Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 29: "The Book of Counted Joys"

Author's Note: Just in time for the holidays, check out my fractured Christmas song "Fros-T the Kill-Bot," available on the Frosty the Snowman page!

A few hours after our meeting with Dio we were all gathered just outside the entrance to the Battle Arena. Cloud was fussing with his equipment while everyone else offered suggestions. Red produced the Yoshiyuki Sword from, well, wherever the hell he kept things and said "A perfect time for this, I think."

Nodding, Cloud agreed. "Good. Yeah, if it really gets stronger when you're fighting alone it'll work out well."

"What about your materia?" Yuffie asked. "You need balance, survivability. Hey, try this!" She removed an enemy skills materia from her armor and tossed it to him.

Everyone stared. "Yuffie… Giving someone materia…?" Cait said.

"Damn." Barrett agreed. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Holding the materia, Cloud said "Wow… You've gotten a lot of spells imprinted on here."

"Yeah! I even got some spells from the Wutai area… Magic Hammer might be useful."

"Thanks… Now let's see, what else could I add in?" Cloud mused.

"Why you worryin' so much?" Cid asked. "I mean you heard Dio… You don't really have to win, just give it a shot…"

"It is a matter of honor." Vincent said. "It would not be just to throw the match simply to get things out of the way sooner."

I added "And remember this is Dio… I'm sure he meant what he said but I also expect he'd know if Cloud wasn't really trying and maybe back out then."

"Plausible." Vincent agreed.

As Cloud finished his preparations, Dio entered the room and approached us. Clapping Cloud hard on the back he asked "Well my boy, are you ready!?"

"Think so." Cloud answered.

"Good, good… Now, I've selected your opponents by hand, but otherwise this is an ordinary Battle Square challenge following all the usual rules. So, let's get started." He turned to the rest of us and said "My personal viewing box is upstairs, I've told the guard to let you use it." Dio then led Cloud into the arena while we made our way to watch…

OOOOOOO

In Dio's box, we looked down onto the Battle Arena. Cloud was standing ready, and Dio's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Ladies and gentlemen! We begin our night's activities with a very special guest! A personal friend of mine who will engage in a gauntlet of opponents sure to test even his extraordinary skills! Let us begin!"

Across from Cloud a door opened and out raced his first set of enemies: A trio of Zemzelets. The ugly green birds rushed forward, wings flapping, and Cloud struck. He downed the first with ease, then ducked behind to handle the second. The third turned but wasn't fast enough and also went down.

"Excellent start lad!" Dio said. "But now let's up the ante shall we?" The slots spun and landed on 'Speed Break.' "Oh, too bad my boy! One 'Slow' spell coming up!" The spell took hold as Cloud faced the next enemy: A Nibel Mountain Green Dragon.

"Seriously?" Tifa exclaimed. "A dragon solo?" Cloud dodged a blast of fire-breath and struck, but the dragon's second attack was too quick for him in his slowed condition. He was thrown backwards. Regaining his footing, Cloud used the enemy skills materia Yuffie had given him to cast White Wind. The spell healed his wounds and removed the slow effect. The dragon struck again, but now that he could move normally Cloud was ready, and dispatched the creature with a hit from Deathblow.

The third round saw Cloud get lucky with the slots, which landed on 'No Penalty.' The enemies were two Bull Motors and an Adamantoise. Up fourth came a group of three bombs. The slots really stuck it to Cloud on that round, landing on 'Armor Break.' By the time the fourth round was finished, Cloud wasn't looking too good. All three bombs had detonated before he could kill them. And then the fifth round slots gave him 'Green Materia Disabled' against a group of four Judge creatures and four Muus. White Wind came to the rescue once more, but that round was longer than the ones before. "And he's still got three more rounds." Cait said. "I dinna think he's gonna win lads and lasses…"

"Don't give up on him yet." I replied.

"Right." Tifa said. She leaned over the railing and shouted "You can do it Cloud!"

Round six started out decently. The slots were merciful, landing on 'Full Recovery.' Then the large door opened and we saw what Cloud was going to have to fight: A Tonberry. "Really!?" I exclaimed. "Where the hell did Dio get one of those!?" Cloud leapt in and attacked his diminutive but lethal opponent with everything he had. The stoic lizard simply crept forward a little at a time, pushing Cloud back to the wall on his side of the arena. Then it drew it's knife, but somehow missed, buying Cloud a few moments' grace.

"C'mon Spikey!" Barrett shouted. "Dis ain't no time ta' hold back! Give it all you got!" Cloud nodded and attacked the Tonberry with Climhazzard. It tottered, tried to stab him again, then fell over dead.

