28
To Rocket Town
"Yuffie, pay up!" I demanded, my hand out as I bumped my hip into hers. She scowled at me, arms crossed.
"Fine," she hissed, and rammed a hand into her pocket.
We were trekking through the rugged path of Mt. Nibel. In the daylight, Vincent remained unharmed, not a sizzle nor scorch mark to be seen by the few sun rays that penetrated him. The rain had finally let up, only a few scattered drops here and there, with spots of sun. Otherwise, it was an all grey day.
"What's this about?" Vincent asked, one of his black eyebrows up.
"Don't ask," Aerith groaned, immediately embarrassed to be friends with us.
Yuffie handed me five fat coins, five-hundred Gil all for me. I gave her a cheshire smile and dropped them into my pouch.
"I'm gonna get it all back anyway," Yuffie mumbled to herself.
"What was that?!" I snapped.
"Nothing!"
Cloud rolled his eyes, landing them to the tops of the tall, narrow peaks of the mountain range we still had to carefully maneuver through.
Vincent strolled next to Cloud, a quiet and yet, looming presence, though something must've been on his mind. He faced Cloud as they led the way.
"Was it wise to leave the others behind?"
Cloud blinked to a few caverns he thought best to avoid. He replied, "I didn't think it was a good idea to have all nine of us go through here, plus, with only Rocket Town the last main city left to explore on this continent, why drag everyone? We're looking for a keystone, and a vehicle to get us to an island, which means either a boat or plane. Rocket Town has to have something. If the others find something first, or have no luck, then they can just meet us there, either way."
He didn't mention that it gave Tifa a chance to distance herself. She was the first to volunteer when Cloud asked the group earlier, who wanted to stay with the Buggy. It wasn't ideal, but it gave us some breathing room, and I didn't feel as stressed, for now.
Red, Cait Sith, Barret and Tifa stayed behind.
"Are you sure I shouldn't accompany the lady, to keep her safe?" Vincent had asked Tifa, seeing her depart with her crew. Her eyes narrowed at him, insulted by his manners, and had a hand on her hip.
"This lady can do just fine on her own," she mused at him, a bit cold that morning.
"Unlike, some people," she hissed, and that was the last I saw of her. Vincent seemed more curious than offended.
"Good luck finding your way through there without me," Tifa added before winking at all of us going to Mt. Nibel.
Just thinking about it made my stomach fold too many times, creating an ache that wouldn't go away, no matter how far apart Tifa and I were. Was it just ineffable? Even with time, and separation, would there ever be peace between us? The many times I've tried to lower myself for that woman…
I felt the pull to glance at my bracer, and lifted my right arm out from under my cloak. The armor laid to cracks along its shiny metal plate. The cracks blended with the fine carvings of geometric pattern, taking on an effect of a shattered glass look.
"Cloud, do you know where we're going? I could've sworn I saw that high piece of rock twice!" Yuffie snapped.
Cloud closed his eyes, peeved by her high-pitched wail, and tried to tune her out with his calming thoughts.
"It's been a while," he admitted.
Aerith and I exchanged looks, trying not to laugh. Cloud got us lost. No one wanted to say it. Vincent kept quiet, but he had his gun out, prepared for battle if necessary.
We took to a different path, left instead of right, and began to ascend upwards to where only a rope bridge could've been more beneficial.
"I'm glad that bridge is gone," Cloud informed, marching ahead. He stopped near the tiny wood post just before a cliff, as though he still saw the old bridge there. He hardly spent any time in the memories he did have, Cloud already shaking his head to rattle them out, and continued on.
His new shirt was a simple black leather chest plate and a sleeveless black t-shirt. Weapon of choice? A simple double-handed sword. It was highly irregular to see a different sword to his back, barely making half the size his Buster sword portrayed.
If it weren't for Vincent visiting the one shop in Nibelheim, we would've come up empty-handed, and Cloud would've been left using only his Materia.
"He just took one look at me, and said I could take whatever I wanted. So, to give my thanks for encouraging me out of my slumber, I present with these," Vincent had muttered back at the inn, and handed Cloud the sword and clothing.
Even now, Vincent eyed at the sword with a bit of displeasure, and blinked away from it, gazing at the landscape of many sharp peaks. We were surrounded by oversized stake pits it seemed, an unfriendly place where one could easily fall into darkness below. The trail around each peak to another, was narrow, slippery of mud, and filled with monsters on a hunger spree. Hardly any life left out here, it was no wonder each creature we encountered was mouth watering, instinct putting them all on berserk.
After a battle, Aerith and I fell into an in-depth discussion, aware that Cloud was always trying to ease drop. Yuffie was too busy asking Vincent too many personal questions, until he groaned up at the sky.
Aerith took my hand, and flashed a secretive smile for only me when she mentioned, "So, how does it feel?"
I blinked at her, unsure what she was asking about.
"How does what feel?"
She giggled to herself, cheeks pink.
"Don't pretend with me," she whispered harshly, yanking my hand down as though trying to shake the answer out of me.
"To kiss Cloud?" She blurted.
My face got hot.
"Oh?!" I gasped.
All heads turned. Cloud eyed me curiously, and I swallowed.
"Nothing! It's nothing!" I fretted.
They all continued on, and I noticed Cloud's face was red before he looked away.
My hands touched at my cheeks to try to cool them down, while Aerith giggled at me, her hands to her belly and entertained at how I could easily embarrass myself.
"I'm still in a bit of disbelief," I shared quietly, amazed how it had all shifted. It seemed like we were the same, and yet, it felt as though there was a line only I could gladly cross. It may have already been there for quite some time. When? I can't say. But with the experience behind it now, it was refreshing to have clear air to breathe. The worry, the stress, the uneasiness. I didn't inhale much of that anymore. However, crossing the line rattled my insides, making me a bit skittish from its still unfamiliar privileges.
"Is he a good kisser?" Aerith asked as tiny as possible, right in my ear. I couldn't stop blushing at her noisiness, and struggled with, "Uh, I, well…" Any time I could touch his lips, was good enough. It was better not to think too hard about it, and instead, found myself reeled back to our first kiss in the basement. Cloud had held my face into his with extensive cravings, a long waiting burn he hotly released with his tight fingers, the pull of his hands. His breath. I was beginning to feel dizzy.
