Hi all! :D
Gonna keep it short so just a few points.
Thanks to my two latest reviews from Yulee and Moosh, cheers guys. Moosh I sent you a PM buddy ;), Yuleen I cant wait to hear the winners of this chapter lolz!
So this chapter was originally 8.5k words long but I broke it down to 5.5k, I'm trying to keep the chapters smaller because as this fic has progressed they have slowly started getting longer. I also wrote out five different scenes for it but I cut three of them out. There is so much I want to write for this part of the fic but I fear it might be too much for readers and you'll lose interest so the Womble is showing great self-restraint :D :D :D
I'm so poor that if you ever see me on telly it will be with a voice over actor saying "for just two pound a month..." and therefore I do not own any FF7 material belonging to Square Enix.
On with the fic!
Chapter 36 Part 1- Magnanimous sides
"Zack! I can't believe you did that!?"
Aerith half slapped half shoved the proud looking SOLDIER while she herself was in a weird state of being trapped between having a fit of laughter and a panic attack at the same time.
"You said you wanted him" Zack beamed, holding out the magnolia colored stuffed Chocobo victoriously.
"I said I thought he looked cute! Not leap fifty foot from a moving gondola to go get me him!"
"Well now miss Gainsborough, if this relationship is going to work you are going to have to be more specific."
Aerith beamed and pushed her hands against his chest, forcing him over to the bench seat behind him. "Is that a threat? Zack FRANCIS..."
"Hey!" Zack grabbed onto the rear pockets of the flower girls jeans for teasing him about his middle name and yanked her down with him.
With Aerith sat across his legs facing him he taunted the woman in his lap by running a hand down the front of her body. "I wouldn't do that you know, after all, you know I know your weakness."
Hand gliding over her abdomen he arrived at the spot just to the right of her left hip bone that he had discovered she was oddly tigglish in during their last intimate encounter. Applying pressure Aerith jolted and squealed with laughter, snatching his hand away.
"Don't be such a meany!"
Zack pressed again and Aerith squirmed in tickled ecstasy to be free.
"ZACK YOU BIG BULLY!"
"It's such a weird place to be tigglish" he chuckled, releasing the flower girl who pouted her lips at him.
"One day I'm going to find your weakness Mr and then you'll be sorry" she poked his chest and then played with the collar of his jumper. "At least after today I can scrap falling from ridiculous heights off the list."
"The falling was easy, it was the getting back up that was the hard part."
"And I was most impressed" she praised his mako enhanced parkour up scaffolding and along buildings.
Zack draped his arms around Aerith and she shifted in his lap to curl herself up against him and then gazed around at the gondola cabin.
"I have to say it again, these flowers really are amazing Zack" Aerith sighed happily as she settled comfortably into him. "Where did you get them?"
Zack looked around at the intensely bright flowers that glowed with so much life they almost made the spell binding views of the golden saucer passing them by outside look bland. It wasn't that he had purchased flowers this spectacular, in fact they were quite dull earlier compared to what they were now, this was simply the effect that the Cetra beauty in his arms had on them and it never ceased to amaze him.
"I have my sources" Zack grinned, tucking back a lock of curls from Aerith's face to get a fuller look at her naturally stunning features that had a glow that was strikingly similar to the flowers around them.
"You spoke to one of Kunsel's contacts didn't you?"
"No."
Aerith raised an eyebrow.
"Cissnei's actually" Zack replied smartly.
Aerith laughed, "they really do know people in just about all places. Oh I really do hope their date goes well tonight."
"So do I. Actually, we might even be able see them from here."
They looked at each other mischievously and then both stood up quickly to rush over and eves drop off the side of the gondola. To both their surprises however, they saw that it was in vein as they had both got so wrapped up in each other's company that they didn't notice that everyone had turned into thousands of tiny ant sized people far below.
"Maybe not" Zack chuckled.
"Wow we're so high up now" she breathed then looked at him sidelong, "… that wasn't a challenge."
"Nope, pretty sure that one would kill me."
