Chapter 26: I'm Gonna Fly

So I'm gonna fly

And see for myself

What it looks like

From up there

Taste the stardust

In my mouth

Chase the clouds

Until they disappear

And my feet can't stay

On the ground any longer

With every leap of faith

I feel a little stronger

Wanna swing from a star

In the big blue sky

Don't wanna watch it all go by

So I'm gonna fly

I'm Gonna Fly – Sydney Forest (Kiki's Delivery Service)

Aeris and Cloud emerged from English Literature looking anxious. For they were about the experience a moment which every person has, or will.

They had gotten back the results of their English Literature examination. They had taken the test in December and Professor Jenova had handed them the envelopes.

"Here are your results. A lot of variation. Some very poor ones and some excellent. But there is room for improvement in all of them."

They waited until the rest of the class had passed them and then turned to each other.

"Together?" Cloud asked. Aeris nodded.

"Together."

On the count of three, they ripped open the envelopes. Out came their examination papers and a slip of paper with a grade.

Aeris felt intense disbelief. She looked up at Cloud who had a similar expression on his face.

"What did you get?" She asked him.

"B! I don't believe it!" He said in shock. He grinned at her. "And you?"

"Um…" She held out the slip. He stared at it and then at her.

"No way… who are you and what have you done with Aeris?"

"I know!"

"A-? That is SO unfair!"

"No it isn't! What is unfair is that you nearly got the same grade without even studying! I worked my arse off for this grade and I'm gonna show it off!" Aeris said, snatching the paper back from him. He grinned and hugged her.

"You did great Aeris."

"Well done, you two." Said Professor Jenova, coming out of the classroom. They both grinned. Jenova smiled.

"I mean it. There's nothing I like better than giving students good grades. As long as they deserve it."

"Thanks professor." Cloud said. Jenova nodded and disappeared.

"Come on. I'm treating you to a coffee and a pastry!" Aeris said.

As they walked towards the café, Cloud said,

"Do we even pay for coffee anymore?"

"I know what you mean… I think Barret's keeping count so he can surprise us at the end of the year." Aeris laughed.

Vincent sat in the café by himself. He was bent over a sketchpad, brow furrowed in concentration. Tifa tapped the table.

"Want a refill?" she asked. Vincent looked up and nodded. Tifa filled his cup.

"Are you OK? You've been glaring at that piece of paper for fifteen minutes." She said. Vincent nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes… having trouble today. I have good days and bad days when it comes to drawing." He said slowly. Tifa sat down, pulling off her apron.

"Well, I think this day's about to get better." She said. Vincent looked towards the door and saw Aeris come in, chatting to Cloud. They joined the pair.

"Guess who got a B in their English Literature exam?" Aeris said proudly. Tifa grinned at her.

"That's great!"

"What? No, not me. Cloud!"

"Oh! Well, that's still great!" Tifa said, kissing him. Vincent asked,

"What did you get, Aeris?"

"Oh, she got an A-." Cloud said, sitting down. Tifa gawped at her.

"Guess all that studying paid off."

"You bet it did!" Aeris said. Tifa laughed.

"You want a coffee?"

"And a pastry. Hey, Tifa. How much do we owe for all this coffee?" Cloud said. Tifa raised an eyebrow.

"You don't want to go there."

"You're probably right."

Yuffie came in and sat down. Aeris took one look at her and sniggered. Yuffie glared.

"Shut up Aeris."

"What?" Cloud said, immediately interested. Aeris started to giggle hysterically. Yuffie glared even more fiercely.

"She's being stupid. My dad's making me do this press thing when I get back."

"What?"

"Lady Yuffie Kisaragi has to open an orphanage in front of the papers!" Aeris choked. They all looked at Yuffie and started laughing. Well, not Vincent, but he did smirk. Yuffie threw her head back.

"Urgh, it's OK for you lot! You don't know how embarrassing it is! Dad said if I did this for him, we could forget about the argument."

"Wow, go emotional blackmail." Cloud commented. Yuffie nodded.

"You're telling me… oh, Aeris, your stalker boy was talking to me this morning."

"My-?"

"James." Yuffie explained. Aeris sighed.

"Great. Now he has to start harassing my friends. Why can't he just… you know, move on? Get over it? I mean, what is it with guys? Current company excepted of course. What did he say?" she asked Yuffie.

"Well, I just came out of one-on-one when he came out of the practise room. He said hey and asked how you were doing. I said you were fine and he asked if I thought it was serious between you and Vincent. I said it was and then he asked, what does she see in him, and I said it was probably the fact that she didn't need to put a restraining order on him. And then I walked away."

