Don't Play With Fire (Turks FFVII)

XXXIX) Awaken

It takes all the strength I can muster to pry my eyelids open, and once I get them there, they squeeze shut again, burned by the sunlight pouring into the room. Someone's faint voice points out the movement and another calls my name. I can feel people watching me and it's uncomfortable. Screw off. Groaning, I try to raise my arm, but it's too heavy.

"The window," I mumble, my words slurring together. Somehow, they understand and the shades rattle, closing in one sharp motion. I try again, squinting. It's still so bright.

"Welcome back, Kitty," Reno grins, leaning forward in the chair he's pulled up to the side of the bed. Rude looms beside him, expressionless. Much to my surprise, Tseng's out cold in another chair across the room, face as stern as always even in his sleep.

"Thanks." My voice sounds funny and my head's hazy. Where are we?

Reno seems to read my mind, laughing quietly to himself and shaking his head. "We're in Kalm. Didn't think it'd be safe for you or Rufus in Midgar, so we moved you guys out here. He woke up two days ago, though."

"Two days?" I almost sit up, alarmed, but the stinging in my chest knocks me back down. It all comes back: Hojo's bitterness, Cid's rescue, getting carried away.

"Marx kept you under a lot of drugs to keep you asleep. Said it'd help you heal faster." He sighs, shrugging. "He unplugged all his stuff and left a few hours ago. Not sure where he went."

I frown, ignoring the fears of not knowing what that psycho pumped into my body, and nod toward Tseng. "What's with him?"

"He's been awake for a long time." Reno laughs. "Thought it'd catch up with him eventually. He keeps stressing like that and it won't be long before he gets Rude's hair." At that, Rude raises an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything.

"Is he worried about Meteor?"

Reno flashes a weak smile and stands. "Shield your eyes, Sweetheart." He pulls the shades back up to reveal the sky. "Take a look." From here, the looming mass looks hardly a few miles from Midgar, though it's still very easily close to impacting Kalm as well. "Veld and the others came to help evacuate the city after we got you and Rufus out. It was good bein' with 'em, even just for a little while."

"Reeve called," Rude adds. "Avalanche was about to fight Sephiroth when he did."

"How long ago?"

"About—" He's cut off when the ground begins to shake, shooting Reno a frown. "An hour or so."

"Great." My heart begins to pound and I can't bite back at my fear this time, trying to make a joke as Meteor draws nearer by the second. I swear I can feel the rock's heat from here. "Well, nice knowing you guys."

Reno rolls his eyes and turns back to the window. Meteor doesn't feel so slow anymore. Decorations and water glasses rattle on the room's surfaces, crashing to the floor as the shaking gets stronger. "#$%^," Reno hisses, stepping away and sitting on the edge of my bed.

Before I can brace myself for the rock's impact, uncountable tendrils of light shoot forth from the ground, glowing a blinding shade of bright green. The lights push upward against Meteor in an effort to wrestle it away. The Planet's defense. As they split into white-hot threads that spread across Meteor's surface, Rude checks his phone with a scowl.

"Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi are in Midgar."

"For what?" I ask, hardly able to breathe around the pounding in my chest.

"Further evacuation."

"I don't know if it matters anymore."

"What is happening?" Reno demands, drawing our attention back. The lights flare and we shield our eyes. Is this the end? For a second I think it is, overwhelmed with suffocating heat. But then it's gone and the world goes dark. I let my arm fall, staring at the smoking remains of Midgar, stunned.