On the Way to a Smile, Episode: Nanaki [Revised]
Together with Yuffie, he entered a Materia cave which lay in a Snowfield, to the north of Corel. However, their search in the ice-cold cave was unsuccessful.
“Damn! There really isn’t any here! I’m done!” said Yuffie.
“You’re giving up?”
“No, I’m going to keep looking. Their hopes rest with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“This is the last materia cave I know about. But, I’ll go through them one more time, because I might have missed a something—You know. But something is clear to me now. While I’m here, so much time passes for them.”
Yuffie looked off into the distance. She had taught the patients in Wutai martial arts. At first, it was just the children, but then, the adult patients started coming to her to consult her about their physical condition, and to excercise under her guidance.
“You see. This disease really is contagious. But it doesn’t spread to just anyone. It nests in your heart if you’re in doubt, carry around painful memories or have lost the joy in life. But martial arts and movement help to focus on positives and expel negative thoughts. If you’re busy every day, and in the evening go to bed totally tired, you have no time to dwell on things. I’d like to continue my work back home as soon as possible.”
Yuffie looked at Nanaki and smiled.
“What do you think?”
“I completely agree with you.”
“Of course you do!”
Yuffie wrapped her arms around Nanaki’s neck and pulled him up, so he had to stand on his hind legs.
“Stop it!”
“Huh? You’re covered with scars. What happened?”
Nanaki thought about how he was going to explain to her.
“I am on a journey to record all forms of life to memory.”
He actually presented it differently, but he had plunged into the cycle of life and lived it to the fullest. And he remembered each and every detail. He had experienced things, which he, as an outsider and uninvolved observer, would never have understood. It had, however, come at a price, and had left scars on body and soul.
“Stop acting cool, you silly thing.”
Yuffie once again wrapped her arms firmly around his neck, but this time she loosened her grip again.
“Keep at it, Nanaki.”
