Ehem. I know. That last chapter was put there to explain some things. I guess this one is too.
It didn't take Cloud long to overpower his friend, getting to the house mere seconds before her. She ran up beside him, clutching his sleeve as if for deer life. A moment later, she was coughing. He held her close, muffling the sound, before she stopped almost as abruptly as she had started.
"You alright?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. Just some dust."
He shrugged, knocking on the door.
No one answered, so they took it upon themselves to search the perimeter of the home. The chocobo was grazing in some nearby grass, the wagon parked right at the side of the house. There was a door there, people going in and out, some with furniture, some without. Near the door, sitting on the ground, was the boy they'd seen looking out of the back opening. His hair was long, to his shoulders, which Cloud thought was funny. It wasn't customary for boys to wear their hair that way. Tifa punched him in the shoulder, reminding him that it wasn't customary for boys to have spiky yellow hair either. He was silent.
They peeped around the side of the house for a while, watching him. Their curiosity never faltered, being the young children they were. For the next ten minutes they stayed locked in place, until the boy's head suddenly snapped up. This made them recoil slightly, but their eyes were still on him. He stood slowly, glancing at the doorway every now and again. A woman came out. Her hair was brown, her eyes clouded it seemed, but it was apparent that they were red, too. She slouched a little, then gazed at him, her eyes unfocused.
"What are you doing out here?" they heard her say. Her speech was slurred a little, her voice loud. They didn't hear his reply.
She raised her hand, as if to hit him, but put it back down. "You shouldn't be out here collecting dust." She hiccuped. "Make yourself useful and help a little." She disappeared inside.
Cloud and Tifa watched the boy for the next minute, to see if he would listen to who they assumed to be his mother. He just stood there for a while, considering. Then he turned in the opposite direction of the house towards the forest, and walked off.
The two children stared after him, not exactly believing what they'd seen. Most kids didn't really defy anyone, especially their own mother. Tifa had never done it (but her mom was always reasonable) and Cloud didn't either (unless she was being a nag). So to see something like this first hand was new to them. Turning to one another, they nodded, following him.
Cloud walked along the ground, while Tifa jumped through the trees. She was an expert tree climber (so she called herself), and preferred that. Cloud always called her a monkey.
Soon they found the boy sitting against a tree, his head on his knees. He seemed to like being alone. Cloud stood on the other side of the clearing, staring at him. The newcomer's head snapped up, glaring. He jumped up, raising his fists.
"Oh come on. We don't wanna fight."
"We?"
Tifa appeared hanging on a branch right in front of him. Her knees were gripped around the branch, so to them she appeared to be hanging upside down. Her hair fell down along the side of her face. Luckily the shirt was tucked into her jeans. "Yeah. We just wanted to meet you."
The boy stared at her for a minute. He moved around her, allowing her to jump off the branch backwards. She landed soundly on her feet.
"What do you want?"
Cloud laughed. "We just told you."
"Where are you from?" Her directness made them both look at her.
He shrugged. "No where special. I'm from Kalm."
Confusion spread across Tifa's face. "Another small town? But, what sense does that make?"
"The water and the air here is cleaner, so says my parents." He made a face. "But, they're always wrong about stuff."
Tifa stuck her tongue out at Cloud. "Told ya it had something to do with the water."
Cloud scowled at her. "Isn't Kalm near the Floating City?"
The boy nodded. "Midgar? Yeah, but it's nothing special either."
The two children gasped. "We've heard different," Tifa objected. "We thought it actually floated. Like magic or something."
The dark-haired boy laughed. "No it doesn't. There are these plate things the keep it up. Those are kept up by towers, pillars or something."
"Have you ever been there?" Cloud asked.
"No. But the wind that blows in from there is awful. It kinda stinks. The air here is pretty nice. It doesn't stink. It smells like . . . like grass, I guess. I've never really seen grass before."
Tifa's eyes widened. "Never?"
"Nope."
She grabbed his hand, toting him out of the forest in the direction they came. "Well, then, you've got to see the river!"
"Take off your shoes and put your feet in it."
The boy hesitated, staring down into the crystal clear stream before him. They had scattered past his house without anyone saying anything. Most of the kids followed them, but they were all alone once they reached the town borders. Cloud already had his feet in, laying down on the bank. Tifa was beside him, sitting with her feet immersed, watching the boy. He took off one shoe, slowly advancing towards the water. Dipping it in, he recoiled, hissing at how cool it was.
"Oh you're such a fraidy cat," she mused.
"Am not!" He furiously ripped off the other shoe, and walked into the water. There, he stood, arms crossed. "See? There!"
Tifa laughed. Cloud snorted. "You shouldn't let her get to you like that. She only does it to make you angry, just so you can do what she wants you to."
When the boy looked at her, she just shrugged.
