Disclaimer: The song used in this chapter is called Angel and it is the property of Aerosmith. The 'Duck' fortune is the property of Cindy Lewin (Visit her site at do it, now!), and is used without permission. Square-Enix reserves all rights to the characters and places, as usual.
After several hard months of travel, the five finally reached North Corel. For over two months they traveled through the mountains separating Costa Del Sol and North Corel. Along the way many enemies attempted to stop them, but in the end, the five friends were victorious.
However, these months weren't without several happy moments. Ironically most of these were moments when Cloud and Aerith could just relax and be together for a little while.
"Cloud," she said one night as they made camp shortly after entering the mountains.
"Yeah," he asked as he finished setting up the tents.
"We will return to Costa Del Sol when this is over, right?"
"Of course we will, when this is over I'll take you anywhere you want to go, just you and me," he replied with a grin as he pulled her into a light embrace. They still had to be careful, Barret was still the only one who knew about their relationship and he was keeping quiet, for now.
They quickly moved apart when they heard voices coming towards them, Cloud pretended to make sure the tents were up correctly, and Aerith pretended to check the food supplies. Tifa and Red came towards them, once again arguing about Tifa's snoring.
"I'm telling you, Red, I do not snore!" she said as they came into view.
"Of course you do, you keep everyone awake. You really should see a Doctor about it," Red said, drawing a look that could melt ice from Tifa.
"Great, now I'm getting medical advise from an overgrown hairball. Cloud, do I snore?"
Cloud froze, he knew there was no way to answer this question and not get hurt.
"Umm, I don't know Tifa, I'm a very heavy sleeper, so I wouldn't notice," he answered, hoping she would believe him. In truth, her snores kept him awake on several occasions, it'd be one thing if she had a pattern, but she couldn't snore a rhythm to save her life. The one plus is that her snores were loud enough to scare away any animals.
"What about you Aerith, do I snore?"
"Of course not, Tifa, Red's just being mean," Aerith replied, drawing a glare from the lion.
"See Red, I told you," Tifa said as she stuck her tongue out at the lion and walked away.
"Aerith, what are you saying? You've complained about how she snores so loud she could wake the dead."
"I know that Red, I just told her that so we wouldn't have to listen to you two going on like five year olds."
"Fine, I understand, I know when I'm not wanted," Red said in an amused tone and walked away, in the opposite direction of Tifa.
Cloud and Aerith were now alone once again; she quickly moved back to him and gave him a loving kiss and a hug.
"Will you marry me when this whole Sephiroth thing is done?" she asked from the circle of his arms.
"Of course my love, I'll marry you now or when ever you want."
"Good," she said with a smile.
The next morning the party broke camp at daybreak and began their journey towards the Gold Saucer and North Corel, Barret's home town.
It took them a month and a half to leave the mountains, and another 2 weeks to walk to North Corel.
Once they entered the remains of the town, they were set upon by the 'Welcoming Committee,' actually they were a group of locals that were unhappy to see Barret, but who's actually counting?
As the party made their way through the crowd, they were aware of an overwhelming hatred of their companion. The other four began to wonder what had happened. All they knew was that Barret was blamed for what happened to the town. There would be time to find out later, now they had to get to the Gold Saucer, they needed a break from their adventure through the mountains.
Making their way through the cold shoulders of the town's people, the group arrived at the Tram that would take them to the legendary Gold Saucer.
"I'd like 5 tickets please," Cloud told the women at the counter.
"Pssst, hey Cloud, can I talk to you?" Barret whispered.
"I'll be right back," Cloud told the cashier who nodded, totally engrossed in her fashion magazine.
"Man, I ain't got enough gil to cover 5 tickets," Barret said, his voice carrying to the ticket counter.
"Then what are we going to do?" Aerith asked as she stood next to cloud, placing her hand on his lower back, shielding it from the others with her body.
"Don't worry about it, go ahead, no cost to ride it up," the cashier replied as she continued to read her magazine.
"Thank you," Aerith said as she was led towards the Tram by Cloud.
As the group boarded the Tram, there was a sign stating that the ride would take about 10 minutes; the landing platform of the Gold Saucer was a long way up from the ground.
Seeing the sign, Cloud sighed and sat on the bench farthest from the others, kinda hard to do when everyone wanted the window seat, the car was rather small and there are only so many window seats. Aerith sat next to him, a few inches away to prevent anyone from asking questions about their relationship.