Aerith laughed again.
"You're face says 'yes', ha!"
I covered my face, and endured more of Aerith's pecking for a while. I never told her I almost ran away, and she never noticed. Luckily, no one did. She took her questions in whispers, asking me what a kiss is like. I stared at her beauty, alarmed that such a woman has never been kissed before. No high school dramas nor explosion of suitors to increase her chances, I suppose.
"You've never been kissed before?" I asked her quietly. I wondered how good Vincent's hearing was. When I peered at him, he seemed too preoccupied with ignoring Yuffie. One eye on Cloud, and he walked quietly, arms crossed. I noticed his fingers were tight at his elbows, tense.
"No," Aerith answered, tugging my attention back to her.
I was baffled. "Not even your first love?" I cautioned. Aerith's smile widened, and hidden pleasantries raised her rosy cheeks towards her distant eyes.
"No. I never got to kiss him," she reported. She tried to sound uplifting, but there was a hint of a wounded soul behind that smile, one that she's fixed most of on her own, thanks to her resilience and her adopted mother.
"I'm sorry, Aerith," I soothed, taking her hand with mine. She looked up at me, and then instinctively focused on my lips. I wondered if she was trying to picture it, to imagine the feel, the taste, the warmth, but most importantly, the deep instinct behind it, the way you can tell where it stands.
Aerith pressed her lips together and looked away, face draining of color, and stayed quiet for a while.
It's been hours of wandering and fighting, until we entered a cavern, one that pulled us into a spiral descending path of dark green rocky walls. Traces of sunlight spilled from the cracks, illuminating the tunnels with a glowing green from the walls stained with Mako. It was beautiful, like the cave itself was made of smooth blue and green glass. I could hear drips fall from a pointed ceiling, many spikes at the ready to fall and kill any of us, or speckle us with Mako and rain water.
After a bit of silence, awing over the Mako cave, I had felt the urge to bring up our encounter with Sephiroth, since we were, technically, all there.
"What Sephiroth said about Jenova falling from the sky, do you think it's true about how she spread a disease, turning our people into monsters?" I asked directly to Aerith. Her eyebrows lifted, and she shook her head, eyes squinting to a far away beam of light she suddenly wanted to reach.
"I wouldn't think he was just lying to us. It's interesting that you get so ill when you are near him, though. Why is that? Your body smells Jenova cells off of him? What does that even mean?"
I shrugged, unsure.
"I wonder…" I began, a hand under my chin. Everyone grew quiet, waiting.
My boot stepped over a shallow glowing puddle of Mako with a splash, and it echoed across the wide open cavern loudly.
"I guess that means he isn't an Ancient after all, neither is Jenova. She fell from the sky, it sounds like. An alien, creating havoc on the Ancients. Was she the meteor that happened thousands of years ago?" I questioned aloud, suddenly understanding a little more.
"If that were the case, then she would've been buried deep in a crater," Cloud meddled in.
"Hojo and Gast dug her out," Vincent clarified.
All eyes turned to him, hoping he was joking, but we were quick to learn that Vincent doesn't do such a thing.
"Hojo and Gast unearthed Jenova from her capsule, and decided to run experiments, hence why the Jenova Project developed, and the reason the Shinra Mansion was built. She could've been buried for thousands of years. Though, I didn't know her form unleashed disease, killing only Ancients. I wonder if she is a true enemy belonging to some sort of race that repels strictly against yours," Vince explained, and analyzed me for a reaction. He then, decided to add with a bit of speculation, "Jenova, a fallen alien. Are Ancients alien, too? Or did they originally come from this Planet?"
Knots took form in mine and Aerith's throats, unsure how either of us should reply.
Yuffie rolled her eyes, either not following correctly, or just didn't care, and her hands gripped her hips, tongue out.
"Sounds like a bunch of science fiction to me," she grunted, her eyes scanning the smooth rocks for possible signs of natural forming Materia to grab.
Vincent crossed his arms, his long, red cloak taking a trail of puddles along with us.
"We shall see," he growled, and then he closed his eyes, done with discussion.
Jenova falling to this world. Me falling into this world. It sounded similar, but we were complete opposite.
"She's like a parasite to the Planet," I realized, eyes growing large at the sudden realization. Was Jenova the thing holding up the Lifestream, a disease of the Planet?
Aerith bumped her shoulder with mine, pulling me away from my thoughts just before they were to align into place perfectly. Did she do that on purpose? I glanced at her, and she smiled, eyes closed, and took my arm into her hands like she was excited for something unknown. It threw me off.
"Hey Aqua, when we get to Rocket Town, let's have a picnic. The map shows it's surrounded by green fields."
I dropped my jaw, baffled at the switch of topics. She was either hiding something, or preventing me from figuring something out. But why?
"Can I come, too?" Yuffie chimed, dragging the invite.
Aerith smiled more. "Of course. And Vincent, what about you?" She battered her eyelashes at him, though he didn't seem to notice. He often walked in a bit of a distant look, always half of him here and the other half elsewhere.
"I don't know how I feel about plain hand foods," he muttered with displeasure.
Cloud looked over his shoulder at Aerith, his eyebrows narrowed, but he didn't say anything, and kept walking. Aerith saw it, her mouth open like she wanted to ask him, but there was still a gap between them, an unspoken strain they weren't capable of pushing aside yet.
It thickened the thin, cold air. Yuffie shivered in her yellow jacket, about to reach for Vincent's cloak, but he smacked her hand with his gun hand.
"Please don't touch," he mumbled, unaffected by her twisted face of rage.
I turned to Aerith, and suddenly asked her in a hushed tone, "Why is it still so difficult between you two?"
Slowly, Aerith threw her eyes at me, suddenly appearing tired. She then dropped them to a Mako puddle in between us, her boots dodging it.
"I want him to apologize..." she admitted, her cheeks growing color.
"And so, until then, you will hardly talk to him?" I urged, intrigued at how stubborn and yet collected she carried herself.
Aerith nodded.
