Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Where the lost ones go ❯ Don't give up ( Chapter 30 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

30. Don't give up

His heart was thundering. The closer they got, the harder his heart seemed to beat.
Rufus had his chocobo running about as fast as it could without risking it would collapse before reaching Midgar, and he honestly didn't care if the little man was able to keep up with the other bird. All that mattered was reaching Midgar and reclaim his life. Hold Tifa close. Make himself complete again. And it simply could not happen fast enough!
Smiling faintly, Rufus felt a flicker of hope as he saw the heavy security in the distant check-point at Midgar's entrance. At least that meant Jinrei hadn't managed to get his hands on the city. He encouraged the chocobo to continue in a trot towards the soldiers, wondering how he was really to explain things well enough to persuade them to let him enter. What if they thought he was some ghost or something? He knew some of the soldiers would be foolish enough to believe something stupid like that. A song being hummed beside him reminded Rufus of the little man following him, and he considered briefly to send him ahed to talk to the soldiers until they let them enter, but decided no ShinRa soldier deserved such a cruel fate.
"You just be quiet and let me deal with them, ok?" Rufus muttered to the old man, keeping his eyes on the soldiers as they spotted them as well.
Waving his cane, the little man huffed offended. "They're trying to get in our way, they are! Such bad manners! I'm going to give them the thrashing of their lifetimes!"
Rufus clenched his jaw to contain his anger and shot the little man an angry look. "No, you're not! You're just going to sit there, and shut up!" He then turned to face the guards taking a step forward while hollering for them to halt and state their purpose.
Trying hard to ignore the old man's muttering, Rufus cleared his throat and straightened. "I'm President ShinRa."
"The President is dead," the tallest soldier declared in a loud voice and aimed his gun at Rufus. "Everyone knows that."
"No, they don't!" Rufus snapped angrily and jumped of his chocobo to stalk over and glare at the soldier. "Everyone knows I got shot down in that damn chopper, but how many saw me dead? Now step aside and let me enter, before I demote you to Cactus counting on Cactus Island!"
Gulping nervously, the soldier's eyes flickered. "Y-you can be some spy... I can't just...!"
Rufus closed his eyes briefly and drew a hand though his ruffled hair. "Fine. Alright. Then... call Strife here! He'll recognize me!"
"Strife is gone, Mister," the soldier mumbled, unable to meet Rufus' eyes by now.
"Okay..." Rufus gesticulated faintly, "then how about Sephiroth?"
"General Sephiroth is also gone," by now the soldier had lowered his gun and looked quite sheepish.
Rufus exclaimed frustrated, waving his arms. "For crying out loud! What is this? Vacation time?" He forced himself calm, rubbing his eyes quickly before focusing on the soldier again. "Vincent Valentine...?"
The soldier glanced over at the other guard, who merely shrugged. "Sometimes he's here, and sometimes he's not, Sir."
Counting to ten, Rufus made a sneering smile. "Could you, perhaps, get off you lazy ass and find out?"
A short conversation over their communication net later, the soldier grinned relieved at the visitor. "He'll be here shortly, Sir!"
Nodding, the brat prince glanced absently back at the little man arguing with his chocobo over something. He'd deliberately not asked the guard to call on Tifa or Reno, as he wanted to tell them both in person. Not that he really thought the red-head was mourning his passing, but Reno had shocked the hell out of him several times. It was merely pay back time. But Tifa...
Rufus was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts as footstep approached and he glanced over to see the familiar figure dressed in red. He gave a little wave to the dark haired man and failed to hold back a slight smile at the frown on Vincent's face.
Halting in front of him, Vincent studied him for a few seconds. "You're dead," he deadpanned.
Rufus shrugged. "Looking pretty good for a dead guy, ain't I?" He then placed two fingers at the side of his own throat and frowned slightly. "But I think this having a pulse thing kind of ruins the being dead part of it."
Vincent stared at him a few seconds longer, then suddenly turned to the guards. "It's okay. Let him in. It's the real President."

Reeve sighed and leafed through several of the papers covering the desk in front of him. Everything was a mess, wasn't it?
