"I definitely took out more of them than you, Spiky."
Aeris rolled her eyes as she crawled out of her tent, her head still fuzzy despite the nap.
"Only if you count the ones I had to help you with," Cloud retorted.
It had been a long day since they set out from Kalm. Walking was no problem and even walking with the extra provisions had not hampered her. Travel by foot was essential in Midgar, and while the terrain was much less even outside the city, she had endurance enough to cope.
"Helped me with?" Barret snorted. "Try the other way around, Mr. I-Used-to-be-a-SOLDIER. Even with you claiming you was one of the elite, I ain't seen you do anything I couldn't."
What was proving more exhausting was her somewhat unwanted role as the team's healer. It had not seemed deliberate, but on reflection had something of a grim inevitability to it. After the third monster attack some time outside of Kalm, she took it upon herself to heal the various cuts and lacerations Cloud, Barret, Tifa and Red accumulated. They thanked her profusely, and it was her unspoken assumption that they would handle healing on a rotating basis afterward.
"Trust me," Cloud said darkly. "You wouldn't want to face something I had to do that kind of work for."
It had been less than half an hour later when Cloud received a deep gouge on his forearm from a particularly vicious Behemoth attack. All eyes had turned to her as they ignored Cloud's insistence that his native healing factor would be enough. No one seemed ready to believe him and she still had a cure materia socketed in her bangle, so it made sense for her to patch up Cloud again. And then Barret some time later. Then Tifa. Then Red. Then Cloud again. By mid-afternoon, she lagged a little behind the group and her head pulsed with pain. Tifa slowed up to keep pace with her, but even she sprinted ahead as soon as the next monster attacked to deal with the nuisance. And each fight just seemed to mean more healing for Aeris to perform.
As soon as they made camp and the tents were up, Aeris flopped down inside the one she shared with Tifa, desperate for some rest. Despite the taxing nature of casting so much magic, sleep proved annoying evasive for long moments. She almost gave up more than once.
"I'll believe it when I see it," Barret muttered.
At least some time had passed; the sky was dark and her companions clustered around the crackling camp fire. Tifa was staring up at the sky when Aeris sat down beside her.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked as Aeris fidgeted on the shared log.
"Fine," she said, putting on a bright voice she did not feel. "I haven't missed dinner have I?"
Tifa glanced at her and shook her head. "We were waiting for you."
Aeris followed her gaze and stared up at the dazzling night sky. It was still a little odd to think of them being outside Midgar, being beyond the city walls that had been the boundary of her entire life. But right now there could be no clearer indicator than this view of the night sky. Even on the Upper Plate, the sky looked nothing like this. It was always murky; covered with a green tinged haze seemed to hang above the city.
"Alright Spiky," Barret growled. "We are going to settle this. Tomorrow we are going to take turns fighting monster. No help from anyone else - unless you ask for it. You do and it counts as your helper's not yours."
"Sounds fun," Tifa put in. "I presume different sizes of monster count differently?"
Barret nodded. "Sounds fair. But," he said, jabbing a finger at Cloud. "You don't get to just take out all the little ones and claim it's worth the same as the big ones. Gotta share them by size too."
"Fine. Stakes?" Cloud asked.
"Winner doesn't have to cook for a week?" Tifa suggested.
"You planning on entering?" Barret asked.
Tifa blinked. "I hadn't intended to, but I suppose..." She smiled. "Yeah, I'm in."
"Better make sure you don't win then. How about loser has to cook all week then?"
Tifa smiled. "Fine. So don't expect me to lose, Barret. This is not going to get you my cooking all week," she said.
"We'll see. Red?" Barret asked.
Red yawned lazily, his tail flicking from side to side. "I do not believe I would be able to cook, so perhaps something else? I admit I'm curious as to how this would turn out."
"How about," Aeris said, frowning, her head on the verge of bursting with pain once more. "Loser has to do all the healing for the next week?"
Barret blinked at her. "You want in too?"
"Is that so strange?" Aeris asked. "I wouldn't mind not doing the cooking or healing for a week."
"Well, yeah, but-" Cloud began.
"Some... problem?" Aeris asked.
"N-no," Cloud said. "Just wouldn't have thought you'd want to."
Aeris hummed to herself as she leaned back. "I hope that is an estimation of my interest in such a contest and not a judgement on how I would handle a monster attack."
"No, no," Cloud replied quickly.
"But you can see what he's getting at," Barret added. "You don't much seem like the fighting type."
"Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?" Aeris said, smiling as hard as she could, trying not to clench her teeth. "Tell you what, first sign of trouble - first hint you get that I might not be able to cope, you can just swoop in and save me. Okay?"
Cloud and Barret exchanged glances. "Okay. You're in," Barret said.
"Aeris? Are you sure about this?"
Aeris sighed and rolled over to face Tifa. "Oh, not you too," she muttered.
"Aeris?" Tifa looked confused in the dim light.
"Did none of you notice I carry a staff around? And have - like you and Barret - been successfully living in the slums all my life? I know how to take care of myself. I've fought monsters near everyday. And yet, the second we get outside the city, all I seem to be doing is healing people."
