Bring on the Rain Part 3
"I'm…Cloud? I'm Cloud…" Sephiroth could hardly believe his eyes. Mirrors didn't lie. They showed what was there. What was alive. Tifa stared at him.
"Um, Cloud? Maybe you should sleep a little longer. I could make you some soup or something?" Sephiroth slowly turned to her and jumped out of bed. Well, he thought, until I figure this out, maybe I should…play along. Aeris would be mad if I hurt her friends. Sephiroth sighed.
"Um…no, it's ok Tifa…what do you need help with?" Tifa perked up and nodded.
"The grand opening of the new bar!" Sephiroth blinked. He nearly asked what happened to the old bar but decided Cloud would know. Tifa raced towards the door but noticed how slow Sephiroth, or Cloud as she saw it, was walking. "You sure you're going to be ok? Yuffie, Vincent and Cid decided to help out, just in case you needed more sleep." Sephiroth shook his head.
"No, I'm fine. Is there anything else we need to do?" Tifa smiled and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Sephiroth swallowed nervously and slowly wrapped his arms around her back.
"That's my Cloud!" She said cheerfully. "But since I can see you're still tired, we'll do the invitations tomorrow. Think the Turks will want to come? Elena and I are great friends now but maybe Reno and Rude...what do you think?" Sephiroth glared at no one, since Tifa was still hugging him. Great Cloud, he thought, you leave me with some party I have to take care of? Tifa let go and led him down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Vincent and Yuffie were cooking.
"As I said both Yuffie, it is one half cup nuts for every ¼ cup sugar." Vincent stated, staring at the recipe as he stirred a pot. Yuffie shook her head, looking anger for no real reason.
"No! It's one-cup nuts for every ½ cup sugar! My dad makes this at home all the time Vinnie!" Vincent sighed, his eyes not moving from the book.
"And how does it taste at home Yuffie? Wonderful, I take it?" Yuffie stopped arguing and redid the measurements, beaten. Sephiroth couldn't help by smile. What a pair.
"Hey guys, how's cooking coming, though I really don't need to ask do I?" Tifa smiled at the two. Vincent looked up at Tifa.
"The cooking is going well, though small disagreements keep popping up." Yuffie glared at him but didn't say anything. Tifa nodded and looked around the room.
"Where'd Cid go?" Yuffie dumped the ingredients in the pot Vincent was stirring.
"He's out there making the ultimate booze with Reno and the other Turks." Tifa was slightly surprised.
"The Turks came?" Vincent nodded.
"Reno said quote, 'Wherever a bar opens up with discounted booze, we'll be there.' End quote." Tifa smiled. Sephiroth figured he'd better say something.
"That's Reno for you." Vincent nodded.
"Are you feeling better Cloud?" he asked. Sephiroth shrugged.
"Fine I guess…" Yuffie grinned.
"Well, doctor Red XIII will be here tomorrow to check you out." Sephiroth nodded. Great, a doctor…
"Fine." Tifa smiled.
"Ok, we'll go check on Cid now…make sure he and Reno didn't drink everything…"
Cloud felt a lump form in his throat. He couldn't say anything. He here was, in a greener version of Kalm, with three dead people. On top of all that, the dead people were Tseng, Rufus and Aeris of all people. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
"What happened?" he asked. Aeris giggled.
"You fell asleep silly! Tseng went and got you because I was getting worried." Cloud nodded. As he did, a bang fell in his eye. Not his usually blonde ones. But a very familiar silver one. Rufus petted the dog next to him.
"Sephy, look, I found Dark Nation. That's what I wanted Aeris to help me with. She found him…" Cloud blinked.
"You guys…are talking to me?" Tseng laughed.
"Well, who else would we call Sephy?" Cloud still found it hard to believe he was Sephiroth. But for now, he thought, maybe I should play along.
"That's true…umm…how come we have bodies? I forgot. I know were dead…" Cloud asked. Aeris smiled. God how he missed that smile.
"Well, it's really just an image we use to weight ourselves down. This way, we go where we want, not with the flow of the lifestream." Cloud nodded.
"So now what?" he asked. He wondered what you did when you were dead.
"Well, now that you're finally up, we can go to dinner!" Rufus grumbled. Tseng reached down and picked up a sword. It was the Masamune.
"Want me to put this in your room so you can shine it up later?" he asked. Cloud nodded and Tseng disappeared with the sword. Aeris grabbed his arm.
"C'mon, Let's go eat at that nice new place in downtown Junon. I hear it's got great fish!" Cloud nodded and suddenly disappeared with Aeris, Rufus and his dog. They reappeared right outside of the restaurant. They walked in to see Tseng getting them a booth. They sat down, Tseng and Cloud on one side, Rufus and Aeris on the other. A waiter came over.
"Good evening, what can I get for you tonight." He gave them menus. They looked over them briefly.
"I'll have…the chicken breast with some lemon and a biscuit on the side with butter and honey." Rufus said like it was a business meeting. Tseng grinned.
"That sounds good! I'll have that and a bowl of tomato soup on the side!" Aeris tapped a finger on her lower lip.
"Umm…how about, a Caesar salad with ranch dressing. And then I want a…let's see. The fish sounds good, so the fish with lemon juice." Cloud blinked. Here he was, dead, in Sephiroth's body/image thing, eating with Aeris, Tseng and Rufus, while Sephiroth was probably in his body, helping Tifa get the bar opened and with the…the wedding! He forgot all about the wedding! Cloud rubbed his forehead and felt a tiny kick under the table. He looked up. The waiter was waiting for him.
"Oh, right! I'm, I'll have the fish and a side of fries and lemon." The waiter nodded and took their menus.
"And to drink?" He asked. Rufus held up two fingers.
"Two beers, I'll have a glass of red wine and Aeris…what do you want?" She smiled.
"Just some water." The waiter nodded and went away. Cloud groaned. The wedding was in a week! He had to figure out a way to either delay it or come back in that time period! Who knew what havoc Sephiroth could be…?
"Sephiroth?" He looked up. Aeris was staring at him with her beautiful green eyes. He stopped wondering.
"What?" He asked. She smiled.
"I forgot to ask…how's Cloud and Tifa doing? Is the wedding going smoothly." She turned to Rufus.
"We have to go. Really, sad, I wanted to be the maid of honor!" Rufus sighed and took out a newspaper.
"Ah, but we don't have a invitation!" Aeris pouted and punched his arm. Cloud doubted the punch even hurt the tinniest bit. Cloud swallowed.
"The wedding plans are going great. They got the cake, the chapel booked, the guest list, the dress and tux…" Aeris clapped her hands.
"Is the cake nice, does Tifa look good in her dress, does Cloud?" Cloud sighed. Being Sephiroth wasn't quite as easy as he had thought…
Author's Note: Now what? Will Sephiroth figure out it's a wedding, not a party? Will Red see anything wrong with "Cloud"? What will Cloud decide? Stay with Aeris? Let Sephiroth marry Tifa? Or will he return to her? Next chapter, the bachelor party!!!