Exhaling wearily, he abruptly dropped everything and leaned heavily back into the soft chair. This just wasn't fair! Cloud and Sephiroth had just vanished, leaving them without two of their troop leaders. Barret was the only reason the ShinRa army was still in some order, but there was a certain amount of distrust between ShinRa troops and the former AVALANCHE leader. It was probably in their blood. To top it off, Scarlet had been acting strange lately too. The blonde was most likely planning something, as the only person she ever took orders from was Rufus ShinRa himself!
Reeve stared emptily at the paper mess in front of him. Dammit, this just wasn't fair!
Granted, he had been organizing the slums of Midgar for years, and paper work was his thing, but no one had taught him how to run a frigging war! He'd merely delivered his advice to the ShinRas, and they had sent out the orders. No one disobeyed the ShinRa. A man who couldn't give a public speech without fainting didn't receive that same amount of respect. Reeve thrived in the shadow of power. It was where he did his best work, and he preferred it to go unnoticed!
For a brief moment, the dark haired man allowed himself to feel a surge of irrational anger directed at Rufus ShinRa. How could he get himself killed like that? How could he just leave behind this mess? Everything had just fallen to pieces after Rufus died, and Reeve didn't give a damn that it really wasn't rational to blame a dead man!
"You're looking awfully comfortable behind my desk," Rufus' voice suddenly drawled, and Reeve glanced up to see the brat prince lean casually against the door frame with his arms crossed.
There passed almost an entire minute with Reeve staring at him, then Rufus finally straightened and walked over to stand in front of the desk. "No, Reeve. I'm not a ghost or anything. Yes, it's really me. I have no idea how, but I suspect it has something to do with a strange, little man who followed me here. I woke up a few days ago, and came straight here." He flicked his hair and tilted his head. "Does that answer all your questions?"
Reeve suddenly realised his jaw had dropped and quickly shut his mouth. Blinking wide eyed, he shook his head numbly as he tried to force himself awake. He had to be dreaming right?
"Oh," Rufus grinned slightly and waved a finger. "I forgot the last one; you're not dreaming. I think that's all of them, right?"
Drawing a sharp breath, Reeve suddenly stood up and drew both his hands through his hair. "How... How is this possible? Did Sephiroth lie? How long did you...? How...?" Then he seemed to remember that he had been sitting at Rufus' chair and Rufus' desk and darted to the other side of the desk where the firey haired man was standing. "Is it really you?"
Rufus nodded, giving a faint smile. "I'm too good looking to be a copy." He then glanced down at the papers on the desk. "Sephiroth didn't lie. My chopper was shot down by some officer in Jinrei's army. I remember the fire and the sound as metal was torn apart. After that... I don't remember anything. Just waking up at that place." Reaching out, he absently picked up a list of soldier names. "Speaking of the sun, where is Sephiroth? Or Strife, for that matter?"
"We... don't know," Reeve admitted silently, gazing down at the floor. "After you... died, Sephiroth broke the connection to the Ancients and went off on his own. Aeris is the only one who's seen him these last six months. As for Cloud, he too vanished after the attack on Kalm. Jinrei's army kidnapped Jessie, and Cloud probably went to get her back. We haven't seen or heard anything about them since that either."
Frowning, Rufus realised what the old man had been constantly jabbering about when he said things had changed. "What else?"
"The people who attacked you? The ones who shot Tifa in stead of you?" Reeve swallowed hard, shifting uneasily. "It wasn't Jinrei. The Cetra was unsure that they would get your full co operation when fighting against Jinrei, so they organized an attack to make us believe it was Jinrei."
Anger hit Rufus hard, and he forced himself to stay calm. "What else, Reeve?"
Reeve figured it really had to be Rufus as he was starting to feel too nervous for it to be a dream. "Seto has settled the Cetra army within Midgar, and runs his own operations." He cleared his throat. "Vincent and Yuffie also works on their own. The one called Barret is now controlling the ShinRa army. And Cid is still infected, only yesterday did Hojo report that the antidote is now down to thirty percent effectiveness. I think... that's all?"
A lot of work, Rufus thought gloomily. But then he glanced over at the nervous Reeve, as he had no more time to waste. "Where's Tifa?"

"Listen, lady, you're gonna eat this," Reno pointed to Tifa's dinner on the table while keeping his blue eyes firmly on the pale woman. "Either you're gonna be a good girl and do it yourself, or I swear I'm gonna tie you to the chair and force feed you!"
