“Now, I just about heard ‘nuff outta you lass, you just keep your stories ‘o fiction outta this town or you stay out!”
With that, the old man turned and shut the door with a deep wooden thud.
“Man…that’s…awful, Tempest.” Fenris dropped what he was complaining about earlier altogether.
“Hmm…I guess this is how Strife must feel…” she clutched the hilt of her Ultima, until her hand hurt.
“No…they’re lies…all of them…” she smiled at the group sheepishly, “I should’ve told you before…this whole town is a backwater façade…one big lie.”
“But you just said this was your hometown…” Pharda said, spanning his hand across the town.
“It was…for a while, but they don’t take kindly to outsiders, people who don’t know the truth and just want to live in a nice town.”
“I see…” Rose said empathetically, “So that’s why you left for Hyral.”
“My mother and I left because they kicked us out…we had found out too much of who they were and what they did supposedly, they don’t trust anyone.”
“But what exactly are they trying to hide? What could be so important that they would need to hide it?” Andomiel questioned angrily.
“Don’t be mad Andomiel, it’s not their fault…” Tempest looked on, “I’m…sorry, I should’ve been prepared for them to treat me so coldly.”
Rose quickly ran to Tempest to cover up any tears she might’ve had, and then said, “We’ll need to stay at the hotel here guys, it’s too late to do anything at this hour anyway.”
“Okay…,” Pharda turned slowly toward the local inn, “is she going to be okay?”
“I think so…” Rose replied, and the remainder of the group headed for the inn.
Rose looked at Tempest in concern, “Are you alright?” she asked quietly.
Tears began to flow freely now that the men had left, her hardened icy spirit dissolved, and she collapsed in grief behind a nearby tree, weeping.
“I’ve been there Tempest, not having a home to go to, all my memories meaningless.”
Strife strode high on a green hill heading southward, his thoughts toward his beloved Aeris.
"I wonder what you're doing now, love?"
He stopped, knelt down on a healthy piece of earth, grasped it to feel its coolness on his fingers. His memories almost a blur from the special times they had together.
"I remember when we first met on that old dirty street, you'd been selling your flowers for who knows how long...I guess you'd been doing it for hundreds of years the way you kept at it."
He stood up again to feel the wind rustle his spiked hair.
"My hair's always spiked, you know, never knew any
way to keep it neat, but you, you always had yours tied in some ponytail braid of some kind, really fancy, elegant too. I liked that about you, you always took good care of yourself, and believe me, the years have been kind to you. Ah, I guess I can't say that now...I look as much of a kid as I did back then, damn Jenova. while you grow old and gray despite the fact you're...well, you're an Ancient, a Cetra. Me? I don't even know what the heck I am anymore, last time I could even consider myself human was when I was working for ShinRa Inc., scratch that, I wasn't human back then either. More like, the last time I was human...I was a little kid with big aspirations, sat next to Tifa and boasted I would be better than Sephiroth ever was. Boy did I call it, huh? Well, maybe I am and maybe I'm not, I mean, ironic isn't it? We never really did settle up did we? Find out who was better? Sure I beat him that one time (sorta, he was crazy back then). Boy, if I ever get to talk with him, he'll get a kick outta Tempest whooping Fade in a sword fight, eh? I mean, he taught her all the skills for using that sword too, plus the fact that she's a girl, you'd like that too, I bet. Ah, hell, I'm starting to sound like Barrett too much lately I think, maybe like Cid used to be, till he hooked up with Shera...speaking of which...I miss those guys. Sure 'ol Red is still around like us but...man, I miss picking on Zidane, and that hothead Seifer, he was always a show-off. Then there were the girls, Garnet, Zidane used to call her Dagger, don't know why, Beowulf's girl, what's her name? Oh, that's right, her name was Reis, she was tough when we needed her to be. Alma, always the model mage, smart when we needed advice. Then the two guys who started it all, man I miss them the most, they were almost like brothers to me, we always had fun when they were around, even when things were at their worst. Man, Ramza and Delita were the best leaders I ever worked with. Oh, yeah, I forgot about Delita's sister, what's her name...how could I forget...Teta...sweetest girl in the world, (next to you of course, love). Love, wish I could tell you all about what the next generation's up to lately, but now I'm not so sure, maybe I'm getting old (heh, I crack me up). Ramza's grandson Pharda is shaping up to be a well-mannered soldier, very proud of him, hope he succeeds in doing what we tried to do. Beowulf would be proud of Fenris if he knew, even Reis too. Then there's Andomiel, maybe Delita'll visit him sometime later...he gets quiet like Delita used to. Urd's pretty shy even though she likes to speak her mind, I think she's got Zidane's smart mouth and Garnet's tact...I hope. Rose is my new prospect, has real potential in her, now that she's a summoner like...well, I'll mention her later. Anyways Rose has got an itchy trigger finger like Seifer used to that'll get her into trouble someday, I hope I can scratch that itch for her."
Strife sat in an inn and was about to fold up the letter and send it to post, when he stopped and grasped the pen, tapping it as if expecting something to come to mind.
