First I would like to say, thank you to the reviews on the last chapter! tmart.x13 and I are very happy that you all enjoyed the amusement that came in the last chapter. But now we move on, and get some good relationship character building here! Let's go!
Ch. 27
Thoughts rushed through Cloud's mind so fast that he couldn't focus on just one. Cissnei started to slowly open her eyes after the fall. Cloud wanted to pull away but he couldn't as her weight was firmly on top of him. After all, he wasn't the biggest person in the world. Even though she was small in stature, she was a bit heavier than she looked. Though Cloud at least knew well enough to keep that thought to himself.
As he was rambling inside his own mind, Cissnei had finally blinked a few times. Then, her eyes widened as she too realized what was going on. She used her hands and pushed herself up and away from Cloud's lips and then the rest of his body as she sat up on her knees, though she was hovering over him partially. Her face started to turn a subtle red color as she was processing the event that had just occurred.
Her eyes clenched tight and she gritted her teeth as her fists curled up as well. Cloud could see the tension rising throughout her body, which made him nervous. But now that his mouth was free, he could finally speak. "I-I'm uhh… I-I d-didn't mean...for that…" he stuttered, still in shock over the fact that he had technically just kissed a girl, and it was Cissnei no less.
"Save it." Her voice was elevated and her words were short. "You know… I could punch you right now. But, that would not solve anything. I told you to stay still you know," she scolded him as her eyes met his briefly before the two of them quickly glanced away from each other, no doubt still embarrassed over that involuntary kiss.
Cloud tried to gather words again the best that he could. "Y-Yeah, I know...S-Sorry about that. I was, tr-trying," he stammered still.
She sighed loudly. "It's fine," she stated as she grew more quiet. If she was honest with herself, that was the first time something like that happened; a kiss. Things like that were something she didn't consider very often, so the conflict arose in her quickly. She didn't really know what to say for the moment as she sat in silence and turned away from Cloud.
He could tell that she must have been thinking about something, and as much as he wanted to say something to her, he couldn't find the words to say. Even if he did, he couldn't help but stutter nervously now. He stared after her back, wondering if he had upset up with what had happened. A pit formed in his stomach as he was unsure of what he should do.
Silence filled the elevator for quite a few minutes, though it was eerie. But it didn't last long though as Cissnei started to turn back towards Cloud, though her eyes were facing down. "Well, there's not point in fretting over it. But since you couldn't seem to hold me still up there, I suppose we are stuck here for now."
He felt that he had let her down with not being able to do such a simple task. "DId I try too hard to impress her? I just wanted to be able to get her attention is all. Well I guess I have it now. It's just, I don't know. Why do I feel like this though? It's usually just around her. I mean, I know what Zack told me before. And with what just happened…"
His mind raced through so many thoughts still that he could not formulate any coherent response. Of course Cissnei seemed to notice this and tried to ease his mind. "Hey look. If you're worried about all this, just don't okay? I said that it's fine. We're here for now so just make the most of it. No reason to be bored while we're trapped," she stated in a calm manner, her voice sounding normal like it was before.
Her words seemed to help Cloud as he started to calm down slightly, though he was still rather tense. But he tried to relax himself slowly to be able to think of his words, breathing in and out carefully. "Well, okay then. That's a good point though," he paused, trying to think of what he could say.
Truthfully, he had wanted to ask her some things for a while now, and it seemed like a good chance, seeing as how they could not go anywhere anyways. Even after working with her a few times, he still barely knew anything about her. He wanted to change that. "So… uh, how long have you been working here? Like, with Shinra," he asked carefully, hoping to try to start something at least.
Finally, she looked back up at him and met his face, causing him to almost look away. She almost seemed as though she wouldn't answer, but then she breathed in to begin. "Hmm… it's been a while… I mean, Shinra is all I've ever known. They are the ones that took me in and raised me. But in the line of duty, maybe just a couple of years now," she answered directly, sounding heartfelt about what she was saying.
A bewildered look encompassed Cloud's face as he sat there trying to understand what he had heard. "W-wait. You mean you've always been with Shinra? You've always been part of the Turks? That's just… I don't know what to say," he answered as he softened his voice, trying to understand the depth of her revelation.
