chapter I: one great city!
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After pondering on it, I never thought that Yuffie would really carry on with the whole trip thing. She was, what – fifteen, sixteen, seventeen? Although I may be utterly underestimating her capabilities, a large trip to visit other worlds seemed out of reach and would burden her with tons of responsibilities. Even with Cid, Aerith, and my help, it would definitely eat up a good portion of all of our money (A/N: I refuse to use the 'word' "munny.") and would put Traverse at a great risk. Without Cid running his shop, Aerith the strategist, and myself ... and Yuffie keeping the Heartless population in reasonable check, who knows what could possibly happen to Traverse?
Don't get me wrong – I liked the idea of a 'road trip' – life in Traverse is unbelievably daunting and boring. Yes, even for someone as dull as I am. To tell you the truth, even with all the risks with us leaving, I would still want to embark on the trip anyway. Hopefully, Yuffie took this seriously and thought of good rebuttals to use against anything that might be of a worry for us if we went on this trip.
Obviously, I didn't keep my hopes up. As I put on my usual attire after a refreshing shower, I decided that I would dedicate the day to coming up with excuses.
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I was sitting in the picnic area of the first district, waiting for my usual order. Apparently the sun didn't come up. I smiled to myself as I idly traced my gloved finger around the edge of the glass of water the waitress had given me. Other than a couple a few tables down, talking in hushed whispers, and myself, the picnic area was empty. The picnic area was eerily glowing by candlelight, dimly lit in small quantities set at each table. The area had a strong smell of burnt wax mixed with the contrasting scent of ketchup.
After taking a small sip from my glass, I casually looked around the first district. A brunette boy in rugged clothing that I knew by sight was huddled next to the mailbox, sleeping. The boy seemed to be shaking in his sleep, and an unpleasant frown was planted onto his face. According to what other Traverse denizens had said in their daily gossip circles, the boy had managed to stumble into Traverse all alone, and refused to take any hospitality or money from any others offering him aid. When approached, it was said that he kept up a jaded and nasty barrier around himself.
Sounds familiar.
Several Moogles were roaming around the first district. They parted the grass, examined the ground, poked their heads into crevices, broke apart crates, and climbed trees. It was common for other animals (and even some people of Traverse) to behave in a scavenging way, but it was definitely out of character for Moogles. The Moogles ran a successful synthesis shop right above Cid's accessory shop, and once even helped patch up my Revolver and provide me with useful accessories. These Moogles were also famous for making pricey jewelry and accessories from stones and shards, which both Aerith and Yuffie were big fans of. What was up with their unusual behavior?
"Sir?"
I turned. The waitress, who looked exhausted and sleep-deprived, set a heavy batch of waffles in front of me, and shakily put a pitcher of syrup, a small plate of fruit, and eating utensils by the edge of the table. She rubbed her hand against her forehead, sighed, and then bustled back into the kitchen determinedly. Even as the kitchen door closed behind her, I continued staring. Sympathy was a necessary emotion for even the most stoic of people, and Traverse was the best place for the particular mood to flourish.
"That looks delicious, Leon."
Somewhat startled, I bolted in my chair, and turned. A set of chartreuse eyes bore into my face. I grinned.
"Aerith," I said as a greeting. She grinned back... and put one of her slender fingers into the syrup pitcher and slightly stirred her hand into the sticky substance. She took her hand out of the syrup, a thick layer of it coating her finger. As she slowly put her finger to her mouth, several globs of the syrup fell from her finger and landed on my pants.
Apathetic at the state of my pants, I continued watching her, for no good reason, except for the sake of mere curiosity. Instead of licking her finger suggestively (as Yuffie, being as predictable as she was, would very well had done), the tip of her tongue only dabbed at her finger. She reached for a waffle from my un-touched plate, smeared the syrup onto the face of the waffle, then took it, and started eating it.
Stifled, yet perfectly audible giggles followed immediately afterwards. Then, as if the connection then became obvious, Yuffie popped out from behind the outer picnic area wall, giving a 'tada' gesture.
"Aeirth! Smoooooooooooth!" Yuffie said as she reached for a particularly big waffle on my plate. "You shoulda seen him stare at you!" Yuffie said in between bites.
"Sorry Leon, but I was hungry," she said as she licked at the pads of her fingers. I continued staring at her, as if I knew there was something physically different about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"He's enthralled with your beauty, even when you eat! How romantic! You guys should totally hook up..."
"Yuffie," I said sternly as I gave her a brief glare. "Please."
"Ah, Leon, can't you take a joke?" Aerith said in a motherly tone. I looked back up to her. Sweetly, with the same finger she used for the syrup, she stroked the bottom of my chin. "Sometimes you're so serious that it's cute..."
I looked down at the table. A significant number of my waffles were gone, as well as all of the larger strawberries from my fruit bowl.
What a weird situation I'm in, I thought to myself. Trying my best to ignore both Aerith and Yuffie, I picked up a knife and fork from the table, and gingerly cut at the flesh of one of the waffles. "You guys are going to help me pay for this," I muttered.
