 |
Chapter Three A week after the fourth gathering, Kit asked Cloud if he would tell the children the real story of what had happened with the Meteor.
Cloud was astonished. "That means telling them about how we killed Sephiroth."
Kit nodded firmly. "Leave nothing out. Tell them how he killed Aeris in cold blood. And how he summoned the Meteor specifically to destroy the planet and make himself immortal."
"But..." Cloud just kept staring at her. "Does this mean you explained to Gabriel?"
"No, but I want him to know why, before he knows what," Kit explained. "We were the good guys in that war, and you telling the story will mean a lot to him. He won't doubt your motives, he'll believe Sephiroth had to be stopped. I'm afraid if I were to tell the story, it might be... colored by my feelings."
"Which are?" Cloud asked suspiciously. "I thought you said you knew he had to be stopped."
"I do," she replied smoothly. "But you thought of him as a personification of true evil, which he was. I saw him as..." She had been doing a good job of staying hard this far into her request, but this choked her up. "I saw him as a sick, hurting man, who needed help... which he was, but that hurt turned him into the personification of evil that you saw in him. Yeah, he had to be stopped, and a three year old will understand why better from your point of view."
Cloud thought about it for awhile, and nodded. "Okay. I'll tell him and the others tomorrow. And you're going to tell him your part?"
"Yeah. After," Kit assured him. She wasn't sure how long after, but she wasn't going to tell Cloud that. Learning to crawl, Vincent had said. It was a small step to have Gabriel know this story, but once this idea got rolling, perhaps it would make her ready to stand up on her own.
The next day came and went, and Kit expected her son to ask her to tell him more at supper. But sitting at their table, he said nothing, thoughtfully shovelling food into his mouth. "So what was your day like?" she asked finally.
"It was good. Uncle Cloud told us a really weird story about Sephiroth... Did you really help to kill him?"
"Yes, I did," Kit answered.
"Was he as powerful as all the stories say?"
"More. He was... frightening." Kit waited for her son to say more, but he finished the meal in silence.
"It must have been really scary," Gabriel said suddenly as she was clearing the table. "Not so much fighting him, but... fighting him. He was supposed to be a great hero. Why didn't you tell me this story before? Were you afraid people wouldn't like you if they knew you killed a hero?"
This was her chance. Kit opened her mouth, but couldn't form the words. She merely nodded.
If Gabriel noticed her distress, and he almost certainly did, he said nothing until after she'd finished clearing the table. Then a knock came on the door. It was Bili and his mother, asking if Gabriel wanted to come out and play. "Yeah, can I, Mama?" Gabriel asked eagerly. "Uncle Cloud's story was great, but it was long, so Bili and I didn't have much time to play swords. Can we do that now?"
Kit's voice was still not functioning, so she just nodded again, and Gabriel ran off happily, brandishing the sword. As soon as he was gone, Kit sank down in one of the chairs and buried her head in her hands, cursing under her breath. "Now I get my voice back," she muttered angrily. How long would it be before she stopped freezing up at the thought of telling Gabriel the truth? She'd only taken one step towards it, she told herself, trying to be reasonable. Once she got her balance back from that, she could take another.
But more days passed, then weeks, months, and years. Chances came and went every now and then, and always she was left unable to speak. Sometimes an attempt to tell him left her shivering and crying, and he'd end up comforting her again.
As she'd predicted, he was growing tall and strong. At age eight, he could have passed for ten, and was becoming quite a swordsman. Every young boy in town was interested in swords now, thanks to Cloud's unwitting influence, and Gabriel could hold any of them off five at a time. He had a real sword now, although the blade wasn't sharp. Cloud wouldn't let any of the boys be accidentally hurt.
It stung sometimes, watching Gabriel spar with the other boys, because he moved with a grace like his father's. More painful, he'd stopped calling her Mama, and started calling her Mother. Memories of that word haunted her. His voice had that tone to it that Sephiroth's had, polite and purposeful. But as of yet, the arrogance wasn't there. Gabriel was as good-natured as he had always been.
It was when he was eight that Kit tried to take another small step towards the truth. One night before bed, she took him into her room and showed him the hidden door in the closet. She unlocked it and brought out the Masamune, and his eyes lit up.
"Don't touch it," she cautioned. "It's really sharp. I don't even touch the edge myself."
"It's my father's, isn't it?" he asked excitedly. "Can I hold it, just once?"
She gave in, and cautiously handed it to him. "Don't you dare wave it around, though."
"I won't." The blade was almost two feet taller than him, and he was unable to keep it upright. The blade fell in an arc, slicing a notch in the wooden foot of the bed. Kit gasped, and Gabriel looked up at her with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, it's heavier than I thought. It sure is sharp though."
Kit nodded. "Your father was very strong, maybe stronger than Cloud. But then again, maybe not," she added under her breath.
Gabriel heard anyway. "I doubt it. Cloud even beat Sephiroth, remember? Er..." He laughed. "Of course you remember, you were there." Then he took in the look on his mother's face, and sobered. "Mother, please don't start crying. Is it the sword? Is this all you have left of him?"
