To Live Again

by _No_One_Remains_


Vivi Day Seven: Moonlit Reunion

“Are you sure you guys don’t want to sleep here tonight? I’ve got plenty of blankets…”

“No, that’s quite alright. We’ve discussed sleeping under the stars this evening.”

And with those final words, we left Twilight’s house and went walking seemingly-aimlessly through the sleeping town. It wasn’t until we were at the edge of the Everfree Forest near Sweet Apple Acres that Kuja finally stopped walking and actually decided to talk to us. He looked somewhat concerned with actually sleeping, and he carried himself carefully as we approached the first few rows of apple trees that the Apple family had planted in their orchard.

Kuja sent Mr. 111 a disgusted look before stopping in front of a particularly large tree. He scoffed, “I hope you don’t mind us sleeping outside, Vivi.”

Although a blanket would’ve been nice, I wasn’t bothered by a sky-view bed. “Not at all, I guess.”

“It’s just that,” he started with a sigh, “the last time I slept in this town, Mr. 33 died. A few of the Apples almost went with him, had they not fled when they did.” He kicked the tree as hard as he could and sent the larger mage another dirty look. “I don’t want to drag any more innocents into our affairs if I can help it.”

111 chuckled, “Last time I touched an apple tree I made a whole damn town sick!” He scanned it up and down before shrugging his shoulders and taking a leap off of the ground.

He landed on the lowest branch on the left side of the tree, facing away from the town and into the forest. Kuja chuckled knowingly at his reference and followed suit, landing on the lowest of the right-hand branches. I simply stood in place, never one for dexterity or acrobatics.

With a tone that almost sounded serious, Kuja laughed, “C’mon up Vivi! You haven’t lived until you’ve slept in an apple tree!” Before I could respond, he was on the ground behind me.

It only took him a few seconds to grab me by my collar, leap to the second-lowest branch, set me down, and hop back to his own resting place. Before I even knew what was happening, he was kicked back against the tree trunk, staring at the apples above us. Once I finally gained my bearing, I lay down on the branch like he and Mr. 111 did, not wanting to be ‘that guy’. Though truthfully, the thought of rolling off the branch scared me to death!

Aside from the rustling of the leaves and the sounds of insects in the distance, everything fell completely silent. I stared off at the barn owned by the Apple family, wondering what they would think about us sleeping in their orchard.

After a few minutes I started to doze off. The scent of apples lulled me into a blissful stupor. That is, until Kuja decided he wanted to speak up about something.

Out of nowhere, he sighed, “Are you scared, Vivi?”

Snapping out of my daze, I took a second to consider the question. Was I scared? Did I want to go home with Zidane and the others? Did I wish I could just live my second life in blissful ignorance of the impending disaster? Did I constantly pray that both Kuja and I would make it out of the ordeal alive? …Was I scared?

“Of course I am… Are you?”

“Terrified, actually.”

He spoke so calmly and yet I’d never imagined he could be afraid. I witnessed firsthand that he could be sad, but I never thought he would be afraid… There was so much more to the man than the monster we fought so many times on Gaia. I started to wonder just how much different I was from then…

I looked down at him. He was staring up at the moon again. I cheered, “But that’s okay, because as long as you’re afraid, you’re willing to do that much more to survive!” I wasn’t sure where I’d heard that, but it sounded like something Zidane would say.

He chuckled, “Thank you.” After a short silence, he sighed, “Does the air feel heavy to you tonight, Vivi?”

Heavy air? I’m not sure why, but I looked up at the moon without hesitation. Before I knew what to think about the sight, my voice came flowing out. “This world’s moon is mysterious, isn’t it? It almost feels like it’s watching us…”

The man looked at me with surprise coating his features. He groaned, “That’s just creepy! I was thinking the same thing…” He shot upright with wide eyes, excitement on his face. “Come to think of it, Twilight called their leader ‘Celestia’, right?!”

“Y-yeah…” Such sudden energy so late at night was a bit disturbing.

He chuckled, “’Celestia’ means ‘heavenly’, so maybe she has some connection to the sky and the stars. Maybe she is watching us right now!” He grinned at me as if he’d just solved all the riddles of life and death.

