Another Time, Another Place
Authors Notes- Contains slash, angst, swearing, violence and character death.
Pairings- Sephiroth x Kuja, Cloud x Aeris, Vincent x Tifa, Rufus x Tseng, Reno x Yuffie.
Disclaimers- I own none of the characters mentioned hither.
Back to Costa Del Sol in silence. There was too much to take in. The President of all they hated was alive. Sephiroth may well be there, recuperating slowly within his protective shell. All they had achieved could so easily become nothing. And there was some monster lurking in the remains of the Shinra mansion. They stood in the living room of Cloud and Tifa's house in shocked silence. It was Vincent who eventually took control and suggested they call Cid and ask him to pick them all up in the Highwind. Cloud called to explain the details.
"That @#!&?@#!? Rufus is still alive?" Cid exploded. Cloud held the PHS a foot away from his ear. Worryingly, Cid was more concerned about the President surviving than Sephiroth.
"Yes, but that's not the pressing issue.." He began.
"Like #%!? it's not!" Cid ranted. "That @#!£&?@ is the reason why this whole mess started. Have you forgot WHO messed around with Jenova? WHO made Sephiroth what he is?"
"That wasn't actually Rufus.." Cloud started.
"An' he sentenced Tifa and Barret to die!" Cid continued. "Rufus, Shinra, whatever. Those #!£&#!£% Shinras are the reason why all of this started. SHERA! Get me some goddamn tea, would ya?" Cid returned to his rant. Cloud sat patiently and waited for it to end.
"You're forgetting something," He said politely. "Without Shinra, Rufus is nothing. He may even be of some use to us if we must defeat Sephiroth again,"
"Yeah, we could pick the #%£!?@! up and use him instead of my spear to batter Sephiroth to death," Cid grumbled away quietly before confirming that he would be able to pick them up shortly. He sounded quite cheerful to have an excuse for taking his new aeroplane, Highwind 2, out for a spin.
He was there within two hours, parking the Highwind in Storm's field and almost squashing the Chocobo who was saved by a truly remarkable turn of speed. "Don't suppose there's any chance of getting some tea around here?" He enquired as soon as Tifa opened the door. "I've been flying for hours and I had to leave that useless Shera at home to look after all those #@!?%$£ kids,"
"Certainly," Tifa hid a smile as she stood aside and let him in. "Is it true that you dressed up as Santa and fell off the roof this Christmas? Shera was very proud of you,"
Cid blushed. "Well, ya got to do it for the kids," He stammered. "Now, what about that goddamn tea?"
Tifa went off to the kitchen. "Nice to see you again, Cloud," Cid greeted him pleasantly enough for Cid. "And vampy-boy too. Good to see you're here too, saves us having to tear around the country looking for whatever coffin ya locked yourself up in,"
Vincent shot Cid a look that would have sent Ruby Weapon crying home to its mother. Cid was remarkably unaffected. He did seem quite frighteningly cheerful, until Cloud filled him in on the additional story of Kuja.
"We could always shove it in the crater and let him and Sephiroth tear bits out of each other," He said thoughtfully. "Saves us a job, doesn't it?" He drained the last of his tea. "Let's be on our way then. Whose nearest?"
- - - - - -
Corel Town was nearest. Barret had already sent Marlene to stay with Shera. Despite the grave situation, he insisted on showing them all the work that had been done on the little town. It looked like any other busy industrial town now, prosperous and comfortable. Cid was quite admiring, insisting that he would give Barret a hand building some steam-powered engines to replace the current Chocobo drawn carts. "Who we picking up next?" He asked as they gathered back on the Highwind. "That goddamn materia thief?"
Cloud nodded. "I alerted Yuffie and she's looking forward to it. Says she wants to go look for more materia within the crater,"
"Doesn't anyone understand how serious this is?" Tifa asked suddenly. "Once Sephiroth is fully recuperated he could summon Meteor again,"
"Of course we understand. I've been through it all before- I know how dangerous Sephiroth can be more than anyone. What sort of person do you take me for?" Cloud said in suddenly harsh tones. Tifa turned half away. He had never spoken to her like that before.
"Tifa is right," Vincent said slowly. "Aeris didn't give her life for this,"
The words struck a chord within Cloud and he lowered his gaze before leaving the room and walking towards the deck.
"Don't take him too seriously," Cid smiled at Tifa who looked rather upset. "He's just stressed. You know how hard it was for him the first time,"
"It was hard for me too," Tifa said softly as she walked away. No-one heard her. "And I thought he'd be waiting for me after it was all over.."
