Starting Over
by Skylark
Disclaimer/Authors Note: I don’t own any of the characters from FF VII, and I didn’t ask permission to use them from Squaresoft. Please don’t sue me, as I don’t have any money to give you. This is a new idea I haven’t seen anyone else try yet, but then again, I haven’t read every fan fic the net has to offer yet. Wow! Another short note!
Prologue
Lifestream. The source of life for a small Planet. All that lives is created by this force; all that dies returns to it. It can heal or give you back your life, but it can also destroy, or bring about an end to your life. It has no feelings; it cannot feel pain or sorrow, happiness or love. It doesn’t care who lives or who dies in its many quests to give life, to take life; to heal the Planet that it is a part of. It is timeless, existing from the beginning of time and lasting to the end. To Lifestream, time has no meaning…
"Starting Over"
Written by Skylark
Started August 8, 2000
Finished?
AVALANCHE watched, transfixed with wonder as the Lifestream seeped up from the ground, its tendrils swirling together to form an almost solid mass which began to flow in the direction of Midgar, Meteor and Holy.
Lifestream reached its destination and flared up, a dazzling green light so bright AVALANCHE was forced to turn away. When the light died down and AVALANCHE turned back, Holy and Meteor were gone, but Lifestream remained. In fact, it was manifesting itself over the ruins of Midgar, a giant ball of green light.
"What’s it doing?" asked Tifa. No one had an answer. They had all figured with the threat to the Planet destroyed, Lifestream would disperse and return from whence it came. But now, it was gathering itself over Midgar, preparing to do Planet knows what.
Vincent and Red XIII exchanged glances and both nodded in response to the silent question.
"Red and I can both sense something, but it does not feel evil. I do not think we are in any danger."
It was as Vincent was speaking that Lifestream went to work. It began to sweep out from Midgar like a shockwave. Cid’s eyes widened. He spun and raced to the wheel of the Highwind. He brought the airship around, the engines roaring to life from the idle they had been sitting at previously, and raced away from the advancing Lifestream.
"What’s going on!? What’s Lifestream doing!?" shouted Cloud over the din of the engines and the roar of the wind.
"I don’t know," Cid yelled back, "but I’m sure as hell not sticking around to find out!"
Yuffie glanced backwards. "It’s gaining on us!" she screamed, too terrified to be airsick.
Indeed it was true. Lifestream was moving much faster than the airship could ever hope to go even in top form; not even the fastest gold Chocobo could outrun it.
The Highwind was swept up by the Lifestream as it continued its sweep of the Planet, meeting again on the other side, somewhere by the Cosmo Canyon area, where it finally dispersed, going up like a firework in a brilliant display of green light.
There was no one on the Planet to see it.
* * *
Cid stumbled as his foot caught on an exposed root. Moving quickly, he caught himself by sticking the butt end of his spear into the ground, using it to regain his balance.
"Are you alright, Captain Highwind?"
"Yeah, I’m alright, President Shinra. Just tripped," replied Cid. His mind started to scream in protest. President Shinra is dead! Sephiroth killed him!
Cid blinked and continued down the trail. It was both familiar to him and, at the same time, a distant memory, years old. He hadn’t been sleeping, but he felt as if he were waking from a dream, even though the memories seemed much too real to simply write off as such. Still, memories of AVALANCHE, Shinra and Sephiroth were fading fast, the way a dream was forgotten by morning light.
Cid glanced at his homemade spear, which he took with him wherever he went. Surely, the Venus Gospel hadn’t been a dream? He remembered the weapon, the feel of it and the way it wielded in battle too clearly, but even that memory was beginning to fade.
In fact, there was only one memory that wasn’t fading. The words rang loud and clear through his mind, repeating over and over.
Tank No. 8 blew up. Shera … you were right.
Cid came to an abrupt halt. There were murmurs of surprise and confusion from the mechanics that had been following.
President Shinra’s thirteen-year-old son looked up at Cid, his face set in a stern glare.
"Why are we stopping?" he demanded. President Shinra had brought his son along to witness the launch of the Shinra No. 26.
Cid ignored Rufus as he called the woman at the end of the line to him.
"Hey, Shera! Get up here!"
Shera jogged up to Cid.
"What is it, Captain?"
"I want you to take some mechanics and run up ahead. Have them check and re-check everything. I want you personally to check all of the oxygen tanks, especially Tank No. 8. Fix anything you think may be malfunctioning. Alright?"
