final fantasy vii and all its characters © squaresoft, inc.

a/n:
Right. Finals are up and I've got recesses of projects to finish (just in time for this lazy butt to get back to work). Sorry if it took a while to update... after all, the last update was faster than usual, so expect new chapters in the ol' ordinary pace. The other reason in spite of the slow update might be because of my recent addiction towards Star Ocean: The Second Story. Yeah, that's right. My final excuse is that I got terribly sick and could hardly focus whenever facing the computer screen.

Oh, and don't forget that I do have a life outside the computer. End of discussion.

To the Sky
chapter six: to midgar

Yuffie slid the window open, letting the mild breeze danced through her loose ebony strands. Smiling avidly at the passing gust, she cried out in excitement with utter glee.

The next day after the team met the bounty hunter Vincent Valentine, the crew immediately head off to their original desired destination, Midgar. This time, they took Barret and Tifa along, as they too thought of their long-awaited accomplishment. But on top of them, to finally be back in the sky, things could not be any better to our dear Yuffie.

"You never tell me you can open the window there." she heard Tifa said.

"Tee-hee. Sorry." the ninja grinned sheepishly at her, throwing a tongue out. "I just got a little too excited."

"Well, I do not see anything wrong with that." Aerissa--or rather, Aeris--sat on the fabric-laden bed, after brushing away a few wrinkles from the bed cover. "At least, we can get some fresh air."

"Yeah," Tifa halfheartedly agreed, poking on the skimmed window frame. "it's a bit stiff around here."

Yuffie nodded as she bounced jubilantly to her bed, causing a little bump that Aeris practically jerked. "So, are you guys gonna sleep in my room? Hold on... you gotta stay in my room, since the rest of the ship is infested with males." she turned to Tifa. "And watch out for Wedge. Y'know he's got a crush on you since forever."

Aeris watched Tifa sank with a dull face. "Will you stop rubbing it in?"

"What?" Yuffie tilted her head playfully to the seventeen-year-old. "You don't appreciate the polar bear's feelings?"

Usually, Tifa would laugh at this. But being the subject of the topic did display her in a whole different 'light'. "Of course I do! But... can't you get any better guy to play matchmaker with me other than... him?"

Yuffie cast a thoughtful look, crossing her arms. However, Aeris had recommended first. "How about Biggs?"

"Biggs?" Tifa recapped, "Well, he's a nice guy, but definitely not my type." she said with a faked accent, "I'm more into those quiet guys. Biggs is a little showy, which would be really annoying if he's your boyfriend. Besides, I heard he's seeing Jessie."

Yuffie glowered. "I knew it."

"Cloud looks like a good category too." Aeris noted.

"Oh, right!" the young rogue motioned her hands into a delighted gesture. She grinned mischievously, "Come to think of it, this reminds me of how you had a crush on him since your diaper days!"

Tifa flushed a hint of faint magenta, staring down at her palms with madly burning cheeks. She glowered, "I admit I did have a crush on him, but you don't have to brag about it now! It's in the past, for the love of God..."

"Aww, c'mon!" Yuffie zoomed a pair of envious jade eyes. "First love lasts a lifetime! There's no way you're seeing him in a different light!"

The dark brunette shook her head. "First love never lasts. No matter how you look at it, it never mends to be." she swiftly remarked a finger before Yuffie demanded anymore objections. "Oh, and just so you know, Cloud is my second love."

"Oh." muttered Yuffie, completely dumbfounded of her unforeseen mistake. "Well, that means it wouldn't be as hopeless as a first love, ain't it?" a fanged grin surfaced. "Second or third love... what's the difference?"

"Yuffie, no matter how you look at it, it's just an immature, puppy-love childhood crush." Tifa kept her face stern. "It's not like we've done anything..."

"'Not like we've done anything'?" Yuffie mused distrustfully, "I can see you haven't done anything beyond the line, but remember the--whaddya call it...--the promise?"

A tinge of blush emerged out of Tifa's pale cheeks. Aeris though, became secretly interested of what she was yet to hear.