- - - - - -
Yuffie was waiting for them at Wutai, sat on a pretty gold Chocobo. She waved cheerfully to them as the Highwind landed in a cloud of dust with an almighty thump. "Waaark!" The Chocobo sprang backwards, startled. They heard a thin cry as Yuffie tried to steady it before... "WAARK!" It tore off at full gallop in a golden blur. Tifa smiled as they watched the pair race around in a circle before Yuffie hauled it back determinedly. With a final indignant "WARK!", the Chocobo skidded to a halt just ten feet from the Highwing. Yuffie flew off, somersaulted and managed to land on her feet, colliding with Vincent ungracefully. "Oops," She grinned sheepishly as she too was on the receiving end of Vincent's glare. "Sorry!" She hopped backwards and lead the skittish gold Chocobo into the Highwind 2. "Nice ship," She complimented Cid. "Can't wait to throw up all over it!" She disappeared inside.
"I thought you said she'd grown up," Cid shook his head disapprovingly.
"Better check ya materia," Barret wisely adviced Vincent as they headed back into the Highwind.
- - - - - - -
Red XIII was next. He was waiting patiently by the entrance to Cosmos Canyon. "Ready?" Cloud asked. Red XIII nodded slowly.
"I hate to leave my home, but there may be a greater danger coming soon," He said, glancing up at the peaceful blue skies.
"Red XIII?" Cloud asked thoughtfully. Red XIII raised his head. "Has there been any.. warning signs? I thought one of the astronomers may have noticed something,"
Red XIII pondered it. "There has been no proven signs," He answered thoughtfully. "But one of the resident mystics has been hearing the Planet cry again. I think that may be a sign that Sephiroth is growing in power again,"
Cloud nodded seriously. "That may well be. The guard is back over the crater, so I don't know how we will find out at all. We're going to speak to the Turks and Rufus. They had the idea about destroying Meteor last time. Perhaps they will work alongside us this time. I have some questions I would like them to answer anyway,"
"Oh yes?" Red XIII looked up curiously.
"About an old experiment we found in the Shinra mansion," Cloud said. "I'll explain on the ship. Are you ready to go?"
Red XIII glanced wistfully at the red canyon which seemed to glow fire-hot in the sunset. "I suppose," He said regretfully, before leaving it unguarded for the first time in five years,"
- - - - - - -
Once everyone was aboard the Highwind, Cloud filled them in on all he had heard. About the Shinra experiment, about the rumours of Sephiroth's return. There was a shocked silence. The memory of the last battle again Sephiroth was burnt into everyone's mind. The long hard struggle, the lives lost.. it hadn't been easy and now it could happen again. And Aeris wasn't there to save them this time. She'd passed on peacefully to her Promised Land. No Holy spells to stop Meteor now.
"Christ," Cid eventually spoke. "Looks like we're in a lot of trouble,"
Cloud nodded. "That's why we've made contact with the remainder of Shinra. They may be our enemies but they know a lot about this sort of thing. And I'm still curious about Project Kuja,"
Yuffie suddenly dashed from the room. There was the sound of noisy vomiting and she returned looking rather shaken. "Can we just decide where we're heading?" She whined fretfully. "I wanna get off this ship as soon as possible," She kicked the wall resentfully. Tifa hid a smile.
"Straight to Icicle Inn then?" Tifa asked. It looked like they were agreed. Cid wandered over to the control panels and set the course.
"No steering!" He beamed proudly, patting the side of the panel. "Told ya this new Highwind was good,"
It took only an hour or so to reach the Northern Continent. Tifa remained up on the deck, away from Cloud who was distinctly moody. It was bitterly cold up here, with cutting winds sweeping across the exposed deck. She didn't really care. It numbed her in the same way that racing with Storm did and froze any tears that might threaten. It wouldn't be so bad but she'd known Cloud had loved her once. Didn't he promise to come and help her when she needed her hero? She'd tried to put on a brave face, let them exist purely as friends. But it was so hard.. She pulled her knees up to her chest and watched the land pass below in a mostly uninteresting white blur, occasionally broken by jagged blueish rock outcrops. Once, a herd of chocobo ran startled below them and once she saw a small red dragon shoot a jet of flames upward defensively. Not that it was anywhere near enough to endanger them. At last they were far enough inland and the small village of Icicle Town showed below them, a pitifully small settlement in the middle of the savage frozen land.