Pawns of Prophecy
By: turtlerad17
Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 nor will I profit from this story.
Chapter Three: Fickle Fortunes
When the group had decided to go to this "Cosmo Canyon" to try and find a reason for her and Sephiroth being on this world, Aeris immediately wanted to test out her new wings and fly there. That idea was swiftly vetoed, much to the former Cetra's disappointment, when the chain-smoking blond pilot told her that Cosmo Canyon was halfway across the world and unless she could fly for days on end, there was no way she could make it across the large ocean separating the two continents. So back onto the ship the others climbed, although Aeris awkwardly flapped her way up onto the deck wanting to get as much use out of her wings as she could.
Everyone, with the exception of Aeris and Sephiroth, quickly made their way to their favorite places on the airship, the young ninja finding her favorite bucket as the engines started up. The airship lifted off the ground in an unsteady lurch then gained altitude quickly in a much smoother fashion. Aeris, despite the tense atmosphere of the others in the Highwind, started engaging in conversation with the others being the naturally friendly person she was. After several minutes of monosyllable answers to her questions from the red cloaked gun-man, Aeris decided to move on. She noticed that Sephiroth had taken up residence in a shadowy corner away from the others. Having none of that from her soul-bonded, Aeris marched up to him and dragged him over to her next victim, err conversation companion.
When the two had approached Cloud, the blond's icy stares directed at Sephiroth quickly deterred Aeris before she even got within ten feet of him. Cid, after the first question told them to shove off (though in not as nice of words) since he had to concentrate on piloting the giant aircraft. Yuffie was spending so much of her time over a bucket that it was impossible to carry on a decent conversation with the young ninja.
Moving onto the next person they skipped the burly black man who was emitting loud, rumbling snores. Aeris managed to get in about half an hour's worth of conversation out of the cinnamon-eyed brunette before her discomfort overcame her as she excused herself and went to go and stand by Cloud.
Sephiroth took one look at the bouncing, hyperactive robotic cat on top of the fat, ugly white beast and steered Aeris clear of it, not wanting to have to do anything with the inane and obnoxious thing. Noticing that the red flame-tailed beast was the last person left, Aeris warily approached him despite observing no signs of aggression on Nanaki's part.
A loud comment from the seasick ninja about Nanaki's breath being worse than his bite, which prompted a low growl from the creature, quickly settled Aeris's half-formed trepidation and she happily dragged her silver-haired love over to grill Nanaki on anything and everything about the planet, himself, the group and whatever else came to mind. The red furred beast put up with over three hours of questions from Aeris who had somehow dragged her reluctant companion into the conversation, before he shook his head in exasperation and vacated the room.
Having run out of people to talk to (much to Sephiroth's visible relief), the two made their way to the outside deck to watch the scenery go by. By now, they had passed over the Western continent about half an hour ago and nothing but the endless sparkling ocean that stretched across the horizon could be seen. While Sephiroth was more than happy to remain out on the deck away from the others, Aeris soon grew bored and cold and went back inside. Sighing, Sephiroth followed her back into the warmth and enclosing metal of the airship, already missing the crisp ocean air outside on the deck.
Aeris spent another twenty minutes fully exploring the airship before flopping down on a worn couch in the eating area, bored out of her mind. Sephiroth slipped down beside her and Aeris automatically snuggled closer to his warm body. She let out a sigh and fell asleep. Having nothing better to do, Sephiroth following her shortly thereafter.
The sound of a loud, yapping mechanical voice brought Sephiroth out of his slumber. It instantly grated on his nerves and he had the desire to silence the thing that was making such racket.
"But c'mon Tifa! Why can't I?" the obnoxious voice spoke again.
"Because the last thing that they need is you to be around and wake them up, you worthless piece of plastic and steel!" roared a deep voice.
"If all of you don't shut up this moment, I cannot be held responsible for my actions," Sephiroth groaned.
Absolute silence.
"Well looks like we were too late," the one who Sephiroth recognized as Yuffie commented.
"Then there should be no problem with what I want to do," the mechanical nuisance also known as Cait Sith spoke up again.
Only humans could make such a complicated yet worthless piece of technology, Sephiroth complained to Aeris.
You're cute when you're grumpy, Aeris joked.
Sephiroth scowled, I am not grumpy. Just annoyed that these imbeciles cannot seem to figure out that we do not desire their company. I swear that someone is out to get me.
Sephiroth, the universe does not hate you, Aeris pointed out, you just like to act like it does.
The fact that we were dragged down onto this mudball's surface shows that something out there hates me, Sephiroth shot back, plus we also have to put up with the presence of this group of morons.
