Alright, no reviews. Apparently I don't exist. Oh well, I like writing anyway...even if i do only update once a few months. Well, chapter 2 is here. I don't now if the 70+ people who read chapter one actually cared but for those of you who did. Here's the next one.
Quick note: I thought Denzel acted serious in the movie because he knew he was fatally sick. So now that he's not I made him very childish. Just a warning.
Disclaimer: Oh, I still don't own Final Fantasy 7 but I still worship it.
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Chapter 2: Restore
The young man walked into the first shop and pulled out his rusted souba. "I need this fixed. Someone outside told me you could repair it." Kadaj said with a flat tone. "Sorry son, you're thinking of the wrong shop. The shop at the very end is the one you're looking for." replied the owner.
As Kadaj turned to leave the shopkeeper called him back. "Now wait just a second child. You're telling me you're not interested in what I have?" said the shopkeep in a fake hurt voice. Turning only his head so half of his face could be seen, the silver-haired youth spoke back in a mocking tone "And what could you possibly have that could interest me?" "Well, come take a look. Only the best materia you'll find around here!" replied the shopkeep determined to make a sale. Materia…power born from the lifestream... Kadaj thought before completely turning to him and walking back to the counter, "Show me what it is you have." "Excellent, I'm sure you'll be satisfied with what I have." the shopkeep pulled up a box from under the counter and continued his pitch in an even more excited voice, "You'll have to go halfway across the continent if you wanted better! But even so, you'd need materia to protect you along the way." He opened the box and inside was a multitude of different colored spheres, although mainly green. "Most magic materia you see here I've personally made myself and I guarantee that they're top of the line! Anything else you see was sold to me and has been tested to make sure they are in working order."
Kadaj picked one up and held it to the light admiring its translucency. Putting it on his wrist, the youth tried to force the material onto his wrist but it wouldn't cooperate. Kadaj handed it back to the owner angrily "Why can I not assimilate it? What is wrong with this material?" "Why, you don't even have any armor, child. You can't just use material on your own. You need armor or a weapon that can focus its energy." replied the shopkeep. Kadaj held his souba up again "How about this? Can this focus it?" he asked. The shopkeep took it and inspected it for a minute before replying "Well, it has no slots for material on it…but even if it did it's too damaged to even focus it anyway." Kadaj let out a loud, agitated growl into the air which drew the attention of some of the people walking past the shop. "Now hold up, child. I'm sure if you ask old Jonathan two shops down, he'll be happy to add slots to it when he repairs it. In fact, here." the shopkeep pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note on it, "Me and Jonathan have been working of a new materia pattern on weapons. If you don't mind, we could use yours as our first prototype." The owner handed Kadaj his blade back along with the note before putting the materia away. The youth took them and stared at the owner for a second. "No need to thank me, child." said the owner unprovoked. "Alright, I won't." and with that, Kadaj left the shop.
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"Hey, Cloud. Wake up! Helloooo? Cloud!" The ex-SOLDIER turned tot he annoying voice breaking his rest to find Denzel starring and poking at him. "come on, get up! Tifa says dinner will be ready soon!" cried the small boy. "Alright, alright. Tell Tifa I'll be right there." Cloud replied groggily as he got up. With a stretch and a loud yawn Cloud made his way to the kitchen where Denzel was already waiting at the table and Tifa was putting the finishing touches to their meal. Taking a seat, he noticed Tifa had gone out of her way to make the meal presentable. New dishes and tableware was out; or at least ones he'd never seen before. "They're for you. I thought we should celebrate your return. You have been away pretty long." said Tifa noticing Cloud inspecting the new dishes. "How long has it been?" Cloud asked. "Well...about two weeks now. Me and Denzel thought you ran off to the chocobo ranch to secretly raise racing chocobos again." replied Tifa as she and Denzel giggled. The young man threw them a glare through his red cheeks as he remembered his little racing problem a while back and how Denzel laughed himself silly when Tifa told stories about it.
Tifa placed their meals on the table and sat down as well. Denzel got right to eating and almost got halfway through before Cloud and Tifa had even begun. Cloud took a bite and enjoyed it very much. Years of working at a bar really showed off in her cooking. As they were eating Cloud noticed Tifa glancing over at him out of the corner of her eye, although she looked down instantly once their eyes met. It happened a couple times during the dinner and every time she had the same expecting look on her. "Tifa, that was delicious! Could I have more?" asked Denzel holding his empty plate at her in a childish way. She smiled at the goofy boy and got up to get him more. "Thank you, Tifa." finished Denzel. Cloud suddenly realized what Tifa wanted. She wanted him to comment on the food. The swordsman felt stupid and guilty and his inconsideration; as he should. For the remainder of the meal Cloud tried to say something but every time he tried his mouth seemed to lose the ability to speak. He was not good at this kind of thing at all.
