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Our cubs grow fast, and despite the fact that Hojo was deprived of observing their birth, in the end he still controls what happens in his lab. A little under a year after they were born--when they were weaned and active and bright-eyed, always willing to chase each other through the enclosure or nuzzle up, purring, against their mother--they are taken away, and my fear from so long ago is realized.

Hojo expects more from us and demands that Nanaki and I breed once more, as if we haven't had sex regularly already. As his seed once again takes hold and my belly swells with yet more life, we hold each other in the night and whisper stories of freedom.

Sometimes in my pregnancies, my dreams show me the visions that they had before. I am in the Lifestream again and that ashen-haired, cold-eyed man is gazing at me from across the sea of spirits. At times, flitting around the edge of the dreams, I can sense the others on the border of the Lifestream: Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and others besides.

I call out to them and sometimes I almost imagine they answer.

Days bleed into weeks bleed into months and soon I am ripe as a berry and once again I bring forth a litter. It's smaller this time, a pair of twins, both girls, and I hold them close to my chest and let them suckle at me and I try not to get too attached because Hojo will take them away except no, I'm their mother and these are my children, and when they're taken away, too young to speak words but old enough that their bright eyes still look at me sadly, I hope they remember me as I'll remember them.

How long have I spent here, a captive of Shinra? How many years have Nanaki and I been laying together in the warmth of our den? I can't know. Not too long, for I am only partway along my third pregnancy now--but yes, too long, since we are captives. At night he whispers to me of Cosmo Canyon.

And I dream of the Lifestream.

I can't say what about the dream this time is different. Maybe it's my young in me acting up, causing my Cetra abilities to spike. Maybe I'm simply growing stronger as I age. Maybe it's nothing more than a freak accident, a chance of nature.

But this time, when I dream of the river of souls, I see the cold-eyed man being chased by Cloud, and it strikes me that this isn't a dream, this is Cloud, it's him, and when the spectre of the man in black leaves, Cloud turns and sees me and I can see him and everything stops.

"...my god," he breathes. "Aerith?"

"Cloud," I say, suddenly conscious of how I look. Completely nude, belly swollen with life, a far cry from the innocent, virginal flower girl he knew.

Strange. Why should I care so much of the opinion of someone I only knew for a few days?

"I know what kind of dream this is," Cloud says slowly, shaking his head and blushing. Ah. So he has those kind of dreams, does he? (Of course he does. He has a penis, after all.)

"No, Cloud," I say gently. "It's real."

That's enough to convince him. I suspect he's grown wiser in his journeys. "We thought you had died in Midgar, when Sector 7 fell." His gaze sweeps up and down my body, taking in my current... condition. "What happened to you?" he asks.

I sigh, cradling my belly with one hand while aimlessly trailing the other through the Lifestream. The forest-green glow of soul energy plays around my fingers.

"Shinra," I say. "They took me. It turns out I'm the last of the Cetra, and they got a bright idea to try and breed more." I see Cloud's face pale. "Well," I say, somewhat bitterly, "it seems my womb insists on delivering children like their father instead. Not that Shinra minds that much in the end."

"It's been years," he says, slowly. I see him clenching and unclenching his hands, processing what was done to me. "How--how many--"

He is unable to finish the question, so I do it for him. "This is my third litter."

"Litter?" he spurts out in disbelief. Afterwards, he at least has the decency to look chastised.

"The father of my children isn't exactly human," I say, "though I suppose I'm not exactly human either." Strange, to be speaking about it so openly. I really had changed. "And what about you, Cloud? Who is that man I saw?"

"Sephiroth," he spits out, his voice as venomous as possible. "Shinra's most dangerous experiment gone rogue. He wants to use a forbidden spell to wound the planet with a meteor. The planet would send the Lifestream to patch up the impact site, and..."

"And if he was at ground zero," I say, suddenly realizing the plan of the cruel-faced man, "he'd achieve virtual godhood."

"He's been one step ahead of us," Cloud continued, "but we've finally got him. We're going to face off soon before he has a chance to seize the materia that will give him the spell." He swallows. "And then--Aerith, I'm sorry, we thought you were dead. I know it won't stop what was done to you, but--"

"Apologizing?" I say, putting some of my old bite back into my voice. "For what, Cloud? If that man really is going to drop a meteor on the planet, then I can wait."

He eases and nods.

"But please," I say, finally letting the hope rise in my breast after so, so long, "don't forget about me."

"I won't," he says, his voice flinty. "I'll free you, Aerith, from Shinra and their scientists and whatever monsters they abuse you with."

The reaction from me is instantaneous--Nanaki? My Nanaki? A monster? How dare--but no. I force myself to calm. Cloud, poor ignorant Cloud, doesn't know any better.

