Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Dreams ❯ Ides of War ( Chapter 20 )

Thanks to all those who reviewed!!

 

margyy: Yeah, I know it's horrible. I can't believe I forgot such an important plot point. So I decided to make his passing much more meaningful. I hate to do it, but sometimes it is quite necessary. Twenty-eight is coming soon!!

 

arora_kayd: Erebus is one of my faves, too! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Happy reading.

 

Warnings for some fluffiness at the end.

 

Chapter 20: Ides of War

 

“… It appeared out of nowhere. I don't know how to explain it… everything was destroyed, and we tried to run, but it was pointless. The monsters invaded from all sides shooting poisonous gas and burning acid carrying rusted weapons and malicious grins. I'm one of the few to escape…”

 

“… I've never seen one like it before. It was something out of my worst nightmares. It killed without warning, striking quickly before moving on. A creature so vile that it would destroy even its own comrades should they stand in its way. And yet the whole time I watched it from my hiding hole, I felt as if it were searching for something it could not find…”

 

“… It was amazing! Here I was thinking my death is at hand, down the gullet of a damn dragon and poof! Like magic! This guy with black hair and a red cloak appears and starts chopping the damn thing to bits. I've never seen anything like it!”

 

“… They were everywhere! We tried to stop them, but we were far few for so many! One even absorbed my Fire attack and all of our bullets were useless! The spines from their leader exploded violently some even piercing the buildings and easily killing my friends…. (broken sobbing)… and now I'm all alone….”

 

“… It was the most frightening thing I have ever seen! Those dripping blood-red wings and that cold steel mask that hid all semblance of life… I didn't think I would live the night. Then a creature came out of nowhere, all glowing in green and red, casting a shield over the whole town. We were saved! But our losses were great…”

 

“… Requesting immediate emergency aid. Many wounded, monsters still in the area. We are unable to defend ourselves…. will all perish soon… supplies short…”

 

“… He's gone, Reeve. There were too many, and she couldn't handle it. The people, what few remain, had hidden in the caves and most fear to come out. They are tired and hungry, battle worn and smoke-streaked, and still they look to me… look to me for answers I don't have…”

 

They came, one right after another. His phone lines were constantly lit as calls began to pour in from all corners of the globe. Horror stories of monsters unlike any seen before. Many of the reports were stilted and difficult to be heard with all the communication towers that had been destroyed. Nearly all asked for aid that Reeve simply could not send. Not since he had disbanded most of the ShinRa army when he took over six months prior.

The executive sighed and glanced more at the clock that hovered over the door to his office. Three a.m…. eight hours since he, Seiryu, Archer, and Tiamat had taken down the foul demon that had sought to destroy Midgar and had driven away the hordes of creatures that had accompanied it. Eight hours since he had been able to rest or relax, eat, or even have a moment to himself.

 

His body ached, his mind was numb, and he felt he was going to collapse at any moment, but still he persisted. He couldn't afford to sleep, there was still far too much to do. Much of Midgar had been destroyed, and there were many wounded. The dead were still lying in the streets, some bodies having not been claimed. They couldn't lie there long otherwise the monsters hovering in the plains outside the city would find their way inwards. Reeve simply did not have the manpower to defend Midgar once more and take care of the aftermath of the battle.

 

Communication towers were still down everywhere, and the bulk of his force was out trying to hurry and repair them so that communication could at least not be destroyed. There weren't enough potions and cure materia nor people that could use them to go around, and some were dying that could have been saved.

 

He hadn't heard anything of Cid except for that one brief, angry phone call. Reno was still missing, and the rest of the Turks and Archer were all running around, working just as hard as he to restore some semblance of order to the shocked city of Midgar. Archer was working with the communication forces, his mechanical skills adept at fixing many of the downed towers. Tseng was trying to organize the small contingents in pushing back the small monsters that still seemed to infest the city while Elena was working to find shelter, food, and medial supplies for those that had been supplanted.

 

War had returned to Gaia. And in greater force than ever before it seemed. Just when the thoughts of peace had started to ingrain themselves within their hearts, fate came crashing down and stole it from them.

 

And still the calls poured in. Wutai… Cosmo Canyon… Junon… Costa del Sol… all the major cities on Gaia had been attacked and most of them were destroyed.

