A/N: This is what I think happened between Cid and Shera when all the characters in Final Fantasy 7 were supposed to go home and find what they were fighting for. Please R&R!!!
Cid walked through the entrance of Rocket Town, his longtime home. Far up the path he saw the house he had spent most of his life in and the figure moving around in it. 'Shera.' He thought to himself. He didn't know why she had ever stayed with him. He had been so verbally abusive toward her so much that he wondered how in the hell she ever put up with him. 'She's a lot stronger than me that's for sure.'
He continued walking up the path, Venus Gospel shouldered carelessly to his right. Some of the lights turned off inside the house and all he could see inside were dancing shadows he assumed were the TVs. Upon reaching the white picket fence that marked his territory he reached out and opened it soundlessly and walked into his yard. Taking the Venus Gospel off his shoulder as he opened the door to his house he heard the pitter-patter of bare-feet on tile cease inside. After pushing the door all the way open his eyes locked with the blank face of Shera. She picked her foot up half way off the floor as if uncertain this was an illusion or not.
"Cid?" Shera's silky voice asked.
"The one and only." He said casually breaking the eye contact to set his spear against the wall.
Looking up again he had barely any time to regain his balance as the oncoming woman threw her arms around his neck and pushing herself against him and sent him back into the closed door. Looking away from the bundle of brown hair in front of him, he looked down at the doorknob while wrapping his arms around the girl split between crying and laughing for joy. It was dangerously close he noted mentally after turning back and resting his chin on Shera's head.
It took a while for the lady scientist to notice exactly what she was doing. When she finally did she quickly pulled away and began apologizing, furious with herself.
Cid looked at her sympathetically when she turned around still apologizing, "Shera?" He said in slightly raised tone.
She stopped talking abruptly and turned to face him almost horrified of what he might say. "Y-yes, Captain?"
"You don't have to apologize." He said as he took a cigarette out from behind his ear and lit it with his lighter. After he took a long drag off of it and she still stood perplexed that he had not raised his voice to her yet. He let the cigarette slide to the corner of his mouth and said, "What does a guy have to do to get some goddamned tea around here?" It was light hearted, but since Shera was used to him getting mad at her because he didn't get his tea she flew over to the stove in an exasperated fashion to start some tea.
Cid sighed inwardly at this. He hadn't meant to scare the girl so much; he had wanted his stay to be pleasant since he was going to be staring death in the face the next day. After taking another long drag off his cigarette he sat down at the small table that was covered in ring shaped stains from when he had neglected, or more like refused, to use a coaster. Laughing at himself for his own foolishness he took a seat next to his ashtray and looked up at the back of the scientist as she ran back and forth trying to make his tea as quick as possible.
After getting out all the things that Shera knew Cid liked in his tea and setting the kettle with water in it on the heated stove she sat down across from the air pilot. Suddenly over come with curiosity Shera spoke up. "Captain?"
But before she could ask he interrupted her, "Goddammit Shera! We've been friends since we were what. three?"
"Four and a half, Captain." She corrected him in a timid tone. "Yeah! And you still call me 'Captain'? Shera." He looked up at her meaningfully while putting out the spent cigarette. "You don't have to anymore. You proved yourself right just a few weeks ago. And I'm sorry for the hell I put you through all those years. Please, call me Cid."
Shera looked up at the presence of please at the end of his plea.Cid Highwind never said 'please'. "Okay Cap-.Cid." The foreign name rolled off her tongue peacefully and if it weren't for the kettle screaming to be moved it would have lulled her straight to sleep.
She quickly jumped up to get the tea ready for Cid and herself. While she took care of that Cid pulled his pack of seemingly never-ending supply of cigarettes and took out two tucking one behind his ear and the other in his mouth to be lit. Shera glided back to the little table and set a fresh cup of warm tea in front of Cid and one for herself on the opposite end of the table.
