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Broken and Bonded Refrain	By : Crya2Evans Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 837 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Archer Kyle
�Move Along�

For once, it wasn�t quiet in my workshop. I had foregone the use of all
loud equipment, mostly in the beginning stages of my design, and to fill the
silence, I had turned on the radio. Though I wondered why I had bothered
considering it seemed to be playing nothing but sad and angsty music, and I was
trying to escape from those consuming feelings.

While my hands busied themselves with yet another metal project,
amongst a string of others, I allowed my mind to drift. This place was my
solace, my place for renewal, if you will. Surrounded by the smell of machinery
and metal, hunched over a workshop desk and perched atop a stool.

Cid never really understood that. He enjoyed noise and movement,
constantly keeping his hands busy.

Perhaps then, he was just too young and his dreams kept him in a state
of constant motion. He was always like that then. He didn�t want to settle down
for even a moment. I can still remember how brightly his eyes shone when he
talked to me about everything. I can still see his enthusiasm when he first
told me about the Space Program.

But most of all, I can still remember the look on his face when I
turned into a bastard and forced him to choose between his dreams and me. I�m
somewhat glad that he picked the stars because they certainly have never failed
him. I�m even happier that he finally was able to launch the ShinRa No. 26,
even if it did eventually become little more than a cloud of debris in space.

The song on the radio changed suddenly, shifting from the low, soft
rock beats that seemed to permeate the entire broadcast into something more
positive, immediately attracting my attention.

�Go
ahead as you waste your days with thinking. When you fall, everyone stands.�

A smile curled up at the corner of my
mouth. Wasn�t that I was doing? Just sitting here and wasting time, thinking of
should haves and could haves?

It was somewhat ironic, and for that
reason alone, I started listening more closely to the lyrics.

�Another day and you�ve had your fill
of sinking. With the life held in your hands are shaking cold. These hands are
meant to hold.�

I looked down at my own hands then,
wondering if the words even applied to me. Hands were meant to hold?

Frankly, my hands held little more than
metal and weapons recently. I do not usually lack for companionship, but after
ShinRa fell the first time and I became consumed with aiding both Reeve and
Cid, it was rather difficult to meet people. Nor did it really seem the proper
time to be looking for romance, at least not the permanent kind. I couldn�t
really find anyone that evoked a response. I suppose that is the best
word I could use.

�Speak to me, when all you got to
keep is strong. Move along, move along like I know you do.�

Those lyrics reminded me of something
that my mother once used to say.

She was a brilliant woman. People who
knew us always said that I got my eyes and my intelligence from her. The rest
was a gift from my dad. Anyways, she was an architect, much like Reeve except
that her buildings of choice were on a more personal level. She built homes and
small businesses, and there were even a few times she aided in the restoration
of some older buildings.

It was probably her who instilled in me
the love of science and mathematics. Dad was the one who taught me how to
fight. He wasn�t a soldier or anything; he just ran a little dojo in Costa del
Sol, teaching Kendo and Martial Arts to the local children. He even had a class
for the adults at night. It�s not there anymore. He retired and passed it on to
one of his students, but when Mikal died, his wife had the building torn down
and sold the land.

�And even when your hope is gone, move
along, move along just to make it through. Move along. Move along. �

We weren�t rich, not like Cid and Reeve�s
families, but we lived comfortable lives. And most of all, we were happy. I
don�t have any brothers and sisters because mom nearly died giving birth to me.
They couldn�t risk another child, so they contented themselves with spoiling me
rotten, not that I minded. I never really lacked for anything, and I certainly
didn�t lack for love.

�So a day when you've lost yourself completely could be a night
when your life ends.�

Both of my parents always supported me in everything that
I did, even if I wasn�t always as smart as the others around me. I�m not a
fool; I know that I have my limits. Reeve is assuredly far more intelligent
than me, and as for Cid, I do not know if it was his drive or simply that he
had more brainpower that made him succeed more quickly. Probably a mixture of
both. I�m not stupid by any means, smarter than the average person, but there
are plenty others above me. And that doesn�t really bother me.

