Chapter 17: Eyes on Me

Whenever I sang my songs

On the stage, on my own

Whenever I said my words

Wishing they would be heard

I saw you smiling at me

Was it real or just my fantasy?

You'd always be there in the corner

Of this tiny little bar

My last night here for you

Same old songs just once more

My last night here with you

Maybe yes, maybe no

I kind of liked it your way

How you shyly placed your eyes on me

Did you ever know that I had mine on you?

Eyes on Me – Faye Wong (Final Fantasy 8)

Aeris enjoyed shopping. Looking around shops, trying things out… but they had been here for four hours and still no dress. She collapsed onto a seat as Yuffie and Tifa searched the racks for the perfect dress.

"What do you think of this one?" Yuffie said, holding a short dress up. Tifa shook her head before Aeris could answer.

"Too short. Aeris is more of a long dress person."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Can we just pick a dress already? I am tired and grumpy and caffeine-deprived." Aeris moaned. Tifa gave her a look.

"You have to look perfect. Yuffie has the perfect dress. I have the perfect dress. Now you need the perfect dress."

Aeris felt like crying.

"This is the last shop in the entire mall, Tifa. We are getting a dress here, whether you like it or not." She said firmly, standing up and looking through the clothes racks. Yuffie started to talk to her about a knee-length purple outfit as Aeris searched through the various outfits.

Tifa had found her dress two hours ago. It was a short dress, coming to above her knee. It was a silvery-white colour and looked great on her. Of course, she was one of those people who suited everything. Yuffie's dress was short too, with a Chinese collar, in dark green and gold. She had bought matching chopsticks to put in her hair.

Tifa looked around.

"There has to be SOMETHING here for you!"

"There was that pink dress, in the other shop…" Yuffie said doubtfully. Aeris shook her head, walking around a pillar to examine the clothes racks on the other side. And then she paused. Yuffie and Tifa came around the pillar and gasped. Tifa smiled.

"I think we have a winner."

"Excuse me, could we try on that dress?" Yuffie asked an assistant. She removed the dress from the mannequin and gave it to Aeris.

"Go try it on." Tifa said, pushing her towards the dressing room.

Ten minutes later, Aeris emerged. Tifa and Yuffie looked her up and down while Aeris waited nervously. Eventually she asked,

"Well? Is this the one?"

"It's the one. Come here, look in the mirror." Yuffie said. Aeris went to the mirror and gazed at her reflection.

She had never worn anything like this before. The dress was a long one. It came down to the floor. The skirt was dark red with a black overlay, so there was just a slit of red showing at the front. The top half of the dress was shaped like a corset, but with straps over the shoulder.

The assistant came over.

"This outfit comes with these." She said, passing Aeris a pair of gloves. She put them on and Tifa clapped her hands.

"Perfect! The perfect dress!"

"Are you sure? It's not too dark? I normally wear light colours." Aeris said.

"It's perfect." Yuffie confirmed. The assistant nodded.

"You're not going to find a better dress. It looks like it was made for you."

Aeris smiled and looked back at her reflection.

"OK. I'm convinced. I'll take it."

By the time they had bought shoes, accessories and make-up Aeris was in an extremely bad mood.

"Can we go already?"

"Hold on, I just need to buy some mascara." Tifa said, selecting a tube from the make-up counter. Aeris groaned and the slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Crap! I've still got to get a present… OK, I'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes."

She rushed off, wondering desperately what to get. Vincent wasn't exactly the easiest guy to buy for. As Aeris wandered around in despair she saw an art shop. Going inside she looked at the vast array of paint, pencils, tools and paper.

"Can I help you?" asked the short balding man at the counter. Aeris hesitated.

"I'm looking for a Christmas present, for a friend of mine. But I have NO idea what to get him. He's a really great artist though."

"Well, we have a selection of paintings, or if you think he'd prefer equipment…"

"Probably equipment would be better." Aeris nodded. She looked up at the paintings and smiled. One of Vincent's paintings was hanging there, the one of the dead tree. The proprietor followed her gaze.

"You like it? By one of our local artists. Very talented young man."

"I know… Vincent Valentine? It's him I'm buying for." Aeris explained.

"Really? Well, in that case…"

The man disappeared into a backroom. Aeris waited patiently until he reappeared, carrying a large wooden box. He opened and Aeris smiled.

"That's… perfect. I'll take it."

"Would you like it gift-wrapped?"

"Yes, please."

When they finally arrived at the café, Cloud and Vincent were already there, sitting at their regular table. They appeared to have been discussing music as the girls sat down.

"Hey. I was just saying, Vincent should come to the Turks Concert! We've got that spare ticket, remember?" Cloud said. They all agreed while Tifa fetched drinks. Cloud said to Yuffie,

"Reeve's meeting us here in about fifteen minutes. He was finishing Cait Sith."

"What's Cait Sith?" Tifa asked. Cloud grinned.

"A personal project he's been working on. It's this fortune-telling toy, really good. He said he'd bring it to show you."

Sure enough, a moment later Reeve came through the door, struggling under the weight of a large toy. He set it down on the floor and sat down. Yuffie bent down to examine the toy.

"A moogles with a cat on top! How cute!"

"He's finally finished…" Reeve breathed heavily. Aeris asked,

"What does it do?"

"Tells fortunes. Hold on…" Reeve flipped the switch on the cat's back and picked up the remote control. Cait Sith bounded to Aeris and bowed.

"Good afternoon! I'm Cait Sith! Would you care to have your fortune read?"

"Um… yeah, sure!" Aeris replied. Cait Sith performed a little dance and then handed Aeris a card.