"My mate is as intelligent as you or I, Cloud," I say. "He refused to force himself on me even on pain of death. I chose this willingly to save him. He's kind and gentle and wise and as much a victim as I am." As I spoke, my fervent passion infused my words, and I could feel the Lifestream swirling around me. "I--I love him, Cloud," I say. "I do. I don't expect you to understand. But please. When you and your comrades take on Shinra, if you see any creatures that look like reddish-brown lions with some wolf features, leave them alone and they won't hurt you. If it's not Nanaki, then it'll be--t-they're my--"

"...your children," Cloud finishes. He nods slowly. "I promise, Aerith."

And then the Lifestream eddies around us, obscuring him from view, but as I wake, I believe that promise, and I whisper to Nanaki that for the first time, I have hope.

It takes a while for Cloud to hunt down the man in black. A few weeks, perhaps a month, as my cubs slowly grow. I'm approaching my third trimester, now.

But I don't stop hoping. It's going to change this time, I know it. And before long, Cloud keeps his promise.

It's a day like any other when Shinra goes into high alert. Claxons wail and sirens paint the enclosure a kaleidoscope of colors and distant explosions rumble through the building. Nanaki shepherds me across the enclosure to a safe spot, pacing in front of his mate and growling.

Me, though, I'm not afraid. I'm ready.

The fighting gradually moves up to our level and I have to calm Nanaki by running my hands through his fur. "They're here for our benefit," I tell him. "Don't attack them, Nanaki. Let me do the talking."

Eventually a spell of massive power breaches the enclosure wall and in the aftermath is a silence so fierce it almost roars.

A series of steps rings out through the enclosure, boots crunching over glass, and then I see them.

AVALANCHE. I recognize Cloud and Tifa and Barret, but there are others as well--a robotic toy, a tall gaunt man in crimson, a young girl wearing the cloth of Wutai, a grouchy man smoking a cigarette.

Heedless of my nakedness (I've long since grown numb to strangers seeing my body, considering how often Hojo and his scientists were leering at me) I approach the group, smiling. Nanaki trails after me and I can almost sense his unease.

Poor guy. He'll come around eventually.

"Cloud," I say, smiling, and then gasp as one of the cubs kicks, a tiny bump showing itself on my tummy. AVALANCHE shifts in unease, but the first one to speak is the cigarette man whom I have never met before.

"So you're the gally everyone's all fuckin' excited about?" he drawls.

I suppress a giggle. I like this guy's forwardness. "I suppose I am. Did you beat Sephiroth?"

"We did," Cloud answered with a nod. "It wasn't easy." His eyes slid past me to fixate on Nanaki, who rumbled a growl when Cloud made eye contact. "Is that..."

"Nanaki," I supply, reaching back to placatingly run my fingers through his fur. "He's the only reason I stayed happy and sane here. It's okay," I say, directing my attention to him. "They're not with Hojo or Shinra. They won't harm us. They're our friends."

"You're certain?" he replies. The fact that he can speak draws a chorus of gasps from the members of AVALANCHE.

"Certain," I reply.

I glance up and notice Tifa. Despite some girlish sniping over Cloud's affections, she and I had gotten along well back when we'd fought side by side; now she was staring at my fertile belly, my swollen chest, with wide eyes.

"What will you do now?" Cloud said. "Sephiroth is gone and Shinra's leadership scattered--some from Sephiroth and some from us. We're thinking of trying to resettle in Midgar. You're welcome to join. Erm, both of you."

Midgar? The city where I had spent my childhood? It was tempting.

But I had a promise to keep.

"Nanaki is from Cosmo Canyon," I say in response. "He deserves to see it again. Our children need to know their heritage. Thank you, though, for your offer."

Tifa blinks and meets my eyes. "Aerith, you're... you're sure?" she asks with no small degree of disbelief. There's so much sentiment behind a simple question: You do know that you don't have to stay with this creature anymore, right? She seems to be saying. Do you still want to give your life to him? To bear his children? He's not even human!

I can't fault her too much. Back before my imprisonment and meeting Nanaki, I also would have thought it unthinkable that any woman could have chosen this.

But now, it's unthinkable that I could part from my lover. My mate.

"I don't expect you to understand what I've been through or why I make the decisions I do," I say gently, but with a trace of iron firmness. Tifa blushes and looks aside. "This is what we chose."

Cloud nods slowly. He has grown up on this journey. "Alright," he said. "I can respect that. Do you need help finding your... children?"

"If they're in the building," I reply, "their father should be more than up to the task."

Nanaki leads us out of the enclosure, quickly zeroed in on the scent of 'others like him.' I follow in what is almost a daze. The first time I step out of the enclosure without Hojo or one of his scientists or goons manhandling me is almost a holy moment.

Free. I'm free.

