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Legacy of the Lifestream	By : butabara Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 2387 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not Own FFVII or its affiliates. I make no money from this execise in literary creativity.

Chapter List
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A.N. I really have nothing to say about this chapter that won't give anything away... so, my darlings, you'll just have to read on and see for yourselves! R&R!
Chapter 2: Catching Up
Harmony felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she listened to Vincent tell her about Sassi's declining health, and the scrolls he had found.
"I had no idea..." She said, her voice wavering. "I knew it would be hard for both of us... and I've been sick, too. But I just thought it was depression. That someday it would pass." She was silent for a moment, before letting out a soft sniffle. "Good Goddess... I could have lost her! And it would have been my fault!"
"Stop that." Vincent exclaimed, taking her shoulder and forcing her to look at him. "For twenty-six years I blamed myself for a death that was not my fault. I won't sit back and watch you travel the same road I traveled!"
"Well said, Vince." Came a smooth female voice from the doorway. Shining burgandy hair met Harmony's vision, followed by bright blue eyes. "Introduce us, lover." The woman said, walking to Vincent and possessively throwing her arms around his shoulders from behind.
Vincent gave a light, barely-there smirk. "Sytherea, this is the Lady Guardian. Harmony LeAnn Geordon. Harmony, this is my... partner. Sytherea Orianthe*."
The woman, Sytherea, rolled her eyes. "I'm his girlfriend." She clarified. Harmony's eyes widened, and then narrowed down into mischevious slits.
"You sly dog, you." She teased Vincent. "I wondered why you let me hug you at the Forgotten City. Seven years ago you'd have knocked me on my ass in the dirt before I even got close!" She turned to Sytherea. "Your handywork, I assume? Good work." She added when the woman nodded.
"Thanks. So you're the Guardian. They've told me a lot about you. Sassi and I got pretty close when we met. She said I reminded her of you. Don't worry, I'm not insulted. They all speak very highly of you. I take the comparison as a compliment. And don't worry-" She rushed to say when Vincent looked like he wanted to interrupt, "-I understand the basic concept of the bond between you and Sassi, and I promise not to become jealous." That sounded slightly rehearsed, like the woman had been coached (or just heard it a lot) but sincere.
Harmony nodded, glancing to the door when a plain-but-pretty brunette woman appeared holding Kiku's hand.
"She woke up and came looking for you. She ended up in the control room, though." Shera said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mrs. Highwind! Kiku, you know you're not supposed to wander off like that!" Harmony said, pulling the little girl into her arms.
"Oh, don't worry about it. And please, call me Shera."
Harmony smiled and nodded. Now she knew how the others felt when meeting people from her world. This was all so surreal... and yet not. She felt like an outsider, and yet at home at the same time.
'I am so confused.' She thought with a shake of her head.
"Mommy, I'm hungry." Kiku said, tugging on the sleeve of her mother's shirt.
"Okay, sweetie. We'll see what we can find." Harmony assured her. She looked to Shera. "Is there anything...?"
"Of course. The poor dear has had an exciting day. We must keep up her strength." Shera answered.
Harmony suddenly wondered how such a sweet woman could put up with the roughneck that was Cid Highwind. Shera seemed to know her thoughts and smirked.
"A firm hand, my dear. And enough knowledge to tear his precious airship apart and hide all of the pieces."
Harmony blinked. "It makes so much sense now."
She followed Shera out the door and into the mess hall, where she was excited to find a large bowl of big, blue apples. "Are those dumbapples?" She asked reverently.
Shera smiled. "Indeed they are."
"May I?" Harmony asked. Receiving Shera's nod, she reached into the bowl and picked up the darkest piece of fruit she could see. With a deep breath, unable to believe that she was finally going to be able to taste her love's favorite fruit, she bit down.
She moaned in delight. The sweet flavor exploded on her tongue, making her eyes roll back. "This. Is. Amazing." She sighed.
Shera's smile widened. "I'm glad you like them." She turn and bent down to Kiku's level. "Now, why don't we see if we can find you something to eat?"
!#$%^&*()
"How is she?" Loz asked, slipping his jacket off of his shoulders and laying it across the back of the couch.
