"I've got a delivery request for you" Tifa said annoyed as she pulled the covers from Cloud's pyjama form. The blond grunted a curse and snatched the blankets.
"Tifa, I was up all night travelling from one place to another. Can't I get some sleep?" He shifted himself to the other side of the bed and declared his counterpart to get out of his room.
"In any case if you've forgotten Cloud, this is my house. It's not every day that you even stay here. I'm sorry if you have to do this but we have to keep our business going. Even heroes could go bankrupt."
The raven-haired bartender placed one hand on her hip and another one on her forehead. She glanced at Cloud who made no attempt to get up. This incensed her as she smacked a hand lightly on the young man's head.
"Hey!" He exclaimed and ran his palm through his soft spiky hair.
Tifa glared and folded her thin arms across her chest. Cloud recognised the look in her eyes. It was the Don't-You-Dare-Mess-With-Me look. She always managed to get her way in the end but only when it came to delivering something or saving the Planet. Otherwise, she let him have his space.
Before Cloud knew it, he was roaming across the desert wasteland with the wind blowing violently against his face. The engine of his motorbike roared loudly and the blond was surprised that he did not turn deaf. The products of Seventh Heaven hung like weights on his back.
"No good bitch...Cloud do this! Cloud do that!" he muttered under his breath. His eyes were heavy hooded from lack of sleep.
He would not complain for long, he knew that. This was the least he could do for Tifa after everything that she did for him. He was grateful that she even gave him a place, include him in a family.
The real person to blame for his early morning departure was Laguna Loire. He was dying to taste Tifa's well known turkey sandwiches but he could not come to Seventh Heaven due to being the bloody president of bloody Esthar.
It was funny how their world was able to connect with the other worlds in Gaia because of Shinra who built a transporter for different dimensions after Sephiroth's second defeat three months ago.
They were making quite a fortune and even asked Cloud, the hero of the Planet, to join them in their new scheme. Cloud refused immediately. Shinra had taken too much from him. Nothing they could ever do would replace what he has lost.
His engine died down as his black motorbike stopped outside a thirteen story glass building. Cloud could make out all the figures bustling inside. Most of Shinra's employees were standing beside a long man-sized white tube. That was the Dimension-Transporter where strange people from the other worlds visited Edge and through Shinra they travelled to different worlds too.
As the sunlight reflected off the glass panels, Cloud raised a gloved hand to shield his already sore eyes from the luminous rays just to realize that he had his goggles draped around his head.
He held Tifa's package and was surprised at how heavy it was.
"How many bloody sandwiches did she make for that ass?" he said incoherently. He felt guilty for his behaviour towards her earlier on. Cloud snuck into his cosy bed late last night while Tifa took her time to arrange good conditioned turkey sandwiches.
The man left his sword in a stand that pulled into his vehicle. Wow Fenrir, you are such a beauty, he would think whenever he watched his beautiful motorbike. It was an invention of intelligence.
The blond made his way into the building. Large glass doors gave way as he stepped through. The interior was welcoming with an ivory marbled floor and matching cream coloured walls. A few plants were placed neatly here and there. The receptionists were standing behind a sea green stand. They chatted away on the phone, unaware of their visitor.
Busy workers ran around with determinacy and the bizarre people from different worlds walked in and out of the place. One woman with strawberry pink hair and cobalt blue eyes glared at the blond.
Cloud removed his goggles and they gasped at how similar their features were. She was wearing a white jersey top with a short brown skirt over long boots in contrast to his sleeveless navy sweater and dark black trousers with matching black runners.
"Lightning, come on already!" A dark man with fuzzy hair called the woman. He thrust his arm back as if telling her to come his way. A small yellow chocobo chirruped inside his hair.
The woman, Lightning, eyed Cloud once again and bared her teeth in hatred. Cloud returned her an equally fierce look.
"Coming Sazh," she replied to her companion, her eyes still fixed on Cloud now with intense curiosity. The pair made their way out. Cloud watched them until their figures got smaller in perspective and finally disappeared into the distance.
"Savages, I'm no way related to her. How the bloody hell did she look alike?" Cloud pondered only to be approached by Reno.
The red head grinned; his perky smile reached his tattooed cheeks.
"You here to give Mr. Loire his sandwiches?" he asked with an amused look. His suit was unruly as always.
Cloud ignored him and walked past heading towards another door. He did not know where this Loire was but he needed to find him.
