Cracked Visage
Obvious Stress
We left Costa del Sol early this morning. We need to get to Mt. Corel before the sun sets. Everyone is a little groggy except me and Zack. We have our bodies wired to the military schedule. Aeris is pretty perky too. She says the mornings are the most beautiful time to look at the flowers, because they are happy to greet the sun and dry off the dew on their petals. We have to hike through this annoying forest. These damn frogs are getting annoying though. Sears and Barret were turned into frogs an hour ago. It was kind of funny, but then Aeris had to kiss them to turn them back to normal... She wasn't thrilled. "Hey! Where did my Restore Materia go?! Oh no I hope I haven't lost it, it was mastered." I swing around to look at Aeris. "Are you sure it's missing?" She nods. "I'm missing a Fire Materia too!" Everyone starts checking their weapons and armlets for their Materia and everyone is missing one or two except me, Zack, and Barret... The three dangerous looking ones... My eyes narrow and my mako senses start scoping out the area. There! I pull my sword off my back and pin the thief to a tree by their shirt. I just barely missed flesh, but the Materia thief is caught. A kid? "Let me go you spikey-headed jerk!" I walk forward and pluck our materia of her hands. "Hey! Those are mine you jerk!" Zack looks like he saw a ghost. "What's wrong Zack?" Zack walks up to the little thief and surveys her. "Aren't you that kid that hired me to do your dirty work? Y'know, the one that cried and made me feel guilty? The little punk who tried to stop me in Wutai when me and Angeal were infiltrating the fort?" The kid huffed and looked at Zack. "I knew it was you porcupine head. I remember that you could never find any good treasure! And it's your fault Wutai fell to ShinRa! You killed our people and destroyed my home. I'm too ashamed to even call Wutai my home anymore. No one was strong enough to kill you ShinRa jerks. And don't call me a kid. I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, Ninja Princess. Daughter of Godo, the Lord of Wutai. That makes me the Princess of Wutai, ya jerk." Princess? Yeah right. I snort at her. "Sure, a princess of Wutai would really need to steal Materia." She frowns at me with a serious face that doesn't look right on her. "Of course I do. There is no more Materia in Wutai after ShinRa took over."
Zack looks extremely distressed. "I'm sorry..." Everyone looks at Zack while he whispers an apology. "I didn't mean to ruin your life. I was just following orders... I'm not with ShinRa anymore. Forgive me." Yuffie looks shocked. "Nah, don't worry bout it porcupine head, I'm gonna save Wutai anyway. I was just annoyed. Sorry for taking your Materia, but blondie is still a jerk for pinning me to a tree.." I frown and wrinkle my nose. "Hey! You look like a strong bunch of guys! Why don't you let me come along? You're strong now, but you'll be amazing with a ninja princess with you!" I roll my eyes and pull the sword of the tree, freeing her. She does a quick flip and lands correctly on her feet. "Alright! Let's go! Uhh... Where are we headed?" I smack my forehead. "Mt. Corel. And Yuffie, try not to be a burden." I nod at Zack and turn to leave. It's going to be a long day...
x-x-x
Wow we slept late... I roll over and face Tseng. Gaia he is good in bed... I can't believe I agreed to be his wife last night... I don't regret it, but I am still shocked. He is so beautiful. That hair is silky and flows through my fingers. I think I like him better with his hair down, maybe I can convince him to keep it down more often. "Mmm.." I smile as he slowly stirs. "Hey, babe. Sleepy?" He nods softly looking up at me with half-closed eyes. "Sleep ok?" I press a kiss to his forehead. "With you by my side, I slept amazing." He rolls over on to his back and props himself up on his elbows. I slide over him and straddle his lap. I lay my head on his shoulder and inhale his scent. "That was fantastic... So are we official?" I smile into his neck. "We agree to get married and have kids, of course we're official. I've been tacking Liuo on to the end of my name all morning. You are a lucky that I'm legal or you'd be in trouble Mr. Turk." Elena Liuo... I like it... It's much better than staying Elena Onimi forever. I hear him chuckle slightly. "It doesn't bother you I'm twenty seven when you're eighteen? A nine year difference?" I shake my head. The thought really doesn't bother me at all. "Nope. It just means you can take care of me better. And besides, older men are sexy. Y'know, I couldn't stop planning our wedding even before our first date? I thought I was going insane." I pull back and look him dead in the eyes. His smile is so bright... "I couldn't either. I kept imagining you walking to the alter in a lovely white dress... It would make me the happiest man on Gaia." I kiss him tenderly on the mouth to show him that I agree with his vision. "So do I get a ring?" His smile widens even more and a soft laugh spills from his mouth. He reaches over to the nightstand and pulls out a little black box. I sit up and watch him climb out of bed. He drops to a knee and raises an eyebrow. "Elena Onimi would you do me the honor of being my wife?" Watching him do this all my fears and worries are erased. All my qualms about moving too fast in our relationship are crushed. I know without a doubt that this is the man I want to be with for the rest of my life and even in the Lifestream. Tears well up in my eyes and I smile a joyful smile. "Yes, Tseng Liuo I will be your wife."