Now you're just being melodramatic, you big drama queen, Aeris teased, personally I think that they are sort of cute how they act with one another. They obviously are very close. They act just like big kids.
You're just too softheaded Cetra, Sephiroth answered.
Aeris poked him in the side rather hard for calling her the infamous nickname. Sephiroth tried his best to ignore her, unsuccessfully.
"Hey you guys are doing that physic thing again," Yuffie declared, "that's no fair! We have no idea what you are saying to each other. For all I know you are making fun of us."
The girl isn't far off, Sephiroth thought.
"Look is there a reason why you people are here?" Sephiroth demanded, "if not, get lost. I can't stand to be around people like you."
He received glares from everyone in the room for that.
"Don't mind him. He's just grumpy," Aeris told them, "so why don't you tell us what you want with us?"
"Iwanttotakeyourfortune!!!" the hyper robot burst out.
"Wha?" Aeris asked confused.
"I want to take your fortunes," Cait Sith repeated again more slowly.
"For heaven's sake cat!" Barret began, "I don't know why you are so &ing determined to do that. The fortunes your stupid moogle produces are always wrong or have entirely nothing to do with the person every time!"
"Remember the time you took my fortune you stupid robotic fleabag," Yuffie recalled, "I asked about how much materia I would get for my birthday and your fortune said 'Watch out for falling chickens'."
"Hey, the moogle was malfunctioning that day!" Cait Sith defended.
"Then there was the time you gave Cloud a fortune on what to get Tifa that one time and it told him to 'Think pink'," Yuffie continued, "Cloud ended up getting her some pink fuzzy slippers that she burned on the spot. Tifa hates pink! Everyone knows that."
Cait Sith just mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Then there was the time you gave Barret's fortune that said-" whatever Yuffie was about to say was muffled by Barret shoving and then holding a pillow in her face.
Some muffled explicatives came from beneath the pillow as Yuffie and Barret wrestled around trying to get rid of the pillow.
"-the point is that every time you take someone's fortune," Yuffie continued when she successfully shoved Barret off of her, "is that the parties involved end up hating you for the next two weeks."
"But Yuffie," the robotic cat practically wailed.
"Shut up you damn cat!" Barret roared.
A crushed expression came across the cat's features and he wandered off to sulk in a corner.
"I don't think that it would do any harm," Aeris spoke.
The robot perked back up and took a few hesitant steps towards the couch.
"Aeris," Sephiroth warned, annoyed.
"At the worst we could get something that would make the others laugh," Aeris added ignoring Sephiroth, "what's the worst that could happen?"
The others groaned.
"Allrighty then!' Cait Sith yelled, rubbing his paws together, "since the little lady volunteered she can go first."
Then both Cait Sith and the stuffed moogle it was riding atop started violently pumping its limbs and bodies back and forth in the most bizarre and somehow frightening dance Sephiroth and Aeris had ever saw.
"What the hell is it doing?!!" Sephiroth asked alarmed, "it almost looks like it is ja-"
"Sephiroth!!!" Aeris yelled at him.
Just then the cat and the moogle stopped it weird contortions with a small ding! And a strip of paper was printed out of the moogle's stomach. It ripped it off and handed it to Aeris.
"Your favorite desert is rice pudding" Aeris read.
She made a face at the words rice pudding. Obviously she did not like rice pudding.
"Eh, heh heh," Cait Sith laughed nervously, "lets do another one."
Again the cat and the moogle did its oddly suggestive dance before another slip of paper was handed to Aeris.
"The flowers will bloom early this year" Aeris read off puzzled.
"No wait!" Cait Sith called out, "I can do better!"
Again it and the moogle did its dance and handed one last piece of paper to Aeris.
"Silver eats purple, green eats black," Aeris read off, "what is that supposed to mean?"
"Dunno," Cait Sith admitted, "once in a while I get weird ones like that."
Barret snorted.
"Okay!" Cait Sith announced, perking back up, "now it's your turn Mr. Grumpy!"
Sephiroth growled and glared daggers at Cait Sith while Aeris just giggled.
Once again the robotic cat and the stuffed moogle went through its routine and printed out another slip of paper. It held the paper out to Sephiroth for a few moments while he glared at it and the robotic cat before snatching it out of the moogle's appendage with a low snarl. He read the fortune and was just about to rip it apart when Aeris plucked it out of his hands.
"So what does it say?" Cait Sith asked eagerly.
"Beware of your shadow it may take you heart," Aeris read slightly disturbed.
"Okay then! That's enough fortunes!" Cait Sith announced before hurrying away.