Yazoo shot him a dry look and sighed once more. "You know how she is. She didn't leave her room at all yesterday. And when Tifa went in this morning to try to get her to eat, she threatened to catch anyone who bothered her in a glamour. I believe her threat to me included spending the rest of my life thinking I am a six year old girl."
Loz shot Yazoo a tired, apologetic smirk. His Squaw had not been the same since being forced to part with her best friend and Guardian. "I see. Well, I guess I'll head up there. If I don't come back, tell my kids I love them."
He smirked when two nearly identical faces poked out from behind the bar. "We love you too, Daddy!" They said at the same time. "Good luck!" Fionn shouted after him.
He waved to them and started up the stairs, a frown settling over his features. Sassi had explained why Harmony had stayed behind, and he understood the severity of the situation, and that they both felt that they owed it to their coven. But still, he wished with everything inside of him that Harmony had just come with them. Not just for Sassi, but for his youngest brother. Kadaj had waited for her with unwavering loyalty for five years, protecting Sassi while Harmony could not be there to do it herself... just as she had asked of him in her letter.
But then, on the day that the group traveled to the Forgotten City, that all changed. Try as Sassi and Aerith might, nothing they did, no spell they uttered, was enough to force the portal open.
And they had given up. They'd given up, thinking that it was over, that the portal would never open again, now that the Cetra was home where she belonged. Kadaj would never see Harmony again, they'd thought.
And that was when he changed. He never went with Vincent when the gunman traveled back to the city. He stopped coming around to visit, stopped teaching at the Dojo as often. And then he started bringing women home with him. All of them were petite, all of them with long golden brown hair and green eyes.
His little brother was trying so hard to forget about his first real love, that he didn't realize that the women he brought home were almost perfect replicas of said woman. His current girlfriend was the worst yet. She was so timid... so weak. It was obvious to everyone that she was terrified of not only Kadaj, but the rest of them as well. And he knew that Kadaj hated it. He was so tired of being seen as a monster, as nothing but a vicious copy of the Great General Sephiroth. Loz could sympathize, to a point. But, he could see (as, he was sure, could the rest of them) that Kadaj was slowly slipping back to his former self. Loz knew that Kadaj didn't want to hurt the girl, he still cared about her delicate feelings... but they all knew that it was only a matter of time before the youngest Remnant decided that this one wasn't working, either, and left her the way he left all the others: emotionally broken and traumatized.
The eldest Remnant let out a deep sigh as he reached the door to his room. He could hear the quiet sniffles through the door, and felt his heart ache. He wished there was something he could do to ease his love's pain. He couldn't even call her his wife, yet. They had decided to wait until Harmony got there, because as a High Priestess, Harmony could officiate... but after they failed to open the portal, Sassi lost all interest in things like that. It reminded him of his mother, after his father died. He didn't even mention marriage to her, anymore, because all it did was turn her into a sobbing mess. As he opened the door, he wondered if Harmony's life was filled with the same nothingness.
"Hey." He said quietly, seeing Sassi curled up on their bed holding a picture of Harmony. "Come downstairs. You need to eat."
"Not hungry." Sassi whispered back.
"I didn't ask if you were hungry. You need to eat." He reiterated.
Sassi sighed, knowing that he would keep pestering her until she gave in. He wasn't afraid of her glamours, because he knew that she wouldn't really hurt him. "Okay."
She allowed Loz to lift her to her feet and lead her down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Hey, Sass. Feel any better?" Zack asked as he walked in carrying bag of groceries. Their yearly week-long reunion usually left them eaten out of house and home.
"I guess." Sassi said, her voice devoid of all emotion.
At that moment, the phone rang. Loz hurried to answer it. "Miyake residence, Loz sp- Oh, hi Vincent. Yeah, we're all here. Why? Um... okay? What is it? Oh fine. But you know how I react to unpleasant surprises. Whatever. See you in a few." He hung up.
"What was that about?" Sassi asked.
"It was Vincent. He said to make sure everyone was inside and sitting down. You, especially. But he wouldn't tell me why, just that it was a surprise."
Loz quickly rounded up their friends and children, ushering the confused group into the den to wait for Vincent and sighing in aggrivation when he realized that Kadaj and his girlfriend had snuck off again.
