-Happily Ever After-
"A-Alright, 2...alright, and...alright."
June pushes her shoulder against the phone at her ear as she begins pushing various types of potions into a large paper bag.
"Um...actually...we're out of those, but I have a batch in that back that's coming together just fine...it'll be done by tomorrow...OK."
She folds the mouth of the bag back before reaching under the table to grab a pen and piece of paper, "so your name's...Christina Rena, OK...so tomorrow the Elixer'll be finished and I'll send it right off! OK, have a nice day...and thank you for shopping at In the Speed of Strife!"
With a sigh, she places the cordless phone back on the receiver, for a moment she stays there, staring at the paper bag but then she remembers the Elixir, "oh better get started on that!"
As she goes to rush toward the back, the phone rings again.
She slides into the counter as she pulls it to her ear, "In the Speed of Strife, June speaking!"
Clearly, the caller did not feel her enthusiasm about the call, June winces when they begin to scream in her ear, "uh...what do you mean...it was crushed," she looks toward the stairs when she hears a small thud from the upper level.
"I'm sorry SIr, how about we redo your order, free of charge."
The man calms down at this, June nods as she rushes over to the line of tall glass shelves near the counter, "OK, so you wanted 3 Remedy's...2 Maiden's Kiss', and three Ether's," she frowns as she begins to pull the Ether's from the case, they were one of the more expensive things in the store, it hurt her to part with them, especially since she put so much work and time into them.
Once against she pushes her shoulder to ear as she slides the vials into a bubble wrap bag, she then pushes that bag into a paper one.
"OK Sir, have a nice day." She places the phone on the receiver before leaning against the counter again, "ugh...so tire-, my Elixir!"
She wipes her hands on her pants as she rushes to the back room, once she gets there, she's met with unpleasant odor of spoiled Elixir.
"NO!"
She rushes over to a shelf at the back the room, where she finds heavy heat resistant gloves, she slides them onto her hands as she goes around again to face the ruined mixture.
So this, is my life now.
"Bleh!" She lifts the cast iron pot away from the stove and over to the sink, the smell was enough to make her eyes water, it was like mix of oven cleaner and rotten eggs.
She tilts the pot into the sink and the black liquid within comes spilling out, usually Elixir's were a brilliant green color, the color darkening so quickly just meant that she hadn't done it right, or had the fire turned up too high.
I'm the partial owner of a cute little establishment called 'In the Speed of Strife', got a nice ring to it huh?
June pushes the pot aside when she notices that the mixture wasn't going down the drain, "agh not again!"
It was something that...believe it or not, Denzel came up with. Since I'm good with chemistry and Cloud's on delivery, why not?
She runs over to the entrance of the room, she didn't want to have to unclog the drain, not after what happened last time, she ended up with gunk all over her body, but she didn't want to bother anyone, she glances back at the sink.
"No choice."
She pushes her hair back before placing her hands against the sink, "all right here goes...Aero!"
A large gush of wind pushes into drain and the gunk slowly drains away, she breathes a sigh of relief when a growl rises from the sink as the liquid disappears.
June turns her back to the sink as she folds her arms, she looks toward the window at the far side of the room, "I just wanna go to sleep."
Quickly, we grew in popularity. We're the only store like this...anywhere, I make the potions at home and Cloud delivers them. I know it may sound simple, but I put something special into every potion...some of them do more than one thing at once, and well, the people love it.
Heh-heh, we even do weapon upgrades...but only on certain days.
June leans over as she presses her hands to her eyes, she grimaces when she feels the rough material of the gloves against her face.
From where she stood, she could hear someone entering the store, she takes a deep breath as she pushes her hair back.
"Time to go change some lives!"
When she makes her way to the counter, instead of having orders barked at her, she's met with the smiles of Marlene and Shoji.
"Hey kids, what brings you to this side of town?" She mutters as she goes to the refrigerator to get some snacks for them.
Oh yeah...we still live in Edge, but Cloud insisted on moving to the far side, as if that changed anything. We're only 15 minutes away by foot, and by bike or airship...forget about it.
"We're selling candy for school-."