"I know Cloud was just being protective of you, but sometimes, he can be cold, probably without even realizing it. I just want to hear him say he's sorry, and that will make me feel better, but it's also up to him," she justified. Why it mattered so much to Aerith, enough that it left her almost a mute to Cloud, I couldn't figure out. Maybe it was just her setting boundaries, demanding respect at a level that I may not yet understand. But neither of them hardly exchanged words, still sharing me in ways that made it feel awkward, though, the sharing seemed to shift recently. Since Cloud's kiss, I've suddenly felt pulled towards him, suddenly off balanced, and leaving Aerith behind in some strange internal way. She was there, walking next to me. And yet, I've been missing her, and couldn't figure out why. I watched her face glow as light grew from the distance, hinting that we were closer to the end of the cave.
She turned her head to me, and tilted it a little.
"Huh? What is it?" She asked, catching me peeping on her, and she blinked her large, curious eyes.
I blushed and looked away, unsure how to respond, and just went with, "Nothing."
Cloud suddenly stopped, and he pulled out his heavy but simple sword with one hand, eyes scanning the cavern walls.
"Something's here," he breathed, eyes already glowing like the cave.
Aerith and I huddled close, our eyes trying to pick through the dark corners of the ceiling or behind towers of small rocks. Yuffie held herself in a fighting stance, and Vincent had his gun out and ready.
The ground trembled, creating ripples across Mako pools. Bits of rock cracked, sprinkling over us a sprinkle of pebbles. It took me two takes to finally spot the cause of all the commotion, a large creature that easily blended into the walls with its shiny blue skin.
"Incoming!" Cloud called, holding his sword behind him and ready to hack.
Six long legs with large, sharp white claws, skittered across a wall, until they coiled tightly just before springing off. With aggressive grace, a robust creature arched over columns of rock. It landed with a boom, shaking the earth under our feet, and blocked our path to the exit. It was a large beast, with gleaming ocean colored skin and golden spikes sprouting as two sharp tails arched over its protruding back. Its six legs extended its height, looming over us ten feet tall, with angry yellow eyes scanning the area. Two rows of sharp teeth appeared under a long piercing horn, when the monster growled, a bright red tongue out and dripping with salivation.
"It looks hungry!" Yuffie chirped, pulling her shuriken back behind her as she eyed where to aim.
"Well, then eat this!" And she threw it.
Cloud charged, performing a horizontal slice to one of the monster's legs, and cutting it down to expose a glossy black bone behind blue skin.
Yuffie's weapon smacked into the monster's long horn, tilting its head back up to the ceiling with a cry.
"Score!" She cheered.
Vince held his gun steady, and pulled the trigger. He aimed for the leg Cloud had started, shattering bits of bone off it.
Aerith stood in the back, awaiting to heal.
I stayed beside her, grateful not having to get up close to the monster like Cloud did.
I lifted my bracer arm up and launched a lightning spell. It was a marvelous light show as lightning crashed down on the monster's back, ramming its belly into the earth while its whole body seized for a few seconds.
The monster shook its head, dizzy from the spell, and growled again. Its tail flapped back and forth chaotically, its spikes clanking like bones when they slammed together and curled.
As Yuffie reached for her shuriken on the ground, two clawed feet came for her, and she froze, too startled to move. Claws as large as her legs neared, and she gasped.
"Yuffie!" I cried, too far away to push her out of the way.
But the claws stopped, inches before piercing into her youthful face. The monster wailed, kicking its front spidery legs up, and I spotted Cloud on its back, his sword planted into it like reigns to straddle it properly.
Its twin tails wrapped around his upper arms, cutting into him, and he grunted. Blood spilled, tiny trails of it down his arms before being thrown off, and he crashed against a wall with a cry.
"Cloud!" Aerith gasped, and she spun her silver rod to send healing magic his way.
Vincent kept firing bullets on the monster's weakened leg, bursting back more bits of bone until white blood began to ooze down to its claws. The monster turned its small insect like head to him, and hissed. With quick movements, Vincent dodged one claw attack, but he didn't spot the other, and it dug into his back, passing his spine with a deep puncture wound. He winced, barely grazing past the third claw attack when it scraped against his arm, cutting into the layers of his skin until his gold gauntlet stopped it short. A fourth, stabbed into his shoulder, and he finally fell to his knees, blood blending into his cloak.
"Stop that!" I spat at the monster, and lifted my arm up to unleash a fire spell. Flames exploded from under those six legs, warming a shiny belly and scorching through skin and muscle, but nothing happened. Its skin absorbed the flames, using the heat to heal itself until the wounded leg began to regenerate.
I stood dumbstruck.
"Aqua!" Yuffie spat, glaring at me. I reflected her look, hands on my hips.
"How was I supposed to know it absorbs fire?!" I barked, pissed off at myself already.
"You didn't know," Aerith tried to ease while she cast a healing spell towards Vincent.
The monster raised its two front legs, and stabbed its claws into the rocky ground, making two deep holes, and roared a high pitch cackling cry. Its twin tails stiffened as two straight lines behind its brawny body, and lowered its head, eyes glued to all of us.
After being healed, Cloud jumped back to his feet, and analyzed the monster for a moment.
"It's preparing a strong attack. Hit it with all that you got," he advised.
Yuffie used her Materia to cast Ice. The monster dressed in a thin sheet of white ice, but with one movement, it all cracked away and scattered around its legs. Vincent fired three bullet holes into its head, and white blood gurgled out of the fresh wounds. Cloud jumped high in the air to grab for his sword he left atop of the creature's back, and yanked it free. He jumped away before the tails were to snatch him again, and slid under its belly to cut a clean slice across it. A trail of white blood and Mako followed him, and he dodged its horn.
I tried for a water spell, and unleashed a twister of water, drowning the monster as well as its high-pressure vortex damaging it. The water weakened and splashed around our feet, dissolving into the cracks.
The monster's legs wobbled, unable to hold itself high anymore, and bowed its head, weak.
But then its tails curled, and the monster lifted its horn to the ceiling.
I suddenly found myself behind a golden curtain with tiny electric currents, and glanced at the others. We were all, somehow, inside a golden pyramid. It was spectacular at first, until the spasms came.