Aeris smiled.

"Thanks Yuffie. Urgh, he's driving me insane."

"I know. He's turning psycho."

"Maybe a restraining order isn't a bad idea." Cloud said wryly. Vincent was fuming silently. Aeris patted his arm.

"Calm down."

"If he comes near you-"

"I will show him exactly how good I am getting at self-defence." Aeris said calmly. Tifa laughed.

"Wow. You know, not that many people get stalkers."

"I'll let you have him if you want."

"No thanks. But you should see the amount of mail she's been getting!" Tifa told Cloud. Aeris flushed.

"Tifa! You promised you wouldn't say anything."

"What mail?" Vincent asked. Aeris glared at Tifa and Yuffie leant forward, ready to gloat. Aeris breathed hard and avoided eye contact.

"I've been getting a lot of letters from people who saw the articles and the interview."

"Fan mail?" Cloud said in disbelief. Vincent looked at Aeris.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's embarrassing! I always hoped my first piece of fan mail would be because of my songs… not because someone made out that my parents raving psychos."

"Fan mail? What sort of thing did they say?" Yuffie smirked. Aeris threw her a look.

"Well there were two types. On one hand 'I think what your parents did was disgusting. I'm surprised you're not furious at them. I would be'. And then we have 'I think you're amazing. Your parents obviously love you very much and I respect them very much for that'. I wasn't going to tell anybody about it. But Tifa found them in our room."

After that the conversation turned to the holidays, which were two weeks away.

"Cloud and I are setting off the day before you leave." Tifa said. Aeris nodded and said,

"We can lock up the room then, and I'll stay at Vincent's for the night."

"OK, great. And then we'll go to the airport together." Said Yuffie. She looked at her watch.

"Oops, gotta run. Meeting Reeve."

As she left, Cloud said,

We get back the same day as you. What are you going to do in Wutai?"

"Well, there's the conference to go to. Mom and Dad are only speaking at one, so we only have to go to that one. There are Art museums and stuff like that." Aeris said. Vincent nodded.

"We could see the Da Chao Mountains."

"The what-huh?" Cloud said dumbly. Tifa smacked him over the head.

"The Da Chao! These ancient sculptures, carved right into the mountainside. They're supposed to be amazing."

"We'll take photographs!" Aeris told her. Tifa looked at her watch.

"Yikes, I'm supposed to be working!"

She jumped up and pulled her apron on. Cloud looked at his watch.

"I have a meeting with Professor Highwind."

"Oh, and I've got One-on-one…" Aeris said. She looked at Vincent.

"I'll see you later."

"Alright. I'll make you dinner tonight."

"That is so sweet! How comes you never make ME dinner?" Tifa said shrewdly, poking Cloud in the back. Aeris chortled.

"You don't want Cloud to cook you anything."

"Why not?" Tifa asked curiously. Cloud stood up abruptly, oddly red in the face.

"No need to go there Tifa."

"Bye Vincent." Aeris said. She turned to Cloud. "Remember the time you tried to make pancakes?"

"No!" Cloud said frantically.

"My parents had to buy a new stove."

"Aeris!"

"And the time you made boiled egg and ended up in casualty for three hours?"

"Aeris, if you don't stop talking…"

"Oh and when you tried to make cake and your parents had to have the whole kitchen refitted?"

Tifa giggled as the pair left the café. She turned to Vincent.

"Well, I guess we can't complain that our life is boring."

"One thing we could never be accused of." Vincent agreed.

Shera was sipping tea when Aeris arrived.

"Hallo Aeris."

"Hi. Sorry I'm late. I forgot my lyrics book and had to go back for it."

"It's alright. Now then… how did the meeting go?"

Aeris looked at her.

"Tseng is our substitute?"

"I wondered if he'd let that slip. Yes, he'll take you for a couple of months. Once the baby's born I'll come back, if I can find a suitable nanny."

"So, you're two months along?"

"Two and a half. The baby's due at the beginning of August." Shera said, rubbing her stomach absentmindedly. She wore baggy clothes a lot of the time, so you couldn't really tell if there was a bump or not just yet.

"Oh, sweet! Got any names ready?"

"A few. But let's get on with the music."

"Oh, the meeting went great. It's not at all like I'd thought it would be."

"Hmm. They give a whole new meaning to the word 'working', don't they?"