"I'll buy some but Marlene you know I'm on a diet," June pulls a tray of assorted vegetables from the top shelf of the refrigerator before placing it before them, "eat up!"
Marlene and Shoji look to one another when she smiles at them.
"But June, you don't have to eat it, we can eat it...you just buy it!" Shoji whispers as June reaches for a celery stick.
June quirks a brow when they slide a large box of candy onto the table, it held the usual: Choco-Chocolatiers, Gold Saucers, Rainbow-Bursts, and...Goblin Malts.
This takes June by surprise, every day that week children had been coming to sell her candy, but not one of them held Goblin Malts.
"Where did you get those," June murmurs as she flicks the celery back onto the plate, Marlene smiles as she and Shoji look to one another again.
"We're just starting out so-."
"Give me 10," June slaps 20 Gil onto the table before Marlene's has the chance to finish.
Shoji grins as he reaches into the box, he grabs a handful of Goblin Malts before placing them on the counter before June, "it was nice doing business with you."
June eyes him apprehensively as she tears into one of the boxes, "you're trying to harm my diet?"
Shoji laughs when she tilts the box back and the malts fall into her mouth, quickly she stuffs the empty box under the counter.
"Can't let Cloud see this, he doesn't believe that I can really be on a diet." She whispers as she drops down to stuff the box in a small corner, "we made a bet so-."
"Marlene, Shoji...didn't hear you guys come in."
June freezes when she hears Cloud's heavy footsteps against the stairs, she looks up at him when he moves to stand next to her.
"What are you doing?" He mutters as she rises to face him.
June shoots the children a look that says 'be quiet...or else', "ah nothing...just looking for some Gil to give the kids to help them out."
Cloud quirks a brow when she slides an extra 20 Gil across the table, he looks at the pile of candy and then at her again.
"Did you buy that?" He folds his arms when she begins pushing the candy toward the kids.
"Of course not...I brought it for them." She shoves the candy into the arms of the children before turning to him with a reassuring smile.
"If you did, I don't care June...you don't need to-."
"It's not mine!"
Cloud sighs when she quickly reaches for another piece of celery, "you don't need to diet..."
June smiles at him, in his eyes she could see that he truly meant it.
One of the many things I love about my man.
"Hey Cloud you wanna buy some cand."
He pauses when June shoots a glare his way, "ah never mind...come on Marlene."
June nods when he scoots out of his chair, how greedy could he be? He had already gotten too much Gil from her.
"Um June, is it alright if I come back later...Shoji's going home and Denzel and my dad are out on errands, it's gonna be boring there, especially since Yu-."
"Don't." Cloud raises his hand as Marlene comes to stand before them. "Just come back...but don't say her name."
June sniggers and he looks at her, "oh Cloud...it's not that bad."
"It's not?"
Funny story, when we finished building our home...turns out, Yuffie had found one of her own...next door, in the second floor apartment. Not that she's there a lot though, she also goes to stay with Godo every now and then, her not being there all the time has done wonders for their relationship.
"OK, and I'll come back too!" Shoji calls as he pulls the door open.
Cloud grunts at this. Shoji was was not one of his favorite kids.
"Oh and tell Yuffie that I got the Gold Saucer's for her," Shoji calls back to them as he and Marlene leave the store.
"Did he just-."
"Who said my name!"
Cloud grimaces when Yuffie rushes into the store, she strikes a pose at the door when June waves to her.
"Who told you to come in?" Cloud grumbles as he turns to the stairs.
Yuffie moves closer to the bar with a grin, "this is a public place of business, it'd be different if I just rushed upstairs...that's like your domain."
Cloud turns to her, "everything here...this whole building is my domain."
Yuffie nods, "so what are you sayin' Cloud?"
June pushes Cloud aside as she goes to diffuse the situation, "what he's saying is...well I don't what he's saying, got any good news for me though."
Yuffie nods, she goes into her pocket to retrieve her map-pad, "yup, found some old ruins near Gongaga, may have some stuff there."
"Could we go now!?" June asks excitedly.
"But I-"
They turn to Cloud when he goes to say something but as they do, he just shuts down, June folds her arms and Yuffie sighs.
"What wrong Cloud?"
