Restoration Roast
The air shimmered and crackled like grease in a fryer and, for the past eight hours, the people of Radiant Garden knew how the denizens of Agrabah felt under the hot sun of their world.
For the members of the Restoration Committee, most of whom had been to Agrabah, the heat was worse.
Yuffie was curled up on Aerith's left side, whining like a milk-starved kitten and causing Cloud's eyebrows to twitch and a headache to flare to life on the opposite side of Aerith, though he wasn't cuddling.
"Aerith, talk to the Planet and make it rain!" Yuffie whined.
Aerith gently stroked the younger woman's hair at that and sighed. "I don't know where you get such notions, Yuffie. I can't talk to the Planet."
"Can we at least get naked?"
Even Yuffie's eyes widened at that and she joined Aerith in staring at Cloud.
"It's torture out there and worse in here with the AC busted. Plus, without ice or cold water, we can't exactly cool ourselves any other way."
"You're just a big pervert Cloud! I'm not sticking around if that's your only solution!" Yuffie exclaimed.
Getting to her feet, hands on her hips, she stuck her tongue out and soon darted away, muttering about going towards the fountain in the main square of Radiant Garden and how stupid Cloud was acting.
Once the ninja was gone, Aerith blushed a bit but her fingers didn't hesitate as she started removing her shirt, Cloud not far behind, matching the grin on her face.
/
In another part of the Restoration Building, as the citizens of Radiant Garden had called the slightly crooked and magically-created structure, Cid was dealing with the heat the best way he knew how. The seven empty bottles of warm beer attested to how diligently he got into his method, the crocked engineer pointing a shaky finger towards the magician and godmother.
"Get to castin' some o' that damn magic already!"
"Unfortunately Cid, magic takes concentration and a tranquil mind, neither of which we have at the moment owing to this infernal heat," Merlin replied, idly seeing the drunk man's future.
It was at least better than what was going to happen to Scrooge, the wizard decided.
His robes were sticking to him like Mim's noxious breath in that swamp all those ages ago and he could see from his lover's face that she wasn't feeling much better.
"I believe the pond is still a little cool," the fairy godmother murmured, brushing one of her stout hips against Merlin's side.
Smirking, Merlin bowed low and offered his hand, the godmother accepting it with a beaming smile, the pair giggling as they dashed away at a speed that made the lush look at the empty beer bottles.
"Did you guys know they could run that fast?"
/
Tifa was bored.
She was bored and hot.
She was bored, hot, and the novelty of her boyfriend's naked figure had worn off over an hour ago.
So Tifa decided to amuse herself in other ways, reminding the scarred man of their mutual ninja friend now.
She had poked at his abs, mimicked his infamous brooding pose, and finally settled for resting her head on his chest and running a finger along his facial scar.
But boredom still echoed in her mind and she had no doubt that her brain was becoming a fried egg due to this heatwave.
So she turned to her own body for amusement, looking down with a critical eye at the slight pudge around her stomach, no doubt due to Aerith's recent bakery aspirations. But she soon focused on just how bad she probably reeked right now due to sweating through her antiperspirant. Raising an armpit, she took a few sniffs.
/
Squall watched as Tifa's nose wrinkled, the martial artist recoiling from her own BO, the sight making Squall roll his eyes.
She and Zell had more in common then they both thought though he knew he better not say that out loud. Bad enough the pair were constantly sparring with one another. If he brought this to their attention, they'd probably end up being best buds.
The last thing he needed was Tifa rushing out at seven in the morning to wait in line for hotdogs.
"We need to do something," Squall finally said.
"Melting isn't something?"
"The least we can do is get out of Cid's bedroom."
"Fine, but I get to wear your jacket."
And before Squall could stop her, Tifa had procured his jacket from it's oh-so-elegant resting place on the floor and draped it around herself.
"If you want it back, you'll have to catch me."
Squall groaned as he got to his feet, pulling on his pants and darting after her, all the while praying she wouldn't notice what he had in his left pocket.
It would put the final nail in the coffin that was this day, the heat being the hammer.
/
Cid was busy regaling the bottles about his exploits when Tifa dashed past him, Squall not far behind.
The man blinked a bit before looking back at the bottles.
"Did Leon just grow a pair of breasts?"
More beer was definitely needed to help him get through this latest development.
/
Tifa didn't stop at the sight of the nude Aerith or Cloud wrapped around one another on the couch, merely chuckled at how dominant Aerith was being and the surprising strength of her grip on Cloud's wrists.
Aerith saw Cloud's eyes widen but she just smirked and kissed him, silencing any protests he might make and just enjoying the moment.
It was...liberating, to be divested like this as the world all around melted due to the heat.
Then the woman saw Squall and promptly shrieked, darting off Cloud and covering herself with her boyfriend's clothes as best she could.
Once the scarred young man had passed, Aerith looked towards Cloud and noticed that he had grabbed her own discarded clothes, pulling them close to his body.
Shame vanished and she opened her lips, mirth bubbling from her like a geyser, Cloud able to do nothing but sigh and wait for Aerith to stop laughing.
/
Yuffie sighed as as she placed her bare legs into the still cold fountain, looking up at the sky and taking in the vivid blue above.
It was pretty much a perfect moment.
Then, her sensitive ears picked up a moan.
It was coming from the other side of the fountain.
Moving as stealthily as possible, Yuffie suddenly burst upon the source of the noise with a battle-cry leaving her lips only to halt, frozen at the sight before her.
This frozen, shell-shocked, state lasted all of a minute before the ninja gave a howl and covered her eyes, stumbling away and wishing she could forget what she had just seen.
Merlin chortled a bit as he looked back towards the stumbling young woman but soon returned his attention to his lady, the fairy godmother looking extremely pleased.
"Where did you learn to do that?"
Merlin waggled his eyebrows until they looked like a pair of caterpillars and simply smirked.
"A magician can't reveal all his tricks, my dear one."
/
Tifa stopped in her escape from Squall upon seeing the stumbling ninja.
"Yuffie, are you alright?"
"Wrinkly...don't...go to...fountain...disturbing..."
"Is there anything you need?"
Yuffie blinked at that, seeming to come to for a moment before noticing that Tifa was halfway naked.
"You're not getting me to take my clothes off Cloud!"
And with a smoke bomb and a swift dash, Yuffie was gone.
Squall found her coughing on the vanishing wisps of smoke, his hand on her back and patting a bit as she turned to look at him.
"So...finished running?"
She decided a kiss would be a good enough answer, surprising him as she deepened it and actually dipped him low, a hand going towards that bulge she'd felt in the left pocket of his jacket.
Removing what she'd discovered earlier, she finished kissing Squall and got down on one knee.
"I'm sure you had a grand romantic plan for the day but thanks to the heat, that's ruined, right?"
He nodded.
"Then I suppose you can spend the rest of your life coming up with more of these plans with me, right?"
"Is that your idea of a proposal?"
She puffed out her cheeks at that and closed her eyes, opening them to reveal her best imitation of a puppy.
"Squall, darling, the light of my life, will you do me the grand honor of being my husband?"
He rolled his eyes but nodded, allowing her to slip the ring on his finger.
/
Merlin's grin could have powered Tron's systems for eons as he gazed at Squall and Tifa.
Their future was turning out just like he'd seen it all those years ago.
Of course, he wouldn't dare mention to Tifa the weight she'd gain as she got older or how bald Squall was going to become.
There were some things best kept to oneself, Merlin thought, before being dragged away by the fairy godmother, their concentration and focus now restored as they banished the unnatural heat and replaced it with a cool breeze.