A/N: Due to the dialog of a certain Pilot, I'm going to label this chapter "Reader's Discretion is Advised."
Chapter 12
The Shera was now airborne, and was traveling at a decent speed towards Junon. Cid had said that he had done the calculations of speed compared to the stated arrival time himself, and though no one was going to argue with him, everyone doubted if they were made correctly. Cid had said that they would arrive in three hours, exactly at the same time that the ground forces would arrive and support the remaining forces in Junon. Until then though, they were all left to their own devices.
Tifa was trying to calm her nerves by walking through the many corridors of the airship. Everywhere she went, the ship's crew went busily about their tasks, some carrying tools and parts while others carried crates of supplies to the lower cargo hold. The entire ship resonated with the strange hum that was coming from the engines, which resounded through the corridors and seemed to penetrate every person's body. Tifa found the sensation to be rather odd, but for whatever reason, it wasn't unpleasant; it was rather soothing in a way, unlike the old Highwind, which seemed to be fighting its way through the air, the Shera seemed to dance along gracefully.
After she turned down the same corridor for what must have been the third time, she decided to stop walking and went to look for Cloud. She found him in their assigned cabin where he had every one of the six blades that made up the First Tsurugi laid out on the bed. Cloud looked up and lightly smiled as he ran a well-oiled rag over one of them and wiped the residue off with a clean rag.
"What's up?" he asked as he reached for another blade. Tifa shrugged and sat down next to him.
"How are you, Cloud?" she asked as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Cloud looked up from his sword and gave her a confused look.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Tifa said as she regretted asking him that question, "I was just wondering how you're holding up after fighting Arvin. Vincent said you didn't take it well that he said he beat you." Cloud sighed and looked away, and then he began to polish the blade more fiercely.
"He didn't beat me, he only jumped in after I was fighting Abrams and he caught me off guard, that's all." Tifa could tell that Cloud was upset about the fight but decided to not press further into it. She knew from past experiences that if she tried to force the issue, he would only go silent and withdraw from everyone for a while before he moved on. Tifa lightly shrugged her shoulders, and stretched her arms back as she yawned. When she was done, she changed the subject.
"You know, maybe you should go talk to everyone. Sort of like a pep talk, you know?" Cloud cocked an eyebrow and gave her a look with a joking smile.
"A pep talk?"
"Well, think about it, Cloud. It's been a long time since we've all been together and fought for something. I know you and Vincent keep yourselves trained and ready for a fight, but not everyone else has. Barret's been busy running his oil business, and Nanaki's been more of a tutor than anything else. Cid's probably too busy running his division of the WRO. Yuffie, well, I'm sure she's been busy doing whatever it is she does with the WRO, and I've been running the bar."
"Don't worry about yourself, Tifa, you've kept in shape." Cloud lightly gave her a smile and she returned an embarrassed one. Cloud then lightly nodded and stood from his seat on the bed.
"All right. I'll go see if everyone's ready for the fight. Maybe I'll even give them a pep talk, though I wouldn't count on it," Cloud added with a little laugh. Tifa smiled widely back at him, and Cloud then left the room to look for the others. It was at moments like this that reminded Tifa of why she loved Cloud so much.
Cloud walked down the corridor and turned a few corners when he found Yuffie, who was standing rather stiffly with her back pressed against the bulkhead and with both of her feet planted firmly in front of her. She briefly looked towards Cloud, but the sudden movement made her dizzy, so she closed her eyes and slowly turned back to focus on the opposite bulkhead. Cloud tried to suppress his smile at her expense, and he then leaned on the bulkhead next to her.
"You still get motion sickness?" Yuffie opened her mouth to answer, but she soon thought that it was a bad idea and closed her mouth. She then nodded her head slowly. Cloud shrugged as he tried to think of something encouraging to say, and he then gave her the only advice he could think of.
"Well, maybe if you tried taking a nap you might feel better." Yuffie shook her head, and looked at Cloud long enough to speak in a quick fashion.
"Tried that, only got dizzier." Cloud then sighed and thought of only one other thing.
"Have you tried looking out a window at the horizon? Looking at something that doesn't move might help out." Yuffie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she looked up with closed eyes. Yuffie then nodded and again spoke to Cloud, all the while trying to remain in her safety zone of comfort.
