I'd like to apologize in advance because I don't think I'm going to get this done before the end of this weekend. Tomorrow (Saturday, January 27, 2012) I'm going to the mall and getting my hair thinned AND my mom is taking me shopping.
Anyway, I'm sure you don't care about me all that much. You just want to get to the story. So onto the story we shall go.
Once we landed, we were rushed into a hotel. It was more of a large house. There were about five rooms in total. We were placed in one on the second floor. There were two king sized beds in the large room. A picture of a melancholy looking girl sitting on a chair was on the wall. I sighed and sat down on the beds. The sun was just beginning to rise. I yawned and lay down.
"Ah, ah, ah." Angeal said wagging a finger at me. He held his phone out to me and I groaned.
"Can't it wait till after I wake up? I'm so tired." I whined rolling over.
"Nope. You need to get used to not sleeping often." He chided.
I rolled back over and eyed him. "Are you crazy? I can hardly function with eight hours of sleep. I don't know how you expect me to go with less than that."
"That was before mako. Now, you'll be able to go longer without getting tired." Angeal explained.
I closed my eyes and sighed. "I feel so tired though. Who knew sitting on an uncomfortable bench in a helicopter was so tiring?
Angeal hauled me up and made me stand on my feet. He led me out of the room and down the stairs. We exited the building. He took me around to the back of the building and leaned against the wall of the hotel.
"You're not going to rape me, are you?" I asked him warily. He laughed heartily but didn't answer.
He dug around in his pocket and then took out his cell phone and handed it to me. I sighed and accepted it. It was one of those cheapo flip phones. I flipped it open and dialed Cloud's number from memory.
The phone rang a few times. Then I heard a sleepy sounding "Hello?"
I sighed. "Cloud?" I asked.
I heard him move around on the other side of the phone. He was probably sitting up in his bed right now.
"Tifa? Whose phone are you calling from? What's the matter? Are you ok? Do I need to come pick you up from somewhere?" he asked worriedly. I stifled a little giggle at all his worrying.
"No, Cloud. I'm perfectly fine. I'm calling from a friend's phone… Listen…" I sighed again. This was going to be one tough conversation.
I proceeded to tell him about Sephiroth appearing in the apartment and taking me to the Shinra building. I told him about the meeting with Rufus but I didn't tell him about Angeal, Genesis, or Sephiroth accompanying me on the mission. Basically, all I told him was that I was on a mission and that I was safe.
Throughout the whole conversation he'd been completely silent. He hadn't said a word.
"I'm coming to get you." He finally said. I could hear that he was quietly seething.
"No, don't." I said.
"I'm coming." He said with a note of finality. A no-nonsense tone.
"If you come after me…" I trailed off trying to think of something.
"What will you do, Tifa? Ignore me? You've already done that. I survived." He said. I hated how patronizing he sounded right now.
I felt my blood begin to boil under my skin and I knew we were getting into dangerous territory here.
"Cloud, if you come after me, consider our relationship over." I said evenly, completely serious.
There was a pause and then "We'll see." Then he hung up on me. He actually. Hung. Up. On. Me.
I was about to throw the phone when Angeal caught my arm and gently took the phone from my crushing grip.
"I. Cannot. Believe. He. Just did. That." I seethed. I was furious. Cloud was going to get it when I got back.
"Well… He is Cloud. He doesn't exactly have the best people skills." Angeal said slowly.
I just huffed, and then stomped back to the room. Genesis and Sephiroth were occupying both beds.
I glared at Genesis who was on the bed closest to me. He was too engrossed in his book to notice me though.
"Move." I said quietly.
He looked up at me. "Huh? Did you say something?"
"I said. Move." I repeated.
"Uh, no thanks." He replied.
I picked up the edge of the covers and yanked upwards, hard. He flipped off the bed and onto the floor.
"Thanks for moving." I said and then got under the covers. I snuggled deep into the warmth and heard Genesis mutter. "What's her problem?" I threw a pillow at him and smirked when I heard it thump against something and then he said. "Hey! That was the zipper!"
I fell deeper into sleep, surprised at how quickly I was falling asleep.
***LOVE***LOVE***LOVE***
CLOUD
"Why didn't you tell me you were sending her on a mission?" I yelled as soon as I entered Rufus' office.
He looked up from his desk, looking unsurprised to see me in front of him.