"Tempest...right, I said I'd get to her...I really don't know what to say, Love. She has a heart as big as yours, and an icy resolve and attitude like I used to have when I used to think I was just like Sephiroth...all cool and tough. I told her not to harden her heart, love, I hope she listens. This is hard for me, you know of course, probably harder for you though. Her parents got killed by that monster, I wish I could have killed Ajora when I tried...when I was in my prime, when my rage was at its peak. But Omnislash wasn't enough for her, was it? Forget I mentioned that, I'm sorry I brought that up. Anyway, she's...she can summon like you used to, Aeris. Young and powerful, and she has Ultima, I thought I'd lost that blade forever, I didn't think she'd end up with that sword. I think she's on to us, love, I think she knows who I am. Sure she knows my name now, Cloud Strife, yeah right! So does everyone else now because of that irritating redcat Nanaki! No...what I mean is...I think she knows I'm her
Great-grandfather or some such nonsense as they call it, I think she feels it every time we get close. I told her I'm not her father...you know I'm a crappy liar. Nobody except maybe Pharda seems to know, except Rose caught on (she's very intuitive), and they promised never to breath a word to anyone (we can trust them). As far as Fade goes, I'm worried about her, she knows more about me than anyone else there, but she acts like she could care less, when I know something's tearing her up inside. Maybe its because her mother died, I don't know. I decided to head for what I think is where I'll find her, the Arena. You know, the last place we saw Sephiroth? Before he...went into seclusion like us. Sephiroth was her former sensei, her teacher, he was like a father to her I suppose. Meanwhile, the kids are going up to Nibleheim mountain to go to the Wind Shrine. They'll have to cross that damnable place I used to call home, I know it'll tear up Tempest most of all. She used to live there too. Well, no one really knows the connection we share because she took her mother's name (well, your name), so most people see her as Tempest Gainsborough, not really recognizable as the daughter of a man who saved the world and went insane for it. Yes, I did go crazy, love, I only got my sanity back when I got you back. Somehow I feel that I'll go insane again if I lose you...or her. I miss you love, more than pen can say with ink on paper, more than my heart could ever beat. I'm so grateful to have met a woman like you, to have made such a best friend, to have such a love. And I love her too. She's a part of us, you know, especially a part of you, that's why I love her. I hope I can summon up the courage to tell her this. I know time has been cruel to take death away from me, and to separate my loved ones from me, but I swear, not anymore, I won't fail again, this I promise."
"Your loving Husband, Cloud Strife."
Pharda could hardly sleep that night, the days events having gone by so quickly he had barely enough time to register the meaning of them. Fade had left the group and Strife had gone after her, for what reason she left was completely an unknown to him. Strife was also becoming more and more of an unknown to him as well, as mysterious and hidden as he began, even then Pharda knew why Strife was so secretive with everyone. But why the guilt? It was never his fault to begin with, why shoulder it?
Pharda turned over on his side, noting the silhouette of his oldest friend, Andomiel sleeping in a separate bed next to him. He saw Andomiel stir slightly, then turn over and sleep. It was apparent that Andomiel and Rose were developing a relationship, for which Pharda was glad, Andy needed a friend anyway, he'd been somewhat like a lone wolf even when Pharda was around.
In a room across the hall, Tempest had been up crying for half the night, however she had kept the tears as silent as possible. "Why should I be ashamed of being hurt? Why am I so scared to show my face to Pharda or the others? Why does finding out the truth hurt ME so much?"
She'd wished previously to know more about Strife, that was the only reason she'd wanted to go to Nibleheim. She'd remembered the hurt before she left this dark town, especially how it hurt her mother. She hated the lies, the secrets, and all the shadows the people who 'lived' here tried to hide.
"I'd thought I'd steel myself from feeling this way, we're on a mission, not a recollection, plus I wanted to know more about Strife. But the more I know, the more it hurts, the more I wonder why I bothered? Is this what he was talking about 'going home'? No. I trust he meant I would find something important here about him, that he himself couldn't express to me. Maybe this is part of why he never talks to me? Maybe it's because it hurts him too much."
Her thoughts drifted to nothing as she fell asleep, exhausted emotionally from their trip.
The next morning, Pharda was (ironically) the first to wake up, and began to methodically polish and sharpen his Murasame as he was wont to do, until his friends would wake up soon after.
It was a rhythmic and almost hypnotic feeling he had, it seemed to make him forget all his hardships at the time, the pain and difficulty of losing his mother, the hatred he had for the creature that killed her, everything. He knew the Wind Shrine would be a challenge for he and his friends, but he was up for it. For now, however, he would let them all sleep, especially Tempest, whom he knew must have been struck hard by the harsh greeting to the town they were given.
His thoughts now focused on his sword, and on his father, "Dad, where are you in all of this? What exactly are you doing nowadays...probably drunk somewhere, or maybe smoking yourself stupid while your son is trying to save this planet from an angel of death."
He smiled, "Well, this is my sword now, dad, you can't ever have it back, because you never used it right."
It was strange, for the first time, Pharda felt like the sword belonged to him and no one else, and that feeling lingered. Along with a sense of purpose and
determination.