I sighed, “That’s even crazier than us being here, Kuja.”

He frowned and scoffed, “Okay, smart mage, what’s your idea?”

“I dunno…”

“Exactly. At least I have something!”

He started to laugh gently and I couldn’t help but follow suit. It wasn’t a ‘that was hilarious’ laugh, but more of a ‘this is fun’ laugh. Were we…having fun? In light of all the bad things we were sure would come, we were having fun. At that moment, with us laughing, I thought that Zidane would’ve been proud of us. Even as bleak as our future looked, we still put our worries on the back burner and laughed.

And then something weird happened. And I mean really weird!

We both looked up at the moon at the same time, and for a brief instant I could swear I saw an image in its glow. We shared confused expressions just as the world around us faded away. Everything fell silent, and we suddenly found ourselves alone. We were sitting where we had been, but the tree had vanished! Everything around us was just one white void. And yet, despite the sudden isolation, I felt calm. This place didn’t feel evil. Kuja simply stayed in place, staring at me, waiting for anything to happen.

“Where do you think we are?” I asked, somewhat hesitant to find the answer.

“You’re asking me as if I have a clue…” he sighed.

I began to hear a faint voice in the distance. It was serene and beautiful. I called out to it, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“I hear it too,” Kuja whispered, trying to listen.

I recognized it from somewhere, and it grew louder as time went on.

“A voice from the past, joining yours and mine.
Adding up the layers of harmony.
And so it goes, on and on.
Melodies of Life,
To the sky beyond the flying birds - forever and beyond.”

The voice was so familiar to me…but I just couldn’t place the name or face…

And then, in the distance, a figure began to appear. It was a human figure in a beautiful dress. Long black hair came to view. Piece by piece, the person became clearer as the song grew louder.

Finally, memories came flooding back to me. Countless minutes spent with this person revealed who she was to me. I felt stupid for forgetting her name!

I called out, “D-Dagger?! I…mean…Queen Garnet?!”

Kuja looked at me like I was insane. He scoffed, “Is that her? Truly? I suppose it has been a few months since our final encounter…” He stared off at the figure slowly coming into focus. It was unmistakably her.

I knew she probably wasn’t real, and that she probably couldn’t hear me, but I called out again anyway… “Garnet, it’s Vivi!” Just seeing her made me happier. It was another familiar face in a world of strangers.

Suddenly the singing stopped, and she turned directly toward us. Her hands fell to her sides as she shouted, “V-Vivi?! Is that…really you?”

She could see me! She could really see me! Kuja’s jaw dropped as this realization set in. I cheered, “Yes! It’s so good to see you!”

“But…you’re… I don’t understand how—!” Her voice was cut off by another familiar sound.

“Your majesty, is that you?!” The voice was gruff and accompanied by the sound of clanking metal. It could only have been one person. Right on cue, the Knight of Pluto himself entered the frame, appearing just as suddenly as Garnet had. He looked just as confused as well.

I had to cheer, “Steiner!”

He looked around frantically, realizing he was in a void. His eyes locked on the queen before finding me. His jaw dropped comically and his hands clenched into fists in the usual fashion. He groaned, “M-Master Vivi, is it truly you? But that’s impossible!” He scratched his face before sighing, “I just thought I was hearing things, but it’s really you…”

I didn’t know what to think. ‘Hearing things’? What could that have meant?

The soldier didn’t miss a beat. He immediately turned toward the queen and demanded, “Your majesty, how did you end up here?”

“I…was singing my lullaby… And then I heard Vivi’s voice and followed it to the entrance hall…” She turned toward me, wondering what had drawn her to me.

Kuja simply shook his head in disbelief. He remained silent, as no one had seemed to notice him yet. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if it were all an illusion. I felt tears run down my gloves. I cheered, “I can’t believe you’re real! This is…amazing!”

Another faint voice called out into the void. It was higher-pitched, and seemed more excited than it should have been. Memories of its owner came flooding back almost immediately. “V-Vivi! Are you really there?!” Within seconds, the figure of the child appeared, dashing toward me.

