For their last night in Kalm, the party decided to take advantage of a local festival that overlapped with their brief stay. The scent of spiced seafood and bready confections imbued the cool evening with a cheery warmth and, despite themselves and the recent sobering revelations they'd discussed in the inn, the group found themselves enjoying the opportunity to put aside their cares, if only for this one evening.

"I feel a bit underdressed," Aerith said as she and Cloud perused several merchant stalls vending sweet pastries filled with jellied fruit. "Everyone seems to have on these beautiful dresses or cloaks covered in moons and stars." Cloud and Aerith had left Barret and Red to indulge in a friendly tournament involving a series of fair games. Tifa had agreed to stay and referee the event.

"It's a lunar festival," Cloud said as he finished making a purchase for he and Aerith. He passed her a warm pastry filled with candied strawberries.

"You're such the worldly traveler," Aerith teased. "One of the benefits to a career as a SOLDIER, I suppose."

"I've only been to Kalm once and under circumstances a bit like ours now. We stopped through on our way to Nibelheim."

"And that would've been the trip to Nibelheim," Aerith said gloomily.

"That was the one, yes." The two located an empty outdoor table and seated themselves around it

"How does it compare the second time around?" Aerith asked.

"Well, I missed the festival my first time through," Cloud said and then paused to watch Aerith's reaction. "And I didn't have the benefit of such pleasant company."

Aerith's ears turned pink with embarrassment, but she clearly appreciated the statement. She bit down into her pastry. "And no tasty local sweets either, I imagine?"

Cloud shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The Shinra military encourages a sort of antipathy toward local customs."

"A shame. It says so much about them, really," Aerith said around mouthfuls of the flaky dessert. "Not about the individuals themselves, of course, I just mean..." she said hastily.

"No, you're right. They wanted us to be killing machines, solely devoted to advancing Shinra's interests. Shinra did their best to snuff out any sense of empathy we had."

"But it didn't work. You're not like that," Aerith said gently. "You're one of the kindest people I know, especially with all you've been through. All you've seen."

Cloud held the pastry in his hand, still untouched. "It never truly goes away. The memories linger. The past continues to hover about, unwilling to leave you alone," Cloud said.

"Like a ghost?" Aerith asked.

Cloud nodded. "Like a ghost."

Aerith paused and gazed out into the crowds of people milling about, he expression turning thoughtful. "My mother...I have so few memories of her...but she used to tell me a story when I was very young. The story was about The Cetra and how they came to be as they were." She took a small bite of pastry before continuing. "There were few beings when the cosmos was young, and they all awakened to a strange and fertile world, brimming with possibility. That possibility, that potential, was so potent and alluring; it inspired a frenzy of disparate ideologies and visions for the future - as many visions as there were beings to draft them."

Cloud listened carefully as she spoke. Her voice assumed the wounded, burdened tone of one who had seen too much and carried it all on her shoulders. He regretted his bout of self-pity earlier.

"The Cetra, before they were so-named, quareled with each other viciously. And for a long time, very little happened among them beyond the mutual inflicting of wounds. Conflict was rife among our people, and nothing we now know of their art, their science, their wisdom, and their genius would've been possible had circumstances remained unchanged," Aerith continued. "But then, the planet spoke to them through a particularly sensitive sage whose name and identity have been lost to the ages. The sage said 'You are not, as you believe, whole and complete. You are not fully formed; you have yet to reach fullness of being,' and his words stunned the Cetra who, until that point, had been united, if in no other respect, in their incredible hubris. Who was this person to speak so candidly about their imperfections? But then, in channeling the planet, the sage revealed to them their true state. Each Cetra, and indeed each being in the cosmos, was incomplete. They saw themselves briefly as they truly were, beautiful and radiant sparks of the divine energy of the cosmos but possessing only a single, feathery wing each. The message was clear - you remain anchored to the earth in your ignorance or you rise together, borne aloft by your wings together."

Cloud sat in silence for a moment, allowing the weight of Aerith's story to register with him. "And thereafter, their culture changed?"

Aerith nodded. "Or so goes the story. It is likely a myth but one that holds within it truths that are more important than the literal content. One wing is not enough, but with two? Many? There are no limits."

Cloud placed his hand on hers and smiled. "And the same is true for you. You aren't alone, Aerith."

Tears began to collect in Aerith's eyes as she tried to blink them back. "I know," she said softly.

"We'll rise together," Cloud said.

Aerith took a deep breath as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "We may not all make it, Cloud. And...and I want you to know that, if that happens, that you did everything you could."

Cloud paused, the color draining from his face. "Aerith. Aerith, did you see something in those visions? Please, tell me."

She shook her head. "I don't know for certain. And I'm afraid to say...I fear affecting the future just by talking about it like this. But that much, I had to tell you."

"I won't let anything happen to you," Cloud said firmly. "This future is unwritten, right? Whatever you saw, even if it means what you fear it means, it may not come to pass. It won't come to pass. We are all getting through this. Especially you."

Aerith drew in a ragged breath to try to suppress the sobs rising in her chest. "The future is indeed unwritten," she said. "A blessing and a curse."

He took her hand in hers. "I will be by your side the whole time."

"I know," she smiled through the tears. "I've known that since we met in the slums," she said. "Mr. Bodyguard."

Cloud smiled, appreciating the much-needed levity. "And you still owe me a date, if you remember."

"I haven't forgotten," Aerith said, warmth returning to her voice.

Cloud glanced about before standing up. "Why don't we go find the others. I'm curious to hear how this tournament of Barret and Red's went."

"I hope Tifa kept things from getting too competitive," Aerith mused.

"Either way, I think we won't hear the end of it for the next few days at least."

"Where will we be heading next?"

"Through a swamp and toward the Mythril Mine. We'll be making our way to Junon from there, but the mine is our only passage through the mountains," Cloud said.

Aerith nodded. "For now, let's go find the others."

Ever so gently, Cloud took Aerith's hand, and the two made their way into the crowd to find their friends.