"What does it say?" Yuffie asked.

"Your favourite colour is blue." Aeris said.

Reeve shrugged.

"I didn't say it was perfect!" He pointed out. Yuffie giggled and said,

"I'm going to get a drink. Anyone want?"

"I'll get them!" Reeve said, touching the control pad in a series of complicated movements. They told Cait Sith what they wanted and he bounded over to the counter and hopped up onto a stool. Barret stared down at him.

"Er… can I help you?" He asked, clearly baffled. Cait Sith reeled off a list of drinks and Barret looked around. He saw them all laughing and grinned.

"Sorry Reeve. We have a policy about serving stuffed toys. In that we don't."

"Well, let him read your fortune!" Reeve laughed.

Barret read out the card a moment later.

"Steer clear of monkeys." He said. Reeve rubbed the back of his head.

"Ok, we'll work on that…" He said, going pink. Yuffie elbowed Tifa.

"See? Isn't he cute?"

Vincent and Aeris excused themselves to walk around the park. Vincent asked,

"Did you have fun shopping?"

"Fun is not the word. There's only so much shopping you can do before wanting to kill yourself." Aeris said. Vincent smiled his characteristic tiny smile. Aeris smiled back.

"I was getting a dress for tomorrow night, and Tifa insisted we visit EVERY single shop in the mall."

"Did you find a dress?"

"Eventually. Oh, Mom and Dad say hi. I got a postcard from them this morning."

"They're in Cosmo Canyon?"

"Yeah… speaking at conferences. It's all very boring." Aeris said. Vincent smiled again.

"Maybe for you."

"Yeah. Anyway, they'll be back in time for the press conference. They're having here in Midgar, at some fancy hotel. The 56th Floor or something like that."

"I know it."

"Anyway, basically we're going to let the press ask us questions and we'll try to answer them as best we can."

"And what about the telephone number?"

Aeris shrugged.

"It's in my drawer. I've barely thought about it. I've had so much to do."

"Do you think you'll call him?" Vincent asked, sitting down on a bench.

"Maybe… when all this is over. I might do. But what should I say? Hi, I'm your long-lost daughter who thought you were dead."

"Well, I wouldn't open with that." Vincent said wryly.

Aeris sat down next to him.

"Are you coming to Christmas Dinner at Barret's?" She asked.

"He's invited me."

"You should come."

"I probably will. It's not like I have anywhere else to be." Aeris rested her head on his shoulder.

"Vincent, everything is finally sorting itself out."

"I know. Does that make you feel safe?"

"Yeah… I'm finally getting some sleep at nights." She laughed. She looked up at him.

"Vincent?"

"Yes Aeris?"

"Do you think I should call him?"

Vincent's brow creased into a frown. His dark red eyes met her emerald green ones.

"I… I can't really answer that."

"I guessed you wouldn't. I just thought I'd ask." She said, sitting up. Vincent said,

"Something as big as this… it's something you have to decide on by yourself."

"I know. I guess… I guess I'm just scared. But at the same time I kind of want to meet him."

She looked at her watch.

"It's gone 11. I should probably get some sleep."

"I'll take you home."

As they walked towards the Avalanche Dormitory, Aeris said,

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"I don't know. Everything. Whenever I feel down, or if there's something wrong, you're always there to pick me up. You're like my guardian angel. It's like you've always got your eyes on me."

"I'm glad I could help you."

"No, I mean it. Even at the concert, when I was playing my solo I just had to look at you and that helped so much." Aeris said, pausing at the door.

Vincent looked down at her.

"Whatever I have done to help you… it was none less than you deserved."

"Vincent-"

"I meant it when you said that you were special. It was a while ago, do you remember?"

"I remember."

"Well you are special. Because of who you are."

"Who am I?" Aeris whispered. Vincent smiled and Aeris became aware of just how close they were standing to each other.

"You are Aeris Gainsborough. You are a musician. You are a university student. You are the most amazing person I have ever met." He said, looking down at her. "And I will see you tomorrow. I have to paint tomorrow afternoon but I will pick you up for the dance at 7:30."

Neither of them moved. And then Vincent turned and walked into the darkness.

"What happened?" Tifa said the moment Aeris walked in the door. She threw her bag onto the desk and sat down on her bed.

"Nothing happened. We talked for a while and then he walked me home."

"Geez, what is taking you two so long?" Tifa said in exasperation.

"I know. I'm all for deep, meaningful conversations, but I want smoochies." Aeris groaned into her pillow. Tifa grinned.

"Smoochies?"

"You know… there are these moments when we're standing really close together, and he's looking down at me and I think 'Oh my god, he's going to kiss me!' and then he just leaves. Why does he just leave, Tifa?"

"Vincent isn't the type to just kiss you anywhere. I can bet you that when he does kiss you for the first time it'll be somewhere really romantic. Hey, it might even be at the dance tomorrow!"

"Don't get my hopes up. Urgh, I'm going to bed. I need my beauty sleep for tomorrow night." Aeris said, glancing at the clock on her bedside table. Tifa nodded and went into the bathroom.

Aeris waited until the door was shut before going to the drawer and pulling out the slip of paper with Eric Gainsborough's number on it. Biting her lip, she examined it and then put it back in the drawer and placed the books from her bag on top of it. Tifa came out of the bathroom and climbed into bed.

"Are you OK?" She asked Aeris. Aeris looked up and nodded.

"Yeah."

"OK… well, goodnight." Tifa said, looking unconvinced. Aeris got into her nightclothes and got into bed. With one last look at the drawer, she turned off the light.

She had more important things to worry about right now. Such as dancing with Vincent.