Reunion Chapter 29
By Janet Monstwillo
"What do you want us to do, Captain?"
Cid looked up. "Some damn ‘full-fledged pilot’ you are. Land it outside the city ruins. I don’t want to parachute down into a pile a scrap metal, that’s for sure. It’ll be easier to go it on foot." He glanced at Shera. "You know, I think the kid actually has a mind of his own. It’s just so rarely used that I fear..."
She smiled. "He just wanted to double-check with his captain. I think it shows how much respect the crew has for you. They don’t need you; they just want to do what you want, though."
"Shera, you do understand that this might be it?"
She looked at him, puzzled.
"This may be my last mission. I ain’t no young little thing anymore, and this is gonna be some great unknown power we’re messing with. I don’t know if I can...if I will...hell, what I’m trying to say is..."
"I understand. You want to say good-bye, thanks for the laughs. I think I see what you’re getting at. I’m touched, I really am, but aren’t there a few more important people that you should be talking to? After all, I’m just your housekeeper."
"You’re more than just that. Shera...you...I...you saved the Airship, for crying out loud!"
"Fine, I can shoot a gun. I don’t see why you’d waste time on...are you practicing your ‘last hurrah’ speech on me? You should say it a little more emotionally, but overall, it’s rather good."
"This isn’t some speech, and if it was, this isn’t me practicing. I’ve already waited too long to say it, but I’m not going to let it turn into too late. I don’t care what I said before, what I thought I thought... Dammit anyway... Look, Shera, you may be a dumbass, but then, so am I. And you’re the most important thing in the world to me. I’d never admitted it before because I was so afraid that if I let my feelings close, then when I would lose you, it would hurt too much. But when I heard...everything about those Gens attacking Rocket Town, I realized that it hurt just the same whether I told you how I felt or not. And I still would feel empty if you were gone."
Shera was quiet. "Cid? This isn’t like you at all. I don’t know what to say."
"You don’t have to say anything. I haven’t been blind for all these years. I was the one that had to speak. You have been so good to me after I have treated you so shitty... I just know that if everything ended now, I wouldn’t want you to remember my facade--"
"Facade?!"
"Look, I read it a book. Anyway, Shera, I only want you to remember..." He lowered his voice and mumbled something so fast that Shera couldn’t understand him.
"What?"
"I... I love you." He leaned in and kissed her. Then he pulled back and scrutinized her face. "Why are you crying?"
"Because I’m so...happy."
Cid pulled her close and held her tightly. "I’m sorry that I was so bad to you...I’m so damn sorry... I never meant nothing I said to you before."
"I know you didn’t mean it...I...couldn’t have stayed otherwise. I understand completely."
"Cid? It’s time to go."
Cid looked up at Barret. "Alright. See you later, Shera."
They started walking towards the deck. Barret gave him a bemused expression.
"What the hell are you looking at?"
"Damn, Cid, it’s about fucking time, that’s all I have to say."
Cid narrowed his eyes. "None of your business. Why d’you have to go and stick your nose in it?"
"Destroying the Shinra once and for all ain’t my business? What the hell is my business, then?" He looked at Cid. "What did you think I was talking about?"
"Nothing...just never mind."
"Oh, you thought I was talking about that? Ha, Cid everybody else knew it but you. We were just wondering how long it would take your dumbass to find out. C’mon, let’s go destroy Shelding and get the former Shinra spy and former Turk back."
"Why couldn’t you just say ‘friends?’"
"Jus’ a man of words, I guess."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Maybe you could tell me what the point of all this is," said Reeve to the man who entered the holding cell where he and Reno were chained.
"Look, I just take orders. All I know is that you must be some sort of criminals."
Reno snorted. "Why don’t you just come out and say you have no thought of your own so you swallow whatever shit Shelding throws at you."
"Could you can it for once, Reno?" asked Reeve, exasperated. "Look, buddy, I know you have to follow orders, but I’m going to tell you right now, we’re not criminals. We surrendered ourselves over to Shelding because he threatened to destroy Junon."
"Junon? I just heard that..."
"What did you hear, kid?" asked Reno.
