TWENTY-ONE

Later that night, the six of us crouched behind the wall outside the Shinra warehouse. Jessie and I were in our normal gear again, Buster in its usual place on my back. Lena was wearing a short-sleeved gray top, black shorts with a matching leather belt, gloves that went nearly to her elbows, and a pair of sturdy, knee-high brown boots. At her hip hung a loaded handgun similar to the one Biggs used.

Barret pointed along the wall, showing the way Jessie and I were to go, and we both nodded. Exchanging a determined glance, we hurried quietly away from the others and around the perimeter of the complex. A few minutes later, we reached the other side of the warehouse. There was a back entrance here along with some loading bays. The place was, as Jessie had said, huge. A storage facility located near the boundary in between Sectors 7 and 6. Also known as the 7-6 Annex.

No one was outside except for a pair of bored Shinra guards. They never even saw us coming. Jessie winked, tossed another smoke bomb to mask our approach, and darted in. I followed her, drawing Buster as I ran. We moved quickly and quietly, taking down the stunned soldiers before they even knew what was happening.

By the time the smoke had cleared away, it was over and the guards lay unconscious on the ground. While I dragged them out of sight and swiped a few potions from their pockets, Jessie moved to the middle of the enclosed area, took a flare out of her belt, lit it, and sent it shooting up into the gloomy night sky. It was a streak of bright, white fumes that the others would clearly see from the front of the warehouse. Satisfied, Jessie met me at the back door.

She took out a Shinra ID card and swiped it through the reader by the lock. There was a beep, and the light fixed above the nearby keypad changed from red to yellow as a message scrolled across a small screen next to the keypad, asking for an authorization code. Jessie punched in a long sequence of numbers and letters, and when she was done, there was another chime as the light finally turned green and the door hissed open. I glanced her as she put the card away.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

Jessie's laugh was more sad than funny. "My employee access code. It still works after all these years. You'd think Shinra would've erased it or deactivated it by now, but they haven't. That's bureaucracy for ya. It's come in handy for me quite a few times."

I didn't doubt it. "Think they'll ever catch on?"

"Dunno. Probably, sooner or later. So I take advantage of it while I still can, you know? All mid-level and higher Shinra employees get one of these codes to let them enter certain places around the city. Like the reactors, warehouses, and different floors in the Shinra Building itself. The higher up you are, the more places you can go."

"And how high were you?" I wondered.

Jessie looked away. "Pretty high…"

I wasn't surprised. To get into a place like this, she probably had to have been. Before we could talk more about it, though, we both looked up as the sounds of battle—shouts, explosions, weapons fire—suddenly filled the air. It was coming from the front of the warehouse, where the others were keeping the Shinra forces occupied.

"That's our cue," Jessie whispered, drawing her gun.

I met her determined gaze. "Ready?"

She grinned. "You bet, SOLDIER boy. Let's get this done."

The entrance to the warehouse stood open in front of us. We could see a short but brightly-lit hall with other doors on either side and also one at the far end. Far overhead, the moon was full, its pale light filling the area with its soft glow. Buster in hand, I took one last look around, then followed Jessie into the 7-6 Annex.

"Eat it, you Shinra punks!" I yelled.

We was in the big courtyard in fronta the warehouse causin' a good loud ruckus. Soon as we'd seen that flare go up, we'd moved right in an' made sure them Shinra soldiers saw us. There was a bunch of 'em here, an' they was all around us tryin' to take us down. Wasn't gonna happen, though. Me an' my gun-arm would see to that.

I sprayed the troops ahead of me with a wide fana lead, an' they all fell down like a buncha bowlin' pins. Biggs an' Lena held off the ones to either side while Wedge cooked the soldiers that had tried to cut us off from behind, his flamethrower an' rifle combo keepin' our backs clear. I motioned to the others, an' we ran on ahead.

Didn't seem to be an end to them soldiers, though. More of 'em jus' kept on comin' outta the warehouse, shoutin' at us to stand down. Like hell we would. Some of the troops had those big riot shields an' batons instead of their guns, an' others started tossin' some grenades at us. Not good. I decided to focus on 'em first.

"Spread out!" I ordered the others. "Draw 'em apart an' pick 'em off a few at a time. An' mind them grenades!"

They did as I'd said, scattering to different parts of the courtyard so we'd be harder targets and not all clustered together in one place. Lena ran off to the right, droppin' to one knee an' shootin' her gun at the two troopers ahead of her. She was a dead shot, takin' 'em down quick, then jumpin' right back to her feet an' backhandin' a third soldier across the face with the barrel of her gun. Another one tried to rush her, but Lena jus' sidestepped, shoved her knee into his gut, then threw him onto the ground before movin' to her next target.