The room was blurry, seen through Kit's tears. "Yes, it is... This sword and you are all that's left of him. He also gave me this ring," she added, touching the warm, smooth metal band around her right ring finger, "but it was only a small gift. The sword... it was like a part of him."
She went to sit on the bed, and Gabriel carefully put down the sword and sat beside her. "You don't get this upset when you look at me."
"No, never," Kit agreed, but she was stretching the truth a little to say so.
"You know what? I think you shouldn't hide it away any more," Gabriel suggested. She looked at him in shock - she'd been trying to work up the courage to tell him whose the sword was, and for a moment she thought that's what he had been referring to. "I'm not a little kid anymore, and I know how dangerous swords can be, so you don't have to hide it from me. I felt the pride you felt when you showed me this, so maybe we could hang it above the fireplace or something, so we could look at it more often. I'd like to be able to look at it and feel that sense of pride too."
As always had happened before, the courage she was trying to work up seeped away as she wept. "Yeah, let's do that," she sobbed, and his arms went around her shoulders.
"It'll be okay," he said. "Everything will be just fine, Mother. Just you and I have done fine up until now, and we will be fine. Uncle Cloud was talking to me the other day about the Lifestream, and how people die and go there. My father's still there somewhere, and his energy will keep the planet alive. He was strong enough to use that sword, so he must have a lot of energy to be put to use. He still lives on, in the trees that grow and the children that are born."
Wiping her eyes, she looked up at him in surprise. "Cloud said that?" Knowing Cloud's feelings about Sephiroth, that idea was more eerie than comforting.
"No, he just told me about the Lifestream," Gabriel replied. "But if that's all true, I know that's where my father is. Not that I need to explain it to you, I guess. You heard it from Bugenhagen too, right?"
"Not directly from Bugenhagen, but Cloud explained it to all of us later. I saw the Lifestream myself, when Meteor almost hit Midgar, so I know it's true."
"Then my father's energy is there. He's still alive, Mother, in the planet and in your memories."
His eyes were bright with pride. Looking at them, she knew she'd made a terrible mistake putting off telling him. Just as Cloud had predicted, he'd made up a fantasy of the perfect father, brave and strong, and telling him the truth now would hurt him deeply. She couldn't bear the thought of dimming those aqua eyes, and so she just hugged him close. "I'll put his sword away for tonight," she said, "and tomorrow we'll rig up something to hang it above the fireplace in memory of him. That was a very, very good idea you had."
Other things were changing over the years. The AVALANCHE gatherings were still held annually, and their work was progressing well. The Highwind had been almost completely rebuilt, except that they were still having trouble getting the propellers powered without Mako energy to help it along. But everyone was confident the problems would be solved soon, as Cid and Shera were working every single day on a solution.
Except they hadn't worked on it every day of their honeymoon, they admitted. The sixth year's gathering had been held in Rocket Town, so everyone could come to the wedding. It had been bizzare, everyone agreed, to see the two of them in formal dress - and in fact, they joked that they expected Shera's white lab coat to be her wedding gown. Cid still berated her for silly little things, but not as loudly or as profanely, and if she didn't agree with what he said... well, he wasn't cowed, exactly, but she could give him a single curious look, and he'd start growling only to himself. The general assumption was that she'd made a deal of some sort with him, but no one knew exactly what it was.
The tossed bouquet managed to land in Yuffie's lap at the wedding, and she turned bright red. "I'm not old enough to get married!" she squealed over the guffaws of Cid and Barret. "Er wait..." She counted on her fingers and let out a yelp. "Oh gross, I'm getting older! How did that happen? Where did the time go?"
Barret patted her on the shoulder. "That's what we all wanna know," he said with a laugh.
Corel's new-old coal mining industry was doing quite well, but it looked as though the mines might be empty in as little as five years, at the speed the workers were going. Barret had hit on another idea though - in that mountain range, there were already shafts going deep into the planet, so he was trying to convince the other townspeople to make use of geothermal energy, which Red had suggested to him. It made a lot more sense, he thought, but it reminded some of the townspeople a little uneasily of Mako energy, and so they had a lot of educating to do. Red came into town to help with that, since he was continuing Bugenhagen's studies of the planet and it's energy.
Vincent lived half in Shinra Mansion, half in Cosmo Canyon now. With Red gone to Corel to educate the people and possibly help design the system, no one was left to tend the planetarium, so Vincent had taken up residence. Although he was still aloof at the gatherings, he smiled more since he'd begun observing the movements of the planets. When Kit asked him about it one year, he said it was relaxing, and gave him a sense of perspective. Still quiet, he didn't elaborate, but then at least he didn't sit by himself and drink anymore either.
Cait Sith came over to visit Kit and Gabriel often, for the most part to amuse Gabriel, but sometimes he stopped in when the boy was out with his friends. Kit invited him in anyway, as long as the cat didn't get too overly goofy. Since Reeve had been an executive at Shinra Inc., the two of them could reminisce about the old days and the employees and structure of the company as no one else could. Even Cloud had never really been a part of Shinra, he had just been a grunt in their army. Evil or not, the corporation had been a large part of Kit's life, and Reeve was the only one who could relate to it. But whenever she saw Reeve himself around Kalm, rather than Cait Sith, he just flashed a quick smile, waved, and went on his way. It was strange; Kit didn't remember him as being shy. Maybe it was the fact he'd been exposed as the kind of guy who would have fun pretending to be a stuffed cat, she thought.