"You know I'm not allowed to give out mission details. Besides, I thought she would have told you she was going on a mission very soon herself. Obviously, she thought it was important that you didn't find out." he said easily.
"Assign me to the mission." I spat out.
He looked back down at his desk, examining a file. "I'm afraid not. I have the best of the best with her. She's in very good hands."
"I'm the best. You know I am!" I argued.
"Yes, but are you the best when it comes to dealing with people close to you? No, as you proved in that mission." He didn't have to clarify which mission it was. The one where I'd been forced to choose between the bad guy and Zack. It was a no brainer.
"It all worked out in the end." I said.
"I can't risk that happening again. Especially not this mission. It's of utmost importance." Rufus said to me.
"If it's so important why did you send Tifa? She's still a rookie. Please, let me go. I'll take her place if you want me to. I just want her to be safe." I pleaded.
Rufus finally looked up at me again and our eyes met. I don't know what he saw in my eyes, but all I saw in his was cold emptiness.
After a few heart wrenching moments Rufus finally said "The next helicopter out to Nibelheim leaves in thirty minutes. If you're not on it, you'll lose your only chance."
I nodded once and then ran to the bank of elevators.
30 minutes later…
I just barely made it to the helicopter in time. There were only supplies going to the mako reactor on this helicopter. I had to squeeze between a huge box of gloves and a box of goggles to sit down.
I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. I had about four hours to kill. I might as well sleep…
***LOVE***LOVE***LOVE***
When I woke, the others were gone. Sun was streaming in now, and I had to squint so I could look around the room. I flung my arms out to stretch and my left arm landed on something crinkly. I rolled over slightly to see what it was.
I picked up a piece of paper with spiky writing on it.
Went out to check out the place. Will inform you later.
-A
Angeal was probably being vague to throw off anyone not involved in the mission.
I sighed and then got off the bed. I crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash. I decided I'd take a shower.
I walked into the bathroom and peeled the black suit off of me. I took a sniff of it. It still smelled like new. Interesting, I wondered how long it would retain that smell.
I quickly took a shower and towel-dried my hair until it was only a little damp. Then I changed back into my leather suit. I wished I had some sweats I could chill in. I sighed. Oh well.
I walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. The guys still weren't back. I idly wondered how long they'd be.
I glanced at the clock and saw that it said 1:32. My stomach growled and I frowned. Was there anything to eat in this "hotel" room? I looked around and noticed a mini fridge in the corner. I rushed over to it and flung the door open. It was disappointingly empty. Pouting, I glanced around once more. I took stock of the microwave, and stove/oven.
Maybe I could cook something?
I grabbed the key (still had old-fashioned key locks on the doors) and headed down to the lobby.
"Um, excuse me?" I said to the middle-aged man working the counter.
"Huh? Oh, yes?" he asked. He looked up from the book he'd been reading and eyed my tight suit bemusedly.
"Is there a Wal-Mart around here?" I asked him.
"A… Wall… Mart?" he asked me, confused.
I mentally face-palmed and said "Is there a food store nearby?" I clarified.
"Oh! Yeah, once you exit this building turn left and walk down the street. The fourth building on the right is a food store." He said.
"Ok, thanks." I said.
I turned around and walked out of the building. I followed his directions and found they were pretty accurate.
When I entered, the door gave a pleasant chime from the bell over the door. There were a few stands with some fruits and vegetables here and there, and about five aisles of preserved food, baking supplies, etc.
I sighed and grabbed a cart and started pushing it along. I first visited the vegetable and fruit section. I grabbed a bag of potatoes, some carrots, some onions, a little bit of garlic, some apples, a handful of oranges, and a pound of bananas.
I headed to the aisles and walked up and down them. I picked up a large pot and pan, enough dishes for all of us, some cutlery, a few cutting knives, a cutting board, salt and pepper and a packet of chips ahoy chocolate chips.
I went to the cash register. A boy about sixteen years old with an unfortunate acne problem smiled at me as I approached. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
His eyes lingered on my chest and I cleared my throat to bring his attention back to my face.
"Good afternoon." He said, his smile widening to a smirk.
"Good afternoon to you too." I replied, and started loading the items in my cart onto the small conveyor belt.
"That's a lot of food for a little girl like yourself." He said, his eyes raking up and down my body.
"Oh, I'm not eating this alone. I'm here with a few friends." I explained.
"Well if your friends ever get boring come find me. I'll show you a good time." He said.
