[Voice]

[herobydefault]

A question. [Cloud says it like it's punctuated with "for you strange people."]


If you don't have a Lifestream keeping your Planet alive, what's holding it together?

Comments

[Action]

[wingenvy]

Yeah, I saw. They rebuilt the town... I couldn't believe it. Why would they bother...?

[He hadn't looked much, mind you- he'd been busy protecting Cloud.]

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[She approaches the couch again, frowning. He'd been in the mansion long enough for it to be rebuilt... just how long had it been?] Most people still think of Sephiroth as a great SOLDIER. Shinra announced his death, but they never said anything about Nibelheim...there are people living there who say they've stayed their whole lives and nothing bad has ever happened.

...It was really awful, Zack. Cloud and Tifa were so upset.

[Action]

[wingenvy]

...That's... really horrible. [Words don't describe, at all. He can't imagine it- their families killed, and all of it just swept under the carpet like that? So many lives had been destroyed that day... the three of them couldn't even be considered lucky to have survived it, after what they'd gone through. And Shinra just... pretended like it never happened. Ugh.] I'll try not to mention Nibelheim around them. [Not that he'd ever do that intentionally with Cloud anyway. Too many bad memories even after it burned.]

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[Aerith considers him for a second before crouching down in front of him, arms crossed over her knees as she looks up.] It's better that way. We don't have to keep talking about it either. Hmm, what to tell you... would it be simpler if you asked me? What do you want to know?

[Action]

[wingenvy]

[Moment of truth, isn't it? There's a number of questions he's been wanting to ask. Especially all that business Guy got him thinking about, but... it's bothered him for a long time now. And she's offering, but-

Would he really get what he wants to hear? Does he actually want to hear it at all?

He swallows hard, eyes downcast for a while, then he lifts them and takes her hands in his own.]

...Do you... know what happened to me? Do you know where I am?

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[When his eyes look down like that--such a gloomy expression--she has a bad feeling about what's on his mind. Her hands still tense in his when he asks those two questions, her lips quivering as she stumbles toward her answer. If I take away his hope...]

...I... I'm going to find you. It doesn't matter where you are [but her eyes are lowered when she says that]. I'll find you.

[Action]

[wingenvy]

[So... he's lost, huh.

That's much better than the alternative, so he can't complain. It feels incomplete, but... how is he supposed to prove that, anyway? He can't. And he has no reason to- he trusts her, and Cloud. What else does he have in a place like this?

So after giving it a long moment's thought, he musters a smile, reaching down and lifting her chin with his hand. Big grin, Zack. You can do it- big grin.]

Hey, it's okay. I'm sure it'll work out! It always does.

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[It's a smile. It's not an easy one--she can tell, she knows it--but it's so much better than what else she might have seen on his face. And she smiles back, her eyes closing in relief, even if the last time things worked out for the two of them was over five years ago.]

Right. [She squeezes his hands.] I'm not giving up. After all... we were supposed to try selling flowers together again, weren't we? And we can't do that here. No money.

[Even if it's a lie now, there's still time to make it true. Lives lost... couldn't they find a way to save themselves?]

[Action]

[wingenvy]

That's right! Midgar full of flowers, wallet full of money!

[He's already feeling a little better- especially with that promise under their belts. There's still something wrong, but... when isn't there? Life is too complicated these days. It makes him miss how it used to be.

Not that regrets get them anywhere.]

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Midgar... it'd have to be somewhere else. [She hesitates, not sure if she can explain something she never witnessed or has understood beyond the fact that the crisis she'd died trying to prevent had devastated Midgar. It still didn't feel that real for her.] Mom's staying in Kalm now.

[Action]

[wingenvy]

[HOLD THAT THOUGHT.] What happened to Midgar?

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[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[There's a looooong pause before Aerith takes a deep breath.] We found out that Sephiroth was going to injure the Planet with a meteor. I know, it sounds crazy. [But that's what Sephiroth is.] We tried to stop him from taking the materia to summon it, but he got away.

As an Ancient, I prayed for a spell that could counter Meteor. But right after that, I came here. So I don't know what happened... maybe I... [She shakes her head. Even if she had messed something up--she'd tried so hard, what more could she have done? She'd died.] Tifa told me that Holy wasn't as strong as it should have been. It stopped Meteor from hitting the Planet itself, but Midgar was damaged...and people don't live there now.

Shinra's collapsed, too.

[Action]

[wingenvy]

[Zack can't help but stare, unable to respond for a long moment due to the sudden shock. Midgar damaged, so much that it's uninhabitable? Shinra ruined? Sure, he'd had no intention of going back there, but so much of his life had revolved around the city and the company running it. It had been his home. To hear that it was just... gone...

Beyond shocking.]

....Geez... everything's... different now.

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[Aerith nods, brushing her thumbs over his knuckles.] There's been... a lot of pain. Still, we keep going. [She stands, letting go of his hands slowly to clasp her own behind her back.] As long as we do that, eventually things will work out.

[Action]

[wingenvy]

Yeah, the world won't go anywhere if we just give up, right? So I think it'll be just fine.

[Action]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

That's the way to look at it. And when it's all done, I think... [hope...] everyone will be happier, because we'll have found a better way of living.

[Action]

[wingenvy]

Sounds like a pretty good future to me.