Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not FFVII, Not FFXII, and definetely NOT Shakespeare. If I did I would be so glad. To be or not to be...

Chapter Two: Meetings, Books, and Shakespeare

I glanced from side to side. The city was gray; uniform, so unlike Rabanastre. Rabanastre exploded with color and elegant buildings. The structures here were dull, unimaginative. Regardless, I peered around, intrigued. Perhaps this world was what I needed to soothe my wanderlust. Besides it had very cool gadgets. And books!! Look at all the books!! And...

'You sound like a kid at Christmas' Adrammelech remarked drolly.

'Christmas? I love Christmas!! All the delicious food!!!'

'Both of you shut up. Cuchulain, I don't need to hear about your gluttonous desires,' I said to them. Mentally of course. I would look quite mad if I said it out loud to them. That was, if I wasn't already mad.

A small body collided with mine. A boy in grimy clothes had run into me, a pink ribbon clutched in his hand. A girl, no more than seven,
quickly approached us, shouting, "Give it back!!!!!" The boy tried to run off, but I stopped him.

"Is the ribbon yours?" I asked as sweetly as I could. The boy shook his head. "Give it here," I commanded. The boy reluctantly parted with it. I slipped my hand into one of my many pockets and pulled out several hundred gil. "Here take this," I whispered to him while I passed him the gil. The boy stood shocked, until the girl's shrieking alerted him to the danger he was in. He quickly scampered away as the girl reached where I stood.

"Is this yours?" I inquired politely. The girl nodded. I looked at her hair as I passed it to her. "What's the matter? Cactoid got your tongue?" I asked, joking.

The girl stared at me before asking,"Flower-girl?"

"What?" I asked stupidly. I had been called many things, but flower-girl was new to me. Was it another word for wh#$e?

"Of course not," Exodus replied smugly. "She has obviously mistaken you for somebody else."

'Thanks, Exodus. Rub it in why don't you?' I thought back.

"If you really want me to..."

'I was being sarcastic,' I thought back, with a snort.

Exodus grumbled, "Youth have no respect for their elders."

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the girl. "No," I stated. "My name's Cressida. Were you looking for somebody?" I said in an attempt to soothe the girl. She looked like she had seen a ghost. I flipped my red braid back behind my head. It had slipped over my shoulder when I had leaned forward.

"You look like her."

"Who?" I asked, curious. I was the only person I know who had bright scarlet hair.

"The flower girl," she replied with a serious note in her voice that only a child could posses. I blinked a couple of times.

"Oooooookay," I said. "Where's your family?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Daddy's looking for energy. I live with Tifa."

I smiled. She was so innocent. Had I been that way when I was younger? "You should probably head home. This Tifa is probably looking for you." I smiled and gave her a little nudge in the direction that she had come. "Have a nice day!" I said merrily. She smiled and trotted off. As she passed out of my sight, I realized that I had forgotten to get her name. Oops. Oh well. I ignored the sniggers of the espers and continued down the street.

I don't know how much time passed. A couple hours at the most. I had found a small cafe and had begun to eat an excellent sandwich that seemed to be their specialty. I held the sandwich in one hand as my other rummaged in my bag. I felt the license boards,
which I left alone, some potions and ethers, a spare set of clothing, until my hand finally alighted on the object I was searching for. I pulled the old tome out. It was old, a book that my friend Violet had given me. It was a book of plays.

I will admit, that if I had one major weakness, it was my love of books. I would do anything to get my hands on them. My friend Violet knew this and had gotten me my first book when we had been young, perhaps eight or so. I might have been a street girl, but I knew how to write and read from I was very young, when I still had a family.

I stared lovingly at the cover, which read Selected Plays of William Shakespeare. Most people don't get Shakespeare. They said the way he wrote was too difficult to understand. And, well at least in Rabanastre, he was looked down upon for being of Archadian origin. Not that I cared. I loved every word of all 37 of his plays. I could quote Othello and could recite perfectly the part of Queen Margaret. I knew all of them. I was happily daydreaming about Romeo & Juliet, my favorite play, when I heard somebody sniggering. The mood I was in was shattered when I realized it was Chaos and Shemhazai. Shemhazai was oddly known as the Whisperer, although Faram help me, she was the loudest when she spoke. To be frank she brayed like a donkey.

'Shut up both of you. It's better to be obsessed with plays, Shakespeare, and books than to be obsessed with nethicite,' I thought to them irritated. They only sniggered harder.

I opened the book and began to flip through the pages. I must have been leaning back in the chair, because one minute I'm upright reading, the next, lying flat on the ground with a very familiar face and voice apologizing.


7th Heaven - Marlene's P.O.V.

I ran into the bar. The redhead guy and the blonde were back. The blonde seemed to be yelling at the redhead. "DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO DRINK, RENO? WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING NOT DRINKING BEER!"

I ignored them. After the remnants had been defeated they had come more often, along with the bald man and the man with black hair. Every so often a man in a wheelchair would come with them. I ran up to Tifa and began pulling on her skirt, "Tifa, Tifa," I called.

She slipped my hands off of her skirt. "Go upstairs, Marlene. I'm busy."

"But..." I began.

"Marlene go upstairs." Tifa stated firmly, giving me a little push towards the door.

I sighed and went upstairs. Denzel wasn't there, so I couldn't even tell him about the girl I met. She looked just like the flower girl, except for her hair color, and her outfit. Otherwise, she could have been the flower girl. I looked out the window, the same window Denzel and I had peered out of waiting for Cloud to return six months ago. He did, though not directly. We found him in the flower girl's church. It had been such a happy time. Cloud visited more often now and seemed to talk more. I wondered how they would take to the new girl. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Cressida. What a pretty name. I wondered if we would meet again. I hoped we would.

A/n New Chapter!!! Woohoo!!!! I would like to thank my only reviewer, Lady Karai, for reviewing. I know more people read the story. PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE!!!!!! If you review you will recieve a Marlene plushie. Flame if you want. Just please review.