Chapter ThirtyOne


Her trip into town that day was delayed until she'd summoned up the strength to move from the spot where he'd left her. Therefore, she missed any panic that might have gripped the small community of Mideel by a few hours. Even so, the people she passed on her way either glanced nervously at the sky every few seconds, or else frowned and kept their eyes pointedly cast down.
She found Dr. Richards inside, washing his hands hurriedly as moans came from the next room. "You'll have to reschedule," he said over his shoulder as he shook his hands dry and hurried back to the other room. "That... thing in the sky, it gave us all a scare, and Mr. Hadley's heart nearly gave out. I'm sorry, could you come back in a few days?"
"That's fine," Kit said, feeling numb. The meteor hadn't even hit, and it was already destroying lives. And it was all the fault of her lover. She rubbed the ring on her finger absently, and wondered for what must have been the hundredth time in the last hour how it was that her life was of value to him, but these others were not.
The nurse rushed back into the waiting area to get a syringe, and gave Kit a brave smile. "Are you all right? Your child? If you need to-"
"I'm fine," Kit replied. "It was just a shock... all that... I'll get out of your way now," she finished halfheartedly.
Her thoughts went in circles during her walk back to the lodge, and continued their evasive dance for the days following. How much time did the world have, she wondered. He'd said he'd wait until she made up her mind and told him one way or the other. Maybe if she never went to him... But surely he'd know what that meant. So she had to go to him. But even if she would, she didn't know how, except to open herself to Jenova again. There was no chance she would do that. So she couldn't go to him. But how soon would he get tired of waiting?
The bottom line, she decided, was that she had to go to him, but not without a plan. And it was going to take a good plan to get her there anyway, since she didn't have a simple way off the island.
It was Dr. Richards who provided her with a means of escape, when she returned for her rescheduled checkup. He had to examine her as best he could in the waiting room, because he had a patient resting in the next room.
"Mr. Hadley?"
"No... Mr. Hadley died yesterday," the doctor said as he stuck a thermometer in her mouth. "He was just too old to recover from the strain. The patient in there now is a young man who washed up on shore three days ago. We fixed him up as best as we could, but I haven't had enough time to do a thorough examination, we were so busy trying to keep Mr. Hadley alive, and he's still unconscious. Odd, since it's not time for the ferry yet, not for another few days, and there's no trade routes near here. Probably some ship's navigator lost his way, what with that planet appearing in the sky recently, and they drifted off course. We've found no other survivors, though, and it doesn't look good for this young man."
Kit waited until Dr. Richards took the thermometer from her mouth. "The ferry?"
"Mideel is really just a minor resort town," he replied, checking the thermometer. He nodded in satisfaction. "Every month a ferry comes from Costa Del Sol bringing some tourists, and taking some back to the mainland."
Kit felt a surge of hope. "How much does it cost?"
"It's a bit pricey, but not too bad. Why, are you thinking of making your way back to Shinra yourself?"
"That's the plan," Kit lied. From Costa Del Sol's port, she could make her way anywhere in the world, at least anywhere humans could go. It would at least give her a better chance of being able to get to Sephiroth, once she knew what she was going to do.
"Well, Cap's a fair man," the doctor commented. "I'm sure if we explained your situation to him, he'd give you a lift back at no charge."
Kit couldn't suppress a sigh of relief. "Dr. Richards, you have no idea how much this means to me. When does the ferry arrive?"
"In four days, depending on the weather."
As it turned out, the ferry was running a bit late due to the meteor's sudden appearance in the sky, and so it was five days later that Kit returned to the clinic to say goodbye. "How have you been feeling?" Dr. Richards added. "Any more morning sickness?"
"No, I think I'm past that stage," Kit replied. Ever since Sephiroth had put that ring on her finger, she'd felt healthier and stronger, and she hadn't had so much as a single dizzy spell. "I just talked to the captain, and he told me you explained the whole thing to him," she added. "Really, I can't thank you enough. I promise, someday I'll come back and pay you what I owe for all you did."
"Think nothing of it," the doctor told her with a smile. "If you're going to promise anything, just promise you'll bring your child back someday. I'll be glad to meet the little tyke that could survive all you went through."
"Deal," she said, shaking his hand with a grin.
A muffled voice came from the back room, and Kit glanced over at the door. "Your shipwreck victim woke up?"
"Well, yes and no," he answered, suddenly growing serious. "It appears it was no ordinary accident. Somehow, he got exposed to a high level of Mako energy, poor fellow. It's the most severe case of Mako poisoning I've ever heard of someone surviving, but there he is. Unfortunately, though his body has survived, his mind seems to be completely devastated."
"That's awful..."
"At least he has a friend to take care of him. It was the oddest thing," Dr. Richards said, shaking his head. "A group of his friends showed up yesterday, by airship apparently, and one girl decided to stay with him, to try to help him recover. To be honest, there's nothing she can do, but it's obvious she loves her young man very much."
"Aaahh...!" The babbling voice grew a little louder, and Kit glanced over at the door again, where it was half propped open. A glint of metal caught her eye, and she looked more carefully as her breath caught in her throat. That couldn't be...
"Cloud?" The sword leaning against the wall was unmistakably his, and ignoring the doctor's surprised look, she dashed over to the door and threw it open to see Tifa sitting on the floor at the foot of the wheelchair, her head in her hands. Slumped in the wheelchair was a man with familiar blond spiky hair. But when he raised his head listlessly to look at her, the vast incomprehension there turned him into a stranger.
No, not quite a stranger, she realized. Something within him was not lost in the void. Without his own personality risen to the surface to counteract it, Kit could sense something inside him faintly calling out to something inside her. The voice it used was that of Jenova.
To Chapter ThirtyTwo.
To the intro.
© 1998, 1999 by Andrea Hartmann.
That means it's mine, not yours!