Smiling faintly, Tifa nodded affably as she realised that he most likely meant it too. Reno had been her shadow these last months. He'd mumbled something about having made a promise to Rufus, so she let him. After all, he was the only relative Rufus had left.
The Turk nodded satisfied as Tifa moved over to sink down on the chair beside the table, and only frowned slightly when she merely started poking at her food as usual. That woman had lost the spark in her eyes, and her children was all that kept her going now. Reno had never been accused of being a romantic throughout his entire life, but he figured this had to be true love, right? When Rufus had died, something had died inside Tifa as well. He was then torn out of his thoughts as there was a short knock on the door and Reeve stuck his head in. A quick conversation lead in Reno running out of the room and slammed the door after him.
Glancing over, Tifa managed a pale smile to Reeve. "Hello, Reeve. Things working out?" The last time she'd seen him, he'd asked her to do a small appearance for the ShinRa troops to boost their morale. She'd reluctantly agreed, as it would been in honour of Rufus' name.
Reeve shuffled his feet nervously and cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, well... Something has been, ah, revealed to us..."
Pushing away her food, Tifa turned slightly to gaze at Reeve with faint curiosity as she placed a calming hand to her rounded stomach. "Oh? It must be important then?"
"You can pretty much say that, yeah," Reeve nodded, still not meeting her eyes. "You see... I don't know how to tell you this... And you must try to remain calm and remember that you're in a delicate condition, Tifa..."
It simply couldn't be more bad news, could it? Tifa felt fear seeping into her, and she shook her head anxiously. "It's not Cloud? He's not... dead?"
"Nono!" Reeve objected quickly, finally gazing at her. "It's nothing like that! It's good news, actually. But you have to..."
At that moment they heard Reno hollering with joy and there was a laughter.
Tifa's breath got stuck in her throat and she suddenly felt ice cold. She'd hoped so many times that she knew by now that it was impossible! But...
Reeve stepped nervously as Tifa got up on her feet and gesticulated faintly. "Tifa, just try to stay calm and..."
Ignoring him, Tifa hastened over to the door, hesitated with her hand on the doorknob for a heartbeat, then tore it open.
His back towards her, Rufus had just brushed off Reno's accusations about him been off on a vacation when the sound of the door made him spin around.
For a few seconds, they simply stared at each other.
Tifa knew she had to be staring at a ghost, but he was really there, wasn't he? Rufus was alive, wasn't he? Rufus ShinRa was standing there, wasn't he?
Seeing the colour draining from her face, Rufus didn't dare to move or speak in case it would all prove to be a dream and Tifa would vanish. But it was no dream, and he barely had time to open his arms before the brunette rushed towards him and embraced him with all her might.
Sobbing uncontrolled, Tifa merely held him close for a long while. Feeling the light kisses on top of her head, his hands stroking her back and his voice, his beautiful voice, telling her it was all going to be alright now. That he was back to stay. They were never going to be apart ever again!
Rufus felt a little on the verge of sniffling himself as Tifa kept crying violently, her hands blindly trailing up to cup his face. His heart broke when she finally gazed up at him with her tear soaked face and the kiss was painfully gentle. He didn't even notice as they slowly sank down to sit on the floor, Tifa still clinging to him and Rufus trying to cover the embarrassingly moist eyes by hiding his face to her hair.
Reno smiled at the sight and merely signaled for Reeve to follow him, and leave the two alone.
Several minutes passed, with merely touching and feeling, before Tifa finally found her voice again. "You're alive..."
"Yes, so it would seem," Rufus replied silently, gazing affectionately down at her. "I never going to leave you, Tifa. You're just going to have to deal with that." He then started slightly, but smiled as the brunette took a hold of his hand and placed it on her stomach to let him feel the movement that had startled him.
"I never got to tell you," Tifa whispered as she saw the fascinated look on Rufus' face. "It's twins, Rufus. We're having twins."
Trembling, Rufus wondered how much happiness a man could take before it actually killed him. "You don't have to worry anymore, Tifa. I'm home now. I'm going to make everything alright again. Trust me."

Slowly lowering the file, Hojo leaned back and removed his glasses with a weary sigh. As he really wasn't dead nor alive, he usually spent his nights tinkering with his research, but for once he was actually doing something beside finding a cure for Highwind in the middle of the night.