Biggs took the left, shootin' his own handgun an' takin' out soldiers left an' right. If any got close enough, he showed 'em their mistake with his fists. A couple of them riot troopers closed in on him, but we knew how to handle them types. Biggs reached into the lil' bag on his belt an' took out a couple small black discs.

They was explosives, one of Jessie's concoctions that she'd made for him. After depressin' the armin' switch on each one, Biggs rolled 'em at them riot troopers, then dove for cover. The fools didn't have a clue or a chance, an' the explosions took 'em both out.

Wedge fell back, sprayin' flames at the cluster of soldiers rushin' in from the gate. Then he switched his gun to rifle mode an' started firin' bullets an' addin' an occasional grenade of his own, keepin' 'em pinned down for a good long while so the rest of us could focus on the soldiers in front of us an' finish 'em off.

As for me, I concentrated on takin' down those grenade troops fast as I could. Runnin' outta the way of a blast, I opened up, shootin' them suckers down one after another and runnin' circles 'round 'em to make it harder for 'em to hit me. Soon they was all down, an' I got to work on the leftovers while the others did the same.

We'd just cleared out the last of 'em when suddenly a loud whirrin' sound cut through air, an' several missile turrets rose up from outta the high ledges on either side of the courtyard's inner wall. An' at the same time, a door in one corner opened up, spillin' out a buncha grunts that came runnin' right for us fast as lightnin'.

"Biggs! Lena!" I called. "Take out them turrets! Wedge, you're with me! We'll handle the grunts."

"Right with ya, boss!" Wedge said, joinin' me.

Biggs saluted. "We got this!"

Lena waved, grinned, and nodded. "Yeah! What he said!"

While she an' Biggs ran off the deal with the turrets, me an' Wedge started layin' into them grunts, shootin 'em down as they came at us. It wasn't easy what with how fast they were, an' we had to keep movin' to stay outta the way of the energy bolts they was firin' at us. A few of 'em nicked my arms, but nothin' serious.

There was a sudden boom from up above as Lena took out the first turret on her side, then Biggs got one himself a moment later. That left two more for each of 'em. The grunts that was left jumped left an' right as they swiped their claws at me an' Wedge, catchin' him on the leg but luckily not goin' deep. He came back with his flamethrower, sweepin' a nice big arc of flame across the whole lot of 'em while I showered them bastards with a rain of bullets.

Jus' as we thought it was over an' the last of the grunts went down, another gate slid open amidst all the alarms, an' a large pack of Shinra's tentacled, black-furred guard dogs charged out at us into the courtyard along with a few bloodhounds. Those was like the guard hounds, only they had red fur an' were tougher an' meaner.

"Shit!" I swore. "Ain't no end to these guys, is there?"

"Think they'd like a bone?" Wedge asked.

I snorted. "Yours, maybe! So stay sharp, Wedge, 'less you wanna be on the menu tonight!"

"Yeah. I'd rather eat dinner than be dinner!"

Sayin' that, he yanked a grenade off his belt, pulled out the pin, an' tossed it into the pack before they reached us. We ran fast as we could, fallin' back toward the main gate an' away from the dogs, an' only a few seconds later, the blast took out half of 'em with a buncha startled yelps an' barks. The rest kept comin' at us.

Jus' then, Biggs threw down another turret, crushin' a few of them hounds, while Lena shot down a few more from her perch on the ledge after trashin' another turret on her side. Almost there. Noticin' that the heat gauge on my gun-arm was almost full, I grinned an' poured more lead into the hounds. A few seconds later, the light on the side changed from green to red jus' as one of them bloodhounds jumped right at me, its sharp teeth bared. It was go time.

"Bringin' the heat, you ugly son of a bitch!" I smirked.

I braced myself as a super hot ball of orange fire formed at the end of the barrel as the gun-arm discharged the excess heat in one massive blast. Then I yelled and shot it into the bloodhound, blowin' it apart in a shower of burnin' dog flesh an' smoke.

Between me an' Wedge, we took out the rest of the hounds without too much trouble while Biggs an' Lena threw down the last two turrets. They got back down to the courtyard an' joined us jus' as another set of doors opened. These was huge, on either side of the warehouse's inner entrance, an' from 'em marched half a dozen sweepers along with more Shinra soldiers, their rifles held ready.