Aerith placed her hands under her chin and leaned her elbows on the side of the gondola window, sighing contently at the view as a warm night-time breeze blew at the long heavy twist of hair hanging over her left shoulder.
"It's so pretty". She took a deep inhaling breath, closing her eyes briefly as she took in the scent of home again, "how could anyone want to destroy all of this?"
Aerith tensed and he knew why.
"Zack I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mention..."
"Hey, don't worry about it" he smiled and genuinely meant it, "I've come to terms with Sephiroth and Genesis now. In a way I've come to understand it."
"What do you mean?" Aerith turned her focus from the golden fairy tale world outside to look at him as Zack adopted the same position she had been in to stare out into the distance.
"I always liked Sephiroth, right from the start. I could always tell there was more to him, more than just the stone cold general that everyone else saw. I wanted to see if I could get that side to show, get him to open up a bit more, become more social, that kind of thing."
Aerith nodded and placed a hand gently against his arm "I know, I remember the way you used to talk about him when you used to visit me after work"
"Yeah... but I could always tell, no matter how much effort he put into being... I guess normal, and he did, he really did try, there was always this look in his eye. No matter how many places we went, or how many dumb parties I dragged him to", Zack smiled into the night fondly at a handful of memories. "There was still always this look that never went away... like he was lost"
Zack shook his head, this wasn't what he wanted to talk about, tonight was about him and Aerith
"What I'm trying to say is, Sephiroth's just doing what he thinks is right, what Jenova has brain washed him to believe will find him a place he belongs. Just like Genesis believes the goddess betrayed him and he deserves revenge. They're both just fighting for their beliefs, for their goals and rightly or wrongly I can understand that, because I would always fight for mine."
"Yours?"
"You see when Barret spoke to me back in the Corel mountains about how he wanted to help his old town rebuild itself and what he was going to do when this was all over, it kinda got me thinking about my own future."
"And what did you think of?"
"That's just it, I kept trying to think, of where I would go, of what I would do and I couldn't think of anything."
Zack closed his hand over the top of Aerith's and looked into her patiently listening eyes.
"But one thing was always the same. In every scenario that I imagined of what my future might look like or of what I might do, you were always in it, every single time."
He lifted Aerith's dainty hand, placed a firm kiss in the center of her palm and the entire gondola glowed as the surrounding flowers bloomed impossibly brighter.
"That's when I realized, it didn't matter what I did or where I went, as long as you were with me that was enough."
"Oh Zack... you thought about our future?" her chest heaved beautifully.
"Always. I couldn't see any other future without you in it Aerith."
Suddenly the glow of the cabin dimmed and seeing her spirit visibly drop was not what he was expecting.
"What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?"
"No no no" Aerith rushed, placing a hand to his cheek, "no you didn't say anything wrong at all. The fact that you're thinking like that is the sweetest thing ever and it means the world to me, it really does."
"Then what's the matter?" he whispered his confusion.
"It's just that… I don't want you to ever think you don't have a future Zack. I want to know that if something happened to me on this journey, that you would keep going. I want to think that you would still find happiness."
"But that's why I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I'm going to keep you safe, I'm gonna be a better bodyguard from now on. That's why I wanted to give you this."
Zack walked over to the wooden panel under one of the two bench seats of the gondola and took out the box he had kept hidden as a surprise gift to her.
"You got me a present?"
He nodded, pleased to see some of her cheerfulness return even if it was just a little bit, he despised seeing Aerith any other way.
"Zack you shouldn't have, now I feel terrible that I didn't get you anything."
"You've given me more than enough these last couple of weeks, it's my turn. Plus it's kind of a present for both of us, go ahead, open it."
He pressed the weighty and beautifully carved dark Banora wood casket into Aerith's hand and he was relieved to see from her reaction that at the very least the box itself had been a success. Waiting with baited breath he watched as she sat down, placed the box on her lap to lift the lid with both hands and peer into the black velvet lined container.
