Okay...I know the last thing I need to be doing is starting another story, but it happened. I blame winter break! Anyway, little bittersweet Valenwind where they're separated for the first time in a year. And to make it worse? It's for a month. But...things happen and I'm not gonna give anything away, so you have to just read to find out what good stuff I've done to them.
Thirty Days Too Long--Chapter 1
A thin stream of smoke drifted through the air, swirling lazily around the light overhead. Stars twinkled brightly through the haze, a soft breeze rustling the trees around the outdoor patio. Ashes floated to the ground as the dull red glow was extinguished, the cigarette butt flicked through the air to smack harmlessly against a dark trunk.
Blue eyes closed as a loud sigh escaped the cause of it all, leaning back against the table behind him. It was a fairly nice night, one he would have normally found perfect. But tonight was anything but. Not even the black velvet sky above could relieve his mood like it usually did. No, not when he felt utterly alone.
Sure, he was surrounded by people, some even occasionally sparing him a glance. Physically, he was far from alone. But to him, it was as if none of them existed. Only one person could make him smile right now and they were miles away. Already he regretted answering that phone call.
But it was something he had been waiting on for years; the perfect job for his expertise. And yet, now the prospect of heading the engineering of a full-sized bi-plane while teaching his knowledge just wasn't as appealing as it used to be. When he had been alone, he would have accepted instantly. But now...he had even considered declining, and would have, if his lover hadn't told him to go.
And now that he was here he felt lost. The past year had changed him, taught him that his love for machines just wasn't a comparison for his love for another person. And while his passion for machinery remained, the sudden loss of that person made him feel... empty.
In other words, Cid Highwind felt heartbroken.
It wasn't as if the love of his life had up and left him. No, it was simply a job that had separated them. But still... it was the first time they had been separated since they had gotten together and it was hard. And this was only the second night. Not even his constant stream of cigarettes could comfort him. And he though he could get through a month? How crazy had he been to ever think that?
Maybe the saying was true and absence did make the heart grow fonder. Either way, he was fairly sure that if his heart became any fonder, it would shatter.
He knew it was absolutely ridiculous. He knew it shouldn't be so hard. It wasn't even as if they were completely disconnected. Mail ran every Saturday and Cid did have his cell phone.
Pulling the device from his pocket, he cursed into the chilly night. Not a single bit of reception. "Well, so much for that," he grumbled, his hand reaching to pull another cigarette loose. His eyes flicked to the clock on the screen. Still an hour. He was supposed to conduct a meet-and-greet with his would-be students at nine. He half-wondered how much these kids knew about what they would be doing. It was fairly a rural town, after all.
Actually, up until a few years ago Gongaga hadn't even been considered a town. Run-down and struggling, it somehow found a second wind after Meteor had been stopped. That had been five years ago. Now it was slowly expanding, almost rivaling his hometown in size. And when it was announced that they would be converting the abandoned Mako reactor into a small factory to produce aircraft, it only seemed natural to ask the now-legendary Cid Highwind to override their first manufacturing attempt.
So here he was, waiting to meet the thirty or so students, fresh out of school, and the fifteen engineers that would be working under him. And all he wanted was to be in his own home in his own bed, not here watching the leaves of the nearest tree wave lazily at him.
"Hey. You know what time it is?"
Slowly bringing his gaze up to the two teenagers standing before him, he shrugged before holding up his cell phone to them. The last thing he felt like doing was talking any more than he needed to tonight. He would be doing enough of that later.
"Eight ten. What time was that thing supposed to be?" The lanky brunet turned to his friend, a shorter redhead. They both looked to be about nineteen to Cid; but then again, he had never been great at predicting ages. He himself was thirty-seven, would be thirty-eight in a little under three months, so he didn't hold too much interest in ages anymore.
The redhead sighed. "Nine. And how could you forget that anyway?"
"Well, sorry," the brunet muttered as he stepped to a nearby table, nodding thanks before he did. Sitting down, he rested his arms on the tabletop behind him and nodded for his friend to join him. "So what's so special about this thing anyway?"
The blond couldn't help but be interested by the conversation. After all, it kept his mind off of... other things. And the look of utter disgust and shock from the redhead was, well, amusing.
"What do you mean by that?" the boy asked loudly, thumping down beside his companion. "You don't know what we're going to this for? Where's your head been? Under a rock for the past week?"
"Yeah, yeah, so I'm not as hyped as you are to go see this guy. Ted something or other."
Another look of disgust. "It's not Ted, it's Cid." The pilot shocked on his breath of smoke. Now this was interesting. "You know, Cid Highwind, the greatest airship pilot ever. Led the entire airship fleet for WRO a couple years back, helped stop Meteor and Sephiroth. The guy's amazing. And not to mention that he's actually coming here to teach us what he knows."
