The next day, all the girls met on Main Street. The only one who wasn't there was Aerith. Since she was one year older than the other girls, she was going to drive them to the mall, for it would take too long to walk there.
"Where is she?" Olette asked impatiently. Aerith had a tendency to be a little late, much to everyone's, especially Olette's, nerve. "Oh c'mon Olette. She's only five minutes late." Kairi assured her. Even though Kairi herself was annoyed about Aerith's tardiness, Olette was kind of overacting.
A few more minutes of waiting were interrupted by a honk. A white SUV pulled over in front of the girls. The front window rolled down and revealed Aerith. "I'm here!" She said cheerfully. "Wow, you sure are early." Tifa said sarcastically to her best friend.
Aerith got out and opened the car doors for everyone. Tifa called shotgun and got to the front next to Aerith. Kairi, Xion and Yin sat in the middle and Namine and Olette climbed into the back row.
They arrived in about 10 minutes. Everyone jumped out of the car and ran into the mall. They cruised through the large, brightly lit stores for things they would consider wearing to the Splashdown.
"Hey guys, let's go to that new store Sunny's. They have really cute dresses." Namine suggested, pointing to the store in front of them. Everyone agreed, since they'd only picked out a couple dresses so far.
Sunny's was a fairly large store, painted with the different colors of the racks of dresses. The girls' eyes all lit up in excitement.
"I think I just died and went to dress heaven." Xion jokily said. With that, everyone separated to different racks, scanning them for the perfect outfit. Kairi, Namine, Xion, Olette and Aerith all snatched a couple dresses they liked and ran to the fitting rooms. Yin stayed at the racks. She saw a light blue one she liked, but couldn't find one in a small size…
She looked up and saw everyone had gone to the fitting rooms. The only ones that didn't were Tifa and her. Tifa was at the rack a few yards away. But instead of looking for a dress, she was looking at the ground instead. Her pale lips were in a small frown. Yin knew that look. It was Tifa's "There's something bothering me but I don't know how to say it" look.
Yin gave up looking for a small light blue. She grabbed a couple of random dresses and walked over to Tifa. "Tifa, is there something wrong?" She asked.
Tifa looked up. "What makes you think that?" Yin shrugged. "Well, you haven't said much since we got here, and you don't seem very excited either. Normally you would be leaping with joy going to the mall." Yin replied. Even though those things were true, it was Tifa's "special look" that said the most.
Tifa sighed. "I guess I'm not such a good actor." Yin smiled slightly. "So, what's up?"
Tifa immediately shook her head. "It's no big deal. Nothing to get worked up with." She muttered. But by the way she said it, Yin knew it was something really getting to Tifa.
"It's okay, you can tell me. You'll feel better once you let it out." Yin said, grabbing her arm. But Tifa shook her arm free from Yin's grasp and turned her back to Yin.
Yin mentally groaned. Tifa was very reserved. She didn't like sharing her true feelings, and when she did she had a tough time doing so. Yin knew she had to go easy on Tifa.
"Look, do you want to get this problem out of the way? Do you want me to help you?" Yin asked in a gentle, but firm voice. Tifa turned around and slowly nodded. "Then you need to tell me what's bugging you, because I can't read your mind and you know I suck at guessing games." Her last statement made Tifa chuckle a little, but Yin continued. "Just say it in the best way that you can."
"Alright, you win." Tifa said. But it still took her a minute to get the words out. "Look, you know how I told you that I got a date last week?" Yin nodded. "Who is it? You never told me who it was."
"Well…well…I lied okay!" Tifa raised her voice, causing a few ladies to turn around and stare. But she ignored them and continued, "I don't have a date!"
Yin put her hand on Tifa's shoulder in sympathy. "Did anyone ask you?" Yin wondered. But she knew that probably wasn't Tifa's problem. Any guy would die to have Tifa: She was smart, beautiful, kind, funny and a powerful martial arts fighter.
Tifa nodded. "Yes, a lot did. But I turned them all down. Because, I…I um, I wanted…"
Yin sighed. Once she managed to work one situation out of Tifa, she had another one to tackle. "Go on…" Yin encouraged her.
"Iwantedtogowithcloud." Tifa blurted her next sentence out all at once.
