Final Fantasy 7
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Eleven
Cloud lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the room he was staying in, within Aeris's house. The rest of the house was quiet – Aeris and her mom had gone to bed hours before. Still, Cloud couldn't be sure whether they were asleep or not, and so he was thinking quietly to himself to pass the time, until it was possible for him to sneak out of the house without Aeris hearing him.
While he counted the minutes he tapped his foot gently against the soft sheets of the bed, fighting the urge to sleep. He wondered what Tifa and the rest of AVALANCHE would be doing right then. It wasn't incredibly late, so Tifa's bar – The 7th Heaven – should still be open by the time he got back. Barret and the other AVALANCHE members would probably be in their secret hideout under the bar, planning their next mission without him. Cloud figured that Barret wouldn't be worried – he never liked Cloud anyway. And Cloud didn't care about him, either. He yawned loudly and closed his eyes.
...Seem pretty tired...
Cloud jumped violently at the sound of the voice once again inside his mind.
"......!?"
I haven't slept in a bed like this... in a long time.
"...Oh, yeah," Cloud muttered silently. He tried to ignore the annoying voice in his mind, but it wouldn't seem to go away.
Ever since that time.
"My, how you've grown," said the female voice. "I'll bet the girls never leave you alone."
Cloud didn't look up from the bed and continued to stare up at the ceiling. As he lay there his mother walked around the perimeter of the bed, looking him over with a gentle smile on her fair, slightly old face. She was not as strong as she used to be, but she still seemed as vibrant as ever.
Cloud sighed heavily. "...Not really," he replied lazily, still refusing to get up.
Mrs. Strife looked at him with a flash of concern. "I... I'm worried about you," she admitted. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked right up beside her son. "There are a lot of temptations in the city... I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."
"...I'm all right," Cloud said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then sighed, completely relaxed on the soft, familiar bed.
Still his mother wouldn't quit. "You should have... an older girlfriend," she said, thinking hard. "One that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."
"......I'm not interested."
Cloud suddenly snapped his eyes open, awake, and stared blankly up at the unfamiliar ceiling. He blinked for a few second as he tried to remember where he was, before he shook his head and sat up. He was still in Aeris's house. As he looked out of the window he saw that it was fairly dark outside – much darker than it had been when he had closed his eyes.
"...I must have fallen asleep," he whispered quietly to himself. He stood up and walked towards the door of his room. He paused as he held the handle. "Sector 7's past Sector 6... I should be all right by myself..."
He quietly pulled down on the handle, and it only made a slight squeaking sound. Aeris's room was directly next to the spare room, and if he made any loud sounds he would wake her and be caught. So he tried to be as quiet as he could as he shut the bedroom door behind him and began to tread carefully down the stairs towards the front door.
The living room was just as quiet as upstairs, and it looked very dark and lonely with the lights off. Elmyra, anticipating that Cloud would do as she asked, had left the front door unlocked for him, so he was able to sneak out of the house without being seen, and slipped off into the night.
The rest of Sector 5 was just as quiet. All the people were now safely tucked up in their beds, all the shops were shut and locked up tight, and every light was off. It was very silent, and even the pipe with the sick man was quiet – everybody was asleep apart from Cloud.
Quickly but quietly Cloud left Sector 5 – leaving the houses and fresh air behind him and back into the dirty paths of the waste yard that surrounded the sectors. He remembered that the Sector 5 church was done one side of the path, so Cloud turned and headed down the other way, to the other path that would most likely lead to Sector 6. He walked briskly, his sword resting on his back, towards the broken wall that bordered Sectors 5 and 6. As he approached the wall however, he got a shock.
Aeris was already standing there waiting for him. She had somehow anticipated that Cloud would try to leave without her, and so she had set off early herself in hope of catching him before he left. A strap of rope was resting over her shoulder to hold up a long staff, which was her personal weapon, and which she had quickly picked up before she left. She smiled knowingly as Cloud approached her, with a stunned look on his face.
"You're up bright and early," she said.
