4. "#%&# uglies!!!"
The next day began like any other day, and Shera automatically set the table for breakfast. It was like it never had happened. Like it had all been one bitter-glorious dream. She stood gazing absently into the sink when Rain entered the room and grinned widely at the sight. "Hey there. You look like someone just stole something precious from you. It's that manly Captain Cid again, huh?"
Starting, Shera jumped around and blushed deeply at the words. "N-no! I mean, t-that's... that's n-not i-it! I m-mean, nothing happ-happened!"
As the words left her lips, Shera realised she'd just about admitted something had happened, and closed her eyes hard.
Rain walked over, her smile not lessening by the news. "So...? What exactly... 'did not happen'?"
Shaking her head, Shera turned back to the sink, desperate to avoid her eyes. "I-I don't know what you mean! N-nothing happened! I mean, what would happen? S-should there be happening something? I-I don't understand wh-why you have to bring the... the Captain into my idleness. I-It's not his fault!"
Rain crossed her arms and leaned sideways against the sink with a tiny frown; "what isn't his fault?"
Unknowingly, Shera clutched the edges of the sink and bent her head; "that he doesn't want me."
Reaching out, Rain placed a light hand on Shera's shoulder; "hey... let's sit down and you can tell me why you have that crazy idea in that usually so smart mind of yours!"
Powerless, Shera allowed her to guide her over to the table and sit heavily down on a chair.
Sitting down beside her, Rain took her hand and sighed; "now... what happened?"
Shera shrugged and still wouldn't meet her eyes; "last night... I couldn't sleep, a-and I decided to make, uhm, some tea... b-but when I came in here, t-the Captain was here. I-I tried to apologize, "
at that point Rain silently rolled her eyes, already knowing too well Shera's ramblings, but didn't interrupt,
"b-but he... he just..." Shera slowly raised her gaze and met Rain's eyes before dropping the bomb; "he kissed me."
Rain blinked surprised then smiled with a shrug; "there you are! And of course kissing you means he doesn't want you, right?"
Blushing deeply, Shera shook her head with a sad smile; "no, you don't understand. I-I... I kissed him first."
She could see Rain now became a little confused and hurried to clear it up; "the evening before, when he was out working on the airship. I... somehow... I-I kissed him." Shera folded her hands awkwardly in her lap, feeling embarrassed beyond belief.
Rain raised an eyebrow and waved her hand weakly; "I still don't get how you make all of this mean he doesn't want you..."
There was a short silence, then Shera drew a deep breath; "I just... last night... I think it was a pity-kiss!"
Laughing silently, Rain shook her head; "a what?"
Shera shrugged and gazed down at her hands again; "you know, a pity-kiss. He... he doesn't want me, but felt embarrassed o-over how I threw m-myself at him the n-night before... s-so, he pity-kissed me."
Out loud her words sounded so incredibly stupid, but Shera knew in her heart that they were true.
Rain sighed at her friends negativeness and placed her hand over Shera's; "listen, you know Cid better then anyone, right?"
Shera nodded weakly, before Rain continued; "so is he the type to pity anyone?"
The words made Shera wonder. Cid really wasn't the type to pity others, he accepted things as they were and made no attempts to hide his opinion. If he really loathed her, as she had so intensely convinced herself that he did, Cid would have been the first to tell her. Suddenly she remembered the look in his eyes that night and felt the blush crawl over her cheeks again while her stomach fluttered. "I... I don't know..." She mumbled and got up to walk over the sink.
Rain looked after her with a slight smile, while silently praying that Cid weren't the rough and insenstetive man he gave himself out to be.
Cloud and the others had left that night for Nibelheim, leaving Cid to finish up as much of the repairs on the Highwind as possible without the parts. Yet he didn't get very much done, as he merely strolled around on the airship, inspecting and absently fixing minor details. Cigarette after cigarette burned itself out as they merely hung from his lips while he gazed absently around, his mind swirling around a certain someone. Leaning his forhead against the cool metal-side of the Highwind, Cid sighed deeply. He was getting into deep water, and knew he wasn't that good of a swimmer.
Getting up before dawn to avoid Shera, Cid had spent his entire time with the airship thinking about her. "And just what the #&%$# am I supposed to do...?"
he asked irritated and straightened to look at the Highwind, almost as if he were expecting an answer. It was just so typical Shera; leave it up to her to mess up things! Crossing his arms, Cid leaned against the airship and sighed again; "why couldn't she just have left things alone...?"