x-x-x
Barret is looking pretty nervous. I wonder what's up with him... "Hey Cloudy, what do you think is wrong with Barret?" He shrugs and looks at the large black man. His shoulders are very tense and he is sweating even more than everyone else. It's only the early morning too so it's not too hot yet. "Hey Barret you ok man?" Even Sears noticed Barret's strange mood. "Yo, I'm fine Biggs... Er Sears.. worry bout your own shi'." We're nearing the mako reactor at the top of the mountain. From there it should be fairly easy to get to North Corel. I hope we get stop at Gold Saucer...
x-x-x
Reno is sleeping too late... If he doesn't wake up soon I will have to wake him myself. It's nearly 1000 hours. A Turk shouldn't be sleeping till 10 am, it just isn't right. I've been working on my laptop while Reno cuddled up to my torso. I need a shower, but I really don't want to leave him... Damn him for being so adorable with his untied and messy red hair. I lace my left hand in his hair as my right scrolls down the page. I scratch slightly behind his ear and he purrs... It's a little hidden pleasure of his I discovered this morning. I hear him groan groggily, I close my laptop and look down at him. "Rufus?" I brush his bangs out of his eyes as his looks at me. "Yes, Reno?" He smiles a little and I feel my heart ache at the beauty of it. "Good mornin' lovely. I'm happy not ta wake up alone." I raise an eyebrow at him. "Wake up alone? You expected me to leave?" He shakes his head while sitting up and placing a "good morning" kiss on my cheek. "Nah, I'm just used ta wakin' alone after some one night thing... Ya need a shower?" I nod at him. "Come on then. I'm takin' one then makin' breakfast." I'm quite skeptical of this. "You cook, Reno?" He wrinkles his nose slightly. "Uhh kinda... I can make burnt toast and eggs." I smile and place a kiss on his lips. "I'll be cooking then." I walk to the bathroom, listening to his footsteps behind me. They're barely audible, I suppose that's a skill learned as a field Turk. I was a Turk, but I never worked in the field due to it being too dangerous for the only ShinRa heir to do. We slide into the shower and he settles behind me. I let his arms snake around my waist and pull me back into his chest. I tilt my head backward to let him leave more love bites. I have several on my neck, collarbone, and chest. "Sleep well, love?" I smile for a moment to myself. "Yes Reno I did." I look forward into the shower mirror, I focus on his eyes which are swirling blue. "Good..." He whispers against my flesh. This is about when I give up any hope for getting to work anytime soon.
x-x-x
What in the world could be wrong with Barret? The distress is rolling off him in waves... I can sense it even from the back of the group. I'm worried for him. The planet is scarred here... Something terrible happened in this area. "Cheep." Oh? What was that? "Cheep... Cheep..." I look inside a little crevace and see a nest. "Cheep.. Cheep Cheep." Cockatolis chicks... I smile a little and pet their downy heads. "Cheeeeeep." How adorable. "Rrrraaak!" I look up at their mother who just returned. "It's ok. I wasn't going to hurt your babies. They are very sweet. You must be proud." The grown cockatolis looked at me wearily and nuzzled her babies. I smiled rubbed her head too. I've always been very good with creatures of Gaia. The mother nudges a box towards me. I pick it up and open it. There are ten phoenix downs inside. Oh this will help a lot. "Thank you very much. This will help my friends and I. Take care of your babies!" I turn and continue walking along the track. "Aeris!?" Oh looks like I've fallen a bit behind. "Coming!" I pick up the pace of my walking a little. It looks like we've found the town... Oh dear...
x-x-x
This place is a wasteland... And it seems that they know Barret. "Get out! You're not welcome here!" Damn... This is going to be annoying. "Hey Cloudy." I look at Zack in confusion. "Yeah Zack?" Yuffie is looking around and bouncing like a lunatic. "I don't think they like Barret here... Maybe we should move on to the Gold Saucer. The cable car should be over that way." I nod and motion for everyone to come by us. "We're going to head to Gold Saucer. Let's go." Yuffie squealed. "Oh really?! I love Gold Saucer!!" We make our way to the cable cars and board one. Barret has yet to say anything to explain the towns peoples' actions. I have to wonder what he did to piss them off. "Welcome to Gold Saucer! It's 3,000 Gil for one a day or 30,000 Gil for a lifetime pass!" I pull out 3,000 Gil. "One day, please." She counts the money and waves us inside with a smile. This should be fun. "Let's all have fun today. We need a break from the serious attitudes." Barret huffed. "Fun!? You wanna have fun when we shoul' be lookin' for that guy in the black?! Fine! I'll show'ya fun!" Barret jumped into a slide and took off. "Just let him have sometime to cool off. Everyone else enjoy the day."