When the door opened, they all stared in confusion at the nearly maniacal smile gracing the gunman's features.
"I bring you great news, and evidence. Proof that you should never doubt the magic of the Lifestream, nor abandon hope." Vincent said.
"What are you going on about?" Yazoo quipped. Vincent moved to the side, and a little girl stepped into the room.
"Okay..." Cloud said. "Who is this?"
"Her name is Kiku." Vincent said. Yazoo's eyes widened. 'No way...' He leaned forward to get a better look at the girl. Her facial structure was achingly familiar.
"Kiku," He said softly, "who is your mommy?"
The little girl was nervous, and refused to answer. Sassi took pity on her. "Its okay, Sweetheart. You're not in trouble and no one here will hurt you."
The little girl raised timid eyes and looked at the Cetra, those eyes losing their fear and instantly shining in awe.
"You... you're so pretty! You glow!"
Sassi froze. "I... glow? How? How do I glow?"
"Colors... like a rainbow! Its so pretty!" The girl reached out and trailed her fingers down Sassi's cheek.
Images and voices floated through Sassi's mind, six-and-a-half years of life, and power, and...
Sassi dropped to her knees as she slid off of the couch. She let out a heart-wrenching sob as she doubled over.
"Sassi? Sassi what it is? What did you see?" Loz cried frantically. He glanced at Kiku. The little girl looked frightened, backing away from the group and looking as though she was about to cry.
"I'm sorry!" She squeaked.
Sassi began whispering incoherently, and it took a moment for everyone to understand her words.
"Thank you God. Thank you God. Oh, thank you!" She sobbed.
"What is going on?" Yuffie asked. A shadow fell over the group as a new person stepped into the doorway.
"Sassi..."
And then all they saw was a streak of movement as the newcomer zipped through the room and tackled Sassi to the floor. Loz was pulling his arm back to deliver a blow and knock this stranger away from his mate... and then stopped when Sassi sobbed loudly.
"Harmony!"
"Oh God, Sassi! I missed you so much! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I wasn't here! I'm sorry for what's happened to you! Oh, Sass..."
The group stared on, every single one of them too shocked to even breathe as Harmony pulled Sassi to a sitting postition and locked her arms around her. Sassi just cried, all ability to form words having vanished. The two sat like that for a long while, the only thing bringing them back to the present being the sniffles from the little girl by the doorway.
Harmony gave a teary laugh and pulled away from Sassi, looking into the clear blue eyes of her Cetra.
"I want you to meet someone." She whispered. She beckoned for the little girl to come to her, taking her hand and pulling her daughter into her lap between them.
"Sassi Flint, this is Kiku Geordon. My daughter, and your God-daughter."
Sassi smiled and took the little girl into her arms. "I'm sorry I scared you, honey. I'm sure that later, your mommy will explain what happened."
"Why do you glow?" Kiku asked suddenly.
"She's very special, Kiku. I'll tell you all about it. For now, there are many people that I want to speak to." Harmony said. She stood up and turned back to the group of shell-shocked people in the den.
"Hey guys." She said with a slight wave.
The spell was broken.
"'Hey guys'? 'Hey guys'? That's what you have to say?" Zack said, standing. Aerith's hand was shrugged from his shoulder as he stalked toward their old friend. "I oughtta knock you on your ass!" He said. He stared at her for a moment before smiling brightly. "But how about I just hug you, instead?" And with that, his huge arms were suddenly suffocating Harmony, as were the arms of everyone else as they all closed in on her at the same time, passing her around until she was dizzy.
"What happened? How are you here?" Sassi said when everything finally calmed down for a moment.
Harmony looked at her fingers. "Well... it was Kiku's idea. After the portal didn't open, I thought that it was closed for good. I became... depressed. Not eating, not sleeping... the coven voted Jodee in shortly after that, and let me go to Ireland. We lived there for two years, and when the time got closer, Kiku convinced me to bring her and go to Drombeg... I did, even though I was sure that the portal wouldn't open. Imagine my surprise when I woke up in the Forgotten-"
She was cut off as the door slammed open, bouncing off the wall and revealing a tall man with long silver hair, and an almost panicked expression on his face. He was followed by two other men, one large and burley with dark hair, and one more sleek, with red hair.