Cloud sighed heavily. "How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" he asked her. He neglected to mention the fact that Aeris's mother had also asked him to leave without her. But as Elmyra had said, it was difficult to make Aeris changed her mind once it was made up.
"Are you done?" asked Aeris. Cloud scratched the back of his head nervously, his face slightly red. Aeris turned towards the hole in the wall border. "You have to go through the slum in Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven. I'll take you there. Come on!"
Before Cloud had a chance to stop her, Aeris turned and ran through the hole in the wall to the interconnecting paths that joined the two sectors together. Cloud stared for a moment He finally realised that there was no way he could make Aeris change her mind and go back home, so he just shrugged and ran through the wall after her before she could go too far.
He soon caught up with Aeris on the other side of the wall, and together they walked quickly but carefully through towards Sector 6.
The wall they passed through was one of many walls that bordered each of the eight sectors of Midgar. That was one of the reasons why each of the separate towns within the city became known as sectors, for they were all cut off from each other. Eventually, as Jessie had said, people forgot the names of the separate towns, and the eight sectors were born. It was difficult at times to move from sector to sector, but it was even more difficult to get out of Midgar. No one could leave Midgar without special permission, and it was just as difficult to get into Midgar. Midgar had become a prison that way, with its inhabitants unable to get in or out.
The paths that ran between Sector 5 and Sector 6 was a barren construction yard, which had become the dumping ground for all of the old machines that were no longer used for construction. Wherever Cloud looked he could see large cranes, diggers and trucks. Once they had finished their working lives they had just been left exactly where they were, left to rust and rot.
No one had ever bothered to move them, so now they were part of the Sector 5 rubbish yard. The closest anyone had ever come to moving them was to move them closer to the higher walls and paths, so it was possible to clamber to the other side to reach the other sectors. Cloud and Aeris had to cross over these at one point, and Cloud helped Aeris to climb over the rusting metal of a large digger that had been dumped beside a wall. Once they were safely over they jumped down and headed on towards Sector 6.
The first sight Cloud saw of Sector 6 was what looked like an abandoned playground. The giveaway signs were of course the old slides and swings, and even a half empty sandpit near the entrance. Of course nothing was really usable anymore, and children never came to play – everything was too dangerous. The chains holding the swings were now frail and ready to snap, while the slide looked about ready to crumble and fall apart. Beyond the park was another large wall with a giant metal gate, which sealed off the sectors beyond.
Aeris stepped up to the broken gate that led into the park. Cloud walked slowly behind her, looking around at the desolate park. It seemed as though everything in Midgar was either dead or dying. Aeris stopped a few metres ahead and pointed to the large gate ahead of her.
"The gate to Sector 7's in there," she said.
"Thanks," said Cloud, looking to where he was pointing. He then looked back at Aeris. "I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be all right going home?"
"Oh no! 'What ever will I do!?'" Aeris cried in mocking fear. She looked at Cloud's unimpressed face. "...Isn't that what you want me to say?"
Cloud sighed heavily. "I'll see you home," he said. He knew the way now, and could easily make it back on his own.
"Isn't that a little out of the way?" Aeris asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in Cloud's logic.
Cloud realised it at the same time as she did. He scratched the back of his head nervously, his face turning slightly red.
"Yeah, I guess so," he admitted.
Aeris smiled knowingly and turned to the park. "Can we take a break?" she asked.
She walked further into the park and stopped beside the sand pit, with Cloud standing beside her. The young woman gasped as she looked up at the slide. It was built in the shape of half a Moogle's head, with the slide being its tongue.
"I can't believe it's still here," she breathed.
She suddenly ran forward and disappeared behind the back of the slide. Cloud watched vacantly as he heard some loud rustling from behind the old metal slide, before Aeris's body suddenly appeared on the top of the slide from where she had climbed up to reach the playground item she had loved so well. Instead of sliding down the slide however, she simply sat down on the top and waved down to Cloud.
"Cloud, over here!" she called.