Steiner attempted to grab the child as she passed, shouting, “Miss Eiko, you mustn’t! It could be a trap!”

Garnet giggled comfortingly as the Summoner simply ignored the middle-aged knight, powering right through his hand and toward me. Eiko scoffed, “No way, old man! It’s gotta be the real deal!”

I thought she would stop once she reached where the tree trunk should have been, but I was dead wrong. Before I could actually process the idea, the little girl leapt from the ground in front of me and tackled me off of my seat, landing directly underneath Kuja’s branch. The invisible seat obviously didn’t exist here. Eiko wrapped her arms around my neck and cheered excitedly as she felt I was real.

Steiner rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. He was always skeptical…

“Good to know I’m not crazy…” Yet another familiar voice called out as a tall figure with flaming red hair appeared. Even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t have forgotten that hair…

“A-Amarant? You look…different…” I greeted him as Eiko pulled me to my feet, essentially dragging me over to the rest of the group. For a little girl, she had a lot of strength. Heh, she was almost as tall as me after all the time I’d seemingly been gone from the world.

But Amarant was totally different. He looked more muscular, and his demeanor was more polite. The only thing that was the same was the hair.

He scoffed, “Of course I’m different. It’s almost been a year, and I ain’t an outlaw anymore.” With a slight hesitation, he continued, “And those kids of yours keep me busy… The damn tykes just haven’t left me alone since the play…”

My ‘kids’…took a liking to Amarant? I expected Garnet or Eiko…but Amarant?

“That’s interesting…” I chuckled, wondering just what all had happened since my death.

“You’re tellin’ me.” He knelt down beside me and whispered, “You’d be proud of ‘em, man. Even without Mist, their magic’s coming along great.”

I heard Kuja chuckle from the would-be tree. I followed quietly, “Thanks for looking after them, Red.”

A somber voice joined the fray. I recognized it just as surely as the rest. As the figure of the Burmecian soldier came into view, she sighed, “Isn’t this one big family reunion? I’ll admit, I never imagined I’d meet you again, Vivi.”

“Freya!” The soldier came into view, the only one of my old companions that was actually carrying her weapon. You could always find her in a crowd by looking for the spear…

“It looks as if the afterlife is treating you well. Or perhaps this is the afterlife…” She placed a hand to her chin in mock-contemplation.

I was suddenly reminded of exactly what would soon go down in Equestria. I groaned, “If only you knew the full story…”

“Why don’t ya tell us all about it?” Eiko chimed in, still just as excited.

Yet another voice tore through the silent void. This one didn’t seem to be talking to anyone in particular. Instead, it referred to the whole group with confusion. It sounded enthusiastic, even with the obvious dread in it.

“Hey fellas, what’s going on? Why are you all just,” in the middle of his speech he appeared before us, “standing around like statues?” It took him a few moments to realize he wasn’t where he was a moment before. He leaped back a step or two, shock overcoming his senses. “Whoa, where the heck are we now?!”

I couldn’t believe it. I simply couldn’t believe it. Six months… I lived six months after the fall of the Iifa Tree. In all that time, I’d never once heard anything about him. He turned around to save Kuja…and then he vanished. As we flew away in the Invincible, I watched him dodge monsters and roots from the living tree…but I never heard about him surviving the fall…

And yet here he was, almost a year after my death, alive and well.

I didn’t know whether to cry or cheer… All this time I’d thought he was dead and that my memories of him were just honoring him… But he was alive all along, presumably living happily with Garnet and the others.

The tears came pouring. I couldn’t even hope to stop them.

“Z-Zidane…?” For just a moment, I forgot that I was a tough mage. I forgot everything I’d survived and how much I had grown. For just a moment, I was like a little baby, separated from its mother for the first time. I let the tears pour until the hero finally gained his bearings on everything.

“Vivi! But I thought you were…” He cut himself off and burst into laughter, “Of course you ain’t gone! Not as long as we remember ya!”

The tears stopped almost instantly as he wrapped his arms around me. I suddenly realized what a scene I was making, and stopped as quickly as I started. Drying the tears with my hands, I sighed, “It’s been…over a year, Zidane…”

“Yep. It took forever to make it back to Alexandria. I was hoping to meet everyone there, but you were the absentee. Of course, your kids were more than happy to hang out!” He smiled his usual smile and shrugged his usual shrug. For the first time in days, I felt truly at home.