Yuffie was still out hunting materia, although since Mako energy had all but vanished from the planet's surface, it was a lot more scarce. That just made it more fun when she did find it, she said. Despite catching the bouquet, sixteen years after Meteor she was still single and quite happy to be so. She had no shortage of admirers, considering that besides being pretty and athletic, she was also one of the heroes who had saved the planet. Rather than settling down, she had a few flings with some of the young men who tried to catch her eye, but never let it get too serious. The last thing she wanted, she said, was to suddenly end up someone's wife, or to have kids to worry about.
Tifa and Cloud, on the other hand, were taking well to family life. Three years after their son Aaron was born, they had another son, Cole. Lisa grew to be much like a taller, blond version of her mother, studying hand-to-hand combat to better compete with dark-haired Aaron, who took to the sword nearly as well as Gabriel. Cole, a shy, yellow-haired boy, was more interested in books and machines, and never got into the idea of fighting for sport. That was just fine with Cloud and Tifa, who certainly never intended to be teaching the children of Kalm how to fight.
In Corel, Marlene had been growing into a beautiful young woman, and having seen so much violence early in her life, had grown to dislike fighting. But she still harbored fond memories of Aeris, "the flower lady", and she learned how to defend herself using a staff. Not because she needed it - Corel was once more a town for friendly, hard-working folk - but as a tribute to the woman who had given the world hope. Also, it kept her in good shape.
Kit marveled at this second generation. Gabriel had grown almost as a brother to Lisa, Aaron, and Cole, but sixteen years after Meteor, Marlene still thought of him as a little brother as well, even though she'd only seen him once a year for so long. Gabriel seemed to feel the same, although it was hard to tell, what with him being a teenage boy. Under no circumstances would he be considered shy - in fact, as she'd predicted, the girls never left him alone, and he seemed to enjoy it just fine - but he'd developed a tendancy towards being a little moody, and was sometimes distant. Kit knew it was perfectly normal for a boy his age, but she kept an eye on him anyway. His father had been moody and distant too.
Even so, it was with only minimal worry that Kit agreed to let him go on a three day camping trip not long before the seventeenth gathering, with Bili, Aaron, and Lisa. Bili was Gabriel's age, sixteen, and she'd known him since he was three and played at swordfighting with Gabriel under Cloud's supervision. He had an unfailing sense of humor, but could be counted on in a jam. Twelve year old Aaron was a lot like Cloud in some ways - he was slow to anger, but when he got mad, he exploded. Lisa was fourteen, and though sometimes impetuous, could look out for her younger brother. They made a competent and trustworthy group.
Thus, it was quite worrisome when they did not return on the third day. Cloud thought maybe they'd been delayed on their way back by the rain, and so they decided not to worry about it until the next day. But early the next morning, a knock came on Kit's front door. It wasn't Gabriel returning, he'd have just come right in. A feeling of foreboding crept over Kit as she answered it. It was Cloud, looking grim.
"Get your equipment, your uniform and weapons," he said. "The kids went to the ruins of Midgar."
"What?" Kit's mouth fell open. "Why would they go to Midgar?"
"Just to see what they could find there," Cloud answered. "Cole knew about it, and they made him promise not to tell any of us, but when they didn't come back yesterday, he panicked. When I get my hands on those kids..."
Kit knew what they'd find there. Shinra's old weapons systems, which probably hadn't all been destroyed when the Meteor and Holy had come. And who knows what test specimens might have been held in Hojo's laboratories there, now free to roam the city? Not to mention that all the energy from Meteor, Holy, and the Lifestream might have created some new dangers, mutating the peaceful creatures that lived in the region or lacing the area with unearthly toxins. "It's too bad Gabriel's too old for a spanking," she stated angrily, going back to the bedroom to pull out her old grey SOLDIER uniform and the gun that went with it. "We can rent out some chocobos so that it won't take us a full day to get there - I take it Tifa's staying here in case they come back?"
"Yeah, and someone's got to stay with Cole anyway," said Cloud from the other room as she dressed. "I don't envy him right now. She was furious when she found out he'd been keeping that a secret... so was I, but I figured you had to be told immediately, and so did Bili's mother. Oh yeah, Cait Sith's going too."
"Really?" She poked her head around the door as she pulled on her boots. "That's good. He knows Midgar better than any of us, since he helped design it in the first place."
Cloud nodded. "Feels sort of like the old days, doesn't it?" he muttered ironically.
"I was never this scared in the old days," Kit admitted, strapping the gun's holster to her leg. "Guess it comes with being a parent."
Cloud smiled nervously. "I know what you mean. Are you ready? Cait's going to meet us at the edge of town, so let's move out."
"I'll be sure to tell Cid that you didn't say 'mosey' this time," Kit said dryly, "speaking of the old days."
To Chapter Two. To Chapter Four. To the intro. That means it's mine, not yours! |
 |
 |
 |