"I don't think she'll be bored of me anytime soon." A voice said.
I jumped a little and looked over to see Sephiroth standing beside me. I was a little surprised that he was my savior but I didn't bother asking questions.
"I don't know gramps, you might not be able to keep up with the likes of me." the cashier challenged. This kid was far too cocky for his own good. He deserved to have his ego taken down a few notches.
"Let's just say that height goes a long way for size…" Sephiroth said flatly. He sounded completely bored with this conversation and just wanted to leave.
The cashier flushed. He was shorter than I was and it looked like Sephiroth had hit a nerve.
"Look here you di-" He was cut off by Genesis suddenly appearing.
"I wouldn't say anymore if I were you." He warned.
"Why the hell should I be afraid of you?" he asked Genesis.
Honestly! This kid was going to get himself killed.
Genesis looked like he was ready to slaughter the kid but I put my hand on his forearm. "Why don't you guys go wait outside and I'll join you when I'm finished up here." I tossed in a smile for added effect and Genesis finally relented. Sephiroth turned and followed Genesis outside. Strangely, the bell over the door didn't even ring. I frowned at this but turned back to the boy.
"Alone at last." He said, creepily.
"Maybe I should lodge a formal complaint with the manager." I muttered under my breath.
"Sweet cheeks, I am the manager." He said.
I rolled my eyes. This guy was such a sleaze ball.
"How much do I owe you?" I asked him, ready to be out of here.
"Well from the looks of you, you owe me a good fuc-"
All of a sudden a black and blonde blur punched the cashier and he flew through the store.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you the proper way to talk to a lady?" A very familiar and angry voice said.
I face-palmed. Way to keep a low profile.
The cashier struggled to his feet. "Who the hell are you?"
"That doesn't matter. Apologize." My hero said.
The cashier shook his head. "Why should I? If she's going to dress like a skank-" again the guy was cut off. My hero hoisted him up by his shirt front and snarled in his face.
"Apologize. Right. Now."
The cashier looked positively terrified now. I could see his knees trembling and hid a small smile.
"S-sorry." He muttered, eyes downcast.
"Good." My hero dropped the man. "Now, for her troubles you're going to let her have everything for free."
"Y-yes, sir." The cashier replied, cowering.
My hero turned to me and stuffed everything into a few bags and stalked out of the store. I followed closely behind.
Sephiroth and Genesis weren't waiting outside. Suddenly, I remembered something.
"What the hell, Cloud?" I yelled at his back as he stomped in front of me.
His shoulders tensed and I could tell he was still angry.
"I thought I told you not to follow me!" I yelled.
Cloud stiffly put the grocery bags down on the ground and turned to face me.
"I followed you because I'm worried about you! You went on a dangerous mission without even telling anybody and you expect me not to come after you? What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't come after you?" he yelled back.
"It doesn't matter anymore considering we're over anyway." I retorted.
"No." he said.
"No what?" I asked him.
"No, we're not over. We love each other. It's not over." He said simply.
"We are over. I don't care how long it takes to get that through your thick head but we aren't together anymore." I stalked past him. Or tried to at least. He grabbed my wrist and said, "We'll see."
"You wanna bet?" I asked him with attitude.
"Is that a challenge? Oh, Tifa, you know how much I love challenges." He said with a sadistic look in his eyes.
"You suck at challenges." I replied.
He pulled me in suddenly and crushed his lips to mine. It was… intense. He'd never kissed me like this before. I… liked it.
He pulled away and sent me a gorgeous smile that made me weak in the knees.
"See you at the hotel." He said, and then he was gone. I noticed he had taken the grocery bags with him.
I stumbled to the nearest place to sit. It was a little bench on the sidewalk underneath a tree.
I put my elbows on my knees and rested my head in my hands.
Was I fucking crazy? I wasn't really giving up Cloud was I? He certainly wasn't giving up me. At least not easily. But… I couldn't let go of my pride. I had told him it was over and I wasn't about to go back on my word. I was one stubborn chick.
I sighed and stood up. I'd better head back to the hotel before that creepy cashier got off his shift and came looking for me.
It seemed I was still a little dizzy (or something) from Cloud's kiss because I stumbled a few times on my way back to the hotel.
When I finally made it back to the room I found all the guys lounging around.
I walked in quietly and tried to be unnoticed. Unfortunately, Angeal decided that this would be the perfect moment to ask about the creep at the grocery store.
