Raspberry Heaven

'The Irony of it All'

            "I don't think I'm quite understanding this..." Kairi said, looking skeptically at Yuffie as the older girl typed away at Leon's computer.  Leon had given her the simple task of typing up the restaurant's hours on a piece of paper to hang up in the front window, and as simple as the task had seemed, Yuffie was almost determined to make it difficult for herself.

            "Okay, okay, listen here."  Her keys danced across the keyboard as Yuffie turned to look at Kairi, though her fingers kept moving at their own will.  "If you make the hours for a day like... Oh, let's say... from eleven in the morning to five in the evening, people are going to know that they have to come at eleven.  But what sort of idiot looks at the clock and thinks, 'Gee, that ole' restaurant down at the boardwalk is just opening!  I'll go grab a bite to eat'?  No one!  Exactly!"

            Kairi blinked.  "I'm still not getting it."

            "Hold up, I'm not done.  We need to make the hours more specific so they'll be more noticeable in people's heads.  I mean, tons of things have to go down at eleven in the morning.  We need to have an original opening time!  It needs to be special so that people will remember it!"  Yuffie grinned at Kairi, proud of her little idea even though the whole concept still seemed pretty insignificant to the auburn-haired girl standing in front of her.

            Pulling at one of the pearly white buttons adorning the front of her shirt, Kairi mulled Yuffie's words over for a moment before finally saying, "Open it at 11:11 then.  People won't forget that number unless they're idiots."

            With a triumphant grin, Yuffie punched in the numbers and ordered the computer to print the time sheet, standing up and patting Kairi on the back.  "All right!  I knew you'd think of something Kairi!  So smart, so smart..."

            "Uhh... Thanks?"

            "Not a problem!  Here, go tape this up by the front window.  I'm gonna go change in the bathroom, m'kay?"  Halfway out the door, Yuffie paused and glanced over her shoulder, a wicked smirk on her face as she lowered her voice slightly.  "Oh, and stay clear of Leon and Cloud.  Just a bit of friendly advice for you."  But before Kairi could even ask why, Yuffie was gone.

            Kairi simply sighed and plucked a tape dispenser from the top of Leon's desk.  Those two always seemed to either be the best of friends or the worst of enemies.  Usually it was the latter.  Really, it didn't make much sense to Kairi, but perhaps there was just no explaining it.  If that was the case, she certainly wasn't even going to try.

            The previous night had been spent talking to Tidus on the phone and the lack of sleep was catching up with Kairi as she tried to muffle another yawn with the back of her hand.  While Tidus was amusing and made a wonderful friend, Kairi still couldn't manage to view the blond as her boyfriend.  Not just yet.  And probably not ever.  Every time she talked to him, she couldn't get past the feeling that there was something there that was just wrong.  And no matter how hard she tried, nothing specifically 'wrong' could come to mind.  Well... almost.

            True, Tidus probably had no idea that Kairi's affection was not directed at him.

            True, Tidus most certainly didn't know that her affection was directed towards a girl.

            Sighing, Kairi pushed it all aside.  She'd told Tidus to drop by the restaurant if he had time and to bring the rest of the gang along.  Seeing all of her friends together would certainly cheer her up if nothing else possibly could.  Of course...  Selphie might not be her normal perky self, knowing that Tidus and Kairi were now together...  Sora and Riku wouldn't be much of a help since they were too busy trying to monitor their own actions and ensuring that no one knew--

            Leon hurriedly walked into the front of the restaurant, the expression on his face clearly stating that he was searching for someone.  And even though Kairi had only known him for a few days, she was willing to bet that that someone was...

            "Cloud's not here yet, is he?"

            No sooner had Kairi opened her mouth to respond did the Cloud in question burst into the restaurant, looking like he'd just been caught in the rain and had decided to grace the room with his sunshine in order to further better the lives of all.  Too bad for Cloud it was already sunny outside and the only storm he might be facing was the wrath of Leon.

            "Here, here, I'm here!  And I--"  Cloud was cut off by a sigh from Leon.

            "I needed you to pick something up from the apartment.  I tried your cell, but it wasn't on..."