Sitting by his desk with merely the small table lamp as the only source of light, the scientist gazed over at the small pile of files he'd read through as he absently rubbed his glasses with the flick of his lab coat. So many things he didn't remember. So much he'd failed to notice.
Hojo slowly reached out and closed the last file on the subject called Sephiroth, gingerly placing his glasses on the desk. He didn't move for several seconds, before he finally lifted his hands up to cover his face and sighed heavily. Already at the age of twelve, the young Sephiroth had complained about hearing voices and had constant nightmares. Dismissed as hallucinations, drugs had been ordered and the numbness that followed them seemed to quiet the boy. Now, it was too obvious that Jenova was already making her presence known. How was it possible that Hojo hadn't seen that? Why didn't he remember? Those years were a blur that was growing more annoying to him each day as he spent without Jenova's reassuring voice soothing him. Reading his own reports, it was like gazing at the work of another person. Even his writing was worse than his usual scribble, and that was saying something!
Exhaling a resigned smile into his hands, Hojo mentally scolded himself for doing this. Why had he suddenly developed this sick interest for Sephiroth after all these years? Why was he reading everything he could get his hands on about a man who rightfully hated him with every atom in his scientifically altered body? Why did it suddenly matter?
Quickly reaching out for his glasses and putting them on in a sudden movement, Hojo glared over at his own reflection in the window to the hall. He knew why. It was that damn Cetra girl's fault! She kept poking at him, dropping hints and asking silly questions! Her words kept coming back to haunt him.
"You're his father, Hojo. You're his family too."
When had he stopped considering Sephiroth as his child? Sons were something that others had, Hojo mused absently. He'd never once longed for a wife and children, having devoted himself to his precious science. At least, that was what he thought until Lucrecia came into his life. Hadn't he been both terrified and strangely happy when she told him she was pregnant? The memories were still so blurry! Hojo fiercly rubbed his temples as he kept tearing up his own past, digging up old pain and shame to find the answers he sought. The Cetra girl called him Sephiroth's father, but had he even hesitated before handing the child over to tests and solitude? Why didn't he act on the feelings that shot through him the first time he held the screaming infant in his arms?
Hojo let out a mirthless and half choked laugh. All those years, all those questions, his only source of strength had been Jenova. He was no fool, but his pride was reluctant to admit what he really knew. She'd pulled the strings, and Hojo had danced. Still, it was too late now.
Glancing over at the files, the scientist placed a hand on them and swallowed hard. The only way he would ever allow himself to know his son would be through forms and reports. Sephiroth wasn't the only one who could be bitter, Hojo realised while sitting there in the darkness. The dark haired man had wasted the first twenty years of his life, and Jenova had stolen the next twenty. And yet, all Sephiroth craved was to belong. The Cetra said the silver haired warrior was slipping away from them, lured by the image of a family. Hojo knew he could do nothing about Jenova's plan, but there was one thing he could do. One thing he could give Sephiroth.
It was early morning when the scientist stood outside of the Cetra girl's room, his hand raised to knock being frozen for the last minute. This was silly! It wasn't like he was afraid of her or something! Clearing his throat, he forced himself to knock and not flee when he heard the cheerful voice declaring for her visitor to come in. His only satisfaction was the surprised look on her face as the flower girl saw him, but she quickly motioned him to come over to where she was sitting by a table with her breakfast.
"Hojo!" Aeris giggled nervously, "what on earth brings you here? Not that you're not welcome, or anything, but usually you find me as charming as the black plague."
Declining her offer for him to sit down with a shake of his head, Hojo crossed his arms defensively. "I assure you, your company makes the black plague seem as trifling as a common cold. Listen, Cetra, what I'm going to give you now has to stay a secret. I'm dead to the world outside this tower, and I want it to stay that way, ok? Do not, under any circumstances, reveal how you got this! Not to anyone!" He quickly placed a small paper note in her hand, closing her fingers around it. "Maybe you can bring... Sephiroth there sometime too...?"
Aeris cast a glance down at the paper, seeing an address in Midgar, and something told her it had cost Hojo a lot to come there to give her that. She gazed quickly over at Hojo aiming to leave the room as fast as possible, calling out for his attention. "Hojo... I'm going to marry your son and I carry your grandchild... Call me Cetra one more time, ignoring my name, and I WILL hug you again...!"