The ex-SOLDIER stared at Aeris, feeling again that she was in one of her happy, nostalgic moods. He himself had not been on a slide for many years, but he did not get the same urge that Aeris apparently did. He shrugged dismissively and headed to the back of the slide to climb up to her. When he was at the top Aeris shifted over to give him room to sit, and together they sat on the top of the slide and looked out at the rest of the deserted park. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, but Aeris suddenly looked up at Cloud, trying to speak.
"What rank were you?" she asked suddenly.
"Rank?"
"You know," Aeris said, pulling her knees up close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "In SOLDIER."
"Oh, I was..." Cloud began. He blinked as his head buzzed a little, trying to remember. "First Class."
Aeris looked down once more, and gently lay her head on her knees, just as she did on the church roof.
"Just the same as him," she whispered quietly.
Cloud looked at her. "The same as who?"
"My first boyfriend," replied Aeris.
"You were... serious?"
"No," Aeris admitted. She looked up. "But I liked him for a while."
"I probably knew him," said Cloud. "What was his name?"
"It doesn't really matter," Aeris said, and Cloud again got the feeling that she was trying to avoid the conversation. He looked at her for a few moments more. She looked back at him and gave him a wide, happy smile to show that she was okay. Cloud even smiled a little back.
He was about to say something else to Aeris when a loud grating noise suddenly pierced through the silence that had spread between them, and Cloud turned to look behind him.
The gate leading into Sector 7 had suddenly slid open, and something was emerging from it. It looked like a large and elegant trailer that was being pulled by a Chocobo – a birdlike creature that was often used for manual work. There was nothing particularly interesting about the trailer apart from its splendour – and the person that was standing at the back of the trailer, being taken to the next sector.
Cloud barely recognised her at first, for she was dressed very differently from what she usually wore. She wore a short blue dress – a very short blue dress to show off as much of her body as she was allowed to. Her long brown hair had been specially styled and she had worn make up to make herself as attractive as possible.
"Huh? Hey, back there......" Cloud said, standing up to look at the trailer more clearly.
As he stood, the woman on the back of the trailer looked up and glanced over at Cloud. The two met gazes, and instantly the woman's face lit up with delight and relief. She waved over to Cloud, but she couldn't say anything as the trailer carried her off towards Sector 6.
"Tifa!" Cloud shouted, but Tifa was already out of earshot before he found the words to speak.
"That girl in the cart was Tifa?" Aeris asked, looking back at Cloud. "Where was she going? She looked kind of odd..."
Aeris climbed up to her feet and let herself run quickly down the slide to the ground. When she reached the bottom she brushed off her dress, and then began to run after the trailer towards Sector 6. Cloud looked up in alarm.
"Wait! I'll go on alone," he called to her. "You go home!"
He was too late to stop her as well. Aeris had already turned the corner to head directly into Sector 6 – a sector she herself had admitted was a very dangerous sector. He sighed heavily and shook his head, before he also jumped down off the slide and began to run after Aeris.
As Cloud finally arrived at the Wall Market in Sector 6, he could see what Aeris had meant when she had called it a rough place. It was a dirty, violent-looking place, with many people walking around. Of course, the people that were walking around were punks with spiked hair, many body piercings and a bad body odour. Many of the punks were walking around had stoned, vacant faces, and were probably doped up on some kind of herb or drug or something.
Luckily Aeris had not gone to far into the sector by herself. He spotted her beside the late night inn, speaking to one of the workers while he sat outside taking a break. As Cloud walked up he saw the worker shake his head, and Aeris looked down. She finally spotted Cloud as he walked up to her, and she headed over towards him.
"This place is scary in a lot of ways," she explained. "Especially for a girl. So we've got to find Tifa fast."
So Aeris stayed very close to Cloud as they began to wander through the sector, looking for any places that Tifa could be, or at least any sign of the trailer that brought her to the sector. Because Aeris was obviously with Cloud most of the punks stayed well away, or were to drugged up to even notice them.
Unfortunately none of the shops they passed by looked like the kind of ones that that trailer would stop at. Tifa had been dressed very extravagantly, and the only shops they had seen so far around here were clothes shops, midnight restaurants and inns.