"You ready for this fight?" Cloud lightly nodded and then turned his gaze down the corridors.
"Sure. I mean I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. I just hope we can get in there and stop Arvin and his gang before they can do any real damage." Cloud brought his focus back on Yuffie, who was now turning an unhealthy shade of green. She made a motion showing that she was going to head towards the bridge, and Cloud nodded as he watched her go. He scratched the back of his head as he wondered where everyone else might be.
Cloud continued to walk further into the innards of the Shera, and found a large room that had seats along the walls and monitors for people to watch. In here, he saw Nanaki laying on the floor with his tail flicking back and forth in a lazy manner. When Cloud approached, he opened his one good eye and lightly sat up.
"Is something the matter?" he asked as he stifled a yawn. Cloud took a seat along the wall and shook his head.
"No, I'm just checking in on everyone, making sure they're all ready for the upcoming battle. You ready?" Nanaki raised his brow and shook his head quickly back and forth to wake himself up.
"I'll be fine. I guess Tifa was concerned that many of us haven't fought in some time, right? Well, there's no need to worry there. After all, the skills we learned back then never leave us; it's like what you would call 'riding a bicycle'. One never truly forgets things like that." Cloud nodded but continued on.
"True, but there won't be a time for a practice run once we hit Junon. We'll all have to be careful that we don't get taken by surprise." Nanaki nodded and was about to say something, but the doors to the room opened and a familiar robotic cat walked in, still looking as comical as ever in his small red cape and big boots.
"Ah, there ya are Cloud. I've been lookin' all over this ship for ya." Cloud looked at Cait Sith in surprise and lightly shook his head.
"Cait Sith? Reeve, I didn't know you still used that." Cait jumped up onto the seat next to Cloud and folded his arms behind his head.
"Well, I do still have my uses, and besides, I can be of some help on this fight."
"You can?" Cloud asked, wondering just what Reeve meant about the three-foot tall robotic cat.
"Aye, I can use materia, and I've got plenty of it to boot. But I was lookin' for ya to tell ya somethin'. Rufus didn'a know anythin' about Project X, but he said it did sound familiar to him. He just called me, and said that he might have read the name once in a file taken from Nibelhiem, in the old Shinra Mansion. Perhaps there's a chance that a copy of the file is in the old library in the basement. After all of this business is taken care of, I'll be sendin' a team to go look and see. Then we can know for sure just what these ruddy bastards are."
"After this is over, I could care less what they are. I mean, it would be kind of useless by that point, wouldn't it?" Cloud asked.
"Aye, I guess it would. But still, I'd like to know, both for future uses and for my own curiosity."
"Haven't you heard that it was curiosity that killed the cat?" Nanaki said as he raised the brow on his one good eye up at Cait. Cait waved a finger in the air at Nanaki and grinned, showing his small teeth.
"Ah, but my friend, t'was satisfaction that brought him back."
"Touché," Nanaki said as he closed his eye and laid back down. Cloud lightly shook his head with a smile and stood from his seat.
"You two better get some rest before we hit Junon. It's going to be a hard fight and I want you both at your best." Nanaki lightly nodded without opening his eye, but Cait leaned back in his chair and polished his knuckles on his chest.
"Now that's a paradox considerin' I'm always at me best!" Cloud sighed at the level of cockiness Reeve had when using his alter ego and exited the room. Cloud walked his way back through the corridors until he came to the entryway into the main bridge. He was about to enter through the hydraulic doorway when he caught a slight glimmer of crimson from the corner of his eye coming from the shadows. When he turned his full focus onto it, he could see Vincent standing there.
"Vincent."
"Cloud. I'm sure Cait found you and told you about the mansion." Cloud nodded and stepped closer.
"You think there could be anything there?" Vincent looked away for a moment and then returned to look at Cloud.
"It's possible. Hojo kept a lot of secret files there that only he knew about. He had a sick obsession with reading about his own work; I wouldn't put it past him to have a copy there." Cloud nodded and then let a moment of silence pass before he focused on the subject of the group.
"You think everyone's ready for this fight?" Vincent looked up, displaying one of the rare moments that his entire face was visible from behind his red mantle.
"I would think so. We've been through worse before; this should only be like a milk run. After all, these three aren't Sephiroth." Cloud took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he understood what Vincent was saying.