"Hey! What're yew shitheads doin' o'er here?" Cid's croaking voice called out as he walked toward the three of us. Once he reached our table, he smiled, and patted Yuffie's back roughly. "The Moogles said they'd look over meh shop, bless 'em..."
"Great! You have everything ready, Cid?" Aerith said. It was the early morning. Did Cid and Yuffie confront and convince Aerith by now? With that, did they really 'have everything ready?'
"Yep. We dun have a great pile o' money, so we'll be usin' one of the more decent Gummis the kid made, mmmkay?"
"Oooo... Sora made a Gummi?" Yuffie said. "I wanna see it!"
"Well... we'll go an' go see it right now. Gotcher bags ready?" Cid said, lifting the toothpick he had in his mouth up to the air. "I have mine in my shop..."
"Umm... no... but I can pack in a second! Lemme go to my room now..."
"Wait!" I said, outraged. "Just wait a damn minute! We suggested this trip thing just a few hours ago... and now you're tell me right now we're ready to go?!?"
"What about it, Leonhart?" Cid said.
"What will happen to Traverse without us? Traverse can very well be destroyed by the Heartless without us there, and it would be our fault!" I said, my voice raised loudly. I looked at Aerith. "And you, you actually agreed with this so quickly?"
"Ah, Leonhart, yer such a whiner. Don't worry! The Moogles will contact the kid if Traverse'll get in trouble. It won't, though... trust me! This trip is well-deserved. Since all four of us have been werkin' our asses off for the past couple a' years, we've become paranoid an' worrisome. Relax!" Cid said, in a demanding tone, as if he was demanding me to shut up and come along. Utterly furious, I looked at Aerith again. She just shrugged.
"Squall! You said you'd come with us!" Yuffie said in a repining voice. "You promised!"
"I didn't promise," I spat. "Besides, Sora is just a kid. We are all grown adults that know our responsibilities better than Sora and those silly friends of his combined. And don't call me by that name."
It was silent, and I took my time to look at all three of them. Upon looking at Yuffie, I remembered what I had told myself earlier. I would dedicate the day to coming up with excuses. Excuses in favor of the trip. I shook my head. If I considered prior events strange, things were definitely awkward this time around.
"You're right Leon. I guess I put my desires over the interests of Traverse," Aerith said calmly. Yuffie gave her a strange look. "... Why don't the three of you go, and I'll just stay here?" At this point, Yuffie looked at her, wide-mouthed.
"Aerith, no! Squall is just a dunderhead!! Don't listen to him! I want you to come!" Yuffie started whining. "Please come with us!"
"Aerith..." I began. I looked up at her before I spoke again. "I'll stay. You... you seem to like the idea of this trip better than I do."
Yuffie turned toward me, the same livid expression on her face. "You promised! And why do you always jump in to save Aerith from self-sacrificing?" she was screaming at me at this point. "Both of you are coming, although, you know, I'd love to separate you two..."
"M'god, SHUT DEH FUCK UP." Cid butted in. "All of us are coming, a'ight? Jesus Christ! You know what? We wasted valuable arguin' about... arguin' about NOTHIN'!"
"I have to stay," Aerith whispered, almost as if she didn't want us to hear her.
"Yew do that," Cid said caustically. "Now, Yuffie, Leonhart... get ready. Stay tucked."
"Aerith's coming!" Yuffie latched onto Aerith's arm. "Let's go, NOW!" she said with persistence. "NOW!"
"... Hey, I haven't packed yet..." I said.
"Whatever! Share things with Aerith, I know you'd love to!" Cid said, and then burst into oily laughter. Yuffie gave him a peculiar look.
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ending notes: Yuffie's immaturity was forced. I know her crush is painfully obvious, like Eiko's towards Zidane, and even perhaps Quistis to Squall. I love toying around with any character's flaws and faults.
Squall won't be that dense, don't worry. However, you still don't know what the pairing(s) will be. Stay tuned.
A slight addition to this chapter's ending notes: if you read my profile as of 8.14.04, you can see that my interests have slowly backed away from fanfiction. I will no longer read any stories on a daily basis, only by recommendations or favorite stories lists. This will probably stunt my writing's growth as the only thing I read now are opinions (although, actually, most fics I read are a cut below my writing abilities, not to sound cocky.), but I will not stop writing. It's obvious that writing fanfiction won't be a big hobby of mine, but I'll still do it. I usually write fanfiction when I can't sleep... so, yes.
I have, however, finally gotten FFVII! Wow, it's freaky... I portrayed Aerith exactly the way as she appears in the game! Rinoa-esque, except in a better (?!) way. I haven't met Cid yet, but Barret acts freakishly like Cid does in my story. Right down to the lisp, and everything... yeah, wow. I haven't met Yuffie either, but judging by what the folks at Square wrote about her, I wrote her character well. She probably isn't as stupid as I make her appear, though. Damn!
I'll stop babbling and actually write something you'd want to read – I finished this chapter a while ago. I just need to rewrite the third chapter and write a fourth one, and I can show off the new and improved version of Earthshine to my few readers... baaarrgh.