Then again, there was one inn they saw that looked like a likely place for such a trailer to go. The inn was called the 'Honey Bee Inn', and as they approached they saw the trailer that Tifa had been riding in parked outside, although there was no sign of Tifa. The place was crawling with punks – some wishing they could go in, while others wished they had the courage to go in.
The owner of the inn was standing outside, trying to draw in new customers into his inn. As he saw Cloud walking up to him a large smile appeared on his face and motioned him to come forward.
"Welcome!" he said cheerfully. "Even unpopular dweebs, like you may meet your destiny here!! You looking for a girlfriend, too?"
Aeris glanced around at the other men that were gathered at the inn. At first they had been pretty much unresponsive, but as they saw Aeris their eyes lit up with excitement and stared at her dreamily, wondering if she also worked at the inn. She inched a little closer to Cloud.
"You know a girl called Tifa?" Cloud asked, getting straight to the point.
The owner blinked in surprise. "Hey, you're pretty fast," he observed, smiling proudly. "Tifa's our newest girl. But, unfortunately, she's having an interview right now. Here at the Honey Bee Inn, it's customary for the new girls to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion. Don Corneo's a famous dilettante. Now he wants to settle down and it in the market for a bride."
Despite him saying that Don Corneo was famous, neither Cloud nor Aeris had ever heard or. As they headed away from the inn and the hopeful looks of the punks gathered outside the inn, they headed towards the one place in Wall Market that they had not checked – right up in the far north of the sector.
Sure enough, Don Corneo's mansion was built there, right at the back of a bunch of stalls. From the looks of the mansion Don Corneo was probably the richest and most powerful man in Wall Market. Cloud wondered why he didn't move up to the upper plate, for he could obviously afford it. Then he realised that the people in the slums were desperate for money and jobs, and this would be the perfect place to set up his kind of business. He couldn't understand why Tifa would want to come to a place like this, so he knew he had to talk to her and find out.
There was a guard standing outside the door of the mansion – another slum citizen that had been hired to guard the entrance to the mansion. He looked up and frowned at Cloud as he walked up, not noticing Aeris.
"This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market," he growled, curling his lip. "Look, the Don's not into men. So don't let me catch you around here again..." He then saw Aeris and stared. "Hey, and you got another cute one with you!"
Aeris stared back for a moment, before she had an idea. She grabbed hold of Cloud's arm and pulled him back away from the mansion to a quiet corner where she could talk to him without the guard hearing.
"Hey, this looks like the Don's mansion. I'll go take a look," she said and turned away. "I'll tell Tifa about you." She headed for the door.
"No! You can't!" Cloud protested.
Aeris stopped and walked back to Cloud. She clasped her hands together behind her back and looked at him.
"Why?
Cloud swallowed nervously. There was a one very big, HUGE reason why he didn't want her to go in there, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"You DO know... what kind of... place this is, don't you?"
"Then what am I supposed to do?" asked Aeris. "You want to go in with me?"
Cloud crossed his arms and turned his head away in thought. "Well, being a man, that'll be pretty hard. Besides if I bust in there, it'll cause too much commotion."
Aeris watched him for a minute. Suddenly her eyes lit up as she had another brilliant idea. It was such a terrific and hilarious idea that she had to quickly turn away from Cloud as she began to giggle under her breath.
"But, I can't just let you go in alone..." Cloud continued to say, not noticing Aeris's giggles. "Oh, man... First... we need to find out if Tifa's alright..." He glanced at Aeris. "What's so funny, Aeris?"
Aeris turned to Cloud, her face red with giggling. She grabbed his hand again and spurted out her idea.
"Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way."
"WHAT!?"
Aeris turned to the guard again. "Just wait. I've got a cute friend I want to bring." She then turned back to Cloud, who was staring at her in horror, his face bright red just thinking about Aeris's suggestion.
"Aeris! I can't..."
"You ARE worried about Tifa, aren't you?" Aeris asked him. Cloud nodded. "Then come on, hurry!"
She turned and ran off back into Wall Market with much energy and enthusiasm. Cloud just stood frozen to the spot and watched her go. Then he sighed heavily and began to walk slowly back into Wall Market after Aeris, wondering what on earth he had gotten himself into.