He knew he really didn't want that she had, but the entire thing made him nervous. When he thought back, he could still feel her so close, and Cid shifted uneasily.
Alright, he had no trouble admitting he wanted her, but Shera... Shera was in love with him.
The thought caused him to inhale sharply and walk briskly over to his bag of tools. This was stupid! Stupid!
His heart belonged to the air and his planes, not some... some woman. Shera, a woman? Non-plussed, Cid gazed blankly straight ahed. As insanely stupid as it sounded, he'd never looked at her like that. As a co-worker, an engineer, and as a complete pain, but never as a... a woman.
Cid numbly grasped a wrench and felt it's weight absently. That could make living with her drastically more difficult.
The pilot dropped the wrench and straightened to sigh for what he felt was the thousandth time that day. He'd better focus on fixing the Highwind so he could get himself killed by Sephiroth and didn't have to worry about foolish things like Shera!
A few more hours passed, then his co-workers showed up to help him, so when Shera finally arrived; Cid was luckily too busy to be able to talk to her. She didn't seem to mind focusing on the work either, and the two were actually able to work side by side like they used to. But they both knew they were only pretending; something had changed. Something was different...
"Captain!" One of the young men working for Cid came running towards the Highwind, waving his arms to get his attention, "Captain!"
Cid straightened and puffed irritated on his cigarette; "What?! What's all yer damn screamin' for?"
The young man stumbled to a halt and pointed a shaking finger towards Cid's house; "Captain! ShinRa troops... here!"
The words was almost lost in his heaving for breath, but cut through clear enough for Cid's blue eyes to narrow. "ShinRa troops? What the &#$% do they want...?"
He didn't move for a few seconds, then turned to the others; "I'm gonna go check. If I catch one of you &#$ bozos slacking, I'm gonna $&#%# kill you!" The crew nodded with pale faces, knowing him too well to doubt his words. With long, irritated strides, Cid stalked over to halt with a slight surprised look when he saw what met him; several trucks and at least a dozen soldiers.
He blinked once, then regained his senses and crossed his arms. Before any of them noticed him, Cid went into the house through the back-door and met a wide-eyed Shera. "C-Captain! ShinRa soldiers!"
He nodded resigned and walked over to peek out the window. "You don't say...? Hmm, I bet they're after the Highwind..."
Shera walked over as well, fighting against the urge to take his hand for comfort. "T-they're awfully many..."
Cid nodded absently. Had the others been there, they might had put up a fight, but even Cid weren't stupid enough to go against a dozen soldiers alone. "Listen... I'm gonna go outside and"
"No!" Shera interrupted and grasped his arm, throwing all tact aside. "Captain, it's too dangerous!"
Cid gave a slow smile, placing his hand over hers. "Shera, I'm not gonna..."
"Please! I... " Shera shook her head desperately, tears forming in her eyes, "Captain... please!"
Cid pried her hands loose and held them between his, meeting her eyes firmly; "Shera. They won't go away. They're here for a reason and won't leave until they've got what they came for. Now, what's important is the fight against Sephiroth. If what I'm thinkin' is right; they're not out to shed blood, or they would've by now."
He turned to gently take her face between his hands to regain her attention, "Tifa's party were prolly captured to get Cloud and the others away from the Highwind, and leave her unguarded for them to take. I gotta do what I can. Ok?"
His soft voice made it even worse, and Shera closed her eyes hard. "Don't go..." She pleaded silently
and Cid couldn't hold back a gentle smile. "Hey, who am I? I'm Cid. I can take care of myself. Don't worry."
Shera slowly opened her eyes again and gave him a faint smile. "I can't promise I won't."
She looked awfully pale and her lips trembled despite her smile, causing a strange feeling to spread in Cid. He'd gone out on missions more dangerous then this, only this was the first one he'd ever worried about getting killed in.
Hesitating but a second, Cid bent down and gently placed his lips against hers.
With a whimper, Shera placed her arms around his neck and pressed against him in a futile attempt to keep him there. A shudder went through Cid as she so willingly parted her lips and welcomed his advance.
Just when her mind was so clouded that she'd forgotten about everything, Cid withdrew from her lips and gave her a shaky smile. "Well... uhm... you and Rain keep indoors." He released himself from her arms and walked over to the door. Shera's heart jumped when he placed his hand on the doorknob and paused. A few seconds passed, then he turned his face with a slight smile; "...and don't you worry; I'll be back."