"We were massively defeated. We had grossly underestimated the Junon forces. Just so you two know, I don’t follow Shelding’s orders any more than necessary. The only person with authority over me is Laida."
"Let’s reminisce, Reno, about the ol’ Shinra-treachery-allegiance crap. I remember it well. Lowers were lackeys for people higher up. The higher ups promoted their lackeys when they got promoted. It was kinda like gambling."
"I’m sure that Laida doesn’t give a damn if we keep you guys locked up or not, but in this case, I am afraid of Shelding. I heard he went beserk earlier today. So I really don’t want to end up on his bad side today. So I gotta take Reeve to him now. Somebody else will come for Reno."
Reeve shrugged. "I won’t struggle. I knew what I was getting into when I surrendered. I don’t blame you, but I have a little advice for you. Get out of the Shinra mess as soon as you can."
The room was dark except for the crack of light that escaped between the two black curtains. Reeve squinted, trying to adjust to the sudden change of light. (Shelding, you would take the brightest room in a Gelnika and adjust it to satisfy your warped desires.)
"They all hear the calling, whether they realize it or not. They all feel the coming radiance, though they may not all come to see it. This child is a beacon to more than just one frail woman."
"I wouldn’t call Raieyana frail," said Reeve hotly.
"What would you call her than? Sickly, weak, dying? Though you never betrayed her whereabouts to me, in your haze of pain you relayed many of your own fears. You truly believe that Raieyana isn’t well."
Reeve was silent.
"Please don’t blame Lucas Shelding. I think you know, perhaps, that he was little more than an empty vessel, anyway. He thought himself more than willing to allow me back into the physical realm through his body. Although he fought me when the time came just as much as anyone. As you fought my son when he possessed your mind."
"What happened that day was foretold centuries before. I could not have changed those events, even if I succeeded against Sephiroth’s will."
"Well, Reeve, today was predicted at the dawn of time. If there is a creator, it intended for this to occur. And I, Hojo, intended it to occur from the day I created a child from my own son and that Ancient. Sephiroth was perfect; I planned to combine his cells with every successive offspring from Raieyana on, to build the perfect Ancient. With Sephiroth gone, though, there was a need to find another with almost as much strength as he. Isn’t it a marvel, how even in the Lifestream, I could use the communication channels of the Jenova cells to reach Cloud Strife one night six months ago? I never intended the incident to be so violent, but in my desperation..."
"Shelding, did you call me in here just to prove you were insane?"
"The transformation is complete. Hojo’s mind in Lucas’ body. My legacy made it simple for him to create the super-Soldiers and then implant my DNA into his own body. I am just trying to explain to you why I have to call the Reunion. Many of my experiments have run far away. I need to call them back to me."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Raieyana turned to Barret. "Is this the way?"
He peered through the twisted metal and past the collapsed buildings. "We’re in Sector 3, but near the center. We can get to where the power controls were from here. I sure hope we find Shelding there."
"I’m going to kick his ass!"
Everyone turned and looked at Shera.
"What, do you guys think I’m gonna be demure after what he did to Rocket Town with his Gens?"
"I don’t know if this battle will be purely physical," said Red XIII.
"But part of it will be, Red," said Yuffie, "and that’s where we come in."
"Are any of us strong enough for this, though. I’m just not sure..."
"Nothing in this world’s sure," said Vincent, "nothing is completely trustworthy. Not when Hojo is involved in any way."
"Keep moving," said Cloud, "we have to find Shelding. We have to save them." (Reeve, Reno, and my son.)
Raieyana followed the group through the ruins of a floating city she had never seen, moving towards the deathplace of a creator she had cursed her whole life. To save the child she never wanted to have, and to make a decision she never wanted to make.
Darkness descends as I descend
Night creeps along the horizon
I see the distant oblivion
The monster creeps into the shell of a man
The world shudders in horror
Only the pure can see everlasting disease
Quietly I turn to my only dream
There was a time when the only time I was cured was when I healed myself
Then I was revived by hope
Now I know the only time I am injured is when I hurt myself
The pain can never be too much to bear
I have more to carry than my own
My eyes scan the clouds
The storm tears up the trees swaying to the gust of the wind
Patience is a virtue
I’ve been patient for an eternity
Now the time has come
.