Tifa fumed. "Hey! Although we were once full-fledged by that promise, I never say we were going out!" she burst out, throwing masses and masses of pillows to the ninja's direction. "I mean, think about it! We were about... eleven or twelve... we haven't even reach puberty yet!"

Aeris saw a pillow caught Yuffie's nose.

Removing the recess of dusty feathers, Yuffie reappeared from the white pile. "Awww... you're no fun. I was just kidding..." she cast an innocent look with pleading--to Aeris' opinion, 'puppy'--eyes. Tifa however, did not look at all appealed by this.

In spite of this little pillow fight, the princess chuckled heartily. "So... who is you first love then, Tifa?"

"My first love?" Tifa's face returned to its average radiant glow.

"Yeah," Yuffie brushed the wrinkles from her burgundy garb. "I wanna hear about it too. I mean, no one ever heard about your past, right? Well, except that you came from a small village outside Nibelheim and the 'promise in the well' part."

Tifa emitted a ferocious glare, then continued promptly, "Actually, there're a few corrections I have to add..."

The two remainders flickered at each other, looking every bit bamboozled.

"It's true that I came from Old Nibelheim, where I met Cloud and did that promise," Tifa shoveled the pillows off the bed. "but originally, I'm not from Nibel."

"You're not?" Yuffie went flabbergasted, although she did not look too shocked. "So what are you then?"

Tifa held a deep breath. Released it. "A Midgarian. I came from Junon." she quickly resumed before any objections were concerned. "But I don't really have a lot of good memories there. My mom was shot dead by a soldier, and we literally moved to Nibel. Junon wasn't safe at all."

Aeris was not surprised to hear this. Junon was undeniably one of the most dangerous city of all the world, second only to the Midgar capital. It was originally a small, peaceful port town situated by the sea. That was until the first Shinra king reigned the Empire throne. The once beautiful beach was figuratively transformed into a large, perilous military base with a vast cannon as its vigor symbol.

It was indeed scary to see how sophisticated and powerful the Midgar technology was. So scary that, even the whole capital resembled the form of a giant ring with elevated base grounds and pitch-black sky.

Clearly Tifa was not at all of the nobility, for her mother suffered such death. It was hardly believable Tifa found any love too.

"He was around my age and... was a noble kid." Tifa suppressed, "But you know how children are, right? They don't really think about who you are and all, so we got along... until there was this little chemistry flowing around us. Sort of like that."

"Wait a minute." Yuffie demanded, "How could you both met? Those preps live on the plate by the military base, right? And you shouldn't be allowed to break in there." she shook her head doubtfully. "There's no way that first love of yours would want to hang out around the suburbs."

Tifa hesitated, but went on firmly. "Ehhh... there's a little back story of all that..."

Yuffie was about to counter when Aeris suddenly questioned. "How was he in person?"

It was apparent that Tifa was delighted Yuffie could not ask any more details. "I don't really remember." she murmured, "He was very composed and subtle. But kind enough to give me some bread from a five-star restaurant kitchen." she heard the other girls gasped enviously. "However, he was really really shy. One of them quiet types."

Yuffie mumbled nonchalantly. "Okay, I get the picture now. Calm and collected."

"Which reminds me," Aeris deliberated, moving closer to the party of three, "Vincent seems to be a quiet one too. Strong and silent."

"You mean the new guy?" Yuffie did not look so interested. "To tell you the truth, he sorta freaks me out. Did you remember that tractor beam he made in your bar, Tifa? Y'know, for a guy like him, he's kinda scary."

"He doesn't talk a lot too." Tifa added, "Barret, Cloud and I tried talking to him, but it looks like he hardly interacts with anybody other than Cid. I don't know whether he isn't a good conversationalist or he just doesn't talk much."

Yuffie shrugged. "Maybe he's just antisocial... and Cid's the only one who can melt that human iceberg."

Tifa chuckled. Aeris though, did not find this at all humorous, but she had her opinion. "Needless to say, he is an interesting individual. But I really have to comment on his wardrobe. It is very..."

"Eccentric?"

"I suppose."

