Avalanche had gone to Wutai for a formal Tea Ceremony, to celebrate Yuffie's coming of age.
They were currently standing in a room, waiting and in Kimono.
Yuffie was wearing a white kimono, with a Sakura print, the light pink flowers curling around the fabric and a comb placed in her hair with a sakura blossom on it. Tifa was wearing a blue kimono with dolphins curling around the hems, her hair pulled up and coiffed with a blue comb with a vibrant blue blossom. Cloud had a gray kimono with a gray wolf on the back while Barret was in a black Kimono with a silver flower pattern.
Vincent, of course was in a red kimono that had black butterflies curling around it.
Cid had yet to be seen by the group, even as they were lead into the tea room. Yuffie carefully helped each to sit 'properly' before she herself sat and they waited. Yuffie seemed concerned that Cid was not there, her features drawn faintly, brow furrowed.
They spoke in hushed tones, Cloud the first, "has anyone heard from Cid?"
"no, that's why I'm kinda worried," Yuffie Murmured, "and I'm sad Red couldn't make it."
"I don't think Red would feel comfortable here, Yuffie," Tifa sighed faintly, "and part of me thinks Cid wouldn't."
"Fool, Cid wouldn't miss Tea," Barret said, grunting as Tifa punched his arm.
The conversation stopped as the door started to open and then slid all the way. The Server was male, with blond hair, not short, but the color they recognized, it was a familiar Sandy blond color that shimmered a bit. There were obviously hair extensions that were put in and curled back, creating an elegant look that was held back with a blue comb that matched the color of the midday sky and the eyes that were under obviously trimmed and sculpted brows. Lips were painted, skin was alabaster with make up. The lips quirked into a small smirk before the figure stood and walked into to the room carefully.
The figure bowed low before a scroll and then went about the ceremony, Yuffie sat with a stunned look on her features, one eyebrow actually twitching. When everyone was finally drinking the tea, they were unsure as to talking.
"Cid, honestly, you couldn't have told anyone?" Vincent broke the silence as more tea was gently prepared by the blond.
The blond gave a faint shrug, speaking fairly softly "would any of ya have believed it?"
"I sure don't," Yuffie scowled at the blond, "and hair extensions?"
"get off it brat."
Small talk continued until the tea was gone, the party leaving, and Cid staying.
They stood outside the building, waiting for Cid. As the time passed, they started to wonder and Yuffie went inside.
"Excuse me, but the one that served our tea...?" She let the question trail off as the woman at reception looked at her.
"Ah, Shido-san? He has come here often to help out, because of his mother."
Yuffie had to stand there for a moment before bowing and leaving, trying to get her mind around what was said.
"...I got no clue, something about his Mom." Yuffie moved to a bench and the rest of Avalanche moved to it, mostly standing. though, after a moment, they realized Vincent was not there.
~*~*~*~
As Cid stepped out from behind one partition, still wearing the kimono, but the blond hair was free and long against his shoulders and back, a few strands sweeping forward over his shoulders. He looked out at the sky as he pulled a cigarette out of his kimono and lit it, glad to be out back, because he had it on good authority that Avalanche was out front.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in red, "hi Vince."
The Gunslinger just nodded as he moved to stand next to the blond, not saying a word as he looked at the blond for a moment before moving to stand next to him and look up at the sky.
They stood silently as Cid finished his cigarette and put it out, placing it in a pot filled with sand, "my mom was Wutaiian. She had blonde hair and my eyes."
Vincent looked over out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing, allowing Cid to talk.
"She died giving birth to me, and no one knew who my father was," Then the blond turned to walk inside without another word.
It was a strange behavior for the blond, but the gunslinger didn't question it, just moved off to think.
~*~*~*~
It was dusk before Avalanche moved to Yuffie's home to wait to see when Cid would show up. Vincent did, but he seemed like he always was, quiet and reserved. They didn't want to talk about the pressing topic, so they stayed silent, even Yuffie.
They waited and two hours later, the door to the sitting room was opened, revealing Cid, in a hakama and Haori. The Haori was a blue that matched his eyes, the Hakama a dark grey, like storm clouds on a horizon. He bowed faintly before walking in and sitting by a window
Yuffie blinked as a servant walked in behind him and handed Yuffie a folder. she looked through it and frowned, "this...wait...what."
"A reinstatement of my mom's family name and home up in the mountains," Cid opened the window and lit a cigarette, "your father talked to me last year about it."
"and he decided to pass certain things off to me...and this is one of them," Yuffie frowned, "I...have never seen you as Wutaiian."
Cid snorted, "I was raised here until I was ten."
And thus, the conversation on the topic ended, Yuffie wasn't sure where to go with it and it was fairly easier to actually just put her seal on it for approval.