Across the field inside the pyramid, hundreds of bolts of high energy zapped through us, and it burned. I cried, like thousands of hot needles stabbing my body all at once. Two seconds of such pain may as well have been two minutes, the length of time not a factor to how excruciating that felt. When it all stopped, I gasped, like someone yanked all the needles back in one quick swipe. My hands and knees landed on the floor.
Aerith sat on her knees, her rod clanking next to her, and breathed hard.
"That hurt," she whimpered, a hand to her breast.
Yuffie staggered as she tried to stand up, one eye open on the monster.
"Let's not do that again," she spat.
Vincent and Cloud had an easier time collecting themselves. They stood, shoulder to shoulder, and Cloud held up his sword.
"You got this, Vincent?" He asked the red cloaked fighter.
Vincent scoffed, eyes closed.
"Monsters don't intimidate monsters," he grumbled. He then aimed for the monster's head, and fired, at the same time Cloud dashed in, and stabbed his sword at the monster's side belly. He thrusted the blade deeper, white blood dripping around the wound. The monster wailed in pain, its cry hurting our ears.
I groaned from such sounds while fumbling in my pack for an Ether, too weak to cast magic.
Aerith healed herself first, a necessity if she needed to heal others. She then cured Cloud and Vincent.
Yuffie grumbled under her breath, and dug into her backpack.
"That's it. Time to win," she hooted, and pulled out a shiny red Materia.
"Guys, stand back," she warned, and raised the orb up in the air, smirking at it.
"Odin, do your stuff!"
Odin? Like, as in, the Norse God?
I held a bottle of Ether in my hand, ready to drink it, but paused, awaiting to see what this Summon could do. Cloud pulled back quickly, and grabbed my arm to help me up.
"You okay?" he asked, and I struggled to my feet. I blushed, trying to look at him while taking the Ether into my mouth, and drank its bitter contents.
"Never better," I smirked, emptying the bottle.
Fog lifted, obscuring the cave, until we were all surrounded in it. I twisted around, barely seeing the others, and asked, "Is this supposed to happen?"
My ears picked up a horse snorting, and then the clicking of hooves.
We all looked up.
Through the heavy white fog, a tall armored horse appeared. Sitting atop of that horse, a grand figure in dark armor and a horned helmet, glared one red eye at the Mako cave monster.
"Looks like Odin came to help," Cloud noted, still holding my arm. I was too stunned to move, intrigued by the height of both the horse and, apparently, the Norse God, Odin.
If only my mother could see this.
Like Superman, Odin's red cape flapped behind him, and he held a massive spear in his hand, known in Norse Mythology as Gungir or Spear of Destiny. The holy weapon basked in a glowing gold film, its triple spiked end making my eyes shimmer. Odin's horse took charge, galloping, and Gungir was raised and aimed.
In one mighty arch of his giant arm, Ordin released his spear. It shot at unimaginable speed, pushing back the fog and tossing a powerful gust of wind to throw all of us back in cries.
I fell back against Cloud, and watched in awe at the massive spear striking the monster until it was skewered into the sloped earth. The impact itself rammed its blue body into a new and deep crevice, until nothing was left but its cackling long legs squirming. A few moments later, the legs stopped.
Odin steered his horse near the body, and pulled out his spear with ease.
Green shimmers scattered upwards, passing Odin's helm when he turned his head and nodded to Yuffie.
"Cool," Yuffie gushed, and lifted a thumb up, her way of excusing the summoning demi God. And with that, Odin kicked his horse's sides with his boots, and charged into a fog. He disappeared, and then the fog vanished. We were in the cave again, Odin's whereabouts unknown.
Nothing to prove the God's help except for a rammed monster inside a crack, with its legs still sticking out. It was like a giant spider got smashed by God's hand. I cringed for a second, getting up with Cloud and dusting off my skirt and cloak. But then I quickly filled with excitement.
"Wow! I can't believe I saw Odin! He is real! In my world, he's a God figure. My family loves his stories and the Nordic culture!"
I kept rambling, overjoyed while my hands clasped in prayer, eyes, no doubt, huge and shimmering.
Aerith smiled as I continued on and on, unable to stop. Cloud just blinked, bewildered over my frenzied reaction. Vincent groaned while Yuffie smiled long and wide.
"It's no wonder the Materia was locked up in the safe. I knew it was a good one," she commented, and pressed the round red gem to her lips with a loud smack.
I finally relaxed, Cloud smirking and shaking his head at me, while Aerith took my arm and dragged us along. Vincent listened to Yuffie's rambling on her hunting for Materia inside the mansion, and I had to give the man credit, he was very patient with her. I couldn't keep up with Yuffie's words, let alone, wait for her extensive story telling, always dragging things out or drifting out of context. He kept quiet, nodding and groaning at times. Cloud led the way again, the first to step out into the late afternoon light. He basked in it, eyes closed and smiling up to the afternoon sun.
Rays cut in through the dark grey sky, warming us up after traveling through a cold cave. The Mako smell faded, overwhelmed by rain and green. Beyond the half mile or more of rugged rock, blades of wet grass began to show up.
We took a break just as the land flattened out. A green valley waited for us, beckoning with its lush green beauty and spread out of single trees. A soft wind came through me, sending in smells of ocean salt and mildew.
Cloud took out his map and held it open in midair, surveying it.
He sighed, eyebrows up.
"Rocket town still looks pretty far. At least forty miles North. Do we want to keep going? We may get there by nightfall, and straight to bed. Or, we can camp half way, and leave early tomorrow to get there before lunch. Any thoughts?"
Aerith and I shared glances, wondering what the other wanted, but I was just as unsure as she was.
Vincent's golden fingers tapped on his chin, the wind blowing his long black hair out of his collar. He inhaled the air slowly, taking it into his nose as slow as possible, to savor every fraction of it while tasting it on his tongue. He then growled under his breath, and his eyes blinked shut just before a flash of glowing rubies.
"Perhaps if we camp, I can keep watch. The others may have an update and meet us at Rocket Town tomorrow," he speculated. He opened his eyes again, and they were just as dim as before. I stared, knowing what I saw. It made me wonder how he took in all the smells he was tasting since his slumber, and what his thoughts were.