"But no matter how you look at him," Tifa defended, even though she was supposed to be the one who loathe Vincent the most, despite what he did to her bar. "I don't find anywhere near dangerous. Although yes, he is very mysterious. Especially when he said he knew something about an unknown Midgar project."

Yuffie sighed. "He said he's 'sworn to secrecy' and I don't think he's the type to break secrets even after we give him a foot massage." Disturbing images of a happy-faced bounty hunter began to emerge, as a field of flowers and hopping bunny rabbits came sprinkling the unfortunate thought. Yuffie abruptly shunned the thought away in distress. "Say, you know anything about the project, Aeris?"

The princess promptly shook her head. "No, I do not know."

"I doubt she does." Tifa leaned forward. "If Midgar blabs the whole world about its secret project, then the Empire must be stupid."

"Rufus," Yuffie corrected amiably, "must be stupid."

Although she tended to hide it, Aeris can clearly see Tifa was utterly dispute by her best friend's statement. She watched the bar host pouted.

"You just don't know how Rufus is..."

"Whoa! You sound a lot like those crazy fangirls in the Midgar upper plate." Yuffie let out a fake laugh, rolling her eyes skywards. "Don't tell me you've joined the fan club. I mean, how would you know about Rufus--the cool, cold, and cocky prince of Midgar? Really. I thought you're not one of those idealistic types."

A silence ensued. Deep down inside, Aeris felt she had been slapped on the face. She hated to admit, but she was undoubtedly a naive, impractical person who never lives a day without daydreaming--the idealistic type Yuffie was sulking at. Aeris realized Yuffie did not know that she was talking about the third person around her, but to think being idealistic was same to a misfortune, she kept her mouth closed.

However on the other hand, a tinge of sympathy toward Tifa transcended.

"But Yuffie," she said gently, trying not to sound rude, "I do not think Rufus is that bad."

The youngest of the three grunted inaudibly. She protested, "How come could he not be bad? After what he's done in the past years? You got to be crazy to think he's 'not that bad'."

Aeris implied politely, "First of all, what the late king did has nothing to do with his son." she gestured her slender index finger notably. "Rufus is not even on the throne yet. Currently, the Empire is under the reign of the prime ministers... and Rufus is still out of the governing. Actually he has not done anything to the kingdom, so we cannot conclude of how he is in person."

Yuffie sank, admitting her defeat. "Well... I guess so. But that won't change the fact that I still hate Midgar."

"I can see that." Tifa commented sarcastically, "Your burning passion to see the Empire falls never cease to amaze me. Keep it up and you'll end up being as barbarous as Barret."

"At least I admit I do." Yuffie snorted under her pillow. "What about you two? Don't you hate the Empire too?"

Tifa only gave a short shrug whilst Aeris cast a dubious look. Yuffie was about to question why when Tifa audibly coughed. "You're asking a question everyone would say answer the same."

Aeris bobbed her head.

"Ya sure 'bout this?"

"About what?"

A bold chin stuck up cautiously. "The white-faced."

Cloud peered his glance to the other side of the deck, where sat Vincent Valentine's timid figure. He was sitting on the floor amongst the newly polished and Nibel-crest barrels Cid took from their recent invasion to the citadel. It was as if Vincent was nowhere into paying attention to what was around him. Cloud knew the man noticed passersby could hardly take their eyes off of a new face, but the bounty hunter kept quiet and stared down as he reloaded his rifle.

"Look on the bright side, Barret." the blonde mused listlessly, "We've got a strong powerhouse and we still have Cid and Aeris on our side. He doesn't seem like a bad guy either."

"At least he hates the Empire." the burlier man grunted, "That's why he's still in the ship now. And he better be doing like he said!"

"I don't think he's going to do anything stupid." Cloud presumed, looking thoughtfully at the yawning subject, "You remember what he said. He's a traitor to the Empire. He can fill us in about everything we need to know about them!"

"Hey, ya don't even know him." Barret argued back, "How can ya tell what's he thinkin'? Really, I don't think we can trust him. I ain't gonna believe him 'till I see it!"

Cloud muttered, "At least he's not nearly as stupid as you."

