A/N: Muaha! Welcome to Chapter 2! Arg, I might've rushed through a couple of things. :clenches fists: Darnnit! Maybe next time I shouldn't listen to… ridiculously LOUD music while typing up a story. Oo; Ah well. Hope you'll enjoy!
Summary: We find out what Cloud's friends were doing over the past few months. Then, they get an unexpected call from Tifa.
Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to meeeeee… again. :sigh:
Silent Wind
Chapter 2
Reuniting of Old Friends Part 1
Tension filled the air as a strong warm breeze found its way to Wutai. A crowd of people started to take form as they quickly made their way towards the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods. Sparks started flying as two figures in the center of the pagoda flew backwards and collided against the hard stoned ground. In an instant, both fighters quickly stood up and lunged forward as a powerful aura spread throughout the small village. A huge gust of wind suddenly appeared between the two fighters as one of them retreated on top of a nearby building. He grinned as he let out a huge blue orb that was secretly created behind his back, causing his opponent to take in the force and collide against the side of a building. The victor stepped down with a grin that was still present on his face. The "defeated one," quickly stood up, still not quite done with the fight.
"You cheated!" the young ninja insisted to her opponent as she took out her oversized shuriken. "C'mon! It's not over til the fat man dies!"
"Talk like that to your father will ya, Yuffie!"
"C'mon! I'm not finished with you yet!"
"Oh… you're finished already."
"Not on my watch!"
Yuffie lunged forward, holding her trusty shuriken by her side. In an instant, her opponent disappeared before her eyes. Only three seconds into the fight and already the ninja found herself lying on the ground. As she an attempted to get up, her father brutally stepped against her soft back. The ninja moaned in agony.
"That's what you get for disrespecting your elders."
With that said, he walked away with a slight grin on his face. As the crowd of people died down, the young ninja was left alone. She finally got up, pouted, and kicked her foot hard against the ground.
"Damnit! That's the third time this week that I lost to him!" she said to herself. "But! I'll kick his ass sooner or later!"
Finally inside her home, Yuffie sighed loudly and brushed her feet hard against the wooden floor in front of her father's room several times, hoping that he'd want to start another battle with her. But, that didn't seem to work. So, she quickly headed to her own room and slid her door shut.
Yuffie collapsed on her futon before she stared up at the ceiling. A lot was on her mind… not because of the fight… even though that's mainly the problem, but something seemed to be missing in her life. While she was fighting against her old man, it brought back a memory of someone fighting against… some kind of evil force. Her eyes widened at that.
"… evil force…" she said to herself. After she whacked herself with a pillow several times, small colorful orbs fell out of it and rolled across her room, creating a sound that made the ninja's ears perk up.
She picked one of the orbs up and closely examined it. "… my… materia!" she squealed. "Oh my gosh! I haven't seen these in like… a bajillion years! Ohh! Materia! I missed you!"
Yuffie, who was busy hugging all her precious materia, soon remembered what was missing in her life. (no… not only materia… :cough: ) She began to remember AVALANCHE and all her friends. Soon, the ninja paused and let her hands drop the materia back on the ground.
"AVALANCHE… that was when… she d-"
Before she could finish, beeping noises were heard, echoing throughout her room. Yuffie jumped up, quite surprised by the sudden noise, and looked around. Taking a few minutes to refresh her memory, she remembered it was her PHS ringing! Going through her old junk in one corner of her room, she finally came across her old phone and immediately answered with a soft tone in her voice.
"… hello?"
"Yuffie!" the caller squealed in happiness. "I'm so glad you picked up!"
"… Tifa?"
"Yes!"
"Oh my gosh! I haven't heard from you guys in like… a bajillion years! I was starting to worry… but since you never called back… I thought that we weren't friends anymore…"
"Of course not! Friends forever!"
Yuffie smiled to herself. "So, what's up? How's Mister Spiky Head?"
"… Cloud? Well… he told me to call you, Barret and Cid, to meet up at the Gold Saucer."
"Hah! Gold Saucer? The thing still running?"
Tifa remained silent for a few moments before she replied, "Listen, will you please come? I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."
Yuffie leaned against her wall looking worried. "What? What's going on?"
"I don't know, but… will you come?"