"You are pretty good at it," Tifa observed.
"It's materia! Condensed wisdom of the Ancients!" Aeris exclaimed. "I'm not going to be better at using it than literally anyone else."
"Sorry," Tifa said, ducking her head. "And... Sorry," she added.
"It's fine," Aeris said. "I'm not annoyed at you. It's just... I know it doesn't look like it, but constantly healing everyone else is exhausting."
Tifa frowned. "I hadn't realized it was quite that bad."
"It probably shouldn't be. But I think because Cloud and Barret have gotten it into their heads that since I am dedicated to keeping them alive and well, they can keep taking more risks." Aeris said as she flopped onto her back.
"Maybe everyone should take care of healing themselves?" Tifa suggested.
Aeris moaned softly. "Oh, that would be perfect. But," she said. "I can see the need for someone else not actively fighting. I just don't want it to always be me."
"So you want to at least not lose?" Tifa asked.
Aeris shook her head. "No. I'm going to win."
"How..." Tifa shook her head. "Do you have a plan for that?"
Aeris grinned. "I have a few ideas. Turns out there's some quirks to the cure spells. Something people might not notice if they hadn't been using it over and over again."
"Oh?" Tifa raised an eyebrow.
"Tomorrow. When I win; then I'll tell everyone."
"Okay, so the order is me first, then Barret, then Tifa, then Red, then Aeris. Agreed?" Cloud said the next morning after they broke camp, ready to set off again. "You can use magic, your weapons, whatever. Any point you can't cope, just say the word and we'll step in. Oh." He glanced at Aeris. "Except for-"
"Me. Yes, yes, yes," Aeris interrupted.
For the first few hours it seemed as if all monsters in the area had gotten wind of their group and were staying studiously away from them. It did not last long. Cloud handled his first monster without a problem. Barret and Tifa likewise felled their first targets in a blazing rush of speed. Red's proved a little more fraught, but he too eventually struggled his monster to the ground until it lay still. And so it was finally her turn on the roster.
"You really don't have to do this," Tifa said as they strode ahead of the group for the first time. Leading the way felt oddly good, though Aeris kept checking over her shoulder to check the others were still following.
"I want to," Aeris said, gripping her staff tightly as she ran through her mom's staff lessons in her head once again. Start with those and then augment the movements as necessary.
She did not have to wait long. Minutes later a Kalm Fang broke cover and lunged for her, jaws wide and trailing drool. Aeris stood her ground. Spreading her hands along the staff she shoved it forward as the creature closed the distance. The staff smacked into it's mouth, forcing it's jaws wider. The creature looked panicked as it futilely tried to bring it's teeth down onto her arm. She held the staff steady until the Kalm Fang jerked it's head back and raced a short distance away. It turned to face her and growled, it's tail lashing back and forth. It sprinted forward again, trying to get past her. Not happening. Taking hold of one end of the staff in both hands, Aeris swung at the creature as it tried to pass.
The blow made her hands tingle, but successfully deterred the monster's dash. It's direction wavered and the Kalm Fang swerved away from the group, though it did not seem to want to give up. It carried on in it's wide turn and raced back towards her. So far she had annoyed and possibly superficially injured it; the creature was neither defeated nor deterred. Time to change that.
"Aeris?" Tifa said from somewhere behind her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Aeris grinned. "I'm fine. Just give me another minute."
She invoked the spell, exhaustion draining from her limbs, the pins and needles in her hands evaporating. The vestiges of a headache developed across her brow, but she had no time to worry about that. She felt rested and ready. Nothing she had not done for the others yesterday, but they thought the effects stopped there. The fuzzy tension in her head increased as she cast again; there was no way she was escaping the familiar headache after this stunt. It would be worth it though. If it got her off healing duty for a week - and hopefully off doing so all the time after this little demonstration - it would all be worth it. The creature charged as she turned the magic inwards. Her muscles strengthened and her skin grew tougher. Just a few more moments.
The Kalm Wolf was right on top of her. There were footsteps behind her. Cloud and Barret ready to rescue her no doubt. No time. She had to do this now. Aeris braced herself and gripped her staff as firmly as possible. If she missed this it was debatable if the creature would sink it's teeth into her before one of the other two took it out. At least if it did manage to bite her it was likely to lose teeth.
Aeris swung the staff up as hard as she could, the motion clean and fast. The Kalm Fang's neck snapped back as the creature arced away from her blow. It collapsed in a crumpled heap several meters away and did not get up. Okay. Calm. Breath. Keep breathing. Undo the augmentation effects first. She let her skin grow more supple again, her muscles relax and diminish. Aeris took a deep breath and turned to her companions. Tifa blinked, smiled and began applauding.
"Bravo," she said. "That was amazing."
Behind her Cloud and Barret simply stared open-mouthed at her fallen opponent. Red was making that one specific noise she was pretty sure was laughter.
"So. Shall we press on?" Aeris asked and smiled. She strode on before anyone could answer. One thing was for sure; if any of them wanted to know how that worked, they would going to handle their own healing.