Chapter 2
"You two...I cannot believe you two kissed!" Cloud screamed; his arms tensed at his sides. His whole body was vibrating like train tracks with an express on the way. Tifa waved her hand casually and looked over at Aeris.
"It's gonna be cold tonight" Tifa put her hands on her hips and fought hard to keep the giggles from escaping. Aeris looked up at the sky; the clouds move across the twilight of the day with elegant grace. The wind was pushing the clouds across the sky with gently warm breezes.
"Yeah, it probably will be. What do you think Cloud?" Aeris bent over and put her hands behind her back playfully; his mouth shaking from holding in so many giggles. Cloud's eyes began to bulge out of the sockets; his teeth began to grind together in his mouth.
"I do not believe you two.." The words came through his clenched jaw; they had forced their way out. Tifa looked over at Aeris and gave her a look.
"Yeah Aeris, really. Listen to us; talking about the weather. We should be ashamed of ourselves!" Tifa shot off at her. Aeris gasped and looked at Tifa.
"How dare you!" Aeris crossed her arms and sneered at Tifa. Then, through the air molecules came a very loud scream. Cloud was emitting a cry so loud that near by animals began to run away. He pivoted on his feet; spinning away from them. He threw his arms into the air as the scream died down. Then, when the scream was a mere echo, he marched away from them. As soon as his body fell from sight, both girls let loose with the giggles, falling over onto the soft grass. After a few moments of rolling around on the grass and laughing like school girls, they both sat up. Aeris looked over at Tifa with a huge grin.
"You know, he's going to hate us for this" Aeris said cheerfully. Tifa grinned at her and shook her head. She got to her feet and knocked some loose grass of her legs.
"Nonsense; we all needed something to lighten the mood around here" Tifa knocked the few final pieces of grass off her shirt. Aeris picked a few pieces of grass of her skirt and placed them on the ground.
"Yeah; he won't stay mad at us. He's just incapable of it" Aeris mentioned. Tifa felt the wind gently brush into her. Unlike before, when the breeze had been warm and filled with joy, this breeze stung her skin with its bitterness. Tifa glanced down at Aeris and watched her get to her feet and dust even more grass of her skirt.
"Well, maybe not you. You're the good one; I'm the bad one" Tifa remarked harshly. Aeris hands froze on her skirt; a piece of grass stuck between her thumb and finger. The breeze pushed her dark hair upwards into the sky.
"What do you mean?" Aeris questioned quickly. The dark night sky forced the twilight to become a memory; dark clouds began to cover the sky. Tifa half-turned her body away from Aeris; her eyes focused on the the town. Or rather, where the town would be. In place of an actual town, Kalm looked like a military town; tents all lined the streets, temporarily housing the citizens. The cold wind was playing havok on the tents. Their new homes would not be ready for a few more weeks. And while Tifa had complained about the state of their new home, it was much farther along then other homes. Aeris gently pushed Tifa's shoulder.
"Hey Tifa, what did you mean by that?" Aeris shook her shoulder. Tifa spun towards her and stepped back. She took a deep breath as the cold breeze rushed her again. She took yet another step back, causing Aeris' hand to fall off her shoulder.
"Oh...sorry. It's nothing" Tifa muttered. She turned away from Aeris and took a few steps towards the town. Aeris jogged and stepped in her path. She held her arms up at her sides to stop Tifa from walking pass.
"Come on, what did you mean by that?" Aeris pleaded to know. Tifa felt her head grow heavy as her neck tilted downwards. The freezing breeze ran up both of their spines causing their bodies to twitch.
"Look, I'm not stupid and neither are you. You're the good girl and I'm the bad girl. I mean, look at how you dress and at how I dress! And come on, I'm a huge tom boy and you're a girlie-girl! And I wanna run a bar and you wanna run a flower store! You're the princess and I'm the hooker" Tifa screamed out with all her might. The power of her voice seemed to knock Aeris' arms down and forced her face to look down. For a time the only sound that could be heard was the wind whipping into them. Finally, Aeris moved herself out of Tifa's way.
"I had no clue you felt that way..." Aeris murmured. All the anger and rage in Tifa burst like a balloon on a thumbtack. Her shoulders drooped down due to the lose of her burning anger.
"Its not you I'm mad at Aeris...I just feel like...like maybe I'm wasting my heart" Tifa felt the words sting her heart like those thumbtacks. Aeris remained a statue; only her dress moving and that was due to the breeze. Tifa glanced at her; her eyes locked on her mouth, waiting to see it move.
"I never asked to come back" Aeris forced out finally, the words barely loud enough to be heard. She balled her hands up and began to fight to keep her tears in. Tifa watched her face shaking and saw the slight shine of sorrow in her eyes. Tifa felt her own water pellets of sorrow forming.
"I never asked for you to leave" Tifa pulled as much air into her lungs as she possible could. She finally got the courage to look up at her rival and friend. Aeris had just run her coat sleeve under her eyes. Aeris sniffed as she ran the sleeve back once more to make sure all the tears were gone. The coldest blast of wind hit them both. The intense blast had almost knocked both girls over. Then, a loud crack filled the air. Tifa looked all around.
