The Revenants -Final Fantasy VII fanfic-

Grace

"You know, Denzel..." Marlene spoke never halting her steps by her brother's side. Even her soft words sounded loud in the silence of the night. "...maybe we should give him an opportunity."

"I don't know Marlene. I don't trust that guy." Denzel confessed looking straight ahead on the way home. His lips were pressed together in deep thought and his fingers were laced together inside his sweater pockets. Marlene's smaller fingers were gently curled around his arm while keeping the same pace as him.

He didn't show it, but the teen was tempted to accept Kadaj's presence and even his apology. But... it was like the remnant's face captured every single moment he didn't like to recall. Maybe, Denzel wanted to forgive him, but he felt that forgiving the slim man would mean that he would have to welcome all those bad memories too. The male brunette felt he wasn't ready for that.

"You know he was telling the truth, right?" Marlene insisted on convincing his brother to look at the silver haired man with merciful eyes. The chilly wind blew and she rubbed her hands against her bare arms, the air dancing swiftly below the hem of her dress sending shivers on her entire body.

"How can you know that?"

"I don't know... I just could see it in his eyes. Even if they were terrifying to look at, those eyes were telling the truth..." Her voice got lost in the wind and Denzel turned to look at Marlene who seemed to have lost herself in her own memories.

She recalled those slit like pupils that looked at her like a predatory would to its prey. But they were also graced with tenderness and affection whenever he or someone else would mention Aerith. To Marlene's eyes, that was proof enough, but to Denzel...it seemed like a different story. The dangerous man gestures may have showed his old self, but his green eyes would reflect the real Kadaj to her. That wasn't something anyone could see with a naked eye.

But she saw it. The distress and desolation he felt as a lost child. The torment he tried to conceal behind a façade made of anger and threats... that was useless in front of Marlene. And in the end, she concluded that both of them, Kadaj and her, shared a great talent to see the truth. He saw the conviction in Marlene's eyes as she saw the change of heart in his.

The unforgiving temperature reminded her of Denzel's companionship and forced the girl to step a little closer to him in search of warmth. The teen realized her state and smiled in apology for his nonattendance. He offered his olive sweater to his sister who gladly accepted it with a grateful gaze and rosy cheeks. Now Denzel was the one that felt the cold temperature slap him in his bare arms. Still, he could handle it better than Marlene.

"Do you remember how he told us that Aerith gave him that ribbon and that she told him many things?" The petit girl persisted on the subject.

"Like things about a certain girl called Marlene? Don't let him fool you, sister." Denzel responded back. She sent him a nasty look that he tried to avoid by looking at anywhere but her.

"Maybe he really was sent here by Aerith, but why?"

"I told you before Marlene," He sighed. "I don't know and I am not risking it. And remember that he is still a remnant from Sephiroth, even if he oh so 'changed sides' as he put it."

"But Denzel, you don't understand! He told us that the planet needs to be protected! Even if he doesn't know from what or who..."

"Exactly! If the planet was really in danger, Aerith would have told Cloud about it."

'That should be enough reasons to not believe in him.' Denzel thought sensing his sister's silence at his words.

"...Should we tell Tifa and Cloud about our encounter with him?"