"… of… of course I'll come! Count on that!"
"Thank you!" Tifa sighed with relief. "I'll see you later!"
"Bye…"
Yuffie removed the phone from her ear and bowed her head. As memories from long ago started to surface, she slowly lifted her head and stared at her materia shimmering in the sunlight, then slowly moved her head to her Conformer. She hadn't touched the thing in a long time… until today.
The young ninja gave out a slight grin and made her way towards her old friend as she lifted it from it's resting spot. It was strange, but, she knew that deep in her heart, something bad was going to happen too, and not because Tifa said so.
"Welp, sorry pops. Guess I'm gonna have to kick your butt later."
Just east from Wutai rested a small town called Rocket Town. Despite the town losing the rocket, ShinRa No. 26, the name remained. No one had the heart to change it, despite it not having any rocket at all. The town was then rebuilt immediately after the ship launched, causing the small town to be… not so small anymore.
Cid decided to reside at Shera's place. Throughout the months that passed by, Cid had thought differently of Shera. He began to feel comfortable and more trusting of her… and less aggressive. Shera remained the same sweet woman Cid knew a long time ago. They took the time to get to know each other even more… more of their lives, secrets, and times when they felt they really needed someone to protect them.
Nowadays, Cid hasn't been taking out his Tiny Bronco out for daily trips around the land anymore. He had been taking a ridiculously long break these past six months. Shera tried everything to make him active again, but he's only been worried about keeping his plane in tiptop condition.
Shera turned her head and sighed as Cid was practically screaming his lungs out at his helpers.
"Damnit! You people can't do anything right! It's blue not frickin' dark blue!"
"B… but is there really a difference?"
"Of course! One side of the wing is blue and the other side is dark blue! Get it right, damnit!"
"Y… yes sir! Sorry, sir!"
"That's Captain to you!"
The window of Shera's house opened as Shera herself leaned out. "Oh Captain!" she said sarcastically. "Will you please leave these poor people alone for a while, and come inside for some tea?"
Cid waved his arms around. "Oh, Shera! Yes! I'll be right there!" He then turned and pointed at his helpers who were busy chiseling out the dark blue paint from one of the wings. "You heard the lady, take five!"
Without any reply, they quickly excused themselves and happily ran out of Shera's property as Cid happily made his way inside the house.
"Uhm… I know this is weird but," Shera started, trying to get Cid's attention away from his unfinished Tiny Bronco. "Uhm… how come you threw this away?"
Shera reached into her pocket and pulled out Cid's PHS. Cid grunted and swiped the thing away from her hand.
"Che. The damn thing's broken!" he growled, balancing the phone in his palm.
"But… didn't a… Mister… Cloud give that to you?"
"… eh? You still remember him?"
"Shouldn't I? He was nice… I remember when he…"
"Damnit! Enough walking down memory lane already! Goddamnit!"
"I… I'm sorry!"
Cid leaned back on his chair and stared at his phone. Cloud… a name that he hadn't heard in a very long time. Ever since he left the team, he immediately wanted to return to the way things were, and possibly fix things in his life that he created in the past. But, after those long six months… things haven't been the same. He, somewhat, changed his attitude a bit and he was happy with that, but deep inside, he felt he should really do something. He actually wanted to call up his friends but… he thought that if he returned to the way things were… he would risk everything.
Cid shook his head and planted his cup hard on the table, causing Shera to jump back from the sudden noise.
"Y… Yes?" Shera finally said, quite worried at "Captain."
"… nah, nevermind," the pilot answered as he stood up, grasping the PHS tightly.
"Uhm… what are you going to do with that?"
"… I don't think I'll be needing this."
"What?" Shera snapped, getting up from her seat. "But… what if-!"
"Back in the crater, I've been thinking about many things. I… don't want to risk anything anymore. Now that I understand you more, I just…"
"I know," Shera interrupted. "But, I'm sure all your friends were thinking the same thing. But, you shouldn't let that stop you from letting out the old Cid. In fact, I quite miss the fellow dearly."
Cid snapped his head to Shera. "So, basically, you want me to start arguing with you like before?" he joked.
Shera giggled. "Wouldn't hurt."
Cid sighed and opened his hand, placing the PHS on the table. "I guess you're right. Heh, you gotta admit, the new me sure is boring as hell!"