            "Sorry, Sunshine, I just got out of the shower and forgot to turn the little sucker on."  Ignoring the evil glare Leon gave him for using such a stupid nickname, Cloud turned to Kairi with a radiant smile plastered on his face.  "Kairi!  Look!  You're the first person to see my baby!"

            "Your... baby?"  Kairi's bafflement quickly ended when she followed Cloud's eagerly pointing finger out through the window where she'd taped the sign, her eyes coming to rest on a sparkling new BMW, its glossy white surface defying all laws of 'white never stays white for long' as it sat in the small parking lot of the restaurant.

            Leon, who had also looked at the car, simply rolled his eyes, not sharing the same excitement that the other two now had.  It was a stupid car, but Cloud had been so damn happy to get it...

            "Leon!  This one!  Look!  It's peeeeerfect." 

            "...If you crash it, you'll die.  That thing has no protection."

            "Who needs protection?  This baby is gorgeous."

            "...Stop giggling.  Just buy the damn car and let's get out of here."

            And that had been that.  Cloud had insisted that Leon drive him across the island to a car dealer, telling him that they would both need separate cars in order to be 'more efficient' for work.  Leon still had yet to figure out how stupid little cars tied into cooking and simply doing one's job, but it had kept the obnoxious blond roommate out of his hair for a while.

            "I left the opening sign at home by the door.  I had been hoping you'd see it on the way out, but obviously not."  With a deep sigh, Leon raked his slender fingers through choppy brown locks, a frown coming to rest on his features.  "I'll just--"

            "I'll go pick it up!" Cloud chirped, obviously eager to get behind the wheel of his 'baby' once again.  Leon thought about it a moment and shook his head slightly with another small sigh.

            "It's not a big deal.  We can just as easily make a banner here before the place opens up.  Besides, the less you drive around in that tin can, the less likely it is that I'll have to pay for a funeral in the near future."

            "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

            It was at that moment that something just happened to dawn on Kairi.  It wasn't the sort of thing which suddenly sprung into your head and flipped on a light with all the energy of a jacked up monkey...  The realization was more of a very slow lighting of a candle that Kairi didn't realize may very well start a forest fire.

            "Hey, Leon, does the restaurant have a name?"

            Dead silence.

            "Holy--"

            And just as all hell was certain to break loose, a loud slam was heard from the back of the room, and all three heads turn at once to see just what had happened.  What they found was a very pleased-looking Yuffie standing next to what had once been the door to the kitchen.  If things couldn't have gotten any worse before, well... they just had.

            "Yuffie.  That was a door you just took down," Leon stated simply, obviously trying very hard not to just throw up his hands and storm out of the building all together.

            "Yeah, I know.  I figured it was a health hazard, ya know."  With a grin, Yuffie bent down and began to haul the sad little door through the kitchen, her voice rising to carry across the distance.  "Besides, I bought some wicked door-bead-things that'll look great instead of this ugly old thing!"

            Cloud and Kairi were silent as they nervously glanced at Leon who was visibly beginning to tremble with rage.  It certainly hadn't been Yuffie's fault that the restaurant never got a name, but it had been her fault that there was no longer a kitchen door...  And Leon, being who he was, was bound to blame both of these on Yuffie and probably fire the poor girl.

            "Hey wait a minute, Yuffie, what do the beads you got look like?" Kairi called out.  There was an idea here...  Maybe it would work. 

            Poking her head out of the kitchen, Yuffie snickered.  "Wall Market had a special on 'em.  They're these cute little silver snowflakes!"  Leon paled and looked as though he was just ready to fall over.  As expected, Cloud was already holding out his hands to catch his dear Leon.

            "No, that's perfect!"  With a grin, Kairi turned to face Leon, bouncing from foot to foot with her growing excitement.  "This is a tropical island, so an artic restaurant would be so cool!"  Yuffie couldn't help but laugh at the pun, even as Kairi continued.  "We can decorate it with all sorts of snow-themed things and Cloud can think of some neat dishes that can be served cold, right?"  Cloud cocked his head to the side, pondering this a moment before nodding energetically.