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Eleven
Cloud lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the room he was staying in, within Aeris's house. The rest of the house was quiet – Aeris and her mom had gone to bed hours before. Still, Cloud couldn't be sure whether they were asleep or not, and so he was thinking quietly to himself to pass the time, until it was possible for him to sneak out of the house without Aeris hearing him.
While he counted the minutes he tapped his foot gently against the soft sheets of the bed, fighting the urge to sleep. He wondered what Tifa and the rest of AVALANCHE would be doing right then. It wasn't incredibly late, so Tifa's bar – The 7th Heaven – should still be open by the time he got back. Barret and the other AVALANCHE members would probably be in their secret hideout under the bar, planning their next mission without him. Cloud figured that Barret wouldn't be worried – he never liked Cloud anyway. And Cloud didn't care about him, either. He yawned loudly and closed his eyes.
...Seem pretty tired...
Cloud jumped violently at the sound of the voice once again inside his mind.
"......!?"
I haven't slept in a bed like this... in a long time.
"...Oh, yeah," Cloud muttered silently. He tried to ignore the annoying voice in his mind, but it wouldn't seem to go away.
Ever since that time.
"My, how you've grown," said the female voice. "I'll bet the girls never leave you alone."
Cloud didn't look up from the bed and continued to stare up at the ceiling. As he lay there his mother walked around the perimeter of the bed, looking him over with a gentle smile on her fair, slightly old face. She was not as strong as she used to be, but she still seemed as vibrant as ever.
Cloud sighed heavily. "...Not really," he replied lazily, still refusing to get up.
Mrs. Strife looked at him with a flash of concern. "I... I'm worried about you," she admitted. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked right up beside her son. "There are a lot of temptations in the city... I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."
"...I'm all right," Cloud said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then sighed, completely relaxed on the soft, familiar bed.
Still his mother wouldn't quit. "You should have... an older girlfriend," she said, thinking hard. "One that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."
"......I'm not interested."
Cloud suddenly snapped his eyes open, awake, and stared blankly up at the unfamiliar ceiling. He blinked for a few second as he tried to remember where he was, before he shook his head and sat up. He was still in Aeris's house. As he looked out of the window he saw that it was fairly dark outside – much darker than it had been when he had closed his eyes.
"...I must have fallen asleep," he whispered quietly to himself. He stood up and walked towards the door of his room. He paused as he held the handle. "Sector 7's past Sector 6... I should be all right by myself..."
He quietly pulled down on the handle, and it only made a slight squeaking sound. Aeris's room was directly next to the spare room, and if he made any loud sounds he would wake her and be caught. So he tried to be as quiet as he could as he shut the bedroom door behind him and began to tread carefully down the stairs towards the front door.
The living room was just as quiet as upstairs, and it looked very dark and lonely with the lights off. Elmyra, anticipating that Cloud would do as she asked, had left the front door unlocked for him, so he was able to sneak out of the house without being seen, and slipped off into the night.
The rest of Sector 5 was just as quiet. All the people were now safely tucked up in their beds, all the shops were shut and locked up tight, and every light was off. It was very silent, and even the pipe with the sick man was quiet – everybody was asleep apart from Cloud.
Quickly but quietly Cloud left Sector 5 – leaving the houses and fresh air behind him and back into the dirty paths of the waste yard that surrounded the sectors. He remembered that the Sector 5 church was done one side of the path, so Cloud turned and headed down the other way, to the other path that would most likely lead to Sector 6. He walked briskly, his sword resting on his back, towards the broken wall that bordered Sectors 5 and 6. As he approached the wall however, he got a shock.
Aeris was already standing there waiting for him. She had somehow anticipated that Cloud would try to leave without her, and so she had set off early herself in hope of catching him before he left. A strap of rope was resting over her shoulder to hold up a long staff, which was her personal weapon, and which she had quickly picked up before she left. She smiled knowingly as Cloud approached her, with a stunned look on his face.
"You're up bright and early," she said.
Cloud sighed heavily. "How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" he asked her. He neglected to mention the fact that Aeris's mother had also asked him to leave without her. But as Elmyra had said, it was difficult to make Aeris changed her mind once it was made up.
