Two Souls Over Cosmo

Hello again. I found this old one when I was cleaning out my old hard drive and thought I would post it in its entirety here. There's no sexy-sexy in this one...yet. If there's enough interest shown, I might be able to find the lost chapter *wink wink* so tell me what you think.

Personal Disclaimer: I do not own anything, anyone, or any idea contained within the Final Fantasy fandom. All intellectual property below belongs to their respective parties and I do not profit from their use in any way, shape, or form. Thank you.

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It was their third night in the canyon, and it would most likely be their last. Two days ago, their buggy had broken down outside of the outskirts of Cosmo Canyon. Bugenhagen, being the kind soul that he is, offered them shelter in the canyon as long as it took to repair the contraption. Nanaki, of course, had a blast being back home, and spent most of his time catching up with his grandfather. The others kept to themselves, stopping every so often to soak in the atmosphere or converse with Bugen about the state of the planet. Yesterday was more of the same, although it was more education than leisure. Earlier today, however, was a lot different. Bugenhagen had said that he had something to show Nanaki, something that could not wait. With Cloud and Aeris in tow, they went underneath the canyon and headed toward the rear. It was here that Red had learned the truth about his father, Seto. No longer the coward that Nanaki hated, he was faced with the realization that his father was a true hero.

All of this led up to his own big announcement. Red was going to stay in Cosmo Canyon to look after his hometown as well as his grandfather. Gathered around the large eternal flame in the center of town, they knew that they would have to continue going without him. They retired for the evening, knowing that their buggy would be fixed by morning and their journey would resume.

Aeris could not, for the life of her, fall asleep. The single room she stayed in was calm, undisturbed, and well kept. It was warm, but the weather was mild and not oppressively hot. The bed was soft and comfortable. Her own mind, however, was racing. There were too many thoughts running through her consciousness at once. Will I ever figure myself out? Are Sephiroth and myself the same? What am I going to do once I find my answers? Where do I go from here? Red's going to stay...the only person I felt like I could connect with is leaving, and he's not even human. What's supposed to happen now?

Rather than forcing herself to toss and turn for another hour or so, she decided to throw on her robe and head out to the "balcony" just outside her room. It was not so much a balcony as it was a stone ledge, but the view was always phenomenal. Not only did it overlook the Cosmo Candle down below, but the skies always seemed clear and stars sprawled out for miles. She had spent most of her nights out on this ledge, she seemed to remember. Despite the fact she already longed for a change of scenery after only three days, she was going to miss this view.

As the wooden door creaked open, a rush of cool air blew past her body. She took a minute to smooth her hair back behind her shoulders, turning back to close the door. Wheeling around afterwards, she was startled to notice that there was someone else on the ledge as well. She let out a soft gasp of mild surprise, prompting the figure to turn his head over to her and nod in acknowledgement before turning back to gaze over the canyon.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know anyone else was out here."

Red did not turn his gaze from the canyon this time. "It's all right."

"I didn't mean to bother you. I can go back inside."

"It doesn't matter to me," he said. "There's plenty of ledge to sit on."

She smiled and walked over to the edge, sitting down fairly close to the beast. In the dark of night, against the background of the stars, he looked small and scared. The gentle breeze ruffled his mane, causing her to shiver slightly.

"I was unable to sleep, too," Red said, breaking the silence. "It must be one of those nights."

Aeris chuckled softly; she was glad to have something to talk about. "There's a lot that's happened in the past few days. What's on your mind, if you don't mind my asking?"

Red sat in silence for a moment, unsure how to respond. "Everything that happened today is just weighing on my mind. I mean, my father is not the man I thought he was. He was something more, something different."

Aeris cocked her head in slight confusion. "That's not a bad thing, is it?"

