Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy or any other game, reference, etc. I shove in here. I only own the characters and other stuff I make up!

Ch. 54 Double Date

I woke up to find Sephiroth already up and making breakfast. He had started doing that lately. He was actually cooking for me. I felt like I should try, but I could only cook a few things before and I doubted that I would do much better here. I was a little surprised that he could cook so well, but he also memorized things quickly. After reading a recipe once or twice he knew it by heart.

"So what is it this time?" I said rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Eggs." He had just started cooking and I knew that when he said eggs they were not like normal eggs. They were almost the size of my hand. I felt sorry for the bird that laid that egg. When he was done there were eggs, bread, milk, and bacon that still tasted weird to me. We ate and he reminded me of all the things we had to do today. "You have a checkup today." He said frowning. "Afterwards we have that double date with Zack and Aeris."

"I know. I'm not looking forward to seeing Hojo. I always feel terrible afterwards. I hope it doesn't ruin tonight." I said staring at my milk.

"It won't as long as you don't let it." He said. I nodded and went to get dressed. I could not help frowning though. I really did not want to go and see Hojo today. Sephiroth joined me also getting ready. He was frowning slightly as well.

"Why are you frowning? He won't be looking at you."

"Actually he will. I have a checkup as well." He said brushing his hair.

"You never told me that."

"I didn't think I needed to." He replied.

"You could have, but I guess you didn't need to." I said sighing. "Let's just get it over with."

Our checkup was routine enough. Hojo did what he normally did and Sephiroth listened in on him to keep up with what he was doing. Some of it he seemed to be more careful about since he actually did know that we had telepathy. However, he could not tell if we were doing it or not.

"You know you still haven't told me what you and Zack talked about." I said once we were back in his apartment. It was bothering me that he just could not tell me. He does not really give me an excuse for it either.

"It's not important. Now get ready ok." He said smiling at me. I just sighed and went to change. I had bought new clothes and some other things to wear tonight. I wanted to look nice tonight for several reasons. Firstly, I would be meeting Aeris for the first time. I was a little nervous about that for some reason. Also, there is the matter of Sephiroth's gift. I want to look nice for him.

I got a nice strapless blue dress with a shawl to hide the number tattoo, but I also tied something there since I knew I would not wear it the whole time. I put my hair up and even took the time to put on makeup. A stretch for me since I haven't worn it in forever. Also something I deemed unnecessary before I came to Gaia. I wore the locket Sephiroth got me and some dangly earring's. I came out to get my shoes and he was in the room putting his on. He did not really change much from what he was wearing before. He never really did since he felt silly in anything else, which is something I do not really mind.

"So...what do you think, Seph?" I asked him. He looked up at me and smiled as I twirled around for him. "You like it?" He just nodded looking speechless.

"You look beautiful." He told me. "You really went all out didn't you?"

"Well, for you I did. It should be about time to go." I said looking at the time. We quickly finished getting ready and headed up to the restaurant. It was easier to eat there since we would not have to leave the building. Afterward we were going to sneak out and go to Aeris house. They really wanted me to see it. I knew the reason and I found myself feeling very excited about it.

"There you are!" Zack said ambushing us at the door to the restaurant. "We got here a little bit early. C'mon!" He said pulling us over to the table. "Aeris, this is Lilia. Lilia, Aeris." He said smiling almost too excited for us to handle. She smiled and nodded and I did the same. We all sat down both of us girls were by the wall and apparently they had already ordered drinks. Aeris and I got acquainted while Zack and Sephiroth talked. We were doing our own thing. Aeris told me a lot of funny stories. Weird things that Zack did.

"I'm really glad that we got to meet. I was worried that might not happen. I met Zack when you were gone and they told me about you. I'm glad to see you're ok." Aeris said.

"Thanks. I'm glad too. Zack told me all about you once I got back. He just couldn't contain himself." I said laughing a little. "He really seems to care for you."

"He seems to be telling everyone about me. He told me all about you and Sephiroth too. He told me that you lost a friend recently. I'm sorry to hear that. It was during the war right?"