 

Junon was little more than a hunk of twisted and burning metal slowly spreading pollution into the surrounding ocean. Survivors and refugees were making their way to Fort Condor, but it was a fair distance. And the monsters that had attacked the coastal town were still tracking them, occasionally picking off the survivors one by one. Junon was no longer a place that could be called home. It would have to be rebuilt from scratch, the minor navy that had been stationed there completely demolished. No one had been able to stand up to the attack from the giant creature that looked remarkably like a Cactuar.

 

Costa del Sol had fared better than Junon but would still require massive repairs. Cloud's villa had been demolished as had the docks and most of the boats, but in its entirety, most of the town had remained intact. It seemed a few of the towns patrons had bonded together and used a swarm of materia to drive away the minor contingent of monsters that had attacked. Costa del Sol had not been as ruthlessly gone after as the others. In fact, it appeared more of an afterthought, as if a horde of monsters had only stopped there for fun and not planning.

 

Cosmo Canyon… well, no one really knew what had happened there. He hadn't heard from anyone since Cid's call. All the executive could guess was that the town had been destroyed, some survived and Bugenhagen had died.

 

And Wutai… reports from the far western town had been inconclusive. He had gotten several different ones, although the defining factor had been that Yuffie's hometown was attacked. There was a demon that led the charge and a large horde of lesser monsters that it commanded. Most of the reports made claim to a `mysterious savior' but didn't say more than that.

 

All in all it appeared that every city appeared to have been struck at nearly the same time in a large concentrated assault. Most of the citizens had been caught completely unawares, despite the warning afforded by Gongaga, and more than seventy-five percent of each city attacked was rubble, some faring better than others.

 

Reeve sighed and resisted the urge to lay his head on his desk by picking up the phone to dial the cargo docks and see how many, if any of the transportation methods survived the attack. It was a miracle that the Neo-ShinRa building had survived completely unscathed. Alexander, or as Aeris called him, Hephaestion, was truly a powerful summon to have protected Midgar so long.

 

The Holy demi-god had kept up his defense even as Reeve and his friends fought against the demon for little over an hour, finding it difficult to discover the kink in Mabuz' armor, while defending themselves from the slurry of minor enemies that threw themselves in the former AVALANCHE's members way.

 

The door to his office slammed open, and Archer hurried in, disturbing the executive's train of thought. He looked up and saw the tired, haggard appearance of his friend and gave him a sympathetic nod. The man's arms were full of more reports that he was sifting through even as he slightly stumbled across the floor.

 

“More transcripts from the radiowaves,” explained the amethyst-eyed man as he dumped the papers on the desk. “Most are from Wutai. Still nothing from Cosmo Canyon though. The men got the tower in Sector E up and running, but the soldiers in Sector B are having trouble working and fending off the monsters at the same time. It seems that a small contingent of Dropper Birds have started to harass them. Jennifer mentioned something about the Kalm reports but she was mumbling to herself so I can't really be sure.”

 

Dropper Birds, ugh, nasty little creatures. They weren't very large or fast, but had the uncanny ability to make tiny little bombs from their bodies and `drop' them on victims below. Hence the name `Dropper Birds'. They were an unfortunate example of Hojo's mad research.

 

Reeve sighed and looked at the stack on his desk. It would take him at least three hours to go through those and still at the end he might not know what was going on. Gaia, it seemed, had crumpled while they were all celebrating a minor victory, and he was struggling to hang on.

 

“And Tifa?” questioned the dark-haired man, although he already knew the answer.

 

Kyle shook his head, sinking into a chair and allowing his weary body a rest. “Still no word. But he's a Turk Reeve, I'm sure Reno is fine.”

 

The executive tore his gaze away from his friend and looked out the window, amber eyes not missing the destructed state of parts of Midgar or the places where blood still stained the ground and white feathers graced the tops of many roofs. It had been a long, bloody battle. His hands clenched unintentionally as worry again furrowed his brow.

 

Of everything that he had to deal with, not knowing the fate of his lover was killing him the most. Tifa still hadn't made any contact with them, and the Turks had been unable to discern her location. They knew, from the video, that she was in some type of lab or storage complex but didn't know where. All known vicinities had been checked or scanned, but no life forms were detected. It was as if they had dropped off the face of the planet.

