Chapter 7: She's The One

I was her

She was me

We were one

We were free

And if there's somebody

Calling me on

She's the one

If there's somebody

Calling me on

She's the one

She's the One – Robbie Williams

"I actually have nothing to wear." Aeris exclaimed, staring into her closet. Tifa grinned at from on the bed.

"I know. A big date and nothing to wear. What about the blue dress?"

"OK." Aeris dug in the closet. Tifa called out,

"So, do you think it'll get serious with James?"

"Tifa, it's our second date. Let's not rush things."

"Hey, I thought James was in the open mic night."

"He is. We'll have finished the meal by then." Aeris said, throwing a jumper out. It landed over Tifa's head and she tossed it aside.

"Do you like him a lot?" She asked. Aeris's head poked out of the closet. She gave Tifa a look before disappearing again.

"I don't know. Well, yeah. He's really nice."

"Not to mention cute."

"Tifa!"

"Well, he is! Have you seen his ass? That is a nice ass."

"Tifa, please refrain from talking about my date's ass." Aeris said.

Tifa giggled and rolled over.

"Have you got anything in green? It'd match your eyes." She commented. Aeris said,

"No… oh, here's the blue one." She reappeared, holding up a dark blue dress. Tifa shook her head.

"No, I meant the other blue one." Aeris disappeared again. Tifa examined the dress as she said,

"You didn't answer my question."

"Which one? You've asked around a billion."

"Have not! Anyway, I meant the one about things getting serious with James."

"I really don't know, Tifa. I've never really had a proper boyfriend before and I don't think going on two dates quite qualifies for the position."

"Still, The Mako Restaurant… pretty advanced for a second date."

"Hmm… hey, what about the pink dress."

"No, definitely the other blue one."

The door opened and Yuffie bounded in. She looked around in shock at the different clothes that were scattered over the room.

"Is she STILL trying to decide what to wear?"

"Yes, I am. Which one do you think?" Aeris called, still in the closet. Yuffie thought about it.

"The blue one."

Tifa held up the one she had thrown out. Yuffie shook her head.

"No, the other blue one."

"See, Aeris? I told you so." Tifa said smugly. A shoe flew out of the closet and narrowly avoided Tifa's head.

Tifa went food shopping as Aeris dressed. Yuffie lay on the bed, reading a magazine.

"Yuffie?"

"That's my name." She said absently. Aeris started to brush her hair.

"Do you think that Tifa and Cloud would make a good couple?"

"I'm surprised they're not already together. I've never seen two people flirt more."

"Well… last night I was coming back from the meeting."

Aeris told her what she had seen. Yuffie cracked up into laughter.

"And they think they need to keep it a secret? Bless them. So naïve."

"Should I just tell them that I know? And that you know, now?"

"Nah. Let 'em stew in it a bit." Yuffie said, returning to her magazine.

"Oh! I spoke to the Dean. We can have the auditorium on the 15th of December. That should be OK, right?"

"Yeah. Most people are going home on the 20th. Are you going home?"

"No. Cloud and I are staying here. You?"

"Dad wants me home. I'm flying out on the 20th."

"Cool. Yeah, Cloud and I wanted to stay here. Experience a college Christmas. Barret's already invited us for Christmas dinner. It's gonna be fun. There's the winter dance on the 18th as well."

"Are you going with James?" Yuffie asked. Aeris shrugged, coming out of the bathroom.

"I don't know. Can you zip me up?"

After a quick tidy, Aeris glanced out of the window. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the buildings. There was a knock at the door. Yuffie opened it. James stood there wearing a smart suit and looking very uncomfortable in it. His face lit up when he saw her.

"You… you look… I mean, you're…"

"I hope the ends of those sentences are good." Aeris said, smiling. He nodded quickly.

"They are. Very good. Well, we should go."

James' car was waiting outside. They drove to the restaurant, talking in a friendly manner. Once inside, Aeris took the chance to look around.

It was nice. Really nice. It looked like you should be inspected on your account balance before you even set foot in there. James grinned.

"Posh, isn't it."

"Very. It's nice though."

"Yeah. The food's pretty good too."

And he was right. It was probably the best food she had ever tasted. James watched her face, grinning as she tasted it.

As the waiter handed them dessert menus, she asked,

"So what do your parents do?"

"Well, my dad's a journalist. And I don't know about my mother. She ran away just after I was born. I'm not sure what happened to her. She could be dead for all I know."

"I'm sorry." Aeris said. James shook his head.

"It's ok. How can I be sad about someone I never knew? What about you?"

"Well, my father ran away before I was born. But my mom remarried, so he's really my dad. They're both scientists."

"Scientists?"

"Yeah. Infalna and Matthew Gast."

"They're your parents?! That's amazing!" James said, exited. Aeris shrugged, blushing slightly.

"I suppose so. I mean, it's not that exciting for me, but other people go crazy when I mention them."

"People like me?" James asked, grinning. Aeris nodded, a smile on her face.

"Just a little."

