Time to Rise Again

Once inside the room, Leon noticed Asuka praying and caught a glimpse of his necklace having fallen out of his jacket. He quickly pulled his shirt and jacket forward and dropped the piece of metal on the chain inside so it wouldn't dangle out again.

 

Finishing her prayer, she heard a vehicle pull up outside the bar. "They're here," Asuka said to Leon. She went downstairs and opened the door, allowing the men to remove the bodies. She instructed them where to go, saying that she'd meet up with them momentarily. "They have all the...equipment. We just have to do the work ourselves," she said to him, and continued, "I'm well enough to drive Fenrir...we should get going." She walked out the door, waiting for Leon to follow.

 

Watching as the men took away the bodies many thoughts crossed through Leon, but he didn't have time to arrange them into sense. He followed Asuka outside to Fenrir, "I suppose I either have to hop on the back or walk my way there?", he said half jokingly.

 

Asuka gave a small smile to his comment while she locked the door. "If you feel comfortable walking through wastelands teeming with monsters, then feel free to. Otherwise...you're better off with me."
She went over to Fenrir, noting that she still needed to fix it up a bit, got on, and started the ignition. She waited for Leon to join her.

 

"It's not like I can just kill things and level up", Leon joked as he followed Asuka and sat on the back of the bike. "I could get used to vehicles, we just walk everywhere in my world", he commented as he was looking curiously at Fenrir.

 

Asuka flat out grinned at what he said. "You'd better hold on then. I drive fast." She revved the engine, then said, "It must be nice, being able to walk places. It's still considered a dangerous thing to do here in Midgar. Typical big city."
She glanced back at Leon. "Hold on to me if you'd like, but if I feel anything out of the ordinary I will throw you off," she said, then took her foot off the ground and began speeding out of Sector Seven towards the Wastelands.

 

As soon as she started moving Leon was startled by the movement of Fenrir. He instinctively held onto Asuka out of fear from falling off, a common reaction to someone during their first time on a motorbike. No wonder we walk everywhere.

 

"..."
Lana stared in discontent.
"Oh well... I guess we'll just have to take this outside."
Lana let her Keyblades disappear and opened a dark portal underneath Cat. She fell in and Lana followed her before it closed.
They were both surrounded by total darkness.
"Take a good look around you. Everything that has fallen to darkness ends up here."

Cat thought about that and realized what she wanted her to know.
No... THIS CAN'T BE!!! It's not... NO!!!!!

Lana laughed and grinned. She enjoyed toying with her mind.
"Yes... you finally understand. Everything ends up here at some point... EVEN YOUR HOME WORLD!!!!!
The darkness that surrounded them faded away and what they saw was not the Destiny Islands from before. It had been mutated into a dark and evil place.

Cat looked around and couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"...you........YOU MONSTER!!!!! Why are you showing me this? What can you possibly gain from doing this!? TELL ME!!!!!"

Lana summoned her Soul Eater once again.
"Don't you see? These keys have clashed before. Light and darkness... good and evil. They're always meant to clash and what better battleground than that of the final battle against Ansem!

Cat listened to her and then let her Kingdom Key D disappear.
"You know... in the end these keys helped each other... they only clashed because one of the fighters' hearts was clouded by lies... you obviously haven't paid enough attention to the stories."
Cat smiled and waited to see what Lana would do.

"Maybe that's what you think. Fine, if you want to believe all those lies then be my guest..."
Lana summoned another portal right behind Cat.
"...but soon enough you'll find out the truth. Then you won't be so proud of who you are... or should I say, who he is."
She used Dark Firaga and pushed Cat back into the portal. When she appeared she was back in the Slums.
Who was she... and what did she mean anyway...? Sora's always been the hero... he's still the hero.

 

Shinji had left after teh scene thet unfolded until he was otuside the building and walking back to town. "Who was that?" He asked in hsi thoughts about the strange new arrival she seemed inrested in Cat until he felt movement and summoned out Way to the Dawn as some Shadow Heartless appeared. "No matter where you go, they'll always appear." He said to himself, these woudl be easy to beat as he swung around, cutting through one then another as he ran, slicing from side to side, leaving the area as he stood outside of town.