"These are... I can't believe... they're amazing... I don't know what to say."
Internally cheering to himself he went to sit beside his speechless partner as she tenderly ran her hand along the smaller of the two precious metal wrist armlets that were engraved just as intricately as the box in a swirling design that only completed itself when the two bracelets were together.
"They're a unique pair made from a rare metal called Ziedrich, just about as good as armored materia bangles get apparently, they'll be a pretty powerful upgrade."
Slotted combat bracelets were a necessity in efficiently wielding materia in battle, making them a must for everyone in AVALANCHE. Most of the group up to this point however were running with basic silver and carbon bangles, nothing as refined or exquisite as these jewellery pieces that he and Kunsel had pulled some serious strings to acquire.
"I... I've never seen bracelets so beautiful before."
Zack smiled and took his larger of the pair to click it around his wrist.
"There's more to them, the main reason why I got them for us. You see they're not just your usual kind of bangles", he explained, indicating for Aerith to take hers and put it on.
"They're not?" she clicked hers around her opposite wrist, "It fits! Thankyou! It's looks so pretty!"
Moisture gleamed on the surface of Aerith's big emerald eyes as the item fit perfectly and looked even more stunning against the delicate backdrop of her arm.
Zack stood up and moved away from her, walking in as wide a perimeter as he possibly could in the surrounding cabin, watching her face closely as she looked wide-eyed back and forth between her wrist and him.
"Do you feel it?"
"I feel it! What is that!?"
It was the pull of the bracelets she was feeling and he could sense it to in his, it was the faintest of attractions, strong enough to feel the direction to the other one but not too strong that it felt heavy or distracting.
"It's that Ziedrich stuff, it's like some crazy magic metal that when pieces are made together they remain drawn to one another forever. I don't know the whole science of it but it's the kind of thing that Jessie would go nuts over."
Zack went over to place his bracelet next to Aerith's and lay a hand against her hip with the other arm affectionately.
"So this one and that one are a pair and no matter where in the world either of them go, they'll always pull towards each other, no matter how far apart they become. So whatever fights and battles are ahead of us I'll always know where you are and keep you safe. Or if we ever get separated again, we'll always be able to find each other. I lost you for four years, I never want to lose you again."
The moisture in her eyes finally spilled over and two small arms found their away around his waist.
"Neither do I Zack, I really really don't."
He embraced the flower girl back for a long and intimate stretch of time, then taking her chin softly between his thumb and finger he lifted her face to his, "I love you Aerith, I'd always fight for you, remember that."
The moment screamed for it and at precisely the same time they leaned into one another to kiss but his mouth only had a chance to brush against hers lightly, teasing him with the faintest hint of that sweet taste that was so uniquely Aerith until the Gondola suddenly pulled to a harsh stop. Jerking at the abrupt movement they both looked around the place, then at each other and laughed sheepishly as they realized time had flown again and the tour ride was over.
"I guess we didn't do much of the sight-seeing" he shrugged humorously.
"I guess not."
"Sir. Ms. We hope you had a great time."
"We did" Aerith smiled as a young man working at the golden saucer opened the ride cabin door. "We really did."
They stepped out and wondered away hand in hand and it made Zack grin to see the bracers on their wrists align neatly, whoever the metal smith from Banora had been who designed these, they had really gone the extra mile.
"So what do you want to do now?" he squeezed her hand lightly.
Aerith thought about it for a moment and then with a visible rush of eagerness for her own idea, took off with Zack stumbling after her as he was suddenly pulled along.
"I have a great idea!"
Chapter 36 Part 2- Magnanimous sides
"Kunsel stop!"
Cissnei clutched her painful sides, trying to suppress her close to hysterical laughter before her cheeks exploded.
"And then when Zack wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be kissing the king or the princess!"
Cissnei creased up laughing even harder making her cry, actual tears were rolling from her eyes.
"I must admit... It wasn't what I was expecting at my first pantomime" she coughed once she had calmed down enough to speak. "Aerith sure made a pretty princess though."
