The Frogmen of the Apocalypse: Gongaga
By TacomaSquall
Chapter 7:
The rest of the day passed slowly. I drafted a design for a large series of chambers that, according to the label on the file, was supposed to be a reactor room, with several coolant bays. The file indicated it was going to be built on Nibel Mountain. As I worked, I couldn't dispel Shander from my mind. There was something about him that I knew, but couldn't put my finger on…
The thing I remembered most about him wasn't his easy-going, disarming grin or his irrepressible sense of humor. The thing I remembered most about him was the slash across his belly. The slash had been an older wound that was partially healed when I met him. The slash was in a location that would have endangered his life, without treatment, when it was inflicted. This meant that Shander had been able to do something to treat the wound. Perplexed by the dilemma, and intrigued even more than I had been when I met the lanky Frog, I began to sketch Shander while I thought some more about how he could have gotten that nasty wound.
He had a slash across his belly, probably inflicted by a knife or sword. The wound was partially healed, like what happened when a single Potion was not sufficient to heal a seriously wounded person. He was hiding from people when I stumbled across him. Last night, terrorists attacked the reactor compound. I was headed to work at the compound this morning…
Shander had probably encountered the terrorists! In fact, he may be able to help us catch the terrorists before they can strike again!
Excited, I looked down at my sketch. I was stunned by what I saw.
Instead of the lanky Frogman I had encountered this morning, my sketch was of a tall, slender man. He had a short thatch of hair on his head and was clean-shaven. His face was narrow, tapering to a pointed chin. His eyes glinted with mischief, and he was smiling. Looking at my sketch, I realized that his hair was red, and his eyes were green. I knew instinctively that this was Shander, before he heard the Frog Song.
I folded the sketch and put it in my pack. Then, I got up and walked towards my supervisor. He was a tall man, in his mid-20s, who had graduated from the school of Engineering in Midgar. His name was Ashin Lambert.
He saw me walking towards him. "Miss Carpenter, what do you need?"
I grimaced. "I think I ate something bad for breakfast. I can't work very well. Is it alright if I call it a day and go home?"
He frowned. Mr. Lambert didn't like it when his people were sick. Sick people meant more work for others to do, which meant more chances of other people getting sick due to added stress. After a moment of consideration, he nodded his reluctant assent.
"Thank you, sir." I turned to walk away, but halted when my supervisor spoke again.
"Get well soon, Maiji. If we can get things done soon, we can give President ShinRa a big surprise when he comes here for the opening ceremonies, a month from now. And ShinRa rewards success very well."
As I walked away, my thoughts were jumbled, a maelstrom of different ideas, all competing for supremacy in my mind. Shander is a lead to the terrorists. President ShinRa is coming here for the opening ceremonies for the reactor, in one month. I had drawn Shander before he became a Frog! President ShinRa rewards those who serve him well. How well would he reward me if I catch the terrorists!?!
By the time I had reached home, my nerves had caused my stomach to do flip-flops, as if there were butterflies inside. I didn't have to fake being sick. I went in the house and lay down in my room. I didn't come out for dinner that evening.
That night, my mother knocked on my door. I called, "Who is it?"
She answered, "It's your mother. Maiji, may I come in?"
"Sure, Mom."
My mother opened the door and walked in. She was about the same height I was. Her long, black hair was tied into a tail that stretched to the small of her back. Her dark eyes were just ever-so-slightly slanted, one of the few indications that Grandmother was originally from Wutai. Looking at her, still pretty after twenty years of woodcarving, I could see what the future held for me, as I aged.
"Your father says that you came home early today."
"Yes, Mother. My stomach has been upset all day." For some reason, I felt embarrassed to be telling Mother the story I had decided I was going to tell anyone who asked why I left work early today, and why I stayed home sick tomorrow.
"I see." She pursed her lips in thought. She looked uncomfortable, like she was debating whether she should say something. Her brow crinkled and then relaxed, as she made her decision. "Maiji, why don't you and I go to Costa del Sol, next month? I am going there, to sell some of my pieces. I've seen some of your work, and think you might be able to sell some of it as well. We'll leave Zack with your father, and make it a girls-only trip."
We used to do "girls-only" stuff when we were in Junon. We'd go catch a movie, or go shopping, or just go out to eat, but it was a chance for us to talk about sensitive topics. We hadn't done a "girls-only" since we moved to Gongaga, three years before. Mom was always busy, and then I started spending so much time in the forest. I nodded, full of enthusiasm, realizing how much I had missed doing things like this with Mom.
"Do you really think I might be able to sell some of my drawings?" The idea was thrilling.
"Maiji, you are a better artist, at your age, than I am now. If you were in Midgar or Junon, you would be able to live very well, supported by your art."
"Mom, can we leave right after the Opening Ceremonies for the reactor? I will be pretty busy until then, but I will be able to get some time off after that."
"Certainly, Maiji." Mom smiled at me. She turned to walk out of the room, and then paused. "Maiji, is there something that you want to tell me about you and Jon?"
"Ummm, no."
"It is just that sometimes, girls don't wait until they get married before they experiment with certain things, honey. When they do that, they can get pregnant. One of the early symptoms of pregnancy is sickness like you were experiencing today."
I was aghast. "Mom! Jon and I have kissed, but I haven't done that with him! I want to wait until the right time." I wasn't like some of the popular girls in Junon, who would have sex with guys without thinking about what they were doing. I wanted my first time to be special.
I also wanted to love the man I gave myself to. While Jon and I were close, and good friends, I just did not feel that way about him. Frankly, I was getting tired of the way that everyone, even my parents, assumed that we were going to marry and have kids. What made it worse is that Jon was head over heels about me. I couldn't understand why I knew that he wasn't the right one for me, but I did.
Mom nodded in relief at me. "When a young man and a young woman spend as much time together as you two have, and when one, or both, of them go off alone frequently, it is sometimes assumed that certain things are happening, Maiji." She smiled. "I, for one, am glad that you have made the decision to wait. You are already going through so much, and being active in that way adds extra things for a young woman to worry about."
Mom turned to leave. Quickly, I blurted to her, "Mom, I don't love him." I don't know why I said it.
She turned back, surprise written on her face as plain as if she were carrying a sign proclaiming her astonishment. "Maiji! Does he know?"
"I keep hoping I will fall in love with him. I keep expecting the romance that Lucresia and Elmyra talk about in their letters to me, but it never happens." I frowned. "Maybe there's something wrong with me."
"Maiji, when the time is right, you will meet the one that you were meant to meet. Everyone has at least one person that we can, and will, love, when we finally meet them." She patted my shoulder and walked out of the room. "You need to tell Jon, because he is in love with you, and it isn't fair to him."
"I know, Mom."
As she closed the door, my mind raced away from the topic of the conversation with Mom to my plans for the next day. Tomorrow was when I set out to find Shander and show my picture to him, and to Tara. After I found him, I would ask his help in finding the terrorists.
I knew that if I tried, I could present President ShinRa with the terrorists on the day of the Opening Ceremonies!
To be continued …