"What's your name anyway?" Cloud opened one eye to gaze at him.
The new kid's shoulders squared. "My name is Vincent. Vincent Valentine."
The girl smiled. "I'm Tifa Lockhart. I'm nine. That's Cloud Strife. He's ten. He's a toad because when he was born, a witch put a curse on him that turns him into a toad!"
Cloud made a face.
"I thought it was a frog?" Vincent asked.
She shook her head. "Nope. This witch was . . ." She leaned in closer to the dark-haired boy, whispering, "She was special." When he gave her an addled look, she did nothing but nod.
"I'm eleven." He sat down next to her. "What do you two do around here for fun?"
Tifa opened her mouth, but Cloud was first to answer. "She climbs trees. I think she was born a monkey."
She tuck her tongue out. "Well, at least I wasn't born with warts all over me! Toad! Toad!"
"Monkey!! Hairy baby monkey!"
She gasped, jumping up. "Why you--" She pounced on him.
They toppled into the water, splashing Vincent in the process. He stood, backing away very slowly to watch. When they were done, Cloud was holding her around the waist, and she had him in a headlock.
"Come on Vinnie!" Tifa shouted. "Choose a side!"
"Yeah! Me, or monkey girl!"
Her grip got tighter.
"Do I really have to? This is fun enough without me joining."
"But you must!" Tifa's voice was shrill as Cloud's arms held her tighter.
Vincent shrugged. "Okay fine. I choose neither. You can go ahead and kill yourselves." He turned away.
Tifa let go of Cloud, scrambling up and out of the water. "Oh come on Vinnie. We were kidding. I mean, Cloud's still a toad--he can't help that--but it's okay. I kinda like being a monkey." She smiled at him. "Hey! How about we give you a name, too!"
He frowned. "I don't want to be called an animal."
She ignored him, already thinking. Cloud got out of the water, passing by Tifa and her pacing. He went up to Vincent. "She's gonna give you a name, no matter what you say. Don't worry; she won't call you that in front of people, if that's what you're being mean about."
"I'm not being--"
"I got it!" Tifa bounced up to the both of them, her grin all the way across her face. "You can be a tiger! You're mean and defiant. You go by your own rules!" She nodded. "Yep! You don't like people telling you what to do!"
Confusion showed on the boy's face. "How do you know that?"
"We could tell. See, we were watching you when you were sitting by the side door to your house. Then your mom came and said to help. You walked off. That's not being defiant?"
Vincent shrugged. "Well yeah. Okay. But how do you even know what that word means? You're only nine."
Tifa pouted. "I'm not stupid. The grown-ups all call Cloud defiant. It sounded neat to me. I asked my mom once what it meant, and she told me. But you're eleven. Does that mean you're supposed to know what it means?"
"I only know because my parents call me that too."
They all walked back over to the stream, putting their feet in it. Cloud broke the silence after a few minutes. "Was that your mom?"
Vincent nodded. "Yeah. Her and my dad are probably inside the house, not even caring where I am. When I get back, they won't ask me anything. Not until there's no more falling over and hiccuping. Then they'll remember that I was out when I should've been home. I'll be in for it then."
Tifa looked at him. "Then why don't you just listen to them? That way you won't get yelled at. Don't be where you're not supposed to be. Listen to your parents. I always listened to my mom."
He glared at her. "Don't worry about me, Ms. Goody. I bet you're not supposed to be out here either. Where's your mommy? Shouldn't she be looking for you?"
Cloud grit his teeth, standing. "You didn't have to say that. You don't know anything." He glanced at Tifa, who just sat there, staring at the newer boy.
Vincent stood also. "Well maybe she should just butt out of people's business, and not tell them what to do. Just because you let her boss you around, doesn't mean I'm gonna do the same thing."
He was silenced by cold water splashing on his back. When he turned, Tifa, a head shorter than him, was glaring, tears leaking from her eyes. From the look on her face, it seemed as if she towered over him.
"I don't boss Cloud around! He does what he wants to. We're just friends, because a lot of the kids don't like him for some reason! I don't know why, but they don't. I like him. He's my only friend really. All the other kids like me because my dresses are pretty. Cloud likes me, even when I'm only wearing shirts and ripped up jeans!" She took a breath. "I used to listen to my mom, because she was a grown up, but also because she loved me. I knew the things she said were true. But then . . . she said she'd never leave me." Her voice got quiet. "Now she's gone. So she can't look for me." Another moment passed, then her head shot back up, her eyes shooting daggers at him. "So . . . so what d'you know!" Then she ran off towards town.
Cloud stared after her, then back to Vincent. Grabbing his shoes and hers, he muttered, "Jerk," and scampered away.
The dark-haired one sighed and sat back down on the bank, staring down at the water.
Childhood angst. It's something, is it not?
I thank Lord Divestre Croft. She can be very helpful.