"Hey Chocobo-Head, that's the ladies lavatories! Don't go in there!" Reno warned.
Cloud stopped his hand from pushing the white door. He recognised the stick female figure sign in red stamped on the front.
"Damn..."
He should have taken coffee before heading off from the bar. Cloud's ears were drowned with Reno's laughter and he felt the blood rise to his hollow cheeks. The Turk patted a coarse hand on the sword-fighter's drooping shoulder.
"Leave me alone" Cloud murmured.
"Listen, Cloud, I'll tell you where Mr. Loire's attentive is. Take the elevator over there on your right and go to the very top floor then just ask one of the workers where to find the other man."
Cloud left the Turk when he heard the word 'elevator'. Reno quirked and eyebrow and exclaimed how ungrateful Cloud was.
The blond entered the elevator. It was gray inside with a small music box encoded into the wall. Cloud leaned against the wall and switched through the songs. He stopped when he reached 'Sharks In Your Mouth' by I Killed The Prom Queen. The cacophony of the music relaxed his sullen mood as the elevator commenced its destination.
He tried to stay alert to avoid any future humiliation. Reno, that son of a bitch would go around telling everyone about his sleepy mind.
The young man yawned and was relieved when he heard a chiming sound as the thick doors opened. He stepped into the hall of the thirteenth floor. The wine coloured carpet crunched under his soled feet. He was walking down a narrow hallway with pale yellow walls. A cactus plant bloomed in a large maroon pot at his left. It must have been a live Cactaur at one stage. Poor mischievous little thing...
A girl with shoulder length brown hair tripped in front of Cloud.
"Sorry!" she blurted. The blond sneered at her clothing. She only had a white cloth for a shirt and a pleated purple skirt and garden boots that did not match at all.
"Watch where you step unless you're drunk" he muttered.
A man in his mid-thirties helped the girl to her feet. One of his arms was coveted inside his red tunic. He peered at Cloud through his sunglasses.
Cloud thought he had a lazy eye but he soon learned that the man had a feint scar across his eyelid to his forehead.
"Forgive Yuna, she's a bit excited" Scar-face replied in a deep yet wise voice.
"Sorry!" the girl called Yuna said. Cloud Blinked.
What the bloody hell was wrong with her eyes? One was green and the other was blue! Yuna gifted him a timid smile. She tried to get past him but tripped again. Cloud concluded that her garden boots were too big for her small feet.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed again.
"Is she the reincarnation of a parrot who only knows how to say sorry?" Cloud laughed at his own joke. The girl's eyes were forming dewdrops.
The man with the tunic grunted as she sobbed and said "Sorry..."
Cloud pushed past her and heard her say "Sir Auron, that man was so rude!"
"Some people are better to be ignored, Yuna. He does not deserve your apology." The other man's voice became muffled when they entered the exotic elevator.
"Bloody savages" Cloud whispered to himself. He grabbed a Shinra worker who was passing his way. It was easy to spot which ones were Shinra-related because of their neat suits. The boy in his grasp squealed.
"Have mercy Cloud Strife! I did no wrong! I only joined Shinra to help my poor family. My mother has no money and my father died ages ago and now I have to bring money for my seven siblings and-"
"Where is Laguna Loire's attentive?" the blond cut him. The fair-haired boy swallowed his bunch of lies and pointed ahead where an adolescent stood waiting beside a Dimension Transporter.
Cloud pushed the boy aside.
"You're not from this world are you? Shinra never takes in 'poor' kids" he grimaced.
"I don't have an appropriate name but you may call me Card-Kid. I love fighting with my pack of cards" the boy said enthusiastically.
"Not interested."
Cloud walked to the brunette adolescent with the black jacket enclosed with a collar of fur.
Gay much? Cloud hated these savages. Loire's attentive had a strong scar across the bridge of his nose. He grunted as a greeting when the blond handed him the sandwiches.
"Nice place here" he growled.
"How's Mr. Loire?"
"Oh he's fine? Daddy's always too busy with the Esthar jerks"
"Daddy?" Cloud arched a thin brow.
The man clasped his hand over his mouth, his cold blue eyes enlarged.
"Dammit! I was not meant to know that! It's a mystery that I am supposed to find out myself! You did not hear anything."
"I brood over what I hear."
"Well forget what you heard. Name's Squall by the way. Remember, forget this encounter, you hear me? Lest you want your small butt attacked! Forget this!" he said pointing a finger at Cloud and stepping backwards into the white tube. The Dimension Transporter was activated.