Hesitating, Hojo smiled faintly with his back towards her and one hand on the doorknob. "You're not playing very fair... Aeris." And with that, he left quietly.

Rufus saw the missile racing towards him. Felt his fingers tightening their grip on his PHS. A single name on his lips. Tifa. Then the loud explosion. The sound of metal tearing apart and the roar of flames. Falling. Suddenly water flew up around him, grabbed a hold of him and pulled Rufus under. Voices. Whispering. Cold soothing the pain. But the darkness simply would not let him go...
Blue eyes opened abruptly and Rufus gasped for air as he broke free from the nightmare. Blinking rapidly as if to make sure he really was awake, the brat prince slowly became aware of a gentle hand caressing his face in a calming gesture. Gazing over, he trembled with relief to find Tifa by his side. It was no dream. Rufus was finally home again! He rolled over on his side, and reached out to take a gentle hold of her chin with a slight frown. She was crying. "What's wrong?"
Tifa shook her head with a faint smile. "Nothing is wrong." Yet the tears kept making silent trails down her cheeks. "It's just... You're really here, aren't you? I've dreamed about you being here so many times... I couldn't stand this being a dream too!"
Swallowing hard at the pain in his heart caused by her words, Rufus leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "You're stuck with me, Tifa. Better start realising that." He moved her over to rest on his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her, allowing one hand to curiously rest on her stomach. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, you know."
"Good," Tifa sniffled against him, trying to be as close as physically possible.
There was a short silence, just the two savouring the presence of the other, then Rufus let out a reluctant sigh. "Everything is a mess, isn't it?"
Tifa nodded, opening her eyes to stare absently ahed. "After you... disappeared, everything went to pieces. Sephiroth went crazy. Cloud vanished. Seto... He scares me sometimes..."
Having already a few words he was going to let the big cat hear, Rufus' dislike grew even more at Tifa's confession. "I see... Well, it's a good thing I'm back to straighten things out then!"
The brunette lifted her head to gaze anxiously down at him. "You're going to be careful, right?"
"I told you, didn't I?" Rufus smiled softly, "I'm not going to leave you ever again. Simple as that. But I need to make sure our little hell spawns have a nice planet to arrive on, ok?"
Giggling slightly, Tifa nodded with a silent sniffle. "I know you always succeed in what you are determined to do. I trust you." She reached out a hand to gingerly touch his chin, her wine coloured eyes memorizing his handsome face. "And I love you."
Rufus always went all warm and giddy when she spoke those words and so clearly meant it. When Tifa leaned over to kiss him, he let all his own feelings seep into that kiss. Last night, he'd gently picked her up from the floor where they was sitting and carried her into the room. Few words was spoken, instead hands memorized faces and neither appeared willing to break their embrace to do anything but to savour the closeness. Rufus still felt the urge to merely hold her close and have them hide in the room until the world outside just went away.
"When are you meeting with the others?" Tifa finally asked, hiding her face to his neck.
Rufus sighed, stroking a hand over her hair. "I don't know... Didn't specify a time... Had to see you first." But he knew he really shouldn't postpone it much longer. "Do you think there is still hope to fix the mess?"
Hesitating only a heartbeat, Tifa smiled faintly. "If things can't be worked out with you in charge, then no one can fix it."
It was almost painful when he had to leave, and Rufus held Tifa as close as he dared in his embrace. "I'll be back in an hour or so, ok? You just rest. It's not every day your husband returns from the dead."
"Hurry back," Tifa whispered, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she tried to make herself let go. It wasn't like he would vanish again the second she lost sight of him, right? It was only a matter of making herself believe that...
Rufus nodded, placing a light kiss on top of her head. "I will. And you got your PHS so you can call me up any time, ok? You get worried, you call! Meetings and plans can always be postponed, Tifa. Don't you dare to hesitate. If you need me, I'll come running."
Swallowing down tears, Tifa smiled through her sobs. Her nightmare was finally over!