"Okay, okay, so just let the entire world hear about your crush on the guy—"
"Len! I do not have a crush, you freak!" Cheeks flushed, the redhead smacked his friend in the back of the head. "So I wanna actually do something with my life, deal with it. No need to make fun of it! Jeez!"
A laugh popped free from the brown-haired boy as he was punched in the shoulder. "Anyway, wanna go on over there and get good seats so you can drool right on his feet?" Another laugh as he dodged another punch. "Come on."
"Just don't say any more stupid shit, okay?" the redhead growled. Settling back a little, he glanced up at the dark sky. "Wonder what he's like. Bet he's on of those big guys who has tools sticking out of every pocket."
"Whoa, whoa, don't have a heart attack before you even get there." The brunet laughed again, patting his friend on the back.
Glancing down at himself, Cid laughed silently. "Kids these days," he muttered, groaning a little as he stood. Drawing another breath of smoke, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and passed the boys. But something made him pause a little. "Just a hint to ya kid: don't getcher hopes up. That Cid Highwind? First rate asshole, I can guarantee that." Shrugging to himself, he kept on, his ears tuned for a response.
It was the redhead who answered, the shifting of gravel behind him suggesting that the boy had stood. "He is not! If anyone's the asshole, it's you!"
"That's what I just said, kid," he muttered to himself, disappearing into the darkened night.
---------------------
"So Mister Highwind, need anything before you meet them?" The president of the factory, and lead engineer, smiled warmly.
Grounding his cigarette into the sole of his boot, Cid grimaced. "A liter of tequila should do it," he muttered as he tossed the spent butt into the trash.
The man before him chuckled. "We'll get right on that," he joked, closing the door as he left.
"Wasn't kiddin'," the pilot mumbled darkly as he stared at the closed door. He didn't want to be here. Even if he wasn't able to be home, he would rather be at the inn room that had been provided for his month-long stay.
He was halfway through wondering if it would take less than a month to simply walk back to Rocket Town when the president stuck his head though the door. "Ready? They're waiting."
"Ready as I'll ever be," he grumbled, slowly standing and following the man. He reached up for another cigarette, cursing softly when his fingers grazed hair only. That's right: they had asked him not to smoke during this when they had showed him his room and he had subsequently left his goggles behind as well.
He knew he was being courteous, but still... it felt strange without his normal accessories. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his scruffy hair and followed the man into a small meeting room.
Several gazes instantly locked on him, most from the line of semi-casually attired men and women standing along the back wall. He placed them as the older engineers and mentally pulled out the few he figured would be best in getting any information and such. Nodding to them, he gained respectful returns.
The only eyes that turned toward him from the group of youths seated in the center of the room belonged to a redheaded boy, one he placed as the boy from earlier. Sure enough, his friend sat next to him, idly chatting with another young man. However, Cid wasn't the only one to do the recognizing.
"You!" the boy yelped, jumping to his feet. Storming his way through the front row, he stared up at the blond pilot. "You're that jerk from before! What're you doing here? Gonna call Captain Highwind an asshole to his face?"
"Jeffrey!" The president, his face fully flushed, clapped a hand over the redhead's mouth. "I honestly apologize for my son's behavior, Mister Highwind. I haven't the slightest clue what's gotten into him. Please excu—"
"No, let th' kid rave." Both were shocked as the pilot pulled his wallet from his pocket and started searching through it. By now everyone was staring at the scene at the front of the room, completely silent. "Now. Ya had a problem with what I said earlier? I was just sayin' th' truth an' if ya have any sense, you'll listen to someone who knows what they're talkin' about." Shoving a laminated card into the gaping boy's hands, he stepped away to face the room.
"Now that that's done," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets, "let's get this thing started. Name's Cid Highwind an' I don't care what ya call me. Don't care if it's Cid, Highwind, dumbass, shithead, you, whatever. Just so long as ya listen to what I say an' don't fuck off. 'Cause I'll tell ya right now that I don't deal with that shit an' I'm not a pushover. Try an' push me an' you'll find yourself out in th' street with a wrench up your ass. Got it? Good." Turning, he faced the redhead again. "An' you. Sit your ass down before I make ya. Just 'cause ya think you've got th' guts to stand up to me once don't make ya any different than th' rest of 'em."
Speechless, the youth nodded before stumbling back to his seat, Cid's card still clenched in his hand.
"'Kay. Now. How many of ya are under eighteen?" No hands rose. "Good. Don't like kids much an' definitely don't like workin' with 'em. An' how many of ya are under twenty-five?" Most everyone seated raised their hands, something he expected. "'Kay... anyone over thirty-five?" Only one responded and he nodded for them to answer with words.
"I just turned thirty-five last spring, Captain."