"Well yeah, it's not as bad as you think. I mean, I guess. It's all I've ever known so I wouldn't know if it were or not. Either way, that's why I'm a member of the Turks so young. I was raised for this job, this purpose," she paused and held her tongue before continuing.
Cloud felt the same way in that he wanted to trust her. Of course, he had another reason as well because of his apparent feelings. "Wow, I-I can't imagine being raised just to be like a soldier… really a Turk. Though… I can understand having to be raised by someone else too."
She eyed him for a moment. "Like I said, it's all I have known so it's just who I am. Though, you're a soldier yourself. So in a sense, you grew up to want to be one right? But… what you said... You mean... were orphaned as well?" She was unsure why she was telling Cloud all of this, or even asking him these questions. But, it just happened.
Cloud nodded, placing his hands on his arms. A slight chill ran through him as he thought back to his childhood… the brief time he remembered before meeting Zack. He sighed before taking in a deep breath. Overall it was still a sensitive subject for him, and he had never talked about it to anyone before but Zack and his parents, but he thought he might as well try. Now knowing Cissnei had something in common with him, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to tell her.
"Y-Yeah… I don't remember much though. I was on my own and I was lost for a while… but then Zack found me. He brought me to his home and his family was kind and took me in."
Cissnei's eyes widened slightly. "On your own? If I can ask… how old were you?"
Cloud breathed in deeply again before answering. "Five years old…"
"And you were just left all by yourself?" Cissnei asked, sounding like she almost didn't believe him. Though at the same time there was a clear line of shock and surprise across her face. "Abandoned out in the world… by your parents? They didn't leave you at a orphanage?"
"I… I don't really r-remember… It was so long ago anyways. I don't actually remember anything from before I was five… so I don't know if I was abandoned out in the world or a orphanage. Or even if i ran away or anything else…"
Cloud shivered again as he rubbed his arms gently. The chills flowed back through his body again as he talked about the subject matter. But it did feel good to talk about it aloud. For some reason, he started to relax the more he went on about it, despite the odd chills.
"You know, I usually don't talk to many people, but I guess I just feel like I can trust you or something," he admitted to her.
"Yeah well, I don't either really. It's not something… I usually talk about. I guess knowing someone that has gone through a similar situation… it's nice," she replied.
The two of them remained silent for a few minutes after that, trying to discern what could be next as they were still stuck in there. Though, they each felt a bit more comfortable after some talking as well. Cloud especially did, finding more confidence in himself in letting loose to someone.
"Same here. To be honest, there's always this nagging feeling in my head when certain things happen. Like I'm supposed to remember something. But then I can't. It's hard to explain…"
"It's like you have repressed memories then? Maybe something from your childhood that you just subconsciously blocked," she had begun before almost grinning. "Well, I guess it's kinda the same then."
Cloud looked at her as he turned his head to the side. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, about not remembering. I don't remember much of my early years before the orphanage. I never gave it much thought before since it did not matter. But, I didn't expect to find someone that…"
"...Shared a similar story right?"
"Yeah, exactly that," she replied directly as the two looked at each other again.
Just then, the two of them heard something from the other side of the door. It sounded as though there was someone beating on the door. Had someone finally found them? Not too much time has passed, but it would be nice to finally be out of the elevator.
Cissnei stood up quickly upon hearing this. "Hey, if you're trying to get it open, we are in here!"
Cloud then joined her in standing, but chose to remain quiet instead.
The two of them looked on as the doors started to pry open slowly. The small crack revealed the fact that there was a wall halfway down the elevator with the beginning of the floor halfway up. The elevator had gotten stuck in between floors it seemed, which would explain why that none of the buttons worked at first.
Cloud turned his attention over to Cissnei. "You know...I-I'm almost glad this happened. I don't have many friends so… it's nice to have another now."
She looked over to him and gave him a small smile. "Well it wasn't pleasant being trapped in an elevator… but, yeah, I suppose the company was nice." Her mind darted to what had happened just earlier with her falling and she almost looked a bit flustered again.
Cloud noticed this though. "Uh...what's wrong?"
"Oh… nothing. But yeah, friend does sound nice too."
She extended a hand to him, showing a sign of her trust. He brought his hand up and placed it in hers, giving a firm handshake. The two exchanged a glance as the door was finally pried open completely as they broke off from one another.
"Hmph, took you long enough," Cissnei responded to the SOLDIER that had opened the door.