Then a smaller barrel came storming to the young mercenary's surprise. Cloud managed to make out a narrow escape, and let the wooden object smashed someone behind him. Although Cloud was not pleased with Barret's indiscreet behavior, he was pretty thankful it were not pellets that came to attack.

It was obvious Vincent was the only one who did not paying attention to what was going on. Perhaps refilling bullets' stock was more to his liking, though it did not look his revolver needed any of them for it can cast its own laser beam.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Cloud fumed, looking back and forth from Barret to a randomly knocked-out cabin boy.

Barret did not reply. In fact, none of them continued talking until Cid came. He first glanced at the pair with a quizzical look. He then turned to Vincent, who was still busy refilling his pistol with burnished colored shells. (Cloud leaned over to the bigger man and whispered, "Just how much is he going to fill anyway?")

The two wanderers did not know what Cid said to him, but whatever it was, it made the mysterious newcomer stood on his feet and followed the captain to the cabin's direction. The solid, dragon-crest entrance soon closed its path inside as Cloud saw Vincent's figure disappeared to the darken hallway. He sighed.

"I wonder what made him..."

Barret's hoarse voice articulated through jingles of what sounded like clattering tubes. "Made who what?"

Out of his immature curiosity, Cloud turned to face a bronzed, orange-scented barrel stamped especially. He looked up and saw a rather diligent Barret who was preoccupied with shoveling miniature grenades to it. He tilted his head to examine the bold, red-tinted stencil read:

CAUTION: Projectiles inside.

Very sensitive to fire.
Do not open with a flashing cigar, and that includes you too, Cid.

Store in a cool, dry place. Do not store in the refrigerator.
Must be stored in a place far from any hint of fire.
(Definitely not the engine room.)

All this must be labeled by Barret himself. And how amused Cloud was, the persistent, foul-mouthed terrorist had better language vocabulary than anybody else he knew. However, his compliment was delayed when he noticed there was a little handwritten note imprinted on the bottom.

Only use with permission from Mr. Barret Walasse of Seventh Heaven.
Otherwise, a mini-rocket will fly and get ya head!

"Cid spelled your last name wrong." Cloud pointed out.

"Shuddup." Barret bristled, "Cid's never good at dictations."

Cloud chuckled. He then tugged the barrel to his side and peeped its insides. "What's with this... 'ammunition barrel' thing?"

"Cid told me he needs projectile weapons for the ship." Barret yawned, without bothering to cover his mouth. "Since the Highwind doesn't have cannon shooters or anythin' else normal ships have, he asked me to supply some ammo the other day. So there ya have it."

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, for a humongous ship like this... the supply depot is pretty small."

"Really?" Barret noted incredulously, "There's more in the stockroom."

For the second time, Cloud sniffed the faint scent of fruit. "Did you unintentionally used a worn oranges' barrel or something?"

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to throw a wild party at Tifa's." Barret snapped back, though it felt like he was not at his fullest energy, "Since Tifa doesn't seem to be usin' it anymore, why not? Everybody knows Tifa's barrel-fettish."

Cloud shook his head vehemently, constantly reminding himself Tifa was not at all who he thought she was. He promptly changed the next subject. "Anyway, don't you think it's strange that Cid and Vincent have grown quite attached? Cid said he didn't want Vincent in his ship, but he's just about the only person who's talking to him!"

Barret shrugged in a slapdash fashion. "How am I supposed to know? I ain't his mama."

The boy let out a loud snort. Cloud leaned down and rested his head on his on his arms casually. "And it's been such a long week. First, I met up with Aeris. Then you, Cid and everybody else. Then the First Lady when missing. Then Vincent showed up and almost arrested Cid and took Aeris away. Then he's now part of the crew. Strange how fate writes a story, heh, Barret?"

The older man did not reply. He secretly, though, listened.

"But there's one more thing I don't understand." Cloud drifted off. "Why did Cid accept Vincent's custody without force? Being a distinguished pirate and his ship, he shouldn't be taken down so easily by a random bounty hunter." he shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes I don't get with his guts."

"He's got a reason."

Cloud blinked, peering his eyes back to Barret with a mix of surprise and curiosity.

