AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first fan fic EVER of anything. The prologue is set a few years after Meteor and the fall of Shinra The entire story, except for the Prologue, Epilogue, and various Interludes, is written in flashback. There are 3 distinct timeframes in the story: Pre-game, end of game, and very post-game. I don't do disclaimers. Read the "Standard Disclaimer" in my profile if you need to be reminded of copyright issues.

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AFTERMATH

BOOK ONE - REPENTANCE

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PROLOGUE – ANTICIPATION

'Well I just heard the news today ... It seems my life is going to change ... I close my eyes, begin to pray ... Then tears of joy stream down my face ... With arms wide open ... Under the sunlight ... Welcome to this place ... I'll show you everything ... With arms wide open ... Well I don't know if I'm ready ... To be the man I have to be ... I'll take a breath, take her by my side ... We stand in awe, we've created life ... With arms wide open ... Under the sunlight ... Welcome to this place ... I'll show you everything ... With arms wide open ... Now everything has changed ... I'll show you love ... I'll show you everything ... With arms wide open ... If I had just one wish ... Only one demand ... I hope he's not like me ... I hope he understands ... That he can take this life ... And hold it by the hand ... And he can greet the world ... With arms wide open (Creed: 'With Arms Wide Open')'

Midgar. Night.

The beauty rose silently from the bed as not to disturb her husband who still slept soundly beneath the sheets. She moved slowly to the window, peering out into the starry night from their home in one of Midgar's new high-rise condominiums.

Her hands rested softly on her swollen stomach as she looked over the rebuilding, yet proud city, lit with a soft glow from streetlights. No longer were the plates there to separate the classes. With the mayor's new design, all could enjoy looking up and seeing the sky from their homes and yards.

She smiled gently as the life within her shifted and whispered softly, "Soon, little one. Soon..."

He felt her move from the bed, careful not to disturb him, as she had been doing more and more as she grew closer to her due date. He studied through half lidded eyes her womanly outline backlit from the moon glow coming in through the window as he did nearly every night that she awoke.

A contented smile took up residence upon his lips, watching her, wondering how someone as irresponsible as himself had ever gotten lucky enough to have a high position in the new Midgar government and call the beauty standing at the window his wife, the soon-to-be mother of his, no, their, child.

So lost in her thoughts was she that she didn't hear him get out of bed and walk over to stand behind her. She wasn't consciously aware of his presence until she felt his arms wrap themselves around her and his hands come to rest on her pregnant stomach pulling her close to him.

"Can't sleep again?" He asked her softly, letting his lips graze gently against her ear.

So soft, so tender he always was with her; not at all what she would have expected from him.

She shook her head. "I can't get comfortable." As if on cue, the baby shifted inside her again.

Feeling his child move inside her body, he smiled in rapture. "That makes two of you."

She laughed gently, a small tinkling laugh that never failed to delight him from head to toe. "Three. You're not in bed either, love."

He laughed huskily against her ear. "But I am comfortable, standing here with my arms wrapped around my family." He smiled as the word 'family' escaped his lips. Something he never thought he'd have again. Something he never thought he'd need or want, but here he stood in his home with his beautiful family.

She smiled at the word family, knowing his thoughts as they were echoed in her own mind. Two people, each having lost their family, and now with one of their own, determined to give this child what they had lost.

She continued to gaze out the window content to be in his embrace as her eyes roamed over the new beginnings of the city they called home. She stood there remembering what it had been before and how it was now being rebuilt from the ashes of absolute devastation; mirroring the journey of their own lives.

"Come back to bed, sweetheart." He released her from his embrace and took her by the hand, leading her back to bed. "You still need your rest." He kissed her softly as she settled back into the bed. His arms wrapped around her protectively and she snuggled close to him as though their bodies had been made to fit exactly with the other.

The child growing within her settled down as she was finally able to let sleep's blissful enchantment claim her again.