It's been too long since I've seen my children, and as Nanaki leads me up higher and higher, I fret and worry that they won't recognize their mother, or that Hojo experimented on them and turned them into monsters. What if they hate me? What if they don't recognize me?

What if they're not themselves anymore?

Nanaki finally stops outside of large lab just a few floors beneath us. It's a place that was obviously a nexus of scientific activity as recently as this morning, but after AVALANCHE's assault, it's nearly deserted.

("How did Hojo die?" was the last question I asked to Cloud before following Nanaki.

His hand had twitched reflexively in the direction of his sword. "Not well," he said, his voice grim and unapologetic.

And I'd nodded. "Good.")

There's a metal door separating us and a large chamber with some sort of movement inside. Nanaki is pacing back and forth outside of it, looking concerned, and I fiddle with a nearby console until it slides open with a pneumatic hiss.

I almost don't dare to look.

But as the door slides past, I see a large space with grass and rocks and trees, and huddled on the far end are six creatures, each looking so much bigger than I remember: the first four, three brothers and a sister, are gangly and lanky and nearly half the size of their father. When their eyes alight on us, uncertainty and fear melt away into recognition and awe.

And then, hesitantly, as if he can't believe it, one of my sons steps forward and asks: "Mama?"

The tears come, then, and I kneel and beckon my children to come to me, and they bound towards me with cries of "Mama" and "Daddy" and it's over, the nightmare is over, and all's right in the world.

---

After reuniting with my children, AVALANCHE helps me find something to keep me decent once I leave the abandoned Shinra HQ. We settle on a long, flowing sundress of soft purple fabric. The feeling of the fabric on my skin--soft and comforting--is almost foreign after so long, and I tease poor Nanaki that he won't get to enjoy the sight of my body as unilaterally as he once did. He chuffs good-naturedly in response.

We decide to pass him and the children off as guard dogs while spending time in general human company. It'll raise fewer questions, and muggers and others who might consider a lone pregnant woman an easy target would be more cautious.

Stepping out into true light for the first time is like coming home. I gasp at the feeling of sunlight on my skin, tears beading in my eyes. Around me, my children are staring up at the blue sky and wispy clouds with looks of awe, their tails swishing back and forth.

"Don't look directly at the sun, little ones," I caution them. "You'll hurt yourself."

"Yes, Mama," they reply.

The air in Midgar was smoggy, dirty, tainted with smoke and sweat and general uncleanliness and it was also real, not piped in through filters and controlled by Shinra, and I never want to breathe anything in again.

I wander through the lower slums, the people giving me a wide berth thanks to Nanaki and my children prowling about her. Before long, I stand once again at the edge of what had formerly been Sector 7. It's been years since Shinra had collapsed the upper city onto it, and though the debris had been cleared, the little that remains is a desolate testament to their cruelty.

Walking around the edge of it, I am lost in memory, occasionally pointing out details of what had once been to my new family.

Past the ruins of Sector 7 was Sector 6, and then eventually the slums of Sector 5, the place I had been raised. Wandering through, I can't but wonder if any of the people of Midgar recognized me after my absence and my new... condition. If so, none of them indicated as such.

At the far edge of the Sector 5 slums is a modest yet cozy cottage. It It's just as I remember; even the flower garden outside was still maintained. Elmyra, my adopted mother... had she kept it going in memory of her daughter?

A sudden, clammy hand of fear gripped my heart. What if Elmyra was no longer there? What if she rejected me? What if she rejected my new family? It seems a stupid fear, especially for a woman who had faced down Hojo. But I can't banish it on her own.

But thankfully, I'm not alone. One of my cubs pushes against the back of my legs, purring and looking up at me with wide eyes. I smile, steeling for their sake. I slowly make my way up to the cottage door, resting my hand on my belly, and rap a sharp staccato knock on it.

A minute or so later, it creaked open, and Elmyra Gainsborough gasps and then covers her mouth with her hands.

My voice is soft. "Hi, mom."

Elmyra looks a little more worn than I remember, a weary and age-lined woman. She tries to speak and then collapses into grateful tears, burying herself against me. "You're--you're alive," she said, hiccupping, and then she glanced down at my belly as if seeing it for the first time. "And you're--my goodness! Oh, Aerith, who? When?"

Well, no better time to rip off the bandage than the present. "Nanaki," I say with nudging cadence, "introduce yourself?"

"Hello," Nanaki says, and Elmyra almost faints at the nonhuman voice. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Gainsborough."

"Wh--what--" Elmyra said. "It talks?"

I gently correct her: "He talks, mom." I hitch a heavy breath. "He's the one who put these babies in me." I rested my hand on her belly for emphasis. Within, I can feel my babies stirring with activity. The sensation gives me fortitude. "And these others are ours." I smile. "I love him and them very much, mom. You're a grandma."