"Yes." I said sadly. "He was a good friend. I think a lot of people will miss him." I said thinking that he had a lot of friends. Sephiroth had mentioned that there was a lot of chatter about him from the soldiers that knew him. He was quickly becoming a legend and a model of what to be like as a soldier. We both knew that over time that would fade away and be forgotten though.

"I'm sorry if I brought up something you didn't want to talk about." She said looking concerned. I shook my head telling her it was fine. It was still a little fresh, but I was fine. "Zack told me he was jealous of you and Sephiroth. Of your relationship." She said changing the subject.

"He was?" I asked surprised. I had no idea he had felt that way. She just nodded.

"He was just jealous of your feelings for each other. He wanted to have that."

"I suppose that now he does right?" She nodded. We kept talking for a while longer and slowly ate our food along the way. Sephiroth and Zack talked about a few things and every once in a while we would all chat together. It was a really pleasant start to the evening. I was having a good time and I honestly could not wait to go to her home. I really just wanted to see all of the flowers for myself.

"Is everyone done?" Sephiroth asked us. He was ready to go now. We had been there for about an hour. Everyone nodded and he paid as we had agreed and then we left. Zack and Aeris left the way they had come. The guards could see them leave and then we would leave the back way and meet up at the church. We waited a little bit and then left taking the stairs on the back side of the building. There was only one guard there and Sephiroth put him to sleep. After that it was no trouble at all making it down to the church.

Of course, Zack and Aeris were already there waiting for us. They were sitting on the front pew talking. They turned around when we came in. I noticed the flowers and could not help thinking that they were just so beautiful. There was almost nothing like that in Midgar. The way the light came into the church made it better. It was nearing sunset already. I also had to act surprised since I have never actually been here. Knowing about it and seeing it on the game and movie are one thing, but actually seeing it all in person was totally different.

I found myself kneeling in front of them and lightly touching them. It was just something I had to do. It really felt good to touch them. It had been a while since I had touched grass or even flowers for that matter. "They're beautiful. It's surprising to see them flourishing here of all places." I said. Once again it was something I had to do.

"Most people say that. I can see why. They won't grow anywhere else, well...they do grow at my house too." Aeris said.

"It's been a long time since I've even seen flowers." I said. "You don't bring me flowers." I said frowning at Sephiroth.

"If that's what you want then I will." He replied. I smiled.

"It's ok." I said shaking my head slightly.

"Well. To my house then?" Aeris said suddenly. We nodded and followed her and Zack through the slums. It was just filthy looking. I cringed the whole way. When we reached her house in its little hidden away place all of that went away. It was just a beautiful sight. Flowers everywhere with a nice little house. Once again the light made things better. There were no traces of the filth of the slums here. We went over to her garden and they let us be alone.

"What do you think of it?" He asked me. We had walked around it full circle.

"Just...beautiful." I said.

"When I first came here...I wished that you were there with me. I knew you would love this." He said. We stopped walking and he put his arm around me. "I love you." He said squeezing me slightly. Then he pulled something from his pocket and kneeled down in front of me. He seemed to feel a little awkward doing it. "I think I've held onto this long enough." He said holding it out to me. He opened it and there was a ring. It was not extravagant or anything like that, but it was beautiful and I was speechless. I had honestly expected it and I still could not help feeling that way. "I wanted to do this a year ago, but I couldn't. We still have two more weeks and we might never get another chance for this. Lilia, will you marry me?"

"I...uh." I started still taking it in. "Of course I will, Seph!" I said calmly after composing myself. He smiled and put the ring on me then he pulled me down to him and held me close. "I love you." I whispered in his ear. He kissed me and smiled and behind us we heard Zack and Aeris congratulating us very excitedly. "I'm gussing they knew about this?" He nodded and we both stood up.

"Alright, now that that's done we can celebrate!" Zack said holding out a bottle of wine. He smiled and then we all headed inside. Neither Sephiroth nor I wanted to drink at all. He seemed more wary of it than I was. I can only guess that maybe he has done it before.

"Seph?" He frowned at his glass and sighed.