"You want the honest answer?" He sighed deeply, his voice mixed with remorse and anger. "I don't know. I've spent my entire life hating my father. I hated him for being a coward, I hated him for leaving this place when it needed him the most, and most of all I hated him for putting both me and my mom through what he did. For the past forty-eight years, I believed it all happened just like that. Now, after all that's happened, they tell me it's all different." He took another deep breath, his chest heaving as if he was having pains. He shook his head, unsure of what to do now. "Have I really wasted all these years with believing a lie? My driving ambition in everything -- getting out of Midgar, coming back home, staying here, everything -- was because I wanted to be better than him. If he was this great hero, then what have I been doing with my life?"

Near-silence ruled over the canyon, the only exception being the soft crackling of the Cosmo Candle from down below. Red's gaze remained fixed on the stars the entire time, while Aeris' gaze shifted down to the flame in the center of town.

"There's a reason we got out of Midgar," Aeris said after taking a deep breath. "You're here, aren't you? For one reason or another, you've made it back. And for that same reason, you're staying here. Regardless of what your father is, you've done something with your life, right?"

"I want to think so, but..."

Aeris stood up, her mind still racing and unable to completely convey what she was thinking. "Red, for whatever it's worth, I'm glad you've been with us. Just watching you do what you've been doing, I don't think you did it all just because you hated your father. You're staying here to protect your home and grandfather. You followed us down into the desert prison. You even..." She trailed off and turned away, the memories flooding back to her. "You got me out of Midgar. You're one of the reasons I'm still here." She would not turn to face him, and he made no motion to turn and face her. Straightening herself up, she took a deep breath to steady herself. "I don't think you've wasted these days."

"What do you mean?" He picked his head up and finally turned it over his shoulder to her. "I barely even know you. How can you say that?"

She sat back down next to him, dangling her legs over the edge of the ledge. "When I was brought to Shinra's Headquarters, I remember being thrown into one of those glass tubes. I also remember seeing a creature in another glass tube a ways down the line. I was so mystified, so in awe of what he was that I completely forget about my troubles." As the memories continued to come back to her, she cast her gaze downward. "I watched what Hojo did to you and how you never fought back, even though I was sure you could've ripped him apart. You seemed so gentle and complacent, which is not at all what you look like on the surface. I think you said it best when you said that humans judge only on appearance."

He made a noise in his throat that resembled a chuckle. "I did what I had to do to survive. Believe me, I wanted to rip Hojo's throat out the moment he laid his hands on me, but I knew that I would be killed if I did. Sadly, I knew that if he killed me, he would have focused more energy on the scared little girl a few tubes down. You seemed like something so sweet and innocent. I found myself wondering why Hojo would invest such an interest in you. That was before I knew you were an Ancient."

She smiled and cast her eyes toward him. "You see? I knew there was another reason you were hanging on like you did." With a nod, she added, "Thank you. I remember when Cloud and the others came to save me and you were in the specimen tube with me. You threw Hojo off, and when the tube opened, you jumped out and took him down.” She laughed to herself. "Actually, I thought you were going to eat me."

Red shook his head. "I would never. In all honesty, I was not planning on heading back here with you." He lowered his head along with his voice and quietly said, "I'm glad I did though.”

Her eyes lit up, even in the dark of night. "Really?"

He raised his head back to her gaze and nodded, smiling the best he could. "Really. I don't think I could have made it back here on my own, even though I wished I could. Being with everyone made me realize many things, and I was certainly glad for the company."

"Well, we were certainly glad to have you around." Unable to resist the temptation, she reached over and scratched him behind his ears. He did not resist. Chuckling to herself, she stood up and stretched her tired muscles. "We'll be sorry to see you leave, too."

"Are you heading off for bed?"

She nodded, shivering as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's getting a little chilly out here, anyway. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'll have a long road ahead of us tomorrow."

Red pulled himself up and stretched himself, yawning unconsciously while doing so. "I suppose I should be doing the same. I am...glad that we had this conversation. I will miss our conversations."

"So will I." She was about to turn back to her room before she stopped herself. "You know, I'm not exactly tired yet. Would you like to come in for a while? I'd like to continue this 'conversation' if you'd like."

Red played with the idea in his head for a moment, turning his eyes to the stars before turning them back to Aeris. "I would like to, yes."