"Initializing transportation...We hope you enjoyed your stay" a female computer voice resounded. A lid clamped shut around the entrance and all Cloud saw were iridescent rays pour through the small cracks. When the lid re-opened, Squall was gone and in his place was a smoky grey mist. It smelled like cologne, whether this was Squall's way of attracting females or just Shinra's way of cleaning other people's sweat, Cloud did not care.
He went back into the elevator.
"Wait! Do not depart the area yet!" a young woman cried out. She was running towards the door. Cloud punched the button for the first floor. The doors slid shut before she could enter.
When the elevator moved down, Cloud chuckled to himself.
That felt good.
Suddenly the elevator stopped and began to move upwards again.
"Sweet mother of Sephiroth!" gasped Cloud. The doors opened to reveal the woman who stood beside Reno. The Turk flashed him a smile and raised his hand as a gesture of hello. Cloud will kill him if he sees that red-head again.
"Thank you" the blonde-haired woman entered and the doors closed after her.
"Shit..."Cloud whispered. He could not help himself to look at her.
She had on a knee-length white dress with fleur-de-leys designs embroidered in gold thread around it. Her matching white stilettos made her the same height as Cloud.
She was probably trying to fit in with this world but her foreign features made it too obvious that she was from elsewhere.
The woman pulled a book from her silver handbag and resumed reading.
Cloud glanced at the book. Wuthering Heights was the title.
"Hey! I want you to read Wuthering Heights! It's so cool. I imagine myself as Cathy and you could be Heathcliff!" Aerith's sweet voice told him.
"Aerith, not now. I have to think of a way to stop Sephiroth."
He should have read the book when she asked him to.
Aerith pouted, her soft ringlets gleamed in the sunlight. Her pink form turned away from him, her braid smacking his face with her movement.
She was sweet like honey and cakes, Cloud always thought.
"You may never get this chance again. What if I die? Then no one can be Cathy because you'll never know who she was. You'll just be a broken Heathcliff" she stammered.
Cloud snorted.
"Aerith, you won't die."
Oh, the cruel irony in those words. He meant to tell her so much about his feelings before her death. He should not have wasted him time with Sephiroth. He should have completed Aerith's promises. Now could be a start.
"Umh...Hey, a friend of mine knows that book. I heard it's...Cool. I could be Cathy and you could be Heathcliff-I mean-you, you could be Cathy and I could be Heathcliff."
The girl before him move her grey eyes to see him through the cover of the book. She raised her eyebrow.
"What? Do you have any idea about what relationship lies behind Catherine and Heathcliff?" her tone was unwelcoming and cruel.
"No, no, I meant Cathy" Cloud replied.
"Yes! Cathy! Catherine! They are the same person! If you did not read the book then how dare you speak of such words of nonsense?" she snapped and continued to read.
Cloud flinched. That did not go well. He could always ask Tifa for a copy but she preferred sports over books. Books were always Aerith's hobby.
Cloud turned the music radio on and switched 'Pointed to My Heart' by I Killed the Prom Queen. His stubborn companion moaned quietly. She pressed a long elegant finger on the buttons and allowed 'Lacrymosa' by Mozart to play.
"Ugh...You listen to this crap?" Cloud asked. Her glare caused him to push harder against the wall.
"It is much more relaxing than that cacophonous bundle of phlegm you were listening to. Do not change this song or else you will be in big trouble" came her reply. Her eyes were still fixed on the page she was reading.
Women.
How come they could do two things at once? She read the book and gave out to him at the same time. Cloud curled his fingers into his palm.
"Excuse me but what age are you?"
"Nineteen" she responded casually.
This was a humiliation. A nineteen year old girl was ordering a twenty-three year old man of what to do and what no to do.
Cloud changed the song and her tortured gasp was a satisfaction to listen to. They continued to change the song on the music device until it blew out fizzes of sparks and stopped working.
"Now look what you did, you bitch!" the swords fighter groaned.
"How dare you!? I am Lady Ashe of Dalmasca, a Queen! And you are the illogical and irrational peasant who started this!" her reply was equally sharp.
Cloud rubbed his temples in frustration to stop an imminent migraine.
Figures, she was a spoiled royal brat.
The elevator jerked and came to a hall.
The two victims stare at each other.
"Oh no..." they whispered simultaneously.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights go to Square Enix.