"So, the boys were just telling me about the grocery store…" he said casually.
I went to the counter where the groceries were sitting still in their bags. I put the things I needed on the counter and the rest away in the cupboards and fridge. I put some water in a pot and set it on the stove to boil.
I started cutting up the potatoes. "It was nothing." I replied.
"That's not what they were telling me." he said with a smirk.
I shrugged, almost cutting my finger off in the process.
"Well, obviously they have their facts screwed up." I retorted.
"That boy was seconds away from… ravaging you when I came in." Sephiroth said testily.
I put the potatoes in the now boiling water and started cutting up some carrots. "I could have handled it. I don't need guys coming to my rescue." I said.
Cloud came up behind me and put his hands on my waist. I made to stab his hand with the knife and he backed up. "Feisty." He said, and slapped my ass.
I whirled around and punched his shoulder. "Ow. Come on, baby. I'm just playing with you." He whined, rubbing his now sore shoulder.
I smiled sweetly and said "Well, maybe if you would stop playing and keep your hands to yourself, you might not get hurt." I then proceeded to turn around and finish chopping the carrots. When I was done, I threw them in with the potatoes.
I decided to make a fruit salad. I glanced around, while reaching into the bag of oranges.
Cloud was lounging on the couch flipping through channels on the TV. I launched an orange at his head. Right before it hit its target a hand flashed out and caught it.
"No dirty tricks now, Tifa." Genesis grinned.
I scowled and said "Well if you're going to interfere you might as well help me out with dinner."
Genesis shrugged and walked closer to the "kitchen." I put five oranges and plates out. "Will you peel each of the oranges and put them on these plates? Make sure you wash your hands first." I said.
Genesis washed his hands carefully in the sink and then proceeded to peel the oranges.
I cut up some apples and put a few pieces on each plate. I sliced a few bananas up and put those on each plate too. By this time Genesis was done peeling the oranges. "Split the pieces up too." I said. He did what I said.
I checked on the potatoes and carrots and found that they were done. I poured the water out of the pot and spooned some vegetables onto each plate.
I then had Genesis set the table for me. Angeal got off his ass and helped me bring the plates over to the now set table.
"Supper time!" I called. Cloud popped up off the couch and sprinted to the table. He was about to dig in when I grabbed his hand. "Wait for everyone else." I chided.
Sephiroth trudged over to the table and slumped down. He looked a little sickly and I eyed him warily.
"Are you ok?" I asked him.
"Just reaching my limit." Was all he said.
"Oh." I said.
Everyone else sat down and we all proceeded to dig in. I was starving and scarfed down everything. Well, almost everything. I had about five vegetables on my plate that I couldn't force myself to eat. I leaned back on my chair.
"Hey, you gonna eat those?" Cloud asked, nudging me.
I groaned and shook my head. He managed to spear all of them onto his fork and shove them into his mouth.
"What the? How did you do that?" I asked him.
He swallowed hard and then said "Magic." I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder.
"You're an idiot."
"Yeah, well at least I'm not crazy." He replied.
"You're way crazier than I am." I said.
He smirked and said "Crazy for you." I face-palmed when I realized I'd fallen right into his trap.
"That was lame." I said finally.
"I thought it was pretty good." Cloud said leaning in.
"Well, obviously you need to get your head checked." I said.
He reached up and cupped my cheek. I was too busy drowning in the blue sea that was his eyes to notice what he was doing. He leaned in a little farther and our lips met. He tasted like the potatoes he'd just eaten. I could also taste the lingering sweetness of apples.
"Hey, now, kids. None of that." A voice said interrupting us. I pulled away, berating myself for falling for his charm… again.
Cloud was smirking at me like the cat that just ate the canary. I picked up my plate and shoved it at him. "You have dish duty." I replied. He his smirk softened into a smile and he said. "No problem, sweetheart."
I rolled my eyes and walked to the couch. Sephiroth helped Cloud clear off the table.
Cloud was about to start on the dishes when Sephiroth said "Since you're a part of this mission now and you missed today's meeting with the scientists at the mako lab why don't you join Tifa and Angeal and get briefed."
"Thanks, man." Cloud said.
He sat next to me on the couch. Well, it was more like on me. The whole right side of his body was pressed up against the left side of my body. For added effect, he also put his arm along the back of the couch. What an idiot. I hope his arm falls asleep.