Aerith sighed, looking down at the dirt along her short floral dress.
"But Barret has all the GOOD blankets and gear. I don't think I brought my tent," she whined.
I lifted my eyes up to the broken clouds above us.
"We can always sleep under the stars, and you did want that picnic," I brought up, delighted. Aerith rammed her hands over her hips and barked at me, "Yeah, but that's different. Camping is NOT the same thing as a picnic!"
Cloud folded up his map and rammed it in his small belt pouch, quiet.
He folded his arms over his chest, a hand under his chin, and thought for a moment.
When he was done, he said, "Let's take a quick break, and then keep going for a couple more hours. We'll camp for the night."
Aerith groaned, and I could've sworn Cloud flashed an evil smirk, pleased to make the flower girl miserable, or maybe he was just intrigued with her rare occasions of protesting. One point goes to Cloud Strife.
Yuffie shrugged, and replied, "I don't care either way."
Vincent's eyes drifted to the valley, eying the herds of Chocobos, far away, with their squeaking cries creating distant echoes. Behind his collar, he licked his lips.
"Let us proceed as quickly as possible," he urged, and looked away, tapping his claw on a rock with controlled, slow discipline.
I was getting sick of Powerbars. With only one flavor, chocolate was going to be my enemy quickly. It took great effort just to finish off one before walking again. The valley opened up, expansive as far as they eye can see, with a scant sunset to the West, casting a burning orange explosion behind thin dark clouds. Moist grass cleaned off my boots, and I inhaled the air's fresh smell with a smile. It reminded me of being back in Kalm, the environment similar, if not, more like backcountry. There were a few white fences, but for farming. We passed a field of sunflowers, noticing their yellow pedals wilting, the flowers bending at their green necks as though depressed.
The few trees we passed, held their leaves, though some would slowly descend, colors like that of the sunset. Green leaves were beginning to fade, hinting that autumn was close by. I didn't even know this world had seasons, and suddenly wished to see pumpkins.
Out of the blue, I asked, "Has anyone ever tried a pumpkin latte?"
"A what?!" Yuffie cried, like I've just spoken a foreign language. I laughed at her reaction.
"It's a coffee drink, with milk, sugar and pumpkin syrup or creamer. Autumn usually means pumpkin flavored foods with all the harvest of pumpkin," I explained, and suddenly craved a hot cup of a pumpkin latte, a hot shower, and a fresh pile of clean laundry. My cloak hung over me heavily with old rain, driving a cold, large needle into my body until my blood couldn't warm up.
"What a strange way to use pumpkin. Mom and I usually roast it, put it in stews, or make a hot pie," Aerith gushed, her mouth watering over her prayer hands.
"I like mine in a stew or simmered in soy sauce," Yuffie chimed.
Vincent said nothing.
"What about you, Cloud? You like pumpkin? Maybe I can cook for us sometime, add that pumpkin flavor to a dish," I suggested, hands tucked under my cloak while eying at his back. Cloud actually thought about it, his chin lifted to the dark sky, and shrugged.
"My mom often puréed it and put it in a pie. Or roasted the seeds," he stated, and then looked over his shoulder at us.
"What's with you girls? Are you all hungry or something?"
Vincent muttered a "hmph", and kept to himself.
I gazed back up to the sky, daydreaming of New York City and carrying a thermos of homemade pumpkin latte. Oh, the splendor of sipping a hot beverage during those walks through brisk and cold mornings. The hot pumpkin flavor milk and coffee warming my empty belly. The chaos of claiming a coffee shop's pumpkin beverage, unorganized lines of people, the demands and long waits. Something about the normality of it, was suddenly missed. The hype, the everyday jumble of city life, even the smells.
My eyes dragged to the sunset, as though half the sun was trying to burst out of lumpy black clouds, but with no success. I still wondered, from time to time, if it was better that I went home instead of being on an adventure like this. What could I ever accomplish that Aerith couldn't? Was this all just a pause for me? Would I go back and resume the life I once had? With or without Isaac?
I, then, gazed at Cloud's back, and my chest vibrated.
Could I leave Cloud?
I looked to Aerith, who seemed to be busy chewing on a Powerbar while chatting with Yuffie about gardening.
Could I leave Aerith?
And then there was Isaac….
I can't go back home!
I closed my eyes, visualizing how he looked when he shouted the hard truth in my face. The pain of realization in his eyes, the pull to both scream and cry at once, twisting his metal bones until he could break.
Even with our differences and on different sides, could I even leave Isaac? My eyes fell back to Cloud, wondering if he and I would just be a passing thing or something deeper?
I turned away before Cloud's senses made him glance over his shoulder, watching me. I could feel his stare for a few seconds, like he waited for me to explain, to speak up my thoughts that continued to cascade into a deep hole. But I crunched my teeth together behind my closed lips, not wanting to share. Solo reflection helped me recharge.
After groans and stomachs coiling with tight discomfort, we finally stopped for the day, just before night fell. The sunset slowly melted away, nothing left of it but a thick orange layer of lava to the flat horizon, burning the bellies of hazy dark purple clouds. Most of the sky bled in purple and dark blue, a few holes in it to tell me there were many stars we were missing.
The air cooled quickly, making me shiver too easily. Luckily, there was no rain, but the soil was still moist from an earlier pour, making Aerith cringe at the thought of lying in it. Cloud sighed as he gazed out at all the few trees around us, and then down to his boots sinking into the moist earth, pressing down on tall grass.
"How many tents do we have?" he suddenly asked, thinking.
I searched in my bag, and found mine.
Yuffie had her own. Vincent claimed he didn't need on. Cloud had his. Aerith was without hers.
With my fire magic and Cloud's hacking skills to cut a tree, we got a decent fire going. Tents were put up.
Cloud just finished with his, when he started helping me with mine.
My cold hands struggled to unfold it properly, going in the wrong order. Barret made it look easy the last I saw him set it up.
"Here, like this," he instructed, pulling back the rear before the sides. I tried to take over, stealing it from him.