Cid nodded again. So no one was older than him. Somehow he found that as a little comforting. And he also noted how two of the over forty people had already called him Captain. Whether it was just an echo of the years past or something else, he liked the possibility that he would be referred to as something respectful rather than 'that guy teaching us crap'.
A stray hand tentatively rose and he tipped his head toward the owner. "Um... if I may, what was that for?"
Cid glanced behind himself, grabbing a chair and turning it so he could straddle the back, arms folded on top of the backrest. "Ya may as any of ya may. Just don't ask me stupid shit an' I'll try an' answer th' best I can. An' that... that was for personal reference, nothin' more. Now, anyone else?"
The room was deathly silent, most of the people before him simply staring with wide eyes. Huffing loud enough to hear, he ran his fingers through his hair. "Lemme just say this: I'm not here to scare th' shit outta ya. Go to ShinRa and join SOLDIER if ya want that. I'm just here to tell ya what to do, how to do it an' so on. That pretty much puts me as a teacher an' I don't like th' idea of bein' a teacher all that much. I'd rather be on a friendly basis with ya all. So that said..."
"So did you really stop Meteor?"
A blond brow rose. "I didn't do shit against Meteor."
"But didn't you and Cloud Strife and everyone else do it?"
Cid sighed. "Lemme just set th' record straight here. We didn't stop Meteor. Th' planet stopped Meteor. We just hoped our asses off that th' Lifestream'd do it. Which it did. That's it."
"But you helped stop Sephiroth," a voice called out from the back.
"Yeah, a little. But most of that credit goes to Strife. We were just th' backup, really."
"But you flew the ship! Without you and the Highwind, they wouldn't have gotten anywhere."
Cid laughed. "Maybe, but that's about all I ever did." Grinning a little, he crossed his arms on the back of the chair and rested his chin on it. "I was just th' transportation, nothin' more."
"Still--"
"All right! Anythin' but that kind of stuff?" he asked suddenly, chuckling a little. To be honest, he didn't like speaking of those events. But to add to it, he didn't like showing his dislike for talking of them even more.
The eldest in the back, rose his hand steadily. "So what exactly will you be showing us, Captain?"
Thinking a moment, Cid nodded. "Well, they're payin' me to show ya how to build a plane, for one thing. Gonna throw in flight lessons somewhere... gotta know how to work what ya make, after all."
"So how long are you here for?"
Cid swallowed, fighting down the want to think to much on the subject. "A month," he said a little softer than normal.
A group of young girls towards the back suddenly stopped whispering among themselves and he raised a brow as the designated one as their speaker. "So, Captain Highwind. They say that behind every great man there's a great woman. True in your case?"
The pilot's mouth ran dry. His hands clenched and from the look on the girls' faces, they knew they had hit a touchy subject. "No. Don't have one."
"So... you're single? I heard you were married."
His face fell and he bit his lip for a moment. "Let's just say I don't like to talk about it an' leave it at that." The smile had left his face, his blue eyes suddenly dull. The last thing he wanted to be reminded of was how alone he was here. "Listen. Anyone else have a question?" No hands rose, much to his relief. "Then... if no one minds, I think I might just head over to th' inn. I'm not feelin' so well. Been a long trip, ya know." Standing abruptly, he headed for the door, leaning heavily against the wall once outside.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he closed his eyes and started walking. A chill ran down his arms when he finally stepped outside, eyes flicking to the stars above. Normally, they would have settled him, made him feel calm. But not tonight. He was fairly positive that the only thing that could do that right then would be warm breath caressing his cheek, hands running down his sides to come back up his chest, a soft voice whispering in his ear and asking for a kiss...
Shutting the inn door, he hurried to his given room, locking the door once he was safely inside. Only then did he let his 'I'm happy to be here' mask fall away completely as he slumped to the bed, pulling out his wallet once more. Taking a deep breath, he tugged a small photo free, his lips curling a little at the sight of the familiar face.
A rough thumb brushed over the smiling face, wiping the freshly fallen tear away. "I miss ya," he whispered softly as his voice broke. "I know it's pathetic... know I'm pathetic. It's only been two days an'..." He laughed bitterly, rubbing the heel of his hand across his face. "Dammit... I wanna see ya. I wanna hear your voice, wanna kiss ya., wanna hold ya..."
Sighing to keep himself from breaking down, he set the photo against his clock on the bedside table. Pulling off his shirt, he gave the picture one last glance before snuggling under the covers and flicking the light off. A sad smile stretched across his lips as he gazed at the moonlit picture, a warm drop rolling down his cheek. "G'night... love ya, Vince..."
So...what'd ya all think? Seriously, this is pretty much just something to keep me occupied, so I'm not expecting it to be great or anything. Hell, I don't even think it's good. But whatever. I'd still like to hear what everyone thinks.