The car shuddered as the hoist began pulling the Tram from the station, its propellers kicking on as soon as it was clear. The car was thankfully soundproofed against the prop noise, but that didn't make it any better. There was elevator music being piped in, horror of horrors.
Resigning himself to the fact that he couldn't hold Aerith against him while they waiting, he sat back and listened to the song playing.
I'm alone
Yeah, I don't know if I can face the night
I'm in tears and the cryin' that I do is for you
I want your love - Let's break the walls between us
Don't make it tough - I'll put away my pride
Enough's enough I've suffered and I've seen the light
Cloud smiled as he listened to the first verse, thinking how it perfectly described how he felt towards Aerith.
Baby
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
You're my angel
Come and make it all right
Don't know what I'm gonna do
About this feeling inside
Yes it's true - Loneliness took me for a ride
Without your love - I'm nothing but a begger
Without your love - a dog without a bone
What can I do I'm sleeping in this bed alone
Cloud looked out the corner of his eye at Aerith, only to see her smiling at him. Turning his full attention on her, he returned the smile, allowing his love for her to shine through his Mako infused eyes.
Baby
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
You're my angel
Come and make it all right
Come and save me tonight
You're the reason I live
You're the reason I die
You're the reason I give
When I break down and cry
Don't need no reason why
Cloud had to restrain himself from reaching over and pulling her into his embrace. He became aware that Barret was staring at him, trying to get his attention. Tifa and Red were still arguing about her snoring and were paying no attention to the other three.
Cloud understood exactly what Barret was telling him, wait until we reach the Gold Saucer, and then hold her, but not here.
Cloud nodded, message received. He leaned over and whispered into Aerith's ear. "We'll do something fun when we reach the Gold Saucer. Just us, ok?"
"Yeah," she whispered back before quickly looking around and seeing only Barret paying them any attention, gave Cloud a small, quick kiss on the cheek. This drew a grin from both Cloud and the somewhat depressed Barret.
Baby, Baby
Baby
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
You're my angel
Come and make it all right
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
you're my angel
Come and take me allright
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight
Tuning out the rest of the music, Cloud put his head back against the seat and fell asleep, waking up a few minutes later when they docked, only to find Aerith's head against his shoulder, she was asleep too.
He looked around at the others, Tifa, Red, and Barret were stretching from the long ride, none of them noticing the position he and Aerith were in.
"Aerith," he said softly, "wake up we're here."
"Hnnnn," was her only reply as she struggled to open her eyes.
"We're at the Gold Saucer, time to wake up."
Slowly sitting up she gave a big stretch and a huge yawn, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Come on everyone, let's go inside, we'll get some rooms so we can sleep a bit," Cloud said as he helped Aerith stand up. He then led the sleepy girl out the door into the amusement park.
As soon as Cloud had paid for the entrance tickets, Barret took off to think and be depressed in private; maybe he'd hit the Pub. A good stout Ale would go down real nice right now, Barret thought as he headed towards the bar and his awaiting Ale.
Red and Tifa, continuing their snoring conversation took off as well, headed somewhere to debate the issue.
"I can't believe that you made me go in the suitcase, I could have suffocated!" Tifa was saying as she and Red walked away.
"Well, Barret did say that he didn't have enough to pay for 5 tickets, plus there were plenty of air holes."
"Yeah, but we could have said you were a stuffed animal, or had Aerith go in the suitcase, maybe even Cloud!" Tifa replied empathically.
"For starters, I am not a stuffed animal, nor could I pass for one. Second, neither Aerith nor Cloud are able to fit into the suitcase, their weapons alone take up too much room."
"Yeah, but, I'm just saying it isn't fair, that's all," she said with a pout as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Red just sighed and changed the conversation; she was no fun when she was pouting.
"So, want to stop by the Pharmacy and get something to help stop that incessant snoring?"
"WHAT! I DO NOT SNORE!"
Cloud just shook his head as the two disappeared around a corner and thankfully out of earshot.
That only left Cloud and Aerith to go get a room.
"Well, shall we go get a room?" Cloud asked as he extended his arm to Aerith.
"Yes, let's," she replied groggily as she took his arm and let him lead the way to the hotel.
Deciding to buy one room with two beds, Cloud led Aerith to the room. This way it saved what little money they had left.