"Even so, there still stronger than anything we've went up against in awhile. I just hope no one's rusty after all this time." Vincent let out a dry sound and stood away from the shadows.
"You won't have to worry about that, Cloud. Some things are harder to forget than others." Vincent then walked past Cloud and went through the hydraulic door into the bridge. Cloud understood what Vincent was saying, and he knew that everyone would do well. Before the door had a chance to close, Cloud slipped through and entered the bridge.
The main bridge of the Shera was much different than the one of the Highwind. The decks were lined with wood and there was a painting of Cid's favorite pin-up girl with his name painted in fancy script. The front end was a large glass dome that allowed a full range of view. In the center towards the back was an upraised section that housed the main wheel, where Cid was now at. Yuffie was now leaning on the frame to the large glass dome, trying to concentrate on the distant unmoving horizon. Vincent had moved to the bulkhead behind her where he was now leaning with his head lowered. Barret was standing on the opposite side of the bridge, where he was looking down at the mountains below. Cloud walked over to him and looked down as well.
Barret didn't notice Cloud at first, but when he did, he gave a slight jump and shook his head.
"Damn Spikey, you shouldn' sneak up on a man like that. I could'a blown you away." Cloud gave Barret a look of disbelief and shook his head.
"I'd like to see you try that sometime."
"Yea, yea, you think you all big an' bad now since you've taken on more of Hojo's sideshows than anyone else. One of these days I'm gonna have to take you down a peg or two, put you back in yo' place." Barret could only maintain his serious façade for a few seconds before he cracked a smile. Cloud lightly did the same and then asked if he was ready.
"Ready? Shi't, I've been ready my whole life for this kind of shit. You think I got rusty lookin' for oil? Hell, I'll kick more ass and take more names than any of you other suckas combined." Cloud shook his head and laughed a bit at Barret's expense.
"Well, you just make sure you don't get yourself killed. I don't think they make a casket big enough for someone like you." Barret lightly gave Cloud the finger with his artificial appendage and then turned back around to the view.
"You do the same Spikey. If I tried to bury you, the health board would come after me thinkin' I was tryin' to bury a Chocobo," Barret said with his back turned to Cloud. Cloud lightly shook his head and turned to head up the three steps to the upraised section. When he got there, Cid looked at him from the corner of his eye and gave an annoyed sound at Cloud's presence.
"I guess protocol doesn't mean shit to ya, does it Strife? You know only the Captain or an officer is allowed at the wheel station?" Cloud shrugged and then continued to stand where he was, showing that he really didn't care. Cid lightly growled to himself and shook his head.
"No damned respect anymore with you young sons of bitches, that's your problem. And why you here anyways? You checkin' on me to see if I'm ready for this shit or somethin'?" Cloud was about to speak, but Cid interrupted before he could. "Let me tell you somethin', I've been lookin' for a good fight ever since that Deep Ground shit hit the fan. You know just how much goddamned damage those no good shits did to my ship!?! Took me nearly two months to get her back up an' runnin' and that's saying somethin' since I really don't know how this fuckin' bird stays in the air! Shera's sick an' tired of hearin' me bitch all the time, so I gotta take my frustration out on somethin', might as well be these Returner bastards I keep hearin' about. Shit, you aught to be worried more for their safety than mine, I can tell you that right now!" Cid then took a long drag from his nearly spent cigarette and let the smoke roll out of his nostrils. Cloud was about to add something to their one sided conversation, but he could tell that Cid was a firecracker waiting to explode at any moment. Instead, Cloud just nodded and stepped back down from the raised platform.
By now, the slight purple hue of morning was spilling across the land from behind them, lighting the clouds with a magical quality. But as beautiful as it was, no one on the Shera was able to enjoy it, since it was the telling sign that they were racing against time.
Cloud walked over to the dome and looked out at the horizon. From behind him, he heard the sound of the hydraulic doorway opening and within a moment there was a familiar warm body standing next to him. Cloud turned and smiled at Tifa, who was now looking out at the horizon as well.
"You talk to everyone?" she said in a quiet tone. Cloud nodded back to her. She then smiled and looked into Cloud's blue eyes.
"Well, we should be fine then," Tifa said. Together they looked into each other's eyes before they both turned back to the horizon and the fate that awaited them all.