I looked back at Kuja in his seat. He was simply watching our reunion with mixed emotions. I could tell he wanted to do something—say something—but he was afraid to interrupt. Either that or he was afraid no one would be able to see him.

Zidane followed my gaze to where the tree once stood. His eyes opened wide and he lurched back another step at the sight that awaited him. He smiled real big and cheered, “K-Kuja?! You’re here too!” Without hesitation, he darted toward the old foe.

The rest of the group shot to attention, taking battle stances. Steiner roared, “Kuja is here, in this place? Of course the monster would feel no remorse for ruining such a touching moment!” He took a few steps closer to Garnet.

Amarant scoffed, “You think he’d show up here? How would that even work?”

Zidane stopped in mid-step, mere inches from the tree. He turned with a look of sorrow on his face. He sighed, “You guys can’t see him? But he’s right here…” The hero waved toward Kuja, who simply sat in place with a confused expression.

Eiko shrieked, “Eek, I can kinda see him!” She pointed right at his face, proving her point.

“You can, Miss Eiko?!” Steiner tensed up even more.

I groaned, “Calm down! He isn’t the same guy we fought!”

Zidane chuckled, “Not by a long shot.”

The group settled down at his comment and simply listened.

“Below the Iifa tree, in those last few moments when I thought we were goners, Kuja was a completely different person. He saved us from Necron’s void, after all. The light that brought us back to Gaia was his. If anything, we owe him our lives…”

With that, he jumped into the air and yanked Kuja from the tree by the hand. The entire group let out a collective gasp as—I assume—Kuja appeared before them. He looked at them each in turn before pulling his hand from our friend’s.

Taking a few steps backward, he scoffed, “I have no place in Vivi’s reunion, Zidane. It is his and yours alone.”

“As if!” Zidane threw a single punch, connecting with the former villain’s arm. He scoffed, “We’re brothers, ain’t we? And you’re taking care of Vivi, right?”

I cheered, “You could say that!” I received a few weird looks from our friends, but they kept quiet.

“See? I think that means you belong here. I mean, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here, right?”

Kuja turned to object, but he was cut off by Zidane’s embrace. I could see his eyes open wide, and for a few seconds he struggled to get free. After realizing his brother wasn’t letting go, he simply relaxed and accepted his fate. The embrace carried on for a good few moments before our companions finally began to judge it.

“Can we really trust him?” Steiner groaned.

Garnet giggled, “Zidane does. And if Zidane trusts him, I trust him…”

“Right!” Eiko cheered. “Zidane always knows what’s right!”

Freya scoffed, “I suppose he does, doesn’t he?”

Amarant simply stood in silence, back to his usual self.

I turned back to see the older brother finally returning the hug. Tears were running down his face. I tried to imagine how conflicted Kuja must have been, but it was just impossible to do. I mean…everything he’d done and tried to do… And yet this one person single-handedly convinced everyone he wronged to forgive him. I…couldn’t begin to comprehend it.

The hug finally ended, and Zidane was once again back to his usual self. He chuckled, “Feeling a little sentimental there, bro?” His grin could make anyone smile.

Kuja wiped the tears and groaned, “O-of course not! I simply couldn’t breathe through your horrible stench, monkey!” A smile brushed across his face, and the atmosphere of the entire void finally shifted to peaceful once more.

After wrapping his arm around his brother’s neck Zidane half-dragged Kuja to the group.

We all shared warm smiles, albeit a few of them were reluctant.

As we carried on with our conversations, a warm white light began to cloud the void. And just as suddenly as we entered, we left. I opened my eyes to find myself in the warmth of the Equestrian sun, kicked back against the tree as I had been originally. Kuja sat in his spot, tears running down his face. When he opened his eyes, I saw warmth in them I hadn’t seen before. He looked at me as if asking whether it were all a dream or not.

And, honestly, I couldn’t even begin to answer.

But…it felt too real. Can…mere memories of people…create something like that?