 

The executive sighed once more and returned his attention to the papers on his desk. The one on the top of the stack was first. He briefly read the header, mumbling to himself so that he didn't miss anything important.

 

“ 0230 hours, approximately seventy percent comprehension rate, lasting twenty minutes, Kalm Report of Damage in Monetary Values from Green Dragon destroyed by mysterious man as translated by…” His eyes trailed off the page as he noticed Archer nearly dozing off in the chair, eyelids sliding over his eyes as he continuously slumped in the chair. The executive shook his head and put down the paper, watching as Kyle slowly slid downwards until he nearly fell off the chair before bursting awake and saving himself from an amusing predicament.

 

“You need to rest,” commented Reeve in a voice that brooked no argument.

 

Kyle brushed a hand over his eyes, rubbing vigorously before he sat up and shook his head. “No more so than you, partner. If you don't rest, I don't rest.”

 

That was his subtle way of making sure the dark-haired executive allowed himself a reprieve. Yet, so far, it wasn't working and Archer found himself dragging. He hadn't actually slept in near thirty-six hours, and it was beginning to wear him down.

 

“There's too much for me to…“

 

“Bullshit!” interrupted the amethyst-eyed man. “There is nothing more you can do right now but wait. Emergency systems have activated, soldiers have been deployed to all their respective places. The reports will still be there in the morning.”

Reeve glared at his friend and returned his attention to the paper at hand, idly moving it aside to concentrate on something more mind-grabbing than monetary reports.

 

“There will be plenty of time for rest later,” he grumbled, idly tapping a finger on the paper in front of him. He dared a glance at Archer, who regarded him with half-worry and half-anger.

 

“Besides,” his voice had softened in its tone. “I couldn't sleep anyways as worried as I am about Reno. I'm afraid to close my eyes because of the images my mind always brings to me.”

 

Kyle sighed and stood up, walking towards the window to gaze out at the inky blackness that blanketed much of the city. The power had yet to be restored to all of Midgar.

 

“I understand. But it isn't going to make finding him any easier if you're barely alive and awake.”

 

Reeve nodded quietly although his friend couldn't see him and returned his attentions to the paper in front of him. It appeared to be another description of the `mysterious savior' that it seemed all the Wutaian reports were hooked on. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he stood up, grabbing the paper and hurriedly scanning it again. Other papers floated to the floor as he rushed over to Archer's side, amber eyes drinking in the words.

 

`… Red gem like a garnet… green fur… cutest thing you've ever seen and it cast a shield…translucent and repelled anything… and riding on its back was a man… bright red hair the likes I've not seen in awhile…' The words jumped out at him, all sounding drastically familiar.

 

Kyle turned around when he heard the desk jump and the papers fall, surprised to see the executive moving towards him with a piece of paper in his hands. “Reeve, what…?” Archer trailed off when he saw the excited look on his friend's tired features.

 

“Read this,” the executive ordered, thrusting the white sheet of 8 x 11 paper into the startled engineer's hands. “Those lines right there!” He pointed to the section he had been reading and stepped back to watch the amethyst-eyed man's reaction.

 

Archer looked at his friend oddly before returning eyes to the paper and slowly reading aloud, a small grin breaking out on his face as he did so. “We thought all was lost. The monsters were pushing our ranks backwards continuously, and our backs were literally to the wall. My only thoughts were for the safety of those behind us, hidden within the caves and needing our protection. Yet, the sheer volume of monsters was beyond our capabilities to defeat. Then, like an angel from above, our mysterious savior appeared. It was a huge creature, I thought it another monster. It had a red gem like a garnet in its forehead and bright green fur that literally shone with an inner light. Its body shape was similar to that of a rabbit or something else long-eared. It was the cutest thing you've ever seen, and it cast a shield over us, while keening musically.” He paused momentarily, eyes flickering over to his friend for a moment and reading the barely restrained excitement in Reeve's amber eyes.

 

Archer sincerely hoped that it was what it appeared to be as he continued his reading. “The barrier flexed and shone translucent and repelled anything that dared throw itself at it. We were saved. However, most astounding was that riding this beautiful creature's back was a man. He was laughing as he swung what looked to be an Electro Rod at any enemies that dared to attack from the air. He had the bright red hair, the likes of which I've not seen in awhile and brilliant aquamarine eyes. They were like angels from above, and I will never forget the sight… not even on my dying day…” Archer trailed off, looking at his friend.