Glancing around, Aeris hesitated as several of the signs were either unreadable due to being covered in mud or they simply weren't there! How was one supposed to find one's way around there? She'd never been to Sector Two before, but she knew it could be ranked as higher class of the slums. People there weren't poor enough to live in the slums, yet not wealthy enough to leave. Luckily that also made the environment much less dangerous with low crime rates.
A quick inquiry lead Aeris in the right direction due to a helpful young man, and soon she was standing outside a small, but pretty house. Why had Hojo given her this address? Only one way to find out, the flower girl thought as she knocked on the door.
Seconds passed, then finally there was the sound of footsteps and the door opened.
Aeris blinked surprised and she was unable to speak as well as taking her gaze away from the old woman.
The elderly lady tilted her head curiously, looking at the young girl with the most amazing eyes. Hazel brown with an impossible taint of gold. "Can I help you, Miss?"
"Who's that at the door?" A voice called out and an old man came out into the hall as well. Despite his age, the man had jet black hair and he gazed coolly at Aeris over the glasses on his nose. "What do you want, girl?"
"You're... You're Hojo's parents!" Aeris blurted out, hardly believing her eyes.
The old lady flinched, old pain resurfacing in her eyes. "You... knew our son?"
Opening her mouth to tell them it was their son who'd given her their address, Aeris suddenly remembered that Hojo had made it crystal clear that his parents was not to know about him. "Well, yes, I guess... In a way..."
Hojo's father stepped up beside his wife and kept staring suspiciously at Aeris. "Our son didn't keep many friends, and you don't strike me as one of them."
Aeris smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "True enough. He just about stated he'd rather be infected with the black plague than my company, but... I think he finally started to like me at the end..." She felt a little guilty when she saw the tears in the old lady's eyes at the mentioning of Hojo's end, but her words also put a weak smile on her elderly face.
Hojo's mother opened the door and motioned Aeris to enter. "That sounds like my Hojo, yes." Entering the living room, she motioned Aeris to sit down while ushering Hojo's father to find some lemonade for the poor girl! "So... what brings you here, Miss?"
"My name is Aeris, and... I guess I'm here because of Sephiroth," Aeris explained silently, seeing the puzzlement on the old woman's face.
"Sephiroth?" Sitting down as well, Hojo's mother shook her head in confusion. "What has General Sephiroth to do with us?"
Waiting as the old man entered the living room as well, Aeris accepted and thanked for her glass of lemonade, but didn't continue before Hojo's father had taken a seat as well. "Hojo told me... Sephiroth is his son. Your grandchild."
There was a deafening silence, disbelief and wonder in the air.
In the next hours, Aeris got the story about a shy and slightly superior Hojo that quickly learned that his skills was his genius mind and not his lack in athletic achievements. He didn't just think himself smarter than everyone else. He was. But his parents was proud to see their son rise in the ShinRa ranks and soon had one of the leading positions in the research department. Then Nibelheim happened... After Hojo returned from Nibelheim, it was like a different person returned with the looks of their son. He was acting strangely. Constantly pacing and muttering to himself. Shortly after that, he broke all contact with his agonized parents. They never heard from him again. Aeris felt tears of happiness flood her eyes as she remembered the joy when they realised they actually had a grandchild. And then the news about a great grandchild on the way.
It was some glorious dream, Aeris thought as she was walking back to the ShinRa tower! She couldn't wait to tell Sephiroth! This could change everything! It was at that moment that she heard a familiar voice.
"How very nice of you to show me around, young man! A lot of these young roosters these days never take the time to be polite, but I'm certain that a Green will encourage you to keep up this fine behaviour! Now... where did I put it?" A small man halted and started fumbling inside his coat, while Vincent Valentine was staring ahed with a strange look in his crimson eyes. It was a mixture of disbelief, pain and a pinch of panic.
Exclaiming happily, Aeris hurried over to greet them. "Sage! You're here? How wonderful to see you again!"
The Chocobo Sage glanced over at the flower girl and laughed heartily. "Indeed, pretty girl!" He quickly shoved a Green into Vincent's numb hand and ushered him away before turning to Aeris again. "I get the feeling we've met somewhere before, but never mind that now. It's a good thing I found you, girl. We have a lot to prepare for. Sephiroth will soon return to Midgar and you must be ready!" He then paused and tilted his head. "It appears... that you've gained a little weight, haven't you?"