As she sat down at the table Cid noticed a piece of clear tape held the apparently broken bridge of her glasses together. "Shera Stargazer." She looked up questioningly. "What happened here?" He asked as he leaned across the table and pointed at the middle of her glasses.
"Oh." She said sheepishly. "I uh. accidentally set my coffee mug on them not long ago."
Cid laughed lightly at this, "Damn Shera. that sounds like something I'd do."
The two of them shared a light-hearted laugh until Cid decided to bring it to an end. "Shera what were you going to say?"
Shera looked down into her tea glass and swirled it around absent mindedly then looked out the window at the large red meteor hovering above the land ready to attack at a mad mans whim. "I probably already know the answer, but it's not over yet is it?"
Cid looked out the window, too. "Nope, not by a long shot. There's still a psychopathic freak running around." Through Shera's blank expression Cid could see the actual fear that was supposed to be hidden there. He mentally kicked himself; he hadn't meant to scare the poor girl. "Hey you don't have to be scared! Cloud the others and I will all take care of it!"
Shera looked up at him and smiled meekly, "Thank you Cid, I'm sure you will."
The rest of the conversation was not as intense and only lighthearted questions and answers where exchanged between the two. To both of them it was as if the last few years had just disappeared into thin air. They both had to admit that it was a nice change. Finally after they finished the tea Shera collected the cups and thought it would be a good time to do the rest of the dirty dishes. "Why don't you go out and get some fresh air?" She suggested.
Cid nodded in response and got up to go out the back door. On the way he took the other cigarette out from behind his ear and lit it. But when he got outside his jaw dropped and it fell out on a patch of sand. There stood one of his reasons for living. The Tiny-Bronco was clean as a whistle and shined with a seemingly new coat of paint. He walked over to the small plane and set his hand on the wing.
"I had to do something while you were gone or I would have felt useless." Shera had come back from her little chore and now stood beaming happily at the plane and its pilot. "I even gave it a good coat of paint after I finished the repairs. Take a look under the hood."
Cid obediently did as he was told and again was amazed, "You even polished the engine.just how long have I been gone?"
She shrugged, "All I know was that it was too long."
After a long moment of admiring the Tiny-Bronco Cid jumped up and sat on one of the wings, "Hey, come up here and sit with me."
It was really amazing to Shera that he had managed to go so long with out a cigarette or a curse in his mouth. She sat next to him on the wing and just looked up at the setting sun. It was all too soon when it finally did go down and they were engulfed a red hew emitted from the large meteor. Cid looked over at Shera watching her as she stared blankly at the large rock in the sky.
"Cid?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to come home after this?"
The question stunned him to silence. Shera had never been the one to move around a subject, but it still shocked him that she could be so forward. He looked down at the grass, "I really don't know."
Shera nodded in an understanding way, "That's all I need to know."
That night Cid crawled into his bed. 'The last bed I may ever be in.' He had thought.
He wasn't able to fall asleep until a figure came into his room and snuggled up next to him. Not a word was spoken. They didn't have to be. When the breathing of the girl in his arms evened into a steady pace, Cid reached up and set his alarm almost an hour earlier then he had originally thought to set it.
When it went off the next morning He turned it off before the angle at his side could wake. He dressed in his usual flight jacket and went out for an early morning errand. When he came back from that errand he set what he had gotten on his pillow and a note in front of the girls eyes so it would be the first thing she saw when she awoke. He ran his fingers through the girl's hair and left the house, Venus Gospel in hand.
Shera finally did wake up to see the contents of the pillow next to her. A pair of new glasses and a note was in the spot the one she loved had once laid. Her head rose slightly still taking in what she saw. She reached for the glasses and slipped them on. They fit perfectly she noted as reached for the note with a trembling hand. Gently unfolding the paper the note said in Cid's bad handwriting, I love you and I will be back.
Shera smiled to herself and stared went about her normal chores never once doubting the pilot's word.