By Kristen Gupton-Williams

With Tifa nuzzled into his side asleep, Vincent lazily looked around at the others in the chopper as his own tiredness set in. Jaras was apparently immersed in his book as usual, his eyes moving over the pages occasionally narrowing in his concentration. How he could have been Sephiroth either seven years ago or a few hours ago Vincent did not know. Clearly the man he was observing now was not a threat to anyone and he wondered what would become of his son.

After a long time Jaras pulled his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt his father’s gaze burning upon him and he looked up. The sight of Vincent sitting there with the woman he loved stabbed at something deep with him. He hoped that he could get over his feelings for his stepmother before they drove him mad. Finally he managed a polite smile back at Vincent before turning his attention out the window for the remainder of the ride.

In the meanwhile, Vincent saw that Angel and Reno were still engrossed in one another as they sat together near the door of the chopper. If Vincent didn’t know better, he would have thought that he saw the slightest hints of tears in Reno’s eyes. The truth was Reno was crying as he related the tale of Morris’ death to his wife. His pent up emotions over the recent deaths of two of his associates were pouring out and it was becoming clear to Angel that Reno was most likely finished as far as going on missions. There was a good chance that Reno was going to be taking a more administrative position within the organization after today.

Porter was sitting in an odd and uncomfortable looking position as he tried to relieve the stress on his injured hip. All of the stair climbing that he had done today was going to set him back a long way in his recovery and although he didn’t know it now, he would need yet another surgery to re-secure various steel plates to his bones that had worked loose today. Porter would have a limp for the rest of his life but would not care. With Hojo gone and Rayna alive and well, everything else seemed unimportant.

Tseng sat typing quietly on the new laptop computer that he had acquired after destroying his last one during his emotional outburst following Zale’s death. What he was preparing was a statement to be released through various ASRIO sources regarding the final termination of the Neo-Jenova Project and the demise of Professor Hojo.

***

When the helicopter finally arrived back home in Costa del Sol the afternoon sun was in the air and they all filed out slowly, stretching in their exhaustion and stiffness. Without much said, they went down into the base, each making their ways to their respective rooms. There would be a debriefing about the mission but Tseng knew that everyone needed to rest now and so let them go.

Tifa and Vincent went to their room and locked the door. After stripping, Tifa went into the bathroom and started a shower. Vincent sat on the edge of the bed and for lack of a better description; he proceeded to space out for several minutes. Although he was extraordinarily tired, his mind was still trying to cope with all that had just happened.

Tifa emerged after a while; her still damp towel dried hair hanging loosely about her shoulders. "Ahem…"

Vincent snapped out of his reverie and looked up to see his wife standing before him unclothed. He smiled faintly. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." She took a few steps closer. "I don’t know about you but I really need to get into that bed right now and I have no plans of getting out of it until very late tomorrow morning. Care to join me?"

Vincent raised his eyebrows and sighed. "That sounds pretty good."

"Alright then." Tifa brushed past him and pulled down the corner of the comforter on her side of the bed. "Get out of those horrible dirty clothes and get in here."

He sighed and then reluctantly got up. The thought of having to expose his artificial body again didn’t appeal to him in the least but he was too tired to give much credence to it. After all his clothing was discarded in a pile on the carpet he slid beneath the sheets, took Tifa in his arms and fell mercifully to sleep.

***

Tseng went to his own room and landed on his couch. He was suffering from a splitting headache due in part from exhaustion and closed his eyes as he tried to suppress the pain. After getting only a few moments of peace a knock came at his door and Tseng grimaced. "Yes? Come in."

The door opened and Tseng was only slightly surprised to see Vincent’s son. "Jaras, what can I do for you?"

He came over and sat next to his uncle on the bed. The weariness on his features spoke volumes. "I want to go home."

"To Mideel?" Tseng clarified, knowing the answer.

"Yes." He stared down at his hands folded in his lap. "I don’t want to be here any longer. Whatever it was that came over me in that reactor… it scared the Hell out of me. I think if I go home, maybe I can try and get back the life I had there before all this happened."

Tseng at once grew concerned. "But what if Shin Ra comes looking for you? Someday, Jaras, someone is going to come along that will recognize you for who you are."

"No, for who I was." He sighed deeply. "Even at the risk of Shin Ra finding me and putting my life in danger, I want to go home. Surely no one expects me to spend the rest of my days locked down here in this base."

Tseng knitted his brows. "No, I guess I don’t expect you to hide down here forever. As long as you know that someday they may find you and you are willing to face that, I guess I have no choice but to honor your wishes. I will have my airship take you home tomorrow."

Jaras smiled weakly. "Thank you."

"But let me ask you this." Tseng said, turning to face his nephew a little more. "Do you wish to cut your ties with your father and I or will you allow us the privilege of visiting you?"

Jaras looked at Tseng as though he had just said the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "Of course not. How can I cut my family out of my life? That’s not my goal. My goal is to go back to doing that which made me happy and that was running my bookstore. Maybe it isn’t as glamorous as being a ASRIO agent but quite frankly, I think I’ve had all the excitement I can take in my life."

"Understood." Tseng smiled. "Are you going to speak with Vincent before you go?"

"Yes." Jaras nodded. "I owe him a lot and couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to him… and Tifa."

***

Porter managed to his room despite the pain he was in. During the helicopter ride his hip and leg had started to stiffen up and although he knew he should be going to see the Doctor he felt he needed to see Rayna first.

Rayna was sitting inside the room in a chair before the television, trying to provide some diversion for herself as her stress was ripping her apart.

D, who had been sleeping on the bed suddenly perked to attention and got up. He went over before the door and stood, wagging the remnants of his tail. Rayna turned and gave him a curious look. "What’s out there?"

Just a few seconds later the door opened, revealing Porter in his worn and pained state. "Honey, I’m home."

Rayna leapt up from her chair knocking it over. She ran to him and threw her arms around his waist. Porter had to grab onto the door jam to stabilize himself from the impact lest the two of them go tumbling out into the hall.

Tears of joy and relief came to Rayna’s eyes. "Oh God, I was so worried about you!"

"I know and I’m sorry." Porter held her tightly; giving only passing notice to his dog as it excitedly ran circles around him. "But it’s over now. Hojo is gone."

She was speechless and just held onto him for all she was worth. The nightmares that had plagued her since he had left melted away as the reality of his safe return sank in.