            "Hey, I think that's an awesome idea!"

            "Good thinking, Kairi."

            Yuffie blinked at Tifa and Aerith.  "Where'd you guys come from?" 

            "We heard the bang and figured that Leon had finally got fed up with you and Cloud and just gone a bit too far.  Better that we get here before the cops, right?" Tifa replied with a grin as her and Aerith strode into the restaurant.  "Anyway, I think it's perfect."

            Leon frowned slightly at Cloud, who really had no reason to be frowned upon at that moment.  He was just the nearest target for Leon's slowly subsiding wrath.  "It still doesn't give us a name for the restaurant."  Cloud scowled back, crossing his arms. 

            Sheesh, you'd think Leon actually enjoys being grumpy or something... 

            "The Iceberg?"

            "Snow-blowing."  Cloud smirked and winked suggestively at Leon. 

            "Snow Bunny!"

            "Glacial... Umm..."

            "Blizzard...?"               

            "Polar Eclipse," Yuffie muttered.  Leon glanced up at her, narrowing his eyes.

            "That doesn't even make sense."

            "So?"  Casually resting her hands behind her head, Yuffie looked up at the ceiling, letting out a wide yawn.  Smiling back at Kairi, she said, "Doesn't have to make sense, you know.  Having a snowy restaurant in a tropical climate sure doesn't make sense.  Besides, I like how it sounds.  Leon's Polar Eclipse."

            Everyone turned to Leon, waiting expectantly for his consent. 

            "...Sure.  Whatever.  Just quit slacking off.  We open in one hour--"

            "And eleven minutes!" chirped Yuffie.

            No one noticed that the lovely wooden sign hanging above the restaurant had once been a door.  It was rather hard to notice in the first place, since it had been covered with blue and yellow paint, compliments of Yuffie's Late Painting Experiment.  By the time 11:00 had rolled around, chains of snowflakes had been cut and hung around the walls of the restaurant and Tifa and Aerith had made another trip to Wall Market to buy ridiculous amounts of snow-related things.

            So Leon really shouldn't have been surprised when he stepped out of his office to find the front of the restaurant completely transformed, his entire staff standing before him grinning from ear to ear.

            Light blue tablecloths neatly covered each and every one of the round tables scattered around the large room, an assortment of silver snowflake-shaped candles centered at each table along with miniature stuffed polar bears (in various shades of pastel colors, of course.)  Framed pictures were mounted on the walls, containing everything from cartoon penguins to beautiful photos of artic landscapes that the island dwellers had probably never seen before.

            "Well this is..."  Leon's voice trailed off as he continued to take it all in.  'Nice' wasn't the word he was looking for, but it was the only word he could think of.  Honestly, he thought that for an hour's worth of work, the place looked nothing short of amazing. 

            "Okay, everyone, we've only got a couple minutes until we open up!  Cloud, you got the menus ready?"  Yuffie beamed as Cloud handed her a stack of menus, freshly printed out from the computer.  "...More importantly, do you and Tifa know how to make all these things?" 

            "Nah.  We'll make it up as we go along.  Right, Cloud?" Tifa said, elbowing her friend with a chuckle.

            "Hell yeah, we're that skilled."  Cloud turned to head towards the kitchen, following behind Tifa.  "And you know, since we're so skilled and all, we sure could use some new spatul--"

            "Cloud?"

            "What?"

            Aerith blinked and held up the menu, pointing towards one particular item on it with a look of obvious confusion adorning her face.  "You named one of our smoothies 'Mako Poisoning?'" 

            Yuffie made a face at the name and turned towards Cloud as well, looking just as confused.  "What the hell is that??"

            "It's called an Artistic License.  I have one."  With that, Cloud disappeared through the beaded curtain of plastic snowflakes, heading into the kitchen and leaving the rest of the restaurant in still-puzzled silence.

            "He does?"

            "Apparently so."  Yuffie shrugged and handed a stack of menus to Kairi.  "Well, whatever works, right?  Let's pass out these menus and get ready to take some orders!"