 

“It has to be…” whispered the dark-haired executive, as if saying it any louder would make it untrue. “It just has to be. No one else has Carbuncle!! And that description, it could only be Carbuncle!!”

 

The paper rattled in Kyle's grasp as he nodded. “You are right. It's him, Reno. He's in Wutai of all places. Though how he got there I can't imagine.”

 

“Then he's still there!” Reeve exclaimed. “I mean, there's no way he could leave just yet. Reports say all transport vehicles in Wutai were demolished in the attack so he MUST be there.”

 

Archer shook his head. “All this time… I just don't understand it. Why would Tifa hide in Wutai?”

 

“Does it matter?” questioned the executive. He swiped the paper from Archer's grasp and moved back towards the desk, grabbing the phone and quickly punching in some numbers.

 

“What are you doing?” asked Archer.

 

Reeve frowned. “Isn't it obvious? I'm checking to see if our communication's improved any. I have to get in contact with Godo and see if he can find Reno and make him stay put.”

 

The amethyst-eyed man nodded in understanding before waving a hand at the executive and heading for the door. “I'll go see if any of our helicopters survived the attack.”

 

Yet, before he could get to the door, the PHS in his pocket rang loudly, the sound startling him. It hadn't rung in quite a while, since most of the towers were down. Frowning, Archer dug into his pocket and pulled out the slim electronic device, noting the name on the screen.

 

“Archer, here,” he answered calmly, putting the speaker up to his ear. The phone crackled with static but at least he could make out the voice and words of the caller. It appeared reception wouldn't be completely clear for a while.

 

“Kyle, I knew your dumb ass would still be awake,” came the voice of one Cid Highwind, rough as usual and full of his habitual `perkiness'.

 

Archer sighed. “Cid… we were worried when we didn't hear from you for a while. How goes it in Cosmo Canyon?” He felt eyes on him and looked up to see Reeve giving him a questioning glance. The engineer moved back into the room, plopping back down into the seat he had vacated earlier while Reeve calmly placed the telephone on the receiver and attempted to eavesdrop the conversation.

 

“Random attacks by new breeds of Chocoboro's for one,” intoned the pilot darkly in response. “I don't know who's behind all this or why, but it seems the monsters are either mutating… or something else is going on.” The phone crackled noisily then causing the amethyst-eyed man to wince.

 

“What about casualties and the town?” questioned Archer. “How did the battle seem to fare?”

 

Cid was silent for a moment as he pondered. “I'd say about sixty percent city loss and only twenty percent population loss. The residents here responded rather remarkably, getting quickly to safety.”

“What about Vincent?” Reeve queried. Kyle's eyes shot up to his forehead before he repeated the question to the pilot.

 

Again there was a moment of silence before the pilot's quiet response came through the PHS. “I don't know. No one's seen him. I haven't found him, and he wasn't among the survivors hiding out or any of the bodies we've drug out for proper burial. One of the townsfolk, the weapon shop owner I believe, claimed she saw a dark-haired man with a gun earlier in the day, and Isis says that she thinks Bugenhagen was talking to a man named Vincent… or more like arguing with him right after the attack began. She seems to believe that Bugenhagen sent him somewhere though she couldn't even begin to guess where.”

 

“Isis?”

 

“Yeah. The demi-goddess of the sun, or Isis as we knew her, the long forgotten Sphinx materia. Don't ask me to explain it cause I don't know what the hell's going on either. Damn Phoenix appears and reappears next to Nanaki whenever the hell she wants, and Leviathan who's really Barinthus likes to spend time swimming in the ocean in human form,” the pilot paused before changing subjects. “Something really weird is going on.”

 

“Yeah,” agreed the engineer. “We think so, too. All of this is of course connected. We only have to figure out how.” He looked up and saw that Reeve was holding out his hand, curling his fingers in a gesture that asked for him to be given the phone.

 

Giving him an odd look, Archer handed over the device, momentarily brushing a hand over the back of his tired eyes. Gods, he was getting too old for this…

 

“Cid? It's Reeve,” spoke the president quickly before sitting back down in his chair, idly tapping the transcript that spoke of hope. “I think I've found Reno, how long do you think it will take you in Cosmo Canyon?”