With that, he walked out and closed the door behind him before setting course for the soldiers.
"Hey! What the #%$&%$# is going on here?!?"
The soldiers shifted nervously at the sight of the infuriated pilot, and gazed around in search for their leader. The lack of an answer caused Cid to grow even more angry and glared murderously at them; "answer me, dammit! What the &#%$ are you bunch o' &$&% uglies doin' here on my lawn?!" The pilot took a threatening step forward and the closest soldier clutched his gun and backed away.
This time the silence was broken by a soft voice; "Captain Cid Highwind... we meet again."
Cid's face snapped over to see the figure that had spoken and his eyes widened slightly; "you?! I thought we got rid of you and that ugly &#$% Heidegger!"
Scarlet laughed huskily and and placed one hand on her hip; "I don't die that easily, Mr Highwind."
Snorting, Cid straightened and lifted an eyebrow; "so, whaddya want?"
Scarlet gave a barely noticeable shrug and a slight smile; "shouldn't it be obvious? ...we're here for the airship."
Cid cursed mentally, his mind racing for how he was going to get out of this one. "She's hardly of any use to you. The stearing is seriously messed up, making her difficult as hell to control and extremely unstable."
Scarlet pursed her red lips teasingly; "that's why we're bringing you along as well."
Raising his eyebrows, Cid remained silent for a few seconds, then cleared his throat. "And what makes you think I'll work with ya?"
Scarlet gesticulated towards the small houses of Rocket Town, and dwelled at his; "we were prepared that you might not... see our side of the case, so I took the liberty of making sure you would. Even a minor army like this, will have no trouble evening this town to the ground."
She smiled as she recognized how the pilot's eyes turned dark blue with anger, ready to have the soldiers hold him back if he went on a tantrum, which she half expected him to. Clenching his fists, Cid forced himself to stay calm. There was nothing more he wanted then to place his hands around Scarlets slender neck and choke her to death, but he knew she was right.
The foot-soldiers were bad enough, as the people of Rocket Town weren't trained with guns, but the crew in the ShinRa vehicles had bigger guns and could easily blow a house sky high. Cid knew just about every soul in Rocket Town, and would avoid them suffering at any costs. Even if it meant he had to go with these jackasses.
"Fine. Alright. Whatever. Let's just get goin' then before these numbskulls gets trigger happy! Though I can't guarantee that she'll make it all the way, even I have my limitations, ya'now!" He stomped off towards the Highwind,
Scarlet quickly signaling for the soldiers to follow him. She was not going on that thing, not until it was repaired anyway. But now they needed to get out of there before Strife and his gang returned.
Scarlet absently gazed towards Nibelheim and wondered if that useless Heidegger actually managed to follow the plan... and if Rufus... if Rufus... Scarlet shook her head determined and got om board with a sharp order to set course for Midgar, deciding to let time show what would happen.
By some amazing miracle, Cid actually managed to persuade the Highwind to fly all the way to Midgar, and was quite surprised to see the ground open to reveal something reminding of an underground airport. Once the airship was safely landed, he was quickly lead off to a dark cell.
Dumping down on the simple bed, Cid puffed angrily at his cigarette, silently vowing a cruel revenge while planning how to get himself out of there. He wondered if Cloud and the others had returned, if they all were alright. Hours passed, then Cid heard voices approaching his cell and got up. Ready to face whoever it was.
Even before the door opened, he knew who he would meet, Cid could recognize that insanely annoying voice even if he were deaf; "fat man Palmer..."
He muttered as a greeting to the cheerful man that stood wobbling in the doorway. "Heyheyhey! Captain! We meet again! I'm quite impressed that you survived that entire trip-into-space-thingie! Impressed!"
As Cid took a step forward, he noticed that Palmer recoiled and sighed to control his anger; "well, whaddya want? You bring all yer &#%$& uglies to my &#$# house and #$$&% kidnap me! Ya'll can't be so $&%# stupid that ya'll think I'm gonna help yer rotten folks?!"
Palmer clapped his hands with a thoughtful humming, wobbling some more; "actually, we did hope you would. Hum, hum, 'cause we really need them planes to defeat Sephiroth and those WEAPONS. Heidegger figured we'd stand a better chance from the sky with them monsters. Monsters they are!"
