she let out a gasp of suprise. The woman laying on the ground was Aeris, and the man, looked to be someone she thought of as vaguley familiar but couldn't quite place it. She called everyone over to double check to make sure, and to get some workmen from the bar to carry the two bodies off somewhere, where the man could rest, and Aeris could just..well lay there until they found out what the intentions of the man were. Tifa turned to look behind her as Cloud approached, eyes narrowing as he said.

"How dare he!"