Sephiroth nearly lost balance, leaning heavily against the wall of the ruined house. He was so tired. So tired he could barely keep his eyes open.
Forcing himself to continue, he glanced around and frowned worried as he saw no signs of either Lucrecia or Jenova. They were supposed to wait for him in Kalm, weren't they? After he'd executed the plan, he would return to Kalm and they would be waiting for him! Why weren't they waiting for him?
Sinking to his knees, Sephiroth leaned heavily on his Masamune and closed his eyes.
How long did he have before Aeris would find out about Cloud? He knew she would find out. She always did. And then what? What was he going to say? How was he going to explain? Even Sephiroth had trouble understanding what he'd done to Cloud, or even why he did it.
"Mother?" His voice sounded weak, but it came with the fatigue of his body. He hadn't rested once on his return from Jinrei's base, and the trip was harder than he thought. He'd spent so much energy breaking into the base, so the journey back was tough. But it was worth it, because they would know what he should do. Yes, they would know.
Silence followed.
"Mother?" His voice was a little stronger now, and he managed to open his eyes to gaze around. It almost appeared that the town was completely deserted.
Then there was a faint humming and Lucrecia slowly walked through the ruins like a ghost in her white dress. Making a crown of flowers, she was humming absently at some song Sephiroth had never heard before. "Mother, where is Jenvoa?"
Glancing up, Lucrecia finally noticed Sephiroth and turned to walk over to him. "I don't know. I think she left a few days ago."
Left? Sephiroth felt a flicker of violent anger and he studied Lucrecia's face. "She left you alone here? Are you alright?"
Lucrecia shrugged and then nodded. A few more seconds passed as she finished up with her flowers before she gazed at him again. "Did your trip go well?"
Sephiroth turned his face away. "Not really."
A light hand reached out and gently touched his face. "Then you'll succeed the next time. I believe in you, Sephiroth. You know that, right?" Lucrecia smiled sweetly, stroking away a silver bang. "Now... it's not safe for us to be here, Sephiroth..."
Sephiroth nodded, but closed his eyes. "I know, mother, but... I'm so tired... So very tired..."
Lucrecia kneeled down beside him and maneuvered him to rest his face to her neck as she wrapped her arms around him. "I know you are, darling son. I know." She stroke his back reassuringly. "I want nothing more than for us to go away and live peacefully together. No more manipulating and fighting."
Sephiroth sighed longingly. "Free."
"Yes, free," Lucrecia agreed, playing with a lock of silver hair. "What do you say, Sephiroth? Should we just go away? Jenova has abandoned us. We don't need her anyway!"
Sephiroth pulled back slightly to meet her eyes. "Aeris... I can't leave behind Aeris. I need her. I love her!"
Lucrecia took his face gingerly between her hands and smiled sweetly. "Dear boy, of course we can't leave behind Aeris! She carries your child, after all. She probably longs to be with you as well."
Nodding absently, Sephiroth allowed himself to be maneuvered back to rest against Lucrecia again.
"But we have to leave before Jenova comes back," Lucrecia said absently. "We have to hurry. You must go to Midgar and get Aeris, Sephiroth. Then we shall finally be free and live in peace! You can finally rest, my sweetest child."
Sephiroth forced himself to get up again, feeling determination spread through him. "You're right... Once she sees how perfect we'll have it, Aeris will understand!"
Lucrecia got up as well. "But you have to do something for me, Sephiroth... I need you to make something right. Be my angel of justice."
"Anything," Sephiroth declared, sliding the Masamune into it's holster.
Taking a step closer, Lucrecia's eyes glimmered dangerously. "I want you to kill Vincent Valentine. As well as that tramp of his." She reached out and took a hold of Sephiroth's hand. "And bring me the child."
Sephiroth hesitated.
"Did you know I spoke to him over a year ago?" Lucrecia asked, seeing the shock on Sephiroth's face. "He knew I was alive, your mother, and he said nothing to you! He told me you were dead!"
Sephiroth clenched his jaw, feeling raw anger coil around his mind. "I'll hurry back, mother. And rest easy. I will get your revenge for you."
As Lucrecia watched Sephiroth disappear into the distance a short while later, a tentacle was seen beside her. "He's such a good boy, Jenova. You were right. Yes, you were. He will succeed, wont he?"