Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

THIRTY-FIVE

"Positive," I assured him. "You saved Marlene, my friends, and a lot of other people. They wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for you. Even if I'd died out there, you still made a difference."

"Thanks, Jessie," Kunsel said, hugging me again.

For a while, we just stood there in each other's arms, glad to finally be together again. It was wonderful, but also different than before. And as I held onto him, I remembered something Aerith had told me once, not long after I'd first come down here to the slums.

"Thinking about Kunsel?" she asked softly.

I nodded. "Yeah. Do you think I'll ever see him again?"

Aerith sighed as she stood with me outside on the upstairs balcony of her house, her hands resting on the railing. "I don't know. But even if you do, it might not be the same. Time changes a lot of things."

And she'd been right. Although I was so happy to see Kunsel again, our reunion wasn't quite the way I'd once imagined it. We couldn't pick up where we'd left off, and I realized, as much as I cared for him, that I didn't want to. I loved Cloud too much. So I slowly let go of Kunsel and backed up a little to give us some space.

He didn't mind. "How are you feeling? Marissa told me about what happened up in the pillar that night. It's a miracle you're still alive after everything you've gone through lately."

"A few aches here and there, but nothing I can't handle," I said. I sat down in one of the chairs and had him do the same. "And actually, now that I think about it, you did help save me. If you hadn't gone to the bar with Aerith to rescue Marlene, she might not have gotten out in time. I would've died if she hadn't been there to help me."

"Never really thought of it that way," Kunsel chuckled. "But I guess you're right, Jessie. Makes me feel a lot better."

"Good!" I laughed.

He nodded. "Looks like you're recovering pretty well."

I flexed my right arm, which wasn't quite as hard for me to do as it had been before. "Sure am, Kunsel. Been exercising every day, pushing myself as much as I can. I'm getting stronger all the time, sometimes so fast it surprises me—I've only been awake for about a week and already I feel a lot better than I thought I would. I figured it'd take me longer to get to where I'm at now than it actually has."

"Might be the mako," Kunsel thought. "It does a lot more than just make your eyes glow bright. SOLDIERs get strength from it, of course, but also resilience. I don't really understand it myself, but it does let us recover from injuries faster than other people. That's part of why it's so hard to bring a skilled SOLDIER down."

"And now I've got it..." I murmured. "At least a little."

He smirked. "Love your eyes, by the way. That glow suits you. And your hair. Never seen you with it long before."

I giggled, tossing it a bit. "Thanks! And speaking of different looks, when'd you get all scruffy? You never used to grow it out like that. Does make you look pretty manly, though."

"I, uh..." he said, blushing as he rubbed his stubbled chin. "I didn't really mean for it to get that way, but... Marissa liked it, so I decided to go with it. And... there hasn't been anyone, Jessie. Not since you. I just couldn't do it. Not for a long time..."

I smiled. "I know, I was the same way. It took me over a year and a half to finally find some peace about... what happened to us that night. I've only been involved with Cloud for about two weeks now. Is that... are you okay? That I... moved on?"

"Yeah," Kunsel nodded, gently holding my hand. "I couldn't expect you to wait forever. We had no way of knowing when or if we'd ever see each other again. Wasn't easy, but... I understand. And I'm alright. Just tell me one thing. Is he good to you?"