"So that's how many things you've never done off the list now?" he asked as they toppled out from event square together into wonder square.
"Twenty-three" she beamed, turning to him and walking backwards in childish excitement.
"And does this make it twenty-four?"
Kunsel glided up to her, slipped a hand behind her neck and she let him shamelessly kiss her, realizing but not caring that she looked exactly like one of the love sick idiots she used to look at from afar and detest. Feeling his strong boisterous lips on hers never became any less incredible for Cissnei, but she couldn't help wondering how he might think this was number twenty-four. She suddenly got her answer when she felt his tongue slip into her mouth, making a soft yelp go off in her throat and her eyes widen at first but then they closed when she focused on the sensation it was giving her. The thought of kissing with tongues was something that had always seemed so gross to her in the past but now she was actually on the receiving end of it, it most definitely made for a pleasurable number twenty-four of things she had never done. By the time he pulled away she was oddly delirious and Cissnei was pleased his hands were there to balance her by the shoulders or there was a good chance should would have toppled over.
"So?" he smirked, asking if that was in fact number twenty-four.
Recovering some of her wits she decided to tease the SOLDIER and turned her back on him, sauntering away in as womanly a fashion as she could then turned to look at him over her shoulder and shrug.
"Maybe."
"Maybe!?", Kunsel's expression dropped in an unmasked slap of pride and Cissnei giggled quietly under her breath as she waltzed away, knowing his eyes were checking her out. "Oh I get it, going to play like that are we?"
"You're not feeling threatened are you?" she poked as he jogged after her and threw an arm around her waist.
"Well either way, I'll still always be the first guy ever rode on a roller coaster with, you can't take that from me."
"No, nor that you're the first guy who's ass I've kicked in the battle square."
"Hey you played dirty!"
"And you have mako."
"Touche."
Cissnei's cheeks hurt again from more laughing and she stepped in front of Kunsel, keeping his arm around her and not caring that they were slap bang in the middle of the crowded energetic wonder square.
"Kunsel, I just wanna say I'm really glad we came, tonight's been the most fun I've had in... ever."
The ex-Turk meant it, she had made more fond memories in tonight alone then in the rest of her life time combined. Fun that felt like she never even knew existed before today. Even a kids pantomime, something that old Cissnei would have loathed the mere thought of had been enjoyable. Though Zack confidently appearing on stage and taking his role as the 'hero' way too seriously until being reduced to a bumbling wreck at the misunderstood kiss scene may have had something to do with that.
"And I've never had more fun watching someone do so many new things. Which reminds me, I think I've just seen number twenty-five."
Kunsel looked over her shoulder and she followed his striking multi-colored eyes to a luminous and garishly pink stall that a small line of children and parents cued up jovially at.
"Ever had any?"
"No."
"You've never had candyfloss!?"
She shook her head and he sighed.
"Ho boy, how did I know? Rekka you're making my heart bleed darling... well you better get over there quickly."
Kunsel took out the last of their GP and handed the golden saucer currency to her.
"I'll head over to the exchange thingy and get more."
"Can't I do that?" Cissnei uncomfortably scrunched her face up, "there's only kids in that line."
"Well you have a lot of childhood to catch up on yourself. Now go."
Kunsel turned her towards the line and gently sent her off by tapping her on the behind. An action he knew would make her heart climb into her throat so as she stumbled away she shot back at him what came off as somewhere between an evil glare and a flirtatious grin.
Joining the back of the small line Cissnei instantly felt like a fish out of water, re-living her lost childhood at the age of twenty-one was certainly not what she had been expecting tonight. It took five hellish minutes and the aggravating stare of a small boy in front who had grown a gawking fascination with her before she was at the front of the cue. Cissnei sighed and stepped up to the young girl in her mid-teens who was working the stall and cringed when she caught the girl look to either side of her, expecting to see a child.
"Hi there!"
"Hi" Cissnei blandly mumbled with a hundred times less enthusiasm.
"What would you like?"