 

She smiled softly when she felt Leon hold on to her. "So the aloof loner is somewhat of an act after all..."
As soon as he made contact with her, Asuka felt his light warming her heart, slowly driving some of the darkness away. "Cloud...Tifa...you were right after all," she said quietly, knowing that the roar of Fenrir's engine would probably drown out her words. Of course, Asuka, we've played this scenario in the past. Tifa's voice rang in her head.
Asuka gave a short laugh. "I forgot you could hear what I say." We can see you, too. Don't scare Leon too much now, dear. "I'll try not to Tifa. Thanks."
They were halfway through the Wastelands now, and Asuka steered Fenrir towards a natural ramp on the side of a large cliff. Glancing back at Leon, she said loud enough for him to hear, "Watch yourself, Leon, the road from here gets a bit rough. Whatever you do, don't make sudden movements behind me."

 

Crimson was surprised to see Cat appear out of a dark portal; actually, he was a bit terrified of it. He noticed that she appeared to be angry and annoyed. He wanted to run into the portal, to see where it would lead him, but it closed before he could even take a step. He bent down to help Cat up. "Cat," He sighed, "you're bleeding."

 

Leon still held on to Asuka, unsure of how to ride properly. He held onto the bike with his legs when she went up the ramp and replied to her warning with a quip, "I don't think I'll be making any movements", with his attitude still flaring.

 

Asuka was silent for a few minutes as they climbed the ramp. "...When all of this is over...do you want me to teach you how to ride a motorcycle?" she asked Leon. They neared the top of the cliff, and a small patch of yellow flowers became visible, as well as the top of several headstones. "Everyone's here now..." she thought to herself.

 

Leon pondered for a moment, "I think I'll pass", he said hoping he'd never need to ride one again. He knew he wouldn't in his world at least.
When they reached the top of the cliff and stopped, Leon hopped off the bike and moved over so Asuka could go near the graves that where already there.

 

Asuka was going to poke fun at Leon, but was sobered by the sight of the caskets and two shovels. The brief happiness she had faded, and her face became serious again. She parked Fenrir, then walked over and picked up a shovel. "This is...my family's resting place," she said to him. "My great-grandfather's friend was the first to die here, saving Cloud's life. That warrior's sword stood guard here for several years until Cloud moved it to Aerith's Church in Sector Five...since then, this place is said to be the resting place of the Strife family. Cloud and Tifa...my mother and father...they're buried here. And now my grandparents can finally join them. One day...I will too."
There was a main headstone, inscribed with a short writing about the Strife family, followed by the names of the family members that were buried there and dates of death. To the left were two individual stones, marking Cloud and Tifa's graves, and to the right were Asuka's parents. She began digging a few feet away from her parents' graves, knowing that Leon would assist her without questioning.

 

Walking over and taking the second shovel, Leon helped dig the graves. He worked quickly, as if he had done this a few times before. He dug without error and piled the dirt a good distance from the grave he was digging, but not too far for when they would have to fill it in again.

 

After a while, Asuka and Leon had finished digging and burying her grandparents. She had put her shovel down, and knelt before the main headstone, offering a final prayer. She could feel her ancestors reaching out to her, trying to comfort her, but it didn't stop the crushing feeling of lonliness that Asuka felt. Despite her best efforts, she began crying again. They were gone, all gone, and she'd never see any of them alive again. There was the Lifestream, but it wasn't the same.

 

Leon stood back away from Asuka so she could have her space. He remained silent and just watched with a thoughtless expression but was really deep in thought of his own world. Everyone has lost family at some point, but it's never easy being there when it happens. Leon knew this all too well and knew that Asuka would now know this more clearly once the pain leaves.

OOC: oops.

 

After finishing the prayer, Asuka said her final goodbye then turned back towards Leon. She walked closer to him, about to say something, when something inside her broke. Another bout of lonliness hit her, and before she was aware of what she was doing she found herself clinging to Leon and crying against him. She felt incredibly weak, but he was the only live person around her at the moment and she needed an anchor to the real world. A roll of thunder shook her back to her senses, making her jump slightly, and she choked out, "I'm...I'm sorry..." to Leon.

 

Leon was surprised when she suddenly latched onto him. His eyes widened and his expression changed as he looked down at her. When she backed away he pulled his surprised look away and replied, "Don't worry about it. You just needed someone and I was the only one here", his attitude didn't falter at all as he spoke.