"Cid, you uh...did something with your hair," Everyone Looked at Cloud when he spoke, giving an awkward shrug.
"it's a Materia that the tea house has, it grows hair, just hair. The shaving was a long process, but.." he brushed a bit of hair behind one of his ears, "the long hair is what they want."
"how did they know you?" Tifa questioned, actually quite curious.
"A lot of the older generation remembers my mom," Cid's tone was a firm one, he obviously didn't want to talk about it.
Silence just settled on the group as Dinner was served, silence that just wouldn't be broken.
~*~*~*~
When Avalanche awoke, Cid was gone, and questioning people in Wutai garnered no answers. Quite frankly, they had no leads: except the house. So they gathered items for hiking and set off.
The path wasn't overgrown, nor was it hard, it was an easy journey and by just after noon, they made it to what they could only describe as an estate.
The Entrance of the building was guarded by a strange arch, each side a dragon with front claws matched and their wings extended. Through the arch was a lush landscape, trees, grass, bushes shaped like dragons, and statues that looked like dragons and dragon eggs. Off about a ten minute walk was a house. The home was made of black stone that gleamed in the midday light, windows stained in various colors, but as they approached they could see many of them were of dragons; some in flight, some in rest.
Two dragons were sitting on either side of the stairs leading up to the front doors of the manor, one green and one a silver blue, and both watched the group as they sat, wings shifting and waiting. They let out low hisses as the group approached the stairs, the group watching them warily.
The Door opened before they got up the stairs, there was a man with wings, dragon wings, large and folded behind his back; they were like that of the silver-blue dragon and he looked at them with icy blue eyes that were hidden behind silver hair.
"May I help you?"
"is Cid here?"
"and you are?"
"We are known as Avalanche, unless you want first names," Cloud was watching the man warily.
"Ah, I see, The Master is out back. Please follow me," The man said nothing more and turned, walking into the house, leaving Avalanche to follow after him.
The Interior of the manor that they saw was all dark blues and purples, with some of the deep reds and oranges of sunset, the ceilings were a dark purple, almost black with what looked like crystals to catch the dim light, making it appear like the night sky.
The backyard, if one could call it that, was a large and flat expanse of grass land, with large nests in various places and dragons here and there. One was in the sky, and the man that lead them out there looked up.
"The Master will be down shortly, you will have to wait."
They just stood there as the man walked back inside, looking up into the sky. There was a dragon, black as storm clouds curling through the air above them, a single figure barely seen, but the blond hair that curled around definitive of who was upon the dragon's back. Cid. They watched as the dragon flew and then shielded their faces as it landed upon the large expanse, it's wings kicking up dust, small pebbles and grass, the winds buffeting Avalanche.
Cid slid from the dragon, he was wearing a pair of black leather pants and a white cotton shirt, his hair still long and free, his tone curious "what's up?"
"you disappeared old man!" Yuffie yelled as her hands fisted at her sides.
"oh, sorry," Cid watched them for a moment, patting the dragon's muzzle as it lowered by him, "the dragons called to me, I had to come, with or without the approval."
Yuffie sputtered for a moment and pulled at her hair. it was enough for the rest of Avalanche to chuckle, or in Barret's case, laugh loudly. Vincent was the only exception, he just watched Cid intently.
"c'mon," Cid waved them after him as he walked towards the side of the field, "there's tea set out over here."
As they sat around a large table with stone legs and a marble top that had tea and snacks on it, the group watched as a small dragon toddled over and laid it's head in Cid's lap, the man just gently pet it and fed it small snacks.
"...why are there dragons everywhere?" Yuffie looked around and leaned over to look at the small dragon, who burped smoke in her face, she pulled back, coughing.
"This is the Highwind dragon-lands," When Cid saw the confused looks he continued, "do you ever wonder why any of the Bahaumut summons were more powerful when I used them?"
"that was a bit odd," Tifa sipped her tea, looking a bit perplexed as the others nodded at her statement.
"it is because of the Highwind line being close to dragons," the man they assumed was the butler appeared again, bringing a fresh, warm pot of tea to the table and taking the old one, "If you need anything, Cid, please just call out"
Cid nodded a bit and refilled his tea as the man walked off, "He's right. it's just how it is."
"That's...weird, old fart," Yuffie said as she sipped her tea, blinking as Cid ruffled her hair, "Gah!"
Author's Note
Now, I really could finish this, but I think I like it to end here. This is where my Muse ended, and I don't really think it'd be fair to continue without it guiding me.
Look! A Cid with no cussing. how odd, heh. Yes, people are OOC, it had to be that way. I wanted a more elegant Cid, a more dragon connected Cid.