Shera nodded her understanding and, even though she appeared to be totally confused, did as asked. She took a group of five mechanics and jogged the lot of them down the trail that led to the launch site.
President Shinra ended his conversation with Palmer when he saw that Cid was finished.
"I don’t mind last minute preparations, but next time, please do inform me first. And when you are talking to my son, you are talking to me as well. So if he asks you a question, see to it that you answer."
"Sorry, President Shinra. It won’t happen again."
Rufus gave Cid a smug smile.
%$#@ing brat.
"See to it that it won’t."
The procession lapsed into silence as they walked the last leg of the forest trail that lead to the cleared area where Shinra had built a rocket launch site, complete with rocket.
The Shinra No. 26 gleamed in the midday sunlight, the rocket towering proud and true over the tallest of the trees. Cid felt a grin spread over his face and his chest swell with pride as he gazed up at his rocket.
This is it! This is going to be the day I travel into space!
Cid winced and put his hands to his head as voices began to ring through his mind.
~~~~~~
"Shera, bein’ careful’s good, but no matter how many times you check that oxygen tank, it won’t matter. That thing wouldn’t break even if hell froze over."
~~~~~~
"Captain, preparations are complete! All that’s left is lift off!"
"Yeah! Leave it all to me! I’ll be back in a few!"
"All right, Captain! Fly our dreams into outer space!"
~~~~~~
"Engine pressure rising. Shinra No. 26, 3 minutes to launch. Beginning countdown."
"…Finally. What the? What happened!?"
"Cid! We have an emergency situation! A mechanic is still in the engine section of the rocket!"
"What!? Who is the little ^%$@!?"
"I don’t know. Activating the intercom in the engine section."
"Hey goddammit!! Who the &%$#’s still in there?"
"It’s Shera, Captain. Don’t mind me, go ahead with the launch."
~~~~~~
"You stupid little $#^%! It’s gonna get so hot in there that there ain’t gonna be #$!% left when we blast off! You’re gonna be burnt to a crisp! You’re gonna die! You know that, doncha!?"
"I don’t mind. If I can just fix this, the launch will be a success. I’m almost done."
"Almost done!? You’re gonna die!"
"Cid, we must start the countdown. We won’t make it if we don’t!"
~~~~~~
"Starting engine!"
"Hey, wait a minute! Shera’s still in here!"
"What are you going to do, Cid? If we cancel now, it’ll be another six months until the next launch!"
"GODDAMMIT, Shera … you wanna make me a murderer?"
~~~~~~
"Tank Number 7 check is complete, once I complete Tank Number 8, it’s all clear."
"Come on, Shera … hurry up … You’re gonna die…"
~~~~~~
"Why did you abort the launch, Captain?"
"@#%^! Because I’m no murderer. I couldn’t kill that dumbass Shera."
~~~~~~
"Captain! Are you okay?!"
Shera’s voice broke through the haze of voices running through Cid's mind. It took him a moment, but he finally realized that he was lying on the ground, clutching his head. Shaking it, he stood slowly, and a little clumsily.
"I just had a Cloud moment," he said. Shera cocked her head quizzically.
"Who’s Cloud?"
Cid frowned. "I don’t know. It just seemed the thing to say."
"Sure… I don’t know how you knew it, but Tank No. 8 is malfunctioning. It might take a while to repair, if that’s all right. I know you want to get this heap launched ASAP."
Something is telling me that I’ve screwed up this launch once before. I’m not sure just what the hell is going on, but something is giving me a second chance to get this right. I’m not going to ^%&$ it up again.
"Captain?" Shera’s voice drew Cid from his reverie. He blinked and turned his gaze to her.
"Uh, yeah. That’s fine. In fact, just let me tell President Shinra what’s goin’ on, then I’ll be right over to help."
Shera’s back snapped ramrod straight as she blinked in surprise. She pushed her wire-rimmed glasses back up her nose.
"Uh…oh…okay…" she stammered, then turned and fled to the rocket.
Cid watched her retreat, feeling a little guilty.
Yup, guess I deserved that. I really haven’t been treating her well. Cid scratched the back of his neck. I shouldn’t treat her so badly. I might screw up a good thing. I don’t want to lose her because I’m an idiot.
He watched her receding back for a couple more seconds, a grin spreading itself across his face, before turning and jogging over to where President Shinra and Palmer were discussing the countdown. Palmer turned to greet him.
"Hey-hey! Cid! What’re you doing here? You have a rocket to launch."
"Actually, you see, there’s a problem with Oxygen Tank No. 8. We can’t launch until it’s fixed, so we have to postpone. I’m not sure how long the problem will take to fix."
