No Wish to be Alone
Epilogue
Sephiroth carefully closed the
door of his room, hoping not to wake Aeris. A sleepy voice from under the
blankets asked him where he’d been, and he knew she had been waiting for him.
With a tired sigh, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his boots. He
looked down at her, stroking a finger down the side of her face.
"I was out talking to
Cloud." At her alarmed look, he smiled reassuringly and bent to kiss her.
"Do not worry, love. I think, perhaps, we have reached an understanding.
He does not like me, nor do I believe he will ever like me, but he seems to
have accepted the situation."
She sat up, clutching the
sheet in front of her. "You don’t think he’ll try to attack you again, do
you?" The fear and sadness in her eyes spoke volumes. He silently cursed
Cloud for making this more difficult for her.
"No, love, I do not think
so." He unfastened his coat and tossed it to the chair. Swinging his legs
up onto the bed, he lay on top of the blankets beside her. He propped himself
up on one arm to lean over her, cupping her face in his other hand. "You
are so very beautiful."
"So are you." She
moved closer to him, then yelped when she touched his
chest. "You’re freezing!"
He chuckled. "That is
what happens when one walks about in the cold."
"Then let me help you
warm up," she smiled, pulling him down.
*****
The Planet dreamed.
There was a place like Inside,
yet an Inside where no living person could go, a crossroads in the dreams of
two entities that were part of each other, yet separate. Amidst the quiet blues
of the Planet’s consciousness and the fiery greens of the Lifestream, a vision
arose of two people, ancient souls of great power.
"Planet," they said,
"We are ready."
The Lifestream flared. So soon? It asked. Certain you should not wait
further?
One of them, the female,
smiled serenely. "It is past time. We have been waiting to come back
together. This is our chance; the timing is perfect."
The male grinned at her.
"The situation is perfect."
They are ready, the Planet said, effectively cutting
short any argument the Lifestream had about giving up two of its most cherished
souls. Will be needed, very soon.
Twining a wisp of green
Lifestream about her fingers tenderly, the female said, "Dear Friends, do not mourn our loss. We are to be born
anew."
The male went to her side and
put a hand on her shoulder. "We will return again someday. You won’t even
notice we’re gone."
Will still miss you, the Lifestream sighed. All Cetra
love you. Will not be same until you return.
A third form materialized
before them. "Ancestors, you honor me," she said, bowing.
The female moved to embrace
her. "Oh, Ifalna, it is our honor to be reborn
as your grandchildren. Your difficult journey and sacrifice will be rewarded.
The moment you gave up your life to see your daughter to safety, I knew that
great things would come of it."
The male nodded. "I feel
better knowing that you will be our guide as we relearn how to live." He
felt the atmosphere change, and a mixture of excitement and nervousness came over
him. "Sister, it’s time."
She smiled at Ifalna, suddenly happy and apprehensive as well. "I
cannot believe it. I have waited for so long for this!" She took her
brother’s hand and breathed deeply. "Farewell, Ifalna!"
"Watch over us, Dear
Friends!" called her brother, closing his eyes. Mischeivously,
he cried, "And hello Father!" His sister laughed merrily.
First he, then she faded from
view, as though they had not been standing there moments ago. Ifalna hugged herself in joy. To herself, she thought, Oh,
Aeris, my daughter, who would have known? You’ll need my guidance as well, to
handle those two. Not to mention how much you’ll have to teach your husband.
Ifalna, coming? The Lifestream’s voice came
softly.
Yes, I am done here. She sighed happily as its delicate
tendrils surrounded her, comforting and supporting her, and soon the woman and
the green glow were gone.
The Planet woke, and began to
sing.
*****
In the early morning gloom,
just as the sun rose, Sephiroth and Aeris lay in each other’s arms. The fire
had long since died away to embers, but neither of them felt the cold on their
heated skin. They laughed together, Aeris gasping for breath as her husband
nuzzled her ear, clasping her against him.
Suddenly, she lay very still.
Her hands gripped his arms, and a strange expression crossed her face.
"What is it?" he
asked, becoming concerned. He had felt…something…on the edge of his
mind. A faint call, or a…greeting?
"Something is
different," she breathed, closing her eyes. She turned her thoughts
inward, seeking in her soul for the change.
The Planet’s music flooded her
senses. Aeris had a hard time understanding what it was trying to say, and she had to sort through the wild joy to find the
central message. When she did, her eyes snapped open to find Sephiroth looking
worriedly down at her. Gods and Planet both, she thought, I love him
so much.
"Are you all right?"
he asked, searching her face with his brilliant stare. To his surprise, she
burst into tears and threw her arms about his neck. "Aeris,
love, what’s wrong?"
"Nothing," she
sobbed, "Everything’s right." She laughed through her tears at his
expression. "There are two. Two children. Twins."
She watched the realization
dawn on his face, the worry being replaced by astonishment, and then joy. "Children? Ours?" he gasped.
Two children,
came the Planet’s
voices, Two very old souls. Very good.
"But when?" he
asked, still in shock.
Aeris giggled, kissing him. "Just now."
Heat surged through him,
burning away everything except the desire to be closer to her. He pulled her
tightly into his arms, turning her light kiss into a more fervent meeting of
their lips. His mind picked up the music that reeled forth from the Planet and
was lost in it.
I love you I love you I
love you Aeris…
Oh I love you I love you my
Sephiroth my husband…
They made love again as the
sun rose.
~~fin~~
*****
A very long Author’s Note:
So, here’s the last chapter. I
know it’s not very long, but it wanted to end here. Who am I to tell the story
to go further than it wants to?
I hope you leave me a little
review when you’re done so I can see if you liked the story, if you didn’t, whatever. I feel like I know some of you personally!
Remember that I LOVE to get email from people about this story. My new address
is chocobogoddess@hotmail.com, so please use that when contacting me. Also
remember that I keep an email list of people who are interested in NWtbA and updates, so if you’d like to be included, please
email me at the above address.
The Chocobo
Goddess web page will be up soon, thanks to some help from my friends. This
story and others will be posted there. I also did some drawings to go along
with most of the chapters, so they’ll show up there as well.
I warned you this was nearly
done. Now it’s truly done. I’m taking a break.
Chocobo Goddess
*wark*
PS: Many thanks to Aloria, Miras_Dragonfly, Lovely
Lucrecia, aer_seph4eva, Chibi Taryn
Demon, and everyone else (and I mean EVERYONE else) for all the MULTIPLE
reviews & emails. I can’t believe this went as far as it did!! You guys are
the best! *MEGA WARK*