He shrugs a shoulder before turning to go up the stairs, Yuffie pats June on the shoulder saying, "he's just being an old fuddy-duddy."
June sighs.
Since building this place, and taking on the duties of a store manager...I'd become a little boring. That is, until Yuffie came around. Now, for fun, and for the government, we explore the little nooks and crannies of the planet. Searching for answer's to what is called, 'The Jenova Question'.
It's a paid program for people who have interest in helping the government and finding out more about the planet, Yuffie joined because she says she never wants to see the world crumble again and I joined because...I was kind of forced into it. All former Ark members are automatically enrolled, I don't mind, because it's fun.
But Cloud...
"Let me go check on him." June mutters as she rushes up the stairs, she walks past two empty bed rooms as she makes her way to their room, when she enters, she finds Cloud tapping away at his phone. "Cloud..."
He looks up when she sits on the bed next to him, she takes his arm and he sighs.
"You don't have to stay, I just wanted...to..."
She gives him a knowing smile, "I know."
Since he does deliveries, we're rarely ever together for too long. So when he's home...I try to make him as comfortable as possible, and I try to make up for the lost time. But it's hard, because while we just want to get lost in each other, the world around us continues on, and if we don't catch up, we'll be left behind.
"I don't want to leave you, I just thought that since you were so tired when you got home, it'd be best to let you rest," she whispers nuzzling her face into his neck, "but I want to stay with you...since you're up...I gonna stay with you."
She looks up at him and he shakes his head.
"I know how important this is to you, how much you like it...so." He says laying back on the bed. "I don't leave until late tomorrow anyway, so go on...it's getting dark."
"Cloud-."
"Go have your fun." He closes his eyes as a small smile builds at his lips. "I do need some rest...when you get home-."
"What's takin' you guys so long." Yuffie calls from downstairs.
June giggles when Cloud's eyes shoot open, he sits up as he turns attention back to June, she moves over to stand before him, "thanks Cloud."
She bends down to give him a quick kiss on the lips but more of Yuffie's complaining interrupts that, Cloud shakes his head laying down again.
"When you get home."
"I look forward to it," June whispers to him as she presses her lips to his cheek, she waves to him before leaving the room.
When she makes it downstairs she gives Yuffie a thumb's up, "let's move out!"
Getting to Gongaga was easy, since we were working with the government, we got free access to Mat-Boards. But when we arrived, the weather took a turn for the worst.
"Got a reading yet?" June calls to Yuffie over sound of thunder crashing in the distance.
Yuffie bends down on her Mat-Board as she holds her scanner toward the ruins, "nothing yet..."
June nods to her before she pushes her Mat-Board closer to the ruins, she pushes her goggles up when she gets close enough to see.
Though thick sheets of rain fell around them, and the moon was blocked out by clouds, she could see clearly into the ruins.
"Rocks, shadows...ro-, what the..." Her eyes widen when she catches sight of what looks like a flash of light from within in the ruins. "What was that?"
She reaches to her side to get her scanner, she tries to press the power button as another flash appears from within the ruins but her wet finger slips, "come...on."
She punches the button and the scanner lights up, she holds it toward the ruins when it begins to make small clicking noises, on the screen she gets a cold blue image of the inside of the ruins, she could see water dripping from it's high roof onto the floor, and the scurrying of small creatures along it's seemingly iridescent walls.
"Was I just-." suddenly a tall figure appears on the scanner, and another, and then another.
June gasps when the bright white blobs take on human form, "there's people in there!"
Yuffie moves over to June when she hears her cry out, "what's goin' on!?"
June turns her scanner toward Yuffie to show her the people within, Yuffie quirks a brow at the screen.
"Why would anyone be in there, you think that their one of us...if so we need to find something and get out of here so that we can get the credit."
June looks at the scanner again, from these figures, she didn't get a good feeling, they seemed ominous. Why would anyone go into mysterious ruins in the middle of the night, it didn't seem safe, and it was impossible that they were Shinra operatives, when June pointed her scanner at the cave it would have shown that other members had been there recently.
We have to document everything...
"But Y-."
As she goes to speak one of the people seem to turn directly to the scanner, June gasps when she sees the outline of their eyes as they stare back at her through the screen, slowly the other two people seem to take notice of the still one.