Biggs brought up his gun an' took aim. "If we get outta this alive, I swear I'm gonna kill Jessie!"

"Take a damn number!" I growled. "Let's go!"

Alarms blared all around us as we snuck through the warehouse. I motioned for Jessie to wait, and we flattened ourselves against the wall while another squad of soldiers ran past the hallway we were hiding in. More reinforcements for the forces that were already in the courtyard. I hoped Barret and the others could hold out.

When the way was clear, Jessie and I hurried further down the hall until we reached another storage room. We had searched several so far, but with no luck, and this place had dozens. How were we supposed to find this chip? We couldn't stay here much longer, and we'd already had a few close calls. Time was running out.

"Hmm…" Jessie said. "This looks promising."

This room, unlike others we'd searched, was full of computer parts. All kinds and all sizes. If the chip was anywhere, it would be here. She'd told me what it looked like, so we split up and got to work. I looked on the right side while Jessie took the left. It took us a few minutes, longer than I would've liked, but then as I was shuffling through a shelf full of components and circuit boards, we hit paydirt.

Jessie held it up as I turned around. "Yes! Found it!"

"About time," I said. "You know where the control room's at? We've still gotta get the blueprints."

"Way ahead of you, SOLDIER boy. Follow me!"

She raced back into the hall just in time to get spotted by a pair of guards, likely stragglers on their way to catch up with the others. They immediately brought up their rifles as two more soldiers charged at us from the other end of the hall. Jessie skidded to a halt and whipped out her gun as I caught up to her, Buster in hand.

I grimaced as we stood back to back. "Next time, I go first."

"Sure, but you'd be lost without me!" she laughed.

Not wasting a second, I brought up Buster just in time to block the shots from the new arrivals while Jessie started shooting at the others. I ran in and hit one of the guards with a series of three quick slashes that left him dead on the floor. Jessie took out another one a moment later, peppering him with bullets, then passed her gun to her left hand while she lifted her right, concentrating on the Lightning materia in the iron bangle she wore on her arm.

While I impaled the third guard with a quick forward thrust, Jessie threw her hand out toward the last soldier, and a sizzling blue finger of electricity flew into him, slamming him in the chest and throwing him halfway down the hall. He didn't get up, and the air was filled with the smell of ozone and burnt flesh.

Jessie was ecstatic. "I did it, Cloud! I did it!"

"We'll celebrate later," I said, shouldering Buster. "Right now, we've gotta move. But… good job."

She and I had spent some time earlier that afternoon training with her new gear. After showing her how to fit the materia into the slot, I'd taken her behind the Seventh Heaven, where there was plenty of space, and we had set up a few practice targets with assorted bits of junk from the nearby scrap piles.

Then I'd begun teaching Jessie how to use her materia. You've gotta concentrate on the magic and block out everything else. Doesn't mean you close your eyes, because you're dead if you do that in a fight. More like you clear your mind. Then you focus on your target and call upon the magic. All there is to it.

At first, she'd struggled to get the proper focus—using magic takes a lot of mental effort. But eventually, she'd been able to hit a few of our mock targets with blasts of lighting. She hadn't been able to cast a lot of spells before tiring out, though. It wasn't her fault, she just didn't have a lot of experience yet. Using magic drains your energy.

Jessie had gotten some rest before tonight's mission, as I'd told her, so she'd been ready to go when we left. Once she'd fought more battles and gotten more used to it all, she'd be able to start using her magic for longer stretches at a time. She was smart and a quick learner, so I knew she'd do fine once she got used to it.

Jessie grinned. "Thanks! Had me a good teacher. Cute, too."

"Just keep track of how much you use it," I said. "I'd guess you have enough energy left for three, maybe four spells."

"Right," she agreed. "Control room's this way. Let's go!"

She pointed down the hall, and we hurried down it until we found a locked door at the end. Jessie used her card and access code to get us in, then went right to the central computer console and started tapping keys. I watched as she sped through the system, going from one screen to another until she found the blueprints.

Jessie smirked. "Gotcha! Now to copy the files…"

Reaching into her belt pouch, she took out her tablet, turned it on, and then downloaded the blueprints to it. But while she was starting to back out of the system, she suddenly frowned as something caught her attention on the screen. Looked like another file, but I wasn't sure what was so special about it.

"Project Firestorm?" she read. "This is new…"

I glanced at her. "Is it important? We've got what we came for."

