Ch. 6

Almost there...

Two days later the party arrived in Kalm, and got a room at the inn to rest for the night. Cid hogged the bathroom for two hours because Yuffie threw up all over him.

"Damn kid...." Cid muttered in the shower.

Yuffie, who was lying on one of the beds with an icepack on her head sat up and yelled "I CAN'T HELP IT, AND YOU KNOW THAT!!"

Everyone else was sitting around talking, waiting for Cloud to return from talking to the old man.

"Well, sure thing you can have these back...I couldn't figure out what to do anyway..." The old man said after hearing Cloud's tale. "You and 'er must really love each other eh?

"Um, yes. Listen, how can I repay you?" Cloud was embarrassed because the old man saw right through him.

"There's no need to repay me sonny. Just the fact that I'm helping two lovebirds be reunited is reward enough." The old man said chuckling, noticing Cloud's scarlet face. He handed Cloud the Underwater materia, the Desert Rose and the Earth harp, which Cloud placed in a satchel he had brought along.

"Thanks, Sir." Cloud said as he walked out the door. "wait." The old man stopped Cloud. "You take care of Aeris, you hear. Don't let her get away." Cloud smiled. "You can bet on that. Thanks again." He exited and ran back to the inn.

Cloud burst in the room.

"What the...?!?" Red awoke with a start. "Oh, you're back."

"It's time at last..." Tifa murmured.

"I hope it works...I don't know what I'd do if it didn't" Cloud said with a sigh.

Yuffie got up and hugged Cloud, trying to console him. "It'll work Cloud. I know it will."

Cid came out of the bathroom, fully dressed (thank God, Yuffie thought) in clean clothes, and said enthusiastically "Well, lets get a move on, then!"

Vincent spoke up" Cloud, if you're going to have to go into that lake you're going to have to hurry because that materia's only good for twenty minutes at a time."

Cloud thought for a second " The water's pretty clear, so I'll do it during high noon, so I'll have the best visibility..."

"Good thinking, Cloud. If we leave now, we can get there by nightfall and tomorrow we'll attempt it." said Red, as he glanced out the window at the darkening sky.

"Well, we wont know until we try, so let's go!" Cid exclaimed while walking down the stairs.

Cloud followed Cid almost immediately, and everyone else followed silently to the airship and set off to the City of the Ancients.

End of Chapter 6