"Yuffie...look." June whispers pointing to the screen, Yuffie gasps when she looks down at the cold white people shaped lights.
"June..I don't get a good feeling about thi-."
The scanner suddenly shuts off.
"What...why," June slaps the dead scanner against her hand, "I charged it all night...and it's water proof...what the-."
As she goes to hit the scanner again, it powers back on, once again the ruins were empty.
Yuffie pushes closer to June to get a better look, "what the...this is...weird."
June nods, it was weird, too weird for her. She no longer felt comfortable, she felt like she was being watched by something or maybe even someone.
"We should just put this in the log, and...go home." June whispers placing her scanner back at her hip.
Yuffie nods, "I'm with ya on that one!"
She bends down on her Mat-Board as it begins to zoom forward, June however, drifts in her spot for a moment.
What was that?
"Come on June, what are ya waitin' for!?"
June spins on her board to face the direction in which Yuffie had went, "coming."
It seemed that no matter how far away they got, June's mind remained at the ruins, she looks aside as Yuffie begins telling her stories about Wutai and Godo...
That person, they stared right at me... But no, how could they have known, that's not possible.
"Am I right, or am I right!?" Yuffie exclaims extending her arms. "June...are ya listening!?"
June gasps when Yuffie waves her hand toward her, she smiles, "you're right!"
"Mmm, something smells good."
June smiles at Yuffie when they enter the store, clearly Cloud hadn't rested like he'd planned to, she pulls as her soaked tank top as they make their way over to the front counter, the smell was even stronger there.
"So, now we add in the onions."
Yuffie slides into a seat as she looks toward the back room, "Marlene's cookin'?"
"I think so...I'm not sure how she makes it...but according to this book...yeah."
June sits across from her, "and Cloud...I'm scared."
Suddenly Cloud and Marlene emerge from the kitchen holding two bowls, Cloud's eyes widen when he locks eyes with June, he looks down at his bowl in a way that showed his embarrassment.
"We were-."
"Smells good." June murmurs coming around the counter, she smiles at him as she takes the spoon from his bowl to taste what looked like soup to her. She scoops some up before pulling the spoon into her mouth, he grimaces when her eyes widen, she pulls the spoon away slowly.
"Cloud...this is...amazing!"
He blushes when she pulls the bowl away from him, "I...tried to follow a recipe but things started going wrong."
June grins at him, "it's better than mine!"
"You got that right!" June turns to Yuffie who stood across from her now, she also held a bowl of soup and a spoon, Marlene looks to June for help when Yuffie holds it away from her.
"Yuffie you could have gotten your own." June mutters walking into the kitchen to get Marlene some more.
Yuffie sighs when she hands Marlene the bowl, "fine...take it back."
Marlene gasps when she sees the shallow pool of soup at the bottom of the bowl, her lower lip trembles when she looks up at Yuffie, "y-you...a-a-ate it all!"
Yuffie laughs nervously when June emerges from the kitchen holding two more bowls of soup, "ah come on kid, there's more...heh-heh."
Marlene glares at her when June takes the empty bowl and replaces it with a full one, she turns sharply away from Yuffie as she begins to eat.
"Yeesh, you guys need to lighten up." Yuffie mutters as she moves for the door. "I think you guys need to really look at yourselves and ask yourselves, 'self...am I being a jerk today'!"
June hands Cloud the other fresh bowl before turning to Yuffie, "Yuffie...you need to ask yourself that sometimes."
Yuffie gasps, "June..., fine...I'll go...but I'm never coming back!"
She frowns at June as she pulls the door open, "and I mean it...never!"
Cloud waves his hand at her, "go on."
"But I mean it, I'll never come back, I swear!"
June leans against the counter as Yuffie begins to back into the street, "if that's what you feel you must do."
"Seriously!"
Cloud sighs looking at June and she smiles, he sets his bowl down as he turns to Yuffie.
"Goodbye!"
Yuffie gasps when June waves to her, "oh so it's really like that h-..., Barret!"
Barret enters the shop past Yuffie, he nods to her as he begins to make his way over to the counter, "hey there June, Spiky, Marlene...ready to go?"