-------

            "...I can't believe no one's here yet..." Kairi mumbled, her head cradled in her folded arms.  It had been and hour and a half since they opened and not a single person had set foot in the restaurant.  Really, the whole thing was quite depressing, to say the least.

            Patting the younger girl comfortingly on the shoulder, Aerith gave Kairi a warm smile.  "Hey, it's our first day.  Don't worry about it, people will show up."

            Opening one eye, Yuffie studied the two from her place across the room where she had spent the past hour numbing her brain with loud music on her handy mp3 player.  She then found herself scowling slightly at Aerith, though as soon as Yuffie realized what she was doing, she quickly shook her head and snapped out of it.  Huh.  That was weird.  Usually her constantly optimistic attitude doesn't bother me...  Whatever.

            "And even if no one comes, there's always tomorrow," Yuffie said, providing her own two cents worth.  Kairi didn't seem to hear her though, which only caused Yuffie to feel strangely depressed as she popped her headphones back on.  However, Yuffie's momentary sour mood was soon erased as the jingle of the bells attached to the front door rung merrily out into the silence of the restaurant, bringing with it a chorus of voices all shouting roughly the same thing.

            "Hiya Kairi!" Selphie exclaimed, bouncing into the restaurant.  "Eee!  Omigosh, look at this place!  It's so aaaawesome!" 

            "Hey, Kairi!"  Tidus followed closely behind Selphie, a small smile on his face.  Wakka entered behind him, blitzball tucked under one arm and his free hand waved in a greeting.  And of course, following this small parade of characters were the two people Kairi had wanted to see for quite some time.  Riku and Sora strolled in, hands tucked in their pockets and laughing about something or other before they both looked up in unison.

            "Kairi!" Sora grinned and waved, causing Riku to roll his eyes at the brunette before ushering the crowd to a table.

            Tugging her headphones off, Yuffie shot Kairi a radiant smile, hopping out of her chair and bounding over to the younger girl as she stood up from her own seat as well.  Yuffie ruffled Kairi's hair affectionately and laughed, saying, "All right, Kairi, way to go!  You hooked our first customers and dragged them in here with your telekinesis powers!"  Despite the confused looks she gained, Yuffie continued to laugh happily even as Kairi hurriedly went over to the table where her friends had gathered, trying to get rid of the blush now spreading across her face.

            "Hey guys!  Thanks for coming!"  Whipping out her pad of paper and pen, Kairi was quite happy to be the first one to take orders in Leon's Polar Eclipse.  The name still sounded a bit silly, but she supposed she'd get used to it eventually.  "So what can I get you--"

            "Wait a second, Kairi!"  Yuffie suddenly appeared beside her, waving her arms frantically.  "You haven't even introduced us to our first customers!"
            "Huh?"

            "Ahem."  Yuffie cleared her throat and placed her hands on her hips, raising herself up to her full height, which still wasn't very tall.  "'It's important for restaurant workers to establish strong connections with their customers in order to further improve the business relationship between the two.'"

            Kairi blinked.  "Who said that?"

            "Leon.  Now who are these people?  I wanna meet 'em!"

            "Well..." Kairi started.

            "I'm Selphie!"  Ever the energetic ball of yellow she was, Selphie happily waved at Yuffie, a perky smile adorning her naturally cute face.  So much cuteness...  It was all Yuffie could do to keep from squealing and pouncing on the kid.  She deserved to be made into a stuffed animal, definitely.

            "I'm Sora, and..."

            "Riku."  Riku nodded towards Yuffie as a hello.

            "Wakka.  Pleased to meet ya."  Wakka shot her a toothy grin, expertly spinning his trusty blitzball on the tip of his index finger.  Huh.  Showoff.  I hope he's not hitting on me.

           

            Tidus looked up from the menu then and smiled at Yuffie.  "Hey, I'm Tidus."  His eyes widened as Yuffie laughed triumphantly, pointing a finger accusingly at him.

            "Aha!  So you're Tidus!  The boyfriend!"  Instantly, Kairi turned several shades pinker and Tidus looked sullenly towards the floor.  Selphie couldn't help but wince slightly, though thankfully no one seemed to take notice of it.  No one, that is, except Kairi, who instantly felt like she was drowning in guilt.