Jessie nodded. "I think so. It's heavily encrypted, and the file size is awfully large. Could be diagrams or readouts of some kind. Some new secret plan Shinra's cooking up, maybe. Only one way to know for sure. I'll take it with us and try to crack into it later."

After she had copied the file to her tablet, we left the control room and sped back the way we'd come. But when we got within sight of the hallway leading to the rear exit, alarms blaring in our ears, we found an entire platoon of soldiers waiting for us, too many to fight. They'd been sent to secure the rear entrance, I supposed. But luckily, they had their backs to us. Guess they didn't know we were in here.

"Shit!" Jessie hissed as we ducked back around the corner. "Change of plan! We'll have to go out front!"

I nodded. "No choice. Let's move!"

We took off, hurrying through the halls and keeping our eyes open for any other troops, but there weren't any. Seemed like Barret and the others had drawn them away just as we'd planned. After a few minutes, Jessie and I raced up a set of stairs and entered a huge storage bay with a high ceiling. We emerged onto a suspended catwalk just above a line of deactivated sweepers, and through three huge open doorways along the front wall, we were able to catch a glimpse of the fighting going on outside in the courtyard. And it wasn't good.

"They're surrounded!" Jessie swore.

I drew Buster. "Then let's break 'em loose!"

She grabbed my arm. "Wait! I've got an idea! This way!"

I followed her to the nearest sweeper, wondering just what she had in mind. Laughing to herself, Jessie climbed onto the rail of the catwalk and jumped down on top of the sweeper. Then, as she crouched down, she took a screwdriver from her belt, removed a panel at the back, and started fiddling with the internal circuitry.

"Now…" she said. "All I gotta do is a little rewiring, and I'll be able to reprogram this baby to attack the Shinra forces outside instead of us. And… got it! Better hop on, Cloud! It's powering up!"

I jumped down onto the sweeper behind her. "Sure you know what you're doing, Jessie?"

She shook her head. "Nope! But that's half the fun!"

Before I could stop her, Jessie stood up and leaped over to the next sweeper. It was standing to our right, and she landed on the arm before clambering up to the top and quickly reprogramming it like she'd done the first one. When she was finished, she drew her gun and sat down as both sweepers moved toward the warehouse doors.

The sounds of gunfire and screams were everywhere as we entered the courtyard, our sweepers thudding beneath us with each step. I saw the others fighting furiously, but they were pinned down on all sides by the Shinra soldiers and half a dozen enemy sweepers. They hadn't seen us yet, and it didn't take long for us to close the distance.

Jessie thrust her arm out above her and cheered. "Never fear, guys! The cavalry's here! CHARGE!"

Our sweepers opened fire just a second later, catching the soldiers completely off guard, shooting down a whole squad and blowing apart two enemy mechs before they even realized what was going on. While they were confused and disoriented, I readied Buster and leaped off my sweeper and into the fray, cutting down more soldiers in a broad slash when I landed. Jessie took aim and shot several more of them, as sharp and deadly as her mount.

"Jessie!?" Biggs' eyes widened. "What the hell are you doin'!?"

She giggled. "What's it look like? I'm saving your ass, Biggs! Get to the exit and get outta here!"

Barret motioned to the others. "You heard her, guys! Move it!"

They fell back, cutting right through the troops between them and the gate without much difficulty now that Jessie and I were keeping the rest of the Shinra forces focused on us. As her sweeper began to buckle under fire from the enemy, she took two grenades from her belt pouch, pulled the pins with her teeth, and threw both raspberries at the swath of soldiers to either side. Then she ran to the front of her mech, leaped off, and hit the ground running.

The explosions hurled the troopers like rag dolls and blew up both her mech and another enemy sweeper that had been closing on it. As I helped Jessie to her feet, we saw a fourth sweeper closing on us fast. We exchanged a determined glance, knowing exactly what to do, and then we both concentrated on our materia.

Seconds later, we each hit the sweeper with a bolt of lightning, and it crumpled and exploded as we ducked to avoid the debris. Before the smoke had cleared, Jessie and I ran after the others toward the exit. But it was closing fast, the massive gate starting to slide shut even as we all raced toward it. And just behind us, the remaining soldiers had started to regroup and were closing in on us.

I whirled around to face them, cutting down one and then another as Jessie and the rest broke for the gate behind me. Between slashing at the soldiers and blocking gunfire with Buster, I kept them tied up. But as I fell back and the others started running through the gate, I glanced over at them. First at Jessie, then Barret.

"Get her outta here!" I ordered. "I'll hold 'em off!"

He took her arm. "Will do, Spike!"