Marlene sets her bowl aside when Barret bends down before her, "yeah, let's go!"
She pushes herself of off the stool before running over to the coat-rack, she grabs her bright green jacket as she turns to June and Cloud.
"Thanks for dinner, I really enjoyed it!"
June looks to Cloud when he nods to her, "come back soon."
"I will." She breathes as she pulls her jacket on. "We're getting another order of Goblin Malts soon so-."
June brings her finger to her lips just in time for Marlene to notice, she places her hand at the back of her head as she begins to search for something else to say.
"I uh...I uh...yeah, I'll be back soon!"
She takes Barret's hand and they make their way over to the door, when they make it to the threshold, Barret turns to Cloud and June again.
"Eh, Tifa wants to know when you guys are gonna visit," he mutters smiling at them, "since getting this place you two been missin' in action!"
"Oh yeah...tell her that we're sorry," June walks around the counter to pick up Marlene's plate, " I was supposed to go there today but...things got too busy."
Barret smiles at her, "yeah I'm sure she'll understand, but just come through soon alright, she's starting to feel neglected."
He turns to leave but once again comes face to face with Yuffie, she places her hands at her hips when he quirks a brow at her.
"Oh so you're gonna act funny too!"
Barret looks to Cloud for an explanation, Cloud tosses his head back with a sigh.
"Bye Barret, take her with you."
June sniggers when Barret turns to Yuffie again, this time he looked at her with slight annoyance.
"Alright-alright, let's go." He mutters grabbing her by the arm.
Yuffie glares at Cloud as Barret pulls her away, "I'll be back you know!"
June sighs when the door closes, "what happened to her not coming back..."
"Well that's not a problem for me..."
June smiles when Cloud moves behind her, he snakes his arms around her waist as he buries his face in her hair.
"We never get to be alone."
June looks down at his arms, "not true we do get some alone time."
Cloud pulls away slightly to look at her face, "it's never uninterrupted."
He yanks her around to face him and she laughs.
He's right, our times alone are usually ruined by something or someone. Customers...Avalanche...Yuffie...deliveries...Yuffie.
She brings her hands to the sides of his face as he begins to pull her toward the stairs, "so I'm guessing you want uninterrupted time, huh?"
He smiles dragging her closer.
June pulls away to lean against the railing, he grabs her hand when she smiles at him, he pulls her hand into his own making her smile grow even more.
"Well let's go make u-."
At this the phone rings, they look to one another with slight disappointment.
"I'll get it." June whispers as she begins to make her way down the stairs, but as she sets foot on the landing. Cloud grabs her wrist again.
"Cloud..."
He lifts her into his arms as he turns back into the stairs, "let it ring."
June laughs when he begins to climb the stairs, "you're gonna be mad when it's time to pay bills."
He shakes his head, "maybe, but tonight...I'm going to be a very happy man."
Silence follows his words as he makes his way to their bedroom, he looks at her as he kicks the door open.
"Ooooh so romantic," she teases when he walks in and kicks the door shut.
So yeah heh-heh, this is my life now...
The next morning, June awakens to the sound of Cloud scuffling around at the end of the bed, she pushes the covers away from her head so as to get a better look at him.
"Ugh." She moans when she notices the keys to Fenrir in his hand. "Going so soon?"
He nods to her as he bends down to tie up his boots, "going to the Western Continent today, gotta get moving early...if I don't...I won't be back home until...tomorrow."
June beats the blankets away as she sits up in the bed to watch him.
Cloud moved about the room in the speed of light, she sighs, she always hated to see him go, it was like a blur of motion and then he was gone.
He's says that he does it that way so that he can get back to me as quickly as possible.
She sighs when he does his routine walk over to the bed, he bends down to kiss her on the forehead but she tilts her head up to kiss him on the lips.
"See you soon." She whispers when he pulls away.
He nods to her as he turns to leave, but as he makes it to the door he looks at her again.
"I...I want to take a vacation...just us two."
June nods, she wanted that too.
But it'll never happen, we've been planning this vacation since the beginning of time.
"I'll be back tonight." He whispers when he notices that his prior try at making her feel better didn't work.
She nods again.
And his trips never last just a day.