            "Yep, that's me..."

            As Yuffie exchanged a few more chipper words with the teens assembled at the table (all of which were laughing and joking right along with her), Aerith watched the group steadily.  It was weird, how Tidus and Kairi had reacted to Yuffie's call on their relationship.  But maybe they were both naturally shy?  She shrugged it off, though something still seemed out of place about the whole thing.  Aerith would mention it to Yuffie later and see if the other girl had picked up on anything.

            Once Kairi had gotten her friends' order, she headed back to the kitchen where Tifa and Cloud were lazily engaged in some card game or another.  Both of them looked up at the triumphant grin plastered on Kairi's face as she ripped off the top page of her notepad and handed it to Tifa.

            "Okay, Cloud, you ready?"

            "Hehehe..."  Swiping his cooking apron from the wall, Cloud swiftly tied it around his waist, striking a pose with his hands on his hips.  "Here's for the Cinderella story!"

-------

            "Um... Kairi, can I talk to you for a second?" 

            Kairi frowned slightly, wondering what on earth could be wrong now.  She'd taken ten minutes off to sit with her friends before the left the restaurant, which was slowly but surely filling up with more customers.  It hadn't gotten to the point where Aerith and Yuffie couldn't handle it, but it was certainly getting there.  Nonetheless, Kairi willingly followed Tidus out to the front of the restaurant, ignoring the suggestive whistle Wakka threw their way.

            Once they were safely outside, Tidus let out a deep sigh and hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Sorry about that," he mumbled half-heartedly.

            "No problem.  It's not like you can control Wakka's manners, Tidus."  Silence followed for a moment, and just as Kairi was about to get slightly irritated and ask why she was dragged outside, Tidus finally spoke once again.

            "Listen, Kairi... I..."

            "We need to talk, I know," Kairi said, trying not to show how seriously confused she was.

            "Yeah..."  Tidus looked up at Kairi before quickly looking back down at the ground.  "Okay.  I'm just going to say it all and... and... I'm really sorry.  This whole thing is my fault and I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything because I really do like you a lot, but it's more of a different kind of like because--"

            "Whoa, whoa, wait a second, Tidus!"  Now Kairi was struggling to keep the excitement out of her voice, which was even harder than the confusion bit.  She did feel sort of... well, bad for being so happy that Tidus was saying this.  But it was by far the best thing for both of them.

            "Sorry...  Kairi, I don't...  I never really wanted to be your boyfriend."  Tidus' words lacked the usual luster that radiated from the blond, instead coming out as sad and sober.  "It was all... this plan that Wakka had."

            "Wakka??"  Okay, the confusion was back and quite obvious.

            "Yeah...  He said..."  Tidus let out a deep sigh, scuffing one of his flip-flop-clad feet against the ground.  "He said that it would be perfect if we got girlfriends who were, well, already good friends.  Because we didn't want girlfriends who hated each other or... I dunno, but what he said made sense and all.  So he said that I should ask you out and...  And he would ask Selphie out."

            At this, Kairi nearly gagged.  It wasn't that Wakka was a bad person or anything, though this whole 'idea' of his was pretty damn stupid.  It was that Selphie was completely loopy about Tidus and barely had any sort of feeling of friendship towards Wakka, who she was constantly claiming to be 'immature and hopeless in the world of romance.'  How very, very ironic.

            But Tidus apparently wasn't finished.

            "See...  I didn't want to go out with you, Kairi... I mean, no offense, you're great and everything but...  I like Selph--"

            "She likes you too!" Kairi blurted out before she could stop herself.  Well, Selphie was going to kill her.  Just great.

            "She wha?"

            "Tidus, she's flipping crazy about you!" Kairi exclaimed.  "Wow, this is great!"

            "...You know, you don't have to be so happy I'm breaking up with you, Kairi..." Tidus muttered, pouting slightly.  Kairi simply laughed and patted her friend on the back, though she was so happy about it all that what she had intended to be a friendly pat nearly sent Tidus sprawling across the boardwalk.

