Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ Epilogue ꧂

A day later, the party found themselves currently stranded in the middle of rolling fields. Cid was trying to fix the Tiny Bronco so they could continue their pursuit of Sephiroth. Hayden had left yesterday to return to Tellus to inform Gaia and Yggdrasil of what happened to Lailah.

Having distanced himself from the others, Cloud was sitting in the grass away from the airplane. He glanced toward the Tiny Bronco to see Barret, Cait Sith, and Cid were still doing repairs. He wasn't sure how long they would be there. Fortunately, the pilot told everyone they had supplies in case he and the others needed an extra day to work on the airplane.

Near the river, Aerith and Tifa were sitting side by side. The florist hadn't left her friend's side the entire time since they departed the sanctuary yesterday. Tifa was still trying to come to terms with Lailah's death. All of them were torn up inside by her sudden passing, but Tifa, Yuffie, and Red were still visibly upset. They still had tears left that spilled for the girl.

Yuffie and Red were also separated from the others. The ninja wiped another tear away and sniffled. The beast was sitting next to her with his head hung low in sorrow.

Cloud's tears had dried, having shed them all. He felt numb inside, knowing he wasn't able to keep his promise to Lailah. He swore to protect her, but in the end, he failed her. He carried around the bracelet he gave her in his pocket, refusing to get rid of it. Although she didn't wear it for long, the bracelet symbolized his love for her. To him, it felt like she had purposefully left the bracelet behind so he still had a small piece of her with him even though she was gone.

Picking a small yellow flower, Cloud stared at the petals. He noticed the yellow was more of a golden yellow, one that almost matched Lailah's eyes perfectly. He knew it would be a while before she left his thoughts even for a second, especially when he was surrounded by one of her favorite things—flowers.

Continuing to stare at the yellow flower, Cloud noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Looking to his left, he saw a single butterfly flying by. He thought it would have simply flown by but was surprised when it landed on the flower he was holding. He gazed at its beautiful wings, which were a mixture of blue and purple.

Seconds later, the butterfly took off and fluttered away in the gentle breeze.

"Sweet peas..."

Cloud looked over at Red when he heard what he said. The beast and Yuffie weren't too far from where he was. He didn't understand why he was mentioning sweet peas considering the flower wasn't growing anywhere nearby.

Red lifted his head as he gasped when a familiar scent reached his nose, "I-I smell sweet peas!"

Yuffie wiped at her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Lailah always smelt like sweet peas! Maybe I'm going crazy, but it's getting stronger!" He turned around to look at the hill. Upon hearing his hopeful shouting, everyone stopped what they were doing and followed his line of sight. Aerith and Tifa have gotten to their feet at the same time Cloud and Yuffie did.

All eyes fell onto the hill not too far from the Tiny Bronco. Even Vincent, who had been taking refuge in the plane, came out to see if Red was truly smelling the scent of sweet peas or if it was possibly due to the various flowers around them.

A single figure appeared on top of the hill. It was none other than Hayden. He had returned from Tellus. His tall form loomed on the hill that overlooked the Tiny Bronco. His gaze was stoic as he looked around at the faces of everyone.

Seeing the brother was alone, Red lowered his head. His ears drooped, convincing himself he had been mistaken the scent of sweet peas due to the flowers around them. Their gentle scents wafted in the breeze and were pleasant, but he hadn't been able to distinguish them from sweet peas due to missing Lailah. Even now, he could smell the sweet peas in the air.