"We probably shouldn't have too much. We can't stay here too long or they'll notice." He said taking a sip. "At least it's good." He said. I sipped mine too just tasting it at first. It really was good and I drank it a little less hesitantly after that. Sephiroth did make sure that after so many glasses that we were not allowed to have any more. Zack and Aeris seemed to be pretty drunk, mostly Zack, and Sephiroth and I were almost there with them. We all finally passed out waking up a few hours later feeling pretty bad.

Sephiroth and I definitely had to leave before someone noticed that we were not there. Once we got back we went right back to sleep. We did not really have anything to do so it did not matter. My last thought before going back to sleep was that sometime soon I would be his wife. The only thing that bothered me was that meant I would have Shinra for a last name and I really did not want that.

We were woken up by someone knocking on the door. We did ignore them, but Sephiroth finally got up when they did not go away. "What!?" I heard him say angrily. We still were not feeling too well. I got up to see who it was. It was a soldier and he gave Sephiroth some papers.

"New orders, Sir." He said saluting him.

"I shouldn't be receiving anything yet. My term here is not finished." Sephiroth said complaining.

"Sorry, Sir. I was just told to bring them to you." He said almost sheepishly.

"By who?" Sephiroth asked almost hissing it.

"Hojo, Sir. I still don't know why he had them." He said before leaving.

"Hojo." He said closing the door. He then sat down at the table so he could look them over. "Why would he have orders for me?"

"What do they say?" He went over them making sure that I understood. He was supposedly being sent away on what sounded like a bogus mission. I could see how angry he was getting. This is upsetting. It means that I would have to go back early and then we would not be able to get married. It could mean it might never happen. I was starting to feel angry and sad. "That just isn't fair." I said sadly.

Sephiroth was going over the papers again reading them very carefully. I knew what he was looking for. He was trying to find something wrong or perhaps a loop-hole to get us out of this. He just kept frowning even more and I could see that he was only getting angrier. However, after a few more minutes his expression changed. He was not quite as angry, but almost seemed happy.

"Hm. Looks like he messed up." Sephiroth said smiling evilly.

"What?"

"They look official to most, but I know better. I have to write these up and I know what should be in them. They're notarized, but the signatures are all fake. The president never signed these." He said smiling. "Well...then I'll just go and see him. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear what Hojo has done."

"What do you think he'll do?"

"Not sure, but forging fake documents is a serious offense. I'll let you know how things go." He said leaving. I knew Hojo could be an asshole at times, but this one takes the cake. The timing could not be worse. I sighed and waited. I could have listened in on him, but what he said made it clear that he did not want me to. He wanted to talk about it.

He returned looking triumphant. "Well?"

He sat next to me on the couch and put his arm around me. "You don't have to go back yet. Seeing those fake documents really lit a fire under him. He called Hojo up immediately and yelled at him until his face turned red." He said smiling. "It was nice to see Hojo like that. That fear in his eyes." I was trying to picture it in my head and all I could do was laugh slightly.

"What did the president do other than yell at him?"

"Cut his funding in half and took some of his toys away for a while. He'd have to do a lot worse to get fired. President Shinra still finds him useful. If that went away he would discard him like that." he said snapping his fingers.

"Is that all he did? It doesn't seem nearly severe enough." I said.

"Can't really expect much more from him. He can't limit him too much otherwise things would go nowhere. He needs him to continue his research and experiments on us."

"SO! I'm just tired of him getting away with it!" I said angrily. I crossed my arms. "Then again so is the president."

"I know. But don't worry. They'll get what they deserve in the long run." He said. I left it at that. There was no reason to go on talking about it. We had other things to talk about anyway. Somehow we needed to have a wedding before I went back and somehow it had to stay a secret from everyone. Of course, only a few people would know and Sephiroth mentioned that he would make sure they kept quiet. Even if threats needed to be made. He also said he would make sure that the documents stayed with us instead of getting archived where they could be found.

My last thought before actually going to sleep was that I would be his wife and take his name. Unfortunately his name is Sephiroth Shinra. That's not really the name that I want. I sighed and guessed that either he change his last name or I will just keep the one that I have now. Arne is not really such a bad name. I pushed that aside so I could actually sleep and decided to talk to him about it tomorrow.


Author: Revised.