"Incredible!" Dio announced. "Two more rounds to go!"

As the slots spun around, Vincent said "This is troubling. If a Tonberry only rated round six, what is going to be in rounds seven and eight?"

"We about ta find out." Barrett said. "Look!"

The slots settled into place. Round seven's result: 'Weapon Break.' From the far doors slithered Cloud's new enemies: Two Sea Worms. Cloud stepped back once, twice, as the giant worms approached him. With both his weapon and armor disabled and no magic save for enemy skills, he was in a bad position no matter how you looked at it, and I began to seriously wonder if Dio wasn't actually trying to kill him. As we watched, Cloud made his move. He darted forward, in-between the worms, which turned to attack him and ended up facing each other, still spitting venom but now striking each other instead of Cloud. After that, Cloud did what he could, inflicting minor hits and avoiding attacks but not seeming to get anywhere. Then, all of a sudden, both worms keeled over dead though Cloud hadn't hit them nearly enough.

"What the hell!?" Cid wondered.

Red, as usual in such cases, provided the answer. "Brilliant. When Cloud ran between them they poisoned each other with their venomous attacks. All he had to do then was wait."

"Damn! Keep it up Spiky, one more ta' go!" Barrett shouted, and everyone else added encouragements as well.

The slots spun for the last time. And the results were as bad as bad can get: 'All Materia Broken.' Dio's voice returned over the loudspeaker. "What a battle! What excitement! And just one more opponent stands between Cloud Strife and the win! So let's not delay any longer!" The largest door of all rose open, and from beyond came a deep roar. Dio continued "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome our reigning Battle Square champion… Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing Beheeeeemoth!"

"WHAT!?" Tifa shouted. "Oh, no way… No stinking way!"

Into the arena strode the largest creature I've ever seen. Heavy, muscular legs, claws the size of small cars, horns ten feet long, a predator to end all predators, King Behemoth roared again and leapt right for Cloud. I was no longer wondering about Dio. No two ways about it, this was an assassination attempt.

Cloud dodged once, twice, three times as the mighty creature zeroed in and did everything in it's power to squash him. The behemoth's fourth strike didn't miss. Cloud was throw hard into the opposite wall. It was fortunate that the slots hadn't hit 'Item Break.' He used a Elixer, then rushed in and slipped directly under the creature's belly and out between it's rear legs. Jumping high, he managed to grab the tip of it's tail and pulled up onto the monster's back. Then, holding on tightly as the Behemoth bucked about hard trying to throw him off, Cloud began to climb towards the head.

"What's he doing?" Aeris wondered.

"Going for the weakest link." Vincent answered. "You'll recall Cloud didn't use any limit attacks in the Worm fight, even though it lasted long enough he must have one ready…"

Continuing to climb, Cloud passed the shoulders, then the neck. When he reached the head, he surprised me by jumping again and grabbing ahold of the monster's left horn. Dangling from there, He launched another Climhazzard attack, aiming it directly into the behemoth's ear and straight into the brain. With a terrible shriek the beast fell dead…

Soon after, Dio joined us in his box, saying "Well, congratulations. You've earned it in spades. The keystone is yours to borrow, though I insist it stay in the Museum until the gondola is repaired."

Tifa started to go off on the man for the severity of the challenges he had arranged, but Aeris and Barrett held her back. "We've got what we came for." Barrett talked her down. "We'll deal with him some other time…"

OOOOOOO

Later that night I was lying back on the bed in my room at the Ghost Inn. I flipped through the Saucer's offering of television channels, depressed to find that Gaia's television was just as lame as my own world's. (Among other offerings I found such shows as 'Grand Theft Chocobo,' 'Who Wants to be a Gillionaire,' and 'The Bionic Cactuar.' At least the commercials for Turtle's Paradise were awesomely funny.) With a sigh, I switched off the set and was ready to just sleep when I heard something out in the hallway. I crept to the door and slipped it open just enough to peek out and see Tifa pushing Cloud out the door of his room and down the hall towards the elevators. Chuckling to myself, I closed the door back but didn't make it halfway back to the bed before a knock sounded behind me.

Aeris stood outside the door when I answered. "Busy?" she asked.

"Not so much… What's up?"

"What do you think?" She asked with a grin. "Cloud and Tifa are out there somewhere enjoying themselves right? I see no reason why we shouldn't do the same."