"That's a really creepy one," Yuffie spoke, "the last time Cait Sith produced something like that was when…"
"Was when we first visited the Gold Saucer and Cait Sith gave Cloud's fortune," Tifa, who had been listening silently up until now, quietly recalled with an odd tone in her voice.
"Yeah," Yuffie added.
"What did Cloud's fortune say?" Aeris asked hesitantly asked.
"You will find what you're looking for but will loose something precious in the process," Tifa recalled.
Everyone fell silent at that painful reminder of how they ultimately lost one of their members halfway through their quest to save the world. The silence would have continued on for a bit longer but Cid's yelling came through the speaker system, startling them all.
"Okay all you worthless deadweights!" Cid's voice rang out, "buckle your seat belts and grab onto the nearest person because we will be landing at Cosmo Canyon in ten minutes. Once we do get your &#, ( hides off my airship and get down to the archives so we can get our # asses outta here as fast as we $&& can!"
"Well isn't that just charming," Yuffie commented.
Everyone rolled their eyes.
After telling Aeris and Sephiroth how to find the Archives at Cosmo Canyon, everyone on the Highwind dismounted from the airship and went their separate ways. Aeris, still slightly miffed at not being able to fly for the last fourteen hours, took off from the Highwind's deck and streaked out towards the observatory at the top of the settlement, Sephiroth right next to her.
They didn't go straight to the Archives after reaching the town, but spent almost an hour flying about the surrounding canyons exploring the area. A crowd of people gathered on the ground as they gaped at the pair trying to pull off some complicated aerobatics. When they finally landed, a scowl sent in their direction by Sephiroth swiftly dispersed the crowd of watchers while Aeris just shook her head in exasperation at Sephiroth's moodiness.
No wonder why the people in AVALANCHE are so suspicious of us, Aeris stated, with you acting that way it is a miracle that they even allowed us in their company.
And yet somehow you stick with me, Sephiroth replied in a somewhat teasing tone, if you can manage to put up with me, so can they.
The aren't in love with you, you dolt, Aeris told him, being your soulmate has taught me a lot of patience over the millennia. But there are still times I want to strangle you when you are being particularly nasty and obstinate.
I love you too Aeris, Sephiroth responded.
"People are starting to stare," Aeris noticed, "come on, let's go find those Archives."
"What we talk about is none of their business," Sephiroth stated, "whether out loud or over our bond."
"I agree, but humans are just naturally inquisitive," Aeris explained.
"It's still none of their business," Sephiroth restated as they disappeared from sight into one of the tunnels in the rock that were carved all throughout Cosmo Canyon.
Sephiroth, Aeris and the other members of AVALANCHE spent countless hours pouring over ancient and crumbling texts, not finding any hint of why the winged pair was on this planet. Aeris finally gave up in late hours of the evening with a snarl of disgust before stomping out of the Archives looking for Sephiroth who had left almost an hour before.
After almost forty minutes of fruitless searching, she finally found him perched on top of the roof of the observatory, gazing listlessly into the night sky. The sound of heavy wing beats stirred him out of his reverie and he blankly watched Aeris land a bit awkwardly next to him. They spent the next few minutes in silence, before Aeris spoke up.
"Wow, the view of the stars is absolutely spectacular from up here, isn't it?" she asked, awed.
"Yes," Sephiroth simply answered.
"The constellations sure are different from what they were back on our planet," Aeris added.
"Yes, they are," Sephiroth responded.
Suddenly Aeris was struck with such strong homesickness that her next words got stuck in her throat. Sephiroth, feeling the twin to Aeris' homesickness rising in himself, embraced her as she started to cry softly. They spent quite some time like that before her tears stopped and Aeris was able to speak again.
"I wonder if we will ever return?" Aeris asked wistfully.
"I don't know," Sephiroth truthfully answered her.
"I hope so," she replied.
"So do I," Sephiroth softly spoke.
They spent the rest of the night on the roof of the observatory before drifting off to sleep a few hours later.
Aeris and Sephiroth were greeted the next day as they woke up with a glorious sunrise that turned the red-brown walls of the canyon into rivers of molten red and orange as the dawn's light spilled over them. It was absolutely breathtaking and the two watched the sunrise in complete silence in the slightly cool air of the new day. Soon, sounds of the other inhabitants stirring and getting ready for the day drifted up to them and with a reluctant sigh, the two glided off down to the main gathering place near the still burning Cosmo Candle.
"Hey there you are!" Tifa called out, "come in, Barret and Yuffie have breakfast duty today so you better come fast before they burn the food."