Jessie reached desperately for me as Barret pulled her through. The gate was almost closed. "No! Cloud! You've gotta come with us!"

"No time!" I said, cutting down another guard.

With a snarl, Jessie tore herself free of Barret's grasp and dove back inside the courtyard. "Then I'm not leaving!"

"Jessie!" Barret yelled.

But it was too late. Just as she got to her feet, the gate slid shut with a deep metal bang. The others had managed to escape, but Jessie and I were still in here along with at least a dozen Shinra soldiers and the last two sweepers. As we stood next to each other and braced ourselves for another attack, I glanced at her.

"What were you thinking!?" I snapped.

Jessie took aim at the nearest soldier. "We made a promise, Cloud. Remember? We stick together, no matter what."

I nodded. "Yeah. I just…"

"I know. But I'm not gonna leave you behind."

"Then let's clear us a path outta here," I told her. "Come on!"

I charged at the soldiers, slashing down any in my way while Jessie followed behind me, firing her gun and tossing the occasional grenade. We kept moving, heading back toward the warehouse itself. There was only one other way out of this place, and we both knew it. As she threw another lightning bolt at one of the sweepers, she called to me, voicing the plan I'd already had in mind.

"Back door?" she said.

I left a squad of soldiers on the ground with a quick string of broad slices, Buster a blur of motion. "Yeah. The way we came in."

She shot at the sweeper. "What about the welcoming committee?"

"We rush 'em," I said. "Take 'em by surprise."

"Good enough for me!" Jessie agreed.

As we got close to the warehouse, she stopped, turning around just long enough to throw both a raspberry and a smoke bomb back at the remaining soldiers that were still chasing us. Then we raced inside just as they went off, fire and thunder erupting behind us amidst the din of screams and shouts that followed.

"How's your ammo?" I asked as we ran up a set of metal stairs back to the suspended catwalk.

Jessie grimaced. "Getting low. Only one spell left, too."

I'd figured as much. "Hold onto it. We'll blast our way through the troops at the back door."

After we reached the catwalk, we were rushing across it toward the doorway that would lead us out when Jessie paused on the landing just outside it, stopping to take a look at a few large, dark rectangular cases that had been stacked against the nearby wall. When she read the label, she grinned and let out a squeal of delight.

"What is it?" I wondered.

Jessie bounced on her feet. "The way home, Cloud! Gimme a hand with this! Trust me!"

Together, we managed to pull down the topmost container and put it on the floor. When Jessie opened it up, giggling with excitement, she pointed at what was inside. Two black leather backpacks, or something that looked like them. When I read the label myself, I understood why Jessie was in such a giddy mood.

"Parachutes?" I asked.

"Yep! They're made for pairs, so we'll only need one. I'm sure we've missed the train by now, so we'll jump off the plate and fly down to the slums! It'll be great! And romantic!"

She took one of the backpacks and put it on, then we sped through the doorway and headed down another staircase and through the halls, ignoring the other doors on either side, until we came to the back exit. The soldiers were still there, same as earlier. Their backs were still to us as we flattened ourselves against the wall around the corner.

I crept across the hall to the other corner, drew Buster, then looked back at Jessie. We didn't have to take them all down, there were far too many for that. All we had to do was scatter them long enough for us to rush past them and escape.

I nodded to Jessie, and she nodded back. Then we both focused on our magic and spun around to face the soldiers. Once Jessie had gotten their attention, we struck the two nearest us with sizzling blue forks of electricity before charging into the crowd together, Buster and her gun clearing us a path as we went.

Jessie kept her head down as she and I ran to the exit, bullets flying through the air. She was right behind me as I swept soldiers aside with Buster, and a moment later, we raced outside. We didn't stop, though. It was too dangerous, and the remaining soldiers had started to chase us. We hurried around the perimeter until we found ourselves back at the front of the warehouse in front of the closed gate. It was the same place where we'd started this whole mission.

We didn't have time to catch our breath, though. The soldiers were closing fast, shooting as they ran. Jessie pointed down the street we had come from earlier, and we took off, hiding behind a row of parked cars as we went. Glass shattered as the guards kept on firing, and we ducked down as we ran, Jessie shrieking and throwing her arms over her head as she was showered in a rain of broken glass.

"You okay?" I asked.

She brushed the glass off of her. "Yeah. Just scared me a little."

I sighed in relief. "Good. Don't worry me like that."

"Wouldn't hear of it!" Jessie smirked. Then she led me to a nearby door as the soldiers' weapons fire got closer. "This way, Cloud! Hurry! Once we're through here, we're home free."