"Well, you have to expect people to get a little excited. Your parents are a complete mystery. They never reveal what they're working on, don't let people view their home life… People are bound to get curious."

"They've always been like that. They never let press into their lives." Aeris said. James shrugged.

"Don't blame them."

As they drank coffee after the meal, Aeris said,

"Do you want to be a journalist too?"

"Yeah. My dad says that if I can produce a good enough article he'll run it. But I've had problems becoming inspired. I need the right angle."

"What paper is it?"

"The Midgar Today."

"Oh, so only the best known paper in the entire city!" Aeris said, laughing. James nodded, laughing too.

"Yeah… well, we'd better go along to the open mic night."

When they arrived at the café, they found it was packed. Tifa waved to them, from a table she was sharing with Yuffie and Cloud.

"Hi guys! You're just in time, it's about to start." They sat down, James taking off his jacket and tie, and undoing the top button of his shirt. Cloud whistled at Aeris.

"Hey, you look just like my friend Aeris, but way hotter."

She kicked him under the table. Tifa looked at him sideways.

"I'd like to say you didn't deserve that. But you did."

"Always nice to be appreciated." Cloud said, rubbing his shin.

Barret appeared on the platform, and took the microphone.

"OK… well, welcome to Barret's open mic night. I won't say too much, but I can say we've got one hell of a show for you tonight! So let's get started. Our first performer is Bernadette Thompson."

They settled down to listen to the performances. And they were good. REALLY good. Aeris refused to perform in front of a crowd like this, but she could see that many of her classmates were doing their best performances yet. James was the last one before the interview. He picked up his guitar and made his way to the stage. He sat down on the stool and grinned, not looking nervous at all.

"Hey. I'm James, and this is a song for a girl who, for some unfathomable reason, agreed to go out with me."

"I think he's talking about you." Cloud said in a loud whisper, poking Aeris in the side. She punched his arm and he winced.

James strummed a few bars on the guitar and started to sing.

"I was her

She was me

We were one

We were free

And if there's somebody

Calling me on

She's the one

If there's somebody

Calling me on

She's the one"

Aeris realises she was holding her breath. As James continued to sing, his eyes caught hers and she felt the breathe freeze in her throat again. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. She didn't notice Yuffie, Tifa and Cloud smirking. She didn't notice Tifa turn to wink at Barret who was standing behind the counter. All she could see was him.

Other people in the café were less impressed with James. OK, one other person. Singular. Three guesses who. Though you should only need one.

Vincent Valentine stood in the back of the café, watching James with narrowed eyes. His red eyes turned to Aeris. She was gazing at James as if he were a god. Vincent felt…

Well, he didn't know how he felt. Odd, was the only word he could come up with. He broke out of his stupor as the song ended and cheers and applause rang through the café. Aeris didn't move. She was still gazing at him.

Vincent walked out of the café.

"That was…" Aeris breathed as James sat down. He looked nervous, smiling slightly.

"It was… what?"

"Hey, did you guys see the new poster on the wall?" Tifa said, jumping up and dragging Yuffie and Cloud after her.

Aeris looked down at the table.

"That was amazing."

"I had a good inspiration for it." James said, smiling at her. His hand rested on hers. She looked from it to his face. He was watching her closely.

"You want to go for a walk?" James asked. She nodded and they slipped out of the café.

Walking in the moonlight, Aeris felt like a completely different person. It didn't feel like it was her walking through the park hand-in-hand with James. She squeezed his hand slightly and he squeezed it back, as if confirming her presence.

"Are you cold?" James asked. She shook her head.

"No."

A breeze rustled the leaves on the trees. Aeris bit her lip, smiling. At the centre of the park was a fountain. They sat on the rim of it, still holding hands. James looked up at the sky.

"What's Kalm like?" He asked.

"Small. Quiet. Nothing exciting ever happens there. It's so predictable. Everybody knows everybody." Aeris replied quietly, looking down into the water.

"Quite a change to come to Midgar then."

"Yeah. It's so big here. The people are different, the buildings are different, everything. But I still love it here."

James was still looking up at the sky, frowning.

"I've lived here my whole life. You get used to it. But I always wanted to leave. I want to explore the world. There are so many towns and cities in the world. My dad's always sending reporters to them and I always read their articles. Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, Junon… how can a person stay in the same place their whole life? I want to get out of here. Visit every single town there is. Meet lots of people and then write it down and let the whole world know about it. Let them know that this city isn't the world."

Aeris stared at him. This was another side of James, one she had never seen. He blinked suddenly and looked at her.

"Sorry. Spaced out for a bit there."

"I… James, that was…"

"Hey, it's OK. It's just a dream."

"Dreams can come true." Aeris said, smiling at him. He didn't smile back, but he kept eye contact.

"I know they do."

He leaned forward. Aeris leaned forward too and kissed him. Or maybe he kissed her. She was uncertain. It didn't seem that important anyway. His arms were wrapped around her, her hands were on his neck. The whole world could have melted then and there and it wouldn't have made a difference to them.

It just didn't matter anymore.