Crossing his arms with a snort, Cid stuck his chin out stubbornly; "well, ya can forget it! I ain't doing a damn thing!"
Palmer hummed again, "too bad. Too bad. 'cause then I got to bring in 'the persuader'... Hum, hum..."
Cid raised an eyebrow, not sure he was liking the sound of that threat; "the wha'?"
Palmer shrugged childishly and rubbed his neck; "hum, well, we, kind of, really need your help, so, hum hum, I'm afraid a 'no' won't do. It simply won't do. You're going to help us, Captain Highwind. You just need to see things a little, hum, differently."
Once again his words brought Cid an uneasy feeling, but kept his face expressionless. "Really now?"
His blue eyes narrowed at the sight of another man appearing beside Palmer. Unlike Palmer, this man was thin. Sickly thin, with black hair that shadowed his eyes into two empty sockets and a pale skin that revealed that he'd probably not seen the sun for several years.
"The famous Cid Highwind..." the man said in a low, eerily silent voice, "pleased to meet you."
Cid snorted as a response, forcing himself to take his eyes back on Palmer, though every nerve in his body told him that the newcomer were the real threat. "Is he s'posed to scare me? Sorry, fat man, even yer ugly face is scarier!"
Palmer pouted and clapped his hands; "Captain, that's not nice! Not nice in the very least! Hum hum, this man here is Zager. I think you're going to like him, Captain, he's just as fond of his work as you are!"
Slowly Cid's eyes moved over to the silent man beside Palmer and frowned; "and just what exactly does he do?"
There was a faint smile on Zagers lips as he replied; "I'm a Persuader."
When Shera saw Cloud and the others ride into town, she ran towards the door and nearly died with horror as she stared right into Barrets gun-arm. She instinctively lifted a hand to her mouth to stifle a shriek.
Cloud quickly shoved away the gun at the well-known sight of the woman and put away his own sword as well, attempting to calm her down as fast as possible to get his answers. "Shera! What's happened? What's with the tire-tracks? Where's the Highwind?"
Letting her shivering hand fall, Sheras brown eyes watered with tears. "They came right after you left... suddenly the entire town was filled with trucks and soldiers... Captain knew they were after the Highwind, and told me and Rain to stay indoors while he talked to them. I tried to stop him, Cloud, I really did..."
Silent tears fell to the ground as she remembered her goodbye with the Captain,
and Cloud placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Shera... we'll get him back. Don't worry about Cid, you know how tough he is. He'll be fine. Don't you worry."
Rufus cleared his throat and stared directly at Cloud. "Maybe we should continue this chat inside?"
Clouds eyes fell on the unconscious Tifa in the arms of his hated enemy and sighed resigned as he gazed over at Shera again. "Yeah..."
He gently guided the shivering Shera inside and the others quickly followed.
Showing Rufus with the wounded Tifa to one room, Shera managed to persuade Vincent to rest in Rain's room, the former Turk only accepting because he could barely stand on his own two feet.
Shera then numbly began making tea and didn't react when she felt Cloud's hand on her shoulder. "Shera..." he said softly, "I need to know what happened."
There was such a long silence that Cloud actually wondered if she'd heard him at all, then she began sobbing and he quickly guided her over to sit down on a chair. In a weak voice, she told him about how the soldiers suddenly had arrived, lead by Scarlet, and how the Captain had decided to face them.
"He said the fight against Sephiroth was more important and had to do what he could."
Cloud nodded silently, recognizing that Scarlet and her soldiers would have taken the Highwind no matter what, and that they stood a much better chance of getting her back with Cid by her. Still, he knew it was no risk-free mission Cid had wandered into, and asked Shera several question while silently planning on another rescue-mission. A few minutes later, Cloud turned towards the others and sighed. "They're heading for Midgar..."
Rufus, who had appeared in the door shifted irritated; "And how do you expect to enter? Heidegger must have the entrances blocked, and they know you're comming!" Barret got up from his chair with a threatening look and clenched his fist. "Whad'ya saying? You ain't gonna help?! I'm sure you had dozens of sneak-ways in and out of Midgar as a back-up incase we decided to crash in on ya'll!"
Rufus snorted offended and stuck his chin out as he flicked back a lock of his hair. "Hah! I would never sneak about as a common criminal, unlike you! And as for the possible routes I know into that city, so does Heidegger. That piss ant used to work for me, remember?"