Yin couldn't help but smile. She knew it wasn't the best time, but… So Tifa DOES like Cloud! I knew it! I knew it! She finally admitted it! Time to play match-
"Yin!" Tifa yelled, snapping Yin out of her fantasy. "Sorry. Anyways, did you try to ask Cloud?" Tifa shrugged. "I guess…it took me so much to work up the nerve to. But when I finally did, Xion beat me and asked him before I could. So, I was all like 'Just forget about it", but I can't forget about it. I really, really like him, Yin."
"Well, you don't have to be that upset, Tifa." Yin started. "Just because someone's going with someone to the Splashdown doesn't mean they're going out. Like Aerith and Zack are going together, but I know for sure Zack likes Aqua and both of them only like each other as friends. And you went with Tidus to homecoming, but you don't like him in that way, and neither does he, right? This 'date' thing is technically just an escort to the event." Tifa's expression brightened, showing that she was feeling better.
"And no one said you have to stick with your date through the whole event. You can talk with Cloud during the Splashdown." Yin added. Tifa's expression dulled out again. "I don't know. Ever since I've been having feelings for him, it feels awkward talking to him. Heck, it feels awkward even LOOKING at him." Yin bit her lip. "Oh. Well, I guess the best I can do is wish you good luck."
But in her head, Yin had a plan…
"Hey guys! We're done trying on dresses!" The two girls turned around to find the rest of the group behind them, arms full of clothes. "Let's head back to my place." Namine said. Everyone got back into Aerith's car. Yin looked out the window. Even though she had known her new friends for about a month and a half, she had never been to Namine's house.
"We're here!" Aerith chirped. Yin rolled down her window and peered outside. "Wow…This is your house Namine?" Yin said. Namine's house was a large, white seaside mansion with a vast green lawn and a driveway that seemed a mile long. Namine's room was large too. It had white walls hung with sketches and paintings Namine drew herself, a canopy bed, a bay window bed where the beach can be seen, a walk-in closet and a small bathroom.
Everyone would try on all the dresses they had picked out. They would go with the one they and everyone else thought looked best on them. After selecting shoes and accessories, they would go to the bathroom and have Namine do their makeup and hair.
After Yin picked out her complete outfit, she walked into the bathroom where Namine and a large collection of cosmetics where waiting.
Namine began her magic. She put some highlighter under Yin's brow bone, down her nose and in the inner corners of her eyes. She brushed a shimmery golden eye shadow on her lids, lined her eyes with dark brown eyeliner and slicked on black mascara. Namine patted pale pink blush on Yin's pale cheeks and finished off with some clear lip gloss.
"Wow…" Yin blinked her eyes and gazed into the mirror. She looked stunning. "I look beautiful and it goes with my dress perfectly. Thanks, Namine."
"You're welcome Yin." Namine said. "But remember, real beauty doesn't come from your face, but from your heart." Yin smiled. "That's very inspirational. Thanks." Namine nodded. "And if Riku can see that, then he's a keeper." She added quietly.
"What?" Yin asked. Namine quickly shook her head. "Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!"
After everyone was done, Aerith dropped everyone off at their houses. After Yin got home, she opened the door and saw Ven and Amy watching TV on the couch. "Oh hey, Yin." Ven waved. "Amy and I just came to visit."
"Ven! Amy! You're just the people I've been hoping for!" Yin ran over to them and sat down. "You know Tifa? She does like Cloud!"
"Ha! I told you so!" Amy shouted to Ven. "Anyways," Yin tried to continue, "She's pretty upset how Xion's going with Cloud. But you know Xion, she'll probably run off flirting with some other guy three seconds after we get to the Splashdown. So, I have a Tifa/Cloud matchmaking plan…" Yin leaned forward and whispered her plan to Amy and Ven.
The two nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can do that." Ven said. And Amy added, "I have the perfect song for that too…"
Yep, I'm planning to add a Tifa/Cloud subplot, since I really like that couple :). Not a fan of Xion/Cloud at all :P (btw, I looked up Xion and Cloud and there wasn't any fanfics about them lol). They can be my crack pairing then ^_^
I also prefer Aerith/Zack rather than Aqua/Zack.
Oh, and one more thing! I'm gonna have Tidus and Yuna make an appearance eventually in this story!
Anywayz, Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!