Cissnei frowned at this, they only served the stupid pink stuff that caught in the heat of this embarrassing moment had quite forgotten its name.
"Uh. Some of that pink stuff please."
Cissnei winced as a child behind her laughed. Gaia now she was being mocked by children, there was a time once that she was a feared Turk, how did it all come to this?
"You mean candyfloss? Stick or bag?"
Yes, what else could I damn well mean and right now I couldn't care if it was attached to a toilet brush I just want to get out of here.
"Bag please" she tuned, forcing a smile that she tried her best not to make look hateful or condescending.
Once she was given the bag of pink fluffy humiliation she paid and hurried away to go find Kunsel over at the GP exchange in the extensive flashy arcades.
Slipping her way through the sea of machines, lights and people she didn't even make it to the brightly sign posted exchange counter before a voice she recognized singled itself out amongst all the noise.
"Ooh aye laddy, ye'll be most pleased we'a readin'."
Cissnei froze, she most definitely knew that voice!
"Well I'll hand it to you, you sure don't take no for an answer pal."
That was Kunsel! Cissnei looked around frantically through the crowd and moved stealthily towards their voices as fast as possible.
"We'a cannay jes turn ye back on yer fortune."
Dodging passed a group of loud men gathered around a single slot machine, she caught a brief glimpse of Kunsel and his new found company during a parting in the crowd and her eyes narrowed morbidly as her suspicion on who Kunsel was talking to was confirmed. As Rekka was back in her room, she knelt down momentarily to check that she still had the dagger she always carried on her left ankle, not that she had any reason to use it or draw it just yet, but whenever Shinra were involved you couldn't take your chances.
Walking over to the pair, Kunsel who was totally clueless of who he was really talking to smiled and winked over to her but she semi-ignored it. The last thing she needed to be thinking about right now was how bloody handsome the SOLDIER was.
"Hey Ciss, get a loada this little guy, he reckons he can tell me my fortune."
Cissnei folder her arms and the so called 'fortune teller' saw her and squeaked in alarm.
"Naw I don't! T'was jos' a joke, I'll jos' be on me merry wey now."
"What are you doing here Cait?"
The small mechanical cat froze as he tried to bound away and turned to her with a 'oh-I-didn't-recognise-you-were-there-isn't-this-a-pleasant-surprise-I'm-so-happy-to-see-you' face.
"Ey Cissnei! Fancy seein' yew 'ere lass, how ye doin? Good! good! Anywho's, moost be off!"
"Hold it"
Cait Sith wen't rigid, if such a thing was possible for a clockwork toy.
"I said, what are you doing here? Why are you speaking to Kunsel?"
"Hey, what's going on?" Kunsel whispered his bemusement to her, wanting to be filled in but she gave him a 'trust me' look and he nodded.
"Kunsel? Oo's Kunsel? I dare'nay know a Kunsel"
Cissnei gave the cat her favorite unamused stare, a stare that never failed her while she was a Turk and didn't fail her now as Cait Sith looked like he was about to start profusely sweating, absent the actual sweat.
"Oooh ya' mean ta' say this chappy o'er 'ere is with yew? Well that be a mighty coincidence if e'er I did see one."
"Cait, put me through to Reeve" she ordered sternly, knowing that the cat could keep talking for the whole of Midgar.
"Pfff Reeve shmeeve. Look 'ere las, yer got it all wrong, I'm just a wee cuddly toy havin' a nice li'l holiday."
"A holiday?"
"Aye a holiday! I 'av rights to yee know!"
"You were trying to weasel your way in and trick Kunsel, now who put you up to it and what do they want?"
"I dannay know whot'cha talkin' about", Cait folded his arms stubbornly.
"Right, that's it, Reeve you've got three seconds to get out here before I turn Cait into a box of scrap."
She grabbed the black and white cat of its giant pink moogle perch and Cait Sith started squirming and punching around with his little white gloves to be let go.
"Gair yer big oafish 'ands off meh!"
"Three"
"Bring it! I'll take yer all on!"