I followed her into a what looked like a maintenance area. After we were both inside, Jessie quickly shut the door, locked it, and pulled out her mini blowtorch. Then she got to work welding the door closed as I shouldered Buster and watched. It took a few minutes, sparks flying as she carefully sealed the lock and shielded her eyes with her other hand. But then, before long, she was done.

"There!" she said, putting her blowtorch away. "It'll take 'em quite a while to get through all that."

I agreed. "Then let's mosey."

With Jessie leading the way, we jogged down the open pathway to a set of suspended platforms overlooking the slums, our boots thudding on the metal deck as we went. On either side were a pair of large, thick pipes, big enough to stand on. They were probably used to send energy from the reactor to different parts of the sector.

After we got to the last platform, Jessie took off the black backpack and pulled out the parachute kit. Then we strapped ourselves in, Jessie with her back up against me as she buckled herself into the harness I'd put on. We bound ourselves together, the cloth straps all nice and tight. She was in front, and I was behind her as we climbed carefully over the rail and stood on one of the pipes. Far below us was the slums, and the sky under the plate was actually pretty clear for once.

"Ready?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist.

Jessie beamed. "Yeah! Yeah! Oh, but wait! I almost forgot! One last thing, Cloud! Can't go without it!"

What was she talking about? I found out just seconds later, though, when Jessie reached up, took hold of my face, and pulled me down into a kiss. The soft touch of her lips on mine made my heart race even as it set my blood on fire and melted my brain. When she eventually pulled away, her brown eyes stayed on me for a moment.

"For luck," Jessie smiled.

The corner of my mouth turned up. "Let's fly."

That said, we jumped, arms stretched out to either side as the wind from our acceleration roared past us and my stomach suddenly leaped into my throat. As we fell, Jessie screamed in total exhilaration, thrilled beyond belief at what we were doing together, and squeezed my hands in hers. Her touch filled me with warmth, and I kept my fingers linked with hers for a few moments before I eventually let go.

"I think I'm really falling for you now, Cloud!" Jessie shouted.

"That so?" I asked, completely unsurprised.

She giggled. "Yep! Head over heels!"

When I pulled the cord, the parachute suddenly shot open and we flipped into a quick backward somersault until we were both upright in the air. I seized the handles as the parachute unfolded, and our descent slowed until we were floating. Jessie gasped in delight, pointing toward the view spread out far below our feet. It was the slums, all lit up in the night, as far as we could see. And past the outer edge lay the badlands, a maze of rocky bluffs and valleys stretching all the way to the horizon, where a few stars glittered brightly like diamonds.

"Oh, Cloud, look!" Jessie said. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Quite a view," I agreed.

It was. Everything looked so small and tiny from this height, like a perfect scale model of Midgar's underside. Dirt streets and scrap heaps, homes and shops and other places all laid out like a kid's model. It was a sight to see, I had to admit. Sectors 5, 6, and 7 all lay underneath our feet, with Sectors 4 and 8 just visible in the distance.

Jessie smiled up at me. "I'm so glad we got to see it together."

"Same here," I agreed.

"You're definitely a keeper, alright!" she laughed.

I nodded. "That makes two of us."

Looking ahead of her, Jessie suddenly thrust her arms and legs out wide, her head held high as we drifted downward. "Yeah! You and me, we can take on the world!"

"You did good tonight," I said. "Be proud."

She grinned. "Yeah! And now for the cherry on top!"

Bringing her arms and legs back in, Jessie lifted a hand to my head, tilted her face upward, and pulled me into another kiss, her lips closing over mine in a soft, sweet touch that made my heart punch against my chest. As I pressed my mouth against hers, I opened it to let her inside. Jessie did the same for me, and my blood sizzled as our tongues danced together and wrapped around each other.

My eyes closing for a moment, I felt as if Jessie and I were far above the plate, flying higher than the hundreds of feet above the ground that we already were. She was warm and soft against me as we kept kissing, my fingers gripping the handles of the parachute. Her hand slid across the hair at the base of my head as she continued pressing me to her and our mouths fused together like magnets.

When we finally came up for air, Jessie brushed her lips against my cheek, then let go of me and rested her head lightly on my chest as she gazed ahead of us, her long auburn hair tumbling lightly in the wind. I guided us toward Sector 7 as we kept floating downward, steering us to the outskirts as best I could. Neither of us said much else, but we didn't need to. Just being with each other was enough.

In the quiet air, Jessie and I descended toward home.