Then, the man known as Rude appeared in the small area that led to the floor they were stuck between. "Hey, don't be too ungrateful. We could have just left you in there." Cloud then noticed as Rude's gaze landed on him. "Oh hey, it's the rookie. Well how about that."
Cloud was almost surprised to see Rude there. "H-Hey there. Uh, any idea what happened to it?"
The SOLDIER, who appeared to be part of maintenance upon further inspection, responded. "It seems like the gears in the elevator malfunctioned and caused it to stall. At least that's my guess without looking at it first. At least nothing else happened though."
Relief was made apparent through Cloud's face, as he was pleased they would finally be able to get out. He then saw Cissnei step forward more and extend her hand out. "Well, help me up there then so that we can get out of this cage," she spoke towards Rude as the man extended his hand and then yanked her up with almost little effort and she crawled out the rest of the way.
He turned his attention back to Cloud. "Come on spike," he said as he reached his hand down. Cloud went towards him and then reached his hand out to grab Rude's. Again, without much effort, the man pulled him straight up towards the floor as he too then crawled out.
After standing back up and regaining his composure, he took a glance over to Cissnei who had thrown him a brief look before turning her attention to someone else that was standing by. The man had short, fire-red hair and wore a suit exactly like the other Turks, which meant that he had to be one as well. He was just about as tall as Rude, though he was a bit more lanky. He could overhear a conversation between the two briefly.
"Haha we were wondering where you must have gone. Seems you were slacking off here with the SOLDIER," he chuckled as he paused before seeming to get closer to Cissnei's ear.
Cloud could no longer hear what was being said between them, but whatever he said to her must have startled her as she pulled back. "What?!" she exclaimed as she proceeded to belt the man in the chest with force. Cloud could see that her cheeks were slightly flushed, and his mind started to wander as to what might have been said to her.
The red-haired man started to chuckled some more before speaking again, this time loud enough for Cloud to hear. "Relax, relax, I was only joking. Anyways, I guess we need to fill you in on everything now since you missed the briefing."
Cloud looked away from them and turned his attention to Rude, who had also been staring after the others. "So, uh, who is that other guy there? He looks like one of you guys."
Rude looked down. "Oh him? That's Reno. That's right, you haven't seen him yet. He was away doing some other work but recently returned." There was a moment of pause as he looked back in that direction as did Cloud for that matter.
After noticing this, Rude continued on. "Those two go way back. They were friends before ever becoming agents. Don't worry, Reno just likes to tease. He looks out for her like a big brother."
Cloud had heard everything but did not have much to say. "Oh, okay then." He was thinking about them admittedly, but hearing they were like siblings made him more at ease. He could also understand having an older brother figure that would watch over someone. As his mind ran through all of it, he noticed he was still looking at them.
Then, his eyes caught Reno's as the man was looking at him intently. He grew a bit nervous as Reno narrowed his gaze at him for a brief moment. Cloud found himself unable to look away, but he didn't have to as the red-haired man finally turned away from him after a few seconds. Cloud exhaled softly as he thought to himself. "What was that about?"
"Well, now that this is all resolved we best get back to it," Rude started, drawing Cloud from the depths of his own thoughts. "Keep yourself focused. I'm sure you'll be needing to do so from now on."
"Uh, right. Thanks," he replied as Rude started to walk towards Reno and Cissnei.
Cloud wanted to walk over to Cissnei as well, but he decided against it as he was a bit too nervous at the time. He watched as the three of them walked off, leaving him standing there with the other SOLDIER that had come with them. As he stared after them, Cissnei, who was behind the two men, arched her head to shoot a glance at him for a moment and gave him a small smile.
Surprised, at the gesture, Cloud tried his best to offer a smile back towards her. She then turned her head back to the front as the trio disappeared behind a wall as the turned down a hallway.
"Well, I guess I can head out now," he said to himself as he started walking the other way in the direction that the stairs were since that elevator was now out of order. He saw the other SOLDIER continue looking at he elevator as though he was inspecting it, but Cloud said nothing to him as he began to get lost in his own thoughts.
Now Cissnei and Cloud have a bit of an understanding. Where will it lead? What will happen next? Will Zack find out? And what about... Naomi? (if any of you get this reference, good for you!)
Thank you all for reading though!