"Two"
"I'll never speak! Never!"
"One"
"FREEEEDDDDOOOOMMMMM!"
Suddenly Cait Sith's impassioned battle cry cut out as he was deactivated and Reeve's voice shouted out urgently in its place.
"I'M HERE! WAIT! DON'T BREAK HIM!"
Cissnei paused before she pummelled Cait into the floor and placed her free hand on her hip victoriously while Kunsel looked around at a total loss.
"Hello Reeve."
"Hi Cissnei", Reeve droned unhappily. "Did you really need to make the break threat? Cait has feelings to you know."
She dismissed the accusation that she had hurt a small mechanical cats feelings and started her interrogation.
"So what's going on?" Cissnei demanded once more.
There was a long pause on the other end, "...I can't tell you"
Lifting the limp Cait Sith higher up in the air, she readied her hand to smash him against the ground again.
"OK THE TURKS! The Turks made me do it!"
"Go on" she let the toy dangle in the air.
"They found out" Reeve sighed, "They found out that I helped you with the security codes to hack the news network. They said I had to either do what they asked or I'd go to prison."
"So what did they ask for?" Kunsel started well but then went off on a tangent. "Oh and can I just quickly say, huge fan Mr. Tuetsi, I think you're incredible work is hugely underrated. I know a girl called Jessie who would love to meet a great inventor like you."
"Thankyou. Your too kind" the head of urban development proudly sang as Cissnei shot Kunsel a 'get serious' face.
"Uh, more importantly, what did they ask for!?" he glared.
"Well, looks like I'm a dead man now anyway so there's no point in hiding the rest... So the Turks figured out that Dio owes Kunsel over here a favor after they found out he saved the guys life in the Kalm fire-bombings."
Cissnei gave Kunsel a sudden look at this and he calmly tilted his head as if to say they would talk about that another time so she let Reeve continue.
"Now Dio has something they want called a runestone but you see it's not that easy to steal from a guy like Dio, not even for Turks. So they wanted me to convince Kunsel to ask him for it and then I was gonna be forced into making Cait steal it and hand it over to them."
Reeve finished his confession and heaved sadly.
"I'm sorry guys, I didn't have any other choice."
Cissnei placed Cait Sith back on top of the giant pink moogle in disappointment.
"Reeve… why didn't you come to me first? You know I would have helped."
"I don't think even you can help me with this one Cissnei, Midgar's gone crazy since the assassination attempt. Between the curfews and the house arrests going on I may as well already be in a prison, I can't breathe without fifty different eyes seeing me. Cait Sith was my only contact to the outside world and even he's got the Turks claws dug into him."
She had to pity Reeve, he was a kind man who meant well and it was certainly one hell of a tough situation to be in.
"What do you mean assassination attempt?" Kunsel asked before she could.
Reeve hesitated, "I shouldn't know this, so in the small off-chance I do get to live then you didn't hear it from me. Apparently some Turk's tried to knock off Heideggar, things went bad and a whole loada fighting broke out."
"Anyone dead?" Cissnei pressed, surprising herself with the concern she felt.
"There were a lot of dead SOLDIER's and I heard that some new Turk called Elena got shot pretty badly. I think they got her out but I doubt she'll live."
A knot twist in the pit of Cissnei's stomach that felt something close to guilt. She had never met Elena previous to their encounter at the mythril mines but she couldn't help thinking that it was because of her that the woman had been recruited into the Turks prematurely. If things hadn't have happened the way they did, that could quite easily have been Cissnei's mission and it would be her facing deaths door right now.
"Ok, anything else?", Cissnei swallowed her conscience, something she had done most of her life.
"What that wasn't enough!?" Reeve exclaimed.
Satisfied the Shinra executive had told them everything he knew she turned to Kunsel.
"Do you know what this so called runestone they're after is?"
He nodded but then signaled his eyes warily at Cait Sith.
"It's ok, go ahead, he isn't dumb enough to cross more than one assassin in a day, isn't that right Reeve?"