"Are you done?" asked Aeris. Cloud scratched the back of his head nervously, his face slightly red. Aeris turned towards the hole in the wall border. "You have to go through the slum in Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven. I'll take you there. Come on!"
Before Cloud had a chance to stop her, Aeris turned and ran through the hole in the wall to the interconnecting paths that joined the two sectors together. Cloud stared for a moment He finally realised that there was no way he could make Aeris change her mind and go back home, so he just shrugged and ran through the wall after her before she could go too far.
He soon caught up with Aeris on the other side of the wall, and together they walked quickly but carefully through towards Sector 6.
The wall they passed through was one of many walls that bordered each of the eight sectors of Midgar. That was one of the reasons why each of the separate towns within the city became known as sectors, for they were all cut off from each other. Eventually, as Jessie had said, people forgot the names of the separate towns, and the eight sectors were born. It was difficult at times to move from sector to sector, but it was even more difficult to get out of Midgar. No one could leave Midgar without special permission, and it was just as difficult to get into Midgar. Midgar had become a prison that way, with its inhabitants unable to get in or out.
The paths that ran between Sector 5 and Sector 6 was a barren construction yard, which had become the dumping ground for all of the old machines that were no longer used for construction. Wherever Cloud looked he could see large cranes, diggers and trucks. Once they had finished their working lives they had just been left exactly where they were, left to rust and rot.
No one had ever bothered to move them, so now they were part of the Sector 5 rubbish yard. The closest anyone had ever come to moving them was to move them closer to the higher walls and paths, so it was possible to clamber to the other side to reach the other sectors. Cloud and Aeris had to cross over these at one point, and Cloud helped Aeris to climb over the rusting metal of a large digger that had been dumped beside a wall. Once they were safely over they jumped down and headed on towards Sector 6.
The first sight Cloud saw of Sector 6 was what looked like an abandoned playground. The giveaway signs were of course the old slides and swings, and even a half empty sandpit near the entrance. Of course nothing was really usable anymore, and children never came to play – everything was too dangerous. The chains holding the swings were now frail and ready to snap, while the slide looked about ready to crumble and fall apart. Beyond the park was another large wall with a giant metal gate, which sealed off the sectors beyond.
Aeris stepped up to the broken gate that led into the park. Cloud walked slowly behind her, looking around at the desolate park. It seemed as though everything in Midgar was either dead or dying. Aeris stopped a few metres ahead and pointed to the large gate ahead of her.
"The gate to Sector 7's in there," she said.
"Thanks," said Cloud, looking to where he was pointing. He then looked back at Aeris. "I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be all right going home?"
"Oh no! 'What ever will I do!?'" Aeris cried in mocking fear. She looked at Cloud's unimpressed face. "...Isn't that what you want me to say?"
Cloud sighed heavily. "I'll see you home," he said. He knew the way now, and could easily make it back on his own.
"Isn't that a little out of the way?" Aeris asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in Cloud's logic.
Cloud realised it at the same time as she did. He scratched the back of his head nervously, his face turning slightly red.
"Yeah, I guess so," he admitted.
Aeris smiled knowingly and turned to the park. "Can we take a break?" she asked.
She walked further into the park and stopped beside the sand pit, with Cloud standing beside her. The young woman gasped as she looked up at the slide. It was built in the shape of half a Moogle's head, with the slide being its tongue.
"I can't believe it's still here," she breathed.
She suddenly ran forward and disappeared behind the back of the slide. Cloud watched vacantly as he heard some loud rustling from behind the old metal slide, before Aeris's body suddenly appeared on the top of the slide from where she had climbed up to reach the playground item she had loved so well. Instead of sliding down the slide however, she simply sat down on the top and waved down to Cloud.
"Cloud, over here!" she called.
The ex-SOLDIER stared at Aeris, feeling again that she was in one of her happy, nostalgic moods. He himself had not been on a slide for many years, but he did not get the same urge that Aeris apparently did. He shrugged dismissively and headed to the back of the slide to climb up to her. When he was at the top Aeris shifted over to give him room to sit, and together they sat on the top of the slide and looked out at the rest of the deserted park. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, but Aeris suddenly looked up at Cloud, trying to speak.