"I can do it. It just takes me a while," I fumbled, face hot while our shoulders touched. Cloud smirked, unfolding it anyway, even through my protesting. The fire warmed our backs, soothing the pressure that inflated between us, the unspoken kind that dug hunger into my chest like a hot knife, making it difficult to breathe when he was so close.
"Aerith doesn't have a tent," Cloud began, but paused briefly, his fingers fiddling too long over the front flap to open and close the entrance. It wasn't needing his attention, but he messed with it anyway, to ease his jumbled thoughts while trying to sort them out correctly into spoken words.
"She could sleep in yours…" he paused, and I thought that meant he finished.
"I know. That's thoughtful of you to think of that, but we were going to sleep in the same tent anyway. Thanks for looking out for her," I warmed, smiling at him. I'm glad he still cared about her, despite their silent feud.
Cloud blinked before deflating, sighing long and looking away like I've missed a step with him, and before I even knew it started, our dance ended.
"No problem," he muttered, rising and crossing his arms. He quickly retreated, sitting by the fire.
Was it something I said?
I walked over to Aerith's little curled form by the fire. She perked her head up from her folded knees, face aglow in yellow, and eyed me, interested.
"Our tent is ready," I invited, sitting in next to her until our arms rubbed together. Aerith froze for a few seconds, baffled. Her eyes darted away, catching a glimpse across the fire to Cloud, and then she just smiled widely. She hugged her knees a little tighter and leaned closer to the fire.
"Okay, Aqua," she replied warmly, a large grin on her face just for me. There was a touch of knowing in that look, like she knew something I didn't, but she kept quiet, her eyes gleaming from reflecting the flames. I caught Cloud's eyes, but they darted away too quickly to catch.
I inhaled and breathed out of my nose, irritably. Juggling between those two was starting to get on my nerves.
Yuffie slumped in the circle, oblivious to the silent drama, and collapsed on her back, arms out over the grass.
"Ah, it feels so good to lie down," she smirked, and closed her eyes up to the dark sky. Vincent planted himself against a tree, leaning into its trunk, arms crossed, and eyes closed, resting but actively listening. If it weren't for the light of the camp fire, he would've easily blended into the shadows.
"What do we have to eat?" Aerith openly asked.
"Powerbars," Cloud and Yuffie uttered.
I groaned into my hands.
"No!" I gasped, a little too dramatic, and Yuffie chuckled along with Aerith at my sorrow. Vincent just muffled another "Hmph!"
Cloud ate his bar without a face, chewing quietly while crouched close to the flames, arms resting over his knees.
Yuffie, somehow, got a hold of the PHS and put the other group on speaker phone.
"Yo, where you guys at?!" Barret's voice rang from the flip phone.
"Hi Barret!" Aerith cheered. The rest of us grumbled hellos and we could hear Red , Tifa and Cait Sith greeting in the background.
Yuffie took the phone too closed to her mouth when she exclaimed, "Dude, you should've seen this monster in Nibel's caves! It had six legs, huge claws and vicious teeth. But I got my Materia-Hey!"
Cloud snatched the phone from her, rolling his eyes while enduring a few punches on his upper arm without a flinch.
"We're just twenty miles outside of Rocket Town," he groaned, sounding bored, and Yuffie punched him for the tenth time until she needed to rest. The scene made my cheeks lift up, entertained, and Aerith giggled.
"We tried for Gonzaga, a few tiny coast dwellings, but nothin. No Sephiroth, no keystone, no plane, no boat. We back at Nibelheim Inn, and plan to head your way tomorrow," Barret informed, the speaker crackling his voice.
Something in Aerith fluttered, and she suddenly rose, her white cloak gripped tight around her.
"I'm tired," she trembled. Was it the cold or was it something Barret mentioned? I watched her disappear into my tent, humming to herself to conceal her sudden discomfort. The thought came and went quickly, too many distractions.
"I bet we can beat you guys to Rocket town," Tifa rang, her forced cheerful voice easy for me to pick up when I regained focused to the conversation.
Cloud scoffed.
"How? We're a lot closer than you guys. There's no way," he grumbled.
"Wanna bet? I was Mt. Nibel's guide, after all," Tifa pushed.
Cloud shrugged, as if anyone on the other end could see it, and smirked.
"Good luck."
"Hey!" It was Cait Sith speaking, shoving Tifa aside to get a dose of communication though.
"Cloud, when I get to Rocket Town, and find so much as a finger on Aqua, I'm going to raise hell! I'll ask Yuffie, and Vincent, too!"
Yuffie blew a raspberry.
"Suck it, Cait! Like I'll tell you anything!" The ninja girl hissed.
"I swear, I should've come along with you guys and-!"
Cloud snapped the phone shut in his hand, that loud smack crackling through the air with a satisfying sound to his ears. He made a happy sigh.
"Cloud, that wasn't nice!" But I giggled anyway, falling back in the grass, laughing and kicking my legs up in the air. I could only imagine the peeved thoughts going through that animatronics owner's head.
Yuffie fell in the grass next to me, laughing along. Her hands smacked her exposed tiny belly, and cried in between wide-mouthed laughs, "He has no idea! Ka-ha-ha!"
The laughing died down. Crickets began to play their music. A cold wind encouraged us to retire into our tents to keep warm. Yuffie slipped into hers.
"I'll keep watch," Vincent growled, standing in his same spot without so much as an inch shifted. A bright moon tried to peek at us through the traveling clouds, giving us glimpses of its milky white glow. Vincent's red eyes glanced up at it, his white face illuminated into a shimmering silver. His eyebrows arched up, shifting his focus back out at the valley. When I neared him, I caught him focused on something I couldn't see, the land too dark to make out much of anything.
His golden claw trembled slightly until he curled its long fingers around his other wrist.
"Vincent?" I began, edging closer to him until he finally lowered his chin to look down at me, his red eyes shifting from glowing to dim.
I noticed how he trembled slightly, and I doubt it was the cold air.
"Are you okay?" I asked, wanting to lay a supporting hand on him, but too apprehensive to do so.
I let my hand hover in between us, while I still decided.