"Yeah. Anyway, they had a look through my lyrics and said they liked them. They even hung onto one of my songs. I mean, they probably won't use it, but the fact that they have it is a step forward, right?"

"It is indeed. So, let's concentrate on one of your newer songs today. I believe you've been working on this one…"

Two weeks passed in a flash. Before they knew it, Aeris and Vincent were packing for Midgar. Tifa and Cloud were leaving the next day.

"We're catching a bus out to Fort Condor," Tifa said, pointing it out on the map, "And from there, we'll hike along the coast. It'll take us two days to reach Junon, so we're taking a cub tent. Then we're getting a boat over to Costa del Sol. It's gonna be great!"

They were all hanging out in Vincent's apartment. He wasn't used to having people there but seemed to be enjoying it. Barret had closed the café for three days so he could refurbish the kitchen.

"I've been putting it off her ages. Most of the students are going away at this time, so it's usually pretty quiet. It's the perfect time to refurbish." He had told them.

Yuffie and Reeve were sitting on the balcony chatting. Aeris was bent over a suitcase, organising her clothes. Vincent was already packed. Aeris turned and looked at Cloud's backpack. He snatched away possessively.

"No, Aeris! It's fine!"

"Cloud, I know you. It's not fine."

"Leave it! I don't want it alphabetised!" They all stared at Aeris. She raised her eyebrows and looked aloof.

"I just like things to be tidy and organised."

"We're heading off. Need to pick up a few things." Yuffie said as she and Reeve came in. Reeve told Cloud,

"I'll put your mail in the drawer, OK?"

"OK. See you later." Cloud said. As they left, Aeris said,

"We'll meet you here tomorrow at 12."

"OK. See you then." Yuffie said. Aeris turned to Vincent.

"I think I'm just about finished."

"Thank god. You've been packing for three hours." Vincent said. Tifa laughed as she played with Cloud's hair. She liked flattening it, to see Cloud get irritated and push it back into spikes.

Tifa glanced over at the piano.

"Aeris? Play us something. A going away gift."

"Most people get their souvenirs while on holiday, Tifa."

"I'm wacky that way." Tifa said. She looked at Aeris, with huge brown eyes.

"Please?"

"Fine… just give me a second."

"You know, you've really changed Aeris." Cloud said, Aeris looked at him quickly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… when we first came to University, you would never play for anybody. Your mother used to beg you for ages and you'd still refuse. Now you'll play readily."

"I guess I'm growing up. Pity I can't say the same thing about you." Aeris teased. Cloud stuck out his tongue.

"Very mature, Cloud." Vincent said, smirking.

Aeris went to the piano and opened her music book. Tifa, Cloud and Vincent all went to stand on the other side of the piano.

"I'll do my new one."

"One day

The whole world looks

Like an open page

And you've been dancing

As fast as you can

With a smile on your face

And then they're up in the sky

And they open together

And carry me away

As light as a feather

Chase the clouds from the ground

In the big blue sky

Don't wanna watch it all go by

So I'm gonna fly

Higher than I ever could

Feel the wind blow

In my hair

Feel the sun

And dance with the moon."

As she played the rest of the song, she kept her eyes on the music. If she'd looked up, she would have seen Tifa and Cloud grinning widely, hands clasped as they listened to the music. Vincent was watching her proudly. As the song ended she looked up.

"You just keep getting better. Damn talented person." Tifa laughed. Aeris looked at her watch.

"Oh, I have to run to the store. I need toothpaste. Do you need me to pick anything up for dinner?" She asked Vincent. He shook his head.

"No. I've got everything."

"OK. Back in fifteen minutes."

Two days later. Vincent, Aeris, Yuffie and Reeve sat on the aeroplane, heading to Wutai. Vincent was sleeping, having been up all night on an artistic surge. Aeris had seen him at around 3 in the morning, painting in intense concentration. Yuffie was reading a magazine and Reeve was fiddling with a gadget of some kind, his tray littered with mini screwdrivers and wires.

Aeris looked out of the window at the sky. She had a cushion in her hands and she squeezed it tightly. She was going to Wutai. Where Eric Gainsborough lived.

It felt weird. She was going to meet her biological father. If she could work up the nerve to go and see him.

She looked down. She WOULD go and see him. This could be her only chance.

"Aeris?" Yuffie's voice made her jump. "You want this magazine?"

"Um, no thanks… I've got a book." She said, holding up a copy of the Turks autobiography set. But Aeris couldn't concentrate. Eventually she took out her lyrics book and started to scribble ideas, trying to push the thought of Eric Gainsborough out of her head.