There was no response, just an audible gulp on the other side and Kunsel carried on.
"It's the key to open the temple of the ancients where the black materia is kept, and before you ask, no I don't know where the temple actually is."
Cissnei clenched her fists together that her fellow Turks had not lived up to their end of the deal and told them everything they knew about Sephiroth's motives.
"Reno that little rat, I'm gonna ring his little neck the next time I see him."
"So I guess we have no choice but to ask Dio for the runestone and then keep it ourselves" Kunsel shrugged, "If we don't, the Turk's will only find another way of getting their hands on it."
"True. Ok let's go find Dio."
"Wait!" Reeve yelled, "You can't! If you take the runestone for yourselves then I'm really dead, as in an actual bullet in my head dead."
Cissnei paused and racked her brain in exasperation, Reeve was right, Tseng was not going to take kindly to being double-crossed. She couldn't just leave Reeve to be killed on her behalf, but handing the runestone over to the Turks wasn't an option either. Kunsel was the first to offer up a solution.
"What if we take the cat along with us, make them think Reeve has infiltrated AVALANCHE and string them along for as long as possible."
"Tseng's too smart for that to work for any real length of time but it might just give me the time I need to make some calls and arrange to get Reeve out of Midgar."
"Yes! Thankyou! Excellent plan!" the Shinra executive cheered.
"Fine, the cat stays, the stupid pink moogle thing goes."
"Awww really?" Reeve complained.
"Yes really... why is this even a thing?" Cissnei eyed the lurid monstrosity distastefully.
"I thought it made Cait look rather regal and dashing."
Cissnei's unamused stare was back.
"... fine, the moogle goes."
Cissnei nodded and picked up Cait Sith. "And the cat stays switched off at all times until I say otherwise."
"Ummm, I'm afraid that's not something I can really promise" Reeve confessed.
"And why not?" Cissnei frowned.
"Well you see... I don't have as much control over Cait Sith as you might think, he is developing far beyond my expectations, it's actually quite fascinating."
"Tha's right! So ye'll just have'tere get used to it!"
Cissnei jolted as the little machine cat sprung to life in an intentionally erratic manner to frighten her. Accidentally dropping him to the ground, Cait Sith landed ungracefully on his rear and then scampered across the floor to climb up the side of Kunsel's body and stand tall on one of the man's shoulders.
"Bloody brilliant view! On we go lad!"
Cait Sith patted Kunsel on the head and the SOLDIER chuckled as he sent Cissnei an amused stare who rolled her eyes in return.
"Come on then" she droned, feeling bitter that her date with Kunsel had been so abruptly interrupted.
Kunsel nodded and Cait Sith did a happy little jig on his shoulder as the three of them set off to go find Dio and get the runestone.
"Ooooooh goin' on an adventure wee all me chums, this'll be the bees knees! I always wanted ter' go on'a real life adventure."
"Yeah well just keep the volume down" she ordered sourly and Cait Sith turned, stared at her and then put his tiny hand paw thingy to Kunsel's ear.
"Pssst, Kunsel lad, is the las o'er 'ere always this toof?"
"I can hear you you know" she called out to them in front.
"She likes everyone to think so, but really she's a big softie."
Though he whispered to Cait Sith, Kunsel turned to her and held out his hand affectionately and Cissnei oddly blushed. There was something about being called a 'softie' by the man she was infatuated with that made her feel warm inside. She wanted that to be the way that Kunsel saw and thought of her. She wanted him to remember this new side to her, the side that only he saw, the side that had a conscience and a heart, the side that she had long buried and he had brought back to life.
It was only when she was with him that she was Rekka again and while Cait Sith jabbered away happily about adventure she took the SOLDIER's hand and squeezed it tight. She would always be Rekka for him, even though she would leave tonight without saying goodbye while he was sleeping, even though she might not see him again in a long time and the ruthless Turk would have to return to do what needed to be done, she would always be Rekka for him. For him she would always be that 'big softie'.