Life's Little Triumphs: Cyan Garramonde
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	The first thing that Cyan did upon initiating the rebuilding effort was to reengineer Doma's water supply.  To this day, he remembered how the river glowed with Kefka's poison, and the water that supplied the city with life became a bringer of death instead.

	'Never again,' Cyan thought with determination, as Edgar helped him lay out the plans of the new pipe system.

	"Hey, Cyan, you okay?" Edgar asked.  "You looked kind of distracted for a while there."

	"Forgive me," Cyan apologized halfheartedly.

	Edgar gave Cyan an understanding look and returned to working out the specifics of the blueprints.


	When the construction actually started, large parts of the stone floor had to be torn up so that the pipes could be laid in.  Cyan had been pupzzling over how to do this when Sabin showed up to help.

	"This is a job I can do without breaking things," Sabin had jokingly replied when Cyan thanked him heartily.  Indeed, with Sabin's help, what might have taken months to complete was finished in weeks.

	Sabin dusted his hands off in satisfaction as the final pipe was laid into place.  "Now, to put the rest of the castle back over it."

	Everyone laughed.


	The hardest part came when the parts of the castle's outermost walls had to be taken apart so that more rooms could be added.

	Cyan's room had been built into the Northern wall.

	Cyan ran his fingers tenderly along the wall.  He still remembered with crystal-like clarity the day he had carried Elaine 'over the threshold', how she looked like she was glowing with happiness.  She had also been glowing when she told him that she was pregnant.  Then, when Owain was born, Elaine looked like she was the sun itself.

	"Cyan?" Sabin prompted.  "It's all right if you don't want this part of the wall to go.  I know how much it means to you."

	Cyan took a deep breath.  "No, it shall be all right." He smiled sadly.  "The memories shall always be in mine heart."


	Cyan watched proudly as fireworks burst into the sky at the conclusion of Doma Castle's rededication ceremony.  Two full years had passed since he first began working on the castle, and it was immensely gratifying to see that his efforst had paid off.  Now that his old home had been restored to its former glory, Cyan felt as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders.

	And yet, Cyan felt as if something was missing.  Even while he busied himself in the previous year, that something gnawed at him constantly.

	"Hey, Cyan!" One of the soldiers called to him.  "Don't just sit around all by yourself moping like that! Have a drink with us!"

	Forcing a smile, Cyan moved into the circle of people celebrating and sat among them.  His heart wasn't quite in it, though, as he continued to ponder.

	"I propose a toast!" The man who sat next to Cyan raised his glass.  "To Cyan, Doma, and a glorious future!"

	The court resounded with cheers and sounds of cups clinking against one another.


	Finally, after many rounds of toasting and cheering, the party wound down, and the exhausted denizens returned to their respective homes.

	'What's the matter with me?' Cyan wondered as he prepared to sleep as well.  'Why can't I be happy?'

	And then, the answer hit him: he was lonely.


	Even after overcoming his grief and guilt, Cyan never really associated with his teammates.  Cyan could always sense an uncomfortable gap form between him and anyone he spoke to.

	Except Terra.  Despite all the things he had seen Terra go through (and whatever she went through while she was brainwashed by the Empire), she still had the innocence of a child.  In that final battle, it was Terra who first spoke up and defended the joys of living.  Cyan could still remember Terra's voice, strong and clear, echoing in the great void.  When Terra spoke, it seemed that even the inhuman monster that Kefka became listened.

	Cyan also remembered Terra's transformation, both in the physical and emotional sense, during the battle against Phunbaba.  When he thought all was lost, Terra called upon the power which slept within her and defeated Phunbaba as easily as one could snap a blade of grass.  For the sake of her friends, and the orphans who called her 'Mama', Terra had overcome her doubts and fears and became a true warrior.

	The image of Terra that Cyan always had in his mind was that of after Kefka's defeat, when she stood at the bow of the Falcon and undid her ponytail.  That look of pure bliss on her face as the wind rushed through her hair...


	Cyan blinked with surprise as that last thought passed through his head.

	"Cyan, you old devil! You're starting to sound like Edgar!" He mumbled out loud, the corners of his mouth turning up a bit.

	But then again...hadn't he always wanted to love someone again? When he had been masquerading as the soldier who died in Moblitz, every letter he wrote was out of his own heart.  He still kept those silk flowers he made in his room out of nostalgia.

	'I wonder how Terra would feel about getting one of those...'

	Cyan smiled again; he really *was* starting to think like Edgar.  But still, it was an interesting idea.

	Definitely a good one to fall asleep with.
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Argh.  I wanted to write more, but I couldn't milk Cyan's angst any further. ^^;

After getting the Falcon, it's possible to get back the other characters in any order, but for the sake of this story Cyan rejoined the group before Terra.

And as for Cyan and Terra's age difference...who knows? They all look around the same age in SD mode...^^;

Seriously, though...When you first meet Ramuh, he say that the humans were thrown out of the Esper World 20 years ago; later, in Terra's flashback, when Geshtal's troops show up, someone says: "The wind...just like 2 years ago..." (that is, when Madonna--Terra's mother--arrived in the Esper world.) I took a little leap of faith and decided to assume that Terra was 22.  As for Cyan, I took a little bit of poetic liberty and made him 27.  (I interpreted King Doma's dying statements as: "Your FAMILY has served the kingdom since the days of my father", not Cyan.  Otherwise, Cyan would have to be at least in his late 40s...I don't even want to THINK about the implications of a Cyan/Terra relationship if they were that far apart in age. X_X)
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-"Dot"
http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/italian/70
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Writer of Unnecessarily Long Author's Notes and Bad Spamfics. ^^;
Bane of the FFML since 1998. ^_^
Coming soon to your local inbox: Dragon Ball stories 
with -gasp- plot! ^_^


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