"What was that?" She called out; her eyes searching for anything that could have possible made the noise. Aeris craned her head upwards and was meet by a raindrop, which splashed right where a dried tear was resting.
"I think it's gonna storm" Aeris rubbed the spot gently, getting rid of both drops. Tifa felt her hair getting wet from above. Splash after splash hit her brown hair, driving home the point that a storm had indeed come.
"You think?" Tifa remarked. Deep down inside her, she felt something else burst. It was not some built-up anger or old pains, but a rather pleasant burst. The remains of the burst raced up her throat and spilled out her mouth. Tifa bent over as the giggles fell out of her mouth. Aeris rose an eyebrow at her; rain drops began to run down her face.
"It's not that funny!" Aeris pouted, stomping a foot. With a tear of laughter in her eye, Tifa glanced at her. The moment Aeris saw Tifa's face, covered in tears and raindrops, her own bubble of giggles broke and soon they were spilling out of her mouth. After a good solid minute of laughing by both of them, the tension that had filled the air was all gone. Instead of tension, the air was full of laughs and rain. Tifa put her hands on her knees as the last few chuckles spilled out.
"Well that felt good..." Tifa muttered through the last few laughs. The rain was now drenching them. Tifa flipped her hair around so it would not stick to her back. Aeris pushed her wet hair away from her face.
"Yeah, but this rain sure doesn't..." Aeris wringed her hair out; her wrists turning a few times. Tifa looked towards the town of tents and nodded.
"Let's head home then. And Aeris-"
"No need" Aeris stated calmly. Tifa nodded her head as both turned towards the town and began the jog home.
Two dark storm clouds collided; their forces caused a bolt of lightning to fill the sky with bright electricity. The light that was born in that burst of storm spread across the night sky, filling it up with a moment of pure day. The momentary light filled up the computer screen, causing Phoenix to narrow his eyes. Once the light died down, he went back to reading, his eyes dancing across the words on the screen. Then, he felt the room shake from thunder.
"So much I did not know..." Phoenix muttered softly; his eyes kept moving across the screen, absorbing all the words could offer. Then, he watched the screen shake once again from thunder1. And then a second one very quickly. Added in with the second thunder-shock was a mixture of breaking glass. Phoenix spun the chair around and stared at the glass window. Seeing no broken glass from that distance, he stood up and walked to the window. His hand felt the smooth glass.
"What was-" Another vibration shook the computer, but it came from the opposite direction. He saw three figures through the breaking tinted glass. Phoenix launched himself onto the desk in one leap then jumped towards to the door, throwing his coat off his body.With a quick twist he flung the door open and entered the fray in the hallway. He saw Reeve being held up against a wall by a large man. A smaller man stood to the side. Phoenix sprinted at the smaller man with a burst of energy. The small man turned just in time to give Phoenix a nice target; with two steps Phoenix ran up the man's chest and kicked him in the face. The man's body hit the ground just as Phoenix finished his backflip away from him. The large masked man turned towards the boy, dropping Reeve in the process.
"Who the fuck are you?" The large man bellowed. When an answer did not come, he ran towards the teenager and swung his huge arm at him. With a lightning quick move, Phoenix arm-dragged the man over him and sent him to the ground. As the large man stumbled to his feet, Phoenix dropkicked him in the face. The masked man would have fallen if his partner had not caught him as he fell backwards. Slowly, both men stared in the direction of their attacker. Then, two storm clouds smashed together and a quick flash of light filled the room.
"What? You're a fucking kid!" The large man shrugged the smaller man off. The smaller man cracked his knuckles.
"He got lucky so far! Now we're going to kick his ass!" Then, a silver light broke into the darkness. The light flowed from the boy's extended hand. Reeve put a hand on his lip to check for blood. As he looked at his hand, he saw the red blood covering his fingers. As he twisted his wrist, he noticed that the light, which was letting him see his blood, was a silver tint. The two men now stood side by side, their patience for the boy wearing away.
"What the hell you doing? Playing with a flashlight?" The large man chuckled a few times. The small man began to stomp towards the boy. Reeve got to his feet; his back could not get close enough to the wall for his comfort.
"Playtime is over!" The small man spat out. The light was growing though; soon the entire hallway was bathed in the silver glow. Then, the seriousness which was covering the boy's face converged to his lips and turned into a nasty grin. The small man came to a halt; also coming to a halt was the laughing of the large man.
"Big Bang Attack!" The boy screamed, a giant silver energy attack emitting from his hand. The hallway filled with a bright flash of silver energy, then the ball went flying into the two men. The two men went hurtling backwards; their screams filling the void left behind. One wall was smashed from the combined force of hurtling bodies and the energy attack. As the blast died down, the whole area was filled with darkness once more. Phoenix craned his neck downward.
"Indeed, it is over" Phoenix turned around and looked at Reeve. Reeve's eyes were as wide as the hole in the wall from the blast. He cowered up against the wall even more.