He stared a challenge at Barret and Cloud quickly stepped in between them. "Alright. Point taken. But we still need to get into Midgar!"
The former SOLDIER gave them each a warning look, before sighing resigned, "any ideas as to how we're going to achieve that goal?"
There was a short silence, then a tiny voice spoke up; "I know a way..."
Everybody turned to gaze at the woman in the door. Rufus frowned suspiciously as this was a face he did not know.
"Who's that?" He snorted rudely,
and the woman blushed slightly and humbly."My n-name is Rain, Mr ShinRa... I used to work as a waitress in Midgar."
Shera came over and placed a arm around her shoulders, meeting Rufus' eyes with a clear, silent message for him to behave.
The ex-president snorted again, and gesticulated faintly. "And you think this route is somehow miraculously overseen by the ShinRa troops?"
Feeling a little braver, Rain met his eyes as she nodded. "It's been used for years and years by smugglers, and the ShinRa guards have never come near it once." She finally had to look away from his arrogant gaze, still feeling that lifetime-taught awe for the ShinRa presidents.
Cloud glanced around at the others, seeing it as their only option. "What do you say?" He asked, ignoring Yuffies suggestion for a head-on attack.
Barret shrugged; "we ain't got much other choice."
Red lifted his head and nodded slowly. "I say we do it."
Cait Sith nodded as well; "yupp. All or nothing!"
Cloud turned to Rufus and raised his eyebrows.
The ex-president shifted uneasily, feeling the eyes of everyone on him. "Alright! Fine! Whatever!" He muttered and crossed his arms defensively.
Cloud gazed back at Rain and gave a tiny smile. "Ok then, smuggler route it is."
With Tifa wounded and Vincent in a fairly bad shape, it was decided that they'd stay the night in Rocket Town so they could rest and recover. Shera hardly slept that night, worrying sick over the Captain despite knowing better. Cid would be fine, he'd been on worse things then this.
Absently, Shera stroke a finger over her lips, reliving the memory for the umpteenth time, and suddenly she knew that this time she couldn't merely sit by and wait. It was insane what she was planning, but it couldn't be helped.
When Cloud and the others got ready to leave the next day, Shera declared that she was going with them. "Don't worry about me, Mr Strife. I know how to use Materia and I'm not so foolish that I will seek out danger, but do not doubt that I'm comming with you."
Tifa had to smile and merely shrugged at Clouds pleading look.
"Alright..." Cloud sighed, but gave Shera a warning glance, "but you stay out of trouble and keep in the back!"
Rufus snorted despicably and glared over at the former SOLDIER. "Some leader..."
Cloud barely managed to keep from loosing his temper over the obnoxious boy, and clenched his jaw furiously as he turned to address the others; "Alright... everybody here? Then we're off!"
Before anyone could object; he stalked off. Shera actually found that she had trouble keeping up with their pace, but would rather die then to complain; knowing Cloud would probably deny her to continue. She had to see the Captain. She had to know that Cid was alright.
Rain kept by her side the entire trip to Midgar and gave her a sympathetic smile. The walk, or trotting in Shera's case, seemed to go on forever, but then they saw the dark shape of Midgar in the horizon.
"We're here..." Cloud declared as he halted on a hill-top and glanced back at the others.
"About frigging time!" Barret wheezed and waved his gun-arm angrily.
The former SOLDIER frowned as he studied the group; "we need to get a change of clothes..."
Rufus face jerked up to glare at Cloud; "what are you talking about?"
The young ex-president stared defiantly at him with his usual self-confidence and bright white suit.
Too tired to care, Shera merely sat down on a rock as the arguing began and gazed nervously at the gloomy Midgar. True, she knew how to use Materia and were no stranger to battle, yet she wasn't looking forward it. It wasn't in Shera's nature to seek out fights, she preferred to use her brains to solve whatever was wrong without any bloodshed. If it wasn't for the Captain...
Shera closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. He was alive. She had to belive that; he was alive! They wouldn't kill him as they needed his knowledge, Shera told herself, and he was just irritated that he hadn't gotten his tea! She glanced tiredly up as Cloud and Rufus stood sneering to each other and returned Rain's weak smile. With a lot of sour objections, even the former president of ShinRa had to give in and at least cover himself with a brown cape to cover for the trademark suit and the others found simular anonymous outfits.
"Alright," Cloud said absently, "let's go..."