[ video ]

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[Have a big bald dude scanning over the ruins of Madain Sari. Rude has no idea how he wound up here--or even where 'here' is for that matter, but the Moogles left him with a phone and he intends to use it to try and contact Tseng or one of the others.

Without realizing that the device is already transmitting, he begins to inspect it to see if he can figure how to contact one of the other Turks and find out what the hell is going on]

Comments

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

No one has mentioned it... but if no one is looking for a way out, then that must mean that is none.

[It was something she hadn't thought to ask.]

At least not one we can control.

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[He just can't believe they'd settle down here is all]

They must have been here for a while.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

That's the second time you've said that~

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[Was it? Shit, he must have been thrown off by the whole talking to a dead person thing]

Bah, LJ is still messing up my notifs :(

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[Someone is going to have to tell her eventually~ She might be a bit more understanding then. For now, Aerith simply assumes this must have something to do with Cloud and Tifa.]

... You must be distracted.

Maybe your jealous~?

Sry. D:

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[asldljghfdl; how'd she figure that? Rude liked to think his ...admiration was a well-kept secret]

What makes you think that?

Not your fault~ I'm just apologizing for my slowness.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[It's Aerith. Everything goes back to some kind of love triangle with her~ Her smile extends. Rude wasn't one she tried to tease too often, but now seemed as good a time as any.]

I don't know. You said it twice when we were talking about Cloud and Tifa... maybe I'm missing something that happened between the three of you..?

No worries.

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[Was he blushing?]

Nothing happened.

Okay!

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[Was he... blushing? Aerith's smile widened. She hadn't actually thought she was right!]

Are you sure..?

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[Must have been the sun. Rude's struggling to compose himself all over again. Ahem]

Think I'd remember otherwise.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

I guess I don't blame you. Tifa's pretty.

[She shifted a bit on the camera.]

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[He's never going to live this down, is he?]

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[Nope! But surprisingly, his secret is safe with Aerith.]

It's okay. I'm happy for them, but I was surprised too. I guess there's just a lot that I don't know about the future.

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[Yeah ... about that]

Nothing's set in stone.

[The fact that they were all from different times should be proof enough for that]

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

If that's the case, then would you tell me what I'm missing out on, Rude?

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[She really had to ask him, of all people?]

Not sure it's my place to say.

[Especially if her friends haven't told her yet]

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[She's starting to grow curious. It seems to be a subject no one wants to breech. And with that response, she's starting to worry about why.]

It can't be that bad if Meteor was stopped.

[She's quiet for a moment, her gaze moving away from the screen. This was strange. Why was she confiding in Rude of all people about this? Maybe it was because there was some sort of comfort found in someone she had always run from but knew somewhere, somehow were keeping her safe. He was familiar.]

I can still hear the voices of this planet. It's name is Gaia... they're sad, and they sound as if they're in pain. Some of them are familiar-- it reminds me of home and I guess, in a way, it makes me wonder if we managed to help heal the world or not.

Vincent said there was a place that tapped into the Lifestream here, so maybe that's why the voices of this place can reach me too. But they're heartbreaking, more so than the ones I used to hear back home.

[There is a pause as her face turns back to the screen.]

But that was what made me special, right? Why Shinra wanted me so badly and why Tseng tried to ask me to come of my own will. I'm sorry, Rude. I'm asking for too much and I've said too much.

[cyke.livejournal.com]

...

[He knew better than to involve himself in other people's affairs. It was one of the reasons he managed to avoid certain situations altogether--sans those problems that Reno would drag him into.

Still, Aerith was a big girl and if she wanted to know then who was he to keep it from her? Granted, he might have to answer to her friends later on, but staying on their good side wasn't exactly high on his list of priorities, anyway]

You were killed by Sephiroth when you tried to summon Holy.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[She looks shocked, but what else can someone look like when they found they were killed? And how was one supposed to act? She had been on her way to do just that before being brought here.

Aerith takes a seat, processing what she was told.]

... But I did summon Holy?

[cyke.livejournal.com]

[No turning back now...]

I don't know the whole story. Sephiroth managed to block it somehow, until he was defeated by Cloud and the others. Even then, Holy wasn't enough to stop Meteor on its own.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

Oh...

[She holds the phone in both of her hands in her lap, thinking over what she's been told. Then had it truly been worth it in the end?]

Midgar wasn't spared.

[cyke.livejournal.com]

Most people were evacuated to the slums.

[He hesitates, not used to divulging so much in one sitting--or ever, really]

The Lifestream was what pushed Meteor back from the planet.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

Most isn't all, but I guess I should be glad for that at the least. The planet wasn't destroyed, and that was really the goal, right?

[She attempts to give him a half hearted smile.]

And all of you were safe, right?

[cyke.livejournal.com]

We all made it through. There weren't many casualties. President Shinra helped the effort to rebuild afterward. Your friends were all safe, too.

[And another pause, as he debates whether or not to say anymore because this is pretty odd, to say the least]

A lot of people attribute what happened with the Lifestream to you. Especially kids ... Some of them claimed to feel your presence just beforehand.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

Rufus?

[There was nothing that said people couldn't change-- and apparently, a lot had changed since in the future she would never see. She shouldn't doubt it. Even the Turks had their own agendas, and she found herself trusting them while at the same time holding them at bay.]

I wish I could say I knew it was me, but I can at least promise that if there was any way for me to do something from the Lifestream, I would have kept fighting.