Reaching the room, Aerith fell onto the first bed she saw, Cloud hesitated, contemplating on curling up with the sleeping Ancient. However he thinks the better of it and heads to the other bed, almost falling onto it due to his exhaustion. Soon both were fast asleep, dreaming or their travels and each other.
A few hours later, they awoke refreshed. Deciding to explore the famous Gold Saucer, they took off towards the Wonder Square.
Arriving at Wonder Square, Cloud and Aerith encounter a cat riding a stuffed animal.
"Hi," it said, "I'll tell your fortune."
Cloud looked at Aerith, she shrugged, giving him a small smile.
"Ummm, I think not," he told the cat.
"Oh come on, you'll like the fortune. Promise!"
Aerith tapped him on the shoulder, taking his attention from the cat.
"Cloud, let's see what he has to say. Either way it'll be funny to see our fortune told by a cat."
Cloud smiled at her and taking her hand gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Ok," he said to the cat, "we'll listen."
"You will? I mean … you will!" he answered as he went into a strange dance, several seconds later a small paper appeared from the stuffed animals mouth. The cat took it and read:
"The Cactuar flies at midnight!" He read in a clear voice.
Cloud and Aerith had to restrain themselves from laughing, the fortune made absolutely no sense.
"Huh? Ok that's not the right fortune. Here, let me try again." He said as he began his dance again. Like before the paper appeared and he read:
"Ducks are slippery and taste like pillow! What? Ok, ok, one more time. This time I'll get it."
The cat's dance seemed to take a few seconds longer than before, but the paper appeared, just like before. He once again grabbed it and began to read:
"What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear."
At this time, both Cloud and Aerith were laughing.
"Well, this is very disturbing," the cat said as he lowered the final fortune. "I don't know if it's good OR bad... This is the first time I ever got something like THIS. Then shall we?"
"Excuse me?" Aerith asked, slightly shocked, her laughter dying as she took in what the cat said.
"As a fortune teller, I can't help but think about this. If I don't see what it leads to, I won't be able to relax. That's why I'm going with you!"
"Ummm … I don't know, "Cloud began, looking at Aerith.
"Ah, come on Cloud, what could it hurt?" She said once she recovered.
"I'm comin' with you no matter WHAT you say!" The cat said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest, his tail swaying behind him.
"Ok, I guess you can come, we see no harm in it," Cloud replied as he turned back to the cat.
"Thanks, you won't be sorry. Oh, by the way, my name is Cait Sith, I'm please to meet you both."
Leaving the Wonder Square with their new companion, Cloud and Aerith decided to visit the Battle Square and it's world famous collection of rare items.
As they approached, the smell of blood filled the air, a wounded man staggered towards them from the Battle Square, falling in front of the trio.
"Dead..." Cloud said as he examined the soldier next to him.
"What? Wa... wait Cloud!" Aerith pleaded as he entered the arena.
"Did Sephiroth do this? No... it's not him... They're all shot... Sephiroth would never use a gun..." Cloud said, speaking more to himself than the others.
"Ugh, ugggh," one of the staff members said, luckily for her she was just wounded.
"Hey, what happened!" Cloud asked as he knelt beside the woman.
"Ugh... ugh... a man with a gun... on his arm..."
"A gun on his arm! Oh Cloud, do you think it could be Barret?" Aerith asked as her hand went to her throat.
"Hold it right there! And stay quiet! Did you guys do this?" Dio, the owner of the Gold Saucer, asked as guards appeared beside him.
"N... no, it wasn't us!" Cloud began as he and the others backed away from the guards.
"Hurry and run, it's gonna get ugly." Cait Sith said as he took off.
"Hey!" Cloud shouted as he and Aerith followed.
"Hold them!" Dio said as the group tried to escape.
They managed to evade the guards and make it into the battle arena itself, where they were trapped.
"That's as far as you go." Dio said as guards flanked him once again.
"Wait, listen to..." Cloud begged.
"Cloud..." Cait Sith warned.
"Hey! Pay attention!" Cloud said, as he grew frustrated with the park's owner, who was pointedly ignoring him.
"There's no need to listen. Pay for your crime down below! Officer, Do it!"
The officer pulled a lever and the floor beneath the trio fell out, sending them into a pit of darkness.
To Be Continued … Chapter 3 – Corel Prison/Chocobo Races