"Ya think that guy would just let a rookie hunter arrest him?" Barret guffawed heartily, "What a pirate he'd be!"

A pair of annoyed eyes flinched. "Alright. What's this all about?"

"C'mon, ya can't be this stupid!" a large iron hand came shoving Cloud to crash the empty liquor barrels. "Cid's been dyin' to go to Midgar more than anybody else! I say it's no surprise if he gives up to a stranger like Vince just to get closer to Midgar!"

"But hey," Cloud reappeared from the alcove of scattered wood pieces, looking positively distressed. "are you sure Cid is that persistent to go to Midgar? If it's you, I won't complain."

The terrorist leaped down from the banister and crouched down. After a few sideway glances and rounds of sailor-threatening, Barret whispered, "It's just between ya and me, awright? I ain't sure about it myself but... I heard Cid was involved with the Empire a long time ago."

Cloud dropped his jaw five inches lower. He placed it back in and mouthed, "Really?? So... he's like Vincent!?"

"Yeah... I guess..." Barret rolled his eyes, looking like he was not quite interested with the new subject.

"Whoa! B-But hey! Ehhh," Cloud lowered his voice drastically, "do you know who he was in the Empire? Or what he did for them?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Barret looked taken back. "I ain't his mama."

Cloud stared at him hopelessly. Who you are then? His papa? Talk about Marlene...

Then a broad hand slapped his back bone.

"Ahoy mates! What're ya doing?"

"Oh, hey Cid!" Cloud sank back to the barrel ruins. "Ummm... just taking a short stroll around the ship, heh, Barret?"

Barret nodded fervidly.

"Oh really?" Cid tested vacantly, intently looking at the other sheepish two, "Well, what's Cloud doing with the barrels? It's not you, right, Barret?"

"Wha? Me!? Oh, n-no!" a lopsided smile surfaced nervously. "The boy just tripped over a banana skin and fell down!"

Cloud joined the grinning in hopes of Cid to buy the fib.

"Oh, okay." Cid shrugged, although a trace of suspicion did not immediately escape from his presence. He then promptly threw a finger toward the dark, black sky. "Anyway, notice the color?"

"Huh?" Cloud recapped, "What's up with the sky?"

"It's pitch black," Barret answered dubiously, "and it ain't nightfall yet."

Cid began approaching to the southernmost tip of the deck, promoting his glee with a fortunate smirk as he ran a finger to the open sky, a dull fog flowing through the raven mountains.

Eventually, something interesting happened.

Amidst the thick and covering clouds, a transparent tower transpired faintly. A dim, towering structure with the most impossible and otherworldly form humankind was yet to witness. The murk object was surrounded by a group of dark and furtive edifice, looking as if it had been yearning for light in the longest time. Eight glowing flames tinted turquoise were lit, resembling the gates of the black, floating, artificial city. Even the faded greenery supported the chaotic imagery.

Did this unfortunate kingdom know of night and day? Every of it looked like a fake, sinister realm of covet and prejudice.

"Yeah," Cid stroked a grim line through his lips. "We're here."

-tbc-

a/n
Oh yay, it's finished! Sorry if the chapter is too boring and fast-paced, I'm too surprised myself to see it's very... uneventful. Actually, I wanted to make a scene where Vincent talks about himself, but since he's still such an iceberg, I'll safe it for later chapters. It wouldn't be very nice of him to talk so much right now, would it? Oh, and if you're wondering how old he is here... it'd be 25. Yeah, minus 2 years. But he's not an immortal, so chill xP Cid and Barret are both in their respective ages. Right.

Anyway, I have this idea for another FF7 AU (againagainagain) and I'm pretty much halfway through the prologue. Well, TTS ain't finish yet and still needs a looooooooooooong time to reach the epilogue. (Yup, I've got it all figured out.) So maybe... next year? That story might be shorter since it doesn't involve any adventures and stuff... and it's plainly a love story... with angst. Yeah, I never write any angst before so, uh, right. (is highly inexperienced) A story you might wanna check out Clorith! xD

TBM (Hope you don't mind calling you this--unless you have a nickname you'd like to me call you by), there's your answer!