Angeal looked amused at Cloud's PDA but started briefing us.
He told us the scientists were worried that someone was stealing some of the mako. The amount taken was so little that it would've gone unnoticed except for the fact that the computers registered it. The computers were designed to catch any flux in the amount of mako. No matter how big or small it was.
Mako, even in small amounts is dangerous in the wrong hands.
The scientists wanted us to come back tomorrow and investigate for clues.
"So tomorrow we'll head back and you two can meet the head scientist… something seemed off about him though, so just be ready for anything." Angeal concluded.
Cloud stretched and said "Saving the world, one mako reactor at a time." The other three men in the room chuckled. Oh, I get it. It was an inside joke. Ha. Ha. Very, not-so-funny.
I got off the couch and paced a little. Cloud watched me for a moment before he stopped me, and pulled me back to the couch.
"Relax. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow so you might not want to waste your energy pacing. Why don't we watch a movie?" he asked. In this moment, there was no challenge. He was just a concerned friend that was looking out for me.
I hesitated and then joined him again on the couch. I was careful to keep a cushion in between us.
I picked up the clicker and turned on the TV. I chose the "guide" button on the clicker and looked through what the channels had to offer.
I squealed when I saw that they were showing Aladdin on the Disney channel.
I quickly changed the channel. It was just at the part where Jasmine was sneaking out of her palace to go to the market. I shifted on the couch until I was comfortable.
Cloud, was really, really, distracting. Why did he have to be so good at singing? And why did he have to look at me with those big, blue eyes of his and put me under a spell.
I leaned away from him when he started singing "A Whole New World" in my ear. In my opinion, it was one of the most romantic songs Disney had to offer. Oh God, was he stroking my arm? Did he want to kill me?
Maybe I could fight fire with fire. "A whole new world…" I sang back when it was Jasmine's turn to sing. My voice wasn't as good as Cloud's but I wasn't terrible either.
"A dazzling place I never knew." I put my hand on his thigh and I heard him suck in a breath.
"But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear, that now I'm in a whole new world with youuu…" I sang.
We continued to sing together, both teasing each other. Cloud pushed me down onto the couch when he sang "…With new horizons to pursue…"
I wrapped my arms around his neck and lowered my voice so only he could hear me sing the last few lines of the song.
Once the song was over, I pulled away from him a little so that we could stare into each other's eyes.
We were both leaning towards each other for a kiss. All thoughts of missions, and challenges, and avoiding him flew out of my mind. All I could think about was how much I wanted his lips on mine. Right. Now.
His eyes seemed to be darkening (with lust?) and the look on his face said he wanted to kiss me too.
"Well I'll be damned! You were right Genesis!" Angeal suddenly burst out. Cloud and I sprang apart, the intimacy between us ruined. Cloud got off of me, blushing slightly.
I looked over the back of the couch to see Genesis and Angeal sitting at the kitchen table. They had a crossword puzzle between them. I groaned. My kiss with Cloud had been interrupted because of a crossword puzzle. Fuck. My. Life.
I heard Cloud sigh beside me. I turned back around and continued watching the movie. Neither Cloud nor I looked or talked to each other for the rest of the night. We both understood that the other needed space. Plus it was damn awkward.
I guess the old saying "When you fight fire with fire you're only going to get burned" was true… almost literally. I felt a heat inside of me that I knew only Cloud could cool. But I wasn't going to allow him close anymore. I called it quits and that was the way it was going to stay.
If Cloud thought I was going to give in that easily he was in for a big surprise.
Ok, crappy ending but hey, the almost kiss was nice… at least I thought it was.
Alright for the competition: I've decided that you guys (if you decide to participate) are going to send in your predictions. You can send in a new prediction for each review you send my way. HOWEVER, your most recent one will be the one I consider. Also, the competition ends February 4th. That is a Saturday. I don't know how many chapters I'll have posted by then. Most likely one or two. Also, the winner will get a one-shot (of your choice) written by yours truly. The only rules for this is it has to be about final fantasy and only involving the characters found in this story. Oh, and no lemons.
Ok, no anonymous reviews, I've already replied to all of you guys via PM.
I went shopping today I got some really cute clothes. And my hair looks fucking beast! It's pretty sexy if I do say so myself ;)
Anyway, review and tell me what you thought about the chapter (and your predictions).
Until next time….