"What rank were you?" she asked suddenly.
"Rank?"
"You know," Aeris said, pulling her knees up close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "In SOLDIER."
"Oh, I was..." Cloud began. He blinked as his head buzzed a little, trying to remember. "First Class."
Aeris looked down once more, and gently lay her head on her knees, just as she did on the church roof.
"Just the same as him," she whispered quietly.
Cloud looked at her. "The same as who?"
"My first boyfriend," replied Aeris.
"You were... serious?"
"No," Aeris admitted. She looked up. "But I liked him for a while."
"I probably knew him," said Cloud. "What was his name?"
"It doesn't really matter," Aeris said, and Cloud again got the feeling that she was trying to avoid the conversation. He looked at her for a few moments more. She looked back at him and gave him a wide, happy smile to show that she was okay. Cloud even smiled a little back.
He was about to say something else to Aeris when a loud grating noise suddenly pierced through the silence that had spread between them, and Cloud turned to look behind him.
The gate leading into Sector 7 had suddenly slid open, and something was emerging from it. It looked like a large and elegant trailer that was being pulled by a Chocobo – a birdlike creature that was often used for manual work. There was nothing particularly interesting about the trailer apart from its splendour – and the person that was standing at the back of the trailer, being taken to the next sector.
Cloud barely recognised her at first, for she was dressed very differently from what she usually wore. She wore a short blue dress – a very short blue dress to show off as much of her body as she was allowed to. Her long brown hair had been specially styled and she had worn make up to make herself as attractive as possible.
"Huh? Hey, back there......" Cloud said, standing up to look at the trailer more clearly.
As he stood, the woman on the back of the trailer looked up and glanced over at Cloud. The two met gazes, and instantly the woman's face lit up with delight and relief. She waved over to Cloud, but she couldn't say anything as the trailer carried her off towards Sector 6.
"Tifa!" Cloud shouted, but Tifa was already out of earshot before he found the words to speak.
"That girl in the cart was Tifa?" Aeris asked, looking back at Cloud. "Where was she going? She looked kind of odd..."
Aeris climbed up to her feet and let herself run quickly down the slide to the ground. When she reached the bottom she brushed off her dress, and then began to run after the trailer towards Sector 6. Cloud looked up in alarm.
"Wait! I'll go on alone," he called to her. "You go home!"
He was too late to stop her as well. Aeris had already turned the corner to head directly into Sector 6 – a sector she herself had admitted was a very dangerous sector. He sighed heavily and shook his head, before he also jumped down off the slide and began to run after Aeris.
As Cloud finally arrived at the Wall Market in Sector 6, he could see what Aeris had meant when she had called it a rough place. It was a dirty, violent-looking place, with many people walking around. Of course, the people that were walking around were punks with spiked hair, many body piercings and a bad body odour. Many of the punks were walking around had stoned, vacant faces, and were probably doped up on some kind of herb or drug or something.
Luckily Aeris had not gone to far into the sector by herself. He spotted her beside the late night inn, speaking to one of the workers while he sat outside taking a break. As Cloud walked up he saw the worker shake his head, and Aeris looked down. She finally spotted Cloud as he walked up to her, and she headed over towards him.
"This place is scary in a lot of ways," she explained. "Especially for a girl. So we've got to find Tifa fast."
So Aeris stayed very close to Cloud as they began to wander through the sector, looking for any places that Tifa could be, or at least any sign of the trailer that brought her to the sector. Because Aeris was obviously with Cloud most of the punks stayed well away, or were to drugged up to even notice them.
Unfortunately none of the shops they passed by looked like the kind of ones that that trailer would stop at. Tifa had been dressed very extravagantly, and the only shops they had seen so far around here were clothes shops, midnight restaurants and inns.