"Oh my...! I mean, they told me...but it's incredible!" Reeve said in disbelief. Phoenix nodded once; a quick motion. Then, he looked over his shoulder for a moment.
"It seems you have some friends" Phoenix noted. In the distance, he heard the some rumbling. The large man pushes away from the wall, not realizing he had left an imprint of his body on the wall. The small man rubbed his forehead with his wrist.
"Ray, let's fuck off!" Billy screamed; he pushed a rock of his chest. Ray punched the wall as he stood up.
"Damn, we can't! Remember what Overton..." Ray started, but he trailed off. His body starting shaking. Billy looked at him oddly, then noticed his face was covering in a glowing silver light. Billy spun his head around and looked down the hallway. The boy's body was turned away from them; but his hand was in the air. Silver energy was gathering around it once more.
"Fuck Overton! I'm not dealing with him!" Billy screamed, scrambling to get away. Ray sprinted behind him. Phoenix let the energy die down from his hand, leaving the whole area in a state of darkness. Reeve took a few steps from the wall now. His lip trembled in anger.
"Overton...why would they want me dead?" Reeve hissed. Phoenix turned his attention back to Reeve.
"So, you know those guys?"
"Not them, but Overton...yeah, I know them. And yeah, I'll tell you about them. But let's get out of here in case those guys come back..I don't want to see this place wrecked more" Reeve looked at the boy. Phoenix nodded once and looked back at the hole.
"Sorry" He muttered. Reeve chuckled a few times while he dusted his jacket off.
"Thanks Phoenix. They'd have roughed me up or killed me. I owe you one" Reeve stated. Phoenix made a face. He watched Reeve stepping around slowly in the darkness, walking back towards the doorway.
"Owe me what?" Phoenix questioned, crossing his arms. Reeve bent down and searched for his keys, which he had dropped when the men jumped him. His hand bounces around the ground, hoping to find them.
"Owe you...well, something you want that I can do. Besides the information; consider that free" Reeve smirked at him; not looking at the search for the keys. Phoenix looked at the hole in the wall and nodded.
"Understood" Phoenix calmly replied. Reeve finally grabbed the keys. He let out a sigh and grabbed his briefcase. Looking inside the open door to his office, he say the boy's jacket laying there. Reeve yanked the jacket off the ground, nearly falling over.
"What the hell? Do you carry bricks in your pockets or something" Reeve shouted in disbelief. Phoenix turned his attention to Reeve.
"It's not that heavy" Was all he said. Reeve tossed the jacket to the boy, who caught it and threw it back on his body with a few quick motions. With a shrug of his shoulders, the jacket fell perfectly over him. Phoenix looked back at the hole in the wall.
"So what are they doing about Midgar?" Phoenix inquired. Reeve put a finger up to his lips before noticing the boy's attention was elsewhere.
"I'll tell you when we get to my apartment. I don't feel safe discussing it here" Reeve mentioned. Phoenix began to look around when a flash of lightning filled the room once more. He saw all the cracks in the glass in Reeve's door.
"I can see why" Phoenix muttered. Reeve nodded and walked past Phoenix and towards the hole. He put a hand on the new edge and pushed himself through the hole.
"Come on; you can read those files too. But you can't blow a hole in the wall" Reeve mentioned. Phoenix let out laugh; he had no idea why, but he did.
"Very well" Phoenix walked behind him a few steps, then hopped through the hole with ease. Reeve grabbed a stray umbrella and pushed the door open. Opening the umbrella as he walked out, Reeve glanced back at Phoenix.
"That was pretty amazing. I mean, how fast you move" Reeve watched the boy walk out and look up into the rain. The boy took a few steps away from the wall and glanced upwards. Reeve made a face.
"Yeah, so-" Reeve began. Then, his eyes went wide in shock; the boy jumped at the wall, but instead of falling backwards or straight-down, he kicked straight up. As he neared the wall, his boots kicked off the wall and went higher again. A few more kick-jumps off the wall and the boy stopped on a ledge; the ledge not big enough to hold a flower pot. After he bent down and grabbed a garbage bag which was tied up there, he back-flipped off the wall, landing in the middle of the road. Reeve's face just shook; his eyes un-able to go back to normal. The boy ripped the bag off his backpack and flung it on his shoulders.
"What were you saying?" Phoenix asked. Reeve just shook his head and began to walk down the street. Phoenix jogged up behind him, just barely getting under the umbrella.
"What were you saying?" Phoenix repeated. Reeve let out a laugh and slowed his steps down. He held the umbrella high enough for the boy to get under. But Phoenix stopped a few feet behind him. The boy's body remained still, but Reeve saw his eyes move from side to side, despite the streams of rain-water running down them.
"Why did you stop; there is no danger here" Phoenix muttered. His eyes stopped moving when they were focused on Reeve.
"You're gonna get soaked. You want to walk under the umbrella?" Reeve tilted his head slightly. The boy sharply shook his head to the sides. Reeve sighed and started walking again. Phoenix followed behind him, kicking up rain whenever his foot hit a puddle.