 

“Eh… I don't know. I don't think I could get Nanaki to leave, so he and Yuffie will probably stay. If I don't sleep I could be there by sunrise…” mumbled the pilot in answer.

 

Archer's loud-mouthed yawn distracted the executive for a moment, and he had to bite back a small smile. His spirits had remarkably risen, thanks to that small transcript. He had found Reno that was all that had mattered. And the radio operator promised to get the message through to Godo.

 

“No, get some rest; I am sure we all need it. Just get here as soon as you can, and we can go to Wutai.”

 

“Wutai? What the hell is he doing in Wutai? Stupid dumb ass Turk always wandering off…” muttered the pilot almost jokingly.

 

“Does it matter?” Reeve asked. “Anyways, go to sleep. We'll be doing the same. See you later.”

 

“Hai,” agreed the Captain. The phone buzzed and clicked before going dead in Reeve's hands. The President handed it back to Kyle, who promptly shoved it into his pocket and regarded his former assistant with a critical look.

 

“The radio operator said that the message will go through to Godo. He also informed me that radio was our best option considering the attack succeeded in destroying all of our meager contingent of helicopters. We'd better get some rest now as we have to wait for Cid anyways,” explained the executive.

 

“Thank the gods!” exclaimed Archer, stretching mildly. “I had a feeling you were going to work until I either knocked you out or you passed out, whichever came first.”

 

Reeve smiled slightly as he gathered up a few papers and grabbed his suit jacket, following after Kyle towards the door. They wouldn't actually go far, only to the small resting rooms just outside his office that had been created so that the over-working President would take a break. It had only couches, but at that point, a blanket on the ground in the Northern continent looked good to both men, their bodies beyond weary.

 

Just as Archer's hand reached for the door to pull it open. The room began to violently tremble. Frames fell off the walls and crashed to the ground, instantly shattering and the two men struggled to keep on their feet. A sound like that of a million screaming voices rose from nowhere, echoing all around them with the loudness of a sports game and sending the hair on the backs of their necks to full attention.

 

“What the hell?” gritted out Archer as he clung to the wall while his legs shook beneath him.

 

Reeve threw himself at the wall, back against it for balance. “Earthquake,” he managed to get out.

 

“In Midgar?” questioned the engineer, eyes instantly darting to the window. He expected at any moment another attack like the one only eight hours before. “And what the hell is that screaming?”

 

The amber-eyed man closed his eyes and tried to ride out the violent quaking, the sound, and the voices still keening all around him. He recognized it, having heard it several times before… but that was six months prior when he and the rest of AVALANCHE were trying to destroy that monster Sephiroth.

 

Another violent tremble threw itself at the building before it all abruptly stopped, everything going suddenly silent. Archer had to open his eyes, not even realizing he had closed them as he pried his fingers from around the door knob. He had been clutching it to keep his feet.

 

“The planet…” huffed Reeve trailing off. “I'd recognize that sound anywhere, though it's been months since I last heard it. The planet is crying…”

 

* * *

 

In another part of Midgar, Cloud was rocking his trembling wife slowly in his arms as they sat on the bed they shared and was whispering soothing words of nonsense to the Ancient.

 

Since the earthquake a few seconds before, Aeris had been nearly inconsolable as she wept and muttered quietly in a language that he did not understand. Her hands clutched protectively at her belly, and her head moved from side to side.

 

Cloud had also heard the planet's cry and knew that Aeris, as an Ancient, could understand what the voices were saying and judging from her reaction, it was not something good or even encouraging. He felt powerless to help her and did the best he could, holding her until the voices stopped pounding in her skull like many pleas of forgotten children.

 

Ever since the battle many hours before, he had been exceedingly tired. Tseng and he had spent the better part of two hours riding through Midgar and disposing of monsters, while a battle they could only hear and not see raged above them and above a blanket of white feathers that Cloud knew could only belong to Hephaestion.

 

His arms ached from steering the bike and wielding his enormous sword at the same time, and his head throbbed from casting so many spells at once. He knew that Tseng fared no better although the Turk hadn't had a chance to rest yet. Afterwards, when Cloud took Aeris home from the church, both Elena and Tseng had returned to Neo-ShinRa HQ where they were given immediate tasks to aid the people of Midgar.