Then again, there was one inn they saw that looked like a likely place for such a trailer to go. The inn was called the 'Honey Bee Inn', and as they approached they saw the trailer that Tifa had been riding in parked outside, although there was no sign of Tifa. The place was crawling with punks – some wishing they could go in, while others wished they had the courage to go in.
The owner of the inn was standing outside, trying to draw in new customers into his inn. As he saw Cloud walking up to him a large smile appeared on his face and motioned him to come forward.
"Welcome!" he said cheerfully. "Even unpopular dweebs, like you may meet your destiny here!! You looking for a girlfriend, too?"
Aeris glanced around at the other men that were gathered at the inn. At first they had been pretty much unresponsive, but as they saw Aeris their eyes lit up with excitement and stared at her dreamily, wondering if she also worked at the inn. She inched a little closer to Cloud.
"You know a girl called Tifa?" Cloud asked, getting straight to the point.
The owner blinked in surprise. "Hey, you're pretty fast," he observed, smiling proudly. "Tifa's our newest girl. But, unfortunately, she's having an interview right now. Here at the Honey Bee Inn, it's customary for the new girls to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion. Don Corneo's a famous dilettante. Now he wants to settle down and it in the market for a bride."
Despite him saying that Don Corneo was famous, neither Cloud nor Aeris had ever heard or. As they headed away from the inn and the hopeful looks of the punks gathered outside the inn, they headed towards the one place in Wall Market that they had not checked – right up in the far north of the sector.
Sure enough, Don Corneo's mansion was built there, right at the back of a bunch of stalls. From the looks of the mansion Don Corneo was probably the richest and most powerful man in Wall Market. Cloud wondered why he didn't move up to the upper plate, for he could obviously afford it. Then he realised that the people in the slums were desperate for money and jobs, and this would be the perfect place to set up his kind of business. He couldn't understand why Tifa would want to come to a place like this, so he knew he had to talk to her and find out.
There was a guard standing outside the door of the mansion – another slum citizen that had been hired to guard the entrance to the mansion. He looked up and frowned at Cloud as he walked up, not noticing Aeris.
"This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market," he growled, curling his lip. "Look, the Don's not into men. So don't let me catch you around here again..." He then saw Aeris and stared. "Hey, and you got another cute one with you!"
Aeris stared back for a moment, before she had an idea. She grabbed hold of Cloud's arm and pulled him back away from the mansion to a quiet corner where she could talk to him without the guard hearing.
"Hey, this looks like the Don's mansion. I'll go take a look," she said and turned away. "I'll tell Tifa about you." She headed for the door.
"No! You can't!" Cloud protested.
Aeris stopped and walked back to Cloud. She clasped her hands together behind her back and looked at him.
"Why?
Cloud swallowed nervously. There was a one very big, HUGE reason why he didn't want her to go in there, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"You DO know... what kind of... place this is, don't you?"
"Then what am I supposed to do?" asked Aeris. "You want to go in with me?"
Cloud crossed his arms and turned his head away in thought. "Well, being a man, that'll be pretty hard. Besides if I bust in there, it'll cause too much commotion."
Aeris watched him for a minute. Suddenly her eyes lit up as she had another brilliant idea. It was such a terrific and hilarious idea that she had to quickly turn away from Cloud as she began to giggle under her breath.
"But, I can't just let you go in alone..." Cloud continued to say, not noticing Aeris's giggles. "Oh, man... First... we need to find out if Tifa's alright..." He glanced at Aeris. "What's so funny, Aeris?"
Aeris turned to Cloud, her face red with giggling. She grabbed his hand again and spurted out her idea.
"Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way."
"WHAT!?"
Aeris turned to the guard again. "Just wait. I've got a cute friend I want to bring." She then turned back to Cloud, who was staring at her in horror, his face bright red just thinking about Aeris's suggestion.
"Aeris! I can't..."
"You ARE worried about Tifa, aren't you?" Aeris asked him. Cloud nodded. "Then come on, hurry!"
She turned and ran off back into Wall Market with much energy and enthusiasm. Cloud just stood frozen to the spot and watched her go. Then he sighed heavily and began to walk slowly back into Wall Market after Aeris, wondering what on earth he had gotten himself into.
