Kefka's Tower was in sight. This whole thing was going to end soon, one way or another. My companions were all milling about the lower cabin of the Falcon, stocking their packs with supplies and fiddling with their weapons. They were oddly quiet, too, and stayed close together, finding comfort in the silent camaraderie. The tension, though, was thick enough to swim through. Looking around the cabin, I noticed that one person besides our pilot was missing. Slipping away to the upper deck, I first saw Setzer standing at the wheel. It was behind me, at the airship's stern, that I found Celes. With the others, I could read what they were feeling by their expressions; the look of nervous anticipation was identical on each one of them, and their postures all but screamed their mounting distress. Celes was harder to read. Actually, she was impossible to read. She stood gazing off at the horizon, face impassive and stance relaxed. Her eyes did nothing to betray her thoughts. A part of me had to wonder if she tried to be that way, or if it just came naturally to her. My mind wandered back to Mobliz when, for a moment at least, she seemed more open. I wanted her to let me in, almost desperately so. I sensed I was on the verge of understanding something significant, and I had a feeling Celes was the key. I had to know, and I was tired of waiting for my memories to clear a path to the answer I wanted. Seeing that there was the distinct possibility that we were all going to die, I resolved to just kiss the girl, humiliation be damned. "Hey, Cel." "Terra." "Almost there," I noted pointlessly. "Looks like this is it." "Looks like." Her economy of words was astounding. "Are you going to miss it? Your magic?" "Don't know yet." I held back a sigh. She wasn't making this easy. "Think it'll be quick?" "What?" "When I...if I..." I found I couldn't even finish the thought as my vision suddenly blurred. "Think it'll hurt?" She gave a small shrug, not taking her eyes off the sky. "Wouldn't worry about it." I drew back as if slapped in the face. "How can you stay so neutral?" She didn't even flinch. "Long arduous hours of practice." I threw my hands up in frustration and, without my permission, tears spilled from my eyes. "Gods, Celes, could you at least pretend to care?" She regarded me passively. "I do care." "Not that I can see! You're all...stoic, and, and, and calm." "Do you want me to panic?" she asked carefully. "Yes, panic!" I all but shrieked. "Or, or cry or joke around! Something that shows you feel-" My words became muffled, and it was a full second before I registered Celes' lips on mine. In that very instant, I knew what that feeling was that had been eluding me for two years. As another second passed, though, and all coherent thought flew out the window. When she pulled gently away, to say I was dazed would be an understatement. "What was that?" "Me panicking," she replied simply. "Oh." The others started coming up from the lower deck, and Celes took a small step back. Her hand, however, remained on my cheek in a soft caress. "We'll get through this." Seeing a flicker of that same emotion in the cold depths of her eyes, I believed her.
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