Waterfall of Silent Teardrops

Her tears had stopped the moment she was released from her nightmare.

Where she had only been aware of the tears rolling down her time worn face, she could now only hear the roar of the water, as it cascaded down the side of the mountain into the lagoon below.

The water fell down the mountainside, washing away the signs of the past and keeping the future ever flowing forward.

Her own nightmare was over. The past had been settled, washed away by the bravery of a chosen few, and the future free from the bloodshed it could have caused. She was at peace and could finally move on to where she should have gone all those years ago.

But before she could truly rest, she would wait. She would wait because she knew he would come.

********

Lucrecia lay on the altar, the life slowly ebbing from her body. The Jenova which had kept her alive had been exorcised the moment the creature had perished deep within the Northern crater. Jenova was dead. So was her son, Sephiroth.

Her son.

No, that wasn’t right.

She had been his bearer, nothing more. She had never held him, not once. She had never even seen him. By the time she had recovered from the birth, which had almost been her death, Hojo had taken him away to Midgar. She had just stood back and let it happen.

That was her sin. She wasn’t fit to be his mother.

A single tear drop rolled down her cheek and fell silently beside the foot of the figure that stood next to the altar.

"Lucrecia…"

"I’m free Vincent…I mean, we’re free!"

Lucrecia smiled for the first time since she had left Nibelheim. She knew he would be here, and he was.

"I’m truly at peace now and we can finally rest…together."

"There is no peace for monsters."

Vincent’s head hung low. Lucrecia lifted her hand and tenderly stroked his pale cheek.

"You are no monster, my angel. You are the most beautiful person I know. Your physical attributes are the result of a dangerous malice. A malice which has long gone. But your soul…remains as beautiful as ever, loyal and brave. Dear, sweet Vincent. You have atoned for a sin that was not yours. You never had to redeem yourself in my eyes, yet in your own all you saw were the bitter sins of another. Let it go, Vincent, and we shall be at peace with one another."

Vincent squeezed her hand gently.

"An eternal sleep…without nightmares and with you, my love. We will be together, side by side."

Lucrecia smiled warmly as she felt her last breaths escape from her body.

"I’ll see you…on the other side…I…I always…loved you…Vincent."

Vincent held the motionless body of the woman he loved, rocking her back and forward gently, like a baby.

"I love you too." He whispered

With those words, years of bitterness and anger ended with the reign of hatred and blame. One by one the monsters implanted by Hojo were exorcised from Vincent’s body. The Chaos beast let out one last roar as it lost its grip on its mortal essence and its spirit was carried away on the breeze which finally removed the last traces of Hojo’s quest for supreme knowledge.

Vincent staggered slightly as he lent over the body of his lost love. It was over and now they were to be reunited. For the first time in his life, Vincent cried. The tears ran down his face and seemed to escape with his life and energy. But it didn’t matter now. Vincent was happy and at peace. With a sigh of joy and relief, Vincent cradled the one woman he had truly loved.

Vincent and Lucrecia were together at last.

The water fell down the mountainside, washing away the past and keeping the future ever flowing forward, just like a waterfall of silent tear drops.