Twin grumbles arouse from Sephiroth's and Aeris' stomachs at the mention of food. Quickly they hurried after the brunette not wanting to eat burnt food for breakfast. After following Tifa through a few turns and up a ladder, they emerged onto a scene that looked like a war zone. The sound of people's yelling voices filled the space and a mess of plates with half-eaten food, crumpled napkins, puddles of coffee and juice, smears of jelly and pancake syrup and a few broken eggs covered the floor.
"What on earth happened here?" Aeris asked.
"Breakfast ala Yuffie," Nanaki remarked.
"Okay peoples, heads up!" Yuffie warned, "flapjacks coming your way at ten o'clock!"
"Not again," Tifa groaned, burying her head in her hands as several pancakes came flying through the air.
"Hey you damn stupid brat," Cid yelled as he ducked under a flying pancake, "watch where you are #ing throwing those $#ing things!"
"Shut yer trap you old geezer!" Yuffie yelled back at him as she threw pancake towards the pilot, hitting him smack dab in the middle of the face.
"Goddam $$ing, stupid careless twit!" Cid yelled.
"Same old Cid," Tifa sighed.
"Hey Tifa, Aeris, megalomaniac!" Barret yelled over the din as Sephiroth scowled at what the black man referred to him as, "come and get some grub before these bottomless pits scarf it all up!"
"Save two stacks of pancakes and a plate of scrambled eggs and hash browns for us," Tifa hollered back.
"Sure thing girl!" Barret shouted, putting aside the food she had asked for and three plates.
As the three were splitting up the food between themselves, Cloud yelled out, "Hey Teef! Over here!". Tifa, well used to the hijinks of breakfast with all the members of AVALANCHE headed over to the blond with the spiky hair without missing a beat. She ducked as an omelet went sailing over head and then continued on without a second glance. Vincent caught the omelet perfectly on his plate without even looking up as he read a book.
Aeris and Sephiroth looked at each other for a moment before making their way over to an unoccupied corner dodging more food projectiles, hopefully where they could eat out of the line of fire. Aeris had just finished her eggs and hash browns and was about to start on her pancakes when she noticed that something was missing.
"Could someone pass me some maple syrup and strawberry jelly?" she called out.
"Sure thing, coming right up!" two voices answered.
Aeris, who should have been expecting it, was caught off guard as a jar of jelly and a plastic bottle of syrup came flying across the room from two different directions. The jar of jelly she was barely able to catch as she reached high over her head with both hands, but unfortunately, the bottle of syrup was not quite so lucky. With a smack the bottle of syrup hit the wall and exploded, showering Sephiroth with the sticky liquid.
Instantly all action in the room stopped as everyone turned their stares at the fuming silver haired man.
"If I ever find out who threw that bottle, I will murder them by drowning them in a vat of honey," he threatened, deadly serious before stomping out of the room.
Aeris ran after him, trying not to laugh, while calling out to him that she would help him wash the syrup off. After the couple's abrupt departure, the room fell into silence for several minutes. Then everyone broke out into hysterical laughter (with the exception of Vincent), the image of an offended Sephiroth covered in syrup storming out of the room too much to handle. It took quite a while for them to settle down before they were able to resume eating without snorting their food out of their noses.
"Opps," Tifa sheepishly admitted as the group continued with breakfast.
It was almost three hours later that Sephiroth and Aeris came through the archway into the Archives with damp hair and feathers. There was a relaxed air between the two and they seemed pleasantly worn out as they started pulling scrolls and books off the shelves.
"What took you so long?" Nanaki inquired, "even with those wings it shouldn't have taken so long to clean off that mess."
"I couldn't help it if Sephiroth couldn't keep his hands to himself," Aeris replied with a blush.
"Your hands were just as busy as mine were love," Sephiroth informed her with a slight grin as Aeris blushed deeper.
Yuffie whistled and yelled out, "you go girl!"
Aeris buried her face in Sephiroth's arm as a faint blush spread across Sephiroth's cheeks. Cloud's mouth dropped open at that and Tifa reached over to gently close it. Cid and Barret let out some catcalls, making Aeris and Sephiroth even more embarrassed.
"Our activities between me and Aeris while we are alone are none of your business," he stiffly told them, still faintly blushing.
"I wonder if his hair is that color everywhere?" Yuffie cheekily asked.
"Yuffie!!!!" everyone screamed at her.
"That's a mental picture that I could have done without, brat!" Barret yelled at the smirking teenager.