"Yep!" she exclaimed as she nodded her head with agreement.
"Let's get to it!"
"Okay!"
Before Shera and Cid had a chance to do anything, the PHS suddenly springs to life as it rung several times in the awkward silence. The two couple snapped their heads at the loud device lying on the table.
"… the…! It…! WHAT!" they both said in unison.
Cid rubbed his head. "Ah! What? What? What!"
"Ah! Answer it!"
"# THAT!"
Cid gulped and reached to pick up the ringing phone. Finally activating it, he answered, attempting to sound calm and cool.
" HELLO!" he squawked loudly.
"Hello, Cid! I see you haven't changed a bit, hm?"
"… whoa! Is this… Ti… fa?"
"Yep! Nice to hear from you again."
"… y… yeah," Cid shook his head. "So! What the hell were you guys doing! I hope you didn't start anything without me!"
"Eh… we haven't been doing anything after we left."
"… oh, well… heh. Duh," Cid bowed his head, feeling like a total idiot.
"Anyway, Cloud called me earlier… and we have to meet him at the Gold Saucer."
"Wha? What the hell for? Gonna eat popcorn and watch a play or something?"
"I don't know. He just said to contact you, Yuffie, and Barret."
"Whoaho, the whole team, huh?"
"He didn't get into much detail, but… can you make it?"
With one final look at Shera and his Tiny Bronco that can be seen through the window, Cid nodded to Shera who smiled and nodded back.
"Hell yeah."
Just on the outskirts of Midgar, a quiet little town called, Kalm, was present. Barret and his adopted daughter, Marlene, resided there after he returned from the crater. Barret decided that he couldn't face the city of Midgar without being stabbed in the heart by his past memories. His old friends: Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge still remained in the front of his mind. He was obviously devastated about what happened many months ago. However, he didn't let those memories take over what he has right now… Marlene. The only thing he really cared about in the whole world.
Like everyone else, Barret received a call from Tifa. Unlike Cid and Yuffie who easily accepted, Barret couldn't. His number one priority was to take care of Marlene and help raise her to be a good kid, and nothing more and the last thing he ever wanted to do was to leave her again.
After he hung up on his old friend, he watched as Marlene was sleeping peacefully on the bed upstairs in one of the houses they were staying at. He smiled to himself, knowing that she was perfectly safe and nothing was going to harm her. Soon, his smile turned into a frown as he remembered what Tifa told him about something bad happening. He sighed at that and shook the thought out.
"They're crazy," he told himself. "There's nothing anymore."
"What's 'nothing anymore'?" a soft voice called out in the darkness.
Barret jumped back in shock. "Marlene!"
"Are you okay, papa?"
"Yes. You should be asleep now!"
"I know, papa… but, who were you yelling at?"
"… oh. It… was Tifa. But you really shouldn't…"
"Tifa?" the little girl said as she sat up on her bed. "Why would you yell at her? What did she want?"
Barret paused and finally answered with a sigh. "She just wanted to know if I could meet up with the gang."
"… oh. Are you… going away again?"
"No! Of course I'm not. I want leave you for anything."
Marlene crawled out of bed and sat next to her papa.
"How come?"
Barret turned his head to the girl. "What do you mean? I don't want to leave you again. I missed you so much the last time I left… and I was worried about you."
"I missed you too… but I wasn't worried at all."
Barret widened his eyes. "Hm?"
"Everyday, I keep saying to myself, 'be strong! And always remember that your papa is protecting you and the whole world!'"
Barret smiled and patted Marlene's head. He never really noticed Marlene being so responsible and mature like that. Barret started to feel like the kid and Marlene being the comforting parent.
"Thanks, Marlene," he sighed. "So… you think Tifa'll answer my call?"
Marlene happily nodded. "Uh huh!"
With that said, Barret picked up his old PHS, and dialed Tifa back.
A/N: End of Chapter 2! Took me awhile to finish. Ehm… sorry if Barret's part was too short. It was late at night and I wasn't hyper enough to make it longer. :grunts: Next chapter is going to be like this chappie so… don't really expect anything "action..nee" until… maybe Chapter 4. Hope you liked this chappie! Please leave ze review!