"Aerith! What's wrong? I felt a-" The General stopped, confusion covering his features.
"Hey, Sephiroth. I see you took to being a Guardian perfectly." Harmony joked.
Sephiroth's features sharpened. "You are in so much trouble." He growled.
And then Harmony's heart stopped as a voice rang out from behind the trio in the doorway.
"What the hell is going on? Why were you guys flying through town to get here?" Kadaj said, irritated. He shoved Genesis to the side and pushed through, turning around to face the Firsts. "You damn near caused an accident! What?" He said, when none of them were looking at him. They all stared behind him, and Kadaj glanced over his shoulder at the woman behind him, staring at him anxiously. Looking back, be spoke again. "What's the prob-" It finally registered. He stood rigid, unable to move though his muscles and his mind screamed for him to do so.
He spoke, still not turning. "Is it you?"
"Yes." Her voice washed over him, soothing away seven years of festering pain.
"When?"
"Yesterday." He could hear the tears as her voice wavered.
"What took you so long?"
"Does it matter?"
Their conversation was interrupted when a woman timidly pushed her way into the house. "Daj? What is it? Is everything okay? Who is that?" The woman wrapped her arms around Kadaj's arm and leaned into him.
The choked sound behind him had his heart and his mind shattering into a million pieces. How could he turn around and face her, now? He steeled himself and slowly turned, looking at every other face in the room before hers. Sassi looked livid... and strangely pleased. Probably at how uncomfortable the situation was proving to be for him. His gaze finally landed on her. The one woman that had haunted his mind for seven years. He tried to take a step toward her, but the grip on his arm tightened.
"Let go." He said in a low voice, rolling his eyes when Hana did as he asked with a squeak of fear.
In an instant, his arms were around Harmony. "You're here. You're real. You're here." He whispered reverently. When she didn't speak or move to return his embrace, he pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes held a hurt expression. One of betrayal.
"You said... you said you'd never forget me." She said.
"Mommy?" Came a voice from his right. He looked over to find a little girl staring at Harmony. His heart clenched and he pushed himself away from her.
"So did you." He said.
Harmony's eyes widened. "You think... I was with someone else?"
Kadaj motioned to the girl. "Obviously you were. Hana, lets get out of here."
"Oh, Kadaj." He heard Harmony sigh behind him. He stopped, but didn't turn back around. "Can't you do the math? She's yours, you idiot."
His eyes widened and he found it increasingly harder to breathe. What she'd said had shocked him so much, he didn't even hear the insult she'd added to the last part. "What?"
"Mommy? That's my daddy?"
Then he felt a tiny hand on his. He was afraid to look down. He turned around instead, seeing Harmony fold her hands together and mouth a few words. A flash of light from his side finally forced him to look at the girl. Instead of the bright red hair and green eyes he'd seen before, he was met with shocking silver, and piercing green-and-yellow cat eyes. His gasp was swallowed in the sounds of shock and awe from his friends.
"Mine?" He whispered. Those big, glowing eyes stared up at him hopefully. "What's your name?" He asked softly.
"My name is Kiku. Mommy says its a special name." The girl answered.
Kadaj felt his throat tighten even more, casting a glance at Harmony to see her watching him closely. He looked back at the child and knelt down, lifting a hand to pick up a lock of silver hair. "Its a very special name. I had a sister named Kiku, once. I think you look like her."
His heart broke when she smiled brilliantly at him. He couldn't deal with this now. He stood, turning from the group watching him as he met his flesh and blood for the first time. Grabbing Hana's hand without another word, he pushed past the men in the doorway, disappearing into the crowd outside. He closed his eyes tightly when he heard the wail of anguish issuing from Loz's home and sighed, knowing that in just a few hours, he'd most likely be dealing with that sound coming from the confused woman being dragged behind him.
This was turning out to be a wonderful, shitty day.
* - Sytherea Orianthe (Sigh-theory-uh Oh-ree-an-th-ee) This OC was created for a very good friend of mine, after she read and fell in love with Harmony's Melody. She is a significant part of Legacy of the Lifestream.
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Legacy of the Lifestream