Vincent looked away, closing his eyes and curling his chin into his neck as he muttered, "I'm fine," through his teeth.
"Are you hungry? You didn't eat all day," I observed, and then added, "Do you even eat?"
Vincent shook his head.
"I can't say. The foods you all speak off, make me feel ill," he grumbled, and he opened his eyes again out to the dark field. Like before, something caught his attention, and I've lost him. Uneasiness grew in my gut, watching Vincent lose himself easily to the darkness, like he was fighting against a yearning growth in him.
I swallowed and bit my lower lip.
"What sounds good to you?" I dared ask.
Vincent hissed and crossed his arms tightly, his eyes buried behind black hair.
"Enough. Get some sleep. Tomorrow is a long day," he pressed, clearly uncomfortable.
My hand fell back. "I'm sorry."
I walked away, my back to him, just as he popped his eyes open. Maybe it was my voice, giving him a second of feeling like his old lost Love just apologized to him, something he's heard her say to him before. I'm sorry. An echo of his past. Was it for breaking his heart? For poisoning her body and child with Jenova cells? Or was it something else? That photo… Sephiroth held his mother's features easily, but… I didn't recall seeing any from Hojo. I tried to remember the photograph, but my picture memory was always lacking, and I cursed to myself just before crouching next to Cloud. He seemed to be thinking deeply to himself, his fire enhanced green eyes on the glowing heat. But then, he must've sensed me when he suddenly asked without moving his eyes, "Why do I get this strange feeling?"
I sank my rear on the grass, legs out and boots close to the fire, and leaned my arms back. I kicked my boots together, clicking on occasion.
"What's that?" I replied, curious, and turned my head to gaze at his face, vibrant from the fire.
Cloud's eyes remained to the flames, a part of him somewhere else. Dismay crackled in his eyes, but when he blinked, it was gone, and he finally fell back to earth, and smirked at me before shaking his head, eyes down to his boots.
"Nothing. I was just lost there for a minute," he put it lightly.
"Cloud." My tone told him I had something to ask, and he eyed me carefully, waiting with care.
I looked back up to the sky, the patches of stars giving me hope for a more clear night to come.
"Remember when we were all in the Mythril mines, and we started talking about what we wanted to do after Sephiroth?" I brought up. Thinking about home and where I may or may not go, got me thinking about that silly conversation. I smiled quietly.
Cloud stared.
"Yeah, I remember." He looked back at the fire, and leaned back on his hands like I did, with one leg bent. "What about it?" His tone held nervous suspicion whiel his hand inched close to mine, fingers curling and flexing.
"You never answered," I stated, the heat of the fire enhancing the already hot cheeks burning up my face.
"I just wondered if you figured it out yet. What you want to do after Sephiroth?"
I glanced from him to the fire, foreseeing another vague response.
Cloud looked to the sky. Was he, too, hoping to see the display clear up? A beautiful stage of sparkles hiding behind a thick dark curtain with holes.
"I have some idea," he hinted quietly, and the fire cracked.
I waited to hear more, but when the silence stretched, I broke.
"Like what?" I dug.
Cloud chuckled and dropped his head to look at me.
"What about you? Is pizza really the only answer? Or are you just hiding you true answer behind it?" He challenged.
I blew air into my cheeks.
"Hey, I really do want pizza, terribly," I growled, fists in the air with dramatic effect. Cloud lifted an eyebrow.
"That bad?"
"It was the first New York City food I've ever tried," I muttered, looking away and trying not to drift too far back in my past. Although, too bright to look directly at, the fire was a pleasant distraction for my eyes. The wood charred and broke into pieces, creating tiny speckles of glowing orange in the air.
"I've lived in a small place for a long time. Kind of like your Nibelheim, but on a big cold island. For college, I decided on New York University for my psychology degree instead of just community college at home, and then of course, New York Medical College. It was scary, finally stepping into a different country, almost like…" I giggled to myself, finding it funny to find the next set of words coming out of my mouth.
"Like being in another world. Eating pizza was the first food I've ever had when I stepped into New York. And loved it. I guess, I thought, if I ate it again, being here, it would make me feel better, like there's a bit of home here, too. Being here is similar to being in New York from Iceland, in a way. Well, no, being here in your world is a lot different, but you get it?"
Cloud studied me for a while, a real sliver of a smile somewhere in there.
When he finally spoke, it grew slightly.
"Well, I'll be damned. I guess you really do want that pizza," he accepted, and cocked his head.
"More than…" He jolted his head away quickly to stop his words, giving me nothing but the back of his spiky mess of hair.
"Anyway, I hope you find your…Pizza." He said that last word with uncertainty, like it should've been a joke. I couldn't help but laugh at his tone.
"It's your turn. Don't think I forgot. Tell me what you want to do," I requested with smugness. Cloud let out a sigh up to the sky, and his breath was visible, like a long drag of a cigarette puff, and it faded rapidly. Just seeing how cold it actually was, made me shiver. I sat up, and the fire became closer.
Cloud closed his eyes.
"Nope, not telling."
I dropped my jaw and smacked a hand on the grass.
"Aw, come on! That's not far!" I whined. My hands dug into the tiny blades, suddenly ripping them out of the soil.
Cloud chuckled at my pain.
"After Sephiroth, if you really want to know, I'll tell you then," he promised warmly, and gave me something between a shy smile and a smirk.
I threw a wad of pulled up grass at him.
"That's so cheap! You're just like Aerith. Holding secrets! Why can't we all just say everything?!"
Cloud reeled back from the balls of grass, and brushed his hands through his hair.
"Hey! Don't throw grass at me! Aren't Ancients supposed to be conscious about the Planet? Don't go ripping it up!" He squawked. More wads of grass and mud at him, grumbles and laughs out of his lips until I felt his hands around my wrists.
"Okay, okay! Stop that. What kind of Ancient goes around pulling grass?" he joked.
I struggled to pull my hands back down to the rumpled grass, itching for more ammo, but Cloud's impeccable strength kept them still.