Yuffie ignored him and went back to reading the musty text she was going over. Tifa and Vincent followed her example and went back to reading the texts spread out before them. Cloud shot a disgusted glare at Sephiroth and did the same. The others, seeing Cloud, also went back to their readings. Sephiroth and Aeris, each with their arms full of scrolls, books and loose papers made their way over to an empty table and spread out a scroll each and started reading as well.
They continued closely examining the old writings of long dead authors hour after hour, stopping for a quick lunch around noon, the piles of read and discarded texts ever growing as book after book, scroll after scroll that didn't have the answers they were looking for were put aside. It was late into the night when Cloud got up and arched his back, popping several of his vertebra, relieving the pressure from hours of inactivity. He announced that they probably wouldn't find anything this day and that it was time to stop for the night.
Dinner was quick and everyone woodenly ate their meals in silence, tired from fruitlessly searching through the texts all day practically nonstop. Cid and Tifa were stuck doing kitchen duty so the others stumbled out of the dinning area, thinking of nothing but collapsing in a soft welcoming bed.
Aeris and Sephiroth having no idea where to sleep grabbed some bedrolls from a storage room and camped out near the Candle before slipping into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.
The next two days followed the same pattern as the first, with the notable exception of flying food during breakfast. When Aeris and Sephiroth woke up the second day, they had slept so deeply that they did not rise till after the sun had risen and the legendary heat of Cosmo Canyon was already starting to be felt so early in the day.
Breakfast had been much more subdued that day than it was on the previous one, the meal passing in silence before everyone went back to the Archives to resume their research. The sun rose in the sky and peaked before slowly sinking towards the horizon while everyone in the Archives continued going through text after text. Every once in a while someone slipped out for a break in singles or pairs, returning about fifteen minutes to an hour later to resume their search for any hint of ancient warnings about the trouble sure to come.
When Aeris stood up, stretched and left the room early in the afternoon, Sephiroth got up a few minutes later and also went out. A few eyebrows were raised at this seemingly innocent and unhurried departure, but they went back to their reading as soon as the winged man left the room. No one said a word when they came back about fifty minutes later, their hair and clothing looking distinctly ruffled and messy. From the slackness in their shoulders, one could tell that they were much less stressed when they came back than when they left.
As the hours went by and people periodically taking breaks from their search, the piles of discarded texts were starting to grow as tall as some of the tables. The biggest piles of already read books were beside where Vincent and Cait Sith had sat, Vincent never taking a break, Cait Sith not having to since he was a robotic instead of a biological creature.
Lunch and then dinner came and went and it was around one am when the last person finally put down their book and crawled into the nearest bed, asleep before their head hit the pillow.
On the fourth day of searching, Aeris and Sephiroth were awoken at the crack of dawn by a sleepy Tifa who informed that it was their turn for kitchen duty this morning. Aeris was rubbing the crust out of her eyes and Sephiroth let out a jaw-cracking yawn as they both stumbled towards the community kitchen that the members of AVALANCHE used whenever they were in Cosmo Canyon. They both stared stupidly at the empty kitchen the idea that they were in charge of preparing the food not registering in their minds. They continued staring in their zombie like state before Tifa yawned and spoke up.
"Well good luck you two," Tifa said, "the others should be here in about half an hour. The skillets are in the bottom drawer, the cooking utensils are in the jar next to the stove, the flatware is in that cupboard, the silverware is in that drawer, and the food is in that closet behind you. I just hope that one of you can at least produce edible food."
Sephiroth took another look at the now clean and tidy kitchen.
"I have no idea what to do," he blankly stated.
Aeris giggled slightly.
"Well you get out the ingredients I tell you to as I get out the cookware and we will go from there," she told him, taking command.
"Yes sir," he acknowledged, taking out ingredients for the morning's meal as Aeris listed them off.
Soon all thoughts of the day were emptied from their minds as they started mixing and cooking things.
"Hey Cloud, time to rise and shine," a cheerful voice broke into the blond's slumber.
He groaned and rolled over, mumbling "five more minutes mom", before falling back asleep.
No matter how good of a warrior and no matter how serious Cloud got, he will always be a boy at heart, Tifa thought amused.
"C'mon sleepy head, time to get up and get some breakfast. We have another day in the Archives ahead of us," she spoke, this time poking the blond in the side a bit.
Cloud let out a louder and deeper groan, at hearing about the prospect of more research in the Archives. He was even more determined to sleep in. Tifa, on the other hand was getting a bit annoyed. Her next words sent Cloud jolting awake.
"Cloud, you know that it is Aeris' and Sephiroth's turn at kitchen duty this morning," she told him with a smile, knowing that that bit of information should fully wake him up.