President Shinra regarded Cid for a moment as he digested this new information.
"I see," he said finally, "I realize that this is important, but we can not postpone for too long. I’ll give you until tomorrow noon. If the situation is not corrected by then, you’ll have to wait another six months to the next launch."
Cid nodded his understanding, snapped a smart salute, then turned on his heel and ran off in search of his tools. He found them quickly and ran over to the rocket where he joined Shera, who was already tinkering away at the malfunctioning oxygen tank.
"So what’s the problem?" he asked as he knelt down beside her and started to root through his tool kit.
"Someone’s got the wiring all messed up. If the rocket were to be launched without fixing this problem, the tank could blow up."
Cid blinked.
"I did the wiring on this tank. Someone was supposed to double check my work, but it seems whoever it was forgot."
"Captain!" Shera was surprised. Cid was notorious for being bad at wiring. It had been the one thing mechanical that he could never quite grasp. He could do it, but he always needed someone to double check for him, to make sure it was done right. "You could have compromised the entire mission!"
Shera slapped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she was saying and to whom. But, to her surprise, Cid only nodded.
"You’re right. I woulda ^%$&ed this up bad and ruined it for everyone else. Hell, I shouldn’t have even done the wiring for this. What I should have done was leave it to someone more capable."
Shera regarded Cid with trepidation. What was going on here? This wasn’t the Captain she knew and had come to love. Mind you, she liked the change, but it wasn’t right. Right for Cid was cussing and throwing temper tantrums.
"That someone is you."
Shera blinked in surprise.
"Wha?"
"Hello, McFly! Someone more capable at wiring. You." Cid regarded Shera, his eyes earnest. "You should have done the wiring, not me, because you’re right. I would have compromised the entire mission."
"What … what’s wrong with you, Captain? You … you’ve … changed, somehow…"
Cid chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I have, haven’t I? Isn’t it better like this?"
"Well," Shera chose her words carefully, "you’re a lot … nicer, this way."
Cid gave a short bark of laughter. "Yeah, guess I am. I guess being "Mr. Nice Guy", I should offer you the chance to accompany me in the cockpit when we launch."
"Tell me you’re joking…"
Cid shook his head and watched as Shera’s eyes widened in shock. For a moment, she couldn’t speak, too bowled over by Cid’s proposition for words. Finally she found her voice.
"I … I’d be … be honored to…"
Cid silenced her babbling by placing his finger to her mouth.
"Great. Now, we have to fix this thing before we launch it, so what say we get to work?"
Shera grinned and nodded, and the two set to work rewiring Tank No. 8, Shera doing the rewiring, Cid handing her the tools she needed. Working together, they got the job done in a couple hours, leaving enough time for the launch to still happen the same day.
After Cid got the go ahead from President Shinra, and all the last minute preparations were completed, Cid and Shera made their way to the cockpit. The engineers and mechanics that were present stood on the sides of the ramp, each saluting. Reaching the entrance to the rocket, Cid and Shera turned and saluted back, then turned and entered the rocket, heading for the cockpit.
"So this baby’s gonna get up into outer space?" asked Shera as she and Cid strapped themselves into their respective seats.
"Oh, yeah!" crowed Cid. He ran his hands over the instrument panel in front of him, pressing a sequence of buttons. "Alright. Instrument panel … all clear. Shinra No. 26, ready for launch."
The radio came to life in a burst of static.
~Engine pressure rising. Shinra No. 26, 3 minutes to launch. Beginning countdown.~
Cid and Shera exchanged grins, and sat back to wait. The minutes ticked away slowly, both Cid and Shera fidgeting with excitement.
~Starting engine!~
The engines started with a roar and the rocket lurched slightly.
~30 seconds until ignition. Beginning countdown.~
Cid and Shera began to count down together.
"29 … 28 … 27 … 26 … 25 … 24 … 23 … 22 … 21 … 20 … 19 … 18 … 17 … 16 … 15 … 14 … 13 … 12 … 11 … 10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … 0 … ignition!"
The engines roared and the rocket lurched suddenly.
"Come on, baby, don’t fail me now!" cried Cid. Then they were moving, up and away from the Planet. Neither could speak due to the G force, but that didn’t wipe the grins from their faces. They were on their way!
It seemed an eternity, but in reality, only a few minutes had passed before the rocket broke free of the Planet’s atmosphere and slowed, entering space. The sky in the view screen darkened and the stars became visible.