Elmyra studies the cubs with eyes like saucers. "They're... yours?" she says.

"Yes. Or rather, ours."

Before Elmyra can say any more, the cubs bound forward, joyous with cries of "Grandma, grandma!" They swamp Elmyra, showering her with nuzzles and licks and frolicking around her and the old woman's face slowly shifts from incredulity to acceptance.

"I always knew," she says, "ever since I adopted you that day on the train tracks, that you were destined for special things." She scratches a nearby cub behind her ear and the little one set to purring something fierce. "Nanaki, you said? What kind of creature are you?"

"Our name isn't pronounceable in your tongue," he supplies, "but I'm the last of my kind. Or was. Your daughter fixed that."

Elmyra fixes me with a proud gaze. "What a special girl you are."

And her praise and her acceptance almost makes me weep. It's okay. She's okay. We're--we're going to be a family. All of us.

"It's a long story to tell how we got here." I run a finger through my hair, curling one loose strand around itself. "But we'll have a long time to tell it if you come with us."

"With you? To where?"

"My people are the stewards of a sacred, far-off land called Cosmo Canyon," Nanaki says. "Shinra stole me away, and it's time that I returned. Your daughter is coming with me."

"And you can come too, mom," I add. "I'd love to have you there. The kids would love their grandma."

"Why this--so soon?" Elmyra says. Standing, she looks around, taking in the old cottage with its peaked roof and stout oak door. The flowers in the garden sway sunnily in the breeze. "So many memories in this place," she muses. "My husband never came back from the war, and I wondered if the memories would get sour. But then the Lifestream blessed me with a girl to take care of. After you left, I thought I'd lost you forever... so I kept the gardens tended and the house tidy in your memory." I can feel the emotion in her voice. It's wistful and weighty with all she's experienced. Was it wrong of me to ask this of her? To ask my mother to uproot her life for me?

But then she turns and gazes at me with a smile. "But why would I devote my life to old memories when I can make new ones? Of course I'll come with you. Although," she chortles, "the going may be slow. I'm an old woman, after all."

Giggling, I tap one finger on my gravid belly. "I'm not exactly in a condition to move fast myself."

The journey is long but uneventful. Whatever Nanaki's species is, the monsters and beasts of the world know to leave him and those under his protection alone. We take transit where we can but inevitably, we walk for long stretches.

At night, as our cubs doze round the campfire and my future children tumble in my womb, I bring her mother up to speed. Elmyra had swooned at the way her daughter and Nanaki had fallen in love and had hated Hojo with a bitterness that surprised her daughter. She was as delighted as anyone to hear of his demise at the hands of AVALANCHE. What's more, Elmyra proves to be the world's best grandma, playing with and teasing her grandkids, and the cubs are more than appreciative, frolicking around and joyously yipping at her games. At times like this, I lean back against Nanaki's comforting weight, sometimes gasping when the young inside of me kick and tumble, and wondered at the path my life has taken.

And before long, it is time. We are in a red, rocky part of the world, and Nanaki's tail swishes with anticipation. It's not only him. I, too, can feel the air changing around us. My Cetra blood whispers that we are entering a space of power, a place where the Lifestream still runs strong.

My lungs burn as we approached the crest of the hill from which, according to Nanaki, we might see Cosmo Canyon. "Come," he says, his voice taut with emotion. He is heading back to the place he never thought he would see again. "Come. We're so close." My children supporting me, every step heavy from the life within, I crest the hill--and my breath stops.

It is a palace of stone, sculpted into the side of a cliff. Framed by the crescent moon and the burning red sunset, there's a simple nobility to it. Fires burn like fireflies in pits and hearths, and people mill about. A great observatory trains itself on the heavens from the highest peak, and in the far recesses, a dark gorge yawned. Through it all, I can feel the Lifestream.

"We're here," Nanaki says, his voice high with wonder and emotion. Glancing sideways at him, I rest a hand in his fur, feel his chest rising and falling with excited breath.

I can picture it all now. Myself, regularly swollen with cubs, year after year as I help Nanaki repopulate his people. Our children, playing and frolicking over the red sands--and, older, venturing into the depths of the canyon to learn their heritage and take their place as stewards of this land.

Elmyra would be here, helping me look after them all, and in a place more in touch with the Lifestream than ever, I could truly begin exercise my fledging Cetra powers. I could help heal the planet from the vagaries of Sephiroth and Shinra.

And at night, I'd lie back, spread my legs, and let my lover take her sweetly, his barbs teasing my walls and his knot keeping the two of us close and intimate.

Nanaki turns his head to meet his mate. I see in his eyes that he, too, was thinking of their future. "We're here," he repeats.

I smile and lean over to brush a kiss against his muzzle. One of the cubs inside of me kicks joyously. "We're home," I reply.