Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

INTERLUDE

With the story of Midgar finally behind us, we took another break to rest and collect our thoughts. Cosmo Canyon's good for that sort of thing, which is part of why we're doing this project here. Like before, we've each gone off to different parts of town. Some of us, like Red and Yuffie, stayed together as they left. Others, like Jessie, went alone. I know exactly where to find her, though. Her favorite spot.

The top of the canyon, outside the observatory. You can see for miles from there, all across the desert. It's an incredible view, especially early in the morning when the sun first comes up. Jessie and I watched it together the first time we came here. I remember how troubled she was, although I hadn't understood why back then.

She'd been like that for some time, even before Corel, as if something had been eating away at her. She'd tried to hide it behind her usual cheer and charm, but I knew better. I was there with her the night she woke up screaming from the nightmare she'd had after Fort Condor. She'd been so pale, shaking like a leaf as I'd held her. It had reminded me of the way I'd felt after I'd dreamed about her death in the Sector 7 pillar. She wouldn't tell me what she'd seen, though. But I'd heard what she'd shouted as she'd jerked awake next to me. Just one word.

Aerith.

It wasn't long afterward that I had another bad dream myself. Not a nightmare, but a warning. And the burden of an impossible choice I had yet to make. So by the time Jessie and I first came here to the canyon, we were both struggling inside. But when we shared that sunrise together, it gave us a little moment of peace. We didn't even need to say anything. It was enough just to be there and see it. For a while, we were able to forget about the terrible dilemmas we were dealing with and simply enjoy each other's company. It was a break we'd badly needed.

The sunsets are really good, too. Jessie and I watch them often while we're here. And as I make my way up through the winding paths and old rock tunnels of the town toward the top where I know she'll be waiting, I slip a hand inside my pocket. It closes over what I'm looking for almost at once, but I don't take it out just yet. I just wanna hold onto it for now, to know it's there. To remind myself of what it means, for both of us. A new beginning. That's what it's about, what it is.

I brought it with me to the canyon—a small velvet box, and the ring inside it. Jessie doesn't know about it, of course. That's the point. It's been five years since our long journey to stop Sephiroth and save the planet. A lot's happened since then, and we've been busy doing what we can to help rebuild our world. But we've got our own interrupted lives to restore, too. Our own dreams to chase. And I think I've made her wait long enough. I just need the right words, the right moment.

We both went through and endured so much during our quest, and I think we're due a little happiness now. We were both chasing our demons during our pursuit of Sephiroth, but we didn't realize then that they were chasing us as well. We were both being pulled, drawn, each in a different way, to where Sephiroth was waiting for us. And we both found ourselves lost in the dark, trying to find our way out of the hopeless situations and dilemmas that we had become trapped in.

An uneasy promise I'd made to Aerith had kept me silent about what I'd later found out in my dream. And Jessie's fear of what she'd seen in her nightmare—a terrible future she couldn't see any way out of but was still desperate to change—had led her to face it alone. She'd been worried that if she told me or the others about it, she'd set things in motion that would lead to the very moment she was trying to stop.

The future's a funny thing, though. Sometimes it can be changed, like with Jessie and her fate in the pillar. But other times, no matter how hard you try, it can't. Some things, they'll just always happen, no matter what. And when they do, the test isn't to see if we can find the answer and save the day. Instead, it's to see how we react and what we do when we realize there is no answer. Jessie learned this, just as we all did, although I think what happened that day was hardest on her.

She's there at our spot when I arrive, just as I'd known she'd be. We'd begun the hunt for Sephiroth separately, but just like now, we had found each other again in the midst of it. Jessie had become a part of a journey that she'd always been absent from before. And her being there changed a lot of things, especially with Cait Sith and the part he played in it. I've got a feeling it was very different from all the other times this has happened. But I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

By now, I guess you're probably wondering how we've all been able to remember so much so clearly after so long. It's a good question, and to be honest, we've got a little help. It's something Nanaki found recently in his grandfather's observatory. Not all materia are for battles and fighting, as you'll see. This is one of them—Recall. It lets you see and experience your memories, your past, and relive them in a sort of waking dream. But you can't actually change anything. It doesn't work like that. All you can do is watch and try to learn. And that's been enough.

Jessie smiles when I come up to stand alongside her by the fence, but she doesn't say anything. Neither do I. We both know what's ahead of us, the story we haven't told yet. And like the first time we came here, I think we need this moment of peace before we go into that part of our journey. It was long, hard, and very dark for both of us, especially when we found the ruined temple and everything we'd been fighting for began to unravel. So did we, each of us in our own way. And what happened after that was the hardest and most painful part of all.

But none of us are ready to talk about and relive that yet, Jessie and I least of all. So for now, she and I just stand here quietly together, our eyes fixed on the horizon and the dazzling view, and as dawn slowly begins to sweep over the desert, she puts her hand in mine and leans softly against me as I wrap an arm around her. And we both remember. Even after all this time, it still hurts. But we're not alone. We have each other as well as our friends, and it's all we'll ever need. So in that still, peaceful moment, Jessie and I watch the sunrise together.

And we think of her.

- Cloud Strife