Sure enough, Cloud's eyes snapped open and he shot to his feet.
"You can't be serious?!!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Yup," Tifa answered smugly, "those two have been eating the fruits of our labor all this time. It is high time that that those lazy lumps get their turn at kitchen duty."
"Teef, are you crazy? How can you be sure that those two won't burn down the kitchen? Do you even know if either of them can cook?" Cloud frantically asked.
"I'm sure that they can manage," Tifa responded.
Or at least I hope they can, Tifa thought.
"Do you really think that someone like Sephiroth can produce a decent pancake to save his life?" Cloud incredulously asked.
"I'm sure that Aeris is fully capable of cooking," Tifa assured him.
"Teef, according to them they have been flying through space for the last few hundred years as balls of energy. Are you sure that letting them cook is a good idea?" he implored.
Tifa looked a bit worried at that.
"C'mon," Tifa spoke grabbing Cloud's hand, missing the slight blush that Cloud got, "let's go see how they are doing."
When Cloud and Tifa finally reached the dinning area, they hand to push through the others to see what was going on. The scene that greeted them made Cloud and Tifa stop in their tracks. Suddenly they knew the reason why the others were just standing there, not making any move towards the food. Sephiroth was producing plate after plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage while Aeris was skillfully flipping pancakes until they were golden brown and tossing them perfectly on top of a steady growing pile with one hand while making omelets with the other.
Tifa and Cloud watched the two work, along with the rest of AVALANCHE, as they proceeded to make a wonderfully appetizing breakfast. Aeris' occasional commands were shouted over the sizzle of the stove and grilling food to Sephiroth which he followed to exactly word-for-word immediately after the command was issued. The tantalizing aromas filled the kitchen and dinning area making many mouths water in anticipation.
"Okay, after that last batch of eggs, that should do it Sephiroth!" Aeris' words rang out across the room.
With fluid movements Sephiroth dumped the scrambled eggs onto the last empty plate and dumped the skillet into the waiting sink full of soapy water with the rest of the cookware to soak. The hot pan hit the soapy water with a loud hiss.
"Food's ready!" Aeris announced.
A mad stampede ensued.
Barret and Yuffie were fighting over the plate heaped with bacon while Cid and Cloud were piling pancakes and scrambled eggs onto their plates. Tifa was trying to stop Barret and Yuffie from spilling the bacon onto the floor while Vincent was sedately piling food onto his plate. Aeris, finishing washing her hands, put a plate almost overflowing with eggs, bacon and sausage on the floor away from the others for Nanaki. She grabbed her plate full of food and made her way over to Sephiroth who was already seated at the table that they had claimed as theirs and started eating as well.
Several people got up for seconds before the meal was finished, dumping their dishes into the sink full of soapy water before heading out to their different destinations. Last night at dinner, everyone had decided that they were sick of reading books and that they would spend next day taking a long, well deserved break. Finally, the last person cleared their dishes into the sink and walked out of the room. Aeris and Sephiroth finished the last bits of food on their plates and headed over to the sinks to start washing the dishes.
They spent the next half hour in comfortable silence, the sounds of swishing water and clinking dishes the only sounds to break the quiet. Aeris tossed her wash rag into the nearby hamper and placed the last plate onto the drying rack. Sephiroth pulled the plug at the bottom of the sink, allowing the water to drain out the bottom. Both of them washed their hands and left the kitchen.
"Thank god that's over," Aeris sighed, rubbing her neck.
Sephiroth obligingly started massaging it, moving onto her shoulders after he had worked the knots out of her neck.
"Mmmm… a bit to the left," Aeris moaned.
"You know, if it were not for your taking the lead this morning, breakfast would have been a total disaster," Sephiroth commented.
"You're not that bad of a cook," Aeris lightly protested as Sephiroth continued his ministrations.
"No, but put me in a kitchen on my own and I would have no idea what to do," Sephiroth conceded, "if left by myself I would have just continued standing in the doorway until the others had arrived."
"You really are hopeless without me," Aeris giggled.
"Don't I know it," Sephiroth replied, chuckling slightly.
"But you know, Aeris," he continued, "there are many other things other than preparing a meal that I am hopeless without you."
"Oh?" Aeris asked, "like what?"
"Like this," he answered, swiftly bending down to kiss her senseless.
"Oh, like that," Aeris spoke slightly dazed when they stopped.
"Yes like that," Sephiroth reaffirmed as he did something that made Aeris groan.
Aeris had started grinding her hips against Sephiroth's suggestively and he let out a strangled groan. Aeris smirked in satisfaction.
"You really are hopeless," she huskily stated.