            "Are you kidding?  This is the best thing that's happened to me all day!"

            "Really, Kairi, you're not making me feel that much better...  Was I that bad of a boyfriend?"

            "No!  Haha, it's not you, it's me!  Go on and ask Selphie out, Tidus!  You can't let Wakka run your life for you.  You have to do what your heart tells you!"  Sheesh, I've been reading one too many of Selphie's corny romance novels.  That was probably the cheesiest thing I've ever said.  Yuck.

            But the cheesy advice Kairi had to offer was apparently all Tidus needed to hear, because his upbeat attitude came shooting back into him, leaving the blond blitzball player looking better than ever.  Confidence was the once thing Tidus had to have in order to survive, it seemed.  And as long as something wasn't stopping up his supply of it, all was well in the world of Tidus.

            "Really?  You think so?"  There was that brilliant grin, assuring the world that Tidus was perfectly fine.  "Thanks, Kairi!  Heh, I'm glad you're not upset or anything."  With a delighted laugh, Tidus embraced the girl in front of him in a near bone-crushing hug before spinning on his heel to run back into the restaurant, though he paused just as soon as the got the door open as though something had just occurred to him.

            "You like someone else then?" he asked, blue eyes curious but innocent.

            "...Yeah.  I guess I do."

            Grinning again, Tidus gave her a thumbs up.  "Hey, good luck with whoever it is, Kairi.  You know, 'do what your heart tells you' and all that jazz.  Thanks again!"  And with that, Tidus vanished into the restaurant once again, much happier than he been the last time he'd walked through that doorway.  Kairi however, entered the building in a much more confused state than she'd ever been in before. 

            Part of her had seriously wanted to tell Tidus everything just a few moments ago, but...  Kairi shook her head.  No, it might not be the best idea.  Not just then.  Tidus was fine with Riku and Sora's private relationship that only their close friends and family knew of, but...  Kairi just didn't want to tell him.  Not just yet.  Maybe not ever.

-------
            That evening, Yuffie happily volunteered to walk Kairi home, much more cheerful and energetic than she had been all day.  It almost made Kairi laugh how everyone seemed so much happier now that her and Tidus were no longer together... well, with the exception of Wakka.  But he would get over it.  The redhead had an ego the size of a small planet and would no doubt be stuck on some other female within a week.

            So as the streetlamps flickered on in Kairi's neighborhood, she and Yuffie walked side by side, each of them enjoying the peaceful silence that the island held at night.  The ocean brought in a refreshing breeze, and even as far inland as Kairi's house was, the sweet but salty smell of the ocean hung lazily in the air.  It was nice, she realized, just to walk side by side with someone.  There didn't have to be words, though there were definitely words to be said.  The words could wait, couldn't they?

            "Hey, Kairi?"  Okay, maybe some words couldn't wait then?

            "Mm?"

            With a smirk, Yuffie glanced down at her slightly shorter companion.  "You never liked Tidus, did you?"

            Eyes widening slightly, Kairi chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.  Shit, she hadn't been expecting that.  After a moment, Kairi swallowed and uttered a response as best she could.  "N-no... Not really."

            "Hah.  I knew it."

            "What??  Y-you did??"  Alarm.  Tons and tons of alarm. 

            Yuffie smiled sweetly, tucking her hands in her pockets and looking up at the star-speckled sky.  "Mmhm.  It was sort of obvious, you know.  When you finally get to go out with someone you really care about like that, you act really differently.  When you first went out with Tidus, you just seemed really... unsure about the whole thing.  Kind of put-off, right?"  Yuffie glanced down at Kairi and snickered at the awestruck expression on her face.  "Don't worry.  You'll know when you find someone really worth your while."

            The girls reached Kairi's house at the point and said their goodbyes, Yuffie turning to head back towards the main street of the island and Kairi turning to walk up the front steps towards her front door.  And yet both of their thoughts fell somewhere along the same lines.

            Huh.  That's ironic, isn't it?

.........................................................................

            Blah.   ==  I promise the next chapter will be better... Really I do...

Ori