"We made it," said Shera. Cid nodded.
"So this is outer space," he replied, staring with awe at the view screen. He turned his gaze to Shera. "And we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you."
Shera turned bright red.
"Captain…"
"Ah!" Cid held up his hand, silencing her. "Cid! Remember my name, goddammit!"
"Cid … I … I don’t know what to say. Surely, it’s not all my doing. I mean, everyone had a hand in building this rocket."
Cid nodded. "Yeah, but if it hadn’t been for you, Tank No. 8 would still be ^%$#ed up, and no one would get anywhere before they’d get their @$$es blown outta the sky."
"Yeah, but…"
"No buts! You will take the credit for this, and that’s final! Hell, make that an order!"
A grin slowly crossed Shera’s face, and she saluted Cid as best she could, still being strapped to her seat.
Cid grinned and saluted back. His hands moved to his safety belt and he unhooked it, lazily floating out of his seat. Shera followed suit. Cid glanced at Shera, and evil grin spreading across his face.
"I wonder what it’s like in zero gravity?" he mused quietly. Shera turned beet red.
"Captain!" she exclaimed.
"It’s Cid, damnit! And get your damn head outta the gutters! I was talking ‘bout this!"
Cid grabbed the floating Shera and pulled her to him. For a moment they just floating there, staring into each other’s eyes. Then Cid leaned in and kissed Shera.
* * *
The ground rushed up to meet her, slamming into her back hard with the force of a freight train. It drove the air from her lungs.
"Godo!" she heard a female voice cry. "She’s just a little girl! You don’t have to be so rough with her!"
"Don’t worry, Michi. I won’t hurt her. See, she's getting up."
Indeed, Yuffie was slowly picking herself up from the ground, wheezing. She quickly leapt to her feet and struck a fighting stance.
"Come on, dad. Don't go so easy on me next time, or I'll kick your butt!" she cried.
Godo gave Michiko a triumphant glance, for which he received a look of daggers. Then he and his daughter continued to spar. Yuffie got in a couple of good hits, but Godo dominated the fight, and Yuffie found herself flat on her back numerous times. It wasn't too long before the both of them began to tire.
"Have you had enough yet, daughter?" panted Godo.
"Wanting to give up already, old man?" huffed Yuffie. And so the match continued until Michiko decided enough was enough and called the match. Yuffie and Godo ended in the traditional manner, bowing to each other.
Godo, Yuffie and Michiko left the Pagoda of the Five Gods. It was evening and the sun was setting over Wutai, peeking over the top of the Da-Chao Mountains like a child would peek over a fence to get a glimpse into a neighbor’s yard. There were few people dotting the streets of the large town, most already gone home for the night, but others were still running to and from the different stores. The November air was cool and crisp. Yuffie and her parents weren't staying out in the cold for too long, for they only lived beside the Temple of the Five Gods.
"Tomorrow, your mother will work with you on the ability of falling without getting hurt," said Godo as the family entered their home. Yuffie's face fell.
"Dad!" she whined, "do I have to work tomorrow? Classes last all day! What about a party?"
"What party?" asked Godo, as he exchanged winks with Michiko, "what's so special about tomorrow that needs to be celebrated?"
"You forgot it's my birthday tomorrow, didn't you?" Yuffie asked, sounding hurt.
"Your birthday?! Tomorrow? You must be mistaken, daughter. Today’s only the … 11th."
"It is not, Dad. You going senile in your old age? Today’s the 19th!"
Godo exchanged glances with Michiko. She shrugged, grinning – she knew full well that it was the 19th – and Godo scrunched his face up in a look of mock confusion.
"But … but yesterday was only the 10th! Where did the other nine days go?"
Yuffie broke into a large grin. "Dad, you’re just jerkin’ me around, aren’t you?" Godo smiled.
"Yes, I was only fooling with you. There are no classes tomorrow. Why? Did you really think I’d forget the birthday of my favorite daughter?"
"I’m you’re only daughter," Yuffie pointed out.
"That you are," exclaimed Godo as he hefted Yuffie into his arms, giving her a big hug. Then he put her down and gave her a light shove down the hall. "Now, go get ready for bed. Little girls who aren’t in bed on time don’t deserve birthday parties." Yuffie squealed with laughter as Godo chased her down the hall.
Michiko shook her head, a grin on her face. Like father, like daughter. She patted her stomach. I don’t know if I can handle another. I wonder when I should tell them?
She walked down the hall after Godo and Yuffie.
~~~~~~
To be continued...
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