"Lets take this to another place before someone stumbles upon us," Sephiroth ground out, drawing her close.
"Yes, lets," Aeris drawled before she pulled Sephiroth down for another kiss.
It was a day of relaxation and a time to forget their worries temporarily. Everyone used their free day to good effect. Cid vanished into the engine room of the Highwind while Yuffie dragged Vincent off to do some cliff climbing. Tifa and Cloud went on a hike with a heavy picnic basket saying that they would not come back until near sunset. Nanaki spent his time catching up on current affairs of the inhabitants of Cosmo Canyon while Barret went out to do some target practicing and had a long phone call with his daughter.
Cait Sith went out and tried to wheedle people into allowing them to have their fortunes told, with varying success. He was a big hit among the kids that lived in the settlement, but the adults tended to avoid him after a few really embarrassing responses to the fortunes he had made for the grown-ups. The children found the cat's awful and totally wrong predictions absolutely hilarious and so Cait Sith happily spent the day entertaining the younglings of Cosmo Canyon. This was a good arrangement for everyone. Cait Sith got to tell his fortunes, the children were happily entertained and the parents got a break from having to look after their offspring.
As for Sephiroth and Aeris, except for a quick lunch out near one of the shops, no one saw hide nor hair of the two. And if someone heard an odd sound or two coming from one of the unused store rooms, well they just assumed that it came from some harmless creature that had taken up residence in the place.
The sun was just starting to touch the western horizon when the members of AVALANCHE started tumbling back into Cosmo Canyon after their fun-filled day off. Everyone gathered at the entrance of Cosmo Canyon as they came back in singles and pairs.
Aeris and Sephiroth had reappeared from wherever they had vanished to. Cid came out from the Highwind covered in grease streaks. Tifa and Cloud came back with big smiles and an empty picnic basket. Yuffie came back dusty and tired but very happy, a worn-out Vincent trailing behind her with multiple rips in his clothing and a few scratches along his arms and legs. One by one, the parents reclaimed their kids from Cait Sith's attentions and after the last one was dragged off protesting, he bounced over to the others. Barret came back with a satisfied grin, gun-arm out of ammo. Nanaki came over to the others when the woman who owned the outdoor supplies shop that he had been conversing with went to close her shop.
Finally after everyone had come back from their day's activities, they all made their way up to the communal kitchen and all worked together to make a quick and simple but hot and tasty meal. Each person either grabbed a dish or a pile of utensils, plates, or cups and marched back outside and settled in a circle around the Candle to eat their dinner.
Sounds of convsersation filled the air as everyone recounted the day's events. An easy and light hearted atmosphere surrounded the chattering group of friends, the good cheer of everyone there making them forget past grievances to the degree where they successfully drew Sephiroth into several interesting conversations and one or two heated debates.
"I can't believe it," Barret sniffed, "my little girl Marline is growing up so fast. Why just today she got her pair of roller skates and is quickly learning how to use them. Soon my baby will be moving out and heading off to college."
"And this fortune that I gave to this one lady made her so mad," Cait Sith boasted, "she turned purple and her face puffed up like a blowfish. Then she started yelling at me…"
"And then Vinny tripped over his long cape as we were battling these monsters that had suddenly attacked us," Yuffie dramatically recounted, " and then I pulled out my trusty Conformer and made mincemeat out of the beasties and saved Vinny's skinny, pale butt! Then we…"
"Of course you know that Yuffie is quite prone to over-exaggerating," Vincent stated.
"And I mean $&!" Cid exclaimed, "that clog in the backup air filter tube was so large that I almost thought that a cat got stuck and had died in there. Well I tell you I went into a no holds barred battle with the thing and dammed if it didn't take me almost an hour to get the thing out. Then when it was removed I found…"
"I found out that the lady in charge of the storage had been having a pest problem while I was gone," Nanaki explained, "and we spent quite a bit of time finding and killing all the pests…"
"Do I even want to know what you two did today?" Tifa asked Aeris and Sephiroth.
Sephiroth gave her a blank look.
"That's what I thought," she answered own question.
"Hey guys, I have an announcement to make," Cloud's voice rang out above all the other conversations.
Everyone stopped talking and gave him their full attention.
"Well for the last few weeks I have realized many things about my life and the people in it," Cloud began a bit nervous, "I had put a lot of thought into what I wanted to do concerning my future and I felt that today was the day to get somethings settled. So while Tifa and I were out taking our picnic, we started talking."
"We talked a lot about our hometown, our childhoods, how we finally met so many years after I left to become a SOLDIER and what happened afterwards, and well…" Cloud trailed off unsure how to continue.
