The cargo ship finally arrived at the next continent. The ship stopped at Costa Del Sol harbour. Costa Del Sol was a holiday resort and the weather was very hot there. Cloud, Red XIII, Aeris, Tifa, Barret and Yuffie sneaked off the boat and they stood in the harbour.
"Damn! It sure is hot here! But I sure feel better now that I can say goodbye to that sailor suit. All of ya have to mingle like regular folks around here," said Barret.
"Oh, too bad. I liked Barret's sailor suit. He looked so cute," joked Aeris, giggling, and she heard Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie all sniggering behind her.
"What do you mean cute?" asked Barret, annoyed, glaring at each of them in turn.
"Right, well. Barret, why don't you use that sailor suit for pyjamas? Right, Cloud?" said Tifa, grinning.
"Ah, you look like a bear wearing a marshmallow," joked Cloud, turning to Barret.
Aeris and Tifa were almost in tears laughing, and Red XIII was forced to support Yuffie as she doubled over, giggling. Barret snarled angrily.
"The hell's that supposed to mean!? This happens to be the most comfortable, so shut up!" snapped Barret.
"Would you kind of hurry? The heat here is dying my nose. And I'm tired from trying to stand on two feet and not on all fours back there," said Red XIII.
"Too bad, Red XIII. If you were black instead of red, you probably could have passed as a guard dog," joked Barret, chuckling for the first time in weeks.
"Very funny," muttered Red XIII, annoyed at being called a dog, as he looked more like a young red lion.
"I'm getting too hot and dry here as well. Can we move already?" complained Yuffie.
"Alright, we'll take a break and then head off. Don't wander too far off," said Cloud. Barret snorted.
"I'll wander wherever I damn well want! Who made him the damn leader, anyways?" said Barret, annoyed, not looking for an answer to that question.
"It looks like my mane got messed up. I'm going to rest somewhere cool," said Red XIII.
"Don't bother looking for me," said Yuffie, irritably, as she ran off, while Red XIII and Barret ran off as well.
"I think that I'll go swimming. There's a really long beach here. Maybe we could go for a swim?" asked Tifa, grinning at Aeris, who grinned back.
"Or we could get a tan! What do you think, Cloud?" asked Aeris, giggling.
Cloud snapped out of his train of thought and stared blankly at both girls. They smiled at him, though, and turned to face each other again, giving a knowing nod.
"Looks like your cool exterior's cracking," said Aeris, smirking sideways at him.
Before Cloud could ask what she meant by that, she and Tifa were around the corner and had vanished into the crowd. Sighing wearily and shaking his head, Cloud followed the others into Costa Del Sol.
He was never going to be able to understand women…
****************************************************************
Meanwhile, Rufus and Heidegger had just left the ship and they were now standing in the harbour. A helicopter landed, ready to pick them up.
"Good work everyone," said Rufus, coolly, turning to face the sailors.
That was about as much praise as he gave to his workers, so they took the compliment well.
"What a long trip that was…hurry up with that!" shouted Heidegger, also talking to the sailors as if jealous of their received praise.
"Yes, sir!" said the sailors, not noticing.
"The chopper's coming for you, Mr. President," said Heidegger, saluting as he turned back to face Rufus.
"I heard that Sephiroth was on board the cargo ship," said Rufus, his face cool and calm, but the tone of his voice was dripping with venomous anger. Heidegger gulped.
"Y-Yes, sir," admitted Heidegger, nervously.
"And it seems that Cloud and the others were also able to sneak on board the cargo ship too," said Rufus, menacingly, in a soft, dangerous voice.
"Y-Yes, sir," repeated Heidegger, getting more and more nervous, as Rufus glared icily at him.
"They all slipped through and escaped. You messed up BIG this time, Heidegger," said Rufus, sharply and coldly.
He was now looking very hard and murderously at Heidegger.
"I-I'm ashamed of myself," said Heidegger, quietly, not even daring to look at Rufus.
Rufus snorted harshly.
"Is that all you can do? Give one-word answers and apologise for everything? I told you, Heidegger. Things are different from when my father was in charge. I won't tolerate your hopeless incompetence. Either sort your own mess out, or you can say goodbye to your job and to your freedom," said Rufus, sharply and coldly.
"Ready for departure, sir!" said a sailor.
Rufus nodded and walked towards the helicopter but just before getting on it, he turned back and he faced Heidegger, who stood still, not following.
"Just do something useful for once without hopelessly screwing it up. I'll be expecting some results on the search soon, Heidegger. Or ELSE…" said Rufus, menacingly.
Without another glance back, Rufus calmly got on the helicopter and then it quickly flew off seconds after Rufus had gone into it.
Heidegger watched the chopper take off with President Rufus in it, and roared in anger and frustration as soon as it was out of sight.
Cursing loudly, Heidegger knocked three sailors off into the water; chased away any curious bystanders, and he stormed off, growling with rage.