"Maybe… Honestly I was almost gonna go to bed, but I suppose I should be standing guard over the keystone. This is our last chance to prevent the temple from getting opened up after all."

"There's no rush on that though." Aeris insisted. She stepped in and closed the door behind her. "I've been thinking about it," She said, "and I don't think we've got to worry about the keystone tonight."

"But, Cloud and Teef just went off on their date." I argued, "They're supposed to catch him in the act during the date…"

"But didn't you also say that Cait steals it just before the gondola is reopened? Because you heard Dio, it'll be another two days before the repairs are finished."

"Maybe…"

"More deep thinking." Aeris teased. "Let it go for one night. Have some fun."

"I guess you're right." I said. "Let's check out the play. If we time our arrival right we'll be able to watch Cloud screw the whole thing up."

Aeris laughed and said "That's the spirit!" We headed out into the brightly-lit Gold Saucer night…

OOOOOOO

We made our way to the Event Square, where we were greeted by a pair of actors. "Welcome!" They said in unison. "Would you like to watch tonight's production? It's extra special!"

"Extra special how?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"It's couple's night at the square! That means our first arrivals get to participate in the play! Of course, you two are a bit late for that; another couple's already here. But something tells us it'll be fun to watch all the same!"

"You have no idea…" I thought. We entered the auditorium and sat near the front. I noted in passing that Red was also present about halfway across the room and remembered his desire, on our first visit, to see a play. I hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed with the results…

As we took our seats the show started. The curtain rose on Cloud, standing mid-stage, utterly lost as to what he was supposed to do. Actors motioned to him, tried to help him along, but he wasn't really getting it at all. The audience began to laugh as a stagehand rushed out and pushed Cloud to the 'king.' "Oh wonderful! The great hero has arrived!"

"Where?" Cloud asked, looking over his shoulder. Everyone laughed even louder.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Cloud shrugged and looked ready to walk off the stage. Then the dragon-suit actor appeared with Tifa. "Help!" She called out. "How's that? Was that good? Okay, Help! Save me!"

"Oh great hero, who will you save?" asked the king.

"I dunno… The dragon I guess?"

"WHAT!?" Everyone onstage exclaimed.

"Well, Teef can handle herself, but it's gotta be like, a million degrees inside that suit…" Cloud replied. The audience roared with laughter. I glanced over towards Red who was shaking his head sadly.

"I'll show you who can take care of herself!" Tifa exclaimed. She shoved the dragon offstage then chased after Cloud who ran off as she approached…

OOOOOOO

We headed for the Chocobo Square next and watched a pair of races, then passed through Battle Square long enough to look around Dio's museum. The Keystone was securely in it's place and there was no sign of anything amiss. We decided to pass on Speed Square (roller coasters aren't my thing) and so made our next stop Wonder Square.

As we looked around at all the games, a familiar voice drew my attention. "Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's coming from over here." Aeris answered.

We rounded the nearest corner and found Yuffie, cursing at the 3-D Battler game. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, heya. It's this dumb game. The thing is cheating, I swear it!"

"It's just a game Yuff." Aeris said.

"Yeah, I know… But have you seen some of the materia you can buy with GP? It's awesome! And I need like three thousand to buy them, but this cheap butt cheating game won't let me win!"

Glancing over to Aeris, I said "You're hearing this right? She's trying to earn the materia instead of stealing it. Whatever happened to the Yuffie we know?"

As Aeris struggled to not laugh, Yuffie exclaimed "Now hey! I'll have you know I'm totally able to be mature and play fair when I want to!" In answer, neither of us spoke, just stared at her until she said "Well okay… The truth is I don't have a choice… The prize vault is so secure even I can't break into it…"

"Thought as much." Aeris said.

"Look Yuff, if you wanna earn GP, you're gonna hafta find a better game than this." I said. "See, I've heard about this game and you're right… It cheats."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Underneath the façade it's just rock/paper/scissors, except that the machine usually waits until after you push your button to make it's choice."

"Why I oughta…." Yuffie began to grumble.

"Look, you want GP? Come with me." I led Yuffie across the room to the Super-Shot game. "One GP per shot you make, double or nothing every tenth shot. Of course you've got to make a lot of shots in a row to get anywhere, but with those Ninja reflexes you should be up to it."

"Sweet!" Yuffie exclaimed. She began to play as Aeris and I continued on our way.

"I thought you were gonna tell her about the guy you said just sells the stuff out by the gondola." She thought.

"Tell Yuffie about him!?" I replied. "Oh no… There's only two ways that'd end… Either our gil accounts would be totally emptied out into useless GP or else we'd all be in jail again for her robbing the guy…"

"Sad but true…" Aeris agreed.