"Just get to the point Spike!" Barret yelled out, followed by a chorus of "yeah!"s and "spill the beans!".
"WellIfinallytoldTifaaboutmyfeelingsforher!" he blurted quickly.
"What did you just say?" Yuffie asked, picking earwax out of her ear with her pinky finger.
"Well I told Tifa that I love her and-" Cloud tried again.
"Bout time Chocobo Head!" Cid yelled.
"Before I was so rudely interrupted," Cloud started again, frowning at the chain-smoking pilot, "I was about to say that Tifa told me that she loves me too-"
"Duh!" everyone yelled.
"I was about to say, if you guys would stop interrupting me-" Cloud tried again.
"We're going to get married!" Tifa shouted out, no longer to contain herself.
"Hot damn!" Barret yelled.
"Congrats Tifa!" Yuffie exclaimed hugging her.
"Thanks Yuff," Tifa replied with tears in her eyes.
"Good luck man," Cid congratulated Cloud, shaking his hand, "so how about a cigar?"
"Don't you try to get my fiancée to smoke tarmouth!" Tifa yelled at Cid.
Cid just threw his head back and laughed.
"Looks like I'll have to talk to Shera again about getting you to drop that dirty habit," Tifa mused.
Cid gulped.
"Tifa is one hell of a woman, so you better treat her right or I will have to deliver some serious whoop-ass to you if you don't," Barret threatened.
"I'll take that to heart," Cloud responded chuckling.
"Congratulations on your engagement Cloud," Vincent spoke up, "I wish you a long and happy life together."
"Thanks man," Cloud told him, "that means a lot coming form you."
"So will I get my first niece or nephew?" Yuffie asked with a mischievous grin.
"Yuffie!" Tifa scolded.
"What?! I've always wanted a younger sister or brother!" Yuffie exclaimed.
As the others continued to congratulate and question the newly engaged couple. A feeling of sadness came over Aeris.
"We never had anyone congratulate us on our union," Aeris whispered sadly to Sephiroth.
"We do not need the approval of others about our relationship," Sephiroth commented, "besides if anyone on our home world had found out that we were going to be married we would have been hunted down to the ends of the earth and killed out of their ignorance and fear."
"I know," Aeris sniffed, "but sometimes I miss the experience of sharing our happiness with close friends and family."
"We had no friends or family back then," Sephiroth pointed out.
"I know," Aeris acknowledged growing sadder.
"Don't get depressed Aeris," Sephiroth soothed, "we had each other and our planet. That was all that we needed, being with you is everything I ever wanted and needed."
"Thank you," Aeris agreed, giving him a weak smile," you always know how to make me feel better. But still, sometimes I can't help but wonder what things would have been like without that stupid prophecy…"
"Don't dwell on the what-ifs Aeris," Sephiroth advised, "no happiness can come out of that."
"At least we seem to be making some friends now," Aeris remarked, trying to be more positive.
"Tell you what," Sephiroth proposed, "if we have the chance, why don't we get married as well?"
"Oh Sephiroth, do you mean it?" Aeris asked excitedly.
"Of course, my other half," Sephiroth answered.
"I love you, my other half," Aeris declared.
"I love you as well my little angel," Sephiroth responded.
Gah, I had meant to advance the plot a bit more than this, but the chapter just kept on getting longer and longer. I had to stop here or the chapter probably would have gotten over forty pages long if I wanted to include the other plot advances that I had originally planned to. Gah! I swear that the story dictates what happens, not me.
Oh well, hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that it wasn't too sappy for you. There are just some points that every fan fiction author has to have fluff in their story. This one just has the WAFF in it a lot earlier than my others.
It seems that I have changed this chapter's title so many times. I had to keep changing the title to fit the content of the chapter. Just goes to show that choosing titles is not easy.
Oh yeah, I'm putting in a plug for my written work. It's called Musings of Emerald and Silver, it eventually will be a set of thirty or so drabbles about our favorite couple. Some of them will be in a series, some will be one-shots. I only have the first one up. I promised myself to finish this chapter before putting the next drabble up. Look for the next one sometime next week. I know that this is one that some of my readers definitely will want to read, it is sort of a short sequel to Shattered Perceptions.
A special thanks to my wonderful BETA, Tishannia, for proof-reading this chapter and finding the mistakes that I missed.
Well tell me what you thought of this chapter. Constructive criticism is appreciated and any flames will go towards keeping my frigid apartment warm. Any suggestions future chapters or stories? Please leave me your comments. I'm practically begging you.
Turtlerad17 out!