Once the had finished Tifa picked up all the plates and began to wash them silently. Denzel shot up and ran to the doorway. He turned before leaving and thanked Tifa before running up to his room. Only Cloud, Tifa, and the awkward silence between them were left in the kitchen. Standing up, Cloud made his way to the door leading out to the backyard. He stopped when he passed Tifa at the sink. Feeling his presence behind her, she stopped washing the dishes and just left the water running over the cup she held in her hand. She kept her back to him as she looked down at the suds forming and waited for some sort of response from the stoic figure. Cloud swallowed his pride and finally gave her the compliment she hoped for. "Thank you, Tifa...for dinner. It was...very...good."he finally said. Tifa turned and smiled at him. She couldn't see his face and what he said did come out kind of weird but she knew he meant well. She put down the cup and dried her hands on a rag. Wrapping her arms around him from behind she hugged him tightly like a an overgrown teddy bear. "You're welcome!" she replied rather lively. The swordsman was startled at first but got used to it and put one of his hands over hers. They stood there a while and merely enjoyed the moment.
"Ewwwww! Gross!" cried a voice from the stairs. The pair turned and saw the miscreant at the top of the stairs peeking down at them. "Denzel you brat!" yelled Tifa. Grabbing the wet rag on the counter, she threw it as hard as she could at him. The young boy ran up and barely got away from the incoming rag. Tifa crossed her arms and fumed a bit when she heard a low laugh come from the blond man next to her. She faced him and was delighted to see that for the first time in almost three years he had finally laughed again. She missed his laugh, it made her feel like he was regaining his radiance. He smiled at her and she smiled back at him. "Heh, I should probably get back to the dishes." Tifa said. "Alright, I'll be outside if anyone needs me." responded Cloud as he continued to the door. "Ok." Tifa replied as he walked outside and she continued with the dishes.
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Kadaj entered the weapon shop and walked over to the counter. No one was there at first but the youth noticed a small bell on the counter. He looked around and there was no one there so he tried it. Three times the little bell rung before a voice could be heard from a back room. "Yes! Yes! Hold your horses!" yelled the voice. "I have no horses. What are you talking about?" replied Kadaj confused. A few moments later a greasy man covered in black soot walked out wiping his hands with a cloth. "It's a joke, boy. Now, what can I do for you?" he asked. Kadaj put his broken souba on the counter and handed the shopkeeper the note from the other shopkeep. "You are Jonathan, right? The old materia seller told me you could fix this. He also said you could put materia slots onto it." Examining the note, the shopkeeper fiddled with his goatee then picked up the souba.
After a few minutes of looking it over Kadaj was beginning to become impatient and paced around the small room. "Alright, it'll be tough but I reckon I can do it. With the repairing, adding of slots, and the overall upgrade to the blade...I'd say about 7500 gil or so should cover it. Will you be paying up front?" asked the shopkeeper after making the calculations. "What's gil?" kadaj inquired. "Stop playing, boy. I'll need it up front." the shopkeeper replied annoyed. "What are you talking about old man? What are gil?" "Gil, boy! Money! Currency! What do you take me for? A fool? Now pay me or stop wasting my time!" yelled Jonathan. Kadaj strolled over to the counter casually and looked the shopkeeper in the eyes "You may be a fool to me but I am anything but wasting your time. I need this weapon repaired and you will do it." "Hmph, only if you pay me, boy." replied the shopkeeper. Kadaj stood up strait with shaking fist as he rage was filling him. He had no idea what gil was much less where to get it. "Fine, how many did you want?" he asked with a harsh tone. "7500 exactly. I won't spare you so much as one gil anymore." the shopkeeper answered with a tone to rival Kadaj's. "Where can i get these gil, then?" "Figure it out yourself! Look at me. I run a business. If kids were more active these days and got a job of their own maybe you would at least know what money is! You at least look like you're in shape. Go be a bodyguard or something!" yelled the greasy owner. Kadaj turned and walked towards the door "So be it. I'll return soon with your...money. You begin working on my blade though."
With that Kadaj left the shop in a foul mood and looked around for weaklings to protect. He saw a few that were heading out of town and decided to try to offer his abilities.
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Eh, i tried. I don't think I did too bad but I feel my weakness lies in the way i write, not so much the story. But I could be very wrong. And like I said in ch.1, the first two chaps are kinda setting up the story. Action soon. Mmmmmm, action. I wouldn't mind a review or two, btw. It kinda lets me know to keep writing. Flames welcomed too.