"See you tonight then," she says giving him her best smile.
He raises a hand to her before leaving the room.
As his footsteps fade, June's happiness does as well.
I didn't want to build this place together, for us to be alone anyway. Maybe Cloud's used to it, but I'm definitely not.
June looks to the door when the phone downstairs begins to ring.
And that's the next wave of orders, another three or four days he'll be away after only a day home.
June takes a deep breath before pulling back the covers and crawling out of the bed, "another day in my paradise."
Wash, rinse, repeat.
That's how it always goes, and for a long time I was happy with just that, but I want something more, I thought that rejoining the Shinra would be my thing but it still leaves lonely hours.
I grow tired of the monotony, I grow tired of never seeing Cloud...and it's all because of this phone.
June goes to slam the phone down onto the receiver but mid-slam she stops herself, she sighs letting it fall from her hand and it gently falls onto the receiver.
"Come on June you gotta get it together," she whispers as reluctant tears fill her eyes.
Such a baby.
She thrusts her hands into her face as she turns to fill the customers order, but as she does the shop door opens behind her.
"Welcome to In The Speed of Strife, I'm June...how may I help you."
She gets the words out before she even turns to the customer, but as she does, she regrets not doing so.
The man that stood before her, looked nothing like the typical customer.
He stared down at her with his cold silver eyes, his upper lip was curled back in a vicious sneer, though it looked as if pained him to do so, his skin looked like it was carved from rock.
His harsh looks were augmented by the steely blue spiked stands that fell to the back of his neck, June gulps when she looks down at his body.
She could see every bulging muscle through his blue and black body suit.
"?...?"
June nods as she goes to reach for a glass under the counter but when her hand reaches it, she pauses.
What?
She peers up at the man half expecting him to strike her, but she's met with a cold smile.
He nods toward the glass when she wraps her fingers around it.
"You...want water." She utters nervously.
He quirks a brow when she begins to carry the glass into the kitchen, "?...? ?"
June cringes when she hears him speak, the language in which he spoke was so sharp and strange to her ears.
"Um...I'm sorry sir," she whispers as she fills the glass, she turns to bring it to him. "But I don't understand."
He watches her almost apprehensively as he pulls the glass away from her, he brings edge of the glass to his lips but his gaze stayed on her.
Once the cool water meets his bottom lip, he begins gulping it down. With what seemed to be two large gulps, he had drank the entire glass, he sets it on the counter with a sigh.
June smiles nervously at the glass when he begins to stare at her, "that better?"
She's startled when he speaks.
"Much better."
He smiles at her as he turns to leave, but he pauses mid-step.
"Is there something wrong," June whispers looking down at the glass.
He looks at her over his shoulder when she raises the glass to peer through it's bottom to the other side, "something is very wrong, very-very wrong."
June quirks a brow at the glass now, she didn't see any signs of dish-soap still being in the glass.
"Um, I'm sorry if the water sucked..." She concludes as she sets the glass down again.
She rubs her head when he begins to smile at her.
What's so funny, I don't understand.
"My name is Sheike." He whispers to her before walking toward the door again.
June lowers her hand slightly when he pulls the shop door open, "n-nice meeting you."
He turns to her again as the door begins to close, when their eyes meet June is reminded of the night before, those empty silver eyes...
"Nice meeting you as well, June."
What a strange man, but...
"Wait, where you from!?" She calls as she rushes around the counter, she reaches door only for it to slam shut in her face, she pulls it open again but he was no longer there.
"What..." She leans over to get a better look at the surrounding area, she could see no signs of him, or anything else really, the rain from the night before still fell. "How weird."
She backs into the shop again when a gust of wind pushes water into the house, she closes the door before turning her back to it.
The warm little home no longer seemed so friendly, the rain falling outside, and the presence of the strange man made June feel uneasy at being home alone.
Please Cloud, come home...
She looks to the door again as her mind begins to wander.
That man looks like he could crush me with just a thought...
Suddenly the phone starts to ring and June is shocked out of her mind, she growls at it as it cries for her attention.
"You know what, I'm going to Tifa's." She hisses at it as she moves for the stairs.
Next: Anytime He Goes Away.
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