 

“Cloud?” The body in his arms stilled and shifted before the auburn-headed woman turned her face up towards him.

 

He smiled down at the flower-girl, love shining through his eyes. “Is everything alright?”

 

She frowned and leaned in against him, placing her head just below his chin, one of her favorite places to cuddle. “The Planet… is afraid.”

 

The blond didn't say anything as he pondered her statement. The last time the Planet had feared was when Sephiroth had invaded its lifestream and Jenova ran rampant. Could that mean that he was back and that their six month peace had been only a reprieve? If that battle in Midgar only eight hours prior had been any indication… his thoughts trailed off.

 

Aeris clutched at his shirt. “Have you been listening?”

 

“To what?” questioned the blond, frowning and furrowing his brow in confusion. The sound of distant thunder disturbed his thoughts. Cloud looked at the window, not surprised to see the flash of far off lightning. A storm was approaching it seemed. It was going to rain soon. Not that Cloud minded much; he was actually rather fond of thunderstorms and enjoyed them.

 

The flower-girl sighed. “Haven't you even wondered why I can call Hephaestion without the materia, or even why I call him that?”

 

Cloud shrugged his shoulders. “I never really thought about it. I figured it just had something to do with you being an Ancient.”

 

Aeris couldn't help but roll her eyes at her husband's general cluelessness. He never was one for deep and provocative thought. “Why do you keep pretending like you can't hear him? It's not Sephiroth or Jenova. You're not going crazy.”

 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” insisted the blond, wrapping his arms around her tighter. “Tell me why the planet's afraid.”

 

The auburn-headed female sighed and decided the issue could wait for another time. “It said that war is coming to Gaia… war that we might not be able to win. And that the inhabitants of this planet are not strong enough on their own to win against the threat that had been building from before Sephiroth.”

 

Cloud frowned. “Then Sephiroth was not our enemy then?”

 

Aeris shook her head. “No, he was. The immediate threat, yes, but also masking a greater foe, one that we might have realized had it not been for him. It's time that everyone learned of the demi-gods and the war of years past.”

 

“The what?”

 

“You know of the summons, right? Our red materia? Well, the demi-gods have something to do with them. It is their power that makes the magic in the summon materia work.”

 

“Then why is this one dark?” asked the blond holding up one of his favorite summons, Chimaera. Though not one he had used in the war, having found it weeks later in a mysterious materia cave, he was still rather fond of the winged creature with the head of a lion and body of a serpent. Se spat lightning and fire attacks when she was irritated and at times would cast Comet 2 on impeding enemies.

 

Aeris frowned and sat up on the bed, plucking the red materia from her husband's hand. She rolled the ball around in her hand before shaking her head negatively. “He is no longer there. It's as if Chimaera's withdrawn his powers from the materia and no longer wishes to fight with us.”

 

“You say that as if our summons were free and sentient creatures!”

 

“They are!” the Ancient insisted. “And if you would just listen to him trying to speak to you, you would understand it, as well!” Her voice was both stern and chastising.

 

Cloud shook his head. “It doesn't make any sense to me. All this talk of demi-gods and summons and greater foes that we should have known, monsters attacking the cities out of nowhere in more species than I have ever recognized… what happened to peace?” He looked at his wife beseechingly, hand automatically placing itself over on of her own on her belly. “What of the peace that I promised you after the battle was won?”

 

Aeris smiled softly before kissing him gently on the lips. “As long as i'm with you it doesn't matter if we have to fight or not.”

 

He grabbed her quickly and wrapped her in his arms, holding her close. “I won't lose you again…”

 

She nuzzled against his chest. “You don't have to worry about that. I'm told that I cannot fight this battle. Hephaestion says that I am not needed, another has come to take my place.”

 

“I'm not sure I even want to ponder on what that could mean right now,” muttered Cloud.

 

“Then don't, but even if I am sitting this one out, I still need to tell the others what I know. No one else can speak to the planet like I. They won't understand… no one knows of the ancient ones or the way things once were.”

 

Her husband nodded in understanding. “In the morning. For now, both of us need to get some rest.”

 

“Mmm, agreed,” murmured the auburn-headed woman as the two of them laid down and snuggled together. “I love you, Cloud.”

 

“Love you,” returned the blond just as readily, kissing her neck lightly as she drifted back into slumber. “Always…”

 

* * *