"The pissed off kind!" I spat. Maybe it was my tone, or my face, but Cloud suddenly chuckled, and then his chuckling made me laugh. It was a contagious thing. Before I knew what was happening, between the tugging and pulling of hands, I laid back in the grass, and he landed on top. His hands pressed mine down, binding them, and his blond bangs tickled at my forehead. As soon as our eyes locked, the laughing faded. The forgiving chatter suddenly shifted into pangs of an appetite that pizza could never satisfy. I swallowed before holding my breath, Cloud's dark blue eyes digging into mine. His hands shook, his breath held back and body hovering over me with the weight falling to his knees and hands.
My hair spilled across the grass like a silver puddle before my head, my breathing barely there to help keep my chest from touching into his, too nervous to have him feel how quick my heart was beating.
Cloud touched my forehead with his, eyelids down some, and whispered over my lips, "Aqua, I…"
His grip on my wrists, tightened, the rest of the words rammed in his throat. I closed my eyes, a warm and pleasurable tickle running through me from his hot breath coming down to my neck.
What did he want to say?
"Hey! I'm trying to sleep!" Yuffie spat, her head sticking out of her tent with her short hair a crimped mess.
Cloud and I instantly jumped, standing over the fire while dusting grass off our clothes.
"Sorry!" I gasped, my heart skipping. Cloud flicked at his hair, and more grass fell.
"Thanks, Yuffie," he growled with thick sarcasm.
With her tent planted a few feet away from the fire, Yuffie glared at Cloud and hissed, "At this rate, I will be needing ear plugs! Good night!" She made a loud wet raspberry sound and flapped her hobbit-sized tent shut with impressive force.
My hands flapped air directly to my face, the cold no longer doing its job.
"It's easy to forget we're not alone," I fussed, cheeks still warm.
"Yeah…" Cloud dragged with disappointment.
"I don't mind, but if you two plan to continue, please…"
I stiffened, forgotten that Vincent was there, all along, watching quietly.
"I would prefer the progression of your activity inside a tent, instead of out here," he finished, eyes closed.
"Okay," I jeered, not wanting the discussion to fall down that route, and twirled to Cloud with my hands collecting my hair.
"Have a good night," I said too quickly, barely meeting his eyes due to embarrassment. Cloud, more composed, just looked at me, and left a hand behind his head.
"Night," he put flatly, and looked away.
I left for my tent, but as I began to walk, Cloud's hand hooked my wrist.
"Aqua," he exhaled, stopping me. I twisted my head around, eyes traveling over my extended arm, and up to his wistful looking eyes.
"Yes? What's the matter?" I asked him, wondering if I made a misstep somewhere. Cloud closed his lips to swallow, eyes still focused and yet, he began to withdraw, until he let go. Whatever he was going to say, he changed his mind.
"I mean, good night," he uttered under his breath, and looked towards his tent.
Too sleepy to study his behavior, I made a droopy smile, spun around, and retired.
Vincent muttered to Cloud, "chicken", and their light bickering faded as I crawled into my tent.
Aerith was already huddled under a blanket, the space barely enough for the both of us. To keep the cold from flowing in easily, I zipped the tent closed, and after slipping out of my boots, cloak, and clothes, I quickly dressed in my pajamas and joined Aerith under the covers. My teeth chattered, the cold already penetrating the tent's plastic skin, and rubbed my arm against Aerith's for warmth. Blinded by the darkness, with little fire light, I thought she was asleep, and I was obligated to quickly settle down and forced my breathing to slow.
"I'm glad it's finally working out for you two," a faint whisper appeared.
I rolled to face her, but still unable to really see her face.
"And now, I just need to fix the gap between you two, and it will just be like the three of us again," I chirped, still shivering under the thin blanket. Aerith was right: Barret had all the good blankets.
Aerith draped her skinny arm over me, to give some of her body heat, silent.
The extension of stillness was troubling, and in return, I offered an arm as well.
"You don't think it will be the same again, will it?" I dreaded to ask, but Aerith's held in words only proved my suspicion.
"I don't know," she finally spoke, but full of skepticism, not at all soothing to hear. Her skin was warm, and with our bodies close together, they worked like a heater, emitting body heat slowly by snuggling against one another. But her unsure words felt cold when she added, "I want it to be the same. I do. But…" she had nothing. I could barely see her profile, knowing she was facing the tent's low ceiling. I pulled my arm away, rolled on my back, and let out a sigh through my lips.
No flap to gaze at stars. Nothing but a matte grey plastic film.
"Just talk to him again," I advised lightly.
Aerith blinked in the dark.
"Even if I do, Cloud wants to know what it is I'm hiding. And I can't tell him. I can't tell either of you. It has to be that way. As long as I hold it in, he and I will be like this," her tone dropped at the end, becoming brittle.
"I want to tell you both so badly, but…" Her face smudged into my chest, hiding it there to finally spill softly.
"I can't," she wept.
I held Aerith, letting her sob quietly, her braid undone, and her hair fell all over to spread that floral smell into our tent. There was the pull to ask her yet again, to tell me the truth, but I knew she wouldn't. Aerith was carrying a heavy burden. She wanted it to be the three of us jut as much as I did. Being a servant to the Planet wasn't simple. I just wished she could give me some of that burden, to make her load lighter, instead of dragging it all herself. Her tears smudged through the silk top, a warm and wet growth like a slow bleeding wound at my breast.
I held Aerith until I passed out, unsure as to which of us fell asleep first.
I dreamt of growling instead of whispers. As I slept, my ears picked up something happening out there, morphing its sounds into dream. In the dark, a fierce creature prowled the fields, rumbles deep in its throat while it searched for prey. Chocobos panicked, squawking in a herd, before sharp claws stabbed into an unfortunate one that fell behind. A deep, satisfying growl rumbled across the cold air, whimpering the grass and the leaves of trees. Feathers, skin, blood, and then the meat, calmed the creature. In a quick euphoria, it grinned its glowing red eyes up to the patches of moon, letting its scant silver light fall to its burly mauve skin. Blood oozed between its sharp teeth, tears of flesh and feathers hanging loose. But the euphoria was already slipping away. Something about the moon, or the taste of blood, made the creature fall into troubling thought. It dropped its shoulders, and then, with remorse like it was intelligent, it bowed its head into its claws.
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