�Such a heart that will
lead you to deceiving. All the pain held in your hands are shaking cold. Your
hands are mine to hold.�

The song though� it reminded me a lot of the type of
things that my mother used to tell me. You wouldn�t know it by looking at me
now, but I was actually pretty scrawny as a kid. Not to mention that I had a
slight problem with reading. It wasn�t that I couldn�t, but I read the words
strangely. The letters moved around on me, and sometimes, they even flipped
completely.

I had to work twice as hard as the others to make good
grades, and test taking was hell. I knew the answers, but when it came down to
actually filling out the correct ones, something transposed in my brain. I just
kept getting them wrong. Anyways, there were those that teased me cause of my
girly eyes and then those that teased me because I was stupid. That my parents
must have felt bad for only being able to have one kid, especially when I had
ended up stupid.

�Speak to me, when all
you got to keep is strong. Move along, move along like I know you do�.

Mom had told me to ignore them because they didn�t know
anything. That I could cry and allow myself to be hurt, but it wouldn�t change
what they were saying. All I could do was to be strong and prove them wrong. In
a sense, move along from what they were putting me through.

And gradually, I found myself slowly making friends. I started
smiling, and I worked hard, and since then, I have followed her advice pretty
well. You are only as unhappy as you make yourself. They can only hurt you if
you let them. What they thought didn�t matter; in the end, only you have to
walk in your shoes. My mom was such a wise person.

��And even when your hope is gone, move along,
move along just to make it through. Move along.�

I put down the metal I had been working on and turned
towards the radio, raising an eyebrow when I realized it was almost like the
song itself was speaking to me. As if reminding me that I had been letting go
of what my mom taught me by allowing this melancholy. Not to mention� I hadn�t
really been doing anything on my own since I started watching out for Cid.

Perhaps it was time I learned to find my own way again.

�Go on, go on, go on, go on. When everything is wrong,
we move along.

Go on, go on, go on, go on. When everything is wrong, we move along. Along,
along, along.�

I rose from my stool and swiftly crossed the room,
turning the dial to the radio and letting the lyrics and the sound wash over
me. My eyes lifted to the window, covered by the blinds, and on impulse, I
raised them, letting the flood of bright light peek into every corner of the
workshop. I hadn�t even realized that I had been hunched over in the dimness.
No wonder I was only getting gloomier and gloomier.

I smiled briefly as I raised my eyes towards the outside, finding that it
actually looked quite pleasant outside. Cheery, even.

�When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move
along like I know you do.

And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it
through.�

It wasn�t often that music affected me so much, but there
was something in those words that clearly spoke to me. It lightened my heart
and made everything seem brighter again. I know it�s kind of strange to say
that all from a song, but I can�t help but feel as if someone was trying to
speak to me.

There were so many regrets that I had in my life, good
things that I let go or chances that I didn�t take. There were things that I
still had yet to do, dreams of my own that I had not fulfilled. I�m not an
architect like my mom or Reeve, and I�m certainly not a pilot seeking the sky
and stars, but I have my own dreams.

I just have to figure out what they are.

�When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move
along like I know you do.

And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it
through.�

And even the loneliness couldn�t last forever. Perhaps
Yuffie was right; that there was someone out there for me, someone perfect that
I hadn�t yet met. Someone who needed what I had to offer, just waiting for
someone like me. All I could do was keep moving along, never allowing anything
to drag me down. Just like mom always said.

�When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move
along like I know you do.

And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it
through.�

I smiled again, this time a true Archer Kyle grin, as I
turned from the window, already humming along to words that would forever stay
in my mind. Except, instead of sitting back down and beginning work on the new
project, I completely bypassed the workbench altogether, heading directly out
of the room.

I suddenly had the urge to dig out my old plans for that
engine I had designed all those years ago. Or maybe even a few of the other
inventions I had put aside for a more permanent career. I had the chance now;
there really was nothing holding me back.

Not anymore.�

�Go on, go on, go on, go on. Right back what is wrong. We move along.�

The last words of the song followed me as I closed the
door, reminding me that I had forgotten to turn off the radio, which would
probably drain the already meager battery.

Oh, well. Maybe I�ll just have to invent a longer lasting
one.

-�� -�� -�� -

Song credits,
�Move Along� by the All-American Rejects
- 18
- 19
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Broken and Bonded Refrain