OOOOOOO

We remained at Wonder Square for perhaps a half hour. As we left I saw that a crowd had gathered around Yuffie who was up to three hundred baskets in a row. "Quite a following." I said as Yuffie waved to us then returned to the game.

"Yeah, she's gonna be even more insufferable with a fan club." Aeris agreed. "So, where to next?"

"There's a nice restaurant just off the main hub." I said. "Open roofed. We could have a nice romantic dinner under the fireworks."

"That sounds nice. Let's do it!"

A little later we were seated across from each other at a small corner table covered in a gold-filigree tablecloth with a pair of candles faintly glowing. Overhead, the fireworks began to erupt filling the night with light and sound. "This was a wonderful idea." Aeris said, smiling.

"I'm glad… We've never really had a chance to just relax like this."

"Says the guy who's not really relaxing." Aeris answered. "Admit it, even now you're thinking, trying to figure a way out of our situation."

"I'm sorry… I'm just not the type who can turn off his mind."

Aeris reached across the table, took my left hand. "It's okay… I know you can't help it, and I also know that you have at least pushed things to the back of your mind. Most of your attention really is here with me."

"Always." I said. I glanced down at the menu in front of me and read for a moment. "Is it bad that I don't even know what most of these dishes are?" I asked.

"If it is then I'm guilty too… 'Chateaubriand?' What in the world is that?"

"I have no idea… Maybe we should play it safe."

"Nah," Aeris said. "Let's live a little."

"Fair enough." I flagged over our waiter and ordered "The most impossible to pronounce dish you've got."

OOOOOOO

Sometime later, don't ask for specifics, I'm not sure, we were walking hand in hand. After dinner we had rode the trolley and were now heading towards the tube car station at the Saucer's main entrance. "This has been a wonderful night." Aeris said.

"Yeah. My only regret is that it's over so quickly."

"Well, it doesn't have to be quite over..." Aeris said. "There's still one place we've not been to yet."

"Oh?" I asked. I racked my mind for what we could have missed, but nothing came to mind. "What am I forgetting?" I asked.

Aeris stopped in front of a bench and we sat down. She explained "Well… Did you know that the hotel isn't the only thing in Ghost Square?"

"No I didn't. In the game, all you could see from the camera-view was the hotel itself."

"Ahh… Well, last time we were here I went out looking around before I went to bed. Back behind the hotel are two other attractions. The first is a 'haunted' hedge-maze that looked like it might be kind of fun, though that's not really what I've got in mind."

"Okay, I'll bite. What's the second?"

It was then that Aeris spoke two words, just two little words, that would change the rest of my life. "A chapel." She whispered.

"Oh."

"Hee hee… 'Oh' is all you can say?"

"I wasn't expecting…"

Aeris continued to sit next to me, holding both of my hands in hers. "I know. But it's still a good idea. Especially since this might be our last chance for a long time and I know I'm ready. The question is, are you?"

"I think I am. Though, we don't really have rings or anything…"

"Not a problem." Aeris answered. They've got them there. Basic ones of course, nothing too fancy, but since when has fancy mattered to either of us?"

"Then what are we sitting here waiting for?" I asked.

"I have no idea. Let's go…"

The Ghost Square chapel was small but ornate, beautifully decorated inside and out. The exterior decorations kept with the haunted house theme of the rest of the square, but the interior was traditional and clean. We paid the fees, and selected our rings. For Aeris I chose a gold ring with an inlay of small emeralds which matched her eyes. She gave me a heavy gold band with silver inlays in the shape of meshed gears all the way around.

Unfortunately, the chapel did not offer wedding clothing, though Aeris took the time to unbraid her hair and one of the employees produced a flower which she wore over her left ear. We had no witnesses, but in a world that didn't even require us to fill out forms that hardly mattered. Ready at last we stood before a Justice of the Peace and exchanged vows. Gaia weddings are quicker than those on Earth, with much less to be said. The entire event was over in only a few minutes.

After this we returned to the hotel. Entering the lobby, we found it deserted save for Red who was playing chess with a computer-controlled ghost opponent. He glanced over his shoulder as we passed by and said "Congratulations."

We both stared at him. "How…?"

Red twitched one of his ears. "These aren't just to look good. Fear not, I'll tell no one until you are both ready."

"Thanks pal." I said.

